Watching a Movie

Licking the Beater

"Okay, it's straight to the bathtub for you!"

Awesome Pictures By Ruth

Notice John's Constant Clutter around the computer. It does not matter how many organizers I buy he just fills them up and keeps going and he does NOT like me throwing his stuff away.

Here's a cute Kate peeking around her bedroom door.

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Here's a cute Kate posing by the fireplace.

Here's a cute Kate being her exuberant self. (Image this, but in the car with volume on high.)

"Peace, Dudes."

A Bad Guy In My Bed

A few nights ago just as I was tucking Rachel into she said, "There is a bad guy in my bed." I groaned internally, but sweetly said, "No there's not, Rachel. Our house is safe. Your bed is safe." Rachel said, "No. Look, Mom." She pointed above her. Rachel is in the bottom bunk of a metal bunk bed. So there are metal bars and a mattress right above her head. I looked up and indeed there was a bad guy in her bed. I said, "Oh my goodness, we do not want that here." Rachel said, "Yeah, it's a bad guy." I took the bad guy upstairs and asked Ruth, Kate, Johnny, and Adam who put the bad guy in Rachel's bed. No one confessed. But Rachel did sleep soundly last night.

What Is That Smell?

Today while I was driving near some stinky factories, Adam asked, "Mom, what is that smell?" I said, "Stinky factories." Adam replied, "No, it smells like your stinky armpits." Feeling aghast, I think, "I really hope that is not true."

Mistborn Spoiler Warning

John and I finished reading the third book in this fantasy trilogy, Mistborn. We both really enjoyed books I and II and most of book III until the author killed off the two main characters just near the end of the book. John was very unhappy about this. I think I was too sleepy at the point that we read this for me to really care. The day after we finished the book, Johnny asked John how his day was. John responded that he had a bad day. Johnny asked why and John said that it was nothing important, just something imaginary. I was a little lost at this point. Then I realized that he was feeling upset about the trilogy that he had enjoyed so thoroughly end in a way that made him feel rather depressed. I don't think I have ever felt sad about a bad book ending, but I did feel rather like people I had known and loved had died when I finished the final book in the Anne of Green Gables Series. I think John is really cute to let a book spoil a whole day. It is funny how something imaginary can affect our emotions so significantly.

A Food Storage Lunch

We had to get our house painted, as well as replace a lot of the siding. We had some money saved up for this project, but not enough. So the last two weeks we have been eating just what we happened to have in the house to help with the bill. As this week progresses, it is getting more and more difficult to find food for lunch that I don't have to think about and prepare 2 or 3 hours ahead of time. This morning I did not have time to prepare for lunch early. When lunch time arrived, I had to start rummaging through our can goods. I ended up giving us mandarin oranges, canned refried beans with cheese and plain tuna fish. I just thought how funny it was to have such an odd variety for lunch. Adam and Anya ate the tuna fish, and Rachel and I ate the beans. We all had some of the mandarin oranges. Luckily, I have been able to get us through without having to break into our actual year supply stuff. Fortunately it is only two more days until payday. Then I will go grocery shopping. Deli sandwiches and grapes sure sound good. I think I will make bread tomorrow morning so we can have a normal lunch.

What's Too Hard

Rachel is at a stage where she only wants Mom to do things for her. She gets pretty upset when Dad is putting her to bed, taking her to the bathroom, taking her out of her car seat, giving her a bath, etc. The other day John was insisting on being the parent to get Rachel out of the car. Rachel was screaming and pulling her arms toward me. I said, "Rachel, Daddy wants to get you." Rachel said, "No...it's too hard for me."

The Will of The Lord

Three weeks ago I found myself really worrying that my period had not started, but I just stuffed that thought away as paranoia. Two weeks ago, I told John that I thought my period might be late, but that I could not remember exactly when I last had it to begin with, so it was probably nothing. Monday, November 23, I bought a pregnancy test, just in case, so I could start prenatal vitamins if needed. About 2 hours later, I took the test expecting it to be negative. About 20 seconds later, I read over the instructions of the test three times to make sure that the result I saw was correct. Then I took the test and the instructions to John and he confirmed that yes indeed it was a positive test. I felt completely shocked. I did not sleep for the next three days. I really didn't think we were going to be having any more kids, at least not for three years. I had already thrown away my maternity clothes, and had given away most of my baby clothes. John and I were trying not to get pregnant and we were using a method that we knew had its faults, but that has worked 100% for us in the past.

