This is for my Mamas

Impromtu Trip to Rocky Point Mexico!

2011-10-17T11:11:00.000-07:00

In May we went to Rocky Point Mexico with friends. The trip came together pretty last minute, which is unusual for me. I am not spontaneous. It was such a memorable trip. We were able to reunite with Joey's college roommates, Aaron Wright, Jeff Burke, Shane Vancott, and their families. My sister Ash and her group came too. I knew it would be wonderful, but wow, that ended up being an understatement. I was blown away by the beauty of the deserted beach, and how much fun we had with these old friends!!! It was a while ago, so I am just going to post a bunch of pictures which is the best part anyway. The good quality ones I stole off my sister's blog. The blurry low-quality ones were taken with my camera. Sometimes I don't even know why I bother.

I will start off with my very favorite picture. This is the whole group on our way home. We stopped at thrifty for ice cream and a final goodbye. I love these people! (not sure where Joey is??? Jeff Burke took the picture)

Okay, in no particular order:

We went to a rather sad aquarium. The kids ADORED it though. I love Jeff Burke in this picture. The kids still talk about this place and beg to go back.
Me, diligently sun screening!
The first day we got there, the kids got out of the car and high-tailed it straight down to the beach.
Ash and I cooking.
Look at this pristine beach with only us on it!
Joey and Fi looking at the sea lion, Arthur.
Ty getting his fanta on. I love this.
Good friends, good food.

Rocky Point was pretty deserted.
Here is our set up on the beach. Of course I require shade so I brought this tent.

Fiona cried when I took off this dress. She is such a fashionista.

Joey, walking down the beach trying to get better Internet. He had some important things happening at work. This picture makes my blood boil...and makes me laugh at the same time. He has assured me if we go again, he will take the time off work and truly NOT WORK!
I love this picture I took of Ash and Cort.
On the drive home we stopped at a park to eat our subway sandwiches. It was so fun and reminded me of road trips when I was little. Dad was always looks for somewhere for us to get our wiggles out.
Ashley always does my motherly playground duties. I don't like to slide!
Beebs and Henners.

Wow, what a group.

It was a great trip. I will end with another of my favorite pictures. This is the kids in the car plus Shane. We had a full van. It was funny listening to Shane boss the kids around. They still talk about how much fun his car games were.

Pictures I like

2011-10-17T10:53:00.000-07:00

This post is comprised of pictures from January 2011-recent....just like the title says, pictures I like, in random order even.

They didn't pose for this or even know I took it. Joey is reading the kids Stuart Little. They love it. I love it too.
Grace had pajama day at preschool. I just love an elf in gold shoes.

Sisters playing babies in Aha's chair.
I love Grandma's face in this one.
In their winter dresses, looking out the window. They weren't posing, I just snapped this one.
I love these blue eyed kids!
Best buddies going out for a romp in the yard.
Carolina was sad. (But wow, just look at those eyes!)
Then she was happy...oh the life of a girl! I like this picture because it shows how CC lost her front tooth.
For every game we get all decked out in our gear!

I love this picture of Dougie I took when he was at my house when Angelique was having Mimi.

Jack's class put on a musical play "click clack moo, cows that type" Jack is great in these kind of things, using a loud voice and clear pronunciation.
The kids had "favorite literary character" day at school, which I felt stressed about, and was actually inclined to ignore. I couldn't believe it when the boys came downstairs that morning totally dressed in costumes that they had improvised themselves. Tyson was "thing 2" from Dr. Suess and Jack was a character from a goosebumps book entitled "vampire breath" (he even had a prop). I quickly helped CC dress like Goldilocks and we were set to go!

Do you want to see Fiona grow up?

2011-10-17T10:18:00.000-07:00

I am a horrible blogger. Anyone who knows me knows this. I have decided to do a whole post with pictures of Fiona. At least I will have some scant recording of her baby years. As a fifth child in my family, she is lucky to have pictures at all. I love you Fi!
Fiona spends alot of time with Grandma Aha, who is so patient and loving with her! Fiona eats half her breakfast of egg on toast every morning...

Fiona's best buddy is Henry.
I remember taking this picture because I was so excited that Fiona was playing with Carolina and Grace. They play all the time now. It makes me so happy. It reminds me of Cali, Ashley, Samantha.

She has the same gap as Jack and CC.
Everyday I do my baby's hair. She loves to pull it out, so most of the time she looks a little rough around the edges, here she is sporting her rooster look.
Fiona's first pigtails! What an exciting day. She is finally starting to get hair.
Mug shot.
From the back.
The classic gross picture with food on face. I like her smile though. Fiona is a great eater. She has been my most coordinated child with utensils. She refuses to be fed like a baby and insists on doing everything herself.
She gives me this look quite often.

Go Cougars!!!!

Her newest thing is to make this face when I say smile....is she copying me?
Fiona is a fun baby. She is very opinionated and has a loud voice which she uses to get whatever she wants. She loves to sing and dance and is obsessed with Yo Gabba Gabba. She is also obsessed with my ipad, and knows how to navigate it like a pro. She can play any game, or go into netflix and choose a show. It is kindof amazing. She is FINALLY starting to talk. Well, maybe I should rephrase that...she is finally starting to be understandable. She has been a blabbermouth since the beginning. She very bossy, and very well-loved. The kids are great with her. She is our little mascot. We call her by a whole host of nick names...Fi, fi-fie, nona, noner-bones, fin, fidstonias, ni-noni, fid the squid, to name a few. We love you Fiona Calista Emig!

I Hope you Dance

2011-10-17T10:06:00.001-07:00

The girls took a fairytale dance class last year with Eliza and in January they had their recital. I love these girls in their matching sweatsuits!
Sisters and best friends!

I love this picture of the 3 cousins together.
I am having technical difficulties posting the video clips....maybe stay tuned?

Pinewood Derby

2011-10-17T09:13:00.000-07:00

January 2011 (hey, I'm only 9 months behind on blogging!)

This was Jack's very first Pinewood Derby, and he had high hopes for his awesome car "flaming forty-two"!
Tyson, this being his last pinewood derby had much more realistic goals for his car "see-ya".
Jack, after losing his first race, with a look of shock and awe.
Here he is hoping for a better outcome against his buddy Hunter.
He lost race after race, and my heart was breaking for him....finally one of the leaders inspected his car and found that some of the dried hot glue from adding weights was rubbing on the track. After sanding the bottom, he was able to win one race, but by then he was pretty sad. I snapped a picture so we could remember for all time. (Ty ended up doing well, and getting like 3rd or 4th place...is it bad I can't remember? ....Which was the best showing an Emig car has ever had!) Joey was out of town, in Amsterdam training for his new job. As for Jack....well, maybe next year it will be better buddy!

Christmas in July... in a Nutshell

2011-04-06T20:47:00.000-07:00

I am catching up as usual. I have decided to do one HUGE Christmas post. It is a hard post to do...lots of pictures. Looking back on it without the stress of the moment...wow, Christmas looks fun!

I know it is Christmas time when I start seeing reindeer around my house:
Then comes the baking...this was the first of two rounds!

We made mini-gingerbread houses and let the cousins decorate them this year. This was one of Ash's big plans...which we regretted about halfway into making all the gingerbread. I am documenting this so we remember....just BUY the ones from costco to decorate. It was quite the project!! (I will say the outcome was quite adorable however.)

Fiona started taking her first real steps in December, and took off walking on Christmas day. This picture is blurry, but I love the expressions on Jack and Grace's faces.

The always fun, house and tree-decorating event. Notice Grandma Jones (Aha) in her chair. She came to stay with me starting in December. What a treat!

I think she sometimes gets a kick out of watching the family chaos. Here she is really smiling.

Family night, checking out some lights in the Riverwoods.

Jack's school play, he was the main part: Santa!

Jack with his class, performing. I was so proud.

This year, the Emig crew rented a beautiful cabin (home) up Ogden canyon. First we congregated at our house. Once Emily and Jared arrived from Alaska, the party was ON! First up, the BYU game...which we won.

Somehow they decided to go all ROTC and do push-ups every time we scored (one for each point). By halftime they were up to....well I can't remember now, but it was HIGH!! Notice who is NOT doing them. Well, someone had to take the pictures, right? Notice Allison's form...amazing!

Each family had a room in my house. This meant that my girls got to sleep on my floor in a "special bed", which they were thrilled about. I had to snap a picture when I saw that they were holding hands...while visions of sugarplums danced in their heads.

We had so many fun times at the cabin. It was great to be together and let our kids have tons of cousin time.

One of the first days there we received a special package at the door addressed to "Poppy".

Here is Joey reading the attached poem:

What could it be? Something is about to happen as all the aunts and uncles started getting their cameras ready.

Are you ready to meet him? Here he is "Poppy the Penguin"!!!! This full sized grandfather penguin had to preform all kinds of funny tasks to help make sure Christmas was going to come. Wow, can I just say that my dad-in-law is a REALLY GOOD SPORT!!!

So this Christmas consisted of many things....I will call them my favorite things. And it starts with #1, Cousin Bonding!!

There was alot of #2, Adult Fun!! (nothing weird...okay, well slightly.)

Some serious trains going on....

Lots of shenanigans, complements of my brother in laws...

Does it get any better than Jared in "jeggings"?

Okay, then add these 2 characters:

One thing about the Emigs...we LOVE to be together. It was great to put the kids down and play. There was never a dull moment.

Okay, next on my list of Christmas fun #3, CRAFTS:

Then on to #4, FOOD:

Fiona spent a good portion of her time up at the bar eating taco soup.

There are always some tears involved when you mix Carolina Jones and food.
Joey on "dad duty"....ummmmm not it!

Another of my favorite things #5, STORIES WITH GRAMY

Oh yah, and there was an oversized penguin there too!

Another favorite, #6, SITTING AROUND

On to #7, PROJECTS

Emily and I had fun with this. I love Em's face in this one as she is getting the kids all excited for the nativity she had planned.

Which leads to my favorite thing #8.....THERE WERE SHOWS!!!

And #10, there were Elves Elves and more Elves!

And finally there were Presents!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The kids lined up by age ready to go down for Christmas morning.

We will call this next group of photos: the big trick! We got our kids xbox 360 games (kinect) not only was our xbox broken, but we didn't have the kinect. You can see how they look a little dissappointed. We said..."Oh, we got the wrong thing, you have to have the connect for these to work? We can return the games....etc. "

Then we had them open a letter that said to look on the computer for their other gift.
They ran to the computer and saw a picture of an xbox 360 with kinect.

Wow, were they surprised.

Halloween Costumes

2011-04-06T20:13:00.000-07:00

Okay, so the real reason we go to all this Halloween trouble, well besides the obvious candy rewards, is so that I can have cute pictures of my kids dressed up. In the morning, it was off to the school parade, I put these three in some costumes that didn't make the final cut.
Tyson, Larry Fitzgerald of the Arizona Cardinals:

Carolina borrowed from Brooklyn, to become an adorable blond Pocahontas:
Show us your adorable shoes Carolina Jones:
Gracie "Alice in the Wonderland"..also borrowed from Earl cousins (thanks for saving me a bundle Kaelynn!)
Jack, Army Guy:

The Garden Gnomes, Henry and Fi:
Is this cute or what?
Of course these two wasted no time finding my candy stash by the front door for the trick-or-treaters:

This is what I saw when I looked down the hall.

