Merry Christmas

What a wonderful time of year! We are so blessed! How grateful we are for all our family and friends and most of all our Savior. It's wonderful how something that happened a long, long, long time ago has such meaning to us today. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Warning: I am going to have to brag a little bit. But, aren't these the handsomest little guys ever? Sorry--I know that's totally annoying, but I just can't help it. Carter insisted on having one special picture with just he and Coleman. Carter is so into his baby brother.

Halloween parties

I had so much fun helping out with Braeden's class party at school. I made feel bags. The kids couldn't see what was inside them, but that all had creepy, disgusting things inside. I had a jello mold that was Frankenstein's brain. I did overcooked, dry rice to be maggots. Cooked mini carrots were witches fingers. Spaghetti noodles were worms. I had some fake cocroches. Anyways, you get the idea. The kids loved it and I loved being there too. Braeden has an awesome first grade teachers and is surrounded by so many great friends in his class. These kids are so adorable.

Carter also had a little class party. They invited the parents to come and see the kids parade around in their costumes. Carter's pre-school teacher is full of energy and loves these kids. It's been great for his to go to pre-school this year.

See how much he looks like Aang!

I realize that some people have no clue who Aang is. Here are some pictures to compare and contrast.

Merry Halloween!

Again, better late than never!

We had a fun, crazy Halloween. I can't believe that I let Braeden shave his head for his costume. But, I have to say it turned out awesome. He looked so much like Aang, from Avatar the last Airbender. He was sooooo excited about his costume. Carter wanted to be Batman--no huge surprise. We're not sure where his love of Batman came from?? Tanner was a monkey. Each of the boys has worn this costume. It's so cute. If you asked Tanner what he was going to be for Halloween, he would say "I be a monkey". He loved it! The cutest thing ever was that his little nursery buddy was wearing the same costume. Aren't they cute. Yes, the other little boy is only a few weeks older than him. Our Tanner is such a little guy (the other kid is definitly on the tlal side). This was great since last year we couldn't get him to wear his costume. Coleman was the cutest little BYU football player ever. Trick or treating was so rainy, but the boys still had a fun time.

Carter's Half Birthday

So, this is way behind, but better late than never.

We started a new, fun tradition this year with the kids. With four kids now, I struggle to find opportunities to do special things one on one with them. I've found that it has to be structured in order to make it happen. So, we decided that on the kid's birthdays, Jeff takes them out to breakfast--just the two of them. It's funny because the kids are completely intent (actually insistent) on just going to McDonald's. That works great because Jeff can do that relatively quickly so he can get to work and not have to wake the kids up too early to take them. Anyways, so Jeff has done that with all the boys this year. I wanted my turn too. So, I decided that I'd take them on a little date for their half birthday. So, Carter's half birthday was at the end of October. I let the boys pick an activity and then a place to go get a treat. Carter initially decided that he would like to go bowling. I was a little worried that he might not love bowling, so I decided to take him to a big fun center type of a place that has a little kids bowling alley among other things to do. That way if he didn't like bowling (which he really didn't love) then there would be other things to do. So, he got to go on a go kart ride, do a little game of bowling, and play some arcade games. Oh, I forgot to mention that he wanted to get his treat first. So, he picked Dairy Queen. Anyways, we had a lot of fun. It was weird for me to only have one kid to worry about. It was nice to be able to just chill out a bit. It's hard to believe that Carter is now 4 1/2. He's such a fun, sweet little guy.

Gratitude Day something?

Thankful that my parents didn't let me quit piano lessons. I've been playing the piano a bit more lately and it's really relaxing to me. For some reason, my kids have let me play. They usually come running to the living room the second I start playing and they start joining in by pounding on the keys making it impossible for me to play. But, lately they've been content to listen and sometimes request their favorite primary songs for me to play. I'm thankful for the talents I've been given. I hope I can play again like I used to--you really do lose it if you don't constantly work on it.

Gratitude for lots of days

Oops, I've fallen behind. I've been too busy trying to catch up on scrapbooking! A few nights ago, I got the itch to work on it. I probably had close to 2 years worth of pictures to work on. I began to feel a bit overwhelmed, but yet at the same time motivated. So, I've been a little distracted with that project. For several years now I've just done digital scrapbooking and I love it. No more cardstock, cutting, and gluing for me. It doesn't even sound fun to me to do it that way--especially since I have 5 scrapbooks to do (one for Jeff and I and one for each of the boys). Anyways, I've been working on all our 5 million pictures from 2009. For some reason we took a whole bunch of pictures that year. Well, actually I know the reason(s). First off, we got a new camera--a second camera. I have my DSLR which is great, but we found that we didn't take it with us everywhere because it's so big and expensive. With lots of little kids + little kids stuff to haul around adding a big old camera on top of that was often times too much. So, we got a little point and shoot camera that fits right in my purse. So, depending on what we're doing we use different cameras. So, we used this new camera a ton that year. Plus, we sold our house and built a new house. We probably took several hundred pictures detailing every step of the home building process. Then, because we were living in a tiny apartment for a few months, we had to get out and do stuff--so that provided us with many outings to take pictures. All these pictures are giving me a lot of work to do in terms of scrapbooking, but how thankful I am for all the wonderful memories we have. Seeing all these pictures reminds me of how much fun we have as a family. I love how my boys are so easily entertained. Simple little things provide them with hours of fun.

