Once Upon A Time...

Skylanders Spyro's Adventure Exclusives

2011-12-27T11:43:00.000-08:00

So the Big hit this Christmas for my boys was Skylanders. All four boys love it! (Mom and dad like playing too.) It was a gift from Grandpa and Amanda that has filled the day up with adventure, puzzle solving and mystery. The game has a Portal of Power that you put up to two characters on at a time to play the adventure. Now I guess we were lucky that it came from Best Buy because the starter pack from there has an exclusive Player vs. Player chip. It can only be bought at Best Buy. With all the additional characters, the game can get extremely expensive. The other exclusives include Whirlwind from Target, Drill Sergeant from Walmart, and the Legendary Pack with LChop Chop, LSpyro, and LBash from ToysRUs. Of course the game can get expensive if you buy it the wrong way. Never buy it out right! Buy the game (from best buy) when it's on sale. Wait to get any of the characters until you find them on sale. They had them 2 for $10 for the day after Thanksgiving sale, then if you find them at Sears you can have them price match anything when you bring in the ad. They not only price matched, but they beat the price so we got 2 additional characters for $8.50. Actually Best Buy price matches too. The game was such a big hit here and I was a little stressed out seeing that the game could cost a ridiculous amount of money. There are also two exclusive characters to the 3DS Starter Pack: Dark Spyro and Ignitor. Not to mention the expansion packs Darklight Crypt, Pirate Seas, and soon to come Empire of Ice. Each of those packs are at least $20 each. It's a little crazy to go so out of control for a video game... a game that you just sit there. Okay there are people that HAVE to have every character, but I can't even imagine. The cost of the game and all characters from Best Buy at the cheapest I've seen them would be $240. That would be every expansion pack, character, and the PvP chip except Ignitor and Dark Spyro. I was looking on ebay and those two characters are selling for $30 t0 $40 each. I am just blown away. After looking at full priced items the game could cost people up to $360. These prices are all before tax. I have been surprised before, but this blew me away. They sure are making a killing off this game.

I love it that people are buying it for us as gifts, because there is no way I could justify buying this game. Especially when we could drive to the Wolf Lodge, stay for two nights, and go around fighting a dragon (active family fun!) for the same price, or take a trip up the mountain to go camping for a week for cheaper.

Don't get me wrong... I do love the game, but seriously?

Music that Fills My Soul

2011-11-09T08:54:00.000-08:00

Well, this was quite a feat. I didn't focus on the recording as much as I should have, but it turned out pretty well. I have been having a hard time lately missing the ultimate choral experience. You know what's better than hearing perfect harmony? Being a part of perfect harmony. I miss the rush of adrenaline and emotions when you are singing with a group of people that are all passionately singing. They sing with such accuracy that you can feel the music resonating throughout your body and you can hear overtones. Those notes give such a thrill! It's like when you sing a note with perfect pitch by the piano, and the piano sings back to you with its strings vibrating for all to hear. I recently finish reading The Bells by Richard Harvell which just reawakened my desire for those feelings. The book made my cry several times. Sure, it had some emotional parts but I was crying for myself. I was sad that I hadn't been able to have those feelings for so long.

This recording actually made me feel a little fulfilled and a accomplished. It helped me to fill a small part of that void deep inside me. I am excited to record more and I can't wait to play more with it. It makes me wish I had better recording supplies, space, and program rather than standard program on my computer, a built in mic, and my bedroom.

I used garageband to record my vocals and imported the track to itunes. than took a video with iMovie and added the vocals in that program. After finalizing the video I posted it to youtube. It's so fun to learn how to use all of these cool programs that are right at my fingertips! The video is first and foremost for me and my family, but I do hope you all enjoy!

My goals for 2011!!!!

2011-01-04T23:51:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures I just love!

Let's see, my goals for 2011:

Lose the last of the weight I gained way back when I was pregnant with Elijah. I lost 45 pounds in the last six months and I only have 10 more pounds to go! Yay! Anyone who asks me how I did it I will say: discipline, support, P90X, diet, hot yoga, water, aerobics, zumba, kickboxing, elliptical, and running. (I hate running, but it helped me lose weight.)

After

Before

To finish journalling (blogging) about important life events from last year that have been ignored like Levi's life from birth to 9 months, Jacob's birthday, Shane and my birthdays, Thanksgiving, New Years, oh and of course moving to Vancouver and Christmas. (Among many others I'm sure.) All those blog posts will be dated associated with the dates they happened, so it's like cheating but so much easier to follow when I print it in a book.

Let's see, oh I just stole a couple from Belinda Creviston. Be happy and have fun! Thanks Belinda!

Organize my computers, pictures especially, and get my desk ready for me to blog.

Finish my first painting. I got everything I need to start painting this holiday season, and I started but I really want to finish. ;)

Maintain my boys piano lessons, its a goal for me because I'm teaching them.

That's all for now, but I might need to add later.

Finish all four of my boys baby books. I'm about half way done because Elijah and Seth's are done, and Jacob and Levi's haven't even been started. That's a big one!

Okay, now I'm done for the night.

Avoidance in Anger

2010-12-20T02:14:00.000-08:00

Levi July 2010 (I think)

So I've been avoiding this post because I'm still angry. Levi, after you were born I had felt the most excruciating pain I have ever felt in my life. I was hospitalized for a week, then unable to walk for a couple weeks, then in a walker for a couple weeks. To this day, I still have pain in my hips now and then and need to take it easy. With my frustration, I failed at a lot of things. I didn't take many pictures of you. I missed your picture of the day you went home. I never took a picture of your crib set up for you. I haven't even started your baby book. (I have very few things even written down about your growth progress and just everyday life.) I am so sorry. I was suffering from depression for a little while. I was so motivated to start working our 6 weeks to the day after you were born, and be awesome at the baby book and taking pictures. I was ready to get my life balanced with you and be back on track. Well, love, you're about 10 months old and I am just gaining back my emotional and mental strength. I am going to do my best to collect pictures and finish your scrap book up to current by the time your first birthday rolls around. I know that you started crawling at 5 1/2 months old. You could sit up by 6 1/2 months old. You played peek a boo at 7 months. You have been off and on for sleeping through the night since birth. You used to love the pacifier, then you quit taking it one day around 4 months. You can't handle loud noises. You freak out if people are yelling at each other or chearing for the sports game. You pulled yourself up to walk at about 7 1/2 months. You got your first tooth November 24th, the second November 25th, the third and fourth teeth on December 5th. Your brothers swear you have spoken saying Ma Ma, Da Da, Elijah, Jacob, and Hi. You said Da Da January 5th and Ma Ma January 11th. You just started to understand when I reference things like Dino(Dinosaur learn to walk toy), Food, Ba Ba or Mama Dean(mama's milk), Da Da, and brothers. I did get a picture of your first times sitting up on your own and pulling up to stand on my phone.

Levi Barely holding yourself up September 2010

Levi October 2010

Levi First time pulling yourself up to walk November 2010

Levi in Patty's Horsey bouncer August 2010

Levi Asleep at the Stimmel's house November 3rd, 2010

The Light... It IS at the end of the tunnel right?

2010-12-10T01:22:00.003-08:00

It's funny how we think of life sometimes. It was so nice spending time with friends tonight. We decided to watch Eat, Pray, Love together. Well, the idea was to read the book then talk about it, eat dinner, and watch the movie. Most of us skipped the book entirely and just watched the movie and boy did we talk. It was still enlightening. Eat, Pray, Love wasn't my favorite book, or movie for that matter, but we all had a nice night. Getting together with these beautiful ladies engaging in uplifting conversation helped me to remember a few things. First and foremost was that I need to be able to be more internally spiritual. Second is that life happens. Lastly, that we all can choose to be happy in any situation.

I have been dotting all my I's and crossing all my T's when it comes to religion, but I haven't been reading between the lines. I guess I feel like I've focused so much on showing my children how to pray, that I've almost forgotten how. I go through the motions but my mind is rushing about what to say to teach or who needs to do what after the prayer. I'm saying the words but not truly madly deeply from my heart and soul. My new goal is to be absolutely a teacher by example. I will pray on my knees, humbly before my Heavenly Father and choose to be completely involved.

Life happens. It is the only way to explain hardship without adding a why. The word happens may not even be the proper term because happens means: to come to pass by chance; occur without apparent reason or design Okay, now I'm convinced it's not the right word. Our Heavenly Father has a plan for each and every one of us. He includes the hardships we face in life, in that plan. Life is just a step in the Plan of Salvation. Of course! Life doesn't just HAPPEN, life is a STEPPING STONE.

A wise young mother once told me (Okay it was Leah Stimmel and she said it just tonight.) that people can choose to be happy in a miserable situation, or they can choose to be miserable in a happy situation. The problem that I always have is that I forget. I forget that even that takes a lot of work. We need to find what makes us happy and enjoy, find what makes us upset and figure out how to deal with it, spend time with our children, and remember to always know our spouses. We can create our happiness in a proactive way instead of waiting for happiness to just fall in our laps.

I think what I realized were some steps to finding myself again. I am very happy, but sometimes I lose sight of things and don't allow my life to balance. I don't need to leave my children, divorce my husband, or travel abroad to find myself. I love the way I feel when I am fully engaged in what I am doing, so I need to remember what I love to do and what I am passionate about. I love the way I feel when I dance, create art, and sing. I just need to bring more things that I love into the LIFE that I love.

Moving, Mount St. Helens & Friends

2010-07-27T11:46:00.000-07:00

When we moved back from Hawaii we were so excited to be back to the mainland. Shane organized and purchased an amazing graduation present going on a trip to Disneyworld. He had his sister Jessica and Grandmama watching all three of the kids and we met Leah and Taylor in Florida but that's a whole other story. We thought we were solid in saving up 4 months of bills and staying with relatives until he got a job and we had a place to live. The money was gone after 3 months and Shane didn't get a job for 6 months. It was a struggle, but we made it through. In November of 2008, Shane landed a job working for Vestas travelling around troubleshooting and repairing wind turbines. He was gone for 6 weeks and home for 8 days. The money was good and the benefits were amazing! So, after a long long time of being apart, Shane got a more stationary position with his same company. It was a huge pay cut, but we wanted to be together so badly. He started working in their Portland office in February 2010. We waited to move because the baby was due and we wanted to keep Elijah in the same school for an entire year in stead of having him moved again. So, Shane was travelling four days in Vancouver, WA then 3 days in Olympia until June. It was sad to move away from family and close friends, but I am so grateful to be together. The children are much happier and so are Shane and I.
One day we decided to go to Mount St. Helen's. It was a long drive, but it was fun to visit the visitors center and see the volcano. The boys loved it! We ate lunch out in the car and a squirrel ran up and was swiping our cherry seeds. It was cute.

One major benefit of moving to Vancouver, WA was moving near the Stimmel's. They were one of our best friends over in Hawaii and Taylor got into a chiropractic school down here. It was a mere coincidence, but we were so excited to be near such good friends. Unless our kids are sick, we see each other weekly. We do miss all of our Olympia friends and especially our Hawaii crew now that we are all spread out across the United States!

Jenn's 30th Birthday

2010-07-14T13:53:00.000-07:00

This is Jenn. She is one of my sisters and the sister that I have known the longest. For all who know my family, you understand what I mean. She has gorgeous eyes and a beautiful singing voice. She has always been there for me. She had just moved to Chicago when her 30th Birthday had come. She didn't know anyone there and was basically trapped. I just felt so bad that she wasn't going to have a big bash for her 30th birthday. I was being all sappy to Shane and telling him how much I wished I could spend it with her, then he gone and done it again. He bought me a plane ticket (with built up airline miles but still). For those of you that know Shane, you also know that he is amazing to me. He has given the go ahead many times. Anything I've wanted to do, he has helped make it happen. This trip was amazing! Jenn picked Levi and I up and we got Red Robin and went back to her house. We stayed up, ate food, cooked together, and had lots of fun time to talk. While we were in Chicago, Jenn and I went and saw Eclipse. So, we couldn't control the laughter because there was dust on the film that made it look like Bella and Edward has pimples or moles on their faces. Bella was a victim of the Cindy Crawford mole! It was too funny, so we let the manager know and he refunded our money! Unbelievable! We were so excited. We went into town and had fun at the Aquarium, took a water taxi, and enjoyed a really really long walk. Okay, you don't understand, it was a really really long walk, but I loved it anyways. Jenn kept apologizing, but I just laughed. We really enjoyed our time. My favorite part was when 'Dick' (Jenn's GPS) got us turned around and lost driving through the never ending 'Projects'. It's funny now, but it was a little.... okay okay a lot bit scary when we had to get gas in the middle of the projects. HA! It was totally worth it to visit Jenn for her birthday, and indulge in a fantastic dessert platter together.

This guy just had to be put it here! Okay, so he was a sun burnt man that just LOVED his job. And by Loved I mean.... HATED! lol I'm sorry bud, but you made the scrapbook too!

The pain

2010-07-10T20:20:00.000-07:00

The pain started so mellow. It wasn't so bad. It was so uncomfortable, but there was no time to worry about it. A new baby boy was so precious in my arms. It hurt to lay down. Pain. Pain in my hips. I can deal with it. Things need to get done. I hold a sweet baby. More pain. I feed the calm soothing baby while trying to fight minor complaints slipping from my lips. Standing up, sitting down, laying down, walking... no position can escape it. I took pills to stop the pain, to numb the pain, to eliminate the pain. No escape. It hurts even worse now. I can't stand on my own. I feel so helpless and frustrated. Call someone. A doctor. Please find a doctor. I can't stop the tears welling up in my eyes. I need to get help. Please stop the pain. It's like someone staked down my legs at the hips with thick daggers. From the surface, through the flesh and muscle of my hips coming through the back of my legs. Please... please stop the pain. My throat begins to feel tight and I can't stop the wimpering, then crying, then wailing, and now screaming! PLEASE! I CAN'T STAND THIS PAIN! I feel like I'm losing. My body hurts. I have no control. I need a doctor! It hurts so bad! We get there and through the moving from chair, to chair, to car, to bed. The pain is worse. The daggers are twisting and turning. It feels like my bones are splintering. KILL THE PAIN PLEASE!!!! Oh.... It might be over soon. The heavier drugs are working. YES! Resting for just a moment. What is that?!? No! NO! No, no, no. Please. I don't want to feel that pain again. NO! The pain is starting again. The drugs wearing off. NO! No, please. I can't lose. Let me beat the PAIN! NOOO! It hurts. Tears are flying from my eyes like birds diving, skimming the contours of my cheeks. The screams rip apart my lips. I can't stop it. I hurt. I'm losing! I have no control! Helpless. I hate that feeling of being helpless. Needing to be carried to and from the bathroom. Sponge baths in bed. It's humiliating. It's embarassing. I felt so defeated. Unable to turn at the waist or sit up on my own. I am so grateful that my husband was my support, my nurse, and my protector throughout the entire ordeal. I was able to depend on so many people. Thank you Mom, Dad, Patty, Jess, Kristel, Jessica, and Chris for everything. Thank you those who visited me. Thank you those who supported me. Thank you Shane. I love you.

