Day After Christmas

We went out the day after Christmas to open presents with Yates' side of the family. We had a lot of fun hanging out, playing games, the kids got to get pulled behind JD's Rhino on tubes and of course eating good food! There's always lots of fun times when we all get together and this was no exception...we got mooned by JD, had some Nintendo DS Guitar Hero and X-Box 360 fun and enjoyed watching a rare sight...Yvonne gave Nick a Christmas present this year...it was nothing big, but the fact that a present was given was a surprise in itself! Nick felt a little guilty for not having gotten her anything, so when he and Yates went to go get sodas he bought her a chocolate covered cherry. He brought it back to her and told her Merry Christmas! We all had a good laugh! We had lots of fun with all the new babies...Titan, Jaybin and Mylie were all born within 3 months of each other and are getting to be old enough to have fun with!

Christmas Day

The kids woke up bright and early Christmas morning...alright no earlier than normal, but I still think 7:00 AM is early for them to be up. We got right up and started opening the haul. Although things were tight this year, I think the kids made out just fine (to say the least). Yates and I had agreed we weren't buying any presents for each other this year and we stuck to it. We only had gifts for the kids and it was so much fun! We ended up actually spending less (even though we had a third child to buy for), we just scaled back the presents themselves and got them things they needed and let the grandparents and Santa get them the toys!

Tucker got rollerblades and a Mario Kart game from Santa for his Nintendo DS Lite that magically reappeared a few weeks ago! McKinlee got a Disney Princess scooter from Santa and Titan got a Jumperoo. They all LOVED their Santa gifts! Titan spent about 3 hours Christmas Day alone jumping in his new little toy...that kid LOVES TO JUMP!!!

The kids all got new BEAUTIFUL RAG QUILTS that my mom had made for them to fit each of their beds. Since Tucker and McKinlee are in the same room for now she made them both match the wall color in their room so they will complement each other, but still be definitely boy and girl for when they have their own rooms. Poppa Nick got all the kids new cowboy boots and NanaVon bought them Wrangler's and shirts (except for Titan who got a new swimming fishie crib toy and a knitted hat). Poppa and Nana Murray got Tucker a huge wooden Anaconda jointed snake with paints to personalize it, McKinlee got an Ariel round chair, Titan got a fireman's hooded towel and we got a glass pitcher with a recipe for some Lavendar Lemonade...I'm excited to try it!!! I have yet to find something that Momma Murray makes that I don't like. We got Tucker some new church shoes and McKinlee needed shoes period so she got tennis shoes, brown shoes and black shoes for church. She's been wearing a size 5 and we've known for awhile they were too small, but have kept putting off buying new ones. Well, when I went to try on size 6 shoes they were too small too!!! EEK!! We ended up buying size 7 shoes...the poor girl has been wearing shoes 2 sizes too small and hasn't said a word! Tucker got a new coat and Star Wars shirt, McKinlee got a Baby Alive doll that is "potty training" and Titan got a LeapFrog toy that teaches him parts of the body. They all got books, Tucker and McKinlee's were sticker learning books and Titan's was a cloth bear book with rattles. The kids all got lots of games from cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents. It was a fun day and I promise the kids played with EVERY SINGLE THING they got that day! Thanks to everyone for a GREAT CHRISTMAS!!!

Christmas Eve

We hadn't taken the kids to see Santa this year (or any of his helpers). On Christmas Eve, our friend Brandon called and asked if the kids had seen Santa. I told him no. He said his dad was dressed in his suit and just sitting in his car in front of his house and wondered if I'd like him to come over to see our kids. Of course I said YES! It was so fun...he came right in and McKinlee ran away as fast as she could and said she was scared of Santa. Tucker immediately said, "You're not the real Santa!" He played right along and said that Santa has to have lots of helpers, while neither confirming or denying that he was Santa. It was great! We finally forced McKinlee to sit on his lap (only because Tucker and Titan were going to sit with her). She did okay and then it was Titan's turn to freak out! I kept telling the kids how lucky they were that Santa came TO THEIR HOUSE!

