Richey Family

Janie's 3rd Birthday!

2012-02-06T14:58:00.000-08:00

My Baby Lady turned three! Although she isn't a baby anymore, and she let us know that " I'm not a baby lady I am a big lady!" We had a little family party for her and Grandma and Grandpa came over and so did Aunt Judy. She is still on her Dora obsession but Rapunzel is a close second and gaining. I am glad because I am getting a bit sick of Dora.

Every time I would get the camera ready she would stop and pose. It was cute.

She got a baby Rapunzel from Grandma and Grandpa and she just loves it. Brushing the dolly's hair is one of her favorite things to do.

I was so glad that she wanted cupcakes this year because I didn't have the energy to make a fancy cake. And she just wanted ones with bows on them so it was really easy and nice. She wanted pink bows and "blue because that is Dad's favorite" She really loves her daddy!

We love our baby lady so much! She brings us so much happiness and joy. We are so glad she came to our family!

Ice Skating

2012-01-31T14:10:00.000-08:00

One of the things that the girls really wanted to do over the Christmas break was to go ice skating. They had been practicing on Nellie's roller skates and were dying to go. We found a rink down in the ghetto that was really inexpensive so we went. Who knew we would have so much fun! It was a blast!

They thought they would need to get all bundled up but it wasn't that cold and almost immediately they took off their gear.

Lizzy wanted to skate with us at the beginning but then went off with Jacob soon after.

Nellie was very independent. She did SO good I am so proud of her. She became such a great little ice skater. She would get going so fast and even when she would fall down she would get right back up. It was really cute how she would skate. She would keep one leg in place and just use the other one to get moving, kind of like pushing a scooter. It was really cute.

Lizzy spent a lot of time with Jakey just messing around. They had so much fun together on this trip.

Kevy was so cute out there skating. He had never been ice skating before but it isn't too much different than rollerblading and he did just great.

The kids had so much fun going. We are going to have to go again soon.

Janie didn't do very well. She would just sag and you had to hold her up to skate with her. It was really hard to do. She is just a little too young I think

Mr. Russ did so good just hanging out in his seat and watching everyone. Of course a lot of people came up and told me what a cute baby he is. One little girl kept coming up and grabbing his hands and getting in his face, I didn't want to be rude but I really didn't want her touching him.

Christmas Day

2012-01-20T14:18:00.000-08:00

We had another really great Christmas this year. But seriously how can you not when you get to spend it with loved ones. I just love the Christmas season and I am always very sad when it is over. Watching your kids and all the wonder and excitement really is the greatest thing ever. I think it gets more fun ever year with the girls. Next year Russell will be getting in on the action too. I think we can officially call Christmas 2011 our Hello Kitty/Dora Christmas. Pretty much everything that Nellie got was Hello Kitty and everything that Jane got was Dora. Lizzy is getting grown up and is starting to ask for bigger kid stuff, which is fun but weird to see her getting so big.

Jane asked for Dora skates and Santa delivered. She was pretty excited about them, but will not wear them with shoes like you are supposed to. They are too slippery for her as well, so who know if she will wear them very often

Nellie asked for Hello Kitty roller skates, and when I told her they didn't exist she just said, "But Santa and the elves can make them. They can make anything." I had to explain that sometimes they can't make some stuff and they buy some stuff. She was very happy with the roller skates and has used them nonstop since. She is almost always wearing them around the house, and when she isn't Lizzy is.

Lizzy got an ipod for her birthday, actually not a real one just a cheap mp3 player, but she thinks it is as good as an ipod so that is all that counts. She wanted a speaker for it so she could listen to her music with her sisters in her room. Santa managed to find a barbie one that Lizzy was just thrilled with. And I am thrilled with too because it doesn't go up very loud.

Jane was so funny because she had to unwrap a present all the way before she would even look at what it was. She was almost done unwrapping one and I said "Jane what is it?" and she said "I don't know it isn't unwrapped yet!"

Nellie loved her Hello Kitty jacket we got her. Like I said pretty much everything she got was Hello Kitty.

Lizzy's favorite gift she says were these boot we got her. I found some cute inexpensive ones at Old Navy and I bought them kind of last minute. She loves them. We thought this really fancy dress we got her would be her favorite but I guess not. It is funny how you never can tell with kids.

Lizzy a really pretty watch from Grammie and Papi and she loves it.

Russell wasn't too excited about Christmas, but we are so glad he joined our family this year.

Jane loved her Dora stuff she got from Grammie and Papi.

And Nellie loved her Hello Kitty stuff she got from Grammie and Papi. After opening stuff at home we went to my parents for breakfast, I had made muffins and my mom made a breakfast casserole. It was yummy!

Janie was thrilled about more Dora stuff from Grandma and Grandpa.

Uncle Joe did quite an amazing job with getting presents for the girls. He got Janie a whole bunch of puzzles and Nellie some movies about Jaguars and Lizzy he got these friendship bracelets to make. He sure knows the little gals. Plus he got Kevy and I a gift card to Cheesecake Factory (my favorite!) it was so super nice of him.

Brett took quite a liking to Russell and vice-verse. They both were just so tired that morning. After breakfast and presents at my parents we went to church for a lovely Sacrament Meeting, and then came back for dinner at my parents. I really love having a big dinner on Christmas day because then it doesn't feel like you open presents and then that is it, Christmas is over.

Look at that spread! We had such amazing food this year. My mom made Prime Rib (my favorite!) and it was sooo good.

Christmas is over now, it makes me so sad every year when it is. I just love this time of year and spending it with my little family.

Christmas Eve

2012-01-03T16:53:00.000-08:00

We had such a neat Christmas Eve this year. My sister Janae and her family were here and it was so fun to have additional family to do things with. We went to my parent's house for dinner and a program. We had a great shepherd's dinner of sandwiches and soup. Then we had a program. I did a little puppet show with the kids that Chanelle had made for me. It was a huge hit, we had songs with it and I read about the first christmas. Then we watched a video and then the kids sang a beautiful song about Jesus, that Janae taught them. The spirit was so strong and it really helped us to remember the true meaning of Christmas. Afterward the kids opened a present and of course it was pajamas. They were store bought, I wasn't about to attempt making pjs on top of everything else going on. I am really trying to not stress myself out with trying to do too much. And Lizzy got feet jammies and Nellie got Hello Kitty and Janie got Dora. they certainly wouldn't have liked ones I made more than those.

I like Janie's gangsta pants.

The girls had so much fun with their cousins. It is always so exciting when we have cousins come and visit. I am so glad that my kids love their cousins so much, what a blessing.

Jane was so excited to get a Dora nightgown, her last one was basically a shirt, it had gotten so small her little buns were practically hanging out. This one is so cute it hangs all the way to the ground. She calls it her "long Dora nightgown" and I have to make sure that it is clean at night or there is hell to pay. She actually will not wear any other pajamas now.

Lizzy loves feet pajamas so we got her some cute penguin ones.

Nellie was over the moon with her new obsession Hello kitty pajamas. When Nellie likes something she goes all out obsession mode. I forgot to get one of Russell that night but he got some cute polar bear and penguin jammies from my sister Erica and so we gave him those for Christmas.

Christmas Stuff

2011-12-26T08:41:00.001-08:00

We had such a good Christmas season this year. As always it just flies by. We try and do something fun each night. One of the girls favorite things is turning on Christmas music and lighting candles and doing some dancing. We always have to have a Christmas treat every night too. And if we ever forgot the treat , Nellie made sure that we remembered. The girls love decorating the tree. I love having a real tree, but it is just too expensive, plus you can't beat having a prelit tree.

This is how Russell felt about decorating the tree.

Jane put all of her ornaments right along the bottom. Lizzy tried to boss her and make her put them somewhere else, but I told her to let Jane do it where she wanted.

the girls wanted to take our picture under the tree.

For a family night activity we made countdown chains, The girls each made one. I had to help Janie because she just couldn't get the linking thing. So I had her put the glue on then I put them together. It was funny because after each spot of glue she out on she would say, "fantastic!"

Nellie was at a play date and so Lizzy and Jane were my little cookie helpers. They had fun helping me cut them out and frost them.

Our Sweet Boy

2011-12-20T19:25:00.000-08:00

Where does the time go? Russell is already over two months old! We sure have loved having him in our family. The girls absolutely adore him. They want to be holding him and kissing him and cuddling him all day long. He has been a so-so baby. Certainly not my worst but definitely not my best either. Right now he isn't napping very well, just cat naps throughout the day and when he is awake he cries if he isn't being held or doesn't get enough attention. This has just been for about the past week so I am keeping my fingers crossed that it doesn't stay this way. He definitely likes me a lot, but at this age that is typical, I do have the goods after all. He does sleep pretty good at night so that is good.
So far he seems the most like Lizzy to me in personality. He seems very social at this age just like she did. He loves to coo and talk a lot! it is so cute because if you talk to him and give him attention he just will coo and talk away. He likes to "talk" more than any of the other girls that I can remember.
So all this hope for a chubby baby is just not going to happen. I took him to his 2 month checkup and he had started to drop in the percentiles just like the girls did. I guess it just is not in our cards to have a big baby. Oh well, he is healthy and perfect. I couldn't love him any more than I already do. He is 10 lbs 13 oz. (30th) and 23 inches (50th)

Such a handsome little guy in his Tux that Kevy's grandma made. It was so special to have him blessed in it. A funny thing about the blessing: Kevin said that right after he started saying it, Russell had a major blowout in his pants that was loud and stinky and Kevin said it really threw him off in the prayer, although you would never know that, it was a beautiful blessing.

What a proud daddy Kevy is. Lets just hope that Russ is into sports.

It is still hard to believe that I have 4 kids!

These girls just love this boy to death. This is such a common sight that I just had to take a picture. They all just want to mother him and smother him. Lizzy was so funny because this morning I was in the other room and he started to cry so I went in there and Lizzy had taken off his diaper because she figured that he must need a diaper change since he was crying. Lets not forget that she has never changes a diaper and she didn't even have a clean one in the room with her. Too funny.

He is our little buddy in the evenings. He hangs out with us after the girls go to bed. But I am looking forward to the time when he starts to go to bed when the girls do and I can have my time with Kevy again. I miss it.

He is definitely a paci baby and I couldn't be happier about it. I love that I can give him something when he is fussy that will calm him down, who cares if I have to take it away when he is older, it is worth it.

I just love that little smile. He is so easy to get a smile out of I love it. Everyone tells me how much he looks like Kevy. I always wondered what a little Richey boy would look like. Now we know, just as dang cute as his sisters! (I am not biased)

I wanted a picture of Russ and me so I asked Nellie to take one. She was really cute but I think I will ask Kevy next time. I just love my little Russell Man! (or as Janie calls him Mr. Buddy)

Lizzy's Girlie Party

2011-12-05T12:43:00.000-08:00

We weren't going to give Lizzy a party since her birthday fell too close to the time that I was going to be having Russell, but since I had him early I decided to do a party for Lizzy as long as it was an easy one and not too close to her birthday. She was so funny because I told her she could have 8 friends, and she made her list of eight friends over and over again, rewriting it and rewriting it. Then although we had made a date, she had already told her friends about it and i hadn't sent out the invites yet and she would tell me everyday, "my friends are wondering when the party is going to be." and I just said, tell them it hasn't changed and when it gets closer we will send out invitations. So silly.
I decided to do a nail and hair party since that was pretty easy and I didn't have to do much planning for it. My awesome friend Alisa came over and did the hair which was so cool because I can't do much and she can do so many things in it. And I made cupcakes because they were much easier than doing an elaborate cake. The problem was that I fed Russell right before the party thinking he would go down for a nap and sleep the whole time, and he didn't sleep at all. In fact he screamed pretty much the whole time and I couldn't hold him because I was doing nails and Alisa was doing hair so she couldn't hold him either. And Lizzy was too busy with friends to help me out. Then one of the little girls came up to Lizzy when she was right by me and told her how much his crying was bothering her ears and Lizzy said "I know!" I seriously wanted to beat them for saying that. I felt so frustrated because I couldn't hold him and Lizzy was kind of being a punk.
Then we ran out of time because the hair and nails took so long to do that we had to rush through the presents and cake because parents were already arriving. It was crazy and I am just glad it is over. I am glad I don't have to do another birthday party for a while because they are definitely NOT my thing.

Lizzy did have fun, and she did tell me thanks afterward without being prompted so that was good.

Thank goodness that I had Alisa there. She was such a lifesaver!

I still can't believe that my Lizzy is 7!

Grammie & Papi

2011-11-28T13:23:00.000-08:00

Kevin's parents came out to visit us after Russell came. We were all so excited but especially the girls. We had SO much fun with them! It was way too short though. We had fun showing them around here, eating at some yummy places and helping them see that California isn't so bad. We took them to some of our favorite places like Apple Hill. They got to see the girls play soccer, and Grammie got to hold Russell a lot. He got way too spoiled while she was here and wasn't too happy after she left and realized that I wasn't going to hold him all the time. The thing that makes me mad though is that I didn't get a picture of them with Russell. :( I am so bad at taking pictures. I am lucky that I remembered to take any. We have a super nice library that the girls and I go to quite a bit so we took them there and to play at the really neat park they have there. The girls had fun playing with Papi. They just love when he teases them.

We went to Chick-Fil-A, the girls were thrilled because it is probably their favorite place to go eat.

We also took them up to Apple Hill. It was so cold, (of course we had really cold weather just while they were here) but it was worth going there to go to the fudge factory and get yummy apple donuts. We also took them to see the Salmon jumping. We had soo much fun with them and hope they come back again really soon.

Growing Up

2011-11-22T18:58:00.001-08:00

My kids are getting so BIG! Lizzy just turned SEVEN! How is that possible? She really wanted an ipod for her birthday because she loves music and especially loves the popular music on the radio. She sings along to them and then when it is over she says "rewind it Mom!" I guess she thinks that it is like the TV. Kevy put a splitter in so that they all could listen. They thought the whole thing was pretty cool.

I love how Janie isn't wearing her pants.

We decided to get Janie a big girl bike because we don't have a double stroller and we don't have the money to get one, besides I don't know how much longer she would ride in a stroller anyway. So if we ever want to walk to get the girls at school Jane needed a way to get there and it is way too far for her to walk. We also were planning on getting her one for her second birthday back in January and never did, so we decided it was about time. She got a Dora helmet and it came with a bell, so she was just thrilled. We are just working on getting her to pedal for more than one time around. She is just too cute though!

Mr. Russ is just getting so big. He is already 6 weeks old and growing so fast. At four weeks he was already the size that the girls were at 2 months. (9lbs. 11 oz.) He is already filling out all of his 0-3 month clothes. So I guess there is hope for us to have a boy that is not little like the rest of us. We just adore him so much! I thought the girls would get over him and not be in his face all the time loving on him but that hasn't happened. It has been nice because none of them have really had any jealousy and I think partly that is because of him being a boy. It is different for them than if they had another sister to compete with I guess.

