Merry Christmas from US!

We were really lousy about sending out mass greeting cards this year. So, in lieu of a card, here are some Winter pictures I took of the boys.

We Wish you all love and joy this holiday season. We hope you think of the savior this time of year and reflect on all the many blessings he has given you throughout this past year.
Pregnancy brings a special feeling and close bond with Mary and her blessed little baby as I think of what she must have been feeling and going through. I am amazed at her strength and character. Whats more, I feel a special reverence for Joseph and his dedication and faith. What amazing people. We acknowledge the Savior, his birth, his mission, and his death. This time of year makes me want to recite the verse from Alma 29:
" Oh that I were an angel, and could have the wish of mine heart, that I might go forth and speak with the trump of God, with a voice to shake the earth, and cry repentance unto every people!
Yea, I would declare unto every soul, as with the voice of thunder, repentance and the plan of redemption, that they should repent and acome unto our God, that there might not be more sorrow upon all the face of the earth


We love you all and wish you a Merry Christmas!

Hallelujah

Can you imagine just sitting there eating lunch and seeing this.
Where the heck do I go to find out to join these things. This is totally something I would do!

28 Weeks

I woke up this morning. Stood in the shower for a long time. Trying to rid myself of the disgusting feeling of FAT. Seriously, I feel yucky. I know, I know, people say you are lovely and glowing when you are pregnant. That must be everyone but me. I just feel gross.

After drowning my skin in lotions and scents, I stood there looking at myself in the mirror.

In my kangaroo pouch garments. In the enormous parachute they call a bra. Staring at the face with triple chins and dry patches. Looking at the roots of my hair that need color so badly.

I wondered "what the heck happened to me"?

Im still in here somewhere.

Under the rolls and stretch marks. Still trying to breathe as my lungs creep into my esophagus. Sweating like a sinner in church all day and night, even in 50 degree weather.

Im still in here, right?

Then, after 5 minutes of just taking it all in, I decided to do something to see, if I was still me.

I put my ipod headphones on. Turned on some Enrique Inglesia ("Baby I like it") and tried to Zumba in my bathroom like I was teaching my class again. Half naked. With a huge gut. With dimpled thighs and back fat shaking.

It was scary to watch. Strangely, it made me feel better. I can still shake my jelly rolls. I can still laugh at myself. Im still in here...

SOMEWHERE

Thanksgiving

How do you end a trip to Utah that starts with a Blizzard?
You end with Blizzard on the way home!
Thankgiving was interesting to say the least. We tried to beat the so called "Blizzard of 2010" by leaving Tuesday and driving through Las Vegas instead of going through the pass from Panguich. All because the news was reporting a huge Blizzard coming to Utah. We stayed the night in St. George for fear of getting stuck in the dark in treacherous weather. While watching TV in our room that night, we see that American Fork (and most of Utah co.) got no snow at all. I was glad we were safe, but disappointed that we added so much time to our already long journey.
Anyway, it was brutally cold with temps as low as 9 degrees.

On the way home the following Sunday, we awoke to yet, another storm. Not categorized as a Blizzard, but it produced way more snow. 5-6 inches lay on the ground when we got up to load the van Sunday morning. Mikey had white knuckles from driving through the HWY 20 canyon from Beaver to Kanab. It was not fun. Anyone who knows me well, knows Im the worst backseat driver in the world, so I was holding onto the OSH (Oh S*** Handle) next to my window for dear life. I was freaking out the whole way. The kids were oblivious as they watched movies and Asher slept. Had it been recorded (which Im sure, unfortunately for me, it was in heaven) it would be like watching the seen in A CHRISTMAS STORY where Ralphie is beating the tar out of the bully and profanity is running recklessly through his lips while onlookers gasp. The script for that seen was played by me in the front seat,with my feet on the dash, and gripping anything possible with every skid or turn.- Ok, I digress.
We made it home alive.

Hello Miss T. My best friend in the whole world

I love Turkey!

You should have seen the pie spread. YUMMY!

Dude, Im pregnant and not watching calories.

DELICIOUS!

Gobble Bingo


Family. Lots of smiles. Jimmy cracked corn and I dont care.Lemon cream pie.
Doggie farts. Turkey. Utah's strongest man. chocolate chip cookies. Damon grins.Black Friday finds. Harry Potter at midnight. Uncle "Angel". Christmas Carol Ghosts. Veggies in a cloud. 9 degrees. Hearts hot cocoa. chocolate covered gummie bears. Missing Girlfriend Harley. Eggnog. Provo parade. Beautiful Navajo baby. Great Grandparents. Memories. Pepsi Free. Remember Noah? Thankgiving point lights. live Reindeer. Hi Ho. U of U WINS!

I love doggies
So Thankful for the Wii. Entertaining kiddies young and old.

Proud to say Tanner is the best Mario Kart player around. Seriously

Student of the Month

Guess who was student of the month at school in November?
Tanner!
He is doing so great in school. He is one of the best readers in his Kindergarten class. He loves his teacher and friends. He is very kind to others. This kid just loves to learn. He comes home and tells us all about the cool things he does everyday. We are so proud of him! We love you Tan-Man.

Halloween 2010

Halloween was much anticipated this year. Zachary especially had a hard time choosing what he wanted to be. He was so excited to wear a costume that he wore three different ones, to three different events. Tanner on the other hand had no problem choosing. He knew he wanted to be Luigi, and no one was going to change his mind. I always enjoy halloween. Its such a fun time of year.

Happy Days

***WARNING: Lots of pictures!***
There has been a long break in between posts. Some of these are delayed in the dates, but for record sake, I will post them anyway.