McKinlee continued to be scared the entire rest of the night. When Yates tucked her in that night she told him that she didn't want Santa to come back to our house. She didn't want any presents. Yates told her that Tucker would take all her presents if she wanted him to have them and she told him that would be okay. She just didn't want Santa anywhere near her! How sad is that? Well, of course he snuck in anyway and left her a little gift.

Thanksgiving 2008 Collage

Since it won't blow up to view it if I put it in the actual Thanksgiving post. :)

Thanksgiving 2008

There are lots of updates below so don't stop at this first one!

What a fiasco! We had Thanksgiving at our house to help with the travelling for the two of us with little babies! It's a holiday that we're supposed to give THANKS for...I surely am...I'm giving Thanks that it's over! j/k I have a lot to be thankful for and my family rates #1 on my list! It was a lot of fun to have everyone (minus my sister who exercised her right not to come) at my house! It was a full house and every bed was all filled up but we had lots of fun hanging out and enjoying all the grandkids. Little Dax and Titan are only 2 weeks apart and they're both TANKS...I thought Titan was a big boy until I saw Dax. He outweighs him by at least 1-2 lbs and is longer. Such cute little cousins! Enjoy the pictures stolen straight off my brother's website...thanks for taking all the pictures!!! We went to the park and let the kids run around, went to Mesquite for all-you-can-eat crab buffet and watch some moto-cross at the track there, enjoyed our traditional deep-fried turkey (and had hardly ANY leftover after dinner was over), we juggled kids so those who wanted to could all go see Twilight and ate lots and lots of yummy food!!! Yates had to work, but they were good about letting him come home occasionally during his shift to eat and enjoy family!

What a helper!

I was washing Tucker's blankie the other day and obviously I wasn't getting it in the dryer fast enough for him. He decided to "help me out". This is what I caught when I went to see what he was up to.

P.S. After being lost for almost 10 months, we have found Tucker's Nintendo DS Lite!!! Santa got it for him last year for Christmas and he only had it a few months and it disappeared. It was on the list for Santa this year, but since it has now been found Tucker has had to adjust his "wish" list!

Let it Snow, Let it Snow

Our annual snowfall happened this last week and the kids took advantage of it as always! We hauled the snow stuff out and they have been out there for the last 3 days frolicking. The other little boy by Tucker in the pictures is a little boy that we've been watching for about a year and a half and the kids just love playing with him!

Tucker made a little snowman all by himself after he came home from school on Monday and asked me for a carrot for it's nose. I got him the carrot and then had to go nurse Titan. He came back in and needed a hat/scarf for Mr. Frosty and I told him he was going to have to wait for just a few minutes while I fed Titan. I finished and he went outside to check and his poor Mr. Frosty had tipped. He was so upset with me and told me, while choking up, "If you had just got me his hat and scarf he wouldn't have tipped over!" I felt so bad for him!

McKinlee is 3!

I'm home sick today, so what better time to update our blog? McKinlee just turned 3 and she was so cute. She's old enough to really enjoy the "special day". She's been waiting and waiting to turn 3 because she'll get to go to school when she's 3 (too bad that's not until next August...poor thing)! McKinlee is still so little! At her well-child visit last week she weighed 28 lbs (10% percentile) and was 36.5" tall (25% percentile). She got 2 shots and was so brave for the first one and then had a minor meltdown for the second one.

She is still Miss Independent and will absolutely REFUSE to let you help her do anything. She's a "big girl" and can do it herself. She's completely potty trained and has only had 1 night-time accident since she decided to start using the potty full-time. She loves to do anything her big brother is doing and gets upset if he won't let her play along. She is such a sweet little girl and loves to ask us to "snuggle wif me" when we're putting her to bed. She talks very well for her age and is pretty easy to understand. She likes to discipline us when we do "naughty" things. We don't let the kids use "naughty" words like stupid, shut up or butt. I was talking to Yates this morning on the phone while the kids were eating breakfast and said, "butt" and Tucker immediately caught me and told me not to say the "b" word. McKinlee piped up and said, "Yeah, mommy don't say a "b" word!" She loves to make Titan smile and laugh and is so proud that she can do it. She has always been phsyically beautiful and she gets commented on it everywhere we go. We sure love her and are so glad that she's a part of our family!

