Trip to Texas

The last 2 wks of November we went on vacation to Texas! It was really great to spend time with all of our family and do some much needed catching up! Me, Abby, Doug, Sam, and Brook drove down with Joe's parents the 1st week. They dropped us off in McKinney and we spent the week there visiting. The kids had a blast playing with all of their cousins and I enjoyed visiting with some of my sibling, parents, inlaws, friends and aunts and uncles. I got to have fun with my sisters...baking, quilt making, and of course tamales!! I also got to spend some time with my BF, Chauntel, it was so great to see her!
Joe, Cheyenne and Ken flew in a week later. That sunday me, mom, Lety, Teresa, Julie, and Bobby sang a song together in sacrament, acapella! I thought we sounded great. Joe is always teasing me about how musical our family is and how we have to always be in-tune. Monday morning we left early and headed to Houston.
Living far away really makes you appreciate your family! I was really glad to see dad, mom, Tiff, and Elora. I can't believe how grown up and beautiful my lil sisters are. The kids got to spend time with more grandparents/great grandparents and tons of cousins. Joe and all 3 boys went hunting with gramps and uncle Richard and I'm pretty sure they had a blast.
Saying goodbye to everyone was obviously extremely hard. A lot of tears were shed as we drove out of Houston. The question of why we moved to Idaho came up again and Joe and I explained as best we could. As much as we love our family in Texas, Boise was the better place to raise them. Even though they don't understand, we hope they will when they get older.

Sick, Sick,Sick

For the past month we have been so sick. I think we had the flu or a really nasty cold. Everyone seems to be doing better except for me. BLAH!!! I have one day of feeling good then my body relapses back. Such a huge pain!
The weather is starting to cool and the days are getting shorter. I really love this time of year. I'm praying that we get all this cold crap done now so we can have a super winter.

Logan Utah Trip

This past wkend we took a road trip to Logan, UT to watch my mom run a marathon. We stayed with our great friends in Kaysville on friday nite and our kids had a blast playing with their friends that they miss so much. Joe and I enjoyed talking to Jard and Allison and catching up on life. On Sat we drove to Logan and cheered on my mom. Kenny asked if "racing" was a family tradition. I thought that was a great question. It totally is! The goal is to eventually have me, Tereas, Lety, Julie and Mom run a marathon together. I can't wait to do it!! We had lunch with Mom and Eric and drove around Logan and then had dinner with them as well. The kids loved seeing their grandparents.

Rush TRI

So my friend Kiera asked me if I wanted to do a triathalon. I was a bit hesitant at first because I recently had Brook, was carrying 30 extra pounds, totally out of shape, and I had no bike. Regardless of these obstacles I agreed and signed up. I found a bike on craigslist and it fit me perfectly. I found a training schedule online and got to work. I worked out 5 days a week in the mornings. I had my 1st bike accident a few weeks in which resulted in 8 stiches to my chin and some yucky road rash on the right side of my body. Once healed from that I was back to grind. The training was really fun!! By race day I had lost the 30 lbs and felt great! I had 10 weeks to train. The race went ok, I thought for sure my best event would be swimming, but it's very different in a open water swim than in a pool in your own lane. The bike by far was my best event thanks to the group of guys who bike in my area!! I joined them for a handful a bike rides. The run could of been better but I was not prepared for uphill and offroad!! It was wonderful to have Joe and the kids there to cheer me on. I look forward to next year and the Half Ironman with Lety and about 4 to 5 other races I want to do!!!

Happy Birthday Abby!!

So everyone should know I totally procrastinate! I knew Abby would want a party, but I kept putting it off and a week before realized I had one week til her birthday and yet I still put off doing anything. So the day before my conscience would no longer leave me alone and I called my girlfriends to invite Abby's girlfriends to her party. They all came through for me, thank goodness!!! I'm so grateful to all of my friends. Abby was so surprised because she didn't think we were going to do anything on her actual bday. She LOVES watching iCarly so I made Sam's remote from the show as her cake and the girls made clay sculptures like Carly's brother Spencer and we topped the evening off with Spencer's signature dinner, Spaghetti Tacos! I was surprised the kids liked the tacos. Kind of weird but the kids ate them. After being creative, eating, and gifts the girls went outside for some jump roping. It was fun watching them. It took me back to when I was a little girl.

