Christmas Time 2009

We have done so much this holiday season. It has been a ton of fun. We went and saw Christmas lights, visited Santa, listened to Christmas music, watched the typical movies, celebrated being another year older, went to many Christmas parties, and started new traditions and did some old ones. Some of our new traditions were decorating a gingerbread house. We had so much fun doing that. Everybody helped and there was no fighting (SHOCKER!!). We had a visitor in our house for the holiday season, his name was Jolly Buttons Brough. We bought one of those Elf on a Shelf kits. He appeared in a different place every morning and sometimes brought a note for the kids. Some of our existing traditions we did were decorating homemade sugar cookies Christmas Eve, new jammies to wear to bed Christmas Eve, fondue dinner @ my mom's Christmas Day, and listening to the story about the first Christmas.
It has been so much fun this season. Our kids are a little older and understand it more. They were so excited they literally couldn't sleep. Fletcher was baby Jesus twice this year, Isabelle was Mary twice, Jarrett was a very sick lamb and Joseph, and McGregor was a shepherd twice. We loved the time we got to spend with our extended families. Jodi( Ben's mom) came to visit Christmas Eve and stayed through the 29th. We had so much fun with her here. It was fun to have her here with us Christmas morning and be able to celebrate this holiday with her. My kids love when she comes. We were able to do a dinner with her and Ben's brother Dillon and his wife Crystal Sunday. It was great because we don't get to see any of them very often.
We have such an awesome season, a bit stressful at times, but amazing. People are amazing, they have such big hearts, especially this time of year. We have made some awesome memories this season. It will be a holiday to remember. Merry Christmas to all and we wish everyone a very happy New Year!

1997 Acura

We are selling Ben's car. It is a 1997 Acura 3.0 CL Premium. It has 148,000 miles. The great thing about Acura's is that they are the top end version of a Honda. So this car has a Honda engine. It has a leather interior, power windows and seats, sunroof, heated seats, 18" rims and it is an automatic. This is a very fun little car and it has a lot of power. We have loved it. We are asking 5000.00 OBO. If you or you know anyone that is interested please let us know. Thanks. Picture below.

Thanksgiving

What to say? First thing my mom called me to say her and my dad were taking my Grandma to the emergency room. She has been having a lot of health issues lately. Then Ben came home from paintballing extremely sick. So we didn't eat dinner until 4:30 and Ben wasn't able to come. My Grandma was really dehydrated, so they pumped her full of fluids and sent her home. I was a single mother all day. Didn't like that at all and I hated leaving Ben home on Thanksgiving. The highlight of the day was my mom's turkey!! So good, I don't think I have ever had a better turkey. Our family is getting bigger every year. This year we have three new members, Makenzie (Michael's wife), Hunter (Susie's baby), and of course our sweet Fletcher. We were short some family this year my brother Tony and his wife Stef, they went with her family this year, and of course my Grandma and Benjamin C.
I wanted to take this opportunity to say how thankful I am for my sweet little family and all of our extended. This time of year is awesome, because you really stop and think about what you are grateful for. I am thankful for Ben, we have had a tough year. We have been tested in so many different ways and I am going to say we are pretty strong. I think we can definitely say we are closer than ever and we know how important and special our marriage and relationship is. Without Ben I wouldn't have my kids. Jarrett is getting so big. He is so tenderhearted. He is such an awesome big brother and a big help to me. Isabelle is my little helper. She is always wanting to help me with everything. She is so smart, just like her daddy. I love her little drawings and notes she leaves me. McGregor is our comedian. There is something about Gregor that draws people to him. I love it when he tells me he loves me. He always says thank you. I am so grateful that he is still here with us. And yes I am thankful he is potty trained and that it went so smooth. I look at little Fletcher and I am so thankful Heavenly Father knows what we need more than we know ourselves. I always look at him and think if we wouldn't have had a surprise he may have never came to our house and what a sad thought that is. He has been a blessing to me. He is so happy and mellow. I can't get enough of him. I want the rest of our families to know how much I love and cherish all of you. We have had a rough couple of years and I want to thank everyone for their love and support and help through it all. Thanks for your patience and listening ears. You are the greatest!!

SO EXCITED!!!

Our blog has not been working for about 6 weeks and I am happy to say with a lot of research and searching I figured it out. I think we are good to go again. Anyway please check out our posts for the last month and a half. Life is really good. Jarrett just got done with wrestling and with it being his first year he did awesome. I had a hard time watching it being the mom, but he really enjoyed it. Fletcher is getting chubby. He is such a blessing. Heavenly Father knew exactly what he was doing when he sneaked Fletcher into our family. Thanksgiving is this week and we are excited for the food and family. Tomorrow night we will have a Thanksgiving dinner with Ben's dad and then we will be with my family on Thanksgiving day. We will post more at the end of the week. Happy Thanksgiving to all!!!!

