Memory Books

I've really been slacking with scrapbooks lately. so I have decided to buckle down and make some more digital scrapbooks. I think it is so important to, not only have the pictures to remember, but also to write about the times and experiences. Some ideas I have for books to do is; 'Before I was your Mother/Father', Brent's mission book, a baby book for both Porter and Mason, a family yearbook (one for each year) and a wedding book. I've only done this one ('A Love Story') so far, which is a the story write up of, well...OUR love story. it was so easy, about the cost of a normal scrapbook (when you include the book, print pictures, embellishments, tools, paper) and it wasn't so messy, esp with kids! All the write up was from Brent's, fairy tale version, of our meeting and dating, of which he used to propose. It was a whole day of fun, I was flown to Flagstaff, in a private plane, taken to NAU, where we met and he did a 30 min show for me. It was an incredible event that I wanted my children to know and see. Porter has a couple from MamaZelle (my mom), of him (a 'counting with Porter' book and a puppet book that has the history of our puppets and us performing) That he just LOVES!!! It's just so cool to see your pictures in a bound 'real' book!

My Wonder Woman

My mom's life if full of helping others and giving of herself. They are traits I admire and am so grateful for, as one of her 10 children. Who knew one woman could fulfill the needs of so many other people. Whether it's helping with homework, sewing a prom dress, assembling a slide show or music, running kids around, keeping up on all the memories, (by making over 50 scrapbooks and digital scrapbooks) throwing puppet shows together, (along with practices, booking, music, ventriloquist acts, choreography, etc) staying up late to chat, getting up early for scriptures study, fulfilling various callings in church, babysitting grandchildren, giving advice, cutting hair, sewing her beautiful quilts, spending time with and loving each of us, throwing parties, teaching us how to cook, cooking herself, learning new things, going to doctor after doctor, working for dad, endlessly cleaning, attending practices, shows, sports events, . Come on, Wonder Woman herself did not accomplish as much in a 24 hour period. She is truly the epitome of a domestic engineer. What a wonderful example to the rest of us.

All of us kids decided it was time to give a little back to mom. Not only is it time, but she is now in need of some time for herself. We are hopeful that she can focus a little more on her needs. Camille and I decided one of the best ways we could help was go through the house, room by room, to organize and de-clutter. We have been at it for a few months now and feel we are making some good progress. Jenny, Michelle, Lynette, and Heidi have really helped by babysitting so we can focus on the work. Everyone else helps any way they can. We have now done the kitchen, family room, younger girls room, boys room, game area, wash/sewing room, downstairs family room, craft area, some of the office and a little in the older girls room. Here are a few before and after pictures, it's fun to see the difference.

Craft cupboard before

and after...

Craft Desk during

and after...

the Pantry Before...

After...

The Kitchen after

Younger girls room before

and after...

I have oddly enough found a new joy in all this work. Maybe it's that I can throw a ton of stuff away and it's not mine, maybe its seeing the drastic change, maybe its my love for organization or that I can put a smile on my moms face, I don't know... I do know that I have really loved making a difference and seeing the progress though.

Porter goes Potty!!

I am such a proud mom right now. I have been dragging my feet and dreading the potty training stage. Fortunately it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be! I set aside a week that I would be home...ALL Week. That was tough but we did it. Then I prepared mentally to be positive and encouraging. I read some on the subject and talked to a quite a few other moms on their experiences. We made a plan and followed it, providing consistency and ground rules.

Winter Wonderland

We got to go to Greer as a family just after Christmas. We left Thursday morning for our nice drive up. When we got to Show Low we decided to go to Walmart to get some snow boots for Mason and I. We had a wonderful surprise at the checkout as we ran into Bridget and Bridget Flake. My family has been family friends to them for years and they moved up there a few years ago. She immediately invited us to their home and let us crash all sorts of fun! We got to their beautiful home took a walk on the icy Lake, played DDR, the Wii and then they invited us to stay in the other house they have, they usually rent out. It was beautiful! We then went back over to their home for dinner, games and kyaking in the icy lake and hot chocolate! We were up quite late and the kids were worn out but we sure had fun! Porter spentseveral hours on a car toy, of course. It was battery operated and sent 3 cars round and round, just mezmorized him. He couldn't hardly keep him eyes open but tried hard to just so he could watch those cars. We went home and the next day had a great time. Tom and David came over in the morning and drove their quad around in the coral next to the home. We spent ALL day out in the snow playing around. Mason wasn't too sure abou his snow suit though. It was so big and padded (by the way it was Brent's snow suit when he was a kid) that he felt too constricted and got pretty whinny. He did like eating the snow but he could only do so much of that. We decided we

Porter's most recent Obsessions

Porter's FAVORITE thing to do lately is tying things together to make trains! It is hilarious! He'll get his bike and jump rope and tie as many things as he possibly can to it. So his bike, or his tractor, will be tied to his red wagon, which will be tied to a..... and a kitchen chair will somehow be attatched....dragging along! SO FUNNY!

FUN day! Thanks to dad!

Dad surprised us with tickets to a fun play place! The boys had SO MUCH FUN!!!! Thanks Daddy!!

Snackrament

We were in Sacrament the other day and Mason was wanting his snacks (I think they are getting too old for snacks at church but when do you stop?)

Mason: Can I have my snack now?

Me: Remember we have to wait till after the sacrament:

Mason: Oh we have to wait for SNACKrament?

