Christmas 2010

Here it is, the KITCHEN you have all been asking to see. Finally finished!!! And I'm so happy that Payton loves it. She has played with it nonstop today. Milan asked me, now that I am done with it, would I do it again? and yes I would. It was alot of fun to build and seeing the look on her face was worth it. These are my favorite expressions today. Payton lay on the ground for a little bit while trying to wake up, but once she got the hang of presents, she just wanted to open all of them hers or not. Ethan and Carson were so excited to get the number one thing on their lists and they showed it. Now if I could only keep these expressions when I ask them to clean their rooms.

We are so grateful for wonderful family and friends who love us and are always there for us. We are so blessed this holiday season to have you in our lives. Merry Christmas!!!

Payton's Surgery

Payton had sugery to remove a Lymphangioma on her back and to have her hernia repaired. Surgery went well and she is doing amazing.

We noticed a few months ago that the mass on her back was getting bigger and changing color so the Doctor told us it would need to be removed. His concern was it becoming infected since it was bleeing into the mass. She must have bumped it and caused it to start bleeding. We're glad it's over with and that she is doing so well. She is one tuff little princess.

Payton's photo shoot sneek peek

I had the kids' pictures taken yesterday since I haven't had them done since Payton was 6 months old. Mandie was kind enough to give me a sneek peek of Payton. I had to share because she did an amazing job capturing her.Thank you Mandie!!!

Phone Books

Do you ever wonder why we get so many phone books? I do. We have only been in Texas for just over 2 years and this is how many phone books we have collected in these 2 short years. A little excessive don't you think. I counted 13 books in my cupboard. Who even uses these anymore with the Internet. Big waste of paper.

Halloween 2010

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!! My kids look forward to this holiday for months prior. Carefully planning what they will dress up as. This year Carson really wanted to make his costume. He finally decided on sherlock holmes. We found the hat and then went to the salvation army and found the jacket and trimmed it down to fit better and then made a vest to go with it. He was pretty excited about it.

Ethan is our indecisive one. He changed his mind so many times before finally deciding on being a SWAT member.Payton was the cutest little dorothy. She has been wearing her costume any chance she gets and throws a tantrum every time I try to take it off.

I finally got Milan to dress up so I had to document the event with a picture. This may never happen again, especially now that I've posted a picture of him.

Time Out for Women

I had the opportunity to attend Time Out for Women this past weekend with these amazing women. It was so great to be reminded that we are doing a good job and we are of worth. I feel like I left this weekend feeling rejuvinated and refreshed. I even feel motivated to do better and to be better. We need these reminders every once in a while because its so easy to feel frustrated with the things in our lives. We heard music from the talented Hilary Weeks. She shared stories, sang beautiful songs, and threw in a few jokes as well. She's a great performer. She is the other blond in the picture.

Chieko Okazaki was supposed to be one of the speakers, but due to health reasons she was unable to attend. In her place was Mariama Kallon. Chieko is a wonderful speaker, but I thourghly enjoyed listening to Mariama share her stories of survival and hope. She has a CD out with her story and if you really want to appreciate your own life more, you should get it and listen to it. You will find your life is so much better than you thought. Despite the horrible circumstances in her life, she is such a loving person. We walked up to meet her and she greeted each of us with a loving embrace. I am inspired by her, who wouldn't be.

We also had the opportunity to hear from DeAnne Flynn. Mother of 7 and she is fantanstic. She reminded me that life doesn't have to be perfect and I am doing amazingly well even though I don't feel like I am doing amazingly well. Life is about being happy with where you are and with what you've got. I wrote down one of her quotes that I loved...

"Where there is life, there is hope. Where there is hope, there is life. Where there is hope, there is Christ, Where there is Christ, there is hope."

DeAnne is the tall blond in the middle on the back row.

If you've never had the opportunity to go to a time out for women, I suggest that you go. It's a great way to feel the spirit and to learn more about yourself. And speakers have a way of making you feel like their message is just for you. I feel ready to take on my life again with a new perspective.

One last thought from Sister Emily Feeman, learn to see good days, not just have good days.

Each life that touches ours for good

I believe that everything happens for a reason and people are placed in our lives just when we need them. 23 years ago, one of those people come into my life and changed me. Her name was Wendy. She fought hard for almost 6 years to beat cancer, but unfortunately 15 years ago today the cancer won. She was 20 years old. Sometimes in the midst of darkness, there is light and she always seemed to find it. She was able to use her cancer for good and to help others.

In her journal she wrote, "why me, why anyone else. Cancer isn't something you put on your list of things to do today."She never placed blame on anyone for having cancer, instead she wanted to use her cancer as a way to help others. She would spend her time visiting the other sick patients in the hospital giving them hope, she served in the community, and she served her friends. How can you not be inspired by someone like her. She showed me there was so much more to this life and instilled some of the greatest gifts. One of those being service.

