Welcome To Van Cott Corner

Wrapping Up December

2012-02-15T14:01:00.000-08:00

Fact: I LOVE CHRISTMAS CARDS! I send mine out early hoping to get one back from everyone I send to. This is what I literally just tossed up on the wall this year to display them, next year it will look better, but still be something like this. So moral to this story, if you love me and want to make me happy, send me a Christmas card every year!

My big boy just got a little bigger {sigh. . . } He is up on two wheels now, and loves to go out and ride, thankfully we live in a pretty good neighborhood for that. Yeah Sethers!

Owen didn't want to be left out!

Dave got this for the boys for Christmas, fun daddy right! He got the last one on sale and some lady was like "are there more?" Dave: "No, sorry" (since it was in his cart) Lady: "No your not!"

Gotta love black Friday right!

Anyway, it lasted till February.

Love those baby hands!

Happy New Years Eve!!!

Confetti poppers? Check! (thanks Uncle Andy)

Fireworks? Check!

Midnight kissing buddy? Check! (two for the price of one! hee hee)

Good pals to ring in the New Year? Triple check!

Happy New Year!!!

God Bless!!!

Christmas Morning

2012-01-05T08:24:00.001-08:00

Well in a nut shell (ha! there is nothing that would remotely resemble a nut shell in this post) this is our Morning: What Santa brought, Super Heroes for all!

Funny, without realizing it, both brothers got each other villains, so the Heroes have their work cut out for them already!

I love it, big brother being let know that he was getting a little too helpful opening others presents.

Lucky Mommy!

Stocking extravaganza! This is where those lucky kids found their present from Grandma and Granddad. Thank you!!!

Highlight for Noah! The one thing he got that actually goes in his mouth, not that that stopped him from putting everything else he got into his mouth also.

The only gift to Owen that made him drop his new Super Hero, for a minute at least.

Isaac had a knight shirt that was his favorite, sadly he out grew it, but all is well again! Thank heavens for Spider man.

Seth made this plate at school! Love it!

I believe these need no introduction. Aren't they pretty! Laundry just got a lot more fun!

Yup, he's still got it! Welcome to the gun show! :)

Breakfast goodies, it was tradition for my family to wake up to a dining room table full of treats, and yumminess. I tried to recreate that, but lets face it, if there were a ton of treats I would gain 10 pounds and my kids would be too hyped up on sugar to eat anything thing that resembles healthy for the rest of the day.

But the breakfast casserole, and Costco muffins were a hit, and no we did not drink grape soda for breakfast, but they were too cute to leave out.

Did I mention that Noah slept through the morning until this point. Ready for the Noah Christmas Show?

It was a great day, and it being on Sunday only made it better, I would love to go to church every Christmas day! Merry Christmas everyone! And a Happy New Year!

The Gingerbread House

2012-01-05T08:20:00.000-08:00

I wish I could say this was an annual event, I plan to make it so, but truth be told this particular gingerbread house kit was 3 years old. Oops! O well we had tons of fun anyway, and hopefully mom will get her act together for this to be an actual annual event!

Isaac's side. Mom helped with the front. Owen was our quality inspector/ taste tester.

Seth's side and back.

My Isaac

2012-01-05T08:10:00.000-08:00

Proud as ever of his preschool gingerbread house.

For his preschool Christmas program they made a book into a play. It was really cute, and yes I did get it on my camcorder this time, which is why I don't have any still pictures of it. Oh well, he was a bear, and he and other animals found a mitten a boy had lost to keep warm in until the bear (Isaac) sneezed everyone out. The boy who lost them found them again, one all stretched out. The end. The kids did great! And afterward I got a pine cone Christmas tree decoration made with love by Isaac.

Isaac's Birthday Extravaganza

2012-01-05T08:00:00.000-08:00

Yeah, after 364 days of anticipating another Birthday, it finally arrived!

Lucky boy got an awesome birthday cookie from his Primary Pres. and a Chinese Birthday cake (or so we are calling it). Story behind the Chinese cake is that for Isaac's birthday dinner we went out to a Chinese buffet, we happen to have a coupon for a cake on your birthday. So tu-du. . . we got this lemony yumminess with a candle in it. He loved it. We even sang the "Happy Birthday" song in the restaurant with our waitress.

Now on to party preparations!

These balloons, and many more just like these were on the trampoline for one of the carnival like games we had at his party Saturday morning. A few had a little prize inside them to find.

We had 3 other games, two involved bean bag tossing and one not pictured was a ring toss. The kids got candy/ prizes for every success, thus filling their own party favor bag! :)

Did I mention it felt like we had a million kids? Isaac couldn't leave anyone out, he has such a kind heart! He was so excited, running from one game to the next, from one friend to another.

As always Grandma and Granddad came through with a gift. A favorite even though it was not a toy, he got a booster. Bye bye "baby car seat" on to a big boy booster. He was so excited, we had to call right away, and he was still talking about it weeks later.

All in all it was a fabulously fun day for a big five year old boy. Here he is after all the friends have gone, doing just what he wants with a few of his new favorite things! Side note one day I explained what being addicted means to Isaac, and he has let me know several times since that he is addicted to the wii.

Great day, Great kid! Love you buddy!!! xoxoxoxoxoxo Happy Birthday!

O Christmas Tree

2012-01-05T07:52:00.000-08:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Bring On December

2012-01-04T09:03:00.000-08:00

Hale. So there you have it, it does get cold enough in here once in a while for precipitation to freeze mid air. Dave also joined in the fun of jumping on the tramp in ice cold conditions. The boys were not so brave (dumb). :)

Priceless to me!

I was stressing about getting the family together for a picture for the Christmas card, then decided I didn't need more stress in my life! So I simply used our family picture taken pre-Noah. I then dressed up the little dude, put him down on the couch and snapped like. . . 3 pictures. Got on line and made our Christmas card!

I really liked the results, and how easy was that! No stress!

On to the neighborhood Christmas Celebration! Here we are in an incredibly long line of a tunnel of lights to see Santa and Mrs. Clause. Some kid kept making half the lights go out periodically which did not help me get the picture I wanted, 2 out of 3 isn't too bad I guess.

The wait is over! Was it worth it??? Well based on the looks on their faces, yes! :)

Merry Christmas!

Turkey Day

2011-12-28T14:41:00.000-08:00

Ah, Thanksgiving. Of coarse there was a 10 k involved for me, and football for the Hubs. Then since we didn't eat till late, we got the lights up and there may have been a nap in there.

The group. We were at the very end of this very large table, and our good friends came too. I make no bones about it, Thanksgiving is the day I throw any and all notions of dieting out the window! At least for the big meal.

And lets not forget Seth's edible Tee Pee, he made in school. He has been learning all about Native American culture in school and wanted this to be our center piece for Thanksgiving. He did actually eat it, after it has sat out for a week or two. Good mom I know! No he did not get sick!

Yeah! Happy Thanksgiving folks, now on to the crowning holiday of the season: Christmas! :)

Isaac's Performing Debut

2011-12-28T14:01:00.000-08:00

Ok, so mad I did not have my camcorder for this performance! It had me rolling! The lyrics were so cute, and the actions so funny! I hope the line up of pictures do it some justice for you.

Turkey song: (or bits of it)

"Ten little trukeys are we. . . "

"Slept all night in a tree. . . "

"When the cook came around we couldn't be found. . . "

Feast Song: (pieces only)

"Pudding Pie, ten feet high. . . "

"We were all much thinner, before we came to dinner, me o my. . . "

Maybe it was a "you had to be there" kind of thing, but once they "gobble, gobble, gobbled" with their heads a shaken' and those orange turkey legs a flyin' o boy!

Loved it! Good job Is! And thanks again Ms. Laura!

Owen's Birthday Extravaganza!

2011-12-28T13:32:00.000-08:00

These pictures are backwards, this is morning of Owens Birthday, but since Daddy couldn't be there for the day of we celebrated the day before with some good friends of ours. Owen worked hard on getting those 3 fingers up!

And those three fingers up! Not like it matters though when you ask him how old he is, he will generally say two or four, while holding up 5 fingers. :)

It is my goal in life to always capture the moment of huffing and puffing, and blowing those candles out! It's a favorite of mine! And by the way, that cake was sooooooooo delicious! Martha Stewart I am not, but at lease it tasted good! I usually do the box variety for kids' birthday, but found this recipe and had to try it, so glad I did! And the stars were a big hit.

Thanks again Grandma and Granddad, we love getting mail, especially from you!

Love you O Bear!!!

Happy Birthday!

Family Fun, And Some Geese

2011-12-28T13:26:00.000-08:00

The Geese.

It is always fun to look up when we hear their honking and see them land here practically in our back yard.

The Boys.

Another successful Family Home Evening. I was activity, we made a thankful tree. The boys really surprised me with their depth of gratitude. Dave and I thought they would be saying things like toys etc. . . but I was pleased to hear they were thankful for things like their home, Jesus, food, family, and friends. And after this picture I was thankful for the automatic timer feature on my camera!

Noah

2011-12-28T13:14:00.000-08:00

Just a shameless little post to remember how cute my little baby is. We will dedicate this one to Grandma, who is beside herself with longing to hold him! :) He loves you too Grandma!

I am really hoping I can plug him up with the binkie enough so that he will forget about his fingers! Wish me luck!

We love those first smiles when it is new to him and us! Worth every effort!

Happy Halloween! Boo!

2011-12-28T12:58:00.000-08:00

Of coarse you have to carve pumpkins at some point in the fall. So here we are getting our jack o' lanterns ready for the front porch. I don't remember why Seth is the only one in his jammies, but I can tell you he sure loves to be in jammies.

Here is my scary pirate getting ready to go to pre school. I was jumping for joy when I opened our costume bin because a pirate is all Isaac wanted to be and last years costume was tight last year. I forgot I had in fact shopped the clearance after holiday sale and nabbed this baby! Yeah for happy children, and cheap costumes!

I transformed this bear costume in to a lion when Dave and I only had Seth and wanted to be a Wizard of Oz theme Seth's first Halloween. Yeah for cute babies and free costumes!

This is Seth at the door of his teachers house, (as Superman for the 4th year in a row, his choice!). What a good sport to let me take a picture while trick or treating!

Sadly I did not get a close up of Owen, but this is him on the end as a pirate. He was a clown for a neighborhood party we went to (and didn't get any pictures at either). Dave and I also dressed up for that party. He was a hippie and I was a fairy.

It was a great year for candy! The scariest part of this Halloween is the cavity potential! And with no insurance that is very scary in deed!

BOO!

October Family Fun

2011-12-28T12:49:00.000-08:00

For Family Home Evening we have a responsibility chart. Everyone gets a responsibility, there is prayer, song, lesson, activity and treat. Well on this particular night it was daddy's turn for treat. He had some "help" and combined two different recipes to obtain the final product. In case you can't tell they are supposed to be cookies. :)

This is my sweet Owen. We like to play a couple of little games he and I. This one is called Happy/ Sad. We say "Owen (or Mommy) you happy", and then "Owen (or Mommy), you sad." No it's not a very good grammar lesson, but you get great looks like these:

Silly boy, it is so his nature to be happy, that his "sad" face still looks happy! :) Gotta love it! Which I do! Our other game (for documentation sake) is a yes no back and forth game. Only it goes "no not" and "yes do" as per how he has been saying it since he was little.