Blog Problem!

This is kind of a test. Our blog is not updating when I post something new. So I am seeing if it will work today. Anybody have any answers to my problem?

Our Halloween Weekend......

We had lots of fun. We started our Halloween weekend Friday night carving pumpkins and watching Race to Witch Mountain. It was fun. Jarrett and McGregor hated to dig the guts out of their pumpkins. It was quite entertaining to watch them. Then on Halloween we woke up and had to go to Jarrett's first wrestling meet. He did really good for his first time. He held his own pretty well. I can tell you as a mom I would rather watch him play football. Those kids get pretty rough when they wrestle. After all the running around we had to race home and get everyone ready including me and Ben. Jarrett dressed up as a girl and I have to say he makes a very pretty girl. Nobody knew it was him at first. He loved tricking everyone. Isabelle wanted to be a Three Musketeer off of the new Barbie movie and of course I couldn't find a costume so I ended up making hers this year. Quite the experience. Gregor wanted to be a bat, but last minute he found a spider costume he wanted. He was a dang cute spider to. As for Fletcher he was just him. We had a Halloween shirt and bib he wore. Ben and I were hard core bikers, tattoos and all. The kids went trick-or-treating with the Ramsdells for awhile and then we headed to Mantua to my mom's first annual Halloween party. It was lots of fun to see my whole family dressed up. We ate dinner, played games, and just enjoyed being together. Then on the way home we ran out of gas. Ben being the strong man he is pushed the truck we were in all the way to the gas station by himself while I steered.
Sunday our little Fletcher turned 2 months old. Ben and I were talking this weekend about how thankful we are for him. He was our surprise. If it would have been up to me and Ben I don't think we would have had anymore after Mac, but how thankful we are for a Father in Heaven who knows better than we do. I can't imagine life without little Fletcher, he is such a blessing. He is such a good baby. He smiles all the time and is always telling me stories. Life is crazy with 4 kids, but we wouldn't have it any other way.

Family Pictures Fall 09'

This last Saturday we got my brother to take our family pictures. We went up Logan canyon and froze. It was supposed to be in the sixties, but instead it was in the high 40s low 50s with rain. My brother does such an awesome job. We are so happy with how they turned out. There are more pictures at the bottom of our blog. It was a fun day.

Fall Days !

This one is probably going to be another long post so bear with me. A lot happens with four kids. First, Jarrett survived his first season of football. His team did end up winning 1 game. The last two games they gave Jarrett the ball and he got to run. He was so excited, he came over and gave me a million high fives after. He loved playing and was sad to have it over(Sorry to say mom was excited the season was done). He is missing the new friends he made, but he is signing up for wrestling this Saturday. He does anything his Uncle Daniel does. He looks up to Daniel so much.
Isabelle and I went on a girls night out. It was just the two of us and we had so much fun. We went to Target and got her a new wallet and then went to eat at The Training Table YUMMY. She talked nonstop the whole night,but we had such a good time. We will definitely be doing that again soon.
We blessed Fletcher on Oct. 11th. We had most of our family there which ended up being close to 55 people. Most of those were from Ben's side. It was a great day. Ben gave Fletcher an amazing blessing. It was so nice and you could feel the spirit as he spoke. Fletcher has been a blessing in our life. With the turmoil our little family has experienced this last year he is a breath of fresh air. He has such a sweet spirit and is so mild tempered. He will do amazing things with his life. I am so thankful that Ben takes his priesthood seriously and is worthy to be able to give our children the blessings they need. I am so thankful for my little family. Each one of them is such a blessing to me. I am so thankful for all of our families and for their support and help.
Tomorrow is mine and Ben's 11th anniversary. Yes I know we are getting old. I want Ben to know that I love him so much. This has not been an easy year and it is the year we have probably learned the most. So I just wanted to say Happy Anniversary and I am so thankful you are my best friend and husband. Thanks for everything you do for our marriage and family.
Fall is in full swing the pumpkins are on the porch, the weather has cooled down, and kids are picking out what they want to be for Halloween. I love this time of year. We are getting to the season when we stop and think about what we are thankful for and I love that. Have an amazing rest of your October.

A day in the life of Fletcher....

