It's not beginning to look like Christmas...

The Temp. is a balmy 80 degrees today, hard to get into the Christmas spirit when Ashlen asked me this morning if she could go swimming and the kids are all outside playing and sweating!!! Also, since we will not be home for Christmas I didn't want to put up a tree at all, I really don't like all the work of Christmas, it's not good, it is a problem I have. Anyway, Brent and the kids thought it would just be easier to buy a real tree rather than convience me to drag the tree out of the attic, so I decided it would be way easier to buy new christmas ornaments instead of go up to the hot, yucky attic and bring down all the decorations. I wasn't about to go up there anyway, Brent saw a mouse up there a few months ago, I had nightmares after that!!! Everything in the attic is now contaminated and will be destroyed during intervals of time when Brent is out of town!!!

We are flying to Las Vegas for Christmas this year and meeting up with My brothers and there families to do a little skiing in S. Utah. The kids are way excited...I am nervous, hoping my back will hold up some intense hanging out time with my nephews and my one Niece, Princess Bayden.

This time of year I alway look back on the past year and look forward to the new one with lots of goals and plans to make life better and more enjoyable. Let's be honest, that is just a bunch of crap. The one awesome thing about the new year is that Lauren turns 16 the first of February and will be able to drive, Rock on to that!!!!! Even though it makes me very nervous to have her on the road alone, it will make life so much better to have her driving!!! Pray for us all!!!

To close i have included my Christmas list in case anyone is interested!!!

Two tickets to somewhere aweome for me and my sister Angela to get away from our kids for 1 to 4 weeks.

Lots of cash

Peace on the Mexican Border

Obama possibly getting swine flu or something else that makes him more humble

Food for all the hungry children in the world, starting with the ones in America!!!

Small loosing a bit of weight so she can make the jump onto my bed the first time

Size 8 jeans and my butt fitting into them

All the baseboards cleaned in my house

Brent to stay as hot as he is right now forever!!!

Yummy homemade salsa always in my fridge, always fresh

All my kids to stop fighting with each other, not all at once though, cause it may cause me to die of a heart attack

Lauren to be safe while driving, Austen to win a major golf tournament, Peyten to eat my dinners that I make, and Ashlen to stop whinnng when she talks!!!

Homecoming and Halloween

Lauren went to her school homecoming with a fun group of kids. She said she had a great time. It is tradition here in Texas that the girls and boys wear big huge mums on the friday of the football game. This was Laurens first time to get a mum, it was funny to me a first, they are so big that you have to wear them around your neck if you are a girl and on your arm as a garter as a guy. It seems like the thing to do is get them as big as possible if you like that kind of thing. Lauren's was a medium size, she likes things a bit more conservative. For the dance, her group decided to go dressed up as characters from movies. The boy to her character was Zoolander and she was the secretary, that is why he looks a little funny, but it worked for him cause he is a funny guy. I was extremely proud of Lauren for her dress choice, she went with a very adorable and modest dress. I can't believe what girls where to dances these days, so low cut and short. Lauren has her standards and didn't wish to compromise them, what a girl!!!

Halloween was fun, it seemed to last all weekend. My older kids chose to not treat or treat this year. Lauren took Ashlen to a few houses on the street, but since it was on a sunday I just really wanted them closer to home. Austen and two of his friends dressed up scary and tried to scare kids that came to the door. A few times they got kids pretty good, next year we need to really spook it up.

Parents 49th Anniversary

I once again copied this from my sister, cute picture of my parents.

Angela's post about Logan

I have a few stories I've been wanting to write about, you know, for posterity...or whatever. Here's one. The timing of this one is about right since it happened almost 7 years ago to the day. This one is a hard one for me. Possibly one of the hardest things I have had to go through in my 30+ years. Let me go get some kleenex.

My younger sister Abby, was pregnant and unmarried. She decided to give the baby boy up for adoption through LDS services. She has a really cool story of her own of how she knew this couple she chose for her unborn child was the right family for him. And she was even more sure of that decision when she met them for the first time. But this is my story.

We knew she had made the right decision to give up her baby but I really don't know how women/girls do it. It was hard for me to imagine since I was already married at the time so it wouldn't even be an option for me. How can you just give this child to someone else knowing you'll probably never see them again or have much of a relationship with them.