Happy #3!

All I Want for Christmas...

...is my two front teeth. --Titan

Oh wait...he just got them! Titan just cut his first bottom tooth on the 11th and the second one came poking through on the 14th! It's so early compared to my other kiddos (who didn't cut teeth until around 10 months old) that I've been really caught off guard! He's back to a super erratic schedule (up 3 times last night, even WITH Tylenol before he went to bed) and he's a biter now! Arghh! He's still such a smiley baby and the kids can make him laugh at any of their silly little antics.

Tucker has struggled with wrestling after starting out really well, but he's TRYING his best he says so we're not making a big deal out of it. He's in Kindergarten so we figure it's not the time to be those "competitive parents" that we see all around. He gets so excited when he wins and as long as he gets a medal he's stoked at the end of each tournament. His last tournament is this Friday and will end the 3-nights-a-week wrestling craziness for our family.

His first parent/teacher conference was this last week and his teacher said he's a super smart boy and only marked him down in 2 areas. Guess which two? (Hint: for those who knew Yates as a little boy, you probably know the answer) ...here we go... 1. Listens attentively 2. Stays on task.
Does that surprise anyone who knows Yates? Didn't think so! They called him ADD boy when he was young because he struggled paying attention in class. He's gotten much better as a "grown up", but it's hard work still for him to focus sometimes when he gets bored.

McKinlee is a chatterbox extraordinaire! She is CONSTANTLY asking questions and just talking to talk. You can forget watching anything on tv, reading a book, listening to the radio...mostly ANYTHING without her demanding answers to all her questions. She also screams...ALWAYS and FOR EVERYTHING!!! Tucker enjoys making her scream and our house is always full of noise thanks to the two of them.

Yates and I are enjoying the kids and our schedule is always hectic to say the least. I work in the mornings, while he handles the morning activities with the kiddos (getting dressed, homework for Tucker if he has some that still needs done, and getting Tucker off to school). Then I run home for him to get ready for work and he works until after the kids and I are in bed while I do the afternoon/night stuff (dinner, baths, wrestling practice, homework with Tucker and sometimes try to clean...lol). We see each other on Saturday and Sunday for the most part (and every other Friday with the new patrol schedule they're on). Our stake boundaries just got re-aligned and we are in a new ward now. I just got my calling and I am the Teachings for Our Times Relief Society teacher. It's the 4th Sunday lesson and a calling I am very familiar with (since that's what I was in our old ward too). I teach in our new ward for the first time this next Sunday and am a little nervous about not knowing everyone again, but I'm sure it'll pass and I'll be just fine.

Our lives stay super busy, but we get bored if we're not always on the go. The closer it gets to the holidays the harder I'm having to focus on the things that MATTER! It seems like life gets in the way of enjoying the every day things we do sometimes.

It's the Long Awaited UPDATE Post!

I used to be so good at updating our blog, but lately I've been slacking. Once you've finished this marathon update post you will understand why. We have been BUSY!!! Hold on to your hats and get ready for the ride through the last month of our lives! There are TONS of pictures, but really isn't that what everyone wants to see anyway????

As most of you have already seen...we got our family pictures done in Kanab with Yates' side of the family. We're having them done again with my side of the family when they come down for Thanksgiving because there are lots of big changes on both sides of the family since we did them last. Here are some favs besides the ones that are already on the blog.

