Justin turns 30!

I have in no way been badgering my husband endlessly about the fact that he is 30. The mere fact that he has entered the 30 decade while I am still in my youthful 20's hasn't come up one time! He got exactly what he wanted: a day full of REST. He didn't have to do one thing he didn't want to. He even got a nap. I also didn't at all mention that he NEEDED the nap because he is so old! We got to go out that night (thanks Lesha and Dave!) and see a movie that was all for him (Dark Knight, really not my choice but it was his day.) Happy 30, hon!

It had to happen sometime.

We have gone almost 5 years without any major incidents. No broken bones, ER visits, stitches... nothing. Our short-lived streak was broken yesterday. We had to go get stitches in Mia's face. That's what happens when I leave her in Daddy's care. She went running down the sidewalk and face planted with the chin catching most of her fall. I was not home at the time and Justin had to contact me at my meeting and get me home. When I got home all chaos was broken loose. Three things struck me when I opened the door:
1. Mia, gushing blood, had one little tissue against her cheek. Nowhere near the wound, leaving her new sweater to catch most of the mess.
2. Matthew was very distraught because "Mia won't survive"
3. Mia, although changed out of her church clothes, is still wearing her black velvet jacket that goes with her church dress. How it is not covered in stains is still a miracle to me.


Mia was sobbing, telling me that she will never get to dance or play soccer again. (Have I mentioned my daughter is dramatic?) We got Matthew and Ellie dropped off at my parents' house. My mom tried to give Mia a more substantial rag to hold against her chin but she refused to get rid of her bloody tissue/security blanket. On the way to the hospital Mia had two major concerns, neither of which directly involved the painful laceration. She wanted a girl doctor to take care of her and she didn't want food to fall out of her chin if she ate any. I will say that she is one tough cookie. She cried for about 10 seconds when they numbed her chin, other than that she was just fine. I have to say that I am very surprised that my calm 3 year old girl was our first stitches victim and not our wild 4 year old boy. Go figure.


We got pictures but I will spare any unlucky ready the gorey details. Instead here is a pic of the kids and their gingerbread houses they made at Grandad and Grandma Necie's house after the hospital trip. The band-aid is difficult to spot looking at her straight on which is a blessing. No visible scars.

Halloween...finally

So I am just now getting the halloween pics up almost a month later and 3 days before Thanksgiving but here they are!

Ellie was our little tiger.

Mia was Sleeping Beauty. Anyone shocked?

Matthew was Woody from Toy Story

Our friends' daughter was Jessie from Toy Story so we had to get a picture of them together. She looked so cute!

Matthew hanging out with his friends.

My little brother gets married!

My little brother, Ben, got married on Oct. 11th to the cutest girl! We love Camille (or as the kids call her Ca-kneel). She was a beautiful bride and it was a fun wedding, despite the freezing cold! We know she is a true blue BYU fan because she had Ben take her to the homecoming game the very day they got married.



Mia trying to give Ben a kiss.

Thank goodness my sister Emily was there to keep my baby bundled up. She had a little red nose all night. (Ellie, not Emily)

Matthew's quest through the evening was to see how much food he could gather.

My wonderful parents!

Me and my girls. Don't ask me what Ellie was doing. It was toward the end of the evening and my kids were coming a little unglued.

Gorgeous bride.

Ellie and her cousin Kaleigh.

Ellie and her glamourous aunt Sharlie.

The three grandgirls. Grandma Necie made their dresses and I attempted to make their bows. They haven't fallen apart yet so that is a plus.

We should have taken the picture of our little family at the beginning of the evening. It is nearly impossible to get three tired kids to even look at the camera, not to mention getting them to smile!

Mom and her handsome boys. (Minus one, Eric, who is on his mission in Fort Worth, Texas.)

Ellie bundled up at the temple. It was FREEZING that day.

Their kids are going to all have very big, beautiful smiles.

Yay for real jobs!

