The Torgersens

Those moments...

2010-05-15T23:52:00.000-07:00

Lately I have had a lot of "Those Moments", when I pause for a second to watch my children play and soak up each smile and giggle. To relax when Jake has spilled his cup for the 3rd time today and laugh with him instead of being upset. To take the time to sit it the grass while Jake picks me "Flowers" and puts them in my hair and tells me it looks beautiful. To stop and paint pictures with Lindsey and listen to her fabulous ideas about what she will do when she is a grown up. To dance cheek to cheek with my Jakey who won't let me put him down until the song is over. To sing Taylor Swift and dance around the room with Lauren and Lindsey. To listen to Lauren do her impersonations of "Sicky Vicky" and to get to be the 3rd Princess in the "Real Princesses Of New Jersey" Skit. (My girls have the greatest Jersey accent!) I have loved watching Aydon run his little heart out to 1st base or make an awesome play and have his team mates tackle him in excitement. Then watch him step up to the plate and strike out and see the disappointment on his face and watch one of his team mates put their arm around him encourage him to give it his all next time. When the kids ask if I will sleep in their room until they fall asleep and I can't say no. To take the time to play hide and seek in the dark and listen to the kids squeal and then beg us to keep playing. To set up the tent in the back yard for Jake and Lindsey and eat breakfast, lunch and dinner in there because I was invited over to their "House". To catch lady bugs and make houses for them. To makes smores over the kitchen stove when it is cold and raining outside. To watch the kids ZOOM around on their bikes on our patio in the back yard and get to be the announcer for the "RACE". To watch them run through the sprinklers in their under ware. When I see the girls climb on Danny's lap and snuggle with their Daddy and kiss his checks and pray they never get to old for snuggle time. There are so many simple things that happen and if we don't stop to enjoy them, they will easily be missed. The kiss and hug your baby gives you that gives you goose bumps because you love that little person so much. Time goes so fast and it is so easy to get caught up in the day to day routine and forget to write down those sweet little moments that I never want to forget. There is NO greater joy than being a mother even on the crazy days. They are my world and my treasures and I am so grateful that they are ours forever!

Worth the time....

2010-05-04T15:56:00.000-07:00

Sure makes you realize your blessings. Don't forget to pause the music.

Happy Birthday Aydon!!!

2009-11-03T22:54:00.000-08:00

Today Aydon is 10! That is double digits. This is the first birthday that I can honestly say I have been on the verge of tears. Aydon can't be 10, I just had him yesterday. Atleast that is how I feel. I fought through and we had a great day.
Lindsey and I got up early to make Aydon his birthday breakast. We had poached eggs, smokies, grapes, chocolate and crumb doughnuts and OJ. I took Aydon shopping yesterday and that is what he picked out. We all woke up Aydon by singing Happy Birthday to him. During breakfast Danny and I told the kids all the memories we have of the day they were born. We laughed as we told all the funny stories of how I went to the hospital thinking my water had broke but Aydon had just kicked my bladder really hard and made me pee my pants! He thought that was hilarious! Then it was off to school. I brought Aydon lunch and Danny spent recess at school with him and had all the kids around him on the play ground sing Happy Birthday to him. Then my Mom and I brought cup cakes in the his class where we sang again. He is so sweet, even with all of his friends around, Aydon always gives me a kiss and hug goodbye and thanked me for bringing him lunch and cupcakes. Then I went to the store and picked up the gift he has been wanting for a long time. I got the last Wii that target had this week. Now we have been putting off buying this because for one I thought it was rediculously expensive and he already has a PS2. I don't think he needs more than one gaming system. So after alot of negotiating on Aydon's part, we agreed that if he could come up with half, we would match it. He also said he would sell his PS2 on craigslist, DEAL! We had the family over tonight for Pizza (of course) and cake. Aydon opened all his cards and was excited to get money to out towards the wii. After he was done we pretended that was all there was and he went to play with the kids. Danny called him into the kitchen and suprised him. It is so fun to see Aydon get so excited! Needless to say we have been playing wii sports all night. Very fun. Even my Grandma got in on the bowling.

Singing Happy Birthday, AGAIN. Aydon said "It is nice that everyone wants to sing to me Mom but everytime I answer the phone people are singing, everywhere I go people are singing, it has to stop." He is too funny!

Aydon excited when he saw the Wii.

FINALLY! !!! He can sleep well tonight! He gave me the money for the half of the Wii, which was honestly hard for me to do because alot of it was from his birthday but he is understanding concepts of money that is important.

Aydon is such a sweet boy. He is ALWAYS concerned about his siblings almost paranoid about them being safe. On Halloween he took Jake up to every door instead of running ahead with the older kids. He said he wanted to make sure Jake was ok and didn't get scared. The other kids decided to stay with Aydon and walk up with Jake and Lindsey too! Aydon teaches me something new everyday. I love watching him grow and become the wonderful boy that he is but at the same time it makes me sad to think about how quickly time is going by. However, Aydon did promise that he would never move away from home, I just need to get that in writing! We love you so much Aydon and there is no greater blessing in this world than being your Mom and Dad. Happy Birthday!

The Halloween with no Pictures!

2009-11-01T13:24:00.001-08:00

I am so bummed I forgot my camera last night. I don't have any pictures of my kiddos lookin so cute. Aydon was GI Joe. He was in all camo and we pianted his face camo. Very cool. Lauren was a 50's girl in her cute poodle skirt all dolled up. Lindsey FINALLY picked her costume after going through 3 of them. She first was Barbie and the 3 musketeers, then she was a ballerina and then she decided to be a little bunny rabbit. She was so cute with her fluffy white tail and cute pink nose. Jakers was BATMAN he was adorable. We painted a bat around his eyes under his mask. We headed to my sisters as we do each year and it always is a blast. Really fun neighborhood. Warm and yummy soup and salad and lots of other goodies. Great food, great company. Wish I had my camera.

We moved...

2009-10-21T10:35:00.001-07:00

Well we finally found a house we can settle in after year of not knowing if we were coming or going. We love it! It is so similar to our old house and the kids really like it. We just have to put the yard in. I am taking a break in between unpacking and hanging pictures. It has been so much fun to see all of the things that have been packed up for a year. The kids think is is Christmas. Maybe I should of waited until then and just unpacked their old toys. We found some of our old journals and loved reading all of the funny things we wrote about the kids so that inspired me yet again to be more diligent about writing things down. I will have to post pictures later.

The months in the life of a blog slacker.

