Grover Gang

Eden Lyn Grover

2011-09-14T11:01:00.000-07:00

Well, after a 10 hour labor, we finally got to meet Eden Lyn. She gave us a little excitement after being posterior, having the umbilical cord around her neck, and retracting when she was breathing once she was born. We were glad once things slowed down a little and we could just enjoy holding and loving her!

Okay, maybe things are just starting to feel like they are slowing down. We have been to the doctors office or the hospital almost every day until today. Eden has been on a bili bed until today. She has been such a great baby, hardly crying at all. We could only take her off the bed to feed or change her.

We just laughed bringing her home. She is so tiny! I think the girls dolls take up more space in the carseat than Eden does.

And then there were five! The kids have been great with the new baby. They were very patient with waiting to hold Eden, and they have been so gentle with her. Hannah has even done pretty well (although she can ocationally get REALLY loving) I hope Eden is a strong one!

Eden Lyn Grover

6 lbs. 9 oz

20 1/2 in.
September 7, 2011

Random, but yay my pictures work!!

2011-07-06T19:37:00.000-07:00

Loved, loved, loved Goblin Valley. The kids had soo much fun! It was a perfect family camping trip. The ride home was pretty quiet since the kids were so tired from all their running, climbing and jumping around.

My sweet little girls eating their rainbow cupcakes on St. Patrick's Day. Sander had one too, but he was asleep under the kitchen table when we took this picture.

We took our kids to a 3D movie forever ago, and these were the favorite part of the movie! Hannah especially cracks me up when she puts these on.

You wouldn't think it to look at him, but Evan can make a killer cake. Sander wanted this cake so bad, and I told him it was a little too much for me to handle. Have no fear, Evan was here! He came home early from work so he and Sander could work on this master piece!

(Thanks Sue for solving my picture problem!)

Happy Fourth?

2011-07-05T16:58:00.000-07:00

I woke up early on Monday and it was cloudy! I jumped out of bed and hurried outside to work in the yard before it got too hot. Sander came out with me and picked up rocks while I filled in trenches. Evan finally came out,saying he had no idea we were already outside working. (Sweet Ev, sleeping past 5:00 is sleeping in for him, so we didn't mind when he came out around 8:30 to help)We worked and worked, and finally Sander realized the neighbor kids were headed for the parade and we should have been in the car on our way too! He finally said, "working isn't fun, when are we going to have any fun?!" I thought it was fun when we finally finished our retaining wall and smoothed out our front yard, so grass at least looks like a possibility! We got all cleaned up and the kids put on their red, white and blue and we headed to pick out fireworks. (Evan decided that we need to teach the kids to be more patriotic so he bought the girls red, white and blue bows and then bought a flag to hang on our house. - still having the picture uploading problem...sorry). We headed over to some friends for a BBQ which was tons of fun... even when the rain started. We quickly covered the food, put up a shelter, and got ready to shoot off the fireworks. I am not sure who had more fun, the dads or the kids, but there was a lot of laughter and smiles while sparklers and fireworks went off. They have legalized the fireworks that shoot into the sky, so Evan had to buy one really good one. It was worth every penny watching the kids react to that! What a fun night!

Go Owlz

2011-07-02T08:59:00.000-07:00

Summer has officially started! We took the kids to an Owlz game last night. (Sorry no pictures, but I still can't get them to upload..any advice anyone?) I never thought I would be one to drag all my kids to watch baseball... but they LOVE it! It was a fun night complete with fireworks. When they were turning off the lights, I handed Hannah to Evan while I got the other kids situated. Then I turned to Evan and asked him where Hannah was, just as the final light went out. He doesn't even remember putting her down! It was a moment of complete panic. How was I going to find my baby with no lights?! After what seemed like forever, but was really only a minute, my neighbor started yelling to me that Hannah had walked over and sat down with her to watch the fireworks. That lasted until the first set of fireworks went off then Hannah started screaming. Addie jumped right in with the crying. What a fun night right? Well, Addie pulled it together enough to watch the last part of the fireworks as long as she was right next to Evan, and Hannah would look occasionally, but for the most part looked like she was trying to pretend nothing was happening. Hopefully the kids will look back on these experiences with fondness!

sleep walking

2011-06-23T09:57:00.000-07:00

Evan and I were talking in bed last night when I thought I heard one of the kids get up. (This is after hearing a loud thud and walking in to find Gracie looking a little dazed on her bedroom floor.) I kept waiting for the little one to walk into my room so I could see who was awake. No one came. Then I realized I could hear someone playing with a door knob. I told Evan there was someone at the door ( Evan was a little out of it by this time ) so he JUMPED out of bed and started running towards the kids rooms. We couldn't figure out where the little wandering body was. Sander wasn't in his bedroom so we went back to look in the garage just as we heard the screaming and crying start. Sure enough there was little Sander standing in our dark garage, going to the bathroom. He is such a sound sleeper, when he gets up to go to the bathroom he often ends up in the wrong place. I have found him with the pantry door open, the fridge, and between the bookcase and our couch. I have always caught him in time to redirect him to the bathroom, but no such luck last night. I have to say it was pretty funny. We did a quick wash off and put him back in bed where he promptly stopped crying and said "love you mommy, goodnight." When I asked him this morning if he remembered anything he said no, but he had a good laugh about it!

Always good for a laugh

2011-05-15T21:34:00.000-07:00

Addie has really kept me laughing these past few days. She was one sweet girl to keep telling me happy mother's day, but it always came out like this..." 1, 2, 3 HAPPYS MOTHER DAY!" She just couldn't figure out how to say "happy mothers day."

When I was driving home from the gym the other day, the radio was playing and it was the country song "I Get Carried Away." When the song was over she said. " I really don't like that song. If someone carried me away, you would start yelling 'Addie, Addie, where are you?' And you would be really sad and it would be really scary, right mom?"

Then this afternoon, I could hear her singing "follow the prophet" and it went like this..." follow the prophet, follow the prophet, follow the prophet don't go away follow the prophet follow the prophet follow the prophet he won't go away!"

The kids were really on one today. I fixed a nice dinner and none of them would eat it. Evan finally sent them all to their rooms, so they all ended up sleeping. By 5:30 they were all awake and fighting and driving me crazy, so we loaded up Charlie ( the dog ) and drove out to the lake. On the way, Charlie jumped out of the truck, almost got hit by a car, and hopefully learned his lesson! Grace was really worried about going out to the lake, because it might be dangerous, but we finally got her to get out and throw some rocks into the water. It was nice to get out away from the hustle and bustle of town and just enjoy some peace and quiet. The kids had a great time, even Grace admitted that it was a nice night. The kids are all FINALLY in bed! (Don't worry that it is almost 11:00! )

It's Official

2011-05-08T20:28:00.000-07:00

After 22 weeks of wondering and waiting, the verdict is.... it's a (another stinkin- (the boys wording)) GIRL! All I can say is Sander better be really aware of what a girl needs after growing up with so many sisters. ( Evan thinks it won't make a difference because a boy is a boy- no matter how many sisters he has)

Tender

2011-05-03T18:53:00.000-07:00

These past few weeks have been REALLY crazy!! Talk about LOTS and LOTS of stress, but it all kind of went out the window when I found out my neighbor had her baby who passed away after 18 hours. Watching this sweet family go through this experience has been so tender.
Love is real. Family is real. These are the things that matter the most. I am grateful to have witnessed their strength and their love for and faith in the Savior.

I'm reading a book

2011-03-04T09:31:00.000-08:00

My sister showed me this and I just had to share!!!

Women of Service

2011-02-20T19:01:00.000-08:00

During our lesson at church today, they were talking about service. We went through the scriptures and talked about women who gave service and then we focused on the Savior's life and all that He did for us. I started thinking of the examples of service I have had in my life.

When my aunt was two years old, she got a rare virus that basically "ate up" her brain, causing severe brain damage. She had to be cared for as a baby would for her entire life. She lived to be in her 40s. I watched as my grandparents sacrificed daily to care for her. They never complained and they always showed a great amount of love for her. Not only did they have this daughter, but they also had a daughter who was diagnosed with MS. Her case was very severe, and she also had to be cared for around the clock. I feel that I was able to witness something very special in the love and service they gave their daughters, and I will be forever grateful for their example.

My other grandmother died when I was very young. I do remember her as someone who was quite stern and no nonsense. I also knew that there were people who loved her very deeply. When I was in YW's there was a guest invited to come speak to us. The lesson was on service. As she began talking I was touched that the person she said she wanted to be like was my grandma. She talked about how she was someone who truly "rejoiced with those who rejoiced, and mourned with those that mourned." The lady said in all the years they lived in the same town my grandma never missed a funeral or a wedding reception. That was her way of showing she truly cared about the people in her community. As I have grown older, I have heard precious stories of how my grandma would take someone "under her wing" and give them love and encouragement when it was needed most.