Happy Birthday my sweet Abby!!

Brooklyn's Baby Blessing

Brooklyn was blessed on Sunday May 2, 2010. Joe's parents were with us for the blessing. We are so happy to have Brooklyn with us. She is a wonderful baby!

Happy Birthday Doug

This year for Doug's bday we went to Texas Roadhouse with Gramps and Grandma. Joe told our server that it was Doug's bday and so they brought the saddle over after we were done eating dinner. Doug was so surprised and embarressed! It was so great!! :) I also talked Doug into money instead of a party. I feel so bad, but I really couldn't handle a big party. Anywho, he chose a ripboard and he is so good at riding it.

Old Penitentiary

We love taking drives around the Treasure Valley. We really never plan on going to a specific place. One sunday we were just driving around and found the state penitentiary and drove around and took a small hike. We thought it would be fun to come back with Gramps and Grandma when they came to Boise. So we took them and the kids enjoyed looking in the old prison and realized that it probably wasn't a good idea to screw up! After we walked around the prison we hiked up to Table Rock. It was a 3 mile round trip hike. At first the kids were super excited and then they just got down right whiney! But being the mean parents we are, we made them hike the whole thing. It felt really good when we finally got to the top, but then we realized we could of driven! Oh well, great exercise :)

Let's Go To The Movies

We don't normally go to the movies with all the kids. I usually take one at a time or we go to the dollar movie. Lety was brave enough to take Doug, Ken, Abby, and Sam to see How to Train a Dragon in 3D. They were sooooo excited. They did have to wait a while cuz the first showing was sold out, but it was a real treat! Thanks Aunt Lety!!!

Happy Easter

We really live in a great neighborhood! We had a neighborhood Easter egg hunt for all the kids. Boy was I extremely thankful. My kids were so excited to go get some candy! I really get sad on holidays because we don't have family around, so this was really nice. A bonus this year was my lil' sister Lety coming for a stay and she was here with us on Easter! I've been so lucky to have 2 of my sisters come and my mom. I don't know how I would of made it the last few months!

Cheyenne turns 11

This year for Cheyenne's birthday I tried to convince of her to take money instead of a party. I had just had Brooklyn and had no desire whatsoever to have a party, but Cheyenne so lovingly reminded me that her Grandma would be more than capable of running the show. Cheyenne likes Hannah Montana so we had the girls play Disney singit on the XBOX and my mom put hair tinsel in all the girls hair. They also made some body glitter out of aloe vera and very fine glitter. She had a blast with her friends from Meridian and Boise. I was also happy to know that she is old enough to babysit! Whoo hoo!!!

To Infinity And Beyond!

Sam loves Toy Story and was really excited about his birthday party! Now when I say Sam was excited about his "birtday pawrty" what he was really excited about was his cake! This boy is a sugar monster!!! Just like his daddy! We had a fun family party and he loved his cake!!

Miss Brooklyn

Brooklyn was born March 5, 2010 at 1:05a.m. at The Baby Place in Meridian. Brooklyn was my second delivery with a midwife and no meds. This last pregnancy was the hardest out of the 6. I was very sick my first tri and it didn't really seem to get better as time went on. Despite feeling sick, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of being pregnant. It is so amazing to know that there is a tiny person growing inside of your body. The little kicks, hiccups, and turning around are just fascinating. The evening I went into labor we were finishing dinner, my sister and her family were getting ready for their long drive back to Texas and Joe had just gotten home from work. Contractions started to get pretty strong, but I just kept doing my usual thinking this would just be another false alarm. I finally couldn't take it anymore and called my midwife and she asked me to come in. Teresa and Jason lovingly postponed their departure and stayed to watch our kids. Joe and I left and I kept thinking "as soon as we get there they're going to say it was false labor and send me home". To my surprise the midwife said I was at an 8! She told Joe to go ahead and bring the bags in. My friend, Summer, came to video the birth. Joe took at nap while Summer looked after me. Now for me having no meds is a huge mental game. I had to constantly tell myself that I was strong and to not be a whiner. I did really great until it was time to push. I no longer wanted anything to do with natural childbirth, but it was too late and Brooklyn was crowning. The birth was so amazing! I was able to cut the cord and finally hold her tiny body in my arms. Our bodies can accomplish amazing miracles. I'm so blessed to have been able to have 6 healthy children. I'm thankful for the opportunity of Motherhood and the chance I had at having 2 natural childbirths.

