Tom and Emily

Surprise!!!

2010-09-09T07:18:00.001-07:00

For any of you who don't know we are expecting our fifth child. If this is a shock to you it's more than a shock to us. I am currently 13 weeks. I have a long way to go until March 16th, and so far it's not been a fun journey. I had finally decided that our family was as big as it should be. It took a long time to come to that conclusion and feel good about it. I scheduled an appointment to talk with my doctor and set a date for surgery. I had been on birth control and was ready to go ahead with it. Instead of a surgery consult, the visit ended up being and initial pregnancy visit. This baby is supposed to come to our family. For some reason unknown to us, against all the odds and despite my past experiences with miscarriages this baby is doing well and making me very sick. So I'm still trying to come to terms with the fact that I will have five children, the thought is so overwhelming to me. I guess if I don't want my prayers answered I should ask. I said I'm done, if I am not supposed to be You better do something about it. Well, He did. God's plans are not my plans. In six months I'll be excited and more than ready to have a baby, I always am.

Imperfect? That's an understatement!

2010-06-30T12:25:00.000-07:00

I don’t claim to have an IQ in the range of Albert Einstein but I don’t hold myself in the realm of Mr. Gump either. Apparently, however, Forrest happened to be much more fortunate than myself. One would have to assume that at some point I would learn from the stupid things that I do and not repeat them or at least stop adding to the long list. Unfortunately, I continue to do stupid things. They say if you can’t admit to yourself that what you did was stupid and you don’t tell anyone else about it, then they can’t laugh at you. So here is my latest post on the stupid things I do.

At the beginning of June we had the awesome experience of going to Bear Lake with my parents and brothers and sisters and their families. We rented a cabin and had a great time. Emily and I decided to take the 4-wheelers down with us and they ended up being a lot of fun. We took them around the mountain side where the cabin was and then on Saturday we decided to take them to the beach.

So we drove over to the Idaho side of Bear Lake. Our family, Heather and her kids, Jon and Kara, Lisa and Jared, Mark and Mom and Dad all came with us. As soon as we got there the kids immediately started running through the water and playing in the sand. They didn’t care that it was 60 degrees outside and the lake was probably close to 40 degrees.

A critical decision was made immediately upon our arrival at the beach that has great import to this tale. When I turned off the Armada I contemplated on where I wanted to put the keys. I didn’t want them in my pocket just in case I went into the water. I also didn’t want to leave them in the car just in case one of the kids locked the doors. So I decided to put them in the cup holder of our Ogio bag on Emily’s 4-wheeler.

We all had a lot of fun and took the 4-wheelers all over the place. Jon and I especially enjoyed tearing up the beach. I let Jon ride mine and I rode Emily’s. We spun them around and took them from one side of the beach to the other.

We had been there for a couple of hours when Emily asked where the keys to the Armada were. So I went to get them out of the cup holder of the 4-wheeler and much to my horror they were not there. I decided to check five more times just in case I had missed a hiding place inside of the normal sized cup holder, or maybe they had vanished for a minute and were now back where they were supposed to be. They still weren’t there.

My next move was to look out over the vast sands of the Sahara and notice the miles of 4-wheeler tracks we had just created and had just one thought. “Did I just do what I think I just did?” The answer was, “YES!” Somewhere in that vast wasteland that is the beach at Bear Lake the keys to our vehicle fell out of the cup holder of the 4-wheeler. I suppose that this is a good time in the story to mention that when we bought this particular vehicle they only gave us one set of keys.

To try and make a long story mildly shorter, my wonderful brother and two sisters and their families helped us comb the beach for probably another two hours. We went up and down that beach over and over trying to find the keys and even with all of the pleadings that went skyward and all of the gnashing of teeth that I did the keys were not located anywhere on the beach. It was time to start thinking of exactly how we were going to get out of this predicament. We couldn’t just have someone run us home and pick up the spare because there wasn’t one. Also, to further complicate things, we needed to get our 4-wheelers home.

So I went into a small shop that was there by the beach and asked to see the local phone book. Now, being from Idaho I am used to seeing small phone books but this one took first place in the thinnest phone book contest. They didn’t have the “Yellow Pages” it was just one yellow page. That was all they needed. So needless to say my choices for locksmiths were slim to none. Secondly trying to find someone actually working at 6:30pm on a Saturday night would be a miracle somewhere between the water turning to wine and the loaves and the fishes.

Believe it or not, I did get someone to answer the phone. He was the local tow truck driver that moonlighted in making keys and on the side he would give people free rides on the hook of his tow truck. . . of course it cost 10 dollars for him to get you back down. Anyway, this very nice individual named Todd told me something I didn’t know. You can’t make a key for a Nissan Armada that will work without reprogramming the locks and apparently the only place that can do that for you is a dealership. Todd was very helpful and offered me a selection of dealerships in the area that could take care of my problem. What I quickly found was that the term “in the area” meant the entire western half of the United States. So we narrowed it down to either Logan or Pocatello. Being that Pocatello was closer to Idaho Falls I asked pleasant Todd if he wouldn’t mind scurrying on up to Park Price Motors in Pocatello with my Armada. He agreed, so one part of the predicament was solved.

Now I have a trailer with two 4-wheelers on it that needs to somehow get to Idaho Falls. Oh, and a family too I guess. And this is where you are thankful to family. Heather had her truck and was kind enough to haul the trailer back to the cabin for us. Then we crammed into Jon’s Arcadia and Mark’s Impala and got the family back to the cabin. Once there we began to make some calls and more generosity flowed as Kristin offered to take some of the kids and haul the 4-wheelers back for us if necessary, and Dad offered to bring down a car for us and Chad (Emily’s dad) was ready to head down from the cabin to get us and then Charlie stepped up big and offered to drive my truck down the next morning. So that is what we ended up doing.

Needless to say after a $400.00 tow bill and a $350.00 bill to make two sets of keys, and I must mention that we broke our $400.00 digital camera too, we were back home as if the weekend had never happened. I was pretty sure that one or two of my siblings mentioned trying to do another get together just like that one. I’m thinking another weekend like that and I’ll be taking a 2nd out on my house!

Jamaica!!

2010-04-25T10:11:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from our trip. It really was amazing.

A dream vacation!

Here we go.

2010-04-15T12:47:00.000-07:00

I'm a little sad to be leaving my children for a week. But I am much more excited to be going on a vacation with my husband. Jamaica here we come. I will be posting pictures when we get back!

What was I thinking???

2010-03-04T13:21:00.000-08:00

Never leave your almost 8 year old (whose puke you had to clean up in the middle of the night) in charge of your 2 year old with the t.v. on and a brand new bottle of dark finger nail polish on the counter because you forgot to put it away after you got home from the store.

More projects finished

2010-02-24T11:01:00.001-08:00

1 quilt for myself & 1 recipe book for myself.

Two of the things on my project list that I can mark off.

Valentine's Day

2010-02-15T11:47:00.000-08:00

Gifts from my sweetheart : Flowers, a big green frog (huge hit with the kids), and chocolate which is of course already gone. Thank you hon! I love you so much.

Super Bowl

2010-02-15T11:38:00.000-08:00

Tom is a huge Colts fan so we had to have a huge party because they made it to the super bowl. He got permission to have the party in the basement of where he works the kids loved it. They didn't end up winning but it was a great party and the Saints were a good team to lose to.

Saturday Project

2010-01-30T16:43:00.001-08:00

This is what I did today!

It doesn't look like much but it is. I made eight different freezer recipes. Enough for ten meals and 24 lunches. It took all day and inbetween I fixed lunch, watched Nemo and Incredibles, broke a nail, and started dinner. Tom can finish dinner I think.

A Very Stupid Thing

2010-01-22T12:40:00.000-08:00

There comes a time in a mans life when one must do something stupid. It is a law of nature that a human being cannot go through life without doing atleast one very stupid thing. For me it happens to be more than one. . . actually more than I can count. In other words more than I have fingers and toes.

Today I had one of those very stupid moments. It is definitely in the top three and may even get ranked at number one. It has now been almost three hours from this most embarrassing moment and I have yet to stop smiling and shaking my head.

Let me set the scene. It is snowy and the wind is blowing and I am hungry and my truck is on empty. So on my way back from a lunch break where I didn't actually eat lunch I stopped at Buck's, a local gas station near where I work. I got out and immediately a big fat snowflake smacks me right in the eye blinding me for a second. That is the kind of weather I was dealing with.

So I hunker down into my coat to stop the snow from hitting me in the face as I swiped my card and got the diesel pumping into my truck. As soon as I knew the fuel was flowing I took off across the parking lot and went into the gas station to see if they had anything to eat. Believe it or not they actually have an entire selection of lunches set under heat lamps and have probably been sitting there for days. I looked over the selection and passed up on the egg rolls and chicken gizzards (yes gizzards and no I am not making this up) and decided on the cheeseburger. So using packets of ketchup and mayonnaise I dressed up the rubbery burger and went to pay.

On a side note - most everyone that is reading this blog knows that I am a crazed Colts fan and that they are playing this weekend in the AFC Championship game. So I was having what Emily calls my own "personal spirit day". I had on a Colts T-shirt and a Colts jacket.

So when I finally get to the cashier and began to pay for my lunch that may or may not give me diarrhea for the next twelve hours the gal behind the counter deciding to try and be funny for the first time in her life says to me, "you don't like the Colts do you?" No, I hate them. They are the worst football team in the NFL. What do you think you silly girl?

