Merry Christmas!!

 

I know I skipped some events that I'll get to later but for now....
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!
We have been so blessed this year and are looking forward to another great year in 2011!!!
I love you all ;) xoxoxoxox

Sledding

 

We had so much fun playing in the snow! We had to drive about 20 min north but it was worth it, the smiles on everyones faces were priceless ;)
The babies have had colds so they stayed in the truck but I got good shots of the rest of the gang!!

Jayden

 

Can you BELIEVE this is the same baby only 4 months later?!?!?! I am so shocked at how tiny they really were, At 19 weeks 2 days old this little guy weighed in at 15lbs. 1oz. not too shabby ;)

Iggy's

 

We've been going to Iggy's for Monday Night Football and we have so much fun!! They have dinner specials and the sports radio station is there to hold drawings for some cool prizes; car washes, haircuts, golf passes etc.. at the half, they have a helmet that they give away as their grand prize and we won it!! It was the busiest we have ever seen it so we didn't get our hopes up too high.
The staff always gives us any extra tickets they find, they have come to know us well ;)
Too bad the Broncos have not been the best but gotta LOVE TIM TEBOW!! My brothers made me a broncos fan when I was little so even through the rough years I've had a soft spot for them, but now that they have Tim... Bonus!!!
That'll be cool if we win a Cardinals one next week!!! Brian says he's bringing a brown paper bag just in case ;)

Yes, the twins have been screaming so off I go again ;)

Mariette

 

To end our wonderful weekend in Vegas, we picked Mariette up at the airport!! She came to visit for a few days and got to see the babies!! She was so excited and hopefully my kiddos didn't drive her too crazy! JJ stuck to her like glue, it was so cute ;)
On Thursday night we headed back to Vegas. Her flight was at 6am Friday morning so we played tourist again and hit the strip hanging out the windows taking pictures!!
We are so glad she came and can't wait to see her again!

Cousins!!!

 

We had a family reunion of sorts where Uncle Mel, Auntie Jennifer & the kiddos met us in Vegas for a long weekend ;) So much fun and the cousins had a blast!!
Jennifer was so cute & got my boys all matching shirts & Haylee and Kayla were twins!
I've never had a weekend where we parked the car at the hotel and didn't drive anywhere, totally tourists lol!

Bumbos

 

So I busted out the Bumbos the other day and got a good laugh, they were so unstable it was hilarious!! Jayden has now got the hang of it, Justin still hangs over to one side but they are getting better.
These sweeties are now 4 1/2 months old and cooing, laughing etc... The kiddos are getting a little more interested in them now that they aren't so boring!!

Veterans Day Parade

 

The 5th graders got to participate in the Veterans Day Parade last week and Jacob was so cute waving the little flag. He got to eat lunch at the park and Mother of the Year that I am forgot to remind him to take a lunch so he got Wendy's :)
It was a fun little program and he was excited to ride the bus and get out of school lol!
We are so grateful to all the men & women who have and are serving including Uncle Mel and Uncle Ryan!!! xoxoxoxo

Quick Update

 

I can't BELIEVE how big my babies are! I was shocked when I put some pictures side by side of just this past week and when we brought them home!!
I promise more updates will come very soon, kiddos are out of school tomorrow which means if they want to play, they get to watch babies first!! ;)

Smooshsmash

 

My boys are hilarious when it comes to mustaches!! JJ has always called them smooshsmashes and the name stuck!
For Halloween, the kids had a carnival at school and Jacob's class was the village people... he dressed up like the construction worker of course and we got him a mustache that he decided at the school he was too embarrassed to wear but as you can see, Joey & JJ had no problem! On the way home Joey had my camera, can you tell??

Cousins!!!

 

















I don't know where the time goes, I know, I sound like a broken record!
Carrie & the kiddos came to visit and I don't know how I didn't take more pictures but we had a blast! The kids always play so well together and Caden & Trevor were in LOVE with the babies!! Caden wanted to hold them all the time and he even got to do some skin to skin lol!!!
We love when these guys visit and wish we lived closer!!!

Haylee

 

I love this little girlie!!
She is as much a pain as an angel and she knows how to work it!! Well, she is more sweet than sour but I'm sure you get the picture ;)
We had crazy hair day the Wednesday before Halloween and this is all I could come up with, but she loved it so what the heck???
She is doing very well in the 2nd grade and her teacher adores her.
She keeps talking about boys... A LOT ... but I like that she can be friends with boys and girls.
She is finally getting her two front teeth in and they are huge hahaha!

