Californ-I-A

My entire side of the family went to California for a fun family trip together. My parents were SO awesome to give this to all of us as an early Christmas gift and it was the best. All of my siblings, their spouses and their kids came including my two grandmas (my grandpas have been dead for about 14 years, so my two cute grandmas do everything with our family). We left on a Saturday and traveled to Vegas to stay overnight. We were supposed to stay with my sister Rachel, but her kids ended up being sick and no one wanted to catch what they had, so we stayed in a hotel.Kids just love hotels.... why is that? I hate them, especially Vegas Casino ones that stink. Yuck!

Sunday we went to church with Andy's aunt that lives in Vegas and then we continued on our journey to California. We got there late Sunday night and stayed at the Candy Cane Inn. Such a cute, nice little place. We loved it.

DISNEYLAND

It was Halloween at Disneyland. I have never been there in October, and it was so much fun and decorated so cute. They change some rides to go along with Halloween and we loved it, it was great.

We got up bright and early to be able to get to Disneyland right when they opened. We didn't want to miss a minute of the fun! None of my kids have ever been and to say they were excited is an understatement. They were in awe and couldn't look everywhere fast enough trying to take it all in. It was so exciting for them to see characters and go meet them. Daphne loved them far away, but she didn't like getting her picture with them very much.
She refused to get a picture unless I would hold her.

They loved all the rides and wanted to go on everything again right after they would get off. I had to explain several times that there were more fun rides, so we would go on stuff again after we did everything.
Bear loved the "dishwasher" in Minnie's house. He sat and watched it over and over for about 10 minutes until I dragged him out.

make a wish in the wishing well!


The girls absolutely LOVED Sleeping Beauty's Castle and we went through it several times

The kids were chosen to participate in the "Toy Story" soldier drill

My 3 little bugs

I don't know what they think they're going to find in Lightning McQueens mouth...

Tower of Terror! This is easily my most favorite ride in California Adventure. I LOVE it! Okay, so funny story.... Laylah is absolutely fearless. She will go on anything. Jonah.... not so much, he is scared of almost everything and won't even try it if he thinks it will be scary. Daphne's pretty good to do whatever, but if she doesn't like it, she won't do it again. So, they had all been really good about trying all the rides and going on whatever we got in line for. Well, we decided to take them all on Tower of Terror. If you've been on this ride, you'll know why this is funny. It is terrifying! But also tons of fun. They take you up like 13 stories and then drop you repeatedly. Okay, so the whole time we're in line Jonah keeps asking if it's scary. (We're mean parents) We kept telling him he'd just have to see. Finally when it was almost our turn to get on he decideds he doesn't want to go. I tell him that if he goes he won't ever have to go again. He agrees and we get on the ride. We sat like this- Andy, Daphne, Jonah, then me. Laylah sat with my mom because I knew she would love it and wouldn't be scared. So anyway, we start the ride and Daph and Jo are holding hands. As soon as we drop the first time, their faces were PRICELESS and they let go of each other's hands and are just flapping them like little birds- they both bury their heads into me and Andy and they are freaking out!! Andy and I meanwhile are cracking up laughing like crazy. It was really so funny and after the ride Daph and Jo were a little mad at us. Luckily they are kids and they forgive quickly. But every time we mentioned going on that ride again they would immediately answer "No, I don't want to go on that!!" Laylah loved it and went 3 more times on our trip.

Cute, tired girls

At the end of the first day we went back to the hotel and swam. I don't know what it is, but when you stay in a hotel, you have to go swimming at least once. I forgot to bring my camera swimming, but I'm sure you get the idea :)

Kind of a bummer- after the first day at Disneyland that night, Baron woke up sick, throwing up and with diarrhea. It was horrible. Andy gave him a blessing, and the next day he was good to go. We didn't take him on anything until that afternoon though, and he was fine thank goodness. My wonderful sister Suzanne was tired and took him back to the hotel for us around dinnertime for a nap so we could stay and play with the other kids.