I feel so grateful for these wonderful examples of service and love and hope that in some small way I can continue on their legacy.

Dinner Conversations

2011-02-17T11:30:00.000-08:00

We love having Evan at home with us. He tends to spice things up at dinner time. This was our conversation the other night.

kids: what is for dinner?

me: Deer

addie: oh, I don't like beer mommy

ev: not beer- deer

addie: oh, i still don't like it

ev: wow, bambi sure tastes good

kids: silence.....

grace: you can't kill bambi dad. he has a wife he needs to take care of you know

ev: well... he actually had about 10 wives

grace: you can't have more than one wife

ev: sure you can. haven't you heard of polygam

me: ( cutting evan off) wow it sure is nice to have you home to creat such a great dinner conversation! but maybe we should save this particular conversation for a different time.

ev: just stating the facts

Our Get Away

2011-02-07T11:03:00.000-08:00

I shouldn't have even tried to show how beautiful it was but I just had to! Evan and I went on a get away to Island Park for a few days. It was so beautiful. There was so much snow! We loved every second of it. The trees were all frosted and there were hardly any people there. The was fresh snow to snowmobile in every day. It was awesome!!! Okay, let me explain. My sister and her hubby shared their time-share with Evan and me. So she kept our kids while we had some time alone together, which was super nice after Evan had been gone for five months. This was the day they came up to Island Park. We spent they day playing in the snow and sledding down the hill by the resort.
We brought the kids up to spend on night with us, so they had a chance to snowmobile and swim and watch movies by the fire. It was great fun.

What a hunk!! Evan and I spent a couple of days going on long day rides and soaking in the hot tub at the resort after. We were able to go to some nice restaurants and just talk and have fun. This was such a great Christmas present!

Thanks for the fun Evan!!
And thanks for making this happen Kristi and Terry. You guys are so great!

The countdown to Christmas

2011-02-07T10:47:00.000-08:00

Before Christmas, we had a list of things we wanted to do. One was to go to Temple Square and look at the lights. We went last year, but it was so cold we pretty much ran through. This year we got together with some friends, took tracks into the city, looked at the lights, and ended with hot chocolate and donuts. It was a fun night.

It was a little crazy considering this wasn't even all the kids we had with us looking at the lights. But we hope they will have some good memories and remember how it felt to look at all the beautiful lights.

I was so sad this picture came out fuzzy, but Addie was so excited when Evan was showing her the nativity. The light of the star had just turned on when I took this picture.

We had to dip pretzels. I thought we did a lot until I talked to Kristi who made about 200 more than we did. I will admit, hers turned out better... I think we put too much milk in the caramel, but this will be our work in progress.

I don't know what was wrong with me, but I didn't take very many pictures of us putting up the tree. But we did get the tree from Dubois, and we only got a little stuck driving in to find the "perfect tree." After trudging through thigh high snow packing Sander on our backs, because he was just disappearing under the snow, we finally gave up on "perfect tree" and decided on any tree. It was fun and we had a beautiful ( if not a little charlie brownish ) tree. We loved it.

Happy Third

2011-02-07T10:35:00.000-08:00

Although we were gone over Addie's birthday, she got in some good partying. We stopped by Sugar City before we headed back to Utah for a quick sing and eat. Addie was loving being sung to by Grandpa Gee. ( Sander was trying to blow out her candles for her) This was the party in Dubois. Nothing like rainbow chip cake! We had a great Sunday dinner- thanks Mary- and ended with cake and ice cream.

The kids get so silly together, but there is no doubt that Grace, Sander, and Hannah love Adelle. Well, Hannah loves her when she isn't being smothered by Addie.

We had to start Addie's birthday off right by driving around and looking at bunnies. :)

Adelle adds all sorts of excitement to our lives. I can't help but love her sweet little face. Happy Birthday sweet thing!

Thanksgiving With Mom and Dad

2011-02-07T10:24:00.000-08:00

This was the first Thanksgiving at Mom and Dad since they have been back from their mission! It was fun to all be gathered together at home ( don't worry Nate... me missed you and the fam!) The grand kids all love playing with Grandpa and listening to him tell them how much he and grandma missed the family and how glad they are to be home. The kids put on their annual thanksgiving play. Kami wrote, produced and acted in it. The kids love that she is so willing to be the best oldest cousin ever! She has created some great memories for them.

Dad bought a four-wheeler so the kids piled on their snow clothes and huddled in the shop while they waited for their turns being pulled behind the four wheeler. Cold but really fun. Sander was the last kid in the house. He stayed out the with the "dads" to make sure he didn't miss out on any fun.

Evan took over baby duty while we put together humanitarian aid kits. It was a great holiday. We loved being with all the family!! So much to be grateful for.

Glad When Daddy Comes Home

2011-02-07T10:16:00.000-08:00

This was the day Evan officially moved back home! He walked in the door and the kids started yelling and jumping on him and laughing. I think it was just about the greatest day EVER for them! ( I was pretty happy too!!) It took a bit for Evan to get back into the groove of things ( you know things like the laundry going in the basket not on the floor etc.), but the kids got used to Evan being home real fast. They would curl up with him at night while he read them stories and played games. Bedtime took a lot longer, but you could hear Evan and the kids telling stories and laughing, just loving every moment of him being home!

Happy Halloween

2010-10-31T18:39:00.000-07:00

Evan was able to spend a couple of days at home with us this week and we LOVED every second of it ( well almost, we did have to cut up his deer .... gross ). The kids thought it was great to have the deer hanging in our garage. Addie would walk out and look at the deer and then come in and ask, "how is the deer doing? " Sander, who wants to be just like his dad, would go out and touch the meat and say it was doing good. We finally had some time on Saturday to cut it up. Since there was a massive rain storm right as we were heading out the door to go trick or treating, the kids gathered around and made some burger until the storm passed. They thought it was the greatest thing ever! We had Addie all ready to be a princess and then she saw the caterpillar outfit and she was sold. She has been carrying her "green thing" around all week. She has loved every second of wearing it. Hannah liked it too! She would sit by Addie and the next moment she would have an antenna in her mouth sucking on it.

Hannah was tiger. She spent her holiday with a cold, but she was able to pull out a smile for some pictures.

Gracie, my beauty queen! She kept telling people she was a musketeer, saving the king! She was so excited to put on her dress and make up...then she learned the sad truth about putting on make up, sometimes it isn't any fun. Her eyelashes are so long they would curl up and touch her eyelids and that made her really upset. The tears turned on and the makeup started to run down her cheeks. Sad girl! We were able to get her cleaned up and teach her the proper way to cry with make up on.

My kids LOVE, LOVE, LOVE How to Train Your Dragon. Sander was so excited to be Hiccup. I think he has worn these clothes for three days straight! Thanks to my awesome neighbors who helped put this one together! Sander has been cracking me up. We were at a party and a little girl was dressed as Astrid, and she came up to say hi to Sander. I said " Sander look it is Astrid" and he immediately blushed and ran to my side. Later, after he had been trick or treating, he came to me and said, " mom I passed my girlfriend three different times!" He is taking this Hiccup/Astrid thing very seriously.

We got done trick or treating and went home to warm up our hands and feet and then took the kids to get some pizza. They were so tired they feel asleep on the way there. We got to pizza and brought it home and put the kids in bed. ( They enjoyed their pizza this afternoon.) It was a great Halloween!

Some days are just dead fly days...

2010-09-13T21:22:00.000-07:00

This morning I got home from the gym and headed straight for my water bottle. Later as I was cleaning up the kitchen I noticed there was a dead fly floating in my water bottle. My first thought was, SIIIIICK a dead fly in my water bottle! Then I thought, did I DRINK that water while the fly was in my water bottle? Finally I thought about my seventh grade health class when I was introduced to the P and P factor ( yep, poop and puke ) which is apparently what flies do every 5 seconds. My thoughts then returned to SICK!!! That pretty much set up my day for me.

The other day, while I was taking out my contact it tore in half. I got part of it out, but the other part was stuck in there. I mean really stuck! I had a friend come over to see if she could get it out. I tried flushing it out with a water bottle, not the one mentioned above. Nothing worked. It was in there over the weekend. Well, it finally came out, but I needed to have the eye doctor make sure I got all of it out and check my eye for scratches. So I headed to the doctor who made sure my eye was okay, and I got a cute new pair of glasses out of the visit. You can't really complain about that.