It was a good time...but boy was I glad when it was over...they are already talking about what they want to be next year.

Gracie Turned Four

2011-04-06T19:24:00.000-07:00

Grace's birthday is fun, because it is around Halloween. Her birthday week started with a visit to her school. I brought a poster, and told her class all about her. Here she is with her amazing teacher Miss Cathie:
I love this picture of Grace holding her baby sister Fi. Needless to say, Grace is a small person. Grace is quick to point out that she is little, but she is not a baby. "I'm just short"...she says.
Things I love about Grace...where do I begin? This little girl is what we call a "do good-er"...whenever anyone is in trouble she is quick to point out "mom, I'm not talking mean"...or "I will always obey mom". It is funny. She is very agreeable and easy-going, which helps her to get along with her sister Carolina famously. They are best friends in fact, and are pretty much inseparable. She loves to sing and is happy to give a performance anywhere to anyone. She is cute and funny and is super-cuddly. She gives the best hugs in the family...using both her arms and legs! She hates to get in trouble, and it breaks my heart when I have to scold her...which isn't too often. She is the peace-maker of our bunch. She skips everywhere she goes. She has an odd stubborn streak that kicks in occasionally, and at the weirdest times, always catching me off guard when it happens. She has a tendency to be what we call a "lolly-gagger"..taking her time and getting distracted when we are trying to get in the car. Everyone thinks she is an overachiever, she is extremely verbal, especially for her height! She is famous in our ward and neighborhood, everyone knows who she is for some reason. I love my Grace!
We decided that we would go to Build-a-Bear for her birthday. Ash has been wanting to go for years...ha ha. I was willing to do a bear for Carolina and Grace, then Jack begged me to come, so I paid for HALF of his bear.

Excited CC in the parking lot!
The birthday girl.
The kids with Auntie Ash...I didn't have to do too much talking to convince her to come with us!
Here we go, Jack has leftover camo-paint on his face, from wearing his costume to school that day...
Giving her bear a "bath":
The final product...and three VERY HAPPY KIDS!!
On Halloween, before trick-or-treating, we sang to GiGi and opened presents. Aunt Linh came through AGAIN with a sweet cake for Grace. She had the lady at the bakery put princess rings on the cake. And she got a special pin to wear. Thanks Auntie Linh, you are the BEST. Grace was THRILLED. She is dressed as "Alice in the wonderland" (as she calls it).
Hmmm, I wonder what this present could be?
Holding her spoils from Gramy Lori:
Jack and Oli, ready to hit the streets for some candy gathering:

Fiona Turned One

2011-04-06T18:14:00.000-07:00

Looking back, I didn't blog about Fiona's and Grace's birthdays. Ashley did of course...but then someday when we are reading the blog book, I don't want these two daughters of mine to wonder "what gives?".

First off, I know you have all seen these pics that I went back and stole off of Ash's blog, but they are worth re-showing. Cort, you are amazing.

So with this post we will focus on Fiona. Fi is a very spunky and happy little baby. She brings so much joy to our family. It is so fun having a baby when you have older kids. They love her so much and are incredibly helpful with her. She basically has four little servants running around to do her bidding. Fiona makes us laugh so much and brings the whole family together. Who could resist this face?

I loved reading back on Ash's blog. We threw a big family party for the "twin cousins" (not to be confused with our actual cousins that are twins!).

Time to blow out the candles.
We had a baked potato bar (a cheap and delicious way to feed the 28 fun family members who came). Ladies in the kitchen...doing what we do!
Fiona has MANY nicknames...I thought I might list some for the record: Fi, Fi-nona, Nona, Fid, Fidstonias, Noni, Fi-Fie, Baby (Grace is Beebs)....oh yah, my grandma also calls her Little Wee, and Lil' Fixin...usually, when I call her name she RUNS THE OTHER WAY, laughing.
Auntie Linh made these ADORABLE cakes for the babies....can you believe it? I love the fondant stars.
Then Cort took the babies outside to snap a few pics...we had bought these matching outfits for them.

I love these pics with her best buddy Henner Bens...is that how you spell that Ash?
I love these babies.

Steinerson Reunion, Summer 2010

2011-04-02T17:33:00.000-07:00

I have taken a very long and obvious sabbatical from blogging. So at this point should I just give up on it all? Well, I have decided I am going to follow my mom's lifelong advice of "keep trying". So anyone who actually follows this blog (the mamas), prepare yourself for lots of updates forthcoming. I want to go back and include the things I skipped, including but not limited to: Steinerson Family reunion, Grace's birthday and Halloween, Christmas, and the Pinewood Derby. I know you are all perched on the edge of your seats. I am mostly going to throw up LOTS and LOTS of pictures.

Summer 2010 was very eventful. I went to girls camp, helped plan the ward trek, we had pool passes and lots of visitors. The Steinerson Reunion was a very special time for our family. It was held in Lindon Utah. Okay here come the pictures. (which I stole from Allison's blog...I was busy and ended up with practically NO pictures of this awesome party...I kept saying, take a picture for me!)

This first picture is from the book that Emily published for the family. As per usual, Emily never does anything halfway, and now we all have a very important book of family history, with beautiful pictures.

This is the couple who started it all (Grandma Ruth's parents). They had 3 daughters: Katherine, Ruth and Lois. We really appreciated the effort people made to come, we had lots of relatives from Missouri, Arizona of course, some from Oregon and other places.

The following show what great times we had (in no particular order). Girl cousins:

We had a neat program in the theater where Gramy taught us all about the family and her childhood and memories of her parents.
We had the kids sing "The Family is of God"...I love a musical number!!
The pancake crew!
The brothers and sisters who were there and their spouses.
As Doug Earl would say "Does it get any better than this?"
Some say I look like Aunt Sandy, so I included this hilarious picture where we both look ridiculous, but seem to be enjoying each other's company immensely:
We spent time in a small park by my house (Creekside)...volleyball, food and fun times ensued.
Ladies and babies:

The following montages were obviously stolen from Alli...I don't know how to do this cutsie stuff, but I LOVE IT!!

We played lots of games (thanks Aunt Jean and Joey!):
We went up the canyon for an "easy hike" (you may be laughing if you were there...thanks Sandy and Chunk for assuming we are all in shape..ha, wait, who am I to say?? I went straight to the ending campsite to set up for dinner!) Camp songs soon followed as we celebrated Chunk's birthday.

I love this picture of Grace...so dirty and holding a sucker. It reminds me so much of the family reunions of my own youth.
A beautiful (rare) picture of Carolina Jones with Uncle Aaron:
Sisters!!
I want to end with this picture of Gramy Ruth (with Fi). We love you Gramy!!!!

Thanksgiving in AZ

2010-11-29T20:06:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving! I'll start with a great shot of Gracie in her pilgrim hat.
We decided to head for AZ this year for Thanksgiving for some good family time with the Emigs. Joey booked a room in Vegas so we could go halfway after school on Tuesday. A good idea in theory, but in all practicality it made for a night not soon to be forgotten. Sleeping in a room with 5 kids is never a good idea. At 3 in the morning Joey and I looked at each other and started laughing...what were we thinking??? The kids thought it was pretty fun though. We stayed at the Palms. The room was quite nice, but I wasn't sure about the whole thing when Grace said "look mom a bunny!!" (pointing to the playboy insignia that was prominently displayed throughout the hotel.) Jack said "I've been seeing alot of bad pictures around mommy." I told him to just look the other way, and he said "yah, that's what I've been doing!"
We arrived in South Chandler (we call it the boondocks) on Wednesday and the fun began. We had a wonderful dinner on Thursday...the kids ate outside and there were 6 of us at the dining room table. I am used to crazy and loud Thanksgivings...it was rather refreshing. The food was DELICIOUS!! (I will have to add pictures of this later after I steal some from Natalie's blog...my camera was in the bedroom where Fiona was taking a very substantial nap...I was NOT about to risk waking her up right when I was about to get my eat on!)

Some highlights of the week: Joey and Ty got to go to an ASU football game, hanging out with the Christensens, eating at My Big Fat Greek with the fam, playing games, lots of trains, boggle with Dave and Joey and the dad, dinner at Lindsays', Gramy taking the kids to tangled and to In & Out, Joey letting me sleep in one day, lots of hanging out and having fun. We extended our trip so we could spend more time with the mom and so Joey and his dad could attend the Cardinals game that was Monday night. The only bummer of the week was the BYU/Utah game...sigh.

The boys at the movie...
And the girls....
I absolutely LOVED the movie (Tangled). We had so much fun.
Then it was off to In & Out for the best food ever. It was a great afternoon. Thanks Gramy!!! (Sorry this picture doesn't have you in it...you were closing your eyes in the ones I had with you...)
While the Joey and Dad were at the game, and Ty and Jack were running around with the Broekman boys, we had a quiet afternoon. Gramy is very patient and spent hours playing with the girls.
A couple of car shots on the drive home. By staying the extra days we avoided nasty roads for the trip home. We were so happy about that.
My kids are amazing travelers, but it is still a long day with 5 kids in a minivan.

It was a great trip. I love Thanksgiving...it is all the good things about Christmas, like family, and food, traditions and traveling, but without the stress of presents.

Summer Out in the Yard

2010-11-27T16:47:00.000-08:00

We had a summer rainstorm...the kids threw on jackets and went out to frolic!

I love this picture of Gigi...she really trys to pose when she sees me with the camera. It cracks me up.

Just a little video of the kids playing with Fi. Ignore my annoying voice PLEASE!
Ju
We love to be outside in the summer. I snapped some pictures of the kids hanging out after eating dinner on a picnic blanket.

Carolina taped this heart to her nose because she was pretending to be a carebear.
You know you live in Lindon when this is an ordinary kind of occurrence.
hmm...we better get a closer look!
Gotta LOVE Carolina's outfit...where is your mother, girl?
Just wanted to throw in some cute shots of the twin cousins...(may 2010)

When you live in Lindon, you will probably spend a good portion of your summer digging a big hole.
Good work, team Emig!

