Monday, November 29, 2010

The Ninth Month

A friend in my ward gave me this poem and I find it quite fitting and am definitely ready to be the neighbor!

The Ninth Month
by Carol Lyn Pearson

Being a duplex.
I have been happy, my dear,
To loan you half the house,
Rent-free and furnished
As best I could

You have been a good
Tenant, all in all,
Quiet, yet comfortably there,
Tapping friendly on the wall.

But I hear
You have outgrown the place
And are packing up to move
Well, I will miss
The sweet proximity.
But we will keep in touch.
There are bonds, my dear,
That reach beyond a block,
Or a mile, or a hemisphere,
Born of much love and labor.

I approve the move.
And gladly turn from landlady
To neighbor.

November Fun


November started off with a roommate reunion after 13 years. Yes, the pose is cheesy but we did a similar one back in the good ol' days at Utah State and were just trying to relive the past. Of course back then we didn't have kids hanging on us or growing inside us either. It was fun to visit with Amanda, Amber, Chanel and Alli and catch up on our lives. Thirteen years ago we wouldn't have thought between us there would be such heartache, divorces, so many kids and stepkids but yet we're all happy and doing well so what more could we ask for.


The kids love when daddy comes home from work. It is unanimously the "favorite part" of everyone's day.

Although there is no photo documentation I was able to have a long girls day with two of my oldest and dearest friends. We met for lunch at P.F. Changs and visited forever, exchanged our "favorite things" Christmas presents then headed to a movie at Gateway and shopped...okay looked around. I took full advantage of my day off and stopped at Target on the way home to finish a little shopping and visit another friend that couldn't make it. It was great fun and such a nice, much needed break.

We held our 2nd Annual 5K Turkey Trot. I'm afraid the 10 degree weather scared away many of our anticipated participants this year but we still managed to raise around $500 that morning. Next year we'll pray for slightly warmer weather!

Notice the two boys out in front with their shorty shorts on. Hello!

We spent Thanksgiving with Jon's mommy and brothers.

Playdough pies! Yummy!!!

The spread.

Shellie is a great cook and the food was fabulous but I kept trying to remind her that there were only 5 adults and 2 children. It didn't stop her from this menu: turkey, mashed potatoes, yams, green bean casserole, stuffing, corn, grapes, shrimp cocktails, celery/cheese plate, jello salad, homemade rolls, 2 pumpkin pies and an apple pie. I was able to persuade her to ditch the mini corn muffins, Stove Top instead of homemade stuffing, and no butternut squash soup. Wow!

Black Friday at our house was spent putting up baby Austin's crib and the Christmas decor.

I admit I completely scaled back on the decor this year. My back couldn't take it any longer and the idea of having to put it all away just after having a baby made me ill. Luckily all my kids seem to really care about is the tree. They were such good "helpers" decorating the tree and thoroughly enjoyed looking at each ornament and hearing any stories behind them. They make it all worth it.

It finally SNOWED! We woke up Sunday morning to this beautiful white scene. Garrett and Rylee were so excited and spent a good amount of energy playing, running, building, shoveling and rolling in the snow.



I love these little snow babies!

Sunday, November 21, 2010

October Recap


The kids love playing in the rain and the puddles.

To bad I couldn't get a single focused picture.

Oh well, they're still cute even when fuzzy!

A little sibling love!


Ready for costume day at ballet class.


We went on a surprise destination to the Living Planet Aquarium on the 28th. Garrett couldn't stop jumping up and down and squealing when we pulled in to parking lot. HE'S NEVER BEEN TO A REAL AQUARIUM BEFORE or so he kept saying.

"This is the BEST day of my LIFE!" I got from him all the way home. And then of course..."when do we get to come back?"


Garrett's first Halloween parade at Barratt. It doesn't seem that long ago that I was participating in the same parade at the same school. How fun!


Trick-or-Treating at Great Grandma and Grandpa Gray's. It was raining so hard I didn't get many pictures at all.

Hmmmm, what to eat first!

Friday, November 12, 2010

Little Turkey...or something like that!


It's hard for people to understand why this little darling is often referred to as a "turkey" or other colorful expressions by her own mother. Let me give you a recent sampling of why...

Yesterday after not buying cotton candy at the gas station: "Mama, you are NOT pretty!"

Later that day while affectionately playing with my hair and in a sweet, sing song voice: "Mama, you are a big, fat, heavy girl!"

Today I asked her to pick up her scissors and pencil that were under the table: Sarcastically, NOT sweetly "Why of course your majesty!"

That's just what she's said to me.

Jon's gotten: "If you don't get me a drink I'm going to pee on your tie!"

Garrett frequently gets: "You stupidy" (stupid is a big no-no word at our house but appears to be one of her favorites so she adds a "y" or something else on the end so she claims she's not actually saying stupid).

