The Stark's

Halloween 2011

2011-11-18T10:23:00.000-07:00

I feel like this is Russell's first real Halloween. But because of the AZ trip we didn't have time to prepare that much. So luckily Russell still fit (kind of) in his costume from last year.

Here is our little monkey

Elsie the nun and Emmy the Witch. SO CUTE. Angel did a great job with these costumes.

The whole group of kids. Ryker=batman, Liam=Fireman, Emmy=witch, Raelin= Dinosaur, Elsie=nun, Russell=monkey, Landon=banana, and Alaina=Monkey. Landon is a big banana we needed lots monkey's to eat it.

These two were so much fun. The older kids were much faster that the two monkey's and their banana so we had two groups that trick or treated together. Look at how independent Russell is. My heart melted. I was so happy and sad at the same time.

Russell is great at knocking on doors so this night was perfect for him to show off his sweet knocking skills. Granddad and Russell were buddies for the night. Alaina would ride in the stroller from house to house. Which was good because then Landon had a buddy too. Fun night. Love that holidays are getting more and more fun the older Russell gets. Now it's time for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I am so excited!!

Business in AZ

2011-11-02T11:22:00.000-06:00

Toby has a new job!! It has it's pro's and con's like any other job. One of the cons is that he has to be gone for one week EVERY month. The first trip he took was to Arizona and Russell and I went with. Sounded good at the time. It was hard but I really felt like it was what was the best thing for my family and THAT got me through the difficult 10 DAYS!! So here are some of the happy moments.

"Back pack, back pack, back pack" This kid loves his back pack.

Under the bridge. Common pass time.

Russell OWNED that hotel (hotel was one of the cons). Everyone that worked there knew his name. They were always so excited to see him. One of the cleaning ladies he really took to and would run up to her and ask for her to pick him up. She loved it too. She was really sad to see him go.

I hate that Russell's face is blurry in this one but it is still so cute. This is Russell giving Daddy a hug. Then the next picture is Russell's new face. He just started to make this face and we had no idea where it came from until...he farted and I made that face at him. Now he makes that face whenever he farts. Toby and I were rolling on the ground laughing when he first started to make this face.

Sleeping is a nightmare in general so add the fact that we were all in the same room with Toby trying to work and having to go in and out. That is what made this the worst part of the trip. We would have to put him to bed REALLY late. We had to make a wall out of the chairs so he couldn't see us from his pack n play. He would wake up several times in the middle of the night and I would nurse him (I nursed him so much on this trip. Before this trip I was only nursing before bed time and sometimes in the morning) or we would sing songs, go for a walk (remember this was at about 3 or 4 in the morning). One night I laid by my his bed on the floor singing songs (gross by the way). Then he would wake up at 5 or 6 for the rest of the morning. I hate to admit this but I totally caved with TV. Disney Jr. saved my life some of the days. Once I got up we went to the GREAT breakfast the hotel provided. That was a pro. Toby's schedule was all over the place so some days we played with Daddy or went around town but most of the time I just tried to entertain Russell at the hotel. The town we were in was small and the hotel had nothing around it. And to be honest it made me nervous just to walk around.

So we played at the pool,

We played with the limited toys we brought and ate food (he was so tired I thought he was going to fall asleep right there.) After lunch it worked best if Russell went down for a nap. That is when he slept for a LONG time. And when he woke up I would get him and we would cuddle on the bed and he would fall asleep AGAIN. Needless to say I did a lot of sleeping then too thank goodness.

This is how we got around the airport with all our junk. He loved it. He would hold on and people though he was so cute. He liked it so much he almost fell asleep on it every time we put him up there.

So one of the reasons that Russell and I went with Toby was because his Grandparents don't live far from where we were going to be. On Sunday we got a chance to make the short drive up to Safford to visit them. I hadn't met them until this trip. It was really great.

Toby, Russell, Grandma Taylor and Grandpa Taylor.

While we were there Grandma Taylor spoiled Russell. He didn't mind one bit!
After the 10 day trip I have to say it was hard but there was a lot of tender mercy's. Like I got to cuddle/nap with Russell in my arms almost everyday! That never happens anymore. Russell was great on the airplanes and the people on them were very kind and sweet to us. It really could have been a lot worse.

The day after we got back was Halloween. DON DON DON! (I am so tired)

To brighten your day

2011-10-18T12:56:00.000-06:00

If you are having a sad day here is a little pick me up.

Catch with Granddad!!!

MY FAVORITE by far!!! I love his laugh.

(Sorry for the baby nudity)

I need to remember these faces when he is doing these things:

Ya he got that out of the Recycling!! It was funny but not my favorite mess to clean up!!

These are the things I have found to help me get through the hard day. This sweet happy face!! I love you Russell!!

My sweet boy!

2011-10-17T11:48:00.002-06:00

This is how the boys spent their time while I was watching General Conference.

This was at the beginning of October and Toby still talks about how Russell fell asleep with him. This doesn't happen much anymore. We are so sad about that. We miss cuddle time!

Russell's new game. He lines them all up. He does the same with my pots and pans. He will line them up big to small. He is so funny! It has been a hazard though. We won't notice and step on a cookie sheet and we slip and slide.

I decided to make pancakes one morning and I thought that it was about time for Russell to start helping with the cooking.

It was a lot of fun. He was very patient and really enjoyed helping.

I LOVE that face!!

APPLES!!

2011-10-17T11:44:00.000-06:00

I have an apple tree!!

I got a call from Angel about a week ago. She was up in the area and wanted to come pick some apples.

Here is Liam picking. He is going to be a hear breaker!

Angel way up in the tree taking care of business.

Then we made applesauce! It was really exciting. They spent the whole day with me making applesauce. Angel had one baby and I had the other. I wish I got a picture of us in the kitchen with the two sweet ones strapped in the carriers. It was so great to have a baby to hold. It was a blast. It was such a great day. I don't know why I don't get pictures of the two little girls. I really had such a great day with the Somers.

It inspired me to try and find lots of things to make with apples. I tried apple cinnamon muffins, and yesterday I attempted apple pie. The thing that was intimidating was the crust, but they turned out pretty good if I do say so myself. I felt so accomplished. I didn't do a good job with the decoration of the crust but hey it tastes good.

I also made lemon meringue pie. I was a busy girl yesterday and I am proud too. WAHOO! Now I am obsessed with cute pie pans. I might need to go to a self help class. But hey my neighbors are sure happy about all the pie making!

P.S. Toby is not a fan or apple pie, neither is Keith but they both said that it was the best apple pie they have ever had...A-thankyou!!

Soccer

2011-10-17T11:38:00.001-06:00

This year Raelin and Ryker got to play soccer!! I was a lame Aunt and didn't go to many games but I did make it to that last couple.

This is my favorite picture EVER. This is what Raelin did when she saw that I was there. Oh I was so happy.

Russell was a little difficult this day but when he saw Aunt Morgan he was so excited. Morgan coached Raelin's team that day and so she was busy. But during half time he wondered...no RAN over to her. I wish I got a better picture of them but look at how happy Raelin is too. Oh I love my family.

She has so much natural talent. She is great!! Notice how no one is around her. They are all behind her. She can dribble with so much control. We are all very impressed.

She spends most of the time right here. With the goalie!!

The is sweet Liam cheering on his cousin. He was so cute. "Go Raelin Go!" Jumping up and down!! Love it!

Here is my dad teaching the kids how to play soccer. It was so sweet. The kids had a ton fun with him like always.

Granddad was helping Alaina learn how to head the ball. She thought it was so funny!

Then we went to Rykers game. I was really bad and didn't get any pictures of him playing. So lame I know.

But I did get this picture. Russell looks sad but he was in the middle of "talking". H
My dad is such a great granddad to all the kiddos we are so lucky to have such a great family.

Ok so later the next week I went down for Ryker's last game. And I took pictures. LOTS of them.

Ryker is so fun to watch. Here he is as goaly.

DE-DENCE, DE-FENCE

Such a happy little face.

At least Morgan's kids were well behaved. Russell was so grumpy. I feel like I am always talking about how Russell is grumpy. I hope this gets better.

Good job kids. You both did a great job and I am so proud of you!

Monkey Do Diapers

2011-10-14T13:38:00.001-06:00

So here are a bunch of pictures of my sisters diapers that she makes. I took some of these so long ago.