Tyson Joseph Emig Turns TEN

2010-11-27T11:23:00.000-08:00

Tyson, my first baby boy, is now huge, and nearly a man. He had a fun birthday with his buddies. He chose to go down to byu for his birthday...to the byu hall of fame, and then bowling at the Wilkinson Center.
From L to Right, Jason, Jack, Tyson, Tanner, Casey, Robbie, Oli, and Philip:
This awesome guy Robert, could tell he was dealing with some serious BYU fans, and gave us an EXTENSIVE tour of the facility, including taking us back to see the team in a closed practice, and lots of behind the scenes stuff.
The boys, watching the team practicing.
Educating the boys on important BYU stuff:
Then it was off to bowl. On the way to the Wilk, the boys saw Noah Hartsock from the basketball team, and chased him down to say hello. Here are the boys:
Ty and best buddy Casey:
Who loves bowling?
You know your kid is old when he is excited by a present like this:
A quick stop to the creamery and presto: the best birthday EVER! (By the way...Ashley watched my girls so that I could be "in the moment"...which was the best idea ever!!! So much less stressful than usual. Thanks Ashley!)
Tyson loves sports so much and loves to play football, baseball and basketball. He enjoys video games (mostly sports ones) fantasy sports and emailing his cousins and grandma. He is the classic first child, extremely responsible and helpful. He is great with little kids. Things I want to remember: his awesome smile, how good he helps in the morning, his sense of humor, hugginess. Things I would rather forget: some occasional eye rolling, and lots of funny words...ie-tat, whaaaat? saaaa-hick, geek. Tyson is a wonderful person. I am so proud to be his mama.

A Rite of Passage

2010-11-27T11:17:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I am on a roll! I am really trying to get all my pictures up from the spring, summer and fall.

In August Joey taught Tyson how to mow the lawn. Ty was none too excited about it. The kids are pretty convinced the only reason we had them was to do our work.

Team "Havin' Fun"

2010-11-27T11:08:00.000-08:00

In August, Joey's cousin Cannon came for their annual golf tournament at Riverside. They love to say they got first place in "having fun"...I guess a way to put a positive spin on their not so great golf scores! Cannon brought some team uniforms...great for team unity. I just had to post these priceless pictures.

It was a great weekend, good food and good company.

A Visit to Sam

2010-11-27T09:11:00.000-08:00

In June, my sister Sam had a baby, Joslyn Miller. I was so excited to make a visit sans kids, so I could see the new arrival, and actually be semi-helpful for once in my life. Making the trip even more momentous was the fact that my mom would be there too, all the way from Madrid. I knew I had to make this happen!! My mom-in-law donated a airline pass so that I would be able to go. THANKS MOM EMIG!!! Ash went the 2 days before me and so we were there for 1 night together. We took advantage of the opportunity to catch eclipse together as sisters!
Me and my MOM!
Playing beauty parlor with the twins.
I can't remember if it was Kate or Owen who snapped this shot.
We did alot of laughing...which was not great for Samantha's c-section wound!
Love that we are all in pjs most of the time.
I had to include this picture of Kate, because I love the fact that we are watching The Bachelorette. (including Kyle)
Owen with sister.
My mom bought the girls these sweatsuits from Costco...adorable. Also while there, I was able to get 4 church dresses for sixty dollars, and lots of school clothes for the girls. The time went so quickly, as all great times do.

Fall, at a Glance

2010-11-26T10:20:00.000-08:00

Fall means flag football, and this year Joey was the coach of Ty's team the "cougars". He took it quite seriously. Tyson's buddies, Casey, Tanner and Jay were on his team. They had so much fun together.

Joey, out coaching with playbook in hand.

Where is that baby's mother??

Nothing means fall like pumpkin carving. Here is a peek at family night the week of Halloween.

Jack was trying to make the same face as his pumpkin.

More to come...

Crazy Hair Day, Dance Class

2010-10-26T17:27:00.000-07:00

It was spirit week at school, and I wanted to throw up a picture of crazy hair day. The best quote that morning was when Jack said, feeling uncomfortable with the whole idea of it all: "Mom, I'm just not a crazy hair kinda guy!"

I told them to pose "crazy"...Grace didn't have crazy hair day at her school, but every day is crazy hair for her...until I tame the wild fluffball that is her hair. This entails lots of spray and brushing.
Here is a picture from the girls' dance class, I thought Grandma Connie might enjoy. They were doing sleeping beauty, and the teacher even bought Gracie a special dress in a smaller size...is she short or what?

The girls favorite week was Lion King, and they wanted to pose to show their tails:

These sisters sure love each other!

A random post I know, but I am trying to get my pictures up.

Fall Break

2010-10-26T17:12:00.000-07:00

The kids were out of school and my sisters out of town. What's a girl to do? Joey worked and the rest of us "hung out". We played games and watched movies. One night we went up the canyon for a little hiking with the kids. Those of you who know me well are probably gasping right now. We are not big on hiking per se....but it was fun and most importantly, FREE. Here are lots of pictures for the grandmas.
I tried to get pictures of each kid...Ty:

Gigi, all bundled (it was a little chilly, but the leaves were changing and it was beautiful):

Jack

Lina

Baby Fi's first Cheese Puff:

Add Subway sandwiches for an instant party!

Everytime we go up the canyon I am amazed by the beauty and vow to take more advantage of living here in Utah. We'll see how it goes.

What Carolina Said Today

2010-09-02T18:28:00.000-07:00

After day two of kindergarten, this is what Carolina said to me: (I quickly wrote it down word for word so I could get it right) "Mom, I'm starting to love this boy because he said I'm kinda beautiful."

Here we go...

First Days of School

2010-09-01T19:25:00.001-07:00

I really want to be caught up on my blog...but Ashley gave me some good advice today, so I am going to blog about what is going on now, and go back later and finish the summer. I really want my sisters and mamas to see the kids back to school pictures, so here we go!

I was really sad when I found out that Miss Cathie's Academy was filled (I didn't register in January like I should have) so I finally signed Gracie up for a preschool by my house. It was conveniently located and still had openings. So long story short, she had her back to school with Mommy, then her official first day (where she made a friend named Hope and the boys in her class kept stepping on her toes), and was just getting ready for her second day when Cathie called me. She had a sudden opening and wanted to offer it to me, as all my other kids have gone there and we are good friends. At first I didn't know what to do, but quickly decided to un-enroll her in the preschool she was in and to go with Miss Cathie, who would be starting the next day! I was a little worried that Grace would be confused or upset, but she took it all in stride. She was very excited to have another "first day of preschool". I feel great about it.

So here is Grace riding the "train" at the other school.

Here she is with her new backpack, I love how this shows how short she is.

Grace was so excited to FINALLY start school, like her big sister Carolina.

Gracie with the boys, they were so proud of her!

So the boys had mixed feelings about getting back to school. Ty has a man teacher this year, and when we went to back to school night, he got nervous. But it is going great so far!

Jack has Mrs. Lepore, who Ty had last year. He was a little worried about how Ty represented the "Emig" name, which made me laugh.

Tyson wanted me to take a picture of his nikes to show his grandmas. I found a great deal, and made him pitch in some of his own money, because he wanted them so bad.

Ready to go.

Grace's second first day of preschool, with the aforementioned Miss Cathie. Carolina took her in and helped her find her chair with her name on it.

I signed the girls up for a little dance class once a week with their cousin Eliza. We went and bought them ballet shoes last Saturday. They were really excited to get home and start dancing. I LOVE THESE PICTURES!

Please click on this picture for the priceless expressions on their faces! I told them to point their toes.

Each week in their dance class they explore a different fairytale. The first class was Cinderella, and the teacher brought out costumes and wands for them all. I was smiling so big. I have been doing boy stuff for 10 years, and this was my first "girl-mom" moment. I was so happy the girls could be in this class together and with their cousin too. (I tried to get pics with all three cousins for you mom!)

So today FINALLY FINALLY Carolina Jones had her first day of kindergarten. I don't know why they start them a full WEEK after the other students, but it was hard for her. Every day she would ask, "Is today my first day?" We had her outfit planned and laid out for a couple of days...even Gigi started before her. Here she is:

The classic backpack shot!

I love this girl. She is so brave.

Here we are at the school, she was immediately talking with friends from church, so my last 2 pictures are just the back of her. I called out her name as she was going in the door, and she looked back and gave me her big quirky smile and quick wave....no hugs or tears here.

I was in shock this morning. finally, they were all in school and I only had Fi. I went and got Ash and made her walk around the mall with me, even though I didn't want to shop really...I just wanted to be out! So fun. I love school. (Carolina had a great first day, by the way. She loved her teacher, and everything about kindergarten!)

Updates, June and into July

2010-08-21T20:34:00.001-07:00

In June Joey went to Boston with his good buddy Scott. They took in some baseball at the "green monstah" and visited the basketball hall of fame, and ate alot of really yummy food (which he delights in showing me pictures of.) So he got back on Father's day, and the kids were excited to see him. (Joey, I am so happy that my kids get to have such a wonderful dad. Keep up the good work!)

We went to Lake Powell for girls camp this year (June 23-26). It was exhausting and fun, and hot, and tons of work, and did I mention exhausting? Joey took off work to watch my kids...which was awesome...none of the guilt of having your best friends and family doing you a huge favor and watching all your kids for you! I got a text the second morning I was gone that Jack had fallen and had to get 9 staples in his head! Then on Friday and Saturday I was on the phone ALOT with my sister Sam, who was at the hospital to give birth to Josi. It was very exciting. The six hour car-ride home from camp with lots of rowdy beehives watching a barbie movie?...not so much.

The day after I got home from camp, Tif Christensen came in to town with her 5 boys for a visit. This was a really busy and fun time for us. We had such a blast! The boys love each other so much. Cannon came later in the week.

The boys found a frog in the yard and refused to pick it up. I even offered 50 cents to whoever would do it. What a bunch of city kids!

Finally, Jack's love of money won out....he looks calm in the picture, but he sure wasn't! Carolina and Grace each earned 10 cents for touching it!

A Wendy's pic-nic in the theatre...good times!

Tif and I took the kids swimming, which resulted in another trip to instacare...Carolina fell in the bathroom ( she later told me she was on the counter trying to get soap on her hands and fell off) and had to get stitches...caution, gross pictures to follow!

I took Jack with me. He got his staples out and Carolina got her stitches in!

I love how beautiful Carolina looks in this picture. She love to wear this hat when she is outside.

Next up, my visit to see my mom and Samantha in California, the Emig family reunion, and other equally exciting summer happenings. I know you all can barely wait.

Goo Girl thinks she's a rock star

2010-08-18T09:00:00.001-07:00

My mom bought this outfit for Carolina Jones when she was little, and now it is Grace's turn to use it. She walks into church in this get-up, acting like she owns the place. It is pretty funny as she insists on the sunglasses too. Grace is very popular with the adults in our ward. She is the loudest singer in the primary, and she struts around the church-house in the most confident of ways. Cute is her currency, and she knows how to wrap everyone around her little finger. People think she is so amazing and smart, really she is just extremely short...which makes her seem really advanced for her age. She is quite a ham. I love this girl!

What We Did Today

2010-08-11T14:05:00.000-07:00

So, this is a break from trying to catch up on my whole summer. I present: "What We Did Today". This is a blog post that actually tells about my current life, today...not last month, not even last week! I feel like all I am ever doing is playing catch up.

The Girls were in a little "ballet" today. My friend Amy's daughter Aubrey (age 11), puts on a ballet every summer. She gets all the little girls in the ward and has practices and then puts on the performance at the church. It was so cute. It was "Hannah and Gretle". Here are some pictures of my girls and little clips. This is the kind of thing only grandmas really like, so the rest of you can skip this post. This dance is the "bird dance". Carolina is the tall one, and Gigi is the shorty.

