SLURPEE TIME

So I know that many people have probably stopped in at their local 7-eleven store and picked up their free small slurpee.   Well we were no exception.  

After I headed to the school for the last day of the summer lunches (that are free for the kids) I drove over to our 7-eleven and surprisingly the lines weren't very long at all.   So I was in line with my SIX kids to get our slurpees. 

We waited less then five minutes in line and ended up with 7 tasty slurpees and six balloons!  

Now I told my kids that I wanted them to pose for a picture before they all took off in their own directions once we got home.   When I take pictures of my kids I am mostly all about the candid shots.   So I don't get too technical and I'm not always checking for "merging" items in the shot.  It's not always composed very well but it's a memory.  And this picture is a prime example... I was laughing when I looked at this first one.  

 Now this second one I actually took first and I think it's one I'm going to be laughing at for years to come as well. I love my little Esther's stance, and the look on her face.  

So we hope you all had a fun 7-eleven/free slurpee day like we did. 

Esther at 2 months

So another month has past and my little girl is now two months old.

 ( Again more for my benefit than anyone else's and this was started on November 9th and now it's the 12th ...oops that goes to show you what life with a newborn can be like.) 

• You love to sit in the swing.
• Your brothers and sisters love to hold you.  
• You were blessed on the day you tuned 2 months old. 
• You are starting to show smiles and the kids get all excited when you start to smile for them. 
• You are still very spitty, and can be quite gassy.  
• You love your pacifier ( and I love it too) 
• You love to be snuggled and wrapped up in your blankets.  
• You sleep well when you actually fall asleep.  
• You had your first Halloween and we dressed you up as a ballerina. You are so cute!

First picture was taken on October 31st, 2011  and the second picture was taken Oct 23, 2011 -- you are growing so fast, and I know this is just the start of more fun times to come.  We love you Esther!

April - June 2010 RECAP

 Well here's a quick recap for what happened April -June. Mind you not everything is in chronological order.
I was too lazy to get it all straightened out.  I was more concerned with actually getting this down on "paper". 

Boys being boys or is it bunnies??

April 10, we celebrated Ethan's 3rd birthday.

                                    And we decided to take the kids swimming at the REC center.

Ethan's 3rd Birthday. With his Little Einstein's home made birthday cake.

This summer right after school was out we headed to California for a week to visit with family. In that time 

we made a day trip to see the ocean and let the kids play on the beach.  It was a really fun time.

On the way home to Utah we stopped in Mesquite Nevada to visit with some friends.

Ethan learning how to put on his jacket.  Well, almost.

Egg dying fun around our kitchen table.

Kids continuing to learn to work together

 

This was EASTER SUNDAY where we lived. Luckily the Easter Bunny 

was smart enough to hide the eggs in the livingroom.

 

 

Got in on some way awesome deals !! 

BEFORE my haircut that my awesome friend Brenda gave to me. 

And here I am AFTER ....

The day that will forever change my life... well in a different way than 

what getting married, or having children changed my life. This here is my 

new camera!!  (April 24th 2010)

We had a BBQ in our back yard to celebrate my birthday.

Kaylee waiting anxiously for her birthday celebration to take place.

Almost all the cousins on my husbands side of the family. 

Getting to meet my nephew Seph for the first time.  He was born Jan 2010 and they live in Arizona

so we had to wait a little while until we could meet him. This was for the baby blessing that they came up to do in Utah.  In March I do believe.

Spring time at "Grandma's" house, taking a photo of my cute, adorable niece.

A fun shot I took while attending the Hope Of America Program that 

our 5th grade daughter was a part of.  I was playing with my new camera!! This 

was one of my favorite shots.

My Mother's Day Pampering gift.  This was a service project put on 

by some of the young women in our ward to help raise money for 

girls camp to take place later that year. 

We had fun watching Thomas develop more as a baseball player. 

His skills are really improving.

Katherine's 10th Birthday party with her friends!! (May 2010)

Having family fun in our front yard with cousins!!  (May 2010)

Okay so this about sums up the months of April - June with  July - September coming up in a few days.

Our Christmas Story... Part 1

( NO PICTURES ARE INCLUDED WITH THIS POST -- IT IS LONG!)

Oh my what a weekend!!

All my "plans" of getting the house all clean for Christmas ... well, lets just say I'm going to start now to get a jump before next year. (A pun is intended).

I had the boys bedroom spotless... by Christmas morning the livingroom was decent, the dishes were done on Thursday and then Friday... and Saturday we spaced doing the dishes. So that was one disappointing failed gift to my husband. (Sorry babe, one of these years I'll have it perfect -- just don't give up on me)

We were just a few minutes away from having all the "you know what stuff" done on Christmas Eve, when what to my wondering eye would appear a sick 3 year old little boy, who had just thrown up in his sisters bedroom, and now just wanted his mommy.

So my plans of getting to bed within a fem minutes were now pushed back (little did I then know by how long). So after cleaning up the puke mess he just wanted to snuggle and be with me. (Don't get me wrong I did feel truly blessed and honored that he wanted me in his little miserable moment) So I stop any further action for a while.

I kept watching the clock, and notice the time kept ticking on. I kept trying to ask for it to stop, but if I couldn't get that I at least wanted it to slow down. SLOW WAY DOWN. No such luck. I was able to get away about 30 minutes later, and tried to do a few more things. And BAM-O he pukes up on the blanket I like to use, and gets onto the sheets... seriously this isn't funny. It's like 1 in the morning, and now I'm not sure what to do, because I can't find the extra King size sheet in the linen "armoire" closet. So I just pile a doubled over sheet on top of the "wetness" after I've sanitized the spot, and had the little guy go into his room to sleep.

