The Wild West

It's a birthday for Samantha!!!

2012-01-25T06:00:00.000-08:00

Because Samantha's birthday is so close to when the baby is due we decided to celebrate her birthday with her friends at the beginning of December. Instead of a regular birthday party Samantha wanted to have a Christmas party for all her friends. So she invited 17 girls to bring some cookies and a pair of fun Christmas socks to exchange. We made Christmas crafts, played some fun games and exchanged the socks and cookies. Everyone had a great time and I cannot believe that we had 17 girls in one room for 2 hours and we all survived!

I thought it was very sweet of Samantha to forgo getting a bunch of birthday gifts and have a party for all her friends instead. She is wonderful!

Samantha spent the year growing! She also kept herself busy with piano lessons, dance classes and lots of swimming this summer. She is a bubbly, happy, easy going person and we are blessed to have her in our family. I often find her making up fun games for her younger siblings and she even keeps a prize box for them to pick things from so she can bribe them to help me with things or behave in the car. Seriously, she is amazing!

I hope 11 is a great year for you, we love you!

Happy Birthday Sammie Bear!!!!

Olivia is 2!

2012-01-21T06:00:00.000-08:00

I can't believe our little Livi is 2! She is such a sweet baby and I hope that she sails through the 2's with no problem. She has funny words such as:

YE=yes

YEEP=also means yes, depends on the level of excitement associated with the yes

Bee-Bee=Gabriella, who is the only family member she names besides Mom and Dad

Bone=phone, she thinks they all belong to her

Wah-Wee=sippy cup

She is such a joy to have in our home. She spends her time carrying baby dolls around, playing with Mommy's make-up, gathering things to obscure places (for ex. she will take all the clothes out of her dresser and put them in the hall closet), and chasing after Gabriella who she looks up to so much! She is a very quiet, self entertaining, disaster making, sweetheart.

I hope she enjoys being a big sister soon. Olivia also has eyelashes to die for--lucky girl:)

Happy Birthday Olivia Grace--you make us smile everyday!

Mariah is a teenager!!!

2012-01-08T14:21:00.000-08:00

I am certainly not old enough to have a teenager, but somehow Mariah is 13! She is an amazing daughter and we are so grateful to have her in our family. She spent the past year working really hard in school to maintain her status on the high honor roll, playing the piano, running cross country, making the Volleyball team at school and baby-sitting in her spare time! She is a super busy girl, but still manages to be happy and have some fun. For her birthday she invited a few friends to go to an outdoor ice-skating rink and then to dinner. It was such a fun night to watch her with her friends. She is very lucky to have a great group of girls to spend time with. I know she will miss them when we move.

So far Mariah has been a very good girl so I anticipate very smooth easy teenage years ahead:)

Happy Birthday Mariah--We love you!!!!

Christmas 2011

2012-01-08T13:48:00.000-08:00

Christmas 2011

We had a really nice, relaxing Christmas season. There was NO snow, which is very unusual for us. Knowing this will be our last winter here in upstate NY we were really looking forward to the snow one more time. But, so far it is pretty pathetic.

Anyway, we spent the month preparing for Christmas and just having a great time together. This year we had a friendly boys vs. girls gingerbread house decorating competition. Gabriella switched back and forth between the girls and the boys depending on who she thought was doing a better job at the time. A lot of the candy was wet, and after a while we figured out it was because Olivia spent her time putting candy in her mouth, sucking on it for a bit, then putting it back and moving on to the next piece--so gross:)

We had a fun time on Christmas Eve. We made cookies for Santa in the afternoon and then went to see the "Lights on the Lake" which is a local lights display. It was a fun day. That evening we had our traditional nativity play as a family. This year Kris was the poor donkey that carried in Jamie (who is 8 months pregnant) on his back into the living room. The kids thought it was hilarious. At first Kris said he wanted to play baby Jesus, but I don't think the kids could have stopped laughing in order for us to read the Christmas story. So he settled for the donkey. The kids then exchanged the gifts they got for each other. It is always a highlight to see them anticipate the reaction of the person they picked out a gift for. They are so good to each other. All the kids were tucked in by 8:30--we were amazed. They all like to sleep in one room. Joshua woke up at 4am and we made him get in bed with us for an hour before we went for the gifts. I am sure it was one of the longest hours of his life! We enjoyed the gifts and had fun playing for a little while before we had to get ready for 9:30 church. We were even on time:)

The sacrament meeting program was so lovely. Mariah played a piano piece with other girls in Young Women playing the violin, flute and bells. It was beautiful and I was so proud of her. Samantha and Joshua sang a song with a small group of kids. They did great too, I could even hear them singing!

We spent the rest of the day relaxing, playing and just having fun being together. It was a great day! It did make me a little sad knowing it will be our last Christmas in this little house. The time had gone by so fast.

Next year we will celebrate with the palm trees. It will be so weird.

I love Christmas!

Ward Christmas party nativity. Gabriella was a sheep, Joshua was a shepherd and Samantha was Mary.

Joshua thought the boys had a clear win over the girls. I kept telling him that although they had some cool construction aspects, it was all in the details...

One month to go! I swear it lasts longer than the first 8 months combined. We are excited to welcome our new little guy.

The stockings we hung by the chimmney with care.....

2011-12-24T07:27:00.000-08:00

Three years ago I was getting ready to hang the stockings above our fireplace and I needed to place new nails holes above the mantel. I didn't want to make more holes than needed. At the time Kris and I were contemplating the size of our family. We had four kids at the time and really wanted #5. Things were not working out the way we had planned--sound familiar? We had been fasting and praying about this for several months. As I was about to measure out the spots to make the nail holes for our 6 family members, I had a huge overwhelming feeling that we would have another baby and we would have her at the this house and so I needed to measure out space to accommodate another stocking. Now, this might sound funny to you--but to me it was such a clear answer to the concerns we had been having. I happily measured out enough spots to hang 7 stockings:)

As I hang up the stockings each year I hope that I will be reminded of this sweet experience. Our Heavenly Father loves us and cares about each of us and the concerns we might be having. He gave us His son, to be a Savior for us, to provide a way to return to live with Him someday. I am so grateful that families are forever! I look forward to celebrating this amazing time of year with my family.

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!

Mariah and Cross Country

2011-10-07T08:36:00.000-07:00

Mariah decided to try doing cross country this fall. She has worked so hard and has overcome several injuries including: knee pain, ankle pain, a black toe we are pretty sure is going to fall off, and back pain. Nothing has stopped her. She just pushes through and keeps getting stronger and faster. She has practice everyday after school and comes home just in time for dinner. She gets right to her homework and getting her things gathered for the next day. It has been so fun to watch her be so responsible and take something so seriously. During their first meet of the season Kris and I looked at each other and thought...how did they trick these young kids into thinking this is fun? It is fun. It is fun to watch and a fun experience for all the runners.

This picture was taken at her last meet in Rome, NY. They had to run through a creek and several really muddy, soggy puddles. Luckily, the waist deep pond was filled in this year so they didn't have to run through that one. At least it was about 58 degrees this day:) Keep at it Mariah!

And then there was one...

2011-09-07T10:09:00.000-07:00

Much to my disappointment, school started again. I don't know why it always surprises me, but it does. All the kids had a great first day. It definitely feels like fall around here. We went from a/c in the car to the heater in one day! All the leaves will be coming down before we know it. I will enjoy them as much as I can this year because next year we will not experience fall at all! I am pretty sure Phoenix has one season.

Joshua was a little disappointed that I was not driving him to school on the first day. Because of Gabriella's preschool schedule I had them ride the bus and then I saw them get off the bus at school. I told Joshua I would see him there. I didn't think he would remember or care once he got on the bus. But, as he came around the corner-- as soon as he spotted me and Olivia he began bouncing in his seat and pointing us out to his friends. Then, while he waited for the bus to unload--which took a long time--he sat at the window looking at us. It was the cutest thing and made the tears that I had been holding back pour down. I am so happy that I do not have to pry my kids off of me in order to leave them at school, but I am also very happy that this little boy was excited to see his Mom!

Gabriella is off to preschool. She thinks she is so big because her school is in the big kids school. Even though she doesn't get to ride the bus, she loves being at the same school. Don't you just love how big the backpacks look on these little kids!

Sweet Samantha is a 5th grader! She has grown so much over the summer. All her friends told her she was way tan--I agree and I don't think it is fair that she has such gorgeous dark skin.

Joshua is a second grader and really was not looking forward to school starting. He loves to see his friends, but really thinks that school cuts into his life too much.

Mariah is off to middle school again--I don't know what else to say about that. If she just didn't have to be so pretty....

Olivia was really feeling the unfairness of the day and tried to follow all the kids into school. She was really glad to see the bus come home!
So, it is just me and Olivia...at least until February.

Not my best effort, but here are the kids back to school treats!
They are apples and pencils--just in case you couldn't tell;)

Summer 2011

2011-09-06T17:24:00.001-07:00

Most of these pictures were taken with my phone camera so the quality is very poor. We had a fun summer and I am very sad that it is over.

Kris was attending a conference in Boston in June so the kids and I joined him for the last few days. He flew there, we drove. It was a long drive. What was supposed to be a 5 hour drive turned into 7.5 because of all the weekend traffic. But it was worth it, we had a great time seeing the city. I have always wanted to go to Boston. We have lived on the East Coast for 10 years and this was our first visit.

This is our car ride home--that is a lot of kids in one car!

While Kris attended conference all day the kids and I had to entertain ourselves. We spent most the day in the Public Garden and Boston Commons. It was a little drizzly, but the kids were in a great mood and we had so much fun exploring everything.

This is the carousel in Boston Commons
We didn't know where we were going and just kept walking and discovered this great shopping area. I know it probably has an official name, but I don't know what it is. The whole city of Boston reminded me of a small scale Washington, DC and an itty bitty New York City mixed together.

A friend of ours told us about the ducks statues in the Public garden. She even loaned us her copy of "Make Way for Duckings". If you are as uneducated as I am then you should know it is a cute children's book that shows a family of ducks finding their way around Boston. Very cute book, and fun duck statues for the kids to play on. We spent way to much time climbing on ducks!
Joshua really tried hard to imitate all the different ducks.

All of my ducklings lined up in a row. I was such a proud mommy!
Across the street from the Public garden was Boston Commons. They had a bunch of frog statues. The kids loved them too, but not as much as the ducks. There was a great playground there, but a bit to wet to enjoy it much.
We loved all the ducks in the duck pond. We rode the swan boats around the tiny lake. We all loved it except Gabriella, she wanted to drive the boat.
Don't these purple flowers look like they belong in a Dr. Seuss book? We loved them!

Since we didn't want to make the kids walk all over the entire city we decided to buy tickets on the Duck Tour. Those are the obnoxious tour buses that go in the water also. It was a fun way to see the entire city, but not quite as educational as you might think. Our guide mostly pointed out all the Dunkin' Donut locations for us--there were a lot of those!
Switching gears now....

We love to go to the drive-in movies! There is a great place near our house that we try to hit a couple of times a summer. We usually make it for 2 movies--it makes for a late night.

We went with some families in our ward camping to a place called Highland Forest. We had so much fun visiting with them and watching the kids play. We even hid peanuts for the kids, a favorite game my Grandma Palmer used to play with us when we went camping with her.

We put this shirt on Olivia and had her walk into the living room where all the kids were sitting. I asked them if they liked Olivia's new shirt. It took them all a little while to catch on, but it was fun to watch their expressions as they figured it out. They were all screaming and jumping up and down. It was very sweet to see how happy they were. And, we have since found out it will be a boy! That announcement was also followed by screaming and jumping up and down. However, instead of being in our living room we were in the parking lot of the grocery store. It was a little embarrassing:)
We love you summertime! We hate that you come and go so fast--it is just not fair!