Just a quick note to say how fun it is to have my husband done with school. I still love to go to the pharmacy and see his name in lights on the pharmacist sign. It has been just over a year since he was notified that he passed his boards and became a legal, licensed pharmacist. Isn't he cute in his lab coat? He was not at all embarrassed that I came to his workplace and starting snapping photos. I love you Justin!

Hiking the Y

Since Justin and I have been married for 6 1/2 years and have never hiked the Y above BYU campus before, we decided it was time to take the kids. They all did really well and, surprisingly, hiked the steep rough terrain without asking to be carried. Ellie loved being outdoors and seeing all the new sights. FYI: If your not quite in shape and need a little boost up steep hills, having a 17 pound baby strapped to your front actually helps your momentum quite a bit.

Little troopers!

The fall colors were beautiful. Matthew and Justin even took a little side hike to gather some red (and pink for Mia, of course) leaves.

Happy 3rd Birthday Mia!

Our little Mia, who isn't so little anymore, turned 3 on Sept. 13th. We have a family tradition that the birthday person gets to decide what we have for breakfast. When I asked Mia what she would like for birthday breakfast she said "Pink!" So pink is what she got. She had pink crepes with pink whipped cream, strawberries and pink milk. Overload with the red food coloring but she loved it.
Since we are walking advertisements for anything Disney princess, I didn't even have to ask what theme Mia wanted for her birthday. Although, I did tease her with the promise of a pirate or rocketship party. (She was NOT amused.)
Since we are doing a preschool with Mia and a few of her friends this year, she is thrilled about the princess backpack from Aunt Lesha and Uncle Dave. She insists that she can't go to school without it. Thanks to all our family that were there to share Mia's big day.
Side note: The uncle pictured is single, loves hunting, fishing, and dogs among other things. Just in case anyone knows of any good prospects.

So many firsts

It was a hot, late summer day and we decided that for our family home evening treat we would have ice cream cones. Ellie made it known early on that she was not pleased to be left out of the fun. I gave her a little taste of my cone. It was her first taste of ice cream and before I knew it she had it ripped out of my hand and was going to town on the thing. Messier and messier



"What cone? I don't know what you're talking about."

Ellie's Picture

We finally got Ellie's pictures done even though she is 6 months. We did first pictures of the other two at about 6 weeks. So I am a little behind with my third but I am trying to stay caught up!

Bunk Bed Trauma

We bought our townhome only 15 months ago and we are already feeling the squeeze in the amount of room we have. With the addition of Ellie came the disappearance of space. So we made the plunge and bought bunk beds for the kids. They loved them and Mia was particularly thrilled, or seemingly so until we converted her toddler bed back to a crib for Ellie. She decided that the only acceptable way to exert some control over the new situation was to have at least one potty accident in her pants EVERY DAY for 2 weeks! Thankfully that phase has passed (with the bribe of new Disney princess underwear) and some peace has been restored.

Where has Kaleigh gone? :(

Our only niece is now far away! My brother Trevan, sister-in-law Megan, and my 8 month old niece Kaleigh have moved. We miss that cute little giggle (from the baby, not her parents!) We love you guys!

Recent happenings

My gorgeous sister has moved to Phoenix :( We were sad to see her go but were glad she stopped by for a little while on her way out. We love you Em!

Matthew has started soccer and loves it. He plays in the Jr. Cougar league and thinks it is so cool to be associated with BYU. Justin is his coach. Matthew is a fierce competitor; especially if he gets kicked in the knee!

We have conformed!

After popular demand and a tremendous self-mastery on my part, we have entered the blogging world. I hesitated at starting one because I was afraid my limited computer knowledge would test my patience and push me over the edge of throwing my computer out the window! Luckily it has been a fairly smooth transition. Quick rundown for those of you I haven't talked to in a while. We have three adorable kids Matthew (4 1/2) Amelia (3) and Danielle (6 mos.) They are the loves of my life and keep me on my toes. Being a stay-at-home mom has been the hardest and most wonderful thing I have done, and I can thankfully say that I love and enjoy it thoroughly.