2009 Family Pics...

I really found some great ones. It's seems like I have alot of kids, but when I see so many little ones in a picture with us, it's a little different perspective. I love them all though and don't know which one I would trade if I had too...just depends on the day I guess.

H, 9 months...

B, 4 years...

Ry 5 1/2 years...

K {almost} 7 years...

Mk, 9 years...

H "hud had it"...

Happy 2nd Bday...

Braxton. We think of you often and pray everyday that "we will be able to live with Baby Braxton again." I hope we can all live up to this and be together forever! We love you!!!

Happy Halloween...

from the girls!!!

We had a good Halloween! I'm not the fondest of Halloween, but we had a good evening! We got ready and left with Grammy to do Main Street in Springerville (most businesses give out candy), then go to the Basha's parking lot (Eagar Fire Dept has a Hallow-weenie Roast...they give out hotdogs and hot cocoa, and some of the businesses in Eagar have little booths set up). Then we went on to the Show Choir Carnival. I love it...it's warm, and the girls get tickets, roam around and play games, while I helped B.

H was a little dalmation, B was a beautiful princess, Ry & K were witches, and Keek was a football player. I asked her what she wanted to be for Halloween and she said, "I don't know?" Kind of kidding I said, "get Uncle Bretts football stuff and be a football player" and she jumped all over it...his helmet was still sweaty from the Friday night game and all. I told R, I actually kind of miss that smell (like the smell of cow manure) it reminded me of after his games...back in the good ol' days!

Ha-ha's a jail bird...

that fell asleep with her legs out the rails with her shoes on??? Don't quite know how she got them through in the first place, they were hard to get back through when she finally woke up.

Retakes...

of the girls. H had just about had all the fun she wanted to have when we did family pics, so I got them all dressed up again this morning to try it again...we got some good ones. Ry is destined to be a cheerleader, don't know what's up with the little, sassy hands on her hips for every picture we took!

My fav...loved the sky (especially in the sepia one)...

New pics of the girls...

in their Round Valley Elks attire and the new bows that Abbi helped me create!!!

I had heard that the leaves had started changing over the mountain, so we drove to the Snowbowl turn off looking for the oranges and reds...I don't think they are quite there yet, cause all we saw were slightly yellowing. Maybe next week!

The guys are away...

the girls decide to play! I called my sister, Abbi, to see if we could come and have a sleepover at her house on Friday night since her husband was going to be in Chinle and R was working nights. Abbi's little girl, Riann, always has the CUTEST bows in her hair. I have always loved them but felt overwhelmed with making them, thinking I had to make some five times as many. I wanted to have some cute "black & gold" for the girls to wear to the games, so I decided to learn...I think I'm hooked! She helped me make all five...love them!

Friday night, we went to Wal-Mart to find ribbon, came home and made Grits Casserole {ooohhh ya!} for dinner, then made Shweaty-balls...yum, and made ribbons, ribbons, and more ribbons. I didn't think I would ever get it, but now I've got it...the two part ribbon anyway!

Saturday evening Abbi & Dustin were going to go to a get-together with some friends and were going to take some Marshmallow Balls. We decided that it would be easier to melt the marshmallows in the microwave than on the stove. We got it all ready and put them in for 4 minutes. We were doing other things and Abbi said, "it's melting my bowl!!!" So I opened the microwave and went to get the bowl out and stuck my pinkie finger through the plastic bowl into the HOT carmel, dropped the bowl after dropping some carmel on my arm. Aaaahhh, that hurts! I have the hugest blister on my finger and it is numb...I'm sure I did tissue damage!

Anyways, thanks Ab for letting us crash at your house for a few days, even if K barfed all over your Living Room. I love the bows...you are AWESOME!!!

From a great-great grandma's hands...

now H gets to wear them. When I got married my mom gave me a bunch of my little dresses from when I was little, some baby quilts that were given to me when I was born, and a few other sentimental items. One of them were these cute little booties. I'm not sure which of my great grandma's (Angie or Tice) made these particular booties, because I have two pair out of the same yarn, just a little different pattern on each. I put H in them for church and my MIL said you need to take a picture of that. Glad that I did!

I was fortunate to have known three of my four sets of great grandmas. They were all such great women. Grandma Allie Lines...such a great example, was a single-mother (her husband was killed when a horse kicked him and she was pregnant with their youngest daughter). She was a very hard worker taking care of and raising her many children. Grandma Angie Alder..."trip-trap, trip-trap who's walking over my bridge?" is what comes to mind as I think of her. In her house we would enter through the kitchen and she and grandpa could hear when someone was walking, because of their wood floors. Another thought was when we would do something to help them out they would give us money and we would put it in our glass jar behind the "television" to save for our schooling at BYU {wonder where that $$$ went?} She loved to make bread and give it away, even when her hands were very sore with arthritis. Grandma Tice..."dynamite comes in small packages!" is what she would always tell me because she was way shorter than me, however I was one of the shortest grandkids. I loved her bright, white hair...that was really hers. She was a great cook, and was able to cook for a tribe when the whole family would be at round-up together for a week.

I am so glad that I had this chance to reflect on my great grandmothers. They were such awesome ladies! I am proud to be apart of their heritage, and to have been aquainted with them here on this earth!