On Vertuccio Farm, we jumped, pet small animals, rode a cow train, drove little tractors, swung on swings, saw baby chickens and got thoroughly lost inside a corn maze, it was awesome fun for the whole family!

Happy Fall Ya'll!

Sethers Ties His Shoes

2011-12-28T12:40:00.000-08:00

Big day for my big boy Sethers! He can now tie his shoes. Dave and I have worked with him on and off for the last little while, and then he just got it! It was easier to practice at first on his daddy's big laces. Then he wanted to show that he could do it on his own shoes. He was so proud! And we are proud of him too! Quite the milestone I think, he can now get him self ready from start to finish totally independently! And even help with his younger brothers! Even better.

11 Year Anniversary

2011-12-28T12:33:00.000-08:00

For our anniversary we decided to lay low. I made one of Dave's favorite meals, lasagna, and we ate by candle light. The boys were all riled up with excitement of eating dinner by candle light, thus taking away from the intended mood. We had a fun dinner and we exchanged gifts afterward. (A big thanks to Isaac for taking this picture.)

Dave gave me a garmin. Don't mind the embarrassingly slow pace, it did just have a baby you know! :)

And I got Dave some nice "church art" as we call it. We have never had anything nice like this for our front room.

Happy Anniversary, with many more to come!

September-ness

2011-12-28T12:16:00.000-08:00

I have never been able to resist taking a picture of a sleeping baby, the fact that his adorable bum is up and he is holding his sleeping daddy's hand is a total bonus! Father and son bonding through osmosis.
Toes just don't get any cuter then these folks, if that sounds biased, I dare you to come hold the little guy yourself and then try to deny it! :)
Enough said.
Even Isaac gets the sweetness of a sleeping baby, he would lay under his swing just to be close to him. He sure loves his baby brother!
Yeah, we love play time with daddy!
Ah, our little entrepreneur. One day Seth was like, "lets have a lemonade stand." And I was like, "why not." So we made our little stand, he made the sign (with no help), and we sat outside waiting for customers. Well, I believe by the end of it Seth had made $4. I was a little surprised! But it was fun and he did a great job selling his product.
Crazy hair day at school. Crazy hair, for a crazy kid! Crazy Awesome that is! :)

Noah's Blessing Day

2011-11-14T08:50:00.001-08:00

As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints we had the opportunity to bless our new little bundle of sweetness. So on August 4, 2011 we gave our new little man, Noah James, a name and a blessing by the power of the priesthood.

These were the men in the circle: Granddad Jeffery James, Noah James' father Dave, Grandpa Robert, Bro. Clark, and Uncle Jake.

I wish I had gotten more pictures of this day. It holds some sweet memories! But this is the only picture I got of Noah's parents together. I am so grateful my parents are willing to travel for these special times!

It was a beautiful day, and we are a blessed family!

Augusts' End

2011-11-14T08:18:00.000-08:00

Noah at almost 4 weeks old.

Owen has always been a bit clumsy. I lovingly call him a stumble bum, but it never did any permanent damage, until September, when with the aid of his big teasing brother he broke a tooth clean off. He fell on our tile floor, didn't really even fuss. In fact I didn't know anything out of the ordinary had happened until someone mentioned blood. Then, not even a week later he had another tooth mishap and jammed his front tooth right next to the broken one back, so now it is greyish. Thankfully the dentist said it looks like it will stay in, and we won't have to pull the broken one, and the permanent teeth coming in seem to be unaffected. Phew!

We had some fun swim time when Grandma and Granddad came to town for Noah's blessing.

Thanks to Isaac for making everyone have to close their eyes for the picture! :)

Officially In Preschool

2011-10-20T12:49:00.000-07:00

Isaac is in a "real" preschool now. I taught him for last spring, when I found his Chandler city preschool experience wanting to say the least! I think it went pretty well, except Isaac had a hard time transitioning from son to student.

This is his teacher now, and he loves her, and class! He is a great student (from what I hear), and is excited to show me all his stuff! (I am excited to see it also in case I decide to give preschool another go!).

Random Fun

2011-10-20T12:29:00.000-07:00

This is my darling husband. Mowing the lawn, in his nice clothes in a storm, so that the grass can get full benefit of the rain when it comes, literally minutes later! Lets just say this is Dave to a tea! :)

I did mention my house sparkled, and my children were better behaved right? Well here's proof!

Yeah, scones for dinner!

Like I said, PAR-TAY! Aunt and cousin gathering!

Too bad I had finger prints on the lens, probably from this guy! Gotta love it right, my Mr. Vanity!

I find all sorts of pictures on my camera whenever I download pictures onto the computer.

Skateland With Dad

2011-10-20T12:16:00.000-07:00

While I was out of commission, Seth and Dave got to go to Seth's school luau party at a skate arena. Since it was Seth's first time skating he got to use that fun PVC right angle thingy.

But he got the hang of it, I love the tongue hanging out, that is so Seth when he concentrates!

What a great Daddy!!!

Aloha!

Post Baby Company

2011-10-20T11:26:00.000-07:00

So I have decided having a baby may be a bonus to having a cesarean section. I truly LOVED that I got to see 3 out of my 5 siblings! Maybe if I have twins next time I will get to see all 5! :)

Here's the happy crew that came first. Mom, Sister and 3 of her 4 kids, yeah we were busy. And by we I mean THEY! :) I sat around and napped a whole lot! :)

I had to add this picture of my darling cousin and her cutie little son. Remember the 4th of July? That is us about a month and a half later with our babies on the outside rather then the inside, much better if you ask me!

And then my big bro. came for one night to buy us dinner and sleep on our couch! :) Not really, he happened to be in the area for work and missed his plane just to see us, lucky us!

And my other sis! I have great sisters!!! My house sparkled, and my kids had better table manners after she left! But I did get to introduce her to Hobby Lobby, so equal trade right?! :)

So officially, having a baby was a lot like a big party for me. I got to see great people, eat yummy food I didn't have to make, and got little sleep!

But really THANKS from the bottom of my tired heart, I couldn't have done it with out you guys!

Back To School

2011-08-24T08:45:00.000-07:00

Seth started 1st grade, he was so excited about the Spiderman lunch box his dad got him! He was also very excited about riding a bus to school. Good luck Sethers!

This is a common occurrence around here., The boys LOVE their new baby brother, but Isaac love, LOVES, his baby brother. He tells me every day and about 6 times a day that he thinks Noah is cute.

I certainly can't argue with him either!

About 7 Pounds Lighter

2011-08-08T16:20:00.001-07:00

What better activity for the boys the day before their new brother arrives, then making a welcome home sign! They really got into it.

And here I am at 4:00am in the morning Aug. 5th 2011 ready to go have a baby. Yes, I curled my hair, I believe in looking my best, before feeling my worst. Plus I woke up at 2am and couldn't sleep.

The happy trio! Welcome baby NOAH JAMES VAN COTT!

Born 8-5-11, at 6:16am, weighing in at 7 lbs 1 oz. and 20 inches long.

Fun note to posterity, Noah James shares his Great Grandpa Howard James' Birthday.

The brothers meeting. They were so cute and sweet to me and the new baby. Careful to not be too rough and saying such wonderfully sweet things that I wish I could have recorded to hear again and again! Oh I love when the ones you love the most give you even more reasons to love them!

The Homecoming. There's the sign, and the fabulous four! Wish me luck! Thankfully I have family coming to my rescue for the next while.

The full story is that the boys were at their Aunt and Uncles house while Dave and I were having a baby, (thanks again!). We arrived at the hospital Friday at 4am and a couple hours, and one major surgery later we had a new baby. I stayed 3 days, and got home Sunday evening. I missed my guys so much! It was a fun reunion! The house was still standing so I am happy, :) Dave has done a great job watching over things but will be glad when my mom and sisters get here I am sure! Thanks for all the well wishes! More pictures to come!

The Big Day!

2011-08-04T10:04:00.000-07:00

When it rains it pours I guess. I got a bit behind blogging and so I had to hurry and catch up before this baby comes. . . TOMORROW!

Soooooo ready to not be pregnant anymore, but am I ready for all that a new baby brings?

Well I am definitely ready to meet my new little guy!

Stay tuned I will get pics up as soon as I am able!

Wish me luck!

Happy Fourth!

2011-08-03T15:21:00.001-07:00

I LOVE SPARKLERS!

They just say: "I love America" to me, (which I do).

We got to spend the fourth with my cousin and her hubby. She is the lady who introduced Dave and I all those years back! (16 years, and about 3 weeks ago to be exact).

Our due dates are only a month and half apart, or so. So we commiserated in the pool with my ya-hoos while the men folk bbq'ed dinner! :)

(did I mention we were in the pool, and did not reapply make up for the firework portion of the evening, we are both normally much cuter! especially her!)

No it wasn't raining, but it may be time for a new camera.

Anyway, we swam, feasted, and then blew things up with fire, what more could you want, especially for boys! I didn't love that my guys got to get in on the action of lighting the fire works, but they have a dad who is a big kid at heart, and knows how much they'd love it, which of coarse they did! And so far it has not translated into them setting fire to my house, so I guess I can't complain too much!

Happy Independence Day!

YUCK! But YEAH!!! Moving

2011-08-03T15:17:00.002-07:00

The nasty deed is now done, but boy do I detest moving, and doing it 7.5 months pregnant doesn't make it any more fun! Trust me!

It is always a bitter sweet as we leave friends behind though. And a big thanks to those awesome friends and ward members who helped make this day happen! Chandler was good to us, but we are glad to be home owners again, and plan to settle for quite a while, if not indefinitely!

One might think we love to move given the fact that this is our 4 year old's 5th house he has lived in.

I love the potential this house has, and can't wait for the non-pregnant body and budget to start on all the projects I have going on inside my head!

Home Sweet Home!

Happy Birthday Dave!

2011-08-03T15:17:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday Dave!

It was pretty great, I actually surprised him when at the last minute I scraped up some good friends to go out with. They entered the house while Dave was getting ready, and basically scared the heck out of him as he walked around the corner! It was awesome!

This was the weekend we were moving, so the party had to be short and sweet, but that it was. We hit a yummy restaurant where his meal was free, (Dave's favorite word), then we all let Dave win at mini golf (or he did it out of pure skill, whatever!).

Good times!

End Of School

2011-08-03T15:16:00.001-07:00

End of school meant two things for us around here, 1) that my big 6 year old made it through Kindergarten, and 2) I made it through teaching my first preschool.

Here is my cute little class on our picture day!

I was so proud of these kiddos, they all improved so much, and we had tons of fun!

We had a water/ pizza party for our end of school celebration, it was a great time!

Seth with his diploma. Unfortunately all his white shirts were in the wash, but I think he pulled the blue on off pretty well, it is his favorite color after all.

After his program, or "graduation ceremony" where Seth very characteristically stated for all the kindies and their parents to hear, that when he grows up he wants to be a Super Hero.

We think he is super already!

Seth's teacher was a patient woman, and I knew I wanted her to be his teacher the first day I saw her when I registered Seth. It was a trying year for him, but he grew a lot, and it stayed positive! Thanks Mrs. Lyle! And as a special treat her daughters were able to baby sit for us a few times. The boys loved that!

So good bye Kindergarten, hello 1st grade! Wish us luck!