Then I thought it would be a neat family homely to take my kids to the moving wall, which is a replica of the veterans memorial in D.C. We gathered the kiddos and talked about the war and how so many people have died so we could enjoy the freedoms we have today. The kids were all prepped and ready to go. When we got there at 7, we found out they took it down at 4! Yup, my mind returned to the dead fly in my water bottle and what a day it had been. It did turn out okay since our cemetery has a memorial set up for veterans from this area. I think the kids got the message we were trying to portray. Then we spent time walking through the cemetery and talking about the lives of people who have passed away. It was a nice evening. So the day did have some "dead fly" moments, but in the end it all turned out okay.

Grandparents Day

2010-09-12T14:46:00.000-07:00

Sander is loving the life of a pre-schooler. They just had Grandparents Day, so Grandma and Grandpa Gee and Grandma Shirley came down for a visit. They had a little program, played games, and did a letter exchange. They ended the fun with some treats. Thanks for coming all this way just to spend an hour at school with my little guy!

It was fun to see how excited Sander was to have some time with Grandpa! They played wii, went on bike rides, went to the park, and watched movies. I can't say I minded having the company here either! While walking through the store with my mom and grandma, a man stopped us and said we needed to get a generation picture, because we all had the same face.
(too bad I still can't get my pictures so download) He later brought his daughter over to us to show her all of us together. I figure if I can be anything like my mom and grandma, I am in good company.

Triathlon or Bust

2010-09-04T21:25:00.000-07:00

My friend told me about a little triathlon that our stake was putting on the other day. They wanted it to be a family friendly thing, so they dropped the distance on all the events. I have always thought it would be fun(ish) to do a triathlon, but too intimidated to ever do one. I had one days notice - so no time to get really nervous and change my mind- so I called up some friends ( be grateful you were sick Kate) and we decided to give it a go.

So Anna, you wonderful girl, and I went over to the community pool early this morning to see if we really wanted to sign up. After looking at the routs we decided to try, and if we dropped out no one had to know. Everyone was really nice and it was super low key. We all laughed about how we didn't know how to swim, although I think I was the only one who really didn't have any technique which was made know to me when Gracie yelled out " start swimming for reals now Mom!" I survived the swim and jumped on my bike. It was all peachy until we hit the head wind for the last 4 miles. My bike kept popping out of the easy gear, so I got a little added exercise. I kept pushing on encouraged by my family who drove by to cheer me on. Once I hit the running, I thought I was done for, but my goal was to not walk so I kept on running about as fast as other people were walking. ( sheesh, I was tired) I hit the last part of the run and realized I couldn't hear my cheering section. I guess I was going a little faster than I thought because Evan hadn't even made it to the finish line, because he thought it would be a while before I made it there. Oh well, I finished and actually had a good time. I think I will do more in the future....although I may change my mind tomorrow.

Where has the summer gone?

2010-09-02T13:01:00.000-07:00

I am having problems getting my pictures to download, which is really too bad because we have sooo many fun pictures. Our summer has been filled with trips to Idaho ( to welcome home my mom and dad from their three year mission ), trips to St. George to visit Evan, late night out-door movies, cook outs, mud days, craft days, kids parades, swim days, lemondae stands, bike rides, birthdays, t-ball games, cooking classes,working in the garden, and lots of downtime just hanging out with family and friends.

Now we are back in school which I thought would mean less to do, but now I find myself running from school to pre-school to soccer games to PTA meetings to play dates. And I have to fit in the gym, naps, meals that will pass as real meals, feeding the baby and keeping the house clean. So I guess we just went from busy to busy with a needed 9-11 hours of sleep for the kids ( with a no sleeping in option!! ).

Things have been hoppin' which is how I love it! I love fall, and I think we are almost there ... do you ever really get fall in Utah or is it always HOT? The kids are excited to get Evan back, and lets be honest ... so am I! Hopefully I will be able to get my camera working to get some pictures of all the fun on here!

I am a Child of God- A Cappella

2010-03-14T22:15:00.000-07:00

For any of you who like the soundtrack to "The Mission", the A Cappella group "Inside Out" has combined I am a Child of God with Gabriels Oboe. It is BEAUTIFUL!!

www.last.fm/music/InsideOut/_/I+Am+a+Child+of+God

Since Hannah

2010-03-14T16:29:00.001-07:00

We are a little behind on what has been going on here, but since we had Hannah, things haven't slowed down one bit. This was the happy ending to our Valentine's Day. We love having such a sweet baby in our home. It hasn't made the older kids calm down any, but they are a little more loving, not always in the softest way, with their baby sister and with each other. The kids had a great Valentine's Day running around following clues that led to their valentines, eating chocolate, and loving each other!! In fact, we lost Addie for a minute and when I found her, she was hiding in a corner with three boxes of chocolate on the ground. When I looked at her, she got a really big smile on her chocolate covered face. ( I wish I would of thought to get the camera, but we had some apologies to make to Gracie and Sander for eating their chocolates. )

We were grateful to see smiles since the night before, Sander and Gracie were playing around, and showing off for their cousin Chris and his wife Taylor, when Sander face planted it on our concrete floor. There were tears all around and one REALLY fat lip. Poor boy, woke up in the night and started crying because his "lips weren't working right."

That happened after they had been having so much fun doing this! They love to pose for the camera. How long do you think that will last ? :)

We were also able to help some of our friends put out fliers asking for donations to put together kits for the people in Haiti. There were so many people who donated that the kids were able to put together 200 kits!! Later we took the kids to the Humanitarian Aid Center and took a tour. At the end, the kids were able to give the kits they had made. It was a really neat experience for our families to see how willing others where to help those who have been suffering.

Hannah Jo

2010-01-23T20:09:00.000-08:00

Here she is! Hannah Jo Grover. She was born on Thursday the 21st. 8lbs.7 oz.- 21 in. -We finally got a redhead!

We Wish You a Merry Christmas

2009-12-21T16:35:00.000-08:00

From our family to yours. Yes, Gracie does say "good tithings we bring" and I think Sander was trying to sound like one of the chipmunks, but lets be honest...with Sander you just never know. Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas

2009-12-21T15:25:00.000-08:00

Here we are. To those of you whose address we couldn't find, Merry Christmas. We are so thankful for the friendships we have made over the years. You are the people how have helped shape our lives and who we are. We hope you have a wonderful holiday.

2009-12-21T15:05:00.000-08:00

I love my little dancer! Grace is girl through-and-through. Grace loves every second of twirling and leaping. Grace's teacher is a kind woman who teaches these classes as a service. I feel very grateful to her teacher for all she has taught Grace about dance, and also about being a good person who is willing to share her talents for the good of others.

Grace and her friend Cambree after their ballet recital. They thought their matching flowers were great! ( good thing Cambree's mom was on the ball and helped Gracie's mom look like she was on the ball) Yea, I was totally that mom who ran to the front of the room to get some in your face pictures during the dance. What has this world come to?

These are some of the girls from our neighborhood. Cambree, Grace, Kailena, Brooklynn, and Sierra.

Gracies fan club! Melissa, Evan, Addie, Sander, Malichi, Troy, Tera, and Addie ( not in the photo ... me ) . Troy and Evan served a mission together. Troy and his family were in town visiting. They were SUPER lucky to be here to see the recital. Tera was a good sport, it was her birthday. Happy Birthday Tera!

Nearing the end

2009-12-21T14:47:00.000-08:00

This is us really early in the morning! Don't we all look super happy? We were just on our way to the airport. We were feeling a little sad, although Mom and Dad were probably feeling a little relieved. But before we left we had to have some special time with Grandma around the piano. I hope they always remember sitting with Grandma by the piano.

The kids also had the ultimate bubble bath. It was all going really well until Mom told me to turn on the jets in the tub. Addie was almost lost in the bubbles and refused to go back into the tub. I had to talk Grace and Sander into believing me when I said I wouldn't turn on the jets again.

And they finally decided that all the bubbles were really fun. Don't you worry that the bubbles overflowed all into the bathroom. Mom was covered with bubbles and so was I, but hey- great memories were made.

The kids loved having Evan all to themselves. He misses so much during the summer that they were trying to shove a summer of fun into one vacation. They love playing football and wrestling around with him. The "winter" weather in Oklahoma made it perfect for playing outside every afternoon. It was the best vacation. When I asked the kids what they loved the most, Gracie said she loved sitting by Grandma in the van while we drove around.

Thanksgiving in OK

2009-12-21T14:37:00.001-08:00

Here they are! I love my parents and I have really missed having them close by, but I am grateful for their love of the gospel and their wonderful example to me.

