Kennan is 25

Before Kennan was born I could spell her name. I couldn't wait to have my own baby sister. I loved her to death.
After about two years I reconsidered this love I had for her......she could bug me like no one else. But at two she could make me laugh pretty hard.
My mom found great joy in dressing us up like twins, turns out I think I liked it too. We are over 4 years apart and in little kids years that's a lot!
I love this picture, we were all dressed up scary and funky hair, but Kennan was wearing a shirt she OFTEN wore, and her hair wasn't that different from how SHE liked to do it. At five she was using a curling iron with proficiency, and her hairspray was held an inch from her hair. My mom use to beg me to help Kennan with it, but she definitely had her own style and did not want any ones help.
Kennan and Brooke posing for the milk and OJ commercial. Kennan was the Queen of home videos and my favorite is still FIRM 2000. She is just so damn clever.
Kennan is famous for dying her hair, after one really bad day at the hair salon(Tucker's Baby Shower)Kennan's hair melted off. So they had to shave her head, this is a month after that fateful day. The thing is, she still looked really beautiful with a shaved head.
One Halloween the sisters dressed up for an evening of fun, Kennan and Brooke are Fairies but Paige, well I am not sure what she goin' as.
Kennan looking hot in her swim suit, and loving on Miranda Jane.
The greatest thing about Kennan is her love for my children. She is the BEST Aunt. She loves my kids almost as much as Bob and I do. This is Kennan holding Abe for the first time. I admire her ability to love!
Kennan always dated really nice guys, seriously. Us other three girls had issues in our dating choices, but somehow Kennan just chose great guys. This is Trevan and Kennan in their first few months of dating, we are so happy she married him.

This is typical Kennan in her very enthusiastic way of supporting my boys! She CRAZY!!!!
Another picture of Kennan holding one of my new babies, this time it was miss Gwyn. She is also 5 months pregnant with Jude.
Here she is 9 months pregnant and we are celebrating the soon to be birth of Jude. Paige, Kennan, and me. (Brooke was on her Honeymoon.)
Kennan last Thanksgiving holding her very sweet Jude.
Kennan and Trevan.

Kennan is one of my very best friends. She is so funny, she can make anyone laugh. I always feel so proud to introduce her people. She is an exotic beauty and has the best style. She is the family's personal stylist, from hair to clothing. I hate that I had so many years that I didn't just adore her, I think maybe I was jealous of her self confidence. She is always so sure of herself and people are naturally drawn to her.....I am so glad she is my sister. Happy 25th little sister bear!

For Sale........

(she was meant for the 80's)

I love this little girl, she is so fun, but this week I could sell her! Sister Bear started Potty training her self about a week ago, pooping on the potty every time she needed to go. I thought, no problem I'll just use my sure fire proof potty training method "toilet training in less than a day" .......nope, didn't work. This method worked great on both my boys so what happened? She loved the doll, she loved using the toleit, she loved her big girl panties, but peeing wasn't so loved.
She poops on the potty but she has no bladder control, she will pee if you put her on the toilet, but she will pee in her pants and not care. Any suggestions? I am totally open to any ideas. I am going crazy and I want this to be a good happy experience. I also don't believe in dragging this process out for months. So for now I have stopped, I am waiting for anyone to give me some suggestions!
So here is a poem that has been floating around in this frustrated head of mine all week,

One sister for sale!

One sister for sale!

One crying and spying young sister for sale!

I'm really not kidding,

So who'll start the bidding?

Do I hear a dollar?

A nickle?

A penny?

Oh, isn't there, isn't there, isn't there any

One kid who will buy this old sister for sale,

This crying and spying young sister for sale?

Shel Silverstein

Nannie's Handy Work

Here are the curtains my mom made while she was here taking care of me and my family. Sorry Brooke that it has taken me so long to post pictures of them....This is Gil's Room.
Christie came over to give some ideas if what we should do for this family room window. My house has lower windows so there is not as much natural light as I would like. So here is the box pleat curtain Christy suggested, and I LOVE the way it turned out. Just a little something but still a lot of light. My mom whipped them out like there was nothing to it.
Here are the Play room curtains...my favorite. Very playful and child like, the fabric was called Peas and Carrots. I am still saving a little to have a window seat cover made for it. It will be done in the same fabric as the curtains. I actually made the pillows, all by myself.....I did contribute something.
Here is the little valance over the other window in the play room. I had so much fun picking out my material and my mom was great in helping me with some of the accent fabrics. It's always fun to work on a project with my mom, and Bob is always the great handy and willing to hang things for us.

beeby punkin

Here it is the "little beeby punkin" it was the perfect pick for Gwynnie Girl........
When she woke up this morning the first thing out of her mouth was,"where's my punkin."
I convinced her to quickly get ready for the day and then she could spend as much time with her pumpkin as she wanted.
She also found a rose she loved and brought it in.....(and I needed to document this outfit I LOVE it and have been waiting to put it on her for three months, thank you Kennan! )
Mr. Gilly Bear just being cute!

