Christmas with the Rae's

I should have posted Christmas awhile back, but this is the first chance I have gotten.  We had a great time with family for Christmas this year!  It was wonderful crazy with 8 kids and 8 adults.  I guess you should also know that 5 of those kids were under the age of 5.  Two of which were cute babies.

We have lots of great traditions together.  We have all of the kids get together and perform the nativity.  This year was pretty tricky.  Mary was ready to go to bed, and the excitement of Christmas had most of the kids going nuts, but they all actually sat there for a few minutes.  I just don't have any pictures of them being good because I was running out of camera battery.

Carter was so excited when he was brought upstairs to see the tree.  Daniel could barely set him down because he was already running.  You can barely tell that Carter had the flu the day before.
Chase was the perfect age this year.  He was really excited.  He stayed interested in presents for the most part and he was good at sitting somewhat still this year.  
Santa brought the boys a hummer this year.  Chase has been wanting to get a jeep so he could drive Carter to the buss stop.  It was so cold our entire stay in Mesquite/St. George that they didn't get to play with it as much as they might have wanted, but the weather is nice here at home.

This picture of one of my favorite girls pretty much sums up how we felt driving home.  We so much fun we were exhausted.  

A busy month for Carter

Dr. Daniel W. Rae

For our entire married life Daniel has been in school working hard. Until the last 3 years he was in school full time and working full time at night. He is the hardest worker I know. Our entire family is really proud of him. Although the journey through school was hard we think it will be worth it. We still have to wait for Daniel's Arizona license before he can start practicing and making better money. So, Congrats to my great husband who got his bachelors from BYU, his Doctor of Chiropractic from Palmer West, and has just been accepted into a masters program. I love you hun!

Daniel with his beautiful, smart, wonderful wife!

A Happy Family.

Daniel with his parents Alan and Ramona.  

These two are responsible for teaching him how to work hard.

Thanksgiving with TY!

We had the best Thanksgiving this year! We went to Mesquite, NV and celebrated with Daniel's family. The best part...Ty was there. For those of you who don't know, Ty is Daniel's nephew who is going through chemotherapy and fighting Histiocytosis. It was so great to be able to see Ty...and his mom and dad!


We did do more than just play with Ty. Daniel went golfing twice and watched our kids quite a bit. (With no complaints) Carter and Chase played with their cousins the entire time. We barely had to deal with them, and bedtime wasn't bad because they were so exhausted. Carter Helped Grandma decorate her Christmas tree with 30 ornaments in one tiny area. he said he spread them out. Grandma showed him what spread out meant....I hope he does better on our tree tonight. I got to help make Thanksgiving dinner. Go to bed late Thanksgiving night, wake up at 2:30am to go black Friday shopping. I didn't buy that much, but it is a tradition and in between all of us we saved over $700. I also got to go to Tai Pan... I didn't buy very much their either, but it was fun. Pretty much I shoped, did puzzles, and gossiped the entire weekend. Thanks to Jenn, Payton, Mom, and Dad for hosting us. We had a blast!

Athletic Republic

Chase and I got to go over to Athletic Republic and see how it is coming along. It is starting to look really great. Opening day is December 8th. There is still a lot to do, but here is a sneak peak. Until I can figure out what I did wrong please click on View all images.

Tagged

Post the fourh picture in your fourth folder. 

This is a picture of Daniel, Carter and Garret.  It is from one of our family July 2003 camping trip.  It is so cute to see my chubby Carter, and for all of you who know Garrett...look how young and cute he is.  

I tag.....Chelsea, Christy, and Annessa!  have fun ladies!

The Boys Room

I decided it has been long enough since I posted a picture of my house, and that you could all stand to see some more pictures ;)  This is obviously the boys room.  Some of you may be thinking that it is mean to make them share a room when we have 4, but now they can have a playroom and a sleeping room.  They used to get up and play with toys at night, but now they can't because toys are not allowed in their room, and their room stays clean now.  So this is what you see walking into the room.

The lamp was a good buy from target.  It had a piece broken on the inside that was easy to repair and I got an additional discount!  I got the bedding a PB.  I still can't figure out if it is worth what we payed for it.  Don't get me wrong it is great quality and the boys and I love the way it looks, but Carter gets nose bleeds at night and I am constantly worrying about this expensive  buy.  What was I thinking?
Did I mention they love sharing a room?  I actually think that if we split them up they would be upset about it.  Also, we are no longer letting Chase get into bed with us in the middle of the night.  Daniel and I are taking turns every night putting him back into bed.  We have had a Chase free bed for 2 nights now!
The boys are as excited about how their room turned out as I am.  They love to show it off.  They don't even pull on the border because they want it to look nice.  I got the stickers for the boarder at the dollar store!  I can't believe how great they look.