Porter was telling us though how the bread MAKES us remember Jesus (something I always try to remind him during sacrament) The otherday however we got to church late and missed the Bread so didn't take the water when they offered it. When we went to sit down in the chapel Porter was mad that he didn't get the water and said "I wanted to drink that water so I could remember Jesus"

BEACH DAY!

The day before school started was Labor day so we though...Hey why not take a family trip to the beach! It's only about an Hour and 15mins away so why not?! We had a lot of fun together as a family! A. WHOLE. DAY. TOGETHER! LOVED IT!!

We started our day off at the Tillamook cheese factory. Pretty cool, even though the production line wasn't working that day.

Beach Day of course included THE BEACH! It was a beautiful day! The older boys played with dad in the water. Yes, those little dots in front of the rocks are them! 

 As for Bennett and I, we just kind of hung out on the beach, took it easy and had fun playing in the sand. I could watch that little boy discover things all day! Like why does this stuff )sand) not stay in my hands? 

Growing so fast!!

I can't believe how much this little man of ours is growing!!! It feels like just yesterday he was born! I love playing with him and feel so blessed to be his mommy!! Some of his favorite things are being outside, playing with his brothers, laughing, watching daddy brush his teeth every morning, Music, reading books, dancing, crawling, making noises, copying his brothers screams and silly noises, standing, climbing the stairs (as of yesterday).

The thing that still cracks me up that he's been doing for so long is playing peek-a-boo!! He is HILARIOUS!! Every time I change his diaper he grabs the closest cloth he can gram and covers his face. He keeps it there for so long it seems like he starts to hyperventilate but holds it there longer and longer until...PEEK-A-BOO! And of course he's ALL SMILES!! He is such a happy baby and we love making him smile and laugh!! 

Loves going for walks outside in the stroller!

There is no such thing as standing too much!! Even if he does fall down several times a day :( poor guy

 He is such a cuddle bug!! He has the BEST hugs! Can't get enough!!

He LOVES being outdoors and exploring the ground and new things....tasting EVERYTHING is a MUST!!!

Brothers are SOO COOL!! They can't get enough of eachother! (btw they match! )

Climbing stairs!! Uh oh! It's AMAZING how quick he picks things up!!

Loves being a big boy in the big boy seat....and helping mommy with the list!

I love you little B! You make me so happy everyday! I can't get enough of that sweet chubby smile! 

Family Pictures!!

A little love'n!

Family reunion!

Jared was leaving on a mission and so Ammon planned an AWESOME family reunion to Midway, UT! We all had so much fun hanging out! We were loaded to to the brim for this long 12 hour drive!! It actually took us 15 hours to get there with several stops! The boys did awesome thanks to Brents Preparation! He had so many fun things to do along the way and the best thing was a paper car strung from one side of the car to the other to show how far we had to go. The boys didn't have to ask how close we were every five minutes!

We had fun on the Lake for a day!

We got to ride down the mountain at Park City

Cousin Love'n

Bennett LOVES water!!

Bottle Rockets!

What a STUD!

Lynettes Baby Shower!

The guys gave us a show on the tube!! They were doing all sorts of COOL tricks....we're just happy they survived!!!

Mason and Mommy rocked the tube!

3 moms, 3 sleeping babies on a boat! SO SWEET!

Mike and Michelle got ENGAGED!!!!!!! 

HAHA! Oh Mason! That is what we usually see when swimming about!

We threw Lynette and Jeff a baby shower! Camille did AWESOME decor and everyone made the delicious food! Joyze and I came up with some pretty fun games and we just had a BLAST!

I'm always surprised that one of my FAVORITE parts of our family reunions is the talent show! We are never prepared enough but have a BLAST!!! MamaZelle did the tutita with everyone! Mason got up on stage and did it with her! TOO FUN!

Can't wait for the next time to get together! LOVE YOU FAM!!

Highland games!!

What do you do on the weekends? Us? We party every chance we can!! We are both from Scottish heritage so of course we HAVE to go to the Highland games! Brent didn't get his kilt in the mail in time but we had a blast anyways! Great food, Games, Drums, dancing...what else could we ask for?!?! We had a great time!!

 Listening to a story about our heritage and playing with our new Knight and horse she gave us

 B conversing with a fellow clan member!

One on One time!

So we have really tried spending some one on one time with each child each month and we love it. Brent and I take turns or take a child out together every month. Especially since it seems like most of my time is spent taking care of Bennett or catching up on house stuff while he's sleeping I felt this was so important! We have had some really fun time too! I took Porter out first. We went to a cupcake shop and then hung out at the toy store! I love this guy! He is so thoughtful, helpful and wants so much to be good!

Next I took Mason out for a date. We picked up lunch and Mc Donalds and then had a picnic together. We talked, looked at lilly pads and raced leaves down the river! We had a fun time Just me and Mason! I remembered to get some pictures this time! Love you Bud! He really loves making people laugh and his "heart is so full of love"! He loves collecting little things, others might call trash. A happy meal was perfect with a little toy inside

As for Bennett...We're on a date all day long EVERYDAY!! He is such a happy baby and we all LOVE to make him laugh! He absolutely loves is big brothers and they love him!! He is growing so fast and I can't get enough of this sweetie!!

Brent has taken the boys out to lunch and up to where he works and had fun as well. I just wasn't there so no pics or details. But he is such a good daddy and every one of these boys ADORE him!!