The Collins

sweet boy

2011-06-03T23:58:00.000-07:00

Sweet boy @ 10 days old. love holding him in my arms and watching him sleep.

1st bath

2011-05-29T23:00:00.000-07:00

Finn's 1st bath wasn't his favorite thing...

but then he was happy once he was all wrapped up...sweet boy @ 1 week old.

coming home

2011-05-24T00:01:00.000-07:00

Finn Riley Collins: 1 day

proud big sister Gwen

Sweet Sawyer & Finn

Carter Lovin' on his new baby brother

Finn Riley Collins...

You are one loved little boy. We are so happy to have you home and in our family to love and hold. You are so sweet and pure. we can't get enough of you . You bring us happiness and joy.

you are perfection!

Love

you

to pieces!

Finn Riley Collins 5.23.11

2011-05-23T22:18:00.000-07:00

Family of 5 waiting to be a family of 6

Sawyer(31/2) Mom, Gwen(2), Carter(5 1/2)

Finn Riley Collins

7lbs 8oz. 19 1/2 inches

born at 12:54am

Finn Riley Collins

sweet&pure

LOVE

Daddy.Finn:: snuggle time

Carter.Finn:: in love

Sawyer.Finn:: proud big brother

Gwen.Finn:: Little miss mommy already

Mom.Gwen.Finn

My boys

My mom took the kids to get a present from each of them to bring to me in the hospital. Cute Carter had his own idea of getting me jewelry. My mom said you can get her..earring, a bracelet, a necklace. Carter was dead set on a necklace. He went into the jewelry section at Walmart(: and was dead set on this silver and blue necklace I am wearing. He was so excited and proud of himself. He said, "Mom, you are going to love it!" I thought that was the cutest thing that he came up with the idea and picked it out all by himself. What a guy(; Sawyer got me candy, and Gwen got me flowers. I am one lucky mommy.

Family of 6

its a crazy pic of us, but thats what you get with 4 kids(: love my family

Finn is here!

2011-05-23T03:03:00.000-07:00

Finn finally made it! He was born on May 23rd at 12:54am. He is 7lbs 8oz 19.5". Everything is going well. Shelly is tired but doing great!

She's a 10!

2011-05-23T00:30:00.001-07:00

12:28... She's a 10. Doctor is coming in. Hopefully we can get Finn in no time!

Come On Finn

2011-05-22T23:46:00.000-07:00

11:45pm...Shelly is dilated to a 6.5. She is moving along well!

Epidural & Broken Water

2011-05-22T23:14:00.001-07:00

11:00pm... Shelly just got finished up with her epidural and is feeling much better. The only bummer is she can still feel pain in her left side of her stomach when she has contractions. Hopefully the pain killer settles in or it's going to suck for her

Her OBGYN came in and broke her water to keep her moving along. She is still dilated to only a 4. Since her water had been broken her contractions have been banging out like every minute and a half. I think she is progressing well now. Come on Finn!

Slowly But Surely

2011-05-22T22:02:00.001-07:00

9:55pm... She is dilated to a 4 with longer harder contractions. Shelly wants to wait until she is a little further along before the epidural. Last time she was given an epidural at a 3 and after the epidural her contractions slowed down and she stopped progressing for a while. She says hey this is my fourth I can handle a little pain, I want this baby out! Not quit sure how these girls handle the pain. I would be throwing in the towel on the 1st contraction saying give me that shot!!

Progress

2011-05-22T20:35:00.001-07:00

8:30pm... Shelly continues to have contractions and is now dilated to a 3 and 50% effaced. Good Progress!

Moving Along

2011-05-22T19:49:00.001-07:00

7:45pm... Contractions remain constant. Shelly has been having contractions pretty regular about every 3 minutes. We just need to keep the progression moving along. Hopefully we get Finn here on May 22nd.

We still haven't decided on a middle name. Finn ??????? Collins. Any suggestions?

Just Started the Pit

2011-05-22T18:39:00.000-07:00

Its 6:35pm Shelly is only dilated to a 1 1/2. They put her on Pit to help get her going. She has already started having a few strong contractions but still has a ways. Hopefully she dilates a little more and the doctor will break her water and get the process moving along.

We are Here

2011-05-22T17:19:00.001-07:00

Thanks,

Jonathan Collins

Jono here... Shelly was scheduled to be induced this morning, but the Hospital was too full and they said they would call us and if we didn't hear from the hospital by noon than we could call. Shelly was taking a nap and right at 12:00 she woke up. You can tell what is on her mind! Shelly called the Hospital, but they said they were still too busy. They said it wouldn't be until late afternoon that they would have availability. Shelly was going to call at 4pm to see what was up, but at 3:45pm the Hospital called and said to come on over. We are here now! Shelly is just filling out paperwork getting ready to see if she is dilated and hopefully break her water. The Doctor should be in shortly. I will let you know the progress.

38 weeks!

2011-05-18T17:56:00.000-07:00

Here I am at 38 weeks with little Finn! This was a few days ago. I just had a doctors appt. today and he scheduled my induction date for this Sunday 5.22.11 unless he decides to join us before than. I am so anxious, and can not wait!(:

Dear little Finn!

I can not believe that you are almost here! It doesn't seem like too long ago that I found out I was pregnant, and soon after, that you were a boy! At the time it seemed like forever until I was going to be able to meet you, hold you in my arms, kiss you and love you! Here we are only days away until you are physically here in our family! You are going to be so loved and adored by Carter(5 1/2), Sawyer(3 1/2), and Gwen(2)! They have been anticipating you coming out of mommies tummy for a long time! I don't think they realize that in just a few days you are really going to be here! I can not wait to see their faces light up when they see you for the first time in the hospital! Gwen is so excited to have a baby to help take care of! She is going to want to hold you and love you every second of the day! She loves babies, and can't wait until she can help feed you, burp you, get diapers for you, give you a paci, blankie, etc. You are going to be one lucky, spoiled little boy with all the love and attention you will get!

You have been such a sweet and tender part of me for the past 9 months, and will miss the rolling, circus acts, kicking, hiccups, etc. That I feel all throughout my days. But I am so excited to see you and meet you for the first time and have you be apart of my life! I love you little Finn! You are a special little boy...see you really soon.(:

Love

Mommy

Sneak Peak:Gwen's Room

2011-05-05T16:54:00.000-07:00

So I have been asked to post pics of my house ever since we moved in. We still have more things here and there to get done, but here is a little sneak peak of Gwen's room. I have more to do to her room, but here is where I am at as of now. I need to add more to her walls, find a cute chair, change out her knobs on her bed, find a cute lamp for the little side table, etc. But for now here is an idea of where I am going with her girly room.

Lucky duck

2011-04-17T15:20:00.000-07:00

Here i am at 34 weeks along with our little Finn. I can not believe that he will be here so soon. This pregnancy has been a good one with the usual aches, pains, and discomforts, but I am still enjoying being pregnant and feeling the HUGE kicks and rolling he does in there. Jono was the sweetest husband and decided to surprise me with a getaway saturday with just the two of us. He being thoughtful of me thought I needed a break before this bundle comes shortly. He set up for my parents to come and watch our kids the whole entire day, while we ran off to have a carefree, relaxing day. The highlight of the day was getting massages at THE RITZ CARLTON in Dana Point! Oh my gosh, that was amazing! Such a nice hotel and amazing massage. we had the most amazing view of the beach from the hotel. It was so picturesque. We followed the day with shopping, lunch, shopping, a yummy treat at Sprinkles, and had a yummy italian dinner at a cute little restraunt on Balboa Island, and enjoyed walking up and down the beach. This was exactly what I needed. I had so much fun being with my love all day just the two of us. Even though it was only a day away, that was plenty for me. I kept saying how I felt like I was on a vacation.(: I am so thankful for a sweet husband and for my parents and playing with my kids all day! Im feeling like a lucky duck.

