9 Months!

Time is just flying by and I don't know where it is going! My baby is 9 months old today and while she still seems so little she is acting so big. I love it when she thinks you are chasing her and she gets all exited and giggly and tries to run (only she can't) so her legs just move faster and faster in place. She loves to eat big people food and try different textures. I love to watch her chew even though she only has one tooth she gums things really well. She really loves bananas and pears. she spends most of her days attached to my legs following me around while I try to get things done. She still loves her bath time! She has learned to start smacking her lips while she is eating. That is replacing her MMM sound every time she took a bite of food. I loved it when she did that. I kept wondering how a 6 month old knows MMM means that we are eating something good. She is just a joy and we love having her in our family. I just love this age where they are getting their own little personality and able to get around and smile and laugh. She is a Cutie!

Off to the RACES!

Last weekend our stake had a 5k fun run and a 1 mile walk/run. I was so proud that we were able to get up and be at the park at 7 AM to bad it didn't start until 7:30! oh well, I'm glad to say that 4 out of the 6 of us were able to run of coarse only the mile or we probably would have died. Jaci enjoyed her ride in the stroller and I'm sure Randy wishes he could have ran but his knee isn't quite up to par yet. I have to say I am proud of myself for running a mile. I know it isn't a lot but for not being a runner it felt great. (I guess I used to be a runner but the 400 was usually enough for me) I do have to say Kuddos to Avrie since she beat me by about 2 minutes. Kelsie took off fast with Avrie and then ended up just running with me. They did so great. Even Andrew ran the whole way. Almost in slow motion but his feet never quite running. He stayed by Randy most of the way and then toward the end he took off on his own and ran so fast! It was great everyone was cheering for him and he was so excited. It was a good morning and all the kids got a medal and were so excited. After the race we headed to Cedar to see Ben and Lisa for a few hours. We came home and went to Brent and Nancy's for the BYU game for a little while before heading to the Relief Society broadcast(which by the way was great!) It was a great saturday!

Each Life That Touches Ours For Good

While I was taking this picture of Lisa and Larina I had this thought come to my mind and know that Ben and Lisa have surely touched this little angels life for good!

Baby Larina

I finally got to see this little bundle of Joy that Ben and Lisa have been able to care for. This is Larina their foster daughter. They have cared for her since she was 3 days old. It has come with joy and discouragment (from dealing with case workers and such) but they love her. It has been such a great blessing and I am so glad I got to see her and take some pics. She was a trooper with me trying to prop her up every which way I now see why you want to do these photos when they are only a few days old. They are too tired to care what you do with them and lay wherever you put them. Oh well we still got some good ones!

Jaci's first steps!

Yes it is true my baby is trying walk. I would say I don't know why I am encouraging this but I do know.... I hate dirty knees and feet! ( I swear I mop and vacuum but you would never know it) once they are mobile they might as well walk it has to more more comfortable! So truth be known she has only gone 3 steps. Mostly it is just 1-2 but she has accomplished 3 so I'm sure it won't be long now until she running around and I guess that just means more excercise for me and of coarse I could use that so I won't complain! ( Do you think I could get Randy to pray for her to walk???) just a thought seemed to work when HE wanted her to crawl.

She stands alone really well and has good balance!
Finally picks up her foot to take step 1....
dad helps her avoid the face plant when foot #2 refuses to follow step 1!!

Dixie Sun Dance Festival

Last night was the kids dance festival at school! Avrie did a dance from Africa and Kelsie did a dance from Mexico. They had a great time! I wasn't able to get close enough to take good pics I had to crop them to see them up close and now they are blurry but I tried!

Avrie so happy to be there. Kelsie on the other hand was being her pouty self for some odd reason hence the missing picture of her! I'm pretty sure it had something to do with the fact she had to wear levi's because she didn't have " a traditional mexican skirt" she brought me the note home the day before and informed me grandma could make her a skirt. Grandma is a great sewer but I'm pretty sure 1 day isn't even feasible for her!
Avrie doing her African Jumba??? I guess that is what she called it!
Kelsie doing her Mexican Hat Dance!! That was a big hit at the school! (For obvious reasons I'm sure) At least She was happy dancing1
Andrew enjoyed some swinging compliments of Grandpa!

