Monica's Birthday

Monica turned 15 today. We celebrated Sunday night with german chocolate cake. She's getting hard to buy presents for..... although she did say next year we could get her a car. As if there would possibly be another present???

We are excited, six more months and she'll have her learners permit. Yes, I am excited about this! I can't wait to have someone else go to the store - my least favorite chore, well, next to cleaning toilets!

The day Monica was born it snowed 6 inches. I went into labor early in the morning (around 3) and thought I was having another bladder infection - my back was killing me. I had a doctor's appointment already scheduled (around 9), so I toughed it out until then. They sent me over to the hospital. 7:06 pm she arrived.... yes, it was a really long day - I wouldn't let Jared leave, I didn't want anything to happen and no one be there! First time, amazing how much you learn!

15 years later we are still happy to have her! She is an amazing addition to our family - we couldn't manage without her. She helps keep the peace with the boys! (At least most the time)!

Gunnar's Basketball

Gunnar is playing Jr. Jazz basketball again this year. He really likes playing basketball and has a good time! Here are a few pictures from his last game.

Anniversary Weekend

This last weekend we went to Logan for our 16th anniversary. It's hard to believe that it's already been 16 years..... how fast the time goes.
Here we are on our wedding day, 16 years ago! We look so young - and skinny.....

The boys found an old tree house that Dan and I built when we were kids. Okay, maybe not a 'house' but a fort, plank, wood in a tree.... You get the idea. We had limited resources! They had a great time working on it - fixing it up!

Cannon wanted to climb the tree with them.... he wants to be a big kid so bad.

We also had all the cousins together. Given our events over the last year, it seems very important to take as many pictures as frequently as possible, especially when everyone is together. At least the kids.

The kids had a great time playing at Grandma and Grandpas. They love to spend time at their house. I think sometimes Grandma and Grandpa are glad when we leave. We were able to spend two nights away (without a two year old sleeping with us). It was nice to have some together time! Although I do have to admit that we spent a lot of time watching basketball games! I love March madness!

St. Patrick's Day/March Madness

It's that time of year again to try and catch a leprechaun. The kids set up the trap, not as elaborate as previous years, but still good. I think we were hindered because we didn't have as many pennies as we would have liked. (We turned in all our change for vacation and had to scrounge what pennies we could find). I forgot to take a picture of the trap - but I got the result from the Leprechaun.... he left us lots of gold coins and a little card house. The best part was Ryker asking, "When does the leopard come?" We haven't laughed so hard in a long time. I guess leopard/leprechaun sound close.....




I love basketball - love March Madness - love filling out a bracket. This year I took my friends suggestion and we are betting a new pair of shoes for the winner. But, we took it to a whole new level. We made (yes, made is the right word) all the kids fill out brackets. It will be interesting to see if all my online research pays off, or if a rookie (aka - all the kids) win! We put all of the brackets up on the kitchen cabinets so we can keep track!

Daughters

I've always been a little sad that I only had one daughter. She was the first and I never felt like I spent enough time dressing her up and helping her play dolls. I guess I always figured there would be more girls to come and I could fix their hair and make those crazy headbands with big flowers.

I've always known Monica was special - this week I saw her bloom. She is helping those around her with amazing grace, strength and compassion that is well beyond her years. A high school friend was murdered, which significantly affected six of her very close friends. In a world that is depicted 'all about me' I have seen her become an amazing young woman worrying about their feelings, gathering them together to share memories, and providing a shoulder to cry on when the memories are too painful to bear alone. It has made me a proud mother of one little girl who is growing up into an amazing young woman.

California Trip - Part 6

Our trip to California was fun and exciting. We had a lot of good family time, sometimes too much family time! We are excited to be back home, but sad that our vacation adventure has come to an end. Here are our highlights from Saturday and Sunday.

Saturday we went to the armoured vehicle museum. The kids had a great time playing on the tanks. I took some amazing pictures, but I didn't realize that my card was full and NOTHING saved.... hate those moments. The boys all had a great time playing with Gage and Jett.

Traveling home was good. The kids only fought a few times and overall it was a peaceful drive! We stopped to eat a couple of times, but made pretty good time.

When we got home, that's when the excitement started. Our cat, Princess, really likes Gunnar's frogs. Right before we left, Jared asked me to make sure that the cat was not in Gunnar's room and the door was shut. Which I did - or thought I did. Turns out, the cat was locked in Gunnar's room the whole trip. Of course, she ate the frogs.... only source of food... I was distraught and super sad that I had created this mess.... Gunnar's comment was, "Well, they had to die sometime." And that was that. No tears, drama or meltdown.

I do have to mention that the cat, who was fat before we left, is now at a much healthier weight. Not sure it was the best approach to crash diet that way - two frogs. We joked that it was a good thing she had lots of extra weight or she wouldn't have made it the 9 days.

We also lost our dog Daisy. She was old, we got her when Jaxon was a baby and she was a couple of years old then. It wasn't a surprise, but sad. With the frog incident, we haven't told the kids. We thought it would be best to wait until they asked, especially with everything else going on in the community. A student was murdered by another student. It has rocked the community, especially the high school students.

The fun and excitement of vacation is over... now back to the real world and real life!

California Trip - Part 5

Yesterday we left Anaheim and headed towards San Diego. We had a little adventure - since we didn't follow the GPS exactly and had to change our approach a few times! We even found a McDonalds that you have to put a quarter in a slot in order to get into the bathroom. Go figure? We finally made it to Baili's house!