The whole clan (Top row: Nick, JD, Yates, Brett and James. Second Row: Yvonne, Jeri K holding Miley, Me holding Titan, Roxi holding Jaybin and Nicole. Bottom row: Krysha, Devin, Kyeron, Tucker, McKinlee and Maddie)

The grandkids:

Then we have the sighting in of the guns for the "big hunt". Yates drew out again this year for the deer hunt and I didn't put in. I was being stubborn because of last year's accidental mis-firing and consequent argument with the husband and had promised myself I wasn't going to put in. I kept true to my word and was the only one who suffered! :( I suck and am totally and completely stubborn and dumb! Enuf said! Since I can't work when Yates is gone, we all went along with him and took the trailer out for the last camping trip of the season. We took the camera, but I must have hidden it well because there are no pics of the actual hunt or the camping fun. Yates did shoot a 4x4 deer with a big body that ended up being 114 lbs all dressed out, but we didn't get ANY meat!!! The butcher we took it to said it had "sour bone" and the meat wasn't good. It was a super fat deer and had been eating in a big hay field right before Yates shot it and after talking to a few people, including our regular deer butcher, we think it's probably because their freezer wasn't cold enough for all the deer he was trying to pack in there and so it kept the meat too warm too long. Anyway, what a waste! Here's cute Tucker taking a few shots on the .22. He got a little too close to the scope and when it kicked it nailed him in the eye and left a little mark for a few days. tee hee...lesson learned early. :)

Then we had Paul & Liz come down from Herriman for a week and we spent lots of time hanging out with "The Network" (LOL). We got pictures of all the kiddos chillin' but I must have not thought it important to get all the adults. We're not as good looking as our kids anyway. j/k

Left to right: Maci, Ellie, McKinlee holding Titan, Tucker and Isabella holding Mckaylee

Mckaylee looking gorgeous as always:

Dezie (Kyle & Josie's new baby):

I volunteered in Tucker's Kindergarten class to help with their Halloween Party and it was so much fun. I must say I was extremely under-dressed. The other "room moms" that were regulars had all dressed to the hilt in some pretty amazing costumes, but they were a blast and the kids all had fun!

Next up is pumpkin carving spectacular. We deviated from our fancy pumpkin tradition and just did regular ole' faces on our pumpkins this year. That may have had a lot to do with the fact that we carved them Halloween afternoon before heading out to trick-or-treat. We, of course, had to do some posing in front of the beautiful flowers showing off the kiddos and their masterpieces.

Then we have an introduction to Ironman, our Indian Princess and the toughest football player you've ever seen! We went to a Tri-Ward Trunk-or-Treat at the church and let the kiddos run around and then just came home and let Tucker go with some neighbors around the neighborhood. P.S. Yates even got into the action this year and scared the living daylights out of trick-or-treaters (only the older kids...AND McKinlee) with his costume. Our friends Brandon & Jessie also dressed up and their little boy, McQuade, came over to stink up the place.

Tucker has also started Little League Wrestling again. We weren't sure if he was going to want to do it again or not. He did really well last year as a preschooler, but got tired of it by the end and said he didn't want to do it this year. We took him to his first practice last Thursday and he was going at it so we signed him back up. He had his first tournament on Saturday and won ANOTHER gold medal to add to his collection from last year! Yates was able to come to this tournament and I know it always means a lot to Tucker for him to be able to be there. For those who don't know...Yates was quite the wrestling stud growing up and did VERY well all through High School placing in state EVERY YEAR! I always wanted basketball players, and I guess they still could be (they don't have any basketball programs for kids as young as Tucker is), but he's already proving to have a knack for wrestling. Tucker's a lot more aggressive this year and even though he got hurt in his last match at the tournament he didn't quit or give up...he finished his match and won!

Titan is also 5 months old tomorrow! Holy moly how time has flown. He's starting to lose his baby look and is starting to look more toddler'ish. It makes me so sad how short of a time they're really "little babies"! He's still a champion sleeper, although he has his days where he decides to keep my on my toes and sleep bad. We also just barely started putting him to sleep in his bassinet on his back. He has slept up to this point in his carseat, but is starting to get too big to be comfy in there. He is eating rice cereal really well and will actually eat it fairly thick so he sort of has to "chew" and will tolerate me putting veggies and fruits into his rice cereal. He doesn't like the fruits/veggies plain too much yet...I don't know if it's the strong flavor they have on their own or what, but I'll be happy to mix them for now. He's pulling on anything he can get his hands on to try to pull himself over or to try to sit up (unsuccessfully) and likes to sit in his little "bumbo" seat and look around and play with his toys. He is very ticklish and will giggle and smile when the kids talk to him and play with him. His favorite thing by far are his toes and likes to be undressed down to his diaper so he has easy access to them to munch on. Overall he's such a good little boy and WE LOVE HIM!

