Merry Christmas!

We had a wonderful Christmas. Asher loved all his bad guy and spider-man paraphernalia. Evie's favorite part was that the reindeer ate the carrots we left out for them. Norah was just excited Santa thought to go to Walgreen's at 12:30 the night before so she had presents and the other kids wouldn't thing Santa forgot her. Another wonderful Christmas.
We hope everyone had a Beautiful Christmas season and we send all our love!!!

Norah

Norah's blessing

Norah is still tiny but she is getting bigger! Two months old and she has just outgrown the newborn size and is beginning to fill out 0-3 month clothes. She is starting to smile with a little persuasion.

Six Years Baby!

Brian and I had our 6 wedding anniversary a few weeks ago, so I wanted to tell our story. Brian had ran into his friend from High School Jenna Christensen and thinking she was a hottie, (you still are Jenna!), asked her on a date. He lost her phone number and when he found it again she was engaged to her ex boyfriend. She thought Brian was awesome-which he is- and told him her roommate would go with him. This is where I come into play.  I was so embarrassed my roommates had to find dates for me.  I was the consolation date!  But I decided I had nothing to loose, so we went on a date.  We had so much to talk about, and my cheeks hurt from laughing so much by the end of the date.  As we were driving I distinctly remember thinking that Brian would be a very important part of my life, whether we were really good friends or something more.
We dated for 6 or 7 months and then decided we were going to get married. We had decided on a date, scheduled the temple and even had engagement pictures taken before he had officially asked me to marry him. Poor Brian, I took all the thunder from him. When he proposed he took me up the canyon and while we were driving we talked about all our friends engagement stories. When we got to the top he pulled out his guitar and started singing me a song he had written. The whole time I just kept thinking, "he should save this for when he proposes!" I was holding the notes with the words of the song and he told me to turn the page and there were no other pages. We had lost the end of the song. So he had to just sum it up and then he got on one knee and pulled out the ring. This was impossible because we had designed a ring and it wasn't supposed to be done for another week or two, that's why the whole time I knew he wasn't purposing. I just started laughing and after a few minutes I told him I never said yes, and then he reminded me he never asked, we were too busy laughing and smiling. So cheesy but it was so amazing and I'll never forget it. I love you Bri and marring you was the best decision I've ever made.
I had to include this picture for all of you to see exactly who I fell in love with!

True Love

Need I say more?

Rip it off like a band aid!

The day has come!  We threw away Asher's "yellow shorts".  We had to just rip it off like a band aid because he wasn't cooperating with the phasing out we had been trying to do.  He cried for the next 3 hours because he "missed them so much".

The Amazing Miss Norah

It's so funny how with my first kid I couldn't wait until he started doing this or was able to do that. Now with the third, I just want her to grow slow and let me enjoy every part of her. In the last 10 days Norah has gained 1 pound and grown an inch! How does it happen so fast. She's still only the 7% but she's growing like a weed!

NORAH EMILY IS HERE!

She's here! Our little girl is a few weeks early, but we are so excited to have her home! On Sunday I charged the camcorder, made sure the camera had batteries, charged my ipod and started packing my overnight bag at about midnight. Even though I wasn't due for a 2 1/2 weeks I could tell my body was getting ready and she would come before her due date.  Fifteen minutes later my water broke!  With Asher and Evie my water broke after I was in the hospital in labor so I wasn't sure what to do since I wasn't having contractions. We didn't want to wait too long because my labors are so fast, but because I was going unmedicated I didn't want to go in too early. So we waited a few more minutes and sure enough the contractions began and we decided to get going. It was a perfectly calm hypno-birth, (I'm sold on this approach so if you want encouragement I'm the one to talk to!) Anyway, Brian did not pass out this time, and was as humorous as ever, even asking after one of my contractions, if my "happy place" involved a midget on a trike! What a nerd. Norah came 3 hours after we left for the hospital and the doctor was able to get his gloves on just in time to catch.  Her blood sugar was low, because of my gestational diabetes so they had to take her and give her an IV.  She was in the special care nursery for the first 24 hours but then she was back to us and it was great.  I've always taken healthy babies for granted, but after having her hooked up to an IV and the threat of having to go home without her unless her blood sugar came up I realized what a great blessing it is to have such perfectly healthy babies.
Anyway she was 5 pounds 13 ounces and 18 inches long- just a little peanut. She brought Asher a helicopter with guns and so he was so excited to meet his sister and insisted his Nana buy his sister a doll since she brought him a gift.  He's pretty much indifferent to her, which is a huge improvement since his last sister was born.  Evie on the other hand can't get enough of baby Norah.  She's always wanting to hold and share her dolls.  Evie is missing the attention though.
We had a hard time deciding on a name. It came down to Norah or Paige and when we had decided on Norah we told Asher and he started chanting "Paige, Paige, Paige..." then Evie joined in.  It's hard not to be a little persuaded by such determined kids, but we decided Norah was the better fit.  Asher later informed us that "nobody cares about me! Nobody listens to what name I like."
Norah is beautiful and such a good baby. I miss sleeping through the night, but the trade off is well worth it!

1st day of pre-school

I'm a little late but I had to post pictures of Asher's first day of pre-school. He loves it and is so excited to be old enough to go to school. The only challenge is convincing him to wear different "school" clothes, really he can wear anything BUT his usual EVERYDAY outfit.

"I have a great idea!"

We just found out my sister Klare is having a boy so I was so excited to tell Asher he was going to have a boy cousin, since he only has two older boys and the other 5 are girls. I explained to him Klare and Dan are having a boy baby. He sat there for a few seconds than said, "I have a great idea. When you're baby comes out we'll give it to Klare and when her boy comes out she can give him to us!" In his mind he had totally come up with a perfectly logical, solution. What a problem solver!

Happy Birthday's!!!

We celebrated Evie's and Asher's birthday together again this year. We took family and bounced away at the bounce house. I think the adult guys had just as much fun as the kids! On their very birthday we just had cake and ice cream at the house. I can't believe my kids are 4 and 2!!! Where does the time go. Thanks for everyone's help on their b-day it was great!


EVIE
-I love that she can spot a McDonald's from miles away.
-She can sing her ABC's and count to 11. Smart girl!
-She loves to tickle your face and arms.
-She is seriously the sweetest thing. She will always share, most of the time without asking, and loves to help with everything.
-She's overly polite. For example, when I clip her nails she says, "thank you mommy" after each finger.
-She answers to the names piggy- (because she makes the cutest snort when you ask what a pig says), pickle and pretty.
-She eats everything.
-She loves to talk about mama's baby and look at my belly.
-She loves animals, Curious George and anything pink.



ASHER
-He loves the fact that he's four. His birthday morning he woke up and coughed and got so upset because, "four year olds don't cough!"
-He is obsessed with spider-man. It's my favorite to listen to him sing, "spectacular spider-man" when he doesn't know I'm listening. He is always shooting everyone with his pretend spider web.
-He's basically the funniest kid I know. He always has something to say that makes us laugh.
-He loves to talk about going to school.
-He now will wear the exact outfit as long as I let him before I insist I wash it. I think we went for close to a week last time! (is this bad to admit?) So if you think he's always wearing the same thing every time you see him, it's because he is!
-I love that with all his personality he's still shy when he meets new people.
-He is still a little scared of loud noises, but much better than before. The automatic toilets are his arch enemy, especially when they flush while he's still using it.
-He still wants to name the baby Paint. This stemmed from us asking if he liked the name Paige, he replied, "no, but I like Paint".
-He loves chocolate as much as his mom!

We love our cute kids and are so happy we get to watch them grow and learn! Love you Ash and Eves!

Trip

We try not to make a habit out of vacationing separately, but Brian got to go to Alaska to go fishing and so I thought since we got a new van, (I'm converted! It's wonderful!), we'd go visit my dad in North Dakota.

Kate and I driving

Kate was nice enough to come with and help with the 19 hour drive.  While Brian was catching huge fish grandpa Kelly and Katee took the kids fishing. It was a nice visit and great to just spend time together. Dad and Kara were nice enough to have a birthday party for the kids while we were there. Kara's spider-man cake killed the cakes I made! DVD players are amazing!

Dad, Kara and Karl

Swimming at the pool.

Fishing with Grandpa Kelly

This plus 50 lbs in our freezer!

This plus 50 pounds of fish is now in our freezer!

A Summers events-

Well we've been out busy doing fun stuff! We went to Lagoon. The kids had so much fun. I thought that Evie might be too young to enjoy it or that they might be kind of scared, but they LOVED it!

Evie still talks about riding a zebra everyday.

We had a really low key 4th and we just did sparklers at home.


We went with cousins to the dinosaur park.

We went camping by Heber were Asher figured out the purpose of the small door in the tent, and we enjoyed a flat tire, forgotten flashlights and lots of ants! It was still a lot of fun.

We participated in the days of 47 children's parade. Our stake's primary was able to walk in the parade. We all dressed as TV's since the inventor of the TV was LDS. The theme was "catching the vision". Because he had the vision of the TV we are able to watch conference and receive the vision. Let me tell you how glad I am as primary president to have this over with!
We've been really busy with Monday night softball games as well. Here's Brian hitting a home run. I've learned to never be surprised by Brian. We've been married almost 6 years and he casually mentions he likes softball and we should play sometime, so this year when we have an opportunity to play I learned he's not just kinda good, he's the star player! He pulled the same surprise on me a couple years ago when I heard him play the drums, and my brother said he was WAY better than the drummer in his band, and Bri hadn't picked up the drumsticks in 10 years!!!
Anyway, those are our fun events for the summer.

Names

A few names we're considering.

-Leena, (Can you name her Emaline and call her Leena? For some reason this makes sense to me even though the name leena isn't in Emaline)
-Elsa or Ilsa
-Norah
-Hayden
-Paige
-Meda (my g. grandma's name who is my hero. Brian okayed if for a middle name only!)

What a si-wee girl!

Evie has developed into quite a ham. She is a chatterbox! She always is talking whether it's to herself or to anyone that's listening. We moved Asher's bedroom downstairs so I went through all the toys and found her dolls. She's had them for a while but never really liked them. But once I pulled them out she can't get enough. She carries it with her everywhere. The doll has her own special blanket and Evie loves to dress/undress her. She puts her doll to "night night" and gives her hugs and kisses. It's adorable.
She still has the sweetest most loving attributes. The other day we were outside and Asher fell and started crying. Evie went into the house on her own, found his blanket and brought it out to him.  Then later, I was watching a movie with them and started to doze. I kept waking up because blankets were too close to my face. I then realized Evie was putting her special blanket under my nose because that's how she likes to sleep, fingers in mouth and blanket right under her nose.
On a side note, my most favorite word my kids say is "silly". Evie is always calling herself "si-wee VeVe" It's my favorite.

New Bike

So Asher had been asking for a bike, but he really is spoiled, so we decided he was old enough to earn a bike. So we started paying him to do extra chores, his favorite being cleaning the toilet.  We only had him earn money for a few weeks, but he emptied his piggy bank and he chose his favorite.

 I don't know why but it made me SO happy to watch him on his bike. Maybe because I'm realizing how quick he's growing. I remember my first bike and the excitement. Anyway, he was estatic and it makes me so happy to see him happy.

This one is just cute, and no he is not wearing boots!

GIRLS TRIP!

Here are some pictures of my BEAUTIFUL friends for your viewing pleasure.
Viva Las Vegas!
We did all kinds of crazy, (well I guess the definition of crazy has drastically changed in the last 15 years!), I guess a better descriptive word would be silly, (such a parent word), anyway, this is us at the Mac counter in the mall. The poor worker ladies ended up giving most of us makeovers. I don't feel too bad for them since once 6 or 7 board girls wait for a few friends, they end up piddling in the make-up and I'm sure between all of us we spent WAY too much $.
We spent 6 HOURS IN THE SPA! Seriously it was amazing! Naps and all!
I know that I have the most incredible friends in the world. It really says something that we've all stayed close after 15+ years. I look forward to these trips every year. I leave remembering who I am and liking myself, but ready to start being better. Thank you girlies for so much goodness! YOU MEAN THE WORLD TO ME!

He loves her, he loves her not....

Well I think Asher is finally coming around to liking his sister. He FREAKS OUT and screams whenever she is near the road, (I guess this could be just a good excuse to yell at her), but he also now plays with her and the other day he voluntarily held her hand!!! Evie is loving it! She insists he does up her seat belt, puts her shoes on and plays with her toys. It's such a beautiful sight! Could this be a sign of a wonderful friendship forming? One could only hope!

Pre-req's to be in the stake presidency?

Q: How old do you have to be to be in the stake presidency? A: Turns out 30 is old enough. (And if your wondering the new stake president is only 32!)
Q: How many children under 4 can you have? A: Three is apparently not too many. (Again, if your wondering the new stake president has 2 kids under 3! We can hold each others heads and cry Mary!)
Q: Do you have to have served in the bishopric? A: Nope- common misconception.
Q: Are you disqualified if your wife is primary president? A: Again, this is just a minor detail, and can be taken care of quickly.

I know these answers really wouldn't make a difference if someone is called to serve in the stake presidency or not, but when these are your questions, your circumstances suddenly it seems like a big deal.

The last 48 hours have been really crazy and honestly an incredible experience. I know Brian will do really well and this will be a great blessing to our family, but I'm kinda freaking out!

Happpy Mothers Day!

Sorry, so late, but I couldn't let the opportunity pass to mention what a great blessing it is to be a mother. I love my kids so much and can't imagine life without them! Thank you mom for all your help and always be willing to listen to what ever complaint or heart ache I have for the day. Thanks for teaching me how to be a great mom. Thanks Cindy for being the most perfect mother-in-law ever. You are so involved in the kids life. They truly love grandma Kris and Nana endlessly.

Call Heavenly Father!

When we first started asking Asher if he wanted a baby brother or sister he told us he wanted a baby sister that was a boy. He's since changed his mind and insists the baby is a boy. He talks about toys they'll play with and that there will be 3 boys and 2 girls. He's even named the brother Nemo. Well we went and had the Ultrasound yesterday and it's a GIRL!!! All of us are so excited, well except Asher obviously. He started yelling, NO- I DON'T want another girl! Then on the way home he asked us if we called Heavenly Father. We asked him why and he told us we needed to call Him and tell him that he didn't want a sister and to only send a brother. A little late for that prayer. Anyway, I hope he warms up to the idea pretty quick. He still won't allow Evie to touch him so we'll see....
We're super excited! The baby had hiccups during the U/S and she was wiggling like crazy. She kept moving her arms around and opening and closing her fists, kicking up and down, just wiggling. It's so fun to see them inside moving and alive.
Now we just have to come up with a name...

How much testosterone could a 3 yr old really have?

I'm telling you Asher has more hormones than a 14 yr old boy. When we go to the store we always have to pull him away from the manikins, often touching their legs, and anytime he sees a pretty girl on TV he raises his eyebrows up and down like huba-huba. Anyway I checked out a couple movies from the library, 3 for the kids and one for me. Out of those movies he clings to my movie and is just staring at the girls on the cover. Brian asked which girl was his favorite and he told us right away it was the blond.... should I be scared?

Coming Up!!!

Hooray!!! Our annual girls trip is all booked and I can't wait! Less than a month to go! I think this will be the first year all 8 of us will be there and I'm sooo excited!

I didn't die!

First of all I have to say that if you're really tough and are super outdoorsy and exercise regularly you're not allowed to make a comment on this post.
Well, Jason and his girlfriend Alisa and Brian and I went backpacking this weekend to Canyonlands. I was under the impression it would be a nice flat walk for about a mile then we could set up camp and go on other short walks, and stop when ever we were tired. This was really important to me since #1 I'm so out of shape and #2 pregnancy is exhausting! Well when we pulled up to start our hike and I put my 35 pound pack on, I was told five or six miles to camp, my eyes immediately welled with tears. I knew I couldn't do it, I can hardly take a shower without sitting down during this stage of pregnancy, but I was already there and everyone was ready to go. Brian kept insisted we just didn't go, but I decided to quit thinking about it and put one foot in front of the other. After we hit the 5 mile mark there was a sign that said 2.7 miles to go. Are you freaking kidding me! We hiked for 8 hours taking maybe 4 fifteen minute breaks. The most ironic part was when we finally made it to camp, a truck drove by.  I was so mad.  We could've driven there!  I get going on a hike just for hikings sake, but if I'm going to kill myself I better end somewhere I wouldn't be able to see unless by foot!  After we set up camp all I could think is this is what rigamortis must feel like!  Anyway, I insisted on the way out we walk the road rather than the trail, since this was 3 miles shorter.  Brian hiked the last 3 miles to get the car and come pick us up. The last day we did a 3 mile hike and called it a weekend. I've decided backpacking isn't my thing, but it was beautiful and I am so dang proud of myself!

I hide my feelings well don't you think?

Our beautiful camp, Devils Kitchen

The four of us

Corona Arch