P.S. I don't know if you've noticed in any pictures, but I got my hair done a few days before our trip and had my stylist cut bangs.... I needed a change. What do you think?!My cute sister Kaylie is such a goof. She carried around her bag of homework all day and would study whenever she got a chance. She wasn't even going to come because of school, but we made her! It was funny to see her with a big bag of books at Disneyland.


The treats at Disneyland are the BEST!

Watchout Mom and Daph! Laylah and Andy are coming!

Such tired kids. Having fun is hard work!

SEA WORLD

We went to Sea World the last day we were there. I hadn't been there in years. The kids L-O-V-E-D it! They were so excited to see everything. We went to all the shows, saw some amazing sea creatures, were able to touch some sea creatures, and also feed them. They also had some fun rides.

This Shamu show was amazing! I couldn't believe the awesome things they were able to teach these killer whales to do. Unfortunately, we sat in the splash zone. Andy had the camera out and.... you guessed it- we got SOAKED, and our camera is ruined. I mean soaked literally from head to toe. All the kids started bawling (I think they said the water the whales swim in is 52 degrees) We sat in the splash zone because we really didn't think we'd get that wet. Ummmm, we did. We missed out on a lot of fun pictures of the rest of the day after this show. Oh well. AND after going through all my pictures, I realized that I didn't get a picture of my entire family all together on this trip. Such a bummer. What do ya do?

After Sea World closed we headed back to Vegas for the night. We were able to stay at Rachel's this time thankfully. The next day we relaxed and I did some of my Vegas clients' hair. Friday we got up bright and early so we could make it home in time for some things we had going on. It was such a wonderful, fun, memorable trip. I'm so glad I was able to spend time with all of my family. I LOVE my family. Thanks mom and dad for the best Christmas present! We had SO much fun!

Relax...

I slept in until noon today. NOON people!! I haven't done that since I was a teenager (which really wasn't all that long ago :)- but in my defense, I lost 2 hours and we didn't get to our hotel until 1 AM last night. I am having such a great time reading to my heart's content (I brought 3 books, and I'm halfway through my 2nd), going to workout at 1 PM instead of 5 AM, and just sitting around.

Virginia is beautiful, and I'm glad I'm missing the snow back in Utah.... I don't mind it, but I'm not ready for it.... yet. I hope my brother and sis-in-law (Nate and Annette) are having fun with all my kids! Thanks a ton you guys, I LOVE you!! Plus, I owe you.... thanks for still doing it even though Bear was puking when we left.

Aren't they amazing?

Give my kids a kiss for me! I'm off to do..... nothing!

My Kitchen USED to be Clean...

Until someone got the play-do out. I hate that stuff. Is that why my kids love it so much???

The Tale of the Pink Fuzzy Blankie

When Daphne was born, she recieved many blankets. As always, my mom and also my mother-in-law made her one, as they have with all of my kids. These two blankets always end up being the 2 favorite blankets that all of my kids have to sleep with every night and be with all day at home. Until Daphne...Meet: Pink Fuzzy Blankie. Daphne recieved this blanket as a gift from my husband's sister's husband's mother (haha, you got that?) AKA my sister-in-law's mother-in-law. It was super nice of her. Because of it's silky edges and super softness, Daphne fell in love quickly. It is now the great love of her life. She has to sleep with it every night. I only need to threaten to take it away and she will do anything. Really, anything to keep it from being taken away.

As winter has begun to make an appearance and as the days grow colder, I will peek in the girls' room at night and see her curled up into a tiny ball so she can fit under the blanket (good thing she's so small) Sometimes I will cover her with her other blankets, but when I peek in later, they are all shoved down to the bottom of her bed, and only Pink Fuzzy Blanket remains.

I ask her why she won't allow other blankets to cover her and she says "because mom, I just want Pink Fuzzy Blanket. I love it." Oh, right, of course.

That explains everything. Straight from a 3 year old.

