I've deciced . . .

     that maybe, just maybe I should get an iphone.  I would say that I NEED an iphone, but honestly, I don't think that I really need one.  Jared has been telling me to get one for awhile but I kept telling him that since he had one, I didn't need one, I could just use his when I needed/wanted one.  But, if you can believe it, he is a bit stingy with his.  He likes to keep it with him and he's really not into sharing it.  The first time I thought one might be handy was when they started instagram - so I downloaded it onto Jared's phone and would use it, but he would be a titch ornery when I would, so I quit.  But, it seems like a pretty cool thing so hmm. . . maybe I should get one.  But, who gets an iphone just for instagram?  Seems kind of ridiculous, right?
     So, with that, let me tell you about yesterday.  I LOVE going to the parade of homes, any one really.  I remember growing up going with my mom and her friends once, listening to their conversation all the drive up, then going in these amazing houses and dreaming of what mine would be like one day.  Since then, I think the combination of the smell of the new house, seeing what is in style now, and the nostalgia of it all lures me in.  Utah Valley's is the one I went to when I was young so it is the one that draws me in the most.  Last year, I wanted to go so badly, I remember lying in bed wishing so much that I could be there, but knowing there was no way I was strong enough to go so I have been planning since then to get up there.  This is particularly hard since it is baseball season and I know Jared will never take the time to go with me and I like to be home to attend the kids games so I have been worried that I wouldn't get there.   But, on Tuesday night, I was thinking of the things I had on Wednesday, and it seemed the perfect day.  There was nothing going on during the day, and in the evening, Josh had baseball practice, Jake had baseball practice, Josie had gymnastics, Jaxon had baseball practice but that is it - I think, unless I missed some things, which is possible.  :)  But, I didn't feel I really needed to be to any of those things -well, maybe Jainie's game, it was her last one, but I knew she wouldn't mind if I missed it.  I had also been wanting to spend some time with Jaxon, I don't get to really even see him much anymore and I need to know where his head is at so with that, I asked him to go to Provo with me and off we went.  (Of course, Jenevieve was also with us, but she doesn't talk much. :)).
     So, we were off, like a herd of elephants, as my dad would say.  We got off a little before 10:00.  Have you ever had that weird feeling when you are going or doing something?  Well, I had a sense of foreboding the whole time, but I still wanted to go.  (Don't worry, nothing really bad happened).  Anyway, I made sure that we prayed before we set off, which I am pretty sure is why we didn't wreck or anything.  Anyway, there were a couple other things I wanted to get done, Costco - we had NO toilet paper in the house, really, none.  How does that happen?  I can tell you, "we" like to use a LOT of t.p. around here.  And, we needed to pick up a few other things.  And, I wanted to get Josh a bike for his birthday, a specific kind of bike.  I looked up on the internet where they carried them and thought I could remember the addresses.  And, Jaxon has decided to run cross country but needed running shoes so I thought we could stop at a store and get some for him.  Plus, I wanted to try a shaved ice place I heard about which is supposed to be so good.  And, I wanted to go to Kneaders for lunch, because I loved it last time and it has been calling my name since then.
     Now keep in mind, this post is really about how I should get an iphone.  So, the night before we left I looked up the address and directions for the first p of h homes.  It was clear up in Woodland Hills.  Unfortunately, the directions were horrible - horrible - horrible - cannot stress that enough.  We were driving in circles and couldn't find a sign or anything.  Needless to say, I broke down and called Jared.  Graciously, he found the road that I was on and the one I should be going on and guided us there.  The whole time Jaxon kept saying, too bad you don't have an iphone.  I just ignored him, told him it wasn't necessary and that I could follow a map and once we got to the first house, we could get a book, then just follow that.  Perfect.  Still doing great.  Well, we pull up and noticed that tickets are electronic, which I don't even know what that means - do you have to show them your iphone everytime you go to a house, or what?  You can only buy paper tickets at houses 2,11, 18 & ?.  I have no idea where those houses are.  Oh, and you can pay if you scan in the code or have cash.  Great!  Luckily, after the 3rd trip to the car, we scrounged up $24 to get us in.  Evie was in her backpack, after waking her up, we had the camera out and ready; ready to go.  We walk up to the door and it is locked!  Yep, closed up.  Great, I send Jaxon back to the sign to see what the hours are - not posted.  