Visitors

We have a busy week coming up and the best part will be the visitors coming. And the new babies we finally get to meet!

1st: our niece, Jacque, who had a baby girl, Maggie (our first grand niece), is coming for a visit. We can't wait to meet Maggie, who is just over 2 months old.


2nd: my sister Sara and her 3 kids (Mara, Wyatt, and Audrey) are arriving tomorrow from Vegas and staying for an entire week! Jenna and Mara are only 7 weeks apart and are so excited to see each other. The original plan was for them to arrive on Wednesday and as far as Jenna knows that is still the plan. She has been marking the days off on a calendar and will be thrilled to see Mara tomorrow, 2 days early. This is a picture from the last time we saw them, last May.


Here is Audrey, who is 5 months old and I still have not met her. I am so excited to hold her and kiss her cute chubby cheeks!


3rd: My little brothers are both coming to town next weekend. Devin from Texas and Griffin from San Diego. Here is a picture of them with Wyatt, Sara's boy, a few weeks ago. They both went to Vegas for a concert so they all got to hang out then.


It will be so much fun to meet babies, hang out, and celebrate Easter all together. It will be the first time the 6 of us siblings have all been together in quite some time.

Patriotism and Music

At school the boys have been learning to play the ukuleles. They have also been learning about American history. Tonight we were lucky enough to witness what they have been learning at their Patriotic program. They sang patriotic songs, played their ukuleles, and shared some American history tidbits. I enjoyed it, both times! The concluding song was "Proud to be an American" and it brought tears to my eyes. I hope the boys felt it too. I hope they understand how blessed they are to live in a free country where they can go to school and learn, play video games, but legos, learn about Jesus, etc. I hope they are proud to be Americans!


Each class did the progam and each child had either a speaking part or a solo or played in small groups. Here is Cole who had a little solo part and a group part. He has really enjoyed learning to play the ukulele and is pretty good too. He plays the guitar left handed, but has learned teh ukulele right handed.


Noah had a speaking part and played with a small group as well. He did awesome at both! Notice how much taller Z is than Noah. He is one of the boys good friends and we always laugh about how much taller he is than the boys.

My Cute Girls

The girls have needed haircuts for awhile now, I finally took them yesterday.
Aren't they so cute?!?!?!

I thought Ry just wanted a trim but she told me on the way to the salon that she wanted to cut it short. I love it! It makes her look so much older though.....

So, Jenna has been making some off the wall comments lately:
1- The whole family was in the car and we drove past a building that Mike had done some tile work in. They had painted the brick on the outside of the building and I pointed it out as we drove past. Jenna says "I know it looks ridiculous!" We could not stop laughing.
2- Tonight Jenna was showing her poster from her VIP at school to my parents. She was telling them about each picture, while I was texting on my phone. She kept telling me to listen and I kept ignoring her (I was not being a very good mom). I told her I had already seen the pictures and heard about them. She kept trying to tell me stuff and I should have listened cause after a few times of me ignoring her she said, "Unbelievable!" and put her poster away. Again we were all laughing hysterically.
3- A few minutes later, she was asking me if she could play Webkinz on my computer. I told her no and she was trying to tell us she knew her password. She told my dad "I have it rememorized" and we were all cracking up yet again.

We love you Jenna, thanks for making us laugh!

Happy Birthday Devin!

Today is my little (well younger) brother, Devin's birthday. He and his little family recently moved to TX and we miss them tons! Devin is an awesome brother, fun uncle, loving husband and father. I am 9 years older than him and sometimes feel like a missed a big chunk of his "growing up" years.
I do remember when mom was pregnant with him. In our family Brandon was born first and then myself and 3 sisters so I know my parents really wanted another boy. I still remember my dad coming to school to tell me that I had a brother and I was a bit upset, I wanted another sister.
I also remember the summer we lived at BYU while my parents went to school. Devin was 2 and I was holding him and he was throwing a fit so I set him down and he threw his head back and hit the corner of the cement wall and there was blood everywhere! My mom had on a yellow shirt and it turned red real fast. My dad was in class and mom wasn't sure where the hospital was. I rode with her and I remember (I think my mom made me) watching them stick the needle is his head to numb him up and then stitch him up. Maybe that was the first time I realized I might want to be a nurse...
There are plenty of other stories from when he was little that I can recall but they moved to NC when Devin was 12 and so I missed a lot!
I will never forget sitting in the Las Vegas airport with Devin and Jenna on our layover from San Diego when dad called to tell us Brandon had just passed away. I was so glad I wasn't alone at that moment.
Over the last few years I have been able to share many happy occasions with Devin: his wedding day, his college graduation, and the birth of his son. I love Devin and his cute family and am grateful he is my brother! We miss you Devin (and Karissa and Roran)! We hope you had a great birthday!!!

