Say cheese!

Taking family pictures is not my favorite thing to do. I need to learn how to use photoshop because we literally took about 20 pictures and this is the best we could get! My 2 little ones did not want to cooperate. This was Trevors year to be a clown, everytime we said "smile" he would make some sort of goofy face. Lyndi loves to smile but never seemed to be doing it at the right time. I think next year we will try something different. So whether it is perfect or not, here is our Christmas picture!

This is what we felt like when it was all over!

Merry Christmas!

Halloween 2010

We had a great Halloween weekend, busy but lots of fun! Saturday morning started off with Ryan's football game, I think they pulled off the upset of the year beating an undefeated team 22-0! Such a great game, now they head to the semi-finals this weekend. They have to win a total of 4 games just to make it to the state championship game in Tucson, 2 down 2 to go! Since we were already out in Anthem we made a little side trip over to Cave Creek and had lunch at a place called Big Earls Greasy Eats! So worth the drive, the burgers were great and it was nice to sit outside with the kids. After that we headed home, had a short nap and then got the kids ready for the ward trunk or treat party. I think they all had fun and definitely came home with more candy than reasonable. I just hope they hurry up and eat it all so I don't have to pick up anymore candy wrappers! Sunday afternoon we got together with Randy's family for a little Halloween carnival of our own, with good food, games, birthdays and yummy caramel apples!

Football Fever

GO SOLDIERS!!! Ryan's team is in the playoffs and are playing an undefeated team this week. It should be a great game. Ryan and Kaela have both worked really hard this year and have both come along way. Ryan was so timid at first but now he is playing great. I'm really proud of him for sticking with it and really trying hard to learn the game. Kaela loves to cheer, she is always smiling and in my opinion shes the cutest one out there! Football is not for wimps, these kids work their tails off! We really love his coach and the way he interacts with the boys. It's been a great season, and who knows maybe we will make it to Florida!

Ryan #90

Go Soldiers!

Skyline on the other hand has had a pretty bad year. I don't think it gets much worse than losing every game. It has been a frustrating year watching Darrin stand on the sidelines when we know he is a better player than some of the kids out on the field. I have always admired his attitude though. He doesn't get discouraged, he still practices hard and knows that his day will come. He thinks they might win their last game against Casa Grande, let's hope so! Go Coyotes!

Darrin #13 (I told him that # was unlucky!)

This was our wonderful view of him all season long. :)

Catching up

I guess now that summer is over and the kids are back in school I should have more time to update our blog but life seems to be busier than ever. We had a pretty low key summer this year since we took our big vacation over spring break to Disneyland. We mostly hung out and the kids went to a summer program in the afternoons that kept them busy. Kyle also volunteered all summer at the same program. We made it up to Show Low for the 4th of July, celebrated Logan's 7th birthday and Ryan's 11th birthday. (no more cub scouts for 1 whole year!) Randy and I took Lyndi to CA and were able to see my mom and brothers. It was the first time we had flown together since our honeymoon, so sad! Now we are back into the school routine and our life is consumed with football. Ryan is playing football and Kaela is cheering this year. We had practice every night M-F, for the month of August and now thank goodness, we practice just 2 nights a week. They are both having alot of fun and we love watching their games, GO SOLDIERS! Darrin is on the Skyline Varsity team this year, it is so weird. Ever since he was a little kid we thought how cool it would be to go to his high school games and now that it's happening I wonder where the time went. He is not playing much right now, still recovering from a mild concussion but we hope to see him play some this year. GO COYOTES! It seems like all we do right now is go to football practices or games, that's usually how it is for us from August to December. It is a busy time of year, by the time it slows down the holidays will be here. I think we must be a little crazy to do it all but that's the way life is when you're trying to raise 7 kids!

4th of July

Better late than never right? We had an awesome time in Show Low over the 4th of July with our family. It was nice to escape the heat and get to play outside. The kids loved the parade and the fireworks and even got to play with some sparklers and eat smores! Thanks Kirt & Shari for opening up your home to all of us, it really was a great weekend!

Create your own free photo slideshow

Happy Birthday Logan!

