unloading my phone

I have a plethora of pictures on my phone and email that need to be blogged about, such as:

*For Madeline's 11th birthday, Shawn and I presented her with tickets to a Mindy Gledhill concert.  Maddie LOVES Mindy Gledhill and has bought quite a few of her songs and listens to them frequently on i-tunes.  I was the lucky parent that she selected to bring along with her to the concert (one of us needed to be home with Pace or we would have BOTH taken her.)  It was a fun evening with Maddie - we did get a picture of Mindy and Maddie looking into the camera, but Maddie forbids me using the picture as she thinks it is a bad one of herself:)

 *My SIL, Suzette, has been dating this guy (Kory) since this last summer:

she could probably get a lot more specific as to how long they have been dating ......and it's our big, exciting romance of the decade!! We are so excited that she has met her match at last...  She has waited her whole life for it! And we all really like Kory. Don't you think this would make a great engagement picture?  I think it's beautiful. (I actually stole it from Suzette's blog:)

*Isabelle LOVES to jump rope!  She has started attending a jump roping clinic on Monday afternoons, put on by the high school jump roping team (they're really good!!) Yesterday she was practicing a new trick, but couldn't quite get it.  I borrowed her rope for a minute and showed her how, but she was still having troubles, so I stood behind her (without her jumping) and held onto her arms to show her how her arms were supposed to go. All of a sudden she forgot and actually jumped while I was leaning over her from behind.  My teeth went all the way through my tongue on both sides, and I was seeing stars for awhile.  I'm still slurring my speech because I have to try to talk without moving my tongue - OUCH!!

Belle pausing to talk to her friend Cambrie:

Isabelle is so cute with babies:

When she can't hold Pace, she has one of her dolls, "MaKayla" that she cares for.  The other morning, during scriptures, I told her to sit down, but then I immediately wished that I hadn't said anything.  She was bouncing and holding her baby standing up just as Shawn or I have to do with Pace every morning. I've even heard her sweetly saying to her baby things like, "It's time for tummy time now!"

*Meanwhile, Abram can't get enough of Pace:

This morning he was "helping" me bath Pace.  First he scrubbed his head with that spongy scrubber-thing that they send home with you from the hospital.  Pace was very patient.  Then he helped lotion him all up, putting lotion all over him, but not really rubbing it all in:) When Abram is trying to get smiles he gets right in Pace's face and if Pace turns his head he jumps to the other side and gets in his face again.  It's hilarious!

*I'm enjoying Abram's imagination.  This is what my entry-way table looks like right now:

This is what it looks like after Abram plays there:

Made me laugh.
This is where he sat in the car -  (dinosaur with a car in it's mouth):

The result of what happens to Abe's toys when he plays with them on my vanity. I found this later:

*This was a Saturday job list.  I guess Belle didn't want Pace to feel left out!  She made him a list of tasks to do and even crossed them off throughout the day as he accomplished them. I tried making the pic bigger, but then it just got too blurry:

(Make a diaper, drink a bottle, be happy, smile at whoever's holding him, take a nap)

*Shawn told Caden, when school started, that he wanted him to do some sort of after -school activity- he didn't care what, but he felt like he needed to stay busier. (Caden NEVER has any homework, unless he is helping one of the kids with theirs:).  He's even taking a Trigonometry class this year and still no homework!) Anyway, he told Shawn that he wants to build things.  So he and Shawn put their heads together and they planned out some lockers for the mudroom.  He and Shawn went and cut all the wood for them, and then Shawn left town.  Caden built these all by himself while he was gone:

Under the bench is storage that fits big Tupperware containers for seasonal clothes

I have since added some baskets to the empty boxes, and the kids keep gloves, hats, sunglasses, etc in them.
We love these lockers he built!  Now he is making a few more on the other side of the room, this time designed entirely by himself, and also something for shoes.  I will have to add pictures when the room is completely finished!  Next he is going to make cabinets in the garage. I can't believe what a good job he is doing!!  It's such a great experience for him - he knows his way around the lumber yard and can run a lot -maybe all-of the power tools now.

*These wild turkeys are making a mess of our yard! Literally!!  And the crazy bird-brains keep getting up on our trampoline and leaving great surprises behind... which is unfortunate because the kids really enjoy the trampline the most in the spring and in the fall. Lately, soon after everyone gets home from school, the kids all go out and jump for awhile.  The little boys are very disappointed when Caden can't come jump with them because he hoses off the tramp for them:)

*Nolan made treats for family home evening this week.  He chose Peanut Butter Balls.  I will include the recipe because my kids love them...they are delicious AND nutritious!

 Recipe is as follows:
Peanut Butter Balls
1/2 C. Honey
3/4 C. Peanut Butter
1 tsp. Vanilla
3/4 C. Dry Milk
1/2 C. Oatmeal
1/4 C. Wheat Germ

Roll into balls and eat them up!

