Our First Half of 2010

Well here is a major catch-up post but oh well. This takes you from January through June. Hyrum's 3rd place was for his Valentines box he made (an Up house). Eliza's 5th Birthday Princess Party and cake. My best friends Em and Em were able to come and visit, great times! Eliza made me a chain on my birthday (one chain on my day:)) and volunteered to help make my cake. My wonderful upstairs neighbor (then, they have since moved :( Luckily we've been blessed again with our new neighbors!) had my kids help her make a piniata for Cinco De Mayo and Eliza broke it open! Hyrum's Princess and the frog hat for Professer Faciliare (sp?) For Mother's Day my mom and brother and his wife, Karen came to visit us! Good times! Thanks you three. Brigham turned one year, and Wil's parents sent him a teddy bear with balloons and it was a hit! More of Hyrum's Drawings, he has got a talent! I made homemade noodles, it was fun! New Chore Chart. Hyrum and Eliza got into Safety Patrol kids and made badges and all and when we walked to a store down main street one summer morning they kept us safe! :) We took a day trip up to West yellowstone and had a picnic in the forest and went to a train museum and also got to go into an old train car! It was so much fun! And that is the first half of our year in a nutshell, oh and I should have had a picture of Wil studying and doing homework which is what occupied so much of his time! He worked so hard and it paid off! Great job Babe, your grades show it! :) I am such a blessed daughter of God!

Scissors and 12 inches later!!!

I finally took the big step and thanks to my mom, who came to visit us over Mother's day weekend , cut my hair! And I am loving it! She did a great job and I am glad she was there, with me for it all. :) (It has been three weeks but I am just getting to posting it, but what's new?) (the last three pictures were taken on my computer camera and so it is a mirror image and flip-flopped as far as my part goes)

Our January 2010

Happy New Year! We finally purchased a sled, or two actually, so we could have some fun for most of the year since it seems that winter lasts most of the year here! :) So luckily our neighbors have a little hill that the kids and I sled down right on to our driveway from. All while Brigham slept in his crib, it was great! We loved it! Eliza is my big helper and here are some pictures to prove it! I love her so much and am so glad to have her as my girl! You might notice the paradise falls homemade poster in the background, well that is Hyrum's and it has been every thing UP lately around here and I love his excitement over it! Also this month was Snowfest here in our town they have a festival to celebrate and participate in snow activities and so the kids and I went to it. It was fun, full of another sleigh ride and snow bowling and treasure hunting in the snow, and some sledding of course! But it had to come to an end and well William wasn't too happy about that. We also had some good friends over and they brought a fun meal for the kids. It was octopi on the reef! They know how much Hyrum LOVES octopi and thought of him when they saw this idea in a magazine. Thank you guys!

Our December 2009

December is always a fun month but for Brigham at the beginning it wasn't so fun because he had some immunizations and that is never fun! We got to go and visit a dear friend and her family while our van had it's mandatory warranty check, we had a great time! Wil had his birthday, hurray! Hyrum had his Christmas program at school which was so fun to watch. He had a lead role in leading all of his class in a dance he made up for their Hanuka song. He cracks us up! We went for a sleigh ride in the very cold winter weather I think it was in the teens and then we had complimentary hot cocoa which was very welcomed! Actually the sleigh ride was free too so a wonderful activity for a poor college family of six! :) Hyrum had a turn at driving the team until one of the horses wanted to start running and well, the driver took over thankfully! :) He was going to let Eliza have a turn but the one horse really wasn't co-operating. Then we had our traditional Mexican dinner for Christmas eve and our traditional cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning, homemade this year instead of Rhodes Rolls. I made one batch peppermint white chocolate and the other regular gooey goodness! Yum! Oh and our Mexican dinner consisted of Chili con Carne(pictured)that Wil made by scratch and then Wil's salsa and quesadillas, tacos, and taquitos. I also made Cheesy potato soup another tradition on Christmas day or I might have actually ended up doing it the day after, I can't remember. It was a lovely holiday and we feel so blessed!

Our November 2009

For thanksgiving Wil and I enjoyed baking and cooking all day together and because it was only our little family together for Thanksgiving we ate "thanksgiving dinner" for many days! But oh, was it yummy, and so much fun to have Daddy at home for the whole day! We also purchased our live Christmas tree at the end of the month and the children were loving it! The last picture is missing Brigham's stocking but that wasn't for long! My mom MAKES all of the grandchildrens' stockings and she sent us Brigham's shortly after this was taken.

Our October of 2009

There are a lot of Brigham pictures in here but that is because he is growing so quickly, besides he is just so cute! We had a fun and unique Halloween this year, my brother and sister-in-law came and visited us! We had a fun cake walk and pizza. We then got the children dressed in their costumes which were a hit(thanks Mimi and Grampy)! Then because of the hour and the weather we decided to trick-or-treat down our hallway with all four of us adults taking a room! It was very fun for all of us and though I worried how they would take it (not going out and all) it ended up being a big success for all involved! Then we let the children watch a video while we adults played one of my favorite games Moods! It was of course a blast! Thanks Drew and Karen for the fun and memories you helped us create!

