#5 Levi

Of course, my little baby!! Oh, I can't get enough of this boy. He makes me laugh everyday and he has got personality written all over his face!! And his cheeks, oh how I still love his cheeks!

It has amazed me how much he has picked up from watching his brothers. For instance, today Corbin was saying "pow, pow" pretending to shoot a gun. Levi was in the other room and I could hear him say, "pow, pow...pow, pow" Okay, so sometimes it's not the greatest things he learns, but you have to admitt, hearing that from a 15 month old is pretty darn cute! He also loves holding onto his brothers hands and spinning in circles or else chasing them around the family room!

I love waking up each morning and seeing him jump up and down in his crib waiting for me to pick him up. As soon as I do, he points up to the basket in his closet and says "ball". He wastes no time in the morning cuddling, he is ready to play.

His favorite thing to do is Raaarrr!!! Everything raars; the bear, the dog, the cat, the fish, the pumpkin, the statue of a girl...everything. But, he does know how to bark like a dog, talk like a monkey, and moo like a cow.

Levi, loves food. If he wants it, he squeels as loud as he can, "ma!!!" and takes me over to the kitchen to find something...anything, but preferably the big bowl of candy on the top shelf. The only problem we have in the kitchen, these days is that Levi is too tall and any food that is left on the table, it's all his...

Oh, I am so grateful for my baby! Everytime I look at him I am so grateful we got him for our third child!

#4 Taylor

Oh, my little Tay. He has been such a light in our family. He has always been so sweet and really obedient. And he is the only one who will really cuddle up, especially when he has a sippy cup full of milk!

Tay is very content to sit in his room and play animals by himself or sit and look at books, or play with legos and come up with tons of creations. But as he is getting a little older, he is spending way more time with Corbin and they love to come up with ALL kinds of ideas!

He loves when he can get one on one time with mommy or daddy. He loves to help me bake, he loves sitting on our laps and reading a book, he loves when I sit down on th floor and play some game with him, he loves when I tell him stories about him being either a superhero or a knight saving the day. Although I think Tay really prefers Daddy's stories because he comes up with very entertaining ones! I just love that our kids love simple things and they don't need much to cheer them up.

Tay is a sensitive child and very caring of others. If we ask him if he would please share a toy with someone, he is usually willing to do it. Taylor and Justin love to give each other the "I Love You" sign, it is there thing, I love seeing Taylor do that to Justin just out of the blue!

When Tay get's in trouble, it is the saddest thing, he looks up at me with those sad eyes and then starts running off crying and saying "fine, I'm not sharing my toys with you!"

Tay is such a delight and he makes the perfect second child. I am so grateful that he was sent to us!

#3 Corbin

Corbs is not such a little boy anymore. I honestly don't know where the time has gone. I mean, we have had two other children since him so it would make since that he is growing up, but still it has just gone too fast.

Corbin has a personality like no other person I know and you can see it all over his face, his expressions say it all! He loves to get spazzed up and he gets so excited about the most simplest things; like going to the park, or getting to watch a movie, or getting to make popcorn...

He is very creative, I mean really, he is better than I am. For instance, today he found a stick, found some shoelace and made himself a bow (and used other sticks for the arrows). He was thrilled (until it broke 1 hour later) He has taught me how to make swords and shields out of diaper boxes, he loves making binoculars with paper and tape, he goes through tons of paper just making different maps, he ties rope from his bunk bed and uses them as monkey vines, or just to climb down, and the list goes on...

Corbs has got a one tracked mind, when he wants something and I'm not there to make it or get it for him...he is on it. I could just lay in bed all day and he would take care of himself, the only thing is, he loves me as his audience!!

Corbs has a pretty sensitive side, too. He can get devastated by something we say to him and he tells us we broke his heart, ouch, that one hurts. Or, I love when I see him take such good care of his brothers and makes sure they are okay! He is also quite shy. As much as he LOVES performing at home, he is sooo shy in public. It was a huge achievement to have him give his part for the primary program!