Our little family. Happy Thanksgiving. The kids food was here, but they wondered around talking to Grandma and Grandpa and all the missionaries. Sander kept on asking the elders to play football with him, and Grace jumped right in with the sisters singing church songs.

Yummy- yummy!! And super sanitary. The kids were helping make the pie, and their favorite part was cleaning up the bowl. What great helpers.

Addie thought the pie was okay, but she was really ALL OVER the olives. I think she ate an entire can all by herself. What a girl. The kids giggled while filling their fingers with olives. Sometimes it is good to remember they joys of childhood.

I love this picture of Grace. Do you see the chocolate going all the way up her arm? That's my girl!

oklahoma

2009-12-21T14:26:00.001-08:00

While we were in Oklahoma, we were able to help Mom serve a real down home Oklahoma lunch to the new missionaries. We had pulled pork, beans, fried okra ( or how ever you spell it), and finished off with Braums ice cream. Evan was over all the deep fried foods. It actually turned out to be pretty good. Grace, Sander and Addie were also BIG helps in the kitchen. They thought it was pretty cool that they could help serve the missionaries.

I loved watching the kids talk to the missionaries and learn more about what missions are all about.

There's no place like Braums. (Although I would say it is similar to Reed's Dairy products). The kids LOVED the ice cream. I have to admit, I didn't think it was so bad myself. We had to eat the ice cream a couple of different times while we were in Oklahoma. The kids thought it was cool that they could eat all the ice cream they wanted! Grandpa had to make up for lost time with them. :)

O-K-L-A-H-O-M-A Oklahoma

2009-12-21T09:06:00.000-08:00

We went to Oklahoma for our family vacation this year. It was exciting to be able to spend so much time with Evan after his LONG summer of working on roads. It worked out well that we could see Mom and Dad on their mission. I haven't seen them since I had Addie, and Evan has never been out there. We chose one activity a day while we were here. Evan had never been to an IMAX movie, so we went to the Museum of Science. We spent hours there!! The kids loved it ( that would include Evan and Dad ). The Segway booth was by far the biggest hit. The good thing about going to Oklahoma when we did was everyone was in school, so there weren't really any crowds, which is how is had to be for Evan to be happy. With no lines, everyone was able to ride on the Segway thing a couple or more times.

The kids loved all the different activities they could do. They had an entire section for kids 6 and under. There were a bunch of hands-on things they could do. I remember standing in our mirrors when I was little girl and spending so much time looking at all the images of me.

Evan, of course, had to have some time at Pro Bass, or is it Bass Pro? Anyway, this was outside of the store. The kids found they love climbing on all the statues. Evan let the kids play at the "shooting range," and they were able to try out all the toy guns they could find. Gracie, ever the girl, latched on to a pink cowgirl hat and a pink gun. She was as happy as could be. Sander couldn't decide between Davy Crockett or a cowboy, but there was always a gun in hand. Addie just sat in the cart and made eyes at anyone who would look at her. She is such a flirt!

Get your kicks on Route 66! The kids liked looking for all the things that reminded them of the movie Cars. At the end of the museum, they show a film on how the interstate came in making everyone abandon 66, and Gracie started to cry. "It is just so sad." she said. Evan was studying how they built the road and was feeling thankful they have better equipment now than they did then. They also showed pictures of the dust bowl. Gracie had a hard time wrapping her head around that one. The rest of the trip she asked about the sand blizzard and tornadoes.

Talk about the perfect visit to the zoo! It was almost like we had the entire place to ourselves. The animals were all really active. The kids LOVED it. The gorillas were one of the favorites. They were wrestling around and each kid picked a gorilla that was like one of our family members. At one point, Gracie laid down next to the window and a gorilla came to see what she was doing. It was really neat. After that, we were passing the lions cage. Sander ran up to the window and was waving his hand in front of the lion, and the lion started to growl at him. Sander thought it was great ( me not so much ) then it jumped at Sander! Evan was telling Sander to keep it up, and I was, of course, telling him to back off!! Sander does not have enough fear in him.

Here It Is

2009-12-21T09:00:00.000-08:00

Okay, here is a picture of what my house looks like on the outside. Ummm, sorry it isn't a super good picture, but at least you get an idea of what it looks like. Of course, now everything is covered with snow, so you wouldn't notice the lack of a yard. Next summer we are excited to start putting the outside of our house together!

And we are in!!

2009-10-09T14:47:00.001-07:00

It finally happened!! Thanks to some amazing friends, the house was packed up and moved in no time at all ( did I mention they helped out during a rain storm?? You guys are the best ). We are in OUR own home! I am still getting things put together, which I think will be the case for the next six months, but I love it. I also can't put on pictures because I don't know where the cable is to download, hope to find that one soon. Thanks everyone who helped!!!

Number Four

2009-09-22T13:40:00.000-07:00

Hey, I know that I am way over due for updating, but things have been a little crazy. I did want to say.... we found out we are going to be having a little girl. Yep, we are going on number four! I am due on January 21. I am really excited to pull out all the cute little girly things. Sander was really wanting a boy, but says he can be okay with it as long as we choose Hanna for her name. We will see what the final vote is.

We are REALLY pushing to close on our house this week and move in this weekend. I WILL put on pictures one of these days. ( don't you worry mom )

Happy Birthday

2009-06-21T16:29:00.000-07:00

Okay, here is the most updated picture I have of the house, but it is farther along than this. We will be moved in with in the next month. A huge thanks to everyone who has helped us with the house. There is no way we could have done this on our own. We are so thankful for good family and friends. We love you so much!

I know I am fizzing out on blogging ( it has been a while ) so here is a very brief overview of the birthday. We played in the water for Gracie's "party" -if you can call it that- and then headed out to a T-ball game. After the game we went to dinner, which ended with me and the kids sitting in the car since they forgot their manners while eating out. It was after nine before I finished "the cake." That is what I get for trying to be creative. (sigh) The idea was cute- flip flops for the summer birthday. Anyway, sweet Gracie I love you. We are so glad you are part of our family. Happy fifth birthday!

Just something cute

2009-06-21T16:24:00.000-07:00

I loved these pictures. Like I was saying, Sander adores his dad. Where ever Evan is, Sander isn't too far behind.

I just thought these where some fun pictures of the kids. Wow- it is going to be exciting when Gracie gets a little older. Make-up, boys, hanging out with the girls. (sigh) Time sure goes fast.

Evan almost 30

2009-06-21T16:17:00.000-07:00

I love this guy! Okay, so he did have a birthday last month, we all know I am a little bit behind, but I just wanted to show my sweet guy. For his birthday, they had a father and sons camp out, came home really early for Gracie's first T-ball game, and then slept for the rest of the day to make up for the lost sleep from the camp out. It was worth it right Ev?

The kids just love their dad. Sander is almost not even fun to deal with, because if Evan isn't around it is the end of the world and all happiness. He just doesn't understand why Evan has to go to work every day. HMMM...

We sure love you honey! Thank you for all you do for me and the kids. (oh, Happy Father's Day while we are at it! :) )

T-Ball Queen

2009-06-21T16:04:00.000-07:00

Go Braves!! We signed Gracie up to play t-ball. Well, I just love watching these little ones learn to play. (at least learning in Gracie's case...some of these kids are really good) Baseball is the game to play in this town.

They have a sports parade for all the teams. Notice the amazing poster?? Yeah, that would be my super artistic over achiever neighbor, but hey she sure makes the kids look great. Nice work Susan!!.
I have to laugh. Gracie gets excited about her games, but no where near as excited as Sander. Notice him "joining" the team any chance he can get? He will wake up and start asking if Gracie has a game or not. Then he will tell Grace they need to go practice. This boy loves to play.

Grace in action. She has gotten to the point where she doesn't use a T any more. I think because Coach Phil thought it would be cool to have a team who didn't need the T. Fun times for all. Go Team!!

Food Storage Ideas

2009-06-21T15:08:00.001-07:00

Sorry Janine, I thought I put this one a month ago, but I guess I forgot to publish it. Anyway, my ward has a blog site that has an emergency preparedness section. You can find it at riverviewward.blogspot.com. There are ideas to build up your food storage each month for about $5-10. There is also a three month food list and dinner ideas! I love that they gave us a menu to work off of, so you aren't left with a bunch of food you don't know what to do with.

A couple other meal ideas are

taco soup:
crushed or diced tomatoes ( whatever consistency you like )
corn
kidney beans ( we love the S&W brand of beans called Santa Fe mix they have beans and corn and such but the sauce is the best!! We buy as much as we can when it is on sale. )
taco seasoning- I don't put tons on- do it to your own taste.
IF you are making it now, put on chips, cheese, sour cream..you know the drill. But we buy a case of all of these to have in storage.

