My happily ever after...

Angels walking around me all dressed up in people clothes...

2011-07-19T21:38:00.000-07:00

All my life it seems I've been followed around by angels. All of them are dressed up as regular people, but I'm slowly learning to not let that fool me.

The very first one I encountered in mortality was an angel called Dr. Spendlove. Mom's regular doctor was out of town when I decided it was time to make my entrance, so Doc Spendlove showed up to deliver me. The sixth child of nine, and the first they let Dad be in the room to see delivered, I threw them a curve ball. I came out with my cord all wrapped around my neck three times. Doctor Spendlove knew just what to do and quickly went about his business keeping me alive.

I must have really like the excitement of that experience seeing as how a few short weeks later I was sleeping peacefully on the seat in the back of my parents van on a shopping trip and Dad had to slam the brakes on quite hard to avoid an accident. After stopping, he jumped from the van to begin a frantic search for my small body. My mom had been thrown around too, seat belts weren't a big thing back in 1976, and I ended up underneath of her. Dad grabbed me out, certain I was dead, but I was pretty tired and slept through the whole thing. I think maybe this time my angel parents had a little help from angels on the other side of the veil as well.

Several other experiences come to mind as I scroll through the events of my life up to this point: My angel brother sticking up for me in school, my little angel sister Melody furiously riding her bicycle to the shop to tell my parents I'd had an accident on my bike, getting them there in time to see me taken away in an ambulance. My angel trainer on mission abandoning our morning study and taking me on a walk when she could see I was so homesick this was what I needed most. All the many, MANY angels who took care of my infant daughter over the six month period of sickness when I spent a couple months in the hospital fighting to stay on this earth so I could raise my baby myself. Especially my little angel sister Penny, who quit her job in Utah and moved to Oregon and set up residence in our tiny house to take care of Rachel so Denver could spend his time in the hospital with me. Other angels who brought in meals and did so much other selfless service for my family during this time. My angel husband, for never leaving my side through the entire ordeal. We celebrated our first anniversary in that hospital (that's another blog post all by itself!). I have a picture of him fast asleep on a VERY uncomfortable chair turned bed, I treasure this picture. It reminds me of how much I am loved by this angel I get to call my husband.

Three nights ago, on 16 July, I took our thirteen year old daughter and we went shopping to grab a few things we needed to have her ready for Girl's Camp that started this morning. After two stores, we drove ten miles North to Riverdale where my angel sister Karlinda lives. She made two really fun rings for Lexi to give to her assigned "secret sister" while she was at camp. After visiting for quite awhile, we finally left. I don't remember ever getting in the car and driving away, but I did. You see, I'm a diabetic (a result of the above mentioned sickness when my pancreas blew up due to complications from pregnancy induced gall stones). When I got in my car and tried heading the car South to take us home, my blood sugars were in the twenties. I drove like a highly intoxicated person winding my way North, with my daughter in the seat next to me. I thought I was having a bad dream, I really did. All I remember is my daughter screaming and sobbing, police lights and someone giving me circular Nutter Butter cookies. I remember thinking I didn't know they came in any shape other than that of a peanut. I woke up from my nightmare to the unfortunately familiar sounds of machines beeping away in a hospital room. There by my bed was my angel husband, holding my hand looking terrified and angry all at the same time. At the foot of my bed was our Lou. I said to Denver, please tell me this is a nightmare, I was so certain it was and more than anything I didn't want it to be real. He assured me it was indeed very real.

He was at home with our four younger children, he'd just gotten the youngest to sleep and not long after the phone rang. It was Lexi, she was sobbing and frantic. She had taken my cell phone and called him. "Dad, Juanita's really tired or something. She's not making any sense and she's driving really horribly and almost ran into a concrete barrier in the middle of the road!" Denver knew exactly what was happening and told her I wasn't tired, I was low. He instructed her to make me stop the car exactly where we were and to take the keys from me so I couldn't drive off again. We were sitting at a red light and cycled through several red lights with Lou sobbing into the phone. No, she didn't know where we were. No, she couldn't find any sugar in the car or my purse. She'd seen a Maverik about a half mile back. After her dad telling her to take my purse and my keys and run as quickly as she could to the Maverik and buy a Sprite and run back to make me drink it, an angel pulled up behind us. This one was all dressed up in a police uniform and had his lights spinning (I remember the lights spinning). Lou gave the phone to the officer after my angel husband forcefully insisting that's what she do since she was having a hard time doing anything other than crying. After Denver explained to the officer what was happening, he jumped into action. He called a fellow officer who has a diabetic daughter and she rushed over to wherever we were with Nutter Butters she happened to have in her car. They called the paramedics and started trying to save my life. They took care of my daughter.

Denver put in a late night phone call to our angel neighbor who we all just call Heather. 12:15am and her phone rings. "No problem, I'll be right there." Denver got to the hospital right after Lou and I did (they let her choose, ride in the ambulance or in the police cruiser, she chose the ambulance). I'm so grateful to the angel (who's name I don't even know) who took my daughter aside and talked to her of her upcoming Girl's Camp and other things to get her mind off what was happening and calm her down. Thank you Heavenly Father, for all these angels you've placed around me.

When these swarms of angels were congregated around me, they tested my blood sugar and it registered at 22. That's SCARY low. By the time I got to the hospital it was 28. An hour later I was up to 71 and waking up. My bad dream, that I wasn't actually enjoying but was glad it was really just a dream, started getting real. See, my stomach wasn't feeling super great and I had some serious gas. I figured I was just dreaming anyway, so I didn't try to hold it in. When I asked Denver to tell me it was just a nightmare and he didn't, this was the first source of my humiliation. Shallow, I know. Then Lexi leaned over to hug me and tell me everything was okay, nobody was hurt and it hit me what happened. Gone were the cares of passing gas in public to be replaced by the horror of the knowledge I'd almost killed my daughter, my angel I call Lou. It's not easy to calm a mother down after facing knowledge like that, but eventually they did. My Lou climbed up into my hospital bed with me, lay down on my I.V. in my arm and snuggled up to me, each of us drawing comfort from the other.

Lou told me stories of how awful I was to the many angels who worked so hard to save my life. While they were trying to give me an I.V. I wasn't very appreciative of what they were doing. "You people! I don't like you people! You're all a bunch of crap piles!" I was mortified and profusely apologized to them. Really, I don't normally call anyone "crap piles." The hours spent in the ER of McKay Dee were very long but we didn't lack for entertainment listening to Lou laugh over everything she now found so funny. Thank goodness kids are so resilient!

