Goodbye Piper

Today has been a sad day for our family. Our dog Piper died last night:( I am not usually one to care too much for pets, because our family never really had one for very long and we never got that attached. Larry's family had all kinds of pets when he was growing up and we wanted a dog that could grow up with our kids. We thought that Piper was going to be the one. We only had her for a couple of months, but she was so good with the kids and she didn't bark all the time. She was given to us by our sister-in-law, who breeds Malamutes. She would have normally cost about $1000, but she was a Christmas present for Larry, and we all loved her very much. I don't remember ever crying about losing a dog. I was ok and didn't cry until I told Jace that Piper died, then he started crying. He said,"Mom, I'm really going to miss Piper she was good to us. She would always sit when we gave her a bone cookie." It was so cute. He tried to tell Connor and Kendall that Piper died and that she went to heaven, but got frustrated cause they didn't understand. They would just point outside and say "Piper!" All the kids loved her, but Connor probably liked playing with her the most. I didn't get any pictures of Jace or Kendall with her which makes me sad, but thankfully I got some with Connor. He was always smothering her:)We are not sure what happened to make her sick. We know it wasn't parvo cause she had all her shots, but she might have gotten into some kind of poison. Someone my dad works with said that there was someone in town poisoning dogs, but who knows. We just miss her, and hopefully we will find another dog someday that we love just as much.

Pay it Forward!

Here's the idea. Be one of the first 3 people to leave a comment on my blog and you will be the lucky recipeint of a hand made gift from me some time this year. When it comes will be a total complete surprise! Now here is the catch, you have to post the same thing on your blog and do the same for 3 lucky people. GOOD LUCK! This is going to be fun!

Love my kids!

I just have to write down a few fun things my kids have been doing lately before I forget.

First I will start with Jace:

Right before New Years, we were in St. Johns at my mom's and we were in the kitchen and out of the blue Jace says to my mom, "Grandma Ruthie how come Heavenly Father thought you were so special to make you my mom's mom?" It was so sweet. Several months ago he asked me why Grandma Ruthie was my mom and I told him that Heavenly Father thought she was special so he sent me to her. I love when they remember things like that. It made my mom feel good too! . . . Then just recently we were sitting at the table finishing up dinner and Larry told Jace that when his watch says Eight o'clock that it is time for bead, and Jace says, " Eight o'clock or eight o'watch?" I thought it was so flippin funny. Jace is such a good kid and is such a help with Connor and Kendall.

Now for Connor:
He is making more progress on all levels so we are very happy about that. He is loving school and riding on the bus. Although we do not always understand what he is saying, he will try to say things if you ask him to. I love it when we drop Jace off at school and I tell him bye Jace I love you, Connor will try to say it and it sounds like this, Ba Jiss ala. I love that he is trying so hard to say words. Just tonight we were having family prayer and Connor wouldn't come sit down so we said it without him and he was so sad afterward so we said another one and asked if he wanted to help(he normally never does) and this time he tried to repeat after me. He only gets the first sound of the word like Fa for father but he bowed his head and tried to repeat each word with me and it almost made me cry. My heart was so happy to see him make such huge steps with us. He just beamed after it was over and we praised him for doing such a great job.

And Kendall:

She is our little Fire Cracker. This girl has so much attitude it is not even funny. She has to have it though to put up with Connor's constant tackling. She can be so sweet one minute and so feisty the next. She is always telling us to go away and she gives the perfect stink eye! I know she gets that from me and my sisters. She already loves shoes and clothes and is always into them. It is cute, but it drives me crazy and I now I have a glimpse of what she will be like when she gets older and it is scary! Lately she is into giving hugs to everyone, even Connor and I love it. I need to get a picture of it. She is also such a helper when it comes to throwing things away. she will come to me with stuff and say,"garbage, garbage?" so I can open the door for her or she will get Connor to do it for her. She is so smart and I think her ability to communicate with us so well has helped Connor.

I love my kids and I am so proud of them!

Happy New Year!

I have been real busy with making presents and having fun with my family, but I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas! Ours was awesome, We were truly blessed this year!

This year we had Nicole's family for Christmas and I really wanted to do something special for them. About 3-4 years ago I remember Nicole saying that she wanted a picture of Christ with children, but that there were never any with two babies or two girls and since she has twins she wanted one with two girls. So I wanted to have someone draw it for me, but never got around to doing it until now. Here is the picture and I think it is PERFECT!

Craig Cutler drew this picture of Jesus and put my nieces in as the children. It turned out AWESOME and my sister LOVES it! Thank you so much Craig, you are amazing! The look on my brother-in-law and sister's face as they opened it was priceless!

Below are the fun crafts that I made for my sister with the help of my friends Kaycee Gardner and Becca Martin. Thanks guys, it was lots of fun and I really appreciate all your help.