Well of course I caught the sarcasm in her voice and bantered back about how much I hate them using my own sarcastic tone. The transaction finally completed as we continued joking about my attire and I ran back out into the windy snowy weather - this time getting smacked with a big wet snowflake in my ear. It was like getting a freezing cold wet-willy. So in order to diminish the chances of getting more freezing cold wet willies and also to stop any heat from going out of the fake cheeseburger I had just purchased I started to dash back across the parking lot of the gas station. Side Note: There is only one thing worse than eating a hot fake cheeseburger. That is eating a cold fake cheeseburger.

So I run to my truck and jump in the cab, fumble for my keys and start the engine. I throw it into drive and pull away from the pump, thinking about how late I am going to be in getting back to work. I start to pull around the second set of pumps and then before my mind can even comprehend the epiphany that it just had my body reacted slamming on the brakes. I looked out my side view mirror and yes, much to my chagrin I had just pulled away from the pump with the nozzle still stuffed into my gas tank. My stomach fell into my feet with my heart and jaw not far behind. I knew that I had gone way too far for the short little hose that they have hooked to the nozzle that was in my fuel tank could stretch. I had just ripped the nozzle and hose from the pump.

To add to my horror I looked up and there is this kindly looking elderly lady that had been pumping gas at another pump jumping up and down and pointing at my gas tank with wild eyes. I don't know if she was saying anything and frankly I didn't want to know what she was saying even if she was saying anything. My mind was too busy thinking of what to do at this junction in time. The damage had been done. There were many witnesses to testify of my stupidity. What to do?

I decided to act like I do this kind of thing all the time and I drove around all of the pumps with a bright green nozzle and long green hose sticking out of my truck and dragging on the ground. I honestly don’t know how many people were staring at me, but at a time like that you are sure most everyone in Idaho Falls turned their eyes on you. After circling the entire set of pumps going at what felt like 0.0004 miles per hour I got back to the pump that I had just dismembered and got out of my truck and with as much dignity as I could muster I pulled the nozzle out of my gas tank and hung it up. I then began inspecting the other side of the hose and realized that it was a quick release. So I simply hooked it back up with diesel pouring all over my hands and grabbed my receipt, hopped back into my truck and making sure I did not make eye contact with anyone in the parking lot of the gas station I drove away.

As I pulled back out into traffic I finally remembered I hadn’t done something since realizing what a stupid thing I had just done, so I exhaled and began breathing once again. After another hundred yards of driving down Sunnyside the jitters subsided and the giggles (oh wait that isn’t manly enough) the chuckles set in. Or maybe I should say chortles, or sniggers. Anyway you get the point. I was still laughing as I sat down at my desk and began to eat my cheeseburger and it was at this point that I had another epiphany, I had forgotten the pickles.

Are You Kidding Me???

2010-01-21T09:05:00.001-08:00

I woke the kids up for school this morning and came upstairs. Shaustia came running up and said she had red spots all over her belly. I looked and told her she wasn't going to school.

This is her back and more keep appearing all the time.

Then I started scratching my arm and look what I saw. Sorry I'm not going to post a picture of my back or belly. I had the chicken pox when I was a kid and Shaustia had the vaccine. What's up??

Around our House.

2010-01-21T08:33:00.001-08:00

Eli wearing my snow boots. I remember doing exactly the same with with my Dad's boots when I was a little girl.
What a brilliant idea! Czar didn't think so. Are you digging the hair in Elie's pictures. She won't keep anything in it she pulls everything out I put in.

Staying out of the way while Dad snow blows the driveway.

Christmas Time

2010-01-21T07:45:00.000-08:00

We had a very nice Christmas this year. We had a fun Christmas Eve with some friends at the church. The kids loved running to their hearts content in the gym. On Christmas we had an easy going relaxing day. We stayed home and did everything at our leisure. It was enjoyable, in fact just a couple of days ago we were in the car and Keaton said out of the blue "Mom we had a nice Christmas huh"? It really was.

Here are some pictures:

Christmas Eve. Our Nativity at the church.

Elie loves chocolate! I think she liked the chocolate and everyone else's gifts the best.

Keaton in his bumblebee get up playing with his cars workbench.

Austin, the star wars fanatic.

Shaustia got very spoiled, this is her music-video player.

RASH!!!

2009-12-23T14:07:00.000-08:00

Last night, well this morning, at 4:30 we gave Elie a bath because she had thrown up and she needed cleaned up. I tried to get her to go back to sleep with me but she only did off and on. Later on this morning around nine or so she came to me and I sat her on my lap and noticed tons of scratches on her neck, so I put some lotion on her and cut her nails. Then I decided to just get her dressed. I took off her shirt and she had a rash and hives under her arms. I was starting to panic a little, then I took off her pants and there was more behind her knees on her torso and the top of her legs. It was all bright red and bumpy. I immediatly took her to Urgent Care without getting out of my pajamas and without brushing my teeth or my hair. They don't know what caused it but they gave her benadryl and some steroids. They also took some blood and some pictures. She is doing much better now. But I was very concerned. I hope it doesn't come back but we don't know what caused it in the first place. When we got home I snapped a couple of pictures. The first two you can see the red rash. The last one is what she did to her neck because she was so itchy.

Emily's Clogging Performance

2009-12-15T14:42:00.000-08:00

This is Emily's performance at the Ward Christmas Party. I think she did great. She definitely worked hard in order to be ready. This is also on Youtube if you want to share it further. It is at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rC6S7EA7vc

Our Family

2009-12-15T08:34:00.001-08:00

I didn't send pictures with our Christmas newsletter but I put our blog address on the bottom of each one so anyone who would like could see our pictures that way. Merry Christmas everyone!

Our "MANIAC"!

2009-12-15T07:12:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Keaton was playing outside in the cold, snow and ice. Somehow he slipped on the ice and hit his face on the sidewalk where there actually wasn't any snow. Then he was riding on the four wheeler with me and he just fell off. I looked over and he was on the ground rolling away. Later I called him a maniac and he didn't think that was nice but that all happened within a half an hour. He is wild and crazy but so fun!

Tutu's

2009-12-14T07:19:00.000-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neMFZibleCA

We had our ward Christmas party on Saturday. Above is a link to the youtube site where you can view the number put on by the elder's quorum, that Tom was in charge of. We all thought it was pretty hilarious hope you enjoy it too.

Letters and Sounds

2009-12-04T08:33:00.000-08:00

Keaton just finished learning all the sounds that go with the letters of the alphabet. I'm so impressed with him, he remembers them and he hasn't had his fifth birthday yet. Eliana likes to do it with him and I think it's adorable.

Pay It Forward -complete

2009-10-29T13:21:00.000-07:00

In February I participated in a pay it forward where you were to make a hand made gift for three people who made comments on your blog for that post (within a year). Well they are finally done. Gayle, Adrienne, Holly and Natali. I did 4 because some wanted a gift but didn't want to participate in passing it on. If you haven't received yours you will soon. I just need an address from Adrienne. Send it to me by e-mail and I'll drop yours off to your house. But I won't visit because we've had sickness on and off at our house. They aren't much and I'm not very good but I did make them all by myself. I was going to post a picture but it's not working right now. If you're too curious I'll let you know what they are, they are furry scarves. Enjoy! I hope.

10 years!!

2009-10-01T13:21:00.001-07:00

Today, October 1st, 2009 , is our 10th wedding anniversary. Has it really been ten years? I love you so much Tom. Thank you for choosing me and sharing your life with me.

The enormous bouquet of flowers that I received from my great husband. They are beautiful, just look at the size of that vase so everything would fit.

4-Wheelin

2009-10-01T13:15:00.001-07:00

A little while ago we got four wheelers. We have been taking them out every chance we get. On this trip we went with another family from our ward. They go a lot and are showing us some good places to go. The mountain is called Little Elk. We rode the four wheelers up and then we hiked down and back up the mountain. It was quite the work out but we had a really good time. I wasn't all for the four wheelers when we got them, but now I'm so glad we got them they are such fun for the whole family. I had taken my "cool" shirt off because I was so hot after carrying Elie up the mountain, Elie doesn't have a "cool" shirt because she's too little and Shaustia's is around her waist I think.

Girls

2009-10-01T13:08:00.000-07:00

Here are our beautiful girls in their new Sunday dresses.

Elie riding the scooter in her butterfly Halloween costume with her "tenny" shoes on. She's so adorable!

Soccer

2009-10-01T13:03:00.000-07:00

Austin is playing soccer again. He took a couple of camps over the summer and has improved tons. He is so fun to watch, it makes me very proud to see him do so well and take the pushes and falls with bravery. He has had six games and made eight goals, at least one each game. Tom is his coach. We only have two more games and I'll be sad to have it be over. In the picture our team had just scored a goal, Austin is number 2 with his hands in the air.

School

2009-10-01T12:53:00.001-07:00

Shaustia and Austin started school August 24th.

Elie loves to wave to them and blow them kisses as they go off to school. Here she's wearing Austin's sweatshirt because she so loves him and wants to do what he does.

Bear Lake

2009-10-01T12:39:00.001-07:00

In mid August we took a trip to Bear Lake with Tom's brother Jon's family. It didn't start out as a very nice day but we stayed and it got nicer. The kids and the grown ups had a fun time.

Elie still has sand in her swimming suit.
Keaton's grin shows how he feels.

Elie bringing up the tail end of Keaton, Austin, Shaustia, and Jace.

The sand castle the Dad's built.

Eliana talking to her Dad on the phone!!

2009-08-11T19:30:00.001-07:00

New things!

2009-08-04T12:28:00.000-07:00

Elie's Ponytail Is New!!

It's barely there but I'll take what I can get.