2009-09-12T22:00:00.000-07:00

I say months because that is how long it has been since I have posted. I was looking at my kids today and in disbelief of how big they are. I have felt the need to be better at journaling because I don't want to forget all of the fun memories we make on a daily basis. There fore I am committed to catching up on my blogging as well. Slowly but surely I will get there.

So for starters we went to Utah this summer for a fabulous Torgersen Family Reunion. We were there for 10 days and camped for 3 of them. The camping spot was gorgeous, the food was delicious but the company was the best of all. It was so much fun to catch up with family members we hadn't seen in years. We spent the rest of the time at Mom and Dad's and did what we do best, laughed, played, took several trips to Richfield and cooked. It was so nice to take a break from the presures of life and relax on the farm. The kids ran and played with cousins all day and night. It was honestly so much fun. It never lasts long enough.

Ok I don't know what this thing is called but it should be called the human sling shot. It was fun for kids and adults.

Daddy and Lindsey snuggling.

Danny kicking off the festivities. We raffeled off some awesome baskets and told stories, some true, some not so sure. But we had the best time and can't wait for the next one.

Group picture. This was only a 1/4 of the people who were there.

They had crafts and games to play. These kids had non stop fun.

We are missing 4 girls but here are a few of us. I love these ladies.

Mom and I playing one of the games. We were laughing so hard that Mom sprayed me with black licorice spit. Fun Fun. Hey atleast neither of us wet our pants. I was surprised.

Grandmelinda and Lauren. Just before this picture Lauren was telling on someone and needed Grandma to save the day. She knows she can count on her Grandma.

This was the view from our tent. Awesome spot. Good job Danny and Dad.

Lindsey and Benjamin played in the sprinkles while Jen and I brought in groceries from Richfield. Never mind that it was raining and we were in the middle of a thunder storm. They had a blast and we loved watching them squeal and giggle.

These 2 love eachother.

We love Grandpa Bob.

Aunt Jaris and the kiddos. Aydon can't get enough of wrestling with Aunt Jaris. He tries to tackle her every chance he gets. And she is such a fun Aunt that she takes him down every time.

The whole family after Gavin's Baptism. That was a fun day. Accept when Matt and Lindy left.

Launi and my Little EVIE! I want to bite this little girl every time I see her. She shakes her little bum when she walks and does the CUTEST things. I love love love her. When Lauren see's Evie's picture on the computer she says " Mom turn it off, I just can't take it, she is so dang cute." She and I feel the same way about this little munchkin.

What else can I say but they are too cute not to post.

These boys had so much fun together. Aydon loves his cousins.

It was so fun to see the Pace fam. I didn't know they were going to make it to the baptism but so glad they did. It's fun to catch up with old friends. Beautifuls girls! Lindsey and Leah loved playing with Lydia, Addison and Averi.

Lindsey and Megan summed up how we all felt when it is time to say goodbye. They were both crying and it broke my heart. These 2 were inseperable the whole time. We can't wait for October so we can see everyone again.

Sleep overs and hurt kids!! Not a good combo.

2009-07-01T17:43:00.000-07:00

Last night we had a fun sleep over with a couple of the kids friends. The girls rocked out to music, made up dance moves to the songs, played with makeup and dressed up. The boys were boys, wrestling, video games and teasing the girls. Danny and I took 6 kids "night swimming." The kids love to go after dark, we scare away the other adults that come at night to try and avoid all of the crazy kids that are there during the day. The kids stayed up way to late and fell asleep watching movies. Today we met at this great water park in Rocklin to swap kiddos. We meet once a week to let the kids play and Mom's chat. We were all having a great time the kids were soaked and happy and then Brayden (Aydon's friend) came to tell me that Aydon had a bloody nose. So I grabbed a towel and was helping him and I saw Jake climbing up a ladder to get to the second level on the play structure. Now as Mom's I know you have all experianced that gut feeling when you know something bad is going to happen. Jake is a climber and is really stable but I just felt like he was going to fall so I started to run towards him and down he came. He was up about 4 or 5 feet and landed on his feet and then his bum. He was screaming and shaking and he could not get up. My friend Lisa came over and we were moving his legs around and checking everything out. From the way he fell I thought he broke his leg, but then I looked and his ankles and the right one was already completely swollen. Needless to say we were done at the park and called our Doctor. He sprained his ankle. He is a trooper though, he is letting us ice it and taking motrin, but he gets frusterated because everytime he tries to walk it hurts so he is back to crawling. We are going to go back to the Doc in 3 days to check and make sure everything is healing ok. I am carrying him to go potty and the other kids bring him all of his toys and read to him so he is in good hands. It just stinks when your kids are hurt. Still can't find my cord, so no pictures. It's around here somewhere. Happy summer days!

Happy Father's Day! and some catch up....

2009-06-21T23:10:00.000-07:00

I hope that all of the great Dad's out there that I know and love had a wonderful day! We spent the afternoon at my parents house. We had great food, great company and a great time. I wish we could do it more often. Life has been busy for everyone lately and it was nice to take a break, relax and celebrate with the fam. My kids LOVE their cousins so much, I wish we could live a little closer so we could spend more time together. I have alot of things to catch up on in the blogging arena. I can't find my cord to down load pictures. Still searching for things in boxes. However we have had a fun begining to our summer and enjoying being together. Aydon finished scout camp last week and had a great time. I love going with him too. They have alot of fun things for the boys to do. We have spent alot of time swimming the past couple of weeks. The water is a little cold for me but the kids love it. We went to see the movie UP last night, I loved it. However can anyone tell me why in almost every Disney movie they kill the Mom off or in this case the wife. Someone at Disney doesn't like Mom's very much. What is the deal with that. It was a cute movie though, very sweet. Jake is doing fabulous on his potty training. He lets me come in the bathroom with him but he tells me to look in the mirror until he is done. He only wears and diaper at night, we are still working on that part. He loves all of his character underware and changes constantly. Which is fine with me just as long as he wants to wear them. He LOVES Buzz Light Year just as much as Aydon did. We can't wait for Toy Story 3 to come out next summer. Lindsey is cute as ever she is really enjoying learning to spell things and writing her alphabet. She will write and letter and then draw a picture to match the letter. Between her and Lauren they could go through a stack of paper in one day. Lauren is becoming interested in music alot more lately. She lays on her bed in her room with her head phones on and rocks out to all of the old 80's cd's that Danny has given her. Too funny. Aydon is into speaking with an accent. When we are driving in the car he with tell me which accent we are going to use (he has a great english and Australian accent) and then we all speak that way to each other. He is hilarious. I will have to get some pictures up soon!

