Here is a small sample of what we have been doing the last six months, in no paticular order.....

Jacob and Carter love to snuggle Natalie.  She doesn't let them do it very often, she insists on always being in charge and doesn't give in to anything others want her to do.  We need to work on that.  When she does snuggle them, they are oh so very happy!

Natalie and Mason

Jacob has started wearing his helmet while watching TV, trying to get used to it.  The helmet is usually the most uncomfortable part of the uniform for him!  We got him all signed up for PG football and he started last week.

This is how Natalie likes to swing. Brett holds his legs out straight and she lies down on them.  He had to draw the line when the neighbor girls asked to try spider swing with him.

St. George with the Wimmers

Easter

Natalie's Birthday

We spent a lot of time at Christie and Ryan's playing football in their nice, big back yard.

Sam's Fifth Birthday!

Jacob's Tenth Birthday!

Christmas

Our best friend Adam turned 12 this year and came for his first Priesthood session.  We loved having him here!  We didn't want him to go back!

Rex Lee Run

Jacob got to shoot the cannon this year

The boys placed second and third and got ribbons!  No nepotism involved!

Natalie and Sam hanging out in our new back yard. 

I'm not dead....

No I am not dead. I lost my cord that connects my camera to my computer, it's silly but I thought, "what's the point of blogging if I can't post pictures?"  I was just reading through my blog and thinking about how much I love having this journal of sorts.  I need to start again!  I need to find my camera cord, but for now, this will have to do.
Things have sure changed for us in the past six months!  We moved to Utah, bought a house and are expecting our fifth child!  Crazy!  We lived with my sister and her family while we were looking for a house.  It made me realize it's awesome having a sister wife around all the time and as long as we both have our own husbands!  It's the whole husband sharing thing I couldn't handle.  It was great having someone to run errands with, shuttle kids around, make dinner and just hang out with.  The kids loved it too, there was always a friend around.  My sister and her husband were awesome, super welcoming and great to live with.  It's nice to be in our own house, but there are things I will always miss!
Now for the baby thing, apparently IUD's are only 99% effective, and I was one of those 1%.  I was totally shocked since I just don't get pregnant without medical help, yet here I am pregnant with an IUD.  After the initial shock of it all, I must admit I am super excited.  I wanted another baby, and it was nice to have it come so easily for once.  It was weird looking at that pregnancy test in complete shock, I've usually planned for so long and tested so many times, but this time there it was unexpected and dark as can be.  A very strange feeling.  We are having a boy.  I really didn't care what it was because I felt this was my bonus baby.  I would have loved a sister for Natalie, and since I am a little obsessed over her right now, another girl would have been fun.....but what's not to love about another boy?!  This pregnancy has been rough, I feel a little handicapped from my legs and sciatic, but it will all be worth it in the end.
We bought our house in Pleasant Grove.  I never in a million years would have thought I would end up living in Pleasant Grove, but I love it!  I love feeling like I live in a small town.  I love driving around and seeing silos, horses, cows and farms mixed in with neighborhoods.   We weren't necessarily looking in Pleasant Grove, we looked everywhere.  If I never look at another house it will be too soon, I was seriously so sick of looking at houses.  We had almost decided to go ahead and build when we found this house.  An added bonus of PG is having two of Brett's brothers and their families here in PG, another brother in Orem, my brothers in Lindon and Alpine, and my sister in Orem. We LOVE living close to them!  I just need to get my sister in Bountiful down here!
The kids are happy and are starting to make friends.  That is my number one priority, if they are happy I will be too.  I just want to enjoy the rest of the summer and then figure out the rest!  I love living around family, but miss my friends and my life in San Diego.

Family Pictures

 

I like to think of myself as a pretty easy going mom in most ways, but I am a family picture nightmare mom.  At least I am willing to admit it.  I tell my kids it's because I am going to miss these days so much, and I want to document their cute little faces while they are in this phase of life. I tell them some day many years from now when they are all grown and gone I will sit and look at these pictures and cry because I miss them and want them to be little again. They laugh at me and tell me I won't miss all of it, I won't miss how Sam screams at me or when they wrestle and hurt each other.  I tell them I most certainly will, I will miss all of it.  Family pictures are very important to me, I just want everything to be perfect.  I want everyone to smile and be happy, and if it means I have to bribe and scream in some cases to get it, I will do it!

The day of family pictures this year came, the clothes were ironed and hanging in the closet, we were all ready, and I was ready to have them over with.  When Carter woke up his entire face was swollen, another side effect from the terrible baseball accident that knocked his front tooth out in May.  The tooth was infected, and he looked like one of the characters from How the Grinch Stole Christmas.  I wanted to cry, I really wanted to get these pictures over with.  I wanted to stop stressing about them and just be done with it!  We got Carter on an antibiotic, loaded him up with Motrin, and got the swelling down enough to do the pictures.  If you look you can tell he doesn't quite look like Carter, but it was good enough.  We did the pictures, they are over, and everyone is happy!

The Never Ending Birthday Celebration!

What could be better than a birthday spent at Disneyland?  It seems to us that Carter has been celebrating his birthday now for about a month.  He had a birthday party at the park, two sleep overs with friends, a birthday dinner, family party, and we spent his actual birthday at Disneyland with the Paulsons and Burrs.  What could be better!  We love you Carter!  I would say we can't believe you are seven, but you have acted seven for almost a year now so it seems about right.  We love your craziness, we love your zest for life, and we love your sense of humor.  We hope you never outgrow it!

Camping

Oh how we love a good camping trip.  We don't get much sleep, but the kids absolutely love it.  I'm so glad Laura brought her 95 pound baby to sit on her lap around the camp fire. 

Sam's Sleeping Habits

After we put Sam to bed at night he often roams around.  It may be because he takes a three hour nap pretty much every afternoon, and he's not quit ready for bed when Jacob and Carter are.  He usually heads down to the kitchen for an apple, goes to the bathroom, gets a drink....he usually goes back to his bed but sometimes we find him the next morning in an unusual spot.  These are two of my favorites.