Face Painting

Disneyland

Our First Night

This picture was taken on our balcony at the Sheraton Park Hotel. We had a great view of the fireworks at night!

The first night we walked over to The Cheesecake Factory, which was fabulous as always!

Airport

We just got back from a vacation to Disneyland with my parents. Here are some pictures at the airport. The girls were so excited to fly in an airplane!

6 Months Old

Once again Sophie is getting bigger & time is flying by faster. Sophie has started changing quite a bit lately. She is more determined & is starting to move all around the room from her belly by either rolling or army crawling. She is actually trying to get on all fours, which is strange because our other girls we had to encourage by 9 or 10 months. She is somewhat sitting up, but is still wobbly. She also just discovered her jaw, opening & closing it like she is chomping on a piece of gum. Sophie went to her 6 month check-up yesterday & she was a little over 14 lbs. (which puts her in the 19% for weight), she was 25 3/4 in. tall (about the 50% for height), & her head circumference was 16.1 in. (9%). Sophie is such a sweet baby & loves her sisters (in turn they all give her loads of attention). Sleeping patterns have digressed at night (my fault). But overall she is a really good baby! I love her so much!

IT'S RAINING, IT'S POURING!

Today at my parent's house it was raining, so Madelyn & Emma grabbed these plastic containers & went out in the rain.


And this is what happens if you hold Sophie above your head (not so smart or fun to have spit up not only all over your hair, but in your eyes as well). Sorry mom!

Sophie got a HAIRCUT!

Sophie's hair has been pretty sad lately! I refered to it as the "comb-down", because it was the opposite of a man's hair problem....she had lots of hair on top but not so much on the bottom. So today, with the help of my mom, I cut her hair. It probably needs some help, especially in the bang area, but I think she looks a lot better. I am having a hard time getting used to how light her hair is because all of her dark baby hair is gone. But really, this is why I really would like bald babies so that I wouldn't have to figure out what to do with all the hair!

OUR 8TH ANNIVERSARY

Today is Brandon & my 8th year anniversary! I am seriously the luckiest woman to have such an incredible spouse! So here are 50 things I love about Brandon:

1. That he loves me.
2. That he loves our girls as much as I love them (and that is A LOT)!
3. That when he promised me FOREVER he meant it.
4. That he makes me want to be a better person, wife, & mother.
5. That he is a lot like my dad (if you know my dad that is a compliment) because he is so giving and does so much for our children.
6. That he has a strong testimony of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and has a close relationship to Heavenly Father.
7. That he is a hard worker and motivated.
8. That he puts the older three girls in bed at night.
9. That he not only holds the priesthood, but honors it and is always prepared and willing to give blessings to me & the girls when we need them.
10. That he supports me & knows how important it is for me to stay home with our children. He has worked many jobs and many long hours and sacrificed so that I could stay home. I just love that for him it is not an option that I go to work.
11. That he is honest. It seems like honesty is a harder trait to find in people.
12. His smile and his laugh and that I am still attracted to him, if not more, after 8 years of marriage.
13. That he has never said “NO” to me. Believe me I’ve said “no” many times, but I really can’t think of a time when he told me I couldn’t do something.
14. That he cares about making memories with our family. When he wanted to get a trailer I thought it was too expensive & I wasn’t too interested in the whole idea, but it has been a great investment because we have created so many wonderful memories that our children will remember.
15. That he mows the lawn. Silly, but I’m glad I don’t have to do it.
16. That he doesn’t complain (to me anyway) when the house isn’t clean & there isn’t dinner ready because he realizes that having four children & taking care of everything in the home is difficult (if not impossible).
17. That he is close to his and my family. Luckily we don’t have any in-law drama.
18. That he is excited about his new calling as Ward Clerk and is happy and wanting to do anything that is asked of him.
19. That he still will compliment me when he thinks I look “pretty”.
20. That he notices when I’m not so put together (mentally) & is willing to help me with whatever I need or will encourage me to have a break.
21. That he makes sure that we have Family Home Evening.
22. That when I ask him (which is probably only 3-4 times a year) to do the dishes he does them.
23. That he speaks 3 languages. I personally think it is a turn on!
24. The he enjoys his job and I believe does really well at it. I know it has to be a lot of stress to be the sole provider of our family, but I am so grateful that he has found a career that he enjoys (although I know is difficult at times) but works to constantly improve what he is doing.
25. For the most part we think the same, especially on the IMPORTANT things.
26. That he faithfully served a mission and wants to serve one with me when we are older.
27. He is preparing now for our future.
28. He enjoys helping others.
29. As much as I love the deer hunting season, I am glad that he has things, which he enjoys, that allow him to have a break.
30. That he has enough patience for FIVE females (and believe me you need A LOT).
31. Talking to him at night when neither of us can go to sleep.
32. That our girls are all daddy’s girls (the older 3, anyway). It’s because he not only spoils them, but he shows them in everything he does how much he loves and cares for them.
33. That he LOVES food! This comes in handy especially since I’m not the greatest cook.
34. He has a strong testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith and loves learning as much about his life as he can.
35. That he is an over-protective parent. He has been since the day that Sydnee was born and for many people, they probably got the impression that he didn’t trust me with them. But he really cares about every aspect of their well-being from them making right decision to how many poopy diapers they have had. He wants to know that they are alright.
36. His homemade spaghetti sauce! YUM!
37. Watching Forensic Files and eating popcorn together.
38. That he can read me like a book. He ALWAYS know when something is bothering me!
39. That he will take turns with me getting up with the girls in the middle of the night. This shows once again what an incredible father he is!
40. Going on trips with him. We have had so much fun on our trip to Cancun, the Mediterranean cruise, Hawaii, and our family trips to Jackson, San Diego, and our many camping adventures.
41. His eyes. (aka “two piss holes in a snow bank” – his terminology not mine)
42. Our relationship I believe is 50/50. We both give and then are able to take.
43. That he gave me a gift certificate for a facial and massage for our anniversary.
44. Snuggling with him.
45. That he cares what is important to me and tries to support me in those things.
46. He makes me HAPPY!
47. He allows me to enjoy decorating our house & the many crazy projects I have created and have ALMOST done them with a smiling face!
48. He is the patriarch in our family & takes his responsibility to lead our family seriously.
49. Just about everything!
50. That he is the best husband that I could have asked for! He has far surpassed any
”ideal” man I could have dreamed of as far as a spouse or the father of my children. I have had the best 8 years of my life because I have had him by my side and I look forward to the rest of our lives and eternity together! Brandon, I LOVE YOU!

PRAYER

I was talking to our girls the other night about prayer & how Heavenly Father always listens to us. Sydnee was deep in thought & then finally asked, "Mom, does Heavenly Father grant wishes?" I told her that in a way He does because if we ask Him for something & He thinks that it is something that we need He will give it to us. She then preceded to tell me that there is a boy at school that she thinks is kind of cute & so she said a prayer that he would like her and play with her. Then she said "it hasn't worked". I thought it was a very cute & a little scary that boys are starting to be "kind of cute" to her.

Zucchini Anyone???

Since so many people have been posting about their garden veggies on their blogs, I thought I should too! We have quite an assortment of life-sized squash in our garden just ready to be picked so if anyone is hungry, come on over!

So you ask, do I like eating fresh garden vegetables? YES
Am I a gardner? NOT SO MUCH