Some November Pics-& our Christmas picture

First picture is of Emma at her "Jamie-do's" birthday party! The girls had so much fun getting their nails and hair done!
Ted's young men. He has had so much fun with them over the last year!!! He's going to miss them- but not too much as he just got called as 1st counselor in the YM in our new ward! Yipppeee!!!
Emma's amazing birthday cake compliments of Aunt Dorothy! She loved it!
Our family Christmas photo
Emma in her pilgrim outfit from school.
We had a lovely November and are looking forward to December and Christmas time!! We are so excited to have be in a new ward and look forward to getting-to-know new families and friends! There were 60 kids in primary today! Quite a jump from the normal 6-10!! Yeahhh!! Merry Christmas!

Not so little Emma bug

I don't know how she ended up with that nick name-but that's what we called her when she was a baby and it still slips out now and then. She is turning into a little lady. Emma has a carefree-creative soul. She loves unconditionally, is observent to the needs of her family and zealous to serve! She adores her baby brothers- Kyle is a little bit easier to love right now then Adam, but she tries very hard to keep the peace with our #3. And she worships James. We are switching bedrooms around right now, all the boys together and Emma in her own room. She has sobbed herself to sleep two nights in a row now because she misses James. She said to me, "I'm going to miss James Mommy. He reads me stories and we cuddle up and tell eachother what we're going to do tommorrow." Oh my. What sweet kids I have. (We're going to put things back the way they were anyways because Adam won't stay in the bunk bed- he needs a room where he can be locked in:) We are so lucky to have Emma in our life. She loves to dance, sing, paint, help in the kitchen! Emma bears her testimony in Family Home Evening every week and it is wonderful and amazing to hear her sweet spirit growing. She truly knows that she is a daughter of God and that he loves her. There is nothing more important for her to know and I know that she will continue to share this knowledge with her friends and family through her kind and giving personality! We love you Emma! Don't grow up too fast!

This is my day...my baptism day!

A picture says a thousand words right? Here's a few pictures---it was a beautiful day. Impossible to describe!

Crazy 8's!

There's so much to say about this little boy who is quickly turning into a young man. The reason I am so proud of you is because you were smart enough to emulate your father-not your mother!! Our home would be a very different place without your sweet spirit, your calming influence, and your wonderful smile. Don't be afraid to laugh, to mess up and start over, and to find joy in the moment that you're in! Because the moments are flying by and before we know it...woosh! You'll be 19! Thank you for choosing to be baptized and for setting an awesome example to your younger siblings! I tried cutting Emma and I out of some of the pictures...I'm not that talented and just got really frusturated...but here are 8 pictures for 8 great years. I know this is a couple of days early...but I also knew it was now or never! The next few weeks are going to give me a run for my money! Kind of literally and figuratively:) Some of you know what I mean!

Courtesy of little lady

These shots are all taken by our little lady!!! She's quite the photographer!

Guess who...guess what???

Okay, I'll tell you who...Ted grew, harvested, and canned these babies...can you guess what they are?

Mellow men, Brotherly Love and peanuts

The other day Ted brought home a huge box filled with packing peanuts. He threw it in the entry as he headed out the door to work and yelled, "I thought the kids would have fun with this!" He was right-and they left the mess to prove it (and I left the mess for Ted to clean up-I thought he'd want to see how much fun they had:) Instead of flipping out about how to remove all the crushed peanuts from the carpet, as I would have done, he devised a nifty little contraption with the vacuum cleaner (so they wouldn't jam it) and sucked them all up. My Mom, who witnessed the whole scene, just laughed because had I walked in the door to that mess-oh my! But Ted just "solved the problem" which is the number two rule in her classroom. I learn a little lesson from my mellow man with the Apple juice container duck taped to the vacuum cleaner as he stooped through the house sucking up Styrofoam peanuts.

Story #2- Half way through the kids glorious peanut fight I heard this huge crash down the stairs and James screaming "It's Adam!! He's holding scissors!" You could hear the fear in his voice. It surprised me because James is usually so mellow about everything-hence mellow men. The scissors had jammed the top of Adams mouth-there was blood everywhere. James was devastated! I haven't seen him cry in a long time. He kept asking if his lip was going to be swollen. He literally came over and put his head on top of Adam and sobbed. As I sat there with my crying boys I had one of those moments where I realized how blessed I am to have James. I heard so much about "setting the tone" while I was growing up. James is doing a million times better then I did as the oldest. He truly sets a mellow, compassionate tone for his younger siblings. I can't believe he turns eight in just a few weeks. I am so proud of all that he is. Thank you James- for being brave enough to blaze the trail for your younger siblings. You have done it with courage and wisdom beyond your years. I know that you will continue to set a good example to them and lead them in paths of righteousness!






The peanut gallery.




Watching Saturday morning cartoons.

Beach Bums!!

We had so much fun at the beach...we're so glad the sun burst out from behind the clouds before we left!!!

A sand angel!!!

When are we doin' campin' Mommy?