Pumpkins....

Last night for FHE we went to the Schoenfelds to Stahlie farms Pumpkin Patch. Between us we have nine children ranging in age from 12 to 1. We had so much fun together.
Mike and Mary Ann had us over for dinner before we left and it was yum yum yummy.
Mike is a GREAT cook and he has made us some of the best foods, his egg rolls are my favorite. Last night was his awesome Lasagna. Mary Anne is a great cook to but she is really known for her mad baking skills. Mmmm, cinnamon rolls.
Mary Ann and I had our babies about 3 weeks apart. Grant and Gil are destined to be friends.
Abe and Gwyn on a little train ride together.

Abe and Lucy
When I told the boys what we were doing for FHE and who were doing it with, his reply was,"Yes, I never get to see Lucy anymore." Tuck's was "Sweet I get to hang out with Adam." Adam is 12 and very cool, he even babysits the boys sometimes.
Gil loved trying to pet all the animals. This donkey was nice and let Gil pet or whack him a bit.
This is Abe waiting for Gwyn to come back for the train ride and feeling very sad he missed it the first time around.
So, we used our waiting time for a little photo shoot.
This is Abe's crossed eyed look, he has done this since he was two and it always made us giggle.


When we made our way over to the pumpkin patch everyone dispersed and found their very own pumpkins. Well, miss Priss had a very distinct pumpkin that needed to be found....."a little beeby punkin."
Seriously, every single person had theirs picked out while they waited ten more minutes for Gwyn to find her "little beeby punkin."
After awhile all the kids started looking for a "little beeby punkin" for Gwyn. They would lift one up and she would say,"it's too big". So these are the pictures of her trying some of them out. I am happy to announce that she found her perfect pumpkin.
Gil enjoyed a little wagon ride with all the pumpkins.
I know I don't have many pictures of Tuck, but he was too busy hanging out with Adam to have pictures taken. I love the fall, and it was fun to have farm girl and her family with us.

Look What Visited Us For Halloween.....

While my mom was here Bob found a little bat friend in our garage.

My mom and I were a little freaked out by it, but Bob put in a big can and took it out to Coral Canyon to show the boys and their cousins and then to let it fly away.

Weepy...

I have been a bit weepy the last week , so bear with me as I use this blog as a journal.....

I have thought a lot about conference last weekend and some of the talks that have really stuck with me. I loved Elder Oaks talk on choosing, the good, the better, and the best ways to spend our time and energy. I really needed to hear that in my life right now. I am pretty sure he had me in mind when he wrote it. I also needed and loved the talk on service, I only heard it on the radio so I am not sure who it was. He spoke of his mother dying and her only regret was not serving more. I have trouble serving like I would really like too. I get lazy and think I'll do it later and then it never gets done, or that would put me out to much, Gil would miss a nap. Why am I like this, my mother did not raise me to be like that. She is the type to pull her sleeves up and dig in to the muck of anything. I can and will do more.

So, after a great weekend spent hearing the words from our beloved church leaders, I prepared to have this little surgery on Monday. My mom and Bob were amazing. My mom, who is always a wonder to me, used her 8 arms to clean my house, care for the children, fix lunches and snacks all day long, make three different sets of curtains for my house, care for me, and still get some shopping in. Who created this woman?

I have wonderful friends who brought meals and treats to me and came to visit while I was laying flat in bed. I was feeling hugely emotional for all the service that has been render to me. My mom treats it like nothing but I know that she has MANY obligations else where, and Bob has been so sweet and taking extra special care of the children while I am not fully better (you know: extra cuddles and wrestles, baths, and stories.) All I can say is a great big huge THANK YOU. Service has been thrown on me abundantly, much more than I deserve.

So these are some of the reasons I feel so weepy. Then there is the spending money issue. It is no secret that I love to spend money on Gwynnie's clothes, my boys too, but Gwyn is my Achilles heel. I love to shop for anything that has to do with her. I read Sarah's Blog and fully understood what she was saying about living in a very affluent area where families have so much and I have to remind my self that, that is not what it is all about. It's not so much as "keeping up with the Jone's", but that it is so easy to get sucked in to all that EVERYONE has, that "of course you should have it too." It is a battle, a lame battle, but still a battle.

So in the midst of my realizations and battles I find Alisa Blog, who really is fighting a battle. So after Amberly shows me this blog Saturday night I read it before church Sunday Morning. (Our good friend Amber Young is good friends with this girl and has served her so lovingly. If you get a chance you really should read her blog). I am sobbing at my computer thinking how much more I need to serve, serve my children, my family, and my neighbors. I am so blessed to be healthy, I have healthy beautiful children and an adoring husband who loves ME. I am blessed with a wonderful home and a husband who supports us comfortably. My problems for the moment feel minuscule.

