The way it is...:)

I love my kids. I love the stages they are in right now. They make me laugh so much! Yes, there are days that the chaos gets to me. But gosh they are fun! Josh pretty much follows Sarah around and does whatever she wants. Every so often he puts his foot down. :) Sometimes Ben will join in but a lot of the time he wants to do his own thing. I enjoy seeing what he comes up with as well.



Yes, Sarah and Josh dumped out and mixed clean laundry with dirty laundry. And since this is the only time it has happened and I found it quite comical the games they played I let it slide. :)

The kids were sick from about mid November until about a week ago. We did lay low but they were quite clingy and demanding. The house got away from me here and there...as you can see with the laundry..

Ben missed about 3 weeks of school which was different. I do love it when he is home though!

Random but that is pretty much our life! :)

Leaf fun!

One of the big differences in this house and our last on is trees.

We have missed the shade. I will say it was nice to have fewer leaves to rake. :)

We may have less leaves but not less fun! Also, fall weather is quite nice here as well!

The view...

I have been telling everyone that living in the valley is a good experiment...ya know, to see if we'll like it. The big clincher being winter...

Lets just say I love it! It is gorgeous, cozy and refreshing. You know you can visit anytime, right?

FREE Harry Potter tickets!

Leave a comment on my marriage blog if you'd like to see Harry Potter next week for FREE!

my marathon runner!

Dear Zach,

I think you are awesome! The Deseret News Marathon was nothing short of difficult for you and Shayne.

You stuck with Shayne, you helped him through. It took you guys forever but finish, you did do! (I can't help but rhyme:))

I am proud of you and all your crazy glory! I admire your determination and your strength!

I love watching you and cheering for you when you do something hard! I love you more and more every time!

Love,

Your number one fan!

That's my Davy!

So six months ago David left on his mission. I never blogged about it.

I took these pictures from the road. :)

I felt like I was an undercover reporter.

I loved watching him hug mom & dad.

We miss his face. I have been surprised by how much I miss my brothers. Matt hit his year mark today. I do, I miss them. They are doing so good though!

Dave is in Norway and Matt is in Albania for those that forgot...and for the record. :)

looking back

Well, before this years out I vow to have the highlights posted. Hold on to your hats, I have been a slacker so there are a few posts. :)

I'm just laughing that I posted this and then blogger wouldn't let me post pictures. It didn't work yesterday and still won't work today. So, I guess you can stop holding your hat and when you see posts, you'll know to hold your hat again! :)

What I love!

...That I have an 18 month old with such a personality!

I love his SMILE!

I love his sense of adventure!

I love that he can be on the verge of falling or can be wedged somewhere & can't get up or out on his own and will simply say "hep, pease, stuck".

He loves to brush his teeth. :)

I love that when he says "shh", he puts his finger on or up his nose.

I love that when he had his finger stuck in the door he calmly looked at me and said "stuck".

I love that he will sit on my lap.

I love it when he walks up to me with book in hand & says "book, read it".

I love that he dances to any beat, including the washing machine!

I love that when he sees or someone says Tigger, he will bounce as he says "bounce".

I love that he will tackle his dad or his siblings.

I love that he can be so entertained by a ball!

I love that he loves to do anything with his siblings. For as much as he is picked on, this boy is so patient! :)

I love that when I ask for a hug, he grins and runs to me.

I love that if I lightly tickle his tummy he will hold still & when I stop he will say "mommy" so I will keep going.

I love that he loves his blanky and sucks his thumb, it's adorable!

I love Joshua! I can not believe 18 months has gone by already!!! This mommy better hold on because time is going by WAY too fast!!!

Game Time!

Ben had his first soccer game last night and it was a hoot! He was first put in as goalie and he sure took it seriously! He was so into it! The little girl in this video is Lauren from our ward. They are in the same class and are always doing things to get each others attention.

I love footage.

life is down the drain. :)

A little song from my cheery 3 year old. :)

"Row, row, row your boat, gently down the drain,

merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, life is down the drain."

Love this girl!

*sigh*

I do, I miss the days when get togethers were easy. I miss my friends who were all around me. I miss my kids friends too. *sigh*

This was a water party we had about 2 weeks before we moved and we planned super last minute...like, the night before and we had such a good time. I loved good ol' Gramercy!...missing you and my friends of course. :)

Last Splash!!

Before Ben went off to school he wanted to hit the splash pad. We hadn't been to the one on Riverdale since they put it in so we went there and had a great time.

The kids had a blast and were super excited that Zach was able to stop in for a bit. We love to see him during the day. It is such a treat! Good times!

Can it really be true?

Is my baby really going to kindergarten? Zach of course asked me to say our family prayer this morning. Who cried the whole way through? Yep! He better know I love him! Gosh, it was only an hour and a half today! Pull it together! :)

Here's the pics. They are out of order. :)

We live just a little over a mile away from the school. There is a bike path and he REALLY wanted to ride his bike. I figure I should let him and I get as much exercise from bike riding or running to school while the weather is nice because once it snows up here there isn't even attempting a bike! -He LOVED it! (we all took him to school and Zach picked him up)

He was ready as soon as he woke up practically! He made his bed before he came out of his room! -Josh was still sleeping! He doesn't look excited at all does he?!

I'm surprised we got a smile out of him at breakfast time....he just wanted to go to school and was super bugged we couldn't leave at 8 o'clock!

He had fun today. It was a good day. Crazy that it is already here though! Time flies when you are having fun!...I guess it does when you're not too! I better just have fun then! :)

30 and 3!!

These two loves of mine had birthdays last week! Zach is 30 and Sarah is 3! I can't believe either of them! Time really does fly!

This adorable little thing brings me so much joy!

Candle on a marshmallow was the way to go this year! She loved it!

Thanks for being the holder of the mallow Steph!

I'm pretty sure birthdays at the cabin are the way to go!

If you are wearing a tu tu you must dance!..with the best dad in the world!

For his birthday he got 4 hours on the 4 wheeler exploring! And he got an hour ride with me! He pretty much loved it! :)

Now this man means the world to me and I don't ever want to think of life without him!

Happy Birthday Zach! You look so hot on a 4 wheeler!