Elder McNeil

 

This cute guy is at the MTC!! Oh my gosh, I get misty eyed thinking about it ;) He is going to be a wonderful missionary!
He is going to SANTIAGO CHILI and the poor guy is not a fan of airplanes... I guess he'll have about 15 hours to get over it lol!
He spent some time with us before he left and it meant A lOT to me that he would want to spend his "last days" with his auntie ;)
Brian's nephew went to Portugal but this is the first nephew on my side so it's a little more emotional.

We are so proud of you Eric and can't wait to see you again!!

Just like Grandpa

 

We were visiting Auntie and JJ got my soda. Jacob thought it was the funniest thing to see him drinking Diet Pepsi like grandpa.
We all know Grandpa loves his Diet Pepsi!!

Hands

 

I went to the dentist the other day and I have to tell you I LOVE this guy! He was at Primary Children's Hospital when we were going through Joey's surgeries and he performed a few. He has a pediatric dental office here in St. George, yea!
Well, he loves my babies and insisted on holding them... then he asked if he could make a cast of their hands!
He loves to do this kind of stuff and he needs to practice so I said of course and look how tiny and cute they turned out!!

Lego Racing

 

Ok so you probably know by now that Uncle Brian built a modified race car and Uncle Kenny is the driver.... I can call them Uncle Brian & Kenny even though they are not truly related but Brian & Carri Thompson have been our best friends since we got married and Kenny is Brian's brother so yes, they are auntie & uncles to my kiddos!!
Dave has something to say about that but what can I do?? ;)

Jacob LOVES Legos and building so after he saw a race he built Kenny's car, a trailer and a car to tow it all out of Legos... he also wrote Kenny a letter telling him what a great job he did racing and he was so touched, he sent the two older boys an autographed picture!!

That is something they will treasure for a very long time :)

Science Projects

 


















Let the projects begin!! Joey's class did a map of the state of Utah, he was one of the only ones who actually payed attention and did it correctly ;)

Haylee was working on the Earth's core and made a model of playdough.

I just had to throw in Haylee & Kenadi... I love these two girls!!

Update My Life

 

So Ryan text me the other day..probably last week actually, I have no track of time anymore!! Anyway, he told me to update my life so here it is in a nutshell...

1. Screaming babies

2. Feed babies

3. Sleeping babies

REPEAT...

Don't forget to change diapers and clothing in between!! Oh yea and they don't sleep very long either!!!

Yes, I still love my life ;)

JJ update

 

JJ got his staples out:) He was such a good boy and that week flew by! He was excited to have the attention and go to the hospital and such but when the Dr started tugging at his head he got a little nervous... he was so good. The nurse gave him a coloring book pack and yes, he got another chocolate shake!
On the way to the hospital he asked daddy, I get a chocolate shake right daddy?
How could we tell him no?
He has grown so much this last little bit and is turning into a little "person" He goes to preschool MWF from 9-12 and it has done wonders for him ;)

See Jack with a headband? The day after he saw JJ, he told his mom he wanted to be a ninja like JJ and didn't take it off for 2 days lol!!

The scar is healing well and he keeps reminding me to put sunscreen on it when we go outside (Dr's orders)

Eric

 

Eric has been staying with us off and on for the last 6 weeks and it has been fun having him here ;) He would go to Green River and pick/load watermelons for 2 weeks then come home for a few to "take a break" ha!
Here with 6 kids is taking a break??? hahaha!!
He is checking into the MTC September 29th and we are so proud of him!! So glad he hung out with us while he had a chance ;)

Love ya Eric!!

Random Pics

 

















Here are some random pictures we've captured lately.. Don't know why I can't find time to post!! :)
Babies are getting big amd doing good.
They have been on a fortified formula for preemies and it has done a number on their little bellies ;( I made an executive decision to change them to a gentle formula and wow! I have 2 new babies!! They don't have bad tummies and scream AND Justin has stopped spitting up out of his nose in a dead sleep, yea!!
I'm loving this past few days and everyone else in the house is too ;)

Homework

Joey is once again cracking me up... He says he needs help with his homework but I honestly think he just wants attention!! Jacob gets dad for at least an hour every night and I really think Joey notices ;)
Today Brian is working very late so I'm checking homework (oh please help me!!)
I told the boys to bring me their papers and I'm hoping I understand all of it so I don't look too dumb haha.
Joey has a sheet of math that says to fill in the bubble beside the correct answer... he has 3 of the 4 bubbles filled in.
UUmmmm Joey, why did you do this?
Joey: It says to fill in the bubbles besides the correct answer mom
Me: hahahahahahhah Joey! Not everything but the right answer you nut!
Joey: OOOHHHHH (insert smile here)
Comes back three minutes later.....
Me: Joey, why are all of these wrong? You had them right the first time!
Joey: It says fill in the bubble next to the correct answer...
Me: Really Joey?!?!
He filled in all the answers to the left of the correct one, get it?
Beside the correct answer??? This boy is a weirdo!!!!
Has he never has to fill in the bubble before?!?!?!