Silly Saturday

2009-05-02T22:50:00.000-07:00

I found this a while ago on my friend Cami's blog. I needed to hear it then and I remembered it again today so I thought I would borrow it and share.....

"What can . . . young mother[s] [do] . . . to reduce the pressure [of raising young children] and enjoy [their families] more? . . ."Recognize that the joy of motherhood comes in moments. There will be hard times and frustrating times. But amid the challenges, there are shining moments of joy and satisfaction."Author Anna Quindlen reminds us not to rush past the fleeting moments. She said: 'The biggest mistake I made [as a parent] is the one that most of us make. . . . I did not live in the moment enough. This is particularly clear now that the moment is gone, captured only in photographs. There is one picture of [my three children] sitting in the grass on a quilt in the shadow of the swing set on a summer day, ages six, four, and one. And I wish I could remember what we ate, and what we talked about, and how they sounded, and how they looked when they slept that night. I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing: dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less' (Loud and Clear [1004], 10-11)."M. Russell Ballard, "Daughters of God," Ensign, May 2008, 109

I feel like that there are times I have been good at this and times where I am wishing the time away hoping to get to an easier less stressful time in my life. Lately I have definately been wishing the time to pass quickly so we can finish all of this moving around business and get settled in. Today was a rainy Saturday, Danny was gone and I was not looking forward to the day. However I decided that I was not going to do any laundry or any cleaning but just simply relax with my children. I needed some one on one time with each of them so I took it. Let me tell you what a difference it made. We laughed and played games, we made mess and left them for later, we all climbed in bed and watched the old VHS Winnie The Pooh movies and wrestled and danced and we were just silly all day. Danny surprised us and came home early and things got even more silly, we had a great day. Each one of my children are a blessing and a joy to be with and I am so greatful for the little reminder to slow down and enjoy the moment.

My baby turned 2! 25 Things I Adore about Jakey!

2009-03-28T16:47:00.000-07:00

Why do kids have to grow so fast? I love each and every stage that I have been through with my kids, yes even the terrible 2's! It has all gone by so quickly and I miss them being tiny!! Jake had a fun birthday. For some reason in our family birthday's are celebrated atleast twice if not 3 times. We celebrated on St. Patricks day and again on his actual birthday! If I could figure out what file the pictures got put in I would post them but until then, here is Jake playing and biting as many bubbles as he can.

So here we go with the 25 things I love about Jake:

1. Jake is ALL boy! He wants to fight and wrestle at all times.

2. He LOVES his Daddy. He gets so excited when Danny gets home. That is when WWF smack down begins. Danny loves it too!

3. Whenever he gets caught doing something he puts his arms out for a hug and very sweetly says "MOMMY". It is very difficult to be mad after that.

4. He has the best kisses. Although they are a longer process than most. When ever Jake kisses me, he kisses both checks first and then I have to kiss both of his cheeks and any owee's he can find on his body and then finally a real smooch. I LOVE IT!

5. Jake likes to lip sync. It is so funny. Whenever he hears music he starts mouthing the words, (even though he doesn't have a clue) he is pretty convincing too.

6. The child is 2 and STILL loves his bottle! Now, I don't know that I love that part, but he has this routine in the morning, he will find me or Danny and with his tired face, asks for his bottle , then goes and turns on the T.V. grabs a blanket and waits on the couch. And we had better get it in timely matter or we will hear about it.

7. "P" seems to be the hardest letter for him to say. Some of his favorite things start with this letter. He loves popcorn, popsicles and pickles. He can't say the word without spitting.

8. Jake is Hudini. He can get out of everything, the stroller, his car seat!! He just wiggles and wiggles until he gets out.

9. His favorite movies are "HoHo" that means anything with Santa Claus! Toy Story, Buzz Light Year is his idol. He acts out the beginning and runs around the house with arms up and pretends he is flying. Aydon used to do the same thing. And last but not least " Donkey". My 2 year old loves Shrek. Not the best choice and hopefully he never repeats anything that they say.

10. He copies everything you say. This can be good and bad.

11. When ever Jake gets scared he runs and finds a blanket to put over his head. Then he usually comes out swinging because he gets mad that some one or thing scared him. He says "that Scawy".

12.. He Says "meam" instead of mean. I get that alot for being a "Meam Momma".

13. He is very smart. He can work anything electronic. He is starting to get the sounds down for his letter and when I start to count to 3 because I want one of the kids to get there bums over here, he usually finishes counting for me and keeps going.

14. He loves his brother and sisters. He calls Lauren "LoLo", and she calls him "JoJo". He likes to torture Lindsey. He takes her things and runs as fast as he can.

15. He steals Aydon's Nintendo DS any chance he gets and hides hoping that Aydon won't find him. Some how he figures out a way to delete Aydon's saved files. Not good.

16. He is a happy boy. He always has a little bounce in his step. But don't get on his bad side.

17. If Jake see's anyone kiss or say I love you on cartoons he says "EEEWWWW". How he figured that out already I don't know.

18. Jake makes more sound affects than Jim Carey. He comes up with the funniest noises.

19. Jake loves motorcycles. He would ride on Aydon's 50 any chance he could ( with Danny or I) and now he tries to ride Grandpas Harley. He climbs up and starts in with motorcycle noises and he pushes every button possible.

20. "Hurwe, big mess". Hurry, means Jake has broke or spilled something and he has come to tell on himself. It is truly hard to be mad at this child because he says and does the cutest things, especially sense he is confessing.

21. Jake loves to be outside! He would stay out all day if he could. I think I need to send him back to Papa Don's farm where he can run free like the wild animal he really is. He definately takes after his Daddy and I love it.

22. He loves anything to do with a ball. He wants to play basketball, baseball, golf anything that involves sports. He likes to watch golf on T.V. with Grandpa. BORING!!!!!

23. Jake loves bath time. Bubbles, bubbles and more bubbles. He wants to stay in until he turns into a prune.

24. Jake loves to snuggle before bed time. He wraps one arm around your neck and puts his forehead on yours and starts to whisper. He loves to whisper gibberish in our ear.

25. And last but not least, the child is so dang cute and knows how to work the system. His big blue eyes and dimples melt my heart. He is our true blondie. I am so grateful for the sweet spirit he has brought to our family and that Heavenly Father knew better than us and sent him regardless of us thinking we were done. He completes our family so perfectly. We love you Jakey!

Things kids say....

