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!

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!

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???