"Genny's Birthday!"

2011-03-25T20:30:00.000-07:00

About a week before Gwen's actual birthday, Gwen had been going around saying. "Genny's Birthday!...Happy Birfday to Genny!" Anytime we were in a store and she wanted a toy, she would look up at me and say, "for Genny's Birfday?" She is obsessed with dogs, and was petting a dog while we were out on day, and said.."mom, Genny's Birfday?" I wish I could make her happy with Dog, but we've already tried having a dog.(: Gwen loved having a birthday. We had fun making this little squat pot 2 year old feel special. We love you to pieces Gwen. You are our special little girl!

Gwen all dolled up to go out to dinner with Grammy and Papa for Her and my mom's birthday.

(Gwen is the one that had the idea to wear her glasses, bracelets, and purse...such a girl!)

Birthday Girl's...Gwen and my mom share the same birthday!

Sawyer.Gwen: the morning of Gwen's birthday!

(don't mind sawyers wet slobber spot on his shirt from sucking his thumb, and the closed eyes..(: )

The big 2 year old getting all pretty for her birthday

I wasn't really feeling up to throwing a big party, so we just did a BBQ at our pool and invited our close family friends. I made a few cupcakes, and brought a few of her decorations from her room to make it look more like a party. She sure felt special and thought she had a fun "party!"

Gwen being shy and embarrased as we sang happy birthday to her..this girl has got a personality, how does she know she is on the spot and to be embarrassed.

after a fun swim in the pool, getting warm by the fire

Gwen. carter.curren.sawyer.shea.linden

Valentines Day at the Zoo

2011-03-23T11:41:00.000-07:00

The kids got a fun Valentines from my mom and got to go to the zoo! They loved every second of it. They loved the Gorilla's the best! Thanks grammy..we had a fun day with you!

Baby Finn & We've moved!

2011-02-24T15:17:00.000-08:00

I feel like I havent posted much on my blog about our little Finn. I usually have updated pics of my growing belly, but I guess life has been busy with 3 kiddos and moving into a new house about a month ago. We are still busy trying to get things situated in our home, but I will update with pics as soon as I feel things are little more complete. But here is a pic of my ever growing belly at almost 27 weeks. I can't believe I am near the 30 week mark. This baby boy is keeping me company with lots of kicks and rolling around. He is one active little guy. The kids have loved seeing my belly grow. They tell me "mom your belly is growing, does that mean we get to hold Finn soon?" They also love to put their little hands on my belly and feel little Finn move around. It always puts a big excited grin on their faces. Gwen says, " me hold baby?", with her arms outstretched ready to hold him. Too cute. she is so ready to have a real baby to love and to hold. Babies are one of her big obsessions right now, along with doggies. (: We are excited to have our family grow and to see what this little guy will be like.

New Years 2011

2011-02-18T16:29:00.001-08:00

We spent New Years with my family at my parents house. My grandparents were in town which was a big event since i had not seen them for 5 years! They had never met Sawyer and Gwen! It was so good to them after so long and my kids loved their great grandparents. We had a fun New Years having a kid party with streamers, noise blowers, balloons, dancing, etc. It was a good, relaxing way to bring in the new year with family.

P.S. these were all taken with my i-phone..bad quality.

Christmas Eve 2010

2011-02-17T21:25:00.000-08:00

This Christmas was a special one because we got to have christmas with Mema and Papa after almost 6 years. The whole Collins family was together in AZ. We had such a special christmas eve with singing christmas songs, acting out the Nativity, the older kids acting out the Nativity with Marionettes, a spiritual slide show of the birth and life of our Savior, Santa came and passed out a present, and we opened christmas Jammies! It was so fun to be together as a WHOLE family again with Mema and Papa for the holidays!

Carter.Porter.Sawyer hanging out together

opening jammies

in our jammies

Thanksgiving cont.

2011-02-05T15:45:00.000-08:00

We had a yummy thanksgiving feast, with every food you can imagine. Our tummy's were definitely full and happy. We enjoyed our day with the turkey trot, went to the movie tangled and came home to feast! We enjoyed relaxing and having fun with the fam. over the holiday vacation.

Jeff in his Thanksgiving get up(:..Sawyer liked it.

Daddy. Gwen

Mommy.Gwen

Gwen chompin' on some snacks in between family pictures

Jono.Gwen(20months). Mommy. Sawyer(3). Carter(5)

Gwen swinging like a big girl

cute owen

cute baby Natalie

Brown family 2010 turkey trot

2011-02-01T23:07:00.000-08:00

This year we were with my family for Thanksgiving. We started off our Thanksgiving day with an new tradition of having a kids Turkey trot with number bibs, water bottles, and medals. My sister Kristina planned the whole thing and made it so fun and real for the kids! It was a success and all finished the race in good time.(:

Owen. Mason. Gwen. Sawyer. Carter

Stretching for their run

gwen observing

sawyer.carter: carter yelling for excitment(:

the line up: Baby Natalie.Gwen.Carter.Mason.Sawyer.Owen: On your Marks!

Gwen. Carter

Mason. Sawyer.Owen

Carter.Mason.Sawyer.Owen

Sawyer

Kristina.Owen

Owen: running so hard!

Papa.Carter.Mason

waiting for the results and their medals

Carter recieving his gold medal

Sawyer recieving his gold medal

Gwen getting her gold medal too

The winners

Disneyland Fun

2011-01-18T15:05:00.000-08:00

2010-12-21T11:23:00.000-08:00

ITS A.... BOY!!

We are excited to have a 3rd boy in our crew!! Gwen is most likely going to boss all those brothers around and make sure they know who's boss. (: We are happy that he is healthy and right on track. We are most likely going to name this little guy Finn. You know like Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. Kind of a coinsedence that we will have a Sawyer and Finn, didn't mean for it to be that way, but we like it that way.

Hope you all Have a Merry Christmas!

Halloween 2010

2010-11-16T22:52:00.000-08:00

Gwen: Ballerina

Gwen Dancing

Gwen: love that little chubby hand

Iron Man Sawyer:Aunt LoLo

Storm Trooper Carter(didn'y have mask on) :Aunt LoLo

Carter decorating his Halloween cookie: At Flakes house on Halloween

Gwen

Sawyer lickin' every last bit(:

Sawyer:Iron Man

Trick or Treat: Gwen.Bennett.Sawyer

Gwen: had to push the stroller around the block, she used it as her halloween bag.

4!

2010-11-15T22:04:00.000-08:00

Yes this is true! Baby #4 is on its way!

We are going to be a family of 6! We are all very excited to welcome another sweet baby into our family. The kids are so excited! Carter wants a baby sister, Sawyer wants a baby brother and Gwen, well she is going to just be happy to have a real baby to hold (she loves babies). I am now 12 weeks along and due at the end of May! That seems so far away. I'll be updating along the way.(:

(sorry for the really blury pictures, it was impossible to get them to sit still on the stools holding the sign)

3

2010-11-15T21:26:00.000-08:00

Happy 3rd Birthday Sawyer!