Well our little Fletcher is 10 days old today. I can't believe he has only been a part of our lives for such a short time. He fits right in so well that it is hard to imagine life without him. He has been a blessing since he entered this world. I asked Ben last night how we got such a good baby. He eats good and is the best sleeper. In fact that is the only problem I have is getting him to stay awake long enough to eat. He is very mellow. I think he has to be being the 4th child. I did have a panic moment this week when I was taking Jarrett to football practice and I looked in my rear view mirror and there they all were. All four of my kids. It was weird to see them all and know that they were mine. I am really outnumbered now. Just a weird feeling. Our life hasn't been upset to much like it normally is with a new baby. McGregor loves his new little brother and is always wanting to help me with everything. Isabelle is dealing well with being the only girl. She just stares at Fletcher and can't get over how cute his face is. Jarrett is big enough that he is a real life saver to me most days. He was our first for a reason, he loves all his younger siblings so much. It has been a great first 10 days.Can't imagine my life without our new addition, or any of my other kids. They all add so much to our family. Thanks to Ben for all your help the last week and a half. He has been great.

Introducing.......

We would like to introduce our newest member of our family, Fletcher Robert Brough. He made quite an entrance Tuesday morning weighing in at a whopping 8 lbs. 4 oz. and 21 inches long. We made it to the hospital Tuesday morning @ 6 am. They got me hooked up to the monitors where it was showing that I was have regular contractions when the checked I was at a 3. I finally got hooked up to the drip around 7. My doctor came in just before nine to see how I was doing and he said I needed to get into a lot more pain. My nurse told him that the baby was right there and if we were going to deliver him by early afternoon he had better break my water. Soooo they broke my water about 9:00 am. I honestly have never had contractions like that with any of my other babies. Finally at about 9:35 am I told Ben I needed the epidural. I wanted to punch the lady giving me the epidural. She was sooooo sllllooooowwww and would not stop talking. My nurse told her we needed to accelerate this and to give me the medicine to make it work faster. As soon as she was finished and I was laying back down I felt the need to push. They were panicking a little to get everything set up and get my doctor back to the hospital. I went from a 5 to a 10 in a matter of maybe 15 minutes. My doctor made me wait to push(yeah right!!!) until my epidural had kicked in a little. Finally, I was given the okay and with the edge taken off our new baby boy was born @ 10:12 am. We were all a little in shock to say the least. Ben didn't get a chance to get any camera's ready for the birth and we barely had our doctor there. It was amazing. I will tell you my epidural worked great for the 2 hours following the birth. The nurses nicknamed him bear because of his big hands and hairy little body. It was amazing. Fletcher is so perfect. He looks a lot like Jarrett in his eyes and McGregor through his mouth. He is dark like Jarrett and Isabelle. So far he is so mellow. The naming process has proven to be difficult for Ben and I this time, but Fletcher was born on Ben's uncle Terrell's birthday and he is an amazing person. So we decided to stick with naming our boys last names and gave our newest member Terrell's last name. If Fletcher is half the person Terrell is he will be an amazing person. Then Robert is Ben's Grandpa Brough's name and my Grandpa Losee's name. So that is the first entry of our little Fletcher. Mommy and Fletcher are doing great. It is amazing to have a child and love that child so much right from the start. I could stare at him all day. Ben, Jarrett, Isabelle, and McGregor are doing well also. McGregor is adjusting fairly well and he loves his new brother. We were a little worried about him. We are all happy and loving our new baby. Thanks to everyone who helped and has given your support. We love you all.

Fair, Gregor's Birthday, & First Day of School!!!

Another one of those posts that is going to have a lot of stuff in it. First, last week was the famous Box Elder County Fair. I have never quite understood everyones take on the fair out here in good ol' Tremonton. The town seriously shuts down for this thing and everyones life is the fair. Our kids love it so we do go out and spend time with Ben's family and let the kids run around. I will have to admit it was pretty miserable for me this year. I don't recommend going out there 39 weeks pregnant. You end up coming home with cabbage patch feet. The highlights were that PJ's(Ben's cousin) steer took Grand Champion, and Max (Pete and Dari's oldest) took first in his class and 7th overall. We were excited for them. Ben ran the fair 5k Saturday morning and came in 3rd in his age group and I think 30th out of 200. He is funny he hates to run while he is doing it, but it is almost like an addiction now to him and he loves it when he is done.
McGregor's birthday is today, but we did the family party last night. We had chocolate cake, rhubarb crumble, chocolate chip ice cream, and vanilla ice cream. He whipped through his gifts pretty fast. Then played for the rest of the night. My mom took him Friday for his special day and he picked out a pink and purple tricycle. You know he is our third child, because we didn't care about the pink and purple we were just excited he was pedaling. I always put a little blurb about them on their birthday so here goes. Mcgregor is a joy to my heart. On the worst days he can make you smile. He loves everyone and is really upset if he doesn't get to give you a hug and kiss before you leave. I have thought a lot lately about what we were doing last year at this time and how thankful I am to have him still here with us. Him and Jarrett are good buddies. I can't say the same about him and Isabelle, but he does love her and miss her when she's not here. We have decided he is our comedian. He is hilarious. We have found out lately that he loves to sing and he is one of the loudest in sacrament meeting. I can't believe he is already three. Happy Birthday buddy!! Oh yeah, he sleeps in his own bed now and all night!!!! Yeah!!!!
Well today we got up and got Jarrett and Isabelle off on their first day of school. Jarrett is in the third grade this year. He is a little nervous because he has heard some horror stories about his teacher. We will have to see how he does. Isabelle is in the first grade and was so excited. She knows her teacher loves her already. She was so excited this morning. Both of them couldn't wait to wear their new clothes and shoes. Can't wait to hear their stories when they get home.
Well tomorrow morning Ben and I get to go to the hospital at 6:00 am and have our new addition. Everyone asks if I am nervous and no I am SOOOOO ready. So our next entry will more than likely be about our newest member to our family. It will prove to be a very busy week, but exciting. Thanks to everyone for everything lately.

