*~{A Fancy Nancy Birthday }~*

Mara had her first "friends" birthday party today. She was so excited!

We started off making bead necklaces, bracelets and rings to get all fancy!

Sarahs came to help, she was amazing. She painted all the girls fingernails hot pink while I put glitter and

eyeshadow on them. They certainly were fancy.
Then they made fancy crowns, and even the boys indulged us a little and made some.
This is Emma, Eli and Mara.

Here's the whole crew after playing musical chairs. Kenna won every time except at the last when Mara

pushed her off the chair and claimed the title for herself. It was quite funny in fact.

I have never seen Mara so aggressive with anyone other than her brothers.

I hope she doesn't have that competitive edge to her like her father ;)!

as a side note, you have to notice Caleb's shirt. Somehow he thought that what he was wearing was fancy

"gangsta fancy" he said. And don't miss how low the zipper is down, with nothing underneath it. Oh he also made sure to wash with "man soap" so he would smell good for the ladies. Where does he come from?

He is so crazy. But can't help loving him.

We made cake in ice cream cones and then the kids decorated them with gummie worms,

Color craze Skittles and sprinkles.

Eli and Jace were the only boys, but they were cool with it.

Emma woke up halfway through the party.

Her hair was so funny.

We had gone swimming just before the party and she fell asleep on the way home.

Her hair is at that stage where it is just not long enough, yet too long.

Cadee and Mara

See what I mean about the hair.

At the end we opened gifts.

She had such a great time, and Cadee even got to stay and play for a while!

It was a great day.

Oh and the blender was one of the favorite gifts.
I came home today to find water and orange slices in it.

Okay people, it is just a PRETEND blender!

Mara, Mara, Four You Are!

How old are you today??...and so happy about it.

Princess wanted a princess castle cake....Just pretend it looks like one, and just don't comment about it.

Was kinda cocky after Emma's turned out so well...bit off a bit more than I can chew, but she loved it.


....finally, after waiting all day...she got to open her presents.

Emma was a little confused about why she couldn't open the presents.

Mara was so nice to share with her, even though I told Emma it was now Mara's turn.

What a great big sister she is.

All day Emma was saying..."Happy...Mine! NO, Happy Mra's" She is so stinkin cute. I love how she says Mara's name.

Mu- ras. She always adds an "s" to the end.

Sam and Noah gave her her very own webkins... now she won't have to use Caleb's account.

She loved it.

...AND....

The barbie what goes on the 'puter'(computer)(Liv)

I bought this while she was with me, but she didn't see. I had it in the back of the car and I thought it was smooth sailing, I had accomplished buying a gift for her when she was with me.

When we got home, that night, I asked her what she wanted for her birthday.

She said without missing a beat "that barbie what goes on the 'puter whats in the back of the car."

I still don't know how she saw it. She sits in the middle bench, so whatever. She is a stink.

Pop beads from Grandma and Grandpa

Caleb made her a birthday crown...he actually called it a tiara!

And a princess bike!

Love this little girl for the sweetheart that she is. She is so loving, so helpful, so willing to do what I need her to.

Her brothers love her so much and her little sister looks up to her and trys to do all that she does.

She love sparkles and glitter and purses and PINK!

She loves to dance to Taylor Swift and has the sweetest little singing voice I have ever heard.

At night she wants me to sing to her, but I do my best to sing soft so I can hear her.

We love her to pieces!

Happy Birthday LADY, from all of us!

FUnNy fiNdInGs!

I was downloading all the pictures and found these. We had a"smoke" problem in our house...The fire got started and the damper was closed. Our house filled with smoke, and I just yelled..."Ryan, Ryan, there is a huge fire come quick!" Yeah, I was cool under pressure. Ryan later asked "what would you have done if I wasn't here?" Surely I would have taken control, but I just knew that he was downstairs, so I let him be the knight in shining armor...right? I hope so. Don't ever want to experience that again, so hopefully I won't ever have to be the one to grap a huge stick and plunge it into the raging fire to find the lever that open the damper...but I could if I needed to...just didn't need to with my hero home...
ANy whoo, the funny part is that we got a fan to blow all the smoke out faster and the kids were playing with it. Ryan must have taken these pictures. They are pretty funny.

As a side note, I was giving Emma a sink bath at the time and I had left her when Sam hollered at me that the house was on fire, when Caleb and Noah realized that this was serious, they grabbed their sisters and ran for safetly...so glad to know that they grabbed what was most important. What good kids!