Carter & Porter sneaking bites of the witches soup

cute cupcakes made by my sister Lauren!

the donut game: carter getting a mouth full

porter. kiley

lily.sawyer

ashly

my dad. brother jeff

pinata time: birthday boy sawyer (iron man)

bennett the magician

carter: buzz lighter

(he hadn't gotten his storm trooper costume in the mail yet)

porter the skeleton

kiley the 80's girl

maicy: hippie

hailey: witch

making a wish

sawyers new bike

Sawyer turned 3 October 21st! We had a fun Halloween Birthday Bash for him with food, treats, games, and Halloween costumes! Sawyer is so lucky to have so many family members living close by. Almost all of them were able to come to celebrate this little man. We had tons of fun! Sawyer had been talking about his party for months before. He was a happy boy when his party was finally here! Sawyer scored on lots of fun birthday gifts and a new hot wheels bike that he loves! We love you Sawyer so much, you are such a sweet and fun boy!

Bates Nut Farm

2010-11-15T21:11:00.000-08:00

Carter

Sawyer

Gwen

In October we took a trip to our favorite Bates Nut Farm for some Halloween fall fun. We go there every year to pick out our pumpkins, eat some yummy treats, ride the pony's and pet the animals. My mom joined the kids and I this year. The kids loved the pony ride and petting the animals, and picked out some good pumpkins (which I forgot to download pics off of my i-phone of them in the pumpkin patch). It's always fun to start off the halloween fall holiday visiting Bates Nut Farm.

wallpaper

2010-10-04T21:05:00.000-07:00

It's all finished.

I love my new wallpaper, and the added fun it gives my kitchen. I have a great husband who stayed up late one night to finish it. He made me one happy girl. Thanks Jono..love ya.

i still need to find something to put on the right wall and some cute pillows for the window seat.

kids eating area, we call it the kids bar.

little sawyer

loves her family

2010-09-07T13:26:00.000-07:00

I love it when I find Gwen looking up at the pictures of our family, and just standing there staring at them. I love it even more when she gets on her tip toes and points out everyone in our family and says their name. She does this quit often. Im glad I caught her doing this...she must love her family...and we love her.

1st day of kindergarten

2010-09-02T12:34:00.000-07:00

looking good and ready to go

showing off his backpack

cute boy

carter.sawyer

carter. mom

kisses

sawyer(love the face).Grammy.Carter

My mom was so sweet and came up with my sister to say bye to carter on his first day, and also to watch sawyer and gwen so I could walk carter school. It was a fun and exciting morning!

carter.mom: walking to school

waiting for ella

carter.ella walking to class

best friends: Ella.Carter

These two are way too cute together

silly boy

I can hardly believe that the day came for my little boy to head off to his first day of Kindergarten. It felt like this day was far in the future, but really it came so fast. But its also a good thing! Carter is so excited to be in Kindergarten! Kindergarten is 1/2 day here so we decided to enroll him in the pm schedule. It works perfect for our schedule. He is so lucky and has his bestfriend & neighbor, Ella in his class with him. They walk to and from school everyday together. It is so fun to see them excited about going to school each and every day. Carter loves his teacher Ms. MacMitchell, and comes home telling me new things they do and learn. We are so happy that he loves it and is doing well so far. Yeah for Kindergarten, we are proud of you carter!

Shark Boy is 5!

2010-09-01T13:28:00.000-07:00

Carter finally turned 5!

Carter was so excited to turn 5. He had been talking about his 5th b-day for months prior. We decided on a fun SHARK party for him. He loves Shark boy and Lava girl, so i thought perfect, sharks it is. I had lots of fun planning out his party and thinking of all the details.We decided to do a big family party since we have all my family here and Jono has almost all his family here.Carters lucky to have most of his family around to celebrate him. I am so lucky to have my SIL, Ashly, who is absolutely amazing, make all the little shark design labels for the water bottles, bags, cute birthday banner, and T's. Everything turned out so cute!! AND...my sister, Lauren has some amazing skills at cake decorating!! A few years ago she took up cake decorating as a hobbie, and has become so good at it!!! She was so nice and sweet and made all of the adorable, cute, detailed Shark and life preserver cupcakes. They were absolutely perfect for the party, and gave it that perfect final touch. I guess I am one lucky girl to have 2 family members that have got some good skills! The party turned out so cute and lots of fun! We did fun water games, pin the fin on the shark, had a shark pinata, and had a BBQ.

It was a fun day celebrating our Carter! We love you Carter!

The party display

shark shirts, candy & shark cupcakes!

The perfect shark & life preserver cupcakes!!

so cute..thanks lauren!

Shark shirts for all the kids..just ironed on all the shark designs Ashly made!

shark water bottles

lily girl

The birthday boy!

showing off his shark

cute bennett

scarlett and her cupcake

playing pin the fin on the shark...my dad was so nice and drew that shark.

Birthday boy taking a swing

sawyers turn

owen

mason

the kids in their cute shark shirts...we were missing half the group.

Thanks everyone for making Carter feel so special!!

one lucky boy!

2010-08-27T16:44:00.000-07:00

This is one lucky boy....

#1 he has both his Mema & Papa and his Grammy & Papa just minutes away....

#2 They both decided to take him on a special outing for his birthday!!

Mema.Carter.Papa

Going out to lunch for his B-day to That Pizza Place (carters choice) and then to the store to pick out a toy!

and

Grammy & Papa took him out to Breakfast on his Birthday to McDonalds and then to the store to get a prize.

He was on cloud 9! So happy and giddy about going out with both grandparents. That was so sweet of Mema & Papa and Grammy & Papa! Thanks so much!

wallpaper?

2010-08-26T16:56:00.001-07:00

So I have been looking for some fun wallpaper to go in my kitchen for quite some time. I have paneling in my kitchen and am invisioning a touch of some sort of fun wallpaper above the paneling. Most of my kitchen is white so some fun color and pattern would give it that special little touch.

love this from anthro

with this pillow on my window seat in my kitchen

with this one too

or possibly this one.

Or there is this wallpaper that is really cute too. I just haven't come across some pillows that would look cute with it. But my only set back is that this is supposedly black. To me it looks navy blue or even a dark charcoal which I would love. I still love it though even if its black.

So....two totally different options, what do you think? Which one can you invision above white paneling in an all white kitchen?

Sleepover

2010-08-17T19:59:00.000-07:00

Sawyer. Carter. Mason. Owen

Eating a yummy frozen snack

on the carousel at Spectrum

Gwen LOVING every second

Carter

Mason

Sawyer: roaring like a bear

We went up a couple of Sundays ago to my niece, Natalie's baby blessing. The boys had so much seeing each other that I decided at the last second to take both of my sisters boys home with us for a sleepover for a couple of nights. I was sure my sister was going to LOVE having some alone time with a new born baby. The boys were so excited to have a sleep over for 2 nights. They had so much fun. We played a lot around the house, did the slip n slide, went to the park, went to the beach at night and had a bon fire with friends, and then went to the spectrum to meet up with my sister again. The boys don't get to see each other as much as they would like, so this was so much fun for them. We love Mason and Owen!

gwen

2010-08-15T22:23:00.000-07:00

Gwen was just being cute this day.

looking out the window at our dog: Rosebud

classic pic.: sucking thumb holding her hair

Gwen posing while dancing

doing her trick

she then came to her favorite spot to sit down

climbed to the top: she looks a little surprised that she did it.

cheese!

Big Boy!

2010-08-15T15:17:00.000-07:00

Big Boy Sawyer (2 1/2)

loves his Buzz & Jesse!

