Christmas Eve

Christmas eve: In the morning we cleaned up everything so we could have a clean house. In the afternoon, the kids spent hours putting together a gingerbread house kit that Matt received from a co-worker as a gift for the family. They were instructed that they could put it together if they promised not to eat any of it. In the evening Grandma Cynthia came by with her present for the kids. They all got PJs. I took several pictures of them and this one was the least blurry. We got her a digital instant-read thermometer for kitchen use.

We had set the gingerbread house back in our bedroom to dry. Jaren decided on his own that it was time to bring it back into the kitchen. Unfortunately, he tripped and dropped it. That didn't last very long. The dumpster was very happy to eat it for us.

Dec 23rd - Safia and Jaren's mess making

So on the 23rd of Dec the family was sitting around watching a movie and enjoying the warm fire. Safia and Jaren were being a little

noisy and finally left. When the movie was over, one of the older kids yelled out for me to come into the toy closet to see what the little kids have been up to. They apparently went outside first and dumped the ashes bucket into my mop bucket making a big mess in the garage. Then they went into the toy closet and dumped 2 shelves worth of toys onto the floor and busted open a package of pasta and spilled it on the floor. This was one of those times where I just had to walk away and go into my bedroom and shut the door. Decided to deal with it another time.

My little fashion models

Jileigh and Angelique like to sneak my camera, dress up like fashion models, and take pictures of each other. I am only a little bit worried!

Snow day!

December 18th the kids had their very first Snow Day and didn't have to go to school. They played out in the snow all day long. First at our house, then at Nate and Candy's house.

My silly kids!

These silly little kids love to sit in MY rocking chair to watch TV whenever Matt and/or I are not in it. This was taken on Nov 15. All of them were trying to sit in it at once.

Talon and Angelique sing at Lin's grocery store

Talon and Angelique's school choir had the opportunity to sing at Lin's grocery store for their holiday open house. As much Angelique LOVES to sing, she gets shy singing in public, being quiet and reserved. I hope some day she will come out of her shell in her public performance ability. She is quite the singer and performer at home. Talon loves to sing too and doesn't really care about where he is singing.

Thanksgiving weekend

We spent Thanksgiving day at Matt's mom's house. I forgot my camera again dang it! It was just us and Grandma Cynthia for a while. Later Amanda's family came and Aaron and Elisa showed up. We had turkey with all the fixins. Everything was really good. We enjoyed visiting and playing scattergories. Talon, Angelique, Jaren, and Safia stayed the night because Cynthia was planning on planning on coming to town the next day anyway. Jileigh originally was planning on staying the night, but felt like she should go home. Good thing. She ended up throwing up 3 times during the night. Poor kid.

The next morning, Matt got up at 4:30 and left to go shopping at Walmart. He was able to find everything that he went there for. He didn't make it there until after the 5am opening time and said that it was a mad house. Fortunately, by the time he was ready to check out, most of the crowd had left.

My niece's wedding

The weekend before Thanksgiving was my Niece Kelci's wedding in Mesa AZ. My sister Jennifer from Orem picked us up (us meaning Safia, Beauchene, and me) on Thursday and we rode down with her to Mesa. We stayed at my parents house. (When I got there, I realized that I forgot my camera. I was totally bummed about it.) The wedding was on Friday. That morning Cassie, another niece, cut my hair for me. It was too long and annoying. The ceremony in the Mesa Temple was nice. The luncheon was at the Landmark restaurant and was very good. The reception was held at a country club was done up very nice. The food was really good too.



On Sunday, I met up with a former college roommate Hydee. We had a fun visit walking around the temple grounds. (She forwarded a picture to me.)


We drove back home on Monday. We arrived home at 7pm and Matt had just pulled dinner out of the oven. Chicken Pot Pie! After dinner he drew my bath to soak in and listened to me talk. What a good husband!

Jaren lost his first tooth! And then his Second!

Today, November 12, Jaren lost his first tooth. After dinner, he wanted to try to get his very wiggly tooth out. Angelique decided that she would be the "Dentist" and pull his tooth out. After several tries, she got it out. He was such a proud little boy. (He is not wearing a shirt because he was afraid that he would get blood on it.)

On the 25th of November he lost his second tooth! He wiggled this tooth for days and really wanted it out. I was so sick of listening to him that I took a square of toilet paper, asked him if I could see his tooth, put my fingers on it and pulled it out and said, "There you go!"

Beau in the oven

Beauchene has a funny desire to clean. Today he opened up the oven, pulled out both of the racks, grabbed the vacuum attachment brush and proceeded to sweep up the bottom of the oven. This was totally his idea. So I got out my vacuum and sucked up the stuff on the bottom of the oven and then he decided to climb in and brush the bottom some more. I finally had to insist that he was "all done" and that he needed to get out.

Talon's Veteran's Day Assembly

On Nov. 11, Veteran's Day, the 5th grade put on a program singing patriotic songs. Talon's teacher really complimented him saying that he was one of the best singers. Talon's teacher really tries hard to make school a positive experience. Matt had to take a day off from working last Saturday, so he chose today so that he could go to this program and attend the kids SEPs (student evaluation plan) with me. OK, so I told him this was the day that he needed to take off. :)

Beauchene's first haircut

Tonight I gave Beauchene his first haircut. The other kids decided they needed haircuts too. These are the before pics.