How long is YOUR tongue...

Ha-ha's is this long!

I have been so blessed with such a great baby! At almost eight months, H is...rolling over, scooting on the back of her head like an inchworm (just like Mk use to do), laughing and actually screaming with excitement when one of the girls come into the room. She is such a happy little girl...she sure makes our home fun!

B's 1st day of Preschool...

was so fun!

She loves to play with kids and is looking forward to going to school with her good friend, Grayce.

Her teacher this year is Mrs. Kim Wiltbank. Have a good school year, Bean!

9 years ago today...

there was a splash on the floor where R was sleeping. I told him "it won't stop!" My water broke and that was the beginnings of little Boogie Woogie! She was everything that I wanted in a baby...dimples, curly hair, long eyelashes (long to me, isn't extremely long)!

Nine years later, she is still a little special somebody...I love you, Keek! She is a natural at babies, and is such a good helper with baby Ha-Ha. She has been infatuated with cooking since Kindergarten at least, when she would come home from school and watch Food Network and more specifically, Sandra Lee. Her favorite thing to cook at this point in her life is Chocolate Chip Cookie...dough. We love eating the dough as you can probably tell by all our little ponches! She likes to ride her bike and most of the time play with her sisters! She enjoys playing with her friends at school, our house, and their house's too. She loves it when she has Activity Days and is always calling the other girls to make sure that they are aware of the activity too. Grandma has said that she loves it when she calls and Keek answers the phone, because you are so excited and happy when she talks to you! You have such a sweet testimony...knowing of our role in the Plan of Salvation, that President Monson and Joseph Smith are prophets, and have a love for your family!

You play such a special part in our family...I'm glad that you are our oldest child! You are SO beautiful and care about how you look (even if it's not the pink that I want you to wear)! You will go very far in your life because you are such a responsible person! I hope that you continue to strive to be a good example to everyone around you! I sure love you very, very much!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

"911, what's your emergency..."

"Hello...hello...what's your name?"

I was in my bathroom getting ready and R who was on our bed said, "did someone knock?" Just then the doorbell rang, so I went to the front door and Officer Frazier was there and asked if everything was OK? "Yyyyyaaaa." He said that they had received six 911 calls within two minutes with a little kid on the line saying hello and asking what the dispatcher's name was. I told him that I was getting ready and they must have had the phone. I mentioned that I had never taught B to dial 911. He said that some phones now-a-days have an automatic emergency dial, so I thought that was what happened.

I called for B & Tylee (a girl I watch) to come down to the front room. Officer Frazier then asked them if they had been calling on the phone. B immediately said, "yeah mom, watch." She ran to get the phone and sure enough showed me...9-1-1-1. She dialed three ones. I was shocked that she even knew how to dial it. He then talked to them about the importance of dialing 911 only when someone is really hurt. They were actually a little nervous {or embarrassed} because B was kind of hiding behind my leg as he was talking to them. When he was leaving he laughed and said, "good Family Home Evening lesson for tonight."

I immediately went to the bedroom and told R what happened. He said, "I bet Tylee taught her that." I didn't think so, but after we started talking the both of them, B told us that Tylee told her to dial it.

I haven't ever taken the time to teach my kids to dial for help in an emergency fearing that this is what would happen. I assumed someone else would teach them, not knowing it would be a 4 year old.

School 2009-2010...

Wow, school's starting again! It's such an exciting time for the girls, especially Ry this year as she is starting Kindergarten. Her teacher is Mrs. Benson (Mk & K have had her too...she's great!) K is in 1st grade and her teacher is Mrs. Oldham. Mk is in the fourth grade. Her homeroom teacher is Mrs. Prochnow, but they get to switch into four different classes Mrs. Quinlan, Mr. Sassarrini, and Mrs. Allred. She's really excited for that!

Good luck at school...Bean, H, and I will have fun at home!

He's an adult...

Brett turned 18 today.

Mk is always wanting to bake something. She asked if she could make something today and we decided to make Uncle Brett a birthday cake. She did this almost all by herself...

I wished I would have been quick enough with the camera. When he came around the corner and saw the cake he had the most amazed face...

Happy 18th...

Blowing out the candles...

All got a cowboy hat, an electric razor, and some Wranglers to make him a complete cowboy! Hope you had a great day!

Hot tub with the cousins...

it's sure fun to be able to use Grammy & Poppie's hot tub.

Last t-ball and softball games of 2009...

Grandma Jann & Grandpa Ric came over to watch the girls. Thanks for coming they loved seeing you there!

Hold on to your helmet Ry! She's been doing this all season...

K, posin' on 2nd base with those nice pink shoes...

Ry playing catcher...

K, catching a grounder, then ran to tag out the runner at first...

Got em' out...

Run Ry...

Turnin' third...

K's turn to catch...

Just a moment too late. Keek caught the fly and tagged her bag to make a double play...

Third catcher of the night...

Great season girls!!!

K is starting to look alot like a first-grader...

she had her first loose tooth.

Wiggle...wiggle...wiggle...

nice...

got it...

Cute smile...

K lost her first tooth this weekend while we were in Pima. I was a little nervous for this one, because she doesn't have the highest pain tolerance, but she did it! She was sure determined to get it out and she said, "it didn't even hurt!"