Titan is 4 months OLD!

Wowza...the time sure seems to have flown and I'm happy to report that 3rd time's the charm. He's been our best baby BY FAR and eats well, is generally a very happy and smily baby, and sleeps like a dream.

Here are his 4 month stats:

Height - 25.5 inches (60 - 70%)
Weight - 16.2 lbs (70 - 80%)
Head Circumference - 42 cm
Heart Rate - 141 bpm
Temp - 98.4

He's doing really well and we found out at his Dr. appt that he has a mild ear infection. He just has him taking a decongestant trying to clear it up so we can avoid antibiotics so early. Our other kids only had 1 or 2 ear infections EVER so I hope this isn't a sign. He's been stuffed up, so I'm assuming it's leftover from that. He also started on those nasty liquid baby vits and I gave them to him for the first time this morning. He took the first 1/2 okay and HATED it and spit the 2nd half back out at me. The little pooper!

We also started rice cereal for the first time last night! He did really really well. I just sat him in his little "Bumbo-like" chair with the tray and it was perfect! He was fussy so I had to feed him a little bit to calm him down enough to sit there and finally try and eat. He finally did and really liked it! He liked playing with the spoon and most of it ended up all over him, but for his first time I think he actually ended up with a tiny bit INSIDE his stomach! He slept really well last night (a combo of the rice cereal and Dimetapp???), but was asleep from 9 pm until 5:30 am!!!!

True Confessions

So I finally took some time after many comments about not being able to blow up tiny pictures (after my "helpful" hint I might add sheepishly) to figure out why I couldn't blow them up either. Apparently I'd collage overloaded my post and so I've now put them in their own posts to allieviate that situation...please feel free to enjoy those pictures now! :) Sorry I'm not a tech-geek...maybe in another life! :)

On a funny note: We had a bird fly into our house today because our back sliding door was open and it was freaking out trying to get back outside. I closed all the doors to the bedrooms so it would only be able to go back out the back door, but it ran INTO the glass on the door and knocked itself out. Yates helped it outside and it sad there breathing hard and fluttering around for a little while. All of a sudden, a BIG bird (we don't know what kind) hit our sliding door again. It had picked up the wounded little bird that had been in our house and flew away with it! Crazy circle of life!

I should also mention we're FINALLY having potty training success with MISS INDEPENDENT a.k.a. McKinlee! She's had maybe 2 or 3 accidents in the last week and none were "#2" accidents. She even comes and tells us she needs to go! I can't believe it...really...CANNOT! It's almost like a switch just flipped in her and she "gets" it. We're still watching her really close, but she's not even wearing pull-ups at nap times any more. She only wears a diaper at night and she's even kept that dry a couple times this last week! I could jump for joy, but I'll settle for doling out cinnamon bears as rewards for potty success!

Tucker Birthday Collage

Camping Trip Collage 1

Camping Trip Collage 2

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TUCKER!

I do realize that if I posted more often that my posts would have the potential to be less lengthy. Alas, since that is not the case, get comfortable. I also realize that Tucker's birthday was Sept. 20th and this post is late. :)

We've gone camping for Tucker's birthday the last couple of years. We decided to do it again and all of us had a blast! We went up to East Fork by Tropic Reservoir and it is one of my very favorite places to go!!! Lots of fun, good friends, new toys, sticky marshmallows, dirt, cake with matches for candles (hey, can't remember everything lol) and one very adventurous motorcycle ride with Dad later (ran out of gas and hiked almost 5 miles with Dad on an old mucky cow trail over a mountain back to camp arriving almost at dark to a very worried Mom/Nana), Tucker has grown a year older. 6 years old...how did we get to this point?!