He is starting to smile a lot and he really loves me. He really does recognize when it is me and he is attached to me. Here is hoping that it stays that way. I could just eat him up he is so cute. We always get a lot of comments on his hair because he has quite a bit and it is light. And everyone loves how I spike it in the front. What can I say, I want him to be in style.

Janie really wanted some Dora nails and usually I don't cave but the girls were playing at a friends and Jane didn't get to go so when we were out I bought her some because she is always so good when I take her to the store without her sisters. With them is another story. They lasted all of 5 minutes before they fell off or got lost, but she loved them for that 5 min.

I seriously could just eat her up. She gets away with too much because she is cute. One day I got mad at her for getting her hands all over the TV and I told her daddy would come home and be mad. She just said "daddy will say 'Janie it's okay' " Little stinker, she is just too cute for her own good.

Happy Halloween!

2011-11-11T07:48:00.000-08:00

We had a super great Halloween this year! It was really low key since I decided not to make the costumes and stress myself out. We did realize that we hadn't carved pumpkins and you can't have Halloween without carving pumpkins, so I ran to the store and grabbed some and we hurried and carved them before we went out trick-or-treating. It really was the very first year that the girls have actually gone trick-or-treating. We just have done trunk-or-treats in the past, and Lizzy was SO excited to do the actual thing. I was surprised Jane didn't mind getting the guts out. Usually my kids refuse to do it since it is so slimy.

Our cute pumpkin. Lizzy got this outfit when she was a baby and they all (except Jane) have worn it. Jane was too big by the time it was Halloween. He was such a darn cute pumpkin I would have to say.

I had suggested that Jane be a ladybug and she was all for it, then I remembered that we already had the outfit, I had bought it for her last year and she wouldn't wear it, so that worked out great.

Nellie changed her mind probably fifty times on what she wanted to be for Halloween so I suggested a butterfly since Lizzy and Jane were both insects and thankfully she went for it.

I still can't believe I have FOUR kids! It has been pretty smooth as long as we are healthy.

Our finished product. Kevy did the Dora one for Jane because he is much more meticulous and patient with pumpkin carving than I am.

Kevin Russell Richey

2011-10-19T16:57:00.000-07:00

Our sweet baby Russell is here. We are so glad to have him in our family! The girls love him so much and so do Kevy and I. We are really excited to have a little boy in our home and see how that changes things. One thing for sure is that he will have plenty of mothering. Lizzy has already said that she is going to teach him to not pee on the seat and all over when he goes to the bathroom like all the yucky boys at school do.
He came earlier than expected and that is just fine with me. I was bigger this time around and I was really just so uncomfortable and really just ready to have him out! Although I said that and then when it did happen early I thought "but I didn't get everything done and ready. My house isn't clean enough!" I was scheduled to have a c-section on Friday the 21st. He was due on the 29th. On the 11th we were out driving and I noticed that it was a full moon and I said to Kevy "You know lots of women go into labor on a full moon." Knowing that would never happen to me.
Well I woke up that night around 2 and was having contractions every 3-5 minutes. But I didn't really think much of it because they weren't really too bad and that had happened before and then they would go away but I wasn't able to get much more sleep and they didn't go away. I got everyone ready for the day and I headed to the hospital to be monitored. About and hour later the nurse came in and said "you are having a baby in about an hour." I started freaking out a bit because I just needed Kevin there with me. Kevy arrived about a half hour later and then I felt ready for little Russell. He was born at 12:15 p.m. He weighed 7 lbs. 13 oz. and was 20 inches long. Good thing he did come 2 1/2 weeks early, How big would he have been if he had gone to term. I don't want to know. The c-section went pretty well, but Russell had a hard time breathing afterwards because he had fluid in his lungs so he had to go to the NICU. The one time that I actually could have the baby with me in recovery and he can't. I was pretty sad. I got to go see him after my recovery time was up but i couldn't hold him until they allowed me out of bed which was 12 hrs. after delivery. He was doing great by that point but they were worried there might have been an infection, so he was in the NICU for 48 hrs. Which was difficult, but after what I went through with Nellie, I was able to handle it better I think. At least with him I got to hold him and nurse him as often as I wanted.
We went home after 48 hrs. because they allowed him to and because I hate the hospital so bad that I go home as soon as they will possibly let me go. I just hate the constant scrutiny and the poking and prodding. I just always want to be in my own home in my bed.
It always amazes me that this perfect little person was just inside me. It is such a miracle!

After the first day I have felt pretty darn good. I think this time around has been the easiest recovery.

Most people so far have said they think he looks like Kevy. I am not very good at being able to tell but I think he does too.

Kevin's work sent us this cookie bouquet and this flower bouquet, it was so nice of them. The girls have especially enjoyed the cookies.

The girls were so very excited to see baby Russell. When they found out he was coming early they were thrilled. Nellie just kept hugging herself.

Jane is doing amazing. She had a hard time when I was in the hospital and seeing me there, but once we came home she has done so well. Very few fits, she is just so sweet. She will just go play by herself if I am busy feeding Russell.

Lizzy and Nellie love him so much. They are the best helpers too. If I need them to get me a diaper or something for him they start fighting about who's turn it is to do it. I know it won't always be that way, but it is nice right now.

Kevy is such a proud Daddy and so excited to be not quite so outnumbered anymore.

He is so handsome just like his dad.

We already love him so much and can't imagine our family without him!

Bishop's Pumpkin Farm

2011-10-11T08:08:00.000-07:00

There is seriously the neatest pumpkin patch ever, not too far from where we live, and we didn't get to go last year, so I wanted to for sure make it this year. With not too much time left before the baby comes and soccer taking over our lives, I had to take advantage of the one week when both girls had morning games. Kevin is super busy at work right now and actually had to work on Saturday so he couldn't make it :( but Grandma and Grandpa were able to come and it was so fun to have them along. It was also a perfect fall day to go, the temperature was perfect. There were so many different things for the girls to do, we were there for quite a few hours and still didn't see everything. There was food and slides and a parade and pig races and animals and a train and forts to play in. All kinds of things.
They had the prettiest flower patches where you could go and pick your own flowers.

One of the girls favorite things to do was ride the train. They wanted to ride in the animal car. Such silly girls.

They loved the giant tires.

They had fun playing in the corn pit.

Poor lizzy is toothless right now. She is missing four teeth, with no signs of her permanent ones coming in. She has such a hard time eating, but not ice cream.

Janie wanted a shave ice rather than an ice cream and wouldn't you know she dropped it first thing. They were nice enough to give us a new one. But then she dripped some on the filthy bench and she started licking the bench, it was awful. There are some things as a mom that I just can't let myself worry about and germs are one of them. I just have to let it go sometimes. And you know what I think my kids are healthier because of it. They rarely get sick and I think it is because I just don't worry so much, who knows.

Nellie with her messy face. She is seriously the dirtiest kid I know. It doesn't matter what I do she ends up filthy.

There was this giant slide the girls got to slide down, but parents wern't allowed to take their kids sown it, so I was worried that Jane would be too scared to go , but she was the first one to go and she cruised down it. When she got to the bottom she said "Can I go again Mom?" It was so cute seeing her be so big.

My little jail birds. There were so many different things to do and explore. The girls kept telling me " Thank you so much for taking us mom, this is so fun!"

Nellie Belle

2011-09-28T13:38:00.000-07:00

Oh how I love my little Nellie Belle. It is no secret thought that she gives me a run for my money. She has always had such a strong little personality. She doesn't want to be overlooked that's for sure.
Nellie turned five in July. Where does the time go really? I just can't believe sometimes how fast my little girls are growing up. In some ways I really want to freeze time and make them stop. I want them to stay little and so innocent forever. Another part of me is really loving the people they are turning out to be and the fun things we get to do together.

Nellie started kindergarten this year and she is doing so great! I really can't believe how well she is doing. It seems to have helped her to be not so crazy all the time and more happy. There have been far fewer fits from her. It has made me realize that with Nellie, she is the kind of kid that needs constant entertaining. She doesn't like to be bored and she has a hard time doing things on her own. I was really worried about Lizzy being in school all day everyday because that would mean that Nellie and Jane would be together without Lizzy to mediate. Nellie and Jane have not seemed to get along very well at all. But the amazing thing is, they have become such good friends. They play so well together now. It brings such joy to a moms heart to see something like that. Nellie has done such a good job at including Jane and sharing with her. Nellie really does have such a good heart. She loves to share her special animals with Jane, because Jane loves them so much too.

Nellie is doing amazing in school. She is so smart and is picking stuff up so quickly it is amazing. I noticed a huge difference in her writing in just one week, she is picking up reading so quickly too. It was funny the other day I was making dinner and Lizzy needed to do her spelling list and I heard Nellie reading the words to her. I asked her how she could read them and she just said "I sounded them out Mom," Like it was no big deal. She also has figured out addition completely on her own. She tell me all the time do you know what this plus this equals, and then she tells me and she is always right. Maybe she has her grandpa's mad math skills.
I do have to also note in here that Nellie is no longer into Jaguars and cheetahs like she used to be. I really didn't think that would ever happen but I guess she just needed to find a new obsession and she did. She is part of the teddy Bear class at school and she was the first kid to get to take home the class mascot Teddy for the weekend. Teddy did not leave her side. She loved him so much that when she had to take him back, she seemed fine that day but when she got home from school she went to her room and cried on her bed for over a half hour about how much she missed him. It was cute but a little funny too.

Nellie is so very excited for her little brother to get here. She is the one who will probably be sharing a room with him and she is so excited about it. We had to move her into her own bedroom because she would keep whoever was with her up until all hours of the night. And now that she is alone she is actually going to bed pretty darn good. I hope she does well with the baby in her room, we will see. She comes up everyday and rubs my belly and talks to the baby, so sweet.

We really love our little Nellie Belle, our lives would be so very dull without her in them. She challenges me to be a better and more patient mother and I appreciate that.

Soccer Girls!

2011-09-19T08:22:00.000-07:00

Nellie and Lizzy started soccer this year. It is the first year for both of them and they both were so very excited to start. They were so excited to go and get all their soccer gear, I on the other hand wasn't real thrilled about how much it cost us, but hopefully they will be able to wear it all next year or at least most of it so that it won't be so expensive next year. Nellie is funny because she likes to wear her shin guards on the outside so that everyone can see them.

Janie wants to be a part of it too.

The first week Nellie seemed really uninterested in actually playing, and I was worried that it was going to be a long season with her. When it was her turn she just wanted to go play on the playground. But the second week she did so much better and actually seemed interested. She was asked to play goalie and I was worried because of the pressure of it, but she loved it. She didn't let any goals in and she was a natural at pouncing on the ball when it came close. We told her she pounced on them just like a jaguar and she thought that was pretty cool. The funny thing was she actually got mad when it looked like the ball was going to come her way and then it got turned around, she really wanted it to come to her so she could get it.

Lizzy is #9. She has done so good already even though it is her first year. She actually scored the first goal in the first game, which was pretty cool. She has so much natural athletic ability. She is one of those kids that just seems to be good at everything.

She is so cute out there on the field. It is so fun to be a soccer mom and go root for my kids. Even though it may be taking over our life for the time being, it is still a lot of fun. We have practice Mondays Wednesdays and Thursdays and games on Saturdays. It is crazy but fun. I love watching Kevin with the girls too, because he loves to help and coach them. It is so his thing.

Nellie is such a cutie too, she was not very happy the week she couldn't wear her jersey green, such a funny girl.

Janie has fun going to the games too and getting treats and cheering for her sisters. Although she is a bit obsessed with Kevin and when he has to ref or coach she gets mad and cries for him the whole time. What a silly girl.

School Time

2011-09-05T07:42:00.000-07:00

The girls started school again. Lizzy is in the first grade and Nellie started kindergarten. They were so thrilled to start and so was I. We had such a good time during the summer together, but the last couple of weeks they started to get bored and I was getting pretty tired of the constant entertaining that they seemed to need. We just needed structure again. I was also pretty excited about having Nellie gone in the afternoon and Jane down for a nap, so that at least for a couple of months (until little buddy comes) I actually get a couple of hours to myself, which hasn't happened in many years. So I will admit I have been really enjoying that. The night before school the girls decided they wanted curls for the first day of school and since I wasn't going to spend forever the next day curling with a curling iron, we put foam curlers in their hair. Janie decided that she too had to have them in her hair. So they went to bed and literally 2 minutes later Jane came out and said she wanted them out of her hair because it was hurting her head. And then about 5 minutes later Nellie came out and said the same thing. I am so glad I wasted my time putting them in in the first place, but that's life. Lizzy is the only one who could handle sleeping with them, mostly I think because she loves being all dolled up so much that she doesn't care about being uncomfortable to achieve it.

The next morning Lizzy was all ready to go, Janie had to be in the picture with her.

It is so weird to have Lizzy getting so big, losing her teeth and going to first grade. I look at her and can't believe how fast she is growing up.

We waited outside her classroom for the bell to ring, in California things are way more strict, so we weren't allowed to come into the classroom and take pictures, but that's okay. She is so big and so cute! She does so well at school, I don't worry about her at all. Her teacher seems really good too, she is a mom who stayed home with her kids, but now that they are grown she really wanted to be a teacher.

Nellie wore her green shirt. It wouldn't be right if her shirt wasn't green on the first day of school!

Again Jane had to be in the picture too, she couldn't miss out on the excitement. It's funny because she has a Dora backpack and lunchbox that came with it, and everyday we take Nellie to school she has to wear it too. So cute.

We luckily did get to go in Nellie's classroom and get her all settled in. Here she is by her cubby with her Diego backpack. She loves that backpack, but she came home the other day and told me she wanted a new backpack because some girls made fun of her having a boy backpack. Why are kids so mean even at a young age? So we are going to get her a new one.

Nellie has done so well at school! Thank goodness she is good for other people. Her teacher seems so good, she is so nice and Nellie really loves her. Nellie has already made her a note telling her she loves her. So sweet.

After the first day of dropping Nellie off, I was carrying Jane to the car and I said "Janie are you going to be my buddy?" and she said "No mom I am Jane!" she is so silly.

Nellie's Birthday Bash

2011-08-31T13:42:00.000-07:00

Since Nellie had never had a friend party before I decided that she really did need one. I am such a bad mom, I know some mom's love throwing birthday parties but I really don't. They just stress me out. I decided to keep it as easy as possible for me so we decided to do a water party. At first it was going to be a beach party but after we couldn't find any decorations that were inexpensive I decided to just go with green and Nellie decided she wanted pink too, she is really starting to branch out! She of course decided on a jaguar cake but after having a Diego cake two years ago and jaguar cupcakes last year I told her it wasn't going to happen. She ended up being pretty happy with her cake, although she told me she wished I had made the stripes go the other way. Leave it to kids!