There's been our share of hair pulling, hitting, kicking, and tantrums...from Rylee too. A recent tantrum left me laughing out loud which only amplified her outrage to the point her face was shaking and turning purple from screaming. I walked out of her room, got some warm milk and laid down on her bed with her. Ten seconds later she's stroking my hair and says, "Mama, I loves you so much!" Good thing she's so cute. Any suggestions???

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

The REAL Birthday


Garrett's actual birthday on the 15th! We still decorated and opened more presents. His big present was a surprise when he got home from school. He left his room looking like this...

and came home to his Animal Safari room.

Okay it's not completely finished as there will be a crib and furniture rearrangements in the future but Garrett couldn't have been more happy. He just kept jumping around and thanking me for the animal room.
That afternoon Garrett had invited his buddy Doug and Rylee to go bowling.

They were so cute cheering each other on. Rylee ended up beating both the boys and luckily the two boys tied so EVERYBODY one. Then we came home for pizza and playing.

Garrett had a great time and is so loved by all of us.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY GARBEAR!

Garrett's Early B-day Party


We celebrated Garrett's 6th birthday a little early so Daddy could be there. Garrett was so excited with his alligator cake (yes, that's what it is if you couldn't tell).

He picked out an Animal Planet theme and we had all the cousins and grandparents over for cake and ice cream. He loved all the attention and of course the presents weren't to shabby either!

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

My little dancer


Rylee has asked about taking dance classes and when I finally found one (thanks to cousin Becca) that I felt was totally age appropriate I signed her up! She was ecstatic to get new dance gear and head off on her first day. Look how stinkin' cute she is!
I don't think she did a single thing in the class, she's shy you know, but she came home and showed me all her "moves".

Labor Day Fishing



Jon woke the kids up at 5:00 am on Labor Day to take them fishing. They were so excited to go with Daddy and didn't complain at all about the early departure. They were gone until 3:00 and had a blast. The first place they stopped at didn't offer much and so they decided to try another spot and as before they got the second pole cast they had already caught one. The fish just kept coming and they all got to reel in several. Fishing doesn't get better than that.


Jon said it was the best day of his year. These little ones LOVE their Daddy!

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Garrett goes to Kindergarten


My little baby Garrett started Kindergarten today! He was so excited he was up at 6:30 and had his backpack ready.

I got a little choked up as he headed through the doors but couldn't even shed a tear because he was so happy to finally be there.

Hopefully his eagerness and energy last for the next 17 years!!!
Isn't he handsome?

Garrett and his friend Sydney.

Monday, August 30, 2010

End of Summer


Before Garrett went to school we finished off the summer with a little fun. My parents gave us an early Christmas gift with the "pass of all passes" so we went miniature golfing at Trafalga in Orem.

Then we hit the Trafalga in Lehi. They could have stayed all day...

unfortunately it started POURING and they closed. But it was a great two hours while it lasted!


We went to Hogle Zoo with Crystal, Sydnee and Marin.

It was the perfect day. The first day I could stand out in the sun and not sweat to death for quite sometime. We packed in a picnic, went to the bird show and got to see some animals in action! We stayed for 4 1/2 hours it was so great.


Finally, we hit a Orem Owlz baseball game. The kids really don't get the whole concept yet but they just think it's cool sitting in the stands with a tub of popcorn and "randomly" clapping and yelling.

Friday, August 20, 2010

Ward Campout

August 20-21st we headed to Mapleton for our ward campout. We went last year and the kids had a blast so we couldn't pass it up this year.

They love to pack their sleeping bags, water bottles and their own flashlights!

Most of my Laurels happened to be there so we had to get a group shot. I'm glad they like me..they are such awesome girls!!!
Jessica Carlson, Isabelle Colledge, Me, Brianne Baugh, Mariah Johnson, Elena

It's amazing what a light beam and smoke create!

Me and my kiddies!

Rylee getting a little help roasting a marshmallow from Daddy. Of course, she didn't actually want to eat it afterwards.

Cheese!

Giving Dad a morning hug to thank him for taking us camping. Even though I got ZERO sleep (note to self: no more camping when pregnant) it was totally worth it to see these little ones have such a ball with dirt, rocks and sticks.

A little family picture...with Ike! He's such a cute kid!

Heading out on a forest adventure....
Joseph Thomas, Michael Garrett, Rylee, Garrett, Ike Olsen, Doug Garrett

My twin Kim and I couldn't let a camping experience get in our way of dressing matchy matchy. We tend to always be wearing the same things - at least 70% of the time. It seriously cracks us up. Although hard to see, it's not JUST black hoodies, they're NEW YORK hoodies we got on separate trips to the Big Apple.