The Beast- Take 2

Well, this is my car aka The Beast. We bought it 6 years ago when Laylah was a little 6 month old and I had just found out that I was pregnant with Jonah. I complained to Andy that, what with my back troubles (yes, I had back pain even back then!) that I would have a hard time getting Laylah in and out of our Maxima that we had at the time. I told him it would require too much bending, stooping, and in general, pain. He told me that there was no way we could afford another car and that I would just have to deal with it, and that he was sorry.

Well, I wasn't about to give up. I searched and searched and found this car at an amazing deal. I called up Andy and told him about it and just begged him to go take a peek at it. He obliged, just thinking he would do it so I would leave him alone. He did it with every intention of saying "no", that he didn't like the car, etc. etc.

Well, needless to say- he loved the car, just like I knew he would. I always find a way to get MY way :) And honestly, we got an amazing deal. So, we bought it. That very day. And I was in love with it. For about 5 years. The past year.... not so much.

Well, I've recently been begging for a new car. I want one. This was 6 years old when we bought it, add the 6 years we've had it, and what do you get?? That's right... 12 years old this car is!! And I never pay attention to mileage and stuff like that, but I just happened to notice that our car has a lot of miles on it:

Well anyway, it groans at me. It kind of sounds like it's growling actually. It scares me sometimes. It's weird. And sometimes the lights in the car will switch on and off really fast. The kids think it's funny. And once in awhile the gages go all wacky, and then hot air will blow when the a/c is supposed to be running. It thinks it's pretty tricky.
Well, thinking back, it has truly been an amazing car for our family, and we will never sell it. Even when we get a new one, we'll keep it to play in. Anyway, after noticing the mileage, it got me to thinking. How am I going to get this thing all the way across the country, when we move? I don't really know if it will make it. Andy assures me it will. It's Super Car. Hmmmmm........
Well-back to my original point- my vote is to just get a new car and tow this one behind the moving van :)
Who's with me??

Super Citizen!

Laylah brought home a note with this poster attatched. The note said that she was chosen to be the "Super Citizen" of the week. I was so proud! She got to make this All About Me poster with pictures, and throughout the week, she would have important responsibilities and get to help her teacher, etc. She was so happy to receive this award so early in the school year. Laylah is such a wonderful, fun, smart, sweet girl. I adore her and I'm so grateful that she's mine. She was so excited to make her poster and show it to her classmates. Way to go Laylah, you do some good work girl-I love you!

What are Big Sisters For?

Bear was having such a hard time the other day. He has 4 teeth coming in, and he followed me around almost the entire day, whining. I was trying to get some cleaning done and finally I told him in a loud voice (because I never yell ;) to go to his room and leave me alone. Laylah had just gotten home from school, and she sweetly told him to come to her. He ran into her arms sobbing and she picked him up and carried him (more like dragged.... she is one strong little girl!) up to his room where she got his blanky and binky for him. She then brought him back down to the family room and turned on a cartoon for him and put her cute little arm around him and held him tight. And there they sat. For over an hour. Oh, how I love my kids.

Who Stole the Cookie from the Cookie Jar?

But actually, in this case, it was the cookie dough from the bowl! I turn my back for one second, and this guy has the stool up to the counter and his little hands in the dough- shoveling it in his mouth as fast as he can.. Caught, red-handed! He knows a yummy treat when he sees one, that's for sure!

But, WHY can't I eat all the dough?!

I'm Telling

Okay, here's my big secret: We're moving.... to Virginia!! (Shaunna- you were right!)

Here's how it happened...

Last Wednesday Andy called me and said that the Vice President of the company he works for (who manages the branch in Washington D.C.) had requested a meeting with him. At the meeting he explained to Andy that they were ready to expand this small branch and they needed more guys out there. They have been impressed with Andy and they wanted to know if he was willing to move out there. It is an amazing opportunity for him in his career, and a step up with this company.

I was in shock when he told me. I didn't know what to think. Whenever I thought about it, I would start to cry. I love where I live, I love my ward, I love my kids' school, my kids all have great friends to play with, I love my friends, my house, both mine and Andy's families are here, and the list goes on.