John and I both feel that this is the will of the Lord for us, whether it ends in a miscarriage or a seventh child. I only started feeling ill two days ago, and I have had some cramping, so I do not feel confident that this pregnancy will not miscarry. I suspect we will know in two months time. What I do know is that I am going to be happy with whatever the Lord wants for us. I am not saying that I will be happy if I miscarry. Actually, I have been dreading that possibility. I know that seven kids, and particularly, the seventh kid just around 4 years and 8 or 9 months after the fourth kid, will be really hard. But it is here, and I am pregnant, and I want the baby. I am just determined to be pleasant and happy no matter the outcome. The Lord knows what is best for my husband and I and our children. I know that I can trust the Lord. He will be there to guide me and help raise all of these young children, or He will be there to support me through the difficult emotions of a miscarriage. I know this is true, because the Lord has always been there and he has always answered my prayers.

Question For All You Runners

Okay guys, I have been doing a 20 minute run Monday through Friday for about five weeks now and I still feel like I am dying. Some days are pretty good, but then the next day I will be exhausted after 2 minutes and the other 18 minutes are torture. So does it ever get better consistently? I don't expect to ever love running or train for even, say, a half marathon. I generally feel pretty happy with 2 miles in 20 minutes. In fact, having run 5 weeks consistently is probably approaching a record. I think I went three months straight my freshman year of college. But I was hoping that eventually I wouldn't feel like I am torturing myself 20 minutes every day. Since, I realized I am never going to give up chocolate and icecream for very long, and that my 30 year body does not want to stay as thin as my 20 year old body, I plan to do this for the rest of my life.

Something I Find Funny

For several Christmas's starting the first year we had Ruth around, I had us read Christmas stories and sing Christmas songs every night between Thanksgiving and Christmas. John complained a lot about this, so two years ago I quit. This year John has been having us sing every night and he has been reading a Christmas story to the kids. He even punishes the older kids if they do not sing. He has initiated this all by himself. In fact, John even goes to the effort of gathering the entire family together and keeping the kids up later for this purpose. John also fixed our broken Christmas tree so we could have a Christmas tree this year. We are leaving Dec 18, for Seth's wedding, and not coming back until Jan, so I decided to forgo the Christmas tree. Anyway, I am pleasantly surprised and find it pretty funny that my Ba-humbug husband has taken over making Christmas nice for the kids.

A Thanksgiving to be Thankful For

We had a very, very nice Thanksgiving this year. We decided to let go of tradition and to just do the things that we liked. We also decided to make it a lot smaller. We originally thought about letting everyone order the kind of pizza they like the best, but that fell through as the pizza places were all closed. I did have a backup plan, however. John had asked for a couple of traditional side dishes to be made at some point. He wanted mashed butternut squash, and emerald jello salad. I thought about it and decided to make a pork roast with those, because we like pork gravy on squash. When we found out that the pizza places would be closed this was the perfect plan b. John had already set his heart on BBQ ribs and was planning on ordering those instead of pizza. So John's plan b was to make his own BBQ ribs which he did. We had pork roast, BBQ ribs, emerald jello salad, mashed butternut squash, orange rolls, and a small pickle/olive platter. Then the kids got to pick out their own bottle of Italian soda, instead of pizza. For dessert we had banana splits. I spent no more than 4 hours cooking this year-- last year I spent around 20 hours.
I did not make any pies, because last year I made 10 pies and bought some icecream to go on the top. The kids asked if they could have the icecream without the pie. I had two pies mold and so I decided pies are just not for our family and that next year we would have banana splits. I asked the kids what they thought of Thanksgiving this year compared to last year. The unamimous vote was smaller and just foods we like is much, much better. Ruth said that last year was boring becasue all Mom and Dad did was cook and then clean up. She said that she liked having Mom and Dad to play with better than a lot of food. All I have to say is, "Out of the mouth of babes..." So yes, I felt very thankful this thanksgiving.
After lunch, on Thanksgiving we dipped caramels, nuts, and marshmellows for a yummy family activity. I made a lot of caramel turtles. Kate in the spirit of the season made caramel turkeys. I think she did a really good job.