Sad Day!

My poor Jace had a very rough day yesterday! He started off by smashing his thumb in the door of our linen closet taking off the skin by his nail bed. He has been so sad and thinks he can't use his thumb anymore cause it will hurt and make it so much worse.

He got over it quickly cause he was so excited to go to school for his Christmas program. He has been practicing his songs for some time now and was real excited for us to come and watch. We were getting ready to go to his program when I got a call from the school. They told me that Jace had fallen and bit his tongue. I went to go get him thinking it wouldn't be that bad, cause he tends to be a little dramatic about things. This is what I saw! My poor little guy bit through his tongue!

His teacher said he was rocking back and forth in his chair and she had just finished telling him to sit still so he wouldn't get hurt, and as she turned around and was walking back to her desk he fell forward and hit his chin on the table and bit his tongue.

The nurse advised me to take him the Dr.'s office and tell them it was a school emergency. Our Dr. said that he would most likely need stitches and that he would need to go to the ER to do it so they could put him under and monitor him through it all. We got there around 2:00 and we didn't leave until about 8:30. Jace was such a trooper the whole time. He didn't even cry when they gave him his IV. That is huge for Jace!

Here is a picture of him while he was waiting for a room in the OR to open up. Isn't he so cute?!

They said his tongue would swell pretty good in the next couple of days, but that he should recover just fine! I'm not sure exactly how many stitches he has, but they had to do a few on the bottom, some in the middle, and there are at least 8-10 on the top.

He was very sad to have missed his Christmas program, but his Aunt Kristi told him that when he gets better that he and Brynn can sing the songs for us and she will video them so we can all watch it together. He is very excited about that and even with a swollen tongue has been practicing the songs for us. It is so cute and so hard not to laugh.

A huge thanks to all for your calls and texts! It means a lot. I guess several kids in Jace's class went home and told their moms that Jace fell and almost bit his tongue off!

And a very special thanks to Joe and Kathy Bushman for traveling to Showlow in the storm to pick up Connor and watch him for us the whole time. You guys are awesome and we really appreciate your friendship! Love you all!

Our Turkey Day!

I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving! Our Thanksgiving was fun! We stayed here at our house and had my mom, dad, grandma, some of my uncles and cousins over for our wonderful feast. It was nice, we made the rolls(my mom makes the best rolls), a vegetable tray, mashed potatoes, gravy and a few pies! My Grandma and Aunt Susan made the rest of the stuff. I had fun working with my mom in the kitchen too. I was sad that I wasn't able to be with my brothers and sisters, but it was still a good day. My mom made these cute little turkeys out of cookies, frosting, chocolate covered cherries and candy corn. They are so cute and my kids loved them!

My family doesn't really have a family tradition when it comes to Thanksgiving, but I always think of all the things I am grateful for. There are so many things, and I am not sure I have ever written them down. Here are a few!

I have an absolutely amazing HUSBAND! He is such a hard worker and does so much for our family! He is an incredible FATHER! He is so good at helping around the house, telling me how beautiful I am even if I haven't showered and my hair is gross and I have no make-up on and it is like 4:00 in the afternoon and I am still in pajamas. He is my best friend and I love him so much it hurts! I feel so blessed to be his wife and have him for ETERNITY!

I am so Thankful for my FAMILY, and not just my husband and children. I have such wonderful parents, siblings, and inlaws! I am so grateful to have a good relationship with all of them. I love you guys!

I am so unbelievably grateful for my children and the opportunity to be a mom. I love my kids, they are my world and although there are moments when I want to scream and give them away, I wouldn't trade them for anything! I do not like what having kids has done to my body, but they are so worth it. When I look at my body and want to cry, all I have to do is look at my adorable kids and it makes everything better.

I am also so grateful for my Savior and to know that I am a daughter of God! To know where I came from and where I want to be. I love to be inside the Temple. I am thankful for them and I love knowing that because of them I can be with my family FOREVER!

I am so grateful for all of my friends too! You guys are the best! I love you all and hope that your Thanksgiving was as good as mine!

Halloween Fun!

This year we went to St. Johns to trick or treat, and it was lots of fun. We stayed with our good friends the Richardsons. Larry had to work, so having their help along with my mom's was very nice. Thanks guys, you are the BEST!

I was a rapper or a gangsta whichever you prefer, Kendall was Winnie the Pooh pumpkin, Connor was Spider-Man, and Jace was Batman.

We had a costume party at Leslie Welkers house so we all tried to dress up. I loved Rachel's costume, Pocahontas has nothing on you Rach! And although I thought my costume was cool, after seeing the pictures I can see that I was soooo wrong I am too white to pull it off and I look like a huge dork! The important thing is that I had fun :D and Jace loved that I dressed up for Halloween. He thought my teeth were the coolest!