The Lott Family

Easton's 4th Birthday

2011-01-24T08:09:00.000-08:00

I can't believe my baby is already 4. Happy Birthday Big Guy!!! We love you.

Halloween 2010

2010-12-23T10:12:00.000-08:00

I was all prepared to have each of my kids be whatever they wanted this year, so I was shocked when they all wanted to match. We did a Bronco football theme. Brooklyn was the Bronco's number #1 fan, Clayton was Champ Bailey, BrynLee was a Bronco Cheerleader, and Easton wanted to be a football player. I didn't think they made uniforms that small but apparantly they do and he love it.

GO BRONCOS!!!!!

What's Been Keeping Us Busy For The Last 6 Months

2010-09-19T10:35:00.000-07:00

WARNING!! I think this would be in the running for the longest post ever if there was ever a contest. It has been so crazy around here lately. I guess that's what happens with four kids and all of their activities.

In February Brooklyn started playing on a competitive soccer team, DH Lightning. She had a fun first season with them and even managed to score several goals.

In March Clayton started playing little league. He got on a team with several of his friends and they did pretty good. I think he even managed to play every position except for outfield.

Clayton was #1.

Towards the end of one of the games they were having a city celebration and they started shooting off fireworks. We had to pause the game because non of the boys were paying attention. Several ball rolled past the kids because they were too busy watching the fireworks.

BrynLee also played soccer.

She was more interested in skipping down the field and running past the ball, but she still had a good time. She was very entertaining to watch.

We kept Clayton pretty busy because during baseball season he was also in the middle of soccer season. There was one game that his cousins showed up too and he wanted to impress them. He ended up scoring 3 goals on breakaways pretty quick. The next time it happened he tried to pass with his left foot and ended up kicking it in the goal. He loves playing both sports and I hate to make him choose just 1 right now.

In May all of my family and Jay's parents came to St. George to see Brian Regan at the Tuachan. So much fun. This is our second year going and if he comes again we will be there again.

Me and My Sisters

Clayton won a couple of awards at the end of the school year. His favorite was the "First in Math" for the whole entire school. He had the most points. I could never get him off the program and he is already looking forward to when they start it back up. He also got an award for scoring pretty high on the core tests.

Brooklyn also won an award for passing off her blue book (had to do with US History). She has to memorize the Preamble, the Presidents, the Gettsburg Address, the states and capitals, the Continents, the Star Spangled Banner, and other things that I can't remember. Pretty impressive for a 5th grader and not a whole lot of 5th graders did it.

BrynLee also took a gymnastic class from a cute girl in our neighborhood. She learned quite a bit and loved it. She wants to be a cheerleader.

BrynLee and her teacher Miss Ashley.

In June we took a family vacation to Sea World and the beach for a couple of days.

The Shamu Show was our favorite!!!

All of the grandkids on the Shamu car.

Our family with Shamu.

Gaga and Bumper (Jay's parents) with the grandkids.

Brooklyn's 11th birthday. This year instead of parties we took the kids to lunch and then gave them money to go shopping. I loved having this one on one time with each of the kids.

In June Brooklyn's team went to the Summer Games in Cedar City. They ended up taking 4th overall in their group. They ended up losing by 1 point at the last minute in the Bronze metal match.

Brooklyn after opeing ceremonies.

Maddie, Riley, and Brooklyn

Clayton ended up making the Washington Little League All-Star Team. He was so excited. They got to go to a tournament in Cedar and they also got trophies. They had a lot of fun.

Easton loves Clayton and wants to be just like him!!

Grandma Camp 2010. My mom takes the older grandkids for about 4 days. This year my sister also took Easton during that time so me and Jay had some relaxing alone time. Nest year my mom is taking Easton too. WHOOHOOO!!

Clayton's 9th Birthday! He want a lamborgini car brownie cake. This was the best I could do.

BrynLee's 7th Birthday! She loves Princess and the Frog. Thanks Maren for helping me with the cake. It took forever.

We finished a room in our basement for our niece Felicia. She moved in with us while she is going to Dixie. We love having her here. It is my most favorite room in the house (maybe because it is the only completely finished room in our house).

24th of July in Beaver. One of my favorites and I am glad that we are close enough to still do it. I love the parade, the races, the games , and hanging out with family. This year Brooklyn got 2nd, Clayton got 4th, BrynLee got 2nd, and Easton got 1st. Way to go kids.

We found this cool bike at my grandparents house and rode around on it for hours. I have already claimed inheritance on it.

BrynLee finally lost her 2 front teeth, with the helkp of her brother. LOL.

Brooklyn's first day of 6th grade. Crazy to think that I have a child in intermediate school.

She loves it.

Clayton's first day of 4th grade.

Brynlee's first day of 2nd grade.

Easton's first day preschool.

This is has been our life for the past 6 months, but I have loved every minute of it. I love watching our kids grow and learn new things. Now that the kids are back in school I am hoping to get some projects done including the girls room that I started 6 months ago and haven't finished. Oh well!

Happy Birthday Clayton and BrynLee

2010-07-06T15:09:00.000-07:00

Once again I am on top of things(not). Yesterday was Clayton's 9th and BrynLee's 7th birthday. Happy Birthday. We love you guys!!!

Happy Birthday Brooklyn

2010-06-09T11:11:00.000-07:00

Even though her birthday was Sunday we just wanted to wish her a belated Happy 11th Birthday. We love you Brook.

A Sneak Peak

2010-03-03T13:57:00.000-08:00

Here's a little sneak peek of what we have been working on for the last 6 weeks (It has taken forever and hopefully it will be done by Easter. That is my goal.) We started working on the girl's room. At first I decided I wanted their room a lime green with the beadboard on top. I took 1 full day and painted their room. I absolutely HATED the color. 2 days later I was back to Ace Hardware and got a dark brown and spent another day painting. This time it was a different story. I LOVED the color it turned out. I also spent another week sanding down, painting, and glazing their bedroom set. It took forever, but I loved the way it turned out. I have dejunkd their room ( 2 garbage bags full of garbage and 1 full of stuff for DI). Now all I have left is the organizing and the decorating (This is what might take forever. I have a huge list of projects I want to do including learning how to sew some things.) Hopefully I can show you the finished product here in the next month.

Some before pictures of the girl's room.......

Here is the nasty lime green color. I actually really like the color just not for the walls..........

Jay puting up the beadboard and trim (we had to paint both, but it turned out so cute).....

Stay tuned................

On Healies

2010-03-03T13:41:00.000-08:00

Brooklyn has been begging and begging for Healies (shoes with the skates on the bottom) for the past year. She is always borrowing her friends or using her cousins when she visits. I won't fork over the $45 for the shoes and she hasn't been able to save her money for them. We went to DI about 3 weeks ago and she happened to find a pair of healies in her size for $4. She used her own money for them and wore them all day for 5 days straight. On the 5th day she came home from school and put them on rode down our drive-way and BAM. Fell on the sidewalk. One of the wheels happened to catch on one of the cracks in the sidewalk and it tripped her. She fell on her wrist. Of course it was her writing arm. It was sore and kinda of just hung there. We let it go for about 5 days just splinting it, but decided if she was going to continue to play soccer for the next 6 weeks she better be in a cast if it was broken. We took her to get an X-Ray last week just to see and sure enough it was broken. We took her to Jay's office and he got to cast it. She chose purple, and now everything she wants to wear has to have some purple in it. Too funny. She was pretty excited to wear the cast, but 1 1/2 weeks later she is ready for the thing to be off. Only 4 1/4 more weeks to go. At least she still gets to play soccer. All she has to do is bubble wrap it before games.

Note to self....Healies are not as cool as they seem.

Globetrotters

2010-03-03T13:03:00.000-08:00

We found out that the Globetrotters were coming to Cedar City in February, so we decided to surprise the kids. We didn't tell them until we got there. They were so excited. We ended getting some really good seats so we were up pretty close. It was fun to see Flight Time and Big Easy (they were our favorites on the Amazing Race) and all of the other fun things they did. All of the tricks they did were pretty amazing. We bought the kids a souvenir ball and they were able to get some of their autographs. They wanted to stay all night and get all of them, but it was so late and we had to drive back. It was a really fun show and if you ever get the chance I would recommend going.

Easton's Birthday Party

2010-02-16T11:13:00.000-08:00

We celebrated Easton's birthday when all of my family came down for the weekend before his birthday. He was so excited about his "party". He wanted a pinata and a "Buzz and Woody" cake so that's what he got. He got some fun presents along with the bike that he has been wanting. He got a wiggle racer for Christmas, so we decided to keep this an indoor bike for now. He loves being able to ride his bike all around and it entertains him while I am cleaning. We also took him to Texas Roadhouse to eat one night. We kept telling him that he got to sit on a saddle and they say "Yee Haw" to him. He was so excited and kept asking when he got to sit in the saddle. By the time they brought it he got a little shy, but he still got up on it. He loved his cake. I kept catching him sneaking in the fridge staring at his cake and anytime someone came by he kept having to show them. We starting making it 2 days before his party, so it was really hard for him to wait. Easton loved everything about his birthday and he is already talking about next year.

