Elody at 6 months old with her bear

I just can't seem to take enough pictures of her!

Thanksgiving 2009 at the ranch with Matt's extended family

We spent Thanksgiving day with Matt's extended family at the Ranch. The kids enjoyed their day playing with their cousins. We all enjoyed our visiting. Grandma always requests that the men in the family sing together, "We Elders of Israel." It sounded so nice.

Cousin fun

I have been babysitting (Matt's sister) Esther's little girl on Wednesdays. This particular Wednesday, I had Candy's Brandon and Sariah for a couple of hours too. I put the girls in pig tails and took a picture of them together. They really enjoy being together.

Talon's science fair project

Talon did his science fair project on spot remover cleaners with enzymes. He used Awesome, Oxy Clean and Shout Advanced sprays. Oxy Clean came out on top. I use it now for all my pre-cleaning especially baby poop stains.

Too cute to not take a picture

We figure that Elody at 5 1/2 months old is the size and weight that Jileigh was when she was a year old. These clothes are 6-9 month clothes. I finally figured out how to have healthy sized babies.

Elody is 5 month old with her bear

Words cannot describe how much I love this little girl. I can't seem to take enough pictures of her to show how adorable I thinks she is. On Nov 7th she turned 5 months old. After she nurses in the early morning hour, she likes to snuggle in bed with me instead of going back to her crib, and like a sucker, I let her. I love it as much as she does.

My three little kids

I have three little kids. I have had three little kids for 9 years. lol!

Halloween

Halloween, my most "favorite" holiday. If you know me, you know that is far from the truth. I personally wish to take it off the calendar; but since I am near alone in my belief, I comply to the minimum.

Jaren brought home the 3-D puzzle from school and Jileigh put it together. It was rather complicated. He also brought home a coupon for a free pumpkin at our local store. So we went to the store, he picked out a pumpkin, drew the design he wanted and Matt cut it out for him.

For Halloween night, we went to Dave and Aaron's house for a family party. Jileigh was a wizard, Talon was a burglar, Angelique was a girl Dracula, Jaren was batman, Safia was sleeping beauty, Beauchene was Lightning McQueen from Cars, and Elody was a Christmas candy cane. They had a good time with their cousins and managed to sneak a little candy into their bodies. I was just glad it was over when we got home. A couple of days latter, Jaren came down with the flu and Beau and Angelique got colds.

More apples

Matt's dad brought us some apples that he picked from an orchard. I already did my applesauce so I decided to just can them like I do peaches. On Oct 24th we canned 22 bottles of apples.

Also on that day, Safia decided to put one of her old dresses on Beauchene to make him a sister.

Washing machine overflowed

On Friday, Oct 23, I was doing laundry. I put the last load in the washer and then left to take the kids to Candy's house to play. I knew Matt would be home in about 10 minutes and told him where I would be. Well, the washing machine "fill-sensor" decided not to work. It filled my machine and laundry room and Jileigh's room and the garage with water. Matt, bless his heart had it all cleaned up by the time we came back home. It didn't do it all the time after that but then the turn thingy wasn't turning very well either. So we decided it was time to get a new washer. I love it! It is somewhat of a bigger capacity than my last one and now I can put my whole pile of whites in one load in the washer. Jileigh took the first picture and the second picture is of my new washer.

Jileigh and Talon's choir concert

October 22 was Jileigh and Talon's choir concert. They made a poster for a contest about one of the songs. They got 2nd place for their poster. Grandma H came to the concert too.

Funny Elody

Angelique was holding Elody and Elody was trying to let Angelique know that she was hungry. We all got a kick out of this.

Neighborly kindness

A friend of mine Inger that has a child in Safia's preschool group heard that I have sick kids. So she brought over dinner today, broccoli cheddar soup with brocco-flower and baked potatoes. That was so incredibly thoughtful.

First it was Angelique, then Talon, then Safia, and then Jileigh. Jileigh only seem to have the flu symptoms for one evening. The others have had it for 3 days.

Farewell to Bugsy, Jileigh's guinea pig

Jileigh bought Bugsy in April at 3 weeks old. She has loved her dearly.

Monday morning Jileigh said that she couldn't find her. That evening we looked in every nook and corner and finally found her dead. Jileigh was so heart broken. She called her grandma H who has been through the experience with guinea pig for some comfort. Matt buried her in the back yard.

Goodbye Bugsy. We loved you.

More canning

Last week we got a box of pears and bottled up 17 quarts.

Back on Labor Day when Matt went to his grandma's house, he brought home two boxes of old 2-quart canning jars. I didn't know what to do with them, so Matt stuck them in the garage. I finally came up with the answer. Beans. Candy has a large pressure cooker, so I borrowed it and have been canning my beans in these jars. I have 4 jars of pinto bean and 4 jars of black beans. I still have the kidney beans and the small white beans to go, but Candy needed her pressure cooker back for a little while.

Temple day

Friday morning I decided that I was going to meet Matt after work and we were going to go the temple to do some family names. So I had Jileigh watch the kids right after school and headed off. I barely made it in time but all was well. Then afterwards we headed home and Nate and Candy's kids came over and we watched their kids while they went to the temple. I kept these two babies happy sitting outside with them watching the other kids play.

Crazy hair day

Jileigh and Talon had crazy hair day at school. Talon insisted that we buy some black and red hair spray. My little kids don't look so sweet and innocent.

Elody's 4 month old pictures with her bear and duck

She rolls over and she scoots. She tries to a sit-up the whole time that I am changing her diaper. She likes to stand too. She likes to bite on my knuckles. She sleeps most of the night through, nurses and then sleeps some more. Most days, she will take a 3 hour nap. Those days she doesn't are really hard on me to be able to get anything done. She still likes to be held a lot. We all love her tons!

Peaches!

On our way up to the Ranch we stopped by to get some raw milk at our local polygamist town. They had boxes of gorgeous large peaches for $14 a box. We picked up a box and headed on our way. Last night my parents and brother came to stay with us over night and then head up north today. I ask my mom to stay for a little while and help me get my peaches bottled. So, with my Dad holding Elody, my Mom and I got the peaches done. I even had a few spare to eat. Yum!

Elody cut her first tooth!

At 3 1/2 months old, Elody cut her first tooth. She was biting on my knuckle like she usually does and I felt her bottom tooth. Amazing. That is the youngest I have ever I a child cut through her first tooth.

(I am not going to be able to get a picture of her tooth yet, so her tongue will have to do!)