It was fun to put make-up on the girls and do their hair. Ash came to help me. I didn't take pictures of them in their costumes...wahhh. but I took some others. Enjoy Grandmas:

Grace smudged her mascara right away...still cute.
Sisters.

Here, trying to do a "ballet pose".

In the dressing room, waiting for showtime.

After we got home and I realized I didn't take very many pictures:

Fi grabbed the tutu, then got really mad about it!

So my next post will go back to my usual...catching up with my summer.

Randomness

2010-08-04T12:52:00.000-07:00

So, I never put baseball pictures of Tyson, and he sure hasn't let me forget about it. Here are some pictures of him. He did really well this year and progressed alot. He really improved and gained confidence in hitting, and fielding too.

This is what I call Ty's goofy picture face....he loves to do this every time I take a picture. In fact I have a hard time finding a picture where he is NOT doing this!

There, that's better...isn't he handsome?

He is number 27.

Ty gets really mad when he gets a strike, and we are really working on sportsmanship.

Okay, some pictures of Fiona...she is growing so fast.

More randomness....when Grace wakes up in the morning, her hair is CRAZY. It is like a poofy cloud around her head. The other day she woke up from a nap on the couch, and I just had to capture the look for my blog...enjoy. Also, she is not posing. This is her, "I'm annoyed at you" look, which makes me nervous for her teenage years!

Gracie recently told me she wanted her hair to be "as long as a giraffe's neck." So I have stopped giving her her signature "gigi bob".....we'll see how it goes.

Then Cort Got Hurt

2010-08-04T11:13:00.000-07:00

Cort got hit by a car while riding a scooter. It was really scary. I had Ash's kids for a couple of days, and I took one funny picture of Henry in some of Fi's clothes. Notice, I look a little frazzled. I just kept looking at Ash's kids and had to stop myself from crying. It was such a relief that Cort wasn't hurt worse than he was. He is still in pain, but he is alive.....
The following is an excerpt from an email I sent my mother-in-law:

"Well, I had my grandma visit this last week, ran the young women 2 day fundraiser garage sale, my uncle and other grandma came for a cousin's wedding, lots of baseball, planning for girls camp, and oh yah,....the whole Cort getting hit by a car thing. Having 8 kids makes me realize how easy 5 is, ha ha. Did I sign up for this? But it is so strange, I have been feeling an overwhelming sense of joy and well-being. Maybe Cort's accident put it all in perspective...he could have died, instead he will be okay. I am so grateful for family and friends who love me...and an AMAZING husband, who I love more today than when I got married. Life is good."

So even though Ash was out of my life for awhile, I had a birthday party to throw, because Carolina Jones turned FIVE!! Carolina is an amazing little person. She has strong ideas and opinions about almost everything. She is so smart, like crazy smart ( I know all parents think this about their kids....) But alot of the time, I look back on my day and see how she worked me. She will be an amazing woman, strong and independent and well, bossy. These kind of people are not the easiest kids to raise. But I just remind myself that the same things that make her challenging as a child are actually really good qualities when found in adults.

She is really creative. Grace and her play, and pretend alot. They create whole fantasy realities. They are always talking in different voices of whatever character they are pretending to be. Right now they love to play "the Chipettes" from Alvin and the Chipmunks the squeakquel. CC is Britney, and Grace loves to be Elinore.

For Carolina's birthday we went to the park with cousins to play, have cupcakes and open presents. Here are lots of pictures:

The girls...

The boys, sans Dougie...he was there, I promise, but was running around during the pictures and somehow didn't end up in the shots. Sorry Angelique!

I was glad to have Brooklyn there....could I rent her sometime KK?

I had to put some pictures of her opening presents. She is so fun to buy for because she loves EVERYTHING!!! Look at her face in this shot, she love horses right now.

All this last year, Carolina would pick up things in stores and ask for them. I would always say no, and then she would come back with, can I have it for my birthday? (Robbie does this too) I would always say yes. So I started getting nervous as her birthday approached. So I told her she could pick 3 things she really wanted. Alot of thought and consideration went into this. By the time her birthday rolled around she had all her presents planned out for her 5th, 6th and 7th birthdays.

So I got her the squeakquel from Grandma Connie, which she wasn't expecting. I love her look of pure disbelief.

I couldn't resist this picture of GiGi with a cupcake. Notice she ate all the frosting off.

Happy Birthday Carolina Jones!!!

More May

2010-08-04T10:19:00.000-07:00

My computer has been broken since the spring. It has all my pictures on it. My brother was able to save them all, and it looks like he may even be able to fix the computer too. It is great to have a computer super hero as a brother. I haven't been able to blog though. I think that blogging without pictures is pretty boring. I just put some pictures from my camera onto my laptop though, so now I can get caught up on my journaling. And because this is a journal for me, I have to go back and document what I have been doing this summer.

May, as I stated in a prior post, was ALOT about baseball. But it was also about school winding down. Wow, the end of the school year is a busy time! To follow are pictures of Carolina's pre-school graduation, the dance festival and other randomness.

This is Carolina Jones with her teacher Miss Cindy. This is an amazing teacher. Carolina had such a great experience in preschool this year.

This is the dance festival at Aspen. If you click on this picture, you can see Ty front and center. The picture with Jack didn't turn out.

Just a picture of Fi. I wanted to document what she was looking like. She got her first 2 teeth when she was 7 months old. She is a tiny, skinny girl, who is super long. She is extremely wiggly, hardly ever holding still. My mom says she just looks like a blur on skype. She love to hollar at the top of her lungs.

My Grandma Jones..."AHA" came to visit for a week after having been in Almo for memorial day. I love these pictures. My girls never leave her alone. I love having her here with me.

Here they are dressed for church!

This is Jack, with best buddy Brody! They were on the same baseball team.

Now Let's Go Back

2010-08-04T09:28:00.001-07:00

We got together this spring for a law school reunion. Joey had a tight group of friends in law school. They met up right away, during the first week, and were inseparable the rest of the time. They were such a fun group of people!!! We decided it was time to get together and catch up, so we rented the same house from Christmas for a fun weekend. We had so many laughs and made new memories. I was nervous to go, with a new baby I didn't feel like I was looking my cutest...you know how it is for reunions...but within five minutes of being there I could tell we were in for a fantastic weekend. I love these people. It gave me such a good feeling to see everyone doing so well. They are all great people who work hard to raise their kids, make a living and show up for their church callings.

One crazy thing happened. The girls went shopping on Saturday and left the boys home to hang out...big mistake!! Two of the guys climbed on the roof of the house and jumped into the pool. Greg ended up in the ER with two broken heels and soft tissue damage in both legs...they told him he would have to be in a wheelchair for 6 weeks, and maybe have to have surgery. It was his 17-year anniversary that day. Jen was a good sport about it. They have 6 kids, and a foster kid and Greg is in the Bishopric, which begs the question: do boys EVER grow up??? It was so scary, because he could have gotten hurt worse. I don't know that he will ever live it down!

Jack's Special Day

2010-08-01T19:18:00.001-07:00

I left off my blogging in May...I will have to get back on track where I left off sometime soon. This summer has been so hectic and busy for me. There has not been any "downtime" really. I want to blog about Jack though, for all the friends and family near and far. Jack got baptized yesterday. It was a very special day. He was so excited and ready for this big step in his life. He is an extremely thoughtful and spiritual person. He asks amazing questions....an example: the other day we were talking about repentance and he told me that his brother Ty say that he tries to repent every night. I said, yes that it is good to think about your day and what you could have done better and then to just keep trying. He said: "how can this be true repentance mom, if Ty just kicks me again the next day?" I suggested that he focus more on his own behavior and what he needs to do in his own life...to which he replied: "I know mom, I'm just really worried about my brother!" He makes me laugh so much!

And now, lots of pictures:
Gramy eating breakfast with the girls: I took a picture with Jack and each one of his siblings. (except Fi, who was a real pill the whole morning!) Mom and Dad, we tried to keep you in mind with Jack's peruvian tie.

Jack picked Cort to give the talk on the Holy Ghost, he did such a great job, with tons of visual aids. It made me smile so big!

I know Justin won't love this picture, but the other one was blurry, and I want him to get credit for being there! ha.

Jack with his best friend Brody. They used to be the exact same height, so they looked like twins. Brody has sprouted up recently. I told Jack he is a late bloomer and will get tall right before his mission.

I love you Ike and Linh!

This is Ella Brown, the other child that got baptised. Their family is best buddies with ours (Amy Brown is the YW president and I am her 1st counselor, and their son Casey is Ty's best friend). They had A TON of family there, so it made for quite the boisterous occasion!

Jason and Kaelynn.

After the game Joey, his mom, Jack and I went to buy him some scriptures, go out to lunch at In&Out and run some errands. It was such a wonderful day. I am so proud to be Jack's mom. He is extremely smart, verbal and busy. He really keeps me on my toes.

May Means Baseball

2010-06-09T15:41:00.000-07:00

May was all about BASEBALL for our family. The boys both play, and they are on different teams. They have 2 games a week and practices besides, so we are pretty much at the ball field every night. It is pretty crazy with all the kids, but also fun. There is a "snack shack" with cheap candy, and the kids are really obsessed with buying treats. They are both getting good at the sport. Jack loves to play to the crowd, and get people to cheer for him. His best buddy Brody is on the team with him, which has been great! (A team dad takes lots of great pictures and sends them to us...so lucky!)

Tyson has really improved. Joey says he is very "coachable". I have watched him turn in to a real hitter. It is strange to watch your little baby do stuff like this. When the ball is coming towards him at shortstop, I hold my breath and just hope he can catch it. When he makes the play I feel so happy for him. He hasn't struck out too much, but when he does...wow, he gets mad. We have had to have lots of talks about sportsmanship. It is really fun to see him evolve from the silliness of t-ball, to the seriousness of little league. Every year it gets more like real baseball. The kids can actually field the ball. The other night Ty crushed one way out to the outfield, I thought it could be a triple...then the kid way out there actually caught it! (I will post pictures of Ty playing later...I don't have any yet.)

Joey is obsessed with baseball. The competitive nature of his fantasy league is quite intense. Because he has "players" on so many teams, he watches LOTS of baseball, not just his favorite teams. So, if you are interested in what I have been doing for the last month....its BASEBALL.

My Cool Cousins

2010-06-09T13:34:00.000-07:00

This post is written by Tyson, age 9.

On June 27th my second cousins are coming.They are staying for 9 days and for the 4th of July.Their names are, Cooper (Floyd) age 9, Ryland (Ry)age 12,Dane (Monkey)age 7, Bryson (Cowboy) age 4, Colter,age 1 and uncle Cannon. They are all boys.

We like to stay up late and watch suns games and play basketball. We also like to play video games and put pictures on my computer.