This picture is so old that Russell's head now is eye level with that blue button!! How fast do kids grow?

I think we took these last April. We tried to do a little photo shoot but both boys were grumpy and the lighting was not the best. But how cute that they have matching buns!

Russell looks so much older now. And believe it or not but Landon have WAY more hair.

Oh I miss cloth diapers. I had to stop because my soakers are ruined by mold...(I forgot to wash some and ya sad ending.) But they are so expensive, it was a project just to get Toby to get the first set, that it is hard to spend the money on them again. So Morgan made me some and now I just have to save up to get enough to last a couple of days.

I am actually so angry about cloth diapers. They are not easy but I have so much motivation to keep up on them. But when they are not keeping their absorbency and I can't figure out how to get rid of the MOLD. It causes a problem. So I will have to wait until I am a millionaire and get enough diapers and soakers so I can keep my babies bottoms super cute.

I know random post but I miss having cute diapers. The picture above is not a diaper that Russell has. Just in case some of you out there were worried that I was putting Russell in girly diapers.

My birthday!!!

2011-10-14T13:24:00.000-06:00

I don't know what is happening to me. This is the second year in a row that I didn't do anything big for my birthday. This year was good but lacked the sparkle and pizzazz and not to mention the pinata.

My sweet mama made me cinnamon roll's and brought them over the night before. Here is Russell having a super sugar fest. We ate most of them that night because they were fresh out of the oven and we couldn't resist.

Russell desperately needed a bath but I was to lazy to give him one so we compromised. SINK BATH!

The day of my birthday was like most days only my mom watched Russell after school was over. Then I went to work with Toby. He had a light day so we got to go to dinner. YUMMY!!

Then that Saturday we had a BBQ at our house.

This is the ramp Raelin made to get up in the apple tree better. She is so creative.

Before people could come over we had to get the deck usable. So Toby and I worked hard to get the trex down. Russell really wanted to help. He would actually get mad if we didn't let him.

Brice and the kids came over early. Brice and helped Toby decided to make the stairs. I was not expecting the stairs to get done! Happy Birthday to me! I have stairs. I now have a functional deck. Brice's brother William and his wife Angel with their kids (Liam and the two new ones 1 month old Elsie and Emmy) came too. So great to have them. Just with family it was a crowd. So we all had dinner and cake. We puzzeld and played games. The down side was the BYU Utah game. Everyone here that graduated from college all went to BYU.

Here is my cake. Morgan makes my cakes every year. I told her that I wanted a zebra dolphin cake. I was meaning a cake the shape of a dolphin with the cake inside that was striped. My friend Dresden made a cake like that last week. This is what she came up with. It was zebra inside too.

Poor Russell was so tired and worn out. There was lots of people and things going on all day.

Here is Morgan showing me my cake. It was a simple birthday but it was still great (even though I didn't have a pinata. I was so happy to have everyone there. And I have to say it is really weird to be 25. I don't feel like I have aged for about 7 years now. I still have a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that I have a kid. I am in trouble.

Jordanelle

2011-10-08T16:33:00.002-06:00

A couple of weeks ago my friend Demetrius (we went to high school together) invited us to go jet skiing at a lake near Heber. Toby had to work like always so Russell and I went. It was a lot of fun. I didn't get a chance to go out for a ride because Russell didn't know anyone so he was grumpy but it was so nice to just get out of the house and enjoy the beautiful place I get to live. And not to mention being outside.

I did a terrible job at taking pictures. I just took pictures of Russell and John (Demetrius' baby).

But how can you blame me. Look at that face. He is so cute.

I think he takes after his mom! J/K D!

John was trying to take a nap but Russell was making him laugh to much.

Russell and his "pretty". He is always wearing his necklace. It's a must have when we go out.

Oh I can't get enough of him!!

Here is D with his boy. I was a ton of fun. Again I am sorry I didn't get more pictures of the other people there and what it looked like there but at least I got the two cute boys. Russell and John that is!!

Estelle's Baby Shower

2011-10-08T15:56:00.003-06:00

My SUPER awesome friend Estelle had a baby this summer. Her cousin, Jasmine, and I decided to through her a baby shower. Nothing big. We had lunch at Mimi's Cafe. It was loads of fun.

The girls.

Estelle had a baby girl at home!

Her name is Cosette. This is a super cute onesie that Jasmine made for her

It was a good thing that we had this lunch that Saturday because I think Cosette was born the following Tuesday.

Jasmine and Estelle. Estelle doesn't look 9 months pregnant does she?

Here she is. Sweet Cosette. She looks just like both of Estelle's other two girls (who look very little alike) It is weird but so cute!

Congratulations Estelle!!! LOVE YOU!

Once a Week

2011-10-08T14:57:00.000-06:00

So my plan to blog at least once a week failed. I think the problem came from not having anything to blog about. I have been reading some new blogs and I have seen another side of blogging. Not just a "this is what is new and what was exciting" posts but they use it like a journal or a place to vent. I am determined to find more ways to use my blog. So I will catch you up on the last little while and then try new things. Feel free to ignore my blog if it starts to get boring or whinny.

Mamma's Birthday

2011-08-31T17:00:00.000-06:00

We had a little dinner party for my mom's birthday on Sunday and here is just a little peek of the fun we had.

The first thing the kids did...play on the love sac.

So cute.

During dinner Alaina kept the little boys entertained so the adults could enjoy dinner...which was AMAZING steak, potato salad, fruit and salad....so yummy!!

Landon did really well without a high chair. They all were giggling like crazy.

Raelin and Ryker entertained us with a wrestling match. It was REALLY fun!

Brice tought them how to really wrestle. They did a great job following the rules and they both know the different holds and moves which made it really entertaining. Here is Ryker pulling a great move on Raelin.

Alaina loves her Granddad.

So does Russell.

This hippo sings the ABC's and Alaina would play it over and over again. Every time she would start it they both would laugh and laugh and laugh. It was really cute.

The birthday cake. Brice made GREAT frosting and then added his Brice magic. Crushed toffee in the middle and caramel on top...yum! Oh I almost forget the shaved chocolate truffle too.

SO CUTE!!!

I have said before how Alaina likes to take baths with Russell after dinner and tonight was no different. So we got to play around with her hair again. Look at those bows!!

Oh Russell pretty.
The people who lived here before us left a box of hair bows and thing. Russell is always butting necklaces and my head bands on. He comes to me and says, "peey" (pretty). And he has the best form of the sign for pretty. I really need to video the talking and signing that he is doing lately. So funny.

Happy Birthday Mamma. I hope you had a great day. Sorry your post is all about the kids...but lets face it any get together is all about the kids.

Onions and Hair Cuts

2011-08-31T16:37:00.000-06:00

Russell likes his onions raw...He was going to town on that thing.

There is nothing like being naked and eating an onion!

We went to help at Grammy's class room for her open house. Russell is great at cleaning.

His new favorite toy. Russell's Nana gave that to him for his birthday and he loves that thing. His name is Henry and he sings the ABC's in English and Spanish.

With Russell's super cute cloth diapers it makes food time a little scary. When it was spaghetti time I found a new bib for him and great use for Toby's old work shirts. And the diapers stay cute.

New game they play. Russell LOVES riding on his daddy's back. He can't get enough. I'll have to get a video of it because Russell is just so happy up there.

Russell has had a couple of hair cuts already but this is the first one that will be a styled cut instead of just a buzz.

So here is the before.

After...

Ok I know that it is hard to tell a difference but in person he does. He looks SO cute. Toby did a great job. His hair is so blonde that it is hard to tell but oh I love it!! I'll try to get a better picture.

Random Russell Pictures

2011-08-18T23:17:00.000-06:00

I feel like Russell is changing by the minute. So here are some of the great moments I was able to catch!

He looks mad but this was the end of his new smile where he tilts his chin and scrunches his nose.

He likes the boxes we get from Costco. He will push it around the house and play in them all day.

I was so sad I didn't get more of him dancing to this song. (Make sure you pay attention to the song. It makes it so much more funny!) Watch his head at the end...it cracks me up!! I love this kid more and more everyday. I love how he is changing and how fun he has been.

Camping with Patrick and Amber

2011-08-18T22:10:00.000-06:00

It is August and this was the first camp trip of the summer. What is wrong with us...oh ya Toby's lame job...but I am so glad we got to go at least once. And the best part is that Toby's brother Patrick and his family came with us.