Perks of being sick (at least for mom)

I guess there are good things about your kids not feeling well. (I guess there is really only 1 thing good about your kids not feeling well) THEY ARE TIRED!!!! It doesn't happen very often but when it does I rejoice! Andrew disappears and I wonder where he has gone..... he burrows himself under the pillows on the bed and falls FAST asleep!!! WONDERFUL!! he usually only takes a nap in the car when we get Randy from work which = mom NOT getting a nap!

baby has a sweet tooth!

When I say sweet tooth I mean only 1 tooth! I'm sure however that the rest will follow suit and she will fit in perfectly with the rest of her siblings that also love all things sweet! She especially like candy bars that her brother sneaks her and loves loves loves ice cream! I'm sure she would enjoy a lot more if I would give it to her. But after all she is only 8 months old!

This is becoming her classic pose. Which includes the bitter beer face! where she scrunches her nose to just look so CUTE! Yes it is there front and center on the bottom!

Another little peek at the 1 (ONE) tooth wonder!

This is what happens when your brother asks for a candy bar and mom says no! You give it to the baby and let her enjoy it! Well that is what Andrew did. He already had candy so I told him no. I turn around and Jaci is going to town gumming up the wrapper. I guess she had enough of the candy. She got off the carmel and then put the cookies on the carpet. (that was FUN!) She did look so cute doing it though and then screamed her head off when I took it away.

(poor baby)
This is what was left of the twix she gummed ( well I guess that 1 tooth came in handy too)
Jacie also loves ice cream and once you start feeding her you better keep it coming fast. I know I can't believe I feed my 8 month old ice cream. I never would have done with the the other kids but there is something about it that makes me think of my dad and so I give in and let her enjoy it! He would be so proud! ( In fact I think he tried feeding Kelsie ice cream at 4 months and I FREAKED out!)
I'm not sure she could even open her mouth any wider!
This is the contentment you see on her face for about a split second before she realizes that the ice cream has melted in her mouth and she needs more!
This is the sad face you see (complete with booger bubble) when the ice cream runs out. ( I mean you do have to stop at some point right?) she probably doesn't think so!

taking one for the TEAM

Poor Poor Avrie. I don't think her day would have gotten any worse. She had a fever all weekend and stayed home from School on Monday. (so we could make sure she wasn't going to spread the love)Monday afternoon she was feeling much better and after dinner we decided to go for a walk. She was still acting a little tired but then Kelsie challenged her for a race so that got her excited. They took off running and of coarse Avrie won. Kelsie then claims she won because she had been riding in the stroller so she wasn't as tired. So we challenged them to run again saying it should be fair now that Avrie just ran. Kelsie immediatly took off and then Avrie starting running. She caught kelsie and just as she was going to pass her she got a little off balance and she went DOWN. HARD!!! I screamed and took off running to pick her up and make sure she was alright.she had fallen on her knee but was going so fast it flipped her body and she hit the opposite shoulder and then her face. The back of her body went up higher than her head! of coarse she was screaming she had some bruises on her knee, shoulder and her face but I was so glad she didn't break her head open. We would have been in trouble had that happened because I didn't have anything that would have helped that. (I think I will be more prepared next time) Although I don't think there will be any more races for a while! At least for the FHE lesson we were able to talk about the good samaritan and have a visual. Kelsie was a good sister and immediately turned around and bent down by Avrie to try to help her up and make sure she was ok. We got home and got her cleaned up and first thing Avrie wanted was her picture taken so I could post it on the blog. So Avrie here you go.........

Approaching 6 months!