Last 6 months

2010-02-02T08:24:00.001-08:00

We have been MIA for awhile. Our computer got a nasty virus. $200 and a couple of months later our computer is finally virus free (knock on wood). It took another couple of months to finally get everything back on the computer. It is nice to finally be almost normal. Here's a little of what has gone on the last 6 months.

In September we hiked up in the red rocks above the temple. We have been here almost 4 years and had never been up there. It was really pretty and there were so many places to explore and climb around in. The kids had so much fun.

This past fall Clayton played flag football for the city. His team played pretty good, but didn't win many games. Clayton did a great job. He even got a couple of touchdowns. He is always so fun to watch.

Brooklyn played AYSO soccer this fall. We weren't going to sign her up because we usually just do spring soccer. She has really come to love the sport so we gave in. She did really well. She played forward and scored 7 goals this season. She was so excited. As good as she was at forward, she was an even better defender. At one of her games there was some coaches looking for another player for their club team. They invited Brooklyn to play, so we are going to stick with club soccer for now. She has really enjoyed playing with them and has become quite a good little soccer player too.

Easton is my blanket kid. He goes just about everywhere with his blanket. We finally made him quit taking it to the stores and church, so it stays at home most of the time. He was very particular about the blanket he had. He always wanted the blue star blanket. We ended up losing the blanket for a month and so he got used to a couple of others. As long as it had a tag on it that was all he cared about. He loves the tags and he would probably carry around just the tag if that was all there was. A couple of months ago his favorite blanket bit the dust. He was so set when the tag ripped off. He has gotten used to the "rainbow blanket" and the "car blanket" but every once in awhile I will find him going back to his blue star blanket.

Every fall we go to Scofield to Jay's family's cabin. We love it. We always get to enjoy the changing of the leaves. This year I made the kids pose in front of some really old buildings. I haven't played with these pictures yet, but I love how they turned out. Can't wait to see how they turn out once I polish them up a bit.

I was sad that last year was my last year coordinating all the kids costumes. I did convince BrynLee and Easton to match (not hard to convince a 2 year old). BrynLee and Easton went as the Princess and the Frog, Clayton was Darth Vador, and Brooklyn was a bumblebee. Jay even decided this year that we needed to dress up. This was our first time in 12 years of marriage that we dressed up and it was fun. We found Popeye and Olive Oil costumes. So much fun. Instead of carving pumpkins this year we decorated them. BrynLee and Easton wanted them to match their costumes so they had princess and the frog pumpkins. Clayton had a baseball player and Brooklyn did the Tin Man. The kids had a lot of fun looking for ideas and painting them. And of course we ended up with way too much candy!!!

We stayed at home for Christmas. It is getting too hard to travel with 4 kids at Christmas. We loved having Christmas with just our family. Christmas Eve we hung out at the house and played games. That night the kids got their traditional pajama's. Christmas morning was so much fun. I love watching the kids expressions when they see what they get. Brooklyn got her camera, Clayton got his tech deck stuff, BrynLee got her doll, and Easton got a dinosaur play set. They were all so excited. We got such a good deal the day after Thanksgiving that we gave the family "Rock Band" for Christmas. It has been so much fun. Easton LOVES the drums. Easton was so funny when we were opening presents. He kept pushing me and Jay out of the way and telling us that he would show us how to do it. He ended up opening all of our presents. Here are also some pictures of the kids in their Christmas dresses on Christmas Sunday.

This is one of my favorite pictures. Jay's parents got the kids wiggle racers and we had been storing them in the garage. We told the kids their was one more present and Easton must have been going to the bathroom, but he heard one more present and he took off for the garage. I didn't realize he didn't have any pants on until after I started taking pictures. I love it. We let him ride around naked for a minute before we had to pry him off to go get his pants back on.

For New Year's we went to Price. My brother and his wife and their new baby flew in for 2 weeks. Jay had to work most of the time, so my dad met us in Beaver and took me and the kids back to Price for the week to spend time with my whole family (it had been a long time since every single one of us had been together in place at the same time). The kids loved playing in the snow. I think they spent at least half the day in the snow and they were ready to go every day by 8:00 am. This picture below reminds me of "Ralphie" from A Christmas Story.

While we were all together, we threw a baby shower for my sister-in-law who had just had her first baby. So much fun and so much good food. We were so glas that they came out and that we got to meet our new niece Kiley for the first time.

While they were here they were going to bless baby Kiley. My brother ended up having emergency oral surgery the day before they were supposed to bless her. He was really worried that he wouldn't be able to do it or he would be so drugged that he would say funny things. He got a couple of blessings himself that week and everything turned out good. He was still in some pain, but the blessing was amazing and the spirit was so strong. I am so glad they came to visit and that we go to spend the time with them. We just love their cute little family and wish they were closer (Virginia is too far away.) This is Kiley on her blessing day.

My Baby is 3!!!

2010-01-24T07:47:00.000-08:00

Happy 3rd Birthday Easton. We love you!!!

Clayton and Cub Scouts

2009-08-30T11:46:00.000-07:00

Clayton started scouts about 6 weeks ago and he has loved it. Every week he brings us his book to see what things he can pass off. They have been great Family Home Evening activites. Last Wednesday was his first pack meeting. It was a fun experience. When they pass off each level they get to pin their moms with a cool pin. He was awarded his Bobcat award so he got to pin me. He can now start working on his Wolf. Good Job Clayton!!

Doesn't he look like a stud in his uniform!!!

Potty Training Easton

2009-08-30T11:05:00.000-07:00

About 3 weeks ago Easton decided he was done wearing diapers. I didn't have to do a thing. He kept ripping his diaper off and going pee on the toilet. We took him to the store to pick out underwear and he has been wearing underwear ever since and hasn't had an accident (knock on wood). I still put pull-ups on him at night but 75% of the time he wakes up dry and doesn't go pee until an hour later. I was able to take a full box of diapers back to Target for store credit. Whooo-hoo. I wish potty training was this easy for all my kids. I can officially say we are through with diapers. Here are some pictures of how cute he looks in his big boy underwear. He is wearing his favorite.....Buzz Lightyear.

1st Day of School

2009-08-30T10:44:00.000-07:00

The kids started school August 13. Brooklyn is in 5th, Clayton is in 3rd, and BrynLee is 1st grade. They all really like their teachers. Easton wanted to go to school too so he got Clayton's old backpack, and Clayton made him a lunch so that he wouldn't feel left out. It is so weird only having Easton home all day. I am definitely getting more done and my house is staying cleaner, but Easton is more bored. I have to find him some play dates so that he has something to do. The other day we colored a picture and said "I big now. I go to school too." He wants so bad to go, but I can't justify 3 years of preschool. So for now he gets to hang out with me.

King Family Reunion

2009-08-30T08:48:00.000-07:00

About 3 weeks ago we were able to go to Price for my family reunion. My grandparents put a lot of time into it and we had so much fun. We started off with a family history tour. We visited the grave sites of several of our ancestors most of whom were pioneers. At the Huntington cemetary they had a memorial of the coal miners and rescuers who had lost their lives in the Crandall Canyon Mine disaster. One of the miners that died was my grandma's cousin. While we were visiting the memorial there was such a sense of peace there. What a nice memorial for the families that lost loved ones to come and visit and also feel the peace. After the family tour we headed to Mill Creek Reservoir to hang out at the lake. The guys went golfing, we played in the water, played games, ate yummy dutch oven food, relaxed and had a lot of fun visiting. The next day we went to Helaman Hollow. We have been up there several times growing up and we haven't been in quite awhile. It was fun to go back up and take my kids up there. We had a big brunch and then hung out and played more games. A new game that some of the younger cousins taught us was the conehead game. You tie an ice-cream cone to the top of your head and get a newspaper and roll it up to make a sword. You have to try and break other cones by hitting them with your sword. The last one standing wins. It sounds silly, but it is a lot of fun and it is even more fun watching. It was so much fun to get together with everyone. Thanks grandma and grandpa for getting everyone together and making it such a fun time for everyone.

Ancestors grave who was a pioneer. They have these neat little plaques on the ones that were pioneers.

While we were listening to my grandparents we happened to look up and find Easton getting on top of some graves and then jumping off. I had to get a picture before we got him off.

The Crandall Canyon Mine memorial.

They had a statue of each of the miner's. This was my grandma's cousin.

This was the house that my grandma grew up in.

My grandma in front of the house she grew up in.

Our family. It was like pulling teeth for them all to sit down for 1 picture.

