COLLINGS COUNTRY

Words

2010-01-08T12:15:00.001-08:00

I often look back in my journals and read the funny things that my children said to me when they were little. Like the time Brinlee was about 4 years old and she said, "Mom...old ladies are rough!" I was a little stumped until she explained, "They can hit you with their purses."

As the kids get older I've noticed that I don't have as many funny stories, however, Kenadee is still continuing to supply us with a little honest laughter when it comes to her interpretation of a word she hasn't seen before. As a little kid some of her words included, Kwes-a-dellias (for Quesadilla's), Pail Nolish (for nail polish) and Nickels and Diamonds (for dimes).

Last night she was eating string cheese and thought it was very tasty.

Kena: Mmmm...this cheese is good.

Me: What kind is it?

Kena: Cash-ay Valley!

Me: Oh....you mean (Cash) Cache Valley?

Kena: Well...whatever...I don't know.

Perhaps the best one yet is just after we had moved to Utah and she saw the Bingham Cyclery store. I don't think she had ever encountered the word cyclery before. She asked me,

"Mom...is it Sickelry, or Kikelry!"

Sign Language

2009-12-11T09:01:00.000-08:00

We hosted Thanksgiving this year and my sister, Jacqueline, decided to do a quick photo shoot for us the following day. I was able to pull together some outfits and we headed up to a cute up the canyon in Liberty. Bailee's pictures were my absolute favorite. Jacqui is so good at capturing my children SO perfectly. I have more pictures to post later but for now here's an update on Bailee.

It's crazy to think she will be 18 months in January. She still seems too tiny to be that old. She is so petite and hasn't hit the 20 pound mark yet. She's small but feisty. A while ago I began teaching her sign language which she completely disliked and showed this with her high pitched scream. The first word was cup and it took a few weeks for her to finally sign the word. I was so excited. She then quickly picked up other signs: more, eat, dog, mommy, daddy..... however, she was still screaming for "help" so I decided to make up a sign for that. My computer was down and I didn't have a way to check the actual sign.

So the sign for help was to touch her head and say help. She picked this up really quickly too, however, a few weeks went by and she become more enthusiastic with her signs. I had second thoughts about this made up sign when I took her to the mall and she needed help on the kiddie slide....she began hitting herself in the head and yelling 'hep...hep'. I have since found out that the sign for help is to make a fist and hit the palm of the other hand. Fortunately, she is picking up words quickly and her pronunciation is clear so we she doesn't have to hit herself much anymore.

Here's another favorite picture of all the children. Thanks Sis!

The Big 4.0.

2009-11-17T20:01:00.000-08:00

This past weekend was a big one for Marc. He turned the ripe old age of 40. It's hard to believe he's even that old with his boyish good looks. He keeps saying that he just doesn't feel that old.

Here he is as a boy. What a cutie!

So, the day before his birthday I surprised him with a day of skiing at Solitude Ski Resort in Big Cottonwood Canyon. I had heard sometime in October that the resort should be open by Nov. 13th and I kept that in mind for his big day. We've never skiied that early ever....so I thought it would be fun.....and it was!

After skiing we stopped at the U of U to pick up Bailee from my sister. My nephew Tally was playing in the football game to determine who would go to the state championships. We stayed for a few hours but had to leave to get back for Kenadee's birthday party. She turned 12 on the 12th but more about that in the next post.

We made it home in time to freshen up and then take Kenadee and 7 girlfriends to dinner at Costa Vida and to see the new Disney Christmas Carol movie. We also took the family...but we didn't sit anywhere near the girls!!

After the movie I took the girls home while Marc and the kids got their swimsuits on ready to go to flowrider....an indoor surfing place. Fridays from 11pm-12am its only $5. They ended up staying an extra half hour and made it home by 1.30am. He was kicking of his 40's in a big way!

By the time his actual birthday rolled around he was exhausted (and a little sore). He was quite content to stay home on his birthday, relax and watch movies. So that's what we did...until about 4.30p when his mom arrived to watch the kids (or at least thats what we told him). She was actually here to set up for his 'surprise' party!