Football, Pictures, and Baby!

I have not been doing great at blogging lately, so I thought I would catch up. We went last week and had my brother take pictures of our kids. My brother is majoring in photography at Utah State. He wanted to practice and we wanted current pictures of our kids so it worked out really well. I think my brother has a lot of talent and will do well in this field. It was actually a fun session. I have dreaded pictures since McGregor was born. He has hated getting his pictures taken, hence the reason we don't have many professional ones done of him. He did so good with Tony. He had the funniest smile. I was laughing the whole time. Jarrett and Isabelle were probably harder this time than Mac, but it was all good. I am excited because Tony wants to come take some of the new baby when he comes.
Next news is Jarrett is a football player. I can't remember when was the first time Jarrett told us he wanted to play football and he is finally old enough. He has to practice every week night for 1 1/2 hours and we have games every Saturday now through October the 3rd. He loves it. He is probably one of the smallest on his team, but he is one of the hardest workers too. He plays a whole variety of positions on both defense and offense. His first game was this last Saturday. He had a lot of fun, but they lost 26-0. Some of the parents acted as though these kids were in the NFL already. I just laughed because they are 8 years old and they are just out there to have fun. It was pretty comical at some points.
Finally, I went to the doctor yesterday and he said that if this baby doesn't come on his own by next Tuesday he is going to start me. He wanted to start me on the 31st and I told him no, because it is Mac's birthday and Jarrett and Isabelle's first day of school. So Mac's birthday is Aug. 31st and our new addition's birthday will most likely be September 1st. Unless he decides to come on his own. I am a little nervous for the newborn stage and the getting up at all hours of the night. Mostly nervous about Mac's reaction when he figures out this baby is staying at our house and going to take some of his thunder. But I am so ready to be done with this pregnancy!!!! Oh yeah, pray that Ben and I can agree on a name for this little guy.

Playhouse and dog house for sale!!!!

I was way excited, I sold my couch set in 4 hours yesterday. So we thought we would put our other item on our blog to see if anyone is interested. First, we have our custom built playhouse. It is so much fun for kids. Ben made this one from scratch, so it is extremely well built ( Our kids have helped along the way). Dimensions are: 8 ft wide X 12 ft long X 10 ft high. We are asking $3500.00 o.b.o. Next, we are selling a built by Ben and kids dog house. As you will see in the pictures it has a "bay window" that is used for storage. Dimensions are: 45 inches X 55 inches X 40 inches high. We are asking $175.00 o.b.o. So if any of you are interested or know anyone who would be let us know. These items are also listed on ksl.com classifieds.

Happy Birthday Isabelle!

Today is our Isabellee's birthday. She turns the big 6 today. She has been waiting for this day all summer. We have been counting down forever. We started her morning off with Ben's 5K and Jarrett's mile race. Poor girl, she was so patient. Her presents waited for her at home while we watched Jarrett race and waited for Ben to receive his first place medal for his age group. She did get to go last night with "Grandpa and Grandma in the mountains" for her special day. They took her to dinner and then went and let her pick out her present. She picked a real camera. Then they took her to Mantua to go on a picture walk where she took pictures of everything possible. This morning she chose cereal for her breakfast. Then later we are going over to Grandpa Curtis's for a swimming party and cake and ice cream. She is just excited it is finally her day.