Baby, baby, baby, Oh....

2011-08-06T11:47:00.000-07:00

We are thrilled to announce that we are expecting baby #6! The sweet little one is due on Valentines day 2012. It will make our Spring even more exciting than it was already going to be. Now we can add a newborn on top of selling a house, moving across the country and starting a fellowship program in Arizona. We like to keep the chaos going around here. The other kids are so excited to have another baby. Gabriella asks me everyday, "how big is the baby?" It is a long time to wait, but we will be anxiously waiting his/her arrival!

Summer is slipping away!

2011-07-19T06:45:00.000-07:00

I know I am going to be amazed when the fall hits us again so I had to get a few pictures on here of things we have been doing this summer! There is not a lot of organization here, but they are posted:)

We went to Washington DC to meet up with our friends the Haymore's. They moved to Washington state last summer and I don't have words to describe how much my kids have missed them. This is Joshua and Michael greeting each other. It started out as a hug and quickly turned to wrestling. No surprise there!
All the kiddos (except Lilah) at Iwo Jima and the New Carrillton Bell. (I don't know how to spell that) Basically this is one of the only places in DC where you can have a great view of the whole national mall.

These two pretty much never had space between them for the 3 days we were together. It was great.

Gabriella's Joy school graduation! I cannot say enough wonderful things about Joy School. It is an amazing program and if you have ever considered doing it with your preschooler, I highly recommend it. It is so fun to have the kids in your home and to watch them grow over the year. Gabriella really got into the program and sang all the songs like I have never seen her do it before. She is usually the kid rolling around on the floor while the others are practicing. But, apparently she can do that and listen at the same time because she knew every word. Too cute!

We have had to say good-bye to so many good friends this summer as they have been moving. It is always so hard to have friends move. We ourselves have moved so many times in our married life and although it is hard to move, we have made many good friends who we still keep in contact with. The Theler's gave us some fireworks when they left and the kids had a lot of fun playing with them.

White trash party 20011. Kris just enjoys this way to much. I have to admit it was fun wearing a banana clip again:)

Yes, that is a tramp stamp on my baby. Don't worry, it was not permanent.

Joshua and his friend Rowan roasting marshmellows and trying to put stuff in the fire. What is it with boys and fire?

Belated birthdays!

2011-06-14T11:38:00.000-07:00

Joshua and Gabriella did have birthdays this year. I lost the cord that gets pictures off our camera so I am way behind in updates! I love how much my kids LOVE their birthdays!

Utah County Half Marathon

2011-06-14T11:23:00.001-07:00

I survived! I surprised myself for sure. Several months ago my Dad told he was doing another marathon. He also told me my little sister was doing a half marathon. He offered to fly me to Utah for the race if I wanted to do the half marathon as well. I thought about it for about .3 seconds and said "HECK YES!" I have been taking a running class for a few months and was fairly confident I could pull off 13.1 miles. Although until the race I had never run this far. I like to have a goal:) I am slow, but that is ok with me!

The race went well for all of us. My Dad beat his previous racing time by at least 45:00! My sister Katie and her husband Doug did amazing as well. Katie could easily do the full marathon--those skinny legs are fast! I finished in 2:25 (I told you I was slow) but it was a few minutes before my goal time so I am happy.

If I were to ever do a half again this is the race to do. Nice downhills, a couple uphills to break it up and awesome scenery.

It was so fun to see family! We have not been to Utah is almost a year and I miss all the amazing people I am related to--by genetics and marriage! I almost enjoyed flying by myself, but I get motion sick so it was still not too much fun!

Thanks for bringing me to Utah Dad! You better watch out what you offer from now on--apparently I will do anything for a free trip!

Can you handle the heat?

2011-05-10T13:11:00.000-07:00

Today we found out that we will be moving to Phoenix, AZ next year for Kris to do his Orthopedic Spine Surgery Fellowship. We will only be there for one year, but we are very excited for this new adventure. We are so sad to leave our happy life here in NY, but we are also ready to finish this long medical training process.

This past winter it snowed over 179 inches, which by the way, won us the New York State Golden Snowball Award--yes, I am serious there is such a thing. So, when people have been asking me if I think I can handle the heat in Arizona I have just one thing to say...

Bring. It. On!

A man and his dream...

2011-03-14T09:34:00.000-07:00

Kris is a lover of boats. Every February for as long as we have been married we have gone to the annual boat show. Kris insists it is the ONLY good thing about February--I tend to agree. We often discuss/joke about which we will purchase first when he gets finished with all this medical training junk--a house or a boat. You might reason that we can't live in a boat so we should get a house first. Kris says he can live on a boat just fine.

In fact, boats and the boat show have played a big part of our life together. When we were dating we spent many days on Kris' Dad's boat. I am not a very good water skier but Kris must have seen some potential because I am pretty sure he would not have proposed if I couldn't hold my own on a ski.

After we were married, when February rolled around, we went to the boat show. We saw a beautiful boat and went to check it out. It was a MARIAH boat. He turned to me and said, "If we ever have a girl, can we name her Mariah?" Obviously I agreed and the following February we took our 4 week old baby girl to the boat show and took her picture by a Mariah boat. If I knew how to scan pictures into the computer I would post that too, but I don't know how so I won't. Just imagine a tiny Mariah in front of a big boat. Here she is as a big girl...

Our taste in boats has changed drastically over the past 12 years since and now Kris is all about the wake boarding boats. Unfortunately upstate NY does not value wake boarding boats so we were only able to find a few among all the fishing, party pads and luxury boats at the boat show.

We had a great time and we were able to forget that it was 3 degrees outside--at least for a few minutes until we had to walk to the car again.

And the debate still remains...house or boat.....house or boat.....

It is never too early to start! Gabriella called this a skateboard with boots. She cried when we took it off of her.

And now February is over...why does it still feel like winter!?!

Fighting the Winter Blues

2011-03-14T09:21:00.000-07:00

Joshua and Gabriella are very tired of the snow and winter cold. They want to go outside and play. After one bad snow storm, that left us stuck inside, they decided they had enough and they were going to do something about it. They found some summer clothes and got changed. Then they made pretend ice-cream cones out of play-dough, had a picnic in the living room (pretend park) and finally got themselves geared up for a Safari in Africa. It was hilarious. They made me cold to just look at them in their summer clothes, but they continued. I am grateful for cute kid imaginations and for siblings who love each other. It was s fun day for them--even if we were buried under 12 inches of new snow!

Celebrations!

2011-01-29T17:59:00.000-08:00

It has been a month FULL of celebrations. With 3 kids having birthdays in January it makes for a month full of PARTIES!!!

So, let's review...

Mariah turned 12 this year and I cannot believe she could possibly be that old--especially considering I am only like...23:) She celebrated her birthday with friends during the Christmas break. She wanted to have a sleepover for her birthday and we decided that she could have one last sleepover. We recently decided we are not going to have sleepovers anymore and this party proved to us what a good decision that was. I could not get these girls to go to sleep! I had to turn into the mean Mom after they woke up Olivia for the third time. Mariah had fun and I guess that is what is most important. Happy birthday to the best 12 year old I know--We love our Mariah!

Mariah's friends--the girls had a blast playing the Kinect on Xbox. They laughed and screamed--a lot!

Also turning 12 means that Mariah will be joining the Young Woman program at our church. On her birthday the stake put on a fun conference for all the girls ages 12 and 13. There was a sweet program and lots of fun crafts to do. I am so happy that I am in the Young Woman presidency so I get to be with her. I am so excited for all the fun, spiritual, and growing experiences she is about to have over the next 6 years she is in the program. I can't wait to see her become an even more beautiful girl, inside and out!

Samantha turned 10 this year! She had a long, stretched out birthday. On her actual birthday she had a dance recital and so we celebrated the night before with her favorite dinner and gifts. One her actual day we all went and watched her dance recital and went for ice cream after. Then, a few days later she had her birthday party with her friends. We went ice skating for her birthday. The girls were all really nervous and afraid they would fall, but they were great sports and tried to laugh each time they fell. I am sure they will all have a few bruises.

Samantha is such an amazing girl and we are so glad she is part of our family. She is a beautiful girl and smart as can be as well! We keep saying that this is her year to try to grow a few inches. She hasn't grown in almost two years so this is bound to be the year she gains a couple of inches! But, if not--we will still love her:)

And finally...

Miss Olivia turned one! I do not know how in the world that happened. I feel like this past year was pushed in a time warp because I cannot believe how fast it has gone. She was a very sweet birthday girl. She was very excited about all the balloons!

Olivia is a very precious baby. She has such a calming influence on our family and we all love her very much! I hope this next year does not go by so fast.

She loved dancing on the table and was tempted to eat a big bite out of the cake!

We thought she would devour her cake when we set it in front of her, but she was very funny about it. She flipped it over and looked disgusted at it. One of my friends thought I was mean to give her such a small cake after withholding goodies from her for her whole life. Maybe Livi was mad at me.

Even after taking a bite she still looked at us like we were crazy for forcing her to eat cake. I have never had a baby be so passive about their first birthday cake eating. She did squish it around really well. Joshua was thrilled when she put some in her hair. He was so impressed when Gabriella did that on her first birthday and he has been so excited to see Olivia do the same. He is just living vicariously through his sisters.
Happy birthday to the most adorable one year old I know! Please don't grow anymore.

Christmas 2010

2010-12-28T12:45:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve started with a bit of sledding at the kids school. Not much of a hill but we had fun anyway. Then it was off to enjoy a nice dinner with some of our friends. We miss our family so much this time of year, but we are very grateful we have friends to share good times with.

After dinner we came home to enjoy our own family traditions. We always act out the nativity. Each year we just pick which part we want to play and then find our own costume for it. Joshua was a sheperd (how do you spell that??) Gabriella was an angel, Mariah was the star, Samantha was Mary, Kris was Joseph and the narrator, I was a wise man. I scared Olivia with my costume, and I have to give credit to Veronica's sister for the inspiration:)

After the lovely story of Christ's birth the kids opened the gifts they always carefully pick out for each other and they open new pj's from us, and this year we let them open the slippers they got from the Palmer cousins. It was so much fun. It was always a very nice night for our little family to enjoy together. The kids were in bed and asleep by 10:00. But, they were up again at 3:50. We held them off until 5:15 and then it was on! We enjoyed a sweet Christmas day. Gabriella took 2 naps and Kris only had to go into work for a couple of hours. We just played and relaxed and played all day! I love Christmas and I am sad to see it over for another year. It came and went so fast this year. I was glad we managed to find a little time to enjoy it!

Olivia and the cuddly bear Joshua picked out for her, she loves it!
Joshua opening the star wars pencil he wanted at the school book fair clear back in Sept. Mariah ran back into the school while I was getting the kids in the car and bought it without him knowing. It was a cute surprise.

Love, love, LOVE these sweet kids!

Love all the cute slippers! Thanks Palmer cousins:)

Gingerbread House Party 2010

2010-12-28T12:09:00.000-08:00

We had a gingerbread house party with some of the resident families that Kris works with. The kids had so much candy to choose from it was ridiculous! After they had their fun we put on a movie for them and the adults had a building competition of their own. It was boys against girls and although I think the judges were wrong--the boys were the winners! It was lots of fun and we are still recovering from the sugar overload.

The boys won with the two story Santa's workshop. I think the judges were amazed that they pulled off a two story gingerbread house that was all they could think about.

Here's the girls and their Santa's workshop. It was all about the details, too bad you can't see them:)

Gabriella was not going to be slowed down by involving her hands--she just dove in for a bite!
So much fun!

