Mountain View Stake Pioneer Trek 2012

This year, Chris and I were asked to attend the Pioneer Trek with our stake. We had such a wonderful time getting to know the youth in our stake! I really think we had the best group-no complaining, everyone pitched in, and we had a lot of fun together!

Each night we had a devotional with our kids and then we'd just chat around the campfire. I'm sure the camps around us weren't happy because we were up late laughing and telling stories, but I think that's what made our family so great! 

We had many great experiences and some great testimonies were shared during the 3 days-I hope that these kids remember some of the feelings they had on the Trek. I'm not expecting some life changing experiences, just a moment or two when the spirit spoke to them and let them know that Heavenly Father loves them. 

Before I was baptized I was able to go with my stake on their trek and it was then that I decided to be baptized, so I will always hold a special place in my heart for pioneer treks. :) Who'd have thought that 9 years later I'd be going as a "Ma"!? 

Luke holding our "baby" Lucy, the Pony Express mail barrels (This was fun! You could write letters to anyone in camp and they'd be delivered.), and Chase taking a nap,

Mallory carving a knife/spoon?, Nick making butter for dinner, Traci showing off her cute apron, and Ryan just hanging out.

Girls pulling the cart (Mallory, Katie, Shelby, Sara, and Hannah), Austin's sweet hat, boys push-love this one for some reason (Chase, Ryan, Nick, Luke, Austin, "Pa"), and "Pa" and Luke taking a break.

This was our wagon before we got started. We had no idea what was in store for us. :)

Our son, the baller

 Grant is a natural when it comes to sports. He's a great team player and works hard. It's funny, when he was on the court he called Chris "Coach", but as soon as the game was over he went back to calling him "Dad". 

Chris did really well with the kids and they loved him for a coach! He just has a way with them, he's far more patient than I would be!

Happy Birthday Michael!

Michael turned 3 in January! 

Anyone who knows Michael knows that he loves Angry Birds, so it was easy choosing what theme to go with.

I made these Angry Bird props for the kids...and adults. ;)

           

Some serious catch up!!

  

Looked at my blog yesterday and saw that I haven't posted anything since October... October!! I can't believe how long it's been. Decided I needed to do "some serious catch up"! Here are some from our winter trip to the Polar Express with Grandpa and Grandma. 
 

Benji looks miserable, but it's a good picture of Gramps!

Feeding the deer at the Deer Park (?) Not sure what the actual name is.... :)

I love Michael's open mouth stare at Santa! They loved it!

                   

Cutest little Christmas present there ever was!

Busy boys

I love this time of year! It means sweaters, football games, hot chocolate, fall scents, baking cookies, thinking about the things you are most grateful for, charity, family and nicer weather to do the things you love! Here are some pictures of what we've been up to!

Amazing Jakes with the fam!

Schnepf Farms was so fun!

The Zoo (Phoenix and Prescott)

Watching my sister cheer at the games

Enjoying how much Benjamin is growing!! He is 4 months already...and almost 15 pounds!

He's rolling a ton and can no longer be trusted laying on the couch. lol

Blessed him in September. Love my handsome boys (all 4 of them)! :)

Too long...

It has been WAY TOO LONG since I last posted! You know how time goes by so quickly and then you think about updating...but then realize how much catch up you have, so you put it off til you have more time? Exactly. :) Well, the last time I posted was right before I had Benjamin (so bad!). He was born on June 11, 2011 at 11:11 pm (guess we know what his number will be when he plays sports). lol He is now 3 months old and is the sweetest, best little baby ever! He is cuddly and happy and always has a smile on his face. He has been laughing a lot more lately, which makes me smile instantly! I love having a baby in our home again! I love our lazy afternoons when we cuddle on the couch and I love love love his sweet baby scent!!

Grant and Michael are doing great! Grant is in preschool and loves it. Chris' aunt Denise teaches a preschool called Gospel Sprouts. She teaches gospel principles along with regular preschool curriculum to get ready for Kindergarten next year. That is scary to me to think I will have a kid in Kindergarten in one year! He is a big help and loves Benjamin so much.Michael loves playing the Memory (matching) game and asks to play about a million and one times a day. :) He is really good at it and even helps Grant find matches a lot of the time! haha He also loves doing puzzles with Grant. He too helps a lot and sings Twinkle Twinkleto his little brother when he's sad.

Chris is working hard, juggling a handful of things all at once. He is loving his calling in the bishopric and is doing a great job! He also just got a promotion and will start in his new role on Monday. We are so excited for it and think it will be great for him and our family. He helps so much at home and loves playing with the boys. I often think I don't give him enough credit for all he does...I am trying to be better about that! :)

I have the best boys in the world! Not going to lie, they do drive me crazy on a daily basis, but I wouldn't trade it for anything!! So grateful I am able to be home with them!

Sorry the pictures are all out of order!

My friend, Jenni, took some picture of Benjamin and all of them together. She did a great job!

4th of July

Benjamin just a few weeks old

2 months
Grant first day of school

Yep... all natural. This pic cracks me up.

Pizza Night

Lately I've had close to no motivation to cook dinner...and all of my excuses are lame, so I'll save you from reading them. haha Well, yesterday I saw these pizza scewers and figured the boys would love them. http://bakedbree.com/pizza-skewers-with-garlic-butter-dipping-sauce#axzz1O9NYWFNN

I had seen these before and totally forgot about them until a friend posted this link. They turned out great and the boys had fun with them. I think I need to use scewers more...maybe they'd eat their dinner better if it was on a "stick"!

Michael's First Swim Lesson

Lately, I feel like I have almost been obsessing with the fear of the boys being around water. Grant took lessons last year and can actually swim pretty well, but Michael would be in serious trouble if he fell in and nobody was around. I am really cautious when we're near a pool and never let them out of my sight, but there's always the "what if" that freaks me out. My family has a pool, which is too high to climb and has a lock and everything, but "what if?"...

Anyway, even though I am due soon and busy with all of that, I decided it needed to happen now...and lucky for me Chris' aunt teaches at her home! It went better than I had anticipated, but he still got pretty grouchy toward the end. He never got out and ran to me, so that was a plus! He has his second lesson today, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed! I've enjoyed watching him interact with someone else and not paying attention to me much- he's such a funny little boy!

I'm excited for this, for him to learn some basic survival skills...then maybe I will be able to calm down, just a little.