Our Valentines Week

We have had a very nice Valentine's week. We haven't done a whole lot, but we have enjoyed being together!
Morris Party:
Last Saturday we went to Justin's parent's home and spent some time together. Grandma and Grandpa Gerhauser were visiting and we had a blast with them. We played the card game "Thirdeen" It is the funnest card game and we were laughing so hard our stomachs were killing!! I love getting together with the Morris Family!!

The boys love reading books at Grandma's house!
Oh, and yes, they use those bibs for dinner, and when dinner is over they turn them around and use them as capes.

Women's Basketball:
I have loved the opportunity to play women's basketball in our ward...it is a blast and I just love playing with the women on our team! Wednesday night was the funnest game. To make a long story short, we went into double overtime and we were down by one point with 5 seconds left, the ball was now in our position, Lacee dribbles the ball down the court and shoots a three pointer and as soon as the buzzer goes off, swish!!!! We Won!!! It was awesome!

Valentine's Day Movie:

Today Corbin, Taylor, and their friend Brooklin came over for a Valentine's Day Movie. Before Brooklin came over, Corbin wanted to be a prince, so he got in his Sunday suit and was in the bathroom for 5 minutes doing his hair, seriously, this kids is hilarious! Oh, and by the way Potty Training is still going very well! Yeah Tay! This was Levi's Valentine's Party! At least he has his Lamb there.

We are not big on Presents, flowers, and going out on Valentine's Day! As long as we are together, that's all that we care about! We will probably have a nice candlelit dinner and some delicious desserts and then play games or something. Low key, but in these times, that's what we want. I LOVE Justin so much and I am so grateful for all he does for me and our family!!

Happy Valentines Day to my Love and my boys!!!

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY to everyone else I love so much!! xoxoxoxox

Boys, boys, boys!

A couple of weeks ago we went on a fun adventure. Anytime we add the word to adventure to anything, the boys are excited to go! (Let's go on an adventure to the doctor's office) We walked out onto a frozen pond that is close by. It was so cool to be standing in the middle of the pond and then to slide around. We had a blast!

One of the boys favorite things were the fishing holes that were scattered around everywhere. They thought it was fun to throw little ice chunks inside. Towards the end we were walking around and found, what we thought, was a bag or some kind of cloth, we walked towards it and we were so wrong. It was a dead, frozen, duck. Seriously, one of the saddest things ever, the boys kept going on and on asking questions about what it was and how it got there. Sad.

I never did post the boys Christmas pajamas. I thought they were pretty cute and I was thrilled to be able to get the same ones for each of them! Justin said that poor Levi was going to be sick of these pajamas by the time he was 5!!
I am learning more and more that boys just naturally love guns!
And now, one of the most exciting things that is going on around here these last couple of days, is Taylor has now used the potty, successfully 4 times in 1 1/2 days!! And another time he went into the bathroom by himself, but didn't quite make it in time. Oh, I thought this day would never come. I already am preparing myself for lots of accidents and I know I am the one that has to keep on reminding him, but oh, we are moving in the right direction...hip, hip, hurray!

I also have to mention this hilarious story (or at least Justin and I thought it was). This was a couple of days ago (you know, when Taylor was still in diapers!) He had just gone stinkies (that's what we call it) in his diaper and I was getting ready to change him, obviously going way too slow. Corbin and Taylor were wrestling in the family room and I could hear Corbin screaming help, help. I run in there and Taylor has got Corbin pinned around his leg, with Corbin facing, well you know where. Corbin yells, help, it stinks, it stinks!!

Corbin and Taylor have such a funny relationship. While I was finishing this post, Taylor was showing Corbin his scrap on his leg and Corbin tried to touch it. Taylor said, "no, only I can touch it" Then for some reason, Corbin felt bad and so Taylor said, "okay, only you and me can touch it". So Corbin touches it and Taylor says, "NO, don't push hard!". And now Corbin can not touch it again.

This one's for Taylor

This is one post that is long overdue. Taylor turned three right before Christmas! I just can't believe how big he is and how much he has grown and learned this past year. Taylor is such a thoughtful, sweet little guy. He is very considerate. The other day we went out to eat at a buffet place and Taylor was sitting next to Justin in the booths. Justin said he needed to go and get some more food and without being asked Taylor got off his seat so that Justin could go get some more food. This is such a simple example, but he does little things like this everday. I have to admit that whenever there was silence while Corbin was playing, I would get a little nervous and I had to go see what he was up to. With Taylor, he is usually playing quietly with his animals or else looking through one of his books.

I wanted to post some of my favorite picture of him throughout this past year.

Taylor loves, loves, loves his milk!