Now THAT is a snowman!

2010-12-12T19:31:00.001-08:00

Anyone think you can do better? We put the challenge out there a couple of years ago and we are doing it again now. Build a bigger or better snowman or snow sculpture of some kind and send us a picture. Come on, it is not that cold outside--be creative and get out there and build something! We dare you...

It was Joshua's idea to go with the 5 segmented snow monster this year:)

Ahhh Summertime....

2010-12-11T16:35:00.000-08:00

Summertime seems like it was so long ago. Now that we are getting snowed on everyday, it is hard to imagine that it will ever be warm again.

We went for a hike and picnic to Tremain Falls back in August (I think). It was beautiful and so much fun to play at the waterfall, but the water was freezing! I could hardly stand to touch it-let alone jump into it. It was hard to resist the fun diving board, but the water was freezing! Did I already mention that? Our friends, the Potter's, were with us. Summer was such a good sport to take her 8 1/2 month pregnant belly into the icy water to take the pictures. She will do pretty much anything for the right shot. I think she was numb for 1/2 hour after getting out of the water. Thanks for sacrificing for us Summer!

I hope to see the summer again someday...

NEW YORK CITY

2010-12-05T13:30:00.000-08:00

The kids have not been to NYC since Joshua was 8 months old. We live so close to the city that we just had to take a quick trip with them at Christmas time to enjoy the city. It was a quick trip. Barely 30 hours! It seems to be the way we visit NYC. In quick, short trips. Not only because Kris doesn't get much time off of work, but because it is SOOOOO expensive! However, a sweet subway worker took one look at us with all our kids and let us through for free. That was a very kind gesture. New Yorkers do not understand kids. Even though the kids were pretty well behaved we got lots of mean glances and grunts as we made our way down the very busy, crowded streets. Kris has mad driving skills and when we were driving you could have mistaken him for a taxi driver. I have to admit, it made me proud.

Our friends the Theler's were very kind to let us join them on their trip. We know we kind of took over and we are sorry about that. Hopefully, we didn't scare them away forever. Kris made us re enact a lot of the scenes from the movie "Elf". It was very embarrassing, but fun. Especially on the crowded escalators at Macy's. Josh was really good at hopping across the crosswalk.

The ice rink at Central Park

We went to Jekyll and Hyde's resturant for lunch. It was a lot of fun. It took a long time, Gabriella was a little scared, and like everything else in NY--it was expensive--but we are glad Kris is there to force us to try new things.
The beautiful Christmas tree in Rockefeller center. It was so crowded, it made it hard to get a good picture. It was really pretty.

This is on 6th Avenue. There were several displays with huge Christmas things. We liked the lights the best.

Also on 6th avenue there are lots of people dressed up as characters and Gabriella was really quick to find Dora--her favorite. Although I am glad she was able to have a quick visit with her best friend this was also a very scary moment. As I was busy taking the picture and Kris was trying to keep her from running to more characters we lost Joshua. He either kept walking when we stopped to see Dora or he was busy looking for other characters. Needless to say, I went into mommy panic mode. It was so crowded! I was screaming his name. People around me were very rude and irritated that I was screaming, but it didn't stop me. I ran around pushing people out of the way, screaming his name. I can't believe how rude people were! Couldn't they see I was so scared??? Anyway, amid all the chaos I heard someone calmly tell me he was up by the gate. I ran toward the railings blocking off the road and he was there walking with a family. I ran to him and scooped him up and hugged him. Then I probably freaked out the woman he was with when I hugged her, bawling my eyes out. She told me she was taking him to the police and then walked away. (Probably still scared from the hug). I asked Josh what happened and he told me when he realized that he couldn't see me he looked around for a police man or a nice looking Mommy with kids. We had drilled this into the kids heads and I was so proud of him for remembering and doing it. Besides a police officer there is probably no safer person to ask for help than a Mother with kids---because she knows the panic that comes from not knowing where your kids are! I have to thank my sister in law Julie for this advice she gave me 10 years ago. Who knows how far Joshua would have wandered in search for a police officer.

I am so grateful for a husband that can keep his head on in panic situations. Maybe we just make a good team. My craziness and his calmness--we cover all the bases! It was so scary. We had been so careful the entire trip to watch for the kids. Of course this happened during our last 30 minutes in the city.

Olivia was not helpful as I was trying to pack. She unpacked very quickly and found herself a good seat.

We probably won't make it to the city again. It is just too expensive and too scary to do it again with the kids. We had a great family get away and we were glad the weather wasn't too bad. The kids were troopers, no one complained about all the walking. Mariah loved the roasted nuts, Samantha loved Toys R Us, Joshua loved Spiderman (and acting like him on the central park rocks), Gabriella loved meeting Santa at Santaland, meeting Dora, and the Doorman at the hotel. Olivia loved the lights of Times Square! Kris and I loved explaining to the kids why there were so many people everywhere. They didn't quite get it. It was NEW YORK CITY for crying out loud!

A little service

2010-12-05T13:15:00.000-08:00

Every year I like the kids to be involved in a few service activities for Christmas. This year we found a fun project for them to do. We filled shoe boxes with surprises and dropped them off at a local church. They are then distributed all around the world to kids who need a little love. The kids loved this project. I thought Gabriella would have a hard time packing away all the gifts she had picked out, but she was thrilled to send them away to "a whittle durl" far away. I love moments when you can see your kids grasp the idea of something bigger than themselves. Especially when it makes them so happy to serve someone else!

Olivia watched us carefully and made sure we took care of everything properly!

Just a few things...

2010-12-05T13:05:00.001-08:00

Movie Night! Even Olivia was able to join us for movie night. We are making our way through the Star Wars movies. I have never seen the originals and I still have not. It seems like I don't ever get to sit still during movie night if the little one is awake. Joshua has loved all the ones he has seen and even the girls really enjoy them.

Doing a few dishes. I can't believe how long this entertained them, and surprisingly there was not a huge water mess to clean up!

Halloween

2010-10-28T12:01:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year again! Kids are so cute and SO hyper on Halloween. It is just too fun to be a kid!

Joshua wanted to be a super hero of some sort and it was a tough decision, but Aniken Skywalker was the winner!

Gabriella started out wanting to be a Puma. What??? Then she switched to a bird. Huh??? Then it was baby Jaguar. (She was killing me!) When we pulled out the old costumes we found this one of Samantha's that-- thanks to Mom's quick thinking--became a baby Jaguar Princess. She couldn't have been more thrilled! That was a close one...

Samantha picked an adorable lady bug. She knew what she wanted and there was no changing her mind.

Mariah loves this dress of mine and figured out a way to use it again as a different costume. Love the lashes!

Baby Olivia was the sweetest little Bunny you have ever seen! You should she her crawl around with that fluffy bunny tail up in the air. Precious:)

Kris was very clever to create his Wolverine costume at the last minute. Those claws are very serious. I think he is handsome.

I was a little busy putting everyone else's costumes together that I just pulled out the Hawaiian costume...again.

We went to a Halloween party with all the Orthopedic Residents and their families. It was a lot of fun and very chaotic.

Mariah and our friend Eden.

You wouldn't know from this expression but as we were leaving Gabriella told me she had "doe much bun!" Hope she learns to talk by next year:)

Here's all the women that have gone along for the ride on this relentless Orthopedic Residency adventure!

Happy Halloween!!!!

Toys?

2010-10-20T05:39:00.000-07:00

I try to get toys out for Olivia to play with, but where is she?

I make a nice cozy corner with a basket of toys for her to pull out and enjoy, but where is Olivia?

She would rather play with the dirty shoes and mess up all my kitchen drawers.

Consider this a kind reminder that as Christmas season approaches and you stew and stress over what toys to get your little ones, they will always be happier with the wrapping paper and box than with the actual toy! Shop accordingly....

Rewind

2010-09-10T12:24:00.000-07:00

Does this look familiar to anyone who has been following our blog for the past couple of years??? At least he found a comfy bottle of apple juice to use for a pillow this time. Check out how much Bree has grown. This poor guy seriously needs more sleep, or maybe just a bed...

He hates to miss out on any of the action when he is home so he doesn't want to hide in the bedroom for his power nap. He is a strange little man.

http://westfamily6.blogspot.com/2008/07/over-worked-husband.html

Granddaughters

2010-09-10T12:02:00.000-07:00

This is what happens when Grandmas don't see their granddaughters for months (or a year) at a time. She finds cute, frilly, poofy, pink things and gives them to the kids. They of course love it and don't want to take it off and the Mom gets to figure out a way to clean it!

I remember when my grandma gave my sister and I some beautiful, puffy nightgowns. They were made of really slippery fabric and just had yards and yards of the stuff. They were our favorite things ever. It is hilarious to think back to the challenge it was to use the potty wearing these things! I am sure it drove my mom crazy, but she let us wear them.

I actually love the skirts and I am happy my Mom misses her granddaughters so we can enjoy the pink fluffiness! Of course it would be even better if we just lived closer to Grandma:)

First Day!

2010-09-10T11:43:00.000-07:00

Another year, *sigh*....

After a very fun summer I am sad to say the kids are off to school again. This was a tough one for me. Summer is never long enough. It is pure chaos all summer long, but I love having them all home!

As soon as I sent this beautiful girl off to her first day of....Middle School (yikes!) I called Kris and told him he better start working out again so he can fight off or at least intimidate any boy who tries to get within 10 feet of her. Be still my heart...

I can't possibly be this old.

Then there are these two silly kids. They were very excited to get to school. Samantha lucked out and has a bunch of her best friends in her class this year. Hopefully the drama will be kept to a minimum as all the girls get used to sharing each other. Luckily for Joshua he got a teacher that Samantha had a couple of years ago. She managed to leave a perfect impression with this teacher so I hope he doesn't wreck it by the end of the first week:) He just has so much energy!

4th grade cutie-patootie!

1st grade super boy!

Seriously, I hope his teacher survives the first week...

In less than 8 hours...

2010-07-31T09:17:00.000-07:00

In less than 8 hours we went from watching Gabriella run all over the Strong Museum, to getting a cast put on her leg. To say it was an eventful day would be a huge understatement. One minute she is playing with her big sister (on the trampoline--but don't tell anyone) and the next we are trying to get Daddy out of the operating room so he can fix up Gabriella. Poor girl was really scared. It is not a bad break so we are lucky. He did not have to reduce it or anything. It has been a really busy week for all of us, but especially Kris. He has had a lot of late nights and the kids went to bed several nights in a row without seeing Daddy. I guess I need to take them more seriously when they say things like "If I break a bone can I go see Daddy at the hospital?" Joshua has said this on more than one occasion. Once Joshua even told me that it would be ok if he broke his head because Daddy knows how to fix it.

There has got to be a better way to have quality time with Daddy.

This is going to make traveling across the country next week with 5 kids by myself so much more exciting. I was worried I was going to be bored.

In other news, Olivia is 6 months old. Not a great picture, but here it is. Don't you love the toy she is slobbering all over?? There is such a difference between baby #1 and #5. My standards have gone downhill very quickly:)

Too fast...

2010-07-14T20:16:00.000-07:00

Olivia Grace 5 months old!
(ok so she is actually 5 1/2 months old in
these pictures, it was the best I could do)

Why do these cute little ones have to grow at all? Olivia finally got to graduate from her cradle to the crib. She was getting pretty wiggly in her cradle. It is a good sign they are ready to move out of the cradle when they can rock it themselves. She is such a good girl!

Here are a couple of pictures of her when she was still cradle size...

Sigh...where does the time go?

Can't get enough?

2010-07-11T10:44:00.001-07:00

Kris' family wanted to see a few more pictures of our redneck party...not sure why. I kept telling Kris he looked gross. Enjoy!