You can also buy the big cans of spaghetti sauce for pretty cheap (around $1) so I thought we might get a case just to have in storage and then stock up on noodles. If we were in an emergency, this would be a meal that would feel like you had eaten.

another meals we try to buy in cases is tomato pasta-

we like rainbow pasta
1-2 cans of tomato sauce
1 can diced tomatoes
cook your pasta, put in the sauce and tomatoes, and dice up some cheese and it will melt into the pasta.

In an emergency we probably wouldn't have the cheese but the pasta would still be good.

Of course I would say buy chocolate chips and store a bunch, because lets admit it: we could deal with anything as long as we could eat chocolate!! :)

We also have a bunch of oats, and stuff to make granola. Yum yum.
I hope some of these ideas work for you. I will keep looking for recipes made mostly from canned foods. Good luck!

Oh, another thing I like about the web site is, they give ideas on how to prepare your house like how to turn off your gas line and stuff like that. We have a FHE once a month and make sure we go through the list of things to know.

Books, books, and more books

2009-04-25T11:40:00.001-07:00

I don't know about you, but I LOVE to read. I just love opening a new book and looking into "peoples" lives and reading their story. Anyway, I have been reading some books that I have really enjoyed, and I thought it would be fun to share some of the greaties with you in case anyone is looking for a new read. Here goes-

The Thief
The Queen of Attolia - Megan Whalen Turner
The King of Attolia

Hunger Games - Susan Collins ( I could be so wrong on that name )

The Book Thief - Markus Zusak

I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You - Ally Carter
Cross My Heart and Hope To Spy
( Okay, they might sound a little silly and little girlish, but I am a sucker for a cute love story, and it is all about a girls spy school-what could be greater than that? )

Dairy Queen - Catherine Gildbert Murdock

Hope some of you have some reading fun!

our house

2009-04-20T19:57:00.000-07:00

Okay, I know that I am not very good at being consistent with my blog, so I thought that I should at least write to show that I am thinking of blogging...
There have been so many fun things that we have been doing, and I have some fun pictures to go along with them-so hopefully I will be able to get my act together and let you see some of the good times.
We have been putting a lot of time into our new house. Yeah!! I can't believe I get to write those words. Our house!! We decided to take the big plunge and we are getting a house. It isn't being built yet, so there isn't anything to show for all the hours we have spent pouring over house plans. But they should start on it next week. Hopefully I will be able to put pictures on of the progress.
It was actually harder for me to commit to than I thought it would be. It is such a big responsability, but I am excited to create our own place. So here we go...

The accident on video

2009-02-22T22:25:00.000-08:00

I was talking with a girl in my ward today, and she told me she saw the video of our car accident. When she was telling me how bad it looked, we thought it would be interesting to see what really happened. After watching it, we realized-again-how blessed we were to all come out okay. It is the video labeled: inversion fog causes I-15 accidents

http://www.kutv.com/search/videosearch.aspx?search=january+19%2c+2009

Uncle Lane

2009-02-18T14:13:00.000-08:00

Well, Lane did a lot of things right over the weekend. First of all, he brought his Wii (is there one or two i's- I am such a loser). Anyway, he and Evan played and played and played. Poor Evan, stuck with the mean wife who won't buy him the fun toys.

Then he brought the four-wheeler for the kids, yes Evan is included in that, to ride on. Sander thinks Uncle Lane's 4-wheeler is about the greatest thing in the world! He cries every time he has to get off it. Luckily our neighbors didn't call the cops for disturbing the peace while Evan cruised around.

But greatest of all was bringing Melanie. The kids couldn't stay away from her. We could always tell where she was, because the kids were always right behind her. She also made a fun shopping partner for me (which made up for the boys going shooting all morning)! I am sure it wasn't the most romantic Valentine's Day for her, but we loved having her with us. I am sure she felt a LOT of LOVE ( probably more than she wanted ) from the kids. It was great to have you guys. Come again soon!

Valentine Spoils

2009-02-18T13:52:00.000-08:00

Sander has entered the world of super hero's. He is always talking about saving the world, or at least Gracie, from the bad guys. I thought this cape would be a fun, manly dress up ( pretty much his dad couldn't get mad about it ). Happy V-Day Super Sander!

My friend has the cutest web site called make it and love it. On it, she had the cutest tutu. My friend mentioned how this would be a fun valentine's gift, I couldn't resist. I had to make one for Gracie... and Addie!

I could just watch little Addie in her tutu all day. When we put it on her, she giggles and then does one of her 5 minute twirls ( it takes her about 5 minutes to turn around once ). This is one of the greatest things about being a mother of girls!!

Uncle Lane came to stay with us for the weekend. He made a stop at Cabela's on the way here and found these cute, cute stuffed animals for the kids. We have been looking every where for an elk for Sander. The kids love them. Gracie named her buffalo Buffy! I was pretty impressed with her naming ability. Sander thought his elk should also be called Buffy, but Evan intervened and they finally settled on Bucky. Addie calls her deer - Da, like she calls everything. Way to go Uncle Lane.

Showing off their Valentines Day attire. The girls danced while Super Sander flew around them. What a fun day!

One Day Older

2009-02-18T13:31:00.000-08:00

Gracie's great ambition is to be a princess. This picture was taken after the school put on a princess party. She was just about the happiest girl in the world.

Well, Gracie reached a big stepping stone. She lost her first tooth. She bit into something a few weeks ago and said her tooth was going to fall out. Well, she kept on pulling on it until it was hanging on a thread. She came into the bedroom in the morning and said, "Mom, I think I am ready for you to tie a string to my tooth and pull it out." Well, when we tried it, she about had a cow. After much struggling, we finally told her it could fall out on its own. A few minutes later she told me she needed some water since her throat felt weird. After her third drink, I finally looked into her mouth and saw her tooth had fallen out and she could taste the blood. Well, she got really excited about the tooth fairy. Holy Cow, after she put her tooth under the pillow she had to have come into our bedroom at 5:00 am talking about a mile a minute telling us the tooth fairy had come, and she hadn't even known she had come ( had we known she had come), and she was ready to have some more teeth fall out. Pretty much, none of us got any more sleep that morning. She was REALLY excited.

Gracie loves to do hair. It about drives me crazy to have her do it, but every now and then I decide I could try to be a nice mom. Well, there are about 7 different ponytails in my hair. Gracie said I looked " just beautiful." I am lucky to have such a great hair stylist.

Cousin Fun

2009-02-18T13:15:00.000-08:00

Well, my sister brought her kids down to have me watch them while she and her husband had a little get-away in Park City. I always feel bad when kids have to stay at our house, because we don't really have a lot of fun things to do. So we had to get creative. The kids were able to make their own personal pizzas for dinner. They were able to shape them any way they wanted and choose their own toppings. They all seemed to love it, until Sam got the flu-or maybe too much food in that little tummy-sweet boy.

The kids were lining up to take pictures. They were all giving me great poses. I love watching kids when they are having their pictures taken. It makes them so happy ( when the parent isn't yelling at them to stop moving, and smile, and look natural, etc. )

Thanks to Eric and Janine, we were able to have fun making cupcakes, with Gracie's little cupcake set. They were really excited about it, but by the time it came to actually decorate them, the kids were just ready to eat them! Yummy cream filled chocolate cupcakes!

My favorite was watching my sister's youngest stuff the whole cupcake in his mouth and grab another one before anyone could stop him. At least he stopped crying while he ate them, he was really sad to be away from his mom.

It was fun to have the cousins over. We sure miss seeing all the family. And having 8 kids at one time wasn't as hard as I thought it would be - thanks to Evan who was REALLY helpful through it all!

A moment of reflection

2009-02-02T12:51:00.000-08:00

This last week a lady in our ward passed away unexpectedly. After going to her funeral and seeing how many people's lives she touched, I started thinking about my life and what I have accomplished. It made me realize how important each day is, how precious our time is with the ones we love, and how much there is to accomplish in such a small amount of time. I like to plan out goals but often fail to set time limits which doesn't really matter until I think how much I take time for granted. In a life of so much uncertainty, I don't want to be left with the thoughts of "if only I ...," or "I wish I ..." So today I will try to live in the moment, tell the ones I love how much they mean to me, and to accomplish something of importance to me each day. And maybe by writing this, I will be able to pass along some of the positive influence I felt from her to you.

Make it and love it

2009-01-26T17:45:00.001-08:00

Okay, I have this friend who is amazingly talented! She comes up with the greatest, cutest ideas. She has helped me do things before, and if she can help me-she can help ANYONE. Anyway, she started a blog with tutorials of things that she has made. Totally cute! If you feel like being crafty, take a look at her blog.

makeitandloveit.blogspot.com ( or just hit the button and the top of the blog )

Right now she is doing a give away of some super cute things. Go check it out!

