Snug in Evanston

We made it here safe and sound.

Everyone is all snug in their beds....

We need to make sure we get enough sleep for tomorrow.

Cause guess who we get to visit????

STRIP!

Blessed baby....

Today baby Benjamin was blessed.

What a sweet baby he is.

Just looking at him makes me smile!

Then I took a few shots of these guys today...and I will do more tomorrow.

So cute...they are even talking about baby names.

Oh, to be a newlywed.

Love them!

And lots more cousin time....

Elsie loved holding baby Benjamin.

And Port and Owen bonded this trip.

I can only imagine the trouble they will be this summer time!

I love it.

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After the blessing we went to the Miramontes home for Costa Vida sweet pork...OOOH so yummy!

It was fantastic Rachel...thanks for feeding us all.

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We cut the night a little short...

The kids are so tired....WE are so tired.

Hopefully we can make up for it tonight.

Cousin time!

We made it to Utah safe and sound.

The roads were pretty good.

The weather was great today...

We got to the homestead, and after the boys cut down some trees, they build snow barricades.

Then everyone went out and had a snowball fight.

There were only a few tears now and then.

But it sure was fun to watch them.

And, of course, Elsie and Emmy were inseparable the whole night.

Lots more fun stuff to come!

Tomorrow is baby Benjamin's blessing.

Everyone is here but April...we miss you April.

Before you know it, it will be summertime!

Happy 11th Anniversary!

Wow.

11 years.

When I think back, I can't believe we were so little when we got married.

And how much we have grown up!

We make a pretty good team.

Happy Anniversary baby!

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We got to go out tonight.

The Young's watched the kiddos for a while while we went out to eat.

And there was ABSOLUTELY NO talk of kids...

Okay, I am lying.

But we both had a really fun time just being with each other.

That is what it is all about.

Just being.

And loving it.

I have been wanting badly to do "engagement" type pictures....

This week went by me very quickly, so just before we dropped the kids off at the Young's,  we had Madi Bell shoot this picture.

Not too shabby.

I need to go back and gather yearly pictures like I do of the kids birthdays.

That would be fun, but maybe a little depressing.

Like I said, we started out really young!

I sure do love being with this guy.

We work together.

We LOVE each other.

And we have the same hopes and dreams for our family, and that is what matters the most.

Our chore chart

This is our chore chart.

Simple...and cute.

And it is working!

The kids initials down the side and the days of the week across the top.

Each hook has a few chores for each day.

Each chore is worth 25 cents.

Once the chore is finished, they move it to the end hook.

And each Saturday, we add up their cards...

They get paid, they take out their tithing, then put their money in their piggy banks, and put their tithing in an envelope to take on Sunday.

It is a good system that seems to be working.

Madi is very proud of her diligence!

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I had this old window.

Brent cut a piece of wood for me to fit int he back.

I covered it with some cute scrapbook paper.

Got some red hooks from Lowes.

Measured out and drilled the hooks in.

Then I wrote down chores and printed them off on scrapbook paper.

I bought baseball card covers, and cut them down to a square and fit them over the cards.

Hole punched them, and they were ready to go!

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I know I write too much about how we sleep...

But last night was almost a joke.

Cassi came in at about 2 saying she had a bad dream.

I walked her back and rubbed her back and told her to get some sleep.

She came back in 15 min. later saying her tummy hurt.

I didn't want to chance her waking Elsie up, so I made a bed for her on our floor.

She kept saying she couldn't sleep and she wasn't tried.

I was mean...I told her there wasn't another option.

About an hour later....guess who woke up?

Yep...Elsie Rose.

I thought this was my chance to have her cry it out, since Cassi was in our room.

Well, that backfired.

Two hours later....and all we had was Brent awake, Cassi awake, and me awake...and Elsie crying her eyes out.

She was ALMOST asleep at one point, but then I heard her having a major meltdown.

The valve in her sippy cup had fallen out and had leaked onto her bed.

She was not gonna calm down after that.

I picked her up, stripped her bed, and rocked her for about 25 min until she was asleep.

Oh, and I put Cassi down on the couch so it wouldn't be so loud for her...and so she would stop telling me how mean I was for making Elsie cry.

Anyway...so it was 5:00.

Cassi was asleep downstairs, Elsie was asleep in her bed, Madi did wake up to go to the bathroom, but went right back to sleep.

So I got back into bed and Brent told me to wake him up when Porter woke up.

Which was 45 min. later.

I got up at 7:20...got the kids ready for school, in a zombie like fashion.

I did get a 30 min. nap before I headed to the gym.

I sure hope tonight goes better.