Our quilt for our bed. We don't like comforters they're too.. I don't know, puffy and hot. So we have quilts on our bed. With the kids climbing and wrestling and jumping on our bed all the time I finally spent the money and got a nice one, I keep having to get new ones because I would buy cheap ones that can't handle the wear and tear.

Our close to Home Getaway

2009-08-04T10:55:00.000-07:00

Last week we took a little vacation. We went to Fairmont, Montana and to the cabin in Island Park. In Montana we stayed at the Fairmont Hot Springs resort. So we could swim all we (the kids) wanted to, it wasn't very warm while we were there so it was good that they are hot springs so we were able to swim in the warm water while it was cold out (I didn't get any pictures at the pool). We took a little trip over to the Lewis and Clark Caverns. I remember a little bit about it from when I went there when I was a kid. It was a lot of walking with Elie on the front of me in a snugli but fun and the kids liked. On the drive back to the hotel we decided to make an adventure for ourselves and climbed up and over and down and up again to a huge cave that we saw from the road on our way. We definitely got our exercise that day. After Montana we came home for a day, Tom went to work and we got the lawn mowed and laundry done. Then we took the four-wheelers up to the Cabin. The Shuldberg's went with us and we had a blast. I haven't ridden that much at one time and by the time it was time to go home I think we were all ready to be done for a while.

At the end of the caverns at Lewis and Clark Caverns
The hike to the cavern entrance they said it was about 3/4 of a mile uphill.

Some of the many awesome formations inside the caverns.

The cave we climbed to.

From the inside of the cave if you look closely you can see three of the kids at the entrance.

This is where Elie and I stayed while the rest of the family went on to the cave. We went a big part of the way but decided it was too dangerous and hard to take Elie the whole way.

After a long day of hiking and swimming.

This is Sparky's Garage in Dillon Montana. We ate there on the way and on the way back. Their barbecue is delicious.

This is how I looked after our long four wheeler ride. I had no idea and Tom and the kids kept laughing at me so I went to look for myself in the mirror. It was pretty funny looking so I had Tom take a picture of me with dust caked on my face.

Summer & some pictures from the past 4 months

2009-07-25T09:03:00.000-07:00

Eliana and Grandpa Buttars

Elie's so tiny that she puts her legs through the handle to keep herself on the teeter-totter.

Keaton was so exhausted that he fell asleep this way. At least he was in the shade.

Shaustia's dance recital was clear back in May.

Their piano teacher Holly, Austin, and Shaustia at their piano recital back in May also.

All summer we've been going and going. Even if it's not in the van the kids are going back and forth up and down the street to play with friends. They have been going to bed late and sometimes just fall asleep because they've played so hard and haven't slept much. We're going to actually try and take a little vacation next week but Tom has a lot going on at work so I hope it goes well. Elie is so little not 20 pounds yet but she is a very smart little girl. She loves to cuddle and be held and she just makes us smile and laugh. Keaton goes constantly, he always wants something to eat and never wants to rest. Austin hates doing his chores, he's finally growing a little I think, and he desperately wants to lose a tooth since he's going into second grade and was the only one in his first grade that hadn't. Shaustia just turned 9, she can be very helpful and sweet. She is trying out volleyball at a camp and wants to have plastic surgery on her knee that looks horrid from her bike accident last year. We still have a little of summer left, it's going so fast. We have swimming lessons, another soccer camp, and a trip to Utah still to come.

It's Been Awhile

2009-06-25T08:24:00.000-07:00

So much has been going on and I haven't posted about any of it. Austin and Tom had birthdays. School got out. We've been running around going to soccer, baseball, softball, the library, and other appointments. I've been trying to keep up on the yard better this year so it doesn't get out of hand. So far it's going well with the cooler weather we've had I haven't minded being outside. It's heating up fast now though. June is always busy with ball and passes so quickly. We're planning and looking forward to our 4th of July celebrations next week. It's Tom's favorite holiday. He's been very very busy lately. I've been wondering if he lives here or not he's gone so much and even when he's here he's doing more work on other projects he has. We'd like to go on vacation somewhere sometime this summer. But we don't know when or where. Everyone is growing and mostly happy and getting tan. Our kids get so dark in the summer. Shaustia is going to go to volleyball camp and have a birthday pretty soon. Austin is at soccer camp and thinks that's cool. Keaton looks like an Indian boy and wants to go go go and eat eat eat all the time. Eliana is finally getting a little hair and it's very light. She's saying some new things and loves to look at books. We are doing chores everyday and I hear lots of moanings but I think it has been good for the children and is going pretty well. Over all we're doing pretty good and for the most part we're happy and healthy.

She likes to roll it.

2009-04-22T17:08:00.000-07:00

Keaton - no more training wheels!!

2009-04-22T13:10:00.001-07:00

It took Keaton all of about 10 minutes to learn to ride his bike without training wheels. He is amazing, I let him go and when he crashed I told him he rode by himself and he gave me two thumbs up and said "YES!" He's working on starting and stopping. I don't think it is going to take him very long to get it all figured out.

Easter

2009-04-22T09:26:00.000-07:00

Our trip to Utah

2009-04-22T08:53:00.000-07:00

In The Life of Elie

2009-03-10T17:57:00.000-07:00

Playing with my Ipod in Czar's kennel, silly crazy girl!

Playing at the mall. Keaton really tries to be helpful, it just doesn't seem to work out as being helpful sometimes.

This little monkey scares us to death with the things she tries to climb on. Check out her trick on Saturday, she is so proud of herself.

Shaustia had a four wheeler when she was a baby so I wanted to get one for Elie. She still has to get it all figured out but she likes it and tries tricks on it just like her big sister did. She can walk if she chooses to, she just usually doesn't choose to. I finally caught her doing it on video.

Elie and Keaton playing in their "fort" underneath the barstools.

Insights from Keaton

2009-03-03T17:06:00.000-08:00

Most of the time Keaton says things like: That's a bunch of crap dad! Holy crap thats a lot! Hey Daddy foo foo? Holy macaroni! And such.

Then he has days like yesterday where he says things that just make you think. We were eating lunch and when we have lunch I usually sit on a barstool by him and let him have his talking time with Mom. He was telling me something about preschool I think, then he stopped for a minute. The next thing he said was "Heaven is a really sunny day." "Heaven is," I asked. "Yeah, up in the sky where Heavenly Father is," was Keaton's reply.
Later at dinner the kids were talking about their dreams. Austin told Keaton that he didn't remember his dreams last night. So Keaton said "Jesus didn't give you dreams last night?"
He's growing up and I can see that he is learning things and believing them too. I'm so grateful to be a Mom and witness the miracle of children and be a part of their love and joy.

Sleeping Baby and Priorities

2009-02-26T10:18:00.000-08:00

It's been a long process and a lot of headaches and stress, but Elie is finally starting to sleep. She got to the point where she wasn't sleeping at all during the day. Which of course led to a grouchy baby and a grounchy mama. Yesterday she took a two hour nap in the afternoon and slept all night. Today so far she took a short morning nap for half an hour and we'll give it another try for a longer one this afternoon. So now exercising is going to be my priority when she takes her nap. I have a goal of 4 days a week. I have a ticker at the bottom of our blog to make me accountable. I removed that ticker, too time consuming to keep up on.

Suggestions Anyone???

2009-02-17T08:28:00.000-08:00

I need any suggestions that anyone has to help me lose some weight. I weigh the same thing now that I did one year ago when I had a new baby. I don't feel like myself. Everything I put on seems too tight. But I can't get motivated to work harder at getting this baby weight off. I'll get so sick of it and do really well for a day or two then go back to what is simple, fast and easy. I need something simple, fast and easy that helps me be healthier!

Wow, I'm Popular

2009-02-12T20:58:00.000-08:00

I'm so popular that only two people even want my gift, that's sad. Tom has been gone this week and three of our kids have been sick. I just really hope that Elie and I don't get anything, but the way Elie was acting today I wouldn't be surprised if she doesn't feel very good either. I really don't like it when Tom is gone I'm so glad he's coming home.

Pay It Forward

2009-02-05T11:32:00.000-08:00

I usually don't do this kind of thing, but I really loved the idea. (Thanks Holly!)
Pay It Forward Exchange is based on the concept of the movie "Pay it forward". I will send a hand made gift to the first three people who leave a comment to this post on my blog requesting to join the PIF exchange. All the gifts will be made and posted out 'sometime within the next year'. How exciting to not know when your surprise package will arrive! What you need to do in return, is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog. This Exchange is only open to those with active websites or blogs. ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS PROMISE TO POST THIS SAME 'PAY IT FORWARD' MESSAGE ONTO YOUR BLOG, WHICH MUST BE ACTIVE IN ORDER TO PLAY. YOU WILL PAY IT FORWARD TO THREE PEOPLE WHO COMMENT ON YOUR BLOG. I'd love for you to join me! Will you? Other comments are welcome, but only the first three will be my Pay It Forward recipients. Come and join me who doesn't love a gift or giving gifts???

Toes

2009-01-24T14:28:00.000-08:00

Here is the outcome of our Saturday morning nail polish party.

Bows and Shakes

2009-01-24T14:17:00.000-08:00

Elie keeps adding more teeth to her mouth and is standing up on her own. I suspect she'll just start taking steps any day now.

This was my first attempt at trying to put a bow in Elie's hair. She still doesn't have much hair but she has the tuft at the back so I gave it a try.

Elie enjoys sharing shakes (or smoothies) with her Daddy.