Levi's Blessing

2010-06-06T13:18:00.000-07:00

The first Sunday in June little Levi received his name and a blessing. It was nice to have so much family and friends there! My sister Jenn made Levi's blessing outfit for us. She made Elijah's sealing outfit, Seth's blessing outfit, and Jacob's blessing outfit out of my wedding dress. There was not enough of my dress left for Levi, but she still made his blessing outfit for us too! Thanks Jenn and all who came back to our house for the BBQ after church!

Seaside and Santa

2010-05-25T13:03:00.000-07:00

As a surprise for me Shane got us a weekend at Seaside, OR for Mother's Day. It was so nice! We stayed in a Condo style hotel called Rivertide Suites that had two bedrooms, a kitchen, a living room, and two bathrooms. It was nice to be away together. It was nice that we were in a comfortable place with just our family. We are so thankful for all the support that our families had given us the past couple years. We stayed with Shane's dad, then Matt and Patty, then at my parents home. It was fun but cold. We couldn't keep the boys out of the water. I was freezing and Levi just stayed in the front pack the entire time we were at the beach. We walked the beach, walked around town, and ate at such delicious places. Our favorite food was Pig 'N Pancakes. The kids loved it and the price was right. Shane and I tried shark tacos at Taco Shark for the first time. We had a fish taco trio, salmon, halibut, and shark was by far the best!

I loved seaside, but it will be funner the next time we go. If we go just the two of us, then we will plan a couple hikes, eat out at a couple places, visit all the shops and art displays, and just enjoy being together at a nice hotel. If we take the family, then we will cook most of our meals, but a couple kites for kite flying, go ride the carousel a few times, and definitely go to Pig 'N Pancakes again. It's hard to go to stores with the kids, and since we ate out a lot we had no money to buy kites or go on the carousel. One evening, Shane let me go out for an hour to walk around the shops by myself and that was a nice break. Thanks, my love, for that.

Oh, we tried a deep fried snickers. Ummm, not impressed. Neither of us would have it again. We did love the old school candies you could buy at the many popcorn and candy shops. I am a candy-a-holic, so I was in heaven.

One of my highlights for the trip was seeing Santa Clause on vacation too! Shane will tell you if I see people in the world that make me smile, I just have to take pictures of them! I know I have quite a few random people in my photo gallery just because they were as perfect as this guy!

Before and After... Levi's Birth

2010-04-17T12:54:00.001-07:00

First I want to say thank you so much to Debbi and Patty for planning and throwing a wonderful baby shower. Thanks Dad for watching all the kids. Thank you Jammi for making delicious foods and thank you friends and family for all the wonderful gifts and celebrating with us. The theme of the baby shower was a little brown monkey with the colors bright green. baby blue, and brown. The party was fun and I am so grateful for all of the love and support from all of my friends and family from that point forward.

This is baby belly a couple days before birth.

This is Levi's debut as a Boyd boy. All the brothers love our new addition!

Easter 2010

2010-04-07T22:17:00.000-07:00

My favorite part about Easter was that I was out of the hospital! I was still low functioning because I couldn't walk without a walker and ever with a walker I could only walk a short distance. I got an ergo carrier from my mother in law which has been amazing! I was helped outside and sat in a chair while I watched Shane and the boys fly a kite, coloring eggs, and an easter egg hunt. We had fun being visited by Jessica, Jessi, Debbi and Shelbi.

We spent a little time at Uncle Bill and Wendy's so see my Grandmother and lots of other relatives. It was fun but tiring too.

Seth's Birthday Date with Dad

2010-03-19T06:19:00.001-07:00

Seth went out on his birthday date with dad this year. The soonest we could arrange it was yesterday. First they stopped off at Wind Up Here... (the toy store downtown) to get his free little gift for coloring their birthday postcard, then they headed over to red robin, then made the stop at Toys R' Us to spend his birthday money. He had so much fun with Shane and ended up buying a Ben 10 Combined Alien kit, a silver Lego star wars guy, a new bakugan, and a bionicle for himself. The cute thing was he bought Jacob a Diego toy and Elijah a Lego Star Wars set.

Happy 5th Birthday Seth!!!

2010-03-13T17:09:00.000-08:00

Seth had a blast on his birthday! The day started out with his choice of breakfast. I offered to make him french toast, bacon and eggs, or pancakes, and he was so excited to pick whatever he wanted. His response, "ummm... I pick oatmeal... and... yogurt... and... cup of noodles!" Really Seth?!? We have oatmeal and yogurt every other day so I thought for sure he'd pick something different in the morning. Sure enough that's exactly what he ate. Elijah just couldn't believe he didn't pick any of the yummy sweet options that we have maybe once a month. The boys had a primary activity in the morning making hygiene kits for people in Haiti. Seth was just too excited that a primary activity was on his birthday. So, after breakfast we went and all three boys got hair cuts before going to the primary activity. The activity was a success. They passed their goal of making 100 kits and actually got 120 kits together with left over supplies for more to be made. After the activity we rushed home to get ready for guests to arrive. Shane picked up pizza and as people came we set them up at the table to do the art project. Seth had banks for everyone to paint. He had cars, piggy banks, and robots to choose from. The activity was fun, but I wish it was nice enough to have the party outside. I spent more time cleaning up paint off my table, chairs, and carpet then I did setting up the party in the morning.

Seth's cake choice was fun! Okay, so it was a huge challenge to frost, but I think it turned out okay. He picked a white dinosaur cake frosted with red butter cream frosting. He loved the way it turned out, even though I think it looks more like a red godzilla. The cake baked perfectly, but there were soo many crumbs after cutting and piecing the shapes together, that I had to use a lot of frosting and it took a lot of time. I had to clean all the crumbs off after frosting each inch around the edges. I used purple frosting to outline the form of the Dino. Then I cut sour candy strips for the grass and texture and good and plenty's for the claws, eye, and teeth. I also made homemade ice cream which is my favorite part about birthday parties these days. Seth made an announcement that he has to make a wish and took about four times to blow out the candles. He was so adorable!

He celebrated with his friends from church, Jason, Teancum, Xavier, Mary, Rosie, and lots more family. The party was a blast and it was so nice Shane was able to come. He drove straight after working in Portland that night with his new job. Needless to say he lost a ton of sleep over the weekend.

Here are the boys just finishing at the primary activity. Elijah was the most helpful big brother. He made sure everyone at the party was taken care of.

Eli's Birthday Party

2010-02-08T13:07:00.001-08:00

Okay, here is the cake I made! I know this is about Eli's party, but let me glorify myself for just a bit. Friday night I made homemade ice cream, thanks to Jessica Boyd for giving the ice cream maker to the boys for Christmas. I made homemade butter cream frosting and a homemade yellow cake. I was so proud of myself because it looked pretty good, but it tasted even better. Shane is the master of cake baking in this house, so it was nice for mine to turn out just as good as his would have. The cake is an Alien UFO! I baked in a 9 inch round pan and a 2 quart Pyrex bowl, then cut a definite edge around the bowl cake and put it on top of the 9 inch round cake. I frosted the cake with orange and white frosting and decorated with red decorative gel, good and plenty, black licorice, gumballs, and peanut butter M&M's. I was lucky to find Aliens. These ones came out of a board game that is similar to the fishing game. It spins around, the aliens go up and down, and you have to try and grab them with a little grabber hanging from a pole. It's $10 at Target and I was super excited because they are the Aliens from Toy Story. "You have saved our lives! We are eternally grateful!"

Elijah had a great time with his friends and family. He was excited about every present he received, and he scored $90 from all the cash givers. He has a love for money and I thought for sure he would want to spend it, but he's talking about saving up for a large purchase. He doesn't know what he wants yet though.

This picture is compliments of Eli. We were so happy to have Shane home for Eli's Birthday Party. It meant a lot to Eli and I know Daddy's don't like missing birthdays. Not bad of a picture Eli! What this doesn't show is Shane's 'back to P90x' body, and my 'big pregnant belly' body. Next time Shane comes home I'll get a couple good pictures of each of us.

Happy 7th Birthday Eli!

2010-02-03T12:27:00.000-08:00

I can't believe he's already seven. It seems like not too long ago that I was waiting for his arrival. Eli was excited to go out on a date with me for dinner on his birthday. We dropped off Seth and Jacob at Auntie Patty's house and headed downtown to the local toy store Wind Up Here. He received a postcard in the mail that he was supposed to color and return to pick out a small toy as a Birthday gift. He was so excited and picked out a glow in the dark mini Frisbee. He was excited to come back sometime to purchase a set of marbles that he really wanted. His choice of dinner was Red Robin. He started off with an Oreo milkshake and cheese sticks. I think that was plenty because he took about two bites of his corn dog and said he was too full. It was nice that the Byers were able to meet us there and celebrate. Eli was so excited they got him the Fifth Bone book. The funny part was when the crew sang to him, he said, "That was embarrassing." Soo cute.

The 3 Boy Update

2010-02-02T13:38:00.002-08:00

Obviously my New Years Resolution had nothing to do with blogging... lol. I have been busy with Eli in school, Seth at home learning, Jacob recently potty training, and being tired. Eli finally lost his first tooth!!! Congrats Elijah! He has been wanting to lose a tooth since the beginning of Kindergarten. He has been very upset since the day his cousin Teancum lost his first two teeth in one hour over a month ago. January 21st, 2010 Here is his story:

So, I came out of my room after going to bed because something was on my mouth. My mom said, "Look in the mirror." and I looked and saw blood. It wouldn't stop bleeding so I started wiggling it a lot. My mom tried to yank it twice but she is not good at getting the floss tied around my tooth and the floss just like slid right off. My mom got me a paper towel and I was wiggling it more and then it just came off. I went to tell my mom and it was like 9:30 at night. Jacob got to see my tooth, but Seth was sleeping so I put it in my tooth box and hid it from the tooth fairy. I showed Seth in the morning and put my tooth box out that night and got $2.00.

Elijah has been having such a rough time recognizing and expressing his emotions. Every week that follows Shane leaving is usually a tough week. The problem is Shane left on Jan 3rd, Eli had a rough Jan. 4th - 8th. Then Shane was home for a week and he left on Jan. 17th, Eli had a rough Jan. 18th - 22nd. I started to get worried so I started reading Raising an Emotionally Intelligent Child by John Gottman. So far it is such a great book. It is teaching me what to say and do to help him work out his emotions in a positive way. It has worked wonders using the techniques in just the past week. Elijah is now at a 4th to 5th grade reading level, excelling in math learning difficult addition and subtraction and learning his multiplication tables, and just loves all the academics in school. He is also anxious for the baby to come, so I can sign him up for sports again.

As you may notice, Elijah got his hair cut. After being referenced as a she three times in a week, he said he's ready for spiky hair. So, here he is with his new doo. You look adorable with long hair Eli, but soo handsome with short hair.

Jacob boy! He has been so good and not so good lately. The not so good: He is taking up every bad habit of talking back, getting mad, hitting, biting, yelling, and temper tantrums. The good: He is so polite always saying please and, "Oh, thank you!" He always tries to give loves to say sorry, hello, and good bye. He has been very protective and he chooses sides. This is not really a good thing, but its super funny. If I am scolding Eli or Seth, then he his scolding me. He says, "Time out mommy! I'll spank your butt!" Now, I have been doing what I shouldn't do lately and that's giving empty threats. I am not a spanker, but for some reason I keep threatening. They just go to time out and we resolve the issues, so I don't know why I'm just not saying, "You are going to time out!" instead. Weird, I know. Thank you Jacob for teaching me what I'm doing wrong. One really stressful and great thing that Jacob is doing is potty training. He does really well when he has no underwear or pants on. He likes the little potty instead of the big boy potty with a little seat on top. Eli and Seth always went with the big boy potty, so that's new for me. We started with jelly beans and now we are on to marshmallows for going pee. If he goes number 2, then he gets a lolly pop. He has been doing fairly well for peeing in the potty as long as he stays in my sight and we stay home. He went number 2 on his own for the first time yesterday. We were all excited! He usually waits until I put a diaper on him then he goes in there. That's either when he first wakes up, before nap, after nap, or before bed. I am hoping the hard work will pay off and we'll have this done before the new baby comes.

Seth is just the greatest kid. He has been just devastated about being pulled from preschool, but has learned a ton in just a month with me. We work on writing, numbers and math, grouping, science, social studies, art, health, and reading. We cover all the subjects throughout the week on a rotation with reading and writing daily. His school time is one hour and some times less, but he's already learning sight words, counting to 60, all sorts of science and social studies info, and has read a few tiny Bob Books. They seem to be very helpful as beginning reader books. Since he is never gone during the day he is having to come with me for a lot of things like shopping, errands, and going to Eli's school to talk about emotional disruptions. One day Eli was accused and punished for something he says he did not do at school. After a few hours of discussion Shane and I felt that Elijah was telling the truth, so I set up an appointment with the principal and teacher and handled the situation. The principal apologized to Elijah and I and agreed to handle things a little differently with subjects regarding Eli. It was a stressful week that ending well. What does all of this have to do with Seth? He has a very good memory! One day Eli's school called to say he had gotten wet in a puddle and needed a change of clothes. I packed in Jacob and Seth and came to the rescue. The principal walks up very nicely and says, "Hey, you guys are Eli's brothers right? Seth.... and... Jacob? Good to see you guys." Jacob smiled and got really happy. Seth looks at him and says, "Hey! You're that guy that doesn't believe my brother!" I told him that's something he didn't need to worry about and I would handle that discussion. Talk about the funniest thing ever! I was trying so hard not to laugh and succeeded luckily. We really need to watch what we say around him!

Happy 28th Birthday Me!!!

2009-12-31T23:32:00.000-08:00

For the past six years I have wanted to eat at Stanley & Seafords in Tacoma. Shane remembered and took me there for my birthday last night. It was so delicious! I enjoyed the company of Chris and Jessica Byers and my dear husband Shane. Grandma Debbi watched the boys over night for my birthday. It was so nice! My parents took the boys over night just two days ago so Shane and I could go see Avatar late at night. This whole week has been so fun and I've enjoyed having time with my boys, my husband, my friends, and my family. Being another year older doesn't feel so bad.

They gave me a complimentary burnt vanilla creme which was so yummy! I loved the food, the environment, the dessert, and the company I was with.

Cali Cristmas

2009-12-31T23:01:00.000-08:00

Jacob on Christmas

2009-12-31T22:16:00.000-08:00

Jacob just wanted to play with everything right away after opening the wrapping paper. He got a small horse from Santa. Grandpa and Amanda gave him a super cool Matchbox Car Mickey Mouse Playhouse Garage for cars that he loves. Mom and Dad gave him a large yellow tonka truck that he likes to ride in. Grandmama and Papa gave him a big horse, a car that drives itself all around, and some cool bath toys.

Seth on Christmas

2009-12-31T22:11:00.000-08:00

Seth loved opening his presents! Santa gave him a Ben 10 watch that he loves. He got a big helicopter from Grandpa and Amanda. Mom and Dad bought him a plasma car that he likes, but wishes went faster. Papa and Grandmama gave him a Magnext rocket and a digital camera among many other things. The funny part was he really would not leave Phillip's side. It was sweet.