As I think over the last six years, first of all I can't believe how fast they have gone. She was the best baby. Very mild tempered and a wonderful sleeper (still is). Isabellee is a lover of animals, her favorites are her cats. If you can't find her she is usually out playing with and taking care of them. She definitely knows how to push both of her brothers buttons. She has her daddy wrapped around her little finger. She is very much like her daddy in so many ways. She is very particular who she lets into her little life and who gets to see the special amazing person she is. I feel so blessed that she is my daughter. I love the special moments she curls up next to me for a love and her "I love you". She is a thinker and does well at everything she tries. She also has the girl attitude down pretty well. You do something annoying and you can tell just by the way she looks at you. I love when she wants to help me, because she jumps right to it and she is always humming or singing while she works. She is my little helper. Isabellee thanks for being our girl. You definitely keep us all on our toes, but we wouldn't have it any other way. Happy Birthday princess.

Our Summer So Far.....

First of all I can't believe we only have one more week left in July. This summer has flown. We haven't done anything quite as exciting as last summer. Our summer has consisted of a trip to the dinosaur park, lots of visits to various parks, swimming (one of my favorites this year), and swimming lessons.
A new thing this year is that Ben has taken up running. He ran a "The Dam Race" up in Mantua last weekend, it's a 5 mile race around the lake. He did really well for his first race he places 24th out of 200. Then this morning he ran a 5K right here in Tremonton and came in 3rd in his class (15th overall). Jarrett rode his bike in the same race and came in 3rd. Next weekend Ben will do the 5K in Garland for Wheat and Beet days, then in the middle of September he is going to do the Top of Utah run in Logan. That's something new for us.
I thought I would do a quick overview of our summer up to this point. Not a lot happened in June, so we will skip right to the 4th of July. We spent it with Ben's family in Riverside. They do a little family reunion of sorts, you go up the night before and are supposed to camp out on Pete and Dari's lawn(thankfully I have gotten out of that every year). Then the next morning they have a breakfast with a softball game following. Then you get to entertain yourself for the rest of the day until about 4 when the big parade starts. This year they had a theme for our float and it was a rock band theme. Then we went to the park and had some hamburgers. At dark we watched fireworks. (They were better than other years.)
The next event was Little Valley Days in Mantua last weekend. We started at 7:00 am with Ben's run, then the kids stayed with my mom for the parade while Ben and I went to Madalyn Fletcher's funeral. What do you say when she was only 2 1/2 and had suffered so much this past year. I have never understood why a child has to suffer like she did and to watch Terrell and Trish has been heart wrenching. Our heart and prayers go out to them and their boys. At least we have the knowledge that Maddy is in a better place free from her pain. After the funeral we headed back to my mom's. There my brothers, sister-in-law, Jarrett, Isabelle, McGregor, and Ben played on the slip-n-slide. They had a ton of fun. Later we cooked and ate a dutch oven dinner, then at dusk we roasted marshmallows and watched some dang good fireworks from my parent's back yard.
This week we celebrated Jodi's birthday with her. She came a stayed a couple of days. My kids love when Grandma Jodi comes. Today we will celebrate the 24th with a pool party at Curtis's and eat some smoked turkey and pork.
It has been a normal summer, but we have had some good times. We are now getting ready for Jarrett to start his first season of tackle football. Isabelle will turn 6 next Saturday, McGregor will be 3 on the 31st, and in the next 6 weeks we will finally get to meet our new member to our family. Which leads me to this poor boy's name. We don't have one and would love some suggestions. If anyone has one please let us know.

What A Weekend!!!

So much happened this weekend!! The first and most important was Jarrett got baptized Saturday morning. He has been waiting for this a long time. He didn't care about parties or gifts, he just wanted to be baptized. I always have thought that the parents really decide a lot of the times for kids when they are eight if they are getting baptized or not. I am here to tell you that this was all Jarrett's decision. He wanted this more than anything this year. He has such a strong spirit and an amazing testimony. I had the opportunity to speak at his baptism ( I dread speaking in public). The best part about speaking was I was on the stand and could look down at Jarrett and Ben dressed in their white clothes and see the excitement on Jarrett's face. It was a Stake baptism so their were four other kids that got baptized that day, but we had our own special time at the font and our own special room for his confirmation. Everything went so smooth and fast. I am so thankful for Jarrett and the person that he is. He is such a special boy and I feel so unworthy most of the time to have the job as his mom. He teaches me so much everyday. I am also so thankful that Ben was able to baptize and confirm Jarrett. Ben is such a strong spirit and person. I am so thankful for our little family. We have definitely had our share of trials these last couple of years the harder ones have been more recent, but how thankful I am for the gospel and the still small voice of the Holy Ghost. He has helped me throughout my life and guided me in the direction I need to take my life. I am so thankful for everyone who could make it for Jarrett's baptism. A lot of our family was out of town, but we had a good turn out. I am thankful for Jarrett's Grandparents, Great-Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, Friends (thanks to Nolan, Cody, Dillon, and Katie who were here from Reno), his church leaders, and His 2nd grade teacher Mrs. Esplin who took time out of their busy Saturday's to share in this special day for Jarrett. After the baptism we went back to our house for cake and ice cream. YUMMY!!