Defining Moments

2009-01-20T07:24:00.001-08:00

In Sunday School the teacher asked us to think of defining moment in our lives. I've been thinking about that, (I still have to think some more) and I have a lot of defining moments in my life: The time I learned that I took things way to personal, a very embarassing story for me, told by a person who is now my friend. The times I've seen a new life come into this world and the time I watched one pass away. And a relief society lesson where I felt and realized how incomprehensible God's love for us is.

Christmas

2008-12-30T21:18:00.002-08:00

We had a very nice Christmas this year. It seems like our Decembers are so full with two birthdays and Christmas but it's such a wonderful time of year. Watching our children on Christmas morning is the best gift I could ever get. I love each one of them so much, if I never got anything I would feel lucky and be happy because I will always have Tom and my children and they make me feel so loved. I'm so thankful for the birth of Jesus Christ our Savior. I hope each of you had a happy Christmas and made some loving memories to always cherish.

Our new pajamas.

Elie decided to enjoy some chocolate first thing. That's my girl!

Austin asked Santa for 2 things. A stars wars transport ship was one of them. He was just a little excited.

The other thing Austin wanted was a New York Jets jersey with number 4 on the back.

VIP's littlest pet shops. You get on line with a code and you can play games, and buy things, and decorate their house. She thought it was pretty cool that she now has three of them.

Shaustia wanted a DS from Santa, she got it along with some games to play on it.

Keaton's big orange truck that he asked Santa for. Keaton wasn't acting very thrilled about anything and we couldn't figure out why until we had to take him to the doctor the next day.

My awesome gift was an i-pod touch. I've been playing games on it and using it everyday. Tom didn't get anything very exciting this year, but I hope he had a good Christmas anyway.

Christmas dinner: Turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, rolls, broccoli with cheese, and green kool-aid with sprite in the fancy glasses. We had Grandma May over for dinner, Tom went and got her and took her home afterwards because the weather and roads were so bad.

This is how Elie ate dinner, with her feet on the table most of the time.

Elie's Birthday

2008-12-30T20:40:00.000-08:00

A cute purple care bear to love.

This was the cutest thing. After we got the baby out of the box Elie grabbed it and hugged it and then gave it a kiss. And we actually caught it on camera.

We had never seen a one year old play with their toys instead of the paper. We were pleased, but Mom had a sad day because her baby turned one.

Keaton's Birthday

2008-12-30T20:18:00.000-08:00

Keaton's Snot Rod Cake!

Snot Rod is a character from the Car's movie in case you were wondering.

The screaming banshee, also from the movie Car's.

One of the games we played at Keaton's party was to build the snowman, instead of pin the tail on the donkey. This is how our snowman turned out.

Kids from our Clan.

2008-12-30T20:01:00.000-08:00

Austin is peeking at us, he's a handsome dude.

The reindeer are pushing the holiday express.

This is what Keaton would wear all winter long if Mom would let him.

On this day Keaton asked me where the shovel was. When I told him it was in the garage he went to put his coat on and said he was going out to shovel like Dad does.

Our children and their cousins on the Buttars side at Grandpa Buttars house for his 68th birthday.

Our Elie

2008-12-30T16:34:00.000-08:00

CHEESE !!!

Elie looking down the stairs with envy.

Aren't I cute!

This is how Elie says "I don't know." When she's up to it that is. She also does it sometimes when she knows she's in trouble.

Keaton was pushing Elie around in this box. Keaton had some candy in his mouth and they were having such a good time that he was laughing and drooled on her head.

Pretty baby in the lights.

Eliana's Christmas dress.

Bye everyone.

Family Christmas Letter

2008-12-19T06:15:00.000-08:00

So the family Christmas letter is back by popular demand. Another year gone by quicker than the one before (technically it was longer because it was a leap year but whose counting right?). Our family is no longer so little – in both size and number. Not that we are getting fat but the kids are growing taller and older. We had some amazing memories this year that I would like to share.

I guess I’ll go first and get the worst part of this letter out of the way. Not much to say here. My gut is getting bigger – I am no longer shaving my head but there still isn’t much on it to speak of – still working at Wada Farms but we did move into a new spacious building which was great – still in the Elder’s Quorum Presidency – still the one writing the Christmas letter. One thought about the following paragraphs. The people I am talking about are truly the reason why I get up in the morning and thus I can be very biased.

Emily is as busy as she has ever been. Her workload has increased considerably with the addition of Eliana. She now has four little ones to raise and she does an amazing job. I would never be able to take her place, nor would I want to. I am pretty sure I would fail where she succeeds. I am always amazed with her ability to get it all done and do a good job with her calling as the Webelos leader. Something new this year that has been fun is that we have joined a dinner group. Where Emily takes one night a week and makes dinner for three families and then the next two nights the other wives make dinner for us.

Shaustia had a major milestone in her life this year. She turned 8 years old and was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. We were so happy for her and it was definitely a memorable day for all of us. She is an amazing girl soon to be a young woman and has a knack for writing stories and loves to draw. She got braces this year. Unfortunately she inherited her Dad’s teeth. Hopefully they will be off here in the next couple of months.

Austin and Keaton could not be more different in personality. Austin loves video games and television and gets excited about anything remotely related to Star Wars. Keaton could really care less about television and video games. He gets bored with them easily. However, you will find him outside most of the time and he loves to wrestle and play ball and play with cars. The odd thing about Keaton that we find rather interesting is that he is by far the most picky about his clothes. He won’t wear jeans and he absolutely loves the color orange. You always know how Austin is feeling. He is quick to forgive but also quick to anger. Keaton is a tough kid who doesn’t like to show emotion unless he doesn’t get what he wants. Then you know exactly how he feels. Even though they are two very different boys I couldn’t be happier with how they are choosing to live their lives and the way they are growing up.

Eliana is our newest addition and she couldn’t be more wonderful. She has been an absolute joy to have in our home. She is pretty small for her age and that makes her all the more cute and cuddly. It is bittersweet every time she hits a milestone knowing it will be the last time one of our kids will roll over or crawl for the first time. She is crawling and standing up and soon will be walking even though she seems way too small to be able to do any of that. No matter how bad my day is, the minute I get home and hold her in my arms, I find myself calmer and happier. She is going to be one spoiled kid by her dad.

My thought this year comes from a great scripture Revelations 3:16. It’s the one about spewing lukewarm water out of His mouth and likening us to that lukewarm water. I know that in my life I have become very complacent in my calling, in my faith and in life in general. How easy it is to get caught up in everyday life and trying to “succeed” in the world. What matters most in the eternities is pushed aside. I think to myself, “As the kids get older it will be easier to be more faithful.” Home and visiting teaching, keeping the Sabbath day holy, not watching inappropriate movies and TV shows, spending time talking with God and learning of Him – not just at Church. Yes, I go to church and I have a calling, but really how worthy am I to be in the presence of God when I am so lukewarm in my daily routine? We celebrate His birth during this time of year and then try and set goals for the year to follow. Let us remember who brought us here, who gives us breath, and who made it possible for us to return. I hope we all can remember why we are here and why we celebrate Christmas all year long! Merry CHRISTmas!

November

2008-12-01T09:43:00.000-08:00

Last night we went to Mud Lake to my Dad's house. Today is his birthday so almost everyone was there to have dinner and celebrate. It was loud, we ate, we talked, kids got hurt, we opened gifts, and had cake. But Dad wouldn't let me help clean up. He is 68 today. He is a very generous thoughtful and giving man. I'm grateful to have him for my father. I hope he knows how much he means to me and how much I love him.
For Thanksgiving we went to Pocatello and had dinner with Tom's family. Everyone was there. We ate of course, played games and visited and everyone left. We went to his sisters house afterward. Tom and the kids stayed to watch the football game and I went to a movie with some of his sisters.
Let's see, what else. We got the Christmas decorations out and put up. Tom moved into a new office at work. It's brand new, it just got finished being built. It's very large and so much easier to get to from our house. I went to Twilight on opening night at 12:30 a.m. with Holly and Heidi and Holly's Mom. I really enjoyed it. I liked the movie and even though there were a gazillion people there it was fun. Keaton and Elie both have a birthday coming up. I can't believe Elie will be one in a couple of weeks and Keaton will be 4. We've been trying to get Christmas and birthday shopping done also. This year I'm not ready like I usually am I still have a lot to think about and take care of. I guess that's what four kids does to me. It seems like I'm behind on everything. I used to like to prepare for things way in advance but I can't do that anymore. I'm usually finally getting things taken care of just before they need to be done. Oh well, I'll just have to adjust and deal with things not being like they used to. Because I'm so grateful for these four children that it really doesn't matter if our house is a mess and I procrastinate. As long as they are loved and cared for.

Halloween

2008-11-10T09:50:00.000-08:00

This year we all dressed up for Halloween. It was my first time dressing up since we got married. I was a princess, Tom was an evil jester, Eliana was a frog, Shaustia was a vampire cheerleader, Austin was Aniken, and for this picture Keaton was a doctor.

By the time it was trick or treating time Keaton had gone downstairs and found his dragon costume which he had planned on wearing. He just didn't want to go downstairs by himself so when Shaustia went with him he changed costumes.

This was our craft project for the day. The kids didn't have school on Halloween so we made things with play foam. They had a good time and got very creative.

Here is Elie dancing, she gets really crazy sometimes but of course I can never get that on video.

Change

2008-11-05T08:24:00.000-08:00

So last night we (the people of the United States) elected Mr. Barack Obama as our next President of the United States. If you ask Obama supporters why they did it they say it was because they wanted change. My question that none of them can seem to answer is - what kind of change are you looking for? Do you think Mr. Obama can swoop in and fix the economy just because he was the most different looking person from George W Bush that you could find? Do you think Mr. Obama is going to bring peace to the world and "bring our troops home" just because he won a popularity contest? These changes don't happen just because you voted for someone who talks pretty.