Eli on Christmas

2009-12-31T22:08:00.000-08:00

This Christmas Eli got Bendaroos from Santa. He loves them! He got a RipStick skateboard from mom and dad, but hated it so he traded it in for a regular skateboard and two new board games. He got a cool K'nex from Grandpa and Amanda that turned into a moving spider. Papa and Grandmama got him a language translator, a new bionicle, and Illustory. Illustory is exciting because he can write and illustrate his own book then it is sent it to become a hardcover book.

Merry Christmas!!!

2009-12-31T22:06:00.000-08:00

This year we took a trip down to Grandmama and Papa's for Christmas. We relaxed, made cookies, played games, and ate a lot of food! On Christmas morning we enjoyed the company of a surprise visit from Phillip, Auntie Jessica, Papa, and Grandmama. It was really nice to spend time with the whole family. Eli wore the Mickey Santa hat and passed out presents, Seth sat with Phillip the whole day, and Jacob was on the couch next to daddy eating candy and asking daddy to take every present out of the box.

The Candy Basket in Portland, OR

2009-12-31T22:00:00.001-08:00

One of my very favorite places to go in Portland is the Candy Basket. It has a ceiling to floor chocolate fountain for visitors to look at. Shane loves the mess ups section. They have baskets full of bags of truffles for about half price because they don't look pretty enough to package. Shane like the dark chocolate truffles, but my ultimate favorite is the Seafoam. It is spun molasses covered in milk chocolate. It is sooo yummy!!! This most recent visit, I bought a pack of Red Velvet Cake Truffles. They were beautiful white chocolate coated truffles with red sprinkles on top, cream cheese ganache and red milk chocolate ganache on the inside. They were divine. I can't wait to get more.

VooDoo Doughnuts

2009-12-31T18:03:00.001-08:00

So, everyone is a critic right? Well, so are we. Shane had their Portland Creme, same as a Boston Creme and he really like it. Seth had a standard jelly filled, Eli had a Marshal Mathers(topped with M&M's), and Jacob had a Raised Ring with Vanilla Frosting(topped with Fruit Loops). They loved their choices! Mine was the best! I had the classic famous Maple Bar with Bacon. It was like pancakes with maple syrup and bacon all in my mouth. I loved it! Jessica had a couple delish Arnold Palmer and Neapolitan(They are cake doughnuts with a frosting, powder, and three mini marshmallows). She said they were different and good. Chris tried the Famous VooDoo Doughnut and loved it. Overall it was a good experience.

The non-creepy VooDoo Doughnuts

2009-12-31T17:49:00.001-08:00

So, after the Christmas lights we decided to go see what the fuss was about this VooDoo Doughnuts. It's been on Food Network as a cool place to go, so we followed the directions I had. As we were tuning onto a road in a creepy part of downtown, there was a long line of bums laying under tarps along the sidewalk. Jessica and I started freaking out. We found the place, but luckily there was no place to park. It was creepy. Jessica looked it up and found a VooDoo Doughnuts just a mile away, so away we went. Finally at 8:30pm, we pulled up to a non-creepy VooDoo Doughnuts with a small parking area. It was so funny, and we were just enjoying the sight of it. The outer lounge had a ton of random seating to choose from. The boys loved the different seats!

This is the boys doing the 'Shake Your Booty' or 'Shake Your Butt-Butt'. They are too much for words sometimes.

The last of Peacock Lane

2009-12-31T17:36:00.001-08:00

There was a bear waving to everyone from the upper window in a house. We weren't sure if it was a remote control or not, but after looking at photos it was a dude holding a bear. You couldn't see him at all while you were walking.

More Peacock Lane ...

2009-12-31T17:25:00.001-08:00

Yummy, giant candy canes!

Jacob was being a grouch because we wouldn't let him run in the road.

My favorite house!!!

Peacock Lane

2009-12-31T17:20:00.001-08:00

I love Jacob's ears here!

The boys loved getting pictures in front of the houses! Who is that guy?

Seth liked getting his picture taken the most that night.

Portland Trip with the Byers

2009-12-31T17:15:00.001-08:00

So we were invited to Adi Stimmels Birthday in Portland on the 19th. The boys and I went and had a blast, but I completely spaced taking pictures of our dear friends. We did bring the Byers down to spend a night in Portland for fun and had Shane meet us after he got off work in Hermiston, OR. We decided it would be a good time if we saw something Christmas like, went to Powell's books, and ate at Voodoo Doughnuts. We started our fun times off by going to the best place for Christmas Lights in Portland, Peacock Lane! It really was so much fun. It has been a decked out street for Christmas lights since the 1920's. Looking at lights is one of my very favorite things to do at Christmas time. We parked at the Walgreen's right at the end of the street and walked up one side and down the other of the street. It was so busy, but we got a parking spot right away. It was funny because we were like cattle along the sidewalk being corralled. The boys loved it and my favorite house was decked out with The Grinch Who Stole Christmas.

Auntie Shelbi

2009-12-31T16:55:00.001-08:00

Just a bit ago I was asked to take some 'professional' pictures of Shelbi to grace the walls of her mom and dad's homes. I love doing these mini photo shoots for people because I like a challenge. Shells was so sweet and awkward trying to keep a straight face. I got a lot of silly pictures, and a lot of good pictures. It really wasn't too bad for 10 minutes and about forty pictures. I just started taking pictures in jpeg and nef form, but the raw pictures won't do me any good until I master my photoshop CS4. Okay so mastering CS4 is a little overkill for a goal, but maybe even figuring out how to use it for basic function would be better than no editing at all. I keep wondering if that is what everyone else uses for at home use. The only simple function editing I know of is Picasa, but I wish I knew other better quality easy to use editing programs.

Jacob was adorable and just wouldn't back off long enough, so I let him be in a couple pictures. I love this one with Shells!

Duck Tales Oo-oo, Sunday, and Michael Jackson!

2009-12-10T11:33:00.001-08:00

One of our very favorite songs is the Duck Tales theme song. The boys love to rock out in the car right before watching another episode. You all know the song.....

Life is like a hurricane here in Duckburg
Race cars, lasers, aeroplanes - it's a duck blur
You might solve a mystery or rewrite history

Duck Tales, Oo-oo
Everyday they're out there making
Duck Tales, Oo-oo
Tales of derring-do, bad and good luck tales, Oo-oo!

D-d-d-danger, watch behind you -
there's a stranger out to find you
What to do? Just grab onto some

Duck Tales, Oo-oo!
Everyday they're out there making
Duck Tales, Oo-oo
Tales of derring-do, bad and good luck tales, Oo-oo!

Not pony tails or cotton tails. No, duck Tales, Oo-oo!

So, we were in the middle of driving to get dinner last Sunday night after the power went out.

On a side note: It's funny because we have been talking so much about keeping the sabbath day holy the past couple months. I am trying to let Eli and Seth decide for themselves what movies, books, and games are okay for the sabbath. They have been doing pretty good about it too. The conversations we have are about how Ben 10 might not be a good video game because there is fighting off bad guys, but Mario Party is okay because it's like a board game on the TV. They have been so good with only a few little bumps. We went shopping on Friday for groceries and gas like we have been doing, but I have been trying to buy only food that I need to cook. Being pregnant with the munchies it is not good for me to have a lot of grab and go or open and eat foods around. The problem I found with that is even my canned food needed to be heated in some way, so I was not prepared for a power outage. That taught me that I needed a little more self control and need to be better prepared with crackers, meat, and cheese or sandwich stuff.

Anyhow, we were on our way to Arby's talking about other ways we can be prepared on the sabbath day. Eli and Seth had all the right answers then
I said,"Duck Tales, Oo-oo!"

Then Eli said, "Eleven, Oo-oo!" after seeing a 7-11. I laughed.

Then Seth said, "Michael Jackson had a heart attack, Oo-oo!" Eli and I just burst into laughter and couldn't stop. It was nice to have some laughter in an otherwise stressful moment. I don't like fast food anymore except a couple items that I can't eat due to heartburn, I didn't have fast food in the budget, and I hate having to use more gas in a day then I have to.

Of course after the laughter died down I had to explain why mommy laughed about something that is very serious. Heart attacks are not a joking matter. Lessons were learned by all of us that day.

Claire Byers

2009-12-10T11:15:00.002-08:00

Unfortunately all of my pictures of Claire under the age of 7 months look like this. She was always in the front pack when my camera was out. I only have a handful of pictures of this gorgeous girl, but I know her mom and dad have plenty.

The Byers

2009-12-10T11:05:00.002-08:00

We love the Byers! Chris and Jessica have been such great friends with us for quite a long time now. I've know Chris since back in Jr. Year French class in 1998. We knew each other before that, but that's when we became good friends. Shane has known Chris even longer than I have and we met and got to know Jessica back in 2003 just after having Elijah. These are our biggest video game and movie buddies. We have seen a lot of amazing and amazingly awful movies together. Sometimes Viggo Mortenson has a tail, we used to like midnight showings packing jack in the box in the purse, sometimes an all nighter of Mario party is broken up by a paper route and car theft, and every now and then the longest movie ever is only 90 minutes long! It's been fun fun times even when we are not vegetating in front of the big screen. We love you Chris and Jessica! Oh and of course who can forget the new edition? Claire has been such a light added to the party. Don't forget I saw her first tooth first.

Santa at The Christmas Forrest

2009-12-03T14:17:00.002-08:00

This year we went to the Christmas Forrest at the Red Lion. Chris and Jessica got tickets for free and Shelbi was dancing two solo's for the Dance Direction so we decided to go. It was a charity event where several completely decked out Christmas Trees were lined up around the room for people to bid on in a silent auction. The Children's Museum sponsored a handful of crafts for kids, they had live entertainment, and of course Santa was there. Eli was so very coy as he walked up to Santa. Santa had very long conversations with each family of kids that had a visit with him. Jacob went right up and was excited the whole time. Seth just kept saying, "It's just a guy in a suit! Right, Eli?" That wasn't my fault, I swear I didn't tell him that, he just decided that the REAL Santa doesn't have time to come to this city right now. It just had me laughing but I was trying to quiet him down just in case other parents would be upset.

Mary, Rosie, and Jason came also with my mom. Jason watched the movie Cars most of the time, but he seemed to have no interest in anything that was going on around him. Oh, wait. He did like some of the dancing. Mary and Rosie enjoyed the crafts, visiting with cousins, getting their faces painted, the dancing, and took a turn on Santa's lap.

My favorite was seeing Claire on Santa's lap for the first time. She looks calm in this shot, but she did not like it when her mommy sat her on his lap and moved away. She was in the cutest outfit ever and Santa kept calling her a little guy. Look at the pink flowers on her legs. It was very funny!

Happy Happy Birthday Shelbi

2009-12-03T13:25:00.001-08:00

Zoolights Pictures

2009-12-03T13:22:00.001-08:00

Zoolights for Shelbi's Birthday!

2009-12-03T13:20:00.001-08:00

Going to Zoolights for Shelbi's birthday was so much fun! Jacob didn't join us so we missed him, but we loved seeing all of the lights, drinking hot chocolate, riding the carousel, and celebrating Shelbi's Birthday!

Elijah and Seth just loved playing with Shelbi, Jessi, and Grandma!

I was so excited Jessica and Claire were able to come and enjoy our first Christmas experience of the year!

Eli and Seth were being such punks! They wouldn't just smile for me. It was either goofy or grumpy all night long!

A few more pictures at Shelbi's Party

2009-11-28T14:16:00.001-08:00

We can tell where Shane gets his good looks from! His dad of course. They are such a 'special' family.

Seth was avoiding the camera and this was the best I got.

Like I said, a 'special' family!

Grandpa and Amanda hosted a great party!

2 November Birthdays!

2009-11-28T14:12:00.001-08:00

Little Mary had her 3rd birthday just this Wednesday. She was so excited to share this day with both her dad's family and her mom's family. Mary had a pizza party at Round Table pizza where the food was so yummy and the party was so much fun!

Mary loved celebrating with all her cousins and auntes and uncles!

Shelbi had a birthday celebration on the same night as Mary! Elijah, Seth, and Shane stayed to celebrate while I took Jacob over to Mary's party. There was yummy food, even better cake, and some goofy company. We always have a blast with each other!

My beautiful sister in law's Jessi and Jessica!

This Is It

2009-11-08T03:38:00.004-08:00

So, this was one of the best Graduation presents I ever received. Thank you so much Dorthy, Greg, John, and Danna. If you can't see well, this is a framed Michael Jackson album.
Oh yes, I said album. There is a very old and very worn record in that frame. Okay, it all starts back when I was five years old living in San Diego. I was in kindergarten and my friends Louis, Katy, and I loved getting together in our neighborhood listening to Michael Jackson. We would meet up with a boom box and our tapes and just dance. Louis was the best Michael Jackson dancer and we would practice all the moves from his music videos. We would meet up after school and on the weekend with our Jean Jackets with snap buttons and medical tape on our fingertips. I am pretty sure we were Michael Jackson's biggest five year old fans in the world.

Right around my seventh birthday my parents bought me the movie Moonwalker. I would watch that movie all the time. I still have it to this day. I used to watch it frequently up until 2004 when our VCR broke and we never replaced it.

I remember when Invincible was released and I was soo excited because it had been the longest gap between album releases since Michael Jackson started releasing albums. I loved it and listened to it constantly.

While living in Connecticut around 1993, my parents had a garage sale they were planning. They sold their 8-track player along with all their 8-tracks. When Jenn and I were helping my mom collect all the garage sale items, we came across the last of their records. They are gotten rid of a lot of records before our move to Connecticut and they were finally getting rid of the last of them. Jenn had a super rad tape, radio, record player in her room and I managed to salvage one record from the pile. Michael Jackson's thriller. Until Jenn finally got rid of her record player in 1998, we still used it to play that record.

It became my centerpiece for my living room for a very long time. I had it on the dresser or mantle in my bedroom until I moved to Utah for college. It graced my living room in Utah. It was the center of my bedroom after returning from college. The album came with me to Hawaii and was put up on the shelf when I was there. When I returned home it was still with me. When Shane and I got married and moved into our first apartment together it was on the mantle in our living room. We always had it out.

One day, my sister Dorthy came from Idaho to visit and saw it in our living room. Her eyes lit up and she said, "No way! My Thriller record! I thought this was gone! You salvaged it when mom and dad got rid of everything?" She was so excited and of course if it was hers I wasn't going to make a big fuss when she asked for it. After all it was hers. I swallowed and happily handed it over. When she walked out the door I just cried. I couldn't believe the record that was mine for so long... was gone. I was so sad. Both Shane and Jenn told me Dorthy wouldn't care and I should just tell her how much it meant to me. I just wiped away my tears and told them I was fine. If one of my siblings had something of mine I would expect them to offer it up, and I would be fine. I was still sad, but had no hard feelings for Dorthy. I cried a few times about that album. When I would look around the room, it just wasn't there anymore. It was never forgotten, but I was okay after a month. A few years later Shane found me a few albums which included Thriller at a garage sale. I was soo excited because they all were in mint condition, but it wasn't the same one.

