little and big things

This is what makes our family life what it is, little and big things. 

little: 

practicing letters in names with pancakes. 

BIG: 

changing one of the ugliest painted bathrooms I've ever seen into something more me.

(or as Justin pointed out, a little more like a baby boy's room. perfect.)

 I had some help, of course.

 little: 

playing with food.

BIG: 

labor of love in the backyard, trying to change this plot of ground into something more like 

this. 

(I sure do hope I have the energy to can some tomatoes, salsa, spaghetti sauce)

but in the meantime we are enjoying the fruits of our labor...

little: 

helping mom make cookies

(pretty much a bi-weekly activity)

BIG: 

taking time to reflect on this country and those who have sacrificed so much to make it pretty awesome

especially since these boys are growing up in this land.

little: 

the new love of collecting and trading pokemon cards with school friends.

(thank goodness for summer break)

BIG: 

worked hard the last few weeks of school to complete an animal report, which meant that this little boy completed the 2nd grade. 

We are so proud of you Corbin! You have more than doubled your reading this year, which we know took a lot of hard work on your part, and you have accelerated in math. Way to go!

little: 

playing with mom's hair.

(yes, there is a cup inside my hair...the boys thought they were being hilarious) 

BIG: 

Taylor graduated from Kindergarten!

 He had the most amazing, cutest school teacher

 and the funnest, musically talented aide. 

 Taylor, you were so ready to have your 'own' thing, and school is where you found it.  Your teacher said you were such a sweetheart, quiet, loving, and excited to learn. We feel you really learned to break out of your comfort zone and do hard things. You are really picking up the rules of reading. Way to go, buddy!

BIG: 

this charmer turned another year older! 

I love how selfless he is. He wanted his day to be fun for everyone (especially the boys) We enjoyed going out to eat together, picking out lots of treats at the store to enjoy together, playing at the park for a couple of hours (where he was the main attraction at the merry-go-round, pushing tons of kids at a time, the boys were pretty proud to be his children), and then playing games at home together. We had a good day.

Happy Birthday to my favorite man in the world!

little:

 we took a week off after school got out to pretty much do nothing. Late nights, sleeping in, playing super nintendo (where the boys learned how "into" it I can get), pulling weeds (because that's nothing), and gearing up for what we hope to be the BEST summer yet. Because at the end of this summer we get to welcome a bundle of joy into our happy home.

BIG:

We wanted to surprise the boys with a kick off to summer. We didn't tell them what we were doing until we were driving there. 

(I learned that, like his daddy, Corbin hates secrets)

 All they knew was that we would be gone all day, we had to pack a lunch, and they needed lots of sunscreen. 

It felt like Christmas in the car when they heard where we were heading to:

 Lagoon...all...day...long...

 (last time we went there, four years ago, we had a free entrance pass and could ride only three rides, so yes, this was like Christmas to them)

Corbin and Daddy took off to ride a lot of the bigger rides; while Levi, Taylor and I rode the safer rides. At lunch we met up and then spent the rest of the day together. 

Being at Lagoon showed more of our kids personalities:

Corbin - Is daring to try just about anything, hesitated a little on some rides, but was convinced and loved every second of it. He rode the colossus twice (it took me until jr. high to ride that one), white rollercoaster was the scariest to him, the spider, samuri, wild mouse, screamer...and pretty much every other thriller. (Was ready to do the rocket, but we were getting exhausted) 

Taylor - was in heaven on all the kid rides, hated the haunted house, could handle a couple bigger rides, and quietly declined on the scarier rides. He loves the ones that spin fast.

Levi - little wild, adventurous, thrill seeker. He wanted to go on any ride he possibly could. Cried when I told him he wasn't big enough for that one (collosus, samuri, wild mouse) and only wanted to be by his dad because I told him no too many times.

It was a fun day.

We have lots of fun memories with big things, but in my opinion, it's the little things that make the happiest families!

Here's to summer!

house full of boys

Remember this picture of our boys.  It describes perfectly what it is like raising boys. 

 They can be wild, dirty, loud, and physically exhausting. There are some nights I lay in bed just drained from the day; the noise, scrubbing dirt off their bodies, stepping on loose Lego's around the house, cleaning up yet another invention made from items around the house, and trying to keep peace in a house full of boys. I wonder if I can face the next day, what adventures await us tomorrow? What fights will I have to break up tomorrow?  

I think of my mother, how did she do it? She raised four boys in a row before my sister and I joined the family.  And they are all amazing in their own ways! Those stories I hear from my brothers make me laugh, until I realize...wait, this is what I am facing right now. I am living in the thick of these adventures...right now.

But, I also know that I would not trade it for anything in this world. I feel like there are some huge bonuses to having boys and I think I will enjoy those. 

I hope with all our boys I will be able to teach them how to be strong, faithful, hardworking, respectful, self-reliant, and have self-control. I know in a world like we live in now those traits are going to be few and far between, but I am reminded of all the good mothers I am surrounded by that have boys and I realize, those boys are going to be out there! So thank you (especially to all my family) for raising the kind of boys that I want our boys to look up to.

The other day, I had a little appointment. Justin couldn't make this appointment because of his new role at work (which I am so incredibly proud of him for!) So I called up my mom to come with me, she came and I couldn't of asked for a more perfect person to be  with me that day.  I laid on a bed while the doctor rubbed some cold liquid on my growing belly and as soon as the image came up on the screen, me and my mom looked at each other, we knew right away that I would be following right in her footsteps.  Four, that's four little boys for me to love, smother, care for, kiss, and enjoy! I was not the least bit surprised, I felt this was going to be how it was, no matter how much people hoped for us to have a girl, I knew deep down that was not going to be the case. Justin hoped so much for me to be right. He gets to be surrounded by boys in this part of his life and that makes me his only girl!  