The funny thing is that only about half of the kids wanted cake. I didn't realize that so many kids were so picky about stuff, how can you not like cake, especially as a kid! Lizzy was being her silly self and not realizing that what she was saying was rude and told me that it wasn't that they didn't like cake, they just didn't like the cake I made. Thanks Lizzy. Way to make your mom feel good.

The crazy thing was I thought a bunch of the moms would stay because they usually do, but my friend Alisa was the only one who did, so i am so grateful for her because I really needed the help. We did cake and presents first since we were doing water games and I didn't want a bunch of wet kids in my house, so it worked out good.

Nellie loved all the presents she got! I especially liked the slip and slide because it was the thing that ended up keeping all the kids occupied for the whole time, thank goodness.

Here was the line waiting for the slip and slide, it took most of them a while to figure out how to slide on their tummies but once they did it was a huge hit!

Nellie was very serious preparing for her turn. She was a natural at it and got to the end on her first try.

I love the little buns sticking out of her suit! Happy Birthday Nellie! I can't believe that my little preemie is now five!

Big Lady

2011-08-25T14:32:00.001-07:00

My Baby Lady is no more. It makes me a little sad, but we are enjoying it so much too! She is so big, it is crazy how much she has grown up in the past couple of months. No more paci, no more diapers, no more crib, and she was the one that decided on all of them. Well the paci was us, but the other day she said to me, "I don't need a paci mom because I am big!" It was way too cute. I seriously could still just eat her up. When she got into her big girl bed she was so proud of it and wanted to show everyone. She will go and roll around on it and say, "do you like my big girl bed?" She has been talking for a long time now, but she says the most adult things sometimes it just kills me. Last night it was prayer time and she said "I believe it is Lizzy's turn to say the prayer." She makes us laugh so much and Kevin is convinced that she is going to be the ham in the family.
Another thing that she is into lately is puzzles. The girl can do a 25 piece puzzle completely on her own and she is so good at doing them. She can even help do a 100 piece or more and is actually a really good help doing them. Plus she loves to do them too, it is her favorite thing to do and she asks me everyday to get the puzzles down for her to do. We had to go and buy a bunch more just because she loves them so much and wanted more to do.
She is also very excited for her brother to get here and to be a big sister. She will come up to me and start rubbing my belly and say " baby brother I love you!" We just love our little Janie bug and she will always be my Baby Lady!

The 4th and lots of Fireworks!

2011-08-16T11:20:00.000-07:00

We had so much fun on our trip. One of the highlights was being able to do the really good fireworks in Utah. We all went out front and just hung out and let all the little boys be little pyros. The best was that my brother Bryce bought so many cool fireworks and he is like a little kid with fireworks. I don't know if I have ever seen someone enjoy it more than him.

Janie had fun eating candy and hanging out with Dad. I love the candy smile.

It was really cute to see all the little kids lined up on the curb, they had a blast.

Gotta love Nellie, she is pretty good at throwing fits over stuff, I don't even remember what it was about.

Little Poser Lizzy. One of the funniest things that she did was she took some of the streamers that came out of Parachute firework and she held them up and rode around on her bike like she was a beauty queen, for probably over fifteen minutes.

On the fourth we decided to go to the parade down in Provo. At first we didn't want to go because we would have to get up early and we were all pretty tired, but we decided that it was something that the girls would really enjoy, and of course they did. They had never seen a real parade before with actual nice floats, just the small Kansas ones. Lizzy absolutely loved the ones with the beauty queens on them. The funny thing was she waved to each and every group that passed but when it was the beauty queens she did her elbow wrist beauty queen wave. That girl is something else.

One of the favorites was the big balloons. The girls really loved watching the people spin them.

Chanelle brought Max and Jack too, so it made it even more fun.

The night of the fourth we had almost all the grand kids there(we were only missing Austin's four kids.) So we decided to try and get a picture of all of the grand kids together. As you can see by these pictures it is pretty hard to even get all the kids in the picture let alone looking at the camera.

Little monkey with her sparkler. We had such a great Fourth this year and we are so glad we got to spend it with loved ones.

Timp Cave

2011-08-11T16:12:00.000-07:00

I am slowly getting the posts done from our trip, I know it takes me forever. Most of the family went on a hike to Timp Cave, but I knew that there was no possible way that Nellie would make it with how she does with walking. So I stayed back with her and Jane, and Kevin and Lizzy went on the hike. Lizzy was very excited to go and I guess she did awesome on the hike. I guess she was a bit scared in the cave and really held on to Kevin, but everyone told me how cute she was. I guess she kept asking the tour guide questions about the rocks and all kinds of stuff. She is way too cute.

Always the little poser. She just can't help herself.

I went on the hike when i was in fifth grade, but I don't remember too much about it. Looks like it was pretty cool.

The cave is about 40 degrees inside, but it was such a hot day that I guess it felt pretty good for everyone.

More Activities!!

2011-08-05T07:38:00.001-07:00

Our trip to Utah this year was extra fun becasue we did qutie a few activities and fun things that we don't usually do. I lived in Utah most of my life and I had never been to the Bingham copper mine. Chanelle, Mel and I took the kids while the guys went golfing. It was a neat experience but probably a one time thing. The girls were really scared of falling in which was funny because it wasn't a cliff. Nellie was throwing a little fit, big surprise.

Me and my gals! I still can't believe that we are adding a boy to the mix. I don't know if I will actually believe it until he gets here.

The kids next to the big tire. It was huge!

Oh how I miss the beautiful mountains. They have them here but they are too far away to see. Although it is better than Kansas where there were none. It was really fun to take the girls up the canyon and have dinner one night. I think it might have been one of my favorite things about the trip.

We found a campsite that was miles from the water which was great because the rivers are so swollen this year there was no way we were going to take the little kids anywhere near them.
The kids found a little trail that they hiked and they thought it was the neatest thing ever!

We had hamburgers and hot dogs and then we roasted marshmallows for smores! We got these huge marshmallows and they made the biggest mess but they were so good!

Jack and Jane really got to know each other a lot better on this trip and had so much fun together!

Sweets Candy Factory

2011-07-31T08:21:00.000-07:00

While we were out in Utah we went on a tour of the Sweets Candy Factory. It was really fun to do! There are so many things that I have never done even though I lived there most of my life. We got to see how they made all of the yummy candy and we even got some taste tests. It was really funny because on the tour we had to wear these hair coverings and the tour guide called them candy makers hats. Well the kids thought they were so cool and they kept theirs, and afterward they would go and play candy maker with their hair nets. It was funny. I wish I had gotten a picture with them on but we couldn't bring a camera on the tour.

Our group. We sure had fun with cousins this trip!

My mom made these darling outfits for the girls. They look SO cute in them and we get lots of comments on them.

Cousins!

2011-07-25T11:14:00.000-07:00

My girls love their cousins so much! They were so excited to have plenty of days to get to play with them and hang out with them. We went swimming and came back and had Popsicles! Two of the girls very favorite things about summer.

Nellie and Max, need I say more. These two are seriously the cutest together. They have the very best time together. I seriously love when they are together too because Nellie is so good when she is around Max.

Lizzy and Ozzie, they have so much fun togehter, I hope the day never comes when my they don't want to be together because they aren't the same gender.

We were so happy and surprised that Kevin's parents and Sandy came to see us and that they brought the grandkids (minus Braysen) we got to spend some time with them swimming and minature golfing. The kids had a blast and it made our trip even better.

Temple Square

2011-07-16T12:59:00.001-07:00

Having not lived in Utah for quite a while now, Kevin and I realized that we had never taken the girls to see Temple Square. So on a Monday while we were out there we decided to go for family Night. Unfortunately Kevin's parents and sister Sandy had come up to see us and were going to go with us but Carson threw up at dinner so they just headed back to the hotel. We were sad they couldn't come with us but we are so glad that we took the girls because it was such a great experience for them. Lizzy loves going to church and loves the gospel so much already as a little girl, and she just loved seeing all the sights and feeling the spirit there.
We got to go on the tour of the Conference Center which I had never been on and it was really neat. Our tour guide was quick so we got to see everything without it taking forever. We were a little worried because we saw at Disneyland that Nellie does not do well when she has to walk any kind of distance. (if we go to the grocery store and I don't get a cart for her to ride in she starts wailing and crying about how much her legs hurt.) But the crazy thing was not once while we were there walking around did she say anything about her legs hurting. That is not until we were about ten feet from the car and all of a sudden she could no longer walk her legs hurt too bad! The crazy child. She sure is here to teach me patience.

I love these little ladies! They are so sweet and so special.

Me and my eternal companion! We have been together now for eight years! Time sure flies when you are with someone you love. He is such a good man and I am so lucky to have him as my huband.

Our Eternal Family! I am so grateful to be a member of this church and have it in my life, what a blessing it is for our family!

Daddy and His Girls

2011-07-07T07:26:00.000-07:00

We are SO excited to welcome our little boy this year and add another dimension to our family, but there has always been something special about Kevin and his girls. He has been such a good girl daddy, he makes them all feel so special, and they are all big time Daddy's girls. Everyday it is all about when Daddy gets home and if they are hurt, it is daddy they want. I try to not let it hurt my feelings, but sometimes it does.
Here's hoping that the little guy is a mama's boy! Snuggling on the couch. Of course they only want to sit with him!

We went to an ice cream parlor for Family night and the girls loved it. They had never actually been in a real ice cream parlor and Lizzy thought it was the coolest thing, with the fancy seats and your ice cream in a fancy dish. Lizzy is all about stuff like that. I love how everything is so amazing to her. Nellie tells me that she wasn't really mad she just was being silly, who knows with that girl.

Janie had fun eating her ice cream, she didn't even make much of a mess either.

Practicing their Nellie pouty face.

Kevin got home from work and jumped in with the girls. They thought it was awesome to swim with Dad. Poor guy currently has no A/C in his car and is roasting everyday when he gets home from work.

Water Fun

2011-06-22T16:25:00.001-07:00

The girls were so thrilled to learn that you can put a sprinkler under the tramp and jump. They seriously thought it was the coolest thing and played out on for almost two hours. Jane was so cute and I loved her playing with her sisters and getting into it. Lizzy afterward told me it was the most fun she had ever had. She said it was way more fun than going to the pool. The girls this year are having so much fun swimming and playing in the water. They are not afraid at all and Jane is fearless, she will walk right out into the deep end without being scared. I am really going to have to watch her like a hawk this year.

I seriously could eat them all up!

Graduation Time!

2011-06-22T07:18:00.000-07:00

Nellie and Lizzy both graduated this year. Nellie from Preschool and Lizzy from Kindergarten. How is this possible, they are both going to be in school next year! I think it will be good though. I just really can't believe how fast time is going by.

I seriously adore Nellie's teacher and I am sad that we had to say goodbye to her! I can't wait for Jane to be able to go! Her school had an end of year program and it was really the cutest thing ever! They sang at least 20 of the cutest little songs, I was so proud of Nellie because she really sang her heart out and knew all of the actions too, which is pretty out of character for her. She has really blossomed this year at this school, I just wish I could say it transfers to home as well, but at least she is really good for other people. We are working on it at home.

Lizzy had her Kindergarten graduation as well about a week later. They sang a couple of songs and Lizzy of course as is her character sang them really well. She was so proud that she finished Kindergarten, she of course did amazing and seemed to do well in everything that she did. It is so her personality to be good at everything though, that is just my Lizzy.

Here is her certificate for graduation! Yay she is on to first grade! I can't believe how old my girls are getting, sniff sniff!

Classic

2011-06-20T07:13:00.000-07:00

There are some picutres that are just classic pictures that you always remember, this I think will be one. Janie really didn't want to wear anything else when we got home from church, just her boots. She is such a little cutie, I want to eat her up all the time, I guess it makes up for all the walls she has colored on at home. Seriously Jane, We rent!

Field Trip

2011-06-19T21:20:00.000-07:00

Nellie's little preschool went to the Zoo for a field trip. I brought Jane and Grandma came too. We had a good time even though it seemed like every school was having a field trip that day. Grandma had to go to work and had to leave early, but we were glad she came.

The gals after Grandma left, throwing a little fit. After Grandma left it was all downhill from there.

There was a Jaguar at the Zoo and he actually was moving around doing something, so it was really neat for Nellie and Jane to see because they are both really into Jaguars. I keep wondering when Nellie is going to move on to a new obsession because she has been going strong with this one for a long time.

They had to take their picture by the picture of the jaguar.

McKay's Commissioning

2011-06-15T21:04:00.000-07:00

Back in May my brother McKay commissioned into the Air Force. It was really neat to go the the ceremony. He commissioned the day after he graduated from Berkeley with his Masters in Engineering. I have to brag because he is one smart guy! In case anyone is wondering when you get commissioned it means you become an officer in the Air Force. He will be stationed at Hill Air Force Base, which I am glad because then we can still see him. McKay and his wife Joanne.

It was really neat because my brother Austin who is a pilot in the Air Force was able to come and do the swearing in (or something like that, I can't remember what it is officially called.)

This was where my parents and Joanne got to put on McKay's new pins.

I am so proud of McKay. He is such a good guy and the Air Force is lucky to have him.

This was his first salute as an officer.

It was fun to have a bunch of family that weekend come for the occasion. Whenever we get together we have SO much fun together just talking and hanging out and laughing together.

My sister Chanelle came and brought her son Jack, who is almost the same age as Jane. They had do much fun playing and they are so cute together.

Mothers Day Tea

2011-06-12T13:21:00.000-07:00

Both of the big girls happened to have a Mothers Day Tea at school and it happened to fall on the same day, so I got a day of being spoiled by my girlies. They sang songs and gave us presents that they had made. They were the cutest things and by far the things I will treasure most in my life. I seriously am such a baby but I always cry at things like this because of how sweet they are. I love being a mom, but there are some days when it gets really hard, it is things like this that make me remember why it is so important for me to keep going and be the best mom I can.

I wish I had gotten better pictures, but of course my camera was basically dead and I was lucky to get any so of course there was no flash, but oh well. I am trying to do better at keeping my camera charged.

Our Disney Trip!

2011-06-02T13:19:00.000-07:00

We have been wanting to take the girls to Disneyland for a few years now, the last time we went Lizzy wasn't quite three and Nellie was just a baby, so they didn't even remember it. Kevin and I knew that they would just love it but there just hasn't been any opportunity. Well we thought we sold our house (unfortunately it fell through) so we thought we were going to have some extra money, so we decided it was now or we would probably have to wait a lot longer. We invited Kevin's family since Disneyland is kind of their family's thing. Kevin's parent and Kristi and Mike came and then Sandy and her boys decided to come last minute. We are glad they all came because we had such a good time. The only thing I would probably change about going next time is that we went at the end of our long spring break trip, and so by that time the girls (especially Jane) were really tired and hadn't gotten good sleep in a couple of weeks, so they were a little more grumpy (well Nellie and Jane) than they probably would have been if we had gone at the beginning of our trip. Nellie and Jane had a little bug that lasted a day of two with a fever and not feeling too good, a few days before we left for Disneyland, luckily they were fine by the time we got there. Of course Lizzy got it the first day we were there. When we were leaving the hotel Lizzy said her eyes hurt and she had a fever. It was so sad because she was the one who I knew would have the best time at Disneyland. I gave her some Motrin and she was pretending like she was okay. Then after a couple of rides she was sitting on the ground and I could tell she was in bad shape. She said she had to throw up and we sort of made it to the garbage can. After that I gave her some Tylenol and she seemed to be pretty good for the rest of the day. The next day she was just fine, so thankfully it all turned out okay.