Years past and I got wind of Michael Jackson's final concert. I was extremely tempted to get a ticket to Europe to go to one. It was my one of my biggest dreams to see him in concert. He was the best performer, amazing singer, and even more amazing dancer. I mentioned it to Shane, but we never seriously talked about getting a ticket.

Then it happened. Dorthy was with the family for Christmas last year and we all got together at Matt and Patty's house. We were all opening gifts from each other on Christmas Eve and Dorthy hands me one more. She says, "This is your graduation present from John & Danna, and Greg & I." I was so excited! I opened it up and just started crying. The Thriller album that was Dorthy's. She never even knew how much it meant to me, but had arranged to get it framed and returned. She said she just thought about it and it didn't really matter to her anymore. She knew I was a huge fan and she knew I liked the album, so she talked to Greg, John and Danna and they went in on it together. Until recently it was the only picture up in my living room.
My amazing siblings! Thanks again!
The day he died I was in Redding, CA driving around running errands. It was so sad. I was listening to the radio, when I heard. Then, I started receiving calls and texts from all my family and friends. They all knew I would care. I cried that night. I wouldn't get to see him in concert. Sad. Every now and then I would cry when I here his music. He was amazing!
He was the King of Pop!
R.I.P. Michael Jackson at age 50.
August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009
Obviously I had been awaiting This Is It. I got to see it on Friday November 6th with my sisters Patty and Tammy and my friend Jessica Byers. It was better than what I expected. I would love to see it again and again. I wanted to see it again right after watching it! I only cried 5 times and luckily managed to stop the crying after starting. The tour was going to be Epic. He had some amazing new material for Thriller and Smooth Criminal. He has been my favorite performer since I was five years old. I don't think I will see a performer in this lifetime that is as talented as Michael Jackson.

Pictures, Family, and Fun!

2009-11-08T03:25:00.002-08:00

Today Jason came over with Tracey and Sarah just to visit and the property here looked so vivid because of the rain I robbed them from heat for a few minutes to get some good pictures. Jason played with his nephews the whole time he was here, but I don't blame him. I am not as cool to hang out with as Eli, Seth, and Jacob.
I have been wanting to get family pictures for myself on my parents property because of this very driveway. I just think they have the best driveway and trees for a backdrop. This is my sisters Sarah and Tracey for those of you who don't know them. I loved how a lot of the pictures turned out today.

This was such a silly picture of Tracey. We got a lot of great pictures, but I had to post this one. It was a goofy accident, but all three of us girls love it! It's going to forever make me laugh. She looks so 'one with nature.'

Sarah got a lot of great pictures too. She just looked great in them. It was so fun to have a couple of my little sisters over on Saturday.

Happy 28th Birthday Shane!

2009-11-03T08:55:00.001-08:00

Daddy, we miss you and want to say, "Happy Birthday!" When I told Jacob it's your birthday he started singing, "Happy To You. Happy To You." He really loves you and misses you.

Seth says, "Happy Birthday Daddy. I love you. I'll give you this best toy, a Bakugan. I hug you. I like when you play games with me." Eli wants you to know, "I really miss you Dad. I wish you were here. I like it when we play games together. Happy Birthday! When you come home I'm going to give you a present. I like it when you're here. I wish you worked in Washington. I like it so much, so much when you're here. I wish we could do art together and go to the Wolf Lodge together and go to the Wolf Haven together and play together. This a thing I like about you, I like all the talent that you have. I hug you."

Happy Birthday To You!
Happy Birthday To You!
Happy Birthday Dear Dad!
Happy Birthday To You!

You want to know what I love about you? Everything. You make me feel safe and secure. When you are by my side I feel like I could do anything. You are a huge support financially, physically, and emotionally. When I am concerned, sick, or tired you're strong arms surround me with love and I am at peace. I would have never been able to skydive without you by my side. I would never have been able to go to BYU Hawaii and Graduate College or go to China and Mongolia without your support. You are amazingly smart. You have passed training classes with nearly perfect scores from lawn mower engines to wind turbines after a week long course, no prior knowledge, and a couple hours of study. You graduated college with a single A- lowering your GPA. You are soo funny. You are fun to be with. You are the best I know at any video game. You can usually beat the best player of any game on a first try, but every once in a while you need to play for 30 minutes, then you can win. You are amazing at sports. You are a great artist, even though you don't utilize that talent. I love your tender voice when you quietly sing songs to me. I really love everything about you, mostly because there is so much to love. I miss you.
Happy 28th Birthday.

Oh, and I can't forget the power of your kiss. Every kiss is like our first kiss. It sends shivers up my spine and I know I want to be with you until the end.

Halloween Night

2009-11-01T01:58:00.001-07:00

This is what Seth gives me when I ask for an action pose. He is so sweet. He was so tired because the boys and I went for a mile walk this morning, then we walked another mile and a half for trick or treating. We met up with Mom, Sarah, and Tammy with Jason, Rosie, and Mary. Honestly? I was exhausted. I haven't been sleeping the best and I have been walking a lot lately, so after trunk or treat being last night I just wanted to snuggle up on the couch and watch a movie. Trick or treating was fun though. Seth was concerned about his whip a lot of the time, so Tammy and I ended up holding it most of the time.

Jacob really would not keep his Yoda hat on, so I threw it on and got this picture before he ripped it off. He was so sweet. He walked almost the whole way. I kept offering to pick him up and the response I got was No, Thank You. I also offered multiple times to hold his bag for him and the response I got was I Got It. He was so worn out that around 10pm tonight he climbed up on my bed and put himself to sleep. I have been holding him until he falls asleep for the past few months now. I have been too tired myself to do the constant him getting up out of bed and me needing to put him back, so we settled with the method of cuddling, holding, or rocking to sleep.

Eli needs to train his brothers what to do in an ACTION pose. See Seth? Eli did really well and I didn't see much of him because he was in the front of the group and Jacob and I rounded up the back. It was fun.

At this house, Jacob was determined to kick the little branches that were in his way. I had to pick him up and walk away to make him stop. It really was too much fun. We stopped at a house from a member of my church ward who was making scones and had hot chocolate for everyone who came by. It was so great and a nice break at our half way point. We went to Gamestop to show off Eli's costume and the two guys working there were impressed. The boys felt great going there as Sora, Indiana Jones, and a Jedi. We picked up a couple cheap used games and went home to try them out. We headed down to Grandpa and Amanda Boyd's to pick up spoils from them which was so nice. They really enjoy visiting with Grandpa and Amanda. Then we went home, showered, and off to bed. As for me? I posted pictures, blogged, and now I will be laying down to a movie with some toast and hot chocolate.

More Trunk or Treat pictures!

2009-11-01T01:39:00.001-07:00

Rosie as Tinkerbell

Chris Byers as a Judo Master and Peter Corier as the Phantom

Action shot of Teancum as Snake Eyes, Jason as the Grim Reaper, and Seth as Indiana Jones

Xavier as a Lion and Mary as Dorothy

Trunk or Treat

2009-11-01T01:32:00.001-07:00

The night before Halloween was fun. We went to the church building for some trunk or treating in the parking lot, a chili cook off, and carnival games inside. The kids all had a blast together. Chris took around Jacob for me, thanks guys for the help, while I passed out candy from the trunk of my car. Eli was Sora, Seth was Indiana Jones, Jacob was Yoda, Jason was the Grim Reaper, Teancum was Snake Eyes, Xavier was a Lion, Rosie was Tinkerbell, and Mary was Dorothy. It was very fun!

Jacob loved getting candy, but didn't care much for wearing the Yoda hat.

Seth loved the games and did a great job waiting in line. Eli loved that there were a couple of fourteen year old boys that thought his costume was the coolest thing ever. There were three video game characters that were all hand made costumes: Eli as Sora, Chibi Robo, and a ODST Halo guy. Very cool.

Here is my rock'n'roll trunk. You can't see the guitar, drumsticks, mic with a stand, and of course music playing. It was so fun!

The Sora Costume!

2009-10-29T23:21:00.001-07:00

It's all Noelle's fault. The story goes like this. I read Noelle's entry about finishing Brody's Where the Wild Things Are 'Max' costume, and I told Eli about it. The costume is amazing and I can't wait to see Drew's! Kudos Noelle! The boys and I got on topic of what to be for Halloween. I decided Jacob was going to be Yoda since about a year and a half ago, but last year I couldn't find him a costume. I got one for cheap this year. Seth wanted to be Indiana Jones which was perfect because he had purchased a whip already, his church bag is a Indiana Jones replica bag, and we already owned a hat from when Eli was 3. I looked around his closet and found pants, shirt, belt, and shoes that would work. I was getting so excited that I had two down and one to go with only spending $15. Eli's first and only idea is a video game character from Kingdom Hearts named Sora. We start looking for costumes and the cheapest Sora costume is 80 bucks! I was in shock, but the craziest part is I actually thought about budgeting for it. That idea ended after I thought it through clearly. The hard part is Sora is such a special interest character that the only costumes are hand made and usually for Cosplay. I know, I know, look it up, ultimate nerdy goodness. (Actually, a friend, Chris Byers, brought it up that my boys are all going trick or treating as cosplayers. Soo funny!)
So Eli says, " Mom, you could just make it. Brody and Drew are getting their costumes made for them by Auntie Noelle. Please."

Me being a stay at home mom with no current hobbies in process said, "I could try. Eli, mommy doesn't sew and doesn't have a pattern, so if it turns out bad we need a backup plan. How about Wolverine?"

"Okay. I like Wolverine. You already know how to do his makeup and hair. Right mommy?"

"Yup, and we have jeans, a t-shirt, and retractable wolverine claws."

"Ya."

So I started getting paranoid immediately. I started looking around the house and found a blue shirt, (hand me down) over sized black cargo pants, blue spiderman 3T pajama bottoms, his snow boots, and a 3T black hoodie. I was inspired for a moment and actually thought I could pull this off. I borrowed my mom's sewing machine, picked up a few accessories, bought some fabric, bought a hot glue gun, and got to work. I drew out a picture and colored it for a guide. I started with the easier things first. The gloves and the boots. I used hot glue for those two parts and they were finished in a couple hours. The shirt was next and that was very easy and it turned out well too. My last items were jacket, necklace, and pants. I did the jacket next. I cut it off and added white trim around all the edges, then started to add the lining to the hood. That was hard, but it worked out. I added shoulder pads on the exterior of the hoodie and hot glued the shimmery grey shoulder pieces. I finished it up fairly easily minus the work on the hood and shoulders. One motivator was every time I finished a new piece, Eli and Seth would give me so much praise and encouragement. They would say its perfect and it looked just right. I took a long time to get the necklace and pants done because I just stopped working on it for a while. I used my dad's dremel for the necklace crown. I drew it out, cut it out, sanded it, and panted it. The chain was a purse handle that I added more links to so it would be the right length. The necklace only took me 3 hours, but over an hour of it was figuring out how to use a dremel! It was fun to learn something new. I like doing that on my own because it feels like an accomplishment. I avoided the pants after attempting to add the white trim between the blue and black between the legs front and back. I called in help from a friend from church. Sis. Greene happily fit me in for 40 open minutes of her day about a week ago. She taught me how to add the trim, but ended up doing that part for me. That was a huge help! Thank you! All the touch up and elastic around the knees was done today. It took me about five hours total for the rest today. I have never been so relieved in all my life. Eli was excited. I decided I don't enjoy sewing, but I do enjoy creating. The necklace emblem was a blast for me. I like power tools! The final aspects of Eli's costume are hair and makeup. We tried the hair yesterday, but I think it'll look better tomorrow and Halloween night. All he needs for makeup is intense eyebrows. I will post a couple more pictures from Halloween weekend to show off the finished product with hair and makeup. I am just glad it's done!

Happy 2nd Birthday Jacob!

2009-10-28T01:12:00.001-07:00

Jacob's birthday party was short and sweet. He has a short attention span at 2 years old and it was a school night, so it worked out well. First off, I want to thank Chris Byers for the idea for the picture. I love it, and its perfect! Jacob had so much fun with many of the people he loves being there to celebrate with him. We started off the night with snacks and then birthday cake. He tried to blow the candle out, but I had to block him from spitting all over the place. It was so cute. I am pretty sure the candle was blown out with the help of Seth and Rosie. Thanks for that helpers! We ate quickly and moved right along to present opening time. He really didn't interest in opening his presents, but again he had big helpers: Seth, Rosie, and Xavier. He loved all the toys and clothes, so thank you for those. I think his favorites so far are everything. He just kept switching from one to another. We also had big helpers to open all the boxes and get the toys out: Jason, Teancum, Eli, Seth, Rosie, Xavier, and Mary. Thanks kids for helping out so much at the party!

I had all the candy and snacks left over from decorating the cake so people could eat them and decorate their own cupcake if they wanted to. I also had large and small pretzels out to eat those yummy and fun pumpkin cheese balls I made. I used soft smoked cheddar rolled into a ball, the bottoms dipped in chopped peanuts, garnished with a fresh parsley leaf, and pretzel stems. It was really funny to me that half the people there were not sure what they even were. Frosting balls? Candy? I thought they would make a fun looking truffle, but cheese it is.

The cake I made was a monster. I baked the body in a oven safe Pyrex 2.5 quart bowl, and the feet were cupcakes. He had purple butter cream frosting with donut, gummy life saver, skittle eyes, a candle nose, candy corn teeth, blow pop arms, pretzel legs, and a fruit by the foot tongue. It was fun to decorate and to look at after. This was my first time baking a cake in a bowl and I was checking on it every 15 minutes. It looked funny throughout baking, but it turned out great and was soo easy to frost. The frosting is always fun to dye too. Just as a reminder to everyone who likes to color food. Always go get the thicker coloring from the craft store because you can get many colors and it creates super rich coloring. I swear by it! Jacob picked out the cake idea from a birthday cakes for kids book I have. Of course I showed him the page to begin with, he looked through it with his brothers, but kept coming back to the monster page and saying, "Raaar!"

Past Cakes part 2

2009-10-28T00:57:00.002-07:00

October 2009: Here is a better picture of Jacob's monster cake this year. He really got a kick out of it. I know the two is backwards, but I just threw it on there so I wouldn't lose track of it. I should have paid more attention to it before taking the shot, but oh well. Soo funny!

October 2008: As you must have noticed, there are no cake pictures for Eli and Seth for 2008. That's because I was in my senior year final semester in college, I was working out a ton, and just had a new baby four months before. They both had cupcake cakes made from good old Foodland! There is no shame in that! This October cake was my favorite ever so far because it was my own idea, and I did it all myself! This may sound like a little big-headed, but I am really proud of this cake! I thought of it, and it looks so good! Jacob's personal cake was a mickey mouse cake with Wall-E decorations. I did use the nicer dye from the craft store! This used very little dye to create such vivid coloring. I used a small round cake pan and cut the ears off the remaining parts from the Eva 13 x 9 pan.

