Coloring Easter Eggs

Pictures of "my babies" coloring their eggs.....

Life!!

Have you ever stopped to notice that life just flies by? Have you ever wondered where all the time in the day goes? Have you ever wondered if you will ever be able to have all the time in the world to do everything you want? I'm sure you have.....and so do I.

I love my life right now...don't get me wrong. I love being a wife and mother. I love being a homemaker. I love being a friend. I find no greater joy than watching my children grow up. I love it when they are all home and we get to spend time together. The house is way noisy, but I love hearing them laugh and play. It is so wonderful....and yet never enough. How I wish Brittnie could come home every weekend. I miss her so much...in fact, we won't see her now again until the first of May when she is done with school. My heart was saddened the other day when I came home from work and saw Cortnie's graduation announcements on the shelf. It hit me then that all too soon I will have another child leave my home and my heart will be even more empty. Who will go shopping with me....Rob hates it and the boys are no fun. It is going to be so strange not having any daughters in my home. How I wish we could move and live closer to them. It would take a miracle to make it happen, but miracles happen everyday so why not in my life too.

I find great joy in being with my best friend...Rob. I love to just hold his hand or be held in his arms. I love to spend time with him on a date or just watching TV. We have both hit the exercise/diet bug and spend a few nights a week at our "gym" working out. It is amazing how much better we feel and we are together doing it. We compare how big our pants are getting and laugh. I am not sure how much weight Rob has lost, but I am done 2 pant sizes and want to go more. It feels so good - but days like today, chocolate and strawberries are worth in once in awhile.

We had "our" twins here again this past week and I love them so much. They are so dang cute and so well behaved. They will just run up to you and give you the biggest hug or want to sit on your lap. We went to the park, colored eggs, played on the computers, and even slept together (well, tried to get them to sleep). They brighten my day so much....how I wish they could be in my home all the time. I just love little kids.

It was also a great day to listen to conference. I get so inspired by the men of God. They make me feel so good and so hopeful about what I can do. I know that they love our Heavenly Father and want the best for all of us. My battery has been charged and I am ready for the ride.

I love to be happy...I love to smile ....I love to be alive!

He Did IT!!

Well, it is not "official" yet - meaning he has not been awarded his Eagle Scout Award, but his project is complete. After a month long process of earning money by babysitting, yard work, fixing computers and asking for donations, Boyd was able to earn over $500 for his Eagle project. He went shopping for material online and at the local Walmart. It was cute to see him carrying the big bolts of fabric to the cutting table. He organized a blanket making day for our ward and we prepared for a couple of weeks. Our nights were spent cutting fabric into fringes on the ends and tying them as we travled and watched TV.

Blanket making day was a huge success. We had 59 people show up to help us cut and tie blankets. We had young kids and wonderful older friends there. Our best friends from Las Vegas even made the trip down to help out. We were done with all the blankets within two hours - savings us tons of hours if we would have had to finish them at home. Of course, dinner being served after two hours was a huge factor in getting done. I am still in awe over the amount of frineds that were there to help us. I was so humbled and grateful that they gave up their time to help Boyd.

Boyd's goal was 50 blankets....and he was able to complete 72. The blankets will not be shipped back to Illinois and Project Linus will then get them to Haiti for him - so that children there can have something of their own again. I am so proud of him......he has a huge, caring, giving heart and it shows in the pictures.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Where do I begin with the wonderful blonde daughter of mine that is a senior in high school....she is driving me crazy and I think she enjoys it! Let's start with the bad. If you know Cortnie, you know she loves to act and be in plays. She really loves the musicals. The school this year is doing the play "Annie" and she was the Mrs. Hannigan - the evil one. She practiced and practiced her audition recitation and solo and she nailed it. Everyone knew she was going to get the role - everyone but her drama teachers. She was so certain the part was hers. She called me from school the day the list was posted and said she did not get the part. Instead she was the butlers "woman" but it was okay cause it was a major role and a villian too. However, after reading the script, she released this version of the play was not that way. She has only twelve lines in the play and has no solos. Her heart was crushed again as she watched her best friend get the part she wanted (and she can not even reach the notes in the song to sing it). The bad.

Okay..the ugly. If you read my earlier post in December, you will recall reading about the car accident that Cortnie was in. We finally got everything worked out with the insurance company and recieved a pretty good settlement for the damage. The check came and I stuck it in my purse to deposit it. I get a phone call from Cortnie THE VERY NEXT DAY, saying she has just been called to the principals office cause her car has been hit in the parking lot. Apparently, some older man was unconscious, rear ended a car at a stop light; drifted over into the oncoming traffic lane; narrowly missed three city workers in field; cascaded down a small slope into one palm tree; sped forward to hit another one causing the car to stop and hitting a metal fence. The blow sent a pole from the fence 56 feet across the parking lot into the door and window of car smashing the window into thousands of pieces and jamming the door. We just had to laugh. Cortnie's comment was if she keeps going, she can get enough money for a new car. The car is so old, we will not fix the dents but let her drive it until it dies. It will be interesting to see what we get this time around....the ugly.