YOU have to do it! The people of the world have to do it. It is the beauty of the democratic nation that we live in. We the people. . . not you the President. If you want that then why don't we let him be King Obama and then he can do whatever he wants and you better hope he knows what he is doing because most kings don't do so well. It wasn't Bush that put the American economy in a depression. It was US. He allowed us to do it to ourselves but this crisis needs to lie squarely on our heads as the people of the United States. We need to learn how to not spend money. Live within our means. Stop borrowing like tomorrow isn't going to come.

It should be interesting to see what a Democratic government does to the nation. I am sure it will make some moves that most republicans would never dream of. Who knows maybe it will be good. I'm thinking that middle class workers are going to get hit hard to subsidize lazy poor people who won't work because they are "too good" for the jobs that are available. I find it interesting when children of rich people join the Democratic Party. Their parents 99% of the time are Republicans. Why? Because their parents had to scratch their way to the top. Work themselves to the bone to get to where they are and their children haven't had to do squat. They are given everything which is exactly why they become Democrats. They don't care if their parent's money is given to the poor because that money has no meaning to them. The poor people don't need more handouts. Why? Think of the word handout. It means these people are sitting there with their hand out expecting help instead of getting up and doing something for themselves. I met people in Russia who hadn't been paid in six months and yet they still weren't expecting the government to just give them money. They went out and found a craft or baked goods and sold them at an open air market. They grew their own food and made their money different ways until they could get paid. Americans are getting so lazy that they won't get the jobs that are available. Frankly the only thing the government should be handing out is money for educations. Pay someone to learn a craft - not to sit on their butts and wait for their next handout.

There will definitely be change. What people don't realize is that change can go both ways. Do you really think that America has hit rock bottom and the only change is going to be good? Have you looked at Russia or Iran lately? We have definitely NOT hit the bottom. So be careful when you hope for change. That my friends and fellow Americans can be a double edge sword.

My Little Punkin

2008-10-30T13:12:00.000-07:00

I call Eliana, punkin, I don't know why. No one else does, just her silly Mom.

One of Elie's favorite places to play is under the chairs and under the table.

She thought it would be fun to play on the banister. At times she liked it and others she thought she was stuck.

Elie hasn't been taking her naps very well, and on this day Dad was rubbing her back and she fell asleep.

Crazy hair day!

Keeping Tradition

2008-10-27T15:22:00.001-07:00

For every Halloween, Christmas and Valentine's day my Mom would make sugar cookies in the shapes that went with the holiday. Since she is gone I have tried to at least make them for Halloween and Christmas. I try a different recipe every time I make them but I can never seem to get them the way I want them. But I'll keep trying, they'll never be like Mom's but I'll keep the tradition alive. I only wish Mom were here to share them.

Step 1. dough
Step 2. cut out shapes (pumpkins and ghosts)

Step 3. bake

Step 4. frost, decorate and of course eat!

Happy Halloween, thanks for all the many cookies and the fun tradition Mom. I love you.

Hurling,upchucking and just plain spewing chunks

2008-10-21T19:57:00.000-07:00

Ok, so with a title like that you have probably already figured out that this is Tom and not Emily. She wanted me to put that disclaimer on this entry before I started.

So Saturday started out so wonderfully. The weather was nice for Austin's last soccer game and afterward we were enjoying a calm day at home with nothing to do. So I played some Rock Band with Shaustia as lead singer and her friend Catherine as our guitarist. I was on the drums. We started our own band and had a blast for more than an hour gaining fans. I'm sure it was mostly because of my mad drumming skills.

So we finished that when I realized Emily was actually upstairs cleaning while I was downstairs goofing off. I love work and can watch it all day so I went upstairs to watch her mop the floors and then started feeling sorry for her and decided I would help out by vacuuming. The crazy thing was I must also be allergic to work because about the time I got the vacuum plugged in and ready to go I started feeling really light headed and a little sick to my stomach. So instead of vacuuming I went and laid down on the couch and let Emily vacuum instead. I also know at about this time Emily thinks I am completely faking it just so I don't have to do any housework. Probably because I have pulled that stunt more than once - just don't tell her that.

So then while I lay there on the couch she gets all of the kids ready to go to the soccer party which oh by the way I am in charge of and paying for. She finally announces that all of the kids are in the car so I try to get up. Not good. Maybe this is more than an allergic reaction to work. However, I know I have to be to this pizza party. I was the coach and need to present the boys their awards and thank them for playing on my team. So I climb slowly in the car. It only took me a couple of blocks to realize that this wasn't going to happen. So I went back to the house and Emily took off without me.

Once back in the house I laid back down on the couch and just was feeling so guilty about not going to the party. Normally I am lazy enough that I don’t really care but this time I knew I had to be there. So I got up the courage and got into the Tahoe and went to the pizza party. As I drove over there I really didn't think I was going to make it through but once I got there and started to talk to people and pretend like I wasn't sick - I really didn't feel all that sick. In fact the entire time I was there I was fine. Isn't that interesting that when we really need to step up and get something done even though we don't feel at all like we can - something in us rises up and allows us to get it done. I also am a firm believer that the mind is a very powerful force and we can control more than we think we can if we can be the master of our own minds. Just like me forcing myself to feel good while I was at the pizza party. Then we went home. . .

Once I got home it was another story. I went downhill fast. I was quickly in bed and just forcing myself to think about other things because I knew what was coming on. I lay in bed and watched TV and read a book just dreading the moment when the lights went off and I actually had to try and go to sleep. The inevitable moment finally came and it took all of about ten minutes after the lights were off before I was running to the bathroom to vomit.

*****Graphic comments about throwing up past this point. Read at own risk************

I don't know about you but why do we have so many words for the act of vomiting? Throwing up, upchucking, spewing chunks, puking, blowing chunks, retching and so many more. You can find all of these wonderful names at www.vomitnames.com and no I am not making that site up! Click on it. I dare you.

It is Tuesday night and the last time I threw up was on Sunday morning. My shoulders and neck still hurt from the violence of tossing my cookies. It is actually a really amazing feat to be able to churn your insides in such a way that involuntary upheavals cause Arfie McBarfie to come up to say hi. All of this just to help you get whatever toxin you decided to introduce to your system knowingly or unknowingly out. It is an amazing process that God himself built into our immune system to help us live just a little bit longer so we can ignore Him just a little longer.

However, I don't know about you but I have said many prayers in front of the porcelain throne. I personally think he uses the influenza just to get us on our knees every once in awhile. A cruel trick but I bet there isn't a single person reading this blog who has not at one time or another in their lives said a prayer at the base of the white goddess. Mine went something like this

"Please, please take me now. Finish me off because I know it will feel better than I do right now. However, I know you probably won't actually kill me because I am supposed to do something with my life and I promise that if you take away this torture that I am going through right at this moment I will forget that I promised you anything by the time I wake up tomorrow morning feeling fine and will continue to ignore you until the next time I am in a desperate situation like the one I am in right now. And while you are granting wishes can I wake up with ten million dollars in my bank account?"

I'm pretty sure that is how it went. Anyway I digress. So I felt like my insides were going to become my outsides and of course the heaving doesn't happen just once. With me it goes on many many times until just before I think I am going to pass out. Then it quits and I try and cry myself back to sleep which doesn't happen because the Wicked Witch of the West just started twirling my house like a top all the while cackling "I'll get you my ugly bald guy if it’s the last thing I do!". Which frankly she can have me for all my wife cares at this point because I am whining like a baby, leaving chunks of breakfast lunch and dinner all over the bathroom floor and my breath smells like I just ate Eliana's last dirty diaper (I wonder if that is why I got sick?).

The next day I still felt horrible and it didn't help that the Colts once again lost miserably. However, the bright side of it all was I was just fine Monday morning just in time to go back to work! (That last sentence was said while rolling my eyes and my voice was dripping with sarcasm)

Now if I have done my job and you have actually made it to the end of this post I am guessing you are feeling just a little bit light headed yourself and wondering if you aren't just coming down with something! You're Welcome!!!

Hubby Tag

2008-09-23T10:33:00.000-07:00

I've been Hubby tagged!
1. What is his name? Tom
2.Who eats more? He does but sometimes I match him.
3. Who said, "I love you" first? He did.
4. Who is taller? He is.
5. Who is smarter? It depends on the subject but mostly he is.
6. Who is more sensitive? Definitely me, too much so most of the time.
7. Who does the laundry? I do, I'm magical.
8. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? I do.
9. Who pays the bills? I do.
10. Who cooks more? I do. Every once in a while I make him do it.
11. Who is more stubborn? We're both pretty stubborn, but I think I'm more so.
12. Who is the first to admit they are wrong? Not me!
13. Who has more siblings? Tom
14. Who wears the pants in the relationship? Tom, but he lets me put my two cents in.
15. What do you like to do together? Watch t.v. or movies, hang out with Holly and Shon, and do fun things with the kids
16. Who eats more sweets? ME
17. Guilty Pleasures?
18. How did you meet? He was my home teacher for a while before we went out.
19. Who asked whom out first? He asked me.
20. Who kissed whom first? Tom kissed me.
21. Who proposed? He did, and I was afraid he wasn't going to.
22. His best features and qualities? He's very loyal, hard working, and fun. He's also tall, dark, and handsome.
I tag whoever wants to spotlight their husband. You just have to leave me a comment that you did it so that I will check!