Nellie was so excited for the jungle ride, because as most everyone know she is really into animals and she loved seeing all the animals even if they were fake.

Waiting in line for the Nemo ride. It was by far the longest line we waited in, but we all had never been on it, and I know that a lot of people don't like that ride, but it was one of our family's favorites.

Janie was so funny, she struggled with grumpiness, but she did have fun too! The funniest thing about Jane was she LOVED churros! She got one the first day and there was a little tiny bit she still had left when we went on a ride so we left it in the stroller. I got back ate it because I thought she didn't want it anymore. She flipped out when she realized it was gone and threw a giant fit for about 15 minutes until we finally just bought her another one and then she was perfectly fine. She kept saying "Mom ate my stick!" it was too hilarious!

Lizzy had such a good time and of course was so good the whole time. She especially loved seeing the princesses and riding the big rides with her Dad. It was so cute because she and Nellie were so brave they went on most everything and didn't get scared.

Oh crazy Nellie, she is such a funny girl. If only she wasn't so difficult all the time. We love her so much, but it is hard to deal with her sometimes. The minute we got off the bus the first day she started to throw a fit because her feet hurt. The minute we got off the bus!!! So we had to get an extra stroller for her because she was acting so psycho. Then even when Lizzy wasn't feeling good Nellie didn't want to let her ride in the stroller. She threw a fit every time we didn't buy her something that she wanted. And when we were waiting in lines she would throw herself down on the ground and complain about her feet hurting. Sometimes I am at my wits end with her. I have such a hard time understanding the way that she acts. I try so hard but I feel like a big failure most of the time with her because she just doesn't care.

The second day was a huge struggle for Jane, we got up early so we could go to the magic morning and it was just too much for her she was exhausted and even though I don't let her have her paci except for naps, she had it the whole day just so she would stop crying. Kevin and I left early that night to put her to bed early so she could get enough sleep and she did so much better the next day.

Lizzy was so excited to see the princesses. She is such a girly girl. I think Nellie enjoys it too, but not like Lizzy.

This has to be one of my favorite pictures. Jane was so grumpy the second day and was so mad at us for making her be in the picture.

Small World is always so much fun with the kids and Lizzy kept singing the song to us, she is such a little singer.

Janie had fun sitting with Conner in his stroller. Sandy's boys were so sweet to the girls.

When we went to California Adventure Jane was so funny she had to have this map and she was reading it like she knew what it said. The funny thing was she had grabbed a Chinese one and wouldn't let us give her an English one.

The girls had a really good time with their cousins!

We got to see Pooh the third day and Jane was so excited! She gave him a huge hug!

Jane liked Tigger too! She thought he was so silly. That is her new phrase she likes to tell everyone "You are so silly!"

The girls were on another ride with Kevin when Jane and I saw pooh so they came after. I love this picture! Lizzy has always loved Pooh since she was a little girl.

Lizzy and Nellie really spent a lot of time looking for the perfect hat for them. I think they did a great job, Nellie's is so her and so is Lizzys. Jane was so cute the last day, Kristi gave the girls some pens and little books and Jane spent the whole day just writing in hers.

Spring Break-Southern Utah

2011-05-26T10:26:00.000-07:00

After spending a few days in Northern Utah we headed down to southern Utah to spend some time with Kevin's family. We stayed with Kelli and Lance which was great because the kids have so much fun playing together. The whole extended family came to welcome us and have dinner with us. It was so much fun. The girls were so thrilled to have time with their cousins! Aren't they all so cute.

Grammie came with her dog Chloe. Nellie just adore Chloe and is so very gentle with her. Chloe gets scared of kids pretty easily but she seems to really like Nellie. Nellie always seems to ask us the same question every time she is around Chloe "Why can't we get a dog?" I am just not enough of a dog fan to have one while I am still having babies. Maybe once the kids all get older. Who knows.

Janie and Braysen had fun playing together and seemed to get along pretty well.

The kids were going to do a performance for us but instead just all got dressed up and didn't do a play just took a bow.

It was nice because it was warm enough for us to go swimming the next day so Sandy let us come over and swim. The girls were so thrilled to get to wear their new suits.

Lizzy has been really into swimming for a few years now so I wasn't surprised at how well she did.

Nellie keeps doing better each year and I think she is going to do great this year. She loved the swimming.

Janie had so much fun swimming. She has always LOVED water, but last year was hard because the pool in Concordia was too deep for her so it wasn't as fun. I am so excited to go swimming a ton this year because the girls are all going to do so well and I won't have a baby to worry about, we all can just have fun at the pool.

Nellie ended up getting really brave and getting really deep. She was so proud of herself.

Lizzy getting some good snuggles from Sandy.

Janie was super attached to Kevin this trip so when she got cold and wanted to cuddle I was all over that. She was funny though because she got in and out of the pool probably 30 times. She would get out and say she was cold and then go and get right back in.

Jake and Kara had us over to their house for a barbecue and smores. The girls loved doing the smores, I think it has been too long since we last did them that they didn't remember them. They loved cooking their marshmallow just right in the fire.

Big surprise that Nellie got chocolate all over her face. She is the messiest kid I know. And with chocolate especially. She was mad at us though because we only let her have two smores. Terrible parents.

Janie was so tired on this trip from not getting good enough naps and going to bed too late that she went and laid down on the rock with Lizzy's blanket since we forgot hers. Poor baby.

On Saturday Kelli's neighborhood had an Easter egg hunt. It was fun to watch the kids get the eggs. We didn't bring their Easter baskets so the girls decorated walmart bags. They are so funny.

Back to Kelli's house to see their spoils. Nellie was so cute because we all know how much she loves candy, but one of her eggs had Dora candy in it and she didn't hesitate to give to to Jane. It was really sweet of her.

The kids had fun coloring eggs. I brought an egg kit that I though looked neat but I didn't realized what it was, you just put some color in a bag and stick an egg in it and rub it around. It was nice for the adults because it was clean and easy, but it was so quick that I think the kids felt a little jipped.

After dying the eggs and after Jane woke up from her super long nap (the other kids were going crazy waiting for her to wake up) Grammie did another Easter egg hunt for the kids and they thought it was the neatest thing especially because Grammie put money in some of the eggs. We had a really good time in St. George and hope we get to to go back before too long!

Spring Break-Northern Utah

2011-05-19T10:30:00.000-07:00

For Spring Break this year we decided to take a really long vacation. We were gone almost two weeks and we had so much fun! Our first stop was Northern Utah for a few days. We left Friday after Lizzy's school and made the long drive. We thought for sure the girls would sleep a long portion of it, but what the heck were Kevin and I thinking? Our girls sleep yeah right! At about 10:30 California time and after driving in the dark with no movies or noise for the past two hours, the girls still were wide awake, so I laid the smack down. Finally within a few minutes they all were asleep. When we pulled into town at 2:30 They all woke up and we told Nellie that we were finally in Max's world. ( She kept asking if we were in Max's world yet while we were driving.) The girls were thrilled and we spent the next few days with Chanelle and Tom and their boys. It was so crazy because when these two get together it is like we don't even see them. They play so well together they are just like two peas in a pod. Nellie is usually so whiny and demanding but when she is with Max she is like a perfect angel. They are just the best of friends and I hope they always stay that way. Aren't they so cute! I think they even look alike.

Jane is still not very used to having someone her age around so it took her some getting used to Jack. But I am sure they will become good friends.

That Sunday my sister Erica and her family came over and we all had dinner together. Afterward the kids had do much fun playing games outside. They played Duck Duck goose and Steal the Bacon. It was so fun to watch them because it brought back so many memories from my childhood.

We were only there a few days but we had so much fun. We can't wait to go back this summer and get to spend a little more time there this time.

Easter Dresses

2011-05-05T13:22:00.000-07:00

Seriously I know I am totally biased but I think these girls are the cutest things ever! Growing up I was always secretly worried that I was going to have ugly kids. I know I am weird but I guess that is something I didn't need to worry about.

I really do love making their Easter dresses every year and I even got them done this year with time to spare. But I am seriously hoping this next baby is a boy because I don't know if I have the stamina to make four dresses at a time and do four girls hair everyday. Just kidding I am sure I can manage it, we will love another girl just as much.

I just love how each of their dresses turned out, and even though I picked out the fabric they all love them. Other than the fact that Nellie told me she wished I would I would have made her sash and rose green instead of blue. Big surprise.

Growing up

2011-04-06T21:46:00.000-07:00

Time keeps marching on. It is amazing to me how each of my girls (especially lately) seems to be growing up so fast. They seem to be growing by leaps and bounds. Janie is getting so big and really very much a big girl now. She loves to ride her Dora scooter, and barrows Nellie's helmet sometimes, and tells me "Mom I need a helmet!" She talks so much now, she makes us laugh so much. She has really turned into a chatterbox. If is is just her and I in the car she will talk my ear off. I love it. She also loves to sing, and if there is a song on in the car that she recognizes she will start to sing along with it so loud, it is the cutest thing. We also decided to potty train Jane about three weeks ago, at first I thought that she was doing pretty good, but after three weeks I am not so sure. She is not going at all on her own, so if I forget she wets her pants. And forget about pooping she pretty much does that in her pants exclusively. For a while she would poop her pants and then realize that she was supposed to go on the toilet, so she would go in the bathroom and pick the poop out of her pants and drop it in the toilet. Nice huh? now she has decided to not even do that and she just poops her pants and sits in it. I guess she is not ready, I just thought she was showing all the signs of being ready, but I guess not. I am not going to go through what I did with Nellie so I think she will be going back in diapers. Oh well, I still want to eat that monkey up even if she has been a stinker. Last week Nellie's little preschool class had Silly day so we dressed Nellie pretty silly. She was definitely one of the silliest looking kids. We had gotten this box of old dance outfits from Aunt Jolene the day before so Nellie was so excited to have a cool outfit to wear for silly day. We sure have been blessed to have such a great teacher for Nellie. Nellie has grown so much this year and I know it has so much to do with her teacher Miss Patty. I can't wait for Jane to get to go to the same preschool. Nellie also learned how to ride a two wheeler, which I think is pretty good for a four year old. It took me much longer to learn. She loves to ride her bike now and asks me everyday if we can walk to pick up Lizzy at school so she can ride.

Lizzy is my big girl! I can't believe she is almost done with Kindergarten. She has done so well. Of course that is not a surprise though, she always seems to do well at whatever she does. She has become an amazing little reader, and she just loves to read. She has even started reading chapter books and can actually read and understand them. She is so sweet. She is also such a big helper and loves to do whatever I ask her to do.

Last week Lizzy had a special performance at school. Her school did a special dance spectacular where every class learned a dance and performed it. It was done by an actual choreographer and it was the cutest thing. They danced to Purple People Eater and Lizzy did such a great job. Unfortunately she was in one of the back rows so I couldn't see her very well. I hate it when that happens! She is just my sweet little girl who is growing up so fast! They all are, but I will keep enjoying everyday with them. They are such a treasure!

Disney On Ice

2011-03-16T16:12:00.000-07:00

Disney on Ice came to town and we had never been so we wanted to take the girls. Kevin had to work so Grandma and Grandpa came. It truly was such an amazing show and we all loved it so much. Grandma and Grandpa got the girls these cute little cups. Nellie wanted Minnie and Janie wanted Mickey (she has a crush on him) and Lizzy got a Tinkerbell one. They came with icees in them and seriously who would have known they would be that big of a mess. The girls didn't care though.

It was almost more fun to watch Lizzy watching it because she loved it so much. She was singing along and just so into it.

Nellie as usual enjoyed the show but not like the other two. She was more into eating treats, so it was a good thing that I brought plenty. It kept her quiet so the rest of us could enjoy the show. Janie seriously loves Mickey Mouse and when he came out at the beginning she just kept saying "Its Mickey Mouse right dere!" over and over again while she pointed to him. It was way cute!

The one and only shot I got of the show. I was just too into watching it and who really cares about pictures of the show anyway. We had so much fun and it was especially fun to have Grandma and Grandpa with us!

The Sacramento Zoo

2011-03-05T14:39:00.000-08:00

Since we moved here I have become a little bit obsessed with saving money. Probably because the cost of living here is higher than Kansas and so our budget is tighter. So I feel like it is my responsibility to save us money wherever possible. I don't want to not be stuck not getting to go anywhere so it just means keeping my eyes open for deals. Sacramento was having a free museum day back at the beginning of February where all the museums were free. And it included the Zoo so I was all over that. Especially because it was such a warm day. We invited Uncle Kimball to come along. We love it that he always likes to hang out with us, and the girls just adore him. The Zoo was packed and since it was free it pulled the really high quality people but it was still worth it. There was a tiger that we wanted to see so we went over to the glass and looked to see if we could find it. It was coming our way so we waited thinking it wouldn't get all that close. But it jumped up on the ledge and put his face right up to the glass. He was seriously only about a foot from us and he stayed there for almost a minute. It was crazy. Of course I didn't have my camera ready and I was just too entranced to think about it until it was too late to get a picture.

There actually was a jaguar here and Nellie just about had a heart attack over it. She sat and stared at that thing for about ten minutes without moving and I am seriously not exaggerating. Here they are pointing to it, it is just really hard to see.

Baby Lady

2011-02-28T15:40:00.000-08:00

Where has the time gone? My baby lady is not a baby anymore. But I still do call her that. She is such a fun little girl to have in our family. She is so sweet and loves her sisters so much. And her daddy too. My kids don't usually turn into Daddy's girls until the next one comes, but Jane has been one for a long time.

She has always been the easiest baby, but since she turned two she definitely has changed. She is into everything! She is so busy, always taking off her diaper, and changing her clothes five times a day. She has gotten really opinionated about things too, she will not let me pick out her clothes anymore she has to do it. She is always getting into things she shouldn't. She pulls the chair over and gets on the kitchen counter about twenty times a day. One of her favorite things to do when I am in the other room, is to get the salt shaker and shake it all out onto the counter. She is so much like Lizzy at the same age. She also loves to yell NO! or STOP! the little stinker.

Jane loves whatever Nellie does so green is her favorite color too and she is seriously in love with jaguars and jaguar prints too. Good thing Nellie has been really good to share all of her things with Jane. But one of Janie's favorite things is Ddddddora. She calls her Dora Splora, and she always sings it when she says it.