The week of our Newport vacation, I decided I would try potty training Sawyer. This was going to be the most perfect time to do such a dreaded and hard thing, because he was going to be in his swim suit all day playing at the beach. I figured if he had an accident, no big deal cause he was surrounded with sand and the ocean water. (: The beach house was only feet away from the sand so I could quickly run him back to the house to use the potty. Sawyer was awesome! I was so surprised that he decided on his own (no forcing him to do it) to be big boy and go pee and poo on the toilet. I have somewhat tried to potty train in the past but he was not ready and said, "I like my diaper better." I then decided to just wait until he was ready to. He surprised me and told me he had to go potty everytime and willingly went on the toilet. He had two accidents the whole week he potty trained!! That is awesome! I told him he could pick out any toy at Target at the end of the week, if he does a good job at going on the potty. He immediately said, "I want a Buzz, and a Jesse!" I'm pretty sure he told me that over and over until I took him to the store. I was so proud of him, that I ended up taking him to Target in the middle of the week, instead of the end. He was so excited to go to the store and actually get to buy a toy that he wanted. Ever since that week of potty training, he has continued to stay potty trained. Yes, he has had the occasional accident, but over all I would call him potty trained! I dont use pull-ups during the day anymore, but of course at night. I am so glad that I am done with changing his diapers, that was getting to be a little too much for me. Im so happy for you Sawyer that you are a big boy now! He loves wearing his cool undies, just like his big brother, Carter.

Newport 2010 Talent Show

2010-08-15T14:44:00.000-07:00

Every year at the Collins beach week, we do a family talent show. It is very entertaining! After we have our talent show we all get up and have a dance party!

Sawyer.jane.annie.stella.lily: being doggies for their talent :)

doggie sawyer

cute sawyer

dancin' sawyer

paige doing her dance routine

bennett.sawyer.jude

Dance party has begun

love sawyers little arms in motion

gwen has some moves too

sawyer having so much fun

Gwen loves to dance

carter.stella

Carter had fallen asleep before our talent show, so he missed out on all the fun, but here is a cute pic from the night before.

Collins Newport Beach Week 2010!

2010-08-08T21:12:00.000-07:00

Our Family 2010

carter (4). Sawyer(2). Gwen(16months)

Daddy & kids

Mommy & Kids

Gweny & Mommy

Gwen: CHEESE!

the whole crew

21 grandkids!

the girls: Shelly.Mema.Ashly.Amy.Nammie.Brooke.Natalie.Erin

the guys:Matt.Jono.Jack.Dustin.Andrew.Ned.Papa

It was another successful Beach week with the Collins family! We had so much fun being with everyone. It is so nice to relax all day at the beach while the kids play in the water and sand. We had lots of yummy food, played games, had our annual talent show, had movie nights, girls shopping trip, late night bike rides on the beach to get some yummy shakes, and more.The gloomy weather this year was a little bummer, but that didnt stop us from having a good time. Thanks Mema and Papa for such a fun week!

More pics. to come.

7 years & Counting.....

2010-08-01T14:28:00.000-07:00

7 years ago...

7 years later.

I am one lucky girl. I love him so much. These past 7 years have been the best 7 years yet. Its amazing how much our lives have changed from the day we got married 7 years ago.It has been such a good & happy life thus far with this gem of a husband! I am so blessed to have him by my side. He is such a good husband, Dad, and friend. He is so giving and ready to help his family and others. He is such an example to me in all he does.

He loves me and loves his 3 little kids,That alone makes me happy.

I love you.

Happy Anniversary!

Happy 4th

2010-07-07T22:56:00.001-07:00

We had a fun evening in Ladera to see the amazing fire works show there! So fun. We have come every year since we moved from Ladera 4 years ago. Its too good to miss out. We hung out on the grass with our blankets and chairs while the kids ran around and danced to music until it was dark enough to start the fire works. The boys loved laying on the blankets looking up at the huge, booming fire works. Gwen feel asleep, but she would have loved them. We had a fun evening celebrating our country. Happy 4th!

an attempt at a family shot

festive Gwen in her red white and blue: pretty darn cute!

Mema & Gwen hanging out: Gwen munchin' on her snacks

Sawyer & Izzy:

Oh my gosh, Sawyer had the biggest obbession with Izzy the whole weekend! He had to be with Izzy every second, and if he wasn't he was asking where she was so he could run and be with her. She was such a good sport about having her little 2 year old cousin want to be by her side every second. He said to Jono & I, "I like Izzy's face"! Meaning he thinks she is pretty. (: Pretty cute.

So happy to be with Izzy(Isabel)

Family Fun

2010-07-07T14:37:00.000-07:00

A couple Sundays ago, we went to Mema & Papa's place in Dana Point and had sunday dinner and then went down to the sidewalk over looking the beach. The kids had fun playing on the grass and of course eating yummy pie and ice cream! We had a fun evening with our family!

Some of the grandkids and Papa: we celebrated fathers day with papa late b/c we werent all together on fahters day.

jono.gwen

happy little gwen

cousin maicy. gwen

gwen

cousin scarlett

jono.gwen

gwen was obsessed with climbing up and down the stairs

gwen

scarlett.gwen

carter

All the kids getting a fun ride on the piece of cardboard

cute bennett

Soy Boy

Sawyer rollin' down the hill

Bennett on his little piece of cardboard

Precious

2010-07-04T01:08:00.000-07:00

Can you say gorgeous, precious, sweet, adorable?! Natalie is just too cute for words! These were too cute to not post. My sister took Natalie to get her pics taken by her friend Judy. She did an amazing job at capturing sweet little Natalie!

Meeting baby Natalie!

2010-07-02T13:38:00.000-07:00

My little niece Natalie Marie Miller made her debut on June 16th at 12:13pm.

She weighed 7lbs 15oz. Gwen and I were able to make the drive up to see little Natalie! Oh my, she is one cute little thing. I loved holding her and getting my fix of a tiny little baby. It is so fun that my sister now has a little girl. I passed down all of Gwen's clothes and accessories to her, it has been so fun to see Natalie wearing them, and just seeing my sister getting into the girly things after having two boys. Yes, we both have two boys and a girl, and they are all pretty much the same age. Its so fun! Gwen now has a girl cousin (on my side) to play with. Gwen loved Natalie! We miss her and can't wait to see her again!

Natalie Marie Miller!

Gwen playing Peek-a-boo

Gwen patting Natalie

Giving Kisses

Ooohh!

sunday best

Grammy. Gwen

Movie Night

2010-07-02T07:45:00.000-07:00

Carter.Ella.Sawyer: Movie Night

Ella.Carter.Sawyer: wanted to pose in front of the movie

Ella: Carter took this pic.

Sawyer: The kids got a hold of the camera

Carter wanted Shark Boy hair: Ella took this

of course you have to have a pic of the popcorn.(:

Carter and Sawyer got to have their friend Ella come over for dinner and a movie night. They had so much fun eating popcorn, and otter pops while watching The Squequal: Alvin and the Chipmunks. I loved watching them have fun together all snuggled up watching the movie. Reminds me of being a kid.

Gwen Lately~15 mon.

2010-06-23T18:45:00.000-07:00

Gwen trying to brush her teeth, but didnt quit make in her mouth

being so serious about what she is doing

Gettin' some toothpaste

cute Gwen

screaming cause she's happy

Gwen loves to go in the kids bathroom, open up the stool (where the kids keep their tooth brush and tooth paste), sit down on the stool and act like she is putting tooth paste on the tooth brush. She is obsessed with doing this. If she has run off somewhere, I know to look in the bathroom, and find her sitting there like this (above) quietly "brushing her teeth". Pretty cute!

Gwen is such a sweetie mixed with a little spunk.

She knows exactly what she wants, and screams at the top of her lungs to let you know what she wants while pointing her finger.

She loves her brothers and loves to play with them, but not afraid to fight back when in need

She is hilarious, and knows how to be cute, funny, coy at the right times.

She loves her pink soft blankie

Sucks her thumb while holding her blankie up to her nose and sniffs it breathing really loud. (Sawyer does the same thing- their blankies must smell good to them)

Still holds on to my hair when Im holding her.