All about Emily

2008-09-16T19:05:00.000-07:00

Normally I let Emily do all the typing and keep this blog updated. I don't normally contribute but every once in awhile I like to contribute my own trite little blogs. Not that they say much or mean much but they make me feel good. I have noticed that Emily talks a lot about the kids and she mentions me quite often but we don't really get to hear much about her and her life. So tonight since I am sitting in my hotel room in Nashville instead of being home with my family I figured I would give you a little insight into Emily's life (I'll try to keep the mushy stuff to a minimum but there will be some).

I have known Emily for just over nine years now. We will be married for nine years on the 1st of October. You would think after nine years I would know everything about her. the crazy thing is that I still am learning new things about her all the time. What I do know is that first of all she loves me very much. That means a lot to me. I have always thought she was a little crazy to say yes to a marriage proposal from someone she had only been dating for three weeks but she did and here we are. And how thankful I am for that. She committed to me to be my wife and if there is one thing about Emily is that if she commits to anything it will get done and so far she has done very well on that commitment even when I haven't made it very easy on her.

The second thing that I know about Emily is that she loves her children more than anything. I know she feels more like their slave than their mother sometimes but she does so much for them and asks for nothing in return. I admire my two sisters that are very successful at their jobs and they are amazing women, but when I compare them to what Emily does and how much she sacrifices in order to stay at home and deal with what she has to deal with - they just don't hold a candle to her. You can say that you would be bored to be "just" a house wife but frankly I could never do it. Who wants a job that doesn't ever end? I get to leave my job and come home and do something different, and eventhough I help around the house and take care of the children when I am home, I "get" to leave and go to my job. Emily doesn't have that luxury. She literally works 365 days a year at the exact same thing day in and day out. I could never do that and it seems to me that more and more women in this day seem to not be able to do it either. For this I am very grateful that Emily is one of the strong women that can be a stay at home mom.

The third thing I know about Emily is that her mother was her best friend until the day she died and that Emily's family - Father and brothers and sister are very important to her and that she loves them very much also. She also shows them this love and tells them often. This was a hard thing for me at first because my family, although we love each other, we don't show that love in any outward expression. She would literally do anything for them and they would in turn do anything for her.

The fourth thing I know about Emily is that she is very loyal to her friends. She is so thoughtful when it comes to making sure they are happy and taken care of. She worries about them a lot and is always trying to find ways that she can help them out and actually gets frustrated when they won't let her help them. (So Holly start letting her take care of your kids more often!) The thing is Emily is kinda the quiet sort and has a hard time making friends. However, once she has made a friend they become friends for life and become just as important to her as any of her family.

The fifth thing I know about Emily is that she is a clean freak. Yes, honey, I called you a freak. And for good reason. Our house is extremely clean all the time. It drives her crazy when it isn't. Now, I'm no slob and I like cleanliness too, but I don't come close to Emily. This is actually one of my favorite traits about Emily. I like it not only because it is nice to have a clean house but she also teaches our kids to be clean and they will take that with them throughout their entire life. It is part of being responsible and eventhough they don't clean up like Emily would like them to sometimes, they are still learning how important being clean is. There is a miracle that happens in our house anywhere from once to three times a week. One day when I go to get dressed my sock drawer and clothes in the closet are getting a little scarce and then magically then next day my sock drawer is full again and my clothes are all there again. It is incredible. I think we have magical elves or something.

The last thing I am going to mention about Emily is this. Emily is a righteous woman who is raising a family the right way. She is caring and beautiful and wonderful and has a difficult life with four small children and one really big one. She has as strong a will to succeed as any executive of any successful business. However, while their success is measured by how much money they bring in, her success is measured by lives touched and changed for the better. So far honey you are more successful than Bill Gates himself in my eyes. I miss you and can't wait to see you tomorrow! I love you.

School & A Full Calendar

2008-09-13T10:12:00.000-07:00

I've been bad about keeping up on our blog lately. With school starting we now have soccer on Thursday and Saturday. Dance and scouts on Wednesday. Preschool on Wednesday and Friday. And dentist appointments, eye doctor appointments, doctor appointments, school activites and taking care of church callings all mixed in there too. So when I do get some time to post a blog I usually work on the checkbook and bills or actually clean my house instead. Elie has been requiring a lot of one on one time. She tends to cry whenever I leave the room and therefore I end up having her on my hip or lap most of the day. Usually I try to remind myself to take the time to enjoy those moments but sometimes I forget to enjoy and just want to actually use the bathroom by myself. Shaustia is doing well in school. She made me this picture that says all kinds of nice things about me. It's definitely a keeper. Her teacher tells me she's a good student and she's enjoying getting to know her. Shaustia is happy that dance has started again and she loves catching grasshoppers (yuck!!). Austin was student of the week last week and I got to go see his picture in the lunchroom. His teacher says he is a good reader and is doing really well. He is a good little soccer player, he's improved greatly from the spring season. Tom is his coach and Austin was able to make the very first goal of the season after he struggled to make one last season. He doesn't like to lose though and he isn't afraid to cry about it if he does. (Which is very irritating for me.) Keaton likes the time at home with just Mom and Elie, but he feels big because he gets to go to preschool. His teacher told me on Friday that he's a cute little boy and that he listens and is right on track. I was actually pretty shocked that he listens. (Although I think his primary teacher has been a huge help for him.) He even showed me how to say thank you and please in sign language because they learned how to sign them at school. I was impressed. Keaton likes to find shiny and pretty rocks. I'm trying to keep up with everyone and everything. I don't think my house will ever be as clean as I used to be able to keep it, but I have to prioritize. Tom and I are going to Utah at the end of next week to have lasik. I can hardly wait to get rid of these glasses and I think Tom feels the same. Tom is working a lot both for Wada Farms and their Walmart account and on some side jobs. He is going to Tennessee next week for a "business trip" and golfing. He works hard for us and I feel like I see less and less of him. But I'm thankful for all he does for me and our family. Oh, I almost forgot to write about Elie. She is growing so fast. She is very close to crawling and probably could be if I encouraged and pushed her to. But I am perfectly content with her not being mobile yet. She is so adorable, and happy as long as I'm right by her or holding her. She is a little snuggler and none of the other kids were, it's so fun. Hopefully I'll be able to get her to take a bottle or a sipper cup by the time she has her first birthday. Because so far she hates the bottle and just wants Mom.

Keaton in his new Colts jersey so he can be like Dad.

Elie's 8 month picture! She's so cute and silly.

Elie has learned how to clap.

Fun in the Yard & School!!!

2008-08-21T08:51:00.000-07:00

When we emptied the pool it created a slide on the grass, when the kids figured this out they were doing all kinds of silly tricks and stunts.

Posing in the grass with grass all over themselves after sliding and jumping in the water.

Shaustia and Austin started school today! They were so excited and ready to go back. Austin thinks it is so cool that he gets to stay all day and eat lunch at school. We had back to school night last night to meet their teachers. I think it will be a good year for both of them. There are quite a few kids in Austin's class that we know, but there are only a handful that we know in Shaustia's class. I guess I was ready for them to go back too. I usually get sad when school starts again and I didn't think I was ready for them to go back. But I was just fine and of course so were they. Now we will have to get ourselves back on a schedule which will be very good and hopefully it will help Elie to start sleeping better again. Keaton starts preschool next week and didn't think it was fair that he didn't get to go today too.

Shaustia's Baptism

2008-08-03T12:58:00.001-07:00

Saturday August 2, 2008

Shaustia's baptism dress.

I let Shaustia pick out her dress because I decided that the dress she was getting baptized in was white and the one she wore before and after did not need to be white. She looks lovely and really likes her baptism dress that she picked out.

Our family just before we left to go to the church for the baptism.

Shaustia with her father who would baptize and confirm her.

Our family again, at the church.

We love Shaustia so very much. We are pleased with the decision she made to be baptized yesterday. We know that with the holy ghost to guide her and direction from her Heavenly Father that she will always be able to be happy and live a righteous life. Congratulations sweet daughter.

Still Summer

2008-08-03T12:44:00.000-07:00

Elie in the pool, isn't she darling as usual!

Little Elie found out what happens when you put licorice in your mouth.

It tastes really good!!

Mom with Austin and Keaton "sleeping" on her back and talking to Elie. We were waiting for the fire to die down a little bit so we could roast some marshmallows when Dad snapped this picture.

In Utah

2008-08-03T12:07:00.001-07:00

At the end of July Tom took a week off of work so we decided to get away and go to Utah. We did some school shopping, went to the zoo, went to temple square and just tried to relax. Of course the favorite thing for the kids was swimming at the hotel.

Keaton resting on the rhino. We chose to go to the zoo on Friday when it was 102 degrees outside. It wasn't the best day to go but the kids loved it.

All the cousins who were at the zoo. All the ones that could stand anyway. Eliana and Emily are not pictured but they were there too. We went to the zoo with Dave's family, Heather's family and Lisa's family.

It was a hot day the day we went to temple square too. Can you tell Keaton is thrilled!

Memory Mayhem

2008-07-22T07:54:00.000-07:00

Here is the idea.

1. Leave a comment on my blog of a memory that you and I have had together. It doesn't matter if you've known me for a short time, or a long time, anything you remember!

2. Re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you.

3. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

On your mark...get set...blog your memories!!

Stop and smell the McDonalds

2008-07-16T05:36:00.000-07:00

The other day as we were walking through the store Austin, completely out of the blue, asked me if I was going to die when I was 100 years old. I laughed and told him that I probably would die before I was 100 years old. Which made me start to think just how crazy our lives are moving. When you think about it, which I don't recommend because it gets depressing, your children are only with you for 25% of their lives and yours! Of that 25% there is a year where they won't talk to you because they can't and 3 to 5 years where they just plain won't talk to you.

