New......

This is what we have been up to this last week. This little girl was born pretty early and is still in the hospital. She is most likely going to go with her aunt, but for now we are visiting her in the hospital trying to help her feel loved and cared for. It is fun to hold such a tiny and sweet little baby.

And this sweet little girl is the newest addition to the family. She is almost 8 weeks old and we just brought her home today. So, we need a name for her. Right now she is very calm, ok afraid and not hyper at all. She is a lab mix. Everybody let me know your ideas for a name. If these aren't pictures of a very busy house hold I don't know what is.

More Vacation

Ok, I had to include a shot with Jason in it. He was there, and we all had a good time. Here he is rescuing poor Joseph from the waves and a dog. The dog was on a leash and not even paying any attention to us, but poor Joseph was sure the dog was going to eat him and his bucket, and his shoes. Tell me how we are ever going to get a dog for Caleb when Joseph is so terrified of them. This is some of the cousins at the big stump. It is an ancient stump that was washed ashore a long time ago. It was pretty cool. And yes that is construction in the background. Even on vacation we have to be right next to the construction. Seriously, our yurt is only about a one minute walk from here.

This is my ALL BOY Trever. Keri took us on a nature walk and we found a newt. All the kids held it..... except Joseph, but Trever had to kiss it. Lets just say that I prefer kisses on the cheek instead of the lips from my darling Trever. I took a few minutes on Thurs day morning to try and get some good pictures of the ocean. Caleb came with me and this is one of my favorite shots.
I have lots of pictures of the Aquarium , but this was my favorite creature that we saw. It is a Japaniese spider crab. Totally amazing. The whole time we were on this trip, I missed diving. I remember the time I went diving in Puget sound. The ocean facinates me. I will choose warmer waters to dive in next time though.

Vacation

This is how we started our trip to the Oregon Coast. It was a long ride, and mom and dad were ever so greatful for the wonderful technology of portable Dvd players, game boys, and leap pads. Each stop we made, the kids would have to sing abc's, count to 20, do the 7's times tables and tell me three things they saw that were different from home, before I would let them turn the movie back on. (I am an evil and cruel mother I know.) The entire 853 miles to the campsite at Beverly Beach State park Joseph kept asking....."Are we on our twip" I would say "yes honey, this our trip" He would then adamately insist that he have his bucket that I had purchased for the trip to the beach. He learned how to say Idaho, Utah and Oregon as well as finially ....... the beach where he was givin his bucket. He could not have been happier.
This is the Yurt we stayed in. It had electricity and a light in it as well as a pretty good heater. This one also came complete with a racoon living under it. He growled at Caleb and I one night as we came out to go to the bathrooms. When we came back he was slinking under the yurt. All night long I heard him dragging and trying to get into various plastic things that he was finding elsewhere in the campsite. The next morning, while we were eating breakfast, he came back. I swear I could read his thoughts. "If there were only three of you instead of four, I would seriously take you on." (Jason was having a shower)

The ocean was very very cold, but the kids loved to run from the waves anyway. It never pored rain on us, but it never did get really warm either. The sky in this picture is about the best shot of the sun I had.

Hanging in There

Well, our dear little boy has returned to his great Grandma. We have all been a little sad this week. Our prayers will always be with him and all of our children....especially the ones that aren't living with us. On top of that I just finished taxes. Though it could have been worse, it was not as pleasant as it could have been either. And as if that weren't enough, the tredmill is truely kicking my butt. I am pretty sure the machine is evil and only thrives on my pain. Tomorrow we go to Kindergarten round up for Trever. He is soooooo very excited. I am happy for him, and am praying that he will have a good schooling experience. What a journey.
Well, I thought I would get the negitives out of the way. I intend to get some cute pics, and fun stories to post next. Please everyone pray for spring. I can't stand the cold any more.

Being mom is often a gross job

Ok, I guess I am looking for some sympathy, or maybe just misery loves company, so I thought I would share. We have had another round of the the cold junk going through the house. Trever just gets really stuffy, and has a cough. Joseph.......my dear boy. I really need him to find a clue and some desire in the potty training department. Nasty Nasty (toxic waste type) diapers. Then the nose......Well, then the baby got it. He is so stuffy, the dr. gave us a machine to suck the grossness out with. Seriously, this machine is just about as big as the baby is and sucks at about 4lbs of pressure. Now you all should be thankfull I am not really using my adjectives well, and going in to detail. Bottom line here is that I am sleep deprived and if someone throws up in the next day or so I will have covered evey gooey nasty ooze they can put out. I thought CNA's took care of this kind of stuff. Have you ever noticed that kids can't keep their fingers out of their faces, or yours when they are sick...... so yes, now I am getting it...........all. At least I can say I taught my kids to share.
I guess Trever and Joseph needed a break from being sick today. They both took off their clothes to play Wild Animal Kingdom. All I can say is that We are all so very glad that, thought tigers, bears, snakes, cats and dogs do not wear clothes, they do wear underware. : ) Then the kids found a pen (I am usually very careful to hide all things like this) and decided to brand the animals. They don't color their coloring pages this thouroughly. The entire time, their was laughing and pretending going on and no screaming or fighting. When they got bored they decided to ransack the house and dump every toy out of every organized place. By noon they were ready for a rest time with a show, and I was ready for a cleaning lady. Oh yea..... thats me. At least my kids had a fun day, and I was too tired to ruin it by yelling at them about the mess.

Happy Birthday Trever

I can't believe how fast they grow. Trever is now five. He still has the same "I am always up to something" grin. Just watching him makes me smile......ok there are times I want to pull my hair out too, but He is a great kid. He used to be so little. And now he is really growing up.
Trever can always come up with something silly to make us all laugh. We are all so greatful to have Trever.

Update

Ok, I know it has been forever since I posted anything. Life has been a little crazy........ even for me. Our dear Mia went back to her birth parents the second week of Jan. Three weeks later she came to visit for three days. Then we got our little A.J. who is two and a half months old. He is soooooo cute. The bluest eyes I have ever seen. We thought that he would just be passing through and be back with his birth family in about 72 hours, but he has been here now for two weeks. We are enjoying every minute. Then little Collin was born (April's) and I got to go and spend the weekend with the California clan. Ok, so it rained the entire time I was there. But it was a good 20 degrees warmer than here in Ut. and it was sooooo quiet. Yes, poor Daddy got to have all four of the boys to himself for 4 days. He did great, and Thank you so very much to all of his family who helped out. Collin is just adorable, and Ashlyn and I had a great time cooking and making cookies. I am just so glad to have my sister April in my life. I love her to death.
The boys are all doing well. They seemed to miss me while I was gone, but the morning I was back they were more interrested in what I had brought them, than in me being there. I am glad they felt secure that I would come back to them and had confidence in their dad.
On a funny note, Caleb is really into his look lately.....especially his hair. Tonight he took a very long shower and then came out with quite the slick hair do. I asked what he put in his hair and he said Gel. Since we don't have any hair gel, I was immediately nervous. ......So it was Deoderant (mens shower cool quick drying gel). He didn't just use a little either. Well, I will try to get some pics on here soon, but for now it is bed time.