2009-02-07T19:42:00.000-08:00

There have been so many things that my kids have said lately that I don't want to forget. Some hilarious and some just sweet things that remind me of their innocense. Last night the kids and I were waiting in the car for Danny to come out of the store. This older lady walk by with a cart full of her belongings, blankets, clothes in garbage bags etc. She sat down under a street light on the bench near our car and looked so sad. Aydon asked me if I thought she had a home to go to. I said it didn't look like it. He didn't say anything else. So when I looked back at him he had tears streaming down his face. It killed me. He can be such a sensitive little guy. He thinks about things like that for days and then he will come to me with ideas as to how we can help that person. He wanted to pack a sack lunch and try to find her. I wish I had better answers for my children as to why people experiance the things they do. The only thing I can say is that we have so much to be thankful for!!!!!

Here are some random others.

Me: Lindsey put your arms back in your seat belt or the police will give me a ticket.
Lindsey: well Mom, if you see the police drive faster so they can't catch us.

Lauren: Mom, I saw this girl at school today and she was wearing a BRA.
Me: Well hunny girls start wearing training bra's about that age.
Lauren: What is she training?

On the way to school each morning I put the seat warmers on in the car and Aydon said to me, "Mom, the rest of my body is freezing but my butt feels like it is summertime."
That is great Aydon!

Lindsey: Mom can I have some sprite?
Me: No Lindsey, you don't need to have any soda.
Lindsey: Mom can I tell you a secret?
Me: Sure Lindz
Lindsey: I really like to Grandma Debbies diet coke and when I am a Mom I am going to drink it all the time.

I was in the shower and Lindsey came in and asked "Mom where did you get thoughs?' I am sure you can imagine what "thoughs" means. Me: well Lindsey you get them when your bigger. I looked over and she has her shirt pulled up and asked. "When am I gonna get mine?"

Aydon came home from school last week and told me there was a girl at school named alyssa that wants to be his girlfriend. I told him that he is too young for girlfriends and he could tell her his Mom said NO! The next day he came home and asked if he could work out with weights because he needed to work on building his muscles. WHAT. I am not ready for these things.

My kids make me laugh, make me cry and sometimes they make me crazy but they are my most valuable treasures and I love them so much.

Potty Training and growing kids!

2009-02-04T15:25:00.000-08:00

This is how I usually find Jake these days! He can strip in 10 seconds! He decided he no longer likes diapers so whenever I am not looking the child gets naked. Now most parents might be excited about this but I am not so sure! He has not got the idea of #2 and goes in the diaper and then takes it off and hands it to me or my Mom. Yesterday he took one off and there was just a little pebble size poop in there and it fell out on the bathroom floor. So he proceeds to pick it up and had it to Grandma! My Mom screamed and was laughing her gusts out and I started the bath water. Then the other day he had taken his daiper off and was headed for the potty but he started peeing befor he got there. He was trying to hold it in with his hand as I picked him up and went running for the bathroom. He left a trail from the family room to the bath room. Fun stuff! In church on Sunday my Mom tapped me on the shoulder and pointed out to me that Jake was at the end of the row with his pants down to his ankles. I am sure the people behind us thought that was great. So..... am I ready for this, not really, but I guess he is. I thought I would try this spring after he turned 2!
Yes he is sitting backwards! That is the way we had Aydon do it until he could learn how the aim a little better. So I clean pee off the tiolet and not me!!!

He is getting so BIG! I can't stand it. I feel like it was yesterday that I about died when I found out I was pregnant with this little guy. Little did we know that he would be the best surprise we have ever had! We love our little Jakey.

Jake runs to Aydon and Lauren every morning before school to give them hugs and kisses. He wraps his entire body around them. It looks like Aydon is struggling to hold the little tank. Then he stands ot the window blowing kisses to them.

The weather has been FABULOUS and we have taken the opportunity to use my parents spa in the evenings. I have to have one of my own. It feels wonderful to get in there and relax. Even with the kids splashing around. Jake loves the jets! he humms as they hit his back. I didn't get in this time, I got to be the towel girl.

Our Little Sunbeam and other Randomness

2009-01-27T09:29:00.000-08:00

Little Lindsey is now a sunbeam! I can hardly believe it. I feel like I had her yesterday, but that is how I feel abou all of our kids. She loves it BUT only if I stay with her the entire time! Church is now from 1-4 which is nap time for Jake. Danny stays in nursrey with Jake or brings him to the car because he is so tired and I stay in Primary with Lindsey. WE LOVE IT!!!! But with a little more encouragement I think Lindsey will be fine! Her teacher is wonderful and Lindsey can't wait to see her each week. So we are crossing our fingers!

We have had a great couple of weeks with beautiful weather, lot's of fun park days with friends and over all just a feeling of gratitude for our blessings, namely the four little munchkins. One of my friends Raimi has alot of great quotes on her blog, I especially like this one:

"The happiest people don't have the best of everything, they just make the best of everything they have." Those certainly are word worth aspiring for. We have such wonderful family and friends and we truely are so blessed. Have a Fabulous week!

A Joke I found on Sugardoodle.... I thought it was pretty funny.

2009-01-15T20:24:00.000-08:00

Once upon a time there was a non-conforming sparrow who decided not to fly south for the winter. However, soon the weather turned so cold that he reluctantly started to fly south. In a short time ice began to form on his wings and he fell to earth in a barnyard, almost frozen. A cow passed by and pooped on the little sparrow. The sparrow thought it was the end. But, the manure warmed him and defrosted his wings. Warm and happy, able to breathe, he started to sing. Just then a large cat came by and hearing the chirping, investigated the sounds. The cat cleared away the manure, found the chirping bird and promptly ate him.

The moral of the story:

1. Everyone who craps on you is not necessarily your enemy.

2. Everyone who gets you out of the crap, is not necessarily your friend.

3. And, if you are warm and happy in a pile of crap, keep your mouth shut - much like life.

A fresh start!

2008-12-31T14:45:00.001-08:00

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!

2008-12-15T16:18:00.001-08:00

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!

2008-12-03T15:11:00.000-08:00

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

2008-10-20T22:05:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-08-17T08:44:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-08-14T19:59:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-08-14T11:26:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-08T16:27:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-08-05T21:41:00.000-07:00

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.

A post for Danny.

