Surprise Friday #2

So, I was lame, and forgot the camera for our second Surprise Friday of the summer!!! Ryan and I took the boys to see Cars 2 on opening day!!! It was so good and we even were able to get a free Cars puzzle with each ticket stub!!!



We all really enjoyed the movie and Hudson did just fine! Carson and Dallin both thought it was AWESOME!!!

Surprise Friday #1

For our first Surprise Friday, I surprised the boys with a trip to a local "kid's" art studio called Art Beast. It is geared towards kids from 0-7 years of age (Dallin still had a good time) and has lots of fun, hands-on things the boys could do and make! 

 There was even a replica space shuttle (drats, I didn't get pictures of the outside of the shuttle)

 Another use for #10 cans!!!

The canvas' that the boys painted were Father's Day gifts for Ryan (will post that soon)!

Almost Beethoven

Well, maybe not yet, but these boys sure are playing well! They started piano lessons in April and had their first Piano recital on June 12th! I know they were both nervous about getting up in front of everyone to play, but they did great!!!

 Carson played "Old MacDonald" 

Dallin played "I Hope They Call Me On A Mission" 

 It was nice to have Gramps, Grandma Robin, and Uncle Loren there to support the boys! 

 They survived!

 The boys with their piano teacher, Sister Heather Clark

Carson Graduates Preschool

Carson graduated preschool on June 6th! He is now officially a Kindergartner! I can't believe how quickly the last few years have gone! Carson enjoys learning and has an inquisitive mind. He also has a great capacity for memorizing and retaining information! He has learned so much these last two years!

Cutie patootie!

 We truly enjoyed the school he attended and his teacher, Ms. Nancy! She is a phenomenal teacher! She has so much love and compassion for the little ones! We will definitely miss having her in our lives (well, at least until Hudson is old enough to attend)!

 Gramps was able to come see Carson's advancement

 I'm so proud of him! He's such a smart cookie!

 We love him (Dallin was unable to be there due to school. Hey I already had received a truancy letter so I wasn't about to pull him out).

 Carson and his best friend, Maya

 Carson and Ms. Nancy

Congrats Carson!!! We are so proud of you!

Mary Poppins

This past Thursday evening (June 2), I surprised the boys with a date night to see the Broadway musical, Mary Poppins that is currently playing at the Sacramento Community Theater. Even though I had to pull some serious teeth with the oldest to get him to dress up (he thought we were going to another play at the local high school and couldn't understand why I asked him to dress in something more than shorts and  t-shirt), the night ended with smiles all around!

I seriously LOVE this musical! Ryan and I saw it on Broadway in New York a few years back and when I saw it was coming to town I knew I wanted to take the boys to it! They enjoyed the songs and even asked if they could buy Mary Poppin's umbrella so that they could fly! Funny boys!!! They have also been singing many of the songs! I love it!!!

Happy Date Night to you,

Halloween Fun

Halloween Fun…

We had a fun Halloween celebration! The boys enjoyed parties at their school. As if they didn't have enough treats - we continued the festivities the next evening at our stake center where we enjoyed the annual Trunk or Treat bash!

We were rock stars this year and I will be the first to admit, I just didn’t have it in me to come up with some clever costumes. We do have fun dressing up as a family and this year was no exception (even if the costumes were not so original). 

The boys felt like rock stars so that is all that matters!!! 

Peanut #3's shirt says "Cry Loud, Rock Hard"

The older boys thought Hud-Nut looked funny in the mullet wig. 

Since Halloween fell on a Sunday this year, we didn't go Trick or Treating but we had a great time with a few other families and really enjoyed our Spooky Feast!!! Thanks for the invite (you know who you are ;-)

We filled up on a snake calazone, bloody rats (meatloaf), a puken' pumpkin, newt eyes (deviled eggs), witches fingers, bleeding hearts (red jello cut out in heart shapes - not pictured) and some yummy spider web seven layer dip. We also had delicious desserts (I was too busy eating them to get a picture of them). 

After dinner and some time to visit we had fun watching the kiddos have race of eating donuts off a string.

 There was no cheating going on here - wink, wink!

The older kids did a good job!!! Big D did win - although he may have used his arm for assistance a time or two.

Each couple raced too (except for my hubby and me - I was seriously gagging watching the others do it, dang gag reflex). 

And so that my hubby wouldn't feel left out the men raced him too.

We had a blast and are already looking forward to next year's festivities. But for now we will prepare ourselves for Thanksgiving and Christmas!  

Happy Fun Making to you, 

For Thee We Prayed

We welcome our little one

Well – he didn’t want to wait until our scheduled c-section on August 30^th. I started having contractions during sacrament meeting at church. For the 3 hours of church, I continued to have contractions, about 20 minutes apart.

When we got home, I worked on our special back to school dinner, but had to cut back on the decorating due to the increased frequency of the contractions. We did enjoy our meal and brief celebration after dinner.

After putting the boys to bed at 8pm, Gramps and Grandma came over to stay the night with them (thank you, thank you, thank you). Ryan and I headed over to Labor and Delivery and I got hooked up to a bunch of monitors where they determined that I was indeed in labor.

So we prepared ourselves with a word of prayer and then the commotion began of getting all prepped for surgery.

Yeah we look great for the middle of the night! Ha!

At 12:03am they pulled our littlest boy out of me and with very few cries I got to meet the little man briefly then they took him to clean and weigh him while I hung out on the operating table while they finished.

About 2 hours later I got to hold him for the first time and was so surprised to find out how little he was (7lbs .07ozs and 18 inches long). The smallest of our boys!

I was hit with the emotion of this being the baby that I prayed for. I was done having kids (2 was good for me) but I turned the matter over to prayer and was humbled to realize that we were to have another. I was struck with the fact that this would be our last little one. Pregnancy is just too difficult for me and my family and to endure this again would send me to the nutty farm for sure. It was a tender moment as I stared into the eyes of this newborn, so fresh from our Father in Heaven. I felt the blessing of this little one immediately and was struck with the love of my Father in Heaven by sending me this sweetie pie.

We stayed in the hospital until Thursday and had to return the next day so that I could have an Epidural Blood Patch performed to fix the epidural headache I had developed (basically spinal fluid was leaking internally and was causing my brain to sag creating the most intense pain I have ever felt). We also have been dealing with our little one having jaundice. Daily trips to the pediatrician for blood tests and 24/7 light treatments on a light blanket (fortunately today should be the last day of the phototherapy) have been tiring but we are making it.

Our older children have welcomed their little brother with open arms. They love holding him, making faces at him, talking to him. Our middle child has only asked a few times to put him back once he heard him cry. They have nicknamed him Hud-Nut.

Overall, things have been good. Ryan has been able to see to Big D’s needs with his first and second week of school. C-Man has had the opportunity to play at friends houses (thank you to my dear friends for your help with this). We have been doing our best to keep up with the busyness of school and soccer and so far things have gone relatively smoothly.

Thank you for your well wishes on FaceBook and your prayers. We are thrilled to continue our journey to eternity as a family! 

 I am the mother of three boys. Three mighty fine boys!!!

Happy Blessings to You,