We felt like we had to be very thorough in deciding whether or not to move. We have fasted, prayed, and attended the temple, among other things. I knew before Andy that it was what we were supposed to do. It was such a hard decision, but once we decided, it was like a huge weight had been lifted off of my shoulders. I know it is the right thing for our family right now. All of the kids are excited except Laylah. She is being very dramatic, but I competely understand. She loves her school and friends and so do I. I told her that I know exactly how she feels, but I don't think she believes me.

It's all so much to take in. We will most likely be leaving in January or around there. We would like to be able to figure out all of my health issues before we go because I have great doctors that I am comfortable with. I'm so nervous because it's not like Andy is going there for school, where we will meet other people. I will not know a soul there. I hope we have a great ward with lots of kids.

I'm so grateful for the gospel. I can't imagine not knowing that I will have a ward family waiting for me. I'm so nervous, but I'm getting more excited. I feel bad for my kids. I think it will be hard to change schools and have to make new friends. There were a lot of "cons" on my pros and cons list when we first started talking about it, but after we knew that we were supposed to do this, those didn't seem to matter so much anymore. Anyway, wish us luck! I think I will need it most of all. :)

I Have A Secret.....

.... and I can't tell.... yet. It's a pretty crazy secret and it has kind of rocked my world. I'll be able to tell soon enough. But not quite. If you want, you can try and guess what it is.

Be creative!

P.S. A few priveleged people know what my secret is.... please don't let the cat out of the bag until I'm ready too.... thanks! :)

My Life

Well..... I think I'm going crazy, thank you for asking.

Seriously though.... I love my life. I love everything about it, even though some days I have so many things to do and so many things I'm thinking about that I think my brain might explode. Sometimes I feel like I'm not keeping up and that my life has changed so much in the past year that my poor husband and kids just don't know what has hit them.

I am always SO incredibly busy from 5 AM when I drag my sore, achy body up to go to the gym until 10 or 11 PM when I lay my tired, achy body down into bed to sleep. My poor house..... oh my poor house. When was it last really cleaned instead of spot treated? I couldn't tell you. And I'm a clean person! It's quite sad really. What has happened to all of my fun mommy/kids' activities? I don't know. We used to go do something fun at least once a week. I felt horribly guilty about that since we hadn't done anything in the almost 2 months since school has started. I hate school. I want my kids to be home. I miss them all the time and I just want to have fun with them all the time.

That's what got me thinking about my life, and hence, this post. Over UEA, the kids had no school of course, and on Thursday and Friday I wasn't feeling so great. On Monday I was determined to take them all out and do something FUN dangit!

We went swimming. The kids had an absolute blast. I forgot my camera. Of course.

I'm glad Becca came with us because it was easier watching 8 kids between the 2 of us rather than just me watching 6 by myself. Thanks Becca :)

Later that night the fun continued and for FHE we went to Hee Haw farms. We got there a bit late, so we didn't get to do all of the activities before it got dark, and the kids were a bit bummed. Hot chocolate and donuts cheered them right up. It was such a fun night spent with my family. Just the 6 of us. I am so in love with my husband and I seriously could gobble up my kids. I love them THAT much. Like I said, life is crazy now, but I love it. I love everyone in it.

I love my life.

Makin' Stew

This is from awhile ago, but I found these pictures and they made me smile. These 3 kiddos were "makin' a recipe" as Daphne put it. Jonah corrected her and let me know that it was actually "stew". By the time they were finished, Daphne and Baron were wet and muddy. They had a blast.

Laylah wasn't interested... here she is, looking on

Daddy had clean-up duty. Cute naked babies.