Two hours later in sacrament the bishop tells us that our ward will be split next week, (our ward is huge and everyone knew it was coming). In his Testimony he talked about being fine with 1100 members in our ward, and I am thinking, "me too, the more the merrier". I feel weepy because I love my ward and my friends. I know that we will still be friends, but I feel like a ward is a type of family and that it is important to make your new ward your family. Change is coming and change is hard.

So this is where I stand, tears for gratitude, tears of joy, and tears of sadness. I have enough, I hope to get my priorities straighter, and use my time to the BEST of my ability. I use this little blog to journal those spiritual blessing that Elder Eyring spoke of. In an everyday life when sometimes I take my children and husband for granted, I need to realize the precious gifts I have been given, and love them to the best of my ability. (I promise my next blog will be a little lighter.)

We went and found fall.....

After conference we went to find a little fall on Kolob mountain. It is a special place for Bob and I because it is where we got engaged. Since we have lived in Dixie we make it up there as much as possible. Gwyn thought that the leaves were amazing.
Tuck found the most beautiful leaves, or at least that was his goal.
Abe found a rock to surf.
Here is one of Tuck's leaves.
Gwyn liked the "pink" leaves.
It is always so fun to find a lone red tree.....
I thinks this was a great personality moment for my kids....so telling for all of them.
My beautiful little family, I can't help but feel so blessed.
This is Gil's favorite place to be, on top of dad's shoulders. His head is used as drum, a sucker, and a pillow.
The boys found some masks and Gil thought they were great fun.

So tomorrow is the big day for surgery #2 and I hope it goes a little better than the last one. My mom is on her way down as I type and my house is some what in order. I am glad we made it up to the mountains because I get really home sick during the fall, and I don't think I can manage that long of a drive for a couple of weeks. I think for sure I would have missed all the leaves. What a beautiful weekend.

G-I-R-L

Yesterday I was making dinner and Gwyn was watching one of her Barbie movies for the billionth time and this is what I saw as I walked past her. It is amazing how maternal little girls are. It melts me to see her like this, she is so sweet to her "babies". If you come to visit she will ask as soon as you walk in "wanna see my dolly's?"
At 28 months she:

• Loves to sing, her favorites are: I am a child of God, and Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam,(which Gil happily "Beams" with her), You're Just Like Me,(Barbie movie song), Don't Go Breaking My Heart,(off of Ella Enchanted and Chicken Little.)
• Her favorite movie is Barbie's Nutcracker.
• Wouldn't miss her dance class for the world.
• Can sneak out of our house with out me knowing it, she can open dead bolts and anything else you put in front of her. (Thank goodness for her favorite shoes, her squeaks, I can hear her walking out the door.)
• Loves to make Gil laugh, mostly by chasing him around.
• Comforts anyone by saying "Oh, honey...."
• Uses her hands while talking. (This is new and cracks me up.)
• Will watch Barbie and Princess Movies over and over and over.
• Loves her daddy to read to her.
• Wants to play with the five and six year old girls in the neighborhood everyday.
• Like to say the prayer, but only if you are saying it, for example, if Tucker is saying the prayer she repeats it right with him, it's pretty funny.
• Loves Nursery and hasn't been able to go for a few weeks because her nose is gross. I finally took her to the Doctor and when she walked in she put her hands on her hips and said,"fix my nose I wanna go Nursery." Which he replied, "I want to eat you up."
• Already knows how to guilt her dad at work,"Daddy, come home I miss you."
• Loves to shop, and will pull out clothes and bring them to me saying "this is darling mommy" (don't mind if it 10 times to big for her.)
• Is a great eater. She likes almost everything, even salad.
• Can spell her name, but only if we sing it.
• Can count to 12 but likes to forget number 6.
• Has a great self esteem and will point out things she like in other people, for example:"I like your bracelet" or "I like your hair, it's dark" or "I like your earrings" or "I like your baby".
• Should NEVER be left alone with a marker or pen.
• Has so much spunk you can see it in her walk.
  
  

Fall Softball

Bob's fall softball season has come to an end!(I don't know why we call it fall ball when it starts in July!) On Monday they had potentially three games that night, but sad to say they lost the first game and were done for the season. (P.S. if you love High School Musical 2, this is where the baseball scene was filmed!)
Bob had a great season personally! He hit many home runs and is an AWESOME third baseman. Since it is warm most of the year down here Bob gets to play a lot of softball. So the season will be upon us again soon!
I don't know if I have mentioned Gilbert's love for balls. He will chase them around everywhere, all day. He also has a great little throw. It would be great if he would start walking so that I wouldn't have to restrict him from crawling on the ground so much.
The kids love when it's softball season because it means treats, running around, friends, foul balls and free suckers! I remember loving to go to my brothers games for these reasons too!
Some of the boys! (Braden, Tucker and Adler) Abe is nowhere to be seen because he and his buddies are at the playground or snack stand most of the time.