My grandma and grandpa.

Easton getting ready for the conehead game.

BrynLee getting ready for the conehead game.

Clayton getting ready for the conehead game.

Clayton roasting smores.

Brooklyn getting ready for the conehead game.

BrynLee and Cousin Skyler. Skyler was BrynLee's slave for the day. He played everything she wanted to. He seriously did eveything she wanted to do for 3 hours. Thank you Skyler for the entertainment. She loved it.

Me and Easton

My mom does a grandma camp every year. This is the picture in their matching shirts.

Easton

We had so much fun and we look forward to the next reunion in a couple of years.

Help Wanted

2009-08-26T21:01:00.000-07:00

I am looking for a cute/fun way to organize my recipes. If anyone has any suggestions or ideas I would love to hear about them!!! Right now my recipes are on my computer and I don't like turning it on every time I need a recipe. My family would love it if I started cooking again. They are getting tired of pancakes and ramen noodles. Help!!!

Braces and a New Calling!!!

2009-08-03T22:18:00.000-07:00

In June we took Brooklyn in to the orthodontist for a check up and he told us she had lost all of her baby teeth (3 of them in May) and she was ready for braces. He was a little surprised that she had lost all of them all ready, but it is nice to get a head start. She got them on this past Thursday and she will have them on about 20 months. When she is getting her braces off her friends will all be getting ready to get them on. She was really nervous but she did great and she looks so cute in them.

BEFORE

AFTER

So we thought we were done with new callings for awhile, but we knew something was up when the stake president called both of us in to his office a couple of weeks ago. At first he asked me to be the stake golf coordinator and of course I accepted (We knew he was kidding but don't we all sometimes wish for a calling like that!!!)We were a little shocked, but Jay was called to be the 2nd counselor in the bishopric. He is gone a little more frequent, but we are adjusting and we know that our family will be blessed for his willingness to serve. He is excited about this calling and I know he will do a great job.

Clayton's Baptism

2009-08-02T17:25:00.001-07:00

Clayton was baptized on July 11. We had a lot of family and friends show up to support him for this special occasion. Clayton also got to be baptized on the same day as his best friend Jack. We are so proud of him and his decision to get baptized. We love you Clayton.

Clayton and BrynLee birthday pictures

2009-08-02T16:51:00.000-07:00

I always take pictures of these two on their birthday. It is about the only day that I can get them both to cooperate at the same time to take a picture.... Gotta Love them!!

BrynLee's Birthday Party

2009-08-02T16:43:00.000-07:00

For BrynLee's birthday this year she wanted a princess party. 8 of her friends ended coming. We decided to decorate princess crowns and make graham cracker princess castles. One of the easiest (and messiest) birthday parties ever. The girls had so much fun decorating their own castles. She also got a lot of fun presents. She got 2 baby dolls to go with her new baby doll cribs and high chair, littlest pet shop, candy land, princess wii game, and little mermaid for the bathtub. She has had so much fun playing with all of them. We looked on-line for cake ideas and of course she fell in love with the one that had the tiara on it. It doesn't look anything like the picture we saw, but she loved and that is all that matters.

BrynLee's likes: princess's, movies, coloring-very good artist, her webkins, littlest pet shop, her tiara from disneyland, reading, swimming, Phineas and Ferb

dislikes: Tower of Terror at disneyland

Clayton's Birthday Party

2009-07-16T12:28:00.000-07:00

This year for Clayton's Birthday he got to choose a few friends(Jack,Dawson, and Keegan) to go to the St. George Roadrunners baseball game. Before the game we had hot dogs, soda, and nachos. We opened presents (he got backugans, money, remote control car, finger size skateboards and ramps, clothes,and a wii game). We also had giant baseball cupcakes. At the game they always have promotional games and Jay and Clayton got chosen to do the father/son activity. Clayton had to hit a ball off the tee and then Jay had to hit off the tee where Clayton's ball landed and try and get it out of the park. Clayton hit the ball 3/4 off the way and Jay was able to hit it out. Clayton won some money to the snack shack and Jay won free dry cleaning (Yeah!! no more ironing for a month).

Clayton's likes: sports, playing outside with his friends, the Wii, favorite food is lamb(he won't eat much else but he will eat this), teasing his sisters, loves singing take me out to the ballgame to Easton, giving hugs & kisses, Tom & Jerry cartoons, Math

Dislikes: doing his jobs, tomatoes

California Vacation

2009-07-13T06:49:00.000-07:00

About a month ago we finally got to take our family vacation. We have been talking about it and planning it for about 2 years and something kept coming up. We got to go to California for a week. It was a much needed break after all the craziness over the past couple of years. My parents, 2 sisters and brother-in-law also came with us.

We went to Crystal Cove Beach and Newport Beach while we were in California. At Crystal Cove Beach there were tide pools. We went when the pools were low, so we were able to see a bunch of crabs and we also saw this huge sea slug that was pretty cool.

One of the nights we went and saw the Dodgers play. It was a fun game and the kids loved it. (Who wouldn't when your parents were loading you up with "Dodger dogs", soda, popcorn, cotton candy, and ice cream.) The game went into extra innings and the Dodgers ended up winning in the 10th. Great game.

We had a 5 day hopper pass to Disneyland. It worked out really nice. We were walking distance to the park so we would go in the morning, and then in the afternoon we would come back and eat and nap for awhile, and then go back for the rest of the evening. We were able to hit all the concerts, shows, parades, and stuff that you normally wouldn't have time to do. One morning we got to eat breakfast with the characters. It was my parents birthday present to the kids. It was fun beacuse we got to have one on one time with each of the characters there. The characters came around to each individual table to spend time with the kids. It was also almost the only place we saw characters because they didn't come out too much.

One of the kids biggest highlights was the Star Wars Jedi training. They pick about 20 kids from the audience and they train them to be Jedi's. After about 10 minutes Darthmal and Darth Vador come out and the kids get to use their moves they just learned and fight the bad guys. All 3 of our kids ended up getting picked for the same show. They all got to fight Darthmal. Of course after the training was over they all wanted to buy light sabors with their money. It was so much fun and the looks on their face when they got chosen was priceless. One vacation they will never forget. Can't wait for the next vacation!!!

Happy Birthday Clayton and BrynLee

2009-07-05T16:37:00.000-07:00

Happy 8th Birthday Clayton and Happy 6th Birthday BrynLee!! We love you guys!!!

Biggest Loser Bootcamp

2009-06-25T10:36:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago we went up to the rec. center to play volleyball and we found out that Filipe and Scione from this past season of the Biggest Loser were going to be doing a 3 day bootcamp there. Being a huge fan of the show I had to sign up. It was a pretty fun experience to hear about their life and their time on the ranch. They also worked us out all 3 nights. I was pretty sore after those 3 days, but it was all worth it. They ended the camp with a little entertainment. For all those American Idol fans Taylor from Hurricane, Utah who was a top 36 finalist came and performed for us. The group that put this camp on (EvaZing) also performed some of their Island music which was also really fun. Filipe and Scione are now traveling with EvaZing putting on these camps. They are headed to Vegas, Phoenix (where they are from), and Salt Lake that I know of. They are just getting their group started (Washington, Utah was their first stop) but if you want to find out more go to EvaZing.com. If you get a chance it really is worth it.

Scione talking to us.

Filipe talking to us.

Mike who was a finalist on the show was at a resort with his brother Max (who is there trying to lose weight) nearby and stopped by.

Filipe and Scione singing with EvaZing.

Taylor singing "The Climb".

The second night I had to take the kids to the daycare because Jay had to work. You would have thought they had died and gone to heaven. We got our picture taken with them and then the next day I had them developed and took them back the last night and had them sign the pictures. The kids also got their autograph. They kept begging me to take them back for the last night.

Scione, Me, and Filipe

It really was a fun experience. I was star struck the whole week and I am finally coming down off my high. Now if I can just stay motivated to exercise and eat right!!!

Brooklyn's Birthday Party

2009-06-10T14:50:00.001-07:00

This year for her birthday Brooklyn wanted a cooking party. We had 8 girls come ready to cook. They made cupcakes, pizza, vegetable people, and smoothies. It was quite crazy with this many trying to cook, but they had lot of fun. Brooklyn also wanted an apron cake. We found a picture and attempted it. It didn't turn out quite how we planned, but it worked. For her birthday she got money, a beach towel, Littlest Pet Shop diary, a purse, clothes, The Chronicles of Narnia (the whole set), Cooking Mama for the WII, and some other fun things.

Likes at 10:
arts, crafts, Littlest Pet Shop, shopping (Loves a good bargain like her mother), reading, playing with her friends, likes to help baby-sit the neighbors, scrapbooking, favorite colors-orange, pink, green, and blue , favorite food- shrimp (not like her mother)

Dislikes at 10:
milk

Hope you had a great birthday Brook. We love you.