Now goes up to our dog and holds her tail while sucking her thumb

Twirls her own hair while sucking her thumb if she doesnt have my hair in hand.

loves doing wheels on the bus, and itzy bitzy spider. You never know when she is going to break out with her hand motions, and wants you to sing along

Gives sweetest Kisses

So friendly with other people, waves and says hi to everyone in the store

Finally got ear tubes about a month ago, and has done wonders for her. She is sleeping through the night again, now that she doesnt have to deal with those horrible ear infections!! Yeah!

Always wakes up with a bug smile, and ready to go have some fun

loves her babies/her white bear

Says:

Mama

Dada

Papa

Darder (carter)

Ewww Groo (Eww Gross)

PooPoo

Bye

Dog

baby

again

signs "more"

Gotta love this little girl!

Style Files Giveaway!

2010-06-22T09:02:00.000-07:00

Head on over to Style Files, Where Caitlin is having a Thomas Paul pillow giveaway!! There are a variety of fun, pretty pillows to choose from. Hurry over!

Preschool Graduate!

2010-06-21T16:11:00.000-07:00

Carter

Carter playing the spider in his preschool play

Preschool Graduation Class 2010..Kindergarten here we come!

Nicholas.Hunter.Carter.Brandon: Preschool Buddies

Hunter.Carter.Brandon: Carters buds

Savannah.Carter.Ella

Carter & Miss Paula

Well its official, Carter has graduated from Preschool! He loved his 2 years at little bugs preschool with Miss Paula! He has learned so much, and can't wait to start Kindergarten! But he will miss his teacher and his friends. I can't believe that my little guy is going to be in kindergarten. Crazy! I love my little guy and so proud of him!

Kristen Krason Interiors Giveaway!

2010-06-17T08:08:00.000-07:00

Head on over to 6th street design school for a chance to win an E-decorating Giveaway with Kristen Krason!

just us two

2010-06-13T20:23:00.000-07:00

Us at Roy's

Collins Street on Balboa Island

Amelia's: cutest little beachy italian restraunt and really good too!

Jono was such a good husband and surprised me for mothers day with a weekend getaway. We have been saying that we need to take a weekend for just us. So Jono's parents watched our kiddos, and we took off to Newport Beach this weekend. It was really nice to go somewhere local and not have to worry about the hassle of the airport. We literally just took our time with what we did, and didn't have anything to worry about at all. This was just what we needed. Friday night we went to Roy's and then went shopping, and then stayed up late watching a movie together. Saturday, We amazingly slept in until 10am!!! Oh my gosh, I have not done that since highschool! I thought maybe the time was wrong when I opened my eyes and saw those numbers. With 3 kiddos sleeping in is 7am. I didn't care if I was being lazy and sleeping in that late, I loved it! After a well rested night, Jono was so sweet and scheduled an hour massage at the spa where we were staying! It was so fun to go with Jono, where we were both pampered and had the best massage ever. That was definitely worth it and much needed! The rest of the day we went shopping, walked around Balboa Island and wished we could live there in one of the amazing beach houses, and ate at a darling little mom and pop type itialian restraunt on Balboa called Amelias. We then ended the night seeing a late night movie! Sunday, was our last day to sleep in. WE took our time getting ready and met up at Jono's parents place where our little kids were waiting for us. They were so excited to see us, but they had soo much fun with their Mema and Papa. We loved having a couple days to ourselves, and doing all these fun activities with eachother. It brought back memories of when we were dating. I am so lucky to have Jono. He is so good to me. I love him so much and have so much fun with him. This was a perfect weekend. Now we are back to real life with our kids, but real life is also a good thing. Its good to be rejuvinated and get back to being a mom of 3.

A Happy Mothers Day

2010-05-28T10:06:00.000-07:00

It was a great Mothers Day this year. My kids woke me up and were so excited to hold my hand and lead me out to the kitchen where a table full of goodies and flowers awaited me. The kids love doing little surprises for me. Jono Surprised me with a mini get away weekend with just the two of us...no kids! This will be the first time ever that we have gone a few nights sans kids! I am so excited to beable to spend time with just Jono. My family happened to be in town for Mothers Day, so we all got together and had a relaxing day with the family. I am so happy to be a mommy, and so thankful for my Mom! It was a good day!

Mama,Mama,Mama,Mama.....

2010-05-15T00:33:00.000-07:00

That is what I hear from Gwen when she is having her bath time. Her little arms out strectched towards me with these funny lookin' construction goggles that were in the boys play tool box, with no lense in them, but have now turned into the bath swim goggles, begging me to put them on her. She loves putting them on, and as soon as she does, she knows she is being so cute, and funny. This girl is one funny little peanut. I love her little sense of humor. She is quite the little ham for her young age.
Gwen has to sit right under the faucet when she is taking her bath. She is just taking after her brothers. Carter & Sawyer both fight over who gets to sit right under the warm water. Now little Gwen has learned and nuzzles her way right in there. She loves to just sit there and relax and let the water run on her. If the boys try to move her out of the way to get under the water too, she's not afraid to put up a fight.(:

One lucky Mommy

2010-05-09T14:21:00.000-07:00

I am feeling like one lucky Mommy today! I am so blessed to have these 3 cute kids as mine. Each one of them brings something special to our family. They are full of life and so fun to be with. They teach me so much. I feel so thankful for these 3, and that I am their Mommy.

Happy Mothers Day to All you Mothers! You are all so special!

p.s. The amazing Jylare took these pics.I love all these pics, she captured their personalities so well. Go check out her blog, cause she's having another amazing giveaway!

Strawberry pickin'

2010-04-22T15:03:00.000-07:00

Sawyer proud of what he picked

Carter with his mound of strawberries

Carter in the pretty field of strawberries

strawberry fields

Gwen sneakin' one

Gwen

Sawyer sitting by his hard earned strawberries

On Tuesday we got together with some other moms and kids in the ward to go strawberry pickin'! The Carlsbad Strawberry fields are so close to my house. I have always wanted to go there with the kids, and we finally made it after 4 years of living here. We had so much fun picking the perfect red, ripe juicy ones. The boys each had there own cup to fill, and they did a good job. Gwen had so much fun being a big girl and picking some for herself.(: She was lovin' it! We are already talking about going back for some more strawberry pickin' fun. Yes, they are already ALL gone!

dirt bike fun!

2010-04-21T13:29:00.000-07:00

Jono bought Carter this little red dirt bike a couple months back. Carter, Sawyer and Jono have been going up to the park by our house and practicing on the big grass field. I usually dont go because I am taking care of Gwen. Well this time Carter wanted to show Papa and Grammy his skills up at the park since they were in town and hadn't seen him ride it either and I wanted to go along too. To my surprise, Carter hopped right on his dirt bike and rode around on the grass like it was nothing. He is a natural at it. He says when he is bigger he wants to be in the real Moto X. (: Im fine with him putting around on his little dirt bike for now. (: Sawyer and Gwen wanted a ride too, and I was feeling a little left out of the fun so decided to hop on. (: We had a fun little evening.

its the little things...

2010-04-21T13:02:00.000-07:00

I love me some fresh colorful flowers, along with a yummy smelling candle, and a fun print. It helps make my kitchen just a little bit more fun. This liberty of london candle is so yummy and has a very cute cover to put on when your not using the candle. My SIL, Ashly made this cute little poster, she's got some talent. It's the little things that make a difference.

sneak peak

2010-04-11T19:00:00.000-07:00

I am so excited to share a couple sneak peak pics of my crazy, cute kiddos from our photo shoot (that I won on her blog) with Jylare ! The first picture depicts exactly how they were acting. I love it! Jylare did an amzing job capturing my kids personalities. All 3 of my kids were extra crazy and hyper that day we met with Jylare. They must have really liked her, because when they like someone that is their time to start showing off in a wild hyper way. Jylare was so good with the camera and so good with my kiddos. I am so happy I got this opportunity to have her snap some pics of my family, and to have met her. She is so sweet and fun. Thank you so much Jylare! We can't wait to see the rest of them. Go take a look at her work to see just how good she is. I'll be posting more soon!

