St. George, Celebrities, and Dogs

We decided to escape this dreary weather and head to sunny St. George. And, sunny it was!

60 DEGREES!!!

And so BEAUTIFUL!

I could live there....in the winter that is!




We had such a relaxing time, doing absolutely nothing! No laundry, no schedules, no school, no homework, no basketball games, no dance classes.....nothing but lots of swimming, basking in the sun at the park, hiking, golfing, golf ball hunting, movie watching, and playing as a family.




It was exactly what we all needed!

While swimming one day, I encountered a celebrity! Now, I have seen a few celebrities in my day....Alicia Keys, Martin Short, Karl Malone (is he a celebrity?) and more.....but I was most excited about this sighting. (Any of you that are true bloggers would agree.)

Into the pool area walked C Jane and her family! If you don't know C Jane and her family - you must click on her name and read her amazing and incredibly funny blog. When I saw her my initial reaction was to run up and give her a hug. Tell her what an incredible person I think she is, what an amazing writer, mother, and sister she is. How amazing she is for taking care of her sister's kids. How adorable her baby is in person, etc. etc. But my insecurities set in and I felt like I needed to give her family privacy. Instead I just gave her a big smile that I hoped portrayed my feelings.

One other exciting moment on our trip was picking up a little yorkie puppy for my sis-in-law. We thought it would be the perfect way to give our kids their "dog fix" since they can't stop begging for one.

Oh, how it backfired!

We wrongly took the kids with us to pick out the dog.....there were four of the cutest puppies wanting to be loved. So, obviously my kids thought we should take one home as well! We tried to explain that this wasn't a "spur of the moment" decision to make, and that although they were so cute - having a dog comes with much responsibility! This all fell on deaf ears because my kids bawled for a straight hour after leaving the dogs.

We are not talking just a little sniffling... we are talking about complete and utter crying! They were devastated, and we are definitely now "the meanest parents in the world".



Now, it is not that I don't like dogs....I don't mind them. It is just the fact that I have five kids -and I know that this dog will eventually become "my resposibility". I feel a little overwhelmed with my resposibilities as they are - that I am not sure I can add a dog in the mix. I can barely find a babysitter for my kids - and I don't even want to think about having to find a babysitter for my dog too. So, I would love to hear from you that have dogs.....do you recommend it??

More December Fun

I needed to document the rest of our December fun!



Kalli (my kids 2nd mom) got married! Love you Kals!

Annual Gingerbread House making party at Grandma Debbie's and Papa Bruce's

Pickleville Christmas Show, Family pics, and Christmas Eve at Grandma Nae and Papa Jer's

Phew! I think I am finally finished with December....but what a great month it has been.

Christmas Roundup

I LOVE Christmas. Always have since I have been little. It is so magical and wonderful. Kids are excited (and can be easily influenced into being good), people are kind, the decor everywhere is so beautiful, there are family parties galore, lots of good food. I just love the feeling!

As a mother, my favorite part is giving to my kids - and in turn teaching them about how exciting it is to give to others. I love teaching them about the ultimate gift we have all been given - our Savior Jesus Christ. It is just an all around wonderful holiday!

So here are a few pics to celebrate the occasion!



Christmas Morning: the kids all sleep together on Christmas Eve, wait at the top of the stairs...and then race down to see what Santa brought.



The "Christmas Hangover"



The party never ends!

Oh Yeah!

Merry Christmas! December has been so crazy, I forgot to post our Christmas card, for those who I don't have addresses for.





Hope you all had a restful holiday break. I am organizing pictures, and can't wait to post about our Christmas fun!

6 Months of Joy

The past six months have been nothing short of pure enjoyment for me and our entire family. Ava has added such a sparkle to our lives, and we all love her so much. It is so wonderful to have the kids speak so kindly when they are around her. They shower her with hugs and kisses constantly. I think every family needs a baby in the house - to keep that loving, calm, peaceful feeling that babies bring.

I can't believe she is already 6 months (well, actually almost 7 now) and I am trying so hard to take advantage of every moment I have with her. Time goes too quickly, especially when they are so young.