San Diego Fun!

2011-08-03T15:14:00.001-07:00

Glad to be on VaCaTiOn!!!

In May we met my parents in San Diego. So fun, this is the vacation of my childhood, my parents have had this condo forever, so the old memories are just as fun as the new ones! Dang I am only about 6 months along, and it looks like I swallowed a watermelon!

One of my favorite times in the world are when my kids are snuggled close to their grandparents sharing a book! My parents must love it too since I get to see it so often!

Totally engrossed!

We discovered a fun aquarium (by necessity, since I was too cheep to spring $400 for Sea World!). We had a great time, except for the 4.6 minutes we lost track of Isaac. He was a bit enthusiastic and wandered into the dark aquarium while we paid. Needless to say we all took a child at that point, and was glad Owen slept in the stroller for most of it!

Owen just woke up.

Seal beach in La Jolla. See that grinning child, soon to be removed and replaced with his evil twin! Too much fun on too little sleep!

Owen felt the need to run for the saftey bar in the elevator EVERY time we entered, it became quite comical as he pushed past us and anyone in his way of holding on for dear life during the short one floor ride up to our condo!

Love how this turned out, I wanted to make book ends with pictures like this, but his brothers wouldn't accommodate as well as my big boy did! Notice the jackets, yea, it was pretty dang cold a lot of the time we were there. But the beach is the beach right!

Too bad this beach is tainted for Dave now as the place he lost his work cell phone, only to be found by a bunch of kids in a surf camp, and returned the next day.

Brave birds! I think Seth was dolling out sand at some point,

We had tons of fun, and great food! Yeah for Granddads roof top bbq steaks! And it doesn't get much better then dolphin watching from the comfort of our own balcony. This was a very kid friendly vacation, and just what the Dr. ordered for us!

Thanks Mom & Dad!

April Fun

2011-07-25T07:16:00.000-07:00

Oh how I love cheep entertainment! The boys love to "paint" and it will occupy their attention for quite a while! Isaac and Owen are becoming pals. With Seth in school, and Owen willing to follow Isaac's lead, they have developed a fun little friendship.

Book time with daddy. Side note for posterity, that crocheted blanket is Owen's favorite, he likes to get it all tangled up in his fingers while he sucks his thumb. And he will only suck the thumb on his left hand, and generally only when he is tired.

One night on a whim, I decided we needed to camp out in the back yard, it was close to bed time, but Dave obliged me anyway. We whipped out our 3 man tent and squeezed in. Not the most restful night ever but fun for all. The boys still request the story I told that night! Good memories! :)

Oh, cursed wish bone. The story here is that we found a wish bone in our chicken dinner one night and me having had many fond memories of making wish bone wishes, wanted to share the experience with my kids. Dave could tell by looking at it which side was going to give. So when we learned Isaac's wish was that he could have "cake and candy to eat every day" Dave stacked the deck so to speak, thus granting Seth's wish of becoming a super hero.

As you can see, Isaac really had his heart set on an unlimited supply of cake and candy. Those are real tears folks! And it took quite a while for him to be consoled! Poor sugaraholic kid!

Too cute to pass up. What prompted me to take this tub picture in the first place was that Isaac and Owen were lining all their tub toys up along the side and making them talk, so funny! But by the time I focused in they were on to me, knocked them down and then played dodge the camera game with me, I think I captured the moment though despite their best efforts.

News

2011-06-07T12:52:00.000-07:00

Well we are moving. Everything finally went through and we will shortly be home owners again! Yeah! It's a great house and better yet, we will have a pool just in time for the hottest part of summer! :)

I would have updated with pictures, but blog spot wont let me add images. Anyone know how to fix this? I recently heard there was a limit to images, but that there was a way to get around it. I just don't know how.

Help!

--Julie

Happy Mother's Day

2011-05-08T08:45:00.000-07:00

No one ever told me how hard it could be to be a mother, especially a brand new mother. But I guess that is because there are no words to describe it, just like words fail to capture the joy being a mother can bring. And the joy, thankfully, out weighs the hardships!

I learned a long time ago that you don't have to have children to feel motherly.

So Happy Mother's Day to all women who feel to nurture in your nature, as God intended! I thank my Heavenly Father for my Mother.

And the motherly examples that I have learned and grown from over the years from women who simply fulfilled their divine inheritance.

I hope and pray that I can be the kind of mother that will turn my children to their Heavenly Father.

Family Pictures

2011-05-06T15:46:00.000-07:00

Well, it was fairly eventful, but I think we got some usable family pictures. I will just be redoing it in a year anyway, but since we hadn't had any family pictures since Isaac was one, I figured it was time, fat pregnant face and all! :)

These are my favorite three. I am not above having a picture with "personality" but for a family picture that goes on my wall, I prefer a more traditional, everyone looking as the camera with a pleasant expression on their face, type picture.

Oh well if I can see Owen's leg, or that his smile is not a true representative of his usual big cheesy grin. I did end up in love with the color scheme, and still feel that these are about the most handsome boys ever, (yes, biased much!).

So Happy Mother's Day to me! (and the mothers in my life that will be receiving one of these as a gift!) :)

Did I Mention, Happy Birthday To ME!

2011-05-06T08:38:00.000-07:00

Yes, my 3rd annual 29th birthday came fast this year! It was a great time! I took my self and the boys out for breakfast (we love Einstein bagels) and lunch! My BFF took me out for pedicures and manicures (which Dave helped arrange). And I didn't have to clean up the dinner dishes! Amazingly enough I even got to blow out all my own candles.
I got phone calls and e-mails from so many people that I love, and thank you for thinking of me! So I guess that means I am another year wiser too right? Well. . . we'll see, lets be optimistic on that one! :)

Happy Easter!

2011-05-03T06:36:00.000-07:00

We had a fun Easter weekend. I love a good hunt in the desert. I grew up with my dads side of the family getting together for an Easter egg hunt by Yuba lake. We have many small traditions with in that tradition that makes me nostalgic for it every year!

This year we had a great hunt with my moms side of the family. It was in the desert, and a couple of times the eggs just weren't worth the pain to try and get, literally since some of the eggs fell into cactus', (cacti??). Owen got some thorns in his palm at one point, and after that all eggs were "too owey" to get.
There were a few of us pregnant this year, the two girls on the ends are my second cousins, the other is my first, the one who I always came to visit in the summer growing up and who introduced me to my husband. Aren't we the cutest beached whales you've ever seen. :) JK those girls look fab, that is just how I feel! (with 3 more months to go, yeah). FYI I think we are all having boys! (I am not sure about the one pink shirt, black pants, but the rest are boys).

Owen wanted to be in the picture! So he made it happen! He was such a ham at this party, he loves the attention he draws by going into shy kitty mode, then babbles on and on, and at one point I think he was even hand feeding a sweet grandma a cookie. Everyone put up with him well and he glowed in the spotlight. The older two spent most of their time at the near by play ground equipment.

On Sunday we had a yummy ham dinner with some friends, then another hunt in our back yard. Only this time it was of a spiritual nature. We had a good program, opening eggs that had the events of the last hours of Christ's life. I am loving how much these kids know of their Savior already! I love my Savior, and can't wait to see him again, with my whole family as was made possible, through his sacrifice, if we live by his words.

Hope everyone had a happy Easter!

Oh Isaac. . .

2011-04-27T08:47:00.000-07:00

I wanted to note some Isaacisms, he his the middle child and does seem to slip into the background sometimes. But he is such a special little guy, that I wanted to document some of his own little things, that make him, him.

Isaac fell asleep during conference, that kid won't go willingly, but I can usually arrange for him to nap when I need him to. I just make the house quiet and lay down on the couch, after a while he joins me and I get good snuggles from my big boy! :)
He woke up, but wasn't quite done napping apparently. He crawled into the small space between our couches and slept again for another half an hour.
Yes, that is a lizard, on his face. Dave was the camera man behind this shot, I might have not let it happen at all! :) Isaac has become quite the philanthropist. Wild Krats is a new show on PBS and is about the love of all things out doors. Isaac is now all about not killing any bug now. And loves to hold and get close to any creepy crawly thing, (more so then he used to).
Our preschool to a local fire station was a huge sucess! They even got to ride in the truck!
We have been on field trip to this station before when Seth was in his first year of preschool. These fire fighters are the nicest guys! The kids really got the royal treatment, and loved every minute of it!
S is for snake, and I is for igloo. just some of our fun preschool crafts. Isaac likes craft time, and regularly surprises me with his creativity! I love being his preschool teacher and seeing another side to him.
I really do love having boys, (I guess I'd better right!) These silly guys are full of love for mommy and funny quirks.

Names????

2011-04-01T12:24:00.000-07:00

Ok, so quick back story. Dave and I don't really have a hard time agreeing on names (so far, knock on wood), and we have also had the names of our children picked out before they were conceived. Seth, was easy, it's Dave's middle name, but during that pregnancy I fell in love with the name Isaac, and so our second son's name was a no brainer. Owen was on the list along with Seth, but got bumped when I fell in love with the name Isaac.

NOW. . . we have several names, after conception, and neither of us are passionate about them. I found about 25 names on line that I liked and presented them to Dave, he narrowed them down to 6 that he could live with and thats where we are stuck.

What I really want is for the name to "match" the names we have already chosen. That's where you come in, if you have a few moments and want to cast your vote as to what name FITS the best that would be great!

Here they are, (in no particular order): Evan, Noah, Beau, Dylan, Samuel, & Luke.

I Should Play Poker!

2011-03-28T19:10:00.000-07:00

Since the only thing that beats a Four of a Kind is a Straight, and Royal Flush, I'd say my odds are looking pretty good.

So I guess I will be returning the pink cowboy boots I bought at Target on clearance for $3, good thing I kept the receipt. But like I said we really are thrilled! With Owen and Isaac being a smother brother, when it comes to babies, it is a good thing it will be a tough little dude! :)

Didn't Dave do a great job telling us all, cute out fits, and blue ring pops!

More March Stuff

2011-03-25T12:13:00.000-07:00

We recently had 5 of our nieces and nephews while their parents did trek, (jealous). Isaac has always loved babies, and now that our baby Owen is big he still thinks big babies want or are willing to be held. Well this little sweety tolerated it one time pretty well as long as Isaac showed her a book, and it took 3 days to occur since Isaac is has more smother tactics then settle winning over ones. But is sure was cute while it lasted.
Speaking of CUTE. Argh! I swore I'd never be one of THOSE moms that were always telling other people their kids were cute, like other people needed convincing. But here I am, and I can't help it, but I will try to keep it to a minimum! :) Owen has for a while now, wanted to go potty. He says it with some regularity, and my reply (as someone who dreads potty training!), "you have a diaper on, so feel free!" Well thats not working anymore and this 2.3 yr old is insistant on removing his bottoms and sitting. He sat for a while yesterday night, and actually went (mostly) in the potty while watching BYU get beat yesterday. So we will see. Oh, so not ready for this!
And today, I mistakenly mentioned to Seth how crooked his bangs were from the last hair cut I gave him, and that I needed to fix them. Well he heads off somewhere and I think to say, "but only mommy cuts hair, right!?" Well I guess that was a little too subtle for him. The next time I see him (minutes later) he has cut his own bangs, and hid the evidence under the kitchen sink, since he did it in the kitchen with my good kitchen scissors.
So I tell him I need a picture to show daddy, (and blog about it) :) and then he has to get a short, short hair cut. It actually didn't turn out too bad, and since his hair grows like weed, I didn't cut it all as short as he did in front, a little gel and who knows, it might actually look presentable.