8 Wonderful Years!!

 

Eight years ago Wil and I were sealed for eternity! I can't believe it has already been eight years! I treasure our relationship and feel so blessed to be sealed to one of Heavenly Father's choice sons! I love you hunny and am so thankful to you for what you have molded our family into because of your desire to follow the will of our Father! I love how sentimental you are and thank you for making me feel so special and important! For those of you who don't know, when Wil first kissed me (this being a first for both of us) he stood me up on a rock to do so. He then took that rock, with out me knowing, to a look out in one of the canyons in Utah and at sunrise he stood me up on this rock and proposed to me! He gave me two rocks that day, the one on my finger and the one outside of our home right now! Yep, we have moved that rock with us where ever we have gone and it is heavy! I love you babe! Here's to eternity!

Brigham's Blessing Weekend

We had a wonderful weekend full of family, food and fun! Our good friends Tanner and Bryan were able to come, which was a blessing because shortly there after they left on their missions! Mimi & Grampy (Wil's parents) and Nana & Papa (my parents) were both able to come and were so helpful! The kids were in heaven! We all went to see UP at the movie theater on Saturday, which we all enjoyed! Well enjoy the late pictures! :)

Brigham's 2nd & 3rd week

You'll see in these photos how much William loves to hold his little brother. He will get up by me on the couch and say "hold, hold!" In these pictures he was holding Brigham and saw his water at the end of the bed and needed a drink so he "drops" Brigham and rushes to get his water and then was back again to "hold, hold"! He is so funny! I am glad he was only inches above the pillow. Brigham has an adorable dimple on his left cheek, which you can see in some of these photos.

Brigham's First Week!

Brigham had a very warm welcome home by his loving brothers and sister! My mom was able to come help for a week and a half! She came the night before we were to be induced and stayed until the following Saturday and said she would stay longer if we needed her to but we were doing quite well! She served and served and never ceased serving! It was so nice to have her here. The children thought it was great and Wil and I were extra grateful since he had to press forward with school and wasn't able to give me his usual wonderful help after bringing home a baby. While she was here we made homemade corn tortillas, which was fun. Brigham had jaundice pretty bad and we had to have a billi-blanket for a few days. We had to take him to the hospital every day to get his billiruben count checked and they had to poke his heel every time. It was sad, his poor tiny heels! I was VERY grateful that the hospital is less than a block from our house. That made the multiple trips not so daunting. We tried getting him into the sunlight as much as possible before we were prescribed the billi-blanket because we could tell he was looking jaundice. There is a picture in here that looks like William has a very jealous face but I think he was either frustrated at Hyrum or something because he has been so gentle and loving to Brigham ever since he came home! But it makes for a funny picture! That is just another sample of the faces that boy pulls!

Our Hyrum (catching up #6)

Hyrum finished first grade at the end of May and has lost four teeth and loves having another little sibling in our home and family! He has such a tender heart. Several times since Brigham has been born I will find him tearing up or wiping tears away and will ask him what is wrong and he will say something like, "Brigham is just so cute." Or he will come to me and tell me how glad he is we have little Brigham (As he wipes his eyes and smiles). He still loves drawing and pretending, always pretending! We just love him so much! Oh and he and Eliza enjoy sharing their testimonies in Sacrament meeting. They do a beautiful job all by themselves and we enjoy seeing them think about it and take there time while they are up there. We feel so blessed to be the parents of our four children!

Our Eliza (Catching up #5)

OH we just love this "Girlees" (another nick-name)!!! Eliza is our girl all the way! She loves nails and hair and clothes and she knows what she wants in all these areas and doesn't like to budge in her fashion views! :)She is getting so big. She knows how to do her own hair into a pony tail and she enjoys being independent. She chooses all of her outfits and does pretty well too! On my birthday she did the dishes for me. She is very sweet and helpful! We are so glad she is in our family! She also enjoyed preschool this summer and there is a picture in here with her and her teacher on her first day.

Our William (Catching up #4)

These are a few more pictures of William and a glimpse of his easy-going, fun and full personality! WE love him so much!





William loves animals and thus this books is one of his favorites. William has so much personality (like the others) and pulls some very funny faces. Here are just a few and i hope to get more of them posted in the future! Also take a look at his teeth. On the bottom one of his teeth either split while under in the gum or there are two teeth in one space. Can you see it?

"Reading Charles" (Catching up #3)

The title of this post is a movie quote. Who can tell me what movie it is from? :) One of Hyrum's nicknames is Charles. Why, you might ask???? I would have to ask Wil and make sure I remember it correctly since Wil is the head nick-namer around here, before I post the answer to that question. Anyway Hyrum will sometimes read books to Eliza. I believe Eliza chose Snow White this time. These were taken back in April.

Fun in the park (catching up #2)

Back on April 6th it was a warmer day here (you can still see some snow in the shadowy parts). So on the way home from running some errands we stopped at the park and got some energy out! The kids had fun racing and enjoying an unbirthday gift given to Hyrum on Eliza's birthday from some dear friends of ours.