One of many boo-boos

One morning while shopping at Target with the kids I got a phone call from Karen to go and meet her, Beth & Mel for lunch. So, we were in the toy section and I started to walk down the isle while trying the get Claire and Cameron to come along. Claire realizes this and starts to run to catch up with me. She must have either tripped on her long pants or sandals, but she hit very hard and banged her mouth on the hard floor before her hands could stop her. Immediately her mouth started to bleed and I thought she had just busted her lip, but not only did she do that, but she chipped her little front baby tooth as well. So, we made it out of Target finally with everyone staring at us and I took her to the dentist. They weren't able to fix it that day, but did x-rays to make sure there wasn't any nerve damage. Luckily, there wasn't. How's that for a first time at the dentist. Claire impressed me though, she was brave and did everything the dentist told her to do. After a few weeks we were able to get it fixed and it looks as if nothing ever happened. What's funny is that we were suppose to have taken our family pictures that day, but cancelled of course. Speaking of which, last Monday we tried AGAIN to take our family pictures and when we got there the system was down! Bad luck or what! So, we decided to hurry and go to the park and Abe met us there to snap some pictures. We figured, we needed to document our family some how. Thanks Abe!

Bryce turned 7!

Bryce's first day of 1st grade

This year Bryce has changed so much physically. As you can see from the picture he lost his 2 front teeth (among others) and told me, "Mom, I'm so excited for my Big teeth to come in cuz then I'll be a member of the Beaver Club!"

First Grade seems to be treating him well. He's still in the Spanish Bilingual class and it's definitely been harder for him this year, but through our encouragement and his good teacher he's chugging along. When I asked Bryce what he wanted to do for his birthday it was to play his Xbox game Sonic the Hedgehog! I probably rolled my eyes at that, but then realized that hey, that sounds pretty easy! So, I suggested maybe having a tournament with prizes, etc. So, that's what we did. It was the easiest birthday party I've ever done for the most part. I did make the mistake of buying everyone their own spray can of silly string and let them all go at it in the backyard. (I'm still cleaning up that mess) They all had a good time.

The day before Bryce turned 7 he woke up and tried to talk me into letting him skip school and "enjoy his last day to be 6!" That didn't fly to well with me so I sent cupcakes with him to help him feel better.

If you spend any amount of time with Bryce you'll know that he's a boy who knows his facts! He frequently dives into a chapter book and like his father becomes invisible to the outside world while reading. I enjoy his calm personality and zest for life. Welcome to the Beaver Club Bryce!

February Fantastic!

Cameron turns 5!

I just wanted to take a minute and talk about Cameron and my thoughts on him turning 5!

What can I say Cameron, he is one unique child! He has such a strong will and spirit. This past year he was able to make and connect with some great friends at his preschool and now ask's me almost everyday, "Mom, which one of my "buddies" is going to come and visit us today?" He's both a big brother and a little brother, but little and last aren't in his vocabulary! Catch him in a good mood and he will be the most eager helper and playmate, catch him in a bad mood and he's your worst nightmare!! ha! He hates to lose and works at not doing so. He's Bella's entertainment while in the car since he's the only one she can see and he sure gives her a show! He's also my backup "put Claire down for a nap" person because he enjoys reading her his own version of The three little pigs and then softly scratches her back. It's so special to listen to him be sweet to his sisters. When Bryce gets home from school it seems to be the highlight of his day. Someone to wrestle with and play games with. It'll be interesting to see him blossom into kindergarten, as crazy as that sounds to me. Where has the time gone! We all love you very much Cameron! We're so happy you're in our family.