Gratitude Day 12

Thankful that Jeff and I both have the best parents ever! We are so lucky to have parents that care so much about us and took such good care of us when we were kids. They're both wonderful grandparents as well.

Gratitude Day 10 & 11

Grateful for my knowledge that families can be together forever and thankful that I have a sister in heaven that watches over us and is our guardian angel.

Gratitude Day 9

This morning (about 7:30), Coleman had just woken up. I was opening his shutters to show him the snow outside. It was a good thing I did as I started to witness a man stealing Braeden and Carter's scooters that had accidentally been left outside in the empty lot next door. I ran downstairs and ran outside in my pajamas with no shoes on in the snow so I could try to rescue the scooters. The guy saw me running towards him and he acknowledged me. I told him that he couldn't take those scooters--they were ours. He proceeded to take the scooters out of the back of his truck where he had just put them and he put them back where he got them. I kinda chewed him out and then he apologized. I thanked him for returning them and came inside to give Braeden and Carter a lecture about not leaving their scooters and bikes out. I'm thankful that I was able to rescue their scooters. But I think my gratitude goes far beyond that. As I was walking back inside the house after my confrontation, I thought to myself that this guy (who spoke little English) was probably thinking he could get these to give to his kids. He possibly did not have the means to get his kids scooters. Now in no way does that justify stealing; however, I know that every parent wants to be able to give their kids some fun things. I especially love to give me kids things, like scooters, that help to keep them physically active and playing outside. Fortunately, we have been able to provide these things for our boys. Now, I am known to find some pretty good deals. Carter's scooter was purchased at a garage sale for $3 and Braeden's was purchased when there was a killer deal at Target. So, it's not that we buy really expensive elaborate things for our kids, because we don't. But, I am grateful that I've never been in a position to where I've felt like I would have to go to desperate measures to take care of my kids. I hope this man learned his lesson. When I told Braeden about it, his first question was "did you take down his license plate number?". That kid! His next question was "was he wearing a black mask over his head?". Funny! So, hopefully this man learned a valuable lesson and hopefully the boys will be more careful about putting their scooters away! Thankful I rescued the scooters that my boys love so much and thankful that we're so blessed!

Gratitude Day 8

So, today we got a little snow here. It was very wet snow and it didn't stick to the ground. I have to say we've had one of the most perfect falls here this year. We've had so many beautiful fall days. Fridays Braeden has early out at school. We had planned to go to the library when he got home. The weather was so incredibly perfect...not too hot and not too cold. The sun was shining and it was simply gorgeous. So, I told the boys we would play outside for a while. So, before we knew all the neighborhood boys were out playing too. They must have been outside for close to 4 hours. They had fun. I think fall is probably my favorite season and it seems as if the weather here sometimes decides to skip straight from hot summer weather straight to the snow. I'm thankful for the wonderful weather we've had. I'm glad to live somewhere that we can enjoy all four seasons. I love the changes. With every season change comes something new and exciting. The snow today made me excited for Thanksgiving and Christmas and all that comes with the holidays. It made me excited to build snowmen with the boys, go sledding, and sip hot cocoa while we watch the snow fall outside. Come next February, I'll be anxious and excited for spring. That's why it's so fun with every season change. We made it to the library today--perfect activity for a cold, wet day. Now the boys (especially Braeden) came home with all kinds of books. Braeden's reading is really improving this year. He started reading his first chapter book today--one from the Junie B. Jones series. He needs help with some of the words, but he was getting most of them on his own. I think he'll really start to love reading now that he can read real stories as opposed to books with very basic words and not much of a story line.

Gratitude Day 7

Thankful for an extra hour sleep this morning due to the time change and Jeff getting up with Coleman so I could sleep. I've been feeling a little sick this past week, plus Coleman and Tanner have been feeling a bit sick and have been waking me up a lot in the night. So, even though it's the time that I need extra sleep, I'm actually getting much less sleep. It's catching up to me. It was nice to not have to rush this morning and to sleep in a bit. I needed that!

Gratitude Day 6

Thankful that Super Saturday is over and went well!!!!!!!!!! It was fun, but I'm glad it's done!

