A fresh start!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Life is busy especially this time of year and things finally feel like they are settling down, a little. Atleast enough to sneak in a post. We had a wonderful Christmas surrounded by family and friends that we love and thinking of thoughs who are far away. This year has been different than any other year for our family for so many reasons, some good, some not so good. But we feel so blessed for all that we have been given, trials and all. I love the New Year, I feel like we get a chance to start over with anything and everything in our lives. Danny and I sat down yesterday to right our new years resolutions and let me tell you we finished off with 5 sheets of paper. Will we be able to stick to them all, who knows but we sure are going to try! We had things ranging from going to the Temple monthly , no soda, to making sure we have a regular date night! The best was planning all of the trips we'd "like" to take. Think big right. But most importantly we would like to get settled in roseville again!

This is Lauren sleeping Christmas Eve. She likes to put her head bands over her eyes to get her "beauty rest". She says and does some of the best things ever! She always keeps us laughing.

Here's the munchkins before we let them go to see the fun things Santa brought. Poor Lauren woke up first and had to wait "Patiently" for the rest of them. I get so excited to see there faces.

Jake ran for the stockings first and he would have been completely happy if Santa only brought play dough and bubble gum!

Lauren was very happy to get a guitar. She is the greatest air guitar girl I know. If there is ANY music playing anywhere this girl is out of her seat and rockin out!

Santa brought Aydon a new bike but he was more interested in what new video game came his way! Gotta love it, or hate it depending on who you are. I am more of a non lover!

Lindsey became a new Mommy of her Baby Alive. This is the greatest doll. I have enjoyed being a new "Grandma" too. I just read on my sister in laws blog about the baby alive her daughter got from Santa and I was dying laughing. She got the one that poops and she is having a great time with it. Needless to say I am happy to have only a peeing baby! Her name is Ella Bella, just like her other babies!

Jake finally made it to his toys! We got him a Thomas the train track mostly because Aydon LOVED Thomas when he was little so we thought Jake would too! He did but he doesn't like him to stay on the tracks. He tried to make him go around the toilet and in the bath tub. I have a feeling we are going to go through alot of trains. We went to my sisters house for the afternoon where the paper flew and the kids enjoyed playing with thier cousins. Family is the greatest blessing in the world and I am so grateful for them all. We are all so happy and relieved that Jeff is doing so much better. He is going in for surjury on the 7th and we expect him to be 100% soon!

We had a great 12 days of Christmas with lots of crafts and baking and fun family time.

Ornament night, where we gave the kids theirs for 2008. Aydon was Mater from the movie Cars because of his cute teeth. He is a great sport about it. He loves to say the line " She just likes me for my bOdy!" Jake got Lightening McQueen from Cars as well because he is a speed racer... that child is so fast and can turn a room upside down before you can get off of your chair to stop him. Good thing he is so dang cute or we'd sell him!!!LOL Lauren got a Hannah Montana guitar ornament because she is our little rock star! And Last but certainly not least Lindsey got an Aurora Princess because that is exactly what she is .. a PRINCESS with an attitude. When ever she wants something from Lauren she says" Princess should share" however that rule doesn't always apply to her.!

Pajama night was fun for the girls because who doesn't LOVE HM3! Troy is SOOOOO cute! (Lauren and Lindsey both have a crush)

We hope this Holiday finds you happy and healthy. We love this time of year when everyone is a little kinder and we can remember the reason for the season. We love you all and we hope this next year brings wonderful blessings to you all.

A post for Jen!

Jen, I hope these are the pictures you had in mind. Let me know. I can't find any others that have costumes. Let me know if they print off ok.

Family Traditions!

