Spring Break

Here we are...April already. I love the month of April. It means life is starting to awaken and things are going to be green again. We are getting lots of rain. I do mean lots. I love it though. The kids are home for this week, spring break, it's been a little crazy having them here. One of the things I do love about spring break is not having to worry about waking the kids up. I love having the freedom of sleeping in for a little while. It's hard getting up at 7 when you don't get home from work until 11:30 and to bed until sometimes after 1. Who can come home from work and go straight to bed? I can't. In the past Joe has been the one to get the kids up and off to school. He has to leave by 5:30am now so he can work and then go to school then work they school again then work. He started his masters program this quarter and has long days.

We are going to do a couple of fun activities while the kids are home. Cousins are coming to visit for a few days so we are going to go to the Mobius Childrens Museum which should be fun. I haven't been there but Gabbie has gone with her class at school and says that it's lots of fun. We are also going to go to a jump and play which I just found out is in Spokane. It's hard to keep kids entertained and active, but if I don't make them do stuff they just sit at home watching t.v. or playing video games. Which is how I think Cordin would like spend his week if I let him. They will also be cleaning their rooms. This is an on going battle in our home. I realize that it's their room and they should be able to keep it how they want to, but when I start getting their clean laundry back in the dirty laundry to wash again after I just washed it, it's time to clean and put away the tornado stricken rooms. We'll see how this goes. It should be a mostly fun week.

I'm glad that the kids are here, but by the end of the week I'm sure that I'll be ready for them to be back in school. I love spending time with them and Gideon and Brynwen love having them at home. It does pose a problem with our schedule since neither 'little' kid wants to lay down when big brother and sissy are home, but it's only for a week. I think we can manage. Here's to spring break and having big brother and sissy home!

She's TWO!

Sweet Brynwen Dianne is 2 today. I can't believe how quickly the time has gone by. It seems like just yesterday I had this sweet baby girl. I'm so happy that she is part of our life and wouldn't change a thing about our family. I'm so blessed to have 4 beautiful kids and to be celebrating one today!

I love this one of her eyes. She is so beautiful!

Trying on Mom's hat.


Say Cheese!

What's that?

Watching something at the park.

Pretty Girl!

And no birthday would be compleat without at least

one embarassing picture in the tub!

Silly Girl!

Life is good!

My life has been pretty busy with kids and work and husband and home. It's been nice to keep busy. I know it's been a couple of months since my last post. I've been wanting to write for a while but have been putting it off. Other then everyday life happening, I've started a journey at this web site http://www.myfitnesspal.com So far I really like it. It helps you count the calories that you eat daily and gives you a calorie goal. It tracks your exercise for you and there is a great online community for support. It has really helped me stay on track. I've lost four pounds in 2 weeks. I've been exercising 4-5 times a week and I'm happy. This process is going to take some time, but I know that I can do it. I didn't get to where I am overnight and I know that it will take time to get to my health goals.

Some other exciting news...Joe is going back to school finally. He is all registered for classes beginning the end of this month. He is excited about school and a little nerves. His schedule for this quarter is not going to allow for a lot of free time as he has to take 2 classes. We are going to love and support him though. I know that this is something that he has wanted to do for some time.

Also March is the beginning of our birthdays. Brynwen is going to turn 2 tomorrow. Where has the time gone? I will make the effort to post tomorrow for her birthday.

We are all happy and doing well. Life is good.

My Valentine!

I have to take a few moments to comment on my wonderful husband Joseph. We have been married for almost 12 years now. (I know, where did the time go?) He is such a wonderful man. Since it's technically been 11 years of marriage, here are 11 reasons I love him, in no particular order:

1. He is thoughtful.


2. He cleans the bathroom. (awesome right?)


3. He loves our children.


4. He supports me in my decisions.


5. He is a wonderful provider.


6. He is a hard worker.


7. He's hot.


8. He listens to me.


9. He wrestles and plays with the kids.


10. He works at being the best he can be.


11. He has a testimony of Jesus Christ.


12. He tells me he loves me.

Well, I could keep going. I did add an additional one on there just for good measure. Don't I have the greatest Valentine EVER!