We gone Redneck!

2010-07-08T12:46:00.000-07:00

At least for the afternoon. We attended a fellow orthopedic residents "redneck birthday party" and were asked to come dressed to impress. Kris had waaaaay too much fun getting ready for the party. I had no idea he had such an inner redneck fighting to come out. It was a fun party, but we did have a hard time getting Bree off the 4 wheeler!

May Happy Times

2010-06-03T12:16:00.001-07:00

Some sibling love...Joshua was trying to be so patient with Gabriella as they played XBox. She is completely clueless and just pushes buttons and then yells at Joshua for her guy to go the right way. He was such a good big brother to let her play for a long time.
As they were trying to play Xbox, the older girls were enjoying a movie on Daddy's phone.
And here is Joshua with his brother from another mother:) Joshua decided to forgo a real birthday party and enjoy a special outing to the Monster Truck show. However, he did require that he had a birthday cake, more presents, and goodie bags. So that is what he got. He had a great time at the show and I appreciate Jon and Bryan taking him since Kris was on call at the hospital.

I went to pick him up from Michael's house after the truck show and it was really late. He fell asleep in the car and had to be forced into pajamas. In the middle of the getting ready for bed process he informed me that he was bored. I guess brushing teeth would seem really boring after the truck show, but it still had to be done. The poor kid was asleep before I could even leave the room. When he woke up the next morning he was already telling me all the things he wanted to do for his birthday next year. I wonder when he will get too old to care so much about his birthday? I hope it is not for a very long time, he is too cute about his birthday.
Four months old! Little Olivia is full of smiles these days. She loves people to talk to her and she is quite the little talker herself! She has learned to brace herself when she hears Gabriella's voice coming at her. Livi is such a good sport about all the steamrollers she gets! Still such a sweet baby.

It's Joshua's Birthday!!!

2010-05-06T00:38:00.000-07:00

This boy is the best! He is such an adventure. His sisters adore him...

He is learning SOOO much at school. He loves to read to us each night. He even reads to his baby sister, and makes sure to show her the pictures.
He loves his Daddy and wants to be just like him. I hope he turns out just like his Daddy! These guys gotta stick together.

His first birthday was such fun. Our little monkey loved his cake. I have never seen a kid eat so fast. He had not tasted chocolate or real sugar before so he was in HEAVEN!!!! It was all down hill from there...
This kid loved "aminals" so much. We had his 2nd birthday at a farm in Virginia. He would climb up the fences and lean over and just stare at the "aminals". However, not just any animal was an animal. ONLY farm animals were ok by his standards. We spent a lot of time at the farm during his first couple years.

Love this boy! Love, love, love him! Happy birthday little man, and please grow a little slower!

3 months!

2010-05-03T12:24:00.000-07:00

This baby is pure joy, we are so lucky to have her in our family. A few days ago Joshua was asking about her birthmark by her eye, he doesn't like it much. I told him it was an angel kiss and that an angel kissed her before she came to earth. I told him maybe that angel was him and that he gave it to her before he was born so she wouldn't forget him. I am sure that is not how it works, but he is very proud of that little birthmark now!

I got a crack in my head!

2010-04-19T12:22:00.001-07:00

Joshua was at school on Thursday when he decided he really had to go to the bathroom. He ran full speed to the bathroom and tripped right before the door and fell head first into the metal door frame--ouch! He started bleeding a lot and while some of the other kids were freaking out, Joshua was unfazed. I picked him up from school and took him to Kris, who found a plastic surgeon, who fixed him right up. They were home within an hour. It sure helps to know people. It is moments like these that make the last 8 years of medical training and thousands of dollars in tuition seem worthwhile:) Joshua was amazingly brave during the whole process. When the Dr. did one of the stitches Josh said "whoa, what was that"? Kris thought "uh, that would be a needle going through your forehead." Kris spared him the details. He is pretty proud of his battle scar.

Did I mention it was the second time since we have lived here that Josh has made a visit to this same plastic surgeon for facial wounds?

Happy Birthday to Gabriella Jordan!!!!

2010-04-15T07:00:00.000-07:00

I honestly could not imagine both Gabriella and I would survive her second year! She has been a very challenging, very fun, and very energetic two year old. Did I mention she was challenging???

We lost all the pictures of Gabriella during her first year of life, so unfortunately one of the only pictures we have of her as a newborn is with me too. She is just 3 weeks old in this picture and she had just attended Daddy's graduation from medical school. She still had us tricked at this point and seemed like a very calm baby:)

Her first birthday was so much fun. We like to celebrate our little ones first year of life with a fun family birthday party. She was a sweet "little lady" and enjoyed her birthday cake (and first taste of sugar) very much! Maybe that is what we did wrong, let her eat sugar....
Two years old! The face pretty much says it all. This little spitfire has been a joy for our whole family. No one is going to walk all over this baby girl! We just have to hope her energy is focused in a positive direction and nothing will be able to stop her!

She calls herself Briella Puff, not sure why but she will get very upset if you tell her that is not her name.

So, Miss Briella Puff, we love you and wouldn't change a thing about you!

Happy 3rd birthday little sweetie!
Hopefully this year will be a little smoother for both of us:)

Silly, silly girlie

2010-03-27T11:33:00.000-07:00

Gabriella loves her "packpack" usually she needs to have more then one, but so far 3 on at one time is her limit. She loves her hat and mittens (which usually don't match each other) too! This girl is so funny to watch getting herself all put together to go out. In her "packpack" there is most likely her favorite blankies, books, Dora and boots dolls and of course some sunglasses. I am actually very surprised she is not wearing sunglasses, that was clearly an oversight on her part!

2 Months Little:)

2010-03-27T11:24:00.000-07:00

Little Olivia is the sweetest baby ever! She weighed 12.6 and measured 23.5 inches at her 2 month check up. So, at least you know we are not letting her go hungry. She is still the kids favorite new toy:) And yes, I will kiss her cheeks for you!

Wrestle Mania

2010-03-07T15:33:00.000-08:00

Kris insisted on signing Joshua up for wrestling this season. Joshua was very excited about it at first, but after the first practice he realized it was really hard work. He likes the wrestling part, but doesn't like to learn the moves. Kris had to bribe him pretty well to get him to go to practice. He participated in a couple of tournaments and did okay. He didnt win much, but he also didn't cry much which is what most of the 5 year olds did if they weren't winning. In fact we watched two other boys wrestle each other and they were BOTH crying almost the entire time. All the Moms felt sorry for them and all the Dads were laughing. Joshua did win one match and he was super excited that he got a medal for 5th place. He has a season record of 1-6. At least next season there is plenty of room for improvement. Kris was so proud of his mini-me. I am glad that Joshua didn't feel too bad about his matches. He still thinks he is batman made of steel. I think WWF has a new character in the works...

Kris' mom could never watch Kris wrestle because it made her too anxious and scared for him. I never understood why she didn't want to watch him, but after watching my sweet boy wrestling I completely understand.

Staycation!

2010-03-07T15:15:00.000-08:00

Kris and the kids had a week of vacation a couple of weeks ago. We just stayed here and tried to have a bit of fun. I did my best to keep Kris' "to do" list small. One afternoon the kids and I were all sitting in the house and I started to wonder "where is Daddy?". We finally looked out the window and found him building his own snow fort. He claims he was doing it by himself so he could get a good start on it before the kids tried to help, but I think he just wanted to play by himself:)

The kids did finally go out to help and as it turns out Kris was smart to get a good start on his own. It was hard work and the kids got cold before it was done. Gabriella went out for a long time and came in for a warm bath. She wanted to go out again but didn't want to get all bundled up. She won but it looked like child abuse to let her go out in her pajamas, rain boots and Kris' gloves.

Joshua pretty much just chilled the whole time, not a fan of hard work in the snow.

Luckily some neighbors came over and helped finish up Kris' snow fort. I think he is working way too hard at the hospital and maybe even beginning to lose his mind a bit. I hope he had a relaxing stay-cation and was able to reclaim some of his sanity. We loved having him home and can't wait until his next vacation. Maybe we will even be able to go somewhere warm. Kris could release his stress building a sandcastle, now that would be so much better!

It has all been a blur...

2010-02-21T14:30:00.001-08:00

It has been a wonderful, precious, tiring month. I feel like we go from moments of pure bliss to complete survival mode. We have all adjusted to having Olivia in our family. After a rough first couple of days even Gabriella has gotten used to the idea that she is no longer the baby. Livvy has been a very sleepy baby and probably our easiest newborn. I am very grateful for that. We all love to cuddle with her and look forward to seeing her first smiles. It was scary to have aunt Christy leave after the first week, but luckily Grandma came soon to help us. I keep hoping someone else will come...anyone??? Can't wait to see what the next month has in store for us!Olivia Grace 1 month old and ready to party!

Is there anything sweeter than a sleeping baby-- I think not:)

It is really hard for Bree to hold still--ever, but the baby does have a calming effect on her--at least for a few seconds:)
If Joshua had his way he would sleep with the baby in his bed all night. He was disappointed when he found out he was getting another sister instead of a brother, but he has been so sweet to Olivia. She is so lucky to have a protective big brother who adores her.

She is here!

2010-01-26T14:38:00.000-08:00

Olivia Grace West
January 21st, 2010
12:08pm
9 lbs. 4 oz.

We are so in love with her...

After a slow start to the labor, Olivia arrived very quickly causing the entire delivery room to jump into action. She is perfect! She has the softest most kissable cheeks you can imagine. She has hardly been put down since she arrived. Her siblings could not be happier to have her here, well maybe Gabriella--but she is getting used to her. We are just not sure what we will do when Aunt Christy leaves. Is is bad to pray for a huge snowstorm so she gets snowed in with us?

We feel very blessed.

Samantha's Birthday

2010-01-25T15:06:00.000-08:00

January seems to be a good month for us to have children! We were able to celebrate Samantha's birthday this month too! Samantha is such a precious little girl! I could have 2 dozen kids if they were all as sweet as her. No offense to my other kids, but anyone that knows Samantha knows that she is very easy:) She is a great student and friend at school. She is becoming a great reader this year and has always been really great with numbers. She started gymnastics this year and is doing great. You should see this girl climb the rope and flip herself around on the bar--she is SO strong. She could beat anyone in a push up contest. She is a wonderful sister, Gabriella especially looks to Samantha to play with her. I just feel so lucky to have Samantha in our family.
She is only 3 1/2 in this picture--with her favorite thing---Duckies!
3 1/2 with her doll "baby named 2"--yes that was really what she called her:)
3 with her big sister
4 1/2 playing with Joshua

273 DAYS

2010-01-20T15:56:00.000-08:00

Why is it that I have been pregnant for 273 days and it has seemed to go pretty fast. But, these last 7 days until the baby's due date seem to last 3 times that long. I am just entering the "I am going to be pregnant FOREVER!" stage. I try to remind myself that I have felt this way with every pregnancy and-- in fact-- I have not been pregnant forever. My first baby is 11 so I know it is not true. If only the floor was not so far away. When I drop something it makes me want to cry. And if only getting shoes on was not such a test of my acrobatics, I might not be in such a hurry. But, I am anxious to meet this little girl.

Please remind me of this post a couple of weeks from now when I am so sleep deprived and I can't even remember where my shoes are.

You would think after 4 babies I would remember that they are so much easier to take care of when they are in rather than out:)

7 more days...

Mariah is 11!!!