Raising this kid can be challenging at times, but when I see him and Taylor playing for hours laughing and playing pretend, I have to smile. When he does something without asking, I am grateful he is being such a good example to his brothers. When it is Monday night and we are sitting in the family room and he chooses to share his testimony all by himself, I feel, it's worth it all!

#2 Justin

Of course how can I not mention this wonderful husband of mine!!
*Thankyou Justin for choosing me to be your wife!
*Thankyou for being the best dad to our three little rascals!
*Thankyou for providing for us, for making us feel safe and well taken care of!
*Thankyou for taking the time to fix up our home! and anything our little ones break (or even me for that matter)!
*Thankyou for learning to take care of things yourself rather than pay someone else to do it!
*Thankyou for teaching me the value of saving!
*Thankyou for introducing me to frisbee and biking - I love that we really enjoys doing these things together - and even running can be fun with you sometimes :)
*Thankyou for stepping in when you know I have had a hard day!
*Thankyou for rubbing my neck to help get rid of my headaches!
*Thankyou for being the one to kill the spidees (and then teaching our boys so that I don't have too!)
*Thankyou for loving the food I make, or at least eating it!
*Thankyou for being patient with me!
*Thankyou for teaching me that I don't have to throw away food on the sell by date!
*Thankyou for the many hours of card games!
*Thank you for your example!
*Thankyou for being you!!

#1 The Gospel

I cannot start this month of focusing on blessings without first mentioning the gospel. I never think of myself as a person with many gifts, but one that I feel I was blessed with is Faith. I never doubt the gospel. I have always known that I am a child of God, that we had a plan presented to us before this life and that our Savior is the center of that plan, I know I will be with my family forever, Heavenly Father loves me and forgives me for my weaknesses, the Book of Mormon is a true book - it is simple, yet is full of answer's to life's questions, we have a living prophet who recieves revelation from God, temples are a little heaven on earth. I am so thankful that Heavenly Father blessed me with this Faith and I don't question these things one bit.

I am especially grateful for the knowledge I have of my Savior and what he went through so that I might live again. I love knowing that I will always have someone to turn to and I never have to feel alone. He knows just how I feel in every aspect of my life.

This has become one of my favorite talks, how can you not have a great love for our Savior after hearing this?

A month of Blessings

November...the month to focus more on what we are thankful for. I felt like last year, around this time, it went way too fast and I know it will again, but I want to make certain that I am already focusing on what is important to me and think about the things I am thankful for. Each day this month I want to post something I am grateful for. Don't feel like you have to read it at all and this is not intended to brag about me...it just seems like a great way for me to write it down.

Happy Halloween

from two bats and a baby chick...

We had a little Pumpkin Carving party with Alisa and Jerry...the boys were thrilled and came up with all kinds of ideas for a pumpkin, the ending results were...Corbin - A bat and a silly face, Taylor - superman and batman, Jerry (doing it for the rest of us) - A bat and a moon

And of course we had to have cider and some doughnuts (fyi - doughnuts...no good :( ... I will be sticking to the other recipe (from Abe and Nicole) which is so delicious!!) On halloween we went to a local grocery store's trunk or treat. There was one worker that was dressed, well scary. Levi was terrified. He would either stop and stare or else just keep walking past slowly staring at him. He didn't know what to think.

The boys thought it was great, though!It was a blast to have MandiJon (as we call them) and the kids over. We have been getting together every Halloween for the last 3 years and having dinner and trick or treating. Have I ever metioned how much I love having my sister and her family live only 15 minutes away! Well, I do!! Jaina is the girl that I claim for my own since I don't have one (but don't worry Mandi, I won't steal her!) Justin asked Jaina what she was dressed up as, she said, "a costume"

The kids got a TON of candy...but what the heck, it's Halloween!
One of our most favorite part of Halloween this year was watching Levi. I can't believe he is only 14 1/2 months old and he totally got the concept down. He walked right up to the door with all the kids, grabbed some candy, then put it in his bag, walked away without even looking at it, then he was ready to go to the next house. By the end of the night, he was dragging that bag behind him, but he would not let go. When we got home, he found our bowl of candy to pass out to other kids, he sat right down, and starting transfering from our bowl to his bag :) :)