March Madness

2011-03-24T12:41:00.000-07:00

And I don't mean basketball. We have just had a crazy and fun March. I realized today that I don't just snap pictures of random cute things my kids do as much as I used to and I want to not miss precious moments because I was too lazy to document it. So. . . here are a few fun things. This is Isaac's first attempt to write his name. I started a preschool, and one thing I do is give them name tracing "homework" that is optional but as incentive they always get a sweet when they return it. I love this and can't wait to see it progress into something more legible! Last Sunday Seth was killing time (since church doesn't start until late afternoon). He dressed up as some random character from a show (I couldn't understand which), and wanted me to take several action shots similar to this one. It was best when he remembered to hike those socks up! And yes, those are socks on his hands as well.
And Oh, what can I say, this was just this morning. I had a breakfast burrito and had gotten distracted from clean up with laundry, (oh the life of a mom). The next thing I know Owen is in the front room, lathering his hands in sour cream and licking it off. As I started toward him, he of coarse headed for the couch, I admit I let out a cry/ scream that stopped him in his tracks and saved my couch from getting smeared the the white stuff. I then, I am sure, confused him by taking his picture with the evidence still in tact.
What fun! Looking forward to all that April brings! :) General Conference, and Easter to name a few!!!

4 Little Monkies

2011-03-21T09:26:00.001-07:00

Yep, on to number 4. Wish me luck!!! I am due Aug 14th, but will go about a week early for a cesarean section. We tried to find out gender last Thursday, but the little dear wasn't feeling cooperative. So in a week from today I will have the news. I am posting this late because we actually just told the fam. It was kinda fun to keep the secret to ourselves for a while, but it's even more fun now the cats out of the bag.

As you can imagine I get a lot of questions a long the lines of "are you hoping for a girl?" or people just assume I want a girl, after 3 boys. But truth be told, I would be so happy with another boy! It actually took me a while to warm up to the idea of having a girl (I had to when I was sure Owen was going to be one), but now I think can handle it (as I hear Cari the bb sitter from Incredibles in my head).

So come what may, we will be/ are so excited!

Side note, the picture in this post is what I e-mailed to Dave with the subject of "Any Questions?" Ha, ha! He was like, seriously!? Thats how you tell me? :) I thought is was funny anyway!

Have a great day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

2011-03-17T08:52:00.000-07:00

I actually don't know if I have any Irish blood or not, I think not, but that doesn't stop me from celebrating this holiday. :) We started with green pancakes this morning, (me and the 8 children under 11 at my house for the week end). I made sure we all were representing our green too.

Did you know the official color was originally blue, but over the years evolved to green? true story. St. Patrick was a Christian Missionary that went to Ireland, and they loved him so much they made him a saint after he died on March 17th. But that wasn't his first time in Ireland, he as captured from Britain by Irish raiders at age 16 and taken as a slave to Ireland for 6 years, and God told him how to escape, he did and joined the Catholic church as soon as he returned home.

Don't forget your green, or you might get pinched! This is an American tradition that got started because if you wore green the Leprechauns couldn't see you, since they pinch anyone they see not wearing green.

And if you think you are eating a traditional Irish meal when you sit down to your corned beef and cabbage meal, think again. The cabbage is traditionally eaten with Irish bacon (whatever that is), but poor Irish immigrants couldn't afford it so corned beef was the cheaper substitute picked up from Jewish immigrants.

Hope everyone is and will have a lucky day!

I Have A 6 Year Old!

2011-03-06T08:15:00.001-08:00

My first born turned 6 years old this Friday! Wow! It was love at first sight with this guy, and he still holds my heart! Here he is brand spankin' new in the hospital. I still remember being distraught that he scratched himself so early on. Oh the joys of a first time mom!

Our family with four month old Seth.

Not quite 1 yet, but I had to include this picture. This just says "Seth." He has always been a mama's boy, and does the sweetest things for me.

Seth's first Christmas.

Seth turns one! and has his first official taste of sweets. We generally hold off on all candy, cake, ect. . . till their first birthday when they are turned loose with a big old piece of cake. It's great every time!

Happy 2nd birthday Seth! Now he is a big brother too! Isaac was about 3 months old by now.

Seth turned 3 in Arizona.

At 4 he was a big boy in pre-school and had a new baby brother, Owen was 4 months old by now.

Always Mr. Personality, at 5 years old it is showing more and more.

Here he is today! Proud to be sporting his birthday crown, zebra mask, and buttoned up collared shirt, (which he insists upon!).

WE LOVE YOU SETH! Happy Birthday!

January Randomness

2011-02-28T08:04:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! We did go to a fun party, but it didn't get documented. All I can say is that it is a good thing we are two hours behind New York, or else I might never see the "ball drop."

As part of our resolutions, Dave bought the boys piggy banks, they get rewarded for certain things they may be struggling with. They love money so even if it's pennies, they feel rewarded!

A is for ant. One of the preschool crafts we've done. Isaac was pretty proud, this one actually lasted a couple of days.
And Seth's school celebrated their 100th day of school and the kids were encouraged to dress up as a 100 year old person. I tried for a comb over, what do you think? Cutest little young/old person I saw on campus. I may be biased though!

Christmas Round Two

2011-02-28T07:53:00.001-08:00

So since we went to UT for Christmas, not all the presents could go with us, but as you can see by the look on these boys faces, they didn't mind the surprise that awaited them when we got home.
We do have an enclosure that went on it but it had to wait since that day was soooooooooooooo cold and windy! We love being trampoline owners! I hope someday we will have a yard that we can bury it in.

Christmas Vacation (better late then never)

2011-02-06T09:30:00.000-08:00

There's no place like home for the holidays right, and the fact we got to play in snow made this Christmas extra special. Yes, we went to UT for Christmas this year. It was so fun, and just the right amount of cold. Right out of the car the boys got to get some energy out by "helping" Granddad cut up a big branch that fell in a recent storm. Are all children as obsessed with umbrellas as mine are?

Ah Owen, such a funny kid. He resorts to kitty mode when around new people or embarrassed. So here he is in kitty mode and moments latter he got down on all fours and proceeded to crawl through the gutter full of melted snow water.

Seth was in Heaven, I learned that to keep this kid happy just give him a big pile of snow, and a shovel!

Christmas Eve was off to a good start, especially for Owen who is in the stage of loving to be read to! Yeah for Grandma!

Then off to the slopes, or a hill with patches of snow for sledding fun. Too bad we didn't have any cherry flavored syrup since Owen we so keen on eating the snow.

Isaac took a minute to warm up to this activity, but leave it to Daddy to get him on a roll.

Speaking of Daddy :) Woo Woo!

But Seth needed no encouragement. He hit the slopes running and never looked back.

After a yummy family dinner (too bad I was too busy stuffing my face to take any pictures!) a new tradition for us, leaving a note and plate of goodies for Santa, commenced. Courtesy of Seth, Santa knew exactly what he wanted for Christmas. Translation:

Dear Santa, I would like sword that turn purple, and blue from K-mart. Thank you Seth.

His wording and idea to give Santa the exact description. :) I am so proud.

Then we had some reindeer food to leave for Santa's hard working reindeer.

You can image Santa's plate wouldn't last long if left unattended!

Good morning, and Merry Christmas. The long night is over (not so long for some of us over 5 years old!). The traditional waiting to sing 'We Wish You A Merry Christmas' to Grandma and Granddad dressed in bed is about to commence, then on to present opening!

Yeah, Santa came through!

For all of us!

The other request for Santa: Pillow Pets. And again Santa delivers.

We had a great Christmas, hope you all did too!

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-22T08:12:00.000-08:00

Our full of personality Christmas Card Photo! :) to be honest, the fact that I looked ok (a side from looking a little cone head-ish) was a big part of choosing this particular photo. The main reason though was that I wanted to get my cards/ letters out by the 5th and already had this photo from our family home evening night at the Mesa Temple lights. (if you want to be on the mailing list let me know). I love Christmas cards!

From our family to yours, Merry Christmas!!!

And a Happy New Year!

Stole The Show

2010-12-10T12:28:00.000-08:00

Well Seth had his first Elementary program last night, yes, same day as Isaac's birthday, but we made it swing. Anyway back to Seth, oh my. Words cannot describe! They sang a bunch of Christmas and Holiday songs for all faiths. It was great, but the best part was a feliz navidad number.

The kids where supposed to dance the whole way through, and Oh MY!!! Seth stole the show! No really, I wouldn't be surprised if I found it on u tube. Seth had the moves! At first it was just us laughing, then we realized more and more people where laughing with us. Seth was doing the role, and some karate moves, and shaking his hips. It rocked, I was crying, I was laughing so hard!
He later got a chance to play a pretend ukalali. He was such a good boy! I asked his teacher, who recorded the show, if I could have a copy, in her reply I found out he made quite the impression during the morning performance too! People kept asking who the kid in the green vest was! If I can find a way to down load it, I will definitely share the link!

So Merry Christmas everyone and Feliz Navidad!

Isaac Turns 4

2010-12-10T11:51:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Isaac's Birthday Party. Now a big 4 year old! He had quite the birthday bash! We played a little pin the tail on the donkey, and musical chairs and balloon games, ate some pizza and cake and just had a crazy fun time! Isaac was tail number 2 if you can see it, the one on the donkey's back.

Before we played musical chairs we had a bit of a pep talk, and we all greed that if we didn't get a chair and got "out" we were not going to be sad, well easier said then done for the birthday boy. He is happy now because he basically cheated to win, and this is round 2. Round one he got out and threw a fit! Yikes, it was his party though and I guess he figured he could cry if he wanted to! I love the crazed look in his eyes, he was going to win no matter the cost! The kid behind was the legitimate winner of both rounds! What a good sport!

Then of coarse CAKE! I love how all the kids in the back ground are mentally helping to blow out the candles! I totally coped out and bought a cake, never done that, and will never again! Yikes, way too much money for some flour and sugar, but I couldn't find my hand mixer and then spent my time doing other things. Oh well, it was a big hit.

Thank you Grandma & Granddad! They are so on the ball to have a present in the mail, my kids love to get 1) mail, and 2) presents! So double yeah! Here Isaac is trying to show us how old he is and smile at the same time. It proved to be a bit of a challenge.

And thank you Great Grandma Darlene for the card! The cash is always exciting too! Speaking of on the ball! Great Grandma has tons of grandkids and great grandkids, but always gets a card in the mail! We love you!

I do look forward to when Owen is older and we can combine parties! But what a great time! And what a silly sweet boy this guy is, Love you Is! (our nick name for him is 'eyes').

Look Who's Two!!!

2010-12-08T08:22:00.001-08:00

Yeah, two! Wow, my baby is not so much a baby any more. He is a big boy with toddler-tude! We did have a great party though, I didn't go all out on a cake since Owen only eats the frosting off the top, so I made his name out of melted chocolate, added a candle (or two) and we were set!

