Eight is Great!

The fun we've had!!

2011-12-31T16:51:00.001-07:00

It's been a great year and my goal of keeping our family up to date didn't happen, so here it is - the last 7 months in a nutshell :) better this than nothing at all!! he he

Just gotta smile!

2011-06-28T22:22:00.001-06:00

I love my kids!! There are times when you go through the pictures that you've taken recently and while you're going through them you "just gotta smile!"

And sometimes seeing this BIG RED VAN puts a huge smile on my face too!! Is that really ours? he he

Wow!! Congrats Spencer!! Clove Award!

2011-06-05T19:07:00.000-06:00

Wow! It's been a great year for you!! You got the highest award from the school, for highest grades in your class! Congrats!
And along with that award - you received 6 other awards too!!!

Congratulations Kayley - Rebel Award!

2011-06-05T19:02:00.000-06:00

We are so excited for you - You were nominated by your teachers and chosen - only two from each grade. Congrats!!

New Calling

2011-04-28T12:32:00.000-06:00

I'm way excited, but, of course, very nervous to be the Young Women's President. Why is it that I still feel like a 20 year old and way too young to have this calling? But the grey hairs on my head are reminding me that I'm older than I feel.
I think what really makes me the most anxious is doing the right thing... I don't feel like I say things very well and have put my foot in my mouth way too many times, I always second guess myself and feel there are soooo many other amazing women who would do so much better. Why me?
But maybe that's it... I have much to learn and this is the way to teach me.....
These young women in my ward are sweet, fun, cute, and their testimonies are STRONG! They'll do just fine as my teachers... School is in session!!

I love Spring Break!

2011-04-04T22:46:00.001-06:00

Our family had a great Spring Break. Brian had a meeting in Richfield so our family headed down there with him. I wasn't sure what we were going to do while we waited for Brian, but it turned into a great day. We first went swimming at the local indoor pool which the kids loved - no one was there except for them and some oldies - so they had a blast jumping off the diving board and having the pool mostly to themselves. It was great. Then my sister told me about a couple who collects rocks - Bryant and Edna Washburn - that was the highlight of the trip. They are the most amazing rock collectors I have ever seen! Their garage was filled with rocks and carvings, then we moved into their back room with even more rocks, then they took us to the back yard with boxes and boxes of rocks and then (yes, more) they took us to the back shed with three more big rooms of rocks and saws and polishers. They each came back with a sack full of amazing rocks and artifacts. We loved it!!

On our way to Moab we stopped off at the San Rafael Swell - a geologists haven... I was only nervous a few times of the kids falling off the edge.

We then headed to Moab to visit my wonderful family, watch conference and do some mountain biking!! Brian's favorite! and ours too of course! We had so much fun and even took Korrynn with us this time...which she loved.

We went on the Klondike Bluffs trail thinking it would only take us a couple of hours. It actually took us 3 hours.... to go 9 1/2 miles. But definitely worth the time - the weather was perfect and the sun was shining and when we stopped to take breaks there was only the noise of the birds - just wonderful!!

And there were even dinosaur tracks along the trail...

Brian and Alec even went out the next day to do the Bar M Loop

We got to spend time with our amazing family, went on fun hikes with our cousins and just had a blast!!
Southern Utah is beautiful!!

Amazing daughter!

2011-03-22T11:01:00.000-06:00

I am always so impressed by our oldest, Kayley. Here's why... The other day all 6 kids and I went to the dollar store looking for those fun little magnetic balls. We couldn't find any so we headed back to the van. Eric sat right behind Korrynn in our Big Red Van and started kicking the back of her seat which, of course, made her pretty mad. I warned him to stop and then started backing up. Well, he did it again so I slammed on the brakes and jerked to a stop and warned him to stop AGAIN. Apparantly when I slammed on the brakes, Kayley was putting a water bottle up to take a drink and it splashed right onto her face. (he he) When I looked back at her she was just looking straight ahead with a slight frown and water dripping down her cheeks- she didn't even wipe the water off her face. I couldn't help it and burst out laughing. She was trying so hard to keep a straight face, but couldn't hold it and started laughing too and then said "Mom, is that really the only way you could have handled that situation?!" and started laughing again. What a great example to me!