Thank You....

2010-03-24T00:09:00.000-07:00

Grammy & Papa....&....Mema & Papa!

I love my Pretty Pink Purse with my pink Poodle & stroller, and I love my blabla doll! I have been holding them all day long! Now i can play mommy, while holding my purse & doggy, and pushing my blabla doll in my stroller! I love you so much! You are so special to me! Wish you could come play with me! Miss you!

Love

Gwen

Happy Birthday Gwen!

2010-03-22T22:22:00.000-07:00

Gwen is our little 1 year old now!

I can hardly believe that she isn't my little newborn swaddled in her blanket anymore. It really seems as though she was just the tiny infant in my arms. Yes, she is still a little tiny pixie, but a little pixie that is walking around the house with her hands clenched to her stroller pushing her baby, with that look of excitment that she is finally a "big girl". I am in love with this little girl, and simply can't get enough of all her sweetness. You are so special Gwen, we love you! Happy Birthday sweet 1 year old!

We had a fun evening celebrating Gwen's birthday by having our own little family birthday party. Gwen was so cute when we sat her on the table with all of her presents and birthday hat, she knew she was center of attention! She was loving it. We did presents and cake at home, and then went to get some yummy frozen yogurt with some friends. It ended up being the perfect little evening for this special little girl!

just some little decorations I already had around the house to make it feel more like a party. (:

the birthday girl!

I made her this birthday party hat thinking it would be so cute for pics...well, I guess it's the thought that counts, cause she would not keep it on for a second. She just wanted to squish it. oh well

Sawyer. Gwen. Carter

Gwen. Daddy: She was moving all over the place, kind of hard to get a good pic.

Gwen opening her phone from Carter

Lovin' her Pretty Pink Purse with the Pretty Pink Poodle from Grammy

Gwen's big cupcake for a big 1 year old!

Look at this cute little cake topper my found. It is perfect for the occasion...a little sweet girl having a birthday, and on the cupcake it says March. My mom snatched it in a second for little Gwen! My mom also thought of me because I used to collect and be obssessed with precious moments when I was little.

Gwen was in love with her cake! It must have been heaven to her to see a huge cupcake dripping with frosting all for her. She was all over it and couldn't get enough. You'll see....

testing it...

mmm, this is good..forget using my hands

Mmmmm..I'm goin' in for more....

( I love sawyers face in all of these cake pics)

I want it all!

Sawyer laughing histarically at gwen! pretty cute! The boys were loving watching her. Anytime the boys would try and eat some she would push them away or hit their hand.

We love you Gwen...Happy 1st Birthday!

12 months = 1 year!

2010-03-22T16:31:00.000-07:00

Gweny girl at 1 year:

*Weighs 17 lbs. (a little pixie)

*can still wear 3-6 month clothes, she even has a pair of leggings that are 0-3 months~ but she usually wears 12 months clothes. Lets just say she can wear all sizes.

*waves hi and bye, and says "buh-bye"

* Stands up from sitting down all by herself with out holding on to anything

* stood up from sitting and took 4 steps all by herself 3-19-10

*Loves her stroller and walks all over the house while pushing her baby.

*LOVES dogs!!!

*loves her babies

* says, "cap, cap, cap" (clap, clap, clap)

*blows her food if it's hot

* gives open mouth kisses

*is still attached to my hair and her thumb

* plays bashful, and shy

*knows when she is being cute

* not afraid to scream at her brothers and let them know when she is not happy..go gwen!

*gets so happy when her daddy comes home

* is glued to her mommy's hip or leg

*loves to climb up our slide on feet and hands and sit at the top in the little play house area. (yes, a little scary)

*loves being outside playing

* has 6 teeth, plus 2 that have just broke through. Carter and Sawyer say, "look, Gwen has Mater teeth!"

* loves her brothers, and knows exactly who is who (knows them by name)

*finally started sleeping through the night, after 5 months of waking up in the middle of the night because of her chronic ear infections. She goes into the ENT on monday the 29th for a consultation to get Tubes! YEs, there is an end in sight for these horrible ear infections, that have been lurking in gweny's ears!

* If I ask, "Gwen, do you want to eat?" , she replies with smacking her lips. pretty cute.

* She loves to do, "How big is Gweny?" "So Big" and raises her little arms above her head. She loves to do and will do it numerous times in a row.

Gwen is learning so many fun, cute things. Its amazing how much she has learned, and how much of a personality she has in such a tiny one year old body.

Gwen, we love you to pieces! You are a special little girl. We are so lucky and blessed that you are apart of our family. You have made this year a happy one!

It's a special Day!

2010-03-22T13:46:00.000-07:00

March 22nd is a special Day not only for Gwen, but for my Mom too! Happy Birthday mom! I love you tons! You are one special Mom and friend to me! I hope you are having a relaxing, fun, special birthday in Hawaii! You deserve it! Im just imagining I am there too soaking in that warm Hawaiian sun! Love ya

Gwen was born on my Mom's Birthday! How special is that, I know my mom loved having her first grand daughter born on her special day. They will always have that to share together.

I......

2010-03-12T09:15:00.000-08:00

WON!

A BIG THANKS to Jylare Photography! I am the lucky winner for her amazing giveaway she had on her website! I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw my name. It was early in the morning when I checked her blog, so I thought maybe I wasn't seeing right. (: I was and am smiling from ear to ear! I love good photography! It's little Gwen's 1st birthday coming up so I am planning on using this amazing opportunity to get Gwen's 1 year pic.'s taken. Thanks again Jylare for picking me! I am one happy girl!

refreshed & happy

2010-03-09T10:01:00.000-08:00

This little girl woke up so refreshed and happy! She was all smiles when I walked into her room. I love it when I get to see this sweet, smiley face after a nice nap. It can't get much better than that.

This cute pic was taken by carter man. He's getting pretty good with the camera.

Gwen being so silly..look at those eyebrows. gotta love em', just like her mama.

Carter lookin' so cute

Gwen loves this soft bear. She loves anything soft and cuddly. She holds her bear and cuddles it when she goes to sleep.

(: that would be little carter for ya.

Zoomers

2010-03-07T20:41:00.000-08:00

Jane.Annie.Carter.Bennet: Ready to go in!

Carter & Mr. Guinea Pig (G-force)

Cute little Sawyer so excited to feed the little bunnies/guinea pigs. He did not want to let go of those carrots.

Gweny lovin' every second with the soft bunny. She is an animal lover.

Carter made a new little bunny friend with this one. Carter was in love with this bunny, and did not want to give him up. Actually the bunny liked him too. When carter would put him down, it would stay close by him. Carter is now hot on the idea of getting a white bunny with red eyes.(:

Mommy.Gwen:

She just about squeezed the heck out of this poor little guinea pig, we put him down quickly after that.

Bennett.Carter:

Bennett was ready to go for a ride when he hopped on that log with carter. He was holding on tight. Love that little Bennett!