I though it was hard to take pictures at the beach and keep my camera safe well I guess I haven't been camping with it yet. I didn't take very many picture but here is what I got. The two older girls wanted to hold Russell all the time. Here is Whitney and Russell waiting for breakfast...well it looks like Russell couldn't wait and decided to eat dirt.

Patrick and Toby making breakfast. Ya Amber and I didn't have to cook at all. My favorite part of camping.

Toby was throughing Russell in the air really high and Kelsey followed Patrick around asking if it was her turn until he through her.

She had fun.

It was a great trip. I can't wait to do it again but I have to tell you we were all so tired. Russell and I passes out for the rest of the day and night after we unpacked a bit.

Russell is a cleaning machine and the park

2011-08-11T23:07:00.000-06:00

So whenever I get all the stuff out to clean the floor I always have a little thief taking my bloom or mop.

But hey I'll take it.

These are all different days and I don't even ask him he just grabs it and know's what to do.

AND he has a smile on his face.

This is one of the reasons that I am cleaning the floor so much. Do you see how far he through his food. That isn't even the furthest. He will through his food all the way to the fridge.

So I decided to take out some of the extensions off the Swiffer and now it is just the right size for him. So when I clean I grab his broom too and we clean together. So cute right?

The park. For some reason we haven't really taken Russell to the park. So Toby just happened to be home and we decided to make the best of having daddy home.

Russell was not a big fan of the swings.

He did like the slide more. But it was just about dinner time and he was tired so he would get grumpy fast. That kid really needs a lot of sleep and food.

Russell and Alaina

2011-08-11T23:04:00.000-06:00

Russell and Alaina are the best.

One of Russell's first words was "laina". When I am on the phone he will walk around saying her name. Alaina was on the bike then Russell hoped on with her.

They are so cute!

What cute kids! The Lawler's got it going on!

Raelin was on the bike and both boys wanted a ride. It took some help but we got them all on it.

Ring around the rosie! This was Russell's first time.

Before I took the video she was tickling him on the floor so I was trying to get her to do it again. But what I got works too.

Pioneer Day

2011-08-11T23:01:00.000-06:00

Pioneer Day out here is a firework day. We didn't do any for the 4th of July because Keith was sick and it was Ryker's birthday. So we took advantage of Pioneer Day.

We went into the tent with a $30 budget. Then Toby came home with this. It is taking up the whole table.

Toby getting all ready.

Poor Russell. We woke him up to see the fireworks but he didn't nap well that day and he was so tired. But he would clap for EVERY firework. But he was happy to go back to bed.

Keith enjoying being a kid.

Strike a pose!

Our Little Zoe

2011-08-11T22:59:00.000-06:00

We got a new little puppy and we finally named her Zoe. Here are some pictures:

She is a Vizsla. They are great bird hunting dogs.

She started really light and now she is getting almost red. I love it.

Sadie and Zoe get along so great!! Russell and Zoe are hallarious. She kida buggs him but he is always covered in food so you can't blame her.

Zoe is so fisty. But then she has a cuddly side too. She thinks she is a lap dog. Right now I don't mind but ask me again in a couple of months.

So here are some interesting facts about Zoe and Sadie. Well to start we got Zoe for our anniversary.
5 Years wahoo! 3 years ago we got Sadie for our anniversary.

Sadie was born May 22, Zoe was born May 22. Crazy huh. We felt like this was fate telling us that these two were meant to be sisters and that Zoe was meant to be in our family.

This was actually their first meeting. Sadie did really well.

Just like with Sadie we took Zoe straight to the vet, she left her brothers and sisters, and got a new family with another dog. Kind of a lot for her first day.

But at least she knows who her mommy is.

One of the main reasons that we got another dog was for Sadie to have a play mate and so far it is going better then we expected.

Sadie lets Zoe think that she is winning.

They both sit here together all the time.

Love this one!

The darn door is so smudged with dog nose and baby hands that you can't really see her cute face but you can still see that she is sitting in the food bowl!

Catching up to Russell

2011-08-11T22:50:00.002-06:00

So here are a bunch of random pictures:

Russell likes to put his food in his hair.

And his face.

Love his smile.

How could this not put you in a good mood?

This is actually supposed to go over your sink but we were cleaning and Russell found another use.

I turned on the shower to let it warm up and I went to put my cloths in the basket and came back to a wet fully clothed baby.

HA I am laughing just remembering this day. He looks sad but he was having a blast.

He woke up with a hand print on his chest. This is a common occurrence.

He lays on his hands I guess.

He is so cute!

So big.

"Can I try?"

He is just chillin in his chair.

I didn't pose him at all. He was just sitting like this.

Swimming day. Well more like stand in the pool then get out and play then get back in the pool just to stand there again.

Oh this was so funny. We have a bag of DI stuff and he would go get a shirt and put it on his head and walk around the room. This was the first time that he actually ran into something. He was doing this in the kitchen when my parents were over for lunch and rammed into the wall. I was literally on the floor crying with laughter.

Sick day. It started with Russell sitting in his high chair and puking like crazy. So here he is cuddling with daddy.

Trying to eat some breakfast.

Ryker was over and Russell started to feel a little better later in the day. Then all he wanted to do was hang out with Ryker.

He brought me my shirt and was making the sign for shoes so I assumed it meant that he wanted to wear it. Now he will bring me all kind of thing to dress him in. Yesterday I asked him to go get his shoes and he came back with my church shoes. And then he attempted to put them on.

Mowing the lawn with daddy.

One of Russell's favorite toys.

I have no idea what he was so excited about but it is cute.

I love happy faces.

I guess the dogs were entertaining that day.

Russell has been having a hard time with sleeping and stiff recovering from being sick. He fell asleep in my arms. When he woke up I sat up and he fell asleep again like this. He slept FOREVER!

There is a bean in his belly button. He gets raisins in there a lot too.

Finally he likes watermelon. It took us forever to get him to even try it.

Landon and Ryker's Birthday

2011-08-09T11:10:00.002-06:00

Landon is ONE!! Holy crap. I just love how different he is from Russell. In the afternoon for Landon's birthday we went to the splash pad. So here are some pictures of our time there.

Landon wasn't scared at all. He loved every minute of the water. One of the many differences between Landon and Russell.

Russell took a while to warm up to the water. Actually it took a long time. Morgan brought some snacks and for some reason Russell liked apples that day and just carried it around everywhere and took little Russell bits every now and again. Weird choice for a security blanket but I am not complaining.

This was later in the afternoon. Before Russell would never have gotten this close to the water. But like I said Landon LOVED it, so did Alaina. She is on the right in the pink bathing suit.

He is not walking yet but he will stand. It made for some great pictures. Which I have lots of.

At one point Alaina just grabbed Russell's hand and started dragging him through the water. He was trying so hard to pull away but he never fussed. So I guess he was ok with it. That is how he got comfortable with the water. Alain was so sweet. "Come on Russell" she would say as she pulled him along. There was a bunch of kids there and at one point one of the kids tried to walk between the two of them and they both just looked at the kid. Alaina tightened her grip on Russell's hand. They stood there for a couple of long seconds and then the kid just went around. Alaina looked so pleased. It was SO funny.

She has really started to be interested in playing with Russell. It is more of a "take care of the baby" kind of playing but he is able to keep up more and more. So fun for me as mom to see them together.

Thanks Alaina for dragging him through the water so I could get these great pictures!!! Russell also spent his time taking people's shoes. All I could figure is that he was cleaning up. Kids would leave their shoes by the water and he would pick them up and head for the grass. Man some people's kids.

I guess my pictures got all jumbled because this was at the beginning of the day. Landon was so ready to get wet.

Alaina is standing above a water fountain and it is shooting up her shorts.

This was at the beginning when Russell didn't want anything to do with the water but wanted to be with Aunt Morgan. Look at Landon hahaha.

This is our little group. Morgan and Brice with their kiddos. Marcos and Noel are some great friends that joined us. Marcos and Brice were in school together and they now live down the street from them. They have 2 girls that were a blast to have around. Their oldest was playing mommy, making sure the kids all had fun.

I guess Morgan's kids like to have water shot up their bums!! Haha This is a happy face by the way.

Landon trying to drink the water.

And he liked it splashing in his face. He is so happy!

The girls getting warm. And Alaina in her true fashion. That girl is always naked.