Scripture Musings

I have found myself thinking about the scriptures a lot more and I always think that I want to write it down. I never do, though, because it takes so much more time than to write about my children. But since I am hoping to have my blog for my children to read when they are grown-- if they have time-- I am going to start my scripture musing blogs. I will have time most Saturdays and Sundays. This week I have spent a lot of time thinking about Isaiah 58, and Elder D. Todd Christofferson's talk from the Oct 2008 titled, "Come to Zion".

In Isaiah 58:2-10
1 Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.

2 Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they ask of me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God.

3Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours.

4 Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high.

5 Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord?

6 Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?

7 Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?

8 Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the Lord shall be thy rereward.

9 Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity; If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity;

10 And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday:

11 And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.

I read this a few nights ago and I have been thinking about this topic a lot. That is giving to the poor and the needy. Last summer I read in D&C 56:16 I read:

Wo unto you rich men, that will not give your substance to the poor, for your riches will canker your souls; and this shall be your lamentation in the day of visitation, and of judgment, and of indignation: The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and my soul is not saved!

That is when I realized how important it is to give to the poor, and how much Heavenly Father expects us to do. The Nephites after Christ came had no poor among them. The City of Enoch had no poor among them. These places had Zion. The people were Holy, they did not contend, and there were no poor among them. Then the Savior came and dwelt among them. I have known for some time, that as a church we are expected even now to build Zion. For most of my life I just thought that some day the righteous saints would be called to go to Independence, MO and build a city called Zion and then Christ would come again. But after I had a family, I realized that we needed to build Zion in our home and in our hearts if we expected to have the City of Zion again. So for the last 8 or 9 years John and I have been working on not criticizing and contending. That takes a lot of effort. But we are trying. On the other hand, for years John and I have been fairly poor, and yet not at all poor. We have always had everything that we need-- food, clothes, a house-- and a whole lot more-- computers, tv's, lots of icecream and chocolate. Occasionally, John and I have looked at our blessings and have increased our fast offerings. But it has been very recently, that I have realized that we need to do more if we want Zion to come. And I do want Zion to come. With all of the wickedness in the world, I feel the desire to do all I can to bring Zion to the Earth again for the safety of my children and my grandchildren. What better gift could I give my children than to work with my whole heart and soul for the coming of Zion?

Now to Elder Christofferson's talk. He says:

Zion is Zion because of the character, attributes, and faithfulness of her citizens. Remember, "the Lord called his people Zion, because they were of one heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness; and there was no poor among them" (Moses 7:18). If we would establish Zion in our homes, branches, wards, and stakes, we must rise to this standard. It will be necessary (1) to become unified in one heart and one mind; (2) to become, individually and collectively, a holy people; and (3) to care for the poor and needy with such effectiveness that we eliminate poverty among us. We cannot wait until Zion comes for these things to happen—Zion will come only as they happen.

I felt like I knew how to become unified and to become holy. They seem to go hand in hand. We become unified by not contending and we become Holy by keeping the commandments and our covenants and by having our hearts changed through the atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ. But I have been stuck on how to take care of the poor and needy with such effectiveness that there are no longer any poor among us. So I have been thinking about this a lot over the last couple of months and here are a few of my thoughts.
1.We cannot be compelled to take care of the poor. We have to have a change of heart and a desire to serve the needs of others.
2.We have to realize that all of what we have comes from Heavenly Father. If we are more capable in our jobs and make more money than others it is because we have been blessed with the talents to do so. If we are more organized or get along with people better and therefore make more money, it is because we have been blessed with those talents and abilities. If we have chosen to recieve an education that helps get a better job than some one else, we still do not deserve to have more. In our case, we have just been blessed, regardless of our poor choices, and inability.
3.Elder Christofferson told a story about a man who saw a family that needed a table and he brought them this funny looking one. The person he brought the table to later learned that he actually had cut his table in half, and made new legs. Then he gave the better half away. Thinking about this I've realized that we should give our best. It is tempting to give away the yucky canned peas and lima beans when the school has the food drive, but it is better and we will be better people if we give our very best and even the things we want and need for ourselves.