Well a new post is long over due and this one requires some participation. Last night at 10pm (way past the kids bed time and mine!) we put up the Christmas tree. We "traditionally put it up the day after Thanksgiving, but this has not been a normal year for our family by any means. We are at my Mom's house right now for the next few weeks and so it felt like I was a kid again to be here with her. We always play Christmas music (usually the old Alvin and the Chipmunk CD). We got everything put up and turned out all of the lights before we turn on the tree lights. The kids ooh and aah and so do the adults and at that moment, for me at least, it feels like Christmas! SO here is where you come in. We have alot of fun family traditions for instance a family photo. Which we have not done yet. There is always some one doing their own thing in each picture so we just pick the best and go with it. Any how I will list some of ours and I would love if any and all of you would share your favorites so that we might be able to pick up something new this year. My sister in-law Jenni had a few on her blog today that were fun. We usually give the kids their Christmas pj's on Christmas eve, but this year she gave them to them on Dec. 1 so they can wear them all month long. Good idea. I haven't purchased all of ours yet so we will be a little behind on that but were planning on it.
* We get each of the kids a personalized ornament to hang on the tree with their name and the year on it. Then each year they have several to hang of their own.
*We have a girls baking day at my Mom's usually mid December with all of the women in our family (little girls included) and we all bake tons of yummy goodies and then split it up and take to our friends and neighbors. Of course we keep plenty to eat ourselves. I always enjoy that day with just the girls.
*Danny LOVES hot Chocolate more than the average person. So each year I make his Mom's mixture of Oh so yummy Hot cocoa and every time we go out looking at Christmas lights we fill up are thermos and bring it along for the ride.
*As far as gifts go, we get each of our kids 3 gifts representing the gifts of the 3 wise men and stocking suffers.
* We have a Christmas Eve party at mine or my sisters house were the kids open all of their gifts from extended family members. We read the Christmas story Luke 2 before any gifts are opened. We pick 2 kids to be "Santa's Helper's" and they pass out all of the presents under the tree. They LOVE to do that and it keeps everyone under control.
* I love all of the food we have on both days! On Christmas Eve we do every kind of hor d'oeuvers (how in the heck do you spell that) and sweets, hot cider and hot Choc. and Christmas Day is like Thanksgiving all over again. Turkey, ham, stuffing cranberries the works. My mouth is watering just thinging about it.
* We are doing the 12 days of Christmas where each night we will suprise the kids with doing something new.

Anyhow, those are a few of the things we do I'll add more later but he natives are getting restless and one is stinky. I hope your holidays are getting off to a great start! Don't forget to share your ideas.

VOTE YES ON PROP 8

I have not been in the blogging world since we moved however I found this on my friend Laura's blog and I have been looking for something in regards to PROP 8 and I thought this summed it up pretty well. Now my feelings about this are pretty strong, so those with heart condition please exit to your right.
I have been so completely bothered by this entire thing. Disgusted is probably a better word. We already voted on a similar Proposition and because some judge in SF of all places decided it was unconstitional, we are paying tax dollars to vote AGAIN! The only thing unconstitutional about it is that ONE judge decided our votes didn't matter the first time. Iappologize if I am not being politically correct, as to not offend those who don't support this Proposition yet they certainly don't care if they offend us. They have their opinion and I have mine (of which you are about to hear.) Look at what is already going on in Mass., the law suits against a church because they wouldn't perform a wedding ceremony for a gay couple. WHAT! Now we have to change our religious beliefs to catter to others. News flash " START YOUR OWN CHURCH". I can handle this stuff because I am old enough to make a decision for myself as to whether I agree or not, but when they want to teach it in our schools and involve MY children, then they are COMPLETELY crossing the line. Thank you, but I will decide what to teach my children and the day that is taught in school will be the last day my children will be attending. Danny's cousins niece came home last week and said her teacher had read them a story about the "Prince and the Prince" the last page had the the men kissing and " Living happily ever after". She is in 1st grade!! They say that it won't hurt the kids to know about these things, ARE YOU FOR REAL PEOPLE! Some teachers group just spent $1 million dollars against prop 8, we can't afford to buy books for our school libraries and we have cut most of the extra programs in school, but hey let's waste a MILLION dollars on opposing prop 8. What a great idea!! Really, I don't understand what in the world is going on and with our society. Lets not allow the PLEGE OF ALLEGIENCE to be taught in school any more but let's teach about Homosexuality and Gay marriage. Does anyone else find this as rediculous and disturbing as I do. THE SUPREME COURT JUDGES NEED TO BE FIRED!!, and put somene in that has our countries best interest in mind instead of trying eliminate everthing this county was founded upon. I feel like homosexuality is being shoved down my throat and frankly I am ready to vomit. They are trying to force us to accept and approve of what they are doing. Whether this passes or not, right is still right and wrong is still wrong! I have family and friends that are gay, do I love them, ABSOLUTELY, do I agree with them, no! If anyone was offended by what I said I am sorry, but that is the nice version of how I feel about this whole situation. Everyone has the right to choose what they are and that is great, however I have a problem when their choice is being forced upon us and our society. The squeaky wheel gets the grease and it's time we are louder than they are!

