Lucky!

I want to stop and take a second to thank Kirt! He works his little tail end off so that I can be home with my kids. I think staying home is a privilage. I know the world doesn't think of it that way, but how lucky am I that I get to be the major influence in my children's lives for the first 5 years! Staying home was not what I wanted to do with my life, but I am so grateful the Lord put me on this path. Joseph B Wirthlin said last Conference, "Come what may, and love it!" Three kids was not what we were planning to be doing right now in our lives, but they also taught in this last conference to Enjoy the Moment! I love my kids, I love Kirt! He gave the most beautiful blessing this last Sunday to Katelyn. He blessed her to love everyone around her, he blessed her with a love of music, and he blessed her with Peace. I am so glad he lives his life so that he can bless my children! I am so Lucky!

Connie

Tommorow my aunt turns another year older,
I love that dear lady and don't know if I've told her.
So I'm taking this moment to look back and see,
Just why my aunt Connie means so much to me!
Pink and White wallpaper stands out in my head,
painting and cleaning and moving a bed.
All to get ready for her to come back,
From South Carolina, with Honor entact!
Later came sleepovers with me and my sis,
she spoiled us rotten, they were complete bliss!
when birthdays came round the fun wouldn't end,
Connie took us to a movie, just me and a friend.
The best was when Connie moved into my house,
her room was not fit for even a mouse.
So we hung up blankets all over the walls,
She lived with the screaming and bouncing of balls.
Mario party kept us up late,
Connie saying swear words when losing was GREAT!
We'd stay up late talking and laughing too,
til my mom would come down and make faces at you!
One day when I brought home my first boyfriend, Kirt,
When he wanted to leave you dropped his keys down your shirt!
My favorite was when we went cruising together,
Remember the rocking from that horrible weather?
We knew the location of every bathroom on ship,
you puked in the water on our snorkeling trip!
Just $17 and take your shirt off for me,
I will forever be fond of that memory!
When life got tough I went down for a while,
you were always right there with a hug and a smile.
When everyone else was turning away,
You let me cry and knew just what to say.
Connie that's one of the things I love most about you,
You love every person despite what they do.
You were there at the hospital when Brayden popped out,
And helped me get back to that good upward route.
You smiled and came through the Temple with me,
And were there when we were cealed for all Eternity!
God then sent me a daughter so sweet and so new,
with her very first smile I knew just what to do.
I would give her a name that to me meant a lot,
Someone honest and caring, of goodness I sought.
And then that sweet baby she looked right at me,
and in that sweet second I thought of Connie.
You were always there and right by my side,
through the ups and the downs, no matter how bumpy the ride.
I love you my Connie, I hope you know that!
So be glad about 40! Be proud of that hat!
For no one has touched everyone person the same as you!
I love you my Connie, I love you, I DO!

Check out this Princess!

I am going to take this opportunity to brag about how absolutely beautiful my daughter is! There is not one person that she doesn't have wrapped around her finger around here! She is starting to smile, laugh, and coo! She knows her family, and will stare at her brothers now! My all-time favorite though, she loves her mom! You should see that smile light up her entire face! And check out those cheeks! Those are my double stuffed oreos in full bloom!

My Jackson!

I just have to put these pictures on of my little Jackson! He brings such joy to us! He has decided that he is old enough to feed himself! He won't let us touch his food. So this is the result of spaghetti! We are taking baths a lot after meals around our house lately! Isn't it amazing how different each child is! Jackson is so indepentdent and wants to do everything himself. I thin khe sees his older brother do it and he thinks he should too! The stool he is sitting on is a little taller than the others, but once he saw brother sitting on the smaller stool, he decided he needs to sit on one of those too. He can barely reach the counter! What a sweetheart! The second is a recent one of Katelyn. Check out those cheeks!

Family

I just want to give a shout out to all of my family! I have the best family in the entire world! I have over 50 cousins and like 25 aunts and uncles and I get to see most of them every couple of weeks! But I especially want to tell my mom's sisters how very much I love them! You guys mean the world to me. You are more like my own sisters than aunts. Susan and I are closer in age than her and my mom! I love going out with you guys and I am so glad you let me just be myself and love me for it! I think I have a little bit of each of you in me! I look up to all of you so very much! I don't know what I would do without you guys!

Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas this year! We decided to stay at home since the first time since we got married. We decided to start some of our own traditions and I bought some cinnamon roll dough from a bakery to make for breakfast. We spent the night driving from one parents house to the other and Santa visited and brought the kids a remote control car that can ride on the walls! We went home, read the kids "The Night Before Chrismas" and put them to bed. Kirt and I set out to wrap presents and create a fantasy morning for our kids. Over the summer we had purchased an outdoor slide and jungle gym to put downstairs, since we have no backyard. We brought it up and realized it had not been washed before we bought it and we spent two hours cleaning it up and steralizing it for the kids. We went to bed at 1:30 in the morning! I woke up with Katelyn and looked to see what time it was, but the power had gone out! I had to wake up Kirt to hold a flashlight while I changed her diaper. She woke up again, the princess, at 6:30 and the power was still off. Brayden woke us up around 8:45 and the power was still not on. It was FREEZING! We had put the brand new dvd recorder we bought for Christmas next to the wall so we could record them opening their presents, but we did not charge it the night before! So the Dvd recorder lasted long enough for them to walk down the stairs and see everything. We couldn't make any cinnamon rolls, for lack of an oven. We couldn't see anything because the lights wouldn't work, and there was 15 new inches of snow out front and it was still snowing! So we wrapped up in our blankets and Kirt packed up every toy into the car, most still unopened! Just as I went to shut the door to leave, the power flashed back on. Of course! We drove through the blizzard to my mom's house and had to let the kids open their presents there. The kids didn't even get to climb the slide we had spent and hour cleaning! It was not the Christmas we had imagined, but we got to spend it with family, which is what we wanted anyway.