By 3:30am we were all home and in our own beds. Heather, grabbing what sleep she could before she had to work in the morning and then get her kids to church. Denver and I before we had to wake up and prepare our lessons we had put off preparing until then that we had to teach in church in too few hours. I was scared to let myself fall asleep. I lay awake in wonder at how blessed I am to be surrounded by so many angels no matter where I go. Good friends, perfect strangers and my husband and children. I am blessed. I am alive. I have angels walking around me all dressed up in people clothes.

When routine goes terribly wrong...

2011-04-20T04:41:00.000-07:00

I took Ammon in to have his tonsils removed on the morning of April 11th, just five short days after he turned three. He decided to stop breathing and the nurses couldn't revive him after surgery. The docs had to rush him back into the OR and revive him there. What followed was an emotionally and physically exhausting stay in the hospital. I spent most of the night holding the oxygen over his mouth and nose and fighting to gethim to take some pain meds. His night nurse was not very nice AT ALL after I told her the doctor had mistakenly prescribed the wrong pain killer and I didn't want my son having anymore. I told her she needed to wake the doctor up and get the orders changed to the correct kind, until then we would do with Tylenol. That didn't go over too well. But Ammon was doing much better by mid morning on Tuesday, so Denver and Enoch came to get us and bring us home. The wheel chair was a hit with both boys. :) Thank you to my Heavenly Father for letting me keep my boy. Thank you to my husband for being worthy to give him a Priesthood blessing that I know kept him here with us. Thank you!

Just found some old pictures.

2011-02-18T13:17:00.001-08:00

You might want to leave now.

2011-02-04T13:14:00.000-08:00

Before school this morning I was rushing the girls to get them ready in time (I was planning on keeping them home today, they both begged to go). Natalie was, as usual, taking about thirty minutes to eat half of a TINY bowl of cereal, she was still in her jammies. Rachel was completely ready. Rachel went to the bathroom to put on lip gloss and make faces at herself in the mirror (a habit she's enjoying more and more). When Nattie was FINALLY finished with her cereal I told her to come over and I'd hurry and dress her and fix her hair. Her response: "Mom, I really need to go poop first." Oh my STARS!!! Anyone even slightly familiar with Natalie's routine knows this involves a MINIMUM of 10 minutes in the bathroom, singing LOUDLY. She likes to make up random songs to go along with her bowel movements. I was frustrated by her un-timely need to "go poop." They were the ones who wanted to go to school after all, why did I need to suffer trying to get them there on time? I can't in good conscience tell her she can't use the bathroom, so I let her go. She walked up the stairs and opened the door, then I heard her say to Rachel "You might want to leave now." I forgot about getting them to school on time, as this would just stress me out and turn me into a "Monster Mom." Besides, even if they did end up being late (which they didn't), it was totally worth it to hear that. :D

Pray for Dad

2010-12-14T21:03:00.000-08:00

Today was day eleven. We got told biopsy results would take seven to ten days. What they meant was eleven. Give them eleven days to make us wait and then call with devastating news. Day eleven. Dad has cancer. I don't like day eleven. I've never so strongly hated one tiny word, cancer. I sat sobbing into the phone while Dad tried comforting me, backwards really, unless you know Dad. That's what I keep thinking, this world truly is a better place because he's in it, so I'll just keep praying for him to get to stay. Pray for Dad. Pray for Dad.

Trip up the canyon for FHE

2009-07-22T15:17:00.001-07:00

This could be a problem...

2009-07-22T15:11:00.000-07:00

Ammon was pushing his truck around the kitchen and got stuck under the stool, it was too cute not to take a picture. He's wearing the little outfit I got for he and Enoch to wear home from the hospital, they're so close together in age that I was easily able to get them matching outfits. It's pretty fun. :-)

Meeting our new baby...

2009-06-13T09:16:00.000-07:00

Ammon's reaction to Enoch was positive, such a relief for Mom!

When I went into Ammon's room to kiss him goodbye in his sleep before we came to the hospital I wondered at how small he was... how quickly things can change! :-)

Both my boys like the same kind of binky, this is a problem. Ammon turned 14 months old the day before Enoch was born, they both get binky's! Mommy needs it this way!

Big sisters again! Life couldn't be better for these two little princesses!

Love, love, love this warm little body!!! No hat for him in the O.R. after he was born, so weird, but I had one I had made, way too big for him, but it did the job until Aunt Karlinda showed up a few hours later and sat in the rocking chair in my room for a few hours until she had him a nice little hat made that fits perfectly!!!

Thanks to Auny Holly and Uncle Carl for showing up Saturday afternoon and helping us get our house squared away, cleaned things up and even gave Denver a haircut and waxed my brows. They stayed with Rach, Nattie and Ammon Sunday morning when we left early for the hospital and even got them to church by 9am. I called Carl's cell in the middle of Sacrament Meeting to tell him we were ready for them to come meet their new brother, they left after it was over and broght them all. Thank you so much to family, you helped make this a wonderful peaceful day. Mom and Dad drove from Manti to Vernal Saturday night and got there at 1am, slept a few hours and turned back around and headed out here Sunday so they could meet their newest grandbaby, they were TIRED, but it was good to see them. More later, gotta go take care of my babies. Life is wonderful! I have the absolute best husband in the world and the most wonderful kids ever to be created! I am blessed!

Introducing... Enoch Walter Harris

2009-06-12T13:27:00.000-07:00

Taken last night around 3am with Denver's cell phone, clearly not the best quality, but oh so cute. More to come later, little busy now just soaking him in. Life is wonderful!

Perfect moments...

2009-05-07T06:45:00.000-07:00

I LOVE my life! I live for these moments! If I just take the time to play with my kids instead of rushing from one chore to the next, this is what I get, it's oh so worth it! I can't wait for school to be out so Rachel will be around for more of these shots. Sigh... life is perfect.

YouTube - MormonMessages's Channel

2009-03-12T11:07:00.000-07:00

YouTube - MormonMessages's Channel

I get my own way... 'cause I'm a brat...

2009-02-02T07:53:00.000-08:00

I've been asking Denver for awhile now if he thought maybe we should cut Ammon's hair, it's so long it hangs over his ears, every time I bring it up I hear all about how he's just too young and certainly doesn't need a haircut. Clearly we disagree on this point. So, this morning before Denver left for work, I pointed out Ammon's bed head and suggested once again that he could possibly use a haircut, once again I was told he was adorable (this part I agree with) and didn't need a haircut at the tender young age of not quite 10 months. So... after Denver left for work I put Ammon in his little seat that attaches to the table and got out my hair bag. He's absolutely handsome! I admit I do miss his bed head, but I won't miss combing his hair back behind his ears every Sunday before church! (Denver wasn't too terribly shocked when I called to tell him, I have a problem, I admit. When Rachel was three she continually asked me to weave a little blonde into her hair because she had seen me do it to so many people and thought it looked fun. I asked Denver, he of course said no, appalled that I would even consider doing that to a three year old. Then he actually had the nerve to walk off and start playing the computer. I figured if he wanted to spend his time at home doing that, I would do what I enjoyed also. I totally put some blonde in Rach's hair, I only used seven foils so it wasn't a big deal - and she LOVED it. He's used to me always asking his opinion and then doing what I want to anyway.) Admit it Honey, he looks better! :-)

Yay!!!