I had to put this up to show how different they are yet there isn't much difference in the height. She is tall and slender and he is tall and tankish. She looks like she is modeling.

After the splash pad we went back to Morgan's house and we played on the new zip line they put up.

Russell found Brice's tools. That kid loves tools!!

Here is Raelin going down the zip line. If you listen carefully you can here her say "Oh come on!" It is so funny. I have a video of her going all the way down without touching her feet to the ground but this one was so much more funny!

Now for Ryker's Birthday

He had a 4th of July birthday. Which means that he had his party on the 4th of July and there was fireworks! So here is his cake.

The shirt Toby and I got him. It is from Santa Cruz. I saw it while we were out there and I thought of Ryker. So I planed ahead and got it for him while I was out there. Then there is Ryker loving his cake.

Such a happy little birthday boy.

His poor eye. He just woke up from his nap with his eye like that. But he was regular Ryker about it was thought it was funny.

On the day of his real birthday (July 7th) we spent the day at the Lindon pool. Awesome pool by the way. I can't wait to go back. Then we came back to my house for dinner. Crab legs and fajitas. YUMMY!

I made Ryker a cake and he wanted one round and one square. I'll admit I thought it would turn out better then it did. I don't even think it tasted that good.

Happy Birthday Boys!!

Russell and Keith

2011-08-09T11:10:00.001-06:00

Keith is Toby's best friend and he is living with us. Russell LOVES Keith. Russell will walk down the hall and when he passes Keith's room he will stop say "hi", blow a kiss and keep walking. EVERY TIME. Oh it is so funny.

This day for some reason they were being extra cute. Russell can say Keith (he has been talking so much latley). It sounds like Eeth. But when he says it we all know who he is talking about.

Russell is in the stage of "pay attention to me". So if you don't he will climb in your lap and make you. Keith is a good sport about Russell.

Watching funny videos.

Oh so cute. Russell knows when the garage door opens that that means daddy is home and he will stop whatever he is doing and sign daddy until Toby gets up here. He also knows that when the front door opens that Keith is home. So he stops everything he is doing and says" Eeth, Eeth, Eeth" The funny part it that his voice gets high at the end. He has started to ask for Keith at random times too. Like when we are at the grocery store or at my parents house. He will look around and say "Eeth"

Russell likes to sit where we are. So if we are on the couch he climbs up and sits next to us. If we are on the floor he will come over and sit next to you like he is in this picture. Oh I just noticed he has the baby monitor so he can be more like Keith who has his phone. He is so cute.

New House

2011-08-09T07:43:00.000-06:00

FINALLY!! Here are pictures of our new house. We love it here. It is fitting us so well.

The front yard. There is more yard on both sides. And there are lots of mature trees that provide so much shad for the house and yard. We also have (well we think) 2 and a half peach trees in the front. They need a lot of love but we are happy to provide it. We did a lot of work to get the trees look this good.

Back yard. The big tree in the middle is a cherry tree where we enjoyed lots of delicious cherries already!! That whole thing is not a cherry tree there is another tree right behind it and they are kind of intertwined. We are excited for fall to fix that.

The yard goes all the way back. There is a shed that kinda marks the very back of the yard. Lots of room and we love it. We have so many ideas of what we could do back there. There already is a fire pit. But the dogs love all the space. I really want to get a great garden set up for next summer and then also we now have plenty of space for chickens!!!!!! So excited for that. Also the tree to the left that is shooting straight up is an apple tree. Another tree that needs some love that we can't wait to give.

Here is the deck that Toby is going to redo. I am SO excited to get that done. It makes the back yard not very safe for kids. When we are out there Russell just wants to climb the stairs. He has already almost fallen off once so we don't hang out back there much. I am so excited that the lumber showed up today so we can get started!! BBQ time!

Master. Wow it looks so small in this picture. It is actually quit big.

Part of the bathroom. Can I just tell you how happy I am to have my bathroom right next to my room. Oh I have missed that!! I am in heaven.

Russell's room. Again it looks so much smaller then it really is. His room is a great size. I can't wait until I can get it all decorated. Then to the right is Keith's room. His room is a little smaller then Russell's but I think that these room's are a great size.

The office. Just today I finished unpacking (for the most part). It is good enough for a while. But it is so nice to have space for everything officy.

Breakfast nooky thing.

Kitchen. The stove and more cabinets and counter are to the left behind that little wall. The dishwasher really sucks and we already replaced the faucet. Also Toby fixed an outlet that wasn't working. I love having a handy husband.

"Dining room" aka Russell's play area.

Toby just got that "big bag" the other day. He got it from work and it is actually really fun. Russell right now is having a blast climbing all over it.

Laundry room with my wonderful washer and dryer. My husband surprised me with them. SO happy to have my own. I don't mind doing laundry with these babies...speaking of which I should get the stuff out of the dryer!

The other half of the laundry room. Ya I know. How awesome is this. I almost feel bad that I am not crafty because I know that crafty people would love to have this room. But I still find the space WONDERFUL!

This is a favorite!! LAUNDRY SHOOT. Right next to the kitchen. This makes it great for dirty kid cloths, dirty Toby cloths and kitchen towels. Not so great for when kids just like to through anything down there. One day after my sister and her kids were over I found water bottles and chocolate chips. I thought it was weird that they got a hold of chocolate chips and instead of eating them they through them down the laundry shoot. HAHAHA!

Basement. The deck makes a great covered area for the dogs. That is what is outside the sliding doors there.

Most of this stuff is going to go into the garage but we have to organize that first. So this is the catch all for right now. We are hoping to make it into a play room with all bean bag chairs so there is one less thing for kids to break.

There is another room and a great bathroom but I didn't feel a need to take a picture of them because they are empty.

So this door is further down in the basement and probably my favorite part of the house.

Check out the storage we have. It is so big too. All of our stuff can fit down here. It is great. So the garage can stay empty and clean and all this stuff is organized.

So that is the house. I don't think we could be happier. I just can't wait for the deck to be done!!!

What happen's at Tia's house...

2011-08-08T10:04:00.001-06:00

The kids were over for about half an hour and they managed to get completely wet (they found the hose). Their day was supposed to be spent in Salt Lake with Grammy but all of their cloths were soaking. So we improvised.

They spent their day with these cloths on. Raelin is wearing my clothes. Ryker has my shirt and RUSSELL's shorts on!!!! Oh it was so funny.

Alaina decided to get all wet too...actually to think about it I bet she was the instigator(every time they come over she is either naked and wet or clothes and wet). But here she is in Russell's bathing suit. I took a bunch of pictures of this swimming day but I decided that I have so much more to blog about I should put my efforts into getting those done. But for some reason I love that Alaina can fit in Russell's cloths and I also love how cute she looks in them.

Father's Day

2011-08-06T20:38:00.001-06:00

Father's day was really chill. Toby always says that he doesn't want anything for father's day then he gets all sad that he didn't get anything. So this year he got something.

We also got my dad an undercarrage washer for his 4 wheeler. Toby really wants one now.

We were BBQing chicken at my parents house. Toby came out to start the BBQ.

He couldn't believe his eyes.

My dad was even excited.

It's not a great picture of the grill but it is AMAZING!!!

Keith went in on it with us and we try to grill as much as we can. Toby is a happy griller.

Happy Father's Day Toby, Doug and Dad.

I think a good sign of a father is how his children respond to him. AKA Toby you are a great dad!!!

Diaper Shoot

2011-08-05T11:46:00.003-06:00

Ok so here is the last post of the California trip. Man o man it was a long trip but I loved being able to spend so much time with my brother and Carmen. So during one of the BBQ's we took advantage of all the cloth diapered babies to get some picture for my sister's cloth diaper business Monkey Do Diapers. So here are a few of my favorites!

These diapers are so great. They are half the price of the ones that I was using and you can use any fabric you like so we have so many super cute diapers.

Russell and Mira. Love these two pictures of them. She is eyen him.

He is eyen her.

My sister made all of these and a ton more but the kids got kinda fussy so we didn't have a chance to change them into more but I will post more about the diapers later.

I like the one of the right. It shows the different stages the babies are in. Walking, crawling and scooting.

I love this group of pictures they are so funny.

I think the kids had fun. And so did all of us mommies. It was so funny to see all the mommies trying to wrangle all the kids to get them in good positions. Finally we just let them go and I think it worked out great!