Hello

2011-01-23T19:58:00.000-07:00

Has it really been this long since my last post -- oops! Well, it might be even longer for the one after this. I was actually reading in my son's journal and it talked about looking on my blog for other things he had done - it's not in his journal, but on my blog - not good. So I thought I better copy these off before they get deleted.
As soon as I pulled up my blog I remembered how cute it was!! he he And that I kind of missed doing it. We'll see if that really changes me or not! I'm tempted to look at everyone else's blog, but am afraid of spending hours on the computer :)!

Texas

2009-10-24T22:21:00.000-06:00

Here's some pics of our awesome trip to Texas!! We had so much fun with Mandy - GIRL POWER!! The flight stewards were so surprised and amazed that between the four of us we had 21 kids. We are amazing!!

Texas

Just double click on the picture to view all of the photos

One of those weeks

2009-09-07T22:59:00.000-06:00

I'm not sure any of you have had one of these....you're all too perfect - but I really felt like I wanted a vacation AWAY from my children. We're having worries over Korrynn and I felt like I wasn't taking enough time with each of my kids individually - school started and it was crazy and hectic - soccer and dance started and it got even more hectic and crazy - and then I had scouts and Brian's meetings on Tuesday with practices and boys' scouts. I think I'm just on overload for a minute until I can get into a routine. I know that people have much busier times than me, but .... CALGON, TAKE ME AWAY!

We ran it!!!

2009-08-19T15:52:00.000-06:00

I can't believe I haven't written on this since April! But we officially ran the 1/2 marathon on August 8! It was amazing and so so so hard. The first 3 miles were my fastest miles I have ever run and it felt awesome- when you get in with a group and your adrenaline is going 100 mph it just felt like I was flying. And it helped that I was going downhill he he ha ha. On mile 7 they had you go uphill for almost a full mile and that just about broke me - I definitely slowed down after that. And then once I got to mile 10 I wasn't sure if I could keep going - I wanted to stop and yet knew that I couldn't and Brian was right there pushing me and complimenting me - it was so good to run with him. My brain kept telling me to stop, but Brian and my heart kept telling me to do it. As soon as I ran past the finish line I was ready to burst into tears - it was AWESOME! I'm definitely running another one!!
I passed my mental and physical challenge!! I'm very proud of myself!!

Half-marathon here I come!

2009-04-09T19:30:00.000-06:00

Yes, we did it! Ok, we haven't officially ran the race yet, but Brian signed us up for a half-marathon in August! I'm proud of myself for running three miles, but I'm VERY nervous about 13.1 miles. I was so nervous after signing up that I had to go use the restroom!! My tummy still gets nervous when I think about it!
Wish me luck - actually, pray that I can cross the finish line!

Taeoalii's farewell party :(

2009-03-09T22:31:00.000-06:00

Info for EVERYONE!

We are all getting together this Friday, March 13 at 7:00 at Karen DeMann's house

It's a farewell party for the Taeoalii family! Invite everyone! And bring food!

Day 11!

2009-02-27T16:44:00.003-07:00

I think my body is getting more used to not having sugar! Yea! I love my fruit smoothies in the morning and every now and than I'll have a homemade popsicle - orange juice is awesome frozen. I was talking to one of my friends that had no sugar 80% of the month (it was for her insurance)which meant that she could have sugar 13 days out of the month. I really liked that idea, but maybe up it to 90%. (It was definitely hard when Spencer had his birthday on Wednesday) - so I think I would look through the month and find 7 or 8 days that sugar would be ok - like FHE or birthdays, etc. But I love feeling healthier - I love how my body is feeling - I'm really eating tons more fruits and veggies and can feel the difference, I have more energy and don't feel so sluggish - I love that! So I'm sticking it out to the end and am wanting to impliment it into my lifestyle. If I give myself days that are "ok" I won't feel so frustrated, but I know that on the other days I can't give in.

Happy Birthday Spencer!

2009-02-27T16:44:00.001-07:00

Spencer had a great day - he had a yummy breakfast, and than had a fun treasure hunt to find his present! He loved it!

Our fun tradition is that you get to decorate your own cake and Spencer made a soccer ball! Didn't he do awesome!!
Happy Birthday to an awesome boy who is extremely smart, such a kind heart, and has such funny comments! We love you!

Day 6!

2009-02-22T22:43:00.000-07:00

So lets just say that I did great the first 5 days - and than my mom and dad came up with my sister's family and we celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary.... and than I caved today!! This is definitely harder than I anticipated - I didn't realize how much candy gets distributed to my kids - they got treats from school and than tons of treats from church - Why do kids have to be praised with sugar when I'm trying to be good? Can't they see that I'm struggling and give them stickers instead?... Spencer's b-day got celebrated with my Moab fam this weekend - and he'll have his official cake and icecream this Wed .. it's so hard to see all the sweets and not partake! I feel for Eve! And so I take the fall and am picking myself back up and starting again tomorrow!

