Outside fun!

The first three pictures are pictures of the kids out at my mom and dad's house. They were helping Papa pick up the grass after he mowed. The kids love going out to their house and they love running around in my parents huge yard. The other day they were able to help Nana and Papa with planting more in their garden and loved it.

A couple of weeks ago the kids were outside on a very windy day trying to fly Slater's kite and in the one picture with slater in his glasses do you notice the kite string is stuck on his glasses? Notice his funny ear? The other picture of Slater with the helmet is cute...notice his ear there? Hope you enjoy a few of these pictures!

Blessings...

I haven't posted in a while. Today I am very grateful for my blessings. I am so grateful for challenges and for the power of prayer. Sometimes life stinks but by putting our trust in the "Man Upstairs" we can feel peace and love. I have been going through a lot of things the last few days and feel so blessed to have my good family: A husband that I love and adore SO VERY MUCH!!! Children that are so wonderful and precious to me. I have amazing parents who love and support me and brothers and sisters that I can enjoy and do things with. I don't mean for this post to sound like a "testimony meeting" but I just feel overwhelming feelings of love and gratitude today. Challenges make us stronger and can help us more understand the unselfish sacrifice of the Savior. Today is a good day.

I really do plan to post some pictures soon. I have some fun ones of the kids.

We had an ultrasound and...

it looks like we will be having a mystery baby! Last week I was in the hospital for a painful cyst and the ultrasound tech said, "Oh, it looks like a girl...oh wait, the baby moved and now it looks like a boy." She said that my Dr. will have to figure it out. So, we went in yesterday for the sex check and the Dr. said, "Yep, I'd say it looks like 95% girl...oh wait, the baby moved and now it looks like a boy." The Dr. said I would probably have to wait about 10 more weeks to find out. Ahhhhh! I was so bummed to not know what this little person is. I guess I am having to learn patience in many ways with this pregnancy. I have had a lot of issues and concerns and I guess it shouldn't surprise me that we couldn't see what it is. Oh well, I sure hope 10 weeks will go by fast so I can get ready for this little person to makes it's appearance. My sister Megan with her first baby was told that it was a girl...when she delivered the "girl" it came out almost a 10lb baby BOY! I really don't want a surprise like that...I want to know for this last baby! I guess we will all keep on guessing as to what it is!

Long time no post!

So, it has been a long time since I have posted anything. It's time to update on what's going on in our household. I guess first of all I am so ready for Spring!! Will it ever come? One day we will have nice weather and the next it will be pouring rain or snowing...I don't get it. I am so looking forward to some nice warm weather.

The kids are staying busy with school. Both Ellie and Emma just finished up their jumprope class. Both of them have really excelled in their jumping rope and speed. It is fun to see them improve and succeed. Miss Ellie went to the Civic yesterday to watch a play called "Old Yeller". She loved it. This girl loves to read and has started reading Harry Potter and can't seem to put it down. Emma on the other hand doesn't seem to enjoy reading as much. She likes to find excuses and would rather find a really easy book to read really fast and be done. We have to continue to encourage her to read and that she reads well. We have been reading our scriptures every night and the kids actually enjoy it! If we miss a night of reading we get chastized by the girls for not reading! I am grateful that they are gaining a testimony of the importance of reading the scriptures and what's even better is when they ask questions and understand what we are reading. Slater even takes a turn and we help him to read. Of course he just repeats but it sure helps with the speech problems that he has. Practice makes perfect!

Poor Dave has been working like a mad-man. He has been putting in 14 hour days at the site and at Sam's Club. We are trying very hard to get our debt gone and he has been working so hard to help reach that goal. He did apply for an IT position at BYU-I and he hopes to get it!! It would be an amazing job with great benefits and a good atmosphere. We were able to get him a suit last week which he hasn't had in a very long time. I must say he looks so handsome in his new fancy suit! He looks handsome even if he is in his pj's. I just love him!

I am finally starting to feel this little baby of ours move. What a blessing and a thrill to know that we are having another baby! This one will most likely be our last so I hope to enjoy every minute. I have a wonderful new Dr. and I love visiting their office...the office staff is awesome and I love my new Dr. I am glad to be in a new office for this last pregnancy. We find out what we are having on the 5th of May.