I was nervous that we had left for dinner kind of late and when he chose his restaurant there was a 30 minute wait which meant we would have 15 mins to order and eat so I started faking sick. After a 30 minute wait, I finally had to tell the hostess about the party and ask if she could bump us up which she kindly did. Marc was so sweet as I faked sick. He was even going to get his food to go but they were fast enough that he ate it and we headed home. I was telling him to hurry all the way home saying I felt that I was going to throw up. He honestly had NO IDEA that there would be a party. My dad caught his reaction in the photo below.

I really don't like planning parties and it weighed on me the whole week prior. It's hard to keep a secret and also to try to get things done when my hubby works at home. My sister in laws, Molly and Caity, and Marc's mom, were a huge help with the party. Molly helped me plan an 80's theme. They looked so awesome....Adam and John too!

I did a terrible job of taking photos....well, I didn't take any. My dad took these. I wish I had taken pictures of all the guests for our scrapbook. He had some good friends from high school show up which was a big surprise. It meant a lot to him to have his family and friends there to support him during his middle age crisis. He said it made the transition a lot smoother!

For his b-day present I got tickets to see Billy Joel and Elton John in Salt Lake. He was also really surprised about this. We're going this Friday....can't wait!

Computer Problems

2009-11-03T11:03:00.000-08:00

I've been having computer problems. It died without warning or explanation. The kids were mortified...what would they do without it. I, on the other hand, was somewhat relieved.

It's not that they use the computer a lot, in fact hardly at all. BUT....when one does ask to use my lap top it tends to remind the other two that they would like to use it too. Hence, the battle ensues as to who gets to use it, how much time they get, how much time the other person was on it....blah blah blah!

Thats the part that I don't like...refereeing. So, when I found out that my computer was fine, phew, and it was only a plug issue, I purchased the plug and then began my covert operation.

I hid my laptop in my bedroom. I could use it during the day while the children were at school but when I most often needed it at dinnertime for recipes or during the evenings I had to sneak into my bedroom and lock the door. I did really well for about two weeks until Jake brought up the issue. I had accidentally left it out in my bedroom and he had noticed it. I tried to cover with a tiny white lie but I think he caught on. So, when I wasn't looking he plugged it in and was very excited to tell me it was working.

Then a few days later the new plug I had bought stopped working. For reals! I didn't even fake this although Jake was completely suspicious. I was without a computer again for another week while a new plug was ordered. I have my new plug and I'm hoping to do better at updating my blog more often.

Crazy Hair Day

2009-10-28T10:18:00.000-07:00

This week is 'Drug Week' at the children's school.

Let me rephrase that.....It is say NO to Drugs Week!

All week long the children get to dress up in various outfits to remind them NOT to use drugs and today is "Drug's are Ridiculous": dress in ridiculous clothes and hair.
And not to be left out.... Bailee is sporting her 'Ridonkulous' version of crazy hair.

You know....I took a lot of medication when I was pregnant with her. So, just remember....if you use drugs, you're hair might turn out like this too.

The Pageant

2009-09-13T15:31:00.000-07:00

When Kenadee was born (almost 12 years ago), I used to think about what she would be like when she got older. What kind of person would she be? What would she be interested in? What would her personality be like? And I often used to hope (and pray) that WE would teach her what was important in life, help her to become a contributing member of society and not mess her up along the way.

Yesterday I got a glimpse into that world. And I think its safe to say we're doing an okay job. Even though she is only 11...almost 12, we got to see what a beautiful young lady she is becoming.

This pageant was her first experience at being on stage in front of a lot of people. After all of the excitement and preparation leading up to this day , Kenadee realised what was about to happen. The morning of her pageant her smile quickly faded as her nerves began to show through. She started to question why she had done this and wondered if she really wanted to get up on stage after all.

Ultimately she realised that this was an unforgettable experience that she would learn a lot from. I was impressed at her courage, her positive self talk and her motivation. She really wanted to grow from this experience and conquer her fear of being in front of a large group.

And so she went from practice rehearsals that morning where she looked slightly nervous and unsure of her 'walk' to the evening event where she confidently and excitedly knocked it out of the park.

This experience also reminded us that there is truth in the saying.... 'It takes a Village'.