{Your Two}~* Happy Birthday to YOU!*~

eMma lOu WhoO is tWo! I took all the pictures of her opening her presents on the camera without a disc in it, and don't know how to get them off the hard drive of the camera! Crazy. So sad.

But this is the cute doll that my parents got for her. SHe loves it.

If you ask her what her favorite color is, she always says "BLUE" so the doll dressed up like a blue puppy was perfect.

Ryan's parents sent birthday light. Mara wanted to put them up, but the only place close to an outlet was in the bathroom.

This is Emma Checkin herself out. She is saying "CUTE, EMMA CUTE"

Mara and Emma went to a birthday party today and made Valentine's Boxes.
They had so much fun playing dress up and decorating cookies and making magnets.
How fun for them. {the boys were skiing}

Happy Happy to my little muffin!

My girls absolutely love "Sarahs" They always add an "S" to them end of her name, and it is adorable when they say it. She came over to have cake and icecream with us. Thanks Sarahs for making my girls day!

Because for some reason in America we think our kids have to have perfect birthday cakes and I am miserable at it, I had a friend come over and help me out a little. She taught me how to make the frosting the consistancy that it needs to be so that I could decorate it. Each of the boys independently were wowed by how "great" the cake looked.
How funny! But if you saw what I was capable of before, you might just be wowed by this one as well!

Regardless, Emma and Mara thought it was "Boo-tu-ful"

She Looks Just Like Me!

It must be the lips!

To Each Their Own Journey!

I didn't bear my testimony today, but not because I didn't have a life altering week! It all started with my reading Romans Chapter 14. I can't believe this scripture has been there all my life, and I just stumbled upon it. So many of my own term oils were resolved with just that one chapter of scripture. I truly felt like I could brush off all the hurtful judgements that have been cast upon me, and have strength to rise above all the hurts I have felt lately. All the insecurities I have had, were able to be looked at as unnecessary. I was told this week that someone didn't like because I believe something diffrent than they did. It really made me feel so bad because it was so petty. Then I read this. The opening of Romans:14 says:

Him that is weak in the faith receive ye,

but not to doubtful disputation.

{We should accept others wholeheartedly.}

For one believeth that he may eat all things:

another, who is weak eateth herbs.

Let not him that eateth dispise him that eateth not;

and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth;

for God hath received him.

{We all have diffrent reasons for why we do the things we do, but to each, their journey is their own. We must find our own path through this life and those paths will not all be the same. What matters is that what you believe, you hold true to. What works for you and where the Holy Ghost leads you, you go. Your path may not be the same as your neighbors, and that is okay. What is important is that we don't judge others for where they are in their journey. In the end the destination is the same.}

Who art thou that judgest another man's servant?

To his own master he standeth or falleth.

Yea he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.

One man esteemeth one day above another;

another esteemeth every day alike.

Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.

For none of us liveth to himself and no man dieth to himself...

For to this end Christ both died and rose, and revived,

that he might be Lord both of the dead and living.

But why dost thou judge thy brother?

or why dost thou set at nought thy brother?

for we shall all stand before the judgement seat of Christ.

{I have been so irritated lately about how one person can think that they are more important than another to the point that they look down their nose them. Are we not all children of God. Does he not love us all the same. In the end will it matter who you were on this earth? No, just how you acted. Who do we represent? As a baptized member of the Church of Jesus Christ we are his representative, we bear his name. We should emulate his life. He loved all! The sinner, the saint the poor the weak, the powerful, the strong. }

Let us not therefore judge one anther any more:

but judge this rather,

that no man put a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in his brother's way.

I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus,

that there is nothing unclean of itself;

but to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean to him it is unclean.

{Loved that part right there! It doesn't matter if we think what someone does is right or not, or something we would or wouldn't do, If they feel it is important to them, we should respect that and not try to make them stumble, but support them. Ultimately, it is the Holy Ghost who can help you to understand if you are on your own right path. Prayer, scripture study. That is how you can know.}

For he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men. Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peach and things wherewith one may edify another.

{I highly suggest reading this whole chapter it was so good. I came away with a renewed strength to accept others for who they are and where they are at in this life and to just love them. Love them like Christ loves us all.}

It truly is my testimony that Christ is our Saviour. It is because of him that we can repent and be forgiven for the large and small mistakes that we make each day, and because of that we can return and live with our Father in Heaven again. I so look forward to the day that I will see his face, but I will not know anymore then of his love for me than I do now! He is my strength and salvation.

Bathroom remodel!