Today is Logan's 7th Birthday! What can I say about this cute little boy? He is so full of energy and life. He has been going at full speed since the day he was born. He wouldn't even wait for the doctor to make it to the hospital, another 5 minutes and he would have been born in the car! I love his exuberant personality. I admire the fact that he is so out going, he will be anybody's friend and never has a problem talking to people. He is super smart, loves to figure things out and needs to be constantly challenged to stay busy. Oh, and did I mention those big, beautiful eyes? I am so thankful to be the mom of this sweet boy, we really thought we were done having kids after #4 (as if!) I'm glad we changed our minds, it might have been just a little too quiet in this family without him. We love you Logan, happy birthday buddy!

What's 2 more?

I guess when you already have a boat load of kids adding a couple more really doesn't matter. Last Friday I picked up my 3 year old neice and 5 year old nephew to stay with us for the summer. Some might call me crazy but you do what you need to do. Now we have a 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 year old, plus my 4 older ones! So far things have actually been really good. I think I am having a harder time adjusting then the kids! My ocd personality has a hard time with change so I am learning how to get everyone fed and bathed and dressed at the same time. Everyone gets along really good so thank goodness for that. I can tell you though that raising 7 kids is a piece of cake compared to 9 of them! My family might actually feel small once they go home! I have always believed there is a reason behind everything, I don't know what lessons will come from this (although I do know our decision not to have any more kids was the right one!) but I am thankful for the choices I've made in my life and that I have a very hard working husband who puts his family first above all else, thank you honey! It is nice to be reminded of the things we can easily take for granted. I don't think I am brave enough to venture out with everybody so I think we will be holed up in our house all summer, maybe I will take them all to my Mom's and let her have them for a week!

My cute kids

So this picture was from Easter but obviously I never got around to posting it! This was the only one we got with Lyndi in it before she decided she wanted nothing to do with taking a family picture. My kids bring me so much joy, they drive me crazy too but I love them. I learn so much by just watching them. They amaze me everyday.

The best weekend ever!

I almost wish we could've camped forever. I mean think about it, who cares if your dirty, or wear the same clothes twice? Time really means nothing, no phones, no tv, sitting around the campfire every night, would it ever get old? We had a great time this last weekend camping and riding quads, I love being able to experience these things with the kids. We found some awesome quad trails, saw beautiful scenery that really not very many people get the opportunity to see and just had fun being together. It always amazes me how much the kids find to do when there is no tv or internet around yet at home they are always bored unless they are doing those exact things! Lyndi loves riding the quads, she even started falling asleep once when I took her out so I had to tie my long sleeve shirt around the both of us to keep her from falling off so I could drive back to camp. It was great to get away for the weekend, whenever you are free from all the every day distractions it really drives home just what is important in this life:

#1 EATIN' S'MORES

#2 NAP TIME

#3 BUILDING BRIDGES

#4 HAVIN' FUN!!

(love the dirty faces and the pink helmet! For the record he cried about having to wear that one, I mean come on, it's just a color!)

Oh no! Not another teenager!

Oh say it isn't true! I now have 2 teenagers, Happy Birthday Kyle!!! Why is it that when your kid has a birthday YOU feel so much older! That's just not fair. I remember the day I found out we were expecting Kyle, we had been married just 7 short months. I brought pink & blue balloons home to surprise Randy, such a joyful day. Now he is more than half grown, has reached the all important teenage years, and yes, he thinks he knows it all. I love Kyle because he is just so good. I don't ever have to worry about him making the right choices. He loves scouts, can't wait to do his eagle project, and actually enjoys church. He has always been pretty easy going, he loves to torment his brothers & sisters but what teenage boy doesn't? It is still strange to me that we are leaving the baby world behind and are fully engaged in the teen, pre-teen years. Can I just run away now? I know what to do with babies, I'm a little lost with the teenagers. At least the first 3 will be pretty easy on me I think, they're all boys-not looking forward to the 4th becoming a teenager! It's exciting though. In Target today I saw the graduation decorations out and couldn't believe that in just 2 short years I'll be buying that stuff, crazy. See what I mean by feeling old!