From a bag of garbage??

 

I asked Joey to take out the trash last night. He came in with red all over his hand and I could tell he was nervous... He started to tell me he swung the garbage bag to put it in the can and it hit JJ, when JJ came through the door holding his head and crying.
Then I saw the dripping of blood.... head wounds bleed ALOT!!!!
I grabbed a towel & JJ and yelled at Brian to get in the car. Poor baby cried the whole way. It wasn't until I was walking into the ER that I realized I didn't have shoes....gross.... Luckily for me no one was there and the sweet nurse gave me a pair of socks without my even asking haha.
She took our info and put some numbing gel on his head. Waited a few and they took us back to a room. Can I tell you how glad I was that we were here in little St. George rather than huge Las Vegas?? Dr. put more numbing gel and waited 30 minutes to let it take then came back with a staple gun. He said because it was on the hairline we didn't need to worry about stitches and a scar. They put him in a pillowcase and wrapped a blanket around him so he couldn't move or grab anything and 5 staples later he was done!!
JJ was so brave Brian took him to the taco place with a slide and got him a chocolate shake :)
Ok, so here is the sad part....
We kept calling the kids to let them know he was fine and we'd be home soon... thank goodness my nephew Eric was here so we didn't worry about anything at home and didn't have to bring the twins!!
Anyway, I could tell in their voices that the boys were so scared and sad. We came home and went to their room to show them he was fine. Joey was curled up on his bed holding JJ's blanket and bawling!!! His head shot up when we walked in and his eyes were red and puffy and tears streaming down his face, his whole body was shaking! We grabbed him, gave him a hug and told him no big deal, JJ was fine. I looked in Jacob's bed and he was crying too! Good grief my poor boys were traumatized!!
My heart broke for them but on the other hand I'm glad that they realize how much they love each other ;)
Jacob & Joey keep giving JJ their toys and playing with him...so sweet ;)

Hall Family

 

This sweet family, whom I adore, has had a tough time. Todd, their 8 year old son, passed away as a result of a head injury. The saddest part for me I think is how I feel for his twin sister Brooke.
It was shocking to hear when it happened and it seemed so unreal. My heart broke over and over and I couldn't get them off my mind.
The funeral was sad yet so uplifting and sweet! Both parents spoke and it was amazing. The spirit was so strong. Jeff testified of the gospel and of Heavenly Father's plan.
I am so grateful we were able to be there and be a part of it. My heart would break and never heal if I didn't know I would be with Brian & my kids forever!!
The family moved to Tennessee for about a year, and came back towards the end of school last year. Crystal said in her talk that they didn't know why they came back, it never really felt "right" but now she knows it was so they could share Todd with everyone here for this short time.
Jeff & Crystal are such special people and I am ever so grateful that we are friends. I am also grateful that we have the knowledge of the gospel and that we can be together as a family forever.
I know it'll be a tough road but Jeff & Crystal are so strong, their love will pull them through.

Yes, there's more!!

 

More random pics! Haylee & JJ love their little animals.. kitty & brownie. They always put them by the babies and ask to take a picture. It's so cute to see how they are with the babies ;)
JJ always get the hand sanitizer... mom I'm samitized, can I touch them? Then he'll put a finger on their head!!

Brian's fingers look HUGE compared to little Jayden's hand ;)
Haylee & Amara holding the babes... Amara is having a brother join the family in Dec and she is so super excited!!

JJ was helping me give them a bath the other day and he gets so excited! He splashes them with water so they stay warm and talks to them the whole time :) so sweet!!


Have I told you lately how much I LOVE my life?????

First Day of School!!!

 

Good heck school's back in session!!! The longest summer of my life seems like it has flown by!!
It was interesting taking the kids in.. I couldn't go 2 steps without being stopped by friends/teachers to see the babies!!
The boys had it planned to ride their bikes with friends;

me... "you don't want me to take you on your first day?"
Joey..." mom, I've been doing this for 4 years, I think I'm ok"
I thought he was being sarcastic but he had the biggest smile on his face!
He seriously cracks me up!!!
I was late by the time I got to Jake's class so I had to take a pic from the door so I didn't embarrass him ;)

I miss them during the day but I love that they are having fun ;)