A Bear.... Riding a Horse

I was taking Laylah to her riding lesson (and of course, all of my kids were in the car) and Kaylie and I were talking about new things for her to learn.
Kaylie said "How about we ride bareback today Laylah? It helps your legs become really strong."
And I said "Oh, that's a good idea, you've never ridden bareback, it helps your balance also and you'll become a better rider."
Jonah pipes up and says "Who's horse is Bareback?"
I start laughing and say "Bareback isn't a horse Jo, it's when you ride a horse without a saddle. It's called bareback because their back is bare- like, there is nothing on it."
Jo is quiet for a minute and then says "Oh, okay, so it means a bear will ride the horse's back."
He's such a smart aleck...... but he's pretty funny too. :)

P.S. I love my sister Kaylie. She is so wonderful for giving Laylah riding lessons. Thanks Kaylie, we sure do love you. :)

Doctor Visit Update

I went to see my Endocrinologist today. I like her a lot, she is very informative and spent a lot of time with me. I was very overwhelmed with all the information she gave me. Basically she explained to me that she wasn't sure what the graying area is on my pituitary gland. She said it could either be a cyst or an adnoma (sp?) and that I will continue with some medication (and she switched me from the one I am currently on that makes me SO sick to one that might still make me sick, but shouldn't be as bad) that should regulate my hormones and hopefully shrink whatever it is that is growing in there. I will do a repeat MRI to make sure it is not growing larger and that is in fact shrinking. If it isn't, they will most likely have to perform surgery to remove it.

She went over my health record and also asked me about a million questions. She was curious about my ankylosing spondolitis because apparently (I didn't know this) once you have an autoimmune disease, your body is susceptible to creating more within you. Great news, right? She checked my neck (where my thyroid is) and found a small goiter. I'm a little freaked out about that because it just seems so nasty to me (I thought only old people got goiters...?? Seriously, I am grossed out by myself), but she did an ultrasound on it and found that it is very small and with medication it will shrink also. She thinks I may have hyperthyroidism (which is another autoimmune disorder), for which I will also have to take medication.

She sent me to the lab for them to take tons of blood to test for every other possible thing I may have and just so she can know for certain everything we're dealing with. They also gave me a 24hour urine kit to do at home and also a saliva kit to do at home as well. I will have to go back to the lab about every other month for about a year to make sure my prolactin levels are going down as well.

Whew! You got all that? So, pretty much for now, we really know nothing yet. She told me they would call me with all of the results and to have a follow-up appointment to see where we go from there. I am overwhelmed. I am sick and tired of taking medication, but I know I need to get used to it, because I'll have to take it the rest of my life. I am so grateful to everyone who has helped me with my kids, brought me dinner, called to see how I'm doing, and just been my friend or a listening ear. I have such a wonderful support system for which I would go into despair without- my mom has been the best. I'm so grateful for my wonderful husband, who the other night told me that we would do whatever it took to find out everything we can so I can feel better. He's amazing. The doctor was even surprised that he came with me today. He always does, and I don't even have to ask him to. I love him.

So, until next time when I find out more. Prayers are greatly appreciated. They work. Thanks everyone!

Attack of the Moth!

The other night the kids were getting ready for bed. Jonah was done first, so he came downstairs to wait for the others. I heard Sadie push the back door open and I asked Jo to go close it. He started to and I saw him look up, and then he ran and jumped into my lap, terrified. I looked up and saw a moth flying around that must have come in when Sadie left the door open (I'm going to teach her to shut the door herself.... someday :) Now, I don't like moths, in fact, I think they're disgusting- but I thought Jo was being a little ridiculous. The following conversation ensued:

me: "Jo, what's wrong?"

him: " There's a moth! It flew in the house! And it's in here!!"

me: "Are you scared of moths Jo?"

him: (looks at me like I'm stupid) "Ummmm, yaaaaaaaa. Moths eat your clothes."

me: "Okay, that's true sometimes, but that moth isn't going to dive down and start eating your clothes dude."

him: " Ya, it could! And if it starts eating my clothes, then it might just eat through them and keep eating through my skin and eat me up!"

me: (laughing) "Uhhh, no it won't. They eat clothes sometimes, but not people, okay?"

him: "Are you sure? (I nod) Okay...."

He then runs upstairs and comes back down with his blanket. He's totally wrapped up in it, and he curls himself into a ball on the floor. He stayed like that until I found the moth and put it back outside.

He's hilarious.