Gratitude #5

Braeden left for school today with a plastic grocery bag full of canned goods for the needy. His school is doing a food drive and in order to make it fun for the kids, they've added a little twist. They have two huge containers one of which is covered in blue construction paper and has a little BYU sign on it. The other one is red--you can guess what school that represents. All week Braeden has been telling me how full the BYU one is and how the U of U one was lacking. Our boys have really gotten into the whole rivalry thing. They have a bet going with one of our neighbors that are Ute fans, Carter has gotten into discussions in carpool about how he loves BYU and hates the Utes (we don't tell him to say hate, those are his words--not ours). Anyways, this has turned into a long, somewhat unrelated intro. But, I've been thinking about how grateful I am that I was fortunate enough to go to college--especially to go to the two best schools ever Ricks and BYU! Yeah, yeah I know I followed the Mormon Trail from Rexburg to Provo. But, I am so glad to have had the opportunities I had at college. I had such great roommates, wonderful experiences, and learned a lot in the process. What great years and memories. I don't really miss studying for tests though. Knowledge is Power!!! By the way, the rivalry thing is a lot of fun--even though we're TRUE BLUE, we love our RED FRIENDS and at the rate this football season is going, we'll probably be taking a big plate of cookies to our neighbors in a few weeks to pay up on our bet. :)

Gratitude #3

I know this one's a little less serious. But, I had to go to Costco today. Costco happens to be one of my favorite stores. I don't know how people survive without a Costco. I mean where else can you get a huge container of hummus for under $5 or a huge pack of fresh tortillas for way cheap. When we first moved to this area, the closest Costco was about 25 minutes away. Now we have one that I can get to in under 10 minutes. One of my favorite things about Costco is that they design their parking lots so that people can actually have plenty of room to open their car doors all the way. Why do so many stores have such narrow parking spots? Sometimes it makes it so hard to open doors and get kids in and out. Sorry to go off on that. Plus, I love their photo department. I picked up my Christmas cards there today and they turned out great. I'm really trying to get everything ready for Christmas before Thanksgiving so that I can really just sit back and enjoy myself in December.

Gratitude #3

So, tonight Braeden had a little awards ceremony for an art contest at school. He was really excited to go. I thought about how glad I am that he goes to such a great school and that we're a part of such a great community. Because we have lived in 3 different wards and neighborhoods within his school's boundaries, we've gotten to know a lot of families. It's a great feeling to be surrounded by so many wonderful people. The principal knows him by name and Braeden thinks she is the coolest. We are really lucky!

Braeden/Aang

I haven't gotten around to downloading all my Halloween pictures yet. But, I just checked my friend's blog who caught this picture of Braeden with his buddy when we stopped at their house to trick or treat! It's the real deal! I can't believe I let him shave his head. He wanted to do it soooo bad. He is Aang from Avatar the Last Airbender (this is different than the Avatar movie). I really will post pictures soon. This is a picture of the actual character. Don't you think he looks a ton like Aang! He even let me put eyebrow liner on. I couldn't believe that he agreed to that. He had a blast and was very, very proud of his costume.

Gratitude #2

I am in a little bit of a hurry as kids need to get to be--well 2/4 are already sound asleep, but the big boys need to get to bed. But, I am thankful for the comforts I enjoy...things like a warm house, a well-stocked pantry, a car to get us where we need to go, insurance to pay for doctors and dentists, etc. We truly are blessed to have a roof over our heads and the means to take care of our family. I try not to take this for granted, but I'm sure I do at times.

Halloween

We had a fun, fun, fun Halloween week--class parties, friend parties, FHE with the neighbors, trick-or-treating, dinner with our great friends that we don't see nearly enough. Pictures are coming soon. You're not going to believe it when you see Braeden's costume. I can't believe I let him do what I let him do. You'll know what I mean when you see it.

Halloween over and now it's November. A month to reflect on gratitude. Sorry if it's cheesy, corny, and/or sappy, but I'm going to try and post something I'm grateful for every day. We'll see how it goes. My blessing truly are too many to name or count. So, coming up with enough blessings isn't a problem, but remembering to do it--or finding the time could be.

The first blessing that comes to mind is the obvious one--MY BOYS (Jeff, Braeden, Carter, Tanner, and Coleman)! They are everything to me. Last night Braeden was an emotional wreck. I think he was coming off of a high of all of the above-mentioned fun activities (and probably a little too much sugar as well). Tanner was kind of being a stinker at church. Coleman's been keeping me up at night. And, Carter's started throwing little fits (so unlike him). So, this morning I was sitting there thinking about how hard kids can be at times. I was realizing though that these things had ZERO impact on my love for these kids. I love them no matter what. I love them when they're stinkers, when they're dirty, when they're disobedient, when they're obnoxious...I love them unconditionally. I was thinking about how motherhood has taught me so much about how our Heavenly Father feels about all of us--his children. He loves us unconditionally--no matter how we are. I am grateful for my knowledge of that too. My kids are teaching me a lot! Despite their imperfections, I am 100% convinced that I have the best kids in the universe.

my boys

Every year...

