happy Birthday Trenton

Today is my oldest son Trenton's birthday. He is 7 years old today and such an important part of our family. He is the funnest kid so full of life. He was the first boy and such a blessing to Brian and I. I remember bringing him home from the hospital and feeling so complete, like my family had girls and a boy now..little did I realize 2 more precious spirits would be joining us.

Trenton is a great little athlete and loves to run. He could outrun anyone on his t-ball team last year and his skinny little legs would almost move faster than the rest of him. He is my snuggler boy and loves to get cuddle time when he wakes up in the morning before school. He's very smart and picked up reading immediately. He loves video games and always being the winner..hmmmn, wonder where that comes from? He is a great friend and loves to go play with friends  and cousins.  He is joy and I am so privledged to be his mother and be able to raise such an outstanding kid. Happy Birthday Trenton

We're BACK!

Cousins playing indoor glow in the dark mini golf.

Trenton getting medical care from my sister Janay after he got whacked with a hockey stick.

The girls ice skating.

Jared #14 playing in his tournament. 

We are back and school has resumed. It was a bit of a relief to have things go back to normal after a long winter break. We have so much SNOW!!!! I was brave and took my kids on a roadtrip to Northern California for a week. My sister lives in Dublin. ( the east bay) We had a good time and everyone was really great on the trip, even Claire did exceptionally well. We went to Jake and Jared's hockey tournament in San Jose and it was fun to see them compete. My brother in law took them to see the movie Bedtime Stories and we took them to Super Franks indoor play area, where they played glow mini golf. I even took them to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo, Ca where we all pretty much froze and were super glad we didn't have Claire with us..she stayed home with my sister. It was a long drive (2 days ) but so worth it to visit my one and only sister. We hope they will come and visit us next time! Hope everyone had a great New Years. Now I gotta go and check out everyone's blog and see what everyone's been up to.

Christmas 2008

this was so cute at the Christmas program these cute little guys sang "jinger bells"

What a wonderful Christmas we had. We went down to the valley, attended Macey's baptism the Paynes baby blessing , Tates Birthday, Miley's blessing, Forgotten Carol's and Christmas..along with many other get-togethers. We stayed at my parents rental home and it was so nice to have our own place to mess up and we sure did! I got the 24 hour flu on Tues. but felt better by Christmas. We had a great Christmas and enjoyed all of our extended family that we were able to see. Unfortunately, Brian's Uncle passed away during our trip down there and he went to attend the funeral in Colorado after Christmas. We are off today on another adventure..just the kids and I this time to drive to my sisters in N. California..we'll be back in time for school! Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas.

Claire with my friends son Chase...how cute!!

My present under the tree...Claire!

So I just returned from Texas. I took Claire to meet some of my best girlfriends. I had a great time and was glad to be only traveling with her. I got to celebrate my best friend, who I've known since I was 4, Tiffanee's 40th birthday and it was alot of fun. I also got to see my best friend Donna, I met while living in Japan so long ago. Her husband was in the Navy and we worked together at the preschool. I enjoyed having a little getaway and came home to lots and lots of snow. Today is our 3rd day off of school in a row because of snow. I don't think we have ever had 3 days in a row. Brian and I got some shopping done and will be going down to the valley soon to get away from this weather and spend Christmas with family. Merry Christmas everyone..in case I don't blog for awhile!!

Just a few things.....

Today was a really special Sunday because I bore my testimony at church after Brian was nudging me saying I should get up there. Then afterwards my sweet Trenton boy went up and bore his testimony for the first time. I was so proud. It really made me feel like my efforts in teaching him has been so worth it. I hope my other children can someday feel the desire in their hearts to share their feelings too. Yesterday was an emotional day too as I traveled down to Phoenix to see my beautiful daughter Melissa compete for "nationals" in Mesa. She has been having alot of problems with her fractured wrist and has had alot of stress lately with school work and the demands of cheer/practice. She has manged to keep straight A's and still be on student council and practice SOOOO much for this competition. They did not make nationals but had fun and did a good job. Some other things I want to post about in my blog (journal) is about Zane sticking a bead up his nose a few weeks ago.(why do kids want to stick things in their nose?) He was calm and went in to tell Brian he had something stuck in his nose. Brian quickly called for me and I was beginning to panic thinking we were about to take another trip to the ER. Luckily, I have a friend in the neighborhood who is an ICU nurse..even though I am sure she deals with WAY more intense things than a "BEAD IN THE NOSE" she was able to extract the thing, boogers and all and he was fine. Claire had her 6 mo. checkup the other day (yes, my baby is already 6 months!!!) She was just so happy and enjoying her visit and then they gave her a book and she knew immediately what to do with it!! She, and all my children are such a joy in my life, a sweet, wonderful gift from a loving Father in Heaven. I am so thankful that He has sent them to me and entrusted me with their sweet spirits. 

THANKSGIVING 2008

THE GIRLS KICKIN' IT
Lacey and Carrie getting stuff ready.
Audra..fresh bun in the oven!
The 3 newest girls..Miley, Claire, and Elsie

I have been having a really hard time blogging lately. Everytime I have tried the last 5 times I have had some kind of problem. I don't know but it  might be that my blog has a virus..Is that even possible? We had a great Thanksgiving down in the valley. We stayed at my parents and had turkey at their house the day before and then we went to the McCleves for the big day and it was so nice. Debbie and Lonnie did lots of work putting it on and everyone brought dishes to add to the feast. It was great to see everyone and for the cousins to be able to have some fun time together. The next night we joined them at the temple lighting ceremony and Brooke White ( from american idol) was there to turn on the switch. We even saw some protestors across the street, maybe 50. The temple was packed and so absolutely beautiful. We went to Nielsens custard after and enjoyed a treat. ( Thanks Lonnie) We went to The Keg the next night to celebrate Lacey's 19th birthday. The food was delicious. ( Thanks again to Lonnie and Debbie) we had such a great time and can't wait to see ya'll at Christmas!

thanksgiving pictures