I got the pegs for their backpacks from Michaels.  They were only a dollar each and my niece, Oakley, helped me paint them.  Thanks Oakley!  I would love to do a few more things to their room, but I won't go into debt doing the, so they will have to wait.

Halloween 08

In loving memory

Grandma and Grandpa Rodgers

The man on the left side of the Beautiful woman...(that I inherited my GREAT skin from...all most no blemishes)  is my grandpa.  This man has done some amazing things in his life.  He has lived through the depression, flown planes in the war, fathered 4 boys, 9 grandkids, worked a hard life, owned his own plane, made a quarter out of a penny, served our country forever, was a supportive husband to a hard working school teacher, rooted for the Oakland A's, and much more.  I wish I had known him when he was young and vibrant...and very very handsome.  He had to have been so much fun flying around California with his brothers, wife and children.  This man worked hard his entire life to care for his family, and was very successful.  I didn't really spend a lot of time with them growing up because they lived to stinking far away.  I did see them enough to make myself his favorite granddaughter!  3 years ago the family and I lived with them for a summer.  It was a great time for me to get to know both my grandparents! I am so glad I did because early Thursday morning Fred Jackson Rodgers passed away while sleeping.   I am sad for grandma because she is alone, but I am so glad that grandpa was able to pass on.  His body was getting old, and he couldn't do anything for himself anymore.  The last time we saw him he was barely talking.  Grandma made him talk to Carter though.  So I just want to say...I love you grandma and will enjoy getting to know the young you in the future!  

A break from school

Carter had a two week break. First we went to Garrett's baptism. (no pictures) we spent a little less than a week there. We had a great time seeing Jenn and Payton's amazing house. You can tell the worked hard for it, and they did such an awesome job. We love staying with them because their entire family is so good to us! I even get my own LARGE room and bathroom there! We spent one night in St. George... We should have spent more. I felt cheated when I left to go home. I didn't feel like we had enough time to visit everyone. Grandma and Grandpa took us to Cafe Rio! Thanks You! When we returned home we went to Superstition Farm for a free day. The boys got a ton of free give-a-ways. They had a milk bar there. You could choose from 10 flavors. Carter chose Cherry Cream, Chase chose...just milk, and their friend, chose chocolate. So much for exotic flavors. Next, we went to the zoo. I didn't take many pictures there. I decided to just focus on having fun with the boys. Last of all, Carter had a football game. Daniel is the coach, and it is soooo cute. It melts my heart. l love watching Daniel play with 8 little boys. Check out a few pictures!

Would you call this a shiner?

Carter loves to play rough. He has already been punched in the face at school because they were playing rough, and his teacher has banned her class from playing tag because it was getting out of control. Yesterday we went to the park with a few friends and Carter got this as a souvenir.

He was playing tag! The boy he tagged moved just as Carter ran up, and Carter ran into a block pillar. he says it still hurts today, but he is pretty proud of it.

110 degrees + 4 days + hard work = backyard

Daniel and I have been trying to talk our landlord into putting grass in the backyard. (He wanted wonderful rock that my boys could throw though a window;) We priced the grass out and sent him an email, and he finally agreed to pay for the supplies if Daniel did the work. I wish I had a video of him and my dad out there working. It was so hot and dry! Daniel got a tiller and started tilling and could barely break the ground becuase it was so hard. My dad, 220lbs, stood on the tiller and then it worked. It was so funny! You will just have to take my word for it.

 We are still in the first 2 weeks, so we can't walk on it, and the ground has to stay pretty wet.  The boys are so excited to play football, soccer, and have water fights.  I am excited because it is starting to cool off outside!

One PIANO, Five Women, and One Man

For any of you who do not know.  I have wanted a piano to call my own for quite some time.  I love to play, and I am in desperate need of some practice.  My mom had two pianos, one digital and one upright.   She was moving and decided to send one to me.  Her and my dad drove it to me on Friday.  That morning the Relief Society sisters came to visit me and they insisted that as strong women we could bring it inside all by ourselves!