Happy Birthday Bubba!

Happy Birthday Lou Lou!

Our baby girl is growing up! Now that she is 2 I think she is officially disqualified from being a baby and is now a toddler. Boo hoo! I guess she will always be my baby though, right? We managed to squeeze her birthday into the 15 minute window we had last night between a track meet, cub scouts, 11 year old scouts, and mutual. She practiced all day blowing so she could blow out her candles but then when the big moment came she got scared of the flames and needed help! We have been so blessed with this sweet little girl, I can't even imagine life without her. She brings so much joy and love into our lives. I wish I could stop time right here and keep her my little girl forever! Why do they have to grow up? I hope every birthday of hers isn't bittersweet. Maybe she'll grow up to be an awful teenager and then I'll be counting down her birthdays! Let's hope not. It was so fun to watch her tear into her presents, she kept wanting more. The best part was seeing her push around her hot pink Tonka truck in her big poofy pink tutu-you go girl! Happy birthday Lyndi Joy, we love you!

Speed Racer

Ryan participated in his last pinewood derby the end of March. He has had so much fun as a cub scout and I know that he is really looking forward to joining boy scouts in August. His car did really good this year, he took 3rd place in our ward overall and also earned a 2nd place ribbon for the "fastest looking" car. Good job Ryan!

I've got you beat!

I've seen a few posts of other peoples laundry woes. It always makes me laugh because usually their weeks worth of laundry equals just one days worth in my house. I don't hate laundry, I usually have a pretty good system going but occasionally it does pile up. I like doing a little everyday, then it doesn't seem so overwhelming. This is what happens when we return home from vacation with 5 days worth of dirty clothes:

Do you feel better now? This is just a few days worth, there was still more in the washer & dryer. So just remember to think of me on your worst laundry day and know that I've got you beat!

Disneyland!

We had an awesome time sharing Disneyland over spring break with the Bailey's and about half a million other people. Yes we do a lot together because that's the way we like it! I still can't believe how crowded it was but I guess it was too be expected. This year we took my niece/nanny Kari with us to help with the kids and give Randy & I a little time to ourselves. It was great, I hope she still wants kids after spending 6 days with us. I don't think we will go back for about 4 years, maybe by that time we can ditch the stroller and the baby rides. I love Disneyland, even though all the good rides kept breaking down but at least we scored some VIP passes which made our last marathon day a blast. Here's a little slide show of some of our fun, enjoy!

Make a free slideshow design

Snow Day!

The last weekend in February we took our annual trip to the snow with the Baileys. There wasn't a lot of snow left where we went last year so we drove to the top of the rim, then down the bumpiest dirt road ever, until we found a spot suitable for our sledding. We still wish we would have found a bigger hill but the kids made do and had fun anyways. I could never imagine actually living where it snowed and having to bundle my kids up everyday just to go to the bus stop! You would seriously have to add on another hour in the morning just to do that. Trevor informed me he was going to use the bathroom after I got him all dressed, sorry son, it doesn't work that way! We played for about 3 hours, enjoyed hot chocolate and frozen krispy kreme doughnuts before we were all cold enough to pack up and head home. I'm glad the kids look forward to this every year but I'm even more glad that we live in sunny AZ! Here's a little video of the fun Lyndi had. It really made her happy just to stick her face in the snow, funny girl!

The grass isn't always greener

When we bought our house it came with a front yard full of dead grass and a dozen dead juniper trees. We are just too busy to spend every weekend doing yard work so we decided to go the easy route and do your classic desert landscaping. I really had to talk Randy out of even leaving a little of the grass. Now that we live in and HOA we are required to keep everything green and lovely or risk a fine so no grass it is for us. We spent 2 weekends with the help of a bobcat removing all the old grass and dead trees, planting new plants, adding landscape lighting, and 10 ton of new rock. We love the way it turned out, and knowing that it is very low maintenance is even better! Of course we can't do any project without some mishap so this time we decided to break the main water line to the sprinklers and flood the whole yard which then turned to a muddy mess. The funny thing is that living on a main street into our neighborhood, everyone can see what is going on, I think everyone slowed down to watch us as they drove by. Now that that's done, it's on to the next project-anyone want to paint a house?