Goodbye 2010...Hello 2011

It's been about a month since my last post. A lot has happened in that amount of time. There have been a few things that happened that have been good and some not so great. Joe's dad fell in the middle of December and has been in the hospital ever since. He hit his head pretty hard and suffered some brain damage. We also fear that since then he has been having mini-strokes. We just heard that he will be going home and will have in home care from Hospice. We will most likely be making a trip down to Utah in the next month or so to spend some time with his dad before he passes.

Christmas Eve was spent at our dear friends the Holloways. It was fun going there. It had been a few years since we had done this so it was nice to spend time with them. Christmas was fun this year. It was pretty much our family Christmas morning, my dad was there, and then my sister and her husband and Kade came over. It was nice having them join us. We had a lazy day in our PJ's and just ate snacks and watched movies and played games. We had Christmas dinner of prime rib, which was so good. Definitely a new tradition.

I had New Years Eve off so we got pizza and watched movies with the kids. We stayed up until midnight and that was pretty much it. For the New Year I decided that it was time to change some things in my life. We got a Kinect system for our XBox 360 which is awesome. I also purchased the Biggest Loser game and have been exercising with it. That is the change I am making. I am going to get this weight off of my body this year. As an incentive for this Joe and I are planning a trip to Hawaii for 14 days. It will just be the 2 of us. I'm so excited about this I can hardly see straight. Talk about motivation. My goal is to lose 100 pounds over the next year to year and a half. I don't know where I'll be in Aug (that's our tentative date for Hawaii) but I know that I will be closer to my goal then I am now. I'm happy to report that I have exercised everyday (except Sunday). I have lost 6 pounds since I started and I know that I can do this. I'm actually enjoying working out. It makes me feel good about myself and yes I do have more energy. I still struggle with eating completely healthy but I'm working on it. The new year has been good so far. I know that there are some sad times ahead but I will keep strong and work hard.

Christmas Came Early

We had Christmas yesterday! It was so much fun. Brooke and Evan are visiting from California so everyone decided that it would be fun to do our family Christmas early this year. We were all together, except for Brent who is on his mission. It has been a lot of fun spending time with everyone. We spent all day Saturday together starting with breakfast followed by sledding, while others went shopping. We then had dinner and then our family gift exchange. We each have a sibling that we buy for. It's lots of fun to see what everyone will get. This year we had Breanne. We got her some children's books and a new outfit for when she starts teaching next year. I'm so proud of her and her accomplishments. She will be teaching K-2 I believe. Bev had us this year and she got us the perfect gift...a date night!








Movie tickets, dinner and babysitting! I'm so excited to use it. Date nights are the best. The kids got to open presents from their aunt Brooke and uncle Evan. Then they got to do stockings. It was so nice to sit and talk to my brothers and sisters. I'm glad that we have good relationships with everyone. Family is such a great blessing.

Christmas Day Dec. 25TH
Christmas day was super nice.  We had a quiet one with just our little family and my dad in the morning.  Bev and Demarco and Kade came a little later in the morning for breakfast.  It was nice to be together and spend the day as a family.  The kids played with there new stuff, and they got a lot of it.  It seems that whenever Joe and I try to do a small Christmas we end up with way more then we thought.  Next year we will stick to our guns and not go stir crazy.  Yeah right :p 
Here are some pics from Christmas morning...

                                          Brynwen and presents.

                                           Joe's Kindel.

                                           Brynwen

                                           Brynwen and her race track.

                                           Prime Rib Dinner...yummy!

                                            Gabbie opening a present.

                                           Cordin opening a present.

                                           Gabbie showing her stuff.

                                           Cordin

                                            My dad.

                                             Christmas tree before.

                                                     Kids and the tree.

 

Brynwen

                                           Gabbie excited.

                                           Cordin excited.

                                           Gideon and his present.

Family at the tree.

                                           Gideon with his movies.

Off!

I have today off. This doesn't happen very often . Normally I'm at work on Saturdays and only get to have the mornings with my family. Today we get to spend the whole day together. We are going to go shopping for a suit for Joe and then I'm taking Gabbie to see Tangled. I'm so excited to see the movie. I've heard really good things about it and it looks cute. So, I get to be home today and I don't have to stress about going to work. I'm so happy about this. Oh, and I have tomorrow off too!

I'm thankful for work free weekends with my family!