I knew Sunday and Monday were closed but it was Wednesday, why wasn't it open?  Of course, I could have looked it up on my iphone, as Jaxon mentioned, but wait, no iphone.  So, we called Jared.  He was loving it I am sure.  He looked up the website and found out it doesn't open til noon (I think this is ridiculous btw, some of us have to get home at night)  It was 11:15.  So, we left.  We asked Jared to give us the address of two other houses and the closest Kneaders.  I was a bit distraught by this time, I must admit. Frustrated.  But, put on a happy face and moved on.  Off we went, back down the mountain.  As we were driving I decided that we may as well go to lunch, we were both hungry as was Evie.  Plus, the closest house that had paper tickets was in Lehi - past Provo.  We could follow regular directions to find the Kneaders by BYU which was yummy - we both were feeling refreshed and back to conquering the day.  We decided we had better try to find Josh's birthday present next.  The problem was by this time, I couldn't remember much about where the bike store was.  I drove back and forth for about 1/2 hour before remembering which road it was on then luckily stumbled upon it (wouldn't it have been nice to have an iphone?)  Anyway, we went in, very excited to be able to get something productive done.  Turns out they didn't carry this type of bike - nope - they had some in Riverton that they could get down to the store in a week or so, if we knew exactly what we wanted. :)  Isn't that great?  So, once again, disappointed, we left.  I was about ready to call it a day and head out.  But, Jaxon convinced me we should go try to find the house in Lehi.  We called Jared to get new directions, however, this time he wasn't as accommodating.  He obviously doesn't go up north much because he told us the address - which sounded easy like 12300 W. 100 S. in Lehi - something like that - told us that we should be able to find it easily and hung up.  I wasn't nearly so confident.  But, we decided to give it a try.  Sure enough, we got over pretty far before the city must have changed bc instead of being far west we were now like 500 E.  What?  So, we turned around wondering what to do.  Somehow, luckily we had noticed that there was a p of h home on the road we had been driving on, yep right on the same road (but they didn't have paper tickets so I wasn't sure if we could pay there or not).  We decided to head there and at least get directions to this other house.  So, off we went again.  Keep in mind it was about 3:00 by this time and we had only eaten lunch so far and had a nice scenic drive while arguing about who got to choose the radio station - we ended up listening to a few songs a million times over.    Well, when we got to the house, we found out we could pay there, they had a computer and then they gave us 2 numbers on a sticky note to carry around with us.  Great, hope I don't lose that.  But, we did get to see that house, which was a nice house, very cute, my FAVORITE house because of it's simplicity to find and it was nice.  And, now we had a MAP!  It was like gold, that map, we could find all sorts of things.  (I think this could turn into a nice object lesson lesson, don't you?)  Anyway, we did end up getting to both the other houses in Lehi.  I even nursed Eve in the garage of one. :)  I was so excited, I just knew our luck had changed, but I was also exhausted - physically (still don't sleep much, you know) but emotionally drained as well.  It was about 3:45 by this time and I decided I wanted to get home to Jainie's last game so we thought we'd better go look at the next bike shop.  Which we made it to in great time, but once again, no bike.  They didn't carry the "right" brand either.  Jaxon thought it would be nice to go to one more house on the way home, so we followed the map to one in Salem - we got to the one we didn't mean to get to, but at this point, we weren't too particular.  Then, we took off for home.  So, all in all, it wasn't horrible.  We made it to four houses, found out there are no bikes in Provo/Orem that we want, didn't get to Costco or Jaxon's shoes, but had a nice lunch and conversation together.  And, we made it home in time for Jainie's last game.  Which she told me afterward that she didn't really care if I was there or not anyway, dad was there and he could take pictures.  :)  Which poses the question, "how much pressure do I put on myself to make sure I get everywhere and everything done when the kids don't care anyway?"  Hmm.  Oh, and every house we went to, when they looked at our numbers, asked, us, "Don't you have a smart phone?"  NO, we don't!  However, I am considering investing.  Question is: How long will it last with all the kids playing with it and me dropping it every few seconds.  I guess I need a pouch. :)

(PS I know this post has some grammatical errors and I switch from present tense to past several times - but it is long and I don't feel like reading it again to fix it - so if you happen to read - please try to ignore it, or send me a msg telling where to fix it and I will. :)).

You can see Evie was LOVING it!  She was really good.  I wish I would have gotten a pic with Jaxi but he wouldn't hold Evie (too much pressure if she cries, he usually loves holding her) so was taking all the pics for me.  I love the wallpaper behind me.

 This whole house had this shade of purple throughout.  The wallpaper has peacocks on it - it was pretty sweet.  Yep, wallpaper is making a come back!

 I loved this little sitting area with fireplace and the cement patio.  

 Okay, this pic is in a garage and Jaxon thought it was sweet that there was a urinal in the back of the garage - no walls to guard or anything.  Man heaven? Yes, and a tv which was showcasing all wakeboarders - U. Trev would've been lovin it.

 I love a big, open basement where the kids can hang out and the whole family can sit and hang out together!

And, this pic Jaxon took for Josie - this was open but closed and there was a mirror on front - I told him he should make her one.  He does have shop next year.  :)

Update:  I did figure out how to use instagram on my ipad, thanks to Andy and Brooke so I am on there and having so much fun with it.  I need more friends on there, so if you are on, let me know so I can follow you.  I still would like an iphone however for all the other conveniences but smokes! they are spendy.  So, I am loving my ipad for now.  Also, I did get back up to the p of h with my mom and sisters a week later.  Unfortunately, Jaxi couldn't go, he was on a scout camp and was bummed I went without him.  But, now it is closed.  :(  I did get to 5 more houses - so 9 all together - not bad for living down here and trying to get up there a couple times.  And, we got Joshi's bike - and Jaxon's shoes (in R) so everything did get done.  AND, I got a yummy snow cone in StG last weekend so all is well.  :)

Right Now

Right now I am trying to get the motivation up that it takes for me to go exercise.  This shouldn't be that hard since I only push myself to exercise for about 10 minutes.  I am more out of shape than I have been in my entire life.

I have been reminiscing lately on last year at this time, which I remember well because it was when I had my miscarriage and had to stay home in bed for so long.  Plus, when I was at the hospital I gained a whole new perspective on life.  Am I losing that?  Am I staying focused on what is really important?  It is so hard in this life to stay positive and stay on the path of true happiness.  So, time to slow down a bit, and reevaluate.

Cookies - chocolate chip (my favorite) are in the oven with the best intentions of going to the neighbors and my friend who just had a baby.  Yea!  Congratulations!  However, they usually disappear before I get around to getting them delivered.  Best laid plans.

Jainie is sitting behind me at the table working on a math book of Jake's - so 2nd grade.  She loves doing workbooks.  She is now officially graduated from Kindergarten and it makes me so sad.  But, boy is she excited!  (Wait til she has to go to school all day every day next year, I think she will get a bit bored).

Jenevieve is sleeping in on my bed, well, scratch that, she is now crying.  She is just not sleeping very long and loves to be held.  Which I enjoy too, unless I am trying to bake cookies. :)  She did help me from the baby backpack to mix the cookies together.  :)

All the other kids are at school and anticipation is in the air.  Everyone is so mixed about being out for the summer.  They are so excited to sleep in and stay up late, play with friends, go swimming, float the canal, play lots of ball, watch tv, play the wii, go up to the cabin, go to seven peaks, read books, and just veg a bit.  However, they aren't excited about doing chores.  And, they will really miss their friends and the socialization.

Last night, there was a solar eclipse, it was great.  I didn't pay much attention to it honestly so we had no way to look at it.  Luckily, we have a great neighbor who brought over his welding mask so we could look up and see it.  Who would've thought?  It worked perfectly and was so amazing.  I marvel daily at this world Heavenly Father made for us and the more I learn about it, the more I realize that I don't know much about it.

Well, Evie is still crying, with Jainie trying to help her, so I guess it's time to go nurse.  No wonder I get nothing done.  But, I sure am enjoying the little stinker.

Hope everyone has a great day - enjoy the world around you and maybe plant some flowers!  :)

Pregnancy - love it or hate it - it's an adventure!

     Pregnancy!  What a double-edged sword.  It stinks most of the time but has such a great reward!  Unfortunately, it seems I have not made it look too easy.  I thought I hadn't been too bad, not too pathetic and sickly.  Granted, it is my sixth baby - seventh pregnancy - and I am getting a bit older, but not that old, not old enough to make it seem sooo hard.  I didn't complain too much, although I think I probably groaned every time I had to get up from sitting position and if I had to bend over, that would definitely get some sort of desperate yet quiet, feminine moan.:)  And, the heartburn medication was annoying, can't say I missed that.  And, the cramps in every muscle in my body, especially the feet where it is impossible to stretch them out, that would send me jumping up in the middle of the night trying to walk them out.  Or, the feeling that something was going to fall out of me at any second.  And, the contractions which started at about 6 months and were occurring on an hourly basis (the last month and a half) but apparently never did what they were supposed to, didn't help me feel any better.  Sure I didn't sleep which led to me being perhaps a bit on the ornerier side, maybe even a bit snappish but overall, my kids don't know how good they had it.  :)  Still, I am grateful it is over and at this point, my feet have lost the swelling and look normal again even if the rest of my body still doesn't.

     I guess I must have put my hand on my belly a lot because that is what Jainie picked up on most.  (You know, they say that is how you can tell if a woman is pregnant, she is much more protective of her abdomen.  So all you prego women who are trying to keep it a secret, keep your hands down! :)).  Anyway, I was sitting in the living room one morning, not too long before Miss J arrived when Jainie came in like this - moaning a bit.  Ridiculous - she was dead serious too, not even trying to mock me.  I have to admit, it was pretty funny.  She did look pretty cute and when she decided to have her baby, it was a darling little bitty baby doll that I was lucky enough to take care of for the next couple hours - til she went to school - because, after all, I am the grandma and that's what Grandma's do!  

Well, this is how I really looked - a couple days before delivery.  I think I was a bit bigger than Jainie was!  This was actually about one week - 6 days early.  I went in this day with contractions and after staying and walking and pacing and getting checked and praying for the contractions to be more regular, I was sent home - $900 poorer.  Stink!  I was at a 3 and a half and left at a little over a 4 but it doesn't matter, if you aren't regular with your contractions, and mine never have been, you don't get to stay.  I am way too inconsistent - even with blogging, if you haven't noticed. :)  Either way, I was heart broken - kind of.

 This picture (below) was the night before I went in - isn't that a great contemplative picture?  I am sure I was thinking some vastly deep thought about life and why we are here and where we will go when we die.  Oh wait, I already know all of that!  Isn't that great?  So, I was probably wondering why my kids feel they need 3 meals a day and when I would have time to clean the kitchen yet again.  

With a very complimentary shadow, right? 

 Anyway, I wanted to document everything this pregnancy so where usually I wouldn't let anyone take pictures of me while pregnant because I never felt that I looked that bad while pregnant but always looking back at pictures, I would think, "How could all my family and friends let me walk around in public looking so humongous?"  But, this time, I wanted to try get more pics and remember what it is like since really, this stage in my life is over.  Yes, I am a bit sad about it - if you would have asked me a couple months ago, I wouldn't have been, but now I am.  It is such a beautiful miracle to be pregnant and know that there is a sacred life growing inside of you - very humbling and surreal really.  A blessing I will always be grateful for - the opportunity I have had to deliver each of my six children and the blessing they are and even were while I was carrying them.  All the lessons I learned from pregnancy and the wonderful sweet knowledge that I have of the amazing bodies our Heavenly Father gave to each of us.  And, how great it is to have good health and feel good.  I could go on and on.  It really is a miracle!  And, I really am eternally grateful that I have been able to experience and endure the pregnancies that I have had, even if there has been a wee bit of complaining throughout.

