Happy Valentine's Day!

So I'm a few minutes behind, but to me it is still Valentine's Day. We had a great day! The boys were up at 6:45 am or so. With only a few mild outbursts of, "He's gonna hurt me" between all the boys, William and I were aware of our surroundings at about 9 am. I then asked him, William, if he'd like to go to the Zoo with us today...he said he'd love to. Jaw Drop! He's got free time? He's been so busy with TurnItUp Media that we've been missing him so extraordinarily. So I get out of bed rather quickly so I can have the boys start to help me clean the house. An hour of everyone in the family cleaning got a good portion of the house clean, and we decided to eat breakfast (yes, at 11). We had eggs, bacon and pink pancakes in the shape of a heart. Kaleb asked after taking a few bites of his pancake, "Mom, is it ok if the inside of the pancake is pink?" Haha! It's not like meat! I reassured him it was how it was supposed to be, and he was as happy as a clam.

After a quick clean up of the kitchen, final touches on house jobs that should have been done right the first time, showers for the momma and dadda, and we were off on our adventure. No sooner than we pulled out of the driveway did we get a call from our friends Sean and Julie that they were on their way to the Zoo, too. We met up at the entrance and enjoyed our time together. It was Will's very first time to the Nashville Zoo and we were able to see nearly everything within the 2 hours we had before it closed. It was a bit windy, but not too shabby for Tennessee in February!

We got home, had clam chowder for dinner, enjoyed a little down time, Tyler talked to his friend Olivia in California, and we all played Rock Band for a few hours before bed. William and I then enjoyed a little quiet time as we watched TV, folded clothes, and I packed to leave for SLO on Monday. He's feeling a bit nervous about me being gone for 8 whole days. I am taking Logan, but he's got the other 3 with homework to worry about. The longest I've ever been away was 2 days...I hope I come home to my boys/man that are still happy to be together. :) I know he'll be fine and so will the boys. I wish I could take them all with me to see everyone in San Luis! My eyes can wait no longer, I must have them touched up before the middle of March, so now is the time. Maybe we can make a summer trip with everyone together...we'll see.

All in all, today was a fabulous day. We enjoyed being together the whole day with out interruption! I look forward to many more days just like this!

Ty's birthday bonanza

It was Ty's 8th birthday on Tuesday this week. I can't believe my little man is 8, and ready to get baptized! It was a great day that started out with William's famous and amazing French Toast. Off to school he went with cookies for his classmates. Upon returning from school he quickly did his homework then set off to play the Wii. That was a special treat because they rarely get to play the Wii on the week days (when school is the next day). Dinner was Pasta Roni, Shells and White Cheddar, as requested. KC was here for the festivities and Sean, Julie and their girls joined us for the finale, cake and ice cream and presents enjoyed by family and friends.It couldn't have been a better day. Pictures will come shortly, that's actually why this post is late, but I realized I'd better just post it and get pictures downloaded later.
(here he is being his silly self!)
Here's eight reasons why I am so proud of Ty:
1. His sweet heart that is so tender.
2. How timid he is in new situations, then once he is comfortable he lets it all loose.
3. His desire to make everyone happy.
4. How quickly he loves people and will be friends with them forever.
5. He loves to be in control...with life and the TV.
6. His joy in living...he is silly and loves to make us all laugh.
7. His faith in Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.
8. His excitement in being with extended family and friends and his unending love for them all.

I love you my sweet Ty Bug! You help make my life full of love, joy, and purpose!

Last post of 2008

Here's to my last post of 2008! What a great year it has been. It has brought some unexpected turns that have totally changed our lives. We have left amazing friends in a wonderful place and made awesome new friends in another wonderful place. We have all grown older and maybe a bit wiser. We have been able to reconnect with family we haven't seen in years. We were able to visit all members of our families throughout the year. What a blessing that has been!

A quick note on Christmas...it was WONDERFUL! The boys had a blast and loved everything they were given and had fun giving gifts to each other, too. We are currently in Maryland visiting Will's family and loving every moment we have here. His mom continues to look better and better and seems to be in pretty darn good spirits seeing as she's stuck in bed all day long. She's an amazing woman and has more strength than most of us thought possible. We are ready to ring in the New Year in about 15 minutes, so I'd better be done.

Here's to a new year of many new and wonderful adventures. Here's to TurnItUp Media taking off so our purpose in moving is complete. Here's to new pastures we haven't explored and wonderful people we haven't met quite yet. Here's to family, love, and as much peace as possible in this troubled world. We love you all and wish you all a very prosperous and joyful 2009!

You have got to visit this site. It is the sweetest song I've ever heard!!It will pull at your heartstrings! To some of you it will be very much what your heart is saying already. Merry Christmas!

Old Visits

I was looking through old photos and came across these...we still need to make a visit to Santa with all the boys this year. The boys know that the Santa you visit is not the real Santa, they are Santa's helpers and give Santa the message of what you want. Last year the boys knew instantly that Santa was the Bishop...it was funny.
Logan got to visit Santa already this year, but Julie has the picture of it...I'll get it up here hopefully later! Merry Christmas!

I'm not dreaming of a white Christmas anymore!

I don't have to dream! It snowed tonight! We all had a wonderful time playing in the snow before dinner and hot chocolate! NO SCHOOL TOMORROW!!!! We get to sleep in, play in the snow, play with friends, and have lots of HOT chocolate!! I know I'm crazy to be so excited to not have school, but I LOVE THE SNOW! I love having the snow somewhere I love to live (I miss SLO terribly, but it never snows there)!! Our promise to the boys that we were moving somewhere it snows came true...it hasn't snowed here much the last 10+ years, so it's amazing that it's snowing already and so much in one night. We made snowmen, snow angels, had snow ball fights and by the time the boys went to bed all the snow tracks we'd made were recarpeted with more snow. It's stopped since, but the roads are slick and no one knows how to drive in snow here. Here are some pictures of the fun we had tonight. All the boys loved it, Logan loved playing and eating, but not getting hit by snow balls unexpectedly. Kaleb throws a mean snow ball when he wants to! It was so much fun to see and hear the joy in all the boys faces as they chased each other and enjoyed the beauties the Lord gives us throughout the year.

I can't wait for more fun in the snow! I love how the white makes the earth look so fresh and new. My favorite thing to do is to go on a walk when the snow is softly falling around me and the roads are quiet. I feel so peaceful and happy and fond memories flutter about in the stillness of the white fallen flakes. It reminds me of how "the world in solemn stillness lay" that night so long ago when our Savior was born.

Christmas Bells, oh Christmas Bells, Sing your happy tune!

Oh how I love Christmas! The first thing I did Monday after we returned home from Maryland was pull out our Christmas bins. I have gathered more and more decorations throughout the years...I now have 4 bins full of fun Christmas goodies to put around our house! This year I am so excited because we have a mantel to decorate, and it looks beautiful!
We also have a stairwell this year that I get to put greenery on, that's the first thing I decorated this year!I love our little village collection and we finally have somewhere to showcase it, in the front entryway.
I have been able to find somewhere to put our manger with Joseph, Mary, and Baby Jesus. It fits perfectly on our side table in our livingroom.
Last, but not least, we have our beautiful Christmas tree. The boys had a blast decorating it. Will and I pulled it out of the box, set it up, fluffed it, and the kids did the decorating. They had so much fun! They did a really good job, too! We only had to coach a little and rearrange even less. I'm very happy with it and love looking at it. I love that it doesn't take up all our walking and sitting space (like it did in California).

An overall look of our living room from the dining room. I feel so happy just sitting in there doing nothing.
Here's what Logan thought was important...over and over and over again. He does love Mickey!!