2010-01-08T15:32:00.001-08:00

Our little buggy is 11! I can't believe how fast she is growing up. I could not ask for a sweeter girl and I am so glad she belongs to our family. She is an amazing big sister and is very talented in pretty much anything she tries to do. Mariah is a great student and a terrific friend. Mariah finds happiness out of everything is life. She still thinks that the best way to get from one place to another is to do a cartwheel. I thought she would be tired of this travel method by now, but it is not to be. Hopefully she will be doing cartwheels for many more years to come! We love you Mariah and hope 11 is the best year yet!!!!

Mariah at 10 1/2
Mariah at 10 1/2
Mariah at 10
Mariah at 5--she was such a good big sister to baby Joshua!

Christmas!!!!! 2009

2009-12-28T06:32:00.001-08:00

I love Christmas!!! I really do. I love the shopping, the wrapping, the crowds, the food, the parties--I love it all! Being 8 1/2 months pregnant slowed me down a bit this year, but I still loved every minute preparing for Christmas morning!
On Christmas Eve we had a nice dinner with some friends and then came home to do our traditional things. We started with letting the kids exchange gifts they have picked out for each other and for Kris and I. Their school has a Christmas store that lets the kids bring in money and pick out gifts for people on their list. The kids love picking things out for everyone. It is so sweet to picture them choosing carefully the item they think another would like. After they exchange their gifts we let the kids pick out which person in the Christmas story they would like to be. Then they gather parts to their costume. This year Samantha was Mary, Mariah was the angel, Joshua was a Shepperd, Gabriella was the wise woman, Kris was Joseph and I was the star. We read the Bible and let the kids act out the story, it is so sweet.

After the story we let the kids open their pajamas from Mom and Dad. They race to get changed and ready for bed and can't get into bed fast enough! They were in bed and all asleep by about 8:30. This year we told them they needed to try to stay in bed until 5:00 am. At 5:05 they were in our room waking us up:)

The kids waited patiently for Kris and I to get up and then we went to the living room. We tried to have them take turns, but didn't want to stop their excitement. Gabriella hugged everyone of her gifts. After the kids had opened all their gifts we told them to sit in front of the tree with their eyes closed. Kris and I then went downstairs and got their gift from us. Two baby bunnies! When the kids saw them they could not believe it. I do not care for pets and it was very hard for me to get them, but the kids have asked for so long and the bunnies were so cute it was just too hard for me to resist. I have since discovered I am allergic and so I have to keep my distance, but the kids are being very good about caring for them. I keep warning them that if they do not take care of them I will find them a nice home in the trees behind our house:)

While I was taking a nap Gabriella found some chocolate coins and discovered that if she squeezed them in her hands enough they became very melted. Apparently she thought the melted chocolate would make a good moisturizer. Gross. So where was Kris during all this? He was sitting 2 feet away from her playing Xbox with Joshua. I am sure I don't need to say anymore about that:)
I guess we finally wore Gabriella out and she crashed in the middle of all the chaos! What a fun day! Did I mention how much I love Christmas!!!

All ready for Church!

2009-12-22T06:38:00.000-08:00

It rarely happens that all the kids are ready for church at the same time and that we are not super rushed to get there on time, so when it happens I have to take advantage of it with a picture. It is hard to get a good one so we had to try lots of times:)

Gingerbread Houses

2009-12-22T06:27:00.001-08:00

This is one of my most favorite Christmas traditions! We used to make gingerbread houses when we were little and I love watching my children get excited about it too. Joshua especially loves all things Christmas--or any holiday for that matter--and was counting down the hours until our friends could join us for the decorating. They were all very careful and patient with their houses. I just love Christmas time! Seriously, it just doesn't get any better than this:)
The kiddos--look at all that candy--I am pretty sure most of it was consumed before it made it to the houses.
Gabriella was very careful to place her candy just right. She had very specific ideas and I was amazed at how much she enjoyed it. I laugh when I think of last year when she would just point and grunt from her high chair as to which candy she wanted to eat next. What a difference a year makes.

Little Jane and her creation, so sweet!

Serving Others

2009-12-22T06:20:00.000-08:00

A couple of my friends and I really wanted to find something that our kids could do for someone else during this Christmas season. We know that they are very grateful children but we still wanted them to focus on giving something to someone else. They made up stockings full of goodies and gifts to give to a local retirement center so they seniors could enjoy a little Christmas gift. They worked quickly to fill the stockings and wished they could have done more. They delivered the stockings to our local YMCA who then took them to the Senior Center. I think the kids really had fun making something for someone else and perhaps for a few minutes forgot about their own Christmas wishes!

The Polar Express

2009-12-22T06:14:00.001-08:00

We went on a Christmas pajama train ride this past weekend. The kids loved climbing aboard the train. They loved that they could sit facing each other. It was cold when we first got on, but warmed up perfectly! We enjoyed hot chocolate during our ride and the kids all got to visit with Santa and Mrs. Claus who gave them all some treats and surprises. Our friends the Haymore's came with us and Heidi B. joined us as well.

A night at the North Pole

2009-12-17T15:52:00.000-08:00

We went to a local hotel for a night of Christmas fun. A few other families came with us so it was a great party time! It was all set up for the kids to enjoy a bunch of Christmas activities. They enjoyed making crafts, visiting Santa, shopping at Santa's workshop, pizza, donuts, grabbing prizes in the blizzard booth (Gabriella was especially good at this) and of course swimming in the pool and enjoying some down time in the hotel room. It was a lot of fun. We love getting away and we hardly had to hear anyone say,"are we there yet?" because it was only 10 minutes from our house!

I guess Gabriella wanted a really good seat to view the strange cartoons they had at the hotel!
Joshua worked so hard on his craft projects, I have hardly ever seen him so focused.
Gabriella liked to empty as many bottles of glitter glue as she could. Her poor sisters were very patient while helping her make a pretty tree.

Halloween

2009-11-12T19:05:00.001-08:00

Halloween is always such a fun day! It started off with a parade at the kids school. This is Mariah's last year to walk in the parade and that made me a little sad. Where do the years go? I was also able to peek in on all the kids Halloween parties in their classes. Wow, there was a lot of sugar consumed! I got to Mariah's class in time to watch them all have a donut eating race. Mariah actually won! It was really funny to watch the boys reaction to her winning. One girl said, "but you are so girlie, how can you eat that fast?" It was a proud moment to be her mother, I think? At least I was glad I was able to watch it.

Sweetest witch in the world!
Go Vikings! If I had to hear Mariah say one more time "I can't believe you used to fit this uniform" I was gonna give her away! I try to make myself feel better by thinking that it is because I am 7 months pregnant that she can't believe it--but whatever!
Joshua has wanted to be Robin since May. I am so glad we found him a costume that he had in mind, he is very particular. No matter how tough he thinks he is, I think he is ADORABLE!!!
Mariah and her prize winning donut eating!
I am sure anyone who knows Gabriella thinks that a devil costume would have been more fitting for her, but we are trying to bring out positive qualities in her. One lady suggested I just add a devil tail to her angel costume, that would have been funny--but I didn't so we will just pretend she is all angel!

Pumpkin Carving

2009-11-12T18:54:00.000-08:00

Always a good time. Smelly pumpkin guts and messy kids, it doesn't get much better than that. Joshua has been counting down the days since last Halloween to carve pumpkins again. We weren't sure it was going to happen because he was having a rough week. He got his carving privilages taken away because he was struggling with his behavior. He would not listen to a word we said. It was like he wasn't even in the room as we gave him directions and tried to tell him things. It got really bad and so after a few days we had to start to take privilages away to try to get him to focus and listen to us.

To make a long story short it turned out the poor kids had 2 VERY bad ear infections and in reality could NOT hear us talk to him. I asked him if it sounded weird when we talked to him, like if he was under water or something. He said "No, it sounds like this" and then proceeded to move his mouth without making any sound come out at all. To say that we felt like the worst parents in the world is a huge understatement! Although I am sad that his ears were hurting, I am so glad that there was a fixable reason to his behavior. When I explained the whole situation to his teacher she nodded her head and said, "Oh, that explains a lot". Apparently we were not the only ones being ignored!

Too many leaves!

2009-11-12T18:39:00.000-08:00

I know I post fall leaf pictures every year, but what can I say in Upstate NY we have a lot of snow and leaves so we have to work with what we have.

I am not going to mention any names, but someone is not pulling their weight around here. Well, ok so it is Kris:) He has been really busy with work and studying for a big test this weekend so he is forgiven. Anyway, the leaves needed to be moved off the grass and with him tied up that left me to do it. Gabriella insisted on being outside with me while I took care of the leaves and she also insisted I hold her while I blew the leaves. Maybe Kris could take some cues from me on how to multi task! I am kidding of course, but next year I want to see him do the leaves while holding a 2 1/2 year old AND be 30 weeks pregnant.

Actually not the last part, that would just be weird.

Just the Girls

2009-11-12T18:23:00.000-08:00

I have so many pictures I want to post, but I just haven't found the time. Here are a few pictures of just the girls in our family.

Kris took the girls with him to "work" one Saturday when he was working as a physician at a bike race. Hopefully no one got hurt because from the look of the pictures they were no where near the bike racers. He keeps telling his job is really hard, but I had a few questions after this day. The girls had a great time with Daddy!

This silly face is Gabriella's newest trick so we get to see it a lot in pictures. I wonder who she learned it from...

Here I am at about 24 weeks working on another girl for our family. This pregnancy has gone so smoothly and quickly. I feel great and hope to continue to do so. We are all excited about her arrival. Joshua loves to have me lay down and feel the baby move around. The first time he felt her it really surprised him. Now he can't get enough. He says she is having a dance party in there by herself. Although he is sad he is not getting a brother , I know he already adores his new sister.

It is time to let her go...

2009-09-20T17:58:00.001-07:00

We knew this day would come, but we had hoped it would not come for a few more years. I guess the terrible winters and salty roads were just too much for her. When Kris took our 1989 Toyota Camry in to the mechanic to get inspected we were told there was just too much needed to be done to save her. So, it is with heavy hearts we put the old champ to rest. It was actually getting to have quite a few funny quirks about it. The a/c stopped working. The heater turns on, but never really warmed up the car until he got to work 20 minutes later. The interior light doesn't turn on for about 5 minutes after you switch it on. If a rock bounced up and hit the bottom of the car, it would hurt your foot. A year ago the passenger side front door stopped opening. So, if you wanted to give anyone a ride they had to sit in the back or climb in through the window. The kids thought it was great, but one of Kris attendings who attempted it did not find it so humorous. (He got a little high centered) Then about a month ago 3 of the 4 doors stopped opening too. Including the driver's door. Poor Kris had to climb in and out the window every time he got in the car. He was lucky it has not been too rainy here so he was able to leave the window down, otherwise he had to try to squeeze in the back and up to the front. It was usually not much more than a hassle, but some times was very embarrassing. Like the day he parked next to the guy with a Porsche. Of course the guy came to his car the same time as Kris. Kris tried to kill some time waiting to climb in the window until the guy was gone, but he was taking too long. When Kris stared climbing in the guy made some funny comments and said, "That is is cool, it is like Duke's of Hazard". Yeah, it was funny the first time someone said that comment not so funny after the 112th time.

We do need to give another huge THANK YOU to the Koch family for providing us with this car before they left for their residency. We do not know how we could have been able to afford to pay for a car all these years. It was a champ, hardly needing any work until recently--it was a huge blessing to our family. You guys are the best!

Kris and the Champ! Oh I also forgot to mention that the gas tank was impossible to open. In the 4 years we had the car I was never once able to open it to get gas for Kris. You had to pry it open with something. I tried but after chipping away lots of pieces of rusted car I usually gave up.

Kris was not always very graceful at climbing in the window. He had to go through some trial and error to figure out the best entry system.

