A Little Behind...

I had hopes of posting Thanksgiving pictures before Christmas actually came but we were having too much fun just living life. Jared took the week off before Christmas and it was so nice to have him home with us. We started out the week celebrating his birthday but decided to hold off on the true # of candles so we wouldn't be eating a wax chocolate silk cake : ). We actually went on our first date on his birthday 12 years ago so it is sort of like a birthday/anniversary/Christmas week all wrapped into one. After we cleaned up the house and prepared to head out for breakfast as a family, we encountered a few bumps in the road like...a dead battery in the van, flat tire in the car and a closed breakfast buffet. So we decided to follow the advice of a book Jared's been recently reading..." Loving What Is." We made some fun memories cramming into our little car to a pancake breakfast after pumping up the tire and I think we'll remember this birthday celebration much more than all of the "problem-free" birthdays of the past!


In between some last minute shopping Emily enjoyed some time playing at the mall.
I took all of the kids to make gingerbread houses at the library.
Emily overcame her fears of Santa enough to whisper one of her Christmas wishes to him at the ward party.
We managed to put up about 1/2 of the Christmas decor this year.... which means I only have 1/2 of it to put away now:) I guess procrastination can pay off sometimes.
We managed to squeeze in a trip to the temple with Jared's dad when were down for Thanksgiving and enjoyed visiting with him afterwards.
Thanksgiving with the whole family!




My kids had fun decorating apple turkey's with their cousins.
Kara was happy to hold Alyssa! I love this cute outfit she gave her.
Good Things:
Having a Wonderful Husband Who I Adore
Spending Time with Family
Not Having to Make Breakfast
Relaxing During the Holidays

Biennial Christmas Greetings

It was the best of times…. It was the worst of times…
The last couple of years have been full of challenges and happy moments. Thankfully, more of the challenges were last year and so many blessings came this year. (Perhaps that’s why I never even sent out Christmas cards or letters last year so you get the double issue this time around on the blog). Last year Jared and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary with a fun overnight getaway to Island Park. This year was a bit simpler. We left our less than 2 week old baby with a friend for a 1 hour getaway to a restaurant.

After a lot of restructuring at LDSFS Jared became the Counseling Manager here in the ID office and was so excited to have one of his best friends from graduate school come to join him in the office this summer . He is truly blessed to work in a “heavenly” atmosphere. Springtime is now full of excitement and busyness around our house because the boys have started wrestling. I think Jared gets even more excited than the boys when they participate in wrestling tournaments. He also enjoyed coaching Dan’s tee ball team for the past 2 years and staying fit with early morning basketball.

Heidi is very happy to be done riding the emotional/physical/hormonal roller coaster she was experiencing last year. After a couple of early miscarriages last year and a rough pregnancy she delivered our 5th child this June. She is enjoying her new calling teaching Relief Society after having served in the Primary Presidency for a year. She really enjoys teaching piano to our children and a few other students and has joined the piano teaching blogging world with her own piano blog – http://heidispianonotes.blogspot.com

Rebecca continues to excel in school. She had fun this year taking theater classes and performing as one of the orphans in the play Annie. She still plays the piano… but only so she can earn internet privileges to read blogs and compose her own stories. She also enjoys cooking concoctions in the kitchen with her friends when her nose is not in a book.

Jacob was baptized this summer and is enjoying participating in Cub Scouts. He loves to constantly improve his athletic skills and is out throwing the football rain or shine. He surprised us with a 12-4 and 13-3 record his first 2 wrestling seasons when he ended up pinning to win the majority of his matches. Then he would stand with a humble almost apologetic look on his face after defeating his opponents. He also played flag football and tee ball. He loves helping out his baby sister Alyssa.

Daniel has participated in wrestling and tee ball the past 2 years. He started Kindergarten this year and loves playing with his friends at recess and riding the bus. He also squeezes in a bit of piano practice occasionally. He loves spending quality time with his dad working or playing and thinks it is not fair that mom gets to go on more dates with Jared than he does.

Emily is glad that she is not the “littlest” in the family anymore. She loves everything princess and would wear a dress everyday if she could. Heidi loves spending piano and preschool time with her on the days when the other kids are at school. She amazes us with her ability to focus and absorb new concepts.

We were so excited to have Alyssa join our family this year. She is such a sweet little baby. She looks like a nice medley of all of our other kids and is plenty plump (90th percentile for weight and height). She recently learned to sit up on her own and will soon attempt to be a replacement for our vacuum :). All of her siblings love to dote over her.
We hope you have “the best of times” this Christmas and enjoy all the blessings of a Happy New Year!

Musical Inspirations at Christmas

One of my favorite parts of Christmas time is listening to the inspiring music that reminds me of the true reason for the season - the Savior. I love the power that music adds to each of these messages. Several of my friends and family shared them on their blogs and it was like getting a little "Christmas Present" from them so I thought I'd pass that "present" along.
Thank you Angela, Tamara & Kara!

Alyssa's "Firsts"

At the beginning of November Alyssa tried her "first" foods on the same day as the "first" snowfall since her birth. She was pretty intrigued watching the snowflakes out the window ....

but her "first taste of real food (if you can call rice cereal real food) didn't go over quite as well. Emily wanted to try some too and agreed with Alyssa that it is pretty nasty stuff!

