New Year!

Its been a really long time since I have updated this blog, but when you have 4 kids other things just tend to fall to the way side.  Here are some highlights from our year in 2013:

Noah-turned 6 years old in January, graduated kindergarten in June, started 1st grade in August and is a straight A student!!  He has lost several teeth, and is growing into a wonderful young man!  He is always looking out for his siblings, and is so sweet and snuggly still!

Ammon-turned 4 in August, started preschool in September, had his first Primary program (and he sang so well!), and he is learning and growing up so quickly!!  He is my little inquisitor and always has a million questions to ask about everything, he is very smart!

McKenna-turned 2 in October, became completely potty trained (WAY faster and easier than both her brothers!), she really wants to go to school too...but she has a while before its time for that! She has just really sprouted with talking and LOVES to sing!

Madison-turned 1 in December, this year she learned to roll over, sit, crawl, eat solid food, stand, and cruise...it won't be too much longer before she is full on walking.  She has 6 teeth, is very stubborn, very silly, loves to make Donald Duck noises, and is still nursing twice a day.

Mike got a very nice buck this year with his archery tag.  He is having a good year of trapping so far, and he got a new (to him) truck for trapping this year.  He is still working out at the test site for C. Martin, and works hard to provide for our family.  Also, he *gasp* turned 31 this year! ;)

I shot my first Antelope and deer this year, both on opening day, and both with all 4 kids in tow! (Luckily we had Mike's dad to help us out with them! :P)  I've been keeping busy with normal day to day mundane tasks, and practicing my baking/cake decorating skills! :P

We made a few trips to St. George this year, one for the Burns Family Reunion, which was a blast, we also made a trip out to California for Mike's Uncles' reception, and we got to see some family and go to the beach.

My favorite all time highlight from this year though would have to be April 13th, when we got to go to the St. George temple and be sealed as a family for all eternity.  It was the most amazing experience, and I am so grateful we had the opportunity to go, to have all our babies with us, and to have so much family and friends there to support us!!  Knowing we are an eternal family is simply the best feeling a mother could ever have!!

Here is hoping that 2014 is even better than 2013!!!

T-Ball

Noah had the opportunity to play t-ball this year, and he had a blast!  He loved being able to get out, run around, learn how to play t-ball and make new friends, and we really enjoyed being able to get out and watch him play.  He said his favorite position to play this year was catcher.

For his last game of the season, he wanted me to make cupcakes to share with his team, this is what we brought:

The Fourth of July

This year for the Fourth of July we did the kids parade again, they all had patriotic outfits, and helped to decorate their bikes and things:

The kids really enjoyed it, and they even won first place for their division and got 5 silver dollars a piece.

At the last minute I found out they were doing a cupcake competition, so I scrambled to get ingredients together and made carrot cake cupcakes with Italian custard cream in the batter, and cream cheese frosting, all from scratch, and I won first place!

Quick Update on the Kids

I have been falling behind on my blog, per the norm.  Here is a quick update on the kiddos lately.

Madison will be 8 months old in 8 days!  She army crawls, scoots, and rolls everywhere.  She is learning how to get up on her hands and knees (or hands and toes!) and rocks and launches herself, it won't be too long before she is really crawling!  She sits up on her own really well, and loves standing holding on to anything.  She LOVES food, and eats everything we give her, even spinach and broccoli! She loves playing with any toy she can hold and put in her mouth, doesn't matter if its a hotwheels car,  a soldier, a teething toy, or a princess.  She has one little tooth, and it working on her second one.  She loves to snuggle, give hugs, and scream!  Oh boy, she sure has a set of lungs! Doesn't matter if she is happy or sad, she loves to scream about everything!  She definitely has her own little personality, and we love her so much!

McKenna is 22 months old!  I can not wrap my head around the fact that in a couple short months she will be 2!  She loves all things girly.  She loves wearing dresses and skirts, she will bring me them to help her put them on and calls them her "princess" clothes.  She loves to sing, her favorites are "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star," the ABC song, and "You Are My Sunshine."  She sings at the top of her lungs in church, and keeps everyone entertained.  She loves to pray by herself, and always shouts an exuberant "Amen!" at the end of every prayer.  Her favorite toys are her baby dolls and her Barbie.  She is very attached to her pink elephant blanket and has to have it everywhere she goes, it even hangs on the back of the chair while he eats!  She is such a sweet little girl, and has such a spunky personality.  We sure love our little Kenna Boo!

Ammon is going to be 4 in just a few short weeks!  He is growing up to be such a sweet young man!  He absolutely loves being outdoors (just like his daddy!), and is fascinated by bugs, and all types of animals.  He would never come inside if we didn't make him!  Whenever we go for a drive in the mountains, he always comments on how "beautiful" it is, and he always wants to go hunting with Daddy!  We are working on getting him ready for kindergarten (how is it possible that there is only 1 year left before he starts school?!?) and he is such a smartie pants!  A lot of times he doesn't like to show me what he knows (I think he just gets shy) but its amazing to watch how much he really does know, and will do when he thinks no one is watching!  He is such a big helper to me, and he loves his siblings so much!  He is always trying to make others smile, and is such a little ham.  He is such a little firecracker and brings so much joy to our family.  We love our little stinker!