2009-01-28T16:49:00.001-08:00

We're so happy to have found out this morning we will be having another boy! Life is good. :-)

Family Home Evening

2009-01-12T19:17:00.000-08:00

We let the girls pick our FHE activity tonight. We built a fort out of a giant blanket spread over the couch, Ammon's bouncer and the box Denver's telescope came in. Then we turned some music on so the girls could dance, here's the result.

I think we should let the kids be in charge more often. :-)

Rachel wanted to change the look of our blog...

2009-01-02T17:07:00.000-08:00

So I let her pick the background and the colors, I suppose I helped her a bit trying to pick colors that went with the background she chose. :-) Rach wants to say something now, so I will turn the keyboard over to her...

I love the color of my blog,I mean our blog.I think it's a lovely color'don't you think?

Happy Happy Birthday Nattie Dear!!!

2008-12-26T20:01:00.000-08:00

I have the most wonderful, gorgeous four year old in the world! I thank my Heavenly Father for her every day! Life is more fun and full of all sorts of laughter with my Nattie in it! I love you baby!

Oopsie...

2008-12-23T09:03:00.001-08:00

Yup, we did it again...

My pretty Nattie...

2008-12-16T10:04:00.001-08:00

Okay, so I took this picture with my phone, so it's not too great, but Nattie just lookes so pretty in it, I thought I'd put it on here so everyone's day could be improved, just for seeing my pretty little girl. : )

Rachel lost her first tooth!

2008-12-12T11:20:00.000-08:00

Yup, this is what it looked like when she went to bed on 29 November. She woke up on the 30th and came into Holly's kitchen (we were in Vernal) and I gave her some cereal. She sat down and picked up her spoon and her tooth fell out. Thank goodness we found it, after all the hype about the Tooth Fairy, we would have had a very sad little girl on our hands. Sorry I wasn't bright enough to snag an after picture, it's a little too late now though, what with the Tooth Fairy having taken her tooth and all. Anyway, blurry picture and all, I thought I had better go ahead and document this momentous occasion. (Yes, that is her new tooth already all grown in behind the old one, thankfully it is moving forward where it belongs just as the dentist said it would!)

Isn't he delicious!?! (He reminds me of his Poppa Swain in this hat.)

2008-11-19T16:23:00.000-08:00

He's crawling all over the place now, he started on Halloween. He also doesn't think it's okay to hold still unless he is standing up playing with something. (Like in the picture with him leaning on the present for Sam.) He has cut his third tooth, his top right one. He also has started patting Denver and I on the back when we pick him up, I LOVE this! It's truly one of my favorite things. I love when my babies start patting me back. :) Life is just good!

We had a YUMMY day today!

2008-11-19T16:04:00.000-08:00

You know you're a Mormon Mom if...

2008-11-12T13:27:00.001-08:00

I keep forgetting to post this, and it is soooo FUNNY!

One day after school (when Rach was in Kindergarten):

Rachel: Mom?
Me: Yes Babe?
Rachel: Today at school some kids were Murmuring to the teacher.
Me: Oh really? (Trying really hard not to laugh or smile.) What did your teacher do?

I don't remember the rest of the conversation, but it was pretty cute to me. Other times have been Rachel praying and asking Heavenly Father to please help her not to murmur and also asking my forgiveness for her murmuring.

I love it! :)

I'm Grateful...

2008-11-07T07:42:00.000-08:00

Things I'm grateful for today:

I love that when Rachel's at school and they ask her to write down her favorite thing to do and she writes down "Spend time with my mom."
I love watching Natalie turn the music up really loud and dance. I also love that she would always rather have me read to her than watch TV or play on the computer.
I love that Ammon gets so ridiculously excited just by my mere presence. I also love watching him think he's the coolest person in the world because he can pull himself up to the furniture and just stand there with a HUGE smile on his face.

I am blessed because I am loved by the three most wonderful little people in the world, life doesn't get any better than this.

So, I'm not the brightest crayon in the box...

2008-10-30T17:10:00.000-07:00

We were standing in line earlier this evening at Old Navy (I was buying a birthday present for Karlinda) when Rachel told me she had taken a test at school today. I look at her and tell her that's really neat, "what was it on?" I asked her. She looked up at me, very confused, (like I'm an idiot) and says "a piece of paper." Well obviously! What mom wouldn't know their kid's test was on a piece of paper?!? Turns out the subject was Math and she scored a 100%. Clearly my child is smarter than her mama! :)

I got to make the siren go!!! It was soooo cool!

2008-10-24T11:42:00.000-07:00

We got to ride in the fire engine, the girls learned to "stop, drop and roll" and my wonderful husband waited in line forever! It was lots of fun, but I'm typing with one hand and feeding Ammon with the other, so the pics can tell our story.

Ammon's a HEALTHY boy!!!

2008-10-23T10:29:00.000-07:00

So I was FINALLY able to get Ammon in for his six month well baby check today and I must say, his numbers are quite impressive! He's 94th percentile for height and 90th percentile for weight. He's officially too big for his infant car seat, don't know what I'm gonna do about that one just yet, but we'll work on getting him a new one. He's 28 inches long and tips the scales at 21 pounds! We're giving Ashlynn a run for her money! She's 15 months old and only weighs 22 pounds. Feed that kid Penny!!! Life is good and we are blessed. Love to my babies!

"Doesn't it look like she accidentally pee'd in her wedding dress?"

2008-10-13T15:33:00.000-07:00

Natalie was so excited to sit down and make this card for me. I open it up and see this beautiful picture my three year old has drawn for me. I give her a hug and tell her thank you so much, "I LOVE it!" I even say. Then she takes it from me and says "See, doesn't it look like she accidentally pee'd in her wedding dress?" It's just too funny to me, so I had to share. :)

Please no, not again!!!

2008-10-12T07:09:00.000-07:00

So I wake up at 6am, untangle myself from my perfect little six month old and climb out of bed. There's a weird glow (one I know all too well from the last winter we just had) coming through the blinds in our bedroom, my first thought was "you've got to be kidding me!" I notice the heater is kicking on again as I spread the blinds to peer outside, it's another freakin' winter wonderland! Really?!!? You know, one reason I thought it would be fun to live in Utah again was so we could have snow to play in, I was so excited for my kids to get to experience it on more that just the freak occasion it happened. We got our fill and then some last winter and I soooo don't want this to happen again, and this soon... grumble, grumble, grumble... Sigh, I do like to play in the snow with my kids though. :)

Taking the plunge...

