Best Mom

In honor of my 200th post, I decided to make it a special one. And since it so happens that it's Mother's Day, I am going to dedicate this to my Mom. I'm very grateful to have the mom that I do. I've learned a lot from her. Growing up I knew that she'd always be there for me, even when there were times that I didn't want it. Thankfully though, it never deterred her and she always loved me for me. I've learned from her to love my children through thick and thin and always let them know I'm there for them. She was always faithful and dedicated to any calling she recieved and had a strong testimony of the gospel. She led the way and I've tried to follow in her footsteps. She's a hard worker. She kept a clean house and keeps things clean no matter how busy she is. My house always manages to stay clean whenever she visits- that's an extra bonus when she comes to visit! This is something that I lack but look up to and hope to master one day. She's a good cook and I refer back to her recipes over and over again. She's patient, she puts up with me calling her day after day at work just to chat. I could go on and on about what I've learned fron my mom and it would take up pages. I just want her to know how glad I am to have her as a mom and let her know that I love her very much. I'm a lucky girl to have you!
        Happy Mother's Day to
            the best Mom!

I was fortunate to have my mom with me for all my births with the exception of Josh. She got there when Josh was 5 days old but all the other kids she was right there to see and hold them.

Nate

Josh

Colton

Audrey

This is up at Browne Lake the summer of 2004. Danny was in Iraq and Nate and I was living with them.

This is June 2009 when all the family came to visit us in Missouri. This is at Adam-Ondi-Ahmen

She's true to the name of Grandma because she does love to spoil her grandkids. These are some happy boys after a fun-filled day of  Chuck-E-Cheese

Grandma loves to spend time with us in the hot tub. I'd like to say it's relaxing but with 3 energetic boys in with you it's nothing close to being calm and relaxing. But she puts up with all the splashing cause they love the hot tub. Once boys are out, we've been able to have many good talks, just something about hot tubs that get ya talking.

I promise we didn't talk about wearing white bottoms, it really was a coincidence. I wouldn't be the mom I am to Audrey without my mom and she wouldn't be the mom she was to me if it weren't for her mom; my Grandma.

Lastly, this is a good one of my parents at Kyle and Erica's wedding. This was chosen because of their faithful examples as parents. Although this wasn't their last wedding (Kellen and Holli would soon follow) it does show that they were able to lead all their children into marrying in the temple.
I can only hope to live up the the legacy that she's creating as a mother and grandmother.

May Update

I've been meaning to update the blog for the last few days. I just haven't had a lot of free minutes. So I figured that I'd update you on our lives. We have been busy with the usual stuff: school, church, activities, cleaning, work and so forth. We celebrated Danny's birthday the other day. We went to Bass Pro shops and bought us a tent on his birthday so that we can go camping for Mother's day weekend. We are headed up to Smithville lake for the night. We are all pretty excited. We were able to visit with Danny's dad and Mari this past week. They took us out to our favorite bbq restaurant. The boys have really enjoyed the belt buckles that they gave them. The weather has been getting warmer so we've been outside a lot more. So, we've kind of been boring the last few weeks but here's some pictures of a few things.

The best I could get of the 4 of them just after we had them taken professionally.

Mr. Nathan.

So what has Nathan been up to? He is finishing up first grade. This year went by super fast. He's loving his SAGE class but I think he's ready for a new 2nd grade teacher cause he's had the same teacher 2 years in a row. He recently went work with Danny and he loved it! He was treated pretty well by his dad, got some breakfast, had some snacks, got a happy meal and an ice cream. He really enjoyed his time at the airport. Danny said he would teach him things about generators and navigational lighting aids and he would remember everything. In fact he came home telling me facts about how they work. He's getting to be a young man so quickly.

The tree was really beginning to hurt him.

My little Joshy is growing up. He is finishing up preschool. He told me today that he has 5 days left of preschool. We had a mother's tea social at this preschool this morning. He made a portrait of me and I am so impressed with how he made me. In fact it was so good that I was able to immediately pick out which one he had made from them hanging on the wall. They will soon be doing a graduation ceremony for them so look forward to pictures coming of that. Josh is in a very sassy and a smartalick right now. He's a very spunky boy.

Mr Josh

Joshy is sliding down the slide with his sissy.

This is Josh's purse. One day he was out with Danny cleaning the garage when he came upon this old purse. He was thrilled and came running in and asking if he could have it. So, I figured why not let him have it. Well, he has loved it! He really does carry it around with stuff in it. It's lasted longer than I thought he wold with it and who cares this phase will pass one day. Silly boy!

My Colton is getting bigger every day. He will soon be 3 in 2 weeks. He is really beginning to talk more and more. And it is becoming clearer and crisper. It's just taking him a while longer to talk but that's ok cause then he can't talk back as soon. He is such a momma's boy. He loves to pinch your finger tips as a comfort measure for him. He's so stinking stubborn he likes things his way and there is no changing his mind. We're trying to potty train him but he just doesn't have a desire to do it, he's being a stinker about it. However, he does like to pee on this very tree he's standing in. He is finally going to nursery on his own, the last 2 weeks he's gone on his own. He is a funny boy, he loves to play jokes and tease you, he is going to be the jokester of the family.