2008-07-27T14:09:00.001-07:00

Danny is in has been in Utah for 8 days now and let me tell you we don't like it at all. Jake walks around the house and looking in all the rooms and saying "dada, knock knock" Jake doesn't talk a whole bunch yet but he can tell a knock knock joke and he thinks it is so funny. I think he thinks that he and Daddy are playing the longest game of hide and seek ever and he is ready for daddy to come out! Danny asked me to send some pictures of what we have been up to. The kids love the new outdoor mall called " The Fountains." It is a really cute place and has cool water fountains that dances to music and changes colors , there is one that the kids can run through to cool off and they love it. It's better at night so you can see all of the colors. Fun shops but totally expensive so we window shop.

The kids were trying to get on this Moose. Probably not a good idea

Lauren has picked up the peace symbol as her new trademark. She is kind of a flower power girl.

Jake had a great time, he tried his little heart out to get IN the fountains, watching was not enough. He keep saying WOW!

There is a little park area in front of Big Spoon so we got some ice cream and waited until it got a little bit darker so we could go back to the fountains.

The kids found lots of friends to play with in the park. Someone had brought a huge soccer ball and the kids got a group together to play. My pictures didn't turn out because it was too dark, but they had a blast.

Lauren even stopped to give Jakey a smooch. He was cheering them on from the side lines.

My Mom is Lindsey's second mother. She wants to be with her every where she goes and my Mom loves every second of it. I have no idea what those 2 are going to do without eachother. Lindsey fully expects Grandma to move to Utah with us.

Grandpa and Aydon hanging out. Gary is great with the kids and they love him. He is so helpful to me too! He is always asking what he can do to help. Those are a mom's favorite words!

This picture is my favorite! The fountains dance to music and Aydon thought he was the conductor. Right at the end when all the water shot straight up Aydon hit it perfectly. He had us all laughing our guts out!

He is pretty proud of his orchestrating!

Well we have been trying to keep busy without Danny but it sure would be more if he was here. We miss him like crazy! He has never been away this long and we aren't really sure when he will be back. (Hopefully next week.) We love you hunny!

Remember................

2008-07-22T06:36:00.000-07:00

Heres What you Do..

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you.It's actually pretty cool (and funny) to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

10th Anniversary, Losing teeth, tooth fairy and water slides....

2008-07-16T12:59:00.000-07:00

Wow there is so many things I haven't had the time to blog about, end of school parties, scout camp (Aydon loved it!) Jelly Belly factory, but there are a few recent ones that deserve an honorable mention. Danny and I celebrated our 10th Anniversary on the 11th of July. I can't believe time has gone by so fast. We were driving home from Utah and didn't have much of an anniversary. ( The picture is from a dinner we went to the previous week.) My Mom took the older 3 kids and Jake stayed home with us. We ordered in Tahoe Joes and had a cozy evening with just the 3 of us. We laughed our guts out because we have packed up all of our dishes and have been paper plating it for the past couple of weeks. We left out a few of the kids plastic plates, so I had a princess plate and Danny had super man. I thought that was completely appropriate since Danny is super man to me! He is the love of my life and I am so happy we chose eachother!

Lauren finally lost her first tooth. It has been hanging on by a thread for a month. We tried having her bite a towel and pulling it out fast and nothing happened, finally Danny did what he has done to Aydon several times. He promises them that he won't touch it, so he tells them to get their fingernail under the back of the tooth and pull down as far as they can until it hurts and them he quickly smacks their hand. The tooth goes flying! She was so excited. She didn't even cry. She ran around showing us all her tooth and put in the bag for the tooth fairy! Accept that night when I looked under her pillow it wasn't there! She woke me up the next morning and said she hoped the tooth fairy wouldn't be made at her, but she wasn't ready to give up her tooth yet. She wanted to show Grandma Debbie and her best friend Ella. I told her I am sure the tooth fairy wouldn't mind!

Now these pictures aren't about any big occasion, but they are so special to me. (They turned out terrible though). Yesterday we had some of the nieghbor kids over to play. They drug out the hose and put it on the slide and they all got soaked in the regular clothes. They had so much fun. The part that made it so special to me is that I know this is going to be one of the few times left that my kids will play with thier little friends here in this house, in our backyard! We love our nieghbors and their kids are the best. We have been in this house for a little over 6 years and our kids are the best of friends. That is one of the things that will make leaving so difficult. However we know we will stay in touch and see eachother as often as we can.

Lindsey

Taylor's family moved in about six months ago and he and Aydon have been buds ever since.

Aydon

Ella Bella is Lauren's Best Friend!

Kole has been Aydon's best friend since they were 2 years old. He is such a great kid!

Aydon apparently was getting a little thirsty.

Lauren wanted to go down the slide but didn't want to get wet so she let Kole Know it in true Lauren fashion!

4th of July in Utah

2008-07-12T08:46:00.000-07:00

Danny is the love of my life and I am so glad I married him! We went up to Utah for the 4th to look around and see where we want to live and in the mean time we had a lot of fun. We drove to St. George and Cedar City to check it out and saw some friends we hadn't seen for years. We drove up and down the state and needless to say we are happy to be out of the car. We were in Koosharem for the 4th and loved it. The kids played with their cousins from sunrise to sunset, they were exhausted at the end of everyday. The weather was beautiful. We are looking forward to spending more time there. Danny and Lindy had a high school reunion. We left the kids (except Jake) in Koosharem with mom and dad Torgersen and had a night out. Danny and Lindy had fun catching up with old friends near their old high school in Junction, UT.

Danny passed out some funny awards for most changed and unchanged, who was still stuck in the 80's. I was suprised he didn't get that award himself.

Jake and I hung out most of the evening. There were alot of kids there and Jake likes to push other kids down, so he spent some time in the stroller.

Matt was the photographer for the evening. He got a lot of great shots. This was one of my favorites. The weather was perfect.

I love these 2 and I am so happy we got to spend some time together. We don't get to see Matt and Lindy very often and when we do we are usually surrounded by children, so this was a welcome night out with adults. The funny thing was we watched " Meet the Robinsons" in the car on the way to and from! We are all just big kids at heart.

Lindsey and Megan played together all week long and they had so much fun! They love to drive Papa Don's lawn mower.

Mom is holding baby Ellie, (lindy's 5th baby) Launi has baby Evie. Damian is just looking pretty for the camera. These little girls could make anyone baby hungry. I love them and Evie's little cheeks are edible.

This is Jake at the 4th of July parade waiting for the action to start.

Danny's home town is so dang cute. We had a yummy pancake breakfast and then all of the cousins got in the back of Aunt Penny and Uncle Norm's truck and got to be in the parade. The kids threw candy out to the kids watching from side.
Jake was hanging out with his twin Papa Don watching the parade.