From the sponsorships donated by family, friends and businesses, to Aunt Caity who so beautifully styled her hair and grandma who pulled out the needle and fixed her dress the morning of the pageant (PHEW!), to Aunt Molly and Co. for watching the kids for a good 5 hours so we could attend the pageant and Nana and Grandad who spent their evening watching Bailee....and to all of those who cheered her on!!

THANK YOU!

It's GREAT to be loved!!

Casual Wear reflected each girls style, personality and interests.

Kenadee and Grandma.....one of her biggest fans
Kenadee with Nana and Grandad.....more superfans!
Kenadee and Mum.....THE biggest fan (along with dad..who dodged the pictures)

Personality

2009-08-30T11:48:00.000-07:00

Kenadee received an invitation in the mail a few weeks ago.

"You have been invited to attend an informational meeting in regards to participating in a Scholarship Pageant: Miss Salt Lake City Pre-Teen."

Well...you can imagine her excitement. And.... you can imagine my skepticism.

She talked about it all week until the day arrived. The excitement she exuded must have rubbed off on me because against my better judgment, I decided to take her to the meeting. We discussed the possibility of this costing ALOT of money and in that case we most likely would not participate.

However, as we sat and listened we liked what we heard. This pageant was not a typical 'beauty' pageant. It focused more on the contestant's personality. There was NO swimsuit section but instead there was a 'personality' section where the interview took place outside of the actual pageant. And.....drum roll......there was NO cost to your parents.

Wow! This sounded amazing.

And then they added....YOU just have to get sponsors from businesses and other individuals. Boooooo! I hate asking for money. But while we're on the subject. Ahemmmm.....do you have any money to spare....please sir....we need some more?

Moving on. With a big deep breath....we decided we could do this. It wouldn't be too hard. And with the help of our wonderful family and friends who have either donated themselves or asked businesses they knew we have started the process.

Kenadee will be taking her place on stage at the Dee Events Center on September 12th. As her parents...we are confident that she will be amazing!!

And if 'being in a pageant' is ever on her lifes list of 'to do's' .....she can confidently cross it off her list.

Back to School

2009-08-24T07:49:00.000-07:00

This time last week the children were excitedly preparing for their FIRST day back to school. They set out their new clothes and shoes, made their lunches and got all of their school supplies in their bags.

They got ready for bed at a decent hour....even brushed their teeth without being asked and asked and asked. You know how that goes?

That first day they jumped out of bed before I did.
The next day they stepped out.
The third day the rolled out.
The fourth day I nagged them a little.....just a little.
And the fifth day they said....I'm tired....so I sort of pulled them out.

Now with one week down and only...oh about....30 weeks to go, I hope I won't need a cattle prod to get them going come mid December!

Birthday Surprise

2009-08-04T21:35:00.000-07:00

July 28th was Jakes birthday. This time last year it was a toss up as to whether he would be sharing his birthday with his new sister, Bailee. The doctor had decided that was the day that he would induce labor if the baby had not yet arrived.

But much to my relief and more importantly to Jakes, Bailee arrived a few weeks early. I was no longer miserably sick and Jake didn't have to share his birthday.

We thought a trip to the indoor surfing place was fitting for a big 10 year old celebration. It would be a BIG surprise.

However, earlier in the day when Grandma called she hadn't heard it was a suprise and she accidentally let the cat out of the bag. Knowing how much I LOVE to give surprises.... Jake felt bad about the mishap and so, for my sake, we ALL played along with the pending surprise. Most of my excitement would have come from seeing the astonished look on their faces when we pulled up.....but now that they knew about it I kind of forgot about it being a 'surprise'.

So, when we arrived at Flowrider we were all pretty excited to get started. I inadvertantly forgot to play along and say 'surprise'. But Jake, with his brilliant memory, hadn't forgot.. and as I was paying, Jake asked...

Mom...shall we act surprised NOW!? One big reason why I LOVE this kid.

Friends

2009-08-02T22:00:00.000-07:00

We've lived in Utah for almost 6 months. Marc says we are offical Utards! I hope that isn't an offensive term. I find it endearing because we are proud to be one. We absolutely LOVE it here.

I arrived in Utah almost 20 years ago. Coming from England it was quite a culture shock. Everything was BIG ....larger than life. I was in the 9th grade and everything was so foreign to me. I spent the first year crying myself to sleep at night. I wanted to go home...to my sister...to my friends....to familiarity.