He start feeling yucky again, like IMMEDIATELY. So, I just happened to have a "puke" bucket with me and he starts doing his business into the bucket. Poor creature... he was looking so pale after the first time, that now he looked a little worse.

He just wanted to snuggle some more. So back to my bed to lay down and snuggle to help him feel better. (Cause you all know that's what mom's do best. Help their sick people feel better) I'm starting to doze off on my bed, while A Christmas Story is on marathon mode on TBS and I kept startling awake realizing that Santa hadn't quite made it to our home yet.

All this while the little kid was laying awake, while the fully exhausted and frustrated mother was nodding off wishing she could go to sleep. (Okay so I'm that mother) And all this happened while he was wearing his brand new Phineas and Ferb (A Disney Cartoon) pj's he just opened a few hours earlier. He was so upset and said, how he hated to throw up, and didn't want to throw up. He was so sad looking. All I could do was agree, and love him.

So he finally agrees to lay there while I stepped out. I commenced to let Santa in and leave his gifts for each of the children. Had the living room looking good, the stockings were ready, but not hung, as we have no way to hang them.

It was exhausting... I tell you.

I finally head back into my room, nervous to death to move the little sicky boy in fear that he'd wake up and feel the need to gross me out some more. So I left him on my bed, and just lay down beside him. All the while Chris was laying on the other side of the bed, and was fast and sound asleep. Mummified in our comforter, and the one blanket I liked to use had just been messed on and in line for a bath in the washing machine. So I grabbed a few little "throw" blankets, slept in my clothes to keep warm and slept till I heard the kidlets come into the room around 7:00 am. WOW...already?!

He was so kind to wake up to their craziness, and I told him what he needed to know, but he told the kids to let me sleep because I had a rough night with Ethan. I couldn't sleep knowing how excited the kids were, so I told him that I'd be okay and I could just get a nap later. He said, for me to just lay there he had a few things to take care of. So there I laid under the orders of the man I married. I really tried to go to sleep again, but I had a hard time. A little while later, Katherine came running in, and said that Daddy was ready.... (I think I was asleep when she came in and said that ... because I replied with give me 5 - 10 minutes and I'll be out there.

PART TWO LATER...

Merry CHRISTmas !!!

I just wanted to share our Christmas letter this year.  I have a few new ideas to revamp our letter this next year.  Be sure to keep in touch and let us know how you are doing as well. If you can't quite read what it says, click on the picture and then you'll be able to click again to zoom in even more.  We hope that your family is having a great and merry Christmas Season.   May you all be safe, and have fun celebrating with family and friends!! 

Quick Recap .... Part 1

So I can't believe this year is almost over.... I remember when it started and thinking it would be weird to write 2010 and here I am still not used to writing it (SERIOUSLY I STILL WRITE other random years) and the year is quickly coming to an end.

It's almost sad like, really.  If you think about it.  So much going on, time keeps on keeping on, and we, well we just keep getting on, and on in age.   I look back and realize I'm really grateful for a few things right now.  The fact that I have a little "gadget" (maybe a bit bigger then size little) but it takes pictures of things I want to remember.  Mind you it doesn't do this all by itself... however, that would be nice sometimes.   I have these photos to help me remember times past.  Because really if you are looking at a picture it's already in the past. Right?

Well, just so I don't forget, and you either, I want to do a quick recap of our January - March 2010. And I'm linking up with Emmy Mom with the 2010 REVIEW EXTRAVANGAZA!!
 There is a chance to win something so recap your first three months and join in the fun!!
I'll try and do this in just pictures, with a little explanation as needed.

We managed to take a trip to California for my mom's birthday.  

But more importantly my Grandma's birthday.  She turned 70!!

 While we were there visiting we also made a little afternoon trip 

to go see Great Falls near Trona, California.  I always heard about it, 

 but had never gone there myself. (Or not that I can remember).  

It sure beat sitting around Grandma and Grandpa Hill's house 

and not doing much of anything.

On our way home from this trip we stopped by the "FISH ROCKS" in the canyon near my parents

home.  These have been there forever. I remember being a kid and seeing them, and knew that when 

we passed them as we were heading home, we were almost there. 

 We came back home with a few days to spare before Thomas had his 5th birthday!  

 A few days later we met up with all of Chris's side of the family for a surprise party at Sizzler's for his Mom's 70th birthday.  My kids ended up getting so bored waiting that they decided to start laying all over the floor back in the corner.  Good thing we had our own little room.  (And here we are about to celebrate another birthday for her) 

For Thomas' birthday he got a remote control boat. Mind you his birthday was January 8th -- so it's cold, and snowy outside.  But on one of the "better" days we headed down to Spring Lake to test out his boat.  

And it works great!! We also were able to feed ducks too.

Here the kids are playing/working with the snow one day after school.

And who can forget my awesome time of going to Good Day Utah all headed up by my 

awesome friend Alexes.  Thanks again, it was great seeing you and visiting with you.

Katherine was in "Utah: This is the Place" program that the 4th grade puts on every year. 

And this was her turn.  We love going to support our kids in their activities. (She's the one 

on the far right of the picture as you are looking at it. )

We also had our first venture to Boondocks up in Layton, I think that's where it is. 

We were invited up for my niece's birthday, and my kids all got to go bowling and they had a blast. 

We were sad, however, because Ethan was sick, and couldn't come with us. So Chris stayed home 

with him and I took the kids to the party.  That's the one thing I'd have changed if I could. I always 

like it, when we are all together.

So there is a quick recap of our 

January - March 2010