6 Weeks of no SUGAR!

2009-02-16T22:02:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's true - our family is doing a six week "Eat to Live" challenge! So we are going to be eating tons of veggies and fruits and ABSOLUTELY NO SUGAR! I've been thinking about doing this for a while, and I was so good last week until Valentine's Day came around and I ate and splurged and hated myself afterwards for it. So, family involved, we have decided to challenge ourselves, because I know that I can't do this alone.

We went through all our kitchen cupboards and came out with a messful of sugar! I didn't even know there was that much sugar in our cupboard. And can I just say that it was soooo HARD - I didn't think it would be, but I thought of all the cookies and cakes I would be missing, and I kept trying to think of ways to keep them (look at my sad face). But in the long run they all came out!

It's hard for me, but I'm excited for the challenge! So please, friends, don't bring any goodies over!!
The kids are amazingly in on it, too. They say they want to eat healthier, and be better. I love this pic of them getting the last minute sugar rush in before we get rid of it!
So I have to blog about this in hopes that by recording it, it will help me be better.
Day one starts tomorrow! Feb 17, 2009
I would love any recipe ideas that would be healthy for kids.

Draper Temple Open House

2009-02-06T18:05:00.001-07:00

The Draper Temple Open House was wonderful and beautiful! The kids had so much fun. This was taken in the meetinghouse right after the temple preview.

How thankful we are for TEMPLES! And how thankful they are so close!

Eric's favorite part was the bus ride there. He loved changing seats! The back of the bus is the best!

New Scout Leader

2009-02-05T09:08:00.000-07:00

Yes, Nettie, it's true....I have become just like you!! Except it's with the Bear's. I'm excited - Ok, so I've only gone once and Valerie Hampton did everything that day. But I think it will be lots of fun......I hope it will be lots of fun!!! There are 13+ energetic boys, but I must say that they are pretty cute! Having 6 noisy children I think helped prepare me for all the noise the scouts made - it didn't even phase me!!! I didn't dare put a pic of my shocked face (nettie's was just too perfect!)

Pinewood Derby Results

2009-01-27T21:14:00.001-07:00

Yea! The boys had a great time at the Pinewood Derby race. Alec took 1st place and Spencer took 2nd. The funny thing was that Spencer actually had the fastest time, but they had 4 runs and Alec's car won the average. So I have to make a disclaimer - even though I posted a video of Brian working on the cars without the boys, I PROMISE that the boys did quite a lot of work on the cars themselves! But we did have a few people ask if we were cheating somehow!

When they called Alec's name he started jumping up and down - he was so excited!

#2 Video

2009-01-17T09:33:00.000-07:00

Here's a cute video of Kortney saying one of her first prayers. She is so cute! She's at the fun stage where everything she says is adorable and we keep trying to make her say things just to hear her words. Whenever Brian asks Kortney to say the prayer she responds in the cutest voice "I say it."

Videos

2009-01-17T09:06:00.000-07:00

Here's Brian getting the axels ready for the Pinewood Derby - The boys had just gone to bed and Brian wanted to get just one more thing done on the cars. He had just informed me that he loves Pinewood Derby, because he never got to do one when he was younger. We laughed about that after a fun reminder that this wasn't for him, but for the boys.

Kayley's new smile!

2009-01-05T22:00:00.000-07:00

She is so excited! And looks so darn cute! My girl just keeps growing up - how do we stop that?

I know her eyes are closed and she'll be embarrased for a minute - but you can see the braces so much better in this shot!

What a vacation!

2009-01-05T21:26:00.001-07:00

We had such a fun winter vacation! It was sad to see it end! I was very spoiled and slept in almost every morning -- We knew it wasn't going to happen again in a long time so we enjoyed every minute of it and didn't feel guilty once. But we also stayed up pretty late so we decided it evened itself out!

Brian was able to take 1 1/2 weeks off -I LOVED IT! We put ourselves to work and redid our bedroom. You know how these old houses are with the small master bedrooms, so we added tall cabinets and took out our dressers- It created so much room for us -we are so proud of ourselves!