Happy 10th Birthday Brooklyn

2009-06-06T21:10:00.001-07:00

WE LOVE YOU!!!

Easton's New Bed

2009-06-01T15:49:00.000-07:00

A couple of months ago Easton learned how to climb out of his crib. I was really hoping for another year in it, but I don't think the crib would have lasted that long. One side of the crib was being held together by duck tape (what do you expect from a kmart crib used by 4 kids) and Easton was so rough he would rock back and forth really hard that he finally put a hole in our wall. Needless to say he his very happy with his new bed. Now if only he would learn to stay in it all night!!!

Easter 2009

2009-05-31T08:41:00.000-07:00

So I am finally getting around to posting some of our Easter pictures. It was kind of a crazy weekend so we did things a little backwards (for us it was backwards). We woke up on Sunday morning which was also fast Sunday and the kids got their baskets. Since we couldn't eat we hurried and got ready and took the kids to our friends reception hall to attempt pitures. They didn't do to well, so we gave up. After church the kids finally got to eat their candy. BrynLee and Clayton were so good about waiting until after church so that Brooklyn wouldn't feel bad. After lunch we finally boiled some eggs and the kids colored them and then we finally had our egg hunt just before bed. The kids thought we were a little crazy but they still had fun and loved every minute of it.

Britain's Got Talent

2009-04-19T14:41:00.000-07:00

I'm sure most of you have seen this before, but it hasn't stopped me from watching it several times. (To watch you may have to click on the picture.)

Embedding courtesy of Dintillion

It just shows you how quick to judge we can be. Who knew she could sing like that. I showed my kids the video and they were laughing and thought she couldn't sing. They were just as surprised when this big amazing voice belts out. I was able to show them you can't judge someone for what they look like on the outside, it's what's on the inside that counts. Not only was it a teaching moment, but a learning moment. Like Susan said all she needed was a chance. How many times have we not given someone (our kids) a chance to show us what they can do. We just assume they can't do something and we do it for them. Next time it will make me think twice about giving them a chance.

Updates

2009-04-05T08:23:00.000-07:00

It has been so crazy around here lately. I'm starting to get a glimpse of what life will be like having all your kids in several activities, going to school functions, and doing your church calling. I am already trying to see what I can cut out and SIMPLIFY life. I am looking forward to summer vacation and not having to worry about anything that has to do with school for awhile.

Brooklyn had been taking hip hop lessons for awhile and decided to she wanted to stick with soccer. She really enjoys playing and is doing quite well. Her team this year is 4th/5th/6th graders. Most of her team is 4th graders, but they have outplayed most of the other teams. They have only lost 1 game. She also likes track. Her school had a track meet and she qualified to go to the district track meet in the 50 yard dash. Brooklyn is also our accident prone child. A couple of weeks ago, in church no less, she bonked heads with one of her friends and busted her lip. Jay hurried and ran her home during Sunday School stitched her up(6th set of stitches) and was back by Young Mens to teach his lesson.

Clayton has been keeping busy. He finished up basketball in Feb. and went right into playing soccer and baseball. Last year the seasons didn't overlap. This year the whole season overlaps. He does baseball on Wed/Thurs/Fri/Sat and soccer on Thurs/Sat. He really enjoys both and we love watching him play but he might have to pick one next year. One day after school he came home and I don't know how he did it, but he somehow fell and hit his mouth on one of our cabinets. I know his teeth were not loose (maybe they were close) but within 2 days he had lost his two front teeth. He was more excited about losing another tooth. It has been over a year since he lost his last one.

BrynLee is growing up so fast. She is almost done with Kindergarten. I can't believe she will be going to 1st grade next year. She was excited to play soccer like Brooklyn and Clayton this year. She only wanted to play because she wanted the treat after the game, but she really has enjoyed playing. She has also been taking a cheer class. She really likes this class, but it is hard to get her there sometimes because it about 15 minutes away. We are going to find a closer class this fall. She also is learning to ride her bike. She is a little timid but picking it up pretty quick. BrynLee finally lost her first tooth. One morning we were sitting at breakfast (this was an hour after waking up and we didn't notice anything) and Clayton said "BrynLee is missing a tooth". She didn't have any loose teeth, but had complained for a couple of weeks about 1 hurting. I just assumed she had a cavity and needed to go to the dentist. We were also having chocolate chip muffins for breakfast so I just assumed it was chocolate on her teeth. I looked closer and sure enough she was missing one. We looked all over for the tooth and never did find it. We think that when she bit into her muffin it came out and she swallowed it. She didn't care she was so excited about losing her first tooth. She didn't even care that she didn't get to put her first tooth under her pillow for the tooth fairy because mom gave her a dollar. BrynLee also says the funniest things. I just wish I would remember to write everything down. The other day Clayton brought a Ripley's Believe It Or Not book home from the library(first picture). SHe said "That is so gross." I asked her if it was the tatoos. She said no. I asked her if it was the green skin. She said no. I asked her if it was the pierced nose. She said no. I asked her what was so gross. She said "The hair on his chest is so gross". I haven't laughed so hard for awhile.

Easton is growing right before our eyes. He keeps us laughing and on our toes. If he is quiet he is definately into trouble. A couple of weeks ago I was getting ready and it was too quiet. It may not look like it, but I really was only in my bedroom for less than 5 minutes. I came out to check on him and he had found a marker and the girls glitter chapstick. The chapstick was like vaseline, but stickier. I through him in the tub and kept washing and washing. It just kept smearing. Let's just say he had to wear a hat for the next few days so that people wouldn't mistake him for a girl. He was covered from head to toe in glitter and his clothes evern had glitter on them. He also had a fun birthday. He loves trains so he got a train cake. We have so many toys and he had just discovered Clayton's train he got when he was 3 so Jay made him a train table for his birthday. He spends a lot of time in the playroom with it. We have found some tracks to make it a little bigger. (If anyone is getting rid of geo trax trains I am looking for some more to add on.)
Likes: His blanket, Curious George animal, trains, planes, cake, fruit snacks, baths, helping mom cook, sports, Wall-E
Dislikes: The car wash (screams bloody murder every time), getting out of the bath, and meat

For my birthday this year I wanted to surprise my sister and go visit her in Alabama. I got my ticket for the weekend of March 22 because my niece was getting baptized that weekend. I don't know how she didn't find out ( I dropped several accidental hints), but I kept the secret for 3 months. Jay took 5 days off work so I could go. It was so fun to be able to go visit and to take a little break from everyday life. I came home to a couple of surprises. Not only did Jay entertain the kids for 5 days and do some laundry, but I came home to a finished back splash in my kitchen, and he put shingles on the roof of our playhouse. Thank you Jay for doing this for me. Love you.

In January we bought tickets to some of the concert series at the Tuachan. We went to our first one this last week. We got to see Julianne Hough. She did a really good job. There was one song where the introduction seemed longer than usual. After about 30 seconds she stopped the band and she like" I am just going to come out and admit this. I forgot the words to the song". I guess you had to be there but it was pretty funny. She asked the audience if we knew the words. She tried to sing it a couple of times, but finally gave up. For being so young she is quite the entertainer. It's nice to have something so close to where you can go see these concerts for a decent price. Next one is Brian Regan. Can't wait.

Look Who's Turning 2!!

2009-01-24T20:26:00.000-08:00

Happy 2nd Birthday Easton. We love you!!!

Christmas

2009-01-23T09:51:00.000-08:00

I am finally getting to our Christmas pictures. We had such a fun Christmas this year (even though we had the stomach flu-3 Christmas's in a row). Christmas Eve we went and saw Santa at the mall, watched movies, played games, made cookies, the kids opened their Christmas pj's and just hung out. Christmas morning the kids were so excited. All they wanted were Webkins and a Wii. Santa did not disappoint. We have had so much fun with the Wii. Every family night that's what the kids want to do. Maybe the newness will eventually wear off. We also had to do the traditional gingerbread houses. I think Easton got more candy in his mouth than on the house. My family also came and visited. It was nice to have everyone come visit us and we stay in 1 spot. It was so much fun this year that my kids are already talking about next year.

Christmas Dance Recital

2009-01-23T09:20:00.000-08:00

The girls had their first dance recital right before Christmas. They did such a good job and they looked so cute. I think their favorite part is when Jay and Clayton gave them a flower after they danced. They were so excited.

11th Anniversary

2008-12-21T16:58:00.000-08:00

Our 11th anniversary was yesterday. We have never had the chance to do anything besides go to dinner, so Jay surprised me this year with a fun little getaway. His parents came down and stayed with the kids overnight so we could go. We went down to Mesquite, stayed in one of the resorts, had dinner, watched a movie, and then went to the spa. We got massages that were much needed and then got to sit in the outdoor hot tub. What a fun way to relax and spend a weekend with someone you love. Thanks Jay for a great weekend. I love you!!!

