Give Thanks

This picture may seem a little odd but it's the only one I had taken over Thanksgiving that had a good amount of family members in it. This was taken on the Thanksgiving morning hike.

Thanksgiving is such a great holiday. It is a holiday focused on family and remembering the things we are thankful for. This year we spent Thanksgiving in St. George with my side of the family. It was so fun! Nothing real fancy happened. It was just great to hang out with family and taking a minute to relax and not have to focus on the "have to's".

As always our feast was delicious. The cousins played for hours on end and we spent many hours playing games. The babies toddled around and the adults laughed and had fun. It was a great day (or should I say weekend). I have much to be thankful for.

I am grateful for my family. I am grateful for the gospel. Those two things are an anchor to me throughout life's storms. Without them I would be tossed in turmoil in this world of uncertainty. But thanks to the gospel and my family to depend on I am prepared for what life throws at me.

Lexie is 9

Lexie really, really wanted moon sand for her birthday.

Lexie having a lot of fun at Classic Fun Center for her birthday

Lexie with her two best friends

It baffles me that Lexie is 9. That means in one year she will be 10. How does time fly by so fast?

Lexie has always had a special place in our family. She was the first child for Steve and I to have together. She bridged our blended family.

Lexie is a cute, funny, unique little girl. She loves to have fun. She loves to look forward to events, especially holidays. Lexie loves to be creative and loves any art project.

Lexie is an awesome swimmer. She has passed all the levels of swimming lessons and has started the swim team at Gene Fullmer. Lexie likes school and always does well. Lexie often times gets overlooked being a middle child but she certainly is not forgotten. She is a a very special girl in our family. We love her very much.

My Baby is 1 Today!

I can't believe my baby boy is one today. Time flies when you are a parent. Elijah is such a joy to our family. Life could not be imagined without him. From the moment he was born he has been his unique, fun little self. He is just a happy guy.

Just in time for his birthday he has started walking or I should say started taking steps. He can take about 5 steps before he falls down. He is persistent. I give him a couple weeks until he starts running.

Also just this week he learned how to go down the stairs. We discovered that new talent yesterday when he was downstairs and no one had put him down there. My biggest challenge these days is making sure the girls have put the lid down on the toilets. Elijah loves the bathrooms!

On the Move

Elijah has taken off! He is anywhere and everywhere. Elijah discovered he liked crawling under the baby disc better than playing in the baby disc.
He can balance and stand without holding on to something but no walking yet. He also has learned to crawl the correct way. For awhile he would lake on his tummy and pull himself along with his arms. Then to get momentum he would push with his foot. It looked like a hard upper body workout. But he is now on all four. One thing is for sure if there is a cramped place in the house that looks like you might be able to fit in, Elijah needs to check it out. In this photo Elijah had crawled under his crib and wasn't quite sure how to get out. He kept bonking his poor head as he tried to crawl underneath.

Homecoming

It's hard to believe Emily is dating age. In true teenager form Emily was asked to Homecoming just days before the dance. She scrambled to get things together for the big night. Emily and I don't seem to speak the same language so I am never clear of her plans and I was left clueless how the evening was supposed to go.

To make a long story short Steve and I ended up being their double date. It sounds a lot worse than it was. We casually entered the dance several couples after them and sat on the side enjoying apple juice and cookies as they danced.

I have to say I am so proud of Emily's modesty. That night there were so many girls who were scantily dressed. I asked myself, "Where are their mothers?" Emily shone along with the other girls that were modest and were examples of latter-day saint young women.

Afterward we accompanied them to Applebee's for dinner. We offered to dine separate but they wanted us to eat with them. I think they were actually happy we ate dinner with them because it helped the conversation flow. It was Emily's first "real" date. Although she was not thrilled with us accompanying them she was a good sport. I am proud of the way she handled things.

One in a Million....

Life has been so busy I have not had time to post on my blog. So today I promised myself I would. And I thought I would start of with my amazing husband. I am so lucky to have such an awesome guy!