So read on and spred the word! If you don't agree then I will race you to the pole!!!!!:



" Voting YES on Proposition 8 is something I feel very strongly about. The last thing I want is for my children to go to school and be taught that same-sex marriage is the same as marriage between a man and a woman. I hope everyone is registered to vote and realizes the huge impact this could have on our families, our religion, and on our society if this proposition doesn't pass. I am trying to spread the word in any way that I can, and I would love if you would take the time to go and check out some of these websites for voting YES on Prop 8......

http://www.preservingmarriage.org/http://www.protectmarriage.com/

Some Facts About Prop 8:

*Having tolerance without condoning.We can love someone while still maintaining and advocating our standards and beliefs.

*Unless Proposition 8 passes, California society will soon undergo a profound change in its basic understanding of marriage and family life.That will affect everyone in numerous ways. Over time, greater acceptance of nontraditional marriage will be demanded of all people. This could impact the ability of any religion to teach and practice its beliefs.

*Proposition 8 will not hurt gays.In California, the law provides for marriage-related benefits to be given to civil unions and domestic partnerships. Proposition 8 does not diminish these benefits.

*Failure to pass Proposition 8 will hurt children.If gay marriage remains legal, public schools will put it on equal footing with traditional marriage. Children will likely receive “age appropriate” information about sexual relations within heterosexual and homosexual marriages.

*Failure to pass Proposition 8 will hurt churches.The court’s decision will inevitably lead to conflicts with religious liberty and free speech rights. Society will become more and more hostile to traditional beliefs about marriage and family.Here's a video for more information about Prop 8.

THIS IS A BIG DEAL, PLEASE VOTE YES ON PROP 8!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HAPPY 2 nd BIRTHDAY BENJAMIN!

Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday to you, Happy Birthday to Benjamin, Happy Birthday tooooooooooo yoooooooooooooooooou! Benjamin is our nephew and he is turning 2 today! He is such a sweet boy and as you can see, he is cute as ever. We don't see him very often because he lives in Arizona but we wanted him to know we are thinking about him on his special day! We love you buddy!


Aydon and Benjamin riding Toby at the Farm.

Scratch the last post!

So we took Jake to the Doctor today and he has a ear infection a viral infection and he just cut his 2 eye teeth. Needless to say the poor child is miserable and we are not leaving until some time next week or atleast until my little guy is feeling better. So I guess I have more time to pack and organize than I thought.......

On the road again!

Well we are hopefully hitting the road tomorrow. I say hopefully because Jake ran a fever last night and today. We have a Dr.'s appt today and if he is alright then we will leave first thing in the morning. If not then I guess we will be here a little bit longer. My Mom and Grandma driving with me. I have no idea what I would do without them. I wish I would have had more time to say goodbye to everyone. But we will be back soon to pick up the rest of our stuff. We will miss everyone here so much. Thanks to blogging we won't lose touch. We will be back often to see family and friends. We will keep you posted as soon as we get there.