"Boys are weird"

I love this one.

She was a blast to take pictures of!

Carmen filled in as Russell's mom. I have to say I don't think Russell could pass as Carmen's kid. She has that beautiful olive skin and gorgeous dark hair. He is as white as can be and so blond. HAHA But I guess Morgan has that same situation with her kids too. So OK it works!
I love how these turned out.

This was so much fun for me. I love taking pictures but I have a hard time knowing how to rearrange people to make the pictures better. I started to come out of my shell during this shoot. Not that I did a great job, it was just fun for me to experience taking charge in this situation. I hope to be able to do this more so I can start to really get good.

Anyway what a great trip. The only thing that could have made it better would be to have Toby there with us. It was so great to spend so much time with my family and to watch Jesse graduate. We are so proud of you bro. Thanks again for letting us invade you life for almost 2 weeks it was so much fun for us. I hope that you guys recovered well. Love you all!!!

THE BEACH

2011-08-05T11:43:00.000-06:00

This was Russell's first time at the beach. He was tired (shocker) so he wasn't in the best of moods.

Look at that grumpy face.

It took a lot to get him to walk even close to the water. In his defense the water was cold.

But he loved the sand.

I found how hard it is to go to the beach without Toby. Mainly because I wanted to take a lot of pictures and camera and beach are not a good combo. So I was keeping tabs on Russell while I was trying to make sure my camera was safe.

Granddad to save the day...from mommy who tried to put him in cold water.

I love Russell's little swim suit.

Carmen started to bury Ryker in the sand but he kept getting up so we all had to help so we could get enough sand on him before he could escape.

Then everyone wanted to get buried.

Alaina was my favorite. But Raelin got sand in her eyes and was not to happy.

After Ryker escaped his sand tomb.

There aren't many pictures of Russell because he fell asleep. I guess the beach bores him.

A couple of days later we went to the tide pools that were just down the street from Jesse's house. So we walked on down and guess who fell asleep. So I was taking pictures with sleeping baby on my back and trying not to fall in the ocean and not to ruin my camera. It was a lot of fun but a little scary. (for my camera)

Jesse got Lady (his dog) when he was living in Hawaii and she is a water dog. It was my first time seeing her in the ocean and let me tell you she was so entertaining.

Alaina found a star fish.

Carmen taking care of the little kiddles.

This is what Lady can do. So just dives right in and she will ride the waves in too.

Alaina started off the whole trip kind of afraid of the ocean but by the last beach trip she was wondering off by herself in the water. It was so awesome to see her progress.

Jesse is such a great Uncle. Alaina loved playing with Jesse in the water.

Lady riding the waves!!

Our group.

Ok so this is also what Lady can do. She will jump off of anything to get her ball. I wish I was able to get some better pictures of this because it really is amazing.

So beautiful. I miss the beach so much. I think Toby and I will have to live by the beach for a little while before we settle down. Every time I take Toby to the beach it is the worst weather and of coarse the one time I go to the beach without him it is BEAUTIFUL everyday!!!

Ryker LOVED throwing the ball for Lady.

Oh Landon is such a smiley guy!

Love this one. It is so cute.

Sleepy little boy!!

You can't really tell but she is so high in the air.

Jesse and his cute little family.

Random California

2011-07-26T13:47:00.034-06:00

Here is more from the California trip. About everyother night there was a BBQ. Lots of socializing and fun. So here are pictures of what we were up to at Jesse's house and the BBQ's.

Russell loves being outside and Jesse has a great backyard. Russell was not a fan of the chickens after he got pecked. But he was still so curious of them. I can't wait to get chickens!!!

Sleepy kids.

So sweet.

So I have said before how Russell had a hard time with naps while we were in Cali. Well him falling asleep at random times in our arms was a common thing. I felt so bad! I think my mom kinda liked it though. He is so wiggly now of days that having some cuddle time is rare so we all took advantage of it.

Russell and I at Jesse's BBQ.

Chelsea with her neice at Jesse's BBQ.
There were so many kids there (I think 10 or 11...most of them under 3).

Morgan got a hold of my camera....

Not that I am complaining. So cute.

I LOVE this picture. Look at Raelin's face!!! HAHAHA cracks me up. If you can't see it just click on the picture and it should get bigger. It is worth it.

This is Mona and Carmen. Mona was Jesse and Carmen's awesome "roommate" they had a building out back that she lived in but she shared the kitchen and bathroom with them. She was so great to have around. She also donated her room for a night so we could fit even more people there. She is so great! Thanks Mona. It was great to meet you.

More of Jesse's BBQ. There was so many great people there!!

Jesse and Mona's nephew (so cute) building a fire. Good thing Jesse just graduated from the fire academy.

Asher and his (if you can't tell) adorable daughter Mira!! Love them both so much.

This was a daily thing at Jesse's. The kids loved feeding the chicken. Oh and you can see Russell's and my tent in the background.

Oh this was so funny. I have a ton of picture of this game of tug of war.

Lady does so great with the kids.

Alaina finally got it from Lady but she walked across the whole yard and just dropped it. I was cracking up.

For some reason I didn't get a lot of pictures of Kyle's BBQ. But here is Russell with the snake cage. We had such yummy food and Kyle's house is in the most beautiful place. OH and her garden is gorgous!!! I has such a great time and I really didn't want to leave. Thank you so much Kyle for opening your house to us. It was so great to spend time with you.

Here is Landon helping my cousin Tyler change his oil. Like father like son. (Brice likes to work on cars.) So cute. This was at Ashers house where we had the final BBQ.

I LOVE Raelin's love for reading. All the kids were playing around and she found a quiet room to read.

I feel like all Russell did on this trip was sleep. I wish Toby was there to help. I think he would have done better if daddy was around. I could tell that Russell really missed Toby. One of the ways was that whenever Granddad was around he would want him (this is something that Russell would do when Toby is out of town at home). Not that Russell doesn't want Granddad when Toby is around. It's just that Russell needed some kind of replacement and that usually means Granddad.

Beautiful Chelsea!!

When we got back to Jesse's after Asher's BBQ Russell was a little more awake and Auntie Carmen was so helpful to help him eat some fresh eggs. I love all the visiting that we got to while we were there. We were able to get past the whole "what have you been up to?" and actually got to do more bonding with the friends and family that were around the whole week!! It was great.

Jesse's Graduation.

2011-07-23T15:00:00.027-06:00

Jesse graduated from the fire academy in June. The ceremony was actually great. It was just a little long for kids. Apparently this academy is one of the toughest ones in the state. And I think that California has tough acadamys anyway. We are all just so proud of him. You ROCK Jesse.

So here are a bunch of pictures of the BIG day!

Jesse just farted!
Just kidding

Alaina and Russell really started to hang out with each other on this trip. Alaina helped by keeping Russell occupied during the ceremony! She is great and he LOVES her.

Auntie Kyle and Alaina

I think it took everything that Ryker had to not run up on stage to be with Jesse.

We (everyone but Jesse) knew from the beginning that Jesse was getting an award but we didn't know which one. So I was ready with my camera all through the ceremony. It was getting toward the end of the program and he still didn't get his award and so I thought that maybe the award he got was for being the squad leader.

BUT no they just saved best for last. Jesse got TOP GUN!! This is the best cadet over all. In testing performance, attitude etc. I don't think it is a numbers thing. I think that the leaders of the academy get together to figure out who was the best. Jesse is it! We had a big, loud crowd for him so you can imagine the cheering when they awarded him. We are the best cheerers so if you need some cheering give us Lawler's a call!! We all got a little chocked up too. To be honest I am not that surprised. Jesse excels at everything he does, but it was so great for him to get that recognition.

I am not a writer so it's hard for me to explain the joy that I have for him in writing.

Jesse I love you so much and just think you are the best...(I'm actually getting chocked up writing this). I am so proud to call you my brother and I think I brag about you a bit to much. Continue to work hard and really show us what you are made of. You are a great brother, uncle and son. Thank you for what you add to our family. I love you. (ya I should have just had Morgan do it for me)

Carmen could't be prouder!

After there was LOTS of hugging. Mom was so happy!

Auntie Kyle

Cousin Chelsea giving Jesse some love.

Our crowd minus Asher. And Russell's head is hiding but her was there. Oh and Landon is kind of falling over so you can't really see him but he was there too.