I think there is probably a lot more to learn and our family has a long way to go until I think we will be doing enough to help the poor and needy. But I want to build Zion in my home, family, ward, and stake. I want to have the safety and protection of Zion for my people, and I am learning through the scriptures what my family needs to do to receive the blessings of Zion. I pray that we will be able to do all that is required without murmuring.

Red Light

A few days ago while stopped at a red light for some time I heard Adam yelling form the back of the car, "TURN GREEN YOU STUPID RED LIGHT!" Do 4 year-olds have road rage?

A Little Worry

Ruth is 10 1/2 and has started to get her hips, and a small belly. She came to me worried some time ago. She was worried that she is going to grow up fat. I told her that she just needed to form good habits now and then she will be okay and that she would never have to worry about getting fat. Of course, being my daughter, hips are inevitable. I explained that she should eat her vegetables and exercise most days. Since then, Ruth has been exercising almost daily and eating her vegetables at every meal. I am proud of her for making an effort to be in shape and to eat right. I am also rather impressed with her determination to follow my counsel. I think that it will help how she feels about herself in the near future. I remember feeling like I was the ugliest person in the world. It is nice that my daughters still think they are beautiful princesses still. I am sure that is going to change soon.

When 6 Kids is Too Many Kids

I went to the store with Ruth and Kate last night just after I had put the younger kids to bed. We only needed one thing, but I thought it would be fun to look at the Christmas stuff. We walked over to the Christmas section and while Ruth and Kate were admiring all of the delicate, shiny ornaments, a red shiny bag of peanut m&m's caught my eye. Those m&m's called me over and before I had the will to resist, the m&m's were in my car driving home with me. I put Ruth and Kate to bed, and then went to my bed with my lovely book and my shiney red bag of peanut m&m's. After some time John came in, laid down next to me and said,"Are those peanut m&m's you are not sharing?" So I shared, and when John finished working we put on a netflix animae disc, "Black Cat." It is a "not for young children" Japanese cartoon series that we enjoy. Each episode is about a half hour. We watched one episode and we wanted to watch another, but we decided to be responsible and go to bed because at that point it was midnight. Well, we went to bed and about 20 minutes later the cat was jumping on us, my bedside table, and in the bathroom sink. We knew that cat must need water, so I got up, got the cat, took him out to the garage, got his water bowl, brought the bowl inside and filled it up, then I brought the water back out to the garage, came in, and locked the door. I went right back to bed, but I could not sleep because of those mean old m&m's (John had the same problem.). I think I did fall alseep around 1:30am. At 3am, the baby started crying, and one of the older kids went into the bathroom and did not sound happy. John went downstairs to take care of Anya, and I went to the bathroom. It was Adam in the bahroom trying to peel off soaking wet pajamas. I helped Adam out of his pajamas, onto the toilet and then into the bathtub. I then went into his room and stripped down his bed, washed off the plastic cover, put on a clean sheet and pillow case and then I put on the only two blankets we had left unused upstairs. At this point John had come back from settling Anya down and was bathing Adam. I got Adam some clean pajamas, and then I helped John dry Adam off and get him into his pajamas. Adam was shivering pretty hard, so John went downstairs and got him the big quilt fromoff the TV couch. We finally had Adam settled back down and warm so we went to bed. By this time the m&m's were no longer bothering me so I went right to sleep, only to be woken up by Rachel crying at 4am. I took care of Rachel, and went back to sleep. Then at 5am Johnny came into our bedroom. I was actually dreaming that my kids had the stomach flu, and so when I heard Johnny, I thought he was there to tell me that he was sick. I yelled, "get to bathroom, quick." Johnny then jumped up on me. That scared me, so I jumped out of bed and ran out of my bedroom screaming. (I don't normally do that.) Well, that woke John up and he asked what was wrong. Johnny said, "I only had a nightmare." I asked him if he felt sick and he said no. So we sent Johnny to the bathroom and to say his prayers. Then John decided to put on the audio scriptures stories to help Johnny get back to sleep in his own bed. The batteries were dead in the cd player so he fumbled in the dark for a charged battery near the battery recharger. He found a charged one on the third try, got the stories started, tucked Johnny back into bed and then came back to bed. At 6:56am, I heard Ruth and Kate's alarm clock and knew that it was time to get up and get the kids ready for school. I think that I was more tired when I woke up, then when I went to bed, and I thought, "we should have been irresponsible and watched the rest of the black cat disc like we wanted to. I don't think I would have felt less tired right now."

