Thankful...

Thanksgiving seems to be a time of reflection. A time to remember how fortunate we are and to show gratitude for all we have. I have so much to be grateful for. These are just a few...

MY HUSBAND:

I'm not going to say that we have the perfect marraige, or that we never disagree or get grumpy with eachother. It would probably be boring. What we do have is a great partnership. He works so hard. I'm so grateful that he does that so I can be home with our kids. It's hard on him to be away so much, and he misses the kids when he isn't here. But it's important to him that I'm here with them, so he does it. He is so fun, our kids are lucky to have a dad that loves to play with them. He is very sweet to me too. He tells me everyday that he thinks I'm beautiful, and that he loves me. And I know he means it. That makes me pretty lucky!!

MY CRAZY KIDS:

They are definately hard work. But I can't think of anything that is more worth it. They are so sweet and loving. Avery and Liam are so giving of hugs and kisses. Liam always has a snuggle for his mommy, and I love that he doesn't think he's too big for that. Avery is such a big help with Liam and Emrie. She never complains about being the oldest and having more responsibility. She's a happy, smart, sweet girl. Emrie is a busy, moody little thing. But she is so full of personality. She is our family entertainment! I feel so blessed to be their mother. It's fun, hard, crazy, tiring, and rewarding. And thats all in one day!

OUR HOME:

I can't seem to keep up on all there is to be done around here. Some days, I feel like all I do is pick up after people. And, laundry alone is enough to drive me insane sometimes. But, none of that really matters. Our home is the place we gather, the place my children play and the place we teach them about life. It's a safe place for them. It is a happy home. Even if it isn't the tidiest on the block!

OUR FAMILIES AND FRIENDS:

We are surrounded by love and support. Both of our parents live close by. I feel blessed that our children are so close with their grandparents, and get to see them often. They also have tons of cousins to play with. I have great brothers and a sister who is my best friend. We also have such great friends around. There are so many strong families who have the same morals and goals that we do. It's comforting to have people close that are going through the same things we are. There are always friends willing to pick up kids, or let them play, or lift my spirits when I need it. It's great to know that as our kids go through school, they will have good, strong friends.

OUR FAITH AND BELIEFS:

I know we have a loving Heavenly Father who cares about each of us, and has a plan for us. He gave us this life and all the experiences in it to make us stronger, and to allow us to make choices. I'm thankful that we have that opportunity. I'm thankful for my life and for all the people in it. There are so many good examples around to help make this life easier and more enjoyable.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Our Little Bug...

Just turned ONE!!

I can't believe that it's been a year since this little sweetie came into the world. At least half of that year was a blur. She is definately our hardest child. She was not an easy newborn by any means. Cody calls her our birth control because she is still quite demanding!! But she is also sweet, and so squishy cute, and hilarious! She makes us smile and laugh everyday, and I can't imagine our family without her. She loves her da-da and yells his name constantly. She has recently started saying bu-bu (brother) and loves to attack Liam whenever he is sleeping. She has six crooked teeth, and is working on more. She runs everywhere and gets into everything! She definately keeps us busy.

My super talented friend took these fun pictures to celebrate her birthday.

Her bumble bee halloween costume

This was my very favorite. She thought she was so big sitting on that suitcase. Posing like a pro!

We had a fun bug themed party for her birthday. My cousin decorated this cute little ladybug cake.

I have never seen a baby attack the cake like she did. Avery and Liam both needed a little help to get started, but not her! It was so funny to watch.

Not quite sure...

First taste...

I guess she decided she liked it cuz she dove right in after this...

Wow, that was tasty...now get me out and clean me off!!

This is her with her gammy Jane playing with toys after her bath.

Birthdays always get me thinking about the past, so I found some pictures of Emrie Jane's first year...

First picture with my amazing Dr.

Mommy and hairy daddy...

She seriously seemed like she was all-HEAD when she was born. She had this chubby face, no neck, and this short little body. Not much has changed. She is still super short for her age, and still has chubby face and no neck!

First Christmas

Getting bigger

Learning to crawl

It amazes me how much they learn and grow everyday. I could watch her for hours, playing around the house, always checking something out or investigating something. She is such a blessing to our family.

Happy birthday my sweet girl. We love you!!

Halloween

We had a fun Halloween this year. We did our ward Trunk-or-Treat on Friday night, then went to a fabulous party on Saturday night. Here are our little ghouls...

liam was spider-man


Emrie was a sweet little bumble bee

she makes this face and runs for the camera as soon as she sees it. makes getting decent pictures pretty tough!

one of his great web-shooting poses

Miss Avery was Fancy Nancy

and she was very fancy indeed. Lots of people didn't know who Fancy Nancy was, but thats ok. She was also dubbed the "glitz witch" by someone at one of our parties, and that was very fitting too!

Cousin Kendi was also Fancy Nancy...imagine that. They both won prizes at the costume contest, they were thrilled!!

Cody and I realized that Halloween is not nearly as much fun as we remember it being when we were kids. It's lots more work being the parent. But it was worth it. They were all cute, and had so much fun!

Girls Cruise 2009

We had a great time on our girls cruise this year. It was a bunch of crazy ladies, some I knew, some not. It didn't really matter, we were all on a mommy break and it was a blast! We sailed on a Carnival boat from San Diego, to Catalina Island, to Ensanada and back. The cruise was a people watchers paradise! I think someone forgot to tell us that it was a 50+ lesbian cruise! I have never seen so many groups of scary lesbians in my life!

It was crazy! There was tons of food, and my favorite thing was the self serve chocolate soft serve ice cream 24hrs a day. Dangerous!!

These were my "roomies"

My friend Angie who I have known for 20 years. She left her 8 children behind with her brave husband. And my sister in law Janelle. We did lots of late night laughing, talking, and reading. Good thing we could sleep in as long as we wanted!

One of the most entertaining things on the ship was the nightly Karaoke. Drunk people are pretty funny!

Each night our cabin steward made a little animal from our towels. This was the night before we docked in Ensanada Mexico. We decided this was a little piggie warning us that we'd probably pick up a little "swine flu" in Mexico!

So, this was as far into Mexico that we went. They set up a little shopping center/swap meet kind of thing right at the dock. So, we went to Mexico for about an hour!

Some of the silly ladies we were with dressed up for the Halloween party on deck. My favorite was Hannah Montana with her pleather leggings!

This is what we did most of the time!! Sometimes we put bathing suits on but, it was cold this day! Being lazy at it's finest.

This is the boat docked at Catalina Island. It was actually really pretty. It was my first time there, and there was more to see than I imagined. We rented golf carts and toured the island. It was a beautiful day.

This is me, Kierra and Tracee. Kierra lives in Mesa. We hung out with Tracee in high school, but she lives in Minnesota now. I re-connected with her on facebook and she was brave enough to come join us. It was so much fun to catch up with her. She is exactly the same as she was then!

We had a fabulous time, it was fun and relaxing. Now, it's back to the real world!!