One women put in a call to her husband.  So we had 5 girls and one Guy!  We were all pretty careful.  Ok, so technically we had 2 guys, but my dad is getting old and can't life much weight.
Getting it out of the trailer was a lot easier than we thought.  It helped that the trailer was pretty close to the ground, we had a piano dolly, and I don't have any front steps.
Thanks you to all of the women who encouraged me to bring it in on our own!  It was also a very exhilarating experience.  NOW I HAVE A PIANO OF MY OWN!!!!!!!!

The fruits of my labor

I have a new neighbor that talked me into canning peaches with her.  I was up until 12:30, but look how great they look.  It was very self satisfying.  I have never canned before!  

Warning: I ACTUALLY LOVE MY CAR

Today was a pretty crazy day.  While I won't say any of it was difficult...it was just crazy!  I have planned for weeks to go pick up peaches and begin canning.  This morning as I was leaving to get the peaches Daniel called and said he had locked his keys in the car.  he wanted me to bring him my key so he could open it up.  That sounded easy enough.  "Sure hun, no problem, let me go get the peaches and I will head up there and have lunch with you."  (at this point I was actually excited)

On my way to go get peaches I realized...my key is in Daniel's car also.  you see I hardly ever drive his car, and don't have a need to carry around a broken key.   Ok...now what am I going to go.  I called many locksmiths and we will just say....I AM NOT GOING TO PAY THAT....that simple sentance cost me sooo much today. 

I called the GMC dealer and they said if I had the right docs I could get a key made.  I loaded Chase up.  Asked a neighbor to get Carter and keep him while I headed off on my adventure, and tried to start on my way.

The car wouldn't start.  I called another neighbor to com jump my car.  Finally we are off.  

Maybe this won't be too bad. 

We got to the GMC dealer and I couldn't park close enough to leave my car on to go and get the key.  (There isn't really a better place to be to need a jump start)  So I turned that car off, got my key, and headed back out to chance the car starting on its own.  That was not my luck, and neither was the ambulance and fire truck that blocked me in just after that....Ok, so it is an emergency for someone....I'll hang out.  I am not sure how long I waited, but at least it was air conditioned!  They jumped my car and we were off another 30 miles to Daniel's work.  When we arrivedI didn't feel comfortable leaving the car on while going inside, and Daniel couldn't come out because he was with a patient.  THE CAR GOT TURNED OFF AGAIN.  So I went in with the key and my huney came out to jump start my car for the 3rd time that day. It took us 20 minutes to get it started.  My battery was fried.  I was driving home and my dear neighbor said she had no problem watching Carter a little longer so I could go buy a new battery.

I headed to costco to get a battery.  when I arrived I pulled up to the tire place and asked where I could park my car because if I turn it off it may not start again...thinking they were going to install my battery.  They said.  Just park anywhere it will be ok.  I went in to buy the battery to find out that they don't install them.  Great!  stupid car.  now I would need a jump start one more time.  The manager called the general manager and got special permission to put it in for me.  YEAH!!!!!  Thank you to Daniel at Costco that helped me out.  

I made it home and the car is working great now.  I know that part of my day was self inflicted, and one incident by itself would not be hard, but put them all together and you got one tired and irritated girl!

An update

Daniel has been asking me to update our blog for like a week.  I don't really have a lot other than house stuff to update with.  I am sure it has to be getting boring for you guys, but here you go. 

Before we started painting the walls were white flat paint.....ugh.  Daniel has been great about letting be put color wherever I want.   

This was on our first paint day a few weeks ago. 

I still can't believe what a little bit of color does to a room.  It is amazing!  If you can't tell, the newness of having a house still has not worn off.   The paining is all done and the decorating has just begun. (As much as we can with a small budget.)

Umm...the bathroom, almost done.

I have had a few requests to see the inside of the house.  Well, the only rooms that are close to done are the bathroom and the boys bedroom.  I am not ready to show the boys room until it is just right.  The bathroom still needs a painting or something on the wall, but it is almost there.  I also have a few more accessories on order because they were out at Target.

I went with a transportation theme because I have always wanted to do one.  I got this great truck from michaels at a super great price.  It looks much better in person.  I love the towels

I don't know if you can tell by the picture but these cabinets are great.  We have come a long way from Wymount pink, green, and blue.  LOL.    In this picture you can see part of the blank wall that just needs something.  We decided not to paint this room because I was worn out.  (and it is expensive).  Any suggestions on the artwork?
I just had to post this picture because I love those little shower hooks.  They look so great.  There is also the cutest rug in the bathroom of a dump truck.  Sorry no picture.  You will have to wait a little longer for any more pictures of the house.  We have to work on it slowly because we are still students...with a student budget.