Here he goes, he got very smooth at the whole process. One day he had to stop at the kids school to do something and when he got out of the car he noticed a teacher watching him and laughing. He joked with her and continued inside. When he came back out she had a few other teachers with her and she started laughing and told them all to watch him get in his car. There is nothing like 4 teachers pointing and laughing at you.

In he goes!

Watch out Bo and Luke Duke, here comes Dr. West!!!

There are certain things pregnant women should not have to do--ever!

2009-09-09T17:56:00.001-07:00

These things include scrubbing bathtubs and carrying huge baskets of laundry down stairs, but the top of list happened yesterday. I not only had to let Joshua go to Kindergarten which is a very sad event in itself, I realized my first baby was starting her last year of Elementary school. I knew I was going to have a tough morning letting Joshua go, that was expected. I was just surprised at how emotional I was going to be over Mariah becoming a 5th grader. Where did the years go? I can't believe how each passing school year still gets to me. I would never want the responsibility of home schooling my children, but I do love having them all home. It is chaotic, noisy and messy to have them all home--but I love it! Time really is a tricky thing. I always pictured myself surrounded by little kids, I just never saw myself having a 10 year old or teenagers for that matter. I love that Kenny Chesney song "Don't Blink". I need to remind myself everyday to cherish the day to day moments because they go all too fast. I hope the kids have a great year and enjoy every moment. I also hope I can stop stressing about the piles of laundry, dirty dishes, and meals to prepare long enough to enjoy it with them!
Super Joshua off to tackle Kindergarten--hopefully not his teacher.
That is NOT my baby girl, heaven help me! I think I had that same bracelet in Jr. High--love that neons are back in style!
She is so sweet, I am jealous of the teacher that gets her in her class all day!
The faces only a mother could love:)

Where did all the kids go??? That is the question I have received from Gabriella about 29 times yesterday! She was so sad to have all the kids go to school. She even put on a back pack of her own as the kids were gathering up all their stuff. She wanted to go with them. When Josh ran into his classroom she started screaming "My bro-der!" (that's my brother for those that don't speak 2 year old) She screamed this all the way down the hall until Sam walked into her classroom and she yelled "my Dammie" until Mariah walked in to her classroom. She was very mad at this point and I had to get out of the school before she really lost it. She has been very lonely and jumps up from whatever she is doing if she thinks she hears the bus coming. I am glad she loves them so much!

It is official!

2009-09-07T18:05:00.000-07:00

Summer is over. I am so sad. It was not long enough and not hot enough. I didn't get to do all the things with the kids I had wanted to do. The days went too quickly. We did squeeze every last drop out of it that we could and we have lots of great memories. I didn't take any pictures when we were in Utah, but we had a great time there and miss our family too much!

With the end of summer comes the New York state fair. This year Kris was just too busy to go so we went with Veronica and her kids and Darise and her kids. We were very out numbered, 11 kids in all! The kids had fun seeing the animals and watching a wild animal show. Joshua still talks about the snake that tried to get him. Samantha got sick so we left the rest of the group a little early, but not before consuming some greasy, sugary fair food on our way out!

It was a good way to end the summer. Although, I hate to let it end.

How many kids can milk one cow??? Well, at least 6...
This has to be the cleanest cow I have ever seen, the little girls did not want to stop touching it!

More Farmers Museum

2009-09-07T17:58:00.001-07:00

Fun animals, there were lots of baby animals and they were all very friendly!

These pictures are of Gabriella and Jane as they are trying to find their way out of the garden maze. They were so funny trying to make all the turns and trying to figure it out. They tried to cheat and come towards me through the bushes!

Sorry this post should be after the next one.

Farmers Museum in Cooperstown

2009-09-07T17:49:00.000-07:00

Veronica and I made the long drive to Cooperstown, NY to visit the Farmer's Museum. It was worth the long drive, this place is really great. They had such a variety of things to see, the kids could have stayed for hours longer.
Gabriella thought the cellar door made a great slide
Not sure why Bree is so serious, but Jane is looking very sweet and innocent
All the kids in old time dress-ups!
Some fun old games for the kids to try.
This carousel was beautiful! It had so many detailed carvings and paintings of the history of New York. It was amazing to look at. The boys enjoyed the vomit comet to whatever gross thing they called it!

Love the fresh food of summer

2009-09-07T17:46:00.000-07:00

Watermelon and fresh picked raspberries, it doesn't get much better than that!

Gabriella overload!

2009-09-07T17:40:00.000-07:00

Sorry, she was just really cute today!

Okay, so the boys are pretty cute too. It is amazing to me how little space ever gets between these two!

Soccer is better outside

2009-09-07T17:33:00.000-07:00

Joshua tried soccer indoor this winter and it was painful! He was upset every week because he did not have a blue uniform. I know, scary how important that was to him...

But he really wanted to try outdoor soccer. Luckily, he loved it and actually started trying to get the ball! That was a big improvement over the winter session. He had a great time with his friends, I am glad they all got to be on the blue team!

Can't beat a great day at the park!

2009-09-07T17:23:00.001-07:00

I had to post all these pictures of the kids on the tire swing because it their favorite thing to do at the park. They will wait patiently in line for a long time to get their turn, but once they get on it is hard for them to give it up!

You have to look close at our little friend Michael in these pictures. I was actually trying to get a cute picture of Gabriella on the tire swing and I did not realize until later that he was absolutely straining himself to give me a great smile in the picture. These are only a few of the many that I took. He about twisted his neck off, he must have been so dizzy trying to focus on the camera. He is such a cutie! I love his happy face.

Our little monkey's! Samantha and Isabel are happiest when they are climbing something. The park rangers were not too impressed with their skills.
Mariah got a work out pushing all the kids! She is a wonderful big sister!
Onondaga Lake Park--gotta love it!

Day at the Zoo

2009-09-07T17:18:00.000-07:00

We went to the Zoo in August. It was a beautiful day, a little hot, but not too bad. A few friends joined us, which is always more fun. We made up a list of questions the kids had to answer as they walked around, some were bored with it quickly, others did not want to leave until every last question was answered. We had really hoped the trip would make Veronica have her baby, but no luck there!

Girls, girls, girls!

2009-09-04T12:02:00.000-07:00

We just can't seem to get enough of them around here! We are happy to announce that we will be having a baby girl. The sonogram tech was 90% sure she was right, so I am gonna hold her to it! Joshua was a little disappointed, he said he already has lots of sisters and really needed a brother. I am sure he will dote on the new little sister the same way he does Gabriella. We feel very blessed that she is healthy so far! Due date it still January 27h, 2010.

A day at Green Lakes

2009-08-01T13:17:00.000-07:00

It has been so chilly the past few weeks that we have not had many chances to go to any of the beautiful lakes there are in this area. We finally made it to the lake this week. We had never been to Green Lakes before so we gave it a try. It was gorgeous although you might not see that from these next pictures. I know I have 4 kids and I tried to get pictures of all of them, but they were too far in the water playing for me to get any good ones of them.
Gabriella and Jane found this little puddle right before the waters edge. It was very warm since it had been sitting stagnant in the sun for who knows how long, so they preferred to play here. What started out a sweet mud playing, quickly became really gross.
I am pretty sure Bree is drinking the nasty stagnant water...
Yep, she sure did get a mouthful of something. I don't think Jane actually ate the sand or water but she is grossed out for Gabriella. They were really muddy and dirty after their puddle fun.

Randomness

2009-08-01T12:59:00.000-07:00

We love summer so that we have lots and lots of time to play with our friends! I don't know what Michael and Joshua are going to do in September when they have to go to different schools. I am sure they do not realize that they will not be together. It is sad. They love each other like brothers!

It is amazing what gel, humidity and a little genetic intervention can do! I had been wondering if I could get Samantha's hair to produce a bit more curl and ta-da! It does! We don't do this to her hair everyday, but it is nice to know my curly hair landed with at least one of my kids--she will probably hate it when she gets older:)
Joshua has been begging Kris if they could sleep out on the trampoline. But, since the bugs and mosquitoes are plentiful in our backyard they decided to put the tent on the trampoline to avoid nasty bites. It was a great idea until Kris realized that since he was the heaviest all the kids gravitate towards him in the night. He spent the night pushing them out of his way so he wouldn't get too claustrophobic. They took the lap top out and watched movies and had a great time. The kids could have done this all summer, but we limited it to 2 nights. Kris couldn't handle any more little kid knees in his back!

Where did July go???

2009-08-01T12:47:00.001-07:00

First I guess I will start with our last day of school water parties! School lasts a long time around here and so it was nearly July before school was out. We love the summer and we are so excited to be able to enjoy the sunshine (when we get it)!Joshua is so used to it being winter he got confused and pulled out the snow sledding disks to try to slide on the slip and slide.
Joshua and Michael mostly like to see how much water they can get out of the pool instead of swimming in it.
Nothing says summer like kids in swim suits and watermelon!

Swim party at Mindy's house! This was great and I can't believe I didn't take more pictures, but thanks for letting us play at your house Mindy!

28 hours in NYC

2009-07-01T19:22:00.000-07:00

Kris and I spent a total of 28 hours in NYC this weekend. It was quick, but so much fun. When we lived in Virginia we had some super good friends that we LOVED!!! The Jacksons are awesome and we have missed them so much. Anyway, they live in the Philippines now but they were in NYC for a work conference and asked if we wanted to hang out with them for a day or two. I thought about it for about .2 seconds and said,"Heck Yes, we will be there!" So thanks to Veronica (who is also way too awesome) we left all the kids and headed to the Big Apple. It took us a long time to get there (traffic and sleepy co-pilot), but we managed to make the most of it. Bret and Rebekah did not get in until 11:00pm, but we still stayed up until 2:00am talking. We all stayed in one room with one, yes one, bed. It was pretty funny, and I still feel bad that Bret ended up on the floor, but we will just have to make it up to them someday. During our quick trip we squeezed the musical Wicked--loved it, sight seeing, lots of walking, good food, people watching, and a bit of street shopping. Kris rode the subway for the first time and saw the Statue of Liberty for the first time. We left NYC at 11:50 pm and arrived home at 4:30 am. I dropped Kris off to work on the way home. The poor guy only slept for about 12 hours in a 4 day period. We are willing to sacrifice quite a lot for a weekend of fun! We did not carry our camera around with us, so hopefully the Jacksons will pass along the pictures they took--hint, hint. The picture at the top is when we were waiting for the Staten Island ferry.

We loved seeing you Bret and Rebekah, wanna do it again next weekend???

Graduation of the sweetest kid!

2009-06-23T11:33:00.001-07:00

Joshua had his Preschool graduation today. I was teared up through most of it. Moslty it was because of sweet Joshua completing yet another step in his short life and a little bit because they set up a table of cookies right next to us and I had to wrestle Gabriella away from them the entire program. He sang us some cute songs. His favorite is the book and glasses song. He giggles every time he sings it. They each earned a diploma certificate and then we were finally able to let Gabriella have a cookie! She ate about 12, but I did not care at that point.
I love that Joshua will be able to join his big sisters on the bus next year, but I will be so sad to lose my little buddy. I don't know how Bree and I will get along without him next year. He walked around and said good bye to all his friends. He was surprised when I told him some of them might be in his class next year. He thought he would never see them again. That made him very happy!

Sorry most the pictures are blurry, but remember I was taking pictures and wrestling a cookie seeking little monkey:)

End of the School Year Celebrations!

2009-06-23T11:16:00.000-07:00

I have spent a lot of time over at the kids school the past few days. It has been so much fun to stop in for all the different celebrations and parties they have been having. I love seeing the kids with their friends. I love the school my kids attend. They will miss their friends over the summer, but we are all ready for some relaxing summer fun!