This is my Eva cake. She was easy to make. I just baked a standard 13 x 9 cake and cut out the shape of Eva (and two small Mickey ears). She turned out so cute, but I really wish I frosted her more neatly. All of the smeared frosting around the edges was distracting. I know if you cut strips of waked paper and place them on top of your cake board and under your cake, then you can slide them out really easily to prevent minimal smearing on the board. I haven't tried it yet, but I mean to.

The main cake was made with different sizes of circular pans for the face and ears. I loved decorating this cake soo much! In the top right is the Wall-E that found the little green plant on a hill. Ill of the other Wall-E's are cleaning up garbage. They had different colors of frosting on their hands depending on the frosting they were near and I made the tracks as if they all went through the center black pile at some point. I actually made the tracks with a fork tipped in black and applied to the cake behind each Wall-E. I know my family loved it, Jacob didn't care as long as he could eat it, but I adored it.....and still do obviously. Elijah and Seth's 2009 cakes were also store bought this year, but I am determined to let them choose from my beloved book for 2010. Seth already said he wants a frog cake, so we shall see.

Past Cakes part 1

2009-10-28T00:29:00.001-07:00

February 2007: This is the first time Shane and I took on the cake project. It was my fault really. My nephew Dante was doing his school fundraiser and my sister Danna sent me the link to buy things online. I fell in love with this Birthday Cakes for Kids ideas cookbook. I bought this totally awesome cake idea book and silly me said Eli could pick out whichever cake he wanted. Of course the kid has to pick the hardest cake in the book! I even tried to get him to change his mind. Oh No! Shane and I stayed up late the night before Eli's party baking, frosting, decorating, and trying to keep those four corners together. It really turned out well considering we didn't have the right materials. Also, as a note I used the cheap dye you can buy at the grocery store with four little cone topped squeeze bottles. We used every drop of two greens to get the towers that green. It was so fun to do this with Shane, but it was hard for our first time.

March 2007: Seth's birthday came around and I was having a hard time with classes at school, so I hid that cookbook and told Seth and Eli that I was making Seth a blue mini ninja cake. It was fun and easy. Seth loved it! Once again I used those cheaper dyes from the cone topped bottles. 2 bottles later and I wanted a dark ocean blue, but instead we got a bright blue cake. It was still fun, don't get me wrong! Seth really thought his cake was the best, and Eli loved it too.

Primary Program

2009-10-26T00:06:00.001-07:00

This Sunday the boys had their primary program. They both had their lines and were very excited. As they were going up on stage after taking the sacrament Jacob just was so upset. He insisted that we had to go too. He finally calmed down but I kept repeating, "Elijah and Seth and going to sing songs to us. Look! Do you see brothers?" Thank goodness Eli was in view from our seat. Seth was one of the early speakers and he was ready and in a good mood. He got up there and loud and clear we heard, "I am thankful for my family because they play games with me." He was so good and brave. Eli's part was in the middle and he got up there with a huge smile on his face. He just stared at everyone smiling until the primary leader helped him out then he said, "My dad provides for my family by working far from home." It's funny how those eleven words got me choked up even though I had heard him say it about thirty times. I miss you Shane. Eli was so sweet. He told me later that he was so shy when he got up there. They sang all the songs and were very obedient on stage. The program was all about appreciating our families. It was such a nice program. Jacob has been having the hardest time going to nursery the past several months. He would scream hysterically and cry until he came back to me. He even had a hard time going with Shane. So the last two weeks I came in for the first hour and after sneaking out to go to Relief Society, he would scream for the rest of the time. So I decided a new approach this Sunday. I told Jacob we were going to nursery, went in with him, then I looked him in the eye and asked if I could go to class right now or if he wanted me to stay for a little while. He frowned and said 'stay a little while'. I fully explained that I would be there a short while sitting by the wall, but I was going to leave soon. He said okay and fifteen minutes later I went to him and told him to have fun and I would be back after going to my class. He said 'okay mommy' and went on playing. No crying today! Hopefully this same routine will work next Sunday.

Sand in the City

2009-10-24T07:03:00.001-07:00

Back in the end of August, Olympia had its most recent Sand in the City extravaganza. I love Sand in the City because they bring in sand on the sidewalks where amatuer and professional sand sculpting is presented and in compitition for first prize. They have food, games, and all sorts of fun things to do. This was my favorite statue this year beacause it made me laugh so much. It wasn't as difficult as others that we saw, but it was soo funny!

Several people and groups danced from the Dance Direction, my mother-in-laws studio. Shelbi, my sis-in-law was supposed to dance, but she was recently in a freak hot/cold pack accident. Okay okay, you know those hot/cold packs that can be frozen or heated in the microwave? Yeah? Well, Shelbi grabbed one of those out of the microwave just as she felt the flesh burning off her thigh and down her calf. The pack had popped in the microwave without her knowing and the scalding hot insides gave her second degree burns. Needless to say, she was unable to dance for a few weeks until it healed entirely.

Just as the Dance Direction were finishing their last group, I noticed this kids walking around with a Burmese Python wrapped around his neck and arm. He was with him mom who had an African Grey (exotic bird) perched on her shoulder. Apparently they owned a pet store. If I owned a pet store, I still wouldn't go as far as walking aroud with a scary snake on any of my children, but that's just me.

The highlight of my day was seeing the photographer in the kilt taking pictures of the belly dancers. I was taking a couple pictures of the belly dancers myself until I found a better target, the dude in the kilt! You gotta love Olympia!

The Pumpkin Patch & Wolf Haven

2009-10-22T10:08:00.001-07:00

The Pumpkin Patch was so much fun this year. The boys had baseball games back to back on the 10th, but while Jessica Byers stayed with Elijah for his game Seth, Jacob, and I picked up Shane from the airport. It was so nice to see him after a seven week break. As we pulled up into the terminal and saw him I just felt so overjoyed. I just couldn't stop holding his hand on our drive to the Byers house to pick up Elijah. When we got there we found out they were going to the pumpkin patch. Shane is such a trooper because he was up around 4am after having four hours of sleep and he said lets go too. We went over to Hunter's Farm and just loved picking out our pumpkins. The only part I do not like about going to the pumpkin patch is all the things that cost extra. Now when Eli went to the same pumpkin patch with his school last year, they were able to have free range on the slides, the hay maze, and they got a ride to the pumpkin patch and back. When we went as a family it was $1 per ticket and everything cost tickets. One ticket for the ride to the pumpkin patch, one ticket for the small corn maze, three tickets for the hay maze, one ticket for the small slide, two tickets for the bigger slide, and three tickets for the jumbo slide. They were charging a dollar to go down a slide once and the slide was like the one at the playground. I just had a really rough time because we are trying to stick to the basics these next two months. So we had to say no.....a lot. Then it turned a really great experience into a let down for Seth and Eli. Seth asked about the slide and when I told him it cost extra money he looked at me like I was crazy. I am glad Jessica convinced us to get our picture taken together at the end. I love it! The day ended with Heavenly Donuts and homemade hot apple cider.

Just last Sunday we took a trip to the Wolf Haven. It normally costs $9 per adult and $7 per child, so never go because we are looking at $30 just to go in and see about ten wolves and two coyotes. This was wolf week, so they made it free for one day. Thank goodness because Eli and Seth had heard about it from their uncle Jason and have been wanting to go for about a year. They were mostly taken from people who had them as pets illegally. There was one that was recruited as a Hollywood star, but it didn't work out so the wolf haven took him in. I think most interesting parts were to find that they had a roadkill license to feed the coyotes and they have a pair of Mexican Gray wolves that are part of a wolf recovery program. They are two out of 54 left as endangered species. All of the wolves are unable to reproduce except the Mexican Grays.

It was so fun to go with Grandnan and Grandaddy, cousin Rosie, cousin Mary, and uncle Jason.

First Day of school, Baseball, and Daddy

2009-10-20T21:35:00.002-07:00

Elijah's first day of school and every day there after has been great. His school, McKenny Elementary is so wonderful. He has just excelled in reading and all his subjects throughout these last few months. He just started reading Harry Potter, knows every word except 3 every two pages, and actually understands what he's reading. He's fun to listen to because he's so expressive when he reads. He just started more complicated addition and subtraction, and basic MULTIPLICATION. I just can't believe this kid. It really is a blast.

Seth has been in preschool and that has been fun. He is at a high school preschool where he always has a high school age buddy work with him. He loves it, but sometimes gets in trouble for his elaborate and expressive storytelling. The story's wouldn't be so bad, except he insists that he's in charge and he knows 'the truth of everything'. He went into class today and started yelling at a student because, 'You're mom locked the school down and won't even let me see our class scarecrow!' The true story follows. We showed up, the school doors were locked, a fellow mom let me know that they are doing a surprise lock-down drill and they will open up in 5 minutes. Seth asked if I wanted to see his class scarecrow and I said I would love to once the doors are opened. He's so great! The boys did play baseball this fall with the YMCA program. It is just fun to see Seth actually focus and have fun with a sport.

Eli takes things quite a bit more serious, but he also insists on learning how to throw and hit with proper form. He is in action throwing to first base in this picture. It has been fun.

Shane has been working in Texas since last December. He's been gone a lot. His schedule is six weeks on location then eight days home. The company covers the flights there and back and all expenses paid for him while he's gone. He got a job with Vestas, American Wind Technology last October. He had training in November 2008 in Portland, OR, then went off to test and repair wind turbines in Corpus Christi, TX. We have been working it out, but it is hard not seeing daddy. Shane's site just finished their setting up of a new site down there in Corpus, and he was told his next location is Okoboji, IA. he moved from a condo on the beach in hot Corpus Christi to a resort on a lake with an indoor water play area and lazy river in freezing Okoboji. He just got there on Monday, and we won't see him until Thanksgiving. He works long hours, and he's far from home, and his boys love him and miss him dearly. I am the one who's a big baby....so lonely. Well, this is us right now in a nutshell, oh right also I am expecting a new baby March 24th, 2010.

Before and After .... the Haircut!

2009-10-20T21:26:00.001-07:00

We finally did it. Jacob's first haircut. We figured he was turning two soon and it's about time. Goodbye blonde, goodbye curls, goodbye baby hair. Jacob really looks grown up now. I will miss his wonderful hair, but he doesn't seem to mind at all.

I'll post a better picture soon.

What a Bummer Ending to a Fun Time...Houston's Johnson Space Center

2009-08-09T20:09:00.001-07:00

Who oh why do people have to suck? We had the best day on Saturday going to Johnson Space Center in Houston. We got up crazy early and drove for 4 hours. We got to the Space Center and the kids absolutely loved it. They had a whole area dedicated to George Lucas and his movies, the boys loved it because they had a lot of Indiana Jones and Star Wars movie props. They had a huge indoor climbing toy, and Indiana Jones escape from the Temple of Doom jump house obstacle course, a Clone Wars Blaster target practice Tent, and an Indiana Jones safety line obstacle course. We also went and saw the training center for Astronauts, Saturn Rocket Park, and a presentation of what is currently happening with NASA. Now on to the reason why we will never have memories captured with photographs. Don't get me wrong, we brought our camera.

You see, people suck!
We stayed the night at Staybridge Suites and when we woke up we relaxed and ate a yummy breakfast. Then I went to get the boys in the car while Shane checked us out. I got the boys in the car and noticed a bag in the wrong place. Weird! I said, "Eli, did you or Seth knock down that bag and not tell me?" Eli said no. I buckled Jacob in and Eli and Seth were sitting down then Eli said, "Mom, the bag was in the wrong spot, but I think somethings wrong with the DVD player. The wires are hanging down." Sure enough, the screen was gone, our GPS was gone, our driver's door lock was busted, and of course our camera was gone. No pictures. Luckily, it was our point and shoot and not our Nikon D50. Oh well, we will survive.

I keep thinking, if those jerks knew us, they wouldn't have done that. If they just saw my boys and how sweet they are, then those punks wouldn't have touched our car. Living in Laie made it so nice not to have to worry as much about these type of things. Even in Olympia there are lots of problems with theft and break ins. The world is so beautiful, the people in it are so lost.

So, if I had our pictures I would shown you these two of all the pictures. These are sad quick drawings to give you the idea. So, Eli wanted to do that Indiana Jones Ropes Course where you have a harness, you are 20 feet up, and you had 6 different courses you had to go through, there was a rope attached to the rope above you and you walked across this wide open course. Eli did a great job, but he was scared. The last of the six parts looked about like that picture. There were no ropes to hold on to except your own while you watched across these very wobbly boards like a old broken up bridge. Eli's face was priceless! He looked like he was going to cry, ans Seth said Eli was soo sad. The worst part is, my face looked about as scared just with my frown turned upside down. I really was about as scared as he was. We can always remember that it happened, even though we won't be able to see it.

So, we're looking at a building on this amazing tour of the NASA lot and training center and Seth has something to say about EVERYTHING. Shane humored him and said, " So, what is that building used for?" He said, "I know that's where they bring all the weapons. They turn all the weapons into skunks in that building. Then they use those tanks to freeze all the skunk farts.......They freeze the farts then put them up into space and let the farts go." He learned that liquid nitrogen was very very VERY cold about five minutes before and all the liquid nitrogen was stored in the same exact tanks. It was soo funny.

The other response of his that must be shared happened when we got in the car after the police had left this morning. Seth says, "I know who stole our GPS!! I know who did it. It was a friend of mine.....he's from my class....at my church in Corpus Christi!" Kids say the funniest things, but Seth sure is a storyteller. Well, the drive home was a little crazy with no GPS. We ran into a couple toll roads until we stopped to get a map. We made it back the old fashioned way. Also, we sang a LOT of songs. Not having a DVD player is a lot of work. I am not really looking forward to our long, 5 day drive home. I am looking forward to seeing all our friends, but I'm not looking forward to the hours it will take to get there. Well, five more days until take off. 5...4...3...2...1...blastoff!

Black Eyes & The Aquarium

2009-08-03T16:36:00.002-07:00

Eli has had his fare share of black eyes. The culprit this time was Seth. The suspect, Seth the cowboy, was seen swinging a lasso (belt) waiting for the buffallo to run by. The victim, Elijah, then walked into the belt buckle on the end of the lasso. Who knew? The victim then began crying and proceeded to tell me that his eye had been popped and bleeding everywhere. So he's a little overdramatic. there was one pinprick size cut with one dew drop sized speck of blood. At the sight of blood all his color leaves his face and he starts to feel like he's going to throw up. He looked at the speck of blood on the paper towel and said, "Mommy, I feel like sick cuz I think my broken eye makes me feel like that." What a dramatic yesterday.
The first time I remember Elijah getting a black eye was Eli's first day of preschool over at Laie Head Start. It was all my fault that morning. I was trying so hard to pull apart two cups that had suctioned together that I didn't notice little Eli right behind me. I did, however, feel him with my elbow as it smacked right into the corner of his little eye as I managed to finally seperate those two stubborn cups. I was so afraid of all the question and answers that were going to happen on Eli's first day of school. I could picture it now: Q-"What happened to your eye Elijah?" A-"My mom hit me." Q-"Are you okay?" A-"She gave me a black eye. She just said sorry and she was sad."
Needless to say, everything turned out well.