We are in our new house!

We are officially in our new house, and we got the internet hooked up yesterday! We are very happy to have a place to call our own. For those of you who didn't know we have been living in other peoples homes for a month now. We are so thankful to those who helped us make this move.
All of us are doing really well here. Carter has already had 2 play dates, and Chase was invited to one but we couldn't go. Carter is really adjusting to school and is already sounding out words better. It is so nice to have someone else teaching him what I have been trying to teach for the last few years. Chase is having a hard time with Carter at school. Yesterday he wanted to call him and ask him to come home. When he did arrive home Chase was nothing but smiles.
I hate the heat, but having a home makes it better. We made the boys share a room and used the others for a play room and guest room. Now they have space to play inside when it is so hot outside. They have really awesome pools here. The newest one to open up has two huge water slides and zero depth play area. It only costs $1.50 per adult and $0.50 per child. We go at least twice a week. People say that in the next 4-8 weeks it should cool down!

First Day of School

Carter started Kindergarten today!!!! I can't believe my baby is that old. boy does time fly. He has all day kinder. He was a little nervous to have to leave me for a long day. I walked him into his classroom and he was really good. He put all of his stuff where his teacher told him and then he gave me a kiss and a hug and said in a kind of sweat voice, "Bye Mom" All day I worried about him. Any of you who know my son know that he has a mind of his own. Well when I picked him up he was so happy to see me to tell me about his great day. He said it went awesome and that he can now remember his teachers name....sorry giving that info may be a little much for the internet. He also wants to ride the bus as soon as possible now. We haven't moved into our house yet so he will have to wait a little longer.

I can't believe how big he looks in my eyes, but how small he looks compared to all of the big kids at school.

Carter thanks so much for being such a good boy. I am so proud of you. Keep working hard, and try not to get any "uh-ohs" (I think that is equivalent to getting your name on the board.)

lovin the house

Daniel and I found a house. Although we are only renting we have a long term contract. We are really excited. The house was built in 2008 and we will be the first occupants! It has 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. It is a big upgrade from what we have had in the past. The owner told us we could paint as long as he approves of the colors. Although we don't move in until the 1st, Daniel and I have been hard a work painting over the white flat paint walls. (I know....you can only imagine how much damage my boys could have done.) So, here is a picture.

We are HERE!!

We arrived in Chandler today at 2:30pm. It was a long adventure, but thanks to a good nights sleep at Jake and Brittany's house it was manageable. On the way to LA I locked our keys in the car. After an hour and $80, we were on our way. I can't believe I did that. Now we are here staying in the greatest house for the next couple of weeks. This house has 5 bedrooms and 3.5 bathrooms. It has a gourmet kitchen and everything is upgraded. Our kids aren't sure how to act in it. They are used to 900 sq ft and now they are in 3000 +. All good things will come to an end though. Daniel and I already have 3 appts to look at houses for rent. (this one is just temp until we can find another place.) I would upload pictures, but I feel like we won't be here long enough for it to matter. If you guys want to see it I will upload though.

Chase's BEST friends

Chase gets really attached to people. If you are one of the lucky ones who gets to be a best friend you are truely special to him. He has a best friend from preschool. (a high school student). His daddy is his best friend. Trevor is his best friend, and so are Nathan and Braden. Notice my name has been ommitted. I am not sure if I am a best friend right now or not. Nathan and his brother Ryland are the other boys pictured here. These boys have been great! During baseball season they would play with Chase and keep him out of trouble the whole time. It was awesome because they really PLAYED with him. Chase loves both boys so much.



Chase loves these boys so much that he begged me to invite them to his birthday party. they are so great to him that they came. I am not sure how much fun they had, but Chase was excited!
See, here is proof that Nathan caters to Chase. His best friend. They hunt for clovers, play at the park, play games, go to the snack shack, and pretty much whatever else Chase wants.

We are inbetween houses!