Fall Break finally arrived. Wasnt very fall-ish, here in Arizona. We still had temps in the 100's to high 90's. It truly is miserable here! To my relief, there is a light at the end of this hot, terrible tunnel. We are only 6 hours from Disneyland and the beach!
We packed up the kids and headed to Anaheim for a couple days. It was so nice to get a break from the heat wave. It was also nice to have my brother Neal, join us from Utah. Having three adults and three kids made the trip so much better. We had one set of eyes to watch each child, and no one had to wait for others to ride a ride, or sit alone.

Here are some photos of our day at Newport Beach. I was surprised that the water was still warm enough to get in an swim. Not that the water on the Pacific is every really WARM, but in October?!? It was very nice!









Next day was DISNEYLAND! Oh, I love that place. Even as an adult it makes me happy.

Because its not easy to hide my big belly anymore, I clearly wasn't allowed to ride any of the big roller coasters (Splash Mountain, Matterhorn, Space Mt, or Thundermountain). Since Asher isn't tall enough, he and I found other fun things to do in the kiddie sections. Mike, Neal and the twins had their run of all the fun "older kid" rides.
Zachary and Tanner both said their favorite rides were Pirates and Indiana Jones. I thought I.J. was pretty grown up for them. They are my thrill seekers, so it didn't surprise me. There is a funny story here about Zachary. Earlier in the day they went to get in line for Indiana Jones and he was told he was too short. He was only 1 inch shy of the height, and Tanner was just right. He was devastated. He cried non stop.And I didn't really know how to explain that Tanner could go, but he couldn't. I certainly didn't want to punish Tanner and not let him on. It was the one ride they had been dying to get on! Later in the day, Mike decided to be sneaky and get fast passes to get on, in hopes that they could walk right on and not get measured. As they approached the entrance again, they picked on Zach to be measured. It was dark inside and for some reason Zach measured up and was let on. Mike assumed there was some discrepancies in the sticks. Meanwhile, Neal was giggling. As they went to get into the jeeps, Zach was asked to be measured again!! Mike thought "DANG, we aren't getting on this thing". Once again, Zach approached the stick and measured up. Neal couldn't contain himself any longer. When they were out of ear shot Neal said that Zachary had been walking on his tiptoes the whole time. He figured out on his own that if he wanted to get on the ride, he would have to make himself taller. Outside the ride Zach was proud and whispered to Mike "Daddy, I was walking on my tiptoes so I could get on!"- What a sneak!

Tanner getting measured.

Zach being told he is too small. Sad boy!

I think the highlights of my day were seeing all the boys get pulled into the parade and dancing with Donald Duck and Chip and Dale. Seeing their excitement during each ride. Watching the FANTASMIC show, and hearing them ooh and awe over the fireworks. They were all really good. Especially Asher, who loved every ride and was patient in the lines. He LOVED the fireworks. He has talked about them endlessly since we've been home. He has been singing "Its a small world" everywhere we go. He got a round of applause in line at Walmart for his solo performance of it.
Great memories, Great times. Love these boys!



























Even Flat Stanley Joined us!

Update

Before I was married, I dreamed about what my family would be like. How many kids would I have, what would they look like, where would we live, etc.

After 3 boys, I was still waiting to have a daughter. Im not sure why it mattered so much in my head. The prospect at sharing my love for music, dance, singing, piano, and other things of the dominantly female brain, were things I wanted to share with a child.
Inside, I knew that odds were not good for a girl. The cards just didnt seem to be in my favor. Still, I hoped.

I prepared myself for another boy.This is our last I thought,thinking that maybe that would change the outcome. I thought it would be news that would be more appreciated on the day of arrival than 4 months in advance. I wanted to wait and not find out the gender. Mike however, does not like to wait. He was determined to know. Today was the day. And as expected, we are having another boy.

To be honest, I had the same reaction with Asher. I was fine on the outside, but struggled to keep in the tears. Disappointment ruined my day.

Sure, I know I should be grateful for a healthy baby. Which I am.
I should be grateful to have any kids at all. Which I am.
I should have told Mike suck it up and deal with waiting, so I wouldnt be mad at him for demanding to know. Which I am.
I knew the odds favored a male. They did.
I should not have put all my hopes into this last baby to be a female. Unfortunately, I did.
I should be happy I got to see my baby on the screen. I am not. I wished I had waited.

I just feel like I have nothing to give boys. Sure, I can be a good mother. I just dont feel like I can share who I am with them very well. Guys just dont get that girly stuff. The dream of dance lessons and dresses, pony tails and wedding gowns, barbies and boyfriends....its gone.
I would be lying if I said I wasnt writing this with tears streaming. Tomorrow will be better.
Another boy will be loved just as much. But today, just for today, Im sad.

One liners

The kids seem to love the movie IGOR these days. Its lines are heard coming from the mouths of my babes. Sometimes, they are just totally funny.

me: "Zach, where are you?"
Zach: "In the bathroom"
me: " Did you wash your hands?"
Zach: "I had a bat stuck in the belfry, if you know what I mean."
Me: (Laughing) " Do you know what that means?"
Zach: "Nope"

Potty humor. Straight from the movie. wonderful.

Labor Day

Labor Day was alot of fun. We played in the pool with aunts, uncles and cousins all day. It was lots of fun. If there is one thing Arizona is good for, its a great pool party

Mike and Asher

Ready...Aim... FIRE!

Water BattleShip

Lazy in the shade

The boys swim great. Even in the deep end.

Taylor

Mikey