David's Birthday!!

Well it must be David's birthday because I am decorating a football cake again. David has a football cake every year. I am glad he likes them because they are easy to decorate. I love football so it is fun to make David's cake each year. He wanted me to decorate it blue this year for BYU football, but I already had chocolate frosting so it is a traditional brown and white football. Happy 7th birthday David!!!

Yesterday David and Matthew took all the money they have saved and bought the long awaited nintendo ds. They have been saving for a long time!!! They didn't buy any games to go with it and the old games for Rebecca's gameboy weren't very exciting anymore. Luckily, David got a game for his birthday!! They will have fun playing together. They also ordered two more games. Now they are watching for the mail to come everyday and deliver their games.

David, we are so grateful for all the David moments in our house. You have a smile that lights up the whole house. You make us smile with the interesting things you say. You are a blessing in our family!! We love you!!!

Things We are grateful for

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving day yesterday. We enjoyed good food and being home together as a family. We had Martha over for dinner and enjoyed good company with her. If anyone went away from the table hungry it was their own fault. The children and I enjoyed cooking together on Wednesday. We made 9 pies. Neil cooked the turkey for us. Matthew peeled all the potatoes. We made so much that we couldn't fit it all in the fridge. We had to use the garage to store some of the good food. We all enjoyed eating together.

10 things we are grateful for: (this list is just a few of the many things we are grateful for, I don't think we can make a list the includes everything)
1. Being married to my best friend. I really love you!! and I'm grateful for you everyday!
2. Children, they make me smile every day!!
3. Listening to our three teenage daughters laugh together while playing a game yesterday. They must have really been having a good time. I am grateful they are friends.
4. Our boys, they keep our house hopping. Matthew, David and Dallin make us smile with all their energy and enthusiasm for life. They are always asking questions and keep us figuring things out. Little Joshua brings a smile to all of our faces. We all love to hold him. He is such a sweet little guy!!
5. Little girls, I love watching MaryAnne and Emma play Barbies or princess together. They are so sweet, most of the time.
6. Good parents, Neil and I were both born of goodly parents. Thank you for all your hard work, love and devotion. We love you!!
7. Jesus Christ, We are so grateful for the atonement, the Lord as blessed us with so much!
8. The gospel of Jesus Christ. I don't know where we would be without the gospel to help us guide our family through this world.
9.Temples, I am so grateful for temples and being able to attend the temple. I am so grateful that my children have a love of the temple.
10.Brothers and sisters, we are all grateful for you!!
11. Good friends, We have many good friends. Thanks for being a part of our lives.
12. I know I said ten, but why stop? Doctors and cardiologists, we wouldn't have out little Joshua with us without their help. We are grateful for good doctors and nurses who helped take care of our little guy.
13. Our home, it isn't always as clean as I would want. It isn't perfect, but it is big enough for us and it does keep us warm. Home is my favorite place to be. There's no place like home!!
14. Good health. We are usually a pretty healthy family. We are grateful that Joshua has stayed pretty healthy.

Well there you have it. Ten plus a few things that we are grateful for. We hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and that you know we are grateful for you!!

Kinda Mobile ??

Joshua has been close to crawling for a while now but is not there yet. He has his own way of scooting around.

We are currently vehicleless as our Honda is in the shop and the van is parked at the airport in Cody. Rebecca left it there to fly to Salt Lake. We had an interesting week with the Honda. Three flat tires in three days. I guess it is time to get new tires. Neil got one flat tire, Rebecca got another . When I went to get her (the spare was already on) the battery in the van was drained. She was stranded in town until I could get jumped. Later (the same day) I got a flat (a different tire) while I was visiting teaching. I guess we still have our bikes. Maybe our bikes are more reliable right now, but the wind gets cold. We will look funny going to church if we are all on our bikes.

Dallin turns 3!!

Dallin's Mighty Breath

Dallin was very excited for his birthday since he has watched Emma and MaryAnne have theirs recently. He has been singing and saying "Happy Birthday to me!" all day. When he got up in the morning he said, "Shouldn't there be presents somewhere?" He was extremely enthusiastic about opening presents. He wanted a tiger cake (he loves tigers) and wore his tiger shirt to match.