Isn't it just so cute! I now have a place to put my Willow Tree figurines without my kids knocking them off. And Brian can't put anything on top of the dresser anymore! The doors hide everything!
The kids had a great Christmas - They finally got a Wii and some Webkins! Almost three long years of waiting for the kids - It's actually pretty fun so the only hard part was waiting for the kids to go to bed so we could play it!!!

One of our favorite days was going SLEDDING - We stayed for a couple of hours and exhausted everyone!

Look at the huge smiles. Kortney stayed in the sled the whole time - she is quite a daredevil!

Ugly Christmas Sweater Contest

2008-12-15T22:21:00.001-07:00

Oh yea! Our family did the Ugliest Christmas Sweater Contest - and boy were there some good looking sweaters!

It's hard to see, but there were some glittery ones, and tight (momma) sweaters. There was even a Christmas tree that lit up.
But here are the winners! Yes, Brian took first place, and I took second! Don't we look awesome! Brian even added a cool looking mullet to his costume! It was lots of fun!

Alec's Baptism

2008-12-15T22:15:00.000-07:00

Alec is the happiest boy on earth! He finally was able to get baptized! He has been looking forward to this day for quite some time - Here are some of the people who showed up!

We had an awesome icecream bar that everyone loved!
Isn't he a cutie! It was definitely a fun day for our family.

Thanksgiving in Moab

2008-12-02T11:35:00.000-07:00

I wasn't able to get pics of everyone, but the most important one is this one....

Jim and Bud are doing the after Thanksgiving dinner dishes!!!

Brian took the kids on the Bar M loop bike ride - it was 8 miles! The kids were exhausted, but had a BLAST! Isn't Moab gorgeous!

Girl's Night Out! Go Twilight!

2008-12-02T11:12:00.000-07:00

Twilight was AWESOME! And to spend the night out with my mother-in-law and sisters-in-law was even better! Ok - maybe not better than twightlight, but a definite close second!

The fun crew was Erika, Judy, Julie, Ashlee's mom (her name escaped me), Ashlee's sis Whitney, me, and Ashlee! We went up to Heber during the Utah & BYU game so there were no lines anywhere! We ate at a cute restaurant called Breadsticks. Then rushed to....

see "Twilight" of course! It was well worth it-us girls were in love!
And then, of course, to everyone else's prompting except for my own, we went and got icecream! We had to sacrifice for Erika - poor girl had her tonsils out that week and was feeling awful, but she was a trooper and came along!

It was such a fun night and I can't wait for the next one!

Birthday fun!

2008-11-20T22:28:00.000-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DASH!! What a stud - muffin! Alec is so excited for his birthday, but he tells us that he's mostly excited for his baptism! So here is one of his baptism pics that's he's mighty proud of. He did have a fun birthday with balloon pancakes and cinnamon rolls (thanks to Kristy). A cool skateboard - a fun game called Super Dash - cool binoculars (G & G Shewell)- and $ (who doesn't like money!) He's having a late night birthday party at home tomorrow night so don't come by our house - either the kids will be yelling or I will be. :)

Happy Birthday, Son!

It's always messy!

2008-11-13T21:24:00.000-07:00

We had a funny experience two days ago. One of the kids' fun friends was over playing. They were mostly playing downstairs with the dress-up and after a while her dad came to get her. He asked if she needed to pick anything up. She responded "No, they always keep it messy down there!" The poor dad just looked at me and we both laughed. Out of the mouths of babes!

Eric turned 3!

2008-11-13T21:12:00.001-07:00

Eric turned a TERRIFIC 3 year old on Nov. 14! Now that we've written it, it has to be true!

He is pretty proud of his light saber. Poor kid - it already broke. We kept telling him to be careful with it, but he couldn't resist "killing" with it. Look what Star Wars has turned him into. He also got a Mr. Potato Head, Carrot Head, and Corn Head. He thought those were pretty funny.

His favorite is the cool shaving kit - so he could shave in the bathtub! Isn't that such a cute picture! He had such a fun birthday - he loved helping make his cake because he knew it was for his birthday. Brian was getting a box of clothes out of the Expedition that my sister had sent up and right away Eric asked "Is that for my birthday!" Everything we did, he just knew it was for his birthday! What a cutie!

It's beginning to look and feel a lot like CHRISTMAS!

2008-11-05T12:56:00.000-07:00

It's SNOWING! and not just a little bit of snow - it's coming down like crazy!

Kortney is loving it - it took us forever to get her back inside the house. Her hands were freezing and her pants all wet, but she loved it!