October Happenings (a little late)

I've never been much of a Halloween costume person... the practical side of me just can't stand to spend $$$ on something you wear for 1 day a year. So our collection of costumes consists of mainly hand-me-downs that get reused year after year.
Rebecca has been planning her own costume for months. Let me introduce.....

Fifi, the TIP JUNKIE!
Never heard of a tip junkie????

Me neither. But apparently the tip junkie blog just got some free advertising by one of its latest followers. Somehow I don't see much resemblance between Rebecca's costume and the real tip junkie... but she sure had fun describing her own rendition of what a tip junkie is as she had people take draw clever "tips" from her tip junkie bag at the ward Halloween party. Apparently "tip junkie's" don't like posing for Halloween blog photos.

Emily wanted to be twins with Alyssa so she decided to be a ladybug again instead of being a princess.
Daniel didn't have to dress up much to be an army guy... that's pretty much what he dresses like everyday.
Jacob started out with a hairy monster mask...but decided that these crazy glasses were much more comfortable by the end of the night when I finally located the camera to take pictures.

Emily's Preschool Halloween Party

Crazy Hair Day

Time Flies

Lately I've been feeling like my little ones are growing up too fast for me and my opportunities for teaching them are swiftly passing me by as I send them off to school for most of the day. So I've been trying to make the most of time I have left with my little girls at home while the "big kids" are off at school. Emily and I try to have a little "preschool" time each day. I especially love the piano teaching part!
I post a little more about our 'piano adventures' with her on my piano blog.

Thoughts on Gratitude

Today while I was rocking my sweet little Alyssa to sleep - because she is sick, I decided to listen to President Monson's Conference talk again. Random pictures like this were popping up on my screensaver and I couldn't stop my eyes from tearing up as I reflected on how much I have to be grateful for. My husband, my children, my parents, my piano, my new calling (as Relief Society teacher), my health, my friends, the gospel, the library, I could just keep on going....

I love this quote from his talk.
"This is a wonderful time to be on earth. While there is much that is wrong in the world today, there are many things that are right and good. There are marriages that make it, parents who love their children and sacrifice for them, friends who care about us and help us, teachers who teach. Our lives are blessed in countless ways."

Today I feel especially grateful for Jared. He truly is my best friend on earth and after having him gone for a week on a business trip I am so glad to have him back home again. I love getting to spend time with and still look forward to every date we get to go on.

Yesterday Rebecca had a tough day at school and it was great just to be able to have some one on one time talking with her. Following is a little "guest post" that I put on her (Word) blog which is now 177 pages long... what a writer!

Just a few reasons why I think Rebecca is AWESOME…

Rebecca is so good at helping out her baby sister. She is also a great big sister to her other siblings. She plays fun games with them like ghost in the graveyard, helps them out when they are sad and sometimes even reads them stories.

Rebecca has a beautiful voice. I love hearing her sing songs she has found on the internet and most of the time she likes the same types of music as I do – like Mozart’s “Rondo Alla Turca” and Mindy Gledhill’s “All the Pennies.”

Rebecca doesn’t demand much – even when she deserves it…. Like all the babysitting money that I owe herJ

When she makes a mistake, she is quick to admit it and she sincerely desires to be a good girl. Sorry you had a rough day yesterday at school ; 0( I’m so glad that I get to be her mother!

Fun Run

Sounds like an oxymoron to me:)!



A few weeks ago the kids participated in their school fun run. They all did such a great job running their hearts out. Jacob came in 2nd place for his whole grade (even after being stopped to backtrack and get his shirt marked on the first lap)! I love this picture of him. He looks like he's having the time of his life.
Daniel came in 3rd Place for his grade, which didn't surprise me. I had a hard time keeping up with him during our "practice" laps around the church and my legs are twice as long as his! He is such a go-getter.
Rebecca was very close to the top 10 and I was so proud of her doing her best instead of just walking with her friends. She likes running about as much as I do - so this wasn't easy. She had a great (and handsome) coach running beside her so I'm sure that helped a little bit.


Jared took a few hours off work to come and encourage the kids... but his competitive spirit got him right in the race running along with them.

I Love That Baby Face!

From BAAAAA to AAAAAA!

Yesterday Rebecca achieved a goal that she has been striving for for 5 years.
She got Straight A's on her report card! Math (the first subject listed) has been a thorn in her side for so long. I love how she is so self-motivated goal oriented and determined to do her best in school. Ironically, I went through the same sort of journey as a child and it wasn't until 5th grade that I was able to get straight A' s all year- Only my "thorns" were things like Art, P.E. & Social Studies. I'm just lucky that Art wasn't required in high school when the grades really count for scholarships! This gives me flashbacks from my youth.
I still remember vividly the multiple choice Current Events Test I failed in 4th grade. It asked who the governor of Colorado was. I thought that I would have definitely recognized the name of a person in such an important role.... must be Dan Reeves. I still don't know who the governer was - but Dan Reeves was the Denver Broncos head coach:) I remember being so grateful that the kind boy sitting next to me didn't proclaim my mistake to anyone else.

Halloween Party

Last week we had a family Halloween party - just for fun. I made some mummy pizzas which ended up looking more like eyeballs to dip in blood (spaghetti sauce). We also had some witches brooms (breadsticks) and oreo spiders.
Jacob is sporting Rebecca's "tip junkie" costume glasses. You'll have to ask Rebecca more about the tip junkie.... something she saw on a blog I think.
Daniel - in his favorite daily costume... army guy!