They are so cute. I love how Jesse looks at Carmen.

Jesse I actually think you should bag this firefighter thing and just go with modeling. I mean seriously you are a natural.

LOVE THIS ONE!!

Great day!

Wrestling out front.

Raelin trying to wrangle Alaina to head to the car. Alaina didn't want to go she just wanted to play.

GREAT JOB JESS!

Northern California: Getting There and The Monteray Aquarium

2011-07-22T10:19:00.000-06:00

My AMAZING older brother Jesse graduated from the fire academy in June. All of my family, except for Toby, went out to Northern California for it. It was an awesome trip and I plan on posting several times because it was a LONG trip with LOTS of things to blog about.

So we start with our drive out. Russell and I tagged along with Morgan and her family. We had every seat filled in their Suburban. It was actually quite comfortable. Morgan's neighbor let them borrow a rack that went in their hitch. This made it so we had space for all that both families needed. BUT it rained for most of the day and all the stuff in the rack got wet. This included ALL of the Somers' clothes and my sleeping bag. We stopped to get a tarp and I think that saved us. We didn't get on the road until the afternoon so we stopped and camped just outside of Reno. It was a good thing that we stopped to get the tarp or we would have had to get a hotel. I don't think it would be a good idea to camp with all wet clothes and a wet sleeping bag.

Waiting for hot dogs.

Cleaning up and getting ready to get back on the road the next morning.

Brice is putting the tent away.

(Side story) When we went on vacation as kids my mom would prepare trip bag for us. Every now and then we would get a bag with treats and toys (from the dollar store, nothing big or expensive) that would keep us entertained for a while. I find that helped make our trips better and memorable. I have just as many memories of the drives as I do the destinations. When we were older my dad would add riddles to our in-drive entertainment. Whoever got it right would get some sort of treat all to themselves (like a frosty from Wendy's)...in stead of having to share. Apparently it didn't take much to motivate us. But I love what that did for the interactions between all of us kids and my parents. I feel like we talked more and learned as well. My mom would tell us about the landscape and any memories that her or my dad had about where we were. I would LOVE to be able to provide the same memories for my kids instead of just putting on a movie so they could be zombies for the drive (that sounds tempting though). I feel like they...well we all would really miss out of a lot. Also they could see the great country that we get to live in. It being 4th of July today I have to add that we live in a great country with so many opportunities and it would be a shame to miss seeing our beautiful variety of landscape.

For this trip I didn't have my mom and dad to provide entertainment for us and the kids but I did have my sister. She used my mom's idea for this trip and she was so kind to include Russell. So every couple of hours or so Russell, and all the kids, got a new toy to play with. Also my sister read Little House in the Big Woods which provided entertainment to all of us. It was awesome. THANKS MORGAN!!

We still didn't get into Santa Cruz until 7 or 8 the next night because we stopped to look around a town by Tahoe called Grassvalley (Morgan and Brice are planning on moving there as soon as he is done with school.). We looked at some houses. I wish I got some pictures because it was beautiful.
We got to Jesse's house just as the babies starting to get over the whole being in a car situation. But I would say all the kids did a great job.

The next morning the photo ops just poored out. The kids all had a new place to explore and play.

She is so silly.

They play so well together.

My brother has chickens. I LOVED it. Fresh eggs every morning. I really want chickens now.

Russell is such an outside boy. He loves being outside. Also Jesse has a piano so Russell was either outside or playing the piano.

My sweet brother was so kind as to let us ALL stay at his house. Now his house is not what you would call large. It is a 2 bedroom 1 bathroom. We smashed 11 people in that place. It was...interesting. Russell and I started out in the living room where we would blow up the air mattress every night. Poor Russell didn't have a place to nap during the day so he was tired almost the whole trip. After a couple of nights Russell and I moved out to the back yard in a tent...that made things a better. It was nice out there and we had our own space. But Jesse's house was so sweet and cozy. I really enjoyed staying with them. Also being 3 blocks from the beach didn't hurt either.
Anyway...the first day we were there we went to the Monteray Aquarium.

Jesse hates getting his picture taken but he is so photogenic...ok maybe not in this picture but you will see what I mean. The whole ride out to California whenever we would stop Alaina would say, "Jesse's house?" All the kids love Uncle Jesse.

She had such a great time. Just for your information she is wearing Russell's sweatshirt.

Carmen is Jesse's fiance and we all just love her. We are so happy to call her family. I have to say my brother has good taste. Love you Carrrrmen!!

So sweet. Told you the kids love her.

This is Carmen's mom and Alaina. Alaina was with her the whole day!!!

For some reason Russell really liked this play area.

Granddad opened this door and it made a noise. Russell would put granddad's hand on the knob to open it again and again.

Russell got grumpy and here is Grammy totally over his attitude...Just kidding I just happened to catch her not smiling. But he was grumpy. She was happy to help me out though.

This was a favorite of mine. It was a dome and a big dump of water would flow over the glass. It made you feel like you were in a wave. Cute kids.

Raelin really like it here too. I'll be honest it was a long day for me. It was so hard to wrangle Russell and take all the pictures that I wanted. But it was a preview of what the rest of the week was going to be. But it was worth it!! Thanks to everyone who helped with Russell. I really appreciate it.

Ryker's Graduation Party

2011-07-01T10:31:00.001-06:00

Ryker graduated from Kindergarten. We had a little dinner for him. It was mostly a reason to just get together and eat some yummy food.

My mom made lasagna and Russell actually liked it. He is a picky eater.

When ever Alaina is over and I am giving Russell a bath she is naked and in the tub before you know what is going on. So after this nights bath I decided to do her hair and I had a great time. Look how cute she is. So not like me to be into this but she looks so cute. We came out and I said, "I think I want a girl more then I thought."

PIE!! and the party.

Traditional Alaina beautiful and messy at the same time.

I had so much fun taking pictures of this girl...

Like always.

So it was a fun night...Crazy storm but it was fun! Not to many pictures of Ryker...I'm sorry buddy.

Toby's Birthday and Dinner in the Canyon

2011-07-01T00:03:00.000-06:00

Toby didn't want to do anything for his birthday but my mom would never allow that. So we actually had 2 dinners for him with presents.

He is so handsome!

He was also excited for presents. They were all new cloths.

Russell is starting to like hats.

Russell liked helping open presents.

Toby always gets mud pie for his birthday...yet this was the first time that I made it. And it was REALLY good if I do say so myself.

Just some other stuff going on:

Russell aerated my parents lawn.

Then a couple of days later we went up into the canyon for dinner. It was so nice to get up there. It is one of our favorite places!

Sadie missed up there just as much as we did.

He love's his grammy.

Toby love introducing new, sticky, sugary things to Russell.

I love him.

Grandma Illene and Grandpa Tom's visit

2011-06-30T23:43:00.003-06:00

In April one of my cousins got married and my grandparents came up to Utah for that. So we had the opportunity to spend MORE time with my grandparents again. It was so great to spend so much time with them the past month. Also Russell's personalluity exploded between the time that we went to visit them in Cali and when they came out to Utah. So we just had a blast watching Russell show off.

He was struting around like he knows he is cute. It makes for a great laugh.

He was a crack up this particular visit. He was interacting with my grandma in such a sweet way. He would crawl from one end of the table then back to her and touch his forehead to hers laughing the whole time.

Kisses now of days are given all the time but back in April it was hard to get a kiss. This night he was initiating them with grandma.

hugs too.

They had such a great time together. They occupied the whole night.

Like I said his personality exploded. He was acting more like a little boy then a baby. Interacting with us instead being independently entertaining.

More kisses.

I love my grandma. She is such a beautiful lady. She is also so sweet and petite, and next to Russell he makes her look even smaller.

"GG the phone is for you."

These smiles and laughs are all new.

Here he is playing peek a boo with Grandpa Tom.

"I'm gunna get you!!"

He was extremely entertaining that night and I love that I had my great new camera. I don't think that with my old camera I would have been able to get so many of these moments recorded.

California Trip Part 2

2011-06-27T14:12:00.001-06:00

So after Darlene's wedding we went to my grandparents house to visit with them. They were so great to let us stay with them for the night. We had a great dinner followed by watching Russell be super cute. Grandpa Tom blew up some balloons and Russell thought they were just great.

But once again I had a hard time choosing which pictures I was going to post so I just did a bunch.

GG playing hide and seek.