Lauren and spencer won a prize for winning their race. (Everyone is a winner)

Aydon and Dallin were getting ready for the water balloon race. These to were also inseperable from the moment we got there. They were getting a little hot here. They stared a water balloon fight after this was over. They had so many fun things for the kids to do. All sorts of games and inflatable water slides. It was great.

Lindy and I were last place in the water balloon race. We were laughing to hard to walk and we all know what happens when you laugh to hard after having four kids. You have to stop and cross your legs so you don't pee your pants.

The kids playing Bingo! Aydon was so happy when he won because the prize was a cold root beer. His favorite.

Lindsey and Bejamin running the 2 and under race. They are so stinkin cute!

Danny gave all the kids a ride on Toby. My girls are INLOVE with horses, especially Lauren. Another reason we are so excited to spend more time in Koosharem. They were in heaven.

The girls were constantly busy doing something baking cookies (Mikayla baked cookies, everyone else just ate the dough.) These were the BEST cookies and there is only 3 ingredients in them.

These girls killed me. They looked so dang cute. Grandma has the best dress up clothes ever! Mikayla did their make up and hair and then they did a fashion show for us. Lauren was always posing for the camera.

I don't know if you can see the rainbow in this picture. Danny, Jake and I were riding out in the fields on the fourwheeler and it just started pouring on us, within a few minutes it past and then there was a rainbow. It was really pretty over the mountains, not to mention I love the smell of rain on the grass. We had a great trip. I am going to stay in California with the kids until Danny gets things situated in Utah for us and then we will be off. So for now I am going to enjoy time with family and friends in Smokey California before we move. I was trying to make Utah look as appealing as I could in hopes that any of our friends and family would want to move with us. Any takers?

We are Moving!

2008-06-17T09:51:00.003-07:00

Well for those of you who don't know, we are moving to Utah in July. Yes it is really soon and no we are not crazy. We have been praying about this for the past couple of years and I have been dragging my feet hoping to get a different answer to our prayers. My family is honestly my right arm and I have no idea how I am going to servive without their help but it is going to be an adventure. We will miss EVERYONE here so much and we will be dilligent about keeping in touch. We love you all and we will post some news after we get through the move. Have a great summer!

Happy Birthday to Danny!

2008-05-15T10:10:00.000-07:00

Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to Danny, happy birthday to you!

Danny is 34! We had a lot of activities this week so we had to squeeze in a party. We had a BBQ and then it was off to Aydon's baseball game and then back for desssert. I made his favorite, german chocolate cake, that I make each year. I had to leave half of it unfrosted though because Aydon didn't like the looks of the frosting. (It does look kind of gross, but oh so yummy!) Then on his actual birthday he had a meeting that he presented at and I was able to go. He did a great job. He has no problem speaking in front of hundreds of people. I was very impressed. Danny amazes me daily with his hard work and dedication to family, work and church. I love this man more than words could say and I am truly blessed to call him mine! Happy Birthday you geezer!

Lauren dominate's!

2008-05-15T09:20:00.001-07:00

Lauren had a lot of fun activities last week so she is the star of this post! We started with a really fun Mother's Day Tea Party in her classroom. They made us bonnets and sang for us. They served cookies and ice tea. Well Lauren brought me a huge glass of it and I quietly declined. She decided it looked good and as she began to raise the glass to her mouth I yelled at her not to drink it. (She was across the room.) I think the other mom's thought I was a complete retard but I didn't want her have it. She then said" Oh, I forgot I am not aloud to drink tea, it's bad for you." Great times!

She made this cute calendar for me and on each month they drew a picture or wrote something to us. This page is called " All about Lauren's Mom." I don't know if you can read this but she said I was 20 years old, I weigh 200 pounds and I like to eat EVERYTHING! Thanks Lauren.
This one is a portrait of me. I think she did such a great job. The girls and I had a fun afternoon together.

Lauren and her girl scout troop went to Young Chef's Academy last weekend and they had so much fun! This was one of their rewards for selling girl scout cookies. They prepared everything and the recipe's were delicious. They made cinnamon and sugar chips with fruit salsa, quesadilla's and strawberry banana sippers! Yummy! We made everything again for family home evening on Monday!

Finally, we had swim lesson's. I got them over with early this year so we could enjoy our summer! She loves swimming and made tons of progress this time around! I had to put this picture in because this is her version of diving!

We had a great week with Lauren as the star. She is a sweet little girl that keeps me on my toes. She has such a strong spirit, she LOVES her family and we love her!

Haircuts, slip'n'slide and backyard campouts!

2008-05-08T23:24:00.000-07:00

Jakey got a haircut last week and it makes him look so much older I could hardly stand it. He looks more like a toddler than a baby anymore. I wish I could freeze time or atleast slow it down a little, they grow up so quickly.

You gotta love the slip'n'slide! I would love to have a pool but until then we will have to settle for this. I am so glad my kids still enjoy cheap entertainment. Jake was the first and last one on it. Danny helped him figure things out and he could not get enough. It was hilarious to watch him. He was on back half the time because he could not stand up with out falling. Lauren and Aydon had to race the whole time and Little Miss Lindsey slipped and fell on her bum the first time so she barely stuck her big toe on it after that. She truly believes she is a Princess and I would have to agree!

Lauren is such a mother hen, she is constantly watching out for Jake and Lindsey. She says she is not having kids when she grows up because she is NEVER getting married! "It is too disgusting" she says. And she also says pushing a baby looks way to painful " worse than getting shots". She is right about that, but I think she will change her mind because she is a great little mom already.

I want to eat these children. I LOVE LOVE LOVE them!

Jake found Aydon's hat in the garage and loved it. He usually won't keep one on but he was all about the cowboy hat! He is definately a Torgersen. Giddy up!

We have been anxiously awaiting camping season and we didn't have any exciting plans last weekend so we had a backyard campout which was so much fun. The kids had a blast and so did Danny and I. We had hot dogs, chips, watermelon and when it got dark Danny made the best smores, they were extra gooey! Yum! I have decided camping in the backyard is perfect. I didn't have to pack up anything, or travel anywhere, we didn't have to pee in the woods and after Aydon got done telling "scary stories" Lindsey, Jake and I went and crawled in our beds. It was a really fun night!

Aydon has a little more trouble than the rest of us eating because of all of his teeth being loose and the ones that have grown in are still at different lengths. It is so funny to watch him. I offered to blend it up for him but he didn't think that was very funny! Cute kid.