Today was a blast! We went to the Texas State Aquarium with a family that we know from church. They had a membership and were able to get us in for free. Free is always good. We saw alligators, a porcupine, a dolphin show, a bird show, the otters, the sea turtles, and the jellyfish among many other fish. The boys were well behaved and NO ONE THREW A FIT!!!! It was a miracle and a blessing.

Seth used to be my most photogenic child, but as of late he has been the most difficult. I need to get him out of this awkward stage and back to fashion model Seth.

They had the coolest Stingray Petting Area. Jacob thought they were crazy, but Seth and Eli loved touching the rays.

Sooo Busy, but I need to take the time.

2009-07-29T19:01:00.001-07:00

Jacob is making a stew with leaves, flower petals, and egg yolk brewed in dog dish water.

Elijah is taking a walk in the middle of Grandmama's garden.

Seth is really excited posing at The Hooks game in Corpus Christi, TX

Elijah took this pic down below in the USS Lexington.

So, this brings me to my matter of bussiness. I want to start blogging again. I need to start blogging again. I am going to start blogging again. I have been going through excuses of how busy I am, but journals are important. I feel like I haven't been a true friend to all of my good friends who are blogging during their busy lives. I am sorry I haven't been reading, commenting, or updating you all. I love you all and I am going to make more of an effort from now on.

I'm back from the BLOGGING Dead

2008-11-11T07:01:00.001-08:00

This is such a sad story with a very happy ending. Okay, so one day I sat at the computer screen and began to do the usual things like check my email, check Shane's email, and help Eli earn money on his Webkinz game and something started to happen. My throat started to feel pressure and I started to breath deeply while feeling my heart racing. I started thinking about my life and my situation and I thought, 'wow! I am so unhappy.' I am a very optimistic person and have always been happy when I am with my husband and children so I began to analyze my situation. I have been having a terrible time with my health lately. I have had terrible acne, digestive problems, and my throat has been sore. I am lucky I own good makeup because I would not leave the house without it. Not to mention that I haven't been able to sing since we came to Washington from Hawaii. I realized how lost I have been without my voice. I always used to sing around the house and I was feeling so empty. I have to lay my children down at night without singing them a song and finally now Eli just says, "You'll tuck us in and give us kisses, but no songs anymore right?" I have been trying so hard to get my health insurance figured out so I can get into the right doctors and get taken care of. I thought about how greatful I was to have my family around to help us out. Shane hasn't gotten a job since we moved and we've been living with family. I took a break and went to the restroom and after washing my hands I saw a face in the mirror that I didn't recognize. I am not vain but I was so proud of myself for getting healthy, losing weight while doing P90X last spring. I saw some weight gain due to inactivity, eating habits, and a presciption I'm on. I saw acne instead of Mary. I moped back to the computer screen and started looking up solutions to my health problems that I couldn't afford. I looked up different throat conditions and holistic aproaches to diagnose and cure throat conditions, different foods that promote health that were very expensive, and different vitamins that improve acne that were also expensive. I finally checked my email and saw a name that triggered the tears. Stimmel. Trying to fight through the tears I shot a quick email to Leah about how my cell phone was broken and can almost never recieve or return calls on it. I ended the email that said I miss you and I was just overwhelmed. I walked into my room and just thought about how I missed all the times in Hawaii with friends. I couldn't quite figure out why I was sad now and not as much a couple months ago. I decided I needed to do something about this whole problem. I knew I couldn't get Shane a job, or just buy what I needed/wanted, but I could be more proactive about other things. I feel uncomfortable working out in front of people, so living with people doesn't help that situation. I can't buy any food I want because we are being assisted from other people. I could however show up at my doctor's everyday to let them know how important and high priority I need to be. All my hard work at bugging the doctors paid off and I am seeing an allergist and an ENT next week. YAY! I had a nice weekend spending time in Vancouver with the Stimmel's for Taylor's birthday. It really made my weekend. Then to top off the wonderful weekend Shane got a phone call last night and YES HE HAS A JOB!!!!!!! He starts training on the 17th and I'll go into that later, but we are extremely excited. I was so excited about all the progress that was made for our future in just a couple days. Yesterday didn't feel as good as I thought it should. I spent time with Shane and my family, but there was still a little empty feeling. I know part of it is still not having my voice back, but I couldn't figure out what else to do. I woke up this morning at 4am, could't fall back asleep, and went to the computer again. I found myself looking up Shane's new company and places to live and I read something about Christmas that said Noel on it. My thoughts immediately went to Noelle and I started to cry. I went straight to a site that has not been looked up in a long time. My Blog. I realize at that moment what was missing. I have been so distracted with my own life and problems that I forgot to keep checking in on those that I have come to care about in the last three years. I blame it on those darn Twilight books that distracted me so much. Thanks Noelle for that. After I finished the final book I forgot to go back to blogging. I couldn't fall asleep and knew I needed to post before I walked away from the computer screen again. I miss you Shanae, Angie, Hillary, Erin, Keiko, and Noelle. I can't wait to get caught up on your lives. I'm sorry I got so self-absorbed but you'll be hearing from me more often. I love you all!

Here are a few updated pictures of the boys! Jacob just had his First Birthday on Oct. 27th and he's walking. Seth and Eli and doing well but miss their friends so much!

Hanging with Shelbi and Dancing

2008-08-23T19:49:00.002-07:00

Shelbi is Shane's twelve year old sister. It has been so much fun spending time with her, Jessi, and Grandma Debbi. Shells loves spending time with the boys playing games and doing crafts. Shells spent time making bouncy balls with the boys just the other day. She even babysat for us so we could get some time together a couple of weeks ago. She is so sweet and she is such a good dancer. She competed in Seaside, OR a week ago and placed in first. She has even introduced the boys to dancing. Elijah and Seth go to a beginning Gymnastics class every Tuesday night followed by Elijah going to a preschool dance class that involves beginning Jazz and Ballet. Their instructor is Joe and he is amazing with the kids. He calls his class Joe-nastics. The boys are learning so much.

Visit at the Park

2008-08-23T00:04:00.001-07:00

Rosie had her first attempt to visit with her biological father, Erik, at the park. She was so excited to see him, but felt a little uneasy after she saw him. I completely understand because she is away from what she's used to and in a different living situation right now. I have seen this so many times where the children feel so confused, unsafe, and just want something that they're used to. She is doing so well and she knows the situation is only temporary. I am so proud of her. She had so much fun with Jenn and Seth playing that she didn't want to leave.

Rosie and Seth had Jenn pushing them on the swings for a long time. Jenn and I had a fantastic time playing with the kids and we saw Margo for the first time in a long time. I didn't do very good about getting pictures of Margo or Erik which was the whole point ..... but that's okay.

It really is so sweet to see Rosie and Seth become such great friends. I love Rosie's pose because she was play fighting. I love it when you see little boys playing house or princess with the girls or girls playing super hero or fighting games with the boys.

Jason was a gentleman cowboy at the park that day. It was so funny to see him do cowboy mannerisms and complete with hat, boots, and lasso. It was so adorable.

Rosie Posie Coming to Olympia

2008-08-22T00:15:00.001-07:00

Rosie came to live with Grandnan and Grandaddy on the first of August. Rosie is my sister Tammy's daughter. It has been so nice to spend time with Rosie again. She misses her brother Maddox, her daddy Corey, and especially her mommy.

Tammy loves to play with Seth. She always calls him 'my friend' when they are playing and 'your son' when they're fighting. They ask to see each other every day and love to play dress up, race, take baths, and of course EAT together. Mary is always there to follow them around and try to mimic everything they do and we always try to get them to include her. It tough being the little big girl.

Rosie and Seth love to swim around in the bath and take turns going all the way under the water. Rosie always says, "I don't want any of these toys. I don't want them. get these toys out of the bath. She is really so adorable and sweet. She is well behaved and loves learning.

July Dahmen Family Visit

2008-08-20T21:38:00.001-07:00

This is my wonderful sister Dorthy. Dorthy is my big sister that thought of me as a pain in her side growing up. Jenn and I was terrible for her when she had to babysit, we used to spy on her with her boyfriends, we would make jokes about her and her various friends and boyfriends, and we would never let anything 'go'. It has been so nice to get to know her more as a friend in the past ten years. I absolutely love my brother in law, Greg. I remember when Dorthy came to visit Olympia and she was so excited about this guy that was so much fun. She talked him up and I trusted her judgement, but I thought there would be no way he was as good as she was saying. I remember asking to see a picture and saying, "Wow! He is so good looking!" I was not even surprised because my sister is gorgeous, but I had to say it anyways. Dorthy, I love you and I am so excited to see you so happy.

It was so much fun spending time with Dorthy, Greg, and the new baby boy Nick. He is just precious! Nick slept a lot, whimpered a little, and when he talked it sounded like a kitten meowing. I loved the relaxing weekend we had.

Greg is so much fun. It was nice to see a man's man be so playful with his nephews and nieces and be so careful with his son. Greg thanks for being a wonderful husband to my sister. She really deserves a good man like you to have great times with. Just remember that all of the moodiness after a baby isn't her fault. We, as mothers, have to train to not go crazy with the new responsibilities and lack of sleep. I am just speaking from personal experience even though Dorthy didn't seem that bad when we spent time together.

My family really enjoyed your family and I can't wait to see you guys again whether we come to your place or you come to Olympia.

Jason's Baptism

2008-08-19T22:55:00.001-07:00

Jason is my little brother who has been such a wonderful blessing in my life. Jaybird celebrated his baptism just a few weeks ago. He recently celebrated his ninth birthday on June 11, 2008. He had been holding off getting baptised because he just didn't feel ready. We are all so proud of your choices Jason. Joining the church is an amazing decision and I am grateful to be there on your baptism day. I didn't have my camera at the baptism, so here are some pictures from the after party at Charlies Safari. Here is Jason with Jay Jay in one of the bounce houses.

Elijah is always happy to be spending time with Jason. They had so much fun playing laser tag over and over again.

Seth had a blast going down the slides and playing in the bounce houses. Seth also loved playing games to win tickets. He won the most tickets out of the three boys.

Baby Mary just couldn't get enough bounce house fun. She is so daring and strong that she kept getting away and climbing up the bigger bounce house slide by herself. It was so much fun to spend this special day together.

Lakehouse Fun!

2008-08-18T22:45:00.001-07:00

Not too long after our return home from the family reunion we had a relaxing day out at Jammi and Mike's lake house with Debbi, Jessi, and Shelbi. It was so much fun and we really did relax. This is Debbi having a drink before going out on the boat.

Jessi was having fun on the jet ski herself and helping the boys get on and off with Shane. She is so adorable and is very helpful with her nephews.

Shelbi went out on the lake with Elijah and Seth a lot. They had so much fun on the paddle boat. Elijah was brave enough to swim without help (with a life jacket) and supervision was close by on the dock.

Shane had fun taking the boys out on the jet ski taking turns. They had missed being in the water so much that they didn't even mind that it was freezing cold! Jacob and I watched from up above. He was being a little too clingy to leave his mommy.

Smith Family Reunion

2008-08-17T22:18:00.001-07:00

Just two days after coming home from Disney world we headed off to Lake Tahoe for our family reunion. My mom is one of ten children. She has seven brothers and two sisters. Eight of the ten are married with children. I currently have over 50 first cousins just on this side of the family. Many of my cousins have children including one set of triplets. Our reunion was so much fun, but as you can see all of us didn't make it. It was a blast to see my aunties and uncles and hang out with my cousins. I loved introducing them to my new family (Shane and the boys). This was a first time introduction for many of them. We spent two nights at Lake Tahoe. I enjoyed it but it was not nearly long enough.

I love this picture because of how harmless it looks. I know. Well don't let that beautiful lake fool you. On our way to the campsite only a couple miles out of town we saw a bear cross the freeway. No joke. I didn't get a picture because I was too busy being scared and rolling up my window. Shane made fun of me, but that bear was huge. I wouldn't have wanted us to stop and the bear come and maul me through the window. Shane still thinks I am ridiculous. The second bear I saw was the first night at the campground. I woke up to screaming across the way. I didn't just hear a scream, but I heard a lot of screaming. I jumped up and unzipped our tent window and in the moonlight I saw our neighbors across the way jumping in their SUV. The engine started and the headlights turned on just in time to see a black blur scurry up the side of the hill. I could not believe it and wanted to leave first thing in the morning. I was having a panic attack so I woke up Shane. After he calmed me down I was able to rest, but that was the longest night ever. I had to pee so bad and refused to leave the tent. Shane was teasing me that there wasn't going to be a bear in the bathroom. I still waited until sunrise to leave and I made Shane go with me. That morning we found out that the ignorant girls across the way left a bunch of garbage around their campsite instead of in the provided bear locker. We enjoyed breakfast and my mom said she awoke later that night to digging near her tent. She stayed calm and quiet, but had a rough night sleep because of it. We went to investigate and sure enough there were distinct bear prints around her tent and the spot where an obvious fresh digging had just happened. Around lunch my mom witnessed bear sighting number 3. She was walking with Baby Mary out of the bathroom and saw a smaller bear cross her path just 20 yards from her. She was not bothered by the little guy, but we made sure no children went anywhere alone. At dinner we were talking to my cousin Bryan who arrived in the middle of the night. He said he checked in with the front booth, parked in his families sight and was going to use the restrooms before sleeping in his car. He was about thirty feet from the bathroom and (no joke bear sighting number 4) a rather large bear came out of the bathroom. OUT OF THE BATHROOM!!!! I was just mortified for a second night. I am cool with camping, but not really camping with bears. Everyone made it with no intense bear encounters so I'll consider the trip good. We left Saturday around noon to head home.

We made a quick stop at Crater Lake in California. Not to be confused with the one in Oregon.

The final tourist stop was at Burney Falls where we enjoyed walking down the short path to cool off in the waterfall spray.

My Sisters Jenn and Dorthy

2008-08-16T01:09:00.001-07:00

Jenn and Dorthy

Dorthy, Greg, and Nick

Jenn and Jacob

In the background: Jenn and Seth (tee hee)

I love you Jenn!

2008-08-16T01:01:00.001-07:00

This is my beautiful sister Jenn posing for fun at the Japanese garden.

I miss you mommy and daddy!

2008-08-16T00:44:00.001-07:00

Rosie and Seth hugging on the trampoline at Great Grandma Livingston's house. They were having so much fun.

We took a walk and Rosie picked a flower from someones garden. She was so excited to give it to me. Of course I had to explain how we can't just pick other people's flowers. She listened so well and she hasn't done it since.

This is Rosie being a 'statue' down on the pier in Olympia.

Seth, Rosie, and Mary enjoying the cold water flow in between their toes. We had so much fun and Rosie loves being in water. Rosie misses you so much Tammy and Corey.

