OUCH!

We were building our chicken coop and this happened!!

Just blessed it was not worse!

He had to have a plastic surgeon fix him up at the ER!!

His muscle in his lip was cut so he will scar but thankfully he will be OK!

Those chickens better be worth it! :)

Ash 15!

I have NO idea how and why time flies by so quickly..
I really try not to let it make me sad, and really just try my best
to savor these ones I love so much..
we all say as mothers...these little ones are the best part of our lives..
in reality...
they are the best part of ourselves..
and time..just teaches us to be present and enjoy them..
..this I know...
because somehow..I blinked...
and she turned 15!!!

It is a tradition with our kids to wake them up at MIDNIGHT the morning of their birthday..they LOVE IT! Ben and I set the alarm and wake them up and sing happy birthday to them! We are never organized enough to find candles and something to put them in, so we usually just wing it and use what ever we can find around the house!
I usually try to get some good pictures so they can laugh at them the next morning...

This year was different though..I cried after we sang to her...
..the reality hit me...3 more years is all we have left with her before she is all grown up and off to college..
have we done enough to prepare her for life? I don't know..
what I do know...is that she has been the greatest gift I have ever been given!
We love YOU Ash!!!
Happy 15th baby girl!

Ash had volleyball practice on her Birthday so we took cupcakes to celebrate! She just loves her team mates..Jacque is such a jokester and such a fun girl! She took Ash's cupcake and shoved it right in her face...I caught this one right before it happened..you can see her getting ready to give it a shove right to Ash's face!!

So they had fun with it and got icing all over each other!!

Her whole team minus one..

When we got home her friend Jake came over to bring Ash her very OWN huge chocolate chip cookie..with the sweetest card!

Then our family time!..Ben made her favorite cake..home made banana cream cheese cake! It is divine!

St. Patricks Day Fun...

Those pesky Leprechauns got into our house and toilet papered it! They tipped the kitchen chairs upside down on top of the counter, turned our milk green, and even left a little Leprechaun kiss on Anzleigh's cheek! She even found a piece of toilet paper that had some little footprints left by the mischievous creatures! She was so excited about it that she even took the toilet paper with the little footprints on them to school to prove to her class mates that we got "Leprechauned"!

Anz's proof Leprechauns were here..

Anz was sporting a 4 leaf clover in her hair...just for luck! :)

Blayre and I made rainbow cup cakes, green jello jigglers and green pop corn balls for the kids when the got home from school! :)

FUN, FUN DAY!!

Ben surprised the kids with Disney On Ice tickets last Saturday, we were already going down for Ash's Volleyball game so we decided to make it a family affair! Which we hardly ever do because they hate to watch volleyball for 2 whole days!
I was thinking the kids were going to freak out and be SO excited...well....Anz and Blayre were so HAPPY! Jens said he wanted to hang at Aunt Kami & Uncle Curt's house instead!..he loves Jaron and Kalen, and seeing how he never gets "boy time" he is always looking forward to seeing them every chance he gets!!
We were hoping Ash would get done with her tournament before we had to leave but she didn't! So we went with just Anz, Blayre and Chan! We still had such a good time! Blayre absolutely loves Beauty and the Beast and is always saying that she is Princess Bell! :) So when they came out she was freaking out! I wish I could have remembered to bring my video camera just to tape her the whole time, it was adorable! So worth it!

Ash played at the factory in Lehi and Cabella's is right across the street so we took the girls over! They LOVED it!

SUPER FUN WEEKEND!!!

thoughts..

As I often do, I sit on the couch and plan out my week on Sunday nights. When and where to run each one of the children for their different activities, what bills go out this week, plan our meals for the week, make shopping lists ect..

Well, while I am sitting here tonight thinking of my grocery list for the week, my thoughts keep taking me back to President Hinkley's voice.
I remember so clearly hearing his talk in October 1998 saying..
" I am suggesting that the time has come to get our houses in order. So many of our people are living on the very edge of their incomes. In fact some are living on borrowings...THERE IS A PORTENT OF STORMY WEATHER AHEAD TO WHICH WE HAD BETTER GIVE HEED..."
I also remember hearing him say so lovingly that he did not want to alarm us, but what he was saying he wanted us to take it with up most urgency!

Have we taken his advice? I can say that we have not done nearly as much as I would hope to. Learning how to can from our gardens, getting out of debt, storing food, storing every needful thing can be an overwhelming task, not to mention a space issue!!

I really have had that talk on my mind many times lately, I am very much grateful for a prophet of God. The words that they speak are truly from a loving Heavenly Father to us.

With the on going turmoil going on around the world, it can and probably will effect us here.

President Ezra Taft Benson said, "too often we bask in our comfortable complacency and rationalize that the ravages of war, economic disaster, famine, and earth quake cannot happen here. Those who believe this are either not acquainted with the revelations of the Lord, or they do not believe them. Those who smugly think these calamities will not happen, that they will somehow be set aside because of the righteousness of the Saints, are deceived and will rue the day they harbored such a delusion." (October 1980)

I believe that we do have a very bumpy ride a head of us and I hope that we have all listened to our prophets about getting prepared.
"the time to fix the roof is when the sun is shining" (John F. Kennedy)

It is my hope and prayer that we have done enough at least for now..the time isn't up, I have just been feeling anxious about what lies ahead...just my thoughts this Sunday evening!

Sugar Cookies..

My kids' favorite thing to do is make and decorate sugar cookies..so for Valentines Day we made up a batch!! I had the camera out for the making of the cookies..and for the decorating part the kids had them decorated and eaten before I could even get a picture of all of them!
We did have a fun time making a mess of the kitchen though!!

Well she has done it again...
Blayre has been our little injury child! She always has bumps and bruises on her head since she could crawl around!
Ashtyn was carrying the Kitchen Aid out to the pantry and Blayre was being her wild child self and ran right into her splitting open her head right below the eye brow.
We had to rush her to the Emergency Room because we could tell she needed stitches, it was quite a gash!
While we were there at the Hospital she was so good, I could hardly believe it she was such a trooper!! She had been playing Dr. with Anz all weekend, they had out their babies and were playing hospital..it was so cute. So Blayre had been saying all weekend..I need to go to the Hospital and get a new head!! haha!!
So she go her wish in a way...she got to go to the Hospital! :)
She was talking to the Dr. telling him that she would be fine and she will like her "new head" it was so cute! They were so impressed with her good behavior because she did not move a muscle while she was getting stitched up, so she got a new teddy bear and named him Blue!! haha...what a weekend!!!

See the other bruise going right down her little forehead?..ya, she ran into the door a few days ago....