We still aren't quite done, still have to do the trim, but here you go mom

here is a sneak peak at what has consumed my life and Ryan's for the past month!

Now you know why I haven't blogged so much.This is the best picture I could get of the paint color, I only painted that bathroom six times

Yeah, ONLY six.

I still wish I would have gone darker, but I wanted the overall feel to be light and airy since our bedroom is so dark

There is enough light tile and white wainscoating, that I think a little darker for the paint would have been okay, but I just couldn't bring myself to paint it eight times, so it remains.

The tub.......

HAS NO RUST STAINS!!!!!

We can bathe and feel clean!

It was so long in the making, and waiting was torture, but the girls and I had a bath this morning and it was heaven!

"ity's"

Warning, proud mama post ahead:

In Relief society on Sunday, the lesson was on Bishop Burton's conference address on the "ity" virtues, you know,

Charity

Integrity

Chastity

Morality

Honesty

I sat there feeling just a little frustrated because I loved this talk and completely agree with his thoughts that it is up to us to preserve these "ity" values that are so being lost.

But in a world that places no value on them, it is so hard to instill it in our children.

Try as we might, they are still involved with many who place no value on honesty, integrity, and charity.

I just recently had a conversation with Ryan about the things our kids face. Do they have any chance at all?

He calmly pointed out the fact that our parents probably thought the same thing.

Maybe, but I still think it is much worse.

I came home from church and fed the kids lunch. It was a modge podge of leftovers and the older kids were pretty much on their own to find out what they wanted to eat. I vaguely remember Sam coming up in his snow clothes. Emma was ready for a nap, and I went into her room to rock her to sleep. As I looked out her window that is in the front of the house, I saw Sam across the street at our neighbor's shoveling snow. She is a single lady, and he saw her, when I didn't. He went to help her on his own with no prodding from me or Ryan.

I can't tell you how that made me feel. He got it. He got what I have been trying to teach all these years. I'd like to take credit, but he is just an awesome kid.

It was just a tender mercy from the Lord, letting me know that it is all worth it. Those values that we try to instill, they will shine through. There will be, on the earth, those worthy to greet him when He comes. It is our responsibility to ensure that those values do not die.

It is worth every painful family home evening, every turn off the television and read scriptures, every morning devotional, it is so worth it. If just for that one moment of seeing your child choose the better part.

Caleb's Skating Birthday Party!

Caleb wanted to have a birthday party at the skating rink this year. I was thinking how fun, let's do it.

Then we got there and all 9 kids had never been skating before and I paniced thinking..."no one is going to have fun!"

It'a a good thing that kids are resilent and they all headed out there and took to it like a fish to water.

They had a blast.

WE had cake and ice cream and rootbeer. Good and sugared they...
Headed out to skate. It was a little hairy at first. Sam and Noah were such goof balls and made it fun for everyone!

Here's the birthday boy waiting in line to do the limbo! Yes it was skating complete with the limbo AND the hocky pokey!

The kids thought it was so great and new...for those of us who have been around a long time though, it was old news!

Even Max did great skating. I really didn't have to help anyone, so it was good.

Here is Noah coming out of the limbo. Do you see the stick? Can you believe he went under it without touching it?

Caleb did to, in fact Caleb and Noah were the last ones in. They even beat the girls who couldn't get down low enough because they had on skirts that were way too tight. Come on, they were only 8-10. (Okay I am now off my soap box, but really do my boys even have a chance? The girls...)

Opening gifts! Caleb got money and he was so happy with all his gifts. I was glad he exercised his good manners!

We never could get Ryan to put on skates, but we will be going back as a family to skate, even if Ryan did say when we left..."Does anyone besides me feel like they need to go home and shower?"

It was a little "dated"

And the roller skates were so ...

but it was so fun!

Baptism Day!

This is my day, my baptism day. Jesus was baptized the very same way.

Maybe I'm little, and maybe I'm small, and maybe my learning has only begun,but Heavenly Father I'm doing my best just love me and guide me and I'll do the rest.

Father I promise to walk in thy way, on this my baptism day.


Just before the event!

A new clean kid.

We love Caleb and are so happy he chose to be baptized. It was such a neat day.

We were thankful that Ryan's parents made it here, after some stress with planes and having to wait and extra day to leave, we count our blessings that they made it.

I know that we chose to move, and we were fully aware of the consequence it would be in not having family at all special events, but the reality is often harder than the thought of it.

We missed family alot, but were grateful for friends who came to our house after to help us feel not so alone! Thanks to all, we truly appreciate your support