Watching a Wonder

Just wanted to give an update on Bella since she has completed a milestone. On Jan. 15th Bella started to sit unassisted. Last week she attemped to crawl, but it was more of a little dance on all fours. But, yesterday she gave it her all and with just a correction and guidance from me following behind her (for the hundreth time) she finally got the hang of it and started to crawl. It's always so wonderful to me to witness when the neurons connect in the brain and a child learns something new and big like crawling. I was excited and saddened at the same time. This is a new stage for her and a stride away from when she was a "baby." Plus, I'm going to have to really be on the ball and make sure all of the lego's, barbie shoes, etc are picked up around the house. Today Jesse and I kissed good-bye the days of being able to sit with her on our lap during Sunday school. She wanted on the floor to explore. We entertained her by tossing a pen a few feet away from her and then she's go after it. After about the 10th time she tired herself out and let us put her to sleep.

I have to say that Bella has a mature disposition to me. She enjoys watching me read to Claire, lead the music at church, our dog Bandit, or her brothers and sister in general while clapping her hands when sometime exciting happens. She loves food and gives me the most satisfied groan after eating her favorite banana slice or sweet potatoes. I can hardly hold her still enough to take off her clothes and get her in the bathtub she loves it so much!

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm thankful that I followed the promptings I had to have her because it's hard to imagine life without Bella.

Does life ever slow down?

I have so much to catch up on I don't even know where to begin. I thought I was home free from things for a while once the Holiday's were over, but it seems like every week there's something big I have to either do, have going on already or I make myself because I get a wild hair and want to get the project done asap. (My projects unfortunatly last more than a day.)

The boys started another Soccer season together and have been winning most of their games which of course makes it exciting for them. They work really hard in practice and I've seen big improvements in their passing. For Valentines weekend we headed up to Ruidoso, NM and joined Jesse's parents in their timeshare. We swam (it was Bella's first time in the water and she seems to love it like her momma). :) The next say we went to the innertubing place. We had a good time, the weather was perfect. Grandpa Greg raced all of us down the hill and he would take a running leap onto his tube and then down the hill. (I wonder how sore he was the next day?) ha ha. We were there during Cameron's official b-day so we celebrated that night, but Bryce had school the next day. Cameron wasn't ready to go home so he spent the next 2 days with the Grandparents and Abe & Cody. He was so homesick after he would speak to us on the phone, but he had a great time and I think the experience made both of us appreciate each other more. I found myself just feeling heart sick for him. He brings a lot of excitement and happiness to our family. When he came home he was a complete angel all day, but the next day it was back to the normal brother & sister bickering. I never thought it would sound so good. ha ha. Anyways, here are some pics and video of the trip and Cameron's b-day "parties."

This jump may not seem big on camera, but it was big enough for neither Jesse nor I to try. I've had my share of bruised tail bones and I wasn't about to get another one. I thought he was Crazy, but enjoyed the entertainment, ha ha thanks Greg! Bryce was brave and tried it, but he said that he "wasn't going to do that again!" I think he landed on his bum pretty hard.

On your mark....Too close to call!

Last weekend Jesse & I along with my in-laws started our Conceal & Carry Training. We went out to the shooting range first and spent most of the day out there learning the rules of engagement, technique and then of course we had our target practice. I have grown up in a house where we had guns/rifles and was taught to respect them. I would go hunting sometimes with my father, but shot nothing but a BB gun. Life got busy and I never learned too much about how to shoot a gun after that.


We have a gun in our home, but I was never too sure of myself being able to defend my family if Jesse were gone. I was a little apprehensive in my mind at first just because it was new to me, but once I got the hang of it I was having so much fun. At one time Jesse said, " OK, calm down Laura Croft Tomb Raider!" After the shooting class I am confident in myself and feel a sense of relief that if the time were to come I could handle a gun. Both Jesse & I qualified with a 100% shooting score and we look forward to the rest of our training. Interesting times we live in.

Garage Transformation!

We have been wanting to Epoxy our garage for a long time. It was a long tedious process. We cleared out everything and put in into our living room. The next step of doing an acid wash was delayed because of bad weather (wind), Jesse having to go to work, Jesse got the flu and then it was Christmas. So, it took about a month for us to get everything the way we wanted it. It was worth it because every morning when I take Bryce to school it brightens my day just looking at it.