The day she gave birth to him, our older sister Amysue, was on a plane to SLC, where she picked me up and the two of us drove to St. George where she had had the baby. He was darling. Our family genes that we all share were there. We didn't know what the adoptive parents were going to name him so it was weird not having a name for him. I nicknamed him Harry because he was so hairy. Another gene we all got from our dad. Thanks dad. When they were both released from the hospital, we all went to stay at my parent's house. We had a night (or two?) with him before his parents were to come for the "placement". Abby had pictures taken with him. We held him and loved him.

Before the actual placement took place Abby went to the social service office to sign her rights away. Amysue and I dropped her off. She wanted to go in alone. We sat in the car and cried, wipping our tears on the only thing we could find. A pair of little socks Amysue had bought for him that had been left in the car. We wanted to do something nice for Abby so we went to the store and bought her roses. When we went back to pick her up we went inside and gave her the roses. We got to meet her counselor. She was wonderful. She told us she'd never seen a family so supportive as ours. That made me feel good.

The night of the placement most of our family was gathered beforehand at my parents. Everyone was there but Alex's family and Anne, who had passed away almost a year before. We had a family prayer together and cried and cried and cried. We were late getting there. I'm sure the couple was worried we'd not show up.

The couple who is adopting is instructed not to even touch the baby until they are "placed" in their arms by the birth mother. Just like everything in our church, there is an order to things. We met them. Visited with them. And then we let them open presents we had bought for him. Clothes, toys, and a blanket made by our sister in law who always makes the nieces and nephews a blanket because we are a blanket family. They let Abby leave the room alone with the baby so she could say goodbye. Then she brought him back and all of us in the family got to hold him one last time. Then she said one final goodbye to him and then placed him in his mother's arms. Time stood still for a moment as I took everything in.

Until that point I was a wreck. I couldn't stop crying. But when he was placed in their arms a peace came and I knew he wasn't ours. He was theirs. And the crying stopped for a time. Also when he was placed in her arms we could physically see her emotions. Until then she had been strong. Not showing any emotion. Her husband was the one who had been emotional before. But she couldn't physically hold him since she was shaking so hard. She finally said to her husband, "Take him. I'm going to drop him." He tenderly took him and looked at his face. Then she calmed down enough to take him back. It was beautiful to see this couple, who had wanted a child so badly, finally get their wish. An answer to their prayers.

Logan will be 7 years old tomorrow. His mother was able to have another son a couple years ago via invitro so he now has a little brother. What a lucky boy he is.

The point of this story is, I never hear the stories from the families of the birth parents. Just as the birth parents love the child they give up, so do their families. He will always hold a special place in my heart even though he isn't part of our family. I was so glad to have those few days with him when he was a newborn. But also, it was amazing to witness that spiritual event of that baby being given to his new family. I literally could feel that he no longer was part of our family anymore as soon as they touched him. Thankfully there was peace with that feeling instead of feeling like my heart was being ripped out. After that it was still hard. And it still is hard to think about but I know he was meant to be with them.

About time for another post

Ok..I know it has been like forever, but we have been super busy and whatever so I am just going to start over and not repeat any of the past. Too much stuff happened so lets move forward.

School is in session, it is always a bittersweet for me cause I miss my kids so much, but also it gives me and them a chance to be away from each other. Lauren is a sophomore, Austen 8th grade, peyten 6th grade, and Ashlen is in preschool. Lauren is playing volleyball for the school again, she made the JV team, but after a few weeks the coach moved her up to Varsity. Basically she is kicking butt and has the awesome athletic genes that run so freely in my side of the family...hehe. Peyten and Austen are both playing football, Peyten broke his arm the second week of practice and was out a few of the games. He played with a cast on, we don't let a broken arm interfere with our playing time. Once Fall sports are all over with them all of the kids will start golf up again. They all had a great golf season this past summer, Austen especially did, i think he golfed in about 30 or so tournaments.

I am taking a tennis class at the college...so far I really love it. Not so great at it right now, but still am having fun. Most of the people in my class are 20 something college students just taking a PE credit so they pretty much suck more than I do. Eric, my partner last week, told me his mom said he had to get a job and stop playing Xbox all the time. I think he wanted my support cause we were partners and all but I told him it was time to grow up!!!

I am still fostering puppies, I have two litters right now. They are pretty much adorable, Ashlen wants to hold them all day long. The older ones right now are 4 weeks old and look like teddy bears, they are so cute. I will have to take some pics.