Jane is such a sweet little girl she loves her sisters soo much and thinks she can do whatever they can. She always wants to be with them and loves when they include her in things. One of her new favorite things i s jumping on the tramp with the girls. When we first got the tramp she was too scared whenever she got on but now she loves to bounce and she has the cutest little jump. Jane also has the cutest little run. She is always trying to keep up with the other two and she is always running. She lifts up her little legs so high like it will make her go faster.

We just love having little Janie bug in our family she adds so much. I can't believe how perfect our family is with our little Jane. Who needs boys when there are these sweet little gals.

When You've Got Kids....

2011-02-17T21:52:00.000-08:00

There was a little saying that I guess my great grandpa used to say "When you've got kids that's all you've got" Only that is saying it much nicer then he used to say it. But I swear sometimes it is the truth. Kids seem to destroy everything. Case and point: I did some portraits of Lizzy and Nellie a few years back for Kevin and I wanted to do one for him of Janie too. So for his Valentines present I made one. It was one of those times where the drawing went effortlessly. I didn't have to keep redoing it because it didn't look right, it just flowed. It was a few days before valentines and I was almost done, and then Nellie brings it in to me looking like this:

She said that Jane had found it. That little stinker! My heart just dropped. I had spent hours and hours on it and now it was ruined. I bawled for a good hour over it. I was devastated. Kevin got home soon after and I had to tell him what happened because he could tell something was really wrong and he was really worried. Oh well life does go on. I did another one for him. It ended up looking pretty good, but it certainly didn't flow out the way this one had. I had to keep fixing things that just were not right. What I have learned is what is really important and that is my family and these precious little girls I have. Even if I don't have many nice things because they seem to destroy them I am a very rich woman because I have them.

Kevin's Hot Date!

2011-02-07T14:52:00.001-08:00

Lizzy's little school sent home an invitation for a masquerade ball for all the girls and their Dads to attend. Lizzy was beyond excited for it, and I told Kevin it was something I was going to make him do. Thankfully our friends have a daughter the same age and her Dad taking her, so Kevin would have a friend to hang out with. Kevin really hates stuff like this, but with three little girls it is going to have to be something he gets used to.
The invitation said it was semi-formal so Lizzy has this dress that Kevin's Aunt gave her that she has been dying to wear, and I told her this would be the perfect dress for it. we went out that day and bought her these earrings for her to wear that were very fancy. I don't think I have ever seen a kid so excited to do something. The day of she asked me probably 50 times if it was time to get ready. She kept saying she was Kevin's hot date for the night, it was really cute. I kept telling her how jealous I was. It was funny. Kevin said when they got there Lizzy said her chest was hurting, we think it is because she got herself so worked up and excited for it. Oh they are so cute together!

I took a picture of them with their masks on too, but I promised Kevin that I wouldn't post the picture. It was pretty funny.

We did her hair up so I had to get a side picture.

Such a little beauty. I know we are in for it when she gets older.

They sent home masks for the kids to decorate, so we went and bought some stick on jewels and we had some feathers and Lizzy pretty much did the whole thing herself. She did a really good job I thought.

Nellie let Lizzy borrow her special Jaguar coat to complete the outfit. She looked very fancy.

At the dance Lizzy and her little friend Kylee had fun dancing, then they found all of their other friends and just had a blast. Lizzy and Kevin got to dance a bunch of times too. I told her I was jealous because Kevin and I have only danced once, at our reception. That just doesn't seem right.

This girl is just way too social! Where did she come from because certainly not from me. It just goes to show that each person has their own spirit they are born with.

Jumpers

2011-02-01T21:30:00.000-08:00

I love jumpers on little girls. And they are super easy to make so I thought, hey why not make the girls each a cute jumper. The fabric store had the cutest corduroy on sale so we went and picked it out last fall and I was going to make them. Well I made Jane's around Halloween, but then I just couldn't get motivated to make the other two. Then I realized that out here it is pretty warm so they aren't going to want to wear them as long as they would in Kansas, so I better get cracking so I made Nellie's. All I had left was Lizzy's and she didn't seem all that excited about it. Lately she just is too grown up and doesn't want to have anything to do with little girl stuff. So I was worried she would think it was too babyish. So while I was cutting it out I asked her if she was even going to wear it, thinking she would say "Of course Mom!" even just to make me feel better, but I should know better coming from a 6 year old. She looked at it for a minute and said "I think maybe I will." So I was thinking "Great the kid isn't even going to wear it." But I finished it anyway and she was excited to wear it, thank goodness. I put them all in their jumpers for Sunday and I even did all of their hair the same that day. (Something I rarely do.) They looked so cute.

That Sunday Lizzy got the Spotlight in her primary and it said that she liked to sing, so they asked her if she would sing. I guess she sang a solo of "I am a child of God" for the Primary, and it is a big primary. I am just so sad that I didn't get to see it. I would have loved that. She is my little singer girl. It was funny because I asked her about it and she said " I was really shy so I sang it really loud." No Lizzy that is the opposite of shy, that is called loving the spotlight.

Patience and Gratitude

2011-01-25T07:20:00.000-08:00

Patience is not my strong suit. In fact it is something that I have always struggled with. Maybe that is why I have been given this trial to learn some patience. We have been trying to get pregnant for over a year now with no luck. It has been so discouraging because every month I believe this is the month and it isn't. It seems like every time I go to church I find out of someone else who is pregnant and I wonder why not me? Everyone I know seems to be having babies and I am not. Now no matter what, my kids are not going to be as close in age as I have always wanted.

Then I feel really guilty because of what I have been given. I have been blessed with three amazing beautiful girls, and the best husband in the world. We are all happy and healthy. I know of so many people who are not able to have any children or just one. Or people who are going through a lot of difficulties and here I am feeling sorry for myself. So right now I am trying very hard to as my grandma would say "keep my eye on the donut and not on the hole." I am trying to see the positive in all of this and stop pining for children that I don't have and really focus on and and enjoy the ones I have already been blessed with.

There is one thing that I know for sure- things do not happen in our timetable. Heavenly Father can see so much more than we can and He truly knows what is best for us. He gives us trials so that we can learn to grow close to Him and learn to put our trust in Him. Am I learning that from this trial? I think I am. I still have days when I get sad about it. But I want to trust in Heavenly Father because I do know that He knows what I need in my life better than I do. I have learned that over and over again. I can always look back on trials that I have had in the past and see the Lord's hand in my life and I am grateful that He knows what is best for me better than I do. So right now I am going to remember everything Heavenly Father has done for me and trust that when the time is right we will be blessed with another child.

My Baby is TWO!!

2011-01-22T19:28:00.000-08:00

How can this be? How can Janie already be two? She has gotten so big over the last 4 months especially. It is like she has grown in double time. We just adore her. she brings so much joy to our family. Janie is such a silly goose, she has gotten totally obsessed with Dora so we had a Dora party for her. And in fact basically everything she got was a Dora present. I felt bad though because we were planning on getting her a Dora bike for her birthday. There were tons of them at Christmas, but we decided to wait until her birthday to buy it. That was a big mistake because they were all gone, so for her party she got a book from us. Oh well she is just two, she won't be scarred for life right? She had fun opening all her presents, she really has gotten good at opening them, it is funny. Janie loved her D-d-d-Dora cake. Yes that is how she say it most of the time, I just love it!

I take these pictures so I have proof that these cake really were made. I am worried that they won't remember them and I want them to know I really did make them for them.

Big sisters were just convinced that Janie couldn't possibly open her presents herself. Good thing she was a good sport about it.

Janie got this cute puppy from her Grammie and Papi and she just loves it. We named him Finnigan.

Jane is one of those kids who really does love playing with toys. She got these blocks from Grammie and Papi and she really does play with them. In fact all the girls like to build with Janie's Dora blocks.

More unnecessary help from Nellie and Lizzy. We got her this book for cheap so that we had something to give her on her birthday, but she just loves it. It is a look and find and she is really good at looking for the pictures and pointing them out to us. "it's right dere" I just want to eat her up!

Janie got this darling suitcase from Grandma and Grandpa. Both of the other girls had a little suitcase and Jane always played with them. So now she always loads hers up and pushes it around the house.

We didn't get a picture of Janie actually blowing out the candles because Lizzy actually did it, even after we warned her to let Janie. Such a silly girl. I am so happy and so sad that Janie is two. It is so fun to have her be big and to see her learning so much and showing such a cute personality. And I love seeing her play with her sisters. I just am not ready for her to be big.

Family Night!

2011-01-14T15:11:00.000-08:00

I know that I keep saying this, but it is so nice to live in a place where there is a lot of stuff to do. Hey I lived in a very small town for the past five years so it is going to take me a while to get used to this. Chick-Fil-A has family night every week and we hadn't been yet so we took the girls. They had face painting and balloon animals. Nellie just thought she was in heaven getting her face painted like a jaguar. Her eyebrows were pretty black for a couple of days afterward.

Notice the jaguar shirt and coat. Don't worry she was also wearing jaguar pants, and a headband that she had taken out. I am starting to wonder if this obsession is something I should worry about.

Lizzy wanted to be princess, again big surprise with my kids. They are so predictable.

She has to change poses before I take another picture. Notice the outfit, she wore it for two or three days in a row. She is so funny.

Janie had fun playing with her balloon animal and chillin with dad.

We did end up getting her arms painted so she got to do it too. She loved it and kept showing it off.

Fashion Show

2011-01-14T08:04:00.000-08:00

A few days after Christmas the girls wanted me to take their picture in their new clothes that they got. The all first wanted a picture together, Jane just loves her sisters so much and always wants to give them hugs. Nellie's face says it all she is just such a different kid than the other two.

Lizzy and Jane are cut from the same cloth. Jane reminds me so much of Lizzy at the same age.

Lizzy just loved this outfit that she got from McKay and Joanne. I told her it is Calvin Klein and that is what rich girls wear. So now she always says when she wears it "I look just like a movie star! "

Joanne and McKay got Nellie this Adidas sweat suit and it couldn't be more perfect for her. She is my little tomboy. She loves to wear her "cozies"

Kimball got Jane this cute little ladybug shirt. She is my little baby lady so it is perfect for her and she loves to wear it.

Christmas 2010

2011-01-09T17:25:00.000-08:00

It was really fun this year to be out here in California and get to spend some time with family for Christmas. By the time it was Christmas eve the girls were worked up into a frenzy of excitement. We went to to my parents for Christmas Eve dinner, they always have a Shepherds dinner of soup and sandwiches. It was really yummy and nice to not have such a big dinner, because we would be loading up the next day. Then we watched a really neat video on the birth of Jesus and then we opened up our Christmas eve present. I normally like to make their pajamas for Christmas, but I knew this year I was going to be pretty busy and I didn't want to stress myself out so I went to Carters when they were having a sale on their feet jammies and bought the girls each a pair. Lizzy had been begging for some for a long time so I knew she would be excited and Nellie's were jaguar and so I knew she would be thrilled as well. The problem ended up being Jane, a few weeks before Christmas she developed this weird little quirk where she started refusing to wear any of her jammies that had feet. The weird thing was before that she loved them. Well I was worried so a few days before Christmas I unwrapped her jammies and showed them to her to see if she wanted them or if I needed to take them back. She loved them, even though they had feet, (silly girl) she even HAD to wear them that night, so after she wore them I wrapped them back up and she unwrapped them on Christmas Eve and acted as excited as if she had never seen them before.

Jane LOVES unwrapping presents and even though Lizzy thinks she has to help her, Jane could do it on her own. I have never seen a kids that young not get bored or frustrated with the wrapping paper and ribbons.

Nellie's reaction to seeing her Jaguar jammies, she liked them just a little bit I think.

Lizzy was super excited as well to see her feet jammies.

Cute little monkeys in their jammies. That night I was worried about them staying up because they were so excited and they are not good at going to bed normally, but we told them Santa can't come unless they are in bed, and we didn't hear a peep from them, in fact I checked on them a few minutes later and they were all asleep. I just wish Santa would come every night so I wouldn't have the bedtime battle that we always do. The next morning Nellie came in our room around 6:30 so I thought Lizzy wouldn't be far behind but she just kept sleeping, so we eventually had to go wake her up. I was a little apprehensive because we didn't get the girls much this year, but with grandparents and all my brothers and My grandma and aunt and uncle, the girls made out like bandits.

Daddy putting together Janie's Dora scooter. Janie was so excited because now she can ride hers just like her sisters.

Nellie got a live Jaguar, that makes noises and opens his eyes and growls etc. She loves him a lot and named him Little Paw.

Lissy got lots of jewelry, just what she asked for and on of her favorites was this L necklace we got her. She is doing really well keeping track of her jewelry and putting it back in her jewelry box.

Janie got all things Dora this year because she is obsessed with Dora right now. It is so cute, she had t put her slippers and nightgown on immediately forget the monkey jammies, she has no interest in those anymore. After we had breakfast and got dressed we went over to my parents to open more presents.

Lizzy got to take out her stud earrings and wear new ones for the first time on Christmas. She got tons for Christmas and everyday one of her favorite thins is picking out earrings for her outfit.

Nellie got a jaguar coat from my parents and of course she loves petting it and hugging it.

Lizzy got a super cute outfit from Joanne and McKay that she says makes her look like a movie star.

My parents got Jane this darling little dress, it is so cute on her.

Kevy barbecued the turkey for us in his charcoal BBQ. It was the best turkey I have ever had. He is quite the barbecuer. We had such a yummy dinner. The food was amazing! The ham was also seriously the best one I have ever had also. It is nice living in a place where you can get really good quality of food.

I love this picture of Jane and my dad just chillin watching sports. She might take after her mom and be a huge sports fan, I know my dad and Kevy would love that.

The girls opening even more things at Judy and Jim's house.

Lzzy got hold of the camera, it was a bit blurry, but such a cute picture.

Lizzy showing off more of her spoils. I love her smile.

The big present from Santa to all the girls was a tramp. It was a super nice one with an enclosure that normally cost almost 400 dollars that I went and picked up on Black Friday at the crack of dawn for $150. That was the first time I have ever done the wake up early thing, but it was well worth it for just that.Christmas day was rainy so the next day when we had a break in the rain Kevy went and put the tramp together. What a good Dad he is. The girls were thrilled and it is so nice to not have it so cold here because they can still play on it throughout the winter.

They are just so dang cute.

We had such a good Christmas this year, it was so hard to see it end because I always get a little depressed in January with a long winter ahead of me, but the good thing is it isn't too cold here and it starts getting up into the 60's and 70's in February, so I guess I can handle that. I know poor me right?

Christmas Time!