My Graduation Surprise

2008-08-15T13:23:00.001-07:00

Okay. So we got to Olympia with enough time do laundry then go off to Eastern Washington to attend Shane's Grandpa's memorial service. Grandpa Woods had passed away while we were in Hawaii and they waited for us to come home before having the service. That was a nice trip getting to know some of Shane's family, seeing Chris and Jessica Byers, and seeing Dorthy, Greg, and my new nephew Nick. It was really nice, but too short. We then spent the 4th of July at Shane's dads house with more fireworks than most shows these days. It was a blast to spend with our old long time friends the Byers and our new long time friends the Stmmels. The next day we drove to Shane's moms house. For those of you who don't know Shane's mom lives in Northern California just 30 minutes west of Redding. Kristel (Shane's mom) and Ernie own a beautiful Vineyard and Winery that they built from ground zero. They celebrated their 10 year anniversary of the vineyard on the 5th, so we rushed down to be apart of it for an hour. I was excited to find out what my graduation present was. In Hawaii Shane told me that a couple days after we go to Cali he would give it to me. I started to get worried the next morning when he said, "We have to talk." His grandmother put her arm around me and said, "It's okay. I'll be here for you." I was confused and even a bit scared for what Shane would say next. Then I saw it. I saw a luggage tag with a bright yellow Mickey Mouse head on it. I was immediately ecstatic. I thought Shane and I and baby Jay Jay were going to Disneyland. I couldn't even believe it when he told me it was Disney world with NO CHILDREN for eight days. Oh my goodness!

I cried and laughed and laughed till I cried while we were there. For those of you who also don't know. I used to work there. Crazy! I know! I worked the rides as an attractions hostess in the Magic Kingdom working the Buzz Lightyear ride, the Tomorrowland Transit Authority, and the Carousel of Progress. It was so amazing. I was devastated to find out that the Disney world trip the Stimmels were planning was just a cover for us going. I felt so bad that they were not able to get a trip alone like we are.

Shane planned a wonderful trip that even involved us going to Universal Studios and Universals Islands of Adventure. We had such a blast going on roller coasters, sleeping in, and enjoying each other. I loved seeing places that I hold dear and sharing them with Shane. Of course Shane didn't wait long before telling me that the Stimmels actually were coming. He said that I felt so bad and looked so sad that it wasn't worth keeping as an additional surprise.

It was so fun and we even were hit up with two Year of a Million Dreams prizes. The first was a personal safari tour where we had our own truck with two guides giving us a 'backstage' tour. They told us what things were real, fake, and interesting stories. The second was watching the fireworks from the best seats in the house. I have seen the fireworks from the top of the Astro Orbiter many times. I used to do it often when I worked nights to give guests a perfect Magical Moment. It was so fun to be able to share one of my fondest memories with my best friend Shane and Taylor and Leah. Shane, great job on a wonderful and unexpected graduation present. You really outdid yourself. It made me feel very special that you would take so much time, effort, and money to give me the most amazing graduation present ever.

This was our first vacation ever without children. We never went on a vacation before having kids, and we brought our boys on every vacation since they came into our lives. It was so nice to have so much time with all our attention on each other. You are my husband, the father of my children, and forever and always my best friend. I love you.

A Tag for the kids - Seth's

2008-08-14T13:28:00.001-07:00

Seth looks like he's praying to Buddha at the Japanese Garden in Olympia.

1. What is something mom always says to you?
What kind of pictures did I like.

2. What makes mom happy?
taking pictures and looking for food in the kitchen

3. What makes mom sad?
angry face and fighting

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
to tickle me and be tricky

5. What was your mom like as a child?
happy

6. How old is your mom?
this many (holding his three fingers up)

7. How tall is your mom?
this tall (holding his hands about two feet apart)

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
play games

9. What does your mom do when you are not around?
walk away

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
play games

11. What is your mom really good at?
games and making food

12. What is your mom not so good at?
Mario Party like me.

13. What does your mom do for her job?
eat food

14. What is your mom’s favorite food?
a lot of ice cream

15. What makes you proud of your mom?
smiling

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
Lucario or Jiggly Puff (Pokemon)

17. What do you and your mom do together?
eat

18. How are you and your mom the same?
nothing

19. How are you and your mom different?
I only have blond hair

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
She says I love you and I get to watch TV.

A Tag for the kids - Elijah's

2008-08-14T12:55:00.001-07:00

This is Elijah down by the bay in Olympia being a statue of a ninja.

1. What is something mom always says to you?
I love you.

2. What makes mom happy?
To make her something to eat.

3. What makes mom sad?
somebody teases you

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
you tickle me but nothing, because i stop the laugh with The Force(Star Wars)

5. What was your mom like as a child?
like princess peach

6. How old is your mom?
26

7. How tall is your mom?
100 pounds ... umm .. no no ... 26

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
these are hard questions

9. What does your mom do when you are not around?
play games

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
dancing

11. What is your mom really good at?
your good at Halo, just kidding your bad at that. Ummm ... Zelda

12. What is your mom not so good at?
Halo

13. What does your mom do for her job?
going to school .. i mean do your homework

14. What is your mom’s favorite food?
ham and pineapple pizza

15. What makes you proud of your mom?
you gave us a baby

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
Betty Boop

17. What do you and your mom do together?
play games and do school stuff

18. How are you and your mom the same?
we go to school

19. How are you and your mom different?
You are a girl and I am a boy.

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
She says nice things to me.

This is the latest picture Eli took of me. He really does a good job whether it is by accident or on purpose. This was fun, but I don't know who to tag. Someone can tell me who hasn't been tagged yet. We should do the kid's tags more often.

Goodbyes

2008-08-13T23:35:00.002-07:00

This was saying goodbye to the Stimmel family. It was a difficult week. I was still not over saying goodbye to the Lowe's. At the Lowe's goodbye we all got up and dressed fairly early in the day. We busted out the pancake mix and skillet and the boys cooked breakfast while the ladies played with the kids. I had so much composure as I said goodbye to James and Erin. It was almost as if it wasn't a reality that we were all moving. It was the moment Erin turned around with James's arm wrapped around her that I burst into tears. I watched them walk away around the corner of D building and I realized that moving away from life long friends was no longer in the future. It was happening at that very moment. The next friends we said goodbye too were Kurtis, Noelle, Drew, and Brody. That didn't get any easier. When we said goodbye it was fun filled with laughter. A cute story about Drew and how funny Elijah is: When we first met Drew, Elijah kept calling her Rosie. I kept having to explain how Drew looks similar to Rosie, but they are two different people. Well, just three days ago my niece Rosie says to me, "Auntie? Your son, he won't say I'm Rosie." I talked to Eli and asked him what her name was and he says to me, "Drew." I again has to correct him a year later. He then said to me, "I can't even say it right because I don't get to see Drew anymore. She shouldn't even move to Korea. She should move to Olympia, WA." Cute story, I know. When we said our goodbyes, we embraced, then we got into the vehicle we were borrowing. As Shane pulled away I looked out my window and had to wipe the tears under my eyes that were now dripping off my cheeks and landing on my lap. Shane was chuckling at me and said that we would be keeping in touch and to stop my crying. Needless to say, that didn't make me stop blubbering.

The next goodbye was to Taylor, Leah, Adi, Ella, and Paysen. That goodbye wasn't exactly heart wrenching. I said goodbye and see you next week. Since then we have had a great time together on the 4th of July, spending time in Disneyworld together, and we will see them again in two weeks. It is a bummer that we won't live near each other though. At this goodbye Elijah was soo funny. Eli said, "I'm not even going to miss Adi and Ella, you know?" I said, "Eli?!? That's not very nice. Why not?" He had a very obvious and logical response when he said, "They are moving to Washington State and we will see them." I didn't realize that he connected that so well.

I love this picture with Shanae saying goodbye to Adi and Ella while Taylor is saying goodbye to Kali. It was so adorable. The next goodbye I think about is when we were leaving the island. We were saying goodbye to Mike, Angie, Brylie, and Tyken and I couldn't help but think about how much I enjoy their company. I think about how much I will miss relaxing in my room listening to the guitar being played from my window. I think about how amazingly talented they are: Musically and Artistically. I would miss Brylie's conversations. Boy do I miss the things she says. I miss Tyken's baby babble and squealing along with his amazing smile. I wish we had more time to get to know you guys because you really are amazing people. We'll give you good reasons to visit Seattle, and you can give us good reasons to visit Calgary. Thanks for posting pictures and music because when I have a chance I love reading and checking out your blog. We also said goodbye to Rob and Janna. I couldn't believe we missed out on getting to know those two wonderful people better. It was through your charity and love, that we were able to get so many things done before leaving. All of the service that the two of you gave made a huge impact on our stress levels and our lives. Thank you again.

The final goodbye happened before leaving TVA and at the airport. The Jones family. That was so difficult. Aaron, you have been the 'real giant' to the massive guy next door to Aaron Jones the biggest white dude we've seen in real life to a dear friend. Shane does not keep in touch with anyone he cares about, so don't use that as a judge of his feelings towards you. He misses you. Kali and Krew the children bred for the Olympics. Kali has been off and on with Seth from the beginning. We just need to make sure that Kali and Seth can be Pablo and then they can get along. Shanae, saying goodbye to you at the airport was rough but I know that in the future we'll be able to get our families together to hang out in the future. I just remember as you drove away and I was crying once again Seth and Elijah insisted that when we get to Washington and they make me a peanut butter sandwich that I will feel better. It's true, my boys did make me feel better.

The Last Stimmel/Boyd BBQ in Hawaii

2008-08-13T00:51:00.001-07:00

This was a fun day for us. It was nice to get away from all the packing and moving for even just the day. I loved my time at this BBQ because we were at the beach away from anyone else and we were on government owned military property. I know that sounds weird, but I love the military. I love the United States and being a part of it. I feel close to home when I am on any military property. No matter where I am whether it be California, Idaho, Washington, Connecticut, North Carolina, Hawaii, or even Germany; if I am on a military base I feel safe and I will always find a Popeye's Chicken and a donut shop. Anyhow! Back to the fun day. Here is Elijah, Shane, Taylor, and Adi looking out at the ocean together.

This is one of the last times I saw Ella before her haircut. She was singing me a song and about to climb onto a picnic table.

This is Leah's beautiful face right before indulging in a smore. I love the action shot of Great Grandpa Stimmel, Grammy, and Ella.

Here is Papa Stimmel explaining very important safety and smore making instructions to the three year old Adi and Seth.

Graduating College

2008-08-11T22:34:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I know this is overdue similar to my entire last year of assignments. Well, not every assignment, but you have to give me a break I did have a baby during my senior year. All that really matters is that I'm done. My loving and supporting family was there by my side through late nights and weekends of homework. They came to every choir performance and every recital. Elijah, Seth , and Jacob were troopers as they were babysat many hours during the week by different babysitters. Shane had to put up with me and my grouchy attitude on days when I was stressed or didn't get enough sleep. I love my boys!! You are all more wonderful than you know. Shane, I love you .... so much. We had so much fun those short years at BYU Hawaii, but we are happy to move on to something new.

I was so excited that my dad was able to make it. It would have been nice to see mom, but I understood why she wasn't able to come. My little brother Jason was also there to represent my large yet non-present family. Thank you mom and dad for giving my family the support we needed throughout the years. We would not have made it this far and been so successful without you. I love you guys. Oh, and a shout out to my good friend Shanae who is behind us to the right. I miss you so much, but I knew we couldn't be neighbors forever. Shanae, you have been an amazing shoulder to cry on in desperate times. I love that you were always willing to talk and be a friend. Thanks for all of the free babysitting you have done for me. Without the help of you and other babysitters, I would have never graduated. Aaron, I miss you and your attitude. I love that you try and act so tough. You can get away with it because your so massive, but I see right through the tough guy attitude. Thanks for not graduating sooner, so we could be blessed with getting to know your family. Now that we're gone, you can graduate and move on. ; )

There is my 9 year old brother Jason. He's to the left of the group in a batman shirt. I love you buddy. Thanks for coming to support me. Leah, Taylor, Kurtis, and Noelle I miss playing with you guys. Leah and Taylor I know I'll be seeing you in a couple weeks but I miss seeing you everyday. Leah, you are an amazing mom, friend, and sister in Zion. I would have never made it through school without your charity. You have always been an answer to my prayers. I could never thank you enough. Taylor, thank you for the P90X Revolution. I am so proud and grateful for being a part of it. Kurtis and Noelle, oh my goodness I miss you. Noelle I love that we both think are husbands are so hot when they get so into playing Rock Band and other nerdy things they do. WE LOVE IT!! Noelle, I miss your sorrys, thank yous, and your smile. Thanks for being such a good friend in every part of the word. You are such a wonderful person. Kurtis, thanks for giving us all something to joke and laugh about .... you. Alright, what I meant was you are so fun to hang out with and you never cease to amaze me. Thanks for coming to hang out even when you hadn't slept in a couple days. My life would have never been the same without all of you.

James and Erin, I miss you guys. Erin, you always would lighten up a room when you walked in with your amazing fashion sense, your beautiful smile, and being light-hearted. You were so good with the primary and Elijah and Seth miss you tons. James, I love your opinionated personality. I love that you love to debate and you actually have logical and substantial complaints. Okay, so I like the illogical parts about you too ..... oh yeah, you only deal with logic. : ) You guys have made graduating easier thanks to your friendship and your amazing babysitting skills. I couldn't have made it without you. You both have lifted my spirits in times that I needed it. Thank you.

Tammy, she is such a doll!!!

2008-08-01T15:53:00.003-07:00

They are all having so much fun together. Elijah is a very intense ninja today, so no smiles from him. Rosie is loving her extended family and loves playing with Seth. Jacob and Mary are also enjoying Rosie's company.

Jenn really was helpful last night and earlier today, but she needed a long nap.

Adorable Rosie has been full of smiles and she wanted to say I love you mommy. She told me, "My mommy is Tammy. Is she your sister? You love my mommy too." I agreed with her and told her I missed her mommy too. She said, "Yes."

Mom and I outside watching the rugrats. We didn't have a lot of time to get ready this morning, but we wanted to say hi.

"Hi, Tammy." and then he's back to video games. He was surprised how big Rosie Posie is.

For the Record

2008-06-25T05:06:00.003-07:00

So I realized that it looked like I took credit for Brody's pictures in my Brown is Beautiful post. Just clarification. Noelle took some amazing pictures of Brody. I ruined a few of them with cropping to fit my purpose, but undid the cropping after making the collage. Only two of those Brody pictures were my hands at work. Okay, I'm a bit tired. Noelle, I love your perspective, angles, and artistic eye. Here is Brody ... being Brody.

Primary Activity Fun

2008-06-18T18:26:00.001-07:00

The Primary activity was a great success. To fill in for those who don't know: Primary is the organization of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for kids age 3 to 12. It is two hours long every Sunday with one hour being taught in a classroom setting with a small class and the second hour combined to learn through singing time and sharing time. This activity was so much fun. I think the Primary Presidency (old and new) did a fantastic job planning activities that all the ages could participate and enjoy themselves. It was so fun to see the kids interacting with each other and having a blast.