The girls being silly at breakfast. I adore them. This is just a random picture but captures these two perfectly! They have a hot and cold relationship. Sometimes they fight with eachother about everything. If Lindsey won't share or Jake just plain wants what she has, he will just shove his way in. Jake is both a lover and a fighter and so is Lindsey. I have no idea where they got there tempers from.

Any Ideas?

2008-04-30T17:38:00.000-07:00

Danny and I got a call a few days ago and we were asked to speak in Sacrament meeting on Mother's Day! Not alot of time but I am a procrastinater, so I wouldn't have started yet anyway.

This is what I was asked to speak about:

Stephanie – your topic is “The Righteous Influence of Mothers” –

Danny's is:

Danny – your topic is “The Family: A Proclamation to The World.”

So if any of you fine people have a great story or quote and would not mind sharing I would love it.

Better late than never! Happy Birthday Jake!

2008-04-16T22:04:00.001-07:00

Jacob Brennon Torgersen

How I love this little boy! Jake turned 1 on March 22nd, ( I am just posting now) I can't believe he is so big! He is such a sweet baby. He has brought so much joy to our family. I thought I would list all of the things I love about Jake and the fun things he likes to do!

He is so curious about everything and loves to get into mischif. He climbs on everything, he will push the chair all around the kitchen so he can climb up and see what I am doing. He loves to help unload the dishwasher and break a dish or two. He thinks it is his job to pull everything out of the tupperware cubboard, he climbs all the way in to get every last lid. He loves to play outside and eat the sidewalk chalk that the kids leave out. (He thinks bark, dirt and rocks are pretty yummy too)! Pulling Lindsey's hair is also a favorite, pulling anyone's hair for that matter. He loves to wrestle! If anyone is on the ground they had better be prepared to roll around with Jake. He LOVES to play ball, kick it, throw it, swing at it and he waits for you to throw it back! I can't resist him, if I am busy doing something and he brings a ball and throws it to me, I have to stop and play. He is a patient little guy. He sits through baseball and dance and all of the other places we drag him, usually without a peep! I love his slobbery kisses and sweet hugs. I love his funny faces when something excites him. Mostly I love to snuggle him at night right before bed time. He likes to be cheek to cheek when I sing to him. I love my little Jakey and I am so grateful that Heavenly Father is in charge and gave us the best suprise of our life!

Happy 1st birthday Jake! We stripped him down so he could dive into his cake!

He got right down to business.

It wasn't long before the others had to join in on the fun and cake started to fly!

Aydon is usually the one that starts it... but I will confess and say I smeared it on his face first. ( I couldn't resist)

Lauren had it in her hair which was fun to get out! That frosting was thick and a pain in the butt to clean up!

Danny gave Jake a bath in sink! While I gave the kitchen floor a scrub. We had a fun time and we hadn't even opened presents yet.

I love spring!

2008-04-05T19:42:00.000-07:00

We had another busy day of baseball, dance and enjoying the beautiful weather. Baseball as I said before is great this year, all of the boys are really having a great season and having lot's of fun. Jake was such a good baby to sit in his stroller for the hour and a half and the girls played with Sydnie and Hallie the whole time. I actually got to watch! Lauren has her dance class at DG2 and she loves it. It is so much fun to watch the girls, the song they dance to is "Shake your tail feather" and that is exactly what they do. It's amazing how fast Lauren and all the girls have picked up Tap. We are really looking forward to the recital. As for the rest of our day we did some weeding in the back yard had some ice cream, road bikes, played with neighbors and enjoyed the warm sunshine. Danny was gone so it wasn't the "PERFECT" day, but there is always tomorrow.

Take me out to the ball game!

2008-03-29T15:34:00.001-07:00

Well baseball season has begun! Yesterday was Aydon's first game. It was cold and rained a little but I must say we had such a great time. The games are exciting this year! Aydon is really having fun. They have a great team and awesome coaches. The boys are so cute out there with tight baseball pants and adjusting their cup every few seconds. They all had to have half a pack of gum in their mouths too! (They have to look the part right!) We got hot chocolate and candy (healthy choice) I love that we finally are wearing blue & white instead of orange and black. (Although it makes laundry a little more difficult!)

This past week Aydon had to make a timeline of his life for a school project, so we were going through all of our pictures and baby books. WOW, where did the time go. I was reading the thoughts I had written down about the day he was born and Lauren started to cry, I asked her why she was crying and she said she it made her so happy that her eyes overflowed. A chip off of the old block. It is amazing how quickly time can get away from you. I know why we are told to keep a journal. I wish I had been better about keeping one daily. I hate how much I have already forgotten. But I will get better at both journaling and slowing down to enjoy each day. I have been terrilble about blogging lately, so I will have to do a marathon blogging session soon!

Jakers and the Cool Whip.....Yummy!

2008-02-24T23:08:00.000-08:00

Danny made a yummy breakfast the other morning with waffles, strawberries and whip cream! Apparently we left the whip cream container a little to close to the edge and this was the end result! I was switching laundry and came back to find this cute face going to town! YUMMY! What else can you do but take a few pics to remember these fun moments. I love this child!

Lindz is not big on getting dirty but she dipped her fingers in a few times! Daddy got the fun task of cleaning the floor and Jake hit the tub!

A night among adults!

2008-02-16T09:41:00.001-08:00

Danny and I went out to dinner last night with some other couples as kind of an after Valentines Day dinner! It was so nice to have a night out with my hubby and great friends! A little adult converstation and food being served to you instead of being spit at you or thrown at you is a nice change! We chatted and laughed until my cheeks hurt! We got home at 12 to find all kids sound asleep and Grandma and Grandpa half awake and worn out! ( I'm sure it was way past their bed time.) We definately need to have more nights like that!

Crazy Hair Day!

2008-02-16T09:31:00.000-08:00

The kids have been looking forward to this all year long! Lauren's hair is so long and thick so we tried several crazy styles before this one! She says she looks like Cindy Lou from The Grinch!

Aydon was so happy to look like a punk rocker and Danny being the 80's man that he is could not have been more proud!

Be Mine!