Happy, happy birthday!

Birthdays are so fun! Today we celebrate Kaela's 9th birthday, it's hard to believe she is growing up so fast. I remember finding out that we were finally having a little girl after the 3 boys, we were so excited! Kaela does an awesome job of keeping the boys in line, I feel for her being sandwiched between the big boys and the 2 little boys, but she definitely holds her own against them! She has a great independent, strong personality but is also sweet and sensitive. She is a great helper at home, especially with her baby sister. We love you Kaela, hope you have a great day and that this year will be full of many happy times for you!

Gettin' busy living

I think life just may be back to normal. Normal as it was before buying a house, moving, going to a new ward & new schools, renting our other house, oh yeah, throw the holidays in there too! Life was just nuts for awhile. We are still busy but now that we have fantastic people renting our house and that part of our lives is done with, we can get back to doing what we've always done, trying to contain the chaos! Last week 6 of us caught a 24 hour bug and it's pretty much been a puke fest here. So glad the baby didn't get it but I still got puked on, so fun being a Mom! You know what would be great, if Lysol invented a germ bomb, like the old bug bombs my Dad used to fog our house with when we went on vacation. I would love to fog my whole house with Lysol, and come back to a germ free home. I guess it would only last until somebody touched something again. Oh well, I think we are over it now. Track meets and softball start next month, I can't wait to get back to the sports. Besides Darrin playing football we took time off from all the extras because we knew how busy things were going to be. It will be good to get back to the fun stuff again. I'm not sure we will ever not be busy, I think that's just what happens when your a parent, but it does feel good to finally have time for the fun too!

Love her!!

I can't imagine life without my little girl. She is growing up so fast, right now she is learning so much it is amazing to watch her say or do something new everyday. In a couple of months she will be 2 and no longer a baby but I'm so glad she will always be my baby girl. I have to share what she "said" today. She is still learning to talk and most things aren't very clear but today while at Fry's I was checking out some Buzz Lightyear dishes that were on clearance and out of the blue, with no prompting she said "to infinity and beyond!" She is so stinkin' cute!

Time for Play-Dough

I'm not a big fan of the stuff, and I'll never buy the "real" stuff because truthfully it stinks. Jena gave me a recipe for homemade playdough that I love, well as much as you can love play dough but even if I don't like it, my kids LOVE it, especially since it's been about a year since they last played with it. A few weeks ago we made a new batch and the little kids played with it for almost 3 hours! I'll love anything that keeps them busy that long, and the best part was they weren't fighting over it! Here's the recipe, it's super easy and smells good too!

1 cup flour

1/2 cup salt

1 cup water

2 tablespoons oil

2 tablespoons cream of tartar

food coloring

In a medium pan mix flour, salt and cream of tartar. Measure the water, add the oil and the food coloring to the water and slowly add to the flour mixture. Add more food coloring for your desired color. Cook over medium heat, stirring until the dough becomes stiff and forms a ball. Turn out onto wax paper and let cool.

New Years Rockets & camping

It has been an annual family tradition for at least the past 10 years to shoot off model rockets out in the desert on New Years Day. This is one of the things the kids look most forward to all year long. Last year we had to find a new spot since the old one has been taken over by new development but we love the new place even better. We can take our camper out there and make it a fun weekend with the quads. The kids love chasing down the rockets and hoping they survive, most of them have even learned to ride their bikes while out in the desert, next year will be Trevor's turn! Kyle even got a little inventive this year and made a homemade rocket. I thought it just might actually kill someone but it surprised us and flew pretty good. We knew it was time to put the rockets away when he tried to send a hot dog into space! Lyndi loved the great outdoors, she had no qualms with getting down and dirty! It was fun to take her for rides on the quad, she would sit in front of me, laugh at all the bumps and sing "twinkle little star" the whole time-too cute! I'm hoping we get another weekend of camping in before it gets too hot!

All because two people fell in love . . . .

14 years ago today I married the love of my life. Happy anniversary to my sweetie, I love you!