2008-10-10T04:00:00.001-07:00

Okay all, I've decided to go "private." It's kind of a pain in the bum, I know, but I'm really feeling like I want to. So, if you still want to read of our happenings, leave a comment with your email address. Sorry for the inconvenience, but I'm going private. Thanks my friends and family for being understanding. Love to you all. :)

"It hurts to shed tooths...."

2008-10-06T21:21:00.000-07:00

Natalie: "Mommy, I always want to stay three forever."
Me: "Why Baby? Don't you want to have your birthday?"
Daddy: "How sad to never have another birthday."
Natalie: "No, I want to stay three forever because it hurts to shed tooths."
Me: "What?"
Natalie: "It hurts to shed tooths and when you get bigger, that's what you do."

Rachel currently has a VERY loose tooth that she absolutely refuses to pull, why? Because it hurts! I've heard little bits of conversations she and Nattie have had about this, Rach telling Nattie how badly it hurts. Wah lah! After Nattie's brain digests and turns over this information from her big sister (who knows everything, except when Nattie is mad at her), she decides she doesn't want to get any bigger because "it hurts to shed tooths!"

It's little things like this that make me happy I get to spend each day at home with my babies instead a having to work, kudos to my hard working hubby for that one! :)

Ammon is SIX months old!

2008-10-06T21:18:00.000-07:00

My baby boy turned six months old today, it went way too fast for my liking! I enjoy him so much, I love to see him smile and hear him laugh. He has his two bottom front teeth and he likes to use them! (This makes it even easier for me to nurse him less and hopefully ween him soon.) His sisters love him so much, Natalie will sing and dance for him and Rachel will sing him all sorts of songs and try to pick him up and carry him around whenever she thinks she can get away with it! :) I love my babies!

Quack, Quack, Honk, Honk...

2008-10-02T19:04:00.000-07:00

Holly came up to take care of things at Karlinda's house for a week because Kurls is having a really hard time with her back right now and has been ordered to bedrest; Holly to the rescue! :) Last Friday Holly brought Spencer, Brooke, Lakyn and Jaren down, we picked up Gram and went to the Duck Pond Park for a picnic. I had gone earlier in the day and grabbed some "duck bread" from the Wonder Bread outlet in anticipation of this outing. The lady who rang me up and made me give her a whole dollar for this bread also had me sign a little piece of paper saying I knew this bread was "unfit for human consumption" and wouldn't eat it. We had a good time! Both and Rachel and Gram had the geese eating out of their hands, I got a picture of Rachel but was too slow on the shutter to get one of Gram.

Here's Rachel handing out her bread, she had so much fun!

Gram right after she had them eating out of her hand, I think she was really enjoying herself as well. :)

As for the whole "unfit for human consumption," Nattie decided she was hungry and took a bite before I was aware what she was doing. She only got one bite in, as you can see from the bread in her hands in this picture, and she has suffered no ill effects.

Ammon tried very hard to reach the duck bread so he could have some, but I was a little more on top of it with him, he didn't get any. :)

The kids, minus babies, right before we packed up to go home. They were a little tired, but they all had a good time and I'm glad we went. I love that my kids can spend a lot more time with their cousins now. :)

Gratitude...

2008-10-01T21:27:00.000-07:00

On this night I am grateful for many things, but I'm tired and I want to go to bed, so I will just name a few:

Good friends, old and new, I am so blessed to have them
My beautiful babies and patient, kind husband
My membership in my Savior's kingdom on the earth
G2
My wonderful parents
My AWESOME pillow
People who take the time to care about the kind of day I'm having

I'm happy Heavenly Father loves me enough to put me where I am right now, I love the people I am surrounded by each day. I hope I can be that for someone else as well. Yawn. Goodnight! :)

"I always suck you up into my head..."

2008-09-28T19:58:00.000-07:00

Natalie: "Mommy?"
Me: "Yes Nattie?"
Natalie: "Why do you always come into my dreams?"
Me: "I don't know Baby, why do I always come into your dreams?"
Natalie: "Because I suck you up into my head. Do you know how to do that Mommy?"
Me: "No I don't Sweetie. How do you do that?"
Natalie: "It's easy Mom. I always suck you up into my head whenever you come into my bedroom."
Me: "Oh, I didn't know that."
Natalie: "Ya, you should try it, you know that Mommy?"
Me: "Okay. I love you Nattie."
Natalie: "I love you too Mommy."
Daddy: "It's time for bed Nattie, give Mommy loves night night."
Natalie: (giving me loves and kisses) "Night night Mommy. I love you."
Me: "Night night Nattie. I love you. I hope you suck me up into your head tonight."
Natalie: "Okay Mommy, I will."

This is just one example of the great things Nattie is always coming up with. I love her so much and am so happy everyday Heavenly Father gave her to me.

I have been tagged by my friend Tara...

2008-09-26T14:16:00.000-07:00

10 years ago I...

Was living in Bloemfontein South Africa, serving as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
I was dreading leaving behind a place and people I had learned to love so much it still hurts to think of how far away they are.
I was tormenting my companion by hanging my blue missionary planners on my side of the bedroom wall in a checkerboard pattern to represent how many weeks I had left on mission. :)
I was making up "rain dances" and playing Phase 10 on P-Days.
I was getting excited to get home and get reaquainted with family and meet my new nephews and niece.

5 things on today's "to do" list...

Visiting Teaching
Reschedule Ammon's doctor's appointment
Meet a couple of my sisters for a playdate
Buy "duck bread" for our picnic at the duck pond park tonight
Clean out the disgusting minivan

5 snacks I enjoy...

Corn bean salsa and chips
Seven layer bean dip
Brownies
Slurpees (Mango Mandarin)
Garlic bread

5 things I would do if I were a millionaire... (Besides the obvious tithing one)

Build myself a nice big kitchen and closet with lots of storage with a little bit of a house built around them.
Go back to South Africa and Botswana and then fly all my friends from there over here.
Get mine and Denver's families out of debt.
Hire a maid so I can just hang out with my kids all day. Sigh...
Invest...

5 Places I have lived...

Vernal, Utah
Ephraim, Utah
Logan, Utah
South Africa
Botswana (Then back to RSA, then Provo, then Oregon now back in Utah...)

5 jobs I've had...

