December

December has draaagggged on.  Counting down days until the very last day of the month is making it last forever.  It's a good thing that we have been busy, busy, busy. 

Busy putting up lights.

Busy redoing my girls' rooms so little baby can move in.

 Busy making gingerbread houses and other Christmas activities.

 Busy finding Jingles in his shenanigans every morning.

 Busy with concerts and recitals.

Busy Christmas shopping.

(This was on 12-12-12 at 12:12.  What were you doing then?)

 Buy taking trips to Urgent Care that turn out to be nothing.

In fact the next day he decided the crutches were more painful to use than his foot.

Busy visiting Mikey.

I wish he could be here for Christmas.

 But finally, Christmas Break has come, two weeks of sleeping in.  Well, at least one week. Then baby will be here!! :)

 Until then we will enjoy the dark, lazy mornings and beautiful days.

Here's to hoping this week flies by.

Double Baptism

I'm so thrilled!  My boys were baptized by their "Papi" yesterday.  

I loved seeing my three men all in white.  

They both took the advice of the bishopric counselor and wrote down their feelings from this special day.  I asked them if I could post these first journal entries on the blog and they both said yes.  So here are the feelings of two very excited eight year old boys in their own written words (or as much as they could write) as they got to take the first big step in following their older brother, Jesus Christ.

I'm sure they don't understand the full importance of this day.  But I know that they know that they made a great choice by deciding to be baptized.  I am so proud to be their mom.  I hope they continue on this path that they have chosen and always try their best to do what is right.  I love you both tons!!!  I'm also thankful that their dad is able to baptize them, that he can be an example of faith in their lives. I am so blessed to have these three in my life.

10 Months

It's been 10 months.

I love this quote my awesome sister sent me.

"All spirits are in adult form.  They were adults before their mortal existence, and they are in adult form after death, even if they die as infants or children." - Joseph F. Smith

It reminds me of Mikey.  I held his physical baby body in my arms.  But he held me in his strong adult arms.  I look forward to the day when we will be able to embrace each other again.

My 8 Year Olds

I LOVE MY BOYS!!!

They're eight now.

Their birthday was a happy day.

Papi and I took them out of school for some Coldstone ice cream after lunch.

They got legos from Grandma

and real scriptures and Cub Scout stuff from us, including their very first pocket knife.

They were thrilled.

Speaking of Cub scouts....lets talk about Cubs for just a minute.

Now that they are eight they get to be wolf cubs.

They are loving it and having the best time ever.

On Saturday they got to go to their first day camp.

And since I'm the Primary 2nd counselor, otherwise known in scouts as the "Pack Trainer," I got to accompany all 11 little cubs.

Let's be honest, scouting terrifies me.  

But somehow I got put in this calling.

I know nothing about it.

Uniforms, badges, awards, cub, wolf, bear??? What is all that?

My dad didn't do scouts.

My brothers didn't do scouts.

My husband didn't do scouts.

But my boys are doing scouts and enjoying every minute of it.

Seeing how much they love it makes me love it.

So I'm learning so I can help them learn.

And it's fun!

The day camp was an adventure, bb guns, flag retiring, paper rockets, obstacle courses, self defense classes, all made for a very exciting day.

But the most exciting day of them being 8 is still to come.

They will be baptized on Saturday, November 24.

They are counting down the days.

I love that they are looking forward with excitement for this big step in their lives.

Things I love about you.

AJ

I love how you are so particular about your wardrobe.

I love that you are kind and always aware of others feelings.

I love that you are always clean and well dressed.

I love that you have a big heart and want to help others.

I love your sense of humor.

I love your good questions that you ask when you don't understand something.

I love that you take care of your mom.

I love you!

DJ

I love how smart you are.

I love that you always catch people when they say one thing but do another.

I love that I can't get away with anything when you are around.

I love that you are all boy, you don't care about the clothes you're wearing or the dirt on your hands.

I love your quick mind.

I love that if I need a bug taken care of that I can always count on you to pick it up and take it outside.

I love how funny you are.

I love you!

The Casts

From surgery

to temporary

to designer (by Mommy)

to the pin

to the final cast

she did fabulous!

Secret Agents

Papi.

He's a great daddy.

Do you know he got all the kids to do jobs without them even knowing it?

He made them all "secret agents" and gave them "special missions" to accomplish.

They had all the pets fed, garbages emptied and dishes done in less than 20 minutes!

It takes me a couple of hours to get them to do that much.

I know he needs to work.

But part of me really hopes he stays for awhile.

Why can't money just grow on trees?

Happy Halloween!

Our Halloween starts a few days early.  We like celebrating our birthdays around holidays.  So Isabel, AJ, and DJ all get one big Halloween birthday party.  The best part of our Halloween party this year were Grandma and Grandpa. Or is that Edward and hippie chick?

Did you recognize them?  Neither did I when they walked in.  Here's a close up.

And I can't get the rest of these pics to go where I want them to go.  But for your viewing pleasure we have some of the yummies we enjoyed and a couple more awesome Halloween costumes.

My Boys' Date

I love my boys!

We had a date a couple of weeks ago.

Papi took the girls to father daughter.

And I got to hang out with these handsome fellows.

We went miniature golfing so they had to wear their golf hats.

Aren't they adorable?

DJ found a frog.  That was a highlight.

He wanted to keep it but I'm sure that little frog was much happier when he decided to let it go once we found it a friend.

And who can pass up a picture opportunity like this?

Not them.

Twin boys are the best.

I recommend it to everyone!

Last Day

Do you Utahns know how lucky you are to live in such a beautiful state?

Our last day we went back to Salt Lake to take the kids around to the sights without all the conference craziness.

I could stay here forever if it weren't for all the people I would miss in AZ.

Good thing we can visit.

Around Park City

Life picked up in Park City after Grandma and Grandpa arrived.

Grandma knows all the tricks, bus routes, old towns and museums.

We had fun in an old west jail and an old time train.

And AJ got stuck on the antique potty.

So glad Grandma and Grandpa came.

It was way more fun with you guys.

Remember!!

Nine months.  While time doesn't heal everything it does make you forgetful.  Mikey is forever ingrained in my heart. But the feelings that I felt while he was here with us are becoming more distant.  Somehow through that rough trial there was peace in our family. I always want to remember the joy and the sorrow I felt holding him in my arms.  I want to remember that peace and that "warm" feeling, as DJ called it, that we felt in the hospital room while he was with us.  I want to remember being held in his arms on those long nights when I couldn't sleep.  Remembering these feelings encourages me to be better.  So, I've added "REMEMBER" to my quote board with a picture of Mikey.  I will do everything I can to feel him again.  So I will remember.

BYU Brain Washing

On my quest to brain wash my children into going to BYU we stop by the Cougar campus whenever we can.  Between me letting them get whatever they want in the bookstore, J Dawgs and the creamery it's always an exciting part of our Utah trips.  We tried hiking up to the Y but a few of our family were all hiked out from Timpanogos.  So we didn't really make it to the top.  Instead we got some great pictures with that beautiful fall coloring that you just don't find back home.