Almost every 4th of July they come here and we stay up late. And we like to have sleep overs. Last time they came Ryland got the swine flu.

Last time I went to Arizona we had a 3 point contest and whoever made it got 1 buck! And I made it and so did Dane we went to the final round. But he won so he ended up with 2 bucks.It was still awesome.

My Favorite Mamas

2010-05-09T19:10:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to mention all of my favorite MOMS today.

Thanks mom, for being pregnant and miserable for me...then having me and raising me to be the woman that I am. You did a great job...look how I turned out!

The other MOM in my life! You have always treated me as one of your own.

I still have all of my grandmas. They are AMAZING WOMEN!!!

My mom's mom:

My dad's mom:

Joey's mom's mom:

....and dad's mom:

Everything I am able to do for my own kids come as a result of years of hard work by these amazing moms. I love you all so much.

I had a great day today. Roses, chocolate, hand made gifts from my kids, a long nap and NO DISHES! After the kids sang a primary song in sacrament meeting Carolina asked me "Mom, are you so happy that you are about to cry?" I wasn't, I was more in a giggly mood watching my kids up there, but it made me think. I am doing exactly what I always dreamed of. Being a mom is hard and good. So to finish, a picture of my little darlings. The reason why all the hard work is worth it.

And Then Came Oshin

2010-05-05T20:31:00.000-07:00

The day after my parents left on their mission, Oshin Salas and her dad William came to stay. William was one of my dad's missionaries when he was Mission President in Peru back in the day. They have stayed in touch. William's daughter had a life-long dream to come to the U.S. and go to BYU. My dad arranged for Oshin to live with us for a couple of months to work on getting into college and especially on learning ENGLISH.

William stayed for two weeks, I'm pretty sure to ascertain that he was leaving his daughter in good hands and not with some crazy people. It was a good visit, although I felt so bad that he didn't get to see more of the sights, as this was his first trip to America. As a lady with 5 kids, one of them a newborn, it was tricky getting him around. (thanks family members who helped!)
Here he is, saying goodbye to Oshin at SLC Airport!

I enrolled Oshin in some institute classes at UVU, and tried to involve her in YW's as much as possible. I helped her to take the SAT and jump through all of the hoops required to apply to BYU and BYU Idaho. In the process I think I probably improved my Spanish much more than she did her English. It was a great experience for our family though, and she became an honorary daughter of mine. She bonded with the kids so much, especially the little girls.

Oshin went back to Peru last week and I am already missing her so much. My kids ask about her every day. I must say that I LOVED having a teenage daughter.

I wanted to include some pictures of our trip to Arizona for spring break. It was fun to show Oshin some of the countryside...we went through Vegas on the way there, and flagstaff on the way back. It was a great road trip!

We snapped a pic of the nearly completed bridge over the hoover dam.
Fiona at one of our stops.

The girls eating an American classic...the grilled cheese sandwich. It was funny feeding Oshin, I never knew if she was going to like what I made. She is a super polite person....hard to get a read on. She lived in Japan for alot of her life...so hmm, Peruvian/Japanese food???

Went to visit Grandma and the cutlers while there. We went to the Valvista Lakes clubhouse and swam...so fun. Grandma was cold though.
At the Cutler's house.

We went to a D-backs game with the boys, and Fi and Oshin.

We had a great Easter.

We went swimming one afternoon to Basha Pool.

More pics of my visit to Aunt Vickie
Just hanging around.
We went to a cool museum of cowboy art.
Grace and Poppy striking his signature pose.

It was a great trip to AZ, and while we were there, we found out that Oshin got into BYU Idaho!!! It was so exciting. She starts January 2011. We are proud of you Oshin!

Some Randomness

2010-05-05T20:22:00.000-07:00

I am the first counselor in the Young Women's Presidency. This is a busy calling. I don't write much about it, but I thought I would throw up a quick pic of some of the girls. Right now I am busy planning camp and trek. Help!

I told these girls to pose "busy" during our "Iron Chef" activity. It turned out really fun.

Are they beautiful or what? I thought 14-15 year old girls were supposed to be more awkward!

This is Debbie, my advisor and dear friend. I LOVE her!!!

Okay, to make this post live up to it's title of randomness, I will now post a picture of my adorable daughters in their Christmas dresses, and tell you a cute thing Carolina Jones said. She asked me when we could go to disneyland. I said, "Someday"...to which she replied, "Mom, someday is when I am going to get married."

Maybe the underlying theme to this post could be, beautiful women!

I Hope They Call Me on a Mission

2010-05-05T19:45:00.001-07:00

I am enjoying looking through my pictures to make these updates. For my brothers and sisters this post will feel like a walk down memory lane.

My parents left in January to be the Mission Presidents of the Madrid Spain Missionary Training Center. It was hard to see them go. They had been living with us for six months, which I think made them leaving even harder for me. On the day they left for the MTC in Provo I put on my happy face and said goodbye. Immediately upon hearing them shut the door, I started bawling my brains out...then I heard the door open again like a minute later. I was so embarrassed at my hysterical state that I yelled "get out of here!" My mom stammered, "I'm going, I just forgot this one thing". I then yelled "Don't look over here" (I was around the corner on the couch). She was out the door pretty fast and I resumed my pity party. It was funny.

We went a couple of days later to say our official goodbyes at the MTC. It was a neat experience. I was excited for my kids to get to be there, along with all my brothers and sisters and their kids too. I am really trying to help my little group understand what this is all about.

Robbie found a picture of the prophet, and was so excited to show all the kids.

What a group.

This one is blurry, or is that just me crying?....not sure.

I miss my parents tremendously. I sometimes wish I didn't like them so much. My sisters and I joke that we even miss them when we are with them. I never even had those rebellious years when your parents drive you crazy. I have always loved to be around them. Why is this? Is it my mom's sparkling conversation?...oh wait, that's just me talking her ear off while she does Sudoku. Could it be my dad's gentle ways, his sensitivity?...HA. I'm not sure, I just know that they are my people.

So mom, dad, if you are reading this, come back soon! And by soon I mean exactly when you are supposed to, in one year and nine months!

Here I Go Again

2010-05-05T18:37:00.000-07:00

Are you ready for more updates? I will start in January. My in-laws came for a great visit and we blessed Fiona and Henry on the same day. We figured one party would be easier. Okay, prepare yourself for LOTS of photos: (photography by Cortney Boice by the way...love it!)

The woman of the hour: Fiona!

And now with the man of the hour: Henry! Henry, by the way, is so incredibly chubby by now that it was funny to even look at these pictures. I am really behind on this blog. Fiona is much taller now but her face is still really similar....not Hens though!

I hesitate to put this chubby-faced picture of myself, but hey, I was there and I this IS what I looked like that day.

Joey with his incredible parents. I love this picture because they all look so happy.

Four generations of Emigs! Joseph, Ruth, and Joey.

My parents with both babies, by now Fi was out of her fancy dress, but still cute.

My dad did the food. It was quite the spread. (thanks daddy.)

One more of Fi. She is sporting her grandma Lori's blessing cap and blanket. It was a good day.

This is For You, Angelique!

2010-03-12T11:20:00.000-08:00

Hey...I have been so so busy. This week I am watching Dougie for Angelique and Justin while they are in Hawaii. I wanted to post some quick pictures so they could get a good look at their little guy. I remember how much I missed Ty the first time I left him.

A random picture of my girls, and how they look alot of the time:

Dougie REALLY loves to be read to. Oshin snapped this shot of me...notice how beautiful I look with my unkept hair and stylish sweatshirt...I'm afraid this is how I am doomed to look this week.

This is the expression Dougie loves to make this face for pictures. I'll have him smiling so big, then as soon as I hold up the camera, this is what I get:

Just hanging with the ladies...

My favorite thing about Dougie are his hands and feet..so chubby and soft!

He is doing great you guys. Yesterday he fell in love with me and is now obsessed. ha. My kids are totally into him. Carolina follows him around like a little mommy and picks up any little crumbs from my floor...then she runs them to me and says mom, we need to throw this away, Dougie almost wanted to put it in his mouth! This has caused me to start sweeping my floor like someone with OCD.

I'll post more when I have another minute!

Vegas Baby

2010-02-25T09:43:00.000-08:00

For Christmas my dad rented a house in Las Vegas and all of the Earl family was together! My parents were to be leaving for another mission in January, and we wanted to have one last hurrah. It was an amazing place. We chose it for 2 reasons. First, we wanted to attend the Vegas Bowl, and second we needed a BIG place to all be together. I know my dad had worries on how it would all turn out...I thought it was a BLAST!!!

So I am going to post mostly pictures. My dad bought rock band BEATLES..it was a hit! I love his singing face by the way! The kids favorite was Lucy in the sky with diamonds.

I have to say that this kinda changed my kids life forever. They LOVE the Beatles now. They have downloaded all their songs and memorized the words. They have Beatles t-shirts, which they begged me to buy. The other day I heard Jack in the kitchen singing at the top of his voice "when I find myself in times of trouble...mother mary comes to me, speaking words of wisdom, let it be." It made me think of my dad, and it made me get a tear in my eye.

This is what our time in Vegas looked like most of the time, lots of kids....

And lots of fun sitting around talking!

There was SWIMMING!

And crafts.
And even an invalid!
This is Joey and Ty when they got home from the BYU game. They were still smiling! It was one of the best nights of Ty's life. He got to storm the field, and be on TV (thanks to uncle Justin) and he didn't even complain about the bitter cold.
We had a mini talent show Christmas eve. Grace and Carolina sang, Jack did a handstand, and Ty threw a football through a target.

Christmas morning was great and the kids loved all their presents. I had to include these two pics of Grace Christmas morning.

It was an amazing time. I love being with my family. Do you love us in our matching pjs?

December-Grandpa Christensen Funeral

2010-02-25T09:22:00.000-08:00

In December we received the news that Joey's Grandpa Christensen passed away. We were sad, and so happy. He was 93 years old. He was an amazing man. I feel so honored that I got to know him. When we were in law school we lived in the same complex with grandma and grandpa and I had the opportunity to spend lots of time with him. He was gentle, kind, funny and charismatic.

A big thank you to Southwest Airlines for helping our family to get to the funeral! We took the boys and Fiona. It was nice to be able to see all of Joey's family, and right before Christmas too. Here are the boy cousins, practicing their musical number, Called to Serve". It was powerful. I was in 2 musical numbers as well, I Know that my Redeemer Lives and Silent Night. The funeral was wonderful.

Joey was a pallbearer.

Fiona got to meet tons of Arizona family. Here she is with "Auntie Allison".

We had a great experience. One negative though...Joey was playing football with all the little kids in the park and he re-injured his ankle. He had been limping since August on a bad calf/ankle from a flag football injury. When we got back to Utah and took him to the doctor we found out that he had ruptured his Achilles tendon and would have to go in for surgery the next day. It turns out that he had a partial tear all along, and then tore it again. Thus began one of the hardest 6 weeks in my life! He couldn't put ANY weight on it and had to use crutches to get around.