Arby's
Political Library on campus at USU
Nanny
Janitor at BYU
Hairdresser (in Utah and Oregon)

Rules: Each player answers the question themselves. At the end of the post the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blog and leaves them a comment letting them know that they've been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person that tagged you know when you've answered the questions on your blog.

I tag:

Kerry Mather
Amy Williamsen
Heather Perkins
Tami Gemmell
Holly Foley

Have fun ladies!!! :)

Dancing Diva

2008-09-24T19:33:00.000-07:00

Nattie started her first day of dance this last Wednesday. She was so excited! She went with her friend who lives next door. As I was walking her over to Clarissa's house so she could ride to dance with them, she kept doing little dance moves of her own and asking, "Are they going to teach me how to do this?" (As she spins around and taps her feet with her fingers jabbing the air.) She came home all excited and ready to show me all her newly acquired dance moves. Not that she didn't already posses some talent in this area, here is a link to a little video clip we made of her dancing just a couple weeks after she turned two, I thought it was so cute I put it on youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boWL4DnBAik

Umm, sure...I can make fun of myself.

2008-09-24T15:12:00.000-07:00

I certainly haven't missed the irony of this. I think it's hilarious! We were up at Karlinda's house a few months ago and I was helping Ammon "speak" so we could send a little movie to Denver's email while he was at work. (All of our babies are blessed with this ability.) ;)

Sorry for the poor quality, my niece recorded this with my cell phone.

Growing up too fast...

2008-09-23T05:47:00.000-07:00

Ammon's first tooth has FINALLY broken through his gums. Last Thursday, the 18th of September, I had my finger in his mouth and noticed his tooth. It was very exciteing for me, he's lots happier now. Sigh... :) He can officially sit, still a little wobbly, but absolutely sitting now. He will also lay on his tummy and get up on all fours and just rock back and forth a bit. He scoots backwards now and can spin himself around in circles when I put him on the floor on his tummy. No more just laying him on our bed for naps, he moves enough now that he fell off last week. Super sad, lots of tears. I love how he calms right down as soon as he has me, it reminds me I am loved. :)

Rachel was explaining something to me a couple of days ago, it was so funny. She had her journal from kindergarten and was looking through the pages with me, telling me it didn't make sense because it skipped three days in "Octember." I love her so much. I thought it was so cute I just couldn't bring myself to correct her. When she was one she started calling pbj's "shoguns." I don't know how that happened, but she would tell me she wanted a shogun until she was about four, I never corrected her then either, again, just too cute. Natalie now calls pbj's "peanut butter and samhangwich." I love to hear it, so again, no correction. My babies grow too fast, I like to hear them say things their own way as long as I can. :)

Lucky in love...

2008-09-17T07:37:00.000-07:00

Denver came home from work last night and found me in the living room with all three kids literally climbing all over me while I tried to be nice. I really didn't have the greatest day yesterday and I think he could see that when he walked in. He ran upstairs and changed out of his suit, then came downstairs and loaded all three kids up and disappeared with them for a whole hour! How lucky am I!?! I got up and did the dishes that so badly needed done, cooked some chicken and made myself a super yummy salad. Every mom on the planet deserves this every once in awhile, I'm just so glad it was my turn last night. I was such a nicer mommy when they got home and I didn't even have to try, I just loved being around them again, so it was easy to be nice. Thanks my wonderful husband, I love you!

I love you this much...

2008-09-17T05:32:00.000-07:00

Natalie: "Mommy, I love you like 50 100 30 90 86 infinity plus 3060." (As she wraps her arms around my neck and twists her sticky fingers into my hair so she can pull me closer to whisper this last bit.) "Do you love me like that too?"

Me: "I love you like 50 100 30 90 86 infinity plus 3060 too, and then some more." (Her numbers are always changing, but I never have to doubt she loves me A LOT!)

I am blessed. Everyday I am blessed, and I need to remember how lucky I am to be loved by these wonderful, beautiful spirits Heavenly Father has entrusted to me.

Rach and Nattie can't get enough of Ammon.

2008-09-14T20:36:00.000-07:00

Ammon is smeared with all kinds of love everyday by his big sisters, he LOVES it too (unless he's super tired). I love being my babies' Mommy! :)

Someone else will do it...

2008-09-14T20:27:00.000-07:00

This is something we saw on a walk one day. Really!?! Somebody dropped the ball on this one. Pretty funny though. The girls wanted to know how to turn the water on. :)

Mommy gets a shower!!!

2008-09-14T20:19:00.001-07:00

This is the only way I get to take a shower before Denver leaves for work, unless I want to take one around 4am, and most days I don't care enough to catch a 4am shower. So, this is how I get a 6am shower. Gotta love the Bumbo!

Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika!!!

2008-09-14T20:07:00.000-07:00

Thanks to my friend Fran for this cute outfit for Ammon. She understands what it is to leave a big piece of your heart in Africa, always hoping someday to go back. God bless Africa!

Life doesn't get any better than this...

2008-09-11T05:41:00.000-07:00

Waking up at 3am, even if the baby isn't awake, to help Nattie go potty. This ensures I'm not washing bedding the next day.
Hearing "you're the meanest mom in the world!" This proves I'm sticking to my resolve to keep yucky television programs (even if they are cartoons) out of my house and promote some kind of physical activity for my children.
"You never let me do anything!" Because I won't let them wait in the car while I go into Costco, or walk somewhere without me, or ride in the front seat...
Listening to soft snoring all night long, this means my baby is still breathing.
Hearing Nattie say "Oh my goodness!" Because this means it's working and she's breaking her nasty habit of saying something else super bad!
Hearing my babies tell their Heavenly Father thanks for letting me be their mommy.
Wet, slimy baby slobber all over my face, neck and arms from Ammon's kisses and snuggles.
Waking up in the morning feeling like I have eyes full of sand because I haven't had a full night's sleep in six years and two months.
Knowing that, for some reason I can't quite fathom, my husband really does mean it when he says he loves me.

Just a few of the reasons I'm happy to be alive today. I love my babies and I love my husband. :)

I never buy Happy Meals!!!