Part 2 to Saturday: They were having an Air Show at Hill Field and Jarrett and I wanted to watch the Thunderbirds. So Ben being the nice guy, he is took us down to fight the crowds(He hates all the people you have to fight at these). The great thing this year was that my mom got us special passes. We got to park our car at a special parking lot and then we road a shuttle right up to the flight line. Our section was front and center. We got to see the pilots of the Thunderbirds(the kids got some autographs). We watched them prepare the planes and taxi onto the runway. It was pretty cool. I just sat there and watched them fly and thought how great it is to be an American and be able to do all the great things because of our freedom. Those pilots are pretty amazing with what they can do with an aircraft. It was a fun time. The bad part was our line to catch the shuttle back to our car was right by the porta potties. They decided to start cleaning them while we were standing there. The buses were so slow in getting there and we couldn't stand the stink anymore so we just walked back to our car. We finished with going to dinner with my family and headed home.

Sunday: We had to leave our house by 8:00 which we didn't get out of there until 8:25 SHOCKER!! We were supposed to be in Franklin, Idaho by 9:00 for Ben's stepsister's babies blessing. It normally takes a good 45 minutes to get there, but after 80 mph the whole way on back roads and hitting a pheasant we made it just as they were saying the opening prayer. Then after Maddy's blessing we headed to my sister Susie's in Hyrum for Hunter's blessing. I'm gonna be honest it is tough to sit through two sacrament meetings with three kids. Both of the dad's did a great job on the blessings and the food after was great. So we feel as though we were on the run since about 8:00 am Saturday morning until about 4:30 Sunday, but it was a great weekend. Thanks to everyone for everything.

Jarrett's 8 !!!!

I can't believe our Jarrett is 8 years old today. As I have looked back this morning to the day he was born until now I feel blessed to have him as my boy. He was so perfect the minute he entered this world. I will be the first to admit that he was not easy as a baby, but who knows if that was him or me being a first time mom. A lot of things that haven't changed is that his socks still drive him crazy if they don't fit him just right along with his pants, he hates his hands dirty, he loves his uncle Daniel and Cameron, his big heart, and his contagious laugh. Jarrett is one of the most tender hearted souls I have ever been around. He is always worrying about others and their feelings. He is such a big helper to me with his younger siblings. He loves to skateboard, wrestling with his daddy, Isabelle, and McGregor, riding his bike, swimming, and he can't wait for football to start this fall. What to say, but that I love him so much and I feel so privileged to be his mommy. Thanks Jarrett for the last eight years and all the memories. You make everyday better with your smile, laugh, and your loves. I love you!!! Happy Birthday!!!

Kindergarten Graduation!!

Well today our Isabellee graduated from kindergarten. It's hard to believe that this school year is almost over. And the answer is yes to your question, "Did mommy cry?". We will blame that on life right now and being pregnant. The program was really cute. They sang about seven songs and then they got to walk up and get a hat and their diploma. Isabelle was so cute and she knew her songs so well. She is pretty sad that she doesn't get to keep Mrs. Bowcutt and Jeriann for her teachers next year. They have done a wonderful job and Isabelle loves them. We will get her excited for her new teachers next year. We figured out today that Isabelle will be in the graduating class of 2021!! Yikes!! The next scary thought is Jarrett will be in the class of 2019, that is only 10 years from now. We all know how time flies. Kind of scary for mommy.

Happy Birthday!!

Our May has been crazy!! But thankfully we get to slow down today and celebrate Ben. Thirty-two years ago today the world was made a better place because Benjamin C was born. I wish I could find some good pictures from when he was younger to post, maybe later. Anyway I wanted everyone to know it was his special day today. If you read this Ben have a great day and know that I love you and I am glad I get to be here to celebrate with you. I just want you to know that I am thankful for you and I know that life has its ups and downs, but I am glad I get to share my life with you. Happy Birthday!!