The other day Jesse was working on his car and there was a huge grease puddle and he just wiped it up and you wouldn't have known about the mess. We highly recommend the Epoxy. It makes the garage feel like another room in your house rather than a garage that you just throw junk in.

Before....




After....

A blessing for our little blessing

Today was a special day at church; Bella was blessed. Jesse gave a beautiful blessing and I felt the spirit very strong. Bella is such a joy to have in our family. I think back to when I was contemplating whether I should have another child or if 3 was enough for our family. I had prayed and pondered for awhile and one day as I was making my bed I remember almost having a conversation in my head and asking Heavenly Father "Should I have another child?" and almost immediately the words came into my head as, "yes, there is a child waiting to be brought into this world to receive a body and to be born into a loving family." I had a warm feeling in my bosom and felt excited to know what I was suppose to do and that my prayers were answered in such a clear way. I'm so glad I followed the promptings of the Holy Ghost. I can't quite explain it for lack of words, but I'll never forget that experience and I just thought I'd share it with you.

Proud Parents

Bella is 5 months now and does so many cute things. She started doing this head nodding thing where she shakes her head yes when she looks at you. Especially when you ask her a question. She's always been such a communicator since I can remember either by trying to mimic my sounds or touching my cheek when I hold her or just with her smile. We all just love her so much that our hearts feel like they're going to burst! I'm so thankful that I've been blessed with such a wonderful family and will work to be the best mother and wife I should be.

My father drove up again to see his little grand baby.

Jesse's parents Karen and Greg.

A quiet Christmas

This year all of our relatives that live in our same town were getting out of dodge except for Jesse's brother Sam and so it was our first Christmas with it just being us. I was pictureing myself just hangin out with the fam, making some goodies to have stocked on the table for us to graze on and just have a nice family centered Christmas. Well, the Sunday before Christmas I woke up from a 3 hour nap with a horrible sore throat that wasn't going anywhere no matter how much apple cider vinigar or collidial silver I drank. Tuesday Jesse had to work and couldn't reschedule patients and so I was stuck at home with the kids feeling like death's door was knockin. All morning I tried to lie down with Bella, but she just wanted to be held while she jumped in my arms. Meanwhile the kids were done watching TV, it was way too windy and cold to go outside and from the way they were treating each other I could tell they were hungry for lunch. I could barely stand up straight because I was freezing from the fever. I still had some Christmas gifts to deliver and so I thought, "how hard can it be to drive while your sick?" It was way hard! I fought to keep my eyes open the whole time and my throat was just raw. Luckily I had started taking antibiotics that morning and by the night I was seeing an improvement. By the time Christmas came I was able to get dinner made and get myself dressed and presentable and not the monster mom I was becoming! The whole time I was sick I kept thinking how much I wished that I had a family member near to ask for help from. I'll never take my in-laws for granted again!

Christmas Eve traditional PJ's For dinner we had Ham, corn pudding casserole, deviled eggs (which I taught Sam how to make and he put his own spin on them; they were very good) and salad. Not your everyday traditional dinner, but it was great. All in all we had a good Christmas that I think the kids will keep in their minds as a great one to remember. Even though they already had some cheap little star wars light savors we got them the "spring" loaded ones and bought an extra one for Jesse so that they could "train" together. They spend a good amount of time Christmas afternoon fighting on the trampoline. It's so funny to watch because Cameron is just ruthless with Jesse. I think he believes that Jesse is just unbreakable or something. They have a pretty good time pretending to be Jedi's.
Helping momma fold clothes!

My dad playing Bryce's new guitar. Of course next to him, the never ending laundry that I still haven't caught up on.

A mess worth making once a year.

Of all of the traditions I've tried to make since becoming a mother this is one that is always consistent...the Gingerbread house. Last year we bought a huge one from Sams club that survived the building process, but ended up with a collapsed roof and ended up staying outside on our back porch. (I don't know why it just never made it's way back into the house after the "drying of the frosting" process) This year we just went with the graham cracker approach let the kids do their own thing.

