He's Almost Got It

Ammon is our big boy! He's taking a bit longer then the others to crawl...I'm okay with that! But he's showing the sure signs of real mobility! Uh-Oh, I know he's going to be all over when he finally figures it out! (He's 8 1/2 mo. old)

'Tis The Season

Okay, I'm a bit behind in my updates, but I'm finally getting to it... you'll see how busy it's been!



The tree is up! But let's just say that I'm definitely looking for a prelit during the "after Christmas" sales! I think I'm losing my steam in the excitement...I guess 5 kids will do that.

However, the kids are still excited as much as ever.

I just love pulling out the ornaments from over the years and seeing all the homemade, special touches.

Gma and Gpa Come To Town!

I have to take a moment and Thank Randy and Stacey for coming out and spending time with all of us. They both worked really hard to make everything perfect and wonderful! I know we are really blessed to have such special family all around us, even if Gma and Gpa are far away. But that never stops them from keeping in contact and making sure we all feel loved. We love and appreicate the both of you.

Hanging out with Gma and Troy and Kristin.

A few of the wonderful men in my life.

Gma was busy making everything just right. She worked her tail off making dinner, and prep work for gingerbread houses. She's super Gma for sure!

Altogether we decorated in our own special way. Tubby, I think the kids liked yours best!

Yeah, the table had a few extra leaves in it...the more merrier!

In case I didn't mention, Gpa was also hard at work with clean up. He's just as super as Gma. Thank you Gpa!

Black Friday Fun W/O The Shopping

For the day after Thanksgiving, we decided to spend the day as a family. We took the kids swimming at the YMCA and then to see Igor at the dollar movie. Finally, we went to Chuck E Cheese for dinner.


Jarom as usual threw down around 5 slices of pizza, while the girls were to excited to eat much.








This is a tradition with Trent and I. The Flamin Finger. It's kind of fun, but can drain the tokens quick. He usually gets it, but decided to save the tokens for the kids.


Trent loved playing and helping the kids be a kid.







Is this not the only way for little ones to be involved?! ;o)



Well, because the Flamin Figure was a bust, the tickets were a bit low this time. Oh well, they still loved the time.

Thanksgiving

For thanksgiving we went up to Dawsonville, northern Ga, to visit the Mulberrys. Steve and Shelley had rented a giant blow up slide that kept the kids very busy and happy. Smart idea!

Here, "Uncle" Ron, played King of the Hill with all of the kids. He's in great shape, because he was out there a long time. The kids love it!

Of course Thanksgiving isn't complete w/o some football and relaxing.

Rian really loved the girl bonding. Wish we lived closer.

If Only Everyone Felt This Way...

COURT SETS ATHEIST HOLY DAY

In Florida, an atheist created a case against the Easter & Passover holydays. He hired an attorney to bring a discrimination case against Christians, Jews & observances of their holy days. The argument was, it was unfair that atheists had no such recognized day(s). The case was brought before a judge. After listening to the passionate presentation by the lawyer,the judge banged his gavel declaring, 'Case dismissed.' The lawyer immediately stood objecting to the ruling saying, 'Your honor, how can you possibly dismiss this case? The Christians have Christmas, Easter & others. The Jews have Passover, Yom Kippur &Hanukkah. Yet my client & all other atheists have no such holidays.'

The judge leaned forward in his chair saying, 'But you do. Your client, counsel, is woefully ignorant.' The lawyer said, 'Your Honor, we are unaware of any special observance or holiday for atheists.' The judge said, 'The calendar says April 1st is 'April Fools Day' .Psalm14:1 states, 'The fool says in his heart, there is no God.' Thus, it isthe opinion of this court, that if your client says there is no God, then he is a fool. Therefore, April 1st is his day. Court is adjourned.

Family 2008

Favorite Mornings In The Fall

This is part of our backyard. I love the beautiful mornings here in Georgia, especially during the fall time. Being from desert AZ, I have loved the green and seasonal changes. Best of all is when you capture those inspiring moments and wonder how anyone could believe their isn't a god.

Tagged...

What's your husband's name? Trent
How long have you been married? 10 years--a lot longer then Kristin ;o)
How long did you date? about 4 mo. (then engaged for 2 more mo.)
Who said I love you first? (is this a memory game--I fail) I think he did
Who asked who out first? He asked me...that's a fact! ;o)
Who kissed who first? He kissed me
How old is he? 32 yrs.
Who eats the sweets? For sure it's me...but he has his moments too!
Who sings best? I think you will have to ask the kids on that one...but I think they will vote for me
Who's smarter? yeah, he is
Who cooks dinner and does laundry? Laundry usually falls on me...but it makes sense for how busy we are. But surprisingly, he loves to cook, and does a fabulous job. I'm so blessed ;o)
Who mows the lawn? That one is me...because I love it...call me crazy
Who pays the bills? He does, but we both are very aware of every penny
Who drives? When we are together, it would be him...sore subject when we travel...wardwell's and sleep driving don't mix but they try.
Who wears the pants? For the most part we are on equal ground...but we obviously have our roles and specialties
Our favorite couple thing to do: (ask me in 5 years--we are in survival mode) is this hypothetical...we would love to travel the world together...but in reality, we do what we can, so typically that's finding time to be together and watching Thurs. night comedy
His favorite pastimes: going to the gym and Michigan football
What I love most about him: I love his eyes and how handsome he is. Also, he is very talented in creative writing...you should read some of his stuff, he's hilarious...you need to do more honey!