He was having the best time with those balloons.

LOVE his face.

Look at how big his face is!! Hello Charlie Brown.

My grandma and I are clapping because he is doing his new balloon trick (the video that is down a little further).

Balloon trick in action.

We didn't get a great video of his balloon trick but what we did get was still cute. He would put the tail piece in his mouth and smack it against his face. It was so funny!

The next morning my grandparents had early church and we needed to head back home. But there is always time for blocks with Grandpa Tom.

Usually Russell will knock the tower down faster then you can build it. But I guess he liked Grandpa Tom's so much he didn't want to ruin it.

It took a little while but he warmed up and they had a fun morning.

These blocks are the best. If they get wet they stick to things like Russell's forehead.

Love both of those smiles!!

One of Russell's favorite games. Wearing mommy's head band. Oh pretty.

Thank you guys so much. It wasn't much time but we will always cherish it.

I love that he looked at both of them.

We actually forgot to give Darlene and Mason our present but luckily they were honeymooning in Las Vegas (where would you honeymoon when you live in Hawaii?). So we dropped off the present at their hotel. BUT it did take us 6 hours just to get to Vegas and drop off the gift. It was spring break so everyone was trying to get back home. Toby and I were snipping at each other pretty bad and Russell was getting so tired because he didn't sleep much in the car the whole trip. So eventually we decided to stay the night. I think it was a good idea. We had such a great time last time we were in Vegas that we always want to come back. We knew we weren't going to get that great of an experience but we at least wanted to go to a great dinner. A lot of places won't let you take kids so we were limited. We ended up in a buffet and I will tell you right now that is was not that good especially for what we paid. WASTE of money. But we did get to have a nice comfortable night. We were all rested for the drive home. As you can see Russell really enjoyed the view. Poor Toby still had to go to work almost right when we got back. But I think we still had a great trip.

Dog House

2011-06-27T10:24:00.000-06:00

Toby and I decided that Sadie should become a strictly outside dog again. The space was just to small for her big tail. Also I was getting really bored of vacuuming all the time (like every other day). Also we thought we might be moving soon so we should get her ready for being outside for that (it would be easier to find a place if we didn't have an inside dog). Anyway we got started right away. There really isn't much to say about it so here are a bunch of pictures that I had a hard time deciding which ones to use so I used all of them.

I love his smile!

Russell has become such a copy cat. I love it. So he decided he was going to show dad how it is done.

When he was out with us it was hard to keep him out of trouble...but I guess a paint brush will do it. He is sitting here brushing the saw dust. He is such a cleaner.

Before paint

After.

Russell found the lid to the pain. So it was bath time.

I would love to show you a finished product but it is still not done. Just for your information I have not been keeping up with my blog (something new for me) but these pictures were taken May 2. We have had a lot of things going on that are making it hard to finish but I promise it will happen before the summer is over!!

Easter

2011-06-27T09:45:00.000-06:00

I LOVE Easter. My parents did a great job making awesome holiday traditions and Easter is in my top 5... no 2 easy. This year was a little different because we didn't have a big group of friends. We just had family. It was a nice change but we still love when we have people joining in the fun with us.

At church I taught my little primary class (5 year old kids). We did a Easter Egg hunt. In each egg was a little something that helped tell the Resurrection story. The kids loved it and so did I. It was a great way tell the story of the resurrection and it is something that I will be doing with my kids.

After church Morgan and Brice came over with their kids and we did our traditional egg hunt...You know the one where the kids look for their eggs for 5 min then the adults spend and hour looking for their eggs. This year my dad changed things up and the kid eggs were in the front yard and the adults were in the pasture...(about 2 acres). It was a little intimidating. I also think our neighbors might think we are a bit crazy. Us adults are all wondering around the pasture with our little bags looking for little plastic eggs. HAHA I love it.

Alaina taking advantage of the big kids looking for eggs so she could have some time on the trampoline by herself.

She is getting so brave and she is knows she is really cute.

Ryker looking for eggs.

It's getting really fun with the kids getting older. My dad can get creative with their eggs.

Someone always ends up in a tree.

The two boys hangin out together.

My dad took the picture before this one and you can see Morgan taking a picture of them so I thought you should see the picture she took.

Alaina looking for her eggs.

The boy looking for the lost egg. Some of the eggs were in the sprinkler boxes.

Brice found a salamander in one of them. Raelin was the first one there begging to hold it and take it home. I love her. She is frearless.

I love that she is posing with it like she is in love. This girl loves all creatures. She is great. I love you Raelin!

Raelin was a big help with the adult hunt.

My dad put a big swing up in the tree in the pasture.

It is my favorite. I love swings...just like Raelin.

Girls won. Boys are still looking for their eggs.

She doesn't ride the scooter she just drags it around everywhere.

Ryker can ride a big kid bike. That doesn't mean no training wheels (he has been able to do that for a while) it means that he can barley reach the ground when he is on it. And turning is tricky. He crashed a lot but he is tough and determined to get it down.

This is the Easter outfit Toby picked out for Russell. Yes that is a superman shirt.

I LOVE my parents property. It is so beautiful and peaceful.

Easter usually has a lot of candy but Morgan and I were in charge of candy this year and we decided to just do a little candy and only the good stuff. So we had a lot less eggs, most of them were filled with change. It turned out good. There was still one egg that we couldn't find. Maybe the horses will have a nice treat some day this year. HAHA.

I feel like this year we really concentrated on Christ. After the egg hunt and dinner my mom told us the story of the Resurrection. She had spend 6 months in Europe during college so she was able to tell us about her time in Gethsemane and the spirit that was there. It was amazing how clear her memory was and the picture she was able to paint for us. With her story and my teaching my class I feel like Easter this year was all about what it really should be about, Christ. I loved what I learned and what I was able to teach Russell. Being a mom has changed so much of my general thinking. In high school all I cared about was candy and now I LOVE that I was able to celebrate Christ and all he has done for us! Thank you to all who helped make this Easter so wonderful.

California Trip and Darlene's Wedding

2011-06-27T08:34:00.000-06:00

My wonderful friend Darlene got married in April. Toby and I had to opportunity to go to California for her wedding. The reception was the night before but I forgot my camera. It was a great night though. There was good food and old friends. Darlene looked beautiful...as usual.

The next day at the temple we couldn't find some one to watch Russell so Toby offered to stay outside with him so I could go to the sealing. Thank you TOBY...you are the best.

After the the temple we went to the visitor center to get out of the heat while we waited for Darlene and Mason.

Russell loves to fly.

Darlene and Mason

Darlene, Mason and some of their family.

I was so happy that I got to be there for her reception and her sealing! She has been such a great friend (she came to Utah when Toby and I got sealed...the day before her birthday) and I love seeing her so happy.

Russell IS in this picture.

We spend a lot of our time taking pictures around the temple. Such a beautiful place.

I love these boys. The one on the right is my favorite.

It was a warm day but we were HAPPY to be out in the heat and not in the cold. When we left Utah it was snowing like crazy.

Russell likes flowers.

I LOVE that Toby was able to get some pictures of me and Russell. I would much rather be behind the camera but I like having pictures of Russell and I.

Toby again shows off his one handed picture taking skills. He did pretty good.

I love his happy face.

It was so great to be at the temple and to just spend the afternoon at such a special place.

Me and Darlene. I meant to look like crap...I didn't want to show up the bride. HA.

Thanks Darlene for letting us share in your GREAT day. There was more of the trip but I wanted to highlight the great day we spent at the temple.

PICTURES

2011-06-23T19:09:00.000-06:00

Here are a bunch of pictures from a long time ago all the way til last week or so.

This was taken the week before Landon was born. About a year ago. Both girls have grown up so much. I have mixed feelings about that!

This is a more recent picture.

He is such a ham.

Russell found Alaina's cup of milk with oreo's in it

He was such a mess.

He slipped and fell!!! I was laughing but he was crying!!

He can now climb out of the tub...not a good thing.

Cute little boy. (Thanks Matuauto's for the outfit!) LOVE it!

This is how this kid eats. He just stuffs it ALL in his mouth!!

These are SO old. But he is really cute. He looks like such a baby here. Now he looks like a boy. It is going so fast but I am having a blast!

These kids were just sitting here with their arms around each other. This was not staged. I LOVE Russell's happy face here.

Russell is showing Toby how to build a dog house. I think I have posted this before but I just LOVE it.