2010-12-24T08:02:00.000-08:00

I really look forward to Christmas every year, it is my favorite holiday, and I have come to realize that it is my favorite because it is a whole season rather than just a day. I love the magic, yes really, the magic at this time of year. The food and the music and the movies and the activities and the decorations and the presents and just everything that comes along with it. I never understood why my parents said that they really didn't need presents they just enjoyed watching us, until I had kids of my own. I think maybe I am more excited than they are for it all. It is funny through because they just want Christmas day to come and I dread it coming because then all the magic and wonder is gone after that. So every time my girls say "I just wish it was Christmas today!" I try and remind them to enjoy what we are doing right now. One of our favorite traditions is to turn off the lights and turn on music and have Christmas dancing. Last year Jane wanted to dance with the girls so bad but she wasn't walking yet so it was so fun to see her keeping up with the other two this year. This year I caved and we bought a fake tree. I was just too tired to go and get a real one and put the lights on, so we went to Walmart and found this extra special one that was only 40 bucks. It looked really sad when we got it out of the box, but I fluffed it out and revived it. I have to say it was nice to not have to string the lights this year. The girls love to help decorate and they did a really good job although I think they liked to look of the ones hanging off the bottom because they put about a third of them on the bottom branch.

Our ward had a Christmas breakfast this year, which I don't particularly like, but oh well. It was still fun and we even went in our pajamas. It was really hard for me not to do my girls hair because normally I refuse to leave the house without their hair done, but I decided to go with it, although most people still did their kids hair. I felt like a rube, but oh well. The girls got up there and sang with the primary, and surprise that Lizzy sang super loud, she is such a little singer.

I love this picture with Santa with Jane having not one but two fingers up her nose.

Nellie had a little Christmas program at her preschool and she did such a good job! Nellie is really not one for performing but she know how much we wanted her to do it so she did and she did such a good job. It was really hard for Lizzy to not be up there in front of everyone, she sat up front and sang along too.

Here is Nellie with her little friend Mykenzie. She loves going to school and playing with her little friends. School is such a good thing for her, I know I have said this before but her teacher is the best teacher! I can't wait for Janie to be able to go there in a couple of years.

She looked so pretty in her Christmas dress. I just love this little crazy girl!

One of the things that Nellie was so excited about and she talked about for weeks before was that they made the dads come up and put a Rudolph nose on and sing with the kids. Nellie thought it was so funny.

Then of course Santa came and Nellie got to tell him what she wanted. It seems like kids tell every Santa they see something different.

It is always a tradition for us to make a Gingerbread house, but it seems like I do most of it with just one so this year we made one for each girl. We went and got a bunch of bulk candy and graham crackers and put them together. They loved it and I plan on doing it this way from now on. It was so cute for Jane to help stick on the candies. They all had fun eating them too.

Such a cute little baby lady. Yes I still call her that. I know it is a weird nickname, but I think it fits her.

Lizzy really got a lot of candy on there. One whole side of her roof is covered in peppermint disks. Lizzy never ate any of hers though. She is really funny and won't eat a whole lot of junk because she says it is not good for her.

This was Nellie's gingerbread house that she decorated. Look closely at how much candy she had on that thing

And this was it the next day. Virtually every piece of candy was gone. She has a little bit of a junk food addiction. She definitely is not on the same wavelength as Lizzy.

Lizzy Lizardo

2010-12-18T14:07:00.000-08:00

My Lizzy is so big now. Six just seems so much older than 5. She has grown up so much in this past year. It is like she seems to understand so much now that she didn't before. I love having such a big girl. She is such a good help to me.

Lizzy started Kindergarten this year and she loves it so much. She is one of those kids that loves going to school so much that she doesn't really get very excited about having days off of school. Not much like me. In fact sometimes I wonder where this girl of mine came from, she is so different than me. It is so cute how social she is , when we are walking to the car from school she is saying bye to all of her little friends she sees. I love how confident she is too, she know what a good girl she is and that she is so dang cute too.

Lizzy is one of the easiest little girls to have around because she is a people pleaser, so she always is trying to do something that will please me. She is so sweet all the time because she always will tell me how much she loves me and that I am the best Mom and that I am the best cooker in the world. It is so cute and as a mom you just treasure things like that because it can be a thankless job, and it can feel like no one notices all that you do, but Lizzy does that for me.

Lizzy is so outgoing and she just loves to perform. We went to Nellie's Christmas concert and Lizzy was just dying inside because it wasn't her up in front of everyone. She did however sit up front and sing along with all the songs. She wants to learn how to play the piano and she told me today that when she is eight, well maybe ten she wants to sing in the choir at church.

Lizzy has such a tender little heart and is a lot like me in that she gets her little feelings hurt very easily and cries a lot. So I guess she is like me. She is always wanting to do the right thing and do what Jesus would want her to do. She has such a sweet little spirit and she is so sweet with her little sisters. Nellie many times doesn't like to have Jane around but Lizzy will always include Jane.

Lizzy does have a lot of friends and it has been nice to move out here where there are so many little kids around. Lizzy lives to be with her little friends, she has some that live right across from my parents house and when we go over there she always says she wants to just enjoy being outside instead of going in, but really she is hoping her friends will see her. It is so silly. Lizzy totally fits the first child mold perfectly. It is crazy how much she wants to be in charge and tell everyone else what to do, including me sometimes.

Lizzy is such a beautiful and special girl. I am the luckiest person that I have been entrusted by Heavenly Father to be her mom. I hope I can always do a good job. I love her so much and I am so glad that she is my little girl.

Thanksgiving

2010-12-07T08:07:00.000-08:00

We sure had a great Thanksgiving this year, but the girls were not about it, they just wanted it to get over so Christmas could come. This was a little conversation about thanksgiving that I just had to write down.
Lizzy: Is Thanksgiving just a bunch of eating?
Mom: Yes but it is so fun to be with everyone and think about what we are thankful for too, I am sure thankful for our family.
Lizzy: I am thankful for Jesus.
Nellie: I am thankful for candy.
And that pretty much sums it up. I got a good laugh over that one because that truly is the thing that Nellie is most grateful for. She is a junkfoodaholic. Here are my cute little pilgrim, Indian and turkey. Lizzy was a pilgrim for her program and Nellie was Pocahontas for her little feast at school and Janie got to wear a turkey hat that Lizzy made.

Lizzy is just getting so old I can't believe it, but I am loving having such a big girl she is such a good help to me.

she sure is a pretty little Pocahontas. She is just loving her preschool and I just love her teacher, she makes Nellie feel so special.

Isn't she just the cutest little turkey you ever saw. I just can't believe that she is so darn big! She is almost 2, I just cant believe that she isn't a baby anymore, I am so sad and really not ready for her to be big yet. Not until I get another little one coming.

Lizzy at her Thanksgiving program, she of course sang her little heart out, she get very serious about her singing and the actions. She wants to do them all just perfect.

Lizzy showing off her pine cone turkey she made. She was also sitting next to her new little friend Iris. She is so cute to always make new little friends.

This was our group for Thanksgiving this year. Not very big compared to usual. Of course the year that we move out here is the year that no one comes to visit for the holidays. It is always fun to be with the people who are here though. We had fun eating lots of food and being together. The day after Thanksgiving I got up at four after sleeping for about two hours and decided to do the black Friday thing. I will admit that I have never done it before, but this year I wanted to save lots of money, so I went and got a really nice trampoline for less than half the price it usually is. I am super excited about that, then my mom found me at the mall and I helped her get a bunch of stuff, the poor lady has way too many people to buy for, but it was fun to help her pick stuff out and then we went to breakfast at McDonald's. It was really nice to have Kevin home for for straight days. We went to Tangled the next day and we decided to take Janie. I know Kevin didn't want to but I wanted us all to be there. Well I couldn't believe that such a little girl could do so good. She sat in her little seat the whole movie and watched it. Pretty much without moving, I put her on my lap for a little while just because I wanted to hold her, but she didn't once try and get down. It was truly amazing. Nellie on the other hand was a different story she drove me nuts wanting more and more treats in order to sit still, but that is life with that girl. We loved the movie, so much fun.

Nellie with her dirty face, such a big surprise.

Jane really liked her sparkling cider and was going to get every last drop.

Random

2010-11-19T14:12:00.000-08:00

This is what I found when I got my cheese out. I guess I had some little mice nibbling on it. It made me laugh. I found Nellie asleep this way one night, it sure didn't look comfortable to me but she stayed asleep all night. Thank goodness, Nellie is one of those kids that makes bedtime a nightmare, so I wasn't about to move her.

The Hatchery

2010-11-19T14:01:00.001-08:00

For Veteran's Day the girls has school off and so did my brothers so Mckay and Joanne came up and my Dad was off work too. So we all decided to go to the Fish Hatchery because the salmon were running and Lizzy is seriously obsessed with Salmon. It is really cool to watch the Salmon swim up the ladder, it is quite amazing how powerful the fish are to jump up the steps. There was a sign that said a salmon could jump a ten foot waterfall, crazy! Anyway the ladder was closed because they already had too many fish waiting to hatch, but there were a few that we got to watch, it was amazing, plus these fish were huge! It was crazy to see how deteriorated the fish were because they were coming back to die. They girls loved going, and I did too, it is always fun to learn new things.

The gals were glued to the fence.

This guy was pulling out all of the ones that had died. This was a small one compared to most.

Lizzy's Birthday

2010-11-14T11:01:00.000-08:00

My big girl turned 6 on October 26th. I seriously want to stop time. I remember the day she was born like it was yesterday. She is the same sweet outgoing girl she has always been but she is just getting so grownup I can't believe it.
Because the week of her birthday was so crazy, we had to spread the celebrations out. The day before her birthday she got money from Grammie and Papi so she was super excited to get a present with that. The day of her birthday I took her shopping to get something with her money. She got a Hello Kitty scooter and a helmet. She has been riding her friends scooters and loved it so she really wanted one of her own. I really need to get a picture of her on it because she is so cute. Then a couple days after her birthday when she was having a playdate with one of her friends she decided to learn how to ride a bike, so she has been having a great time riding a two wheeler. The thing she wanted most for her birthday was to get her ears pierced. She has been talking about it for a while so a couple of weeks after her birthday we made it to the mall and got her ear pierced. She tried so hard to not cry, but right after they did it she put on this brave face and then immediately burst into tears. She was glad though that she did it and has been asking to put her hair up everyday so that people can see her earrings. If I had known it was going to cost over 30 dollars to get her ears pierced I wouldn't have gotten her anything else for her birthday, but I thought it would be pretty cheap so we also got her a new quilt for her bed. I like to try and manipulate the girls into getting something they need for presents, does that make me a bad mom?

She wanted to have a party on her birthday but that wasn't going to happen, so that weekend we went to my parents and had a little family party.

She was excited to have another day for birthday celebrations, although Nellie and Lizzy both thought it meant that it was her actual birthday again. Silly girls.

Lizzy got a whole bunch of cute stuff from my parents that she could color and make. She loves coloring and drawing.

She had asked for a barbie cake for her birthday and I thought it would be easier than it actually was, but I figured it out and I think that it turned out pretty good.

I would have to say that this picture is priceless just because of Nellie crying in the background.

Halloween

2010-11-07T13:46:00.001-08:00

We had a really great Halloween this year. It was probably one of the most busy weeks of the year for me though. We had just moved into our new house we are renting the past weekend. Plus Lizzy's birthday is that week also. then between helping with Nellie's preschool party and making a costume that I had procrastinated, making food for the trunk or treat, and all the other stuff that comes along with Halloween and a birthday, it just was pretty exhausting. But there was no way I was going to skip out on carving pumpkins, it is just something that you have to do. The girls went easy on us this year and picked easy patterns to do, so that was nice. They really enjoyed pulling out the guts and every time Janie held them she would say "eww" I love this chesser smile she is giving here.

What cute little monkeys these three are.

Lizzy was a red princess this year, Nellie was the witch that Lizzy was two years ago and Janie was a Jaguar that Nellie was two years ago. I finally let Lizzy be a princess this year,I had convinced her ever year to be something else because I have a hard time with every little girl thinking they need to be a princess for Halloween, but I figured it was going to be hard to convince her to be something else this year. Janie, I originally wanted to be a ladybug, but the pattern that was on sale wasn't very cute so I decided I might as well use this one again.

Every time I tried to try the costume on Jane she wasn't nothing to do with it, I was a little worried about it because she wouldn't even let me put it on her, but then I remembered that Lizzy did the same thing when she was little and all I had to do was give her candy and she let me do whatever I wanted so I distracted Jane with candy and sure enough she let me put the costume on her. She looked so cute too.

Don't you just love how Lizzy has to do a princess pose for her picture.

With Halloween falling on a Sunday this year the girls had a hard time because they didn't get to trick or treat with their friends who went on Sunday, but our ward had a Trunk or treat the night before that we went to and it was great. There was food and lots of carnival games for the kids and then they got plenty of candy from the trunk or treat. There was a cake walk and Nellie was bound and determined to get a cupcake, she played forever before her number was called but she was good because she got her cupcake in the end.

Pumpkin Patch

2010-11-06T14:30:00.000-07:00

Nellie's little preschool headed to the pumpkin patch for a field trip and Lizzy and Jane and I along with Grandma got to come along. We had a lot of fun. Of course I couldn't get any pictures with my mom because she won't let pictures be taken of her, but it was fun to have my mom come along and help me with the little gals. There was a little maze that we got to go through, a hayride to ride on, a little haunted house and some really fun slides There was a tower that the kids could climb and slide down the hugest tube slides that you have ever seen. Both the girls were so excited and I waited for them at the bottom. Nellie came right down, but I couldn't find Lizzy, later she came back down the stairs crying because she was too scared. I just never know how these kids are going to react to stuff. Sometimes Nellie is the one who gets scared and sometimes it is Lizzy. They also had a bunch of animal to pet and wow did the pigs stink. Nellie's little class all sat on this giant haystack and sang, but of course Nellie acted all weird and tried to hide behind one of the boys she was sitting next to. When I tried to get her attention to try and get her to sing, that only made her mad and she started giving me dirty looks. My battery ran out and so I only got a few pictures, but I am glad that I got a few.

Nellie and Janie in the Three Little Pigs house. Jane loved following the big girls around and trying to do what they did.

There was a long tunnel going through the middle of the haystack that the kids could crawl through.

Apple Hill

2010-10-18T13:06:00.000-07:00

I am so thrilled living here in California where there is so much more to do than in Kansas. One of my favorite things to do is go to Apple Hill. It is a buch of apple orchards on the way to Lake Tahoe. They have all these booths and activities and my favorite lots and lots of food. The best apple donuts, they are to die for and I think I ate 5 or 6 just that day. It is a family tradition to go to apple hill but usually we arn't out here in the fall when it is open, but now we live here yay! Can you tell I am a little excited to be here. We are really loving it a lot. The girls saw this pumpkin and they thought it was the coolest thing. My nephew Steven is climbing on the back, (big surprise.) I love this pcture of Janie. She is getting easier to photograph, she actually will look sometimes now.