In such a busy world it's hard to find the time or remember simple things like showing kindness or little acts of service. Today I was reminded of this. Each year on the anniversary of her passing, I try to find some way to honor her. This year, I asked the Young Women in our church to help me make puppets to donate to a children's hospital. I was touched by their excitement and willingness to help. Wendy would have been proud of them.

Payton on the phone

Payton loves to talk on the phone, but especially to Lucy the dog (aka Grandpa). This is one of her usual Sunday conversations with Lucy.

Fall

I love this time of year when the leaves are changing and the weather starts to cool off. The only problem is, the weather is still hot and I haven't seen any changing leaves yet. Even though we have been in TEXAS for 2 years now, I still haven't gotten used to a warmer fall. It seems strange to be able to trick or treat without a coat on. I have to admit, I like the warmer fall weather.

First day of School and a flat tire

I haven't had a chance to post about the boys first day of school yet. They are starting their third week and both boys are loving school so far. The boys are now in different schools, we thought we would have a few more years with them together, but they seem to be fine with it. Carson finally gets to ride the bus. He has been waiting for this moment since he started school. Grandma used to drive buses and would give the boys rides on them so when we lived too close to the elementary school in Utah, he was very disappointed. Then again here in Texas, we were too close to the elementary school, big disappointment. I walked him to the bus stop the first morning, but then he was too cool for Mom to walk him again. I guess I gotta let him grow up some time. Last week, Milan was out with the missionaries and was just dropping them off when he realized he had a flat/low tire. He drove on it home and we looked at the tire to see what the cause was, on the inside of the back tire, the tread was about gone and there was a long hole in it. As we changed the tire I noticed there was also a nail in the tire. So I guess we are lucky there was a nail in the tire or he most likely would have had a blow out on the freeway. I feel like we were blessed.

Payton turns 2

This is my beautiful birthday girl.

and here is a little birthday movie for your enjoyment...(you gotta watch it til the end)

She really loved her cake and she did really good not getting too messy.











She is so much fun, but at the same time she is so hard. It has been fun dressing her up especially since she loves it too. She is definitely a girly girl, with a tough side. She loves to have her hair done, dress in dresses, play with her babies, dance to music, take bathes, and have her nails painted. She also loves to rough house with her brothers, play in the dirt, play basketball with her daddy, and play outside. She can definitely hold her own. She is very smart and has figured out how to get her way, most of the time. This is a picture of one of her tantrums because she didn't get her way... who said terrible 2's start at 2, we were there at 1.

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!!!!!

Galveston

I am definately a beach person, so we have really enjoyed our new tradition of driving down to Galveston with friends and staying in a beach house. With the beach right out the back door, warm ocean water, boogie boarding, sand castles, catching sea creatures, collecting shells, and good company, it makes for a great weekend.


This is a picture of the Beach house we stayed in and a picture from the beach house of the ocean and beach.

On the first day we had some big waves which made boogieboarding a blast. The boys had so much fun looking for crabs and catching them, watching the little clams bury themselves under the sand, collecting shells, trying to catch these weird eel looking things, and boogie boarding. They would wake up early to get out on the beach and stay out as long as we would let them. I loved the convienience of having the beach right out the door, it really made nap time alot easier.

On our last night, the kids enjoyed Blue Bell ice cream and a balloon fight. It was so fun watching them laughing and having a good time. We let them stay up late since they were having too much fun and hoping they would crash on the way home.













Milan and Heath sunk their feet into the sand. This is what it would be like to be married to a shorter man. I'm not used to being taller than the guy.

I had so much fun with these two ladies, thanks Jennifer and Tanna.








Thanks Shumards and Petersons for the good times and for playing along with our practical jokes. It really was a lot of fun.This is a picture of the seagulls flying away after I ran toward them.

Utah Trip week 3

Our final week in Utah was a bittersweet week. Anxious to be going back home soon and back to normal life, but sad to be leaving our families and friends again. We were lucky enough to be in Utah the same time that one of the missionaries from our area was coming home. We were able to attend his homecoming and visit with him and his family. Living outside of Utah has had its perks. We've been able to have the missionaries over for dinner and Milan has been able to go on splits with them. I think it's great for our boys to see the missionaries in action and hopefully it gets them excited to go on a mission one day.

Park City is always our favorite part of the vacation because that's when Milan is with us and the fun stuff really begins. We love going to the resort and riding the alpine slide, the mountain roller coaster, and the zip line. My favorite part of coarse is shopping at the outlet stores. I get to go without kids and have a little quiet time.

Milan's family was able to come up a few times to spend some time with us. Grandma is always so wonderful to help with Payton so we can go and enjoy the rides and to swim without her. Maybe by next year she will be a little easier to handle.

Another fun thing we love to do is go to the Jordanelle Reservoir. Milan's brother brought his boat up and we were able to spend some time with his family and have fun. The boys can't seem to get enough of each other.

To end the trip we drove home over 2 days which seemed to take forever, and we only had one incident. My brand new laptop, which is only a month old, got run over and ruined. No warranty, no insurance. I guess it wouldn't be a memorable trip unless something went wrong, and we definitely will remember this one.