Eric's first words when he saw the snow was "Can I go out in it, Mom?" These kids are definitely winter kids! Their mom - not so much(BRRR). They must take after their dad.

Halloween

2008-11-03T10:31:00.000-07:00

We had so much fun for Halloween! The weather was wonderful and there was so much candy that Eric kept jumping and running to each house to get more! By the end of the night he was most definitely exhausted!

Here's my hunk of a chunk Brian - he had an awesome mullet - I was a washed out blonde - Kortney was a cute little fairy!

The kids looked awesome. Korrynn was a fairy - Alec was a skeleton - Spencer was a vampire - Kayley was a secret agent. Eric was a lion (he loved roaring at people when they gave him his candy) The kids had a blast!

Happy Birthday Thanks

2008-10-30T10:08:00.000-06:00

I don't have pics yet, but thanks to Kelly for taking me out to get my feet and nails done and we even picked up some cool bags! But especially thanks to Kristy for watching our kids so we could go out! It was awesome - we BOTH felt like it was our birthday - NO KIDS! Boy did the time fly by so fast without them! We were able to go into shops and browse - I've never done that before in Gardner Village - it was a wonderful day! Thanks again Kristy and Kelly.
Spencer made my bed for me, Alec drew hearts on the calendar, and Kayley heart attacked my room. Thanks kids - you're awesome
Then Brian took me out to "Scary Poppins" at Desert Star. It was so much fun - it's always fun to do things with Bri - he even gave them my name so they could sing to all the birthday kids. Yes, I still think I'm a kid. He gave me an awesome jacket and a Duran Duran CD -Thanks hon!
My mom brought up high school memorabilia - it was awesome to look back through all my cool high school stuff - it was actually pretty exciting because I thought I had somehow lost all my stuff (lettermans jacket - cheerleading outfit - yearbook, etc.) My mom cleaned out the basement and found it all again, yea!
Brian's parents gave me $ to go spend on myself - whoohoo!
Mandy called and sent me an awesome card - thanks Mandy - boy do I miss you!
I realized why my birthday was so much fun - I got to hear from my wonderful friends and family and most of the day was kidless! Don't tell my children I just said that!
Thanks again everyone!

Update

2008-10-21T20:00:00.001-06:00

We've had some fun this past week and thought we'd update the blog!

First - Grandma Shewell took Kayley and I out to see "Into the Woods" at Hale Center Theatre for our girls night out. It was supposed to be for the married girls, but no one else could make it so Kayley got to come along - it was so cute and we had lots of fun!

Then we went to Gardner Village and saw all the cute/ugly witches. The kids had a blast - we even dared ourselves to eat at Archibalds with all 6 kids - that was definitely "scarey", but Brian and I were proud of ourselves because we "chose" to be patient about it.
Brian's new beau - love at first sight!
ERIC EPISODE #210 - he helped me paint the garage door when I wasn't around. He opened the paint can all by himself using a screwdriver - just like he saw me do - and then proceeded to paint the wall, floor and Kortney's toe. I think Kortney is becoming his accomplice!

Eric Episode #209

2008-10-07T20:27:00.000-06:00

There's not a day that goes by that Eric hasn't done something fun and interesting - I might just start a blog on all happenings of Eric. Mandy and I keep teasing each other about writing a "Mother's Book", but we think people wouldn't believe us - that these stories don't seem quite real. But they definitely are..... So today's story is all about fingernail polish...... And blue makeup.....

Need I say more! Yep, it's in Kortney's hair. It's all over the crib and carpet. It's all over his hands and both dressers. The clue that I had to what they were doing was the strong smell! You know how fingernail polish smells - well, they are the only kids home and when you smell that smell and you know that you haven't painted your nails recently - that's when it hits you and you run as fast as you can, just hoping that it's at the beginning stages. But in this case - they had just finished. I called up Brian and told him that I didn't know if I should cry or laugh! I can laugh now, but I was ready to leave when it happened. LITTLE STINKERS!

Hawks Visit

2008-10-07T20:17:00.000-06:00

We had so much fun with my sister's family! They came up to S.L. because their daughter, Athena, was playing in a state tennis match up here. So they got to come up! We, of course, got out our chocolate fountain and gorged ourselves again. Yum Yum.

The cousins all got to sleep in the camp trailer - which was definitely a hit!
And we got to watch General Conference together, which is always fun to do with people for my kids to play with when they're restless.
And Thena - thanks for letting us have so much fun with you! Poor thing, we joked and kidded, and played many practical jokes on her. But we can't help it that she's so cute and fun! And we're not the only ones that think that - not naming any names (Greg J.) :)

Happy Birthday Mom!