2008-09-03T12:23:00.000-07:00

Today was an exception. I had Natalie's ears pierced when she was seven months old, they got so infected I took the earrings out and the holes grew back in. (Rachel saw this happen and took hers out, she got pierced at nine months, and has refused to wear earrings since then.) Well, today we were walking through Wal-Mart (I know, I know, Wal-Mart is evil, but way too convenient for me to muster the will to stop going there.) when Nattie saw the jewelry counter where they pierce ears. She insisted she wanted to get her ears pierced, I told her it would hurt. I said "It will feel like getting a shot." She didn't care, she had made up her mind. I let her pick out her earrings, she chose the marquise "diamonds" and we were set. I thought for sure she would change her mind, well, she didn't, okay she did after the first ear was done. Too late now baby! I held her on my lap for the second one. They gave her suckers, one for each ear pierced. Not good enough, she decided she needed a Happy Meal from McDonalds (conveniently located inside Wal-Mart, see what I mean...), so I of course was suckered into buying her one. Nuggets, fries, chocolate milk and some Star Wars junk, pardon, prize. She told me her Happy Meal made her happy, perfect, that's what I was going for. So, here are some pictures of us eating at home, I did not eat McDonalds, it doesn't make ME happy. I took some pictures at the store with my phone, I will have to load them onto the computer and I can post more later. :)

Labor Day

2008-09-01T20:21:00.000-07:00

We walked to the park and had a picnic today and let the kids play on the playground for awhile, Rachel even took Ammon down the slide a few times. The weather was great for this, it was actually a little on the chilly side, weird, I know. Anyway, Rachel has this persistent habit of playing in the volleyball sand pits, the girls call it the sandbox. They always smell like dogs after this, blek! So, they got baths tonight. Jennie gave me some of Jack's old jammies and Holly gave Ammon a John Deere blanket she had made, of course I had to take some pictures. And OBVIOUSLY I have to share. Incidentally Rachel is wearing the nightgown Aunt Bubs made for her and Nattie is in the t-shirt Aunt Heidy gave us out of a D.I. bag. Love that my sisters and my sister-in-law are so great at dressing my kids! :) Happy birthday to Amy's Erin today also. I hope it was a good day (she ditched us for her daughter's birthday, go figure).

Potato, Potata..

2008-08-29T18:44:00.000-07:00

I LOVE my girls! They are so much fun for me to be around (most of the time). One day they were here in front of the computer listening to songs on our blog, they, okay, Rachel decided 'Teenage Dirtbag' was her new favorite song, so they kept listening to it over and over... and over and over... When I stopped to listen to them sing along, they were singing "teenage burprag!" FUNNY! It makes me smile whenever I think about it, so I thought I'd blog it.

Cousins make really good friends!

2008-08-29T15:24:00.000-07:00

Rachel has some built in friends here in Jaren and Xander! She loves to play with her cousins. When I picked her up from school today she informed me it was the weekend and she wanted to know when we got to leave and go play with cousins. I love that my kids have so many little friends to play with in their cousins, the move back to Utah has been a good thing I think!

Hello to old friends...

2008-08-29T15:11:00.001-07:00

So I wanted to say hi to a few people who have found my blog and taken the time to leave comments. It's so nice to hear from old friends and sooo wish I knew how to contact you back, but I don't. (I'm not terribly "blog savvy.") I love your blogs, those I could see anyway. How do I get to see yours Nikki Reid? Anywho, I hope you're all well! Ammon is not happy, so I need to go.

Back in session!

2008-08-28T21:06:00.000-07:00

Well, I've been dreading it, but the clock won't stop. School has resumed and I have CRAZY mornings again! I want my easy mornings back with my babies. But I will have to wait until next Summer. Here's Rachel all ready to leave for school. I was rushing around grabbing things, trying to not be unprepared, even though I was oh so very much not prepared! (I had to go to Wal-Mart at 6:30am to buy bread so I could make her lunch. I forgot she would be at school long enough this year that she would have to eat lunch there.) Hopefully I can get it together enough to have a routine that doesn't involve tears and tardy bells. Wish me luck! My baby girl is in the First grade! I miss her!

One last day of fun before school starts!

2008-08-28T20:57:00.000-07:00

We went with these same great people to Kangaroo Zoo the Saturday before school started. It was soooo much fun! Both times I've been, I've told myself beforehand "I will act like an adult this time." Then we get there and I just can't help myself, I run around with the kids and have a ball! :) I highly recommend this type of fun! Disclaimer: I really did comb Rachel's hair before we went. It didn't stick. Note to self: Next time, don't bother.

Good friends...

2008-08-28T20:45:00.000-07:00

We have some super great people for friends! Ben and Alisha came up and worked their bums off at our house turning our closets into wonderful little places of organization. (I'm oh so very excited to have such great closets now!) Anyway, they were nice enough to leave their kids here and let them have a slumber party with our kids. We took them back the next day, even though Brelynn wanted to stay with me forever (she loves me!). :) They were soooo exhausted from the night before and I couldn't resist documenting it in pictures. Enjoy...

Big Natalie and Big Rachel

2008-08-28T20:37:00.000-07:00

Natalie and Rachel Carter stopped by for a quick visit on their way home from Oregon. It was so good to see them, I just love these girls and their whole family! Of course I had to take a few pics of them with my kids since they share the same names and all. Aren't they just the most gorgeous Natalies and Rachels you've ever seen? I think so. And of course Ammon is just the icing on top to make it absolute perfection. :)

Our short stop in Orem

2008-08-28T20:13:00.000-07:00

We stopped at Aunt Heidy's house and made jewelry, it was lots of fun. Heidy, Penny, Melody and myself were there with all our kids. The kids had a grand ol' time and so did we sisters. Thanks Heidy! Unfortunately I didn't take many pictures, but I did grab a few quick ones of Ammon and Kevin together. Kevin thought Ammon smelled good, so he tried to eat him. :)

An unfortunate end, poor guy...

2008-08-28T20:09:00.000-07:00

I should have showed this to Xander so he could take it and show his mom. That would be FUNNY!!!

Down by the river...

2008-08-28T19:57:00.001-07:00

Because I wanted to share some pictures to show how much fun the kids had, here you go. It really was lots of fun. :) Natalie fell into the river and wasn't terribly happy after that, but she didn't want to leave. Ally also "fell" into the water, she didn't mind at all.

Good Times

2008-08-28T19:34:00.000-07:00

We went up the canyon while in Vernal, the kids were in Heaven! We roasted hotdogs and marshmallows and Carl made dutch oven cobbler. It was good times. We threw Ammon and Spencer into Ammon's stroller and walked down to the river where the kids played until it was time to eat.

Spencer is a bully!!