A few Dallin moments

Dallin has been full of memorable quotes and actions lately.  I thought I would share a few highlights.

Saturday morning the washer was running (I love my new washer that has a timer so I can start it the night before).  Dallin asked Neil what the noise was. Neil told him the water was running.  He said, "Water can't run dad, it doesn't have feet or shoes or legs."  It was really cute to hear how it worked in his mind.

Dallin always sleeps with about six stuffed animals or toys.  He usually brings at least one with him when he climbs into bed with us.  One night I was trying to get my fair share of the space.  Dallin hollered, "Ouch, ouch you're squishing monkey."  It made me smile even in the middle of the night.  His animals are so alive to him.  He always wants them covered in his bed so they won't be cold. I can get him to take a nap by telling him that monkey is tired and wants to rest.

Last Thursday was a Dallin day.  He decided he wanted a treat and climbed up on the kitchen counter to get his Halloween candy.  He has been potty trained for a couple of months now.  He does really well about not having accidents, but he proceeded to have an accident right on the kitchen counter.  I have potty trained 7 other children and I don't think anyone else has ever done that.

Later that same day I laid Dallin down for a nap. I went to put Joshua down and then I checked on Dallin.  He was gone!!  The children and I couldn't find him anywhere inside or out.  We looked for about 20 minutes, then I called Neil at his office.  He decided to come home and help us look.  After looking for a few minutes Neil found him.  He was asleep under MaryAnne's bed.  The only other time he disappeared like that we found him eating candy in the closet.  I think he was causing gray hairs on mom last week.

He is adorable and keeps all smiling with the things he comes up with!  We really enjoy him.  I think two is such a fun age. They are learning so much and changing so fast.  Two year olds sure keep us entertained at our house.

Joshua's first cold

Well the house is quiet for a moment so it seems like a good time to update. Everyone is busy or sleeping.  I think I should be exercising with Julia and Bethany or sleeping with MaryAnne, Dallin, and Joshua. Rebecca tells me blogs are only good if you update them.  I want to do a good job so I'll update. :)

Joshua woke up from a nap Saturday afternoon and you could just tell he didn't feel very good.  He was running a fever and coughing. Neil stayed home with Joshua while I took the others to Martha's for pizza and trunk or treating. We had a really cute and warm lion costume for Joshua, but I guess I'll have to put on him later and take a picture.  I stayed home on Sunday.  He looked ok Sunday morning.  Sunday afternoon he took a turn for the worse.  He refused to eat anything from 4:00 Sunday afternoon until 8:00 Monday morning.  This was the first time he has been sick so we really worried.  Monday morning I took him to the Urgent Care.  I was worried that he might have RSV because he was so lethargic.  His oxygen level was low, but they think it isn't RSV.  He does have an ear infection in both ears.  He also has a sore throat and cough.  His cry is so weak right now that I'm afraid I won't hear him above all the everyday noise at our house.  He is on a strong antibiotic.  I have learned that when Joshua doesn't feel well he doesn't just sleep it off.  He was up most of the night Sunday night.  A baby that won't eat or take a pacifier makes for a tired mom.  Thankfully, he seems to be doing better today.  I am grateful for Priesthood blessings and prayer.

Ok, I started this post when the house was quiet.  I didn't get done, but the house is quiet again.  We had a birthday dinner and party in between.  Neil and the older girls are gone to the church so I'll hurry and finish while the children watch a movie.

We officially started work on turning our garage into a new family room.  It will be nice to have the space.  Right now the t.v. and couches are in our bedroom.  Not the ideal setup, only temporary.  I am excited to work on this project with Neil.  Hopefully, this winter won't be too cold without a garage.  I don't like to scrape windows!!

All David wants for Christmas is his two front teeth.  He lost one on Sunday and the other today.  What a cute toothless grin!

Happy 5th Birthday MaryAnne

I can't believe that it was 5 years ago that we made a mad dash to the hospital for MaryAnne's birth.

She loves princesses so it was no surprise that she wanted a castle cake.  She loved all the princess gifts.  Happy birthday to our little princess!!!