The Crash

2009-01-24T11:45:00.001-08:00

So we got in a bit of a car accident on Monday the 19. We were on our way home from shopping for house decorations when traffic slowed pretty fast. I was able to stop okay and so was the car behind me. After I saw the car behind me had stopped, I didn't really pay attention to what was going on behind me. About 30 seconds later, we were hit really hard out of the blue. Our car hit the car in front of us, and we spun around until we hit the car who had hit us the first time and our car finally stopped-facing the opposite direction. Talk about a moment of panic ( and at the same time relief ) because the kids were screaming. At least if they were screaming they were alive! I got out of the car to get my kids out, but the doors on my side of the car were jammed. One of the cars who saw the accident thought our car was on fire and they could hear the kids screaming, so it took about 2 seconds for people to run over and pull the kids out of the car. Everyone was shaken, but we came away with some whiplash, bumps on the head, and popped blood vessels. The other two cars involved had to take people to the hospital, so we were VERY aware of how blessed and lucky we were. The car that hit us didn't see that traffic was stopping, so they swerved to miss the car behind me and lost control of their car and hit us in the back left corner, Gracie, thankfully, was sitting in the back right side of the car. I think this is were we hit the car in front of us.

We thought this picture was a little funny, not only for the look on my face, but also because I am taller than the car. When I first saw it, I didn't even think it was ours because it looked so small. The rear axle is broken.

This shows where we took the impact from the other car. Yup, all my new house decorations were in the back and flew out the car when the window broke. I think Evan was a little relieved because he ended up not liking what I bought, but to his dismay, I found that a little hot glue and some nails go a long way. I also told him the antique look is in, so it is okay that all our stuff is chipped and scratched! It was a little funny when I went to hand him one of the decorations and he looked at me confused and asked why I was bringing the muffler home. Wow! What does that say about my taste in decorations??

Once I finally got a look at the car that hit us, I noticed our bumper was sticking out of his mangled engine. You can't see it in this picture but the back seat was shoved forward, so our back seats didn't line up.

Well, we got the final word that our car is a total loss, so now we will begin the process of finding a new car. Ashley, doesn't it seem like yesterday you were bringing over fudge for our "car-warming" gift? Evan really has a lot of love for that car. He feels like it did a good job to protect our little family.

Some fun before Christmas

2009-01-11T17:17:00.000-08:00

This is us on Christmas Eve in our matching family pajamas!! Gracie is asleep behind us. Sweet thing had so much fun playing with her cousins she couldn't even stay up on Christmas Eve. My super great neighbor Susan taught me how to make pajamas so the whole family could be matching. It turned out to be more fun than I thought it would be. ( most likely because Susan was there to take over all the times I messed up. Thanks!!!)

Sander was one of the shepherds during our puppets Christmas program. My mom made all these super cute puppets. We sure miss Grandpa and Grandma Gee. We will be with you next year!!

Gracie was waiting for half the month to see the baby Jesus with the puppets. We finally got everyone clean and in the new pajamas and Gracie sat down in the chair and fell asleep. We tried and tried to wake her, but it just wasn't happening. On Christmas day she ran up to me and told me we didn't ever see baby Jesus. She didn't think she slept through it all until she saw the pictures. I guess there is always next year. :)

Sander was looking forward to this so much, and he fell ASLEEP!! He sure tried to have fun. Evan would go over a jump while Sander was sleeping, and Sander would try to laugh and cheer but he couldn't ever pull himself out of that deep sleep. Caleb lasted longer than Sander, but in the end he joined him for a long winters nap.

This is turning into a tradition at Evan's parents house. We hook up the big sleds to the 4-wheelers and all go for a ride. The "boys" (evan and eric) get to be boys while Janine and I climb in with the kids and enjoy the ride.

Bring in the new year- review of last year( well a bit of a review)

2009-01-07T12:29:00.000-08:00

It may take some time, but my goal is to put some updates of the last year on here every now and then. Sorry there is no really order to this, but here goes....Sander and Gracie wanted to be a cowboy and cowgirl this year. This is them with some neighbors before trick or treating.

This is Gracie's glamour shot. Just kidding, but this is my baby all done up. She LOVES putting on makeup.

Always got to love preg-testing the cows. The kids adore their dad, and they want to do everything he does. He is teaching them young how to prod the cows along. Yeehaw!

This was the day of Gracie's first primary program. Sander was her number one fan. Got to love that smile...

Evan and I were in our ward roadshow. Go HONEY!! Evan only agreed because we have a super nice neighbor who asked Evan to be in it, and he couldn't tell her no. I think once it was all over, he decided that it wasn't all bad. I guess we will see next year if he agrees to it again.

We have really started out this year right. The kids have been so sick they haven't been out of the house for days, weeks, I can't keep track. At this rate I will be updating every day! If anyone has ideas of things to do with the kids in the house, I will take them. The movies are getting old and the kids can only go so long without fighting. It is great fun at our house...

Yummy orange rolls

2009-01-07T12:11:00.000-08:00

Okay, I got this recipe from Janine who got it from one of her friends. I hope it is okay to put on my blog, but you guys have got to try these! They are wonderful

Orange Rolls

Dough

2 packages dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water
3 eggs
I cup room temperature milk
1/2 cup shortening or butter
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp salt
4-5 cups flour

Filling
1/2 cup butter ( soften )
1/2 cup sugar
rind of 2 oranges-finely grated

1.soften yeast in 1/4 cup water. Add 1/4 cup sugar. Let sit for 10 minutes
2. beat eggs VERY well
3. combine yeast mixture, eggs, warm milk, shortening, the rest of the sugar, and salt into very large bowl
4. add flour a cup at a time until soft dough forms. (no longer sticky)
5. cover and let rise until double in size
6. divide dough in half and roll out
7. spread half of orange filling on each half and roll up cinnamon roll style
8. cut with floss and place in a greased 9x13 in. pan
9. let rise a second time until doubled
10. bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 min. until lightly browned

Filling
1. mix butter, sugar and orange rind. cool in refrigerator so it will stay in rolls easier

Frosting

8 0z cream cheese
4 TBLS butter softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
1/2 bag white chocolate chips

1. mix the first four ingredients
2. melt the white chocolate and combine the two. SPREAD ON ROLLS IMMEDIATELY

Hope you like them...

What you don't know about me...

2008-07-30T12:05:00.001-07:00

Okay, I have so much to catch up on that it will take me a while, BUT I will put this on so you all know that we are still alive. This is for you Kate-

Six things people don't know about me. Here you go:

1. I wear my socks inside out. I HATE how the seam feels against my toes. It drives me crazy!! I have tried to break the habit as I have gotten older, I am picky about the socks I buy, but occasionally I just have to flip them inside out.

2. I don't like unloading the dishwasher. I don't mind loading it, or washing dishes by hand, but I really don't like putting dishes away. After five years of marriage, Evan has finally caught on that the kitchen will be a lot cleaner if he will put the dishes away for me. (don't be disappointed mom)

3. I put Vicks on before I go to bed every night. As a little girl I remember watching my mom put on Vicks, so I started doing it to. It doesn't matter if I have a cold or not- I guess I just want to be like my mom...

4. My sheets on my bed have to be really tight or I can't sleep. This has proved to be a problem since the first thing Evan does when he gets in bed is pull the sheets loose. AGHHHH it drives me NUTS! I do even wake up in the middle of the night, when Evan is asleep, and tuck in all the sheets.

5. I LOVE frozen chocolate chips. Milk chocolate is okay, but bring on the semi-sweet!! I have to have a few every day. I have broken my braces and retainer by eating frozen chocolate chips, but boy is it worth it!

6. I love BBC movies. I could happily sit all day and watch the six hour version of Pride and Prejudice. I know these movies can seem a little bit slow, but I love them. (Now if I could just get Evan to love them as much, we would be set...)

This has been kind of fun, and also made me curious about some of you. I tag Kristi, Dawn, Allison, and Ashley. ( Don't take as long as I did to do this- okay guys.... :) )

2008-05-13T10:01:00.011-07:00

This is me finishing my leg of the relay. Sander is running out to great me! He was there to give me a big hug! Gracie was keeping her eye on my team mate who she thought hit me.....