Last night we went to the beach. It was a little chilly, but balmy considering Wendover temperatures! 65 degrees. All of the boys got wet and loved playing in the sand. Cannon wasn't too sure about the waves that kept coming back. He would walk as far as he could and then when the waves started coming in, he would run, as fast as he could, to avoid them. It was cute!





Once we got back and washed all the sand off of everyone, Baili, Elvis, Jared and I headed out to dinner! Adult time!!

Today, we're headed towards an armored vehicle museum! It should be a lot of fun! It's sad, but our vacation is almost over. We will be heading part of the way home today. Although I know I'm going to need a week to recuperate!!

California Trip - Part 4

Today was our last day in Disneyland. We made sure we went to all our favorite rides and even rode some of them twice! It was great - at least most of the time. I think that Jared needs a vacation from his vacation. There were a few meltdowns, a nice nap (for the baby - mom and dad probably needed one too!), and lots of fun! The lines weren't too long and the weather was perfect, which made for a great day!

When we made it home, Ryker was admiring Melissa's pet fish. He told Monica, "You know, I can talk to fish." Totally random!!

We made dinner in - chicken nuggets and tv dinners! I don't think Jared could have handled another minute of togetherness.....(especially out in public!) Sometimes being in close confined quarters makes everyone a little bit cranky!

Tomorrow we're headed down San Diego way to see Baili! We can't wait!

California Trip - Part 3

We spent day 2 of Disneyland (Tuesday) at California Adventure. We had a great time. The kids rode the Grizzy River Run three times. It was the ride that we started with and ended with. Melissa, Baili, Elvis and the boys all joined us for our adventure today! It was a lot of fun! Cannon and Gage had a great time playing with each other.



Summary of our day: We hit most of the rides and Ryker had a major meltdown, twice. I'm positive that he needs more sleep! But even with the meltdowns everyone had a good day! We left a little early and Jared and I went to dinner with Melissa. It was nice to have some 'adult' time!







Today was our 'bumming around' day! We told the kids that they had $20 to spend on a souvenier from Disneyland. Gunnar suggested that we take them to Toys R Us, because that would be better. He's a thinker - always trying to find a way to make his money go further. He had been looking at the toys in Disneyland and figured they would be cheaper somewhere else!

So the boys hung around Melissa's house today, playing video games and watching TV (their dream day) while Monica, Melissa and I went and had a manicure and pedicure. It was great girl time! This evening I went with Melissa to a United Way function at the mall, while Jared braved Toys R Us with the kids and then took them out for some fast food (another part of the dream day!).

Tomorrow we're heading to Disneyland for our last day! We'll probably split our time between the two parks and hit all our favorite rides! Then we're headed towards San Diego to see Baili and her boys! We're excited to spend some time with her too!

California Trip - Part 2

Day 1 at Disneyland. We had a great time, at least most of the time. It was great to see other parents who had children who melted down more than mine did!

We spent most of the day in Disneyland. All the older kids rode the big rides with Dad, while Mom took Cannon around to the kiddy rides. The 'no need for motion sickness medicine' rides! We were having a great time until we lost Cannon.

We were walking around the Matterhorn and realized that we didn't have Cannon. Jared, Jaxon and Monica all headed off to find him. I stayed in the 'you are here' location with the other boys. Panic...... And, Jared found him, right by the benches at the Matterhorn. Not crying, no panic, just a mad look - something like, "How could you leave me? Really??" Those moments give you perspective on the moments when they're having a complete meltdown.



In all the excitement in the morning, I totally forgot my camera. But, tomorrow is a whole other day, with lots of pictures! So, I'll post more pictures tomorrow. Although, it probably won't be of any characters..... I think the characters are cool and LOVE having pictures of the kids with the characters. My boys didn't even bat an eye when we saw most of the princesses, Goofy, Pluto, Daisy, Donald, Mickey.... really?? I guess it was okay that I forgot my camera - since they didn't really care. The boys couldn't even tell me who Ariel was when she walked right by us.... is it just me that thinks I've failed as a mother - WHAT, you don't know your Disney princesses???? Oh, wait, they're boys. Nevermind....... I really needed another girl.



Before we got into the car, Ryker was doing the potty dance. Of course, there is no where you can go to the bathroom. We tell him it will only be a few minutes until we get to Melissa's house..... then we go the wrong way..... well, maybe a few more minutes. He's floating, so we offer him a cup. He adamantly declines the cup. Then about 8 minutes later, accepts the cup.... Jaxon and Monica (sitting in the middle seat) refuse to have the 'full' cup handed back to them to pass up to the front - where the pee cup holders are. Ryker is freaking out, now that he's filled the cup and doesn't know what to do with it. He's trying to hand it to Jaxon (sloshing). Jaxon's freaking out. More sloshing, now onto the seat, then onto Jaxon's pillow. Jaxon continues to have a melt down. He finally agrees to pass the cup through, although lets us know that he is incredibly unhappy about this. Now everyone is in on the freaking out.

We stopped for gas and the first thing that Jaxon says, "I HAVE to go wash my hands. YUCK!!" Then he comes back from washing his hands and says, "You DIDN'T wipe the seat off! AHHHHHHHH!" This is now producing more laughter than it should.......

I guess with six kids, five being boys, you never know what to expect, and you should always have wet wipes and potentially a pair of rubber gloves, and a cup for emergencies!