Lizzy and Nellie started acting like little punks. We got to ride on a train and then we were going to take them on some pony rides and they were acting like they needed even more. They wanted to get their faces painted and buy a toy. Sometimes it makes me so mad because tehy get so much more than I ever got as a kid and they arn't always very grateful.

Lizzy got to ride the big horse and she thought it was pretty cool. I can't believe how big Lizzy is getting. She will be six next week, wow!

Nellie got to ride a little pony that she named blackie. She loves animals so much, and even though I am not a huge animal lover, I hope one day we get a dog so that she can have one. She was so cute becasue shewas leaning down and talking to the pony.

I love fall it is my favorite time of year!

The Little Gals

2010-10-08T13:49:00.001-07:00

Kevy took this picture of the little gals a few weeks back. I think it may be one of my favorite pictures. It completely shows each of my little girlie's personalities. If you look closely you can tell how dirty Nellie is. I keep saying that we really don't need a boy because we have Nellie. I swear she is the dirtiest kid. I cannot keep her clean to save my life, but I swear that I do try. I also love the face Nellie is making because it shows how because Kevin asked her to smile she is going to do what she wants and not smile, what a silly girl. Lizzy has her usual perfect grin for the camera. She is always so happy. And Janie has her cute little smile that says "okay if this is what you want me to do." I LOVE having my three little girls.

Nellie Belle

2010-10-01T14:48:00.000-07:00

My little Nellie. I sure love this little girl. I look at this big four year old and I can't believe that she is the same as the little 2 lb baby she was born as. She sure gives us a run for our money and if there ever was a person sent to teach her parents patience it is Nellie. Sometimes I want to rip my hair out because she is so obstinate. If I ask her to do something she automatically decides she wants to do the opposite. She really has had a rough time lately because of all the changes that our family has gone through, but she has started to pull out of it and is doing much better. She started a new preschool out here and she LOVES it so much. She wants to go everyday and we have discovered that she is quite the little artist. She draws the cutest little pictures. She drew a picture of a police car that was so neat it had the light on top and all these cute little details that I would never have thought that a four year old could do. Another thing that Nellie really loves to do is help me in the kitchen. She is a good little cooker and she told me that when she grows up she is going to be a chef. I didn't even know that she knew the word chef. The way that Nellie gets set on something I wouldn't be a bit surprised if she ends up being a chef when she grows up.
Nellie is also amazing me at how easily she picks stuff up. She seems to learn things really easily and I swear she has a photographic memory. Whenever we play memory she kills me because she remembers where every single picture is. At first I thought it was just lucky, but no she really remembers all of them. She loves to read and now that Lizzy is learning to read she wants to as well and she is doing pretty darn good.

We all know about Nellie's obsession with Jaguar prints, she is in love with jaguar prints and would have an entire wardrobe of them if I would let her. She will go up to complete strangers and tell them she likes their shirt if it is a jaguar print. My mom has a pair of jaguar print pajamas and Nellie will go up to her and start petting her and telling her how much she loves her pajamas and she does this every time she wears them. For Christmas I really need to find some jaguar print fabric to make her jammies out of. She also has a little stuffed jaguar that she named Jasper and she is super attached to him. She has to take him wherever she goes and she keeps leaving him, which has really created a problem at bedtime. She still of course loves the color green and still loves to wear that too.

Nellie gives the best hugs, she is very loving and kind. She loves to share her stuff with others. If she has a treat she will always share it, and we all know how much Nellie loves her treats. She is one of the sweetest little girls that there ever was. She doesn't care what other people think of her, she is what she is and I really love that about her. She is really starting to include Jane more and really does love her a lot. She even shares Jasper with Jane which says a lot.

Nellie is such a special little girl and even though she isn't the easiest child I love her so much and I am so glad that she is mine. She brings so much joy to our family.

A Quick Trip

2010-09-27T14:01:00.000-07:00

We decided to take one last trip to Utah since Kevin starts his job next week and we won't be able to go anywhere for a while. We couldn't stay long just a few days, since Lizzy and Nellie were missing school. Kevin's family was having a family reunion and we thought this would be a good time to go and see everyone. We hadn't seen Sandy in over a year and Kristi even longer, but unfortunately Kristi couldn't come, but we did get to see Sandy and that was a lot of fun. Even though the drive is over 10 hours, it really wasn't so bad since we all got to drive together and it wasn't driving halfway across the country. We stopped at Burger king for and the girls thought the crowns were the coolest things ever.

Gotta love the urchin looking children. We you drive all day it seems the kids get so dirty and gross. Janie really liked her little crown.

When we got there we stayed with my sister Chanelle and her boys happened to be having a star Wars party. They were nice enough to let the girls join in. This is the girls being Jedi's. This picture makes me laugh because the girls look like they are so lost among all this boy stuff, but it really wasn't the case, they did have a lot of fun.

The little group watching the clone wars. It is good for my girls to get exposed to boy stuff.

We went to the reunion the next day and had a lot of fun. Nellie and Conner were best buddies and had a lot of fun playing together. Lizzy and Brinlee were so excited to see each other, but I somehow didn't get a picture of them together.

Nellie really was just all about the junk food. Shocking I know. They really got all hyped up on sugar that day, but sometimes you just have to let it go and realize every once in a while is not going to kill them.

The kids got to take turns with the pinata. Janie was so cute taking a swing.

Nellie did pretty good too. The girls have been playing baseball with their daddy lately. (who says you need boys.) they have been loving learning how to hit the ball.

Lizzy really took it out on the pinata. I didn't get to see, but I guess she got super intense over it. I have no idea where she would get that from. ;)

I love how Nellie and Conner were holding hands. It was so cute.

The two monkey babies licking their suckers and getting sticky.

All of the little grandkids together. Such super cute kiddies. They had a lot of fun together even if it was only for an afternoon.

On the trip home Janie got super nasty. She pulled out her pony tail and then poured punch all over her hair. She was nasty and sticky. Pictures never do full justice to how bad stuff really was.

We had a fun little trip and were so glad we got to go.

First Day of School! First Day of School!

2010-09-15T15:34:00.001-07:00

Lizzy started Kindergarten this year. So sad, I am not ready for my kids to grow up. But seriously she was the most excited kid to start. If we had lived here in California last year she would have started then because the cut off date is December 1st, but she will just be one of the oldest in her class, which I am sure she will love. Lizzy is one of the most outgoing social people I know and I love it! I wish I was more like her. She wasn't at all nervous to start and every day for the first couple of weeks when I would pick her up she would say, "I made a new friend today!" She is doing amazing and even though she will probably have to switch schools in a month or two when we move into our own house, I am not worried about Lizzy at all. We told her and she just said, "I will just make more friends!" She wanted to dress extra special so for Lizzy that means a skirt or dress. She would wear a dress every day if I would let her.

We found the coolest preschool for Nellie to go to. The teacher is amazing and all the activities they do are awesome. They have farm animals and a garden they grow and a million art projects. I was so happy that we found it. Nellie's preschool didn't start until the next week after Lizzy's school started, which was hard for Nellie. She was so excited to start and sad to say so was I. I was hoping that school would help Nellie to be more happy, because she had been so unhappy for the last couple of months. Sure enough everyday that she goes to school she is like a different kid. She is so happy and cooperative and kind and sweet. I love it. She wishes school was everyday. She is so good at school too, her teacher adores her, so that always makes a parent feel good. At least she is good for other people even if she isn't for me.

Do you like the Jaguar outfit? Nellie really wanted to get a skirt because Lizzy had one, so I took her to the store and wouldn't you know Nellie spotted this one first thing (jaguar radar I am telling you!) I didn't even see it at the store, it was hidden behind a bunch of stuff. But she of course saw it. Then I was in JCPenny glancing through the clearance and found this shirt, green and jaguar, couldn't be more perfect.

I have such mixed feelings about my kids getting big. They are so fun now and I love the big girls they have grown into, but I am sad they will never be those cute little toddlers again. Oh well, we just have to enjoy every single day.

Nellie is 4!!

2010-09-12T15:55:00.001-07:00

Poor Nellie, her birthday really just fell at the wrong time this year. We were in the middle of packing everything up and were were so busy that I sort of talked her into celebrating her birthday later. So I made her just a plain cake, (green of course) for her birthday at home and told her as soon a we moved we would have her jaguar birthday party that she was really wanting. She wanted a bike for her birthday so we decided to wait until we got to California to get it. She did get money from Grammie and Papi so she got herself a Diego leapster game, which she of course loves. So she wasn't totally deprived. Nellie has always loved Diego and green, but lately she has been really into jaguars, even more than the other two things. She thinks that any kind of leopard print is jaguar and she goes absolutely crazy over it. Grandma spotted this jaguar furry vest and just knew that Nellie would love it, well, she brought it home and it was in the trunk, and Nellie came outside so my mom hurried and covered it up so that Nellie couldn't see it, but Nellie comes walking up and says "Grandma what is that Jaguar thing right there?" You could barely see a little part of it, and only if you were really looking, but we say that Nellie has jaguar radar because she spotted it first thing.
As you can see she was just a little bit excited to open it up and try it on.

Here are the dang jaguar cupcakes that I was dreading making for months. I kept trying to talk Nellie out of them but that was not going to happen. They took really long to make , but I had some helpers, my brother Joseph and nephew Chandler helped me do some of the assembling so it didn't take an eternity to make them.

I made the one on top with green eyes for Nellie and she came down while we were decorating them and said, "I know which one I want to have, that one with the green eyes." I hadn't even told her about it yet and of course she noticed that it had green eyes.

Muir Beach

2010-09-08T16:32:00.000-07:00

The first week that we were out here it was still summer break and my sister Erica and her family were here so we decided to go down to the beach. If you know anything about going to Northern California beaches it is that you dress warm. We packed a lunch and dressed warmly, but we did bring the girls swimsuits. As soon as we got there we realized it was even colder than I was expecting so I thought for sure we won't need the girls swimsuits. Well I was wrong, because even though I wanted to be wrapped up I was so cold the girls ran first thing down into the water and drenched their clothing so we got them into their suits and they had a blast. It is so funny that a swimming pool can be a tiny bit cool and the kids will say how cold it is, but they get to the beach and the water is ice cold and they are just having a great time. Too funny. We even got Janie into her suit because she loved getting in the water. We had to watch her like a hawk though because she loved having the water come up on her feet, but as soon as it started to recede she would go running farther out to get in the water and then a huge wave would come and take her out. I was just too slow a coupe of times and she got taken out a few times. The funny thing was you would think that would be enough and it would scare her, but not our little water bug she only got sad when she got too cold.

After about three times Janie was done. Poor baby couldn't stop shaking. And because I didn't think they would drench their clothes I didn't bring any extras, so we stripped her down to her diaper and wrapped her in Kevin's jacket and I just held her until she stopped shaking.

The other three girls had a blast playing in the waves. Lizzy is too funny she sees me with the camera and she has to pose.

The girls were thrilled that we got to go to the beach. It was a fun day, and now we can go a lot more often.

So long Kansas..Hello California!

2010-08-31T14:44:00.000-07:00

It really was so surreal packing up and moving, even as we were packing the moving truck and leaving it still didn't feel real. I couldn't believe that we were finally leaving! Don't get me wrong there were some really great things about Kansas. It is where two of my kids were born and we had some really amazing growing experiences out there. We met some really awesome people that we will always be friends with. But it just wasn't the place that I wanted to stay. It was too far from most of our family, plus it is too small, I hate having to drive long distances to do anything, and the weather stinks! It never felt like the place we should end up.

So Monday the 9th we packed the house and drove that night to Tipton to stay the night. The next day we drove 7 hrs.to Denver, which in a lot of ways was the hardest day even though it was the shortest driving distance, because I had to drive the girls by myself and Kevin drove the truck and towed the car Poor guy it was his birthday too, but he was a trooper. The girls were really good except about a two hour period that Jane screamed. So i was a little worried about the next few days because there was going to be a lot more driving. But thankfully we picked up my Mom and brother Joe in Denver so that we could have help. The next day was one of the hardest because we were staying together and the truck could only make it up to about 60, so there were times when I felt like we were just crawling along. But seriously the girls could not have been better that day. It ended up taking us about 13 hours when it would have been like 8 hours. The good thing was we made it to Utah that day and stayed that night and the whole next day so that the girls didn't go too crazy. They were so happy to have a day to spend with their cousins, and it was so nice to not have to drive hat day. The next day Kevin and Joe left about three hours before we did and actually made it there before we did. We decided not to drive together because we were both slowing each other down. So it all worked out. There was a really bad traffic jam about 100 miles before we got there, that really was hard because we were so close. When we got here we were so relieved! We are so excited to be here and see what the future has in store for us!

I didn't get many pictures on the trip but this is what happens when you give a baby a peanut butter and jelly sandwich without any supervision. It was the first day when it was just me and the girls in the van and there was nothing I could do but just watch. After that first day of crying Jane barely cried at all the rest of the trip, she was sooo good, poor baby all strapped in.

The cousins playing together. One day was way too short, but we are glad that we did take that day. It was so fun plus it is always so fun to see my sisters.

Nellie and Max had to sleep with each other. They were so excited to see each other and play together. The first two days driving Nellie was AMAZING! She even said "Mom, I didn't say HUNGRY!!!, one time!" It is a joke house because Nellie gets a little crazy sometimes and will just yell HUNGRY! for no particular reason, in fact a good portion of the time she will have just not eaten her dinner and then she will yell that. It is funny, although when she is doing it I want to lose it. The third day of driving Nellie was not good she threw quite a few fits, but hey two out of three isn't bad.

4th of July

2010-08-29T15:04:00.001-07:00

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I realize this was a long time ago, but I just loved this of Jane. She loved the fireworks so much.

Goodbye Grandpa

2010-08-23T11:49:00.000-07:00

My Grandpa passed away last month. I knew probably it would happen soon, but once it does happen nothing can prepare you for the emotions you feel. It has been since I was a little girl that a family member has passed and I would have to say it is much more difficult as an adult. It just felt so surreal to realize that I wouldn't get to see and talk to him again in this life. All of us grandkids felt so close to our Grandpa because he made us feel so special. He was always a jokster and my mom said even at the end in the hospital when he was in so much pain he still was joking with everyone. I will miss him so much and I am so sad that we won't get to enjoy seeing him now that we have moved out here. He will be missed very much! This is the only picture that I could find on my computer of him, it was taken last Thanksgiving, and it wasn't even a very good picture. :(

The funeral was wonderful and even though we really didn't have the money to spend on a plane ticket, it was SOO worth it to go and say goodbye. Almost all of my brothers and sisters were able to make it and it was so neat to all be there together. We all cried through the whole thing and none of us girls had any makeup left by the end.

This was a picture of my step-grandma and Joseph walking up to the burial site. I just thought it was really cute. My grandma died when I was 8, and my grandpa got remarried shortly after so she has been my grandma for a good part of my life.