2008-02-16T08:41:00.001-08:00

Valentines Day is one of my favorite days! Danny and I always stay up the night before write put hearts all over the house with little love notes on them for all of the kids and just a few for eachother. Then we decorate the table with all of their little goodies. In the morningt he kids run around the house looking for their's and usually laughing their guts out if Danny wrote it. It's nice to have a day that the little things really count and are appreciated! I took Lindsey to school with me to help in the kids class parties and she was SO HAPPY! Lauren's teacher was so sweet and made an extra spot at the table just for her with cupcakes and Valentines! She was so proud of herself. I was so sad that I forgot my camera! The kids helped make dinner. I LOVE crab and the kids LOVE pizza so we had both. I must of went to the store hungry because we had 3 different kinds of desserts and they were all very good!
Jake loves sparkling cider! Who doesn't!

Lindsey will not allow a candle to stay lite in this house for long!

Aydon does not enjoy crab like I do but he likes to play with them!

We could not escape a whip cream fight! I saw it in Aydon's little grin the moment I brought it out! He tried to get me and this is the result! Danny is nicer than I am he will let them smear it all over!
Strawberry short cake is yummy!

My sweet little Lindsey! This child has both Danny and I wrapped around her finger and she knows it!

We hope you all had a fun day full of LOVE and lot's of Yummy things to eat!

Home sick

2008-02-03T11:39:00.000-08:00

We are home sick today so I thought I would catch up on some blogging! Happy Super bowl Sunday. GO PATRIOTS!

Fun Pictures

2008-02-03T10:27:00.001-08:00

Aydon LOVES his hot chocolate. Just like his Dad! He asks for it almost everyday, especially if he has been playing outside in the cold. And he only likes it in a Christmas cup. I love that he loves Christmas year around just like me!

Jake is getting so big. He is into everthing. This past week he broke 2 of my serving platters. He pulls over anything and everything he can get his hands on. He is so fast and curious about everything. We are in the walking stage so he has so many bumps and bruises, the child looks abused. Good thing he is so cute!

Lindsey has a small case of spring fever. She runs around the house in her bathing suit asking if we can go swimming. I could bite her little checks!

Lauren is bundled up and ready to go on her first school field trip! It was at 8am and she was not use to getting to school that early so all morning she pretended she was still asleep.

Jake is going to kill me when he is older, but I just could not resist. This picture makes me laugh everytime I look at it!

Pinewood Derby

2008-02-03T09:34:00.000-08:00

He recieved the "Blue Venom" award. That made him pretty happy!

Aydon started scouts this past year and loves it! He made his first car with help from Dad. Problem was, when dad put the wheels on and glued the nails, some of the glue spread to one of the wheels and locked it so on Aydon's first run he ended about 2 feet behind the other cars. Aydon was pretty disappointed so Danny pulled the wheel off and removed the glue. From that point he jockeyed for first back and forth in first and second and felt much better in the end after winning a couple races. Seeing him out there with the other boys doing the scout thing brought back a lot of memories for Danny. That age is such fun and Danny is really enjoying being with Aydon and seeing him grow and mature. He's such a great kid, does so well at home helping us with his brother and sisters - AND really excells in school! As much work as it can be, it's so much fun having kids and we would not trade it for ANYTHING!

We made it to the Temple this month!!!

2008-02-03T09:13:00.000-08:00

One of our new years resolutions was to attend the Temple each month. WE MADE IT! Barely but we did. Ofcourse everything went wrong that morning and it would have been very easy to just stay home but we went and I am so glad we did. It has been a while since we have been to the Temple. Well worth the effort. If any of you need a baby sitter so that you can go, I am volunteering. And you have that in writing.

Music

2008-01-31T19:04:00.000-08:00

Can anyone out there help me with adding music. I am not having much luck and every song I try to find they don't have! Help!!!

The Mexican Riviera

2008-01-30T19:15:00.000-08:00

I am just starting to get the hang of this blogging stuff other wise I would have posted these pictures sooner. On January 6-13 we went on a cruise to the Mexican Riviera with 10 other families that Danny works with. I couldn't leave the kids for that long so the whole gang came with and I am so glad they did. Danny's parents also came and we had a blast. I have never wanted to go on a cruise because of the fear of being sick the whole time, I am happy to report that our family did great! We loved everything about it. Well, almost. The last day was pretty rough waters. The kids however ask everyday when we are going again. We got to swim with the dolphins in Puerto Vallarta, we loved Cabo San Lucas and the best was eating and eating and eating!! We had ice cream and pizza everyday and sometimes more. Now that we are home we find ourselves in our kitchen at 2 o'clock in the morning looking for the ice-cream and pizza bar! DANG! It doesn't work that way.

We could not have picked a better group of people to go with. The kids played with friends - day and night. All in all it was the best vacation we have ever been on. Danny and I would like to go on a shorter cruise together but I think our kids might dis-own us if we told them where we were going and they can't come!

We thank thee O God for a Prophet!

2008-01-27T23:29:00.000-08:00

What a sweet man. I know that there is a wonderful reunion taking place at this very moment! I can only imagine those who welcomed him home and how pleased our Heavenly Father is with the incredible work that he performed here. I know that we all found such comfort in having him as our Prophet, having complete faith in his ability to lead and guide us in this crazy wonderful world. He was an amazing man, so humble, loving and the best sense of humor. You can't help but smile when you think of him. I am so grateful to him for his example and his perserverance in the work of the church. I love this man and will miss him so much but I am so happy that he is with his sweet wife and can finally rest

Our Half Dozen...

2007-12-03T11:57:00.000-08:00

We are now a family of 6....still blows our minds! We spent last week decorating our house for Christmas and when we hung up our stockings over the fireplace it amazed Steph and I how many stockings are up there!! Time flies by so fast and in the blink of an eye 10 years has passed and we now have 2 boys and 2 girls that are the aboslute light of our life! Glad that you could join us today for a small glimpse into our life as we know it!

So, we just got home not long ago from our Thanksgiving trip to Koosharem. The sky looks blue in most of these pictures, but let me tell you what.....it was butt cold! Aydon spent most of his time jumping off the roof of the lambing shed and leading his sisters around the farm, checking out the wells and climbing the haystack!

Aydon also passed off his firt merit badge where he had to raise the flag. Although it was cold, Papa Don hooked us up with a flag and we all sang the Star Spangled Banner. You can see aunt Launi couldn't hang in the cold too long (as she beats cheaks inside).

OF course, November is a big month for us for birthdays. We spent Steph's birthday in the car checking out the scenery in Nevada and Northern Utah. Bummer. I'll make up for it for her though...
As for Lauren, we celebrated her birthday 3 times. Once in Koosharem, once at Gandpa Bob and Gramma Glory's on the way home, and again when we got home with Grandpa Gary and Gramma Debbie. Lots of cakes. Lots of love! She had a great week with lots of sweets and lots of presents!