It wasn't until I entered HIGH SCHOOL that I found some of the most amazing friends. Suddenly my life changed. I have heard of kids who hated their high school years....but I LOVED every minute of mine. It was all so 'new' to me. I loved assemblies, football games, dances, choir, Little Caesars breadsticks, the BOYS....and especially MY FRIENDS.

We had some exciting times together and we made some wonderful memories...that even 20 years later bring a smile to my face. Thanks Penny, Chan and Andrea for helping me through those high school years and for giving me an endless supply of wonderful memories.

Even though we don't stay in touch as often as we would like to, it is awesome to know that we can pick up every year...right we're we left of. And that.....is a sign of a GREAT friend.

Bailee's First Birthday

2009-07-28T09:18:00.001-07:00

It has been a year since sweet little Bailee Kate joined our family. We feel so blessed that she is ours. Our little 5 lb squirt has quickly grown into a feisty, babbling, almost walking toddler. She took her first steps on her birthday. As she grows and progresses we will definately miss our little 'baby'. It has been a joyful experience seeing her grow and learn.

Bailee always has a smile, rarely cries (because she has 5 personal servants!!), she has a funny sense of humor and is always trying to make us laugh. Her white blonde hair is now starting to grow in. We are keeping our fingers crossed that it stays blonde. It would be fun to see a blonde Kenadee.....everyone comments how much she looks like her. They are practically joined at the hip.

We spent the weekend of Bailee's birthday at Island Park with Marc's family for their annual vacation. Saturday was a busy day and we actually ran out of time to celebrate so we opted to do it the following day when she was happy and well rested. The photos are a mixture of her birthday at Island Park with Marcs family and a second party with my family.

Thanks Sister!

2009-07-17T20:44:00.000-07:00

I finally got to view my blog and I am SO excited to see what a wonderful job my sister, Christina, did. She recovered my lists, photos, title etc and made it super cute too. Thanks sister. I LOVE you. Now I can start blogging again....although I have limited time on Marcs work laptop so it might be slow and few between. Hopefully I can get a new computer soon.

New Layout.....maybe!?

2009-06-22T21:37:00.001-07:00

I have wanted to change my blog layout for quiet some time but it took me so long to get the current one right that I didn't want to mess it up. I've tried a few times to use the super cute backgrounds but I just couldn't get it to work...and I was following all of the directions. So tonight I tried again and it seemed really easy but the final result was a mixture of the new blog and the old blog. Just my luck. So I changed my template with blogger and ended up with this pretty, plain and not to cute blog. Ooops!

Any hints, ideas or help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!

Hiking at Rainbow Gardens

2009-06-09T07:19:00.000-07:00

We decided to try out a hiking trail at the mouth of the canyon by Rainbow Gardens. It was really fun. When we were done we went in a man made hot pot that is also at the mouth of the canyon. There are 3 hotpots that are free to the public. Just a few mintues after we arrived 2 other families came so it got a little crowded. It was fun to sit in the hot water and feel the cold river water rushing behind.

Brinlee's Tooth

2009-05-29T08:53:00.000-07:00

Just over a week ago Brinlee had a pain in her tooth and a large lump on her gum. Of course it was a weekend and we haven't seen a dentist in Utah yet, but fortunately the lump began to drain and the pain subsided. Then I noticed the lump was back a few days ago so we made an appointment with a local pediatric dentist. It was discovered that she has an abscessed tooth and it needed to be pulled. The dentist asked if she would like to wait until her cleaning appointment next week or do it now. She didn't hesitate....'do it now'. She was very tough and he took the tooth without any problem. We headed straight to Jake's baseball game and unlike our usual sweet, happy Brinlee...she was pretty grumpy during the game. I guess you can't blame her!

Catching Up

2009-05-19T21:56:00.000-07:00

We're definately staying busy since moving to Utah. Between all of our family events and kids activities I've fallen behind on my blog updates. I've been keeping up on the pictures so at least I can do a quick recap of the past month or two.