My Singer

Rachel sings a lot, She sings when she is holding a doll. She sings when she is looking at a book. She sings when we are driving in the car, and she sings when she is just walking around. Our whole family just loves it. I have seem Ruth and Kate just watch Rachel sing. Johnny will tell everyone in the car to be quiet so we can hear Rachel singing. (I will have to put an audio of it on here at some point.) Well, yesterday Rachel came to me and said that she wanted to watch the barbie movie. I asked her which one. She said she wanted the one with the girl who sings like Rae-rae.

A Tragedy

Johnny likes his hair long, like in the top picture. The other day I was giving him a hair cut and he would not stop wiggling, rubbing his eyes, and turning his head from side to side. I told him to hold still and put his head up several times. He would just say, "I can't," or "I am," or "I am trying". But he kept on moving a lot. First, I messed up the back of his hair. So I had to cut the front shorter to match the too short back. While I was doing that, he looked down and Bammo, the front was a tremendous mess. I was terribly frustrated, grabbed the clippers and buzzed off the rest. I am not sure I could have salvaged a bit more hair. Looking back, I think I could have left more length on the top, but I was so frustrated with Johnny that I did not stop to think about the nicest way I could fix the problem. I feel bad for my poor, poor little boy. His beautiful hair is all gone and he hates it. I mostly agree, I like his long hair. The only redeeming thing about the buzz is that you can now see Johnny's beautiful dark chocolate eyes a whole lot better. I suspect his hair will all be back by summer. Johnny is hoping it will be back by Christmas, and we are both relieved that he will not have to have a hair cut for at least four months.

Warts and being Fired

A year and a half ago Ruth and Adam got warts on their stinky, sweaty feet (Ruth has read this and says that her feet are beautiful, soft, rosy feet). Well, John took care of Ruth's wart and I took care of Adam's. With some blood and pain I got rid of Adam's wart within a month. John and Ruth have been very gently trying to get rid of Ruth's wart for one and a half years, in which time she has gotten a second wart near the first wart. About a week ago, I told Ruth she was fired from the job of wart removal and that I am officially hired. Tonight, I was working on Ruth's wart some when John came in to claim it as his job. I told John that I already fired Ruth, and that I have now officially fired him. John asked what can he fire me from? I suggested the laundry, but he did not agree. Then John went to take care of Kate, who was about to stick a q-tip deep inside her ear. This whole time, Adam had been sitting by watching me pick off pieces of Ruth's wart. Adam stayed by us after I had finished picking her warts and put on the wart medicine and was holding Ruth's foot for the medicine to dry. Adam called to me. He looked up at me with his big innocent brown eyes, and in a voice frocked with concern, Adam asked, "Your not going to turn me into fire, are you, Mommy?"

Little Miss Teeny Tiny

I took Anya to the doctors for her 10 month well baby check. She weighs 13 pounds and 12 ounces, and is 26 1/4 inches tall. That puts Anya in the 0.07% for weight and 5% for height. All of my kids are very small for their ages, especially the girls, but Anya is the smallest. She is a little more than a pound lighter than all of her sisters were at the same age. She is really cute being so small. She has the biggest, sweetest smile. A very gentle temperament, and is just so little and cute. I always want to sweep her up and cuddle her. After she was born I would say, "just stay little one more day,". I didn't think that she would obey.

Anya really enjoys her older brothers and sisters. When they are running around the house she is always crawling after them as fast as she can squealing with delight. She also loves the outside. Every morning when we open the front door, Anya crawls as fast as she can outside. She has not figured out how to get down steps yet, so she goes no further than the front porch. Adam usually follows her out and pulls her in by her pajamas. It has become a funny morning tradition. But as soon as she hears that door open anytime of the day, Anya is going as fast as her little body can move her to get outside before we shut the door. She is such a delight and a cutie. I am so glad that despite all my inhibitions and fears of having another baby, I went ahead and had little Anya. She is a wonderful addition to our family.