Devin with Mara and Jenna, he's a great uncle!
The kids are always excited when Devin is around!

Devin & Karissa's wedding day was so much fun! It was the first time we were all together again since Brandon had passed away, so it was so nice to be together for such a happy time!

Here he is, the proud dad! Roran was just a couple months old in this picture.
He looks a lot like Devin did as a baby, even has the same hairline.

Here is a more recent picture of Roran, I believe he is almost 6 months old.
Isn't he so stinking cute! I love his smile!
You know he is loved by how happy he is.

My Sweet Girl

This week at school Jenna was her class "mystery student". Her teacher read 3 clues about her everyday and then today Mike & I went to her class with a poster and her favorite book to read to the class. We told the class all about her pictures and then the kids got to ask Jenna questions. Her teacher reminded the kids that they could only ask about Jenna or make a comment about Jenna and I was shocked! Not shocked because of what they said but shocked that a group of 6 & 7 year olds were so sincere and sweet. These are just some of the comments that were made: "I like Jenna because she is nice to me" "I like Jenna because she is my best friend" "I like Jenna because she is kind to the whole class" "I like Jenna because she plays with me at recess" I was a proud mom today listening to Jenna's classmates describe her this way. She is so much like her big sister in this way. Always nice to everyone, trying to be friends with everyone. She is such a sweetheart!

I don't think this picture shows her sweet side, but I love her funny side too!

My Boys are 11!

I cannot believe it has been 11 years have past, it seems like just the other day I was bringing home 2 tiny boys. Our life was changed in many ways....


all the changes were definitely worth it! Life continues to change as they grow and they are still worth it everyday! We love you Noah and Cole!

WHAT!?!?!

Isn't my daughter beautiful? I worry sometimes becuase she is so beautiful and she has such an awesome personality as well. I worry about keeping the boys away...and her boy craziness doesn't help!
So she is tired of me repeating this little story but I am going to share it one last time:
I received a phone call from her last week while I was at work. She wanted to know if she could go hang out with a friend at the elementary school by our house. I asked which friend and she said "john" (name changed to protect the cute boy). I instantly said no! She kept asking why not and asking with a please. My answer was the same everytime, NO! I told her she is only 13 and can't hang out alone with a boy, especially the one she has a crush on. She was upset and still doesn't seem to get what the problem is with the idea of her haning out alone with a cute boy. I keep telling myself that I am ok with being a "mean mom" but it's not always easy. I want to let her have fun and enjoy life, the only problem is we have different ideas of what is fun or what is appropriate. Sometimes I feel I am too lenient and other times too strict. I only have my parents example and my instincts to go off of. I just keep praying that I will make the right decisions, teach my kids the right, and that they will make the right choices. Being a parent is hard! I am trying my best Rylee and doing what I feel is right. Please don't hate me...I love you so much and even though you think I am "mean" I am only doing what I do because of how much I love you.

Snowboarding...

Mike is a snowboarder (unfortunately he hasn't had the chance to go this winter until today) and taught Rylee a couple years. This year he bought the boys and Jenna boards at the pawn shop with plans to teach them all how to board as well. They have all "practiced" when we went sledding but never at a resort. Today Mike decided to check the boys out of school early and take them up to Brighton. They loved it! Mike said at the end of the day the boys wanted to know who was better and Mike told them (lovingly I'm sure) that they both stunk. They asked again, "No who was better?" Then he told them he was the best! I am just glad they were able to go and have fun together and no one got injured.

COLE

NOAH

An Ugly Monster...

has come back into our family...Cancer! Mike's brother's wife, Gayle, was diagnosed this last week with ovarian cancer and begins chemo tomorrow. Keep her and her family and doctors in your prayers!