I look at Shaustia and I just wish she would stop growing for awhile and let me enjoy her as she is. Every time I turn around she is older than she was before. The fact that she is getting baptized has me on my heels. I just can't seem to come to grips that she is going to get baptized and then go to Junior High and then Highschool and start dating and then go to college and get married and. . .

I remember when I was a kid I would always say I just can't wait until I am old enough to. . .

Now I am old enough to do and I think to myself I wish I could go back and. . .

We catch ourselves thinking as soon as we get into this house life will be good, or as soon as we get this we will be happy. News flash. Americans are not happy. Why? Because all we want is more stuff. Stuff doesn't make us happy. We make us happy. Stuff can give us "fun", but fun doesn't always equate to happiness. I love to ride my father-in-laws snowmobiles it is a lot of fun but I would trade that for one more hug from my kids, or one more evening in the living room wrestling with them or all snuggled together with Emily and the kids watching a movie. That is my definition of true happiness.

What is really sad is our stupid mortal bodies put all these different desires into our heads and tell us we need the fun and excitement and thrills in our lives and this can get in the way of what is really important. We see our neighbors with all of their stuff and think man that would be fun, definitely is, but at what cost?

Which is what brings me to the point of this blog. I do not like eating at McDonalds. However, my kids love going to McDonalds and we do it together. Sadly one day Shaustia isn't going to think McDonalds is cool anymore. But until that time comes I plan on stopping and smelling the McDonalds.

Adorable

2008-07-14T12:55:00.000-07:00

Eliana is almost 7 months old and the most adorable little girl even when she's cranky she's cute!

These are the kids new church clothes. Austin is a very handsome young man and enjoyed getting ready for church. Elie is just cute cute cute. Shaustia is so grown up looking. Tom keeps telling her to stop, stop growing. And Keaton got some new clothes but they were too big and I don't think he would have worn them even if they did fit. We have the hardest time getting him ready for church but he enjoys it once he's there and loves his primary teacher who is wonderful.

These are Elie's cute new pajamas.

These are some pictures from the party Shaustia had with her friends for her 8th birthday. They had a good time ( I hope). Austin broke my camera just before the party on Sunday so I'll have to post some more pictures of birthday stuff later on.

Barnes events in Photos

2008-07-05T11:09:00.000-07:00

Dance Recital

Ready for the dance recital May 22nd. This is Shaustia's outfit for tumbling.

Here is the outfit for her two dance numbers.

After the recital. Austin had a tumbling number also, obviously they were dressed as batman.

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Ball Games

Shaustia played softball for the Pink Panthers.

Austin played t-ball for the Stingers.

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At Home

Shaustia watched Elie for us just sitting on the swing with her for about an hour and a half one night while Tom and I were trying to get some things ready for our third of July party.

We put Elie on the floor and she just kept rolling and rolling until she ended up underneath the bed in the boys room.

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3rd of July Bash

Fireworks from our big third of July party. We had a good turn out and a great time. Especially Tom doing the thing he likes most about this party. Lighting off the fireworks. He has more fun on the fourth of July than he does on Christmas.

This is how Keaton watched the fireworks. Our little guys who is fearless didn't like the big noises they made.

Austin with some kids from our ward.

Shaustia with her friends Katherine and Beth.

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4th of July- Ross Park

At the pool! Shaustia with her new goggles and her new braces. She got the braces put on, on June 30th. This picture is on the 4th of July. She has not complained much at all about them. She really must have a high pain tolerance like the doctor in the e.r. said after she crashed on her bike. We finally took the bandaid off of her knee on July 2nd.

Floating the lazy river: Keaton, Emily, Elie, Jennifer, Shaustia, Mercedes.

Elie playing in the kiddie pool.

Austin coming down the slide. The slide was a big hit, they all loved it. We have never gotten slide passes before because they wouldn't go. We did this time and they just kept going and they could do it themselves. I can't belive how big and independent they are all getting.

One happy boy.
Shaustia coming down the slide.
Keaton at the end of the slide.
We have a tradition that we go to Ross Park in Pocatello to swim every fourth of July. This year our good friends Shon and Holly Shuldberg and their boys Tyler, Zack, and Cameron went with us. We really had a great time. They also came to our party on the 3rd. We enjoy doing lots of activities with their family. After a long fun filled day Elie had had enough fun and zonked out with Dad.

Rock.

2008-06-23T06:02:00.000-07:00

This weekend we went to the cabin. We went to look for some rock (or shale) to put it in our back yard. After driving around for awhile we found a spot on this mountain where we got some. We got it home and found we don't have nearly enough so I'll need to call Dad and ask if I can come get some more next weekend. Things are finally slowing down around here. Volleyball is over and so are swimming lessons. We only have one week left of softball and t-ball. We're trying to get the yard ready for our fourth of July party (hence the reason for the rock). It's going to take a lot of work to get it done so it's good things are winding down. Now if Elie would just let me help out with it some it would be nice. She has already become so attached to me. She is six months old now and almost every time she watches me walk out of the room she starts crying and screaming. Even if her Dad is holding her or with her she sometimes starts crying. I'm sure glad she likes me though.

Busy!!

2008-06-14T15:30:00.000-07:00

We have been so busy around here, and when I do have a minute I just want to veg. It's the middle of June and I finally got a little garden planted. It's really the first nice day we've had and it's pretty windy still. I talked Tom into working outside with me (as much as Elie would sleep we could work together) so we can try and get the yard in shape before our 4th of July party. Hopefully we can work on it in the evenings now. At least I hope the rain and wind and snow will stop. We took Czar to the vet and he had some gastro-intestinal something or other so he's on some medicine but doing good. Tom's bird that his brother gave him for his birthday is quite annoying. Just another thing to make noise that has to be cleaned up after along with the four kids, a husband, myself, and a dog. Soccer is finally over, we had 2 weeks with soccer overlapping t-ball and softball. I'm still playing volleyball. So we have volleyball, t-ball, softball, swimming lessons, cub scouts, and all of the other things that come up. It's sometimes fun but I get tired of driving all over especially with the cost of gas. Last night we were at Shon and Holly's and I realized Keaton was gone. We had sent Shaustia and her friend home so I ran (literally) to see if Keaton had gone home. Sure enough he was walking in the door just as I came around the corner. We weren't going to be much longer and Shaustia was here so I asked if he wanted to stay here and he did. I told him to get his pajamas on and stay in the house, not to leave. So I went back over and was gathering stuff up and just ready to go out the door when I hear Keaton crying. He had walked back with no shoes and in his pajamas and he was freezing. And there was a van following him to make sure he wasn't lost. It turned around and left when I ran out to get him and spank his little bottom. Oh I was, and still am, so mad at this child. He just doesn't seem to understand rules and instructions. Austin is playing t-ball. He was doing really well and having fun, then two games ago he got out. It was the end of everything for him. He started sobbing and went to hide under the bench. We had some conversations with him telling him that behavior was not acceptable and that's what happens in t-ball. But it happened again today he tried really hard to not cry holding his stomach and sticking his bottom lip out. It didn't work though he ended up sitting against the fence crying. Shaustia is doing really well in swimming lessons and improving. She had her dance recital and did a great job. Her softball team of girls is just that, a team of girly girls. Elie is as cute as ever and getting cuter everyday. She's still finding her voice and when she realizes she can make a noise she uses her whole body, especially her face, to force the sound out. Tom had a fun business trip a couple of weeks ago where he got to go golfing and and participate in a booth showing their products. Plus go around to all of the other booths that have products in Walmart. I'm just trying and failing to keep up on everything. Tomorrow is Father's Day I hope it will turn out to be a good day for Tom and for my Dad.

A week of fun and celebration!

2008-05-29T09:06:00.000-07:00

Elie rolled over for the first time May 17th.

Austin turned 6 on May 21st.

Austin graduated from Kindergarten May 23rd.

Tom and Austin's birthday party May 23rd.

Tom turned 32 May 25th.

Keaton (& everyone else) had a long and fun week. This is at the end of Memorial Day May 26th.

Oops!!!

2008-05-25T09:52:00.000-07:00

A sad thing happened a few days ago. Tom had created another blog which he only posted on once and decided to delete it. He was in a hurry and was clicking quickly and he accidentally clicked on our blog to delete it. So poof it was all gone. He was able to recover the latest page and that's it. So that's why it looks different and the comments are all gone. Both of us were just sick over it and I wished I had printed everything. Oh well, it shouldn't happen again.

Kid's Pictures

2008-05-22T06:59:00.001-07:00

Why is it that when you get everyone ready to try to get pictures taken that everyone turns grouchy and tired? Last night Tom tried to take a picture of all the kids for me. Keaton wouldn't co-operate and Elie was not in the mood. Then when we tried to get them all together....major meltdown. If they weren't crying they were fighting with each other or grimacing like someone was hurting them. Here are a couple of our attempts:

May

2008-05-22T06:58:00.000-07:00

After school a couple of weeks ago Austin decided he wanted to read his book to Elie. He read it to her and then he was telling her all about it. Who the author was, that it wasn't our book we were just borrowing it from Mrs. Taylor, and that "it was a good book wasn't it." I was very sweet and so cute.

We went to baby animal day at the Blackfoot fairgrounds last Saturday with Holly and Shon and their family. Here's Shaustia with a baby chick. Her knee is doing much better we think she may even be able to play at least one soccer game and participate in her dance recital.

Keaton holding one of the baby ducks at baby animal day.