Steve has been going to school for a LONG time! I don't count before we were married. So just since we have been together he has been plugging along for 10 years. It is really hard to go to school when you have a big family.

Steve just passed another big test! For the past five years I have been saying he has about two years left to get his bachelor's and I can officially say he has less than a year to go! I notice I am using lots of exclamation marks but this is a big deal in our life. I don't know what life is like to have a husband who goes to work and comes home to the family.

Besides school he always dedicates his time to our family. I noticed he spends every extra minute he has taking care of our family. He is always helping with the children. He really is a great dad. He also is very thoughtful. He makes it a point to give me one night a week to go do whatever I want. He knows I have the children a lot and wants to give me a break.

So there you have it folks. I am married to the sweetest, most loving, most amazing guy.

Bear Lake Family Reunion

I am blessed to be married into such a great family. We were able to go to Steve's mother's family reunion last week at Bear Lake. It was so fun.The first night the family went to dinner and a play. I was able to enjoy the dinner but had to miss the play due to baby 'Lijah.

At the playhouse there was this fun horse swing that was made from tires.

The next day was water day! The kids just loved to play and play in the water. You could wade way out into the water before it got deep. It's amazing how many hours of fun sand will give you. The water was a little cold but once you got used to it, it was fun to play in. There was a sand castle building contest. This is one Sadie, Emily, their cousin Nick and his friend Chris worked on.

This is David enjoying the sand castle building contest award. It was a big ice cream shaped lollipop. David earned the award for not stepping on the castles.

We stayed at a KOA in a little cabin. Little cabin means log room with beds and electricity. You bring you're own bedding and there is a community bathroom/shower. It is definitely a step up from sleeping in a tent. David loved it. He called it his house. I forgot to get a picture of it but it was so much fun.

Finally I was able to snag a picture of Anna.
She is always missing at picture time.

Each year there is a pinata and a money dig. So my kids go away with pockets full of candy and coins. But I love spending time with the extended family. They are a happy, positive, welcoming group and I love them. Thanks Donna for making it possible for us to go! I was stinky about getting very many pictures. Better luck next year.

This is Steve's parents.

Museum of Natural History

By the title I thought this place would be boring. It was so fun. They had a lot of interactive displays. Everyone was entertained including David.
The frog exhibit was awesome. They had so many species. Plus some fun props to take pictures on. Also Sadie loved these pictures the museum had that you looked at to try and find the frogs, then you could press a button which would light up where they were. Fooled me every time. I couldn't see one.
This was a big fish tank with frogs in it. You could stand in the middle where there was a hole and look through.They had live bugs to look at. Yuck! But still great for the kids. They even had this cute theater the kids could play with bug puppets.
Upstairs they had a big room with dinosaurs to look at. It is amazing such giant creatures once roamed the earth.
Upstairs there was also a big square-thing that was filled with sand and water that the kids could feel the sand between their fingers and form shapes with. My teenagers loved that. We ended with the fossils that you could find by brushing the sand off. Elijah loved the sand (maybe he wasn't supposed to sit in it).

Cousin Week!

My brother lives in St. George and him and his five children came up to SLC for a week. It was great! We planned something fun everyday while they were here.

The first day we went to Discovery Gateway and spent over three hours there. My kids had so much fun, except the teenagers. However towards the end they got to explore the Gateway for awhile so it turned out great. I will have to post a picture when my sister emails them to me. I forgot my camera (hate that).

Day two was spent at Liberty Park. This is a nice big park with a water area for when it's hot.

Some of our cousins digging in the sand at Liberty Park

My brother Shane burying one of the cousins in the sandDavid coming down the slideCutest baby ever!Lexie enjoying the water part of the parkThe teenagers being bored (as usual)

On Wednesday we headed to Big Cottonwood Canyon. Loved it! I decided our family has to visit the mountains at least twice a month. It is so beautiful up there. Also it's cooler than in the valley and the kids had so much fun. We also promised to go fishing after visiting the lake. We could have stayed a lot longer but we forgot bug repellent and the mosquitoes were loving it.