Since we are in between houses for the next 2 weeks. Please excuse the lack of pictures. Daniel has just finished with his last clinical adjustment. He only has class once a week now. He plans on getting a job in Ariona and flying back once a week for class. He is crazy! I will finish my last final on July 10th. I am excited for this summer semester to be over. It has been horrible! I don't ever want to take summer classes again. I felt like I didn't have the time to prepare well for each class. Today I have my hardest speech for my speech class, and I am so unprepared and nervous that I want to throw up! In about an hour and a half it will all be over though. Sorry for the rambling. School fulltime, two great and crazy boys, moving, and being in a state of limbo are taking their toll on me. I think at any given moment just about anyone could make me cry. Hopefully the next post will be better.

Girl's Lunch

I wanted to have lunch with my girls one last time before we leave for Arizona. I can't believe we will be homeless tomorrow. My great friend Kelli is letting us bunk up with them for two weeks. My classes end July 10th and Daniel is riding in a 100 mile race in honor of my sister on the 13th. So, the kids and I will leave for Chandler on the 13th. I am having mixed feelings. I have such great friends here!!!!!!! I don't want to leave them, but.............. I am sick of being poor, we were sooo cramped in our little apartment, and we need to stop moving for once so the kids and I can settle in. Anyhow, So abotu a week or so ago some friends and I went to lunch. Not all the ladies got to go, but there were 7 of us there. This is the only picture that I liked the way it looks. I have lost 10 lbs now and it shows in this pic!

Jenn and I.

Carter Avenue

Carter is pretty excited that he has his own street. He was so cute when we lifted him up to get a picture with it.

For REAL this time. We are a 2 car family

Daniel and I got the opportunity to give the jeep back....we jumped on it.  I had a really bad feeling about the Jeep.  The guy that sold it to us was very dishonest and advertized that it had things that it didn't.  Plus, it had a few mechanical problems.  So it gave us the opportunity to keep looking.  I am sure glad we did.  This vehicle is perfect for us.  It is a 2006 GMC Envoy.  We got it for such a great price that we already have $8,000 in equity.

As you can see from the picture below Daniel has BYU all over his can.  Alumni lisence plates.  BYU sticker, BYU football antenna ball, BYU trailer hitch cover.  Plus, the car is blue!!  It is perfect for him
Chase insisted on being in a picture with Daddy's car.  He has toilet paper up his nose because he has a bloody nose.  Daniel often makes TP wads for the kids because they have bloody noses constantly.    

FAMILY FUN DAY

With Daniel and I in school full-time the boys have to go to a sitter 4 days a week.  (Awesome sitter if I may add)  They don't really mind going, but just like every other kid, they would rather be at home.  I told Carter if he was good at the babysitters all week we could have family fun day.

The boys were both pretty good.  

So, Saturday started by taking Carter to receive his little league trophy.  Then we had lunch at home.  We took the boys bowling, and then Daniel took them swimming.  

After the boys had their fun Daniel and I got to go on a date!  I love dating.  We went shopping, ate at the cheesecake factory, and saw a movie.  I love my husband.

Sorry, no pictures.  I had my camera, but I didn't take any pictures.  

Chase did have a birthday!

Chase's birthday was back in the middle of May. I never got to posting the pictures my friend Jenn took for me. Her camera was in her bag, and mine was in the car. I don 't know what it is about my kids, but when they turn 3 they think they need a party. Chase planned his party. He planned who, what when, and kinda where. Carter did this also when he turned 3. I love my boys!

I uploaded the wrong picture, but I am not going to change it. The other picture Chase has a really cute smile on his face.

Chase Really wanted a Lightning McQueeen birthday party. I just didn't feel like I had the energy to make it this year. (I did borrow the cake pan though) Safeway made this cake. It is cute and it actually taseted REALLY good until I dropped the leftovers.

Chase felt very special on his birthday. He loved having all of his friends and his grandma and grandpa there. He also loves all of the presents he got. You would think that I would have had a lot of toys for his age group because I allready have a boy, but I didn't. He plays so much more now.

The pinata was my idea. I tried to make one myself, but due to last minute complications Grandma bought this one.

Chase's birthday was back in the middle of May. I never got to posting the pictures my friend Jenn took for me. Her camera was in her bag, and mine was in the car. I don 't know what it is about my kids, but when they turn 3 they think they need a party. Chase planned his party. He planned who, what when, and kinda where. Carter did this also when he turned 3. I love my boys!

Dancing with Chase

On Sunday mornings Daniel gets up, puts church music on, and makes breakfast while I get ready. When we were all ready for church and sitting on the couch Chase asked me to dance. It was soooooo cute. He loves his mommy.

He wanted to dance like this, but it was really awkward.
Daniel got jealous, so Chase had to dance wit him too.