So, I guess I do have to say it has been an adventure - seven times - one obviously definitely not so great and sad; but the other six have been beyond words and an adventure that I am so glad to have had and survived!  But, it is a good thing I a not a pioneer - I am not that tough!

My Jake's Eight!!!

     I do realize that just about every post that has a birthday in it I wonder where the time goes.  And, you might think, "This lady has lost her marbles - how can she really lose track of time so quickly?"  Well, you are right - I have lost my marbles and time just goes too quickly!  I cannot believe it and thus, comment on it in just about every post!  The good thing is that I love where I am right now in my life - I love each age of my children, I just know that it is going too rapidly and I try to enjoy every single moment, but let's face it, that is hard to do.  Is it so bad that I just want time to STOP for a bit?  Just a bit, I'm not asking much, am I?  Well, if you ask my kids I definitely am because they all just want to grow up.  Everything always looks better when your little if you were only bigger.  It probably doesn't help that I continually tell my children that they can do whatever they want when they are the parent but while I am the parent they have to obey MY rules.  :)  I guess I should reverse that then maybe they would want to stay young?  Interesting thought - sounds like chaos!  :)

Anyway, yes, Jake is eight and I can't believe he is getting so big!  I don't like it, not one little bit, but he is a cute little stinker - yes definitely BOTH adjectives there.  His birthday was February 25 and he was baptized on his birthday.  Which was awesome!  He was so excited!  It was a wonderful day.  He was so happy and full of sunshine and light - Jared baptized him and confirmed him and we had so much love and support from our families & friends, it was beautiful!  I cannot put into words how great it was.  And, how great his

attitude was, he was a gem the whole day - not even one ornery tantrum! He really is such a good boy and we absolutely adore him!   

We woke up and had breakfast in bed, of course, yes this is what he slept in.  Lots of days I can't get him to get into his pajamas and most days it's too exhausting to physically get him into them, let's just say it's one of those battles I am unwilling to fight.  So, he sleeps in his clothes and some days he even wears them again!  What a kid.  Anyway, he LOVES eggs - I cannot stress it enough so Jainie and I decided to give them to him for breakfast - he had boiled eggs, scrambled eggs, and dip-it eggs.  Plus, toast, apple slices, hot cocoa and juice.  It was quite a breakfast and the eggs were the only thing that was gone by the end of the breakfast.  :)

 He got his candle blown out and wouldn't even tell me his wish this year - he usually wishes for more wishes or for everything that he wants in the whole world.  I think they both usually come true - :).  He takes his blowing out of candles very seriously.

 We were the first ones on the schedule of a very busy baptism day - we were at 9 am, which was great.  Jared got up to go fill the font by 7:30 - it takes and hour and half.  And, we did get the warmest water, I wondered how the 7 pm baptism went and if they put in more water.?  And, we actually got there a couple minutes early with the whole fam so we snapped a few pictures before the baptism.

 Doesn't he look excited?  And, yet so happy and peaceful and gentle - it was awe inspiring for me.  (Yes, I know I look VERY pregnant - and I am!)

Jake already loves our baby - he would often rest his head on my tummy and
give her a kiss - Jainie would as well.

 After the baptism, we took a few more pictures before heading to the luncheon.

 We had lunch over in the Glenwood church because all the other buildings here in Richfield were already being used.  It was nice for me to go over there, I still love Glenwood church.  I went over with Josie and Jainie to decorate and set up the night before at about 10:00 pm, luckily Sara, Will, Lindsay, Joseph and Laura met us there and helped as well.  I don't remember where Jared was - he is always where he shouldn't be these days.  Or maybe just never where he should be, in my opinion.  (I remember now, he was at basketball games. ;)).

 You can see we had oodles of food - everyone was so nice to help us bring salads and cut up food and help us with everything!  We are truly blessed.

 After eating, we got to play in the cultural hall, the kids all had lots of fun and we had some serious basketball match-ups.