These are the after pics. I forgot to take a picture of Angelique before; but in Beauchene's after picture, you can see the back of Angelique's hair.

The faith of a child

Last night, Saturday, I came down with a migraine. I went to bed at about 8pm, but couldn't sleep. Matt massaged my head for me. It felt really good, but it seemed to make it worse. Jaren came in to see me and ask Matt, "Dad, can we say a prayer so that Mom can feel better." So we did and Jaren wanted to say it. It was short but very sweet. Then the kids went to bed. I then had Matt and his brother Nate give me a blessing. After they left the room, my head stopped pounding and I was able to rest calmly. After about 2 hours the pain stopped and I was able to sleep peacefully. I am a firm believer in the power of the priesthood.

Halloween 2008

Beauchene as a frog

Safia as a Barbie princess

Jaren as a Ninja



Jaren as Spiderman

Angelique as a witch

Talon as a wizard

Jileigh as a cowgirl

Group picture of my family and Candy's family and our friend Jennifer's family.

We had a No Candy Halloween party at my house Halloween night. I made 5 pizzas with whole wheat crusts and then we took pictures. Grandma Heaton came by for a little bit to see the kids and enjoy some pizza with us. Then Jennifer did an activity with the kids where they decorated a can. Then we watched The Pirates who Don't do Anything. Candy's family left after the pictures to go to their ward's Trunk or Treat. We all had a nice time and the kids got to have their fun.

I want to tell about the punch Candy brought. She called me and told me that she wanted to bring a punch with Sprite in it and asked me if was ok. I groaned at her and she just said, "Say Yes because I am doing it anyway." She had prefroze some red fruit punch in rubber gloves. So the punch was country time lemonade with Sprite. Then she put in lime sherbet and the frozen red hands. She called it ghoul punch with bloody hands and green puss. I tasted a little bit of it and it was actually really good. It was a good combination of flavors.

Flu season

Our kids passed around the stomach flu about a week ago. First it was Talon, then Jaren, then Angelique, then Beauchene. Jileigh, Safia and Matt only got a touch of it. I think I got a touch of it too. I wonder if there is medical explanation as to why kids always throw up about an hour after everyone is asleep, and they can't possibly make it out of thier beds first! Thank goodness for washing machines and extra sets of bedding. Who needs sleep, anyways?!

Matt's latest book

Friday, Brandon Sanderson's latest book came into the library: Mistborn 3 - Hero of Ages. Matt stayed up until midnight Friday night, until 3:20am on Saturday night and had it finished Sunday evening at about 10 pm. Yeah! I get my husband back! As much as he would have liked to read all day during the days, I wasn't feeling too well, so he had to make all the meals and keep the kids on the laundry, keep up on the dishes, and he took the pool down Saturday afternoon as well.

Safia's messes for the week

Bathroom walls and sink: I heard water running in the bathroom and kids giggling. Jaren and Safia were wetting down wads of toilet paper and throwing them all over the bathroom, on the walls, the floor, and on the mirror. I was too mad to even think about taking a picture. The funny thing is, is that they did it in a matter of a couple of minutes. They were suppose to be washing their hands for dinner.

Bathroom toilet: A couple of days later, I woke up to find that Safia had gone to the bathroom. She didn't quite make it to the toilet in time and had messed in her panties some. So she had this mess on her bum as well. She didn't use toilet paper. She rubbed her bum all over the toilet seat and the toilet base and the floor. YUCK! Then I noticed that she had had fun in the bathroom the night before with the toothpaste. It was smeared all over the counter, the mirror, and the cabinet fronts. So Sunday morning I cleaned up the disgusting bathroom, (so much for keeping the Sabbath Day holy.) No pictures necessary!

Egg shells in the front room: A couple of days after that, we'd had eggs for breakfast and the shells were still sitting out in the carton. Safia found them and decided to smash them up and sprinkle them all over my front room floor.

Dental floss: She and Jaren unstrung almost the entire roll of my new Glide dental floss container all over my bedroom. While I was cleaning that up I heard them playing in the front room. They had gotten a hold of 2 bags of cereal that I have already put away and were eating the cereal and dumping it in the front room in the corner behind a couch. I sent them both outside to play!

I think this child just needs a creative outlet.

Saturday of Applesauce and Bread and Parents

Saturday, October 11th we made 8 quarts of applesauce and I made my weekly 4 loaves of bread. We were trying so hard to get everything cleaned up and done before my parent were to arrive from Orem on their way back home.

Our new pets

One day, a couple of months ago, we found a litter of 4 kittens in our front yard. My kids fell instantly in love with them. So I gave in and bought some cat food for them. Of course they stuck around. A couple of days later, the momma cat shows up (the light colored one.) Fortunately, we are able to get them all fixed and get their shots for FREE. I would really like to get rid of a couple of them, but I don't know how.

The one in the middle is the marbled tabby cat. Her name is Nicki. She is Safia's favorite. We normally don't allow the cats in the house, but Safia manages to bring that one in everyday holding her like a baby.

Matt's project

This is Matt's mom's old wood burning stove. Matt brought it home, cleaned it up, painted it and put new tiles on it. We are going to try to sell it for her so that we can buy some road base gravel for her sandy driveway.