He tollerated the pictures well enough, but would have preferred to just eat cupcake frosting and play with his new toys.
I took Seth & Isaac to Dollar Tree to pick out their presents to him, and gave very little guidance on what they chose. This horse no longer lives with us as a result of that, it became a weapon then lost an eye, and got a bad case of broken stick. But at least he had some fun with it, oh not really actually, Owen never like it much. I think by the look in his eyes he knew no good could come of this thing!
But this horse, the one you can barley see in his right hand, the one I picked out, I knew he would love! And he did! And thank you Great-Grandma Darlene for your card!!!

And Thank you Grandma and Granddad, for your present! Owen had some "help" playing with these, but loves them.

So yeah for a great party, and a great little boy! We love you buddy look forward to lots more adventures!

New Bed

2010-12-08T07:48:00.000-08:00

Well Owens antics got him a big boy bed. Owen has always been such a great sleeper, then one night out of the blue he learned to climb out of his crib and there was no keeping him in! As you can see we tried. He is mocking me right now! See that smug little grin, "ha ha mom! I will be getting out of my bed till 2 am tonight!" And he did.

So the next day, the crib went away, and he got the mattress on the floor while I painted his toddler bed. It took a little getting used to, staying on the mattress, and in his room. Nothing a little switch-a-roo with the door knob can't fix!

But he's got the hang of it now! Oh I love to kissthat face!!!

Something New!

2010-11-10T13:14:00.000-08:00

For a long time now I have not loved my options for pre-school out here in Chandler, sooo. . . I decided to do my own.

Introducing: Red Letter Day Pre-School, where every day with your child is special.

Since Isaac's last pre-school operated in sessions, I am not taking him back instead I am starting my pre-school mid year. Every Tuesday and Thursday from 9am to 11am, look for a link to it's own blog on the side of my family blog.

More details to come as I finalize my curriculum etc. . . but in the mean while give me a call if you are looking for a pre-school!

--Julie

or soon to be Mrs. J.

Heck Of A Halloween

2010-11-03T09:07:00.000-07:00

We had a great Halloween! It seemed to be 3 days long, (maybe because it was!). It started with pumpkin carving at Seth's school. I could bring my other kiddos since it was out side in the court yard. It was pretty fun, I love seeing Seth in his school element. Isaac loves going to Seth's school too. There are turtles in a big tank in the class room that he is infatuated with and tortes' outside the classroom in a little fenced in area. I lost track of him a couple of times, but knew right where to look first!

This is Seth's teacher, we love her. Seth wanted a vampire pumpkin, he drew the eyes, and Isaac drew the nose. I cut it all out.

We left Seth at school and got Isaac and Owen changed into their costumes and headed to Isaac's pre-school carnival at the city center. We met up with friends and had a great time.

This is one of Isaac's two teachers. All the activities were pretty much carnival games designed for 2-4 year olds. Everyone's a winner, and when you win you get a handful of candy. Wow! I could smell the sugar a mile away, since no one is just handing out one piece at a time.

Then later that same day we went back to the city center after dinner for a family affair. It was kinda lame, but we went with friends and the kids loved running wild in the wide open spaces. Unless you were Owen who decided to roam in the crowed with people spaces and away from our sight for about 4 minutes! We didn't panic, but it was not a fun feeling! Thankfully Dave found him, he had been being trailed by a kind man noticing a baby alone and making sure he got reconnected with mom and dad. Thankful for the blessing we decided it was about time to go.

The boys got their faces painted. Seth wanted that symbol all over his face but the line was long so we cut him off. Isaac described what he wanted by drawing in the air with his finger. The cute little teenager that was there didn't skip a beet and suggested it was a square with fast lines from behind. Isaac must have thought that sounded pretty good and readily greed to that design.

Oh, the good ol' days. NOT really. I am perfectly content with the stage of life I am in now, but glad to have been able to put my old cheer outfit to use after all these years. These costumes were inspired by Dave. It just so happens the Cardinals jersey he ordered weeks ago came in at work today, and he didn't feel like being nerds, so . . . .

On Saturday Dave and I went to the Temple and then made sure the kids had naps to be ready for our wards trunk or treating. The 3 wards that attend our building all combined trunk or treating efforts so it was a big crowd. We brought the truck and portable dvd player, so after the kids were done trunk or treating they sat in the back of the truck with a movie. We gathered quite the crowd. I didn't have my camera, but it was perfect to have the kids contently corralled!

On Sunday, the actual day of Halloween, we relaxed and handed out candy, rather Seth handed out candy. Then we slipped out to deliver my treats for my Visiting Teach-ees. Lame I know last day of the month, but they were so cute, I think it made up for it right! :)

So now now the marathon Halloween is over we are looking forward to hosting Thanksgiving, Yeah! Then CHRISTMAS!!! Double Yeah! Happy Holidays everyone!

Kinda Cute

2010-11-01T14:02:00.001-07:00

Owen and Isaac are starting to play pretty good together on occasion, here they are doing their impression of men in black, or men in jamies and sunglasses We were having fun and did some pre- Halloween pictures. Owen did not end up being the clown, even thought I loved it. The mini me Seth Super hero was easier.

Stay tuned for the real deal of a crazy Halloween weekend.

RAGNAR

2010-10-28T13:12:00.000-07:00

Yes I did another Ragnar, this one was in Las Vegas and this time I hand picked most everyone on my team. My dear husband even came, not only came but saved the day by running the hardest leg out of 36 legs!!! What a man! Funny coincidence that the other 4 friends (also married couples) in our van (van 2) had almost identical names, not confusing at all! (lie) But it was so fun, I think I burned more calories laughing then I did running!

Aren't these Girls gorgeous! Our Van was decked out in Ragnar style, we were very proud. :) Our Team was "Aching Up To Vegas" and the other van (van 1) was put together by Dave's brother, Shane (an experienced marathoner). Needless to say van 1 was slightly faster then ours. We were sad not to get to spend more time with them, but I guess that's what happens when you get 12 people with busy lives to get back to. You may have noticed the clip board in my hands, thats because I was team captain, kind of a head ache, but I was very proud of our team, and would do it again!

It was pretty cool that Dave & Shane got to pass to each other. Great photo op! Here is our whole group minus Dave, since he just got started on his las leg, (6 miles up hill, 4 miles down). We are smiling so big for 3 reasons, 1)Van 1 just finished their last run, and we are getting on with ours, and 2) our photographer was cracking jokes, 3) we are all going on next to no sleep for the last 24 hours, which made us a bit slap happy! We ended up coming in 112th out of 257, not too bad right! I even got a second medal for running 2 Ragnar's in 1 year. It was a great experience, one I plan to repeat in the future. After the running part was over, we tried to all meet at a Vegas buffet, (after a heavenly shower of coarse), but that didn't work out. So we said our good byes to van 1 and pigged out as van 2. We laughed and ate, and if you were Dave, fell asleep at the table. I was afraid I was going to have to carry him home so we went back to the hotel. We did church the next day in a Henderson ward building my cousin attends and enjoyed their primary program. Then home! If you ever have a desire to stretch your self to the limit and have a great time with friends while doing it, you should try a Ragnar!

Zoo Day

2010-10-27T15:25:00.000-07:00

I got to go to the Phoenix Zoo during Seth's Fall break with a few of our new friends. It was a good time. I love the zoo! I think my kids love it just as much. It was much cooler then it had been but did reach 100 degrees that day.
I can't wait to go back! I learned my lesson, bring tons of food and the day will go much smoother. Yeah for snacks.

AAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. . .

2010-10-11T15:16:00.000-07:00

I hope you heard angelic voices singing in a chior, because that is what I hear when ever I open my coat closet door and see her, yes Gloria is the newest addition to our family, and I love her!

"Weird!" you may say that I named my vacuum, but I hope that by treating her right she will want to stay with us a long, long time! Plus I am just a little childish like that. :) If anyone is wondering, YES! I would recommend a Dyson. :)

It's About Time

2010-10-05T13:58:00.001-07:00

It's about time I posted our camping trip over Labor Day. We uncharacteristically went Sat. thru Monday. But it was a great time for sure! The boy totally dig sleeping in a tent with sleeping bags!
Owen pretty much looked like this the entire time! I tried, but when a little boy actually enjoys the taste of dirt, and you only have so many wipes, whats a mom to do?
We arrived Sat. afternoon in time to set up camp and make lunch. On the way up we got the camp table I have wanted for a while now yeah! It makes a world of difference having a convenient working space!

On Sunday we had some breakfast over the fire. Hashbrown, ground turkey, and egg casserole. I gotta say my camping cooking skill are improving for sure! But then again, everything has always tasted better in the mountains.
Then we had a short little devotional. With so much around us to distract the little ones, it had to be short and sweet. But it was sweet. Moments like that are always ones to treasure. Then we went on a little hike on a paved trail at the edge of the Mogollon Rim. BE-U-TI-FUL!!! I admit I still don't see much of the so called "desert beauty" of AZ, but this, well you can't argue with the beauty of this!

We were glad to have our first aid kit with us. While out exploring the great outdoors and gathering as many creepy, crawly things the boys could find. They found an old fallen log full of the bees that plagued our camp since we got there. Poor Isaac got the brunt of it with two stings. He was pretty brave though!

At some early point I realized that I had accidentally packed two left shoes. Oops! Thankfully Dave packed an extra pair of running shoes. I hate when I do dumb things like that! But if a couple of bee stings and wrong shoes are ever the worse to happen then yeah! On Monday we wanted to have some fun before facing traffic so we headed down to the lake. Bear Canyon Lake was a short hike down hill from our camp site. We brought lunch, and random entertainment. Dave and I swam, Seth jumped in too, but it was too cold for him so he high tailed it out and that was all she wrote for his swimming in the lake. They caught tiny fish, and crawdads to their hearts content. Seth was willing to carry those big bowls full of water back up the mountain so he could take them home. We some how convinced him they should stay here with their families.

Back up the hill, packed up camp and headed for home. Needless to say the boys crashed out in minutes, and it almost lasted through the nightmarish traffic! But thats when I say thank heavens for portable DVD players!!!

It was so fun and a great family bonding time! Next step. . . trailer. :)

Happy October!!!

2010-10-01T07:10:00.001-07:00

I love this time of year! It is getting cooler, the holidays are around the corner, I feeling like crafting round the clock, and there is plenty of inspiration. I crave soup and hot sandwiches this time of year and there is lots for the kiddos to be excited about! Here is some of the fun fall crafts I have been occupying my time with lately. YEAH for FALL!

BTW

2010-09-26T20:11:00.000-07:00

Did I mention it was our 10th anniversary last Tuesday? Well it was. Too bad Dave had to be out of town for work. Other than that it was great. Wow 10 years. I will get pictures later, I want professional ones. We need our whole family represented on our living room wall once and for all, any photographer friends around that have a fast enough shutter speed for my little kiddos? Let me know if you are up for the challenge.

Good Times

2010-09-22T09:28:00.000-07:00

I used to love climbing the walls in my house when I was young, so I totally encouraged them to climb away, while I snapped away with the camera. I have to admit I actually tried to climb again too, but have decided those days are definitely behind me.
I had to share the picture I enjoyed for a month or so as my desktop. I love this silly baby with a quick smile. He is the one now that will say "hi" to passers-by, and try, try again if they don't acknowledge him. But be warned if you catch him in a bad mood he will most likely say "Oh-aye" (go away).
Love, LOVE these boys!