This is the year that Taylor became a big brother! He is such a natural and has been such a big help with Levi. Sometimes he gets a little too excited about Levi and he wants to lay right on him so he can be even closer. Of course I move him and Levi starts to cry, Taylor tells him, "ohh, it's okay, it's okay" Sweet guy.

To sum up this past year, it has been all about Superman!! He loves to be my hero and tell me that I am his princess and Levi is his baby princess. He is always running around saying, "Superman, da na na na" and then stops and puts his hands on his hips and stands there with his chest held high! I don't know where he gets it from, but I love it!

Taylor was so excited to learn to jump off of things this year. Now he is just as daring as Corbin!

Taylor definately belongs to his Grandma Packer. This is his other passion in life. He has a little stick horse that he rides everyday and it's name is usually Ritz or Sassy. Recently, we watched Return to Snowy River and Black Beauty. They are his favorites right now! It is really interesting to me how different children can be and how they just naturally have their own interests. We never pushed either of them into liking certain things. Corbin just loved Tractors and tools and Taylor just loves Superman and Horses. The nice thing is they both support each others interests and will play with each other, but when it comes down to it, they both love very different things.

Taylor, we love you so, so much and we are very excited to see what this year holds in store for you!!!

I'm back and better than ever!

Oh it feels so good to have life back to normal! For those of you who didn't know, I was sick for pretty much the whole month of December give or take a few good days. It started out with some kind of a flu, then I got better for a while and then I got strep throat...oh yuck. After that I thought I was done and had my share of sickness for a season. Then the Sunday before Christmas I started getting flu-like symptons again and then it turned into a terrible migraine for a couple of days, I seriously thought I was going to die. By Wednesday I couldn't handle it any more, so Justin took me to the ER..ugh..the ER, I hate the ER. They asked tons of questions and with my history of headaches they diagnosed it as a migraine and gave me an IV and pumped me full of fluids and some different medicines. One of them was the weirdest thing I have ever had, it made me so agitated and restless and all I could think of was Levi at home trying to take a bottle and probably not doing so well. Oh, I was dying! Luckily after a while my body calmed down and Justin talked to Alisa and the boys were doing well. Okay, I could calm down and we could go home pretty soon. I had been so cold and shaking a lot, so Justin piled lots of blankets on me, it felt so good. Until the doctor looked at me and said I look really hot, so they took my temperature and I had a fever. Now the doctor was worried about meningitis, so I got to do a spinal tap. Justin does not do well with needles and blood and such, so the doctor made him go in the waiting room so that he didn't have another patient. I did pretty well with it and I think I now know what it would be like to have an epidural! Well, I didn't have meningitis, but I did get a side effect from the tap...a headache. Doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose?

I finally got to go home and spend Christmas on the couch. The hardest thing about this, was that I couldn't give my family the Christmas they deserved. I know they still had a good time, but it was so hard to just lay there and watch and not be totally involved and not be able to make a yummy breakfast or play with the new toys. I was devistated that I missed my family's Christmas Eve dinner, the first time in 25 years! I was so sad that I couldn't enjoy when Justin's family came over on Christmas. I was depressed. But, then I remembered what Christmas is about...our Savior. I was given so much comfort by knowing that my Savior really knew just what I was going through, he has suffered this and much, much more. I was going to be just fine!

After one more week of this sickness, I am feeling like a brand new person. It is amazing how sickness can make you have a whole new outlook on life. I want to be better, I want to enjoy each day that I have!!

Thank you to all of my family who was there for me, those of you who gave me a call, or left me a loving message, and prayed for me, it means more to me than you will ever know. I have the best family in the whole world!!! I love you all and hope to see you soon! But the most wonderful person through this whole thing has been Justin. He took such great care of me and the boys, he never complained even though he was exhausted! He would wake up in the middle of the night to feed Levi, feed the two older boys, play with the boys, bring me my medicine, made sure that I drank plenty of water, he missed several days of work without pay, and he was just there for me...you are the best, Justin! I love you so much!!!

Now, I'm back and better than ever....by the way HAPPY NEW YEAR..2009!!!

Those Boys

So I was putting Corbin and Taylor to bed tonight and things were going so well...we said prayers, I read two books, no nap today, and it was 8:00, I thought they would be sound asleep fast! Well 15 minutes later I go back in their room, they were laying in bed, but they had taken all their clothes off their hangers and thrown them in a big pile and then tried hooking all the hangers together to make some kind of mechanism...ahhh! I was so upset and started to use a very sturn voice! Corbin knew how upset I was and so he said, mom do you want to hear me sing and then started singing Follow the Prophet! Oh man...how could I possibly be mad, now. So I listened and left it at that, I guess in the morning we will be cleaning up that mess!