Here are the children on their first day of school. It has been such an easy transition moving to Utah. They are the Lomond View Lions and they really love their new school. We do miss our old school, Gate City, especially the A.R. reading, goals and parties...which they don't do here. My kids quit reading cold turkey for the first month. Now it falls on me to make sure they get their reading time in. They miss their friends but they keep in touch with texts and emails. Thank Heavens for technology. Also, the new school doesn't start until 8.35am so we have very leisurely mornings with no rushing and they get off the bus at 3:45pm. I like this new schedule!

Marc started exercising with the P90X challenge. It's a great workout consisting of a variety of different types of exercises. It really works for Marc because of all the stretches and workouts that target his back problems. It seems to be working....but it is definately a hard work out. I tried it a few times...phew! Our exercise room is in the basement and isn't yet finished so Marc is working out in the bonus room and the the kids like to join him. Its cute.

Bailee is now 10 months old and she is on the move. She is crawling at warp speed, standing up and cruising around furniture. She has crawled up 3 stairs before I caught her. The baby gates are up now. This picture was taken about a month ago when she was just starting so I put her in the laundry basket to contain her. Now she'd probably just climb out of it. She has some funny habits that make us laugh....she likes to squint her eyes and give a cheesy grin at people. She sometimes plays coy when strangers say hello....she will put her hand to her forehead if she gets really shy. She has a great laugh and makes us happy.

The girls attended a Daddy/Daughter Date with the 1980's theme. This was FUN to prepare for...after all it was my era. Notice the lace glove (yep..I made that), the slouch t-shirt, bangles, hoop earings, neon, side pony and scrunchie, leg warmers and layered socks. Ahhh...memories.

The funniest thing was seeing Marc as a preppy 80's guy. He reminded me of Carlton on The Fresh Prince of Bel Air.....he was totally game to wear some hammer pants but we couldn't find any.

I LOVE being able to hang out with family now that I live close enough. In April it was my older sister's 40th Birthday. Mum and I took her out for a mani/pedi spa treatment. She was so cute and she's always so much fun to spoil because she's always so grateful. Then we met up with my younger sister, Christina, for lunch.

We had big plans for Jacqui's lunch; Benihana's, Chang's Garden, etc but she said she wasn't too hungry and was happy to go to Sizzler. HUH? We asked her if she was sure and she said yes...she would like that. So we went to Sizzler in Salt Lake and as we walked up to order Jacqui said,

My Sizzler takes your order at the table.

Hmmm! Then she adds,

Where are the peanuts on the floor?

Huh????

Then she says,

My Sizzler has the country line dancers!

And suddenly I realise...she's talking about Texas Roadhouse! We laughed and laughed and decided that at least we wouldn't forget this birthday. The food really wasn't that good.

At the end of April my nephew Ben came home for his mission in the Indiana, Indiannapolis Spanish Speaking Mission. It was SO good to see him and welcome him home. After we met at the airport we tagged along with the family to Temple Square. It was a great day.

I like this picture of me and my beautiful sisters. It's SO much fun being close by each other and being able to get together.......FINALLY!

On Mother's Day Weekend we went to Marc's Grandma's to help paint her deck and fix up the yard. We weeded until more paint brushes arrived and then the kids worked so hard painting. They loved every minute of it.

Marc has also been enjoying his weekly movie nights with his brothers. Every Friday for the past few weeks and for the upcoming 4 weeks or so Marc and his brothers attend the late night movie together. We really didn't see many movies in Pocatello because #1) the movie theatre wasn't great and #2) I'm not big into Terminator and Star Trek and all those other guy shows!

So, thats the latest. I have pictures on my camera of Jake playing baseball, Mothers Day Events, and Bailee doing more cute stuff so I'll hopefully be posting again soon.

Coupon Craze

2009-04-21T23:01:00.001-07:00

I'm joining the coupon craze in an attempt to take control of my food budget. Its not that my budget is dramatically out of whack but I would like to be more disciplined each week in sticking to my menu and food list. My main problem is that I LOVE Rachael Ray so if I catch her show before dinner then I like to cook what she cooked so I have to buy ingredients.

I was watching Rachael this evening and I saw a great segment on $5 meals. There is a website too. This lady plans the menu, uses coupons, shops the sales and makes meals for under $5. I thought it was worth sharing. And please...if you are a coupon shopper and you have a super great deal of the week (you know the kind where you buy $50 worth of groceries for like a buck...okay, not that great, but close) PLEASE send me a heads up. I'm dying to get a great deal for my food storage.