HOLY COW!

It's been forever since my last entry. The short of the long story is.......we moved from Meridian to Boise. So that meant new ward, new school, bigger house, and being on the crap list with our kids again. I went to AZ to watch one of my little sisters, Lety compete in the IronMan competition and she rocked at it, so now my goal is to finish the Half Ironman in Boise next year. Thanksgiving and Christmas were lonely and crazy, cuz our dog Jetta had her 1st litter of pups. Joe did the unthinkable and let me get an ultrasound so right before Christmas we found out we were having a sweet baby girl. Then later on i was put on bedrest for 3 wks, that sucked and i gained a crap load of weight. Little Brooklyn was born on Mar. 5 and now we are a week from blessing her. Whew!!!

1st day of School!!!!

Hooray for school!! I love teachers!!! Today was the first day of school and I was sooooooooo excited and ready for it. I was going to homeschool Cheyenne and then the week before I got a huge anxiety attack about having to have her at home so Joe and I talked and decided if she had a strict teacher and none of the same girls in her class from last year we would leave her in school. My prayer was totally answered and Cheyenne was happy to go. (except for 3 girls but she didn't have problems with them) The kids were kind of nervous but we all made it through the morning without crying or throwing up! Sam and I took a morning walk after we dropped off the kids and then I got to cleaning. Then for lunch we picked up Joe for lunch and then chilled at home for a bit before we met the kids after school. It was a great day with no stress, which I totally needed. I even started dinner early so it was ready by 6!
On a low note, I forgot my camera. Super Sorry! I'll take it tomorrow:)

Baby Hall #6

So a few weeks ago, i started getting some very familiar signs, so I decided to take a pregnancy test. Of course it was positive, so I left it there on the bathroom counter for Joe to see. He was in complete denial and asked me to take another one. So I waited a few days and took it and again it was positive. He then asked me to go buy another brand, by this point I was getting a bit frustrated. But before I could make it to the store he called his parents, so that gave me the go ahead to call mine.
These things are never planned with us, but we couldn't be happier. We love our children so much even when they get hard to handle. They bring great joy and happiness to our lives. I know they will all have a great roles in the future. We can't wait to hold our newest addition and see how he/she will change our lives for the good.
So i'm 8 wks and due on March 10th!! Whoo Hoo!

Ken's Baptism

Kenny was baptized on July 4th. Joe's mom and dad and my mom and sister Teresa and her kids were able to make the drive to Idaho to join us. We all really enjoyed the company we had.
As I sat in the chapel I realized that the time I have with my kids at home gets shorter and shorter. My boys are 10 years from going on missions and Cheyenne is 8 years from college. I'm so thankful for all of my kids and the wonderful people they are becoming. Then watching Kenny as he was baptized was so wonderful, he truly is a wonderful boy and child of God. He is filled with love and compassion. Joe said in kenny's blessing that when he went on his mission he would be able to have great compassion for the people he serves. Ken already talks about his mission and how excited he is to go. He believes he will be going to China, he's very fascinated with their culture.
I love my little man so much!

Happy Birthday Kenny!

Kenny turned 8 on June 26th which was also the last day of school! We had his bday party at one of the city parks and they have a water area for the kids to play in. He invited friends from school and church and had so much fun with them. Kenny's gramps and grandma were there too and that made his day.

Recess!

The kids love to go to recess at school. They get to play outside 3 times during school. It helps the kids release their energy and gives the teachers a small break. They really have a great playground, there are basketball hoops and other bars to play on as well and then the kids have a huge field to play ball in. I took these pictures while we were waiting for Cheyenne to finish the wax museum. Sam had so much fun running around and going down the slide. Abby is great at the monkey bars and kept showing me how she could go forward and backward.

Wax Museum

Cheyenne's 4th grade class along with one other 4th grade class, did a Idaho History Wax Museum to raise money for their end of year party. They had to learn about their person and write a 2 min summary that needed to be memorized. So the night of the showing every student arrived early in costume and with background and set up. The parents were let in at 5:30 and we entered into a wonderful history lesson. The kids did a wonderful job of being perfectly still until you dropped change into their cup and then they would tell you about themselves. We had a great time and learned alot.