Because it's easy for me to forget...

the true spirit of Christmas.

Christmas in Disneyland

We had to take Pyper to Disneyland for her birthday because she was finally tall enough to ride the big rides. She has been having us measure her every few weeks to see if she is tall enough and now she is (if she wears the right shoes.) We also REALLY needed a family vacation. We were even looking forward to the drive, just so that we could talk and be together. Disneyland was all decorated for Christmas and it even snowed at the end of the fireworks! So cute. Pyper loved having all the cast members wish her a happy birthday and riding all of the "big" rides for the first time. She was a little nervous on Tower of Terror though, and Splash Mountain broke down and we had to be "rescued". But all in all, she had an amazing time! Asher loved meeing the characters, especially lightning McQueen and Woody. He also had to drive every car in toon town. London was a perfect angel and didn't have to ride in a stroller once the entire time. She never complained. She really is growing up.

Happy Birthday Pyper!

Pyper turned five last month. I am a little bit behind on blogging but I wanted to post a few pics of her party. Pyper is still way into dressing up. She loves to torture her little brother by hugging and kissing him to death. She is kind of like Elmyra.

Remember her? She wants to hug him and squeeze him and as soon as she gets within 3 feet of him he starts screaming. She loves preschool. She loves to play games with mom. She is still really stubborn and she needs constant hugs from her family. She is my one child who not only wants to cuddle, but needs to on a daily basis. She loves to play outside and ride her bike, even if it is all by herself while London is at school (in the safety of the back yard of course.) She is incredibly good at memory games (she beats London every time). She is such a little sweetie and we love having her in our family. Here is the birthday cake she decorated herself. She said she needed five princesses to wish her happy birthday.

We love you Pyper!

Photobooth Pics

I finally got the photobooth pics scanned in from my sister's wedding. Here they are.

Can you believe the girls did this in the booth by themselves?

Ladyhawke

When I was child and my dad and brother would go on the father and sons camp out, we girls would rent Ladyhawke and have a slumber party. I thought what better way to spend deer hunt weekend then with my girls watching Ladyhawke. So we put Asher to bed and stayed up late watching this. . .


It was as good as I remembered (but a little more violent). The music is pretty awful. If you haven't seen this little gem in a while (or ever), I highly recommend it.

Cornbelly's

It was time for our annual trip to Cornbelly's with Grandma Dorothy. We were espcially excited because Lennon and Rach came with us this year. We all got to do our favorite things like...

riding in the choo choo,

jumping on the bounce pillows,

sliding off of haybales,

rocking,

riding on the tractor train,

duck racing,

dressing up,

swinging,

and meeting the Pumpkin Princess, not to mention all the corn mazes, food and haunted house. Thank you Grandma! We had a blast as usual!

Flower Girls

The girl's were flower girls (or feather girls since they dropped feathers) at my adorable little sister's wedding last weekend. I have been waiting to post about it because my scanner isn't working and I need to post some awesome photobooth pics of the girls and the bride (that's right she had a photobooth at the wedding to get pics of all the guests) but they will be coming soon. They did an incredible job and looked so beautiful. Ang is on her honeymoon right now, and then she will be living in the sunny state of California, but we want her to know that we love her and miss her so much and we can't wait to see her and Uncle Awesome, as Jared is now known, next month. I don't have any pictures of her yet so you will all have to deal with this tiny one for now and know that more are on the way.

(isn't she gorgeous!)

Get Well Peter!

I am posting this just in case you get home and are bored and cruising the internet. I want you to know we are thinking of you. We love you Peter!! We hope you feel better and we miss you! London was so worried about you that she couldn't sleep last night and she can't wait to see you. Don't you love this pic? The girls saw it a few days ago and instantly knew that it was you which I thought was so funny. Must be your memorable jaw line. We will come visit you tomorrow night! Hugs and kisses!

View from our backyard a few weeks ago...

...Asher is in heaven.

Asher is 2!

So my little man is 2 years old. He is just getting into that tantrum stage and it is really funny to see my normally even tempered kid turn into a kicking screaming devil. I also have to admit that Asher has me wrapped around his finger the same way ther girl's have Kevin bending to their every whim. All he has to do is look at me with his puppy dog face or say "Mama" and I am powerless. He picked a truck theme for his birthday (I think it had something to do with all the construction going on with the demolition of the house next door.) He is all about trains, trucks and construction type vehicles. He has grown a lot in the last couple of months. He has started sharing with his sisters (on his terms). He gets very concerned if someone is hurt or upset. He runs right into nursery without even looking back. He has started talking a lot. He will even use full sentences if he isn't feeling rushed. We really love our little guy. He has made our family complete!

