Easter Egg Hunt pics...

The Dog Party

The kids have been waiting for Rocky's birthday and he has officially turned 1 year old. Cameron and Maile and Nicole totally planned a dog birthday party for him with the other dogs on our block. They passed out invitations and all the kids invited seemed to be very excited about it. It started out with a parade down the street...

..then the driveway was made into a little stage as the dogs performed their tricks

...and the party concluded with eating cake shaped into a milkbone!

Happy Birthday Rocky..but don't expect to get this kind of treatment again!

Spring Break Camping

Kenny took a couple of days off and we decided to go down to Dinosaur Valley State Park to camp. It was a lot of fun...great inexpensive activity to do with a big family!








The weather was absolutely perfect for camping, which is rather unusual to get here! Right next to our tent site was a little playground for the kids.









And the kids loved climbing the big rocks and playing in the river stream, although they did get...hmm...muddy.









....we even took Rocky.

A Great Find

The CVS MinuteClinic!! Four out of five of my little ones were sick last week, all with different types of symptoms. I was told of the CVS MinuteClinic - it is the best thing ever! Not all CVS pharmacies have them but you can look online to find out if there is one near you. They do flu tests (which is what Nicole had), ear infections, bronchitis, etc, and even immunizations. There is no appointment that needs to made, no driving all the way to the doctor's office, and no waiting in the waiting room! And the great thing about it is, it is the same cost as your copay and you can get prescription on the next aisle!! Highly Recommended!

Gracie is Home....

Because of complications from getting her new heart, little Gracie Girl who was 11 months old, has passed away. I think the Lord needed her back home way back in the beginning but because of the prayers and faith excercised, He allowed her to stay a little while longer. Her body was worn out..she suffered a great deal. The principle of "Families being together Forever" seems almost tangible.

After being in the temple last week, there were 2 things that penetrated my soul.
#1 There is nothing more important than the work of the Lord on the other side of the veil. I believe that those spirits that have passed are very actively engaged in preparing the earth for the second coming of the Lord.
#2 There is nothing more important than the work of the Lord here on the earth.

Aside from those 2 things, nothing else matters, really nothing. Having that experience has helped me to have a more eternal perspective. Really, it won't be long before Gracie's parents will be able to see her again and our heartache and trials of this life will be over.

Gracie's mother posted some thoughts by Elder Holland, Quoroum of the 12 Apostles, on facing adversity and trials.
1. The first, he said, "is that everyone, including (and perhaps especially) the righteous, will be called upon to face trying times." Elder Holland said: "Whenever these moments of our extremity come, we must not succumb to the fear that God has abandoned us.....We must continue to believe, continue to have faith, continue to pray and plead with heaven even if we feel for a time our prayers are not heard and that God has somehow gone away. He is there. Our prayers are heard, and when we weep, He and the angels of heaven weep with us.......

"When suffering, we may in fact be nearer to God than we have ever been in our entire lives."

2. The second lesson, according to Elder Holland, is that we are not alone in going through trials. "We need to realize that just because difficult things happen--sometimes unfair and seemingly unjustified things--it does not mean that we are unrighteous or that we are unworthy of blessings or that God is disappointed with us," Elder Holland said. "Of course sinfulness does bring suffering and the only answer to that behavior is repentance. But sometimes suffering comes to the righteous, too."

Everyone will have their share of adversity..that is why we are here on earth. It is all in how we deal with what's given to us. It makes me want to work harder....

Happy 4th Birthday Macy

Macy is growing up and not so CRAZY anymore. She definitely has given us some good laughs and has the cutest personality. She is tough and has a very strong little spirit. We celebrated at an inflatable jump place with her friends. She had a good time.

Unfortunately I missed her actual birthday because I went to Utah for my nephew's mission farewell for the weekend. It was amazing and I'm so glad I was able to be a part of it. It was so fun to be around family...we had the best time! See ya in 2 years, Elder Flynn!

Ice Day

School cancellation + ice + steep driveway = ice sledding fun!!!
At one time, we had 13 kids lined up to ride in the green recycling bucket!

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Bathtub Cutie

Here is the little menace!!!

I'm still here...

So, I know I have neglected my blog. My little Maile has been on me almost every day to get something "new" up! Truth is, because Jacob is at the wonderful age of 20 months, he is consuming every ounce of energy out of me! He climbs on things constantly, unfolds laundry as I'm folding it, and pulls things out of cupboards as I'm picking up other messes - I am getting nothing done! So I haven't had a whole lot of time to be on the computer and blog..although I did manage to activate my facebook acct and found a couple of old best friends from school, which was fun! I will do better...eventually..ha ha, but I just wanted to let you know I'm okay and still alive! Things are going well..just busy. Toward the end of November I felt an urgency to elminate the "extra" stuff out of my life that takes up time I need to be doing other things....and I realize I am just giving up something good for something better! So all is well and I will post some pics from the last few weeks next.