Wicked

Yes, I went to see the Broadway show Wicked last night. My mom got all of us girls tickets for Christmas and we have been patiently waiting for 4 months for this night to come. I have never been to anything like that before and to tell you the truth I wasn't to excited. We went and ate at the Lion House Pantry and then headed to the Capital Theatre. We got to our seats and started to hear rumors that the Prophet and his wife were at the show. So we started looking around and right below us sat President Monson and his wife, then we started looking down the row and there was President Uchtdorf. Pretty cool to see them there and to see them that close. I didn't know exactly what it was going to be like, for one thing I hate The Wizard of Oz. This show is the story of the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the good witch. It was an amazing show. These people could sing. I have never heard such beautiful and powerful voices. My favorite was the Wicked Witch of the West, her voice was amazing. The story was so good and you could learn a lot from it. The Wicked Witch wasn't really wicked, she was trying to do good and so many people misunderstood her. It was a great evening and I would love to go to another show again sometime. If anybody has the opportunity to go and see Wicked I would highly recommend seeing it.

20 Week Ultrasound!

Well we are half way through this pregnancy and today we found out what our new addition will be. When I found out I was first pregnant we were a little shocked to say the least. We were not planning on a new addition to our family just yet, but Heavenly Father decided it was time. I was really sick with this baby at the first and Ben kept telling me he kept getting this thought in his head that it might be twins. I told him to Shut up!!! Usually with Ben he is right on the money with our kids. He knew Jarrett was a boy right away even when the doctor wasn't 100% sure, he was right about Isabelle too. We didn't find out the sex of McGregor early and the weird thing with McGregor was that a couple of months before he was born Ben came home and told me we needed to find a name that would fit a blonde haired, blue eyed little boy. I thought he was joking, but when McGregor was born we had a blonde hair, blue eyed little boy. I was a little afraid to say the least about the whole twin prediction, but when I went to my first appointment my doctor put my fears to rest when he did an ultrasound and there was just one baby. Because I have been so sick this time everybody was sure we were having a girl and Ben had one of his predictions that it was a little girl and would be a lot like Isabelle(heaven help us if that were true. I think the world can only handle one Isabelle). So we went to our appointment today and before they even told me the sex I knew that we were going to have.......................another little boy. It looks like poor Isabelle will be the only girl of our family, unless things change. We are definitely excited and will love this little guy. He is going to get so much love from his older siblings he won't know what to do with it all. I am definitely a little nervous to tell Isabelle, but I will blame it all on Ben and it will be all good. Now on to names, we had quite a few girl names, but we have a tough time thinking of boy names. It took us until the day McGregor was born to finally decide that was the name for him. So if any of you have any good boy names, we tend to like last names for their first names, let us know. So come end of August first of September we will have another boy to add to our family. They said everything looked great with the ultrasound and he is already a mover. I don't remember any of my other babies moving so much this early. Let's just pray he is a good sleeper and mellow!!!

Spring Break

We wanted to go and do something fun for the kid's spring break, so we headed to Vegas. We left on Wednesday and came home Sunday. Our kids did so awesome driving down and back and they were little troopers down there. You forget all the walking you have to do. We had a lot of fun, but we did find out the hard way that Vegas is no longer a place for children. On Thursday we took them to M&M World ( I think everyone in Vegas was there) and then we took them swimming. It was so nice to lay by the pool and get hot!! The kids loved the pool. On Friday we took them up to see the temple and did a little exploring. Ben has applied for a lot of jobs down there so we were seeing if it is a place we could live. We decided Vegas is most likely out, but we could definitely live in Henderson. Ben found a Tony Roma's, one of his favorite places to eat that doesn't exist in Utah anymore. That was a highlight. We also took the kids the Shark Reef at the Mandalay Bay. It was fun to walk through tunnels that had fish and sharks swimming all around you. Thursday night we wanted to take the kids, especially Jarrett to see the pirate show in front of Treasure Island. Well they have changed the show to say the least. One ship is full of almost naked women who dance very suggestively and then the other ship is full of men. The women sink the men's ship by doing a dance. I was horrified to be a mother of a 7 year old and sit there and watch this. He told me later he didn't like the women's ship, he hated the way they danced in their swim-n-suits (THANK GOODNESS!!!). Saturday we got up and walked over to New York-New-York and walked through their shops and got some ice cream. McGregor kept telling us he wanted to ride the roller coaster and was very mad when we told him he had to get bigger. Jodi drove down and met us in Vegas for the day and I have to say it was our best day down there. We ate some lunch and went over to the Mirage to see the dolphins, white tigers, and lions. We loved watching the dolphins. I think Isabelle would love to be a dolphin. I have never seen a more gorgeous lion than the one we saw there. Jodi and I decided they must brush and blow dry his mane daily. There was also a white tiger that I just sat there and watched he was so majestic. It was a really great exhibit. They also had baby dolphins and a baby leopard. We then went back and let the kids swim for about an hour. Jodi stayed with us until after dinner and then she headed back north. Thank you for coming down and sharing our vacation, we had a great day with you there!!!! After we dropped her off we went to see the water show at the Bellagio. I love the water show and so did Jarrett and Isabelle. It did scare McGregor. The Easter Bunny visited us in the night and when we got up the kids searched the room for their baskets and they played while Ben and I got everything ready to go. It was a good trip and we are glad we went somewhere warm. Some of the highlights for me was watching the kids and Ben in the pool, the Mirage, and just having the kids and Ben with me for 5 days with no school or work. I think we have the best and cutest kids in the world and they are the best little travelers. Ben is the best dad in the world and loves to play and be with his kids. There were definitely some negatives about Las Vegas, but we had a lot of fun just being together.

