Frosty the Snowman

Last Thursday I agreed to let the kids go outside and play in the snow. The boys have been begging me to build a snowman and that is exactly what they did. They built the whole thing all by themselves! I asked if they wanted help but they informed me that they could do it. So I sat back, took pictures and watched my two boys work together! I only helped get the the carrot, raisins. I was really impressed with how well they did on building him! Jack informed me that he needed an hat and broom because a snowman always has those things! I sure do love my boys! It is so nice sometimes to just be able to enjoy my kids and forget about all the many things I have on my to do list.

Friday was a great day, Sam didn't have school so it was so nice to be able to cuddle and talk with each one of my kids in their beds that morning instead of running around rushing making sure everyone eats breakfast, gets dressed, brushes their hair, brushes their teeth, goes to the bathroom, piles on the winter coats, boots gloves and hats, has homework done and in the backpack and is ready to be out the door at 8:30 in the morning! I am looking forward to tomorrow also as there in no school again!

Today was our ward conference in church and it was wonderful! There were several talks on teaching our children the gospel, teaching them to recognize the spirit, showing genuine interest in the things that are important to them, developing and maintaining personal relationships of trust and love with each child, setting good and consistent examples of the values and behaviors you want your children to acquire and implementing those values that are important to you with repetition and most importantly love. I realize just how important is is for us as parents to love and teach our children the ways of our Heavenly Father. I am so grateful to my Father in Heavan for trusting me with his precious children! I love each one of my children and feel so blessed that they call me mom! Jack told me tonight "Mom, I love you through and through!" He remembers those words from a book they got for Valentines Day, but just the fact that he said that to me melted my heart! I realize that my kids tell me countless times a day that they love me but sometimes I just reply I love you too without thinking much of it. I want each one of my children to know just how much I love them and how much I love hearing those sweet simple words come out of their mouth!

Our oldest

It is hard to believe that Samuel is almost six years old! He keeps reminding me that on March 19th it will be his birthday! He has adjusted well to moving and to his new school. He is still the most caring kid I know. He will go out of his way to make someone happy. He is still a very picky eater but lately has realized that fruit snacks, skittles and starburst candies aren't that bad after all! Maybe he will come around to liking fruits and vegetables someday! He has a big texture issue with foods. If it is chewy, gummy or rough he won't even try it. He has been this way since he was a young baby....hopefully he will outgrow it! I know that next year when he goes to school all day I am going to have to pack a lunch for him everyday, it is very unlikely he will eat school lunch!

Some of the things Samuel is interested in: star wars, beyblade spinning tops, dragons, being read to (he is getting better at reading a few worlds by himself), math, talking about bodily functions (what is with kids this age and talking about this?!?!) Jack does the same thing and they think it is the funniest thing in the world! Despite the fact that he talks about his bodily functions he is the sweetest boy and we are so blessed to be able to watch him grow! He is definitely a big brother and does his job well....telling the other two what to do and also comforts his sister when she gets hurt.

It is hard to even imagine my life without this kid! He brings so much laughter and joy into our home. I realize more and more that these years go by all too quickly and that I need to relax and not worry so much about the little things, because in the end, all that matters is that I took the time to teach my children, to be with my children, and to love my children unconditionally!

ADORABLE!

We might be a little biased, but we think that our little gal is the most adorable, sweetest, cutest little thing on the planet! Look at those baby blue eyes with that strawberry blonde hair!! I showed this picture to Jake and he told me that I must email it to him so he can have it on his laptop. After that he went right into Ava's room, where she was sleeping, and picked her up and told her how much he loved her! I think somebody likes having a daughter!

Back from my blogging hiatus!

We are finally moved into our new home and finally now have a reliable internet! Up until yesterday, we had been using a wireless internet that is super slow and I was not able to upload any pictures! We are finally starting to feel settled into our house and we are loving it. The remodeling process in a big pain but it will be oh so worth it in the end!

We have had so many things happen in the past several months including, remodeling two bedrooms, our living room and dining room. Sam and Jack started their new schools, Jack turned four, Ava turned two, Samuel lost his very first tooth and is about to lose his second. Sam and Jack both advanced in their primary classes. We were asked to speak in our new ward with three days notice. Jake has gone back to school and is taking full load of 15 credits as well as working full time and remodeling our house all at the same time. Jake spoke in Sam's kindergarten class about Argentina. I have volunteered in Sam's class. Ava is finally starting to chatter more and more and she is FINALLY almost 20 lbs!! We have signed up and committed to run ragnar wasatch back in June. I am really excited to be running a race with the love of my life! Now we have four months to train for it.....wish us luck!

We are loving our new house and neighborhood! It is the perfect mix of young families like us and those that have been here for 25 years+. We love the tall mature trees that you get from an older neighborhood. Even though we swore we would never buy an old house again we love it and feel so blessed that we found it when we did. Jake is doing a wonderful job of making a house a home and turning it into our very own!

I have so many pictures from the past three months....who knows how I will ever get caught up! Here is a recent picture of my baby....who is, I am sad to say, not a baby at all anymore! All three of my kids refuse to stop growing every time I ask them to!

Thanks goodness I can blog again...I will be back soon!

Our family Vacation

Last week we had the opportunity to go to California and go to Disneyland, Sea World, Universal Studios and the beach, we also had the zoo pass but ran out of time! There was way too much to cram into one week! Thanks to my parents for letting us use their time share we had an awesome hotel room at the Marriott in Newport Beach. Jake's brother and his family joined us which made it more fun for the kids since they had cousins to play with. Here is just one picture that I had to share! I have to get more up later when I have more time. We are moving into our new house on Friday.....cannot wait, we are so excited about having our own house even if it is old and smaller it is ours and thanks to my handy husband he has already started to turn it in a home!

The V Family

These beautiful girls are my nieces! Their mamma asked me to take some pictures of them while we were in salt lake...look at how adorable those outfits are?!?! Apparently red hair does run in our families! The lighting was perfect and we got some great shots! Sorry it took me so long to get some pictures up, we have been soooooo busy remodeling our house. Hope you like them!

The B Family

I was able to take some pictures for another friend here in Vernal. My boys love playing with these boys, look at how adorable they are! A family of four boys and they have a set of twins....they do keep their mamma busy! Thanks again for letting me take your picture.