Let it Snow...Let it Snow...Let it Snow

2008-12-18T11:55:00.000-08:00

Wednesday night it started snowing and it did not stop. Who knew that it could snow this much in St. George. Apparantly even though we are in Utah they are still not equipped for snow here. They cancelled school for about 6 inches of snow. The kids were so excited. Jay didn't have to go in to work until 10 so he took the kids and some neighbor friends for rides on the 4 wheeler. Clayton even skipped breakfast and lunch to play in it. I love the hot weather, but I do enjoy a few days of snowy weather to make it feel like Christmas.

Halloween 2008

2008-12-18T10:49:00.000-08:00

I was finally able to get a video to post. Yeah!!! I have been trying for months. Here are the kids Halloween pictures. I was able to get a theme out of them one more year. Easton was Scooby Doo, BrynLee was Daphne, Clayton was Shaggy, and Brooklyn I could only convince to be a ghost pirate. I found an awesome swamp monster (she really wanted to be a bad guy) costume at Target, but she didn't want it. The kids had so much fun and are already talking about next year.

Clayton Football

2008-12-07T18:51:00.001-08:00

Clayton really enjoyed playing flag football this year. His coach really worked them hard at practices. The first practice he had them doing high knee drills. His coach also taught him this reverse play and he scored a touchdown almost every time. One game he even got an interception on the other teams 1 yard line and ran it down to the other end of the field for a touchdown. He was so excited. His team did really well. They went undefeated and Clayton was so excited because he finally got a trophy. He is already looking forward to next season.

Dancing Queen's

2008-12-07T18:18:00.000-08:00

Brooklyn and BrynLee started dance a couple of months ago and they are loving it. Brooklyn has tried ballet before and didn't really like it, but this studio had a hip-hop class. She really wanted to try this style. Hip Hop is definitely more her style and she has really picked up on it. This is BrynLee's first time dancing. She wanted to try the tap/ballet combo. She definitely likes tap better because of the shoes. What kid wouldn't like to dance with shoes that make so much noise. They are both really loving it and are excited to do their first recital in a couple of weeks.

BrynLee Humor

2008-12-07T17:31:00.000-08:00

Friday morning I was rushing around trying to get out of the house the same time Brooklyn and Clayton left for school. Me and Easton were supposed to get flu shots, Easton had an ear infection and I needed to pick up his prescription, BrynLee wanted to pick out a Christmas present for Brooklyn, and BrynLee had to be back for early school on Friday by 11:00 to get ready. I was trying to put my make-up on, and BrynLee came into my bathroom with her bright blue eye shadow and lip gloss and was putting on her. I had already asked her twice to put her shoes and coat on and it still wasn't on. I was pretty impatient and I told BrynLee to hurry and put her make-up up and get her shoes and coat on. She looked at me and was dead serious and said, "Mom...can't a sistuh put her make-up on" and turned around went back to putting her make-up on. I was laughing so hard. How can you get mad at that.

New Calling

2008-11-24T11:44:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago I had heard rumors that our Primary Presidency was going to get released. I didn't think anything of it because I thought for sure it wasn't true because they were just called 4 months ago. Last week I got a call from the bishopric wanting to meet with me and to have Jay there if he could. I knew right then that it was going to be Primary, but I wasn't sure what. When I got there they said that the wanted me to be the 1st counselor in the Primary Presidency. I was a little shocked and overwhelmed at the same time. I'm over baptisms and the primary program. It's going to be kind of crazy trying to get organized, but the presidency I work with makes it so much easier. I really am excited to have this chance to get to know each of the kids in our ward, but I am a little nervous getting up and conducting in front of 200 kids and with time I know it will get easier. My first sharing time is on Sunday, so if anyone has any good ideas let me know.

1st Day of School

2008-11-15T12:19:00.000-08:00

Here's the first day of school pictures from August. Brooklyn started 4th grade, Clayton started started 2nd, and BrynLee started Kindergarten. They love the teachers they got this year. I put BrynLee in afternoon Kindergarten in hopes of Easton sleeping for a little while so I can get something done in the afternoon. It has only worked a couple of times with everything that has gone on in the last couple of months, but we are getting there.

Lugnuts 2008

2008-11-11T15:11:00.000-08:00

This past summer Clayton played on a traveling baseball team. Their team name was the Lugnuts. They practiced 2-3 times a week and then went to a few tournaments. He played 2nd base and right field. He started playing on the team right before he turned 7. All the other kids on his team were almost 8 and 9. He did really good to keep up with the older kids. There was one time when a ball got past him and went to the fence. He hurried to get the ball. The other teams coach sent the kid that hit the ball home, but Clayton threw the ball from the fence right to the 2nd baseman who through it home and got him out. I didn't know that a kid his size could throw the ball so hard and accurate. I think there were times when he was overwhelmed, but he still always tried to play his best. Jay had the priviledge of helping coach. He liked being there to help Clayton. Towards the end of the summer his team got the chance to be bat boys for the St. George Roadrunners. I think that was his most favorite part of the whole season. All he could talk about for weeks was how he was going to be a bat boy. He got to run out with the Roadrunner who also played his position, and then be bat boy for 3 innings. He even got to keep a bat that broke during the game. He was in heaven. He had so much fun playing, and I hope that he continues to enjoy baseball as much as he did this summer.

Updates

2008-11-11T14:46:00.000-08:00

It has been a long time since I have posted. We moved out of our house over 2 months ago and into a friends basement. What we thought would only be 3 weeks turned into 6 weeks. I am so grateful for friends willing to put up with us for that long. We finally moved into our new house 3 weeks ago (I will post some pictures later). We are so excited to be in, but there are so many unfinished projects. Our goal is to be out of boxes by Thanksgiving. With Easton's continued help we will definitely be out of boxes, but maybe not organized.

I am updating as fast as I can because I really would like to be caught up, but my OCD-ness has kicked in and I had to pick up where I left off. So for now, here is Clayton/BrynLee's birthday, 4th of July and 24th of July.

July 24th

2008-11-08T19:49:00.000-08:00

Growing up we would spend many times in Beaver on the 24th. We would always look forward to the parades, the races, Horse races, cheese curds, bbq's with family, and games in the park. The past couple of years we have been able to go since we have been living in St. George. This year we met my family up there. The kids were so excited to see cousins and get the candy at the parade. When we got there we found out that the floats this year couldn't throw candy from a moving vehicle, so for the first 15 minutes the kids were whining and crying(BrynLee) because there was no candy. Finally people started throwing a little candy, and the kids started getting a little more excited. Th kids would go up about 10 yards and then come back by us and then follow it down for about 10 yards. They wouldn't go where we couldn't see them. One truck that came by started dumping candy and the kids followed that one a little further. About 5 minutes after that car had passed we realized that BrynLee was missing. We started walking up and down the streets and still couldn't find her. We were next to the announcer so we had him announce that she was missing. The lady sitting next to us husband was a police officer so she called him and they put a watch out for her. At this point it has been about 20 minutes and everyone was looking for her and I was really starting to panick. Me and my aunt started walking towards the end of the parade (about 400 yards where we were sitting) and right when we got to the end the announcer at the end of the parade announced that they had found a little girl. I didn't know whether to get mad or cry with relief. Apparantly she followed the truck with all the candy to the end of the parade, and didn't realize she had gone that far. When she couldn't find us she went and told a lady she was lost and she took BrynLee to the announcer. What a way to start the day. Even though BrynLee was lost for awhile the parade was still fun. The kids were also excited to do the races. This is always my favorite part, especially with the baby's. This was Easton's first time racing. He was so fast, that the other kids were only about 1/2 way through when he finished. He got a silver dollar and a sucker for winning. BrynLee didn't really care about running she just wanted the sucker at the end of the race. Again it's all about the cany. She got her mother's sweet tooth. Clayton and Brooklyn were all about the winning. They both ended up getting 2nd in their races. After the races it was back to Grandma and Grandpa's hose for the bbq. It really was a fun day and it brought back a lot of fun memories.

Clayton and BrynLee's birthday

2008-11-08T19:15:00.000-08:00

This year for the kids birthday's we were in Provo/Price for the 4th so we got to celebrate their birthdays with family again. On July 5th Clayton turned 7 and BrynLee turned 5. We went to the park with family, had cake and ice cream, and opened presents. BrynLee didn't really know what she wanted this year so I found her a remote control Bratz car and she loved it. She also had a Bratz cake. Clayton had been wanting a ripstick, so that's what he got along with a new helmet. It didn't take him long to figure out how to do it. Clayton doesn't really like cake so he wanted a cookie cake and we turned them into baseballs. This is one of my favorite days. Clayton and BrynLee never fight and are so happy to be with one another. I never thought that they would like sharing a birthday, but they really do.