Heres the website: www.fivedollardinners.com

Easter Sunday

2009-04-21T08:35:00.000-07:00

Easter Sunday was our stake conference which is held at the Ogden Tabernacle next to the Ogden Temple. Our past conferences in Idaho were always from 10-12pm, so we showed up about 9.45am only to find that it had already started at 9am. Later that week the Bishopric came to visit us and we shared our funny story of how we showed up an hour late to conference. They looked confused as we kept explaining the time differences until we said...Our conference was at 9am right....and the Bishop replied..No, our conference was at 3pm. That made it even better.

Bailee is growing way too fast for my liking. She is now crawling all over and loves to pull herself up to standing. She actually prefers to stand than crawl. She says DaDa...although we didn't teach it to her so does that count? We are now pointing out who dada is and she is catching on. She also give us kisses when we ask. She is such a joy. The other children are wonderful with her. They are always loving her, kissing her and holding her.

Easter Party

2009-04-08T07:43:00.000-07:00

Oops....I thought I posted this a few weeks ago.

This past weekend was G'ma and G'Pa's annual Easter Egg Hunt. And this time we didn't have to pack up for the weekend to attend. We took a quick 15 minute drive to Grandma's. It sure does make life easier (and FUN) living here. So, I'm not the best at remembering to take pictures and frankly, I'm glad I at least got the few that I did. They don't completely represent how much fun we had...and I didn't even catch Jake in one of them.

Here is Brinlee with her cousin Clara (whose birthday was today). They didn't plan the matching shirts but they sure were happy it happened.

Here's Kenadee with cousins, Clara, Grace and Chloe in the background.

More Cousins hunting for eggs; Mailia, Kelton, Clara, Cameron

The first week of April is filled with birthdays so we also had a celebration for Kelton, Clara, Caity, Maili and Zoe.

It is Zoe's FIRST birthday in a few weeks. Cait made the cutest cake and Zoe LOVED it. She is such a sweet baby.

Brinlee's Baptism

2009-04-01T13:54:00.001-07:00

Brinlee was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints last Saturday. She was very excited. Within days of moving in the Stake Primary President visited us and gave Brinlee a packet titled 'Eight is Great'. Every night for the 8 days leading up to her baptism she did a little activity to prepare herself for baptism. We made prayer pretzels, had white cupcakes with chocolate frosting to represent repentance, put coins on wet paper towels to bear others burdens and lots of other cool things.

We were also visited by the Ward Primary President who brought Brinlee a beautiful white towel with her name embroidered on it for when she came out of the water. She also brought a leather journal for her to record her day in. The ward had two dresses for her to choose from that she could wear to be baptized in. One was a plain lacy dress and the other was more of a 'pioneer' looking dress. Brinlee immediately chose that one and said...I like this one because I will look like a maid.

We had lots of family that came to support Brinlee. And they were very happy that they didn't have to drive the long distance to Pocatello. This is my sisters family...minus one who comes home from his mission in about 4 weeks. Wahoo!

Me and Mum

My sister Christina and Kenadee. We always say Kenadee is a mini Christina.

My parents sitting with Caity and Mailee (and the back of Adam).

Sandi and Kenney with Marcs parents.

Moving Day Recap

2009-03-22T20:42:00.001-07:00

We made it. We're finally here!

And we couldn't be happier. It's been one whole week since we planted our roots back in the Utah area. We've been gone for 12 years and although we've enjoyed our time in Pocatello, we are certainly happy to be back home.

The move went well. I got sick the day prior with a terrible sore throat, stuffy nose and headache but I pushed on through. We had the entire garage packed full of our belongings and the wonderful students of the University Ward came Friday afternoon to help load up the trucks. We were also fortunate to have Marc's dad and brother, John come up. John was going to drive the second truck back. We worked hard into the late hours.....Marc cleaning carpets, me loading up some last minute items and John...even cleaning a bathroom. Thanks John! By the wee hours of the morning we were spent.

We woke early on Saturday to finish up. The boys took off first thing down to Utah. Kenadee, Bailee and I stayed behind to empty the fridge and clean the laundry room and kitchen. I could tell with my sickness getting worse that I was falling behind and so my home teacher, Bro. Desfosses called in some help. Thank you Delynn, Heather and the guys who finished the shed and swept the garage.