We really need some sleep!

Fake Birthdays!

Happy Birthday!

Okay, so it isn't anyones birthday at our house.

But Elsie has pretended it was her birthday every day since about 2 months before her actual birthday, which was in July.

I am not kidding...that is 8 straight months of make believe birthdays!!!

Her favorite thing to do for now, is make herself a birthday cake out of play dough.

And it is serious business!!!

When Elsie uses her imagination...it is a very real thing.

She is so submersed in make-believe that it cracks me up.

She does not break character...or forget what she was doing.

Like I said, serious business!

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Madi has been working very hard to make sure she gets all her chores done each and every day.

I think it is gonna work out.

Cassi gets hers done...but it takes a lot of prodding and poking!

Madi likes the fact that she is earning money...she is a money hoarder.

She says she is saving for a telescope...and I think she is getting pretty close to having enough money to buy it.

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I got to go out for lunch today for my friend, Denae's, birthday.

It was fun to get out and have some fun girl talk...even though I came home terrified of having teenagers!!!

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We had what could have been a disaster happen yesterday.

I kept hearing weird popping noises on the side of the house...almost like someone was throwing something against the house.

I asked Brent about it, and we went out and noticed frozen water all along the bottom of our house, outside out "frost free" faucet!

Luckily we caught it before it got too bad.

Brent, mister fix anything man, got it fixed for us.

It is a good thing we found it before we went out of town.

That would have been big trouble!

Expensive trouble!

Date day...

Brent and I got to get away for a afternoon movie today.

We went to see True Grit.

A very good movie.

It was fun to go to a movie...

Brent loves the movies...but when we go out, he knows I like to talk and be with each other...and I feel like you just sit there by each other for 2 hours when you watch a movie...cause that is what you DO do!

So, what I am saying is, this poor guy never gets to go to movies!

We had two movie tickets given to us for Christmas about 3 years ago...still un-used!

So that tells you how long since we have been just the two of us, right?

Anyway...I still had fun, even if I did just sit by him for 2 hours!

Thanks to Jenni for watching the little kiddos for us.

It was great to get out.

We celebrate out 11 year anniversary this weekend...how cool is that?



Time-out

Porter used to be a really good boy and stay in Time-out.

(Ha ha...good boy and time-out...I guess if he was being good, he wouldn't be in time-out!)

Well, he hasn't been staying very well lately.

So I had to come up with other ways of keeping him in time-out.

Ways he wasn't very happy about.

Who knows how long this will work...but for today, it did the trick.

I don't get it.

He is rotten in the morning, but once the girls go to school, he is so good and helpful.

Then when they get home, here comes that rotten Porter again.

He thinks he is playing with Elsie when he chases her and knocks her down then sits on her.

This is what kept getting him in big trouble today.

Either I am giving him too much attention when the girls are at school, or I don't give him enough once they get home.

And yes, he has an apple.

The kid eats NOTHING!

So when he does eat, I can't take it away even if it is for time-out...am I am bad mom?

I love this boy, and he really is such a sweetheart and a precious little boy.

I just hope we can make it through this year of the terrible twos!!!

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Madi and Cassi came home ecstatic about having a new bus driver and a new bus.

Madi really hopes the bus drivers stays for good.

The other one must have been pretty mean and grumpy, cause Madi was very happy to be rid of him.

It kind of makes me sad that school takes up so much of their day.

I am glad they are at school, and they are learning and having fun.

But, especially Madi, I feel they don't get time to just do what they love.

I guess Cassi has time to practice guitar...but once Madi has her homework done, then chores, and dinner and then it is time for bed.

I need to try and fit a little something in for Madi as well.

Anyway, just rambling.

Elsie's face is much better.

It is weird, the rash turned into a very dry skin and now her face is peeling...weird!

She slept all the way until 7:00 this morning...lets hope she keeps that up!

We are all kinda staying on the brink of being well and sick.

None of us feel horrible, but no one feels 100% either.

I can't wait for the nice spring weather...so we can get outside and burn some energy in the fresh air!

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I have been putting my old blogs into books the last few days...

I am SO HAPPY that I write these blogs.

There are so many things I would have forgotten, and don't want to forget.

I can't wait to look back and read them many years form now, cause I know it is just gonna feel like it all happened yesterday...I love it.

Sunday...

These guys were all pretty worn out from our sledding day yesterday.

We got up, and had a pretty chill morning.

Madi and Cassi got paid for doing their chores this past week...

(I will write about that later, I am loving how it is working out!)

So they got their tithing ready to take to church.

We got all ready for church.

Church went alright.

Porter went to class really well.