Go Ahead, Bark All Ya Want

Ahhhhh, my dog Sadie. I love her so much, but sometimes she is just such a stinker, that sometimes I wonder why I even put up with her. She is always barking at nothing when she is in the backyard, which drives Andy crazy. I could care less because everyone else's dogs are always barking, so why shouldn't mine? Well, she gave me a better reason to not care...

A few days ago the 3 oldest kids were at school, and I had the three little ones at home. They went into the backyard to play and jump on the tramp. Whenever Sadie is outside, she will randomly bark, like I said, at nothing. Well, I was in the kitchen, doing dishes (haha, ya right, I think I was laying around, or on the computer.... something like that ;) when, all of the sudden, I heard her barking furiously. I could tell right away that something was up, so I ran out the back door. Standing right by the fence in my front yard is this older man, with a hat and glasses on.... just watching the kids. As soon as he saw me, he immediately turned and started to walk away. Sadie continued to bark at him and I asked him what he was doing. He called over his shoulder "Oh, nothing, but your dog doesn't like me much." I tried to get a good look at him, and I ran over to Sadie and picked her up and hugged her and kissed her. I have never been so grateful for that little dog. I never tell her to "be quiet" when she barks now.

My little watch dog.... that's what she is.

*I told Andy about the guy, and he told me to call the cops. I didn't get around to it right then and later that day we found out that he is a friend of our neighbors. If he comes sniffing around my house again though, you better believe I'll call the cops with a full report!

Up the Canyon

Last weekend our friends invited us up to the canyon to roast hotdogs and smores. The forecast didn't call for rain, so of course it....poured. We went with the Kendalls, the Pitts, and the Moores. We had 15 kids between the 4 couples, and there are hardley any pictures of any of them because they didn't mind getting soaked- they were "exploring" the entire time. The ladies just sat around and allowed the men to do all of the work. I stole all of these pictures off of Sam's blog.... thanks Sam for being the photographer!I'm trying to block my face from the smoke from the fire.

We still had such a great time, and the kids loved it. Poor Bear burned his little finger on the metal surrounding the firepit. I couldn't believe how everyone jumped into action. Corrine got her first aid kit, Sam got a cup of water and held him while he calmed down and Malina got him a treat so he would stop crying.

I seriously have amazing people in my life. I am so blessed with wonderful friends. I was talking to a few people about this when Andy and I were deciding to buy our home. I had searched and searched for the perfect house. We actually put offers on two other houses before this one that we live in now. I remember the feeling when I walked into my home the first time I saw it. I knew it was "the one" and I told the realtor right then, before I even saw the rest of the house. I love my little house so much, but even more, I love that it has given me the opportunity to meet some of the most amazing people I have ever known. I have such supportive, helpful, giving people in my life and I am so grateful for every single one of them. You all know who you are, and if you're not sure, come ask me.... I'll let you know ;)

Happy 1st Birthday to My Blog!!

Wow, has it already been a year? Let me give a little background to this blog and why I in fact do it...

My sister Rachel started a blog when her little boy was born nearly 3 years ago. I thought it was cute and I looked at it once in awhile. She encouraged me to start my own and I told her that maybe someday I would. Then the blogging world began to grow, and I had a few friends start their own blogs. I enjoyed looking at them and it made me want to start my own. I was intimidated because I am completely computer illiterate (or aything technological for that matter). I expressed my desire to start a blog to my sister and she (being the amazing sis that she is) called me up one day to inform me that she had started a blog for me. The very first 4 posts on my blog were actually done by her- and she continued to teach me how to do it and everything I know about blogging.

I absolutely love to blog. I love it because it serves as a journaling or family history for me. I love to write and it is an outlet of sorts also. I also love that it helps me reconnect with lost friends and allows me to see what old friends are up to as well. I love that I can say whatever I want on it. I love to share my testimony of the gospel. I love to publicly share my love for my husband, children, and family and friends. I love to blog.

Thanks Rach for starting my blog. And thanks Tara C- you were a big inspiration to me also. Thanks to all who continue to read my natterings about my life... okay, I'm done. :)