And so we rolled into Pleasant View, Utah around 2pm. The trucks were unloaded and furniture had even been set up. Family was everywhere. It was definately a sight that I LOVED to see. Marc related the events that happened upon his arrival. The Bishop of our new ward had mobilized quite a number of men to help unload the trucks. We also had the help of our dads and Marcs brothers. The Bishops wife had also baked six loaves of bread for us....with butter, jam and p.nut butter. They brought us a meal that very first night. On the second day which was Sunday our neighbors also brought us a meal; a pot roast. The primary president called that day to discuss Brinlee's upcoming baptism and the relief society president stopped by to say hello and drop off a phone list.

Besides stumbling into an amazing ward with wonderful people we feel so blessed to be near our family and have the enjoyable interactions that we have had. Here are some of the things we did in our first week.

1. The girls went to an indoor soccer game with Aunt Sandi/Uncle Kenney.
2. We had two cousins over to play video games (during the soccer game).
3. My parents brought us dinner.
4. Marc's parents brought us dinner.
5. Marc ran to his brother Adam's house (5 mins away) for some laundry soap cuz it was Sunday and we couldn't find ours yet.
6. My sil, Molly, took my kids for the whole day while I was recuperating from bronchitis.
7. My sister, Christina took the kids the next day while I was still recuperating.
8. My sister and her family dropped in Sunday afternoon for a quick visit.
9. My sil, Caity, dropped by to give me some diapers and stayed for a quick chat.
10. My mil, took the kids for the night when I was sick.
11. My mum took the kids to Crystal Hot Springs for a day of swimming. They LOVED it.
12. Mum just dropped by tonight for about 15 minutes. The reason...she said...just because she could.

People are wondering if we will get sick of family coming over or dropping by and all I can say to that is......are you kidding!????

Moving Update

2009-03-13T00:36:00.000-07:00

It's 1:35 am and I can't sleep. We have only one more day until we move and I got a burst of energy around 10pm, so I packed and cleaned until around 12:30am. I'm still wired and I don't feel tired. I think I'm just too excited. We took a day trip to Utah today and signed papers on the house. We did an inspection of the home and I love it just as much as I did when we first saw it. We dropped the two middle children off with our sister in law, Molly, who offered to watch them...thanks Molls! The sellers of our new home are moving out in a hurry and trying hard to be out by the contract deadline so Marc's mom and a few other sister in laws have offered to go to our new home and clean it (in case they don't). They are SO awesome. We love you guys!

So, we have about 90% off the house moved into the garage ready to put in the trucks tomorrow afternoon. Then on Saturday we will finish up and head out first thing in the morning and unload all our stuff. I can't believe how much stuff we actually have. I've taken 6 loads to the D.I. and I have oodles of garbage sacks outside. Good job its garbage day tomorrow.

We were lucky enough to have our friends and neighbors bring us a meal for the last 3 days..so I was able to pack up my kitchen. That's one of the things I'll miss about Pocatello....the people!

Bailee went in for her shots and we found out she had an ear infection too. She has had a cold for a week. Later that night she got the goopy eye and we realised she had pink eye too (conjunctivitis). Poor baby has a runny nose and goopy eyes. She seems to be doing much better now and even while sick she is a sweet little baby.

So, thats our update. I won't be online for a while because I'll be busy moving and unpacking...
everytime we hear the Chris Daughtry song, "I'm going home" we think its our song.
We just can't wait!

Happy Birthday Brinlee

2009-03-04T16:07:00.000-08:00

Brinlee turned 8 on February 22nd. She celebrated with a party at a local gym where the kids tumbled, bounced, climbed and swung down the zip line. She has some great friends that she will miss in Pocatello. But Brinlee will easily make friends in her new home. She has an infectious personality and she is always so friendly. Brinlee has an amazing sense of humor and we love how she can make us all laugh...especially the adults. She is also very sweet and thoughtful...she especially hates it when mom is upset and always goes out of her way to try to make me happy. I LOVE that about her. She has a natural talent for gymnastics and you can often find her flipping and bouncing around the house. She never walks into a room...she always cartwheels, flips or round offs into it.

