A Thankful Heart

I'm a little slow on the gratitude post but I have been a busy girl. We just had lots of Dana's family here and I thought I'd post some of my favorite family time pictures. I am certainly grateful for all the good people in my life. Sadie loves grandpa.

Know many other 73 year olds that will get out and play with kids for an hour?

Sadie and Holly were so lucky to have their cousin Keena always playing with them and helping them do whatever they asked.

I love our backyard.

Reading books.

Snuggling with grandma.

Naptime with Dakota.

Happy kids.

Playing with grandpa.

A week ago I got a couple of our new baby's first pictures. They don't look like much I know, but what you can't see is that little teeny heart fluttering. This gave me an ear to ear smile...along with a couple watery eyes.

Pretty much I am one blessed girl.

Thanksgiving Family Reunion 2009

Every 3 years Dana's family has a reunion out here in AZ. His dad is one of 7 kids and they all had many kids (between 4-10). He has many, many cousins. The cool thing is, they have all remained pretty close over the years. We used to have Thanksgiving dinner at a cultural hall but it became so much work that now we have individual family Thanksgivings in different homes and then get together for lots of activities over the weekend. We are the only ones in Dana's immediate family out here, so we get to have it here. It was a lot of fun and everyone helped out. Especially my MIL who took on the turkey, stuffing, and gravy. All of which deserve rave reviews! We put all the sweet kids in the backyard. Sometimes our Thanksgivings can be chilly but it was quite perfect this year. No sweaters needed.

I was in charge of the missionary wall. I collected photos from every missionary in the family and attempted to place them on a world map where their mission was. As you can see the photos kind of overtook the map. All the many pictures on the left side are the US missions. Everyone really liked seeing all the old pictures and I felt good about the project even though it turned out differently than I expected.

This little girl kept coming up to me and asking if she could hold my "baby". I loved the way Sadie almost touched the floor as she carried her around. Sadie loved it though!

On Friday there was a fun day at the park planned with lunch and TONS of fun stuff for kids. Of course the favorite among our kids was the petting zoo.

Not so sure about the goose...smart girl.

Little piglet- who was plagued by "swine flu" jokes.

Emma's favorite :)

She was the biggest girl in there and was so excited to get to help put the animals back in the trailer.

At least she'll be a cute FFA nerd in high school :)

Em with some cousins.

They had Babe Ruth's limo there that a guy in someone's ward owns. The kids had a great time sitting inside and checking it out.

hi!

There were over 300 there and not everyone was able to come. Pretty amazing what 2 good and faithful people can create. We had a slideshow and memories of the 2 that began it all that were very touching. Maybe pregnancy didn't help, but I was pretty emotional.

And I felt like a big goober taking this picture in front of everyone. But it's fun to see now! I feel like such a lucky girl to be married into such a fabulous family :)

Couch Pictures

I'm getting real acquainted with the couch these days. My nausea is creeping up on me yes, but the main reason is that without my arthritis medication my knees have swollen huge. I'm doing my best to unswell them by putting them up and not walking around much. I have to admit, the first day was kind of nice, but now I just feel guilty as I watch Dana rush around the house trying to do everything at once. I feel so blessed to be married to such a wonderful guy who was willing to make sacrifices to bring one more baby to our family. We knew this was a possibility since I dealt with it with Sadie too. So, for now, we're playing it by ear. I may end up taking some medication if I can't get it down.

On the upside, being forced to lounge around gave me ample time to take some pictures of the kids before church.

They really wanted to wear Christmas clothes today.

They look at them longingly in their closets all the rest of the year.

We're getting pretty close right? Yea! The holidays!

Dancing

Sadie admiring her "Rella" shoes. What better shoes to go with a fancy dress like that? And on the wrong feet of course :)

3 precious girlies

One sweet boy

Finally all together :) Whew!

Happy Sunday!

Joy, Happiness, and All That Good Stuff!

A new little one is coming our way this summer! We are very excited :)
This time it's taking awhile to sink in. I just can't believe I'm going to have 5 kids!!! Since I know for sure this is our last, I'm going to try my best to enjoy every aspect of the whole experience...while I take care of the first 4 and in between barfing in the toilet of course. Anyone local have a housekeeper recommendation?
I promise- we REALLY are excited :)

New Bed

A couple years ago a friend gave us this toddler bed. This weekend we pulled it out of the garage, cleaned it up, and have one VERY excited little girl. She instantly climbed under the covers and started sucking her thumb- which was periodically interrupted by big smiles. This transition is a big one. The first night you hope and pray they stay put and do not come out 5 times before you finally convince them to go to sleep- or possibly even give up and plunk them back in the crib and listen to them cry themselves to sleep saying "big girl bed!" over and over. This is the scene that played out in my mind, but after just a little bit of talking in bed, (and in part because she missed her nap yesterday) she was out until about 4:30.

At this point, I heard her calling my name (which is "mom" and must be yelled and/or whined btw) out in the living room. Then she did get put her in her crib, but without the "plunk", and she was luckily fine with it. Anyway, another reminder that, although no bigger than a mite, Sadie is no longer a baby.
Eli is also excited to have a roommate. We've heard ever increasing complaints about how Emma and Holly get to share and have more fun. And we hear frequent complaints from Emma about how it's not fair that she has to share because Holly always messes up her room.

So nothing coordinates but I'm not worried about it. I have a feeling we'll be switching things up more than once in the future.

Halloowweenn 2009

Pumpkin Carving

here's how Sadie feels about pumpkin goop...

mmmmm....

Holly's Preschool Party

School Parade

They're not allowed to wear masks so Eli decided to be a ninja rather than wear an incomplete Darth Vador costume.

It seems that doing "fives" as people walk past is a really big deal.

Here comes Emma's class. Yes, this is her teacher, Mrs. James, the crazy hillbilly.

Emma with 2 of her favorite people.

The little kids watching the fun.

Pepper the Sphinx.

Halloween Night

"Padme" being a goofball getting ready for the haunted porch.

The cutest Darth Vador you ever saw.

Go Big Blue! I kept getting the fight song stuck in my head whenever she wore her costume.

My little leopard with gently applied whiskers.

more treats!

The highlight of the night for Holly and Eli. There was a guy hidden some where that talked to the kids through this skeleton. It was so funny! They were fascinated:)

Dana running the "haunted porch". Emma and 2 friends also did it and had a great time. Honestly, the best Halloween ever:)

Now to figure out how to get rid of all this candy before I eat it all!