Mariah's class had a Hawaiian Luau. It has quite the festive event. They were confined to the indoors because of all the rain, but they had a great time anyway. We stopped by in time to enjoy lunch with them, what a spread!

We also timed it just right to visit Samantha and her friends during their lunch time. She is so sweet and hardly said a word us, I am sure we embarrassed her. We stayed long enough for Gabriella to spill and then left them to eat in peace.

Flag Day at Brewerton Elementary

2009-06-23T11:11:00.001-07:00

The kids school has a great tradition of celebrating flag day. Each grade prepares a song or poem to share with the rest of the school. It is so much fun to see all the kids in red, white and blue as they participate in the fun day. I was so glad to have all 3 older kids at the same program. That doesn't happen very often!

Gabriella thinks she is one of the big kids and usually insists on wearing one of their backpacks to school each day.

Father and Son's campout

2009-06-23T11:05:00.001-07:00

This was the first year that Kris was able to take Joshua on the camp out. We thought the ran might stop them, but they were lucky and had a great day. For the most part I think it is best if Mom's don't get to hear or see what goes on at the camp. I don't know all the details but I know that Joshua did not eat anything except sugar for the entire 18 hours they were gone. He also played in the fire and burned lots of stuff. I do have proof that he did sleep as seen in the picture below, but I know it was after midnight that he went to bed. I am glad they had a fun time and I was so glad that Kris was able to gt away from the hospital long enough to take him. He can hardly wait until next year!

The Sacred Grove

2009-06-23T10:57:00.001-07:00

I love this place. There is so much quiet beauty to enjoy just by entering this grove. The kids found all kinds of interesting things as we walked around. We also enjoyed a few lovely portrayals of scripture stories in the little outdoor amphitheater by our cute kids. If only we could have avoided the mosquitoes.

Outside Joseph Smith's family log home
Playing in the little tiny stream
Not sure what these two are up to.

Samantha, Isabel, Joshua and Michael

The Palmyra Temple

2009-06-23T10:48:00.001-07:00

The Palmyra temple is one of the smaller temples. It has been here for a few years and I am very grateful for that. If it was not here we would have to travel to DC or Toronto to the next closest temple. The windows on the temple are beautiful stained glass that look like trees in the sacred grove. Veronica told us a neat thing about the temple. I guess on all the other temples there are not any windows that are clear or that you can see into. But, President Hinckley gave special permission for a set of windows to be placed facing the sacred grove so you can see the grove from the temple. The kids loved being able to walk right up to the temple. The grounds were beautiful and it was very peaceful.

I hope the kids will always be this determined to get into the temple!

An afternoon in Palmyra

2009-06-23T10:37:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago we spent a beautiful Sunday afternoon seeing the church history sights in Palmyra. We have been so lucky to be able to live so close to such amazing things. We try to get there often so the kids won't forget it, but it is not often enough. Our friends, the Haymore's, joined us for the sight seeing. It was a wonderful way to spend an afternoon.
WE never know why Gabriella does some of the things she does. We could not get her to leave this little stump she found in the Sacred Grove.
Gabriella's favorite seat, but only if her dress was on top of Dad's head.
The girls playing on the Hill Cumorah. It is a very steep hill and I am glad we did not have any out of control roll aways. (Unless you count Kris and Jon's attempts at sommersaults, but that is another story)
The littlest girls had to work pretty hard to get to the top, if they would have stood up they would have fallen over backwards!

Mariah enjoying the view. You can see that they are already setting up some of the lighting for the Hill Cumorah Pageant coming up in a few weeks. We are excited for that event as well.

You have got to enter this give away!

2009-06-22T12:37:00.000-07:00

Hey all! My sister in law, the famous Zinney Lou tote designer, has been featured on the following website. Go there and sign up to win one of her darling totes! You get to pick the design if you win. Be sure to click on her website link to see all the tote design she has!

http://ilashgirls.com/surprise-giveaway-fun-tote-fun-headband/

The more the Merrier!!!

2009-06-16T04:53:00.000-07:00

We have always thought that more people just made things more fun. Sometimes it has caused a bit of trouble. For example one year we invited a bunch of people to our house to celebrate Joshua's first birthday. We had planned for just about everything food, cake, etc. But it wasn't until an hour or so before the party that 40+ people were coming to our house and we only had about 8 chairs. Not very comfortable for our guests. It all worked out okay, but you can see what I mean right?

Well, we do still believe there is one situation where we are always happy to add more people. That is to our family. So it is with much excitement that we want you all to know we are expecting BABY #5! The little darling has a beautiful heartbeat and is expected to arrive January 27, 2010. Yes, another January birthday for our family. Mariah and Samantha have both already decided that it would be okay if it were born on one of their birthdays.

Anyone have an extra room we can staple onto our house?

I bet you have never tried this before!

2009-06-10T09:50:00.000-07:00

Gabriella loves to take care of her babies. She loves to read to them, put them to bed, and change their diapers. I don't mind because the process of changing a doll's diaper is a very long, quiet process and entertains her for a long time. So, the other day when she told me she needed a diaper I thought nothing of it. She got the diaper and ran off to take care of what I thought was a baby doll. You can imagine my surprise when she returned holding this snake with a diaper on it. Have you ever diapered a snake before? I am sure it is no easy task! Thank goodness it was a fake snake or I would have been a bit more worried, but not actually that surprised. I would not ever put anything past Gabriella, even diapering a real snake. There is something really wrong about that realization:)

And, I thought that Mariah's "potato baby" was odd that she had when she was about this same age. Kris has always found it amazing the things our little girls turn into "babies"!

Gotta love Bree's expression, a little bit of sweetness and a whole lot of stinker!

First piggie tails!

2009-05-26T05:26:00.000-07:00

Gabriella has been a very slow hair grower. I am sure that is not a word, but it works for me. Today I managed to get all her thin hair into 2 piggies. She thought she was adorable, but they hurt (I had to pull tight) and so they did not last.

While I am speaking of Gabriella I have to share a funny story about her. I think it is funny now, but not so much at the time. It happened a few days before my Mother's day talk so it was a great week for me:)

My aunt called one day and I was having a hard time hearing her on my cell phone so I went into my room to get away from the noisy kids. I could hear Bree in the kitchen and figured as long as I could hear her I would be okay. Well, after a few minutes on the phone I went to find her. She was sitting on the kitchen counter and I could see water--EVERYWHERE!!! She had managed to pull the spray faucet out and turned on the water. After filling up the entire counter she pulled open the top drawer and filled it up with water. Water was pouring off the counter onto the floor, through the drawer into the cabinet below and just about everywhere else I could see. Gabriella was soaking wet and holding a little medicine dropper from the water filled drawer. Apparently she was trying to copy her big sisters who think it is fun to fill the medicine droppers with water and then squirt it into their mouths. Poor girl was just trying to fill up the dropper and the water seemed to get away from her:)

Luckily, I had recently cleaned out the drawer and cabinet so cleaning up was not as big of a mess as it could have been. I am sure there are pools of water under my cabinets that I could not get to, but I can't see them so I don't care.

I think two year olds are natures way of getting back at Mom's who were once troublesome teenagers!

What a Mother's Day!!!

2009-05-19T14:46:00.001-07:00

I wish I had some great pictures to put with this post but I do not, so you get to read about my crazy day instead. I had the privilege of speaking in our ward on Mother's day. You might think that is sad for me, but it was a pleasure. I was able to really focus during the week on many of the things I treasure about Motherhood and women in general. It was a great week, and I enjoyed preparing for it.

Well, then Sunday comes. Kris had to go to the hospital to do rounds in the morning so I was on my own getting the kids ready. This is not unusual, but it was Mother's day and a little help would have been great. Anyway we got to church--early I might add. Kris came in at some point after the meeting started wish was good. I went up to the front so I could have a moment to gather my thoughts before I spoke. After the first speaker all the primary kids came up to the front to sing a cute song. I moved to the front row so I could see their faces instead of their backs and it is a good thing I did. When Joshua went up to the front instead of walking around the side and walk up the stairs he decided to try to "spiderman" it up and over the front of the wall. I quickly grabbed him and ushered him the right way around. The song was darling as always. I thought that Joshua's spiderman was going to be the embarrassing moment of my day, little did I know it was just beginning.

I stood up to speak and as I was only a few minutes into it I looked over to my family and Gabriella is on a sprint to the front. I am thinking surely Kris will grab her before she gets to me, but he isn't moving too quickly. She makes it up the stairs and finds a little stool to join me at the microphone. Kris finally gets her and hauls her off crying to get her diaper changed. That leaves the older 3 kids sitting by themselves. Veronica had offered to help me with them if Kris was not able to get to church on time and so she was there to help them. It is a good thing too. Joshua managed to get Kris' iphone and turn on the music or volume or something. Whatever it was it started playing loudly. As she and Mindy (another nearby helper) tried to get the phone off, Joshua thought it was the perfect opportunity to join me at the microphone. He bounded up to the front and I told him to sit on a chair. As you can imagine I am pretty distracted at this point and pretty much lose my focus. After about 30 seconds of sitting in a chair by me Joshua is bored and started climbing around. Summer (yet another helper) came up and took him away. I was somewhat able to finish my talk and sit down before any other children came to visit me.

Needless to say, I am sure I will not be asked to speak again any time soon.

Luckily, Mother's day only got better from there. I love that my kids love to spoil me on Mother's day and I am so grateful to be their Mom!

3...2...1...BLAST OFF!!!!

2009-05-10T16:14:00.000-07:00

Joshua and Michael had a fun birthday party on Saturday. It was a Rocket party. Joshua is really lovin' rockets right now and Michael went along with it because he is just that sweet. I am so glad the two of them were able to celebrate together!

We searched for moon rocks and gathered quite a collection!

We played a relay game with the moon rocks. We made the kids use big tongs to collect them into their buckets. It was pretty funny to watch them try to make it work.

Coloring a few rocket pictures. Joshua and Michael love to have pictures printed off the computer and spend many quite moments coloring. Usually they are coloring superheros. Anyway...
The highlight of the party had to be the blasting off of the rocket. Joshua and Michael launched the first one together. They were not sure what was going to happen. As soon as it blasted off they tossed the remote and took off running. It was pretty funny. Michael had no interest in being that close to the action again. We only got the rocket stuck in the tree once, but thanks to Kris and Mark's ability to climb on one another they got it free.

Joshua and Michael had a fun party. Thanks to all for coming and sharing their birthday with them.

Is my birthday on the next day???

2009-05-05T14:01:00.000-07:00

This is the exact question I have heard almost everyday since the day after his birthday last year. I love this little boy!

Joshua Kristoffer West
Born May 6th 2004 in Washington DC
8 lbs. 3 oz.

I honestly used to believe that if I was only a mother to little girls I would not care. That was before I met this beautiful baby boy! He has been such a joy in our lives. He is constantly on the go and I used to think he lacked the ability to touch anything without destroying it.

I know I spoil him and he knows he has Mom and Dad wrapped around his little finger. There are many times I am trying to get angry with him for something and I find myself having to look away so he can't see me laughing!This day at the beach when he was 18 months old he crawled around with his face in the sand, with his mouth wide open to scoop up as much sand as he could. We don't know why, but then again we don't know why Joshua does a lot of the things he does.

He really would be happy riding around with Kris like this all day. He idolizes his Dad and I am so glad he has such a great guy to look up to. A few years ago Kris spent 2 months in Texas doing rotations for Medical School. When he returned Joshua would not leave his side. He was always holding onto his leg if he was standing or climbing into his lap if he was sitting. He was not about to let Kris go again.
How could you not love this face?!? He makes us all so happy everyday and I am so grateful I have had the chance to be his Mother for 5 years!