Anyway, I got a kick out of Nolan's PB Balls.  Usually we make them large enough that everyone gets about two a piece.  He was so pleased with himself because he made 52 or so of them and figured that THIS TIME everyone would get at least four!!! Some of them were very minute indeed!:

*Last night we went to Kami's choir concert.  Last spring Kami tried out for this choir and she has been really enjoying it!  She accompanied the choir for one of the songs and did a fantastic, flawless job!  She didn't looks a bit nervous, but she said that she has never been so nervous - she felt like her whole body was shaking, even the insides of her stomach!!:) She has never played for such a huge audience before! Kami after the concert with her supportive friends, Carli, Annie, Chloe, and Maryn (who also sang in the choir)

My parents sent these pictures from their mission this morning. Dad  in "the bush".  The path leads the way to a seminary teacher's house.  There are no street signs or anything - you just have to know where it is!:

Mom in one of the chapels.  So many people came to the meeting that there were people that had to stand outside and look in.  Luckily they have the kind of building that they can do that!

At a baptism:  Abram keeps being impressed with the far man on the right's "belly pot".  I'm sure glad we have clothes!!

A group of the local boys that agreed to have their picture taken:

Our Missionaries

This is a real missionary season for our family with lots of family members serving!  My parents who are now in Vanuatu (at least I hope that's where they are - we haven't heard from them since they arrived...):

My niece Abby in North Carolina:

Abby - in the middle

Yep, my little brother, Eli, has a niece that is a year older than he is!  They are great friends:)
My brother Eli in Santiago Chile (although he is still in the Missionary Training Center in Chile:

Eli - third from the left

 My Father and Mother-in-law who are serving their second mission at the Idaho Falls Temple Visitor's Center:

I am having a hard time getting letters written to all of them AND simultaneously keeping up with this blog, plus a Relief Society blog that I am now responsible for, for our ward!  Maybe I will start posting my letters to the missionaries on here?  I will have to come up with something!!

This has been such a great experience for our family- missionary work is on our minds and I notice lots of our family devotionals focus on it (when the kids teach it as well as when we teach it). We have been trying to do more lessons from 'Preach My Gospel' and everyone has been trying to keep the missionaries in mail!

The million dollar smiles

Caden got his braces off a month ago  - Kami went in last week and got hers off too... and I finally caught up with them today after school.  So here are the new smiles- I think they look amazing, and they are so excited to be done with the whole ordeal!!

Caden getting ready to pull a face:

I think braces really did a lot for them, don't you?:)

I think braces really did a lot for them, don't you?:)

Pace gets blessed

Here is a big string of pictures of him for all you siblings that have been requesting to see what he is looking like nowadays...

He's still pretty cute - but boy is it hard to catch a picture of this little wiggly worm!

We all put our heads together after church to try and remember what Pace had been blessed with.  He was blessed to appreciate the love of his family, that all of his siblings would strive to be a good example to him, that he would be a good example to his siblings, that he would preach the gospel, and that he would make all the covenants and receive the blessings of the temple. 

 Pace was as good as gold all through church - sacrament meeting is last - so he was great all before and after his blessing... BUT... apparently he isn't too crazy about his name because he cried all through the blessing:)  Shawn said that he also kept kicking him in the stomach and then lurching away from him, so he was constantly trying to keep from dropping him.  Needless to say, his dad was a little distracted and his blessing may have ended a little sooner than it originally would have:)

This is a good picture for showing off his chub.  I figure he weighs around 11 lbs.  We shall see when he goes to the doctor in a couple more weeks!

Pace with his dad and Uncle Terry

SOME of the kids at our chaotic family dinner!

Another shot from the family dinner,-once the kids were dished up, the adults were finally getting to!

Shawn had all but two of his siblings that came for the blessing.  David and Kelley and their kids even drove up from Utah!  That meant a lot to us, guys - thanks for coming.  Kristi and Terry also were there and Suzette and her boyfriend Kory and his kids.  It was David's birthday, so we had cake and homemade ice cream (made by Caden) for dessert. No one from my family came this time, but I didn't advertise the blessing, either, because I figured that any one that could travel would be heading to the MTC with mom and dad:)

Missionaries

My parents went into the MTC to begin their mission to Vanuatu Port Villa on Saturday.  This will be a new, exciting adventure for them and a whole new phase of life.  They have been full-time parents for the last 43 years!  Most people are finished raising a family long before that!  Eli (their youngest) left on his mission to Chile two weeks earlier.

My dad is a convert to the church, and my whole life he has told us kids that some day he was going to serve a mission.  He has looked forward to it for a very long time...he and mom have sent six sons off on missions...and I am thrilled that they get to go at last.

 Interestingly, enough, however, is that I have been on the verge of tears ever since they left! I didn't realize how much their leaving was affecting me until, on the day they left, I mentioned the fact to one of my friends.  I couldn't say it without crying - which if I had known I would cry, I never would have brought it up!  Later I thought I had things under control, and Caden and I were telling each other about our day.  I told him that I had had a sad day - and started crying again.  He looked a little alarmed because I'm not much of a crier:) I think a lot of us siblings feel the same, because while talking to my sister Katie, she got all choked up, and it was so quiet on the other end that  I thought we had lost our connection. I guess we all get to experience what it's like to be orphans for a little while:)

Vanuatu - a tropical paradise!

Saturday evening I went to the Relief Society Broadcast and there was my niece, Abby, singing with the choir from the MTC!  She looked so beautiful and all official with her name tag on.

This is a missionary season for our family!  Shawn's parents are serving, my parents, my brother, my niece, and soon a nephew.  It is a neat time and I see my own children's minds being turned to missionary work and service.  It will be a real blessing!