I tag Kendall, Carrie, Tana, and Robin ;)

Ammon Moments

No cryptic messages here. This is obviously one tired boy. He will double over and cuddle with his blanket.

He is so funny and oh, so sweet. My little, baby boy.

Troy was over the other day and was wondering why we hadn't posted these kind of moments. I guess I will share the energy Ammon radiates. And don't worry, he's not hyperventilating, he's just happy. (This was the same day as "frohawk" post.)

Picture Teaser

Here is our curly-haired cutie pie. Saturday we had a family photo shoot, compliments of Kevin Marler. This is just a one picture teaser. Once we file through everything and narrow it down, I will post more.

Frohawk

Here is the cutest thing ever. It all begins from the nightly baths. After he's all dressed, Trent loves to style his hair up like this. If it makes it though the night, it stays all day. Otherwise his hair is to fine to stand up.

Tooth Fairy Strikes Again!

Jarom has lost another tooth! Although teeth pulling is a bit traumatic in our house (teeth grow in behind old one, not loosening it) he was still excited to find that the tooth fairy still comes. He had gotten the dollar coin in place of his tooth inside his tooth bag. (Now if we can just get the next one out quickly!)

Service Heart

I had gotten this idea from Joy Coles at Stake Women's Conference last weekend. It may seem simple to you, but it has made this week so fun. The idea is to do a secret service for someone in the family and leave the heart to indicate the service was done out of love. We discussed this at FHE and to my surprise everyone wanted to be first...but it wouldn't be a secret if we all knew who started out. So when they didn't see me, I chose someones pillow to put it on to start the process.

The next day I hear Rian wondering if everyone else had made their bed that day, confused I said, not really... turns out the service heart had made an appearance. It was so cute, because "whom ever" did this really tried to do a good job. So far almost everyone has had a chance to participate...and they are still excited...it's the "keeping it a secret" that is the hard part!

Equal Opportunity

Here are my little munchkins! Well, Tarin and Raegan normally shower together, but poor little Ammon has never had the chance to bathe with another sibling. I wanted him to have the same experience the others have had. He absolutely loved it. Usaully, he sits up in a few inches of water and splashes around, but I wanted him to splash with a buddy....and you know Tarin wouldn't allow just Raegan to be in there.

You can imagine the puddle that was created on the bathroom floor, when they really got going. I think this lifted the little guys spirits, because he's been really congested and has a croupy cough.

Election Mania

Here is only a fraction of the line at around 8:30am. Total time was around 45 mins. But it was all worth it!

Rian was studying the election in several classes by reading articles and talking to mom and dad about the candidates and what we believe in. So I wanted her to experience the real deal. I let her do the actual voting by touching the screen. (don't you just love those pics done by yourself, that's quite the chin...)

And yes, we have completed the process together. Besides waiting in line forever, I think she really enjoyed the whole experience.

"I'm a Georgia Voter!!!"

"Vanity"

Rian is truly enjoying her room. First off, she makes her bed and cleans her room everyday, to keep it looking nice. She loves to have the girls up to the vanity to do their hair. This is Tarin "getting ready".

And of course Raegan wants to be apart of the girlie fun as well.

Contracts

I caught Rian and Jarom making "contracts" for their clubhouses (their rooms). I thought this was hilarious.

Here is one of the contracts. They are so creative, it cracks me up sometimes. Another example, they were playing school a week ago up in the bonus room and I could hear Rian doing the announcements..."for school lunch today it will be pizza, green bean, with a choice of fruit...the winners of the contest for the yearbook design..." They are serious when they play.

Halloween Night

Here they are all ready to go. Rian the witch, Raegan the...fairy princess, Ammon, himself, Tarin a kangaroo, and Jarom is...death I think.

The first house they came to for the coveted candy.

Trent waited in the truck with Ammon not only to stay warm, but to give us a ride to the next street...houses are very spread out, even in subdivisions. The kids loved riding on the tailgate.

In Barrington Farms subdivision, there is one house that puts on a "haunted ship", the Black Pearl. A gentleman use to work for Disney props and loves to put his house together for everyone to enjoy. Best part, it is free. You walk through a graveyard, then a witches house, then finally you enter the ship.

Reagan put her fingers in her ears the entire time, because the "cannons" shooting off scared her.

Here inside the ship, were skeletons dancing and playing the skulls.

They wanted to go through again.

Raegan's favorite part was the treasure on the ship.

When we go home, the kids showered and counted their booty.