 We had these mustache decorations in the candy bowls and the girls decided to take advantage and play for awhile.  Don't they look so handsome and debonair?  

 We stayed and enjoyed everyone at the luncheon for quite awhile.  Then, Jake wanted to go to the High School State basketball championship game - Richfield was playing South Sevier - it was a big deal and Jake loved to go get hot dogs at the concession stands.  So, after cleaning up, we headed over there and while I took a nap, Jared and the boys went to the earlier game and I met up with them later.  Jake really did get into it and was cheering and excited and did get 2 hot dogs.  He is just now really getting excited about sports, it's fun to watch him.  (Unfortunately, we didn't win).

We finally made it home and Jake insisted on opening presents at about 10.  He was so tired but still a good sport.  I love his face in this shot - he really does get excited about things.  

 Yea!  Legos and Harry Potter.  I wonder if we can get this made before we lose all the legos?  hmmm

 He struggles getting up every morning so we gave him this Woody alarm clock, which he still loves.  Although it's not really getting him up too early anymore.

 I decided to try out a new idea this year to see if we want to keep it as a tradition - making a candy bar poster.  Josie made this one for me all by herself - I was much too busy with the baptism.  She did a great job and Jake loved it!   Jake was so happy with it and even shared all his candy!

So, since Jake's birthday was on Saturday, we celebrated at school on Monday.  We read a "Froggy" book, some of Jake's favorites, had CapriSuns and Gushers and heard a bit about Jake from the poster that he made (with Jainie's help, he only likes coloring if someone is helping him, but he LOVES drawing).  He felt pretty special, which is exactly what he is!

   We are so lucky to have Jake in our family.  He is a sweetheart and full of life, he is always wanting to be involved in whatever is happening around him.  He tries hard with whatever he is doing and he doesn't give up, he will try and try until he figures it out.  He loves everyone the same and tries to make things fair for everyone.  He loves Jainie to pieces and they play all the time together - he is great at taking care of her.  Once when she fell and skinned her knee walking home from school, he picked her up and tried to carry her the whole way.  They were both laughing hysterically by the time they got home.  He wants so badly to be a good boy and tries hard to do that everyday.  Yet, he has a lot of spunk in him and will let you know it quite often.  He really keeps me on my toes and will challenge me constantly, but then comes and gives me a big hug and tells me how much he loves me.  What a cutie patootie - it will be fun to see him mature and develop more again this year!  We love you Jacob Roger!

Jake's baptism pictures

   Jake and I went out one day in February to get some pictures for his baptism.  I was dreading it because Jake usually HATES pictures, but this time was very fun.  He was cooperative and quite enjoyable - I wish I knew more about photography and would practice more so I could get better shots but luckily Jake is such a cute little stinker that I think we got some good ones anyway.  His favorite ones were the ones when we were out in the snow - he wanted to make snowballs and throw them at me and at the camera.  What a boy!

How is he growing up so quickly?  

  These next few were so funny - he was trying to be serious to show me he had had enough, but couldn't stop from smiling.  It was so cute.

 Now, we're getting a bit cheesy!

 And, these are the 3 wristbands he wears EVERYWHERE ALWAYS.  The one closest to his hand is the one from our ward that says, "Get Your Own" which is referring to a testimony and we as a ward are reading the Book of Mormon and when we are done we get to turn our wristbands in and put them in a jar.  The next one is one his best friend, John, gave him that is blue and white and the last one is a BYU one he got from Santa.  It's pretty cute how much he loves them.

What a handsome boy!  We sure love you JakeJake.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Jainie wants to wish everyone a very Happy Valentine's Day . . .

and show off her new fancy do - she is excited her hair is so long!

Happy New Year 2012!

I have to admit I am not a big fan of New Year's but it's fun for the kids, so we try to party. :)  We headed over to Mom and Dad's and invited the Henderson's, who came for a bit, and played games and the Wii.  It was great and I was tired but we welcomed in a new year, hopefully less health problematic than 2011 was.  :)

CHRISTMAS!