2008-08-16T04:58:00.001-07:00

When we were taking pictures of the babies, Spencer got a mean streak and lashed out at my handsome little man. Thank goodness we got this on camera so later in life Holly and Carl can't deny it. There was absolutely no provocation, Ammon was just minding his own business and out of nowhere Spencer grabbed hold of one of his tiny little pointy ears and yanked! I know, I couldn't believe it either! That's right Holls, you better get your little bully away from my perfect little Angel! :)

Grandma and Grandpa Swain are BLESSED!!! (And Penny has a colorful past)

2008-08-16T04:40:00.000-07:00

So when we were in Vernal over the first weekend in July for Spencer's blessing, we all went to the park after church and had a little lunch together as family and friends. Since the whole family was there, we threw down a blanket and snapped some pictures of all the babies born in the last year. They go in order of birth, oldest to youngest. Ashlynn, Mason (who's family has been adopted by we Swain's, whether they like it or not), Kevin, Ammon (clearly the cutest) and Spencer. As you can see, the babies didn't think the idea was as cool as we did. :) Ashlynn actually decided she had had enough and started to crawl off. I don't know, maybe she just didn't like being the only girl with four boys, too bad that's what she's destined for at every family reunion for the rest of her life. (If she's anything at all like her mom, I don't think she'll mind too much.) Penny was such a lover of all things animal and dirt when she was a kid. She was always bringing home strays and begging Mom and Dad "please, please can't we keep him/her?" I don't know how happy she'll be with me for sharing this, but this little nugget is just too precious not to share: Penny just recently confessed to me that she was out playing one day when she saw a dog she wanted badly, you know, "love at first sight" and all the stuff... Anyway, she just knew she couldn't live without this little mutt, so she went to grab it and bring it home to beg for us to keep. What I am about to tell you is not a lie, I promise! When she dognapped the animal, she realized it must have a home when she saw the collar circling it's neck. Well, she wasn't about to let this stop her, this dog was her destiny! She yanked that collar off and brought the dog home. Now, what happened after this, you'll have to ask Penny... :)

"I love Spencer more because he has chubbier cheeks."

2008-08-12T06:22:00.000-07:00

Another thing we did while we were in Vernal was discover that Ammon and Spencer had matching outfits, so of course we had to take some pictures of them together with these handsome clothes on. Natalie kept making comments about how she loved baby Spencer more than baby Ammon, because baby Spencer has chubbier cheeks and is therefore cuter. Really Nattie, I'm just not seeing it. (I think we need to have a Family Home Evening on loyalty to your siblings!) Anyway, just last night as I was here at the computer looking at these pictures of Spencer and Ammon together, Natalie told me she thought Ammon was cuter, obviously I grabbed the phone and had her call Aunt Holly and tell her that. Holly and Carl have been having way too much fun repeating the serenades Natalie sang to Spencer the whole time we were in Vernal about how he was cuter than Ammon. Thank goodness Natalie has finally seen the light and decided she loves her brother more than her cousin and realizes how truly HANDSOME Ammon is! :)

Ammon hates rice cereal, I don't blame him. :)

2008-08-11T19:34:00.000-07:00

So Ammon is four months old now. In Utah they tell me I can feed my baby rice cereal when he turns four months old, so while we were in Vernal at Holly and Carl's house, I did. He really didn't like it. I kind of set him up to hate it though. I was sooo careful with both girls, Rachel didn't eat rice cereal on a consistent basis until she was nine months old, Natalie didn't start until she was six months old. With Ammon, at three months I decided to let him have some slurpee every once in awhile, because it is SO hot here. He loves it! He also likes potatoes, rice and the ice cream sandwhich he tried. So really, it didn't surprise me when he decided to keep spitting the cereal out. As you can see, he was happy when we finally stopped trying to get him to eat it.

I LOVE this lady!!

2008-08-11T19:21:00.000-07:00

This is my Grandma Gunnell, I love her! She is my favorite nerd ever! She is the most talented lady ever! This woman can do anything, she just doesn't stop. She is amazing and I am lucky to get to call her my Gram! She just turned 90 on July 22nd, I have no words to really say how wonderful she is, so I will just let you all know you need to be jealous if you are reading this and don't get to call her Grandma! I love you Grandma Nerd! :)

Mom and Dad Harris

2008-08-11T19:07:00.000-07:00

My in-laws came to visit and to take the older kids back home with them. It's always nice to have them come, they're so easy going and fun. On the 24th of July, my Father-in-law was kind enough to brave the HOT Utah sun to take some photos of my family. He really didn't enjoy it much I don't think, but he was a good sport and we got some pictures of the whole Swain side of the family together, something that hasn't happened in a VERY long time. Mom fed Ammon a bottle and then snuggled him to sleep. I'm sure her back was really hurting her by the time she was finished. But I LOVE this picture Dad grabbed of her. I wish Mom and Dad Harris lived closer, but Dad says he'll never move here, it's too hot. We'll see... :)

"Camping"

2008-08-11T18:57:00.000-07:00

The same night we went to Walt and Sus's house, we roasted marshmallows and made tinfoil or "hobo dinners." It was a lot of fun with all the kids running around with sticky marshmallows, Ammon screaming and the smoke billowing in our faces. Of course now we are home and all I can remember is how much fun it was to be home with my family all around. :) Now, my poor children have not camped very much, I believe Rachel has been twice and Natalie has been once, sooo, they think roasting mallows with Uncle Walter and Aunt Susan is camping. I'm okay with this, I really am. But I am also excited to introduce them to real camping, hopefully we can do that sometime soon.

I'm in love!

2008-08-04T16:55:00.000-07:00

He just makes my heart stop to look at him! I love everything about this boy! He has such a fun personality and a ready smile. Thank goodness he's so terribly good looking for all the sleep Denver and I go without each night for him. :)

These are a few of my favorite things...

2008-08-04T16:43:00.000-07:00

One of the biggest reasons my kids like to go to Vernal is because that's where Uncle Walter and Aunt Susan live. They are the most wonderful Aunt and Uncle on the face of this earth as far as my kids are concerned. Their house is full of treasures and pets of all kinds. The latest craze right now is to go hang out and play with the baby kittens. The girls just couldn't get enough. The only thing that made it better was having their cousin Xander along to share the kitties with them. The pictures of them back behind Walt and Sus's house in the weeds are of them playing so nicely with each other and the kittens, so much so, that we just let them play for a good long time like that, when we told them to come over for dinner (Hobo meals cooked on the grill and in the fire pit.), we discovered they had been covering the kitties with dirt. Those were some fun baths to give later that night. :) Rachel named all the kittens, there are five. Tiny, Rose, Rosie, Rosella and Ro. Tiny was the "blonde" one. I love my Rachel!

Car sick

2008-08-04T12:43:00.000-07:00

So after all the birthday party festivites, we did a very fast, very minimal clean up here at home and then we hit the road and went to Cedar Hills to visit with Jennie and David for a few days and then we headed to Vernal. On the way to Vernal Nattie got a little car sick, this is so normal for her, she always pukes in the car if I forget to give her her medicine. Well, I of course forgot to give her the yummy red medicine which we call "puke medicine" in our family, so on the way to Vernal with all the twisty roads we had to pull over so Daddy could walk Nattie around to give her some fresh air so she wouldn't vomit. She loves these little pit stops, nobody else much loved this one, 'cause everyone else had to stay in the nice air conditioned van. Poor picked on kids.

