Old Pics

I found these old pictures of Sariah and Becca from when we went to Ikea and they had their faces painted. I think that what people can do with some paint and a paintbrush is really neat. My mom is an excellent painter. So what my question is: "Why didn't I inherit that talent?" Good news is though that I'm pretty good at a scrapbook layout. Someone else can be the artist, I can use their art to make a cool page.

Grateful list

Right now I'm at the Mussers' house in Stockton, very thankful that they have wireless internet. I think the thing I love most about coming to Stockton is that there's always someone to entertain the kids and give me a few minutes of peace. Right now Heather is watching a movie with Sariah and Becca.

I've really enjoyed looking at the blogs that my friends and family have created. What a neat way to keep in touch and journal what is happening in your life. We are so blessed to live in a time where we have the technology that allows us to communicate so easily.

I'm also thankful that church material is available via satellite, internet, and pretty much any other way you can think of. I think it's so cool that I can download conference, the Ensign onto my Ipod or my phone. At this moment, Womens' conference and General Conference are waiting for me at home on the DVR for me to watch after the kids go to bed.

Last week the check engine light to my car came on (whoever thought up the idea of a check engine light should be tortured within an inch of their life) For those of you who don't know, we've probably spent $7000 in the last year fixing the minivan and the Neon. Really, I'm ready for a new car but since we've dug ourselves a hole fixing the ones we have we can't afford a new one. Anyway, the car has to be smogged and registered next month and I was trying to figure out how we could afford to fix a vehicle again. There was about a million things that could be wrong and I was just hoping that it wasn't the transmission. As it turn out, a leak that has been in my car for the last several months ended up getting into the heads and ruining the spark plugs and wires causing one of the cylinders to shut down. Luckily, fixing it was under $300 and this month is the month of the extra paycheck. So, the point of this long drawn out story is that I know Heavenly Father is watching over me because if it had been any other time I'd have been on the phone begging my mom for money.

I'm thankful for my health and that my kids and hubby are healthy too. Multiple members of mine and Jeremy's extended family have had to spend way too much time in the hospital this year. Luckily, my cousin's baby is getting stronger and I'm hopeful that the other members of extended family that have had health problems will be helped by good doctors and I know they have a stong support system to help them through whatever comes.

Lastly I am thankful for scrapbooking and that Jeremy gives me time to do it. I went scrapping last night after not having gone in a couple of months and it was nice to go, be creative, and get some time away.

Where'd the time go?

I can't believe it's been three weeks since I posted anything. I started this with the intent of updating once a week or so but obviously it hasn't worked out that way. We've been busy with JD's second birthday (I can't believe my baby is 2!) We are working on remodeling the bathroom, and other various family activities. So, without further ado, here are some more of the pics from Utah. I'll post pics from JD's birthday and the home improvements later.

JD thought he was really funny when he stole a spray bottle and started trying to get everyone with the water. I think the look on his face was really funny. Plus the fact that he didn't want to take the monkey backpack off.
JD just loved Ben and Owen. I thought he might be jealous when I held them. He was, but only because HE wanted to be the one holding them. They were HIS babies.
When we went to Lagoon, Becca fell asleep on Aunt Debbie's lap. She's so nice and peaceful when she's sleeping. I went visiting teaching on Sunday and the sister I was visiting said "I just love Becca, she's like opening up a bottle of soda pop. She just bubbles over." Living with Becca and having to deal with the frustration of teaching her how to behave makes it really easy to forget what a bright and special personality she has. I'm so glad that she brings other people joy. Even her Kindergarten teacher has started to like her, and they had a really bad first week.
This picture is of Sariah at the George C Eccles Dinosaur Museum. She likes to pull funny faces when I get the camera out. Sometimes it's really funny because she's being herself and letting her personality shine. It makes for some cute pictures. Other times it's annoying because she tends to like to pester her brother and sister when I'm trying to get a cute picture.

I never thought I would see the day when I would miss having Michelle around, considering how we got along as kids. Now we're both moms and we get along great, even though we are still very different people. My mom told me it would be that way. Turns out, she knew what she was talking about.

Wheeler Farm

As a kid I was always fascinated with Wheeler Farm. It's right by my Grandma's house. We didn't go very often, I think my mom thought it was boring. When we went to Utah, I was trying to find cheap things to do. It doesn't get much cheaper than Wheeler Farm. We took the kids on the wagon ride, fed the ducks, milked a cow. I would have liked to wander around more and show them the animals and stuff but it's a lot more crowded than I remember. We still had fun though I think. I know the girls enjoyed feeding the ducks and JD got a kick out of milking the cow.

Pics from Utah/Heritage Park

These are of the kids at Heritage Park. There's one of the family in the previous post.

Utah Trip

So the question is, after having a really nice vacation and taking over 300 pictures, how do you decide which ones to post to a blog? The answer is: I have no idea. I finally got around to getting the pictures off of mine and Jeremy's cameras. There were a lot of really good ones. We had a nice time. We went to Wheeler Farm, Heritage Park, the George C Eccles Dinosaur Park in Ogden, saw my new nephews who are way too cute and had a lot of fun in general. This picture here was taken at Heritage Park. I wanted a nice picture of the family. Let me tell you, it was not easy. While there, the girls participated in a three legged race, we went on a covered wagon ride, and they had fun seeing the Pioneer Village. We also visited This is the Place Monument, which Jeremy had never seen before. Unfortunately we picked a hot week to go there so we didn't spend as much time there as we could have. Maybe next time. Over the next little while I'll include more pictures from the things we did.

Update

My sister called this morning to tell me that amazingly enough, my cousin's baby didn't die, he made it through the night. My mother was getting information second-hand and due to what was going on medically they (my grandmother, aunts and parents) assumed he had died. So first of all I'm happy beyond what I can describe and grateful for the medical advances that we have available to us today. The baby's name is Michael Jeffrey. He's got a long road ahead of him but he's a fighter. He's got a problem with his heart and with one of his lungs that they are trying to treat. The doctors say they should know more as far as what kind of chances he has and what kind of quality of life he will have in a couple of weeks. My cousin was given a room in the children's hospital so she can be near him. I thank Heavenly Father for this miracle and ask everyone to keep Michael in their prayers.