August Randomness

2010-09-13T14:28:00.000-07:00

We love Grandma! We have set in stone one day a month that she comes out for dinner and the boys love it. She pays them just the right amount of attention, and if Owen would allow, there would be more hugs involved too! Seth charms her like crazy, I have to say it might be a special talent of his!

Seth, who is not naturally photogenic I'm afraid, is getting so good at writing. He likes it too, he is now asking how to spell things and will draw and label sweet pictures for me that usually involve me and him and how much he loves me!
I have high hopes that Isaac and Owen will one day be the best of pals, but for now Isaac changes between smother brother and Owens tormentor. But to keep me sane, at least they have their moments.

Well here in AZ there has been a welcome break in the hot weather. It's down right cool in the mornings now! Yeah! Which makes training for a 194 mile, 12 person relay race a lot nicer. We each have 3 legs to run that vary between about 3 to 7 miles each. Dave and I are doing it together, really looking forward to it!

The family in general is good, Dave's serving in YM, and I serve in Activity Days. Dave's commute is great, and living "in town" does have it's advantages. We have a fun family vacation planned soon and I will post soon about our camping excursion over Labor day. Isaac will start preschool this week and is so ready, he changes into this whole new serious Isaac when school is involved, I think he is going to surprise us, by showing us a different side of Mr. teaser guy! Now that fall is here all I want to do is get my craft on, and make soup.

Take care and Happy Fall!

Kindergarten Here We Come!

2010-07-28T12:09:00.001-07:00

Wow, I can hardly believe the time has come to officially send my guy out into the world. It is exciting and scary all at once! I could not get a good smile to save my life here, but I still think he looks cute! (prejudiced much? YES!)

Isaac would not admit it but I know he will miss his big bro! He will admit to being a bit jealous however, he is always saying he is five and should go to school now!

We live pretty dang close to school, which I love, I always envisioned walking my kids to school every day and now I can! But apparently I need to remember I have longer legs as I am always being asked to slow down, or wait up! :)

All smiles as mom is getting ready to leave. So far my kids have not had much by way of separation anxiety (knock on wood). And the time has come for me to walk away. Yes, I did get emotional, but I had sunglasses on so it was discrete. So many worries to calm and prayers to be said! It is cute that every day our routine is still different and Seth seems surprised that he gets to go back to kindergarten again. Love you Buddy!

Family Time

2010-07-28T12:08:00.000-07:00

Happy to be out of the summer heat, and into the dirt! We "hiked" (and I use the term very loosely since it was only 1 1/2 mile round trip), up to Mt Orr. It was a beautiful view up there, and we had some fun firsts for all of us along the way.

Fun first: a happy baby in the back pack the whole way, even right before he conked out, he was happy.
Fun first: seeing a horny toad the size of this sucka' we have seen them before once or twice, which is always a nice treat since they are endangered, but not one this big. I literally almost stepped on it, I stopped only when what I thought was another rock moved out from under my foot, then Dave caught it with ease, they are so slow, which maybe explains why they are endangered.
Ahhh, lunch time. Nothin beats PB and J in mountains!
No, thats not the bird, it was bunny ears, you just can't see my other finger! But moms lame gesture a side, didn't our photographer Seth do a great job with this picture!
Fun first: seeing about a zillion lady bugs all together. There were piles upon piles of these bugs! They were also all over the walls of the utility equipment rooms up there, seriously zillions! Dave found a few stowaways at home on him, I guess thats what you get for practically rolling in them, j/k, and I found a lone lady bug in my house 3 days later!

All that on the wall that isn't white wall, are clusters of lady bugs. Ranger Rob (who lives up there), said around this time of year you practically need a head net to keep from breathing them.

Yeah, we climbed that thing, kids and all. Was Dave a bit of a basket case, yes!
The view from Ranger Rob's forest fire look out station, awesome right. He had a bunch of binoculars and topographical maps. He was happy to see kids, he said he doesn't see them much up here, (I'm guessing it's either because they are too intimidated by the height of the tower, or they're parents are, it's pretty up there!). We got a bunch of Smokey the bear, don't play with matches stuff! :)
So fun, and still had time to come home and have a little date night, what a great day!!!

Girls Camp

2010-07-26T10:48:00.001-07:00

Well I was so excited to get the call to go to girls camp with the fourth years this June. We first camped at Blue Ridge Reservoir for 2 nights then on to main camp with our wards at Lo Mia in Payson, AZ. I got to go with a friend in my ward who serves in WY's. And made more friends at camp. I am such a photographer looser, and am relying on the pictures of others to document it! But it was an amazing experience, one I hope to repeat some day!

This is the female leaders two of which were in my ward, there is Vickigene, (head honcho), me, Holly (YW stk pres. & in my ward), Jessica (friend in my ward), and Raygene.

We had a great time and experienced some great spiritual moments!!! I loved it and can't wait to do it again, or trek with any luck!

~Julie

B-Day & Fathers Day

2010-07-26T09:31:00.000-07:00

I have to say if it weren't for his wife abandoning him on his birthday to go to girls camp and the big rushed move, June would have been pretty sweet for Dave! We had a party before, I asked his sweet sister who had our kids while I was at camp, to do a little something for Dave on his actual day, and we had a friends swim party after his b-day. Here is the family party before, there is plenty of helpers when it comes to blowing out candles

Yeah cake!
So I have to say this razor rocks! I nailed it with this gift! :) He had other gifts on his actual day, like a binder I put together for him of all the letters he wrote me while on his mission. For fathers day he got a couple ties that the boys picked out. We sure are glad that this great man is in our lives!
Dave at Priesthood Encampment for a whole week! We missed him, but he had a great time and and sure does miss those guys!

Preschool Grad

2010-07-26T09:17:00.000-07:00

Seth is done with pre-school. His graduation was. . . cute. He was in line with his buddy and they pretty much goofed off the whole time he was supposed to be singing song that showed how much he had learned. But we are proud of how much he retains and his story telling skills are the best, he's got on great imagination! Thanks Mrs. Amy! & Good job Buddy! We LOVE you!

May Days

2010-07-23T15:09:00.001-07:00

I just thought daddy and son time doing dishes was so cute! I know Fathers day was in June, but I'll just take this post to say these boys are pretty darn blessed to have the daddy they do! He loves them to pieces, and plays with them and is such a great example to them.

Owen "dancing" he will hear any jingle and all I have to say is "dancy dancy," and he wiggles and shakes in the funniest ways! I love it!
Isaac and Seth were having such a blast slip n' sliding with their dad. Owen was nervous, so he was with me on the other side of the camera the whole time.
Seth would either slide like this or post like this at the end of the ride. I guess he thought that was a cool pose, and wanted to be ready for his close-up! :)
Times like this that I see these two can actually be in close vicinity with out a rumble breaking out are like breaths of fresh air!

Van Cott Family Reunion

2010-06-27T21:25:00.000-07:00

Here we are! We had what every mother dreams of. A family reunion with all the kids, spouses, grand kids etc. . . It was a fun 3 day trip to a cabin. I got to read a book while my kids played to their hearts content! We are not far from there being to many of us to do this anymore, but it is fun while it lasts!

In The Hot Seat

2010-06-03T21:05:00.000-07:00

Well my guys recently had their first dental appointment. And right off the bat I am please to announce NO CAVITIES for either boy! Seth was all bubbling over with excitement as you can see. He loved the shades he got to wear, but the assistant had to keep telling him to open big like a tiger and to not lick her fingers inside his mouth. Ha ha!
Isaac on the other hand. . . Not so much excited as. . . um. . . cautious, I guess. He was fully cooperative after a short declaration of 'I not get pictures of my teeth." But he would not take his eyes off the assistant. Making sure she wasn't about to pull out a needle or something I guess.
I love his hands positioning. I think I hold my hands like that subconsciously when I am at he dentist too.
These are two different days. But both days were great fun for me as a mom. I love being front and center when my kids experience a first! And in my books, going to the dentist is a big one!

Check It!

2010-05-27T15:52:00.001-07:00

I totally just made this. I have been thinking a lot about the talk Elder Uchtdorf gave about our need to create to help keep us happy, since it's in our nature. Well I was inspired by this necklace. It was quick and easy and now I am hooked and want to make more. HERE is the link that will teach you how to do it, if you are so inclined, (if you are it would make me happy to hear about it! hint, hint). And HERE is the link for the awesome talk given by Pres. Uchtdorf.

Desk Top

2010-05-25T09:04:00.000-07:00

This is my desk top back ground at the moment and I thought I would share it will all of you. This is Isaac's true personality, but as of lately he is going through a rough stage of naughtiness. He is my sweet little guy struggling to decide if he wants to stay that way or be a big boy, which appears to result in inner turmoil and outer rebellion. I think he will come out if it ok, but in the mean time I just need pictures like this (that he posed himself) to remind me of how sweet he really is, (even if he doesn't show it as much as he used to).

Goblin Valley

2010-05-18T16:32:00.000-07:00

One of the highlights of our trip to Utah for the family reunion was an excursion to Goblin Valley. To say it was windy the day we went is like saying Hades is kinda hot. It was a dang sand storm the whole time. But it was a very cool place, one I would love to visit again under better weather conditions!!!

Who knew Seth was a mountain goat, I thought all along my kids were related to the monkey species. Fun times, but never before have I appreciated a good loooooong shower!

Family Picture Attempted

2010-05-13T06:22:00.000-07:00

Not in love with it, but it did it's job. I will however be re-doing as soon as time allows. I do love the outfits though! Thanks to Lisa for taking these!

Happy 30th To Me

2010-05-11T11:00:00.001-07:00

Yeah, Happy Birthday to me. Thanks to all my friends who thought of me, (and made me cakes!). I had a great day, and got just what I wanted, a big mirror from Ikea, and surprise from Dave, a new camera, you may remember us driving over our last one recently.We had already eaten the cake before I opened my camera. Isn't it a yummy looking ice cream cake! 30 wasn't hard for me. It's just a number I guess, and I still feel young-ish :)

Easter Sunday

2010-05-11T09:53:00.001-07:00

Welcome to April in Utah! I hate to say we were terribly unprepared for the cold snowy weather! And my poor boys didn't get near enough snowman time because of it. But we still had brief moments of fun in it, and enjoyed the white scenery.An indoor egg hunt for eggs containing thoughts and scriptures of the true meaning of Easter were just as fun to find as the candy.
Then we ruined Owens peace by bringing out the bunny who sang here comes Peter Cotton Tail, while jumping toward you. Poor baby!
But all better now, thanks Daddy!
After what little of conference we were able to hear, we headed off to visit Uncle Shane in his new house. Sorry about the craziness Shane, but good memories, right?

Unfortunately this is when I left my camera on the truck and we ran over it backing out of the drive way. So this concludes the pictures of our family reunion until I get my hands on my siblings pictures. :)

Hope you all had a great Easter!

Easter Saturday

2010-05-11T09:38:00.001-07:00

We had a great time kick starting my family reunion with the annual easter egg hunt with extended family! For the first time in a LONG time all of my siblings were there. The boys definitely got their fill of candy that day, and I got my traditional picture with my Grandma. I was so happy to be there talking and being with my family I didn't get pictures until the boys got their buckets out, o-well, I hope others will share theirs! (hint, hint)

All Most Caught Up!

2010-04-27T10:38:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the blogging overload, but I finally got my camera to down load all my pictures. Only March and April to go!