The other movie is my team running to the finish line. ROCK ON!! ( the name of our group )

The Dam Marathon

2008-05-13T10:01:00.010-07:00

Well, I FINALLY did it! I ran my very first race... We did the Teton Dam Marathon. I was part of a relay team, and this is us crossing the finish line. Hot diggity dog!! I was pretty nervous about running, but the team was so layed back. IT was all about doing our best. Everyone was so supportive. It was a blast.
This was my awesome support team. My FAMILY!! Evan had the kids there cheering "go mommy go!" What more could you ask for? Evan even drove on part of the "closed course" so the kids could see me running. Hmmm- typical Evan.
Some of my favorite things were hearing how the kids reacted to the race. When I took the slap stick from a team mate, Gracie started crying telling everyone that the girl had hit me. They had to explain to Gracie that she wasn't hitting me, she was passing the racing stick. Once I was done running Gracie walked over to the girl and said, "why did you hit my mommy?"

Sander wasn't quite ready for me to take off, so once I started running, his little legs took off and he ran after me. Evan was taking pictures and didn't realize what Sander was doing till he was down the road. They had to run after him to make him stop running. They said his legs were moving as fast as he could make them go. Maybe we will be saying "go Sander go" soon!

The only thing that could have made this better is if Evan would have been running with me. Next year, right Ev?

Aunt Linda Saves the Day

2008-05-13T10:01:00.009-07:00

Happy Birthday to you... four years ago, Gracie was my birthday suprise. She was five days early. It took some work getting her here, but She is the best birthday gift I have ever had. Gracie and I were totally bummed that Evan couldn't be home for our birthday. I was getting ready to feel really bad for myself, when Aunt Linda called to see what we should do to celebrate. Well, she took the afternoon off work and we had fun! First we took the kids to "Horton Hears a Who!" It was a cute show. Then we got pizza and headed for the park.
Once we finished at the park, we went back to Linda's for cake and ice cream. Evan had called Aunt Linda to see if she could pick up a cake and some balloons. Good job honey! This cake is the one I made Gracie. She and Sander were constantly picking m & m's off the cake.
Next we opened presents. Gracie was all decked out with her new sun galsses and lip stick. What else could a girl want?
The birthday girls! There was a concert in the park that we went to after eatting lots of cake! The kids danced and ran and played while we listened to the fun singing group.
The kids followed Aunt Linda everywhere she went. Sander now asks if we are going to see AuntWinda everyday. The kids were asleep by the time we got home, which was my greatest birthday gift. They went right into bed. It was a great day! We missed you Ev, but there is always next year...

Happy Birthday EVAN

2008-05-13T10:01:00.008-07:00

Evan hit the big 28! We weren't sure we were going to be able to celebrate with Evan since there was a father/son camp out the night of his birthday, but the girls didn't really want to be left out...so we had a family camp out. In the back yard. We had birthday cake and then a bbq- I know it was a little backwards- and then we put up the tent! I LOVE our tent. (sigh)
The kids had a hard time calming down to get some sleep, but it finally happened. Oops, they were up early since Evan forgot to turn off the sprinklers...
This was Addie's first campout! She did great. She even slept through the night. Good Girl!
Here is the aftermath. Our kids have a hard time with late nights. We put a movie on for them so we could get ready to take them to a parade. Well, when we got down to them, this is what we found. At least Sander figured out to lay down. Who knows how long Gracie selpt like this. But it is one of my favorite pictures.

I hope they call me on a mission

2008-05-13T10:01:00.007-07:00

We thought it would be fun to take the kids to the MTC after we got home from Oklahoma to show them were the missionaries learn how to be missionaries. Sander... was really excited. Gracie. I also realized this is the only picture I have of her in her Easter dress.
We didn't want to leave Addie out of the fun. What is Sander pointing at?? Well, I am not sure but it made him really excited. He kept yelling "look at that" for those of you who have heard how Sander talks- it was said really loud, almost like he has to use every ounce of energy in his body. What a kid.

More Oklahoma pictures

2008-05-13T10:01:00.006-07:00

Mom, Grace, Sander, Dad, and Adelle. Okay, notice the begining of the break down for Sander. Gracie was being slightly defiant. Addie is still in perfect mode... I am sure it won't last too much longer.
Dad was on his way to the meeting, and the kids ran right after him. they didn't want to be away from him.
Dad and Addie. What a smile! I had to yell at Dad to get that one. The missionaries were laughing saying that in the pictures at the MTC, all the mission presidents were smiling but dad. The missionaries in the Oklahoma City mission were always getting words of pity because they all thought Dad looked ... mean? Well, I think they have all been pleasantly suprised. Dad on Grandpa duty.
Kristi and Sue ENJOYING the vacation...( my kids were out of the room)

O-K-L-A-H-O-M-A Oklahoma!!

2008-05-13T10:01:00.005-07:00

Boy oh boy. Getting to Oklahoma was quite the chore. Our plane broke down so we had to wait in the airport for six hours which could have been fun if I ( meaning me, Sue and Kris) wasn't running around after my kids. We missed our connecting flight so we spent the night in Denver. We made it to our hotel around 1 in the morning and had to be on the road by 6 to make our flight. The kids did well considering ... I was very, very glad to see mom and dad once we made it to Oklahoma. Kristi and Dad at the Oklahoma memorial. It is something that everyone should experience once. They have done a good job at making you feel all sorts of emotions- confusion, frustration, gratitude... I wasn't feeling very well so we got through the first few floors and then we had to leave, but I am glad we were able to see it.

Mom and Sue working in the kitchen. We were able to meet a bunch of the missionaries while we helped get lunch for them at one of the meetings. I must be getting old, because they are starting to look really young to me. (sigh) They were all very nice. They got Sander and put a name tag on him, which I didn't get a picture of because it made him REALLY mad! Maybe in 17 years... Kristi setting the table for the lunch. We were glad to be able to help mom. I think she usually does a lot of this work by herself. What a woman - mom!
Gracie with Grandpa Pres. Gee. I was wondering if the kids would really remember Mom and Dad. Well, in the airport it took about 2 seconds for it to register and then they were on a dead run to get to Grandma and Grandpa. Dad was great with the kids. They kept waking up super early, so he would get up with them, put on a cartoon and snack on honey nut cheerios.
NOTICE THE EYEBROWS!! Yea, pretty much you can just tell that I have them now. I will try to get a better close up.
Okay, a picture of the sisters...Kristi, Jodi and Sue. It was so much fun to go see Mom and Dad. Oklahoma was beautiful. I loved staying up past 10 - go Dad- visiting. Can't wait until the next trip. ( or maybe I can... anyone want to watch the kids???)

Getting Big

2008-05-13T10:01:00.004-07:00

Gracie is getting to be such a big girl. She started to sleep in her bed all night. (We were having some issues with that) so she got a big girl bed.
That means that Sander got to move into Gracie's old bed. He has done okay in it, although there have been a couple of times when we hear a big thud followed by Sander screaming. But he is getting the hang of it.
Our friends Steve and Ashley were able to come visit us a while back. It was fun to see them. Steve was giving Gracie lessons on how to "jam" on the guitar.
The boys packed up the little kids and took them to Cabela's. They were able to look at all the guy stuff and show the kids all the animals. Fun for them....even more fun for the moms. :)

Ellie is their little girl. What a doll!

Easter Egg Hunt- and more

2008-05-13T10:01:00.003-07:00

This is the famed Dubois Easter Egg hunt. The kids lined up in the freezzzzing cold to have about a 2 minute easter egg hunt. It was kind of funny- all the eggs were filled with really powerful mints. The kids took one taste and started to spit them out. Who needs the candy anyway, right?
The was the Gee family ester egg hunt. It was fun to be back at mom and dad's house. Thanks Shawn and Amy for letting us all crash at the house for a while.
Eric and Janine and Janine's brother and sister came to visit on there way to Colorado. It was fun to have them see us in Utah. ( Anyone who wants to visit is welcome!) Kristi brought her kids for Spirng break. Evan pulled out the bubble gun and shot them out the top window to the kids in the back yard.

Easter Egg Hunt- and more

2008-05-13T10:01:00.002-07:00

March in Review

2008-05-13T10:01:00.001-07:00

This is something that I LOVE about Addie. We can tell when she is ready to go to sleep. She puts her hand over her eyes and starts dreaming.

For St. Patricks Day we thought it would be fun to make a rainbow cookie. I don't what the kids liked to most-making the cookie or eating it.
Sander just can't go without his nap. I set him down to watch a movie, and he was out in about 5 minutes. I tried to lay him down but it woke him up. He sat up and went right back to sleep.
This was Sander's big birthday gift. He has been stealing all the nieghbor kids bikes, so now he can (kind of) keep up with the big kids.
This is Sander and Caleb at Grandma and Grandpa Grover's house. It was fun to see Eric and Janine over the Easter holiday. Sander and Caleb blew out the candles and started in on the frosting. We did eat the cake, although the amount of spit on it was impressive from the two boys blowing out the candles.