Happy Birthday little man! We love you, and yes the next day is your birthday!!!!!

Cookin' up somthin' cute!

2009-04-27T12:27:00.000-07:00

Don't you want to just put her in a bottle and keep her this age forever?!? Well, maybe without the terrible two's tantrums...

The Sun Finally Shines on Syracuse!

2009-04-26T16:15:00.001-07:00

After months and months of snow, coldness, and cloudy skies the sun finally makes an appearance! Although we have had random glimpses of warmth in the past few weeks, it has been a glorious weekend. We tried to find a new waterfall at Fillmore Glen State park, and even though we were unsuccessful at seeing the falls we managed to have a great time.
Looks like Kris needs to escape from the hospital and hit the gym a little more often. Or at least all the nurses need to stop trying to get his attention by sneaking him cookies and donuts!
Spiderman, spiderman, doing whatever a spider can... Joshua is part monkey and part spider and part just crazy.
Nothing is more sweet than 2 sisters having a blast together! They were laughing so hard I thought they would fall off the teeter totter.

This is how Gabriella wanted to walk down the trail. She squeaked and pulled at my neck until we were close to Kris and then she grabbed a hold and wanted us to continue on. This little girl thinks she can have whatever she wants, and she is usually right. This little river went right over the road and the kids really wanted to stick their feet in. I did too:) Bree wanted to step into a deeper part and when I told her it was too deep and that her clothes get wet she fixed the problem lifting up her shirt. Almost a good idea. She loved the water and did not want to get out. It was a fun day and it was so nice to be in the sun again!

Gabriella's Birthday Celebration

2009-04-19T15:22:00.000-07:00

So, we finally got around to celebrating Gabriella's birthday yesterday. Luckily she doesn't have a clue when her birthday is supposed to be. She insisted on being silly for her picture.
Thanks Aunt Christy and Aunt Katie for the fabulous gifts. She was totally surprised, no really, even though she picked them out herself she acted as though it was the first time she had seen them. Thanks for thinking of her!
We have given all of our girls a bitty baby doll for their second birthday. Gabriella was just as thrilled about hers as her older sisters were when they received theirs. She hugged the box and couldn't wait for us to get her out. She kissed and hugged the doll until she remembered she had more presents to open.

My parents gave Gabriella a fancy crib for her new baby doll. When we took all the parts out of the box to put it together Bree immediately put her doll in the box and told her to sleep. It just goes to show us all once again that kids are just as happy with the box a toy comes in. Could have saved you a bit of money Grandma and Grandpa, sorry about that.

It took two tries to get both candles out, but she did it! Joshua was disappointed that we didn't let her squish the cake in her hair like last year. I tried to explain that was a thing that happens only on her 1st birthday but he thought I was pretty lame. What can I say, I am.

Happy Birthday little Gabriella Jordan! We love you and your spunky personality, it keeps us all smiling! But, I must insist that you STOP GROWING UP!!!!

Dancing Queens

2009-04-19T15:12:00.001-07:00

Samantha took Jazz dance classes this year and really became quite the cute little dancer. She improved a lot and really learned how to control her body. Plus, she was definitely the cutest one on the dance floor!
Mariah did the Hip Hop dance class this year. She is a great dancer and always lights up the stage. (Wow, do you think I am a little too proud of my kids?) She even got a chance to use some of her gymnastics skills with a solo round-off to the splits in the middle of the performance. GO Mariah!

How long ago was Easter???

2009-04-19T14:51:00.001-07:00

Every time Gabriella dropped an egg into the dye she was thrilled with the magical result. She would clap and squeal with delight, it was hilarious to see her so amazed. She also found it to be a great time saver to squish more than one egg into the dye at one time.

Joshua stuck with the blue dye and made many beautiful blue eggs.
Wow, what are we going to do with all these eggs???
It was chilly and windy on Easter morning and of course we were not on of things enough to take the kids picture before church. We are wishing Spring here every chance we get!

Serious Birthday Girl!

2009-04-15T13:48:00.000-07:00

I wanted to quickly post a picture of our Gabriella to wish her a happy birthday! She is 2 years old today. She is a firecracker who keeps us all on our toes. She is the boss of the house and she knows it. She manages to leave a trail of giggling people wherever she goes.

This came in especially handy as she and I just got back from Utah where we attended my sweet Grandmother's funeral. Gabriella made all those around her smile and that is what my Grandmother would have wanted us to do. We all love her and try to look for the good in all her craziness! Happy Birthday little Bree! Watch out world, she's 2!

2009-04-05T06:05:00.000-07:00

It's your lucky day! Or month to be exact:) ZinneyLou, maker of the cutest totes in the world, is running a special for the month of April. Get $5.00 off any size tote! She makes a few different sizes--perfect for purses, diaper bags, church bag and scripture bags. They are excellent quality and come in so many fun patterns. Check out Zinney Lou's adorable totes, but be warned, you will want more than one!

Strong National Museum of PLAY!

2009-04-01T09:31:00.000-07:00

One of the best things about moving to upstate NY is that we are close to the Strong National Museum of Play. Seriously, a museum about playing?!? I was in love the first time we went there. We have been about 6 times in the past 1.5 years. It is a fun place for kids to explore, play, have fun and learn. We rarely get to see the whole museum in one visit because there is so much to do. Often we have met our awesome friends the Daytons (who live in Buffalo) at the museum. We will miss them at the museum as they will be moving out west in a few weeks. So before they move we decided we needed to meet up one more time to play. It was a fun day, I wish we both could have stayed longer!
Mariah is trying to read to all 6 kids in Big Bird's nest, but baby bird Christian is flying away...
The museum was having a Dr. Suess celebration the day we were there. The kids made these awesome Suess inspired hats
Joshua giving Bree a ride in the Sesame Street cab. Don't worry Bree quickly managed to take over the driving resposibilites.
Joshua is better suited for driving a race car anyway. This is his favorite thing in the whole place. He is watching a screen that is simulating a real race. They have big lights that tell him when to go and if he jumps the gun he gets a false start. He is very good at it, and serious about it as well:)
Gabriella loved to help her sisters build a big tower, they could have done without her help. She is a bit of a monster!

Where is the baby?

2009-04-01T09:24:00.000-07:00

This is a phrase I often holler out to my older kids when it has been a few minutes since I last heard Gabriella (she is almost 2, I wonder when I will stop calling her the baby). Anyway, we all went on a search for her because we couldn't find her anywhere. I walked into her bedroom just in time to see her closet door slowly close. I opened it and found Gabriella hiding in this spot. She was VERY proud of herself for getting all the way up on her dresser and closing the door. The older kids thought she was quite clever as well. Nothing is safe in our house with this climber around!

Two little monkey's jumping on the bed...

2009-04-01T09:17:00.000-07:00

I was baby-sitting sweet Janie a few days ago and I let her go in and wake up Gabriella from her nap. Gabriella was so excited to see her, but also very confused as to why she was there. I put Jane in bed with Bree along with a few books. They were so funny. Of course as soon as Bree realized she was holding the "Monkey's Jumping on the Bed" book their quiet story time erupted into spontaneous jumping. It was so cute to her these little monkey's singing about jumping on the bed. Silly, silly girls!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2009-03-19T06:32:00.001-07:00

I feel so lucky to have such cute kids who love to get dressed in green on St. Patrick's Day. You would have thought it was Christmas around here as excited as they were. As a tradition in our family I draw a little shamrock on the kids cheek with green marker, even Bree wanted one on her cheek. When I was little my mom would put a little foil shamrock sticker on our cheek to wear to school. She always put a few extra in my pocket to give to my friends. I wish I could find those stickers, it is one of my favorite memories! I have had enough food tinted green with food coloring to last me at least until next year, yuck--not a fan of food coloring.
LOOK! Can you see the grass behind my kids??? Unless you live in upstate NY you will find it hard to believe there is still grass under all the snow we had this year. 145 inches to be almost exact! We beat out Buffalo and Rochester by at least 40 inches. That is not a competition I like to win! Joshua keeps reminding me that tomorrow is the first day of Spring and we should be getting out the summer clothes. I hope he is not devastated to find out the high tomorrow is going to be about 41.

Please tell me this happens to you too...

2009-03-11T12:58:00.001-07:00

I was rushing about the house yesterday looking for Gabriella's shoes so we could get the kids to school on time and I could not find them anywhere! She likes to play with them throughout the day and so they end up in strange places. After looking in a few places, I came up with the shoes in the picture above. Three shoes, not one of them a matching pair. At this point I was desperate and was willing to put her in unmatching shoes. Well, as you can see from the picture they are ALL THE LEFT SHOE!!! What the heck? It was one of those mornings...

Luckily, I found her church shoes.

Fun around the house--cause it is too cold outside!

2009-02-25T06:11:00.000-08:00

Daddy and Gabriella dancing on the table. You should see her tiny feet move! Love the sunglasses baby girl!

Another chocolate lover in the family! Aunt Nanna sent us each a little box of See's candy for Valentine's day. I thought I would get to eat her chocolates too, but she found them and enjoyed them all at once. Little stinker, I have many chocolate finger smudges all over the house to remind me how much she likes chocolate!
Snow, snow, go away! Just when we began to have little patches of grass poking through the snow, it dumped on us again. Another 2 feet over the weekend! It is getting really, really old. We didn't get a chance to take down the trampoline this fall and tried to get Mariah to bounce it off, it didn't go so well. Hope it has some spring left in it after the great thaw!

"This is too much fun for Joshua!"

2009-02-25T05:41:00.000-08:00

Those were Joshua's words as he played in "magic goo" yesterday. I guess in his little mind if something can be that fun and messy he probably shouldn't be doing it! Joshua has been really stir crazy the past few days (winter will never end) and I found this recipe for magic goo on familyfun.com. It is really cool. When you press it into a ball it goes hard, but when you release pressure it turns into a liquid. It was messy, but wiped up easily! Here is the recipe:

1 cup corn starch
3/4 cup warm water
Add water a little at a time and stir as you go. Add more water if it is too hard and more cornstarch if you can't make it press into a ball. It takes a little mushing to figure out what it feels like.

Have fun, but in Joshy's words--not too much fun!

Ever since we went to Utah Joshua has been asking me to make him some capes. Aunt Katie's kids had one and he loved it. Well, we finally got around to it and he has hardly taken it off since. You can't tell in the piture, but he has about 8 things tucked into his belt. They are his weapons. There are pencils, kabob sticks, a pez dispenser, and a I think the pen his Grandpa made him. I don't know what kind of villian will be scared away by this collection of weapons, but you can tell he is very serious about his toughness by the look on his face. I love this kid!
This season is our first attempt at soccer. Joshua has been begging to play for awhile now. He was excited about it the first day until he realized that some of the other teams had blue uniforms. Now he is grumpy about going because he thinks his uniform is ugly. Should I be concerned about his fashion desires? It's pathetic to hear him whine in front of all the other players that his shirt is not cool. He is trying to learn the rules of soccer, but tells me it is much easier to stop the ball with his hands than with his feet. I understand Josh, it makes more sense to me too:)

Pictures from Utah

2009-02-15T14:39:00.000-08:00

I love this picture of Gabriella. I kept telling her to smile and she kept doing this serious face. The fact that I am posting this picture goes against all I believe in. I DO NOT think that kids and guns are a good combination. Anyway, Kris and his Dad set up a target practice (Crazy!!!) in the living room and Bree was a natural. Kris was very proud!
This is Jamie and her 2 sisters (Katie and Christy). It is so fun to be together with them.
Sweet Samantha on her baptism day! She looked so precious all in white. You could tell she was very excited to be baptized. They grow up too fast...