BrynLee's Favorite Things:
Bratz
Computer
Hannah Montana (She thinks she is Hannah Montana)
Swimming
Littlest Pet Shop

Clayton's Favorite Things:
Playing outside
Baseball
Riding his bike/scooter/ripstick
Swimming
School

4th of July weekend

2008-11-08T15:28:00.000-08:00

Earlier this year we were able to get tickets to Stadium of Fire. My sister and her kids flew in from Alabama so we went to Provo for the weekend. We started off the weekend going to 7 Peaks and later that night we went miniature golfing at Trafalga. Thanks to my mom working in the schools, she had a bunch of left over free passes. The next day was the 4th and we went to a BBQ at my uncle's house where my cousins had set up a big slip n' slide for the kids. My Grandma's birthday is also this day and in honor of going to see Hannah Montana later that night she got a Hannah Montana wig. We ended the night with Hannah Montana and Blue Man Group at Stadium of Fire. The kids loved it. They were dancing with the music and screaming as loud as they could. Clayton kept yelling "I love you Miley" and "Hannah Your Hot"!!!! For only being 15 Miley puts on a pretty good show. I am so glad we were able to go.

Brooklyn's Birthday

2008-09-04T11:39:00.000-07:00

I can't believe my oldest is 9 now. Her birthday was June 6. We were in Price this year, so she had a family party. She was so excited to have both families there. We went to dinner at a Mexican restaurant and then had everyone meet at the park for cake and ice cream. She is so into reading The Series of Unfortunate Events Books, so that was kind of her theme this year. Her cake was made by my mom. She made the individual books to put on the big book. They turned out so cute. The pictures don't do it justice. For her birthday she also got all 13 books of the Series of Unfortunate Events. These are the only books she would ever bring home from the library. She is also into crafts so she also got a Cuttlebug die cut machine.

Favorite Things:
Series of Unfortunate Events
Webkinz- Manatee's, Monkey's, Racoon's
Crafts
Soccer
Reading

She had a fun birthday and thanks to everyone that helped make it special. Happy Late Birthday Brook!!! We love you!

Under Construction

2008-08-27T10:33:00.000-07:00

I am playing with my blog right now and it will probably take a few weeks since we are also in the process of moving (we have 2 weeks to be out of our house). I don't know what my blog will look like, but hopefully I don't mess it up too bad.

Lagoon 2008

2008-08-22T08:01:00.000-07:00

A couple of days before Jay's brothers wedding we went to Lagoon to have some fun before a couple of really busy days. The first ride we came to after dumping our stuff off at a picnic area was a roller coaster that everyone was tall enough for. Even BrynLee was tall enough for it. She LOVED it. Apparantly that was the only one she was tall enough for. She cried almost the rest of the day because she couldn't go on any other roller coasters. I didn't realize that she was such a dare devil. The one whe wanted to go on the most went upside down. I am such a wus I guess because it took me 15 to get on the same ride. We finally found her some kiddy rides, but it just wasn't the same. I don't have a lot of pictures of Brooklyn and Clayton because they were off with their cousin Felicia and her friend Joy for most of the day. They thought they were so cool because 16 year olds were letting them hang out with them. Of course Jay is a sucker for the games, but he is very good at them. We don't have to spend a lot of money, and we ended about with about 8 prizes. We let the kids keep 1 of them and then Jay challenged them to find another kid that didn't have a prize and give it to them. They were a little nervous, but they found some kids. The kids they gave the prizes too were so excited, and it made the kids happy to make someone else happy. It had been so long since we had last been to Lagoon. It was so fun to go back and enjoy all the new rides. Here are some pictures from when we went.

Brooklyn

Clayton

BrynLee

Easton

Easton and Jay on Puff the Dragon.

Kaisha waited all day to take Easton on a ride.

Liz and BrynLee

Easton

Brooklyn, Clayton, Felicia

Kaisha, Liz, BrynLee

Clayton, Brooklyn, Felicia, and Joy are on the back row of the new ride Wicked.

Brooklyn and Megan

Easton

Liz and BrynLee

Brooklyn and Kaisha

Brooklyn

BrynLee seriously cried for at least 2 hours.

Easton finally wore out.

We just about had this bird eating out of BrynLee's hands, but then Clayton got to close and it got scared away.

Brooklyn, Clayton, Liz

Megan and BrynLee

Jay, Brooklyn, Terri

Easton loved the horses on the Merry go Round.

Food Storage Night

2008-08-20T11:59:00.000-07:00

I was just watching the news and a little preview of this spoof came on, so I had to go watch the whole thing. I thought it was pretty funny, and thought others might get a kick out of this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=If7YJ-oeSy8

Apparantly the church Public Affairs Department hopes to spread the word about food storage to people who have not heard about having a 1 year supply of food in case of an emergency. They are urging members to share recipes and tips through video and blogs.

BrynLee's Preschool Graduation

2008-08-19T15:21:00.000-07:00

This past year BrynLee went to 2 preschool's. 5 mom's from our ward did joyschool 1 morning a week, and then BrynLee went to Little Bug preschool 4 afternoons a week. She loved going to both of them.

Joyschool Graduation

Brynn, BrynLee, Travis, Dallen, Lexie

BrynLee and Miss Amber

Lexie, BrynLee, Rayne

BrynLee and her Lady Bug Cupcake

Brooklyn's Haircut

2008-08-19T14:59:00.001-07:00

My friend came over to give Brooklyn a much needed TRIM before Jay's brothers wedding. Brooklyn somehow talked me into a MAJOR haircut, but it turned out so cute. Now I have a hard time letting it get long again. It is so much easier to handle plus it looks really cute on her.

Easton's Haircut

2008-08-19T14:26:00.000-07:00

We decided to shave Easton's head for the summer. Didn't know he hated having his hair cut so much. I think it had a lot to do with the loud buzzing sound, but there wasn't enough granola bars and Baby Einstein movies in the world that would have made it any better. His haircut turned out way too cute, and it makes him look so much older.

Before

During

After

Clayton Baseball

2008-08-19T11:08:00.000-07:00

Clayton played on a machine pitch baseball team this past spring. His team was the Cardinals. They were tied for 1st going into the end of the season tournament, and they eded up getting 2nd in the tournament. Clayton played short stop, 2nd, and 1st base. One of the games he played he caught a ball at short stop (most balls don't get caught in this league so the kids were quite surprised when he caught it), he then ran over to 3rd and got the runner out there. He then realized (with all the parents yelling to him) that the runner on 1st was running, so he threw it to 1st and almost got him out. He was so excited that he almost made a triple play. Clayton had a really good season and he had a lot of fun playing.

Soccer 2008

2008-07-29T13:58:00.000-07:00

I've been meaning to play catch up this summer with blogging, but it has been too crazy around here. The sell of our house fell through a week and a half before we were supposed to be out. Of all things that we thought would and could go wrong we never thought that the appraisal would be an issue. With the market the way it is and all the houses that are foreclosing, it hurt the appraisal. With an appraisal you only have to use 3 houses and the guy that did our appraisal used 6 houses and 4 were foreclosures. You throw out 1 or 2 of the houses and we would have been right where we needed to be. We wanted to get another appraisal and the couple buying our house didn't want to, they wanted the lower price so they walked. We were so mad. We were so close to closing and half of our house was boxed up. After a couple of days of cooling off we decided that this could be a blessing in disguise. We would have lost about 1/2 the money we put down on the house. So now our house is up for rent and hopefully in a couple of years the market will pick back up and we will sell our house and get our money back out of it. The only downfall to this is that our backyard will be a big pile of dirt for the next couple of years. The kids are going to love it more than we will. So after a busy summer of packing, trying to build a house, trying to sell a house, traveling and ignoring my kids, I am ready for school to start (my kids are too, they are about ready to rip each other's heads off) so that I can get caught up on the many things I ignored all summer, including our blog.

These pictures are from soccer this past spring. Brooklyn and Clayton both played in the city league. Brooklyn's team only lost 1 game and it was a forfeit over spring break. She really picked up on the game this year and was a lot more coordinated than last year. She even scored her first couple of goals this year. Her team got first in the league and got a trophy. She was so excited. She has decided that soccer is her thing. Clayton's team played really well also, but only won 1 game. They finally won the last game and Clayton scored 3 out of the 5 goals. One of the games the city changed the time on their schedule and didn't tell us so his whole team ended up showing up at the wrong time. They had already missed their game. There was a girls team (It was a 2nd and 3rd grader team and our kids were preschool/Kindergarten/1st) that needed a team to play because the one they were supposed the play didn't show up. Our boys wanted to play so they played the girls team. It was funny to watch because these girls were at least a head taller than most of these boys. But they had fun playing them and did really good against them.

