Izzy and her baby....

 Izzy is absolutely adorable with her babies....she has to take them everywhere with her. Every meal when we sit down to eat, she sets a place for her baby, with a special chair, and even sets her out some of her own food. I think it is the cutest thing ever.

         

Yard Progress...

I thought I would share a few pictures of the progress that we've made with the yard. When I say "we" I really mean David, he's been doing most of the work, while I haven't been feeling good. It is sure coming along, and looks great! All we need now is some GRASS! We cannot wait for grass, especially the kids!

Our Garden!

We have been so excited this year, because it's the first year we get to have a garden. We've wanted one for a while, but in our old house we didn't really have the room. We started growing things in the house about a month or so ago, and could not believe how big our plants got so fast. We have started working on it outside, and have made quite the progress. We even put up weed barriers between everything, to make things a little easier later. So far we have planted corn, zuccini (which already froze to death once, so it had to be replanted :)), peas, carrots, radishes, lettuce, spinach, cucumbers, watermelon, pumpkins (which are huge already), and cantaloupe. We have tons of peppers that have came up in the house, but we are waiting a little while on those. We still have a lot more planting to do, but we absolutely LOVE doing it!! 

One section of our garden...

Our little helper...

A week later we noticed our radishes were already growing...

    

         

Country Living

Well if don't already know, we are currently living in Riverton Wy. We happened to find this perfect, beautiful house to rent. We are hoping to do a rent-to-own soon. It is on 7 acres, and we absolutely LOVE being out of town, on our own. We are trying to get the yard ready to put in a sprinkler system. One of David's friends from work let us borrow his tractor to try and help us out with the project. I had to take some pictures of David on the tractor....I  thought it was too cute!!

Easter Weekend Fun!

For Easter this year, we made a trip down to Lehi to visit David's parents. We were so excited, because we hadn't had a chance to see them in quite a long time. I wasn't feeling very well the night before we left, and as we made the trip down, I really wasn't feeling very good. Once we got to Lehi, I had to make a trip to the insta care to see what's been going on. While I was there, they asked for a urine sample.....and believe it or not, as I gave a urine sample, I passed a kidney stone. For those of you who don't know, I have been battling with these darn kidney stones since I had Isabelle. I had a cat scan about three months ago, which revealed 9 stones....6 in my right side, and 3 in my left. The doctors have told me the only way to get answers is to catch one, so they can analyze it....it has been 3 months, and no sign of a stone....until at the doctors office. So, this was a huge blessing to me!! They were able to send it to the lab, and hopefully soon I will have some answers.


But as for the weekend....it was a rough one for me, but we still had a really good time. We were able to go to the Tulip Festival with David's parent's on Saturday....which was a lot of fun. The kids really enjoyed it. Sunday we had an Easter egg hunt in David's parents' back yard, and the kids LOVED that. Some of David's brothers and sisters were able to come over that day too. I was in bed most of the day, but I'm glad I got to see who I could while we were there.

slideshow - slideshow dvd

 
I love Easter. It gives me time to really reflect on our Savior, and what he's done for all of us. I wouldn't have been able to get through any of my trials without having my Savior to help me. I know he has been there holding my hand through everything. I think about what he did for all of us....and it makes my problems seem so small. I am so grateful to be here still....here to watch my children grow, here to teach them and to love them. Here to be a wife, and to have incredible, wonderful experiences. I remember the moment watching it all disappear, and thinking I didn't have a chance to tell everybody goodbye and how much I love them. But I have been given a second chance, and I will live every single day of my life differently now.....for the better. I will never be physically the same again, but my spirit has grown. That is much more important to me.

Spencer's 6th Birthday!

He gets SO shy when we sing to him!

A few days after Shaelyn's birthday, we celebrated Spencer's 6th Birthday! He is the one that seems like he's grown up the fastest. With all my health problems going on, I feel like I've missed watching him grow the most. He was only three when I had Isabelle, and when I look at him now.....I can't believe how BIG he has gotten. Birthday's for us were a lot different this year. When we lived in Green River, we had all of our friends and family there, and we would throw them a big birthday party every year....but since we moved this past year, we weren't able to do that. We did throw them a combined party and invited friends this year......Shaelyn had about three people come, but Spencer didn't have any friends show up. He was pretty upset most of the day. But luckily, Winnie & Bapa were able to come up for the day.....and that made the day MUCH easier for Spencer. We are so happy that we don't live far away from them...they are such important and special people in our children's lives. 


Some things that I LOVE about Spencer:

• I love the way Spencer loves. He has got to be one of the most gentle-natured and lovable little boys I know. He is so soft spoken and kind.(Unless Izzy is bothering him) I especially love to watch him with little babies. I remember I would call to talk to him when he would be staying with Emmy and Papa after one of my surgeries-- He would tell me that he missed me so much, and that I was beautiful. He always knows just what to say to make me smile.
• I love to watch Spencer play. He has such an imagination, and if all he had was one tiny matchbox car, he would be happy, and play with that thing all day. He loves to create things with legos and kinects (Spelling?), and I'm always amazed at what he can create. I don't have one creative bone in my body, so it's amazing to watch him.
• He is doing so well in school, and that makes me so proud. David and I were a little worried about him starting school, because he always had a hard time at home listening and following directions. We went to his first parent-teacher conference, and the teacher could not stop praising him. She said he is one of the best boys in her class, and they never have any problems with him. She said that he is definitely going to be a great reader. He didn't even know all of his letters when he started school last September, and is now reading! We really couldn't be prouder!

We Love you Spencer David!!

                 

Shaelyns 8th Birthday!

                             
Shaelyn has turned 8 this year! I still can't believe that she is 8, or that we have an 8 year old! Time really just goes by too quickly. This is a really important time for her. She has been counting down the months for her baptism for a whole year, and she is So excited, which makes me one proud Mom. I am so thankful that she has made the decision to be baptized on her own, and I'm so proud of the girl that she is becoming. She loves church and is always there to remind us about family home evening, scripture reading, and anything church related. I am so proud of her and cannot wait for that day that she will become a member of the church. 


  
In honor of her birthday, I thought I would list some of the things that I LOVE about Shaelyn!

• She has such a fun personality! She loves to be silly, play jokes on people (especially me, even though I don't take it very well sometimes :)), and just be with people.
• She is SO talented. When she was two years old, she would sing primary songs to me...and I could not believe the singing voice she had. Today, she blows me away when she sings. That is something she definitely got from her father, because I can't sing AT all. :) She loves to sing, dance, play the piano and do anything artsy. I'm so excited to see what she does with all of these talents.
• She is such a comforter. She has had to go through so much with me being sick the last few years, and out of all my children, it has affected her the most. She was there when they life-lighted me to Salt Lake, and I guess she was screaming "I cannot lose my mommy!" Whenever I am not doing good, she is always the one laying with me, giving me comfort. And whenever the other kids are sick or hurt themselves, she is always the one to take care of everything. She is going to make such a good wife and mommy someday.

                                                                       

We love you Shaelyn Nicole! You are our baby, and we love you more than you will ever know!