Swimming at Grandma's House

We had a great time swimming at Great Grandma's House today! I told the kids if they got all of their chores done early this morning that we would spend the rest of the day swimming. I am not against bribing my children and it works like a charm. My house is clean and the kids didn't complain once. We had a great time we brought lunch with us and then swam for 4 hours. So the best part of this is that all of my little munchkins are exhausted and taking naps and I have a moment to myself, ahhhhh!


So Miss Lindsey did great today! She has always loved the water up until a couple of weeks ago when she jumped in the pool without her floaties. She sunk! I was right there but she still was terrified. So we have spent the past couple of weeks getting her comfortable in the water again.

Jakey was in and out, and in and out! I was chasing that child all over. He has NO FEAR! He would jump to Aydon and I, even when we weren't looking! Then he would get out for a while and explore the pool grounds as curious toddlers do. Then stop to play with Grandma and eat and eat and eat! Little Porker!

Lindsey sat on the steps for a little while to get used to the water. She and Jake would throw the water rings for Aydon and Lauren to go get.

We finally made some progress! She would jump in and kick to me as long as I stayed close. And then she was off on her own. She would "swim" all over and get mad if you tried to help her. I was so proud of her.


Lindsey kept telling Lauren that she would save her and teach her how to swim as good as her. She and Lauren are both sugar and spice. I have no idea where they got that from!

Aydon was trying to stand up on his kick board. That thing went flying!

I had to put this one in because it so cute! I want to eat her! She was telling me to sing her the Little Mermaid song because she felt like Ariel in the water.

Aydon and Lauren would dive for rings all day if I let them. Who would of thought a plastic cirlce could entertain kids for hours!

Lauren is a great swimmer and such a good helper to me with the little ones.

The bigger kids were playing motor boat with the little ones. I love to hear them giggle when they speed up.

How perfectly Lindsey!

It was a little cold at first but it didn't take him long to jump in.

Aydon was trying to pick everyone up including me, he said he likes how strong he becomes in the water. He and Lauren played so well with not a sinlge tiff and life is bliss when that happens. I have to take a picture.

A fun weekend with Daddy!

This is kind of a part 2 for Danny so bare with me. Danny came home for the weekend and from the moment he got in the car everyone was so happy. He has never been away for that long before and the kids I were definately having withdrawls. He was the kids human jungle gym from the first day to the last and barely got a break, although he was not complaining. One or all of us were hanging on him the entire time. I absolutely enjoyed every second of him being home. These past few weeks have given me a chance to think about families who have to spend alot of time apart either for work or what ever the circumstances are and I have no clue how they do it. I missed Danny so much and felt kind of lost with out him. Obviously I had the kids to keep me company and very busy as four kids do, but I was honestly lonely with out him. He left again on Monday night and will probably be gone for another 2 weeks so we are in the same boat again. Before Danny left he wrote a little note to each of the kids and I, and left on the table for us to find when we got home from the airport. (He is great at letters, always knowing exactly what to say!) As I was reading Lindsey's to her I got a little emotional, so she climbed up on my lap and hugged me and said "It's ok Mom, Daddy will be home soon." That really made everything better for me. She is such a sweet heart. Aydon and Lauren have carried their letters around ever since and counting down the days. We really can't wait to be together again and not have to worry about him going back and forth.

Anyhow, here are some pictures of our weekend...

Jake is always trying to get his daiper off, so I had to get a picture of his bum!

We were watching a movie and Lindsey put on several pairs of Danny's socks and danced around for us. She is having a "Flash Dance" moment with her leg warmers.

We went to sonic and got some ice cream. Aydon apparently didn't get the memo that it was happy hour!
However....Lauren did! She is always happy when ice cream is involved, plus she loves to watch the girls skate over to our car to deliver our food. She says she wants to work at sonic some day so she can skate around. Hopefully she got Danny's cordination skills, because I would bite it!

We are sure going to miss the wild life preserve behind our house. We love to go walking back there with the kids.