Every year we head to the local pumpkin and it's one of our family's favorite traditions. Every year when the boys see the pumpkins at the store, I have to explain to them that we never buy our pumpkins at the store. Every year we take lots of pictures. Every year I struggle to get the boys to cooperate for pictures. Every year I come home wanting to make pumpkin bread or other pumpkin treats. Every year we have a lot of fun!

I wonder what the boys will think when they're teenagers and I try to take their pictures at the pumpkin patch. I sense my battle to get them to cooperate for pictures will never end.

He cracks me up

Carter is such a funny guy. I've been asking the boys what they want for Christmas lately. I really hope to get the shopping done early this year. Plus, I love to figure out what to get my kids. It's so fun to try and think of the things that will really excite them. Anyways, when I ask Carter what he wants, he says "everything". Then I said "everything"? He said "yes, everything except dynamite". What a character! Where did that come from? Dynamite?

Rock and Roll Baby!

Coleman's getting anxious to be mobile. He's starting to scoot backwards. He's getting into a plank position and he's even getting up on all fours and rocking back and forth. A whole new level of childproofing is in our near future.

Carter starts pre-school

One more year until Carter starts kindergarten. Man, he's growing up fast lately. He's such a smart little guy. He's already doing math. The other day he told me that he knows what 5 + 4 is and he got it right! That's pretty good for a four year old. He is doing really well at pre-school. This year we are trying a new preschool. The preschool Braeden went to for two years and that Carter went to last year is no longer around. We were sad that Teacher Natalie and Teacher Chelsea "retired". So, now Carter goes with Miss K. She seems like a great preschool teacher, so I think it will work out great for Carter. We carpool with two other little girls from our old neighborhood. I always tell Carter he's lucky to ride to school with two cute girls.

Jeff's birthday

Aug. 25th - we celebrated Jeff's birthday! The boys have so much fun anticipating birthdays. They each wanted to get him a present just from them. So, off to the dollar store we went (he did get other "real" gifts). Anyways, Carter picked out a Batman washcloth, Tanner picked out a spongebob washcloth, Braeden got him a very sophisticated magnifying glass set, and Coleman got him a special sponge for car washing. They had fun picking his stuff out. Jeff always wants German chocolate cake for his birthday cake.

Braeden, the first grader

Here he is on the first day of school. It was a pretty exciting day. The kids get their choice for breakfast on the first day. So, Braeden picked German pancakes. He was really excited to take his lunch in his awesome camo lunchbox. He couldn't wait to play with all his friends for three recesses. He's doing great in school and it's nice to see him so happy. He really does do so much better when he's busy and around lots of other kids. We love our school and his teacher.

Coley Baby tries food

This little guy tried "real food" for the first time a few weeks ago. He hates it. All he does is spit it out. We've tried lots of different kinds, and he hates them all. Any suggestions?

Happy Campers

Back in August we had a fun camping trip. We went close to home and had a pretty good time. The boys had a blast playing in the nearby lake, roasting marshmallows, and sleeping in a tent.

Baby, baby, baby

This little two year old decided he wanted to play baby...what a character!

Huge Update

Okay, I've just updated a ton here. I'm still behind. But, at least I've put a dent in it. I really can't believe how busy we are. This whole 4 kids thing really keeps me hopping. I love it though.

Tractor Obsession

Tanner is completely obsessed with tractors. Wherever we go, he always manages to spot all the tractors. He enthusiastically points them out to us. He's not content until we completely acknowledge the "cool" tractor that he is trying to show us. I'm thinking some little guy is going to end up with quite a few tractor things for his birthday and Christmas. Speaking of Christmas, it was like Christmas here the other night when one of the neighbor boys came over with a huge garbage sack full of tractors and dump trucks the he had outgrown. Tanner was in heaven. He played with them non-stop until bedtime. He couldn't part with one of the dump trucks before bed. He insisted on sleeping with it. Fortunatley he has a queen size bed he sleeps in, so there was plenty of room for his dump truck to sleep right by him. He even made sure that I also tucked in his dump truck and said "good night, sleep good, I love you" to it just like we always say to him. (Picture is from last summer as our house was being built).

EIGHT Years and counting!

Way back in June--the fifteenth to be exact--Jeff and I hit the 8 year mark. We didn't really even have a chance to celebrate as we were traveling to AZ for the family reunion that day. Our first year of marriage was a lot of fun. The other pictures are from Hawaii. We are so glad we got to do a few fun trips before we started having kids. Now we just dream of going to Hawaii. I'm hoping we'll make it there for my 40th birthday (we were there for my 25th birthday).