Elie is reaching milestones so quickly it seems. This is her first time trying rice cereal. She didn't hate it but she just kept spitting it out. Her little tongue just gets in the way when I try to give it to her and then she just pushes it back out. We'll keep trying once in awhile and she'll get the hang of it.

This is Elie in the saucer for the first time. She wants to grab everything so I thought I'd try this out and see if it couldn't keep her busy. She enjoys it for a little while and then gets tired. It's amazing this saucer has made it to the fourth child and it still looks nice.

2008-05-22T06:56:00.000-07:00

On this day I always find myself wondering what I would talk about if I were asked to give a talk on Mother's Day about mothers. I figure my story of mothers is not exactly the norm and I don't know what I would say.

This Mother's Day though I realized what I would say and decided to share it with you. Don't ask me why I just thought I would. I mean who is deranged enough to write a talk he will never give? Well since deranged is my middle name I guess I'll go ahead with the rest of this blog.

Today I would like to talk a little about a certain mother. See, there aren't many mothers that get to choose who their children are going to be. Most of them come after nine months of pregnancy and start off as a little baby and they usually come one at a time, with some exceptions.

With my situation my biological mother had some serious mental health problems and decided (not consciously like you and I decide) that she no longer wanted to be mine and my brother's and sisters mother on this earth anymore. Just so you know I have three older sisters and at the time three younger brothers. That’s right seven kids ages 3 thru 11 years old found themselves without a mother. Worse than that is that we had been without a mother in the home for almost four years and the oldest ones, at least, had become very independent. Kristin my oldest sister basically became our mom through that time and had a massive amount of responsibility put upon her at a very young age. Probably explains why she is so anal and loves tons of stress in her life all the time.

Anyway, so the year after my biological mother died my father decided that his seven children needed a mother and started dating. He found a woman who was teaching school down in Utah that had never been married before and had no kids of her own. They started seeing each other and things moved pretty quickly. He then brought her home to meet us. If you can imagine what was going through the minds of seven children who really hadn't had a mother for quite awhile and who were used to doing everything themselves when presented with the idea that this woman was to become their mother.For some absolutely insane reason this woman chose to be the stepmother of seven children the youngest of four. Can you imagine trying to take on that task? Not only are these children not your biological offspring but also they have been motherless for a very long time. So father married her and she moved into our home. What a bizarre time this was for all of us. All of a sudden there was structure. There were rules and someone was there to force us to follow them. There was punishment for offenses to these rules. We had a new mom and she took over.

We each reacted differently to her and at the ripe old age of nine I had mixed reviews. We were not easy on her. I remember vividly to this day not finishing my chores before school one day so she made me finish them and be late for school and I turned to her as I was walking out the door and yelled "I hate you, you aren't my mother!" and slammed the door and walked out.

I remember many times hearing the sobbing coming from my parents room after one or more of us had ganged up on her and made her feel as horrible as possible. Why she didn't give up on us I will never know. A lesser person would have flown the coop many many times. Yet she stuck to it. She kept on us like a fly on a fresh cow patty. Some days were of course better than others. When I was in High School I clashed with her more times than not. I was an angry kid and we got into many arguments. I'll never forget the night she caught me sneaking out. She lectured me for hours on end the next day. My dad was on a business trip at the time and I tell you what she laid into me something fierce.

I know my other brothers and sisters were much the same with the exception of maybe Lisa. There were some nasty moments and yet this woman continued in this thankless never ending task of raising some obstinate kids.I never appreciated her until I left the house. Which for me it was the day I went into the MTC. I never knew just how much she had taught me and just how much I owed her for helping me grow up until then.

I knew how to clean my clothes and keep my underwear white. I knew how to cook and clean and take care of myself. My parents had forced me to get a job the day I turned 16. I actually started four days before my 16th birthday and have held a job ever since. But because of that I knew what work was all about and didn't shirk from my duties. I knew how to manage my money and not squander it. I knew how to act in certain situations with proper manners and etiquette. I knew everything I needed to in order to survive on my own. All because of a woman who I had called mother in words but never gave her the title in my heart until then.

She had chosen to be my mother and never gave up on me. I give her much credit in making me the man that I am. I was nothing close to grateful at the time but now I cannot share how grateful I am in my heart. I know some of my brothers and sisters still do not feel as I do, but they should. Usually a child knows the mother from birth and there is a direct bond. This mother, my mother, looked at us and chose to be our mother. For this I cannot thank her enough.

So on this Mother's Day I would like to recognize my step mother, whom I call Mom, for her endeavors and never giving up on seven extremely difficult children.

Thank you Mom! I love you!

Healing

2008-05-22T06:55:00.002-07:00

On Tuesday they took the drain out of Shaustia's wound. They said it looked good, at least as good as it could, and gave her an antibiotic to help ward off infection. She will probably not be able to play in any of the rest of her soccer games but Tom will still be coaching. Hopefully she will be able to move it enough to participate in her dance recital at the end of the month. She stayed home from school on Tuesday and Wednesday. Today after school she's tired and keeps crying so she may have over done it. When Keaton saw her knee he spit while saying blah, and said disgusting. Austin is doing awesome with his soccer. We were a little worried where he's never played before and he's the smallest on the team. But he has been very impressive and he works hard. As soon as soccer is over we start into t-ball and softball. It makes it very busy but they enjoy it and it's good for them to exercise and learn how to be a team member.

Trip to the ER

2008-05-22T06:55:00.001-07:00

Sunday May 4th was a beautiful sunny warm day, so we decided to pull out all the bikes including the bike trailer and go for a ride. Keaton and Elie were in the trailer behind Tom and the rest of us were each on our own bike. We rode around the neighborhood through the cul-de-sac's, up the sidewalks, and along the edges of the road. When we came back around to the last stretch towards home Austin announced that Shaustia was beating us. This sent Tom off to try and catch her. He passed her as Austin and I were coming up far behind. The next thing we knew Shaustia was screaming. Her bike was on it's side in the road, and she was clutching her knee in pain. We had no idea what had happened. We rushed to her as fast as we could and found that she had pretty much taken off half her knee when she crashed and you could see her knee cap. She was not wearing a helmet and she was wearing shorts. But somehow she managed to only bang up her left side: her knee very badly and a small scrape and bruise on her hand. We immediately knew we had to take her to the hospital. I took off on my bike and got the car to take her to the emergency room. Some very helpful guys who live in the house that Shaustia crashed at got us some gauze to at least cover the gaping wound so that we didn't have to look at it. I got through traffic as fast as a I could which was quite slow. With Shaustia crying and saying that she was scared and wishing that we could go faster. I carried her into the emergency room which normally would have been a feat since she is almost as tall as me, but with my adrenaline pumping it wasn't hard. We had to wait a few minutes and during that time Tom was able to get there. They eventually came in and numbed her knee, which was the worst part, then they scrubbed it and cleaned it and washed it over and over to try and get all the rocks and dirt out. Can I just say it was all really really gross! When they were done cleaning they put a drain in so that if it gets infected it has somewhere to come out at, and put in just 3 stitches so that her body would have as little amount of foreign objects in it as possible. She was so very brave the whole time. Yes she cried, but who can blame her. She did not get hysterical or scream while we were at the emergency room and she took the pain well. I was so proud of our girl! It took only 2 hours at the e.r. which is actually a record since it took 4 when I had to go last year. Tom rushed Keaton, Austin and Elie to our friend Holly's house before coming to the hospital. She is such a life saver, sweetheart, and great friend. While she was watching our children her husband had to take one of their sons into the urgent care and found he had an ear infection. I will forever be grateful to her and be in her debt, Thank you so much Holly. Now Shaustia's knee is wrapped in two 4 inch ace bandages to help keep it as straight as possible and tomorrow morning we go back in to have the drain taken out and we'll see what they do with it then. She has been such a trooper, this morning I tried to talk her out of going to school but she wanted to go. I ended up going to get her with only about and hour left of school, but I can't believe she lasted that long. She is very concerned about soccer and dance though. We will just have to wait and see how she is doing when the games and recital come. We found out during the course of the visit to the e.r. that she had been trying to get onto the road and there was a mailbox which scared her and then a patch of gravel her wheel slipped on and the edge of the driveway that her wheel must have caught on. Below is a picture of Shaustia's knee that we took after it had been cleaned out:

Eliana's Conversation

2008-05-22T06:54:00.000-07:00

This is our Eliana cute and talkative. We don't remember the others doing this but she loves it. The glow worm is her best friend. She has conversations with it. Whenever she is fussing all we have to do is turn on the glow worm and she perks right up.
Whoever invented this device obviously was brilliant and obviously a parent. You can always tell when a device for children is invented by someone with kids and someone without. Frankly I don't think you should be allowed to create and sell anything for a child if you do no have at least one yourself.

Silly Little Delights

2008-05-22T06:49:00.001-07:00

This is one of the pictures we took of Elie for her 4 month picture. She's such a silly little delight. We were at our friends, Holly and Shon, and put Elie in the swing. She loved it so I went out and bought one for us. She really enjoys it and I can get so much done. Elie's hair is just starting to grow so she has a fuzzy little head. I just can't belive that I can love each one of my children so very much and think that they are each the best in the world. I have the two most beautiful and sweet girls that there are and two of the most fun, handsome and smart boys ever.

Here is Keaton having a conversation with Czar (ZAR). He had to keep his cookies with him and I really don't think the dog cares what he says but I do believe he enjoys any attention he gets. I have so many pictures of Elie and Keaton to post but not so many of Shaustia and Austin. I guess that's probably because they are at school part of the day and the other two are always stuck here with me and my camera.