When you are mowing the lawn

it's all about the accessories!

Spelling Bee

So today I set off the alarm at my house. Asher was being a slow poke. I of course didn't dare leave him on the porch while I ran in to stop the alarm and so it went off and called the alarm company. I was hectically trying to round up the kids and put Asher down for his nap when they called me to ask if I needed emergency assistance and then asked for my password. I told them, and then they asked me to spell it. I did, they thanked me and hung up. Well apparently I misspelled our password so they called my husband at work to tell him that his wife had spelled the password incorrectly and they had called the police. Are you kidding me? I didn't know I was in a spelling bee and the wrong answer could end with the police on my door step. Guess I better start practicing up or maybe we could change our word to one easier to spell. Anyone want to help me make flash cards?

geneVieve clothing

So my sister-in-law Rachel started making the cutest little kid clothes. I am obsessed. They are so adorable and she decided to start selling them. Here is a link to her blog where you can order some of her awesome creations. Just look how cute they are. I have already put in orders for all my kidlets and I can't wait to see them in person.

As soon as you finish this

read this

My librarian friend Kayla turned me on to this book and I am obsessed. Kevin hasn't talked to me for 2 days because he has been reading it and he usually doesn't get that into books. If you like scary dystopian society books and zombies (and let's face it, who doesn't), you will love this book. I kind of feel undecided about the ending, but it's the first in a trilogy so I am sure I will feel better by the end. Let me know how you like it (and give me your opinion on Catching Fire as well. )

What have we been up to this summer?

It has been an insanely busy summer. So busy that I haven't blogged since June. Horrid. So what have we been up to? Mostly adapting to our new busy life. Kevin and I both spent time at Girl's Camp and Youth Conference as well as many activities. We had a blast getting to spend time with the youth and getting to know all their fun personalities better, but we spent a lot less family time. We usually go on a few family trips a month even if it is just for the weekend but we had to settle for one trip to Yellowstone at the beginning of summer and one at the end. The kids and I have finally adjusted to sitting by ourselves at church while dad watches from the stand. We have made it through 2 full meetings without having to leave. A miracle! Thanks to all those around me who have been helping when I have to take Asher out. You have seriously saved my life. Now to play catch up with the kidlets.

Pyper has started this new thing whenever we go somewhere she has to ask "What world are we in? " By this she means what city or state, but it kills me every time she asks. She cannot wait to start preschool next week with her incredibly awesome teacher Miss Kristi who sent her princess stickers in the mail. She was her teacher last year and she adores her. She is as headstrong as ever.

Asher has become obsessed with trains this summer. It is all about the choo choo. In fact right now he is pushing trains all over the couch. He is also speaking in sentences which freaks me out. How can my baby be using complete sentences? He will be two in a few weeks and I am sad to be past that baby stage of my life, but not sad enough to have another. We went to the zoo this week and I didn't even have to take a stroller. He walked the whole zoo on his own. So nice!

London is a first grader. I think I am having a harder time adjusting to her being gone the whole day than she is. What is she most excited about? Having 3 recesses and lunch. She is in a club at recess called boy scouts / girl scouts which basically consists of the boys chasing the girls and locking them in the "dungeon". Then the girls try to escape of course. Apparently the teachers caught on to this game 3 days in to school and put an end to it because it is too rough. In fact, today London and her club had to spend recess in the principals office today because they were caught playing after they were told not to. I hope this isn't a sign of things to come, the first week of school and she has already been to the principals office. She is quite upset because none of the other "clubs" at recess are cool. From what I understand, one club consists of little girls pretending to be puppies and a monster/ princess club where the boy monsters scare the girl princesses. Oh the politics of the first grade.

It definitely feels good to get back into the swing of a schedule. Hopefully I will even be able to start blogging a little more. We'll see.

I was doing okay until...

Everyday as we tuck the kids into bed we ask them what their best and worst is. Tonight London's best was having a slumber party with her buddy Mason. They are best friends and they joke that someday they are getting married. Her worst was that her friend Mason moved away today to Arizona. That is when I started bawling. What a sight. London and I curled up in her bed crying our eyes out. Mason's mom is one of my bestest friends and I am going to miss her immensly. Hope you get to Pheonix safe tomorrow Ruthie! Kiss Mason and Quinny hello for me. We will see you in November (unless I can talk Kevin in to coming out sooner).

London and Mason at their first slumber party. (Yes Mason had to borrow Pyper's PJ's)

Cancun

So I have been back for weeks and I am just posting pictures. I am such a slacker but we have been really busy. Summer is not the relaxing vacation that I remember. We had an amazing time.