Thank you Ava for blessing us with so many things....her are a few we love:

beautiful toothless grin
chubby hands and feet
rolly, squishy thighs
soft bald head
totally laid back personality
shiny blue eyes
jibber jabber voice
contagious belly laugh

Love you "chubba bubba" (Halle's nickname for Ava)

My Boy is 11!

Kason turned 11 years old last week. How is it possible that I have an 11 year old? I can't figure that out....since I am sure that I am still 25 :)

I love the excitement a birthday brings for kids. Don't you remember that as a kid you would make sure everyone knew you were 10 1/2 and not just 10? Or, that it was your birthday in 2 months and you would be 11? Funny that as adults we no longer do the count down!

Kason had been counting down the days to his birthday for weeks.

He woke up ecstatic to open presents, go to school, and then celebrate his birthday with dinner and bowling.

I love this "big boy" so much!

He has a wonderful spirit about him, and I am amazed by his wisdom everyday.

He has a sensitivity for others' feelings that not many other people possess.

He has a drive to be the very best at whatever he does.

He loves all sports, especially basketball, soccer, and baseball!

He loves to watch the Utah Jazz with his Dad at night - in fact, he sneaks out of bed at night(when he is supposed to be asleep)to finishing watching with his Dad...and I usually don't know:)

He loves music....even the piano (although he doesn't admit it).

He is extremely responsible and takes great care in following instructions that are given....this makes him an excellent babysitter!

He loves his sisters and brother with all of his heart - and they love him back!

He has a special relationship with Braden....they just "get each other", and it is so heartwarming to watch.

He is very inquisitive and has been since he could talk.

He asks very good questions....and keeps asking more until he feels satisfied with the answer.

He is so extremely honest. His innate sense of wrong and right is amazing!

He is a great friend.

He respects girls (even though some boys at school make fun of him for opening a door for a girl)

He gives his coat to girls when they don't have one and are cold....(seriously, I love this boy!)

He wants to be "doing something" constantly. In fact, he knows what is on the calendar before I do - he is my "human calendar".

Kason, thank you for making me a mother. You are a wonderful person, and I am so proud of you. You make our family complete in every way. I love you so much! Happy Birthday

Halloween, Birthday, Thanksgiving (in that order)

Since I am so far behind in blogging....my list keeps getting bigger and bigger of things I need to write down....I am just going to do a "bulk blog"!

I realized I haven't even posted Halloween pictures! I am not a huge fan of this holiday....I think it would be fun, if I would actually take the time to plan out costumes. But, who are we kidding, costuming five kids is a lot of work!

So here is the end product :


Kason was a rapper, Jaicee a doctor, Halle a pirate, Braden was Spiderman, and Ava a butterfly.
The picture with all of the kids is the cousins on Brandon's side....can you believe how many there are? 20 kids, all under the age of 11! Nice picture of my Dad as a beautiful butterfly! (Sorry for always doing collages....my great friend Sherine got me hooked! )

Next up was my birthday. Somehow, it is just not as exciting to have a birthday as when you were a kid. (go figure?) I did however, get to spend it with Jaicee at a benefit dance concert called "Art with Heart". She did a great job and I was so proud of her. I even got in a little shopping and lunch with some other "dance moms". And, I went out the night before with my hubby for a yummy dinner and Christmas shopping! A pretty great weekend!!




And last, but not least....one of my favorite holidays - Thanksgiving. I love to get together with family and eat to your heart's content. And, boy did we ever do that! It was even better because my sister Sharielle and her family were here for the event. We all got to meet sweet little Sloan.


It is so fun to have babies with your sisters....nothing much better than that.

The food was great, and the company even better!!

Oh yeah, and we got to watch the annual Dallas Cowboys Thanksgiving football game. This is Brandon's favorite part of the day!

And if we didn't eat enough on Thanksgiving Day, we were at Brandon's parents the next day to eat even more. (We even got in our annual Thanksgiving football game that day.)

All in all, it has been a fulfilling last month....now let the holidays officially start!