I'm pretty certain that this big brother is one of the most excited about the news. I am so happy that he is old enough to really enjoy and understand the new role he will be getting in about three months. 

(that picture just about kills me, those are some major splits)

And I'm pretty certain that this soon to be mother of four is going to be ready for the beginning of September to get here fast!

 But for now, bring on the ice cold lemonade and summer break in three days!

easter 2012

We had the perfect weather, plenty of easter candy, a very fancy decorated table (fancy meaning picked weeds from three little boys sprinkled all over our table outside), a delicious barbecue with my sister, an easter egg hunt with some favorite cousins, getting creative with dying eggs, a great message at church, and some beautiful videos watched on the computer. 

Awesome.

It was a good thing Levi had such a willing brother to share because that outfit was way too restrictive.

One of my favorite things about Easter are the signs of spring, the newness of life it brings, the warm sun on my face, the laughter of kids outside, rolling down the window as we drive around town, opening the windows of our house to capture the fresh smell of outside, watching the plants wake up from their long winter nap, hearing the birds chirp and the bees buzzing, and seeing the vibrant colors of nature everywhere I go. I love Easter.

general conference

It was such a nice weekend. We had our traditional Bingo and of course a tent. Very nice weekend.

There were some pretty amazing talks that I have and will continue to listen to over and over.

And a little child shall lead them

The laborers in the vineyard

How to obtain revelation and inspiration for your personal life

The merciful obtain mercy

The race of life

Other events from the weekend.

1. Boys found a way to entertain themselves while Justin and I were working in the yard in between sessions. Markers.

2. April Fools Day Bacon. It's pretty tasty.

3. What? I didn't do anything.

corbin is baptized

It's so amazing to think that his boy has been baptized and is so grown up. It was such a beautiful, special day.

I often times think of Corbin as my little baby who I have to make sure his every needs are taken care of, watch his steps so that he doesn't get hurt, make choices for him that he can't make for himself, but now I look at him and realize...he is growing up....and there is no stopping it. He is now old enough to make most choices for himself and whether they have good consequences or bad, he is the one that has them and I can't stop them or totally protect him all the time. I know it is part of life, and it's healthy and good for him to grow up and not need to rely on me, that's how it should be. I just hope that in the past 8 years we have made some good choices in raising him so that he can really know who he is and be the best that he can be. I just hope he will want to need me every now and then.

I know he is only 8, but then again, he is already 8 years old and boy those years flew by.

We are so proud of Corbin for being the one to choose this first, most important, step in his life.

Lucky for Corbin, he has two sets of amazing grandparents to look up to as an example of how to live. I felt so much that Corbin needed to have something from them that he can cherish for the rest of his life. I am thankful that they each wrote their testimonies down for him to have. I'm not sure why I felt that he needed it, but maybe one day in his life those sweet letters will be there for him.

It was a day full of the spirit and happy tears (maybe some slightly sad ones too). What added to the special day was sharing it with his dear sweet cousin Grace. It couldn't have been better. We are so thankful to Cami and Tyson for being so willing to arrange schedules and do all that they did to make it all work.

I can't get over that this was almost 8 years ago.

After all the baptisms, it was so nice to celebrate with some wonderful families and have some delicious soup, breadsticks and WHITE desserts.

Now that this guy is an official member of our church, he was able to receive his own set of scriptures. He has cherished them so much and told me last night that he is now in the book of Enos. I hope that enthusiasm for the scriptures always continues!

We love you so much!

outside

I love/hate the teasing that springtime gives us. I usually don't count on being able to enjoy being warm outside until May, but when it's the middle of March and we can be outside without being cold, I am happy. We've really tried to take advantage of this. (and anytime we can be outside without working in the yard, we'll take, but we'v enjoyed plenty of that)

Have you ever been to city creek? (and I'm not talking about the shopping center) It is so beautiful. Such a pretty place to spend a Sunday afternoon. And if you love little baby dogs, like Levi, there are tons of them.

And there's plenty of water.







and plenty of dirt and rocks.

Nothing, like getting a free ride with daddy.

Our State Capitol. It sure is a beautiful building, I was in awe. And the landscaping is so pretty. Justin actually worked on the grounds when he was in high school, but it's changed a lot since then.

However, the boys weren't quite as interested in the architect and the landscaping as we were...

They were a little busy fishing out our tax money, I mean pennies, out of the fountain. (yes, we did make them throw the money back)

The boys really wanted to have their picture taken with the lion, there's a huge drop off on the other side of the lion, but we figured if Justin was right there and they stayed sitting on the one side, they would be fine. As we were adjusting them. A police sitting in his car spoke through his loud speaker..."get off the lion" Woops, I hurried and snapped a picture while I was tellling them to get down. After we got them down Justin and I were saying what, there wasn't any sign. Corbin said, "yes there is, just right over here on the back side, it says not to climb on the lion!" Thanks buddy...

If you ever get a chance to go to the castle park, go, it's a huge hit with our boys. But daddy has to come for the tire swing, cause there is no way I would last on that thing. My stomach would give me about 4 seconds.

I love these pictures. The looks on their faces says it all.

We are so excited to be putting in a firepit in our backyard. Corbin couldn't wait, so he gathered all the big rocks in our yard and made his own. The he gathered as many sticks as he could find and then convinced Justin to build a fire.

I have a feeling we will be spending A LOT of time outside this year.

(we had a very special event this month that I promise I will document soon)