Bennett.Carter

G-force.Carter.Sawyer

A couple weeks ago, we met up with my SIL's and the cousins, and went to Zoomers, a cute little petting zoo in San Juan. Oh my gosh my boys and Gwen were loving it! Especially Carter. He loved that he was able to feed, pet, and pick up the little animals. They also had a caged in area where you could go in with the goats and pet them and hang out with them. Carter also made friends with the goats. I looked over and he had his arms around the goats neck giving him a hug with a huge smile on his face.(: Maybe one day he will get some kind of animal friend to call his own and to take care of. Not too soon though. We will definetly be making a trip back to Zoomers so the kids can get their fix of the little animals. (:

Jylare Photograhy GIVEAWAY!

2010-03-05T08:15:00.000-08:00

Jylare Photography is having an amazing giveaway! If you live here in California or are going to be in town sometime soon, hurry over to Jylare to enter into the giveaway by posting a comment. She does amazing work! Good Luck! Hope I win! (:

11 months

2010-02-22T14:11:00.000-08:00

My little baby girl is rapidly growing up before my eyes! I can hardly stand it...she is going to be 1 year old in the blink of an eye! She is one fun, full of personality, sweet, happy little girl. She always keeps us entertained with the fun, cute new things she is doing every day. Love you sweet girl! We all love you!

Gweny lately...

gives kisses with a wide open mouth

claps

dances to music

drinks out of a bottle and sippy cup!

crawls on her knees, but still likes to do the army crawl

does rock paper scissors(:

when the boys get out of the tub, Jono and I do rock paper scissors with the boys to see who gets out first. Well gweny had been watching, b/c one night when bath was over, I said, "okay boys, Rock, paper, scissors." (I did not do the hand actions) and gwen looked up at me with a huge smile and clapped her hands together 3 times (rock, paper, scissors). Now every time we say rock paper scissors she claps her hands together 3 times. Pretty cute!

Walks with her adorable new stroller from Grammy for her birthday. ( we opened it up early so she could get a head start on learning how to walk, and it sure has helped!)

She stands up all by her self without holding onto anything! (today!)

says: mama, bebe(baby), ddd ruff ruff (dog), dada

LOVES dogs..she freaks out when she sees one!

love

2010-02-18T09:07:00.000-08:00

I love him so much! Happy Valentines!

We were able to get away for a night on the town. Thanks to Mema and Papa for watching our 3 kiddos!

My Valentine's

2010-02-18T08:57:00.000-08:00

I am so lucky to have ALL of these special ones as my Valentine's.

p.s. The amazing Mike cunningham took these pics back in September. He did such a good job, thanks Mike! Go check him out!

gwen

2010-02-16T21:40:00.000-08:00

I get to look at this smiley, sweet face all day long...and I love it.

happiness

2010-02-03T23:44:00.001-08:00

sawyer.carter

sawyer.chip

carter.dale

pluto wanting a hug

carter.pluto

sawyer.goofy

the boys & goofy

mickey.sawyer.carter.shelly.gwen

gwen just looking cute in her outfit

jono.carter.sawyer: laughing on tea cups

sawyer: just a little tense

happiness is what these two boys of mine were feeling when we walked into the entrance of Disneyland, and right before them walks out Mickey, Minnie, goofy, pluto, chip, dale, and donald!! I can't even explain to you how excited they were. This has never happend to them before. They went running from character to character, screaming "mom, dad, look mickey, look goofy, look donald, etc.!" Their faces were in awe, especially sawyers. It was pretty cute. It was so fun to see them so excited and that pure happiness on their faces.

amazing

2010-02-01T20:28:00.000-08:00

After 10 months of rejecting the bottle/sippy cup/straw, basically anything but mommy, Gwen decided to drink a 4oz. bottle today! AMAZING! I thought the day would never come. We tried everything we could think of to get her to drink her liquids besides what she was getting from me. I am so happy I nurse her, but it would be nice for her to take a bottle once in a while when I need/ or want to go somewhere without her. So hopefully, if she continues I can go out longer than 3 hours with Jono or maybe even a little get away with out having to worry about taking Gwen with us, or rushing back in time to feed her. This is the start of something great! I love nursing her, it is such a bonding moment for us, But as she is creeping up on her 1st birthday, I am thinking that it's time to call it quits. We will just have to see that she's not tricking us and really does take more than one bottle. One step at a time I guess.

rock climbing buds

2010-02-01T15:26:00.000-08:00

In winter park across the street from my parents cabin there is the neatest rec. center that just opened. There was a huge in door swimming pool, with a lazy river, play structure in the water, and water slide. They also had other fun activities and sports to do there. One of the cool features was this rock climbing wall. Carter and Mason were able to try rock climbing for their very first time. I was so impressed with the both of them! They did awesome at 4 year olds! They were feeling pretty tough and cool. They were using all their big muscles to get oh so high.

snowmobiling in Colorado

2010-02-01T14:59:00.000-08:00

seth.mason.carter.jono

carter

carter. mason at the very top

yeah we made it!

jono.carter

papa.jeff

While we were in Denver for Christmas, we went up to my parents cabin in winterpark. It is so pretty and relaxing there. Carter and Mason went with their Dads, Papa, and uncle jeff snowmobiling while we were up at the cabin. Carter had never been on the snowmobile before and was so excited! He loved it! Thanks papa for having such cool, fun snow toys!! Can't wait to go again!

winter wonderland

2010-02-01T14:36:00.000-08:00

sawyer

carter

carter.sawyer

carter

mason.carter

sawyer waiting his turn

carter

mason

carter

jono.sawyer

The boys had so much fun playing and sledding in the snow! They were in a winter wonderland.

Christmas Morning

2010-02-01T12:59:00.000-08:00

Milk & Cookies

owen.mason.carter.gwen.sawyer:

waiting to run down the stairs to see what santa brought them!

sawyer so excited

gwen waiting too

carter running down

love that face...so happy!

carter finally got his spark scooter!

gwen having fun with some of her gifts

gwen opening her baby doll from grammy..she loves it!

this is the most perfect picture of what gwen does when I hold her...thumb in mouth and hand holding my hair. My hair is her favorite thing...i think my hair has gotten thinner from this little hand.

incredible mason

owen

sawyer:

so if you didnt notice I didnt get pictures of sawyer with his santa gift, well thats because he was in love with owen's gifts, and only wanted to play with his gifts. sawyer got a leapster from santa, and now likes it! (:

silly sawyer

lauren.sawyer

10 months

2010-01-22T07:13:00.000-08:00

Gwen: 10 months!

weight: 15lbs 14oz. (5%)

Height: 27 in. (20%)

I can hardly believe that our little baby Gwen is 10 months! I still think of her as my 3 month old baby. Even though she is still a baby, the baby stage isn't lasting very long. It goes faster and faster with each baby. Which is so sad, but at the same time so fun and exciting to see them learning and growing. Gwen is our little pixie. She is so little, sweet, fun, and so darn cute! I really can't get enough of her. I love being with her. Gwen is now standing up and thinks it is a pretty fun thing to do. She bounces up and down, patting what ever she is holding on to while babbling away. Gwen still army crawls all over the house, she's not quite up and moving on her knees yet, she attempts it though. She loves to dance to music and loves to be sung to. Gwen waves hi, claps, says mama & dada, and loves her baby doll. If you ask, "where's your baby?" she will look for it, and when she gets a hold of her baby, she loves on it and squeezes it. So cute! Gwen has 5 teeth, and loves to eat table food. She loves bath time, and never wants to get out. She loves her brothers so much, and loves to play with them. She is a special little girl in our family! We are so lucky to have her. We love you Gwen!

A Danish Christmas Eve~2009

2010-01-21T20:27:00.000-08:00

Little boys playing in the backyard..lovin' all the snow!

Gwen.Jeff

Grammy. Sawyer. Carter: my mom made the boys these fun, cute aprons to wear when painting, cooking, or helping Dad BBQ. So crafty and cute.