Mr Colton

Just examining a bug

Oh, this boys is funny. This is where he sleeps now. This is between the crib and the bunk beds. It's just a few feet wide with stacks of blankets and each night he heads to this spot. He has a full size bed but could care less about that he loves it here. The first night he was just on the floor so the 2nd time he headed there we added some cushioning for him. And now the last few weeks this has been his spot and we let him sleep there cause why fight it. We figure if he's sleeping and happy so are we.

He thinks he's big enough for this but I had to rescue him.

Our pretty girl

My little miss Audrey is growing up so fast. She is 13 months now and walking around like crazy. I love to see her little wobbly walk, it's adorable. She has a pretty smile, but sometimes she makes a funny squinty eye smile that I love. We call her a tornado cause she leaves a trail of destruction where ever she goes. She pulls out all the Tupperware, pulls out pads and tampons out of the bathroom, throws things down the heat vents, down the toilet, eats rocks and dirt, etc. She is just into everything. She loves her mom, she's a mommas girl too but she does love her daddy. She does require some daddy time each day. She can say mom, dad, hi, and ya. Her hair is getting long enough for pig tails and it is adorable in there. She loves being outside and will sneak out any chance she see's when the door is open. She also thinks she's as big as her older brothers and can do whatever they are doing. She's a handful but oh, so fun to have around!

Playing around in the grass

The sight of sugar and spice and everything nice


There you have it. An update of what we've been up to. Now I've got to get a move on and clean and pack up for our camping trip.

Jesse James Geo Cache

I found these pictures the other day from our visit with Grandma and Grandpa. We took them out geo caching when they were here. We found a multi-cache that included all of Jesse James's famous spots. So, we traveled up north to St Joseph, down south to Blue Springs and all in between there. These pictures are of the last cache that was hidden in the mountain side. These are the limestone caves that he would hide all his loot and hide from the law. We had to hike about 1mile to get there but it was pretty easy hike and the weather was just fabulous. This was seriously an all day activty but we all had a lot of fun. We were all amazed at the ground Jesse James covered and all of it done on horse back.

Nate and Josh posing in front of some limestone cave

Colton sitting up one the limestone

The boys sitting together up high

Colton, Grandma and Danny hiking on the trail

Nate, Grandpa and Josh hiking

A cute picture of all the kids with Grandma and Grandpa.

Mommy needed a picture with her beautiful daughter, Audrey

On our way out and so ready for some dinner! (and yes our big Nate is the one sitting in the stroller being lazy)

New Family Addition

We'd like to introduce our newest member of our family: Scarlett.

The kids all love this truck. Audrey is lulled to sleep in it everytime. And Nate loves sitting in the front with us.

Look at how little Audrey looks underneath this truck.

If you notice the tires are as tall as Colton. This truck is a beast! It's a perfect match for Danny!

Josh's 5th Birthday

This is Josh's finished cake that I made the night before. Josh was really happy with his cake. My favorite part is the guy jumping of the plank. 

This was a really fun cake to make. I had a lot of fun doing it but by no means am I a pro at it like Aunt Ronda.

This unfortunately is how it looked the night of his birthday. It had been ship wrecked! I would do things a little different next time but it still tasted great and Josh was still super happy with it all and that's is all that matters.

All set to go with the dart gun that Grandma & Grandpa gave him.

He got a really fun race track from all of us. They've had a lot of fun racing it.

Very happy boy with his new Star Wars Lego Wii game, he has loved playing it.

Although clothes are not that thrilling to get for a kid he was thrilled with his pirate ship shirt.

And again, another shirt but he had to wear this shirt the very next day to school because he loved it. He saw it at Target one day and said he wanted it, well when we were looking for gifts for him they had it on clearance and I knew I had to get it for him. I think Uncle Jas got my boys hooked on these kind of shirts.

Happy Birthday Josh!

Joshy, Joshy, Joshy!!!! Happy Birthday to my Joshy! I can't believe he's 5 years old! He's one of a kind! We love having him in our family. From an outsiders view, Josh seems rather quiet and timid but let me to you, he is not! As my parents found out, this kid is loud, and stubborn. Danny and I laugh cause he has a big vein on the side of his neck that protrudes big time when he's super-duper mad. We swear it's going to pop on him one day because of his anger. But on a brighter note, he has a really pretty smile. In fact the other day he said at the table that "smiling is his favorite thing." He loves preschool even if every single morning he tells me he's not getting out of bed and he's not going to get dressed. But once he eats some breakfast he's much happier and willing goes to school. He honestly has some pretty amazing eagle eyes. He can find so many little trinkets and misc. items outside in grass, dirt or under beds. He can spot animals really easily and just amazes me at all the things that he finds. Josh also has a soft spot for girls. I remember when cousin Sofie was a baby he loved to touch her and kiss her. Then he had a baby sister and he's the same way. He's so sweet and gentle (most of the time) with Audrey. His younger brother is just inches shorter than him. He's our short little guy but he has a lot of spunk in that little body! We love our little Joshy and so glad that he's a part of our family! Happy 5th Birthday Joshy!

Birth
Nate's not sure what to think of his new brother

1
Just out camping in the snow. He looks like such a big boy

2
We start them out young to love the hot tub.

3
Look at that gorgeous smile taken up at Adam-Ondi-Omen

4
This is evidence that he loves his meat.

5
Our spunky Josh today