2008-10-03T10:37:00.000-06:00

Happy Birthday Mom! Still looking good as ever! Don't ask me how I got these pics - I have a few tricks up my sleeve - Don't worry, you'll get them back! We sure love you and think you are wonderful. You are a great mom, always giving and helping others - you're AWESOME and WE LOVE YOU!

You still take the cake! I love this pic - look at how young you and Dad look! I mean - you haven't changed one bit!

Boys Soccer

2008-10-01T10:02:00.000-06:00

I forgot to add pics when the boys were playing soccer. Here's Dash (AKA Alec) doing his mighty soccer kick - he was pretty fierce!

Here's Flaco (AKA Spencer) doing his best at tackling and defending. He was so good at defense, he would do anything to get that ball! Lots of fun to watch!

Brian's Bike Trip to Moab

2008-10-01T09:15:00.000-06:00

Brian had a meeting for his job down in Moab so he and his coworker, Brad, went for a bike ride also. How can you go to Moab and not go for a bike ride. These are some of the pics he took. Isn't the scenery awesome! Oh, and the background's not so bad too!

There's a little lizard that climbed onto his pants while he was riding around!
His poor friend Brad possibly broke his wrist - he biffed it quite a few times - poor guy! Brian said his success with no scrapes was his advanced training! he he

Kids performance

2008-10-01T08:59:00.000-06:00

Kirsty and I got to be the audience of a cute little production! Here's the cast...Alec -Michael Jackson, Spencer - Elvis Presley, Kayley - fan (I think), Courtney - fan, Korrynn - fainting girl

Lagoon! WHEEE

2008-09-30T11:08:00.000-06:00

Thanks to Grandpa Shewell we were able to take our family to Lagoon last Saturday! And the best part was that we got in for free and even got a free meal ticket! Actually, the best part was that Grandma Shewell babysat Eric and Kortney!

Korrynn is holding on for dear life on the Tidal Wave, but it turned out to be one of her favorite rides. She was pretty brave - since we wanted to go on all the big kid rides we had her wear tall shoes and even puffed up her hair. She got checked once and was right at 46"! She went on the white rollercoaster, the Wild Mouse and even Collasus (however you spell it). After those rides though she told us she didn't want to ride them again. But at least she tried them all first!
Here are the boys! They loved to go with Dad!
Here's Alec, Spencer and Brian on the Spider. They LOVED it! Kayley and I knew for sure that we would puke - so that was just a boys ride only! We also went on the newer ride WICKED and can I just say that it was WICKED! I've never screamed so much in my life! It was AWESOME!
Thanks again Grandpa & Grandma Shewell - we had a blast!

Oops!

2008-09-24T10:53:00.000-06:00

We broke Cierra's leg! While she was jumping on the trampoline with my kids she got "popped", which they love to do to everyone. But it also "popped" her leg! We feel just awful! Her parents have been so good about it - they have a tramp also, but she's had to miss lots of school because of it. Don't come to our house to jump on the tramp! I guess it's ok if you sign a waiver first! SORRY CIERRA!

Happy Birthday!

2008-09-23T10:48:00.001-06:00

Happy Birthday Kelly!! You're awesome and we love you!

Yea!

2008-09-19T15:04:00.000-06:00

Korrynn played with a friend during recess in Kindergarten!!!!! We met this cute girl around the corner named Cierra. They are both in Miss Keith's class and so I thought... "why not." So I talked to Amber about trading off picking up the girls - luckily Cierra is more forward - just what Korrynn needs. We've had her over quite a lot and Korrynn has gone over to her house quite a lot and finally Korrynn decided to play during recess with Cierra instead of watching! We are so excited! Cierra is an answer to our prayers!!

DUP Museum

2008-09-17T13:52:00.000-06:00

I got to go with my sister-in-law (Erika), her friend (Christa), and my mother-in-law (Judy) to the Daughters of Utah Pioneers Museum. It was actually really fun and there were so many amazing things to see. Behind us there's a carriage that they used during pioneer times! We also got to see the wagon that Brigham Young was brought into the valley with when he said "This is the place." We got to see tons of old clothes and furniture and books. There were dolls and dishes and anything used during pioneer times. It showed a lot of the past prophets clothing and belongings. It was lots of fun!