Singing and Dancing

We were singing, "Angel's We Have Heard on High" for family home evening. My children, lead by our dear oldest daughter, began dancing around as soon as we started singing. This is the usual way for Ruth to sing a song during family home evening, but it rarely involves singing. Ruth has always just been a little fairy who cannot help dancing when she hears a song. Her siblings mostly join in the dance and often make the family song a brawl. It does not make for a very musical family like I imagined we would be (sigh). So I was surprised when Kate, while doing a little piroet, sang out beautifully, "In our house we de-o."

Yucky Foods

Tonight at dinner I noticed John wiping the salad dressing off of his plate so that it would not mix with his spaghetti. John hates salad and he only ate it because he knows that he should eat his vegetables. I laughed and said, "That was a funny thing to do. I think I might put that on my blog." John said, "Well, you have to hear what Adam has to say about this. Come here, Adam." Adam came and John asked, "Adam what kind of food does mom like?" Adam said, "She's likes yucky food." Then Adam looked up at me and said, "She likes good food too." John asked, "What good food does she like?" Adam pointed to the spaghetti. Then John asked, "What yucky food does she like." Adam pointed to the salad.

A few days ago John took Adam alone to get his glasses fixed and Adam wanted to chat. He said "Sometimes my mom makes yucky food for dinner" followed by "She likes yucky food, but she also likes some good food too". When John asked what yucky foods mom liked Adam said that I like yucky foods like salad, and chips (something John could not understand) and salad.

Along the same lines, Adam asks me what we are having for dinner every night and almost every night he says, "yuck, I hate that."

A Blessing

I pulled out the kitten pot holder from the kitchen drawer where I keep pot holders and this is what I found. John looked closer and found the other blue pot holder and burn spots in the drawer. We have no idea what happened other than there was a fire in our potolder/dish towell drawer. We suspect that either one of the kids lit it on fire on a heated burner or one of my scented candles, got scared and barried it in the drawer, or I didn't notice that it got heated on a burner and put it in the drawer where it started a fire. Either way, we feel extremely blessed that we still have a house and all of our family members and pets. We asked the kids who did it, but no one would confess. However, Adam blamed our cat Boy. Johnny blamed Rachel. Kate blamed Dad and Ruth blamed Adam and Mom. We hope that one of our older kids is not lying. But instead of punishing anyone, we just explained that burning pot holders and dish towells should be put in the sink and the water should be turned on it. If it was one of the kids who got scared and put it into the drawer it is sure a good thing they closed the drawer so the fire smothered itself.

Find Pleasure In Everything

In the background: Rachel screaming.
Me: What's wrong, Rachel?
Rachel: Adam taked.
Me: Adam don't take things away from people. It is not nice.
Adam: Yes it is.
In the background: Rachel screaming again.
Me: Adam and Rachel stop fighting.
Adam: I enjoy fighting.
Me: Sigh. I said stop fighting.
Adam: I said I enjoy fighting!
Me:You enjoy fighting????
Adam: That is what I said. I enjoy fighting.

1996 and 2008

I found these pictures of John and I on John's 25th birthday. This is a week before I turned 21 and 6 months before we got engaged. My hair is bleached, but that is an entire story all on it's own. I am not sure what John thought about me at this point. But the day we met he thought I was 18 and too wild (if that is the right word. Maybe not serious about important things is more right.) I thought that John was old and fat. But, I look at the pictures now and think "Wow!!! We were both a lot thinner! I also think John was/is a total nerd, and I loved those jeans and that sweater!! Ruth and Kate said, "I can't believe you died your hair," and "Dad looks so much more handsome, no wonder you fell in love with him."

Here we are in 2008. Look at those wrinkles around my eyes, and those fat arms!! And Should I change my hair color again? But with all those wrinkles, stretch marks and many more pounds we have gained in the past twelve years, we sure are a whole lot happier. It has been the best 12 years, and John is the BEST husband and father. I am so thankful he chose me.

Halloween Costumes

We didn't do our regular photo shoot this year because John's photo lights all need new bulbs. Kate said that made Halloween not as fun this year. Oh Well. These are some pictures we took Wednesday at our ward's trunk or treat party.

Ruth is the White Witch from Narnia. Kate is a Japanese Princess, and Johnny is a Japanese Ninja. Adam is Spiderman, and Rachel is a Renaissance Princess. Little Anya is the cutest little Tigger.

I just love her smile in this picture above, and I thought Rachel looked pretty precious in this picture below.