A Time of Thanksgiving

2010-02-25T08:24:00.000-08:00

November flew by. With a newborn, night and day have no meaning. Fiona definitely had the two reversed. She struggled to gain weight and I had to start supplementing with formula. Thanksgiving was great, but kinda a blur. It was at my house. I looked back and had absolutely NO pictures. I had to take some from my sister's blog.

I wanted to include this picture so I could remember what Fi looked like...cute. I however, look tired!

Joey loves to come up with something creative (or weird if you ask me) to make for Thanksgiving. This is him making pear brulee...it had 2 sauces and was actually really good.

Cousins!! It is so fun for the kids to be together. Here are the younger ones.

My dad carving the bird. I miss my dad!

The food was GOOD! My favorite thing was Ash's orange rolls.

Another awesome thing that happened in November was that my Grandma read the Twilight books. (I insisted) I kept asking her if she liked them and she would say "NO!"...emphatically I might add. She read them soooo fast though. She even stayed up later than her 10pm bedtime a couple of nights. If you know my grandma, breaking schedule is almost unheard of...so I'm pretty sure she was obsessed! Here she is with Grace, oh and look what she is holding!

November comes with alot of football. Ash got iron on letters and we made the babies BYU shirts for the Utah game. AWESOME.

I have so much to be thankful for!

The Rest of October

2010-02-18T15:43:00.000-08:00

We brought Fiona home. Here are all the kids wanting to meet her. They took turns holding her (after lots of hand sanitizer!)

I wanted to include this picture of my Grandma Jones (Aha) with Fi. It was so fun having my grandma live with me.

My Grandma Earl came to visit. It was so fun to have her there. She was constantly cleaning and helping with my kids.

Halloween. Tyson was a AZ cardinal football player. Jack was a bat (thanks mom taking care of that!) Carolina was Minnie Mouse (again..and she informed me today she wants to be Minnie Mouse next year too) and Grace was Cinderella. I took it easy and passed out candy, while Joey did the heavy lifting of the ward party and trick-or-treating.

Henry and Fiona, with their ghost onsies and pumpkin hats. (One of Ashley's friends made the hats...toooooo cute!) This picture shows how skinny Fi got. She was losing weight and I had to supplement with formula.

Next up, November...I'm sure you are on the edge of your seats.

Fiona Calista Arrives at Long Last

2010-02-18T14:26:00.000-08:00

I have purposely NOT posted about having my little darling Fiona. My labor and delivery were horrible. I almost can't think about it. It is too soon. I am so happy with the result, however. So I will post pictures and details, I know that later I will want them. I took notes on a pad by my bed.

I checked in at 6:30 am. My first blood pressure reading was pretty high.

My nurse was named Sherry. I loved her right away.

At 9:00 am Dr. Baxter broke my water.
9:50-epidural
11:00 the unavoidable "magnesium sulfate"...my blood pressure was just too high. This medicine is awful, you feel hot, confused, floppy. It gives you a bad headache, it is hard for your eyes to focus and for me it brings on horrible nausea. I included this picture of me feeling druggy...

Throughout the afternoon I had a visist from my mom and Ashley and my mom in law. I felt very "magged out". I felt like I was flying or on a hot air baloon and I had a really bad headache. I threw up a few times, and progressed slowly (very slowly) throughout the day. They kept checking me and I was staying at a 6 to 7 for a long time. I really wanted to have my baby before the shift change at 5:00.

Ash and I: the pregnant sisters! We were quite the talk of the hospital.

My labor was slow going. Then I all the sudden felt like the baby was coming out, lots of pain and pressure. The nurse re-checked me and it was time. I really felt this baby get born. I don't know what was happening with my epidural. Yikes. So in a haze of pain and intense nausea, Fiona Calista was born at 6:56 pm. She was: 6 lb 13 oz, 19.5 inches long.

My father in law was able to run in and see Fiona before running out the door to catch a plane. My Mom in law stayed to help with my kids. I was so glad to have her there to hold my hand and be a great advocate for me.

Okay, so I look ABSOLUTELY horrible in these pictures. I hesitated posting them, but the truth of the matter is, this IS WHAT I LOOKED LIKE. I was so sick.

Justin and Angelique. One wierd side note, because of swine flu no kids were able to visit the hospital. Joey had to hold our baby up to the window as the kids looked in from outside the hospital.

Doctor Baxter and Fi. I love this guy. He has delivered 4 of my 5 kids, and I trust him with my life.

The night after I had little Fi is a horrible blur. I had to continue on the medication. My mom stayed with me. She sat/layed in the chair all night and held my hair back for me when I woke up to puke violently...over and over. Thinking about this makes me want to publicly thank my two moms for all their help with this birth. I am so grateful to have such amazing women in my life.

The next day I spent recovering and trying to do so quickly as my sister Ash was induced and progressing so quickly. I was able to get my cath out just in time to hop in a wheelchair (my first time up) and get wheeled 2 doors down just in time to catch the birth of Henry Ephraim.

TWIN COUSINS!! This was so fun. Ash and I ate our meals together and hung out.

I am so happy that these babies made it to earth. They are healthy and beautiful. It was all worth it.

October Here I Come

2010-02-18T14:14:00.001-08:00

October was quite the month around here. I was on bedrest and then had a baby...oh yah, and Halloween.

The Young Women had a baby shower for me.

I had to go in to the hospital twice to be monitored, my blood pressure was too high! Here is one of the times I thought they might keep me. My doctor was out of town however, and I was DETERMINED to make it until he got back.

Abigail came to stay at my house the week I had the baby. Jason and Kaelynn took the rest of their group to Disneyland. The girls had so much fun together.

Next Post...Fiona is born!

It's a New Day

2010-02-18T13:34:00.000-08:00

My baby Fi is now 4 months old. Yesterday, I sat around and watched TV. Then it hit me...I have some spare minutes now! And so I will resume this blog basically where I left off....September 2009!!! I am mostly going to throw on a bunch of pictures. They will do a pretty good job of documenting my crazy life.

My parents came to stay with us. It was a very eventful time for me that flew by so quickly. They are now in Madrid for two years. I really miss them.

Tyson played his first season of flag football. It was funny. Joey has decided he needs to coach next time.

This is an awesome picture of Rob and Carolina. The quote should read "Carolina had a great idea"...this is what Rob said when we asked them why they got out every single game I own and spread them over the upstairs of my house. These two get into quite a bit of trouble. It seems that Carolina is the brains and Rob the brawn of this operation.

In September the Emigs all came to Utah for a birthday celebration (we missed you Em and Jared!) The dad turned 60! We had such a blast.

I was on bedrest, so I missed alot of the fun, including the BYU game they all attended, but here we are at Brick Oven having an awesome dinner...with no kids! Nat announced she was expecting. It was a great night.

We watched alot of football. BYU had a great season, and so did the AZ cardinals. Joey would make us wear our jerseys for the games.

Go Cardinals!

Gracie spent alot of time playing computer when I was on bedrest. It is amazing to me how she can navigate this website (starfall) without being able to read.

So, I hope all my "mamas" enjoyed installment #1. Better late than never, right?

Fiona on her blessing day

2010-01-05T13:07:00.000-08:00

Thanks Cort, for the awesome pictures. I will post the story later.

Just a Second

2009-11-30T14:48:00.000-08:00

My goal today was to update my blog. A couple of hours ago, I fed my newborn, quickly cleaned my kitchen and living room, put on a show for my girls (yeah...mother of the year, right?) and ran into the office to sit at the computer. Then I heard "wahhh" it was my baby crying, then Grace yelled "mom, I peed in the pantry" (did I mention I am potty training today?...it is NOT going well!). Within ten minutes my boys had gotten home from school and started getting snacks, so there goes the kitchen. I walked through my bedroom and water was dripping from the the fire alarm on my ceiling, and I can't find the source. Carolina just informed me she is hungry, oh Grace just peed again, and I feel it coming on, it's time to nurse again. So I guess you are all updated. This is my life. Are we having fun yet?

I don't like to post without a picture, so here is one of my new addition, Fiona Calista...along with her cousin Henry Ephraim (notice the adorable BYU onesies we made for the big game on Saturday...which was awesome by the way!)

Just Laying Around

2009-09-29T10:27:00.000-07:00

Last week I went to the doctor. My blood pressure was elevated. I have had toxemia with every pregnancy so far, so this was no surprise, just a pain. The doctor sent me to the hospital to be monitored and tested further. I was sent home later, but relegated to bed rest. I felt relieved because I didn't want to have the baby that week, as all my in-laws were coming into town for Joe's 60th birthday celebration. (We had a blast by the way, I will post the pictures to prove it later!)

So Yesterday when I went to my weekly appointment, I was hoping the doctor would want to induce me next Monday. He would have too, except he is going out of town next week. What a pain!!! So I am scheduled to be induced on the 12th...and have to be on bed rest until then.

I have always pictured bed rest to be a rather relaxing idea...instead it is driving me crazy. I feel like a lazy person who doesn't accomplish anything. Thankfully, my parents live with me right now, and can help out. I am trying to be patient and hang in.

The one fun thing...Ashley is going to be induced on the 13th, so we will be in the hospital together. This has been a hilarious experience being pregnant at the same time. We have had all of our appointments together and now will finish up together. I am sad to miss her birth though...I will probably be hooked up to magnesium sulfate down the hall somewhere (a really gross drug I always have to have for the toxemia.)

Oh What Did We Do in the Summertime?

2009-09-07T14:55:00.000-07:00

How do I describe a whole summer? This is the problem with blogging. You take what you consider to be a small break, and then all of the sudden...the summer is over and you are so behind you don't know where to begin.

I have decided to tackle this by posting tons of pictures, with brief explanations....not a great journal, but better than nothing, right?

In July, the Christensens came to visit. These are some of our favorite people! Here is Joey, with his cousin Cannon and the boys. (from left, Bryson, Dane, Ty, Jack, Ryland, Cooper)

I included this one, because it is the only one with evidence that Tiff and I were there! Colter, the baby isn't in any of the pictures, I think he was sleeping that night.

Tyson and best buddy, Cooper aka: Floyd. (Cannon and Tiff have nicknames for all their five boys, which makes it quite confusing...that lots of names!)

Carolina and Gracie with COWBOY!

Jack, MONKEY and COWBOY.

At the end of July, my parents got home from their mission. It was quite the whirlwind after that. We had so many visitors, and lots of get togethers. It was really fun and exhausting. My parents need to learn to slow down a little bit. Here are some pictures of a day when we took all the kids to the park.

Grandma Connie swinging....she got going pretty high...funny.

The whole group walking...wow, there are alot of us:

In August, Ash and I packed up the kids and headed to Moses Lake. We were sad because we realized that with both of us pregnant, this is the last road trip we could make in my van. (Two adults plus the six kids!) I guess we need an RV now.

The kids loved Moses Lake, and staying at my parents house.

We decided to give our kids an edge by practicing for the races to be held at the Earl Family Reunion!