Our Danish Christmas Eve dinner: hosted by Lauren

Cheers!

Grammy.Gwen: My mom even made Gwen some bibs that matched the boys aprons. (:

Sawyer talkin' to Gwen

Our Danish Christmas Dance around the tree

ALL of our amazing, comfy, cozy slippers that Lauren knitted for all of us on her free time on her mission. It took her so long and so much work to get these done for everyone in the family! They are so comfy and warm. She is so talented.

Cute Lauren & The Slippers.

Jeff.Jono.Shelly.Gwen.Lise.Kris.Seth.Lauren

Sawyer.Lauren.Carter.Owen.Mason: Lauren brought the kids these cute little piggy banks that look like the danish mailboxes. They even have little keys to open them with.

Lauren.Shelly.Jono: Jono and I found the almond in the ris ala mande (rice porrage). We won the game!

family nativity play

Carter.Jono.Sawyer.Gwen.Shelly

Owen.Carter.Mason.Gwen.Sawyer

This Christmas Eve couldn't have been more special and fun! First off my sweet & amazing sister Lauren got home from her mission in Denmark! She had gotten home in Denver just a week before. We didn't go out to see her at the airport because we were going to be there for christmas. So I got to see my sister Christmas Eve morning! It was so good to see her after so long. I missed having her around and just talking to her on the phone. It is so good to have her back home and apart of the family fun. Since Lauren had just got back from Denmark, Lauren planned and hosted an amazing, yummy, fun Danish Christmas Eve! Christmas in Denmark is a huge celebration that lasts 3 days! The entire country shuts down to spend time with family, sing songs, and to eat, eat and eat some more!! Christmas eve is the biggest of all 3 days, and comparable to our Christmas day. Christmas Eve is when they eat their traditional dinner and open their presents. Santa comes during dinner so they don't have to wait for Christmas morning to open their presents from St. Nick. Lauren was so sweet and wanted to bring a little Denmark home and show our family some of her favorite Danish Christmas traditions. We started with a huge Danish Christmas Dinner that consisted of Flæskesteg(pork roast), Kartoffler potatoes, Rødkål (sweet & sour red cabbage), Frikadeller danish pork and beef meatball, æbler og blommer (boiled apples and plums), & Brun sauce ( Brown gravy). It was all so good, and Lauren prepared and cooked it ALL by herself, with a little help. For dessert, the Danish tradition is to eat Ris ala mande. This is a rice porrage with whipped cream, vanilla, and chopped almonds. This isn't just a dessert, its a game. In the huge bowl of ris ala mande there is a whole almond. everyone is suppose to keep eating until they find the whole almond. We couldnt eat the whole bowl, but no worries cause I got the whole almond on my first bite. Lauren put a second one in there just for fun, and Jono ended up getting it too. So we got the prize..a little bag of danish chocolates. After a filling, yummy, fun dinner the danish people burn off some calories by dancing and singing around the christmas tree, just like WHOVILLE. (: We moved the tree in the middle of the room and danced around and around holding hands. The kids had so much fun and so did the adults. After dancing around the tree, that is when the Danish people open their presents. Lauren gave everyone Danish presents! Amazing, talented, thoughtful Lauren spent hours and hours and hours of her free time throughout her mission knitting each person a pair of wool slippers. Each one was different and made just for that person. We were all amazed and so excited to have these Danish slippers. They are so warm and cozy! She also brought the kids cute little Danish mail box piggy banks! The kids were so excited. We were all blown away with all that Lauren had done for us to make our Christmas eve feel a little more Danish. It was so good to have her home for Christmas and to be around her. She is one special person, and an example to me. Thanks Lauren for all you did to make our Christmas eve amazing! We of course ended the night reading the Nativity story and acting it out with costumes and all. We are so thankful for our savior and that we get to have this season to celebrate his birth. Lastly we all opened our christmas jammies. By then the kids were so tired and got a little crazy, so we didn't get any cute pics of them in their jammies christmas eve. The kids were so full of excitment for what was going to be waiting for them in the morning. So exciting! We had a day full of special and new traditions, and most of all had the most fun being with the whole family again on Christmas Eve 2009.

Thank You!

2010-01-18T21:46:00.000-08:00

I am in love with these paintings that I recieved from my brother Jeff for Christmas. I must have been a nice sister this year.(: His friend from littleshopofshavs.com paints these amazing, canvas paintings. I just received these in the mail on Saturday and I am so excited about them. I just need to find the perfect spot to put them. Thank you Jeff for my Christmas Gift, that was so thoughtful and sweet of you. You are such a good brother. Thank you Shauna for painting these for me and my family, you are so talented! I love them so much!

9 months

2010-01-18T21:00:00.001-08:00

Gwen

Gwen:Hi

Gwen.Sawyer

Sawyer.Gwen.Carter:bath time

So this post is way past due, because Gwen turned 9 months almost 1 month ago. I have been so behind on blogging lately...but its catch up time.

At 9 months Gwen is still our little petite girl. She is just under 16 lbs....still. She eats really well, but just doesn't pack it on very well. Gwen army crawls all over the house. Her favorite thing to do is take a bath! The second I walk in the bathroom, she starts waving her arms up and down and kicking her legs, and boy when that water turns on she is going crazy. If she could she would stay in the bath tub all day. When its time to get out she arches her back and screams! That girl knows what she wants. Gwen loves her brothers so much. She is all smiles when she is surrounded by them, but boy oh boy if they take a toy from her, she isn't afraid to let them know! She stretches out her arms, clenches her fists, and yells right at them. I always wondered with two older brothers what kind of personality Gwen would have. Would she be the more quiet, shy, timid girl and come running to mommy every time something happens to her, or would she stand her ground against those two older brothers. Well so far I think we know how she is going to be. It's kind of funny such a small, sweet, little thing knows how to stick up for herself. (: The boys think its pretty funny. Gwen says Mama and Dada,waves hi, and is starting to mimic a lot. Gwen is such a fun, happy, sweet, girl. We are so lucky to have Gwen in our family. She makes us laugh and smile all day. We love you Gwen!

Little Inn Keeper

2010-01-09T22:23:00.000-08:00

Carters preschool class all dressed up

carter after he came out of the cupboard

carter being silly

carter.sawyer

sawyer had to whip out his shades to be cool

At Christmas time at Carters preschool, they put together a cute "Christmas Story" play for all the parents. Carter was so excited for Sawyer, Gwen and Mommy to come to his preschool and watch him. I can only remember when I was in elementary school feeling so cool when my mom came to my classroom during school. Carter was lucky and got to be the Inn Keeper, and even have a speaking part. When the play started I didn't see carter, until it came to his part when Joseph knocked on the cupboard door and out popped carter, the inn keeper. It was pretty cute. Carters part was..."sorry there is no room in my inn, but you can stay in my stable." He did great. Carter was pretty excited and happy that day. He was one cute little Inn Keeper. Carter loves school and wishes he could go every day. On the days he doesn't have school, he says, "Mom, I miss preschool." I can't believe Carter will be walking up the street to "the big school" to go to Kindergarten this year, and he will be going everyday.(: He is growing up too fast. He needs to stop.

Merry Christmas 2009

2010-01-04T20:46:00.000-08:00

Snowmen

2010-01-04T20:05:00.000-08:00

Over the Christmas Holidays the boys were so excited to do fun little christmas crafts. I had some felt, chocolate chips, mike n ikes, and candy canes, and this is what we came up with..snowmen. The boys loved it. They were so proud of their creations. We hung them up on the wall above where they eat breakfast and lunch. They loved to stare at, point and admire their little snowmen.By the end of the month the wall was filled with their holiday crafts. Amazing what will make these little guys happy and excited.