A New Baby!!!

I am excited to say that I am a new aunt again. My sister Susie just had my new little nephew Hunter Clark. She is a trekker. He is two days over due and she delivered him cesarean. I have just heard about him from my mom and sister and seen pictures. He is already precious to me. He is 8 lbs. 10 oz. and I have heard has a little bit of hair. I can't wait to go and see him tonight. Having a baby is an amazing experience and I know that Susie and Travis will be awesome parents. We are also waiting to hear word on Ben's stepsister who is also having a baby today. So we gain a new little boy and a new little girl. What an exciting day.
Part two: We went and saw little Hunter Kurtis Clark and he is perfect. I am mad because I forgot my camera, but he has the most perfect round face with the cutest little mouth. He has Susie's eyes and just stared at me when I held him. We bonded and I can't wait to see him again. I think I might just sneak over there tonight again. Susie is doing well considering all she went through yesterday. She is a little sick from the anesthesia, but other than that I think she is elated to have her baby finally here. As for Ben's stepsister when we left the hospital last night at 8:00 p.m. she still hadn't had her baby and we haven't heard anything. I love new babies they make your world a lot better!!

Our Weekend!

We finally had had it with the cold, snow, and inversion. We decided to run away last Friday. We grabbed the kids out of school and ran to St. George. We got there early Friday evening and stayed through Sunday morning. It was great. Sun and warmth do alot for the soul. This year we have decided we are not a family who loves the snow. It was a quick, but great little trip. We got to spend time with Ben's McGregor family. Our kids got to spend time with their Grandma Jodi and they loved it. Jarrett is ready to move to St. George along with me. Saturday we had a barbeque at Ben's Grandma and Grandpa McGregor's, then we took the kids to a skate park where Jarrett made new friends and Isabelle conquered her fears of going down the big hills on her scooter. Then we took them swimming and finished with a movie. Jarrett and Isabelle spent every second they could with Grandma Jodi. They spent night and day with her. We got up Sunday and said some goodbyes and went to see Dillon and Crystal's new place and their new kitties. They have a very nice home and seem happy and content. It was great to have a change of scenery and see family we don't get to see very often.

Holiday Fun and Celebrating the New Year!!

Where to start? Christmas was great. We spent Christmas Eve quietly at our house with just me, Ben and the kids. It was great. We woke up Christmas morning and at 6:45 we finally couldn't stand it any longer and went and woke the kids up. Santa made it again this year. We are always spoiled. This year we even woke up to a blizzard. We were snowed in. Ben's dad had to bring us a car so we could make it up to my mom's celebration. My car never made it out of the garage that day. Christmas is alwasy a special time for our family. We love the feelings and love you feel throughout the holidays. We were blessed to have family around to celebrate with us. Ben's mom came up and spent a couple of days. She trecked through snow, ice, and cold. We are thankful she was able to come. Jarrett cried when she left and McGregor keeps going and checking Isabelle's room for Grandma. New Year's day we spent it with my family. We started a tradition last year with tubing behind a 4-wheeler in the fields just in back of our house. This year we ate Navajo Taco's, hot chocolate, and tons of treats. We tubed, played the Wii and got a few card games into the day. We had so much fun. Lots of laughs and lots of memories made. A great way to bring in the new year. As I think about and contemplate the following year. I don't think anything happened as we thought it would last new years day. We found out how precious our children are. We found out that money is not the most important thing to us, and we found that sometimes you are forced to make changes in your lives. We have had a roller coaster ride this year. Some of those times were awesome and we don't ever want to forget and then there are those memories that are painful and you never want to experience again. We feel as though our family has grown leaps and bounds this year. We have found that we can endure some pretty tough circumstances as long as we have the love and support of each other and our family and friends. We want to thank our family and friends for all you love and support and for the memories we have made this past year. We found out this year that life doesn't always turn out how you have planned it, but we are excited for our future. We know there will be new memories made and new experiences to try this coming year and we are going to move forward with hope in our hearts. Happy New Year to everyone!