Clayton was one of the only ones brave enough to get in the middle of the girls.

Clayton as goalie.

Here's Brooklyn so excited after scoring one of her goals.

Called to Serve

2008-06-25T14:00:00.000-07:00

Whenever one of my family members is waiting for their mission call all the family members guess where they will be called. Last week my cousin Stephen was waiting for his call. Jay guessed California, I guessed Washington, Brooklyn guessed Russia, Clayton guessed Salt Lake, and BrynLee guessed IN and OUT Burger. I haven't laughed so hard for awhile. We had one open up pretty close to our house recently and that is her new favorite eating place (besides Costco). I guess she doesn't understand that IN and OUT Burger is not a place that you can serve a mission.

Anyway my cousin got called to Independence, Missouri. This is somewhat of a little miracle that he can even serve. He had surgery on his mouth just over a year ago, and he reacted to the medication that was given to him. He wasn't quite himself for months. We are so excited for him and know that he will be a great missionary ( even though he isn't serving at IN and OUT Burger).

Crazy Times and Easter

2008-06-22T13:35:00.000-07:00

I know it's a shock. I am finally posting again. What better to do with your time when you wake up at 4 am and can't sleep. It's beginning to happen a little too frequent around here. It has been a little crazy at our house since Easter. About a year ago we got a crazy idea in our heads that we should build a house. After 6 months of working on a plan we finally came up with one that we liked. The week of Easter we were finally able to put our house on the market (we had to wait that long because we hadn't been in our house 2 years yet) and we broke ground on our new house. A little scary because of the way the market is, but we still felt good about it. About a week ago we finally got an offer on our house and we accepted. We now have 3 weeks to be out of our house. We still have about 8 more weeks until our new house is liveable, so we will be bouncing back and forth between family's houses and when school starts we will probably live in one of those extended stay motels for about a month. Not my ideal situation, but who can pass up someone making your beds everyday and washing your sheets every week. We feel very blessed that we were able to sell our house in 10 weeks. We have neighbors who have had their house on the market for over a year and some and coming close to 2 years.

Here are some pictures from Easter. We had so much fun. My parents came down, and we had cousins that had baseball tournaments so they were here. We had our big dinner and Easter egg hunt Saturday because some of the family had to leave early on Sunday. I hate dyeing easter eggs. I normally find another way to decorate eggs, but since grandma was here we dyed them. The kids hands of course were stained, but they had so much fun. Good thing it only happens once a year. The kids this year all got flip flops, a movie, and a couple of treats. Easton couldn't get enough of the jelly beans.

Not so smart

2008-04-05T19:49:00.000-07:00

I thought I was being pretty clever by uploading several sets of pictures to the drafts section and then when I got a chance I could quickly write about each event. Didn't know that all the pictures you upload in the same day will also stay under that date. When you publish them they don't come up in the same order you publish them in. So if you want to look, there are more pictures under the Feb. 25 date. I guess I am not as smart as I thought I was.

Stadium of Fire 2008

2008-04-05T19:10:00.000-07:00

Every 4th of July Provo puts on this fun firework show with great entertainment. This year they got Hannah Montana and the Blue Man Group to come. My mom called Thursday night and told us that tickets went on sell Friday at 5:00 and they were going to go fast. All my family and extended family wanted to go so everyone was going to try and get tickets for everyone. You could only buy 8 tickets at a time maximum 25 tickets, so whoever got through (if anyone did) would get as many tickets as they could. Friday at 4:25 my sister called and said to get on the computer because they had a waiting room online. Right at 5:00 I was able to get in and get my first set of 8 tickets and then I thought they would put you in the back of the line, but I was able to get my next 8 tickets. I got 16 total and then they were sold out. I think they sold out in less than 15 minutes. I got on the phone to see if anyone else was able to get them. My one sister was able to get 13 before they sold out. I had an aunt and a cousin almost get 8 but they got kicked off while they were trying to pay. We had about 12 computers going to try and get tickets and only 2 of us got through. We did however get 29 tickets which is enough for everyone that wanted to go. We are so excited to be going. The kids are going to love it. When Brooklyn found out she started running around the house screaming the highest she could possibly scream. BrynLee was so funny. She thinks she actually gets to meet her "rock star".

Valentine's Day

2008-02-25T12:51:00.000-08:00

Growing up, my mom on Valentine's morning a lot of times would leave a balloon by our bed with a treat for when we woke up. I thought that my kids were old enough to appreciate that surprise, so the night before after they had all fallen asleep we left a balloon with a treat at the end of it on their dresser. A couple hours after we fell asleep Clayton came running in our room really shaken up. Normally I send them back to their room, but I was too tired and he seemed really scared so I just let him sleep in our room. The next morning I asked him what freaked him out so much. He said that their was this big round thing floating around his room and it kept bobbing up and down. I just busted up laughing. I took him to his room and showed him that his monster was his valentine treat from mom and dad. He thought it was pretty funny after the fact. Later that day we made heart shaped pizzas and some really yummy heart shaped cookies.

Easton's 1st Birthday

2008-02-25T11:19:00.000-08:00

Easton turned 1 January 24. He wasn't feeling so good, but I still tried to force him to have a fun time at his birthday party and get a few pictures of him on his birthday. His favorite movie is the Baby Shakespeare movie, so I made his cake the logo from the movie. This is how mean I was. He hates shoes and he got a pair for his birthday. I still put them on him just to get a picture of how much he hated them. The pictures of him actually eating the cake were taken 2 weeks later when he was feeling better. (He ended up having a double ear infection. I wanted the traditional 1st birthday pictures of the baby digging into the cake so I froze a chunk of the cake and saved it for later. I did feel a little guilty making him do all that stuff when I found out his ears were infected.) When he finally ate the cake, he loved it. He was funny at first. He didn't want any of the frosting touching his hands, so he would bend over and eat it with his mouth. He gave up on that idea and figured out that the hands were the easier way to go.

Likes at age 1:
Baby Shakespeare
baths
playing outside
cars, balls, baseball
his wagon
garbage cans
toilets and toilet plungers
his brother and sisters (most of the time-they tend to be too rough so he runs from them)
food (pretzels and chocolate animal crackers are his most favorite, but not really picky)
fleece blankets (the other day we found him carrying around 4)
mom/dad

Dislikes at age 1:
getting out of the bath
coming inside
really cold food (he is starting to like yogurt finally, but still doesn't like ice-cream.)
dogs (he's getting better about not freaking out when they look at him from across the street)
automatic car washes

At his one year check-up he weighed 26 lbs. He was big when he was born (8 lb. -10 oz.) and he hasn't stopped growing. It really is cute to watch him run with his short little legs and big belly. And yes, he is now running. He started walking at 9 1/2 months and learned to run away from his siblings REALLY fast. Now he is almost to fast for mom to catch up with.

We love you Easton. Happy Birthday!!! (Even though it was 6 weeks ago)

Clayton's 1st suit

2008-02-25T11:03:00.000-08:00

One of our friends handed down this suit from her son (love hand me downs). He was so excited that he could wear one like his dad. He looked like such a stud.

Super Bowl Sunday

2008-02-25T10:50:00.000-08:00

The morning of the Super Bowl we woke up to rain. It wasn't a little rain. It was down-pouring. We got out of chuch at is was still raining. It continued raining all day. It finally came time for the Super Bowl. We had made a bunch of snacks for the game and the kids were really excited. The game was fun to watch (more for the commercials), but by the 4th quarter things were getting a little intense. Our rain had also turned into snow. The kids kept looking out the window and wanting to run outside and play in it. With about 4 minutes to go in the game our tv started getting a little fuzzy. It was turning out to be a great game. The Giants were ahead of the undefeated Patriots by less than a touchdown. The Giants then scored and they were ahead. With 2 minutes left to go in the game our tv goes out. We couldn't believe it. I tried to find it on the radio. Jay was calling his dad to get a play by play. The Giants ended up scoring another touchdown at the last minute to take the lead and win the game. One of the best games ever and we missed the best part. The highlights were not the same. Come to find out all we had to do was wipe the snow off our satellite dish to get the picture back. That would have been good to know a little sooner. And seriously, out of all the days in the year and how little rain/snow we get a year, the weather picks Super Bowl Sunday to be bad. Go figure!!

Easton's Bath

2008-02-25T09:54:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago I heard Clayton laughing and splashing and yelling at me to come quick. I assumed it was him wanting to show me another "trick" in the bathtub, so I took my time getting in there. Imagine my surprise when I found Easton in tub with all of his clothes on and drenched from head to toe. Apparantly he was done waiting for me to give him his bath. He climbed in all by himself (with no help from Clayton-1st question I asked). He was pretty proud of himself and he didn't care that all of his clothes were on. What can I say? The kid loves his bath. The only thing he hates.....getting out.