This is an old fire engine that the DUP restored - it was pretty cool!
Here's a dress that one of the beauty queens wore. It was so detailed and delicate - this one had seagulls sewn onto the dress! So much detail!

What Do?

2008-09-17T13:37:00.000-06:00

Mandy and her family will understand this title! But this is what our family has been doing just recently....

AAGGHH! Yes, I did it - I bought a chocolate fountain for our family. And no, I have no idea what got into me. It was crazy I admit! You have to melt 3-5 lbs of chocolate just for the machine to work and so there is tons of chocolate that is so tempting. We set it up on a Sunday and got lots of fun things to dip into it and then went crazy gorging ourselves. It was definitely fun, but man were we sick. We have decided that the next time we get the chocolate fountain out will be when there are TONS of people to help eat it all up.

Brian finally got his way - we are the official owners of another trailer. I strongly suggested that we wait until spring for our tax return, but you know how husbands can be when they're focused on one thing and one thing only. So about a month later we got a "great deal" of a trailer! This one is a hard top so no cranking up the pop-up trailers anymore - our other one broke so if anyone wants their husband to fix up a broken pop-up tent trailer then it is yours for free.
The kids are so excited and there is tons of room. Now all we need to do is hook up and go! Yeehaw!

BIG TOMATOES!

2008-09-04T17:29:00.000-06:00

Just for you dad! (Arthur-just in case you don't know who you are :) I know this pic is blurry - but you get the point. Our tomato plants have been producing like crazy - And BIG - we are so proud of them. You can see who is most proud of them!

Our upcoming piano star!

2008-09-04T12:26:00.000-06:00

Kortney loves to play the piano - it always calms her down when she cries. She may be a piano star soon! Lots of practice!

Boys new room

2008-09-04T12:16:00.001-06:00

We finally finished the boys room! We got them new bedspreads and pillows and then I was so excited for them, that I painted! And you know how you're so excited just to do something new that I even brought up Kristy to show it off! She did the right oohs and aahs to make me feel good! But most important - the boys love it! They spent a lot of time in it yesterday - so much that we had to give them a warning to come down for dinner! They even made their beds and cleaned their rooms without reminders - yeah!

Back to School

2008-09-04T11:08:00.000-06:00

Yea! First day of school for the kids - they were so excited! And so was I! Well, truthfully, I actually was a little sad because they have been such a big help this summer and they were so fun to be with. Of course there were the not so fun fights, but they are such cuties. All I can say is that it was nice to have "quiet time" - if you know what I mean!

And you'll have to notice that Kayley has contacts! She's so excited!

This is a pic of Korrynn's first day of Kindergarten. She is not a morning person, so it took a little extra bit of pushing and pulling to get her up - we finally told her that if she didn't get up, then we would have to put her to bed 30 min earlier than everyone else - that got her up - she hates going to bed before everyone else.

Awake and ready! We hope!

She didn't talk much, actually she didn't talk at all, but at least she did walk into the school without us - that was a big first step for her. We have definitely been praying and fasting for this little girl of ours that we are so concerned for. I think she'll be ok, but I know there will be more trials for us to go through for her to get over this big step of talking and socializing.

After Korrynn got home she said Miss Keith was the nicest teacher and that she did everything the teacher said and even ate her treats! Yeah! And she even said that she loved Kindergarten!

Girl's Night Out - Happy Birthday Mandy!

2008-08-20T21:22:00.000-06:00

How cool can a group of girls look! We have Spy girl (Kelly), Frizzo (Karen), Watwam (Julie), B'Ump (Birthday Girl, Mandy), and Swiper (me)

After the first game (which Julie won - only because she wouldn't tell anyone her tricks) we all were sweating and taking off our heavy jackets.Not sure what Julie is doing here - (Karen's not sure either) but it was so much fun we didn't care .
It was so much fun - we ended up at Sonic for icecream and drinks and talked and laughed and had a great girl's night out! Happy Birthday Mandy!
Mandy - we miss you and love you tons! Can't wait to see you again!

California is the place we want to be...

2008-08-20T20:58:00.000-06:00

Our Vacation was a blast!! The ocean was beautiful! We could live there if it wasn't so expensive! We loved it! How many exclamation marks can I put on this?!!!

We took a bike ride around Venice beach! Aren't we cool!
And of course we got to go to Wicked - thanks to Julie's great idea - it was awesome and totally WICKED.
We walked down Hollywood Blvd - (freaky) and got to see the Chinese Theatre with all the hand and foot imprints!
Then we got to go to Zuma beach with Brian's family! Beaches are just too much fun!
Our plan ride back to Salt Lake. Don't we look tired! We were and weren't ready to come back home - I'm sure you guys with young kids can understand that! It's time to go again.