No Pain No Gain

2008-04-03T21:08:00.000-07:00

Well, after much deliberation, I finally decided that life would be better with eyebrows. Sorry for everyone who had to listen to my endless questions...but I finally did it. I wanted to wipe the blood off before I took this picture, but Evan thought everyone should have a realistic view of what I look like. My brows will be really dark for a couple of weeks and then the real color will come through. Right now it is hard to see anything but the blood.

I will put more pictures on in a week and then you can tell me if you like the shape and color. I can go in to have it changed, although, I am not sure I am ready to go through that again. Maybe in five years...

12 Dancing Princesses

2008-02-28T14:16:00.001-08:00

What kind of mother am I? Well, one who is trying to survive having three kids, so I don't object when the kids ask to watch a movie that I know will hold their attention. True, it is barbies 12 Dancing Princesses. Sanders actually loves it! Should I encourage this? Well, I have tried to get him to watch Cars, but it just doesn't do it for him. Evan comes home to a dancing...prince? He instantly pulls out the boy toys. I did point out that dancing seems to help boys with their coordination. Now Evan just laughs and puts in the movie when Sander, with great intensitly, asks for the 12 Dancing Princesses, this of course is said with a very obvious lisp. Well, I have to say I do love watching my kids singing and dancing around the house. Maybe Sander will take after his dad and be a great clogger. :) ( For those of you who haven't seen Evan clog, I think he is secretly working up a new routine) Hope you enjoy watching my two dancing... well you get the idea.

Spring is on the way

2008-02-26T13:44:00.000-08:00

Scrub-a-dub-dub... One of the rare times the kids are all squeaky clean. Bath time before bed. I think this is supposed to have a calming effect on most children. I think it just gets ours more hyper.
I was in charge of book club this month. I decided to make grandma's famous chocolate skor cake. yummm. I asked Evan to put the cake out in the car and make sure it was safe. He came in with a smile and said, "Don't worry... I think it is safe." Yes Evan, you think you are funny, and at times we agree... Book club was fine. We read Beauty by Robin McKinley. It is a fun, quick read if you don't have a lot of time.
We went to visit Evan's niece Erin and this was the end result. One of her friends bought this guitar in China for $5. Since she had a nice new guitar, she thought it would be fun to let Gracie have it. I did take a video of the kids playing, but I don't know that it would have been "fun" for you all to hear the music. It was quickly "retuned" once we got home, and I am not sure it will ever recover.
Not sure what the weather is like in good old Idaho, but all the snow is pretty much gone here. The kids were excited to go outside to play first thing in the morning. They love being able to ride bikes with the other kids in the neighborhood. The other day Sander was trying to run after Gracie when he fell on his face. Yes, he cried so hard that he passed out just before Evan could reach him. The result being that he fell on his face again. That night he fell on the stairs. He has a a couple of really impressive bruises on his face. We only got a few child abuse questions.
Adelle is getting more personality every day. It makes me wonder what kind of trouble she will get in. The other day a bunch of moms from the neighborhood came over to chat and the conversation soon turned to telling all the experiences they have had with Gracie. ( sigh ) I am glad to know that my child can bring laughter to so many people, even if it paints an interesting impression of our family. Kids will be kids...

In love with the king

2008-02-18T21:15:00.000-08:00

Okay, since we are serious about wanting people to come visit us, we felt that buying a bed was a top priority. Well, when it came time to acutally buy one, we thought it would be fun to have a king sized bed. (For us, not the spare bedroom...sorry if I got your hopes up) Of course prices for these are BIG! Well, we found a great deal from a college student. If anyone needs a new bed, do we have the guy for you! Well, now all we can say is there is a bed ready and waiting for anyone who wants to come visit. While it is not as good as the king, it is still a good bed. I never knew it could be so hard to get out of bed in the mornings, but boy is it hard! I am in love with the king....

we love our dad

2008-02-18T21:07:00.000-08:00

Dad took care of Valentine's Day for us all. He bought us each a balloon, a beautiful lily plant, and a homemade card. He had to leave for work early, but when we went down to eat breakfast, this is what we saw....
That night we picked up a pizza, went for a drive, ate sugar cookies and candy, and then cuddled up to read a bedtime story. After the kids were asleep, we talked with Eric and Janine. Congrats you guys! We are excited for you.

Grandma's Cookies

2008-02-18T20:59:00.000-08:00

I did try to do one crafty thing with the kids. We thought sugar cookies were a must. We sure miss Grandma Shirley's cooking. I tried to make her sugar cookies, and while I haven't mastered them like Grandma, we got the general idea. I thought the kids would like cutting out the hearts, but Sander set the trend. Cut out one cookie, shove as much dough in your mouth as you can before mom realizes why there are so few cookies, and then give an innocent smile.

Next came the decorating. All I can say is "Not in your mouth, on the cookie..."

The "Love Hat"

2008-02-18T20:51:00.000-08:00

I wish I could say that I was creative enough to come up with these "love hats," but the credit has to go to Gold's Gym. Thank goodness I joined so the kids could do crafts every now and then. They absolutely LOVED these hats! It made me laugh all Valentine's Day.

Did I mention that Sander and Gracie get along most of the time? I was getting ready to take a picture of them sharing when... well, real life set in. Gracie crying when Sander bullies her. (sigh...)

Sweet Adelle, not to be left out of the fun of the "love hats," just because she wasn't big enough to make one herself. I found theses hats on her at veriouse times throughout the day. Can I say once again that she is such a great sport. She endure a lot. But I can honestly say that her brother and sister love her.

Photos

2008-02-10T19:47:00.000-08:00

Here are all the photos that didn't show up on the post below. Sorry, I am still learning. I will do better next time. Yup, that is a bucket on Sander's head. The perfect baby hat?!
Adelle (two and a half months)
Gracie and Sander. Best friends....some of the time.

Aunt Linda, Gracie, Aunt Sue, and sleeping Sander

This is the makeshift slide.

A week in the life of the Grovers

2008-02-10T19:07:00.000-08:00

A Week in the life of the Grovers [Photo][Photo] Gracie and Sander love to play ( and fight ) together, but this was a funny moment of Gracie playing the mom and Sander playing the baby. Sander was so serious about playing his part. He hardly cracked a smile, but we could tell he was having fun since he wouldn't get out of the laundry basket. I love the pictuers of them in the chair. They spend a lot of time entertaining themselves in, or behind, this chair. But their ultimate fun comes from the stairs in our house. It is almost as good as a slide!Adelle, sweet Adelle. I love taking pictures of her. Here is one that makes me happy when I look at it. Thanks Ashley for making the cute bow! Addie is now making cute little noises and giving us all big smiles. This week has been full of fun. Evan had a couple of days of meetings, so the company had a spouse day. They had babysitters for the kids while the wives had a fancy lunch and then we either scrapbooked or made jewelry. The great thing about it was the company paid for the first $50 worth of supplies. Gracie, Adelle and I all came away with stylin new jewelry. Aunt Linda saved the day and watched the kids while Evan and I went to the dinner for adults. They played Deal or No Deal. We didn't win the 40 in. plasma TV, but we did get a $75 gift card to Ruby River Steak House. Way to go Evan!! Our ward also had an adults Valentine's Party. All I can say is Evan + the Salsa = one HOT dance floor!! Thanks for dancing with me honey. Our neighbors also invited us over for a lunch with a bunch of families in the neighborhood. It was a lot of fun. We are excited about living in this area.[Photo][Photo][Photo] We LOVED the visit from Sue and Aunt Linda! The kids were so excited to stay up and visit with them, but Sander finally fell asleep cuddled up next to Aunt Sue.[Video]

Adelle

2008-02-07T19:44:00.000-08:00

While Evan is out playing with the kids, Addie and I get to spend a little one on one time. She has been such a wonderful baby considering how little time I get to spend cuddling her and giving her all my attention. It is sweet to watch the other kids with her. They love to hold her, rock her, and put her bink in when she is fussing.

Playing With Dad

2008-02-07T19:40:00.000-08:00

The kids can't wait for Evan to get home! They love playing with him out in the snow. He seriously pulls them around the backyard about 100 times. They love every minute of it!

Winter Fun

2008-02-07T19:31:00.000-08:00

Just learning how everything works.

This is Gracie and Sander before going out to the backyard to play. They love being able to go outside whenever they want to. (I might love it even more than they do! ) It is great to let them get some energy out playing in the snow. Sander never lasts long outside, because he can't walk very well in his boots and he hates to be slowed down!

Getting Started

2008-02-07T15:07:00.000-08:00

Just putting it all together.