Well, finally made it to Christmas - which was wonderful!!!  I always love Christmas and especially when it's on Sunday, my favorite.  I love the focus of Christ on Christmas and sometimes when we get wrapped up in the hype it is hard to remember to take a few minutes to really single in on what matters most.  

On Christmas eve we went over to Oldroyd's first and played some really fun "Minute to Win It" games.  And, we had dinner, which was yummy.  Then, we headed to Thalman's where we acted out the nativity.  Jaxon got to read this year, which was great.  Then, it was back home to open our Christmas eve p.j.s.  Which was actually a mess because the kids were all tired and wanted to open something different - they wanted to choose whatever present they wanted, which was not going to fly so after giving them a lecture and threatening them with not opening anything - ever - we all settled down and it ended up just fine. . . 

Well, until pictures and then Jainie got her feelings hurt somehow and Josie was trying to make her smile so we could get pics over with and the boys, well, they are just boys.  (Our pajama theme this year was hot pink and black - which we went with because I found some super comfy pjs for myself that fit my big prego belly that were hot pink and black :)).

The next morning we didn't wake up til 7:30ish.  Baby J woke me up by a good kick in the ribs at about 5:30 and we couldn't fall back asleep but no one else was up so we stayed and waited patiently in bed.  The kids finally came in all excited and ready to go, but Jared wasn't so cooperative and it took him another 1/2 hour to get up.  Then, we headed into the living room to read about the birth of Christ in the scriptures and have family prayer - my favorite part of Christmas.  Then, we headed down to mayhem.  Jared and I had stayed up the night before making breakfast casserole, overnight french toast, & a special scrambled egg thingy so after looking at what Santa brought we headed upstairs to eat our brunch.  It was really good and made me think I should make breakfast more often.  Usually we just have cold cereal on Christmas morning because Santa brings each of the kids their favorite cereal, no matter the cost or sugar content, but this year we decided to switch it up a bit.  Anyway, then, it was time to open a few presents - I had to make sure that all the church clothes got open before we had to go to church!  So, every time it was my turn to choose someone to open a present, I would try to find one of those.  And, we made it!  As soon as the last person opened theirs, we called a break and headed up to get ready for church, which wasn't until 1:00.  It was a wonderful program and I thoroughly enjoyed just sitting and enjoying the wonderful music, grateful I wasn't in charge of anything.  :)

Yes, Jake has a monocle in his eye - well, a made up one, at least.  What do you expect?  A decent family picture with three boys, someone always has to be goofing off, right?  

So, back at home, we changed clothes and headed to Gwood to visit the fam.  We went to see Gma Leila, which was nice and took her our present, then visited and enjoyed seeing what she received for Christmas.  Then, we headed up to U. Ralph and A. Alta's and enjoyed visiting with them before heading back to Mom and Dad's.  There we opened more presents and gave our presents out and visited with Stephen's family a little bit.  And, then, it was time to head to Thalman's for dinner and more presents!  We are very spoiled!  It was great fun - one of the best things about Christmas is enjoying all the family we get to see and hang out with.  We are very blessed to be able to live by both families and enjoy everyone.

After this, everyone was pooped so we headed home to bed.  So, the next day, luckily, Jared had off of work so we woke up and finished opening our presents.  We usually take a couple days to do this, not because we get so many presents but because we are really SLOW! - which suits me just fine.  :)  

As you can see, it was a wonderful Christmas and everyone loved it.  We all got to enjoy each other and had fun playing games and building legos and playing on new electronics.  So, thanks to everyone for the fun Christmas cards, gifts and enjoyable company - I can't imagine a better life!

JOSIE'S 12!?!

How did this happen?  I mean, really? How did she get so grown-up?  How did she get old enough for Young Women's?  Where has the time gone?  Jared and I had a talk about this just yesterday - how we need to freeze time for just, oh, a year or so, so we can get caught up on all the things we are supposed to be doing but the day-to-day gets in the way and slows us down.  On the other hand, it seems Jos has been with us forever - she was such a beautiful, petite, bronzed baby (thanks to the bilibed).  And, she still is - well, beautiful and petite.  :)  I honestly can't imagine life without her.  