Adam had been asking this question for weeks before our camping trip this last weekend. Ted and James went to Scout Camp without him. Mom went to Young Women camp without him. So he kept asking, "When are we doin' campin' Mommy...Can I come?" Well, about an hour into the car ride home sure enough Adam pipes up, "When are we goin' campin' Mommy?" Ted and I just looked at each other and rolled our eyes. Either he has no idea what camping is-or he had so much fun that he wants to go again. And I don't know if the word fun is necessarily the best description of said trip...

It rained and rained and rained and rained. We left a day early because everything and everyone was soaked through. The tent was weather proof-but it rained so much that everything just became damp-pillow, blankets, sleeping bags, clothes. James and Emma and Adam were amazingly patient. Adam sat by a log for a good three hours with his cars and just zoomed them up and down and all around. James and Emma spent most of their time just sitting around the fire lighting their sticks on fire and pretending they were wands, "Wingardiam leviosa!" Until they almost poked each others eyes out with hot sticks and were told to keep them in the fire. They had to be patient because it took Mom, Dad, Aunt Jamie, and Nana to keep up with Kyle in the mud- and just run the camp making sure that everyone was staying dry! Pheww, it makes me tired just remembering it. We went to the beach on Saturday despite the wind and rain and James and Emma jumped right in! I was surprised- I'm pretty adventerous and I wasn't about to get in!!! It was cooollllddddd!!!!!! But they were just such good sports about everything. And we were lucky to have Nana and Jamie there to pitch in and do bathroom runs etc.!! I'm such a lucky lady:)

BUT!!! We packed up to leave Sunday morning and the sun came bursting through the clouds-it was glorious. And we had an amazing day at the beach. The water wasn't that cold and the kids had so much fun chasing the waves. I love the ocean! There is something so therapeutic about it. But we were also glad we went to a hotel that night because the downpoor started shortly after we left the beach and lasted all through Monday:) I think this was one of those vacations that was good and necessary but just really makes you appreciate being home-is that the whole point of camping? More pics to come...Jamie has better ones on her camera.

Take Me Out to the Ballgame!

Well, to be quite frank...the Mariners game was a bit like sacrament meeting for Ted and I-except it lasted four hours instead of an hour and ten minutes. Holding restless spinning babies in our laps was, ummmmm- you know...but it was still a blast! We got to take Dallin to his first Mariners game...and Emma was actually paying better attention then I was! She clapped and cheered whenever they hit a ball...was asking quetions. It was cute! And they won! Yeaahhhhhh!!!! It was a good game-tied for a while-they played well. And of course James was in heaven the whole time...eyes glued to Ichiro. I love going to Mariners games...I love Seattle! It was a beautiful weekend. One of those weekends that make me ache a little when I have to head back towards Eastern Washington away from the lush green trees and sparkling blue water. But I love home too! I wouldn't raise my family anywhere else as long as I can get my green fix in Seattle every few months!

Hallowed Cereal

I finished Harry Potter this morning...and this is what I found- Kyle sitting in the middle of...a bowl of soggy cereal that was at least 2 hours old, dumped all over his lap. James and Adam still in their pj's. Totally neglected children. And my eyes so puffy that I could barely see to clean up the mess. But it was all worth it. What a roller coaster this last book is. And I think the hardest part of all is that it's over...there's no more coming-my heart is literally broken just a little bit. I won't give anything away here...but check out my book blog sometime and my little tribute to the amazing JK Rowling and the boy who has given us all a little more courage to stand for what's good and true...HARRY POTTER!!!!

The Final Frontier

Wow!! What an amazing time we had up at Lake Chelan...biking, hiking, swimming, exploring...and definitely Building On Our Testimonies(that was our theme)!! It was so neat to see the girls working together as a team. We did not have one fight between them...they made sure to include everyone always, they participated with enthusiasm! It was a delight to be there and I know that my own testimony was strengthened as I watched the girls learn and grow. Thank you sooooo much to all those who made sure my own little flock was safe and happy at home!

Yeah!! This is fun....

Click to play | Make your own Smilebox

Zen shorts!

James came down the stairs in these pants the other day and I glanced at him and thought,"Those are wierd shorts." A while later I saw him again and thought to myself,"What the heck was I thinking to buy my kid capri/shorts like that?" I didn't remember buying them. Then I realized that they were Adam's size 2T pants!!! James said, "They were in my drawer!!" We all had a good laugh!

Summer rainfall...in a plastic cup!

Ahhhhhh! I love a good summer rain! Where you can leave the windows open and smell the freshness breezing in! Emma was delighted as well....as you'll be able to tell from the picture! She's so eclectic! We love her and her sweet little "creative" moments. The plastic wal-mart bags are so her hands won't get wet! And she did catch some rain in her cup- and it did make her day...wouldn't it be nice if life could stay that simple?!

A Very Merry Unbirthday!!!

Wow! What a magical time we had. I wouldn't have gone any where else in the world! We had an absolute blast. We played very hard so it wasn't rest and relaxation, but I think it was better for us to pretend to be kids again! I've never had so many people wish me Happy Birthday in my entire life. It was fun to be a little, or a lot, bold and wear that Birthday hat. I think I'll make my kids wear it to school on their birthdays or something...I just can't say thank you enough to my sweet sister Jamie. It wouldn't have been nearly as wonderful without knowing my kids were in good hands.