Sick, Alayna's Wedding!!, Red Iguana, Sick, FHE

If you have wondered where I have been, well, I'm here now! At first I was sick with that yucky cold that is going around, but that's over! The funnest thing that happened was Alayna and Jeff's wedding! Alayna was the most beautiful bride. Taylor loved calling her a princess..and she was!! Everything turned out so wonderful and we are so happy to have Jeff in our family!

Coming out of the temple. Isn't her dress beautiful! Justin's mom made the robe and her veil, they turned out great!

One of the greatest things about them getting married was that it brought Jen and Ryan back into town. The boys were so happy to see their cousins!

Corbin and Jordan giving big loves!!

Taylor and Teague waiting for Alayna and Jeff to come out.

Justin feeding Levi at the reception, Levi did so good, but it eventually became too much stimulation!

Such a beautiful bride and such adorable kids!

While we were waiting for Alayna and Jeff to come out, Corbin went up to these doors and starting knocking and calling for Alayna!

Also, when Justin told Corbin that Alayna and Jeff got married just now, Corbin asked if she was going to have a baby now!

Alayna thought it was great so she grabbed Levi and told Corbin she had her baby...he didn't fall for it!

Cute Ainsley, the only girl in the bunch! She looked so adorable. Jen made her dress and it turned out so cute, she even made the bottom of her dress to look like Alayna's!

After the temple, Justin, the kids, and I went to the Red Iguana. Usually there is a huge waiting line, so when we drive by we usually just pass because we don't want to wait! But at 2:00 on a Friday afternoon, we didn't wait at all. It was sooo good! My favorite thing was the Vegetable Chimichanga...with all the guacamole and sour cream!!!Poor Corbin tried the salsa and chips and it was way too hot, we put sour cream around his lips to cool them off!
Silly Taylor!

After the wedding, I ended up getting strep throat...aah! I thought I was done being sick. All I can say is that I love antibiotics...life savor! So last night, Justin did our Family Home Evening, it turned out so well! He is so good at coming up with last minute lessons! He decided to make a Christmas list that the boys can give to Jesus. Each time they do one of the things on the list, they get to color it in and then when it is all colored in we are going to wrap it up and put it under the Christmas tree! So last night, Corbin went into his room and shut the door (and of course we eavesdropped), we could here him saying his little prayers! It just made my day and helped make me feel so much better.

After Corbin watched Justin make the list for Jesus, he grabbed some paper and went into the bathroom to make a list he wanted to give to Jesus. He came out in a couple of minutes and brought this out...we were blown away. He sounded out the letters for each of these words and then wrote them out. One of my favorites is when he tried writing cow...cao. I guess he will be ready for Kindergarten next year!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

I am so excited for Christmas this year! The boys are a year older and we are so blessed to have Levi added to our family! You might think I'm crazy, but we got out the Christmas tree on Monday and on Tuesday we decorated it. Last night I couldn't wait to turn out all the house lights and only have the Christmas tree lights on, it was so beautiful.
You would think that my favorite holiday was Christmas, but it's not, it's Thanksgiving. When Christmas is here, then it's all over, but when Thanksgiving is here, it has just begun. I just feel like Christmas decorations need to be added to Thanksgiving to make it even more fun.
I have to thank my parents for always making the Christmas season so special. I have so many wonderful memories of Christmas time growing up and I just hope that my children will have just as many. I remember every year my mom and dad would tell us that this Christmas wasn't going to be very big because money was tight, but every year they out did themselves and with six children presents were piled high to the ceiling!
One tradition I remember was when my dad would get these christmas chocolates and we would all stand around the counter and take turns picking one out until they were all gone.
Every Christmas Eve (as long as I can remember) we would have my mom's delicious ham loaf, potato rolls, and all the trimmings. We still get to do it every Christmas Eve, but we have gone from a family of 8 to a family of 31!
On Christmas Eve night we would go to bed and in the morning we had to get up and do the paperroute. I remember taking the newspaper to different families and they would have their windows open and I could see all the kids inside opening presents. I thought that is just wasn't fair, but once I got home, my parents definately made up for it!
Many of you know that my dad is a wood worker and he builds so many incredible things. On Christmas, dad would usually build us something and, for some reason, whenever I smell varnish, I think of Christmas! One of my favorite things was my bear house (it's a log house). The detail is amazing and a couple of years ago, my dad got it out of the attic and gave it back to me! But the most wonderful thing my dad has made for me happened a couple years ago when my mom and dad came to our home and wanted to give us our christmas. We were expecting a check, but then dad walked in carrying something big. My mom and dad have a clock at their home that is so beautiful and dad had made the same ones for my grandparent. When they passed on, my older sibling got them, but this year my dad made three more for the rest of us. I was blown away! I couldn't believe he did that for us. I don't know how long it took him, but it is the best present I have ever recieved!
Thanks mom and dad for making Christmas the most wonderful time of the year!!