Tucker is such a good boy and is such a big help around the house. He's very smart and some of his favorite things are riding his bike, jumping on the tramp (with Dad), swinging, going to the park, watching cartoons, an obsession with superheroes in general - we've moved onto Ironman. He loves cookie dough, teasing McKinlee, kissing/carrying/holding Titan, getting into mischief, being a big helper around the house (as long as he's being bribed lol) and playing with his friends.

We love you Tucker!

I'm going to include pictures of our camping trip first and then some of my very favorites of Tucker up to this point! (Hint: You SHOULD be able to click on these collages and blow up the tiny pictures. :))

P.S. My gallbladder is outta here and everything went very well. A few needle pokes/scars later I'm good as new! Thanks for the phone calls, cards and dinners!

In NEED of a referral for a Local Photographer

I'm looking for a referral to a photographer here in the area from someone that would be able to take family pictures for us when my ENTIRE family comes down for Thanksgiving. The only real time we'd be able to do it is the Friday morning AFTER Thanksgiving because my brother has to leave Friday to go back to work. :( It's a pretty hairy time to try and get an appointment so I'm trying to find someone early. Let me know if you know anyone that'd be interested that I could contact. We'd rather have someone come and do an outdoor shoot than go to a studio if that helps. I'd be FOREVER grateful!

Tagged

10 years ago I was...

1-I had just started my freshman year of college at Utah State University (GO AGGIES!!!)

2-Was playing on a co-ed intramural volleyball team...we ended up being the intramural champs by the way...The boys we had on our team were WOW good!

3-Was having a TON of fun with my roomies...oh Angela, Mandy and Jordan we had some good times!

4- Drove a Ford Festiva (my first car and lovingly referred to as "The Blood Clot")

5-Hiked the hill up to my classes every day...no big deal unless you've been to Utah State and know the hill I'm referring to is the hill of death. Utah State is at the top of a big hill and very noticeable anywhere in town because of it. I stayed in shape!



5 things on today’s “to do” list

1-Update my blog (this may not get done due to #5)

2-Schedule Titan's 4 month well-baby visit

3-Keep working on my R.S. lesson for this Sunday. (ditto the #5 issue...it's mostly a working day)

4-Ummm...feed Titan

5-Work my "long day" since Yates is off.



5 snacks I enjoy

1-fresh warm handmade tortillas

2-Ghiradelli Milk Chocolate w/caramel filling (can't live without them and eat them sparingly, but the love is there)

3-a COLD glass of water/juice and let's be honest (DIET DR PEPPER or DR PEPPER runs through my veins, although I've tried to refrain to save Titan some discomfort)

4-Candy (mostly fruity chewy kinds i.e. starburst, skittles or chocolate). Don't love hard candies

5-Nuts (cashews, almonds, peanuts and sunflower seeds)



5 things I would do if I were a millionaire

1-Pay off debt

2-Buy a house with a "real" basement (down here there are 2 levels, but no real dug into the ground cooler basements)

3-Save for kids' college educations

4-Buy a mid-size larger vehicle (the Yukon was too big, the G6 is too small...maybe a Saturn Outlook or a Honda Pilot)

5-Help our families



5 Places I would like to visit

1. Teton Valley

2. Rhode Island/Massachusetts

3. Hawaii

4. Havasupai (again)

5. Caribbean cruise style (never been) or Disneyland with the kids (never been)



5 jobs that I have had

1-Mom (so far been the bestest and hardest)

2-South Central Communications

3-Utah State University Division of Natural Resources Office Aide

4-Coldwater Creek/Bar J Wranglers the same summer in Jackson, WY

5-The Nature Company



Tag 5 people and post their names, then go to their blog and leave them a comment letting them know that they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person that tagged you know when you’ve answered the questions on your blog.



I tag...whomever wishes to do this. I've seen this on lots of other blogs, so I don't want anyone to feel they have to do it!

Lots of happenings these last few weeks:

* My dysfunctional stone-filled gallbladder is being removed from my body tomorrow. A little nervousness about this since it's been 20 years since I've had any surgery at all. Apparently, we were given gallbladders for no real reason at all. They're supposed to help digest fat using bile produced by the liver. The liver makes about 1 pint of bile a day and the gallbladder only stores 1-2 oz. What?? That's what's causing my pain? A useless organ? Get it out!