So, her birthday dawned and Josie is our early riser - our alarm clock, but I had to get up and make breakfast in bed, before she woke up.  What a challenge!  As I have mentioned, I am a sleeper.  However, since pregnant, less of a sleeper, unfortunately.  Anyway, I beat her up and got her breakfast ready - her request biscuits and gravy.  (She is definitely not my daughter in the eating department - she is not picky at all!  She will eat anything, really, she is the BEST eater in our family).  

She was pleased as punch with her breakfast, which is always nice.  And, somehow, she lucked out - she is pretty lucky - and didn't have school on her birthday!!!  It just happened to be a parent-teacher conference day!  But, just for her and Jaxon, all the other three still had school.  It made it pretty fun.  After opening her present - clothes - we got ready for the day, I had a big day planned.  :)  I decided to take her to get her first pedicure.  We had so much fun - we got pedicures and then splurged and got gel toes.  A first for both of us.  It did take a LONG time - hours!  Josie got to choose her colors first and decided to go festive - with french tips.  But, hers took quite awhile so I decided to go full color - we both LOVED the way it turned out.  However, I had my pedicure first so my nails were soft and 3 of them only stayed on for 1 week - they were supposed to stay on at least a month.  Josie's stayed on much longer - a month or so.  So, if you go to get yours done, don't let them fool you into thinking it doesn't matter if you have the pedicure first or after the gel toes - definitely better to happen before the pedicure.  :)  Either way, they were definitely cute and festive.  And, Josie LOVED her first pedicure!

As you can see, another thing Josie got from her daddy, his toes!  :)  Jared says having the 2nd toe longer than the big toe is a sign of royalty - I say, whatever it takes to make him feel better.  :)

As soon as we got done, Jared and Jaxon were waiting for us.  Josie had decided that for her birthday she wanted to go to the temple and participate in baptisms.  So, off we went to Manti - it was so awesome.  We have never gone just as a family before but I had called a bit before to set up an appointment and off we went.  Jared got to baptize both Jaxon and Josie and I got to hold towels and mop the floor up.  It was such a special experience, one I know I will never forget and I don't think Jos will either.  It was actually pretty funny because Jaxon was about 5'9" at the time and Josie is, well, I will have to check, substantially shorter so Jaxon was a lot more challenging to baptize, whereas, the water went up to Josie's chest, almost, just standing in the water.  The temple workers even commented on it, how all she would have to do is bend her knees a bit.  Anyway, they both also got to have some confirmations and, although, a bit overwhelming for Josie, I know she loved it.  I can't imagine something better you could do on your 12th birthday!  And, neither could she.  :)

Well, how could we top that?  We couldn't so we didn't even try, but we did stop for a treat at the candy store - I got fudge and we shared it.  But, we were in a hurry to get home because both Josh & Jaxon had basketball games that night. 

So, in between the two games we went out to dinner - Josie chose "Pepperbelly's" and it was just the 3 of us.  It was delightful - she is such a fun girl!  This pic is of her ready to go out - in her new birthday outfit.  I don't think it is her favorite, luckily, she can pull off anything.  :)

  

 After Jaxon's game we finally got to have the rest of her party - you can see she was thrilled with her present.  She really wanted a flip camera so she could make diaries for the new baby "J" - like on "Good Luck, Charlie" - it is a wonderful idea and I hope she will make at least a couple - she would give great advice as she is a wonderful older sister.

Some facts about Josie:

                     Favorite color: brown, pink, & purple

                     Favorite animal:  horse

                     Favorite subject in school:  Reading & Spelling

                     Favorite hobby:  Dancing & gymnastics

                     Favorite thing about turning 12:  going to Young Women's & going to

                            temple

                     What she wants to be when she "grows up":  disneyland dancer, disney 

                            princess or elementary teacher

                      Favorite food:  chicken pillows & biscuits and gravy & dad's cooked 

                            salmon

                      Loved being 11 cause she was the oldest in Primary

                      Favorite movie:  "Phantom of the Opera"

                      Favorite actress:  Audrey Hepburn