I love this picture. I just thought it was so neat to see my brothers carrying the casket. We missed Jarom, but he was taking his boards that day and couldn't make it, but my 5 other brothers were there.

Here is our family at the cemetery. We all had a great few days remembering my Grandpa and telling funny stories about him, and just celebrating his life. I am so glad to have the gospel and know that death is not the end and that we all will get to be together again someday.

Little Stinker

2010-08-06T04:46:00.000-07:00

Jane has an obsession with taking off her pants and diaper. I think maybe she is getting ready to be potty trained but now is NOT a good time for this so if she would just hold off at least for a couple more weeks! Anyway if her diaper gets a little bit wet, off it comes. Unfortunately the same could be said for if she is poopy. One day she had pulled off her diaper and I didn't realize she had pooped a little. Well I put a diaper on her, but then a little while later Nellie brings me in a little wad of brown play dough and said "Jane was playing with this." Guess what it wasn't play dough! And I of course held it up to my nose to smell it.I do just want to squeeze her little buns they are so cute!

The other night Jane didn't go to bed right away, and I heard her in there playing, well she kept getting louder and louder so I went in there to tell her to go to bed and I found this.She had taken all of her animals, her blankets her clothes including her shirt, which I have no idea how she got off and of course her pants and diaper and then had peed all over her bedding, and we had had asparagus that night for dinner so it was stinky!She of course had managed to pee all over her blanket too before she threw it out, and she will not go to bed without it. So she of course got to come out and watch TV with me and Kevin, while I washed her bedding and blanket. She thought she was such a big shot. Oh what little manipulators they are from such a young age. She sure is a cute little stinker though!

Some more

2010-07-28T10:50:00.001-07:00

We had so much fun on our trip to CA. We are so excited to be moving there. I wish that I wasn't always so behind on posting. I really want to try and catch up before we move and I get really behind. Janie only likes to swim if she can touch. She is not interested in hanging out in a floaty as I am sure you can tell.

I am sorry I just thought this picture was really funny, I always seem to catch Nellie making the funniest faces.

How do you like the random kid in the picture. I love it when parents are totally clueless and don't get it. We went to Fairy Tale Town. We visited when Lizzy was 2, but she didn't remember it so she was totally excited to go. She has been really into nursery rhymes, learning them and memorizing them, it is really cute. She kept calling it Mother Goose Land so she really wanted to go and sit on Mother goose's lap.

The girlies watering Mr Macgregor's garden.

The girls on the crooked mile. That is always a favorite.

In Cinderella's carriage.

Janie loved Alice in wonderland rabbit hole. She kept going over and over and she didn't want help she wanted to go by herself.

We also went to the fish hatchery because Lizzy is seriously obsessed with Salmon (it is her favorite food) and she wanted to see them jumping, but it is the wrong season. But there were trout that you could feed and the girls loved it because the fish would go crazy when you dropped the food in.

Grandpa giving them some fish food.

I love this picture. It takes Janie a while to warm up to people, but she gets there eventually.
I am so glad that my kids are going to get to spend more time with my parents and not have to warm up to them every time we see them.

Kevin and I got to go to a Dodger game. We were so excited, my mom watched the girls and we headed down with my Dad, Joe, Jarom and Kristen and McKay and Joanne to San Francisco to watch them play the giants. Kevin and I have gone to three other Dodger games together and they have lost them all. They won this one! It was a really good game. The only problem was the giant fans were so mean! They were cursing us out, it was awful! We have been to other ball parks and worn dodger apparel and no one said anything, but wow they were awful.

The rest of our group. It was so much fun to go and even more fun that the Dodgers won. It was crazy because it was a really hot day, but down on the bay at night it gets really cold, but still we were feeling crazy that we were wearing such warm clothes, until we got there. It got pretty cold that evening, I started shivering with my warm jacket and long pants.

It's Official!

2010-07-20T21:55:00.000-07:00

We are moving! Yes you heard that right, after more than five years here is Kansas we are finally moving! We leave August 9th. Crazy, it is only 3 weeks away. I think that it finally hit me this afternoon when I started packing stuff up, that after all this time and all the plans that never happened we actually are moving this time.

Kevy and I have spent almost a year now praying about where to go and the right time to leave. We are so grateful that we have been so blessed by the spirit in so many ways. We are moving to Sacramento! Wahoo. I am so excited I love it out there, and of course my parents are there, not to mention civilization. Plus we will be in driving distance to most of our family.

We are so grateful to have had the experience of coming out to Kansas. The crazy thing is that we have been here for most of our marriage. We were married only about 17 months when we moved here. We also have been here through everyone coming and going but never us, but this time it is finally us! It has been such an amazing growing experience and brought us closer to each other and closer to the Savior. there have been some incredibly difficult times, but the funny thing about difficulties is that is where you really grow and learn to rely on the Savior. I will be forever grateful for the experiences that we have had out here, but I am really glad to be moving!

Cousins

2010-07-15T17:46:00.001-07:00

I love to see my girls with their cousins. It is something that I didn't have growing up, we were never very close with our cousins so to see my girls have so many cousins that they are so close to is so fun. We had so much fun in California, with that many people it gt a bit crazy at times but there were so many good times too. The girls were absolutely in heaven waking up early and staying up way too late and playing the whole time in between with their cousins that they hardly get to see. But it is amazing to see what a bond they have only getting to see each other a couple times a year. I am looking forward to the time when the girls get older and they can go stay with their cousins and we can have them come stay with us. It will be really neat. Here are the youngest half. I didn't get a picture of the whole group, You can see twelve in this picture and there are 24. Can you see Lizzy's pose, she was posing the whole night it was hilarious. I love how Jane is lifting up her shirt, and how the youngest two Jack and Jerry are checking each other out. The girls had a lot of fun with Jerry. Lizzy loves babies and she is just like a little mommy with them. She reminds me a lot of myself when I was her age, in that aspect, other ways she and I are completely different.

Here are Nellie and Max. I love that these two are just the best of friends. Nellie loves Max so much and she talks about him all the time. it was really funny to listen to them talk to each other too because it sounded so much like two adults talking. They got quite serious in their conversations.

Lizzy loves her cousin Ozzie they have so much fun together and they get along so well. Lizzy asks me all the time, "I can't marry Ozzie right Mom?" no honey we don't marry our cousins.

the little monkeys in Grandmas big tub. They loved taking baths together.

Enjoying their ice cream. So cute. I love the memories of theses cute pictures.

I just love this picture because I can just tell how much Nellie loves Max by the way she is holding his hand. A funny story about Nellie, we have had a very difficult time getting her to not pee so much in her pull ups at night, it is like she holds it in as much as she can during the day so that the instant she puts on her pull up she lets it all go. Well when she discovered that Max doesn't wear one at night she has been on a mission to keep dry at night so much so that she is trying to give up her beloved night time milk. One night she said "I want to be like Max I don't want my milk." Of course an hour later she was begging for it, but baby steps right. She has started to keep dry sometimes and it is really important to her to be like Max which is so sweet.

Zoo

2010-07-11T12:48:00.000-07:00

I forgot to blog about this but before our California trip we went to Wichita to pickup Kevin's parents and thought it would be fun to take the kids to the zoo. Nellie threw up on the drive down from playing her Leapster, so that is always a fun thing to deal with, but we had some clothes to change her into so it wasn't too bad. We hadn't taken Janie to the zoo since she was tiny, so it was fun to watch her with the animals. The girls got to feed the giraffes and Janie thought it was so cool, she just held out this branch until the giraffes came and took it.

Lizzy used to be really scared of animals and never would have done this, but she isn't scared anymore.

The gorillas were a favorite with the girls. They were fascinated by them and of course Nellie had to make a comment about their buns. "Look mom you can see their bunny cakes!"

Janie has all of a sudden become super independent, I guess I should have known that would happen. She absolutely did not want to ride in the stroller and had to walk by herself everywhere. She is a big shot who thinks she is just as big as her sisters.

Why is it that when they are little they don't want to ride in the stroller, but when they get big they decide they have to ride in the stroller. Silly girls.

Janie discovered a new place to ride and she just loved it!

It was a fun day at the zoo! I love having kids because everything in life is just more fun with them around.

Dancing

2010-07-08T06:24:00.001-07:00

I just thought this was too cute. Lizzy loves to dance and her cousin Jake really got into it too.

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McKay's Wedding

2010-07-07T18:25:00.000-07:00

I have so much to post it is a little overwhelming right now, but I will get there I hope before we pack up and head out.
We headed out to California for my little brother McKay's wedding. It was such a neat wedding. Joanne is a convert and has such a strong testimony, even though she is the only member in her family. It was a really neat experience to get to be there for their wedding. We spent the three days before pretty much making food, there was definitely not a lack of food at the wedding. Because Joanne is from Taiwan she wanted to have both kinds of food for her wedding so they brought in Panda Express and then my mom, sisters and I made all the rest of the food and it was a ton. The one disappointing thing was that everyone that came was so enthralled that there was panda express that they hardly touched the really yummy food and desserts that we made. Oh well that is life. We all certainly enjoyed eating all of them the next couple of days. The day after was Fathers day and we all just laid around my parents house and stuffed our faces because we were all so tired. I can't get Janie to look at the camera lately, if she sees it she automatically looks away. I love this dress, Nellie wore it for Kevin's brother Jake's wedding two years ago.

The colors were red and yellow and I found these really cute yellow jumpers for the other two.

Lizzy is so photogenic! She always looks so beautiful in all her pictures. Definitely not like her mom.

I love going to temple sealings because it always just takes me back to the day that I married the love of my life. I just adore him more everyday and am so glad he is mine!

Our little family. I just love these people so much, what a lucky girl I am.

Here is the lovely couple dancing, I realized after that i didn't get any other pictures of them, Joanne looked so beautiful and McKay of course looked very handsome as well.

Janie was having a good time eating lots of food and dancing. What a cutie she is.

Nellie eating chocolate, of course Nellie is always hungry for treats. Her eyes are so blue here.

Austin's Wedding

2010-06-11T18:45:00.000-07:00

A few of us brothers and sisters were able to make it down to Houston for Austin's wedding. I flew in Friday afternoon and flew out Sunday morning, so it was a very quick trip, but it was super fun. It was really weird not having spouses or kids around, but so fun to just laugh (something we do a lot of in my family) and talk and just hang out together.
Bryce and Janae and I flew in around the same time so Austin and Jenny took us to dinner at a really yummy Mexican place. Jarom and my parents got in late that night. The next day was the wedding and we got up and went to breakfast with Jenny and her family then we had most of the day and the hotel had a great pool so we went back and swam and hung out until the wedding.
The wedding was so beautiful and I am so glad that I got to go, and that I have such a wonderful husband who would let me go. Here are all the siblings, I thought Austin looked so good in his Air Force attire, and you can't really see it in this picture, but Jenny's dress was one of the prettiest dresses I have ever seen.
I had so much fun going. Congratulations to Austin and Jenny they are so cute together and they are both so happy to have each other.

Saying Goodbye

2010-06-11T18:44:00.000-07:00

We said goodbye to Kelli and Lance and the kids a couple of weeks ago. It will be sad not to have them around especially for the kids they loved to play together. We went over the night before they left to hang out and say goodbye. Janie and Braysen had their first bath together, I guess probably their last too. They haven't gotten to really spend too much time playing together.

The girls sure will miss Brinlee, Lizzy especially. They always had so much fun playing together.

Nellie is really going to miss Braxton, she really loved him and He was always so sweet with her. We will really miss all of them and wish them the best!

Janie Bug

2010-06-06T12:54:00.000-07:00

Janie isn't a baby anymore! So sad. But she is so much fun! I really think that this is my favorite age, from about their first birthday until they start the tantrum throwing, although she is starting to do some of that. She is still really different then the other two were, she is really mellow, but she is starting to show that she is not a pushover. She will not let Nellie push her around and ever teases Nellie a bit too. One day she kept putting her legs up on Nellie when they were watching TV because it was making Nellie mad. These jammies were Nellie's and she loves them because they are silky. She is really into the silky things. She likes to rub her belly when she wears them. She loves that I let her pick out her clothes and she really has an opinion on what she wants to wear. She also can almost put on her clothes by herself, which is so weird to me because the other two took much longer. In fact sometimes Lizzy still wants me to help her get dressed. Silly girl. But Janie has a obsession with putting stuff on any clothes she finds lying around the house even mine and Kevin's she tries to put on. She is also way into her blankie, if she is sad at all you just have to give her her blankie and she is usually all better.

She really thinks she is a big shot and just as old as her sisters. One day we were waiting in the car for a while so I let her out of her seat and she went right back and climbed in Lizzy's and thought she was so big. Of course now she always wants to sit back there so every time we get in the car there is a major meltdown when I strap her into her seat.

I cannot leave my purse down because she loves to dig through it. She is at the unloading stage right now. I came into the living room one day to find her like this, she had put on my glasses and she was just hanging out watching shows with her sisters wearing them.

She is still a really great eater, so we will keep our fingers crossed on that one. She seems to like treats, obviously, but not as much as Nellie does so that is hopeful, I don't know if I can handle another treataholic like Nellie is.

We got this little pony for her for Christmas and she was too little then that she didn't like it, it scared her to sit on it, but I knew eventually she would love it, and sure enough she does. She will drag it out to the living room and push the ear because the pony sings and just go to town rocking on it.

Kevin has gotten Janie addicted to Pepsi too, I guess she wouldn't be part of my family if she didn't like Pepsi, it is funny because if she sees his cup she will get all excited and say "tetsi!"

I just love this little girl, she is my little cuddler, she will sit on my lap and pull my head down next to hers and we will just stay like that for a while. I love it! I have never had that before, (my other two were too busy) and it is the best.

Preschool Graduation

2010-06-04T17:12:00.000-07:00

The girlies both went to Preschool this past year, Nellie was in the 3 year old class and Lizzy was in the Pre-K class. Their teacher couldn't believe how opposite they were, but she said they were both her best and favorite students. They had their preschool program a few weeks ago, ( Of course I am way behind in posting.) Grammie and Papi came and watched them and the girlies had Papi read some books to them before we left.

I can't believe that my little Nellie has already finished a year of preschool, and that she will be four next month!

Nellie was the best behaved in her class her teacher said. Shocking I know, but I guess it is good that she is good for other people at least.

Lizzy in her little graduation hat. She was quite the performer, We all got such a kick out of her singing and dancing, she REALLY gets into it! The funny thing is that Nellie could care less about the performing and she really doesn't like to perform, one minute she will be singing, and the next thing you know she is gone and you can tell she is thinking about something else (probably Diego).

If I can get the video of Lizzy downloaded I will post it because she hilarious in it. I can't believe that my Lizzy is starting Kindergarten next year, but she will be almost six. I just can't believe how fast they grow! She is so excited about going to Kindergarten,she wanted to go last year because so many of her friends did. She is so mature she would have done great so she will do awesome this year.