At the risk of waking a sleeping baby I had to get a picture of a common sleeping position for Russell. Check out the foot. I wish my baby monitor had a record button. I would capture his BEST stuff.

Russell likes lasagna.

Ryker had this lovely outfit on under his jeans. Toby thought it would be funny to hog tie Russell. Russell seemed to like it too...for a little while.

April Birthday's

2011-05-18T10:47:00.000-06:00

So April is CRAZY for birthdays for both Toby and my side of the family. We had a last minute get together for my Dad and Morgan. Nothing special but it was a bunch of fun.

Russell and Landon were on the floor and for the first time Russell got really interested in Landon. Maybe a little too interested. Russell acted like he wanted to hug Landon (not something we taught him to do yet) but then it turned into more of a strangling thing. No one got hurt but we were all confused about what Russell was trying to do because he was all smiles and laughs.

Landon had some good defenses though. I didn't post a picture but Russell kept putting his finger in Landon's mouth and Landon would bit him. It was actually extremely funny.

My parents got Morgan a picnic table for their new deck that they are building.

We were going to try to get my dad a new lawn lower but when we were doing our sneaky way of asking him about getting one he said that he didn't want one. My dad's birthday was April 1st. So we wanted to play a April fools joke. We got a key and put a John Deere key chain on it and Toby said, "Sorry we couldn't help ourselves."

This is really what he got. Ryker had the best timing. When we reveled that he wasn't REALLY getting a lawn mower Ryker yelled, "APRIL FOOLS HAHA" We all just started cracking up (If you know Ryker's laugh this would make more sense why it was so funny.) After, we felt bad because I think he would have really liked a new lawn mower.

We had some delicious cheesecake and this wonderful chocolate mouse cake thingy from Costco. I love Costco. Morgan and my Dad had a milk war (milk war is when you run out of milk so you take someone else's milk when they aren't looking) and I think Morgan had some milk come out her nose. I don't think I have laughed that hard in a while.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALL YOU OLD PEOPLE!

Russell is walking

2011-05-17T14:48:00.000-06:00

I have so much to right about but this is just so exciting that I am just going to skip it for now and get this up so you can all see what awesome things are happening here.

Parent's Bathroom

2011-05-09T20:38:00.059-06:00

Living with my parents has been such a joy. One of the things that Toby and I like is that we get to "pay" rent in creative ways. They don't ask us to pay rent but we feel like we should contribute somehow. So we get creative. So through the years of living with them we have gotten them: a stove, a dishwasher, a vacuum and the newest one was remodeling their bathroom. My parents wanted to pay Toby to do their bathroom but Toby thought it would be better if he just did if for our rent. He wanted enough time to get it done fast so they aren't out a bathroom for to long. So Toby decided that over Mother's Day weekend we were going to get it all done while my parents were in California for my uncle's wedding. They had no idea.

So here is a before picture.

If you look at the top left part of the bath tub you can see part of it is peeling off. It was much worse a while ago. This is one of the reasons why my parents wanted to get the bathroom done. So my dad was just going to get that piece bent back. Toby thought that tiling it would look way better. My dad was a little hesitant.

So we decided that we were going to make the executive decision to tile it.

Toby had to work a bunch so there was a lot of late nights and me making decisions by myself. If you know me that is not something that I am good at. I don't like making decisions. SCARY! Thanks Estelle for going shopping with me and helping me pick out the tile. I love how it turned out.

Toby and I really enjoyed working together on this project.

We had a lot of fun together.

Here is a final product.

So we painted, tiled the floor and the tub and we put up new base board. We also put up new light fixtures and new towel racks and toilet paper holder.

I know that this is a lame picture but here is what happened. I kept close contact with my mom to make sure I knew when they were going to be home. They left for their trip on Thursday in the late afternoon and came home Sunday night. So Toby and I were seriously tight on time. He was putting up the toilet paper holder when they pulled up. When he was done he ran out to meet my dad. He said, "Hey so I got that piece of the tub fixed but I just need a little help, do you think you could come help me for just a second?" I was sitting on the toilet waiting for them to come and see. I didn't get a good picture of my dad because we had the door open and so he could see from the bedroom.

But we shut the door for my mom.

She was really happy. I think she cried a little. It was a lot of work but it was totally worth it. Toby and I enjoyed working together. The hardest part was deciding what they would want. We didn't know if we should get things that would look really nice or things that were cheap. In the end they were really happy with everything we did. So this was our last rent we payed them and I think it was a hit.

Russell's New Thing

2011-05-09T20:09:00.000-06:00

I LOVE THIS!!!

Russell is 1!!!

2011-05-09T19:48:00.000-06:00

My baby is 1. I am freaking out! We celebrated his birthday the Sunday before his birthday with Family. We had some great food and it was loads of fun.

Here is the AWESOME cake Toby and I made. (It's a pond. And the frogs are on lily pads if you couldn't tell)

Brice really liked the food.

Like every other kid Russell was more engaged with the wrapping then the gifts.

They even tasted better.

This was a gift from the Somers. It is a lavender scented hippo (to help calm him down at bed time) with an awesome cloth diaper that my sister made. She has been selling diapers for a little while now and things are going really well. It's really exciting. So if you or someone you know is into cloth diapering consider MonkeyDoDiapers.

Here are the shoes that Toby and I got Russell. I LOVE baby shoes. So I think this gift was more for me then it was for Russell. But hey I worked hard last year on his birthday. Right?

Also Toby and I have been wanting to get Russell some bongos for MONTHS. Russell had always been interested in the sound different surfaces make when he hits them.

And he likes them!!

Then it was cake time.

Russell has one of the plastic frogs from the top of the cake in his mouth with the head sticking out.

Oh he was such a messy pig. I loved every second of it.

"How big is the birthday boy?"

"BAAA" Translates to "This is the best birthday EVER!!"

"Here dad try some. It's so good."

Then on Tuesday (March 29th his actual birthday) we just had a little dinner and cake again. This time it was going to be just Toby, Russell and I but some friends who couldn't make it on Sunday came Tuesday. This made the night feel like more of a celebration.

Such a happy little guy.

This is Kayla. She really wanted to give Russell his cake. I think she did a wonderful job.

Toby had to play referee because Russell likes to grab fire.

Oh look at this face

Kayla and Mercedes. Sweet little girls.

Thank you Kane family for spending the evening with us. And thank you everyone else who was able to celebrate Russell's first birthday.

At the end of the day I though about the day Russell was born and what a great day it was. I feel so grateful to be able to have this wonderful child of God in my life. I am very thankful to my Heavenly Father for allowing me to a mother to Russell. I am also so blessed to have the spiritual guidance I have to rely on while I try to do my best to be a good mom.

I love being a mom and I am so happy that we have survived the first year of parenthood. (Though there have been some close calls.)

A Beautiful Day

2011-05-09T16:14:00.001-06:00

The weather here in Utah has been so crazy. One day it will be almost a blizzard outside then the next day it's shorts, t-shirt, lunch out on the grass kind of day. So one of the GREAT warm days was the one after our pilot peak trip. It was fun to come home from church to have my sister and her family all here to play. The kids wanted to ride the horses. Now I think I have posted about the horses before and how they are barn sour (really grumpy by being handled by humans.) Brice grew up with horses and feels really comfortable working with them. So he got the kids all set up for some bare back riding.

The rest of us watched and played in the sun.

When you don't know Alaina as well as I do I find it really hard to capture her cutness on camera. So when I look at a picture I think it is WAY cute because I can see what she was doing when I was taking the picture. But I find that that pictures don't do her any justice.

Here she is wearing a kitchen towel skirt her mom made. She looks like a little pilgrim.

She was the first one to want to ride the horses. She is fearless. I love it.

She LOVES her daddy.

Ryker was next. Here is Brice teaching Ryker how to turn around.

Ryker was a natural.

He handled this situation like a pro.

So proud to be riding all by himself.

Then it was Raelin's turn.

Brice teaching her how to steer.

She got the hang of it nice and fast.

Granddad hangin with Landon.

I guess Alaina got thirsty.

Here is Sadie and Cody playing.

Last Halloween Toby and I got this coat for Sadie so she could be an eskimo but it was WAY to small. (Not sure what we were thinking.) So we gave it to Cody. It was so funny to see him running around with it on.

It was a great day!!!