What ELSE Keeps Me Busy

2010-04-27T10:11:00.000-07:00

Cub Scouts! Yeah, I love Cub Scouts. Yes, it can be A LOT of work, and yes it can take up A LOT of precious time. BUT when you develop a relationship where you are in a position to help and guide those boys closer to being good men, it's worth it. These are the ladies I get to work with. I feel really lucky to have them, they are the best den mothers you could ask for!
I look forward to when I have cubbies! :)And Running, which I admit has taken a back seat lately, unfortunately. But for a while and again very soon, I got out there with my good friend regularly. Her 11 yr old son watched my guys and we hit the pavement generally 3 times a week about 5-7 miles at a time.
It was out running for exercise with her that made it possible for me to be ready when my Bro. in law asked if I could be a substitute for his relay team of 12 for the Ragnar race. Some one backed out and gave her spot to me, I was glad to be able to do it. It was so fun, even though running every 6 hours, and not sleeping well in hotels as your team shares the 203 mile coarse does not sound like my normal idea of fun!
Here I am about to start my 2nd leg. First two legs were about 3.5 miles, and my last leg ended up being 7 miles, by mistake. Kind of a long story. But tons of fun and good exercise, I think I was hungry for 3 days straight after that though! It was funny to see a sea of white 13 passenger vans and crazy costumes of themed teams. I would do this again in a heart beat, provided I am not pregers, oh and speaking of kids thanks again Jenny for watching mine! (on your birthday no less!)

Most of the team.

Fun With Boys

2010-04-27T09:54:00.000-07:00

Getting a new (to us) entertainment center meant out with the old, which spells like this to the boys: T-O-Y. They spent lots of time in and on this thing before we finally gave it to a neighbor and begged them to sell it in their yard sale. Phew, glad it's gone!Oh Isaac, what can you say? I thought the scissors were out of reach and left his side for a few seconds. Well he wasted no time taking a big chunk of hair out, sweet! But I didn't have the heart to buzz it so we just cut it a little shorter and with in two more hair cuts there will be not trace! But look at those eys, how much trouble do you think he got in? When I got back he immediately says (like he does when he knows there is no way out of trouble) "I'm so sorry mommy!"
A regular occurrence, I just wanted to document it. He fights bedtime almost every night.

December Delights

2010-04-22T20:48:00.000-07:00

Okay, so call me Scrooge, but we didn't end up getting our tree out and decorated until the 19th. We were busy with new callings and I just didn't feel like fighting the "don't touch that" battle. But as you can see we eventually got it out and since I pretty much didn't really care, since they boys were going to "touch that" anyway they truly did 100 Percent of the decorating. It was really cute! They got so into it, and it took them quite a bit of time. I do hope that we can have a bit bigger of a tree next year. I got my stocking hanger that I have wanted for ever, and love it!
Owen didn't know any better so he kinda got hosed in the gift department, but wasn't he so cute! :)
One of our favs! The boys played with this rocket for a long time, we all did, it was great. But now (4 months later), as you may have guessed. It is no more. Good thing it didn't cost too much. But we did join the ranks of being a Wii family. That is still very much with us and still as played with as ever.
Christmas afternoon we went on a hike with Dave's oldest sister and her family. They live close, and like to get out like we do! It was great fun and good exercise. We later had a ham diner with the same group which ended the day just right!

December Business

2010-04-22T20:23:00.000-07:00

Seth found a new best friend, I think it was only recently he stopped talking about Santa this and Santa that. Seth got to meet the big guy, or one of his helpers, up close at his pre-school performance. It was cute, but my kid apparently is not cut out for show biz. He stood in the back and occasionally let us know he actually knew the songs they had learned for weeks by throwing out a line or two once in a while. But he was all over those candy canes and Santa!Yeah for Grandma Lavick. Bless her heart! I wish Owen felt like holding still more to receive the love Grandma craves to dish out. She is a sweet and very attentive, loving Grandma, and we love her back.
Oh, yeah. . . caught RED handed. I wish it would have been a little less red, but what can you do. I was gone and Isaac decided to paint his nails like he had seen his mommy do before she left, and like a foolish mommy I didn't put my polish back under lock and key rather on my bathroom counter, open invitation for trouble right! Well when I got home and descovered the dirty deed, I jumped on line and read hair spray, alcohol and polish remover were my best bet. It actually did a decent job but the scrubbing was intense and my carpet fibers will never be the same. But I had to try since the spot was directly in front of my bedroom door.

What's New?

2010-04-22T15:54:00.000-07:00

(even though it's old news now, I am still trying to catch up)
First of all we got fish in December, we didn't really plan on it but Grandpa Bob offered, and we said sure, so here they are. Thanks Grandpa Bob!And Owen got his first hair cut. He had a habit of pulling out his hair and sucking his thumb when he was sleepy, he liked hair on his thumb to suck (only his left hand thumb). So we had to buzz the poor little guy. He had 2 bald patches, and since I am writing this post 4 months later I am happy to report he does not pull his hair any more. But he will find hair on the floor or where ever, and wrap it around his thumb and suck. Hmmm, little weird, should I be worried?
Also this picture portrays the obsession he had with his tongue for a short time. I loved it! He'd always be doing some thing with is tongue or making some funny face.
And lights on our house for the first Christmas season (even though this was our 2nd Christmas in our house). I was sad when a wind storm blew off the entire top strand, Dave workd hard risking life and limb! So I had to add green wreaths with red bows to all the out side light fixtures. It looked pretty good, but I'd take lights over greenery any day!

Happy Birthday Isaac!

2010-04-22T15:24:00.000-07:00

(Late post, Isaac turned 3 in Dec. '09)
I Love how this picture shows Isaac's level of concentration to formulate his cute little fingers into three up two down. There it is, it was so cute he actually worked on this for a while and would ask me to put his fingers the right way then he'd stare at them to make sure he could duplicate it!
We have invented a new policy, since it seemed Dave was working late or going to school or mutual on the night of any given birthday, we now have a fun day, but the actual party with cake and presents on the Friday after. This didn't stop us from blowing out candles on the pizza box though, good practice right! I liked it better this way anyway because we didn't have any flying spit landing on our food!
On Party day Isaac wanted a monster cake, I have to say the cake did look pretty scary! But Isaac loved it, and that's what matters.
Our good friends helped us celebrate! We miss them since they don't live less then two miles away anymore. Darn "in town" folks!
Isaac can be a complicated little guy, he loves mischief and snuggles. He'll rebel then ask for loves after discipline. He will sneak and be destructive, then be the best little helper ever. He has many sides to his big personality, and keeps me on my toes all the time. We love him and will hold him tight as long as he'll let us!

Up Date

2010-02-15T13:45:00.000-08:00

The update is that my camera is still taking a hiatus from cooperating with my computer, I think they are in a fight! So here are just some random happenings from our family. So to all of you following the Isaac and gum saga, it took a turn for the worse two Sundays ago. I am sure you can see where I am going with this, but on the way to primary I told Isaac to spit out the gum we gave him (color: white) as bribery for good behavior in Sacrament meeting, which did, but was still chewing something, (color: blue). I realized he had simply traded his for someone elses' while I was side tracked in the hall. So YUCK and what can you do?

Back to the Holiday Season, since I have yet to post about it. Our Christmas was GREAT, but what else could it be. I have tried and will keep trying to cut out unnecessary business and keep only what works for our family in order to keep as close to the true meaning as we can. So through trial an error I realized I will not cut neighbor treats again but some other things will be getting the boot for sure!

Our Christmas Eve gathering was fun. We got together with friends in the ward, there was ham involved! :) The highlight for the kids might have been the heated spa, but I enjoyed the scripture/ songs to bring in the spirit of the season! Got to bed at a decent hour and slept through the night. This is the night Dave lets me leave the lights on all night. For some reason I think it helps me sleep better, even if it was only on the bottom level of our house thanks to a huge wind storm that undid all of Dave's hard work! O-well, next year!

We enjoyed a family day on Christmas with yummy Breakfast casserole, presents, playing with presents, hiking with cousins, and dinner with our hiking companions! Great day, great holiday!

Not sorry to say the house got cleaned up of all decorations the next day, and we got on with busy life as usual! we treated our selves to an entertainment center via Craigs list, and spent the next few weeks spray painting it black. It is now in an looks good if I do say so myself. Fun New Years parties. Too much good food! Although I was able to maintain instead of gain thanks to my diligent running partner!

January was a blur! Now Seth is ever so patiently waiting for his birthday to come! Valentines day has never been a big production around here. But it was nice to go to a ward Dinner and dance party, where Dave and I took second (to last) place out of 5 couples in a newly wed type game. It was funny though and the newest of the newly weds were the ones that won, so good for them!

Pictures will come when my camera and computer decide to get along! Until then, I am craving a craft again so if any of you have done something cute/ easy lately let me know!

Soooooo Reverent!

2010-01-30T20:40:00.000-08:00

I think any mother could be proud at this Sunbeams reverence. It's even still January! Yeah all joking a side, this is Isaac, sleeping. He was OUT!!! It was pretty funny, thanks Kelts for getting the picture!

Another funny story about my Sunbeam: I asked his teacher how he is doing, she says fine but. . . :) Apparently every week the class before his some one throws gum a way in the garbage. And every week Isaac is drawn to it "like a moth to the flame" (her words), and picks it out and says "look, Yucky gum!" I just know one day he'll be chewing something when I pick him up then I'll be the one saying "Yucky gum!!!"

Dave Graduated!

2010-01-20T18:09:00.000-08:00

On Dec 18th I got a baby sitter, and headed into Mesa, Dave and I met up somewhere by ASU and drove closer to campus together, as you can see Seth got to come with. The other two boys would not have appreciated it, and would have cut down on the amount of appreciation we had as well so they got to play with a babysitter at home. Many of Dave's family were there and we all screamed to our hearts content as Daddy passed us by! It was a great (only semi- to long) ceremony. We all met at a restaurant and ate dinner afterward and called it a day. It did feel like some kind of a weight had been lifted. So yeah!

Merry Christmas!

2010-01-02T09:07:00.003-08:00

A good and very patient friend took our Christmas card picture(s) this year, so a huge thank you goes out to Jessica! I loved the way it turned out and wanted to share it.

We had a great Christmas! Here is our annual letter:

Where to start? The year started off with a new baby, who recently turned one on Nov. 21, and is a funny little guy with a mouth full of teeth. Owen is a bit of a mama’s boy and loves to give high fives and is the snuggliest of any of all our kids thus far! His favorite game is catch and already has a pretty good arm and aim! (If we do say so ourselves).

In addition to an expanded vocabulary, Isaac’s naughty/ adorable antics have expanded as well, they often make me want to scream and kiss him all at he same time. To say Isaac loves his baby brother would be an understatement. Isaac is already counting down the days he gets to go to pre-school too, and says so every time we drop Seth off at his pre-school teachers house. Isaac turned into quite the little fish like his brother towards the end of the swimming season, another month or so and he would have been swimming on his own.

Still our resident Super-Hero, Seth continually surprises us with his ability to charm, family and friends alike. If mommy has been a good mommy then he calls her his princess mommy. Seth may prove to be quite the photographer some day, we will randomly find strange pictures of cartoons, Isaacs feet, and peanut butter on the camera. Most likely taken when Seth wakes up earlier then mom is willing to. Seth enjoys school and is working through his dyslexic tendencies with the letter S.