The good...the best for last. We recieved notification this week that Cortnie was accepted into Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. This has been her dream school since she was ten and it is so hard to get into. I had her read her letter at the dinner table and she could not even make it through the first line before she was in tears. She has said the full ride four year scholarship at SUU is very nice and tempting, but this is her dream and she does not want to give it up. Hopefully she will get a scholarship or two to BYU also. She deserves it and I am way proud of her. Now if we can only get to graduation :-). The good....

The College One

I can honestly say that I don't think there is much going on in the college one's life. She is doing better this semester in her classes and is excited for her scuba class to start. She wants to go diving with her dad at Catalina Island.....but might have to settle for beautiful Lake Mohave in Bullhead City, Arizona. She loves her little car that she gets to drive around and loves to come home. She even went to a dance at the institute on Friday night. I wish she would do that more or go find a job. I hate the fact that she sits around all day and does nothing. She did tell me though that she is thinking about doing pediatric nutrition - and I think it is a wonderful idea. She has always been great with little kids and loves babies. At least she is making decisions...finally!!

The Boys

I am not sure which is easier to raise....boys or girls. Someone always told me that boys were way easier, but I am not sure. They seem to quarrel more and love to tease each other. Before long, one of them is crying and trying to get sympathy. The stupid thing is, it is usually over a video game!! Sometimes I really hate the person that invented those things.

Skyler keeps us hopping....anywhere from basketball games and practice to phone calls from his teacher. He is a great student, but unfortunately gets bored really easy in his classes. I wish there was some way to get them to give him harder work, but it never seems to happen. So, when I get those dreaded phone calls, I talk to him and tell him he is wrong, but in my heart I can't blame him for acting up. He is so enjoying basketball this year. In fact, he made his first basket of a game and went jumping up and down the length of the court. It is too bad his dad did not see it since he was giving horsey rides to all the little kids who play with him every week. He will make a great grandpa someday.

Boyd has decided he is going to try out for the school baseball team. I strongly encourage him to try out for whatever he wants, but it breaks my heart when he does not get on. Maybe this time will be different. Right now he is in the middle of doing his eagle project for scouts. He is working with a group called Project Linus to make blankets used in hospitals and safe houses - or whever the company thinks they need to be. He has made arrangements for his blankets to be sent to Haiti to help the victims there. His goal is to make at least 50 blankets and they have to be done by the middle of March. He has organized a huge blanket making party for the ward for March 6th....and how fun it will be. I am excited to watch him do it and am so proud of him. It will be a long month until he is done though. Way to go sons!!

Great Memories

Another year has come and gone.....2010 is here. It is hard to believe how quicky time flies. We had such a great holiday season and enjoyed so much time with family. I hated to see it come to an end with the new year starting and back to work and school. This week has been very hectic and tiresome, but it has been nice to spend the weekend with a dear friend relaxing while Rob has been away in California doing what he loves to do....be a kid and play with planes.

We were so blessed to have Brittnie come home for three weeks. The house is so quiet when she is not here...she loves to tease her littliest brother and make his scream. They played games every day and stayed up late every night. It was hard to leave her in Cedar again when we came home. I did not cry - at least in front of hear, but the silent tears rolled down my cheeks as we drove away. The were big alligator tears too....and it hurt. I wonder if that will ever go away. The worst part is...next year I will have two of them gone. I will be crying all the time.

Our Christmas was wonderful. The kids are always so excited...but the teenage girls are the worse. They actually set an alarm clark to wake up the boys on Christmas morning to get us out of bed. We were ready and waiting for them though....with Rob playing like he was asleep under the covers and scaring the pants off of Boyd when he peaked under them as he screamed at him. It was pretty funny. Santa was good to us again. The kids got anything from ipods to car stereos to ninetendo ds to games to clothers.....funny though, it sure does not look like much as they get older, but it sures costs more.

We were able get out of Bullhead for awhile too...my most favorite part of the holidays. We spent a couple of days in Panaca then headed to Orem. I am pleased to say the weather man was nice to us and all the snow came on non travel days. I hate to drive the mountain passes in the snow. We spent time playing games, eating, shopping, eating, going to movies, eating, telling stories, eating, going to the temple, eating, and playing in the snow. My kids look forward to going sledding every year. We weren't sure we would be able to this year due to lack of snow, but once again the weather man was good to us and it snowed for two days straight. We bundled the kids the best we could in our "Arizona" cold weather clothing and took off for the hills. I do have to say it was hillarious to watch Rob slip into his ski pants that he used to wear in college....he could not wear pants underneath them and really had to suck it in, but he got them on. I told him not to fall cause he might not make it up. We went sledding for about 3 hours until we could not feel our toes or fingers anymore. It was so fun to watch everyone fall, bump into each other, and slide all over. I love listening to all the laughter as they have fun. It was just an awesome trip all together. I hated to come home.

The night before we left, our nephew, Devin, reminded us that he would not see us for two years. He leaves on his mission the first part of February. He is a great kid (just like his brother who is serving now). Good luck Devin...we will miss you. Enjoy the weather in Boston. Maybe you need to take Rob's ski pants :-). Thanks to all for making it another memorable holiday season. We miss you all so much and cherish the times we can spend with family and friends. Here is to a great new year.....2010, here we come. (enjoy the pictures)