(Sorry in advance if this doesn't make much sense, I don't do well expressing emotions in writing)

next week it will be 6 months since David passed away. The other day I was going through my cedar chest and I found some letters that David had written to me while on his mission. I waited until it was quiet and then I was able to read them. Man am I dissapointed I spent so much time worrying about boys I wish now I would have had better things to tell write in my letters to him and then maybe his letters to me would have been more exciting too. I enjoyed reading them though and remembering the great friendship we had. I have had a lot of self reflection over the last 6 months. I realize that I let a couple of incidents or differences of opinion affect a truly wonderful relationship. I knew he was dying but didn't want to really admit it and held out hope for a cure. I also thought that my feelings were justified and that if he were to die I would be ok. I now realize how petty I was in my thinking and I should have taken advantage to more fully love and appreciate him, his advice and his life. Randy had the opportunity to put together a video for Georgia and the kids with pictures from his life and it made it almost unbearable to watch as I realized I was getting to know him so much better through pictures and I should have done it while he was alive.

He had such an enthusiasm for the Gospel and wanted it share it with everyone and was not afraid to do so. In reading the letters from his mission he was reminding me to always smile so that people would want to know what made me so happy. I guess I need to be better at that. Also because if we are always smiling we will be happy. While I was taking the girls to school today I heard a song on the radio that reminded me of David. It says "Everyone who sees you, always wants to know you, and everyone who know's you always wears a smile." It also helped me remember that David really did always have a smile on his face and if you knew Dave it was a big SMILE you could see ALL of his teeth.

I found this picture of him holding Jaci. It was his first time seeing her, they stopped by after treatments so he wasn't feeling too good but he still had a smile!

I realize that when someone we love dies, they become perfect in our eyes. I think that is what makes being the ones left behind so hard. Because we are still the imperfect one's who realize we needed more time to make things better. I know that Dave loves me and I know he knows I love him I just wish we would have spent more time in this earthly life showing it. That is another reason I can just be grateful for the blessings of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I am thankful for the Atoning sacrifice of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ that allows us to repent and to also feel peace. I am also eternally grateful for the blessings of the temple that will allow us to be together as an eternal family. So to David who is busy doing a greater work, I love you. To Georgia because she will read this I love you too and am so thankful to have you as a sister, you are such a strong women and I look up to you more than you know. You are Amazing!

My swashbuckling PIRATE!!

Swashbuckling??? is that how you say that??? Anyway... Andrew went to Savanah's birthday party and had a blast. All the kids did. Making pixie dust and fairies and wearing wings they enjoyed themselves. Andrew however has not wanted to put down his sword, take off his hat, and is now sporting his favorite Hannah Montana boots! (Yes I said Hannah Montana boots. I got them for Kelsie because they were a dollar and he can seem to get enough of them. Someday I will get him his own boy pair! This morning he was still in his pajamas with the rest of his pirate gear and it looked so cute. His jammies looked like long johns I thought it was great. (the black mark on his face is what is left of the sword that was painted on his face yesterday he didn't want it washed off either! no fear it came off for church this morning!)

Also by way of Announcement.....Jaci had her first tooth come through yesterday!!!

School Picture Day 2009

Every year the school pictures get more and more expensive and I never really like the way they look so I took the kids out to the fields by mom's house and got some cute pics of them this year! I love the way they turned out and thanks Adrian for giving me some pointers on how to put the collage together I had been trying to days to get one in photshop and couldn't remember how it was driving me insane! Well they are done now and I love em! Kelsie is my big 3rd grader and Loves Loves Loves school! Avrie is in 2nd grade and would just do gymnastics all day if I would let her school isn't so important to her! Andrew is almost 4 so he still has 2 years to go until kindergarten but he is enjoying learning some spanish with the kindergarten class this year. I guess there are perks to knowing the teacher and helping out at school.

Just Playin' Around

I took the kids up to pioneer park this morning to try to find a location to take some pictures. I was going to take their school pictures myself this year. I knew it was a little late in the morning to get anything good so I was just playing around and letting the kids climb the rocks. When we finished I wanted to stop by the opera house and try to get some pics of Jaci since I had the kids I thought they could get her to smile. It has been hard to keep her from crawling away and take pics at the same time. Well it worked. I think I got some cute one's now I'm just wishing I had dressed her how I wanted her for pics. Oh well! I also wished I knew how to really use photoshop! Good thing Iphoto comes with editing software much easier to use! Not as many options but still works!