The activity started out right with a prayer and yummy snacks.

There was a lot of water balloon fun. Uncle Aaron had lots of water balloons being thrown at him and even hit up, but none of them popped. Those Tonga girls can throw! Thanks for being a good sport Uncle Aaron. I loved seeing the two anime girls running around. Sarah and Drew were collecting water balloons and running back to the tree in a relay race.

The kids ran through the sprinkler around the pole of the swings and back in a relay race. I love the pictures of Elijah and Drew tagging in to let the next person go. Seth was obsessed that all the grass was prickly so Auntie Ashley helped him run back in. Sarah makes that water look COLD! When all the water balloons were gone Auntie Elizabeth, Erin, and Ashley couldn't get enough. The picture in bottom left is William showing all the kids his grasshopper. Nice find!

This was so fun! The relay race that involved popping water balloons by sitting on them was so funny. Here are Seth, Elijah, Drew, and Brylie in action. The picture right before Brylie popped her thumb in her mouth she looked like she was trying so hard. Too bad I couldn't find room for it, because the sequence was soo funny.

Brown Is Beautiful

2008-06-18T00:09:00.003-07:00

Here are two of the many reasons I LOVE brown eyes. Brody and Drew Reynolds. Seriously? Look at those brown eyes! I have a sister, two sisters in law, two nephews, and two nieces that were also blessed with those gorgeous brown eyes. Oh, and of course I can't forget those mommies in Hawaii that have amazing brown eyes Noelle, Angie, and Erin. I just want to beat you all up for being so beautiful. A few so obvious pros for having brown eyes: Brown eyes don't take away attention on the rest of the face like blue eyes do, but they compliment the rest of the features; and they are dreamy and exotic. I love them.

Brody having too much fun at the BYUH 14th ward primary party. So adorable.

Drew looking up at me at the birthday party for James. Anyone can get lost in those eyes.

I'm So Glad When Daddy Comes Home

2008-06-15T21:29:00.002-07:00

Sunday Without Dad

2008-06-15T20:48:00.002-07:00

The primary was so cute this Sunday. They all sang 'I'm so glad when daddy comes home'. It was so adorable. They all made ties for their dads and said happy father's day. After Primary I realized Elijah was having a rough time. I saw his face and I knew. I asked him if he was okay and he shook his head no. He wanted to give the tie he made to daddy and I told him that he could give it to daddy when daddy comes home. Elijah's eyes started welling up and he said, "I wanted to give it to him now. " he started crying and continued, "I miss him." I let him know it was okay and promised that we would take pictures and post it on the blog. Fathers really are important. I can see it more now that Shane is not here. The boys definitely take Shane for granted when he is here. I think this will be a difficult four more days, but no day will be as hard as today. I hope you feel peace and comfort in your heart Eli.

Adi and Eli in Primary after singing.
Dad, we love you!
Look at our ties for you. Eli made sure you could see the heart he drew for you Shane.
Another tie Eli colored.
Baby picture by Eli. He insisted on a close up.

The Boy's Video for you....

2008-06-15T10:57:00.002-07:00

Your Family Appreciates You Daddy

2008-06-15T03:19:00.002-07:00

Shane, I want you to know that I appreciate you. You are a wonderful husband. You always find a way to provide for us. You have made sure we had clothes on our backs, a roof over our heads, and food in our bellies. You always take care of us when we are sick, even if you are sick as well. You always try to keep life interesting with new games, spontaneity, and good humor. If we ever want to be entertained we can just watch your mad skills playing Guitar Hero, Rock Band, or Dance Dance Revolution. You are the biggest help even around the house even if I have no excuse for the way it looks. Thank you for the many times you have had 5 hours of sleep, 2 hours commute, and 9 hours of work but still came home to clean up, wash dishes, and clean the laundry. Thank you for being the best support with many of my endeavors that end with you being home with the children. Thank you for your support with finishing school here at BYU Hawaii, joining the concert choir, and encouraging me in any leisure activity. Thank you for always being willing to take on not only our children but sometimes 3, 5, or even 6 more children in addition to our own. Thank you for sending me to Washington to try and go to Dorthy's baby shower. Thank you for being a wonderful priesthood holder and example to our boys. I hope they will all take after daddy. Thank you for always being prepared to give blessings and to receive promptings from the spirit. Thank you for being a wonderful husband and father. We love playing games with you, going to the beach with you, and anything that involves spending time with you. We hope you have a wonderful day!

Our family.
Elijah says, "I love you. Thank you for playing games with me. Love, Eli"
Seth says, "Happy Father's Day. Thank you for the new movie games."
Jacob would say if he could, "Daddy, happy father's day. I hope you have a good time getting back to us."

We love you Daddy!

2008-06-15T03:05:00.002-07:00

We're missing you this Father's Day. We just called...to say...we love you. We just called...to say how much we care. We just called to say....we love you. And we mean it from the bottom of our hearts. Elijah and Seth helped color this card for you, but baby Jay Jay just sat there and ate chalk. Elijah wrote I (heart) U DAD and drew a heart from memory.

Happy Father's Day

2008-06-15T02:44:00.003-07:00

Elijah did such a great job didn't he? He wrote Happy Father's Day and drew a flower. We miss you soo much. We know that it's rough without you, but just think how excited we will be when we see you again.

We're Still Smiling!

2008-06-15T01:12:00.001-07:00

It's felt like a long week. There have been so many things to do and I've felt the stress pile on. It's been hard emotionally for the kids because this is their first time daddy has been gone more than two days. I had a friend pass away. James was not a close friend, but he was close with a few friends of mine. God bless his family. I went on a buss adventure with the three kids to go to Jacob's well baby checkup appointment. He's healthy and in the 25th percentile for height and weight. The buss ride was easy and even fun for the kids. We went on another adventure to look for a junkyard to get a part for our Honda, then drop the Taurus off at the dealership in Pearl City. We didn't a part for our car, because that junkyard closed down and the Taurus barely made it to the dealership. We got a free shuttle ride home with a young fun driver. He was born and raised on Oahu and this was his first trip to the North Shore. He enjoyed the scenery. It still makes me laugh. We found out that the Taurus needs major repairs, so that means we don't need to worry about selling it anymore. Oh, well. All this and Shane is gone. I am pleased to announce that we are still smiling.

We had a nice walk to the Ice Cream Shop and Ohana video with the Stimmels yesterday. Today, we walked to foodland and brought Ella who was a doll the whole way.

Happy Happy Birthday James Dear!!

2008-06-15T00:41:00.001-07:00

Happy happy birthday James dear. Happiness will come to you all year. If we had a wish, then it would be .... a happy happy birthday to you from me!

We all had so much fun celebrating your birthday at Castles today. It was so fun to celebrate your final birthday before fatherhood. Look at all the fun you have in store for you in the future.

We Miss You Daddy!

2008-06-14T02:02:00.000-07:00

Shane is in Washington right now networking for jobs. He flew out Wednesday and he's not coming back until Thursday before my graduation.

Babe, I miss you and I am having the hardest time falling asleep. : (

Daddy, I miss you and love you. Seth wants to talk to you all the time on the phone and has been very emotional lately. Seth doesn't quite get that daddy is gone because of his age. He keeps asking when daddy will come home from work. I always say that daddy took an airplane ride, then he just gets jealous.

"Waa! I'm so sad I'm crying like a little baby." This was the exact thing Eli said when this picture was taken. We were at the Ford dealership dropping our car off. Too bad we need a new engine. Last stop for our car is the donation Kars 4 Kids. The boys were joking around crying for daddy. It's funny now because Eli was talking to Daddy on the phone tonight before bed and just burst into tears. He said he missed daddy. After I calmed him down, Shane said, "I miss you." and tears began to well up in Elijah's big blue eyes again.

Daddy!!!! I am sure deep down inside Jacob misses you too.

Elijah's hidden talent

2008-06-14T00:36:00.001-07:00

Some of you may know Eli loves to take pictures. While he's a photographer, he takes tons of pictures. I love coming home to put the pictures on the computer with him because he is soo cute and opinionated. He gets frustrated if he didn't get certain pictures in focus, and is very proud of the pictures he likes. These are my four favorite pictures. Two were taken with my camera and two were taken with his camera. Enjoy!

Little Ella Bean peeking over the tree branch when I was holding her in the tree.

Big D and Uncle Mike. Eli took a couple pictures didn't like them, then asked the boys to pose again.

Noelle this is what you look like from a child's eyes.

Nice shot of Baby Jay Jay. The next few pictures were of Jacob in tears, but they were good too.

Ode to Big Brothers

2008-06-13T01:16:00.001-07:00

Big brothers have such a tough job. Their younger siblings watch their every move. They have to be an example and they set the standard for the family when they are in school. They have to be strong to stand up for themselves, and even stronger to stand up for their siblings.

Soni and William. 'Nuff said. No, really they are wonderful kids. We have all had a taste of Soni being loud in the morning, but we always think of him as a very helpful big brother. Soni makes me laugh when he tells me something about a video game or cartoon, but he is serious about the topic as if it were real life. He tries to keep up with little sister Sarah, and almost always tries to include Sarah when the boys are playing. William has not given me a reason to complain. He always puts a smile on my face when I see him. He never fails to ask me if I am going to do the same thing he is on any given day. He asked if I was going to a 'Bible thing' he was going to. If they are headed to the beach, he always asks if I am going to the beach too. He is very responsible when watching over Sarah outside, to let mom get housework and schoolwork done. He even kept an eye on Jacob for ten minutes so I could get a few things done in my house.

Elijah is almost always willing to be helpful with baby Jacob. He has a love-punch relationship with Seth. He could use some anger management when interacting with three year olds, but he does really well being a protector of babies. Elijah was sitting with Jacob in the living room while I went to fix our car battery connection (thank you Rob Potts and Jess and Rose Bradfield). I told Elijah specifically, "Do not leave baby's side. I will be downstairs." I was quite surprised to see Elijah with Jacob in his arms walking towards me downstairs by the car five minutes later. He had a grin from ear to ear as I felt panic inside I told him great job and next time I would help him down the concrete stairs. He proudly said, "Okay. I didn't even leave Jay Jay's side." Great job Eli!

Seth, oh Seth. Where do I start? First of all, we all know Seth for his wonderful choices of words such as: I don't like you. I hate it. You idiot. You're so stupid. and any number of things that end with, 'punch you in the face.' My new favorite was towards Auntie Lela, "My mom will punch you in the face." Of course our recently remembered and implemented soap in the mouth has lowered the intensity of the problem, but unfortunately other children have caught on to Seth's potty mouth (sorry Ella). Seth loves his little brother. He actually love all little brother and sisters and random babies a little too much. You can never turn your back on Seth because any innocent small child will be squeezed in a hug, tackled in a hug, or smothered with kisses. He tries really hard to be helpful with Jacob, sometimes I just think he's trying to make Jay Jay cry.

Big Sister Tribute

2008-06-11T18:35:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I know I was trying to make a tribute to the most wonderful big sisters I've seen around, but I also wanted to show what I can do. This shows signs of cropping and editing fun. I am pleased to announce that I have found a editing program that works well for me. I get really happy when I get a chance to play with picture editing, but I also get excited when I see these beautiful big sisters. I am a little sister and a big sister and trust me, the big sister part is much harder work than being a little sister.

Adilyn and Ella Stimmel have been almost nothing but helpful for new baby Paysen. I took Paysen to my house and jokingly told Ella that I stole him and I was taking her baby to my house. I heard Ella outside burst into tears as the door shut. When I rushed out and asked what was wrong, she told me, "You took MY baby Paysen!" I gave her a smile and invited her to come it too. She got up the stairs smiling, but I saw her face had tears welled up in her eyes and streaming down her cheeks. Adi came up shortly after to say, "Mare! Paysen is not your baby! He came out of my mommy's tummy, so he's OURS! Sorry Adi and Ella for the confusion, I will never actually steal your baby.

Brylie is the proud big sister of Tyken. She is always proud to have a little talk with me about what her baby Tyken can or can't do. She likes to compare Tyken and Jacob. I look forward to the times when Brylie comes over to me just to talk. She really brightens my day, and Tyken gets a huge grin when he sees his sister. My favorite quote from Brylie is "You know ... my parents don't even like me." She just said it in a matter of fact way. Everyday I talk with her, I have new favorite things she says but that is the strongest in my memory. I know Seth isn't a very good example to Brylie about how to hold the baby brother, but thank goodness Tyken is such a tough guy.

Kali Jones is a new big sister to baby Krew. I almost never see them interact because Krew is always sleeping these days. Kali does such a good job with Krew when I do see them together. I love it so much to have Kali around especially when she is it what I like to call 'parrot mode.' For those of you who don't know, Kali is the funniest imitator ever. She will repeat words, phrases, and actions to the best of her ability. It is too much fun and hilarious.

Drew Reynolds is our veteran big sister. (Okay, so I know Adi knows big sisterhood well too.) She really knows how to take care of a baby brother. Drew cares for baby Brody, who loves having his sister around. It was funny when they came over for babysitting, Brody would only stay happy when he was playing with Drew. Drew always made sure to include Brody and bring him lots of toys. She gets so adorable when she starts talking to him all sweet right in his face. Brody loves it too!

Memorial Day Ko Olina Fun

2008-06-11T17:21:00.000-07:00

Memorial Day was long but soo much fun.
We spent the day with a lot of friends at the Ko Olina Resorts Lagoons.
It was such great fun. Seth had fun as you can see.
He is in mid stride on his way to see the shark pond.

They are so cute! No one can tell these boys fight just by seeing this picture.
They love each other so much!
Elijah and Seth have actually been playing together more than fighting these days.

Eli hates the sun in his eyes. The sun makes him angry, so I am glad I caught a smile.

We had quite the set up at the beautiful lagoon.

Baby Jay Jay

2008-05-17T07:15:00.002-07:00

Jacob is a mama's boy as big as they come. He hates to lose sight of his mama even for a couple seconds. Luckily he is starting to crawl and get preoccupied with that instead of having me hold him constantly. He loves his bright blue pacifier and slowly trying to suck his thumb. Just last night he was so tired and laying on his tummy with daddy on a pillow. Jay Jay opened his eyes and wailed loudly until I put my head near his. He rested his head on my arm and passed out in literally three seconds.

We've been hooked!

2008-05-17T06:50:00.003-07:00

Here it is. My very first blog entry. I want to start off right by giving a little taste of the Boyd boys. Elijah is a lover and definately a fighter. He hates feeling guilty and does not know how to react when he is not the best at what he's doing. He is sensitive, but when he feels hurt he resonds with anger. Eli is into superheros and would love to own the marvel encyclopedia. Elijah is into Webkinz computer games and is in the process of beating Kingdom Hearts II on the Playstation 2. Seth is a a lovable boy that has major boundary issues. Seth liked to love other children until they cry, then keeps loving them. Seth is very controlling and will not hold back in manhandeling any child to do what he wants them to do. He loves to dress like a pirate with a sword sheathed either in his belt or down the back of his shirt. Seth is always trying to invite friends over and going to friends houses as early as 7 a.m.