Happy Birthday Rachel!!!

2008-08-04T11:43:00.000-07:00

And Nathan and Grandma Gunnell and Ashlynn... Rachel is our Pioneer Day baby. Her birthday is on July 24th and now we live in Utah it's a holiday for the entire state. She was so excited when she found out Daddy never has to work on her birthday anymore, she told one of her friends one day "my dad never has to work on my birthday." It was a super hot, hectic day, but so much fun! Every member of the family on the Swain side was here and Grandma and Grandpa Harris and Jennie and David and kids from the Harris side were able to come. It was fun to have everyone together, even if it was a little crowded and chaotic. :)

Bummer!!

2008-08-04T11:35:00.000-07:00

Okay, so the kids and I were driving down I-15 when we saw this happy dog lover. Bummer. (Oh, I am sooo PUNNY!!!) She was super nice, totally smiled for us when she noticed us taking her picture with her pooch. I wonder if she realized we got a little more in the picture than she probably wanted us to? :)

Metabolism

2008-08-04T11:22:00.000-07:00

You know, I really don't think it's fair. Ammon is only seven weeks older than Holly and Carl's son Spencer. Spencer is a PIG! He eats more ounces more often, consistently. And check out this picture of the two of them in Spencer's crib when we went to Vernal for Spencer's blessing on July 6th.

Regular days

2008-08-04T11:09:00.000-07:00

These pictures reflect what the kids looked like all the other days. I was just happy they were dressed, okay, Lexi never quite made it out of her jammies, but she didn't care, so neither did I. These pictures were taken on the Fourth of July, Denver and Tyler had gone back to the store for more fireworks (because we just didn't have enough. Boys...), so I took Ammon outside for a walk so he would stop screaming. The girls followed, so I took some pictures. Nattie really likes to ham it up for the camera, I just LOVE her! She's so fun all the time. :)

Happy Sunday

2008-08-04T11:01:00.000-07:00

I whacked Lexi's hair off (at her request) the day after she got here. (Her mom was soooo not happy with me, but she never is, so it really didn't bother me at all.) Then I had some fun playing with the girl's hairs that first Sunday before church. This was their cutest Sunday in Utah, all the other Sundays I was in survival mode. :)

Tyler and Lexi came to visit...

2008-08-04T10:47:00.000-07:00

The older kids came to visit for about six weeks this summer, they actually just left this morning. When we went to the airport to pick them up, Rachel and Lexi ran to each other and crashed into a big hug. I grabbed the camera and managed to take a blurry picture right before they collided, I'm posting it anyway, because I think it's so cute how much they love each other even though they don't see much of each other. Tyler was a little more mellow at the airport, but I think he was just as excited to get to spend time with his dad, he's just 14, so he has to be cool. :) We spent a good block of their time here in Vernal, Lexi said that was the best part of Utah, just relaxing and spending time with family.

Four Generations

2008-08-04T09:03:00.000-07:00

On Ammon's blessing Day, we were lucky enough to have four generations in attendance.Grandma Gunnell was here along with Mom and we four younger girls. We all had babies in a little under one year, so we of course had to get a picture with all of our babies, us, Grandma Swain and Great Grandma Gunnell.

Happy Father's Day!

2008-08-04T08:52:00.000-07:00

Happy Father's Day Daddy! What a day to get to bless your infant son! We were supposed to bless Ammon on Fast Sunday in June, but due to sickness (it was sooo long and horrible), we had to put it off until Father's Day. Denver was okay with it, he said he thought it was kind of neat actually to get to bless his son on Father's Day. It was hectic and hot with so many people in our home, but it was fun. Denz didn't get a whole lot of attention that day, Ammon kind of stole the show, but Daddy was okay with that.

Rachel graduates from Kindergarten

2008-08-04T08:44:00.000-07:00

Rachel graduated from Kindergarten in June. On her last day of school, June 20th, we went to her school and got to watch her graduation ceremony. It was fun. I was sad to see my tiny baby be so big, but I love to watch her grow and see all her "firsts."

My handsome boys!

2008-08-04T07:52:00.001-07:00

Here is a shot of my handsome boys on Mother's Day. Ammon just woke up though, so I gotta go. :)

Happy Mother's Day to me...

2008-08-04T07:45:00.001-07:00

I know this isn't the most flattering picture, but I don't care. I thought my babies were sooo cute on Mother's Day! I love Ammon's little tie and Nattie's Tigger tail sticker on her forehead! Rachel, of course, is being my little helper with our church bag over her shoulder.

Bringing baby home...

2008-08-04T07:39:00.000-07:00

I know this is so out of order, but I feel okay about it, considering this a true reflection on the my life, all disorganized. This is when Denver came to the hospital to bring Ammon and I home. Rachel was at school and Nattie just had to help push her new baby brother out of the hospital. I thoght it was cute and since I was walking a LOT slower, due to the fresh slice in my belly, I grabbed some pictures.

Tiny Toes

2008-08-04T07:33:00.000-07:00

I took this picture when Ammon was one month old. Natalie and Rachel are both so in love with him and just can't be around him enough. I had him sitting in his stroller and Nattie started kissing his feet, so I just had to take some pictures. I will try to get caught up to where our family is now with Ammon about to turn four months old. It's amazing how quickly they grow! I miss his tiny baby stage, I will have to post some pictures of his current size, sooo much bigger. :)

Little BLUE hugs and kisses...

2008-06-24T15:28:00.000-07:00

We've done it again! Except this time it came out all BLUE!!! I'm sooo excited! We have a teeny, tiny little BOY! He's perfect! I love everything about him and so do his sisters! His official nickname, courtesy of his two big sisters, is Baby Shooga. So welcome Baby Shooga! Born on 06 April 2008 at 8:13 am, weighing in at 8 lbs 3 oz and 21 inches long. When Dr. Spencer pulled him out and said "Wow, he's..." That's all I heard, I really have no idea what the good doctor said, my brain stopped listening and I started thinking of all the wonderful BLUE things I could do now with my baby boy! Can you tell I'm happy to have my son finally here with us? :)

Testing, testing...

2007-12-05T13:11:00.000-08:00

Trying to figure out how to get started with this whole thing. Thanks for the help Kimmae!!! Just grabbed a random picture of the girls to upload and see if I can't get this started. Here Rachel and Nattie are loving Sasha, Grandma and Grandpa Swain's baby pug before she went to live with them in Utah, we pug sat for awhile until she was able to go to Vernal. They love this dog so much they would wake up and run downstairs and take her out to the backyard and spend the entire day playing with her. They still get so excited to visit her every time we go to Vernal.