Brent just turned 42 a few weeks ago, so sad for me. I can't be married to someone that old? Where has the time gone? I guess to finish my post I will say a few words regarding Brent getting old:

He has grey hair and much more hair other places than before I married him...yuck!!!

He is a bit wrinkly under his eyes, this is due to the fact that he doesn't wear sunscreen on his face when he golfs. Soon he is going to be walking around looking like he has a Trophy wife.

He randomly falls asleep while not in bed; church, car, couch, work, jogging, eating, golfing

He is starting to make stuff up and repeat the same stories over and over..."When I was your age..."

When he walks his body makes creaking and cracking sounds.

He is still better looking and skinnier than me, that will never change.

I love you my cutie dude!!!!

Spring In Houston

It frustrates me that I have not been keeping my blog up to date. Too many other things tend to use up my time, like doing dumb stuff. Playing Farmville, playing with my puppies, daydreaming about being much younger, riding all over in my car with kids in the back making me crazy. Even today, my friend just had a new baby yesterday, and I am going up to the hospital to see them. I should just stay home and get stuff done around here, but naw, that isn't me. Can't stay home for a second. Anyway, seeing a new baby is a worthy cause.

Ashlen had her 4th bday last week, so glad she is 4. We will have a party for her soon, I just have to gear myself up to having a bunch of four year olds over for a mother/daughter swim party. I may need to hire a lifeguard for that.

I planted some pretty new roses out back and my puppies love to swat at the flowers and spray the petals everywhere, it is kind of cute so I haven't gotten too mad. i love my puppies, they are almost 7 weeks old so they will be getting adopted out soon. Lauren and I have decided to foster homeless puppies for college service hours. It has been a ton of work, but so worth it. We got the puppies when they were about a week old, with their momma, from a homeless man who was living in a park downtown. We are working through an agency called, puppy squad, they are all volunters and non-profit and do an amazing job. I am now very much a follower of Bob Barkers sound advice of spaying or neutering your animals. There are so many homeless animals, and once they get into the shelters, they catch diseases within a few minutes. We try to keep them out of shelters and into foster families homes until they are ready to be adopted. The service requires that the animal is fixed before it can be placed into a home.

Lauren finished off her golf season with a bang, earning her Letter and scoring her personal best at district with an 87. She was also recognized as second team all district. We went to a fun banquet last night where they honored all the players.

School is winding down and next year i will not have any kids in Elementary school. I get a one year break until Ashlen starts kindergarten. I will have one in 10th, 8th, 6th, and preschool next year. I am also thinking about doing some continuing education classes in the fall. I want to take a tennis class and a spanish class. I also want to write more in my blog!!!

Austen doing flips

Austen wanted me to take pictures of him doing flips and diving catches upstairs. He drug his bed out into the play room to have some fun.

March first...yea spring

I haven't been very good lately at posting blogs, too busy with other stuff. My friend Whitney reminded me that it was time to get another one out there...this one's for you whitney.

Lauren finally got her driver's permit, we only had to go to the DPS 3 times and about 5 hours of waiting all together. She likes to drive, we are all a little nervous though. It is so strange to be sitting in the passenger seat while Lauren is driving. WOW...can I be that old?

I love these pictures of my sister Angela and I. She came out for my birthday this year. I love her.

Lauren turns 15....o my!!!!

Can't believe my baby is 15...where did the time go? She is getting ready to go get her drivers permit this next week, Yikes!!! Lauren is such a good kid, hard working, smart, athletic, sweet, beautiful, a great friend, and a wonderful daughter of God. I love her!!!

New Year 2010

I guess I should start out by saying how grateful I am to be starting a new year. The main reason is these four kids and the one not photo'd, the Dad. I am so lucky to be their mom, I need to remember that more often. Being a mom is hard in so many ways but the alternative is to not be one and that wouldn't be acceptable to me. Looking forward to chaos everyday, riding in the car an average of 3 to 4 hours a day, making dinner that nobody likes, doing endless laundry, tucking kids in bed and listening to prayers, wiping lots of tears, teaching a teenager how to drive, checking homework, adjusting to a newly split ward where we were one of about 5 families taken out and put in a new ward, (church) making new friends and keeping the old. The only thing that would make all this even better is if the plastic surgery fairy would come and visit me, (without any pain please).