I love this picture of these kids getting ready to race. Carolina and Rob were holding hands...so cute.

I am going to blog more in depth about the Earl Family Reunion...hosted by the Tami Earl branch of the family, but I wanted to throw a couple of pics up. I have tons I want to record though. We had such a blast.

While in Moses Lake, my son Tyson turned NINE!!! For his birthday, we went to a Seattle Mariners game. He was thrilled to recieve an ICHIRO jersey to wear to the game.

We left the girls with the fam back in Moses Lake. It was really fun to go to Safeco field.

I took all the pictures, so it doesn't look like I was there.

Tyson chose chili nachos for his birthday dinner! (a man after his father's heart)

This game of course went into the 14th inning...with a score of 0-0. Finally the Mariners brought in Griffey and he scored. At least the ending was dramatic. Here are my boys cheering.

We stayed in a nice Sheraton in downtown Seattle.

The next morning we walked to pike place market to see the sights.

Hot chocolat from Starbucks...and stopping to take a picture in front of a pig vehicle that sold....well, all sorts of good bar-b-que.

We watched the men throwing fish for awhile in the market and then strolled around.

Jack, in the hotel.

Before heading back to ML, Tyson fulfilled his dream of eating at IHOP. We were only gone from Moses Lake for 24 hours, but it sure was packed with fun!

While in Moses Lake, I made sure to take my kids to Franks...my favorite place to buy candy when I was a kid.

Our trip was fun and crazy...there were alot of kids staying at my parents house...8, under the age of 9 to be exact. We didn't sleep alot, and played hard...so the whole thing was quite overwhelming for a 8 month pregnant lady such as myself. It was alot of fun though, and totally worth it.

We had to head back to Utah though, because it was time for SCHOOL TO START!!

But first...a random picture of my random girls....they love to put on outfits and play. This is them tap dancing for me. Notice the underwear on GG's head and the onsie snapped over her skirt.

When we got back from WA, we went to "back the school night," and found out Tyson had been put in the class he wanted. He was supposed to be in a different class, and I had tried to get him changed, only to be told it wasn't possible by the principal...but I guess he pulled some strings. Tyson was so excited to go. This is the boys RUNNING to school the first day. By the time I got my camera to my eye, they were already at the end of the cul-de-sac...I almost missed the picture.

Tyson, 3rd grade with Mrs. Lepore. Jack, 1st grade (all day school....YES!) with Mrs. Cottrell.

"Bye boys, have fun!!" No tears here...just a big sigh of relief!

This is Carolina on her first day of preschool. I didn't start her right away, because I wasn't sure which school to put her in. I was so excited when they called me from the preschool at Lindon Elementary and told me a spot had opened up. She loves it, and it is so close to my house....and it is Tues-Friday from 9-12. PERFECT!<>
She was so excited, she ran right in and started talking her teacher's ear off (Miss Cindy). When I was leaving I heard her say to the girl next to her "Do you want to be my friend?"...it made me laugh. Carolina is NOT SHY!

Ty wanted me to take a picture of him on CC's first day. Funny.

So you are up to date. I am getting huge...I will post a picture soon. I am one month away from having this baby and we don't have a name picked out...suggestions anyone?

Home at Last!!

2009-07-25T12:14:00.000-07:00

My parents came home from Peru last Saturday. What an awesome day it was. I wanted to post a bunch of pictures to remember the occasion.

We dressed our kids in red, white and blue to welcome them home. Ashley did an intricate hairdo on Grace, and when I pulled her out of the van, she had pulled them all out! Here is my aunt Vickie holding her:

Thier were two rubber bands left, so I scraped this look together:

Here is the gang...it was pretty hard to stay assembled for the 10-15 minute wait.

Carolina Jones holding a sign:

My parents got to meet baby Dougie for the first time:

We were missing Sam and Kyle, Ike and Linh, and Michael.

Jack, cheering up a grumpy Gracie:

Here they come!!!

I know my mom will hate these crying pictures...but I love them!

We are happy and relieved to have them home. So far they have made alot of trips to costco, and had fun with all of us.

Jack Turns Seven

2009-07-25T11:19:00.000-07:00

So, we were down with the flu on Jack's birthday. So we had a party when we all got better. He wanted a camo cake, and to go the Nickelcade with his buddies. All the pictures are a bit blurry, but enjoy anyway!

Ash and I were totally grossed out by the Nickelcade...I felt like I wanted to bathe myself and the kids in antibacterial gel when we got home. It was hot and stinky, but the boys sure loved it!

Jack is a great kid. He has a quick wit, is super smart and funny. He is a very verbal person. We are working on his attitude, and he has made great strides on trying to only say nice things...or I guess, think before he speaks. He is such a joy to me. He helps me take care of Grace and has started to play nicely with Carolina too. He is best friends with his brother Ty. His enthusiasm and smile can light up a room. I feel honored to be his mom. We love you Jack!

Boo Hoo...It's the Swine Flu!

2009-07-11T18:29:00.000-07:00

You may have wondered if we have fallen off the face of the Earth. We've been holed up in our house with the flu this week. This is how it happened.

I was supposed to go to Youth Conference this week for 3 days. Jack had a bad fever so I took him to instacare as a precaution. I didn't want to leave him with babysitters if he had anything bad. They did a strep test, which was negative. The doctor thought he probably had laryngitis, as he couldn't really talk. I insisted on the flu test to appease my paranoid husband, and just to make sure I wasn't leaving Joey with more than he could handle. To the doctors' great surprise...it came back positive! After 2 hours in the instacare I was pretty frazzled.

I was reeling...I had so much to do this week for my calling I wasn't sure what I should do. The doctor gave us Tamiflu for everyone "at risk" (kids under 5 and pregnant ladies!) and I drove home. When I told Joey about Jack he said "I knew it!"...and then proceeded to tell me he was feeling pretty achy too! I called the doctor and got some medicine for him too.

By 10:30 that night, I was finally back from the pharmacy and ready to crash. The next day I called the other leaders to let them know that I couldn't come to Youth Conference. It is so funny people's reaction to this flu...I might as well tell people we have leprosy, lice, and fleas over here. It is so embarrassing, and then I have to explain to them that it is pretty much like the normal flu...only super contagious because it is a new strain. The stigma of it is the WORST PART!

I was glad I stayed home, because ALL four of my kids, five if you count Joey, got this flu to some degree. I feel so blessed that I didn't get it, with being pregnant and all. So we basically have quarantined ourselves to the house for the week. Joey will be able to go back to work on Monday (don't worry people...he will be TOTALLY NON-CONTAGIOUS by then...we are being super cautious). It has been so strange to have him here all week...usually if he has time off we travel or have family in town. (Besides the horrible FLU part, I must admit...I LOVED it!)

The first couple of nights were tough, and ended up like a big Emig slumber party:

Even though they didn't feel good, they still smiled for the camera!

It was interesting to note the different sick "styles" my kids have...

Tyson wants me to be right by him the whole time. If I go to another room, or try to do the dishes he starts whining for me. He wants to be physically touching me. He even wants me there rubbing his back when he is throwing up! (This is so hard for me...but I try hard, because I know it means alot to him)

Jack, when REALLY sick, holds still and is quiet. He doesn't ask for much, and trys to sleep alot and just get better. He did look at me at one point this last week and whispered "Mom, am I going to die?" It about broke my heart, because he was not being dramatic!

Carolina...she talks the whole time!! I am not exaggerating...she uses this sick little voice and she says really adorable things, mostly pledging her love for me and the rest of the family. For example "Mom, I love you with all my heart...I am your sweet little girl and you are always going to protect me." She goes on and on. I just keep telling her, "that's right Carolina Jones...I love you and you are going to be better soon."

Grace is cuddly and sweet, and pats my head or face alot!

Anyway, we are finally on the mend. I didn't want to talk about it too much until it was over...but now I can safely say, we made it through the infamous swine flu and made some memories to boot! Jack's birthday was today, and I have assured him that we will have a great party next week. We have had some great picnics in our backyard, and watched a movie together in the theater and had alot of quality snuggle time as a family. Meanwhile I am so behind in my blogging...I have some things I want to document before I forget all about them....so stay tuned...oh, and a very special announcement: MY PARENTS ARE COMING HOME....NEXT SATURDAY! I can't stop smiling.

I'm Scared...

2009-06-21T18:01:00.000-07:00

I have alot to update, but can't find the motivation. My daughter CC has been up to some unusually naughty hijinx this week (paint...walls...carpet....) It is too soon to talk about.

I am going to girls camp this week. They put me in charge of the huge group of boisterous beehives...even though I usually work with the mia maids. I am shaking in my boots. Keep me in your prayers.

Carolina Jones Turns FOUR

2009-06-06T15:44:00.000-07:00

Today we had a birthday party for CC. I cannot believe she is only turning 4. She is a little busy body...a grown-up in a kid body. I don't write that much about her, because she is really hard to explain (you kinda gotta meet her)...also, I don't want her to have a chip on her shoulder about anything I write. She is extremely verbal (talking perfectly since 18 months)...has strong opinions and is very quirky. She makes alot of funny faces, its hard to snap a picture of her where she isn't making a face. She was my very easiest baby, until she was about 15 months old, when she really blossomed into a busy, busy person with LOTS of ideas. I really had to baby-proof EVERYTHING. I had already had 2 boys and thought they were pretty wild, but I was in for a huge surprize. I found out that they were pretty mild toddlers, compared to my little CC. When she was little, we called her "miss entitlement". She hasn't changed much. She is named for Joey's mission (and a NCAA basketball title) and also after my mom, Connie Jones. I love this daughter with all my heart. She is spunky, and funny and strong.

Here are pictures from her party today.

I let Carolina choose one friend from the ward to invite. This is her buddy Mandy.

Ashley had me take a picture of these sisters holding hands. Cute.

It was a "Littlest PetShoppe" party. Here is her Jello poke cake, just like I used to have.

This is a picture of Carolina freaking out when she opened Grandma Connie's present.

Minnie Mouse from Eliza. (CC LOVES minnie!)

Joey was in charge of games.

Carolina with the afore-mentioned gift.

It was a great party. A special thank you to Gramy too, she brought a wonderful tea set the week before, I have pictures I will post later of the fun that ensued. Also, thanks AHA....your package came to our door right before the party started and Carolina was THRILLED to get something in the mail!

The Verdict is In...

2009-06-01T11:51:00.000-07:00

I had an ultrasound today. Our fifth baby is a GIRL. I was secretly hoping for a boy because my sister Ashley is having a boy, and our due dates are within a week of each other. It will be fun for my girls though. They really feel like they "won", because my boys wanted a boy and they wanted a girl. Jack was pretty upset. He said, "she's just going to grow up and be annoying like CC". He suggested Ash and I trade babies. He thinks it would be perfect, because we could get a boy with brown hair...just what he wants. Funny.

Thirteen Years and Counting...