Julie keeps busy and then some with these fun boys and her new calling as 2nd counselor in the Primary Presidency. Which means she gets to cover Cub scouts and all the fun primary stuff. She still enjoys being a Webelos Den Leader until a replacement is found, but will sincerely miss that interaction. She has grown as a runner as of late, having completed a recent 10K now has ideas to start training for a half marathon in the near future. But she mostly just enjoys going on long runs to sweat and gab with her friends.

We have all been holding our breath for the end of this semester, as it is Dave’s last, but as you can imagine Dave will feel it the most. As I type we look forward to his graduation ceremony at ASU in two weeks and two days, (Dec 18th). Dave has had a new calling as well that has required much stretching, being Young Men’s President will perhaps keep him equally busy as his schooling did. But it’s a different kind of busy and we are all enjoying the blessings of service. Dave was offered a permanent position at the same company he interned with, which we are infinitely grateful for, and as of last June has enjoyed fulltime employment at Parsons Electric. Dave was able to buy a new, (new to us) truck, and is highly pleased with his purchase.

Our little family is growing not so little anymore and is still strong in the Gospel. We could count our blessing from now until next Christmas if time allowed, but will suffice to say we feel the Lord’s hand in our lives daily and are so grateful for it!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all: our beloved family and friends!

(Cheesy, I know, but true!)

Love: Dave, Julie, Seth, Isaac & Owen

Turkey Trot 2009

2009-11-28T15:26:00.000-08:00

Here we are! Our little Queen Creek running band of Mommies. :) We all trained together for this 10k race with the exception of our newest member, she came already having done a few marathons so she was pretty much a long for the ride. But now maybe she'll coach us for a half marathon? We'll see. I have to confess, I didn't get my camera out at all on Thanksgiving, so this was the Saturday after.
(me, Kera, Cherise, Breanna, Genevieve)

But Thanksgiving was great. How can you not love a holiday that promotes gratitude with delicious food! Happy Holidays everyone, and remember to send me a Christmas card! :)

Happy Birthday B-Owen!

2009-11-26T13:35:00.000-08:00

Owen hit the big 1 year mark and still doesn't love being in his car seat even though he faces forward! But he sure loved this cake! It was a great chocolaty mess byt he time he was done, but the pictures say it all! I had to do some serious high pitched pretend sneezes to get this guy to notice anything other then the pile of sugar in front of him! But that face was well worth it.
The Clean up. He eventually got down to his natural birthday suit to get cleaned up!
This guy just makes me smile all over! He was a surprise to our family, and I am so grateful for it! He is mellow as can be and is still so much snugglier then my other two ever were! His older brothers adore him (one a little too much to Owen's liking), And is a mama's boy so far which I love! Happy Birthday big guy!

Da-Na Da-Na BATMAN!

2009-11-26T13:22:00.001-08:00

One day while trying to be a "princes mommy," I decided to make these masks, since Seth has a buddy (with much more fun boy toys then we have), that has a batman mask, and since the moment Seth set eyes on it, he was in love. He frequently asks about it at random moments. So I found on line how to make them, and waa-laa! :) Not too shabby right! But you'd better believe batman comes in pairs at our house!

October

2009-11-03T15:40:00.000-08:00

I got in touch with my domestic side this month. I caned one box of peaches and two boxes of pears. I used a little raspberry and peppermint extract and wow! I am actually looking forward to canning next year!This month's theme in cub scouts was jungle safari, so I made some animal cupcakes I found on the internet. In case you can't tell they are tigers, zebras, lions and monkeys. They went pretty fast!
Isaac helped me decorate for Halloween while Seth was at pre school. He was pretty proud of himself! I love the alone time I get with this guy!
Funny, same outfit from the last picture. I guess I like Isaac in brown. Here we are on the carousel at the zoo. A friend was nice enough to take us and let us use some of their passes. We had fun, and none of the kids ever really reached the tired bratty stage, which to me is pretty miraculous for an outing at the zoo!
Seth found an inch worm on our stroller. It's on his thumb, I hope it liked the plant we put him on!
There was a crazy busy week for Dave when he didn't get to see the kids from a Tuesday night to a Saturday night due to work, school and a scout camp out. So we visited him at work and went to lunch. It was quite the sight to see us in the restaurant during business lunch hour! But it was fun, these boys sure love their daddy!
Since the boys couldn't go on the above mentioned camp out, I set up a tent for them in Seth's room. They loved it and actually went to sleep pretty well. :)
HAPPY HALLOWEEN! Well for most of us anyway! :) Owen wasn't quite feeling the bumble bee, even though we hooked him up with a cute lady bee and a sweet ride! What a cry baby!
These guys on the other hand. . . I think the picture speaks for it's self! I'm just sad these are post trick or treating pictures, now you can't see the awesome go-T I penciled on Isaac's face!
Hope you all had a fun, safe Halloween too. And are as ready as I am for the real holidays! :)

All Over The Place

2009-11-03T15:16:00.000-08:00

Owen had been mobile since 7 months, but until recently that wasn't really a problem. Now it seems I am rescuing him every other minute, all the while he's got this big goofy grin on his face!He really likes the way he gets maximum results on the noise factor with pans!
Half the time he is on the open dishwasher, I just happen to take the picture before it progressed to that.
And I have to admit, there has been like maybe 2 times when I will hear some noise coming from upstairs and I'll look around to count heads and sure enough Owen's missing. This kid is stealthy!

September

2009-11-03T14:17:00.000-08:00

September was a great month! Lots going on. We had the best rain storms as you can see. Az doesn't get a whole lot of rain (definition of desert:)) So we enjoy it when it comes. Seth was so excited to use the umbrella hat his Granddad & Grandma had bought him when we were on vacation all together last month in San Diego. But we were not so excited to see this little (thankfully) guy taking a swim in our pool! Dave scooped it up into a big bucket and we all jumped in the truck to release it out in the no mans land not far from our house. Had I taken care of it, a shovel would have been involved no dought! (Yeah, that's a rattler).
Seth was monkeying around one day during nap time, I left him alone while he organized his animals, then went to check on him after it got quiet and this is what I found. Security in numbers right!
Owen needed his own tooth brush, so we (I) finally bought him one. He likes it and gets the funniest look on his face while I brush his teeth. He just doesn't like the top fronts brushed for some reason, I remember Isaac was the same way.
And yes, we were still doing this and swimming in September. Infact I think our last swim of the season was late Sept.
The boys love playing with the hose, and had fun taking turns chasing each other around. They can be the best of pals when they want to be.
We make a point to go to Freestone park when the weather is nice. The ducks cooperate pretty well with my picture taking request, I wish I could say the same about my boys!
I can't resist a cute sleeping baby picture. Owen had to get a nap in before a church meeting, and was NOT ready to get up. I took about 10 pictures then I had to poke him several times to get him up. Don't you just love sweater vests!
Ward Campout! It was fun! and sadly enough the first time the whole family got out camping this year. Dave has gone a lot with the scouts, and I took the boys to a friends cabin once (if that counts) so we were glad to go. Even though there ended up being drama, and colder then we thought. But we survived and would do it again.
Busted. I bust him on a regular basis these days. I generally knew where the others where at any given time, but now there is 3 in the mix, lets just say Owen gets a bit longer of a rope then the others got.
This is a cute hat Seth made in pre-school. Cutest darn kitty I ever did see!

We had a great September! I only regret not getting a picture of Dave and I on our 9th wedding anniversery. Oh well, I cooked steak and Dave picked up some yummy lemon dessert from Macaroni grill, and we ate by candle light while the boys watched a show in the other room.
But next year there might have to be a big cruise ship invloved! :)

Teethers

2009-10-23T14:43:00.000-07:00

It's not hard to catch this guy grinning! Owen has actually had teeth since he was 7 months old, and he is now 11 months and 2 days old. I was just looking for a picture to post while I wait to download my more current pictures for an update. And a bit of happy/sad news: he is officially on formula until he turns 1 then it will be cows milk. He does good with any kind of food and drink. And I am sure when he gets his first taste of cake at his party, he will do good with that as well!

San Diego Vacation

2009-09-18T14:23:00.000-07:00

In August we met my parents in San Diego, CA for some much needed R&R. We mainly beached it, but loved every minute of it! My parents flew in late Friday night, Dave picked them up and the next day the boys woke up to Grandma and Granddad! They were super excited! As tradition we went to the swap mart Saturday morning. We all got some fun things. Skateboards for the boys, yummy fruit, silly umbrella hats, (sorry no pictures of those since I have yet to get the pictures from my moms camera), socks for Dave, and some jewelry for my mom. Then a great bbq lunch and home for naps, yeah right! So after a failed nap attempt, we went to the beach. Grandma & Granddad graciously agreed to watch a sleeping Owen. I tried body surfing, and I must not have done it right since it didn't hurt (poor Dave was rubbed raw!), and I didn't see the appeal, I just kept thinking "there could be sharks out here."

Sunday was great all 3 hours of church, and I wish I could say it was all for the spiritual upliftment, but truth be told it was great to have two hours of free babysitting. But church was great and I got to sit by my honey since third hour was combined. Then a quick lunch and off to the Temple. I love, love when you come zipping along on the free way and boom! There is this majestic white work of architectual wonder. Beautful! Took some scenic pictures, and left since it turned out that we shouldn't have been able to get in, but some guy there left the gate open since he was only going to be a minute. Nice for us! I think this is the night we had a prime rib dinner, my dad does the best prime rib! Yum!

Monday we went to a less crowded beach to find sea shells. It turned out to be a lucky beach, Dave found a little sand crab that Seth deemed his pet. My dad learned how to find several sand crabs at once from a guy who uses them as bait, a bigger black crab, and $10 in the ocean. My mom found a couple whole sand dollars, very rare. Owen didn't get sick from all the sand he ate. And we didn't get too badly sunburned even though I forgot my sunblock!
But the crabs were the best entertainment, only because of the boys' reaction to them. Seth loved his little sand crab, he named him Carl, and put him in a bucket and gave him water and sand and rocks and shells ect. . . and never left his side. Then along comes this big ol' black crab that my dad found (he got pinched pretty good holding on to him, but he loves his grand kids!). We introduced him to Carl, and Seth flips out, so scared of the big nasty looking thing and sure it was going to eat Carl! Finally we put them in separte buckets, since Isaac thought Charlie (the black crab), was cool and preferred him over small boring Carl.
When it was time to go, and set the crabs free, we narrowly escaped drama by explaining to Seth if we took the crabs home their families would be so sad! Great day with great fish tacos to finish it up!

Tuesday was time to go home, we packed up, dropped my parents off at the airport and headed home. So fun can't wait for another beach vacation!

Schools In!

2009-09-02T14:59:00.000-07:00

You can tell by the look on his face he is excited!

Crawling On Hands And . . . Toes?

2009-08-20T13:41:00.000-07:00

This kid is hands down the most easy going, and snugly baby we've had yet! Yeah for mom! He also attracts the most attention from strangers. My other kids got noticed, but not cooed over for long periods of time while strolling down the isles in Wal Mart. (I say this not for mere motherly pride, but for my journaling purposes as well). Well that's enough of my biased opinion, I love this little cutie.