Noah is getting ready for 1st grade, and quickly approaching 7 years old!  He loves reading and one of his favorite things to do lately is read books to McKenna and Ammon.  He had his reading level tested last week for school and he really impressed his teacher!  We are looking forward to a great school year!  Noah has been keeping the tooth fairy in business, he has lost 4 teeth so far, and has at least one more tooth loose at the moment.  He looks so cute with his little toothless grin!  He got to play t-ball this year, and he absolutely loved it!  It was so much fun going to his games this year.  He loves writing and drawing, just like momma!  He is definitely my big helper, and I can always count on him when I need something.  He is an awesome big brother, and is always looking out for his siblings.  He has always had such a sweet and loving nature, and we sure love our big guy!

Maddie is 6 months old!

 

I cannot believe my little baby girl is 6 months old!! Time is going by way too fast!!  Miss Maddie is such a sweet little girl, she loves to snuggle, smile, giggle and squeal.  She can roll both ways, and likes to propel herself backwards on her back by pushing off with her little legs.  She is my little thumb sucker, and has been from the beginning, she never would take any kind of pacifier, but she sure loves her thumb! (and it is so cute!)  All her siblings are just in love with her, and she loves them too, it is so sweet watching them together.  She just started solids a couple weeks ago, right now she eats oatmeal, carrots, and squash, and she LOVES to eat!!  We are so very blessed to have this little girl be a part of our family!

A Letter to My Children

To Noah, Ammon, McKenna and Madison:

I don't know if you will ever truly understand the depth of my love for you until you one day have children of your own, but I do want you to understand that I do, and will ALWAYS love you more than words could ever express.  Do not ever let the world, or any person in it make you believe you are not loved, because that is absolutely, unequivocally a lie.  I loved you from the moment I first knew you were coming to join our family, even more when I first saw you on the ultrasound screen, even more when I first felt you move inside of me, and even more when I first held you in my arms and saw your beautiful face.  My love for you grows stronger with each day, and there is absolutely nothing you could possibly do to make my love for you lessen.

I want you to know how absolutely beautiful you are.  Beauty comes in all sizes, shapes and colors, and everyone is beautiful in their own way.  Do not define yourself through the world's idea of beauty, or let others define your self-worth.  Learn to love yourself for who you are and embrace your imperfections; beauty is not defined by perfection. Nobody is perfect!

I do not labor under the delusion that I will be able to shelter you forever from those who would wish to hurt you or cause you harm, but I do hope that I can build you up to be strong enough not to let those hurtful people affect you.

I want more than anything for you to be happy, to be successful in what ever endeavours you choose to pursue in your life.  I want you to dream big, to hold fast to your dreams, and never let anyone tear them from you.  If you work hard, and put your sincerest best effort into becoming what you want to be, you can do anything!!

I hope that you always have a positive attitude, that you will look for the good in everything.  I hope that you can focus on the good qualities in people, and never allow yourself to be judgmental and unkind.  I hope you can find positives in ever situation and realize that your trials can be learning experiences that will help you grow if you allow them to.  I hope that you can look for, and appreciate the beauty that is all around you.  Remember there is always a rainbow after the storm, and stars in the darkest of nights.

I want you to learn the value of hard work, integrity, honesty, and respect.  The world is quickly devaluing these principles, and I want you to know how important they are, whether the world believes so or not.  I hope that you learn not to lower your standards, or jeopardize your integrity to follow what is popular or trendy.

I think it is very important for you to know that you WILL make mistakes.  Learn from them, learn to forgive yourself and move past them.  I hope that no matter what situation you may get yourself into, you always feel comfortable with coming to me, and your father, to talk about it.  We are not perfect parents, but we love you, and we are here to help you the best that we can.  Please remember that no matter what you do, we will always love you, and there is nothing you can do to lessen that love.  I hope that we can always have an open and forgiving relationship with each other.

I have greatly enjoyed watching you grow, learn, master milestones, and develop your personalities, and I very much look forward to watch you continue in these things.  Every day I get to hold you, watch you, and call you mine is the most glorious blessing.  You are my little miracles, and I thank God everyday that he let me be your Mother.

Love you always and Forever,

Mom

Our Forever Family

 

 

On Saturday, April 13th, we had the great privilege of going through the St. George LDS temple.  It was truly an amazing experience, it was so neat for Michael and I to be able to go through together at the same time, and such a blessing for us to be able to have ALL of our babies with us to be sealed to us.  It was truly a miracle that Noah's dad agreed to let him be sealed to us. God truly and absolutely answered our prayers, and it made it so perfect that he got to be there with us.  It was just amazing when they brought all of the kids in, dressed in white, and they were all so calm, it was beautiful.  I am so grateful for the family and friends who came to support us, and for those who couldn't come, but supported us in spirit, and for all those who helped us on our journey to get to the temple.  I am so blessed to be able to say that my family is Eternal, and I will be able to have them be mine forever!!