Baby got Back!!!

The Candy Bar That Could Have Fed 5,000

2008-02-25T09:34:00.000-08:00

I know it's a shocker, but I am posting for the 2nd time in 1 week. Last month our friends invited us and 3 other families over to share this huge candy bar. I think she said it was about 9 lbs. I can't quite remember how much it weighed, but it was heavy. They cut everyone a huge chunk and only about half of it got eaten. It was so thick that the kids couldn't even fit into their mouths (that's a pretty tough thing with as big as their mouths are). Most of the kids just sat and gnawed at it until it was gone. Our friends sent each of the kids home with another chunk in a bag. Our kids must have sweet talked their way into more because when we got home we ended up with 8 bags. It took us 2 weeks to go through it. Thanks Brian and Liz for sharing with us. We had a lot of fun.

Christmas Morning

2008-02-24T14:35:00.000-08:00

I love Christmas morning. I love the anticipation on the kids faces and watching them come running in to see what Santa has brought and the excitement as they see their new toys. They loved opening all their presents. Brooklyn got an I-dog and mp3 player. She had been talking about it for months. That is all she wanted. Clayton never told us what he wanted and whenever we asked he said he didn't know. He did love his remote control FJ Cruiser he got and his BYU jersey from Maren and John was his favorite. BrynLee had always asked for a Hannah Montana guitar. A couple of days before Christmas she told my mom she wanted the Hannah Montana Wig. Go figure she would change her mind right before. We kept telling her that she couldn't change her mind because Santa already had all the presents. She didn't seem disappointed with the guitar. I guess as long as it says Hannah Montana on it she would have been happy. Easton got a wagon, and loved it. It has been my saving grace. He will sit and play it for hours. I can clean my whole house with him playing in it as long as we are in the same room.

Santa Party

2008-02-24T14:10:00.000-08:00

To end our fun family weekend of partying, we went to Grandma Neeley's annual Santa party. The last time we were able to come Clayton was 5 months old. 2 more kids later we figured it was time for the kids to experience a Santa party. After lots of food, games, and singing, the most real Santa I have ever seen comes busting through the door (literally). Easton was sitting somewhat close to the door and he freaked out a little bit. All the kids got a chance to sit on Santa's lap and tell them what they wanted. Santa was smart and gave Easton his candy cane first so he didn't cry at all. What a fun way to end the weekend.

Family Christmas Pictures

2008-02-24T12:20:00.000-08:00

Our family pictures at Christmas. We had to do them with the hotel Christmas tree because I refused to do them in front of ours.

Brooklyn

Clayton

Easton

BrynLee

Temple Square

2008-02-24T11:43:00.000-08:00

After my family party we went to SLC to meet up with Jay's family. Our kids have never been to Temple Square at Christmas. They loved all the lights and the nativity. They were so excited about the snow (very rare in St. George) that they kept running through it. They only had tennis shoes on so their feet were soaked by the time we actually got to the temple, but they didn't care. Their favorite part was riding the tram from the hotel to the Temple. Even though it was freezing they loved every minute of it. The next morning we got up and went to the Spoken Word. Jay's mom stayed at the hotel with Easton and BrynLee. When we got their they told us Clayton was too young to sit in the conference area, so me and Clayton got to sit in the media area. If we would have known they had that area for little kids we could have brought the younger 2. It was very neat to watch the Spoken Word in person. If you have never been to a live one you definately need to go. I am so glad that we had the opportunity to go and grateful that my in-laws started this tradition.

Family Christmas Party

2008-02-24T09:38:00.001-08:00

The weekend before Christmas we were able to go up north and spend some time with family. The first night we were with my family. We went to dinner and then back to my Aunt's house for more food, games, and some karaoke. My kids loved singing. It took BrynLee a couple of times watching and grandma helping her, but she finally got up the nerve to sing and didn't want to quit. Clayton was too busy playing basketball with the boys, but he did pause long enough to sing one song. Brooklyn on the other hand was a ham the whole night. She wanted to sing every song. Maren and John were nice to let her "rock out" to Bohemian Rhapsody while they sang. I think we have a future Rock Girl on our hands. We weren't paying attention to some of the songs and we heard what we thought was MC Hammer's "Can't touch This". My kids love this song and I encouraged them all to go sing it. The next thing I hear was Brooklyn singing "She's a very kinky girl. The kind you don't take home to mother." It wasn't "Can't touch this" it was "Super Freak". Didn't realize that there are 2 songs with the same music. Note to self: Pay attention to the songs before you send your 8,6,and 4 year old to sing them out loud for all your family to hear. The next day we went and saw National Treasure 2, which was a way good movie. We have never lived close enough to come to any of the family parties, so it is nice to be closer so that we can come to more of these fun get togethers.

O Christmas Tree

2008-02-24T09:05:00.000-08:00

I am finally getting around to posting Christmas pictures almost in time for Easter. Maybe I will get Easter pictures up in time for the Fourth of July.

This Christmas we were kind of "Bah Humbug". We didn't want to put lights or decorations up. I didn't even have motivation to put up our Christmas tree. We finally broke down and bought our first real tree. The kids were so excited and loved picking it out. I also didn't want to pull out my ornaments. I gave the kids free reign over the tree. It was completely theirs this year. They worked really hard and made a bunch of paper ornaments. They had so much fun doing this. I would usually find at least 1 new ornament a day. People kept telling me that the kids would always remember this tree, and to me this tree will always be a reminder that I was a loser for not getting into the Christmas spirit. At least the kids had fun with it and they didn't care what it looked like. Needless to say I have already bought a new tree and ornaments for next year and can't wait to get them up.

When we took the Christmas Tree down, we found this little guy hanging out it one of the branches. We called it the Nike butterfly because of the little swish mark on his wing. We think it started off as a cacoon in the tree, and because of the heat in the house it thought it was spring and time to hatch.

It's Practically Free!!!

2008-01-09T15:57:00.000-08:00

For those of you who know me know that I can't pass up a great deal. I went to Kohl's yesterday and they were marking all the clearance an additional 50% off the lowest marked price. All the clearance ended up being about 90% off the original price. I ended up spending $220, but I added up the original prices just for fun and it totaled $1508.00. I was floored. I bought Jay 5 shirts, 1 pair of dress shoes, 1 pair of shorts, me 5 shirts, 3 pairs of pants, 1 pair of shoes, Brooklyn, 2 pairs of pants, 2 pairs of shorts, 1 pj set, 1 shirt, Clayton 8 shirts, BrynLee 2 shirts, 2 pair of pants, Easton 11 pairs of pants, 27 shirts, 4 pj sets, 1 coat (all in different sizes so we are good until he is about 4) 1 outfit for a baby gift, 2 lotion gift sets and a hand held video game. I left Kohl's after 2 hours because BrynLee had preschool, and I went back last night for another hour. I originally went in for 1 towel, and I spent a total of 3 hours there ( and I probably could have spent more) and I didn't even come home with the towel. How can you pass up a deal like that though? It's practically free!!!

A Year in Review

2007-12-19T04:51:00.000-08:00

After 4 months in the making I am finally getting around to writing. I really have been meaning to write but by the time I am done reading everyone else's fun blogs there is no time to write. There are so many things that have happened this year that I didn't want to leave anything out, so I am going to do a quick year in review.

January:
Easton arrived 3 weeks early on January 24, 2007. He weighed in at a hefty 8 lbs. 10 oz. He was almost 2 pounds bigger than our next biggest. We have decided that he has to be this big in order to survive in this family. His brother and sisters think that he is their size.

February:
We blessed Easton in Price since we had so much family there. It was really nice to be so close to be able to have everyone there.

March:
We were able to go to Arizona this year for Spring Training. We had a lot of fun going to games and visiting family and friends.

April :
This picture of Easton was just too cute to pass up.

Our family on Easter.

June :

Brooklyn's 8th birthday party.

July:

BrynLee's 4th birthday and Clayton's 6th birthday(both on July 5).

Brooklyn turned 8 this year and was baptized 7/7/07. That's all she wanted to do this year was to be baptized. She was so excited when the time finally came.

August:

The kids first day of school.

Brook-3rd

Clayton-1st

BrynLee-

preschool

Easton chillin' out by the pool.

October:

Every year for Halloween we do a theme. I had a really hard time this year convincing them to do it, but once they saw their costumes they got all excited again.

Brooklyn- The Queen of Hearts

Clayton -Ace of Spades

BrynLee- Alice

Easton-White Rabbit

Also in October, Clayton lost his first tooth. He was so excited. He was the only kid in his 1st grade class that hadn't lost a tooth yet. I think this picture pretty much says it all on how excited he was.

Now that I have caught up to December I am going to stay on top of it and not let 4 months go in between posts. Hopefully you guys have enjoyed these pictures as much as we have.