Edible Art!

She's so proud!

Do you want Steak with your cake?

So this year Jesse turned 34! I always want to make Jesse's birthday special no matter the age, but sometimes it's hit and miss. I kept trying to get Jesse to go somewhere and go skiing, but he was fighting a horrible case of the flu off and on during the whole month and so this year he wanted me to cook either sun chip chicken or steak. I decided to give him both, although I can guarantee he's never had a steak that tasted so sweet! :) Love you honey! I'll soon be joining you in the 30's crowd! ha ha.

Jesse's so animated! I made him close his eyes so that I could surprise him. (Thanks for humoring me Jesse.) :) You know how sometimes when you see a cake your mouth almost starts watering you can't wait to dig into it? Even though the cake was decent it felt like I was cutting into a raw steak and that's not too appetizing. ha ha.

You've accomplished many things in your 34 years of life Jesse. It's been fun watching you fullfill the role as a father. You're an amazing father and husband. I love you.

Christmas Countdown

I know, horrible picture, but you get how cool it could've been right?!

Ok, so it looks like I skipped Thanksgiving, but it turns out that I may have accidentally erased all of the pictures from the event! It's driving me crazy because I had some important pictures and we worked so hard transforming our messy garage into a nice dining room fit for 14 people. O-well, such is life.

Bella...what a cutie-pie!

Cameron is in there somewhere!

Last Friday we made it to the lighting of the luminaries in the downtown mall area of town. They've revamped the place and had carriage rides that took you around some parks that were lit and then onto the train station to meet up with Santa. The line was going to be about a two hour wait so we opted to just drive in our warm car to see Santa the miniature trains instead. The kids were so excited to see Santa. By the time we got there he was done sitting and was just walking around probably about to leave, but when the kids saw him they each gave him a great big hug and sort of in a shy way told him what they wanted. Santa made them promise to help out with the house work by picking up their toys and cleaning their rooms and so when we got home Cameron went right to work in doing that. I thought he was a changed boy, but the magic didn't last long. :( Kids constantly need reminders don't they. Anyways, we finally got our tree up today and will decorate it tomorrow. Too much to do and sooo little time. I never could understand as a kid when adults would tell me that there is not enough hours in the day to get everything done. Oh, how I'm living that phrase. But, it's too bad that there's not enough hours in the NIGHT to catch up on your sleep.

The Means for Speed!

So as you know already Jesse and Abe's Hobby is racing their Lexus from time to time. This past weekend was a once a year "True Car Shoot Out" challenge over at the Akela Flats raceway near Deming. The winner of each class would win $300 (which would've paided for a part on Jesse's car. ha ha). Jesse entered the 6 cylinder "wild" race and he broke a new best time of 11.4 seconds and 122 mph for a quarter mile distance. THAT'S MOVIN! Jesse ended up getting second place (could've won first, but had a gear malfunction). Jesse was wayyy disappointed about that because he knew he would've won. Plus, it would have made staying up all night worth it a little bit more. :) Abe ended up with 3rd. I was very impressed with their cars performances and driving skills. There were a few cars that sort of lost control and fish-tailed out into the weeds. Anyways, it was all very exciting to hear the roar of the engines racing down the track. We're looking forward to the next one.

To watch Jesse Racing....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9DehCf6dJs

Watch Abe Race at : www.youtube.com/watch?v=SadeI1V0pqM

In other ESPN highlights....

So this year Bryce and Cameron were able to play by chance on the same team even though it's a U8 team and Bryce is 6 years old and Cameron is 4. They were the only boys on a team full of girls. It's always interesting when you see a change in your childs' view towards things. Bryce wasn't all too thrilled to play soccer this season, but we made him and in the end he's really enjoyed himself. Now he's already talking about next season. Just comes to show that Parents know best right? :) Cameron held his own out there; all season he would "almost" make goals, but in his last game he finally made a goal and all day he walked a little taller from it. He's such a competitor, they'll both be fun to watch in the future. They're my little Superkids!