We went on an LDS tour of Chichen Itza, Ek Balam and Tulum. We had the best tour guide. Her name is Ruth Davila and I highly recommend her. Her mom was from Bountiful and she went to East High so she speaks amazing English, but her dad was a tour guide in Mexico and she grew up at these ruins so she has great insight. It was amazing to hear her testimony and stories of the saints in Mexico. We spent two full days with her and it was my favorite part of the trip just listening to her and all the knowledge she possesses. It was definitely a testimony building experience. She said so many things that have stuck with me that had nothing to do with the Mayans but just great insight on life. She is coming to Utah to visit this summer and we are going to try to hang out and listen to her some more. She is that good.

We also did a zip line course at Selvatica. It was so much fun. It was run really well and they had the cutest boys that helped you all along the way. We even got to go upside down and do "superman" with them. Even mom and dad went upside down. After the zip lines they take you swimming in a cenote and then serve you dinner. I would definately do it again.

We visited Isla Mujares for a day and had a great time riding around and snorkeling with our guide Don Miguel. He even took us to a place where you could hold a shark if you paid this guy a dollar. We had to do that just for London. It was surprisingly heavy.

The rest of the time we just laid on the beach or hung out by the pool. We did have a couple of adventures including a crazy bus ride to Wal-Mart and a night where the power went out in our hotel while we were at dinner, but those are things that make your trip memorable. Thanks mom and dad!! It was amazing!

New Moon

So I know the first one wasn't the best, but I am still way excited for this.


THE TWILIGHT SAGA: NEW MOON trailer in HD

Spring in Yellowstone

We spent Memorial Day weekend in Yellowstone. We had an awesome time and I (finally) got to see some wolves! You would think that with as often as I go I would have seen some before and I have but always really far away. They are always little specks on the mountain side. This time I saw two up close. So exciting!

Even though we have been there a million times, the kids loved it. Look at those faces!

Look how photogenic this kid is!

Mason is so cute I had to post this picture too. He looks like a little mountain goat.

Quincy, Pyper, London and Mason at the Lower Falls. Sadly, this is the best picture I got of them. Thanks to the Manwarings for putting up with us. We get a little insane when in Yellowstone, but they were troopers!

Lotte Reineger

My new obsession are these awesome silhouette fairy tales. They are actually little shadow puppets. And they are fairy tales. Pure versions, not cleaned up and given happy endings. My favorite.





I have to find a way to get my hands on this amazing DVD.

Happy Birthday Babe!

You are only as old as you feel. Looking at this picture, you (and your boys) must feel pretty young.

I love you . And yes I was just looking for an excuse to post this awesome picture.

Squeee!

Look what I found on Amazon yesterday . . .

I am so excited. September 1st can not come soon enough! If you haven't read Hunger Games, read it. Now.

Happy Mother's Day!

I have great moms. I really do. My mother in law has always been wonderfully accepting of me and a great example. She did a great job raising my husband to be a kind and loving father. I love her!! I have a super mom. She always is there to listen to me when I am having a horrible day and give me great advice. They both help me out all the time! I love you moms! I don't know where I would be without you!

Easter Pic of the kids (because I didn't post any then).

Mother's Day at my house was an adjustment this year. With Kev in the bishopric, he had meetings in the morning and meetings after. Sacrement meeting was an adventure as it was my first with Dad on the stand. I apologize to you Andrea for Asher showering you with sugar cereal. Maybe we will have to rotate who we sit by so no one gets too annoyed by us. Thank you to all you lovely ward members who helped with my girls while I roamed the halls. Hopefully Asher will get through this stage of yelling for Dad and trying to dash up on the stand soon. I seriously don't know how I would make it through church without you!!

And just in case you think I was neglected on Mother's Day. Kev got me this adorable little guy to keep me company while he is at all his meetings. Any ideas for names? So far Pyper wants to name him Wall-e or pink strawberry and London is leaning towards Spoodle. None of these work for me. Luckily we don't pick him up until June 14th so we have a month to figure it out.

He is the one in the middle.

Things that are impossible for me to do with one arm.

1. Do my own hair or my kids hair.

2. Button my own pants.

3. Change my 18 months old diaper.

4. Open anything with a twisty lid.

5. Type this in under 10 minutes.

Why did I think this would be easy?

Why?

Why does Asher love riding around in this baby carriage? Probably the same reason Pyper is ALWAYS in a princess costume.

Leslie and the Lys

I haven't posted in forever, but I went to Leslie and the Lys this weekend and it was amazing. She is seriously one of the funniest people ever. If you don't know who she is you should definately check her out on youtube. I mean really. Tiger shoulder pads. What can get better than that?