He got new teachers for the new year, and they are really fun for him, so he isn't having any problems.

That is a life saver, cause Elsie is still being a stinker.

I really do think if I could just get her to take a nap before church, she would be great for church...

But by the time it is time for class, she is so tired and worn out...

She LOVES her teacher!

She loves being with her friends.

But she doesn't want me to leave.

When she gets like this at school, they just let her cry it out, but you can't really do that in primary...the other kids would wonder what the heck was going on!

I don't know.

I need to get something figured out.

Oh, and we watched Toy Story...which has become a staple in our household!
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I also had a great experience with Madi this morning.
So we recently discovered that there is no record of Porter in the church records.
We blessed Porter in Evanston, and I guess something happened and I didn't get the papers I needed to the right people.
Anyway, it is all fixable, no big deal.
But I thought I knew where the blessing certificates were.
For the past 9 years they have been in the front of Madi's scrapbook...(I say Madi's cause I stopped scrapping when Cassi was born!)
But a couple months ago, Madi needed to use that folder for a class assignment...so we took all the innards out and placed them in our pantry.
And that is where they still sit today...except for all the papers I had in the front pocket...the ones I NEEDED!
We searched and searched...nothing.
I asked Madi if she wanted to say a prayer with me.
We did and then continued to search.
I kid you not, less than 5 minutes later we FOUND those papers...in the most obvious spot!
I was so excited to share the feelings I had with my girls...how I needed something, and asked the lord for help, and he helped guide me to what I needed.
I feel like I never get these cool experiences to share with my kids...but here was one...so perfect!
So we knelt down right away and thanked Heavenly Father for helping us find them.
It was perfect.
On a side note...yes we found the papers I was looking for, but it was only the girls blessing certificates...
But, again, no big deal...luckily we have connections!
Brent's brother, Dave, is the stake president where we blessed Porter, and all I needed was to give him the date of the blessing and he is taking care of what I need.
But I was very thankful for having that moment with my girls.
I hope it helps remind them that if they need some help and guidance, that the lord is there.
So, soon enough, Porter will be know on the records of the church!  :)

Sledding with the Youngs.

Boy did we had a FUN day today!

The Youngs invited us to go sledding with them.

We don't have snow around here...so we took a 1 1/2 hour drive to Crouch...

There was a great hill there on their Golf Course.

We got there...did some sledding and had a fun picnic, yes picnic, lunch on some blankets on top of the snow.

Then we got back to sledding!

I can't believe how fast the day went by.

We left at 10:30 and got home around 4:00...so it was a long day, but a GREAT long day!

I took WAY too many pictures...this is only about 1/10th of what there is...I am sure I will add more.

Way too many memories that I want us all to remember!

Here are some of the highlights from our day.

I love this shot.

Porter was pretty trusting of his crazy Dad!

I can't believe Madi kept sledding from the top.

She has been a little chicken lately of heights (I totally don't blame her)

But I think between the two girls, her and Kara, they made each other braver and braver.

They really had a blast!

Cassi and Aubree stuck together like two peas in a pod.

They also had some pretty crazy rides.

Elsie made her own slide.

She sat by the side of the hill, and scooted herself down in the snow.

She was a happy girl doing that.

This is Elsie's one and only ride down.

It sure looks like she likes it, but by the time we at the bottom, she wasn't very happy.

She was just nervous.

So she was content to watch, eat snow, and nap in my arms for the rest of the time.

Maniac Madi!!!

My two sweet boys.

That boy loves his Daddy.

Me and my Angel.

She was so worn out that she fell asleep in my arms.

I wish I could make everything in the world easier for her.

I love this shot...Madi and Kara going backwards.

Love it!

A mellow run from Cassi....

Oh, and if you get in their way...TOO BAD!

Just kidding!

The story goes like this.

Cassi and Aubree both blame Drew.

I guess they walked to the top, and got ready to go.

Then that little kid on the blue tube went down, so Drew told them to wait.

Then I guess that Aubree was second guessing the ride, and didn't want to go down...

So what does Drew do????

He shoves them down...so she can't get off!

Anyway, they headed right for this kid.

Ran right into him and flipped him right over the top of them. (He was okay, thank goodness!)

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We had so much fun and it was a beautiful day for sledding!

Thanks for the invite guys!

When we got home everyone wanted to sleep...

BUT...our chore chart is working so well, I didn't want them to poop out on a day...especially after they had already had fun...they need to ear that, right?

So we did that, made dinner and now they are all sleeping soundly in bed.

I hope they are tired enough to sleep until 10:00 tomorrow morning!

Oh I wish!