A Camping we will go!

2008-08-20T20:33:00.000-06:00

We had so much fun camping - why does it always go by so fast? We did lots of fun hiking and tons of smores, yum, yum!!

We went up with Kristy and Courtney Miller and had lots of fun!

We were in a beautiful area! Redman - up Big Cottonwood Canyon.

Our fun -straight up the mountain- hike to twin lakes. Which is just past Silver Lake. We tried to go fishing, but there were no fish to be found.

Here's a great view of Silver Lake!

The Deckers are back

2008-07-25T15:34:00.000-06:00

My kids are so excited to have the Deckers visiting for a month! They are constantly asking me to call them and ask them to play. We can't help it. We like them!

7-24-08 Kayley and Sadie getting ready to watch the fireworks.

Kayley and Sadie dancing - they're going to love this picture of them. This was taken after the dance performance.
Watching fireworks with Mandy and her family. Poor little Alli just had to much excitement.
I like this pic - whoa! fireworks in the sky!

The family had lots of fun! The fireworks were awesome and the dancing was great!

Zoorific

2008-07-21T15:26:00.000-06:00

It's Zoo Time!!

We had so much fun at the Zoo on Saturday! Brian and I finally decided that we needed to take our family out. It was such a hot day, but if we didn't go now we would never go - so off we went - And 4 hours later (we thought we would only be gone 2 hrs) we were so exhausted and everyone was a bit cranky, but after we were home and cooled off we decided that it was...A BLAST

Train ride!

We're bringing down the Rhino!

The Giraffe's were awesome!

One of our most important stops, was either at the misters or at the big fans they had placed throughout the zoo. It was definitely a hot day - but we loved it! Now we can say that we've done it and don't have to go back for a year!! JK

2008-07-21T15:06:00.000-06:00

Brian and I got to go see the bridge being moved into position - of course this just made Brian's night - he being an Engineer and all - we were there from 10:00 pm to around 12:30 a.m. And since Brian is on the design team for H.W. Lochner we were also one of the few people that actually got to walk behind the bridge. Everyone else had to stand behind the fences.
Like these poor folk - Ben & Erika and Brian's coworker Elizabeth.

Here's the bridge being moved across the street. Pretty cool! I guess you had to be there!

What a family

2008-07-21T14:59:00.000-06:00

We just got our family pics taken - aren't we cute! It's so funny how some of the kids just won't smile at the photographer no matter how hard he tries.

4th of July

2008-07-09T15:47:00.000-06:00

The 4th of July was a fun day for our family! Brian and Kayley ran in the Murray Fun Day 5K race and did awesome! The only thing wrong with this picture was that our two boys, Spencer & Alec, were in Moab with their fun cousins! But Claus Ranglack brought them up that afternoon so we could have them here for the fireworks.

What a fun day! Parades are so much fun!
Grandma and Grandpa came along to see the race and the parade.
Third place ribbon in 11 & under division! Good job Kayley!
They had lots of fun on the rides after the parade

This was Kayley's 3rd time running - she's becoming a pro. Brian got this fun tradition started, he used to do this race by himself, but now the kids join him. I think he especially loves to run with his kids - he is awesome! The whole time he was singing to Kayley to the tune of "Lets get this started" He was making up cute sayings for her and making her laugh during the race - he is such a cute dad!

We met up with the Smith's and Taeoalii's and Julians for a fun family soccer game and fireworks show! It was definitely a fun day for our family.

Hands Full Now...

2008-04-16T14:37:00.000-06:00

My hands are definitely full with 6 children and at times it's a bit overwhelming, but I know that these children were meant to be in our family. At times they were meant to drive me so crazy that I wonder why I had 6 of them, and then at other times I think they were meant to be the most perfect children in the world. Those wonderful times come mostly at night, but at least they come! he he - with those cute smiles and funny laughs that make me laugh too - with their fun jokes and desire to try new things - and that even though I do so many things wrong they still love me.
I especially feel lucky that I get to be a stay-at-home mom. I feel that one of my biggest accomplishments, after having 6 kids, is being able to stay home with them. And even though my hands are very full now - I know that in time my heart will be full later. Crazy enough - it feels full just talking about them.
Hands full now
Hearts full later!