* Titan is 3 months old and is wearing 3-6 mo. AND 6-9 mo. clothes. EEK! He has found his hands and feet and spends hours just playing with them. He ALWAYS has his fists in his mouth. The big news, however, is that he rolled over (back to front) this last Thursday!!! While I was at work. :( Yates got some video of it on his cell phone for me, but still...isn't this why I'm so part time? So I don't miss my babies' milestones while working the one full day that I worked last week? I was bothered, but proud of Titan!

* McKinlee is stubborn. S-T-U-B-B-O-R-N! and cute. She pooped in her pull-ups 3 times yesterday and then about breaks my heart with tear-filled beautiful brown eyes and tells me EVERY TIME that she won't do it again. I've stopped believing her.

* Can we say new babies??? It's been one summer filled with poopy diapers, newborn cries and babies with lots of hair (except Titan, he's the only hairless mutant). Here is the order of birth (immediate family only NOT including friend babies):

1 - Titan Craig Wright 6/5/08, 8 lbs. 8 oz, 20 in. long

2 - Dax Christopher Rowbury 6/17/08, 8 lbs. 0 oz, 18.5 in long

3 - Jaybin Lynn Pierson 8/25/08, 7 lbs. 13 oz, 20.5 in long

4 - Miley Joycie Wright 9/9/08, 5 lbs. 13 oz, 19 in. long

Multiply and replenish people...at least we're populating the world with beautiful babies right?! LOL

* Tucker had his Primary Program yesterday and said his part perfectly minus 1 word (nearby). "We are blessed to have a temple nearby. I LOVE to see the temple." I must say he looked like a P.I.M.P. while giving it too. He is one HANDSOME boy!

* Last but not least some favorite Tucker'isms from this week:

I pick Tucker and his friend up from the bus stop every other day. As I'm dropping his friend off, one of the neighbors is getting off the Special Ed bus in front of the house next door. Tucker's window is rolled down so he can yell goodbye to his friend. Tucker yells to the neighbor boy, "Hi ******!" Then turns to me in his only voice (the really loud one) and says, "Mom, why is ****** riding a short bus?" I only sort of snickered knowing he didn't know the conotation for riding a short bus and answered, "I'm not sure honey." He said, "Well, my bus is WAY LONGER!!!"

Then we were taking a nap a couple days ago (THANK YOU YATES). We had been asleep for awhile, so I was attempting to wake Tucker up nicely and he rolls over and very sleepily says, "Mom, my arm feels like it's been beat up by a 10-yr old." A few minutes later he adds, "and it has Chinese writing on it." (the marks the sheets made while he was asleep). I learned 2 lessons: 1) There is something about 10-yr olds that Tucker is afraid of and 2) Don't let Tucker watch 'Mulan' right before sleep

One final note: I have the best husband. EVER! Who just also happens to be the best father. Ever!

A little progress

So, when we moved into our house in 2004 there was MUCH work to be done outside. The home had been a vacation home and owned by the same people since it was built. Thus, the inside hadn't really been touched a whole lot, it was just kind of older (gold doorknobs era) and unpainted without a few modern touches (like ceiling fans). We remedied that pretty quickly and added ceiling fans right away, we painted, we've now re-done the floors and are slowly changing out hardware (faucets, etc.).

The outside is another story. It's been a LOT of hard work that we've done ourselves (mostly Yates). We've dug a water line from the road back to the back yard, installed sprinkler systems in the front/back yard, drip system in front, poured curbing, planted grass in front/back, planted trees, poured concrete walkway most of the way around the house, poured cement slab for a shed we had built, poured cement for an RV pad, had some friends help put up an awning over the patio. We're still waiting to build a retaining wall in the back yard and have some miscellaneous projects, but it's come SO FAR! Since Yvonne came to live with us she's been hard at work fixing our empty flower beds in the front yard. I was enjoying the yard so much the other day that I thought it would be fun for some before and after pictures:

Front yard BEFORE:

Back yard BEFORE:

Front yard AFTER:.

Back yard AFTER: