Cody and Melina's Wedding (part 1)

My youngest brother Cody and his,

high school sweetheart, Melina

were married in the Logan Temple

26th September 2009.

The beautiful Bride, Melina.

I think I must have been slacking with pictures...

The only one of the both of them I have at the temple

has all of the nieces and nephews in it.

Grandma and Grandpa with all

(at the time) 16 grandkids.

We all thought it was super cute how

Emmalyne and Bekah

had to be holding both hands.

Cody with Mom and Dad.

Cody and myself.

What ever happened to him

being my "little" brother?

Didn't realize he was

that much taller than me...

Love you Cody and Melina!

Internet

Oh by the way we finally after over a year have the internet again!

Now I can keep this thing up to date. Finally.

Emmalyne Goes to School

There had been some concern over

Emmalyne's speech, so in August she was tested.

She has a little bit of a speech delay.

She qualified for the Iron County PreSchool.

Her first day was September 1st.

At first they made us catch the bus about 2 miles from our house.

And the little boy's house was much much farther than ours.

Needless to say both of us mothers were none too pleased with this.

We both complained but it was his mom who convinced them to change it,

she didn't have a car half the time due to his dad's work hours.

I am truly grateful to her... saves us on a lot of gas.

I love this shot! She looks so tiny with that big backpack.

I took my camera idea cues from his mom...

he'd gone to school last year too.

Course you have to get this shot...

right b4 they get on the bus. lol.

She may look a little uncertain here

but she actually went really easily

without resistance...

I think the uncertainty was more as to why

I stopped her from getting on

to take this picture, lol.

Look at how safe they are all strapped in.

Now would anyone like to tell me why

all buses don't have seat belts of some sort?

There goes my baby...

Can you believe it? I actually didn't cry...

I think I was too excited lol.

Here she is getting back off the bus after school.

She needed help off that last step as you can imagine. lol.

She loves school always asking "School? School?" or "Bus?"

One day right b4 bed she turned to me and said "School?"

And the next day was Monday so she didn't have school,

(she goes Tues./Thurs.) So I told her no, not tomorrow.

So she turned to her other favorite. "Church? Church?"

I love how she does that.

Me Time

I read this blog the other day and a few things stuck out to me. Just thought I'd share some of it because I know we as mothers are notorious for feeling guilty about taking time for ourselves.

“Eternally, woman spills herself away in driblets to the thirsty, seldom being allowed the quiet, the peace, to let the pitcher fill up to the brim.”

"So my challenge is to commit to doing something I wrestle with every single day: taking time for myself. Without guilt. It is OK to be selfish. Taking time for myself is necessary. I deserve to have a quiet moment every now and then. I need to make time for myself, just as I do for everyone and everything else. Again, without guilt. I think that we, as women, are everything to everyone all the time and we just tell ourselves, “I’ll make time tomorrow.” Tomorrow may actually be months away… I accept that it may take time.

"The first step, though, will be to let go of the guilt and accept that it’s OK to do this! Whether you work from home, commute to the office, or are a stay at home mom, it is critical to never lose sight of who you are. It’s on my to-do list, and from now on it’s a top priority."

Another drawback to posting with a text message is it can only be so long or it gets cut into 2 texts which means 2 posts too. -.-

be blind sided by life sometimes... What's with that? Lol.

"'Life doesn't always turn out the way you plan.' I only wish I'd known he meant my life." I took this to heart many years ago... And yet i still seem to

I think Napoleon Dynomite has some of the most creative opening credits. What movies do you think have the most creative or fun opening credits?

Ashellia's 1st Birthday

Ashellia turned 1 on the 4th of July.

Here are some shots of her birthday part of
the 4th of July bash at my sister's house.

Mmm this is interesting...

Am I chocolatey enough?
Uncle Devan and her cousin Ashley
didn't seem to think so so they
added a lot of what is on her face.

My Mommy!

Get it out...

This doll was something we knew she would love.

Emmalyne has one similar and Ashe has been loving it for months.
I've never seen one of my girls at this young love dolls so much.

The bow from her present got stuck to her little tooshy.

And she Loved the fireworks, it was in all a pretty good day. ^^

Laurana

This wasn't intended to be just Laurana, lol
but its cool it ended up that way.
Isn't she a cutie?

Gotta wear Mommy's hat and my cool shades.
They got sunglasses at a kids club fishing activity at Lin's
the day before Father's day and she loved wearing them.
I told her she looked cool and then a bit later
when she put them on again she started saying
"Coo, coo" took me a minute to realize she was saying cool. lol.
(Yes, I made the hat).

Her shirt says it all, ADORABLE!

More Pics

This pic of Laurana in the pool is one of my faves.

Emmalyne, Laurana and their cousin Ebby keeping cool in the pool.

I love how cute Eme looks in this shot.

My 3 girls together in the grass.

Just Some Pics

This little outfit is something that I wore when I was a baby.
Now all 3 of my girls have worn it too!

This pic always just strikes me as so cute.

My cute girls. Look who is peeking through the chair in the background.

Caught in the act and being a ham for the camera. lol.

Testing out doing this via text message...

Far too long - Update of things

Hi everyone who might still be watching this blog... I'm sorry it's been so long since I have updated... Still don't have the internet at home. Hoping that things will change around pretty soon.

I have been busy trying to expand my talents. At Christmas I got the supplies and a book to learn to Crochet. I have discovered a hidden talent in doing so. It amazes me how easily it has come to me and it is proving to be a possible avenue to earning some money. The end of this month I will begin teaching a beginners crochet class at Robert's Crafts. I will also be teaching a project class. I am so excited! I am working on an invantory of crochet projects to sell. Some examples of purses I have made are below.

I made this one above for my sister in law in February for her birthday.

(Yes, that is only about 2 months since I started learning).

This is one of my Fun Fur purses, my own personal style. I am really enjoying coming up with new things. In the last week I have even begun making business card holders using smaller chrochet thread. Unfortunately I don't have a picture of that one with me at the moment. I have made hats for my girls and little purses for them too it's so much fun!

I have also been working on designing my own journals. I am going to make and sell personalized journals. All I need is a picture, the colors you would like, and a name or what you would like it to say or I can come up with something based on the picture. I'm afraid I haven't taken good pictures of this project yet... I'll post those soon as I can.

Now for an update on my girls.

Emmalyne is 3 years old now. Bright and curious as ever. She is talking more and more saying some of the cutest things. She loves "Brocky" aka broccoli. Always asking "What you doing?" She also says "mon" for come on. Sure now that I am trying to remember them all I can't... go figure... She loves to play outside, its nice having a lawn and a sandbox for her to play in. She loves our little kiddie pool always wanting to go swimming. I wish we could take them all to a big pool somewhere...

Laurana is 2 years old. She Loves going to nursery from the very first week she walked right in with no hesitation. For awhile there she was always "Stuck!" even when she wasn't really stuck where she was... it was just her thing to say... Now she has moved on mostly to "Ow, hurts" and "Hot" She Loves "Door," as she calls Dora the explorer. (I have recently noticed that she seems to be afraid of rain and even just wind sometimes... If anyone has any hints on helping her get over this I'd really appreciate it).

Ashellia just had her first birthday on the 4th of July. It was like she already thought the fireworks were for her birthday... She was so exited when they were going off. I'm glad we were far enough away from them that they weren't too loud for her. She is speed crawling, standing independantly, and coasting some too. She likes to sing when she hears others sing, and sometimes when she doesn't. She has had quite the first year... She has been a very healthy preemie and I am very greatful to the Lord for that. In Janurary she did get R.S.V. along with her sisters but it was not as bad as it could have been. She only had to be suctioned out about once a day and have breathing treatments, no hospitalization. She has no teeth cut through yet... although they have been trying... She has grown beautifully, at one year, while still on the smaller side percentile wise, she is about the same weight Emmalyne was at a year.

This pic is a little on the older side but it gives you an idea of them now. Wish I had more up to date pictures with me (at the Library).

Mark went to school to get his C.D.L. and is currently looking for a Truck Driving job. Unfortunately they all seem to want him to have a year's experience. How is he supposed to get that without someone giving him a chance? Please keep him in your prayers that he will be able to find work soon.

Thanks to you who still check this sometimes. I'll try and come on more. And thanks to Shellee for the message wondering where I was. I was trying to get on to update this the last time I was up at my parent's but for some reason all google pages wouldn't load... it was lame... Hope you all enjoyed the update.

Impromptu Trip to Zions

My Mom came to visit the end of October...

We decided to make a trip to St. George and

on the way we decided suddenly to go to Zions National Park.

We stopped at the store and got lunchables for a picnic lunch.

The sun was in the poor girls eyes for this pic...

We rode the bus or tram or whatever it's called into

the main canyon "the refrigerator" and at the top

we got out and walked over to a place

where you could go right up to the river.

My Mom holding a sleeping Ashellia

in front of the little waterfall.

It was here that I managed to take a few pictures

that made me feel like a professional photographer.

Unfortunately I only  have time to post a couple...

This one was cool, I noticed the trees on the ledge

and the closer trees just framed it perfectly.

This is my favorite.

Emmalyne kept trying to tell me to "Come on."

With her looking back I finally managed

to get the picture I was going for.

I think sometimes it's the unexpected detour that can

result in the most treasured memories.