2009-05-23T10:33:00.000-07:00

Joey and I recently took a trip back east for our 13th wedding anniversary. We went with his cousin Cannon and wife Tiffany and had a blast. We spent the first night in Baltimore. I was surprised by how beautiful this city was. We stayed downtown at inner harbor. The first night we went over and caught an Orioles/Yankees game. It was a beautiful night, great company, awesome stadium, delicious bbq, and even a great game (orioles beat the yankees and there were tons of home runs).

Look at this funny sign we saw in front of a church walking to the game.

We (and by "we" I mean Joey and Cannon) scalped tickets for 10 dollars...so fun.

I know this picture is blurry, but I wanted a group shot.

The next morning, on Mother's Day we went to church at the Baltimore Inner Harbour ward, in downtown Baltimore. It was great. We then hopped in the van and jetted over to Washington D.C. for an awesome day of walking around our nation's capitol. With so much to do, and just one day to do it we saw what we could.

This museum was awesome, some of the highlights, the flag that inspired the national anthem, a collection of dresses from U.S. First Ladies, Abe Lincoln's top hat, the ruby red slippers from Wizard of Oz...and tons more!

The Washington Monument (or as I called it "the sticky uppy thingy").

The white house.

When we were here there was a crazy transient guy surrounded by police that was going on and on about how he needed to get into the white house. Our favorite line was: "The president goes in there, the first lady goes in there, my family is all in there, I've GOT to get in there."

We stopped to buy a famous cupcake. It was yummy.

It was a wonderful day in the city, and I decided I have to go back and see everything properly. It was amazing how patriotic it made me feel. My heart was beating so fast when we were looking at the white house.

That night we drove to Bedford Pennsylvania, headed for a resort called Bedford Springs. We stayed there the rest of the time. It is an historic resort built around 7 natural springs. It was renovated and restored to its present amazing-ness and re-opened to the public in 2007. They put ALOT of money into the place and it showed. I loved all the history and antiques, the serenity of the grounds, and the spa. Joey loved all of this too...but REALLY loved the amazing golf course. I rode 9 holes twice with him. It was so beautiful. Joey put it in his top 5...which is saying alot, because he has golfed some amazing places. Okay, so here are alot of pictures:

The restored pool room. The water is natural spring water. Gorgeous, right?

I took alot of pictures of furniture, the whole place was done right. I was in heaven.

Just a pretty hall I found. They restored all of these original skylights.

Our room, I should have taken a picture when the bed was made. hee.

Our room had a door that opened onto a beautiful shared porch with tons of rocking chairs. Look at the view.

A pretty staircase.

Out front.

The staircase from the other side.

We had a pretty fierce and competitive game of horseshoes. I kept having contractions.

I wanted to include this picture of a cool old gas station we stopped at in the town of Bedford.

The trip was so relaxing. I slept in, ate big breakfasts and had so much fun. I feel so grateful to have such a wonderful husband who I still love after 13 crazy and fun-filled years.

I'm So Behind

2009-05-19T20:58:00.001-07:00

I'm so behind in everything. I have alot to post about and no time to do it. It is overwhelming. I have decided to start with today. Jack was in a play for his kindergarten class. It was seriously adorable. Here is a picture for the mamas...

Click on this one and see him delivering lines. Jack's teacher did a great job of teaching them to practically yell their lines. It was awesome. One time the audience all started giggling because Jack said his part so loud. I did bribe him beforehand with a little lego set, because he wasn't too excited about the whole thing. (For the grandmas I have it on video tape...next time we are together you can check it out.)

Jack caught me taking this picture, I love his cute face.

Also, an announcement that I am no longer sicker than a dog! I am finally left my morning (not to mention noon and night) sickness behind. Hooray for me. Much more blogging to come.

Updates

2009-04-22T08:57:00.000-07:00

Some updates for my mamas...

This is Carolina, going to get her cast off. The only problem is that her funny limp is now apparently a habit. So when she's running, it kindof looks like she is skipping. We keep telling her "Walk normal!"

This is a picture of the kind of messes Carolina makes. I took a picture as evidence for Joey.

Jack with his AMAZING kindergarten teacher Mrs. Bowles. He was "star of the week" this week.

Jack in his new uniform for little league. He is on the Padres and is #1. He was so excited to get this number!

My sister Sam came to visit this week. This is Owen with Aunt Angelique.

Justin with Kate and baby Dougie...sorry I cut his head off.

We tried to do some fun stuff, like going to Chuckie Cheese.

We were dancing, I LOVE Ash's dance hands.

Kate and Owen, busting a move.

Easter Pictures

2009-04-13T10:36:00.001-07:00

Easter came. The bunny found us. Enjoy the pictures.

The girls.

I made an attempt to do cute hair...

Gotta love the bruise on the forehead.

My little men.

They wanted to do a lot of goofy poses.

Okay, let's try all four...and then hurry, because church is at 9:00am.

CC looking at Ty, and Jack looking at Grace. I wish they would ALL look at me!

Sorry Joey and I aren't in any...that would just be too crazy.

#8 Now Grace Has the Flu

2009-04-03T13:02:00.000-07:00

Wow, having posted all the pictures from March on my blog...I can see that I actually have had accomplishments this month (besides napping.) I feel like such a hermit, sitting here so nauseous all the time. But I guess just hanging out with my kids is worth something.

Okay, so finishing off my review through pictures...one last one of GG. She has the flu, poor baby. I love this picture of her sleeping.

#7 Gracie Girl and the "Hand Doll"

2009-04-03T12:26:00.000-07:00

So Ashley invented this game for Grace where her hand is a doll...I'm not sure whether to thank her or sue her. I pretty much play this all day with her, as does Ash when she's around. As I lay in my bed all day (reminder...I'm sick) Grace takes care of my hand. She kisses it, sings to it, puts it to bed, changes it's diaper, even tells it stories. It is pretty funny. I am actually amazed at what a great mom my little 2 year old is. She's quite the natural. Here are some pictures of her in action. The hand is Ashley's. She made me promise no pictures of her face. hee.

Grace telling baby "shhhhhh" (nice hair, right?)

Putting it to sleep with a blanket.

A kiss.

Okay, so here is my first try at a video clip. This is Grace singing to the doll. (you might have to turn up your computer, I was kind of far away.) She sings a mix of bah bah black sheep and twinkle little star. Warning: This may be too boring for non-grandparents.

#6 Carolina's "Un-Birthday"

2009-04-03T12:13:00.000-07:00

Carolina has a summer birthday...so she celebrated her "un-birthday" at Preschool (Miss Cathie's Academy). I love this preschool with all my heart. All of my kids have gone there so far and I hope Cathie doesn't retire soon, because I want Grace to go there too.

Cathie...an amazing lady who is the perfect person to teach my quirky little Carolina.

Posing by the poster I made for her special day.

With cousin and schoolmate Eliza, who she totally idolizes. (For Grandma Connie and Grandpa Doug)

#5 Jack Lost his Front Tooth

2009-04-03T12:06:00.001-07:00

The pictures speak for themselves.

#4 Vietnamese Cooking

2009-04-03T11:58:00.000-07:00

Linh came and did a wonderful activity for my Young Women. She taught them how to make crab cheese won tons and fried bananas. It was so fun. I was proud of my young women for trying everything. Thanks so much Linh!!!

Aren't my girls cute?

#3 Carolina Jones and the Broken Leg

2009-04-03T11:52:00.001-07:00

I know the mamas want to see a picture of CC's cast...

Auntie Kaelynn brought Carolina some goodies. She loved the attention and has already colored every picture in her Minnie coloring book.

Carolina is hobbling around like a pro now...it is funny to hear the "thunk" on my hardwood.

A Months Review in Pictures...#2 Angelique's Baby Shower

2009-04-03T11:37:00.000-07:00

A beautiful night with a great turnout. Unfortunately, once all the guests started arriving I was busy writing down the gifts...so I sorta stopped taking pictures. I wanted to post what I have though.

Linh made DELICIOUS pork and potstickers. I cannot believe I don't have a picture of Linh...

I took some pictures to show how adorable Kaelynn had made her house. See the cute onsies she hung (and later gave to Angelique).

A cute sign in table with guesses for birthweight, length time and date, and also advice...

The gift table, with "It's a boy" on diapers.

Outside her house.

Angelique's special chair.

The guest of honor.

Ashley...chillin.

A funny picture of the 3 pregnant ladies...

The "hostess with the mostest" Kaelynn...

The spread. Please notice the cute baby booty candy containers Kaelynn made for everyone to take home.

This was a great night. Thanks Jason for watching all 10 kids at my house...that was above and beyond the call of duty.

A Month's Review in Pictures... #1-Yard

2009-04-03T11:22:00.000-07:00

I thought I would throw some pictures up. They show what has been happening in my life besides sitting on my couch waiting out the morning sickness. Here you go mom...

We have started some projects in the yard (and by "we" I mean that Joey has hired some guys to do some projects in the yard). We are adding cement by our driveway that should allow for many more cars to park. Here it is ready for cement...now we are just waiting on the weather.

We also had alot of dirt moved around to level another portion of our yard...then it was trenched and sprinklers were added. Can't wait until we can sod it and have more green!

My Baby Broke Her Leg

2009-03-23T17:53:00.000-07:00

Okay, so as per the title of my blog...this is a post to tell my family that Carolina Jones broke her leg. She was jumping on the trampoline and her cousin landed on it. The neighbor boy Steve carried her home. I put her to bed that night, thinking she had sprained her knee. Over the weekend, she seemed to be getting better. The slight swelling went away and she could bend her knee. Joey was out of town, and I was struggling with my nausea, keeping the house together and making it through until he got home. This morning, with Carolina still refusing to put pressure on her foot I decided to go get it checked out. I went to instacare...knowing they have an x-ray machine, which I found out was broken! The doctor sent me to the hospital just as a precaution for x-rays. What a day! Her tibia and fibia were broken...so now she has a hot pink cast from above her knee to her toes. So that is the short version. I haven't even really turned on the computer since the pregnancy nausea kicked in....but I thought you would all like to know.

I will post pictures later of her cast, I can't find my camera right now, but here is a picture Joey took on her first day of Sunbeams in January....she was not sure about leaving nursery behind.

My Blogging Hiatus

2009-03-23T17:40:00.000-07:00

Okay, so obviously...I've been on a break. My closest peeps know the reason, and I will now announce it to the world. I am pregnant.

I'm a person who gets really nauseous for about the first 16 weeks or so. My main goal during these horrible weeks is to sit very still. I turn into a strange hermit. I watch my kids and home get dirtier by the day. I am about 11 weeks right now....just waiting it out. I have to tell everyone I am pregnant, or they think I am acting very strange. My mom says I get "this look". So, no, I'm not glaring at you... I am just concentrating very hard on keeping my stomach from losing its contents.

So, if you drop by and notice my kids are still wearing pjs at 3:00 in the afternoon, please know, I'm just getting by here! One side benefit...I have lost 10 pounds. My jeans feel absolutely dreamy, for the moment. (Don't worry, I will make up for this later, when I love food again....I can't wait.)

I have been praying alot and reminding myself that TIME WILL PASS.