There is a walking path around the lake at the top of Big Cottonwood. David loved the little prairie dogs (I think that's what they are called) that were everywhere. And the big rocks to jump off of.

Sadie took this picture. I love it with David and cousin Katherine's reflection in the water. They tried to see the fish in the water but just couldn't.

Me and my sisters and my mom. They are going to kill me for showing this picture because all of us are looking a bit "rough" but I sure love my family and enjoy spending time with them. I had to include this photo.

Thursday was bowling day. It was so fun. It certainly was not about the score when you have 10 kids but we loved it. Once again I forgot my camera.

By Friday I was exhausted! We had plans to do something but I couldn't. I was warn out from all that fun and so was Elijah. He hadn't had a good nap schedule all week. But we still ended the week with a bang because that night was the ward campout. Next year we need to plan another cousin week, it was so much fun!

Meet Misty and Kiki

Sadie and Misty
Cousin Katherine and Kiki

After much thought and prayer our family finally added two new cats to our family. We are right next to a school and we have a terrible vole problem. If you don't know what that is, it is a rodent. Very similar to mice but they make shallow tunnels all over your yard and will ruin your garden.

This year it is particularly bad since we are the only family without some sort of pet. And we needed a long term solution because we are going to re-do our yard this fall or next spring.

My children were very excited to get two pets in the process. I don't know why cats get such a bad reputation. They have been the easiest pet I have ever had. They do have to be outside because I am allergic but the maintenance is awesome. We have tried dogs and it has been a full time job. I am very happy with our decision.

Our cats are still very young and we are conditioning them to outside so we don't know yet how they will be at catching all those voles but I am crossing my fingers.

Sweet Sixteen

Emily turned sixteen in June. Can you believe it? I can't. I am just too young to be raising teenagers. Emily spent her "real" birthday with her mom. So we celebrated her birthday on an "unofficial" day.

We tried to celebrate her birthday the day after her official birthday but it was a big flop. It was rainy, we went yard sale shopping way too long and she tried to birthday shop at Jordan Landing but couldn't find anything she liked. We knew the day was a bust.

You only turn sixteen once so we had to do it right. So a few days later Steve got off work early and took Emily to Mimi's Cafe for lunch. After that the family went bowling. And for dinner we had one of her favorite's, Hawaiian Haystacks. The day seemed a lot better.

Heavenly Father sure knew what he was doing to have Emily be the oldest. She gets tired of our lectures and constant worry but over-all she just does things right. When we ask Emily to do something we know she will do it. She is boy crazy and definitely silly but she sticks to her standards and beliefs.

One thing that really impressed me is a boy asked Emily out on a date for Sunday. She was at her mom's when the boy called. Even though she could have easily gone out with him, she turned him down because it was on Sunday. How awesome is that? She is always doing what's right even when we're not there.

Emily really has a testimony of the gospel. She is being raised by our family and her mom and both are completely different lifestyles. Emily chooses to follow the gospel.

I am blessed to be her mom and I love her. I think she is a kind and loving person. I am very fortunate to have such an easy-going, like-able and just all-around great daughter. Although she is my step-daughter, I certainly don't think of her that way. She is my daughter and I am so happy to have her in our family.

Girls Camp

Our ward always has Girls Camp early in the summer. I have been trying to come up with something witty to say but my mind just draws a blank. I think the pictures speak for themselves. I wish I would have taken a before picture as well. Day one they looked so refreshed and ready to go.

When I saw them they were tired, dirty and sunburned. But they had a great time. I am so thankful for their leaders who serve so diligently. My girls will not understand or appreciate your sacrifices until they are mothers and have families of there own. But I am thankful and I understand so THANK YOU!