Mr. Slater is such a little joy! He has been talking quite a bit about the baby and says that my tummy will get bigger and bigger, then the baby will come out and that he will get to hold "her". He says "her" alot! I guess we will see if it is a "he" or a "she" soon enough. Slater seems to be doing better at speech therapy all the time. He still struggles with alot of words and sounds but we do see improvement all the time. We are proud of him and know that he can overcome his speech struggles.

I am loving my job as a Heritage Makers Consultant!!! I love, love, love this amazing company and what it does to help people write their stories. Heritage Makers books, cards, posters, etc. are awesome products! I love helping others discover that everyone has a story. Please go to my website (www.memoriesofgladness.com) and check out HM and what they are all about. I have had some great success the last couple of weeks and I just want to shout out to everyone how important it is to preserve your stories and not just the pictures. There is an old Indian Proverb that states something like this: "When someone dies it is as if a library burns down." Isn't it true?

Of course pictures are so important because a picture tells a story. I know that when I look at pictures of my grandparents or others who have gone before I just wish I knew the story in the picture. "Pictures without stories are like memories lost". Wether it's a HM book or another form of preserving your memories get them written! That is what I am trying to do. It is sometimes not easy but I know it will be worth so much to my children and grandchildren. I am so proud of my mom because she is in the process of writing her own personal history. Right now I am encouraging my dad to write down his mission experiences and one day I want to go through his pictures with him because I know it will trigger the stories and experiences. I know that when my parents and Dave's parents are gone I want my kids to know what their grandparents experienced. Anyway, thanks for letting me ramble on about my passion. I can't help it!

Looks like I better run and get some things accomplished today. I have a mound of laundry just screaming at me to wash, fold, and put away. Yuck!

Oops!

I posted the wrong address for the blog templates. It is http://onecuteblog.blogspot.com Sorry!

Fun Stuff!

I just wanted to share a couple of fun things. First of all I was introduced to www.pandora.com by my cousin Amy. It is a website that you can choose what kind of music you listen to and you can listen for free! You can list artists or the kind of music you like in general. If you like a song give it a "thumbs up" and if you don't care for a song give is a "thumbs down" and it won't play it again. It has been such a fun thing and I recommend it to everyone.

Also, if you are looking for a new and fun template to use for your blog go to www.onecuteblog.com and there are some fun things you can use to spice up the look of your blog. Just follow the instructions on the right of the web page. It took me a few times to figure it out but I finally did.

Sorry, I haven't figured out how to make the websites "links". I need a few blogging tips on how to add blogging buddies on my blog and how to add links to some different things I post. If you have any advice please send it my way. Thanks!

The new "do"!

13 inches....gone! Yep, Emma had 13 inches of hair cut off yesterday and she was thrilled! No tears, no complaints, no regrets! She is so excited to have short hair and is loving her new do. Her hair will be going to locks of love so that someone who needs hair can have a wig made out of Emma's hair. She was happy to be able to help someone she doesn't even know. I am proud of her. She wanted to take the cut hair to school today for show and tell but I didn't let her. The hair needs to not be "man-handled" and sent off soon. I told her to just show and tell the hair she has on her head and talk about what she did. She's a sweetheart!

Easter picture.

Here is a picture of the kids on Easter morning. It looks like the Easter Bunny visited our house. We had a wonderful day at church that day and then went to my parents house for Easter dinner and an Easter egg hunt. It was great hanging out with family and eating good food.

Farewell to the hair!

Emma's birthday is in June but I did want to say that we will be saying farewell to this beautiful head of hair! Emma has decided that she wants to have it cut and will be donating her hair to "Locks of Love". She is pretty excited to have short hair and mom is excited to not have to brush it anymore. Actually, her hair will be missed. It has been so pretty and now she can have another pretty style. Bye bye long hair, here comes a "new do"! We will post her new hair cut soon.

Slater's birthday

This boy is getting so big! Can't believe that he is 4! Why do my kids have to grow up so fast. I don't think I like it much. I wish they would stay small forever. Slater had a fun birthday. He wanted to get "Optimus Prime" for his birthday and loves the Transformers! It's fun to watch him pretend his is "Optimus Prime". He thinks he is such a tough kid!