A Great Quote

"My dear brothers and sisters, may the laughter of children gladden our hearts. May the faith of children soothe our souls. May the love of children prompt our deeds. 'Children are an heritage of the Lord' (Ps. 127:3)...
It is our solemn duty, our precious privilege—even our sacred opportunity—to welcome to our homes and to our hearts the children who grace our lives...
Parents everywhere realize that the most powerful combination of emotions in the world is not called out by any grand cosmic event, nor is it found in novels or history books, but merely by a parent gazing down upon a sleeping child...
May our Heavenly Father ever bless these sweet souls, these special friends of the Master, is my humble and earnest prayer. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen."
Thomas S. Monson "Precious Children-A Gift From God" Ensign Nov 1991

Oh how I LOVE President Monson.
That is EXACTLY how I feel!

We've never been good at keeping a secret around here, this is my way of announcing that we are

PrEgNaNt & OvErJoYeD!

Log Heaven

So we had a couple of our million and five trees in our yard cut down this week. To say the kids were mesmerized would be a severe understatement. They were transfixed with the huge crane, the guy with the chain saw and the machine that chopped all the small limbs up. The two men worked for 7 hours to cut down these three trees and the kids watched as much as they could! Hilarious.
We have several families in our branch that rely on wood for their source of heat during the winter. So we kept all the wood to chop it up and give away. In the meantime however, they can't get enough of climbing and playing on all the piles.

It is just amazing to me the things that will entertain kids! Who needs toys...here is some wood!

The First Thanksgiving

Well we headed down to Ft. Wayne the Sat. before Thanksgiving to have a FeAsT with Matt's fam! It was FaBuLoUs! Great job Beth and Jason! I just love getting together with them, they are going to be absolutely sick of us if we can ever move down closer to them. Ha! I look forward to driving them nuts!

Mamau was visiting from Oregon, an extra treat!

I really didn't take too many pictures because the kids were too busy off playing with their cousins! I did get a few pics of me and Beth, we are nerds... I already know.

It was awesome the hubbies all stayed with the kiddos while the girls headed off to a movie! We wanted to see "Blind Side", but it was sold out. We still had a blast after a not-so-good second choice movie. Here we are at Target with some random hat for a photo shoot. Don't let Beth fool you, she loves me! Ha! What a great day, and what a fantastic family!

Bring on the Cake!

We had Gussy's Birthday party! So much fun! He was not hesitant at all with the cake, dove right in. A guy after my own heart.

The Cake! A little out of order, but hey that is how it fit!

"Back away from the cake"

That is what happens when you get too close.

He loved opening his presents, at first he just kept throwing

them...his favorite thing to do is throw things! But once he

got the idea, he was having a blast tearing into the presents!

Go COLTS!

He even loved the cards!

Oh how I love this boy! My little Gus Man, Gus Gus, Gussy, Augie...any way you say it we adore him! Thank heavens he joined our family! I just can't believe that he is 1 already, it just isn't fair that if flies by so quickly! We are very blessed!

I've had my Fill!

Of leaves that is. We have SO many leaves around here. This pile is one of 12 in our yard just right now! You rake a pile like this and the next day there is that much on the ground again! I am all for leaf fun, but the kids want to go "rake" leaves everyday. That is great, they do a very good job, but they always end up completely burying themselves and it takes forevah to get all the leaves out of their hair. Leaves end up all over the house ARG, I am sick of leaves!

Then we have added more fun to the mix. The girls were playing in the piles for probably 2 hours when I came out to help finish off the piles. I took one look at Bailey and about had a heart attack. Her face was completely bright red and covered in huge puffy blotches. Upon further inspection, her whole body was covered...COVERED in hives! I made her take a shower, we took some benadryl, covered her in hydrocortisone cream...nothing. The next morning was Saturday and she was a little better, but pretty quickly they swelled back up (is that correct english..swelled?) The whole weekend this went on, we even went to the doctor and they told us to just keep up the benadryl for this allergic reaction.

Monday Bay was dying to go to school and reminded me over and over that the Dr. had said she should go, but I was reluctant because she looked so awful. She went and after about an hour sure enough the nurse from school called me to pick her up. I felt like an idiot because I knew she shouldn't have gone, but the Doctor had downplayed it so much I kind of felt like I was overreacting too. Anyway the school nurse said that the other kids were all staring at Bailey and commenting so much that it was distracting. I was worried that Bailey was going to be upset from embarrassment when I got there, but no...she was relishing her new found stardom!

It took 2 more days for her hives to even subside and a couple after that for them to go away. The Doctor told us she was fine to play in the leaves again because it was probably a random reaction...but she didn't want to. Ellery however played in a different area of the yard and what do you know...HIVES! I got a phone call from the nurse, who by now thinks we are completely crazy! Thank heavens her case was much milder and lasted only a couple of days. Suffice it to say, no more leaves this season.

This is our neighbor's house, this huge pile that is almost up to a man's shoulder, was one of 7 in her yard. Crazy leaves out here in the country people!

Halloween!

Well Halloween was awesome and crazy! Matt had a wood cutting project at church and then a plot with one of his farmers, so he was out for the day. I decided to head down with the kiddos to Ft. Wayne to spend the day and go Trick or Treating with family. I am very happy that we went, it was such a great day. Of course in my hurrying to get everyone dressed, costumes packed, playpen, diapers, Halloween goodies... you know the drill~ I forgot my camera! Most of you know this would be devastating to me because I am so camera happy, so thank you to my wonderful mother-in-law for getting some pictures!

Ellery - Batwoman!

Bailey - Scary Witch!

Taitem - Kitty Cat!
She called herself a "pussy cat", funny girl

Cy - Superman

Super Cyrus!

Gus Gus - My little Froggy

Ellery wanted to be batwoman so badly, so I remembered

a costume my mom made when we were little and made her one

just like it. It was a big hit with Cyrus, so that is how he went

from a horse to Superman! Now I have to make Taite a pink

Super-Taite costume because she loved it so much!

Not lovin the costume, he didn't last very

long out in the cold either.

It was in the 40's for us-- brrrr!

Gavin as wolverine!

Lily another kitty!

I usually am not a fan of Halloween, but I will say I got into the spirit this year. It all started with an adorable decoration my Mom made me. It inspired me to actually decorate the house and the kids loved it!

Then we got a little more into it with the costumes instead of just seeing what we already had. It probably doesn't look like a very big deal, but for us it was a step up! I can't tell you how excited Ellery and Bay were to watch me sewing their costumes and trying them on along with Cy's. Then they were just so excited to get dressed up to go Trick or Treating, it was contagious.

Then Cy was cracking me up, he was bouncing down the street holding his Uncle Eddie's hand who he loves so much, just having a blast. Then every door we went to he just had this look of "I can't believe people keep giving me candy! This is amazing!" He was so adorable every time he got candy he would say "Oh, thank you!" Joyous.

I don't know, maybe I could be converted to a Halloween fan....maybe.