We learned how to make these cute pillowcases at Enrichment. So I decided to make one for each of my kids this year.


About a month ago, I decided I wanted to help my kids think outside themselves this year for Christmas. Being a parent means helping your children internalize certain things you might already know. That can sometimes be very difficult to do. And as I thought about that last month, I decided we should take our children to an old folks home. Even better I thought, I would teach them how to make these pillowcases and spend one night making a few to take with us.
So we cut out the material and pinned it together...

...then did the sewing....
Little scarey with this in particular helper! She tended to have a lead foot..

Ironed and WAA - LAAAA!


So next was the delivery. Last night for FHE, we picked up some little Santa stuffed toys and took the pillowcases to the nursing home. There was a little dance group there, but some of the people stayed in their rooms and we specifically visited them...probably about 10. We sang a Christmas carol to each one and handed out the little gift. It was such an uplifting experience...the kids were very good and gentle with them. One 100 year old blind guy, when asked if wanted us to sing, he said "Let it rip!" After we were done, he yelled out "Waa..hoo!!" It was funny! And he kept singing after we walked out..loudly!




In another man's room we sang "Away in a Manger" and he started crying in the middle of the song which of course made it then hard to get through the rest of the song. The kids noticed it and I think they could feel a difference in bringing a little bit of happiness to these people's lives. We have decided to make it a regular family activity.

Start of Christmas Festivities

BREAFAST WITH SANTA

Every year the Lion's Club has a Breafast with Santa Event and it's been one of our traditions to go with Bobbie. They serve a pancake/sausage breakfast and then you move close to the stage and listen to some Christmas singing by a few different groups. There is one group that has amazing little soloists starting from the age of 3!

Macy loved watching this one particular 3 yr. old and decided it was her turn next. I looked up and she had climbed the stairs to the stage and was ready to go on. After I got her down, I asked her what song she wanted to sing and she replied "Walking Around the Christmas Tree". I'm sure she meant "Rocking" but she can't say her R's real well yet...


CHRISTMAS PARTY
That night we joined Bobbie at her ward Christmas party. They had bare Christmas trees on the table and the kids decorated them (to take them to different people), we ate dinner, and then they had a Christmas sing-a-long. At the end, Santa and Mrs. Clause came!!

Happy Thanksgiving..a little late!

I know, I know. I haven't posted in so long. We had a very nice and relaxing Thanksgiving at Bobbie's. The weather ended up being really nice, and so Kenny and the kids played football outside a little bit and then we helped raked leaves. Nicole and Macy thought it was so much fun raking leaves that they wanted to take them home and spread them in our yard....hmmm....no way!


Poor little Jacob - the 2 rakes were being used, so he decided to grab his "own" out of the garage himself. Too bad a broom doesn't work quite as good!

Bahama Mamas!

Last weekend I had a "girls" getaway on a CRUISE to the Bahamas!! It was amazing!!

The first day we shopped and went to the beach. The 2nd day was paradise because we went to Norwegian's own private island! They anchored the ship and took us by ferry boat over to the island where they provided a big BBQ, live band, beach volleyball, limbo, snorkeling, etc. The water was crystal clear and you could see all the way to the bottom - there were fish everywhere! You can see how relaxing it was in this picture.

And that was what our ship looked like in the background with the cute Hawaii flowers on the side!

They always have tons of activities on board including games, dancing, and kareoke. There was show each night - one time it was dancers and the next was a hilarious comedian! We ate constantly - the food was awesome! I think this is my 5th cruise (2as a teenager with my parents, one on my honeymoon, and one on my 10 yr. anniversary) - I have to say it has to be the most perfect vacation...I can't wait to take my kids on one in a few years!!!!! HINT: Go during October and November and you will save a ton of money!

To top it off, I also got to visit a good friend that I hadn't seen in about 5 years! Janene is back from our Euless days....ahh..the memories!!! I had Cameron and she had Emma the same year and now they are 10 years old! Time flies....
Here is her cute family!

Trick or Treat!!

This week has been a little crazy, so after doing our pumpkin carving at 5pm, we headed out the door at 6pm to the Trunk or Treat. And of course, after the kids filled up their bags, we came home and they tick or treated in the neighborhood some more!

Halloween always ends up being a stress trying to figure out what everybody's going to dress up as on an affordable budget! I can't believe we pulled it all off.
Cameron - Vampire! (easy because it was makeup and teeth and hair slicked back!)
Maile - Miss America! (Found the dress and high heels at Goodwill, she wore my white gloves from prom and tiara from our dress up box! I made the sash out of some extra wide ribbon and my vinyl)
Nicole - Bride! (already in our dress up box-although I used the sheer white coat as a veil!)
Macy - Hula Girl! (we had the hula skirt from when Maile took hula lessons a few years ago!)
Jacob - Lion! (recycled costume from last year that still fits him! whoo hooh!)