So, 3 years ago during this exact time we were moving into our current house and Brinlee's birthday was sort of overlooked until we were settled in. This time we made sure we celebrated...however, unfortunately the whole baptism thing has been pushed aside until after the move. Brinlee has been SO very excited to get baptised and we have been excited for her but in the midst of the move it seems to have been forgotten about. So we are hoping to get moved, get excited again and do the baptism at the end of March.

Look Whose Sitting Up...

2009-02-17T11:22:00.000-08:00

BAILEE KATE...

Happy Birthday Nana

2009-02-11T15:55:00.000-08:00

I was able to take my mum out for a birthday lunch when we went to Utah for the funeral. Bailee and I took her to a fun Irish restaurant called Macools. The food was delicious. Here's is my mum and Bailee. I wanted to make a list of everything I loved about her that would correspond with her age..
but then I wasn't sure she wanted me to reveal her age.....because she always looks SO much younger than she is ;) ....so I'll just recap that I love how friendly she is, how accepting of everyone, how much she loves her grandchildren (and her family), how creative she is and how determined she is! Love you MUM.

Goodbye Grandpa Great

2009-02-11T15:37:00.001-08:00

This is Marc's paternal Grandpa, Fred and his wife, LoaJean. They were married just a month after Marc and I were. They are one of the sweetest couples and I am priveleged to have had them in my life for the last 17 years. Since we moved from England I miss the grandparent interaction that I left behind, but these two definately filled that void.

They have attended every baptism, every blessing and other important events, even though we live 3 hours from them. We have enjoyed Christmas', holidays and campouts with them. Grandpa just turned 89 this past September. The photo above was taken last April just before Grandpa took a turn for the worse. LoaJean has spent the last 7 months by his side taking care of him. Grandpa Great passed away February 1st, 2009. His funeral service was a wonderful tribute to him. The Great Grandchildren sang and Marc dedicated the grave. Grandpa lived a full and eventful life and we know he is celebrating and reuniting with family members up in heaven.

Some of the Grandchildren were the pall bearers. Marc is on the end. Grandpa was a veteran and they gave him a 12 gun salute. I hope I got that right.

It's not very proper to laugh at a picture of a funeral but when we saw John in the picture Marc said....Woah, look John's a giant!! He's the really tall guy in the far right of the picture. Now, he is tall but I think this one is just the angle. Either that or he's standing by some really short 'Daybells'.

How about these cute cousins!? This is Brinlee's cousin posse. Brinlee, Maili, Chloe and Clara. I wish I could just take them all home with me.

Ladybugs and The Camera

2009-02-11T14:52:00.001-08:00

I finally got the crib set up and bought some cute bedding. I have always loved Lady bugs and I was lucky to find this cute bedding. The wall was originally painted purple to match Brinlee's old room but with the new bedding it looked odd so I painted it tan. I'm dying to finish decorating it but I guess we should wait until we move.

Since Bailee sometimes sleeps in her crib upstairs I bought a video monitor so I can hear and see Bailee when I'm on another level. I LOVE the monitor...sometimes I just sit and watch her sleep. She is just too precious. However, recently Bailee has not enjoyed napping in her crib...she prefers to be held while she naps.....but I've been laying her down and letting her cry for a while.

The other day she rolled around the crib until she was positioned right in front of the camera and then she would cry longinly into the camera. When I saw her looking right at me it was kind of creepy. Does my little 6 month old know I am watching her? It was obviously coincidental...but kind of funny! I finally got my camera and snapped a shot of her staring at me. It's a little blurry but you get the picture.

Tae Kwon Doe

2009-02-11T13:49:00.000-08:00

Jake began taking Tae Kwon Doe lessons a few months ago. He really enjoys the class and he is progressing so well. He looks so awesome in his suit. He also gets to take Kendo Sword fighting. Jake is planning to test for his advanced white belt in a few weeks. And yesterday in class, he broke a board...it was a plastic, breakaway board...but still a board!!!

Baby Socks, Bumbo Seat and Sippy Cups

2009-02-11T13:46:00.000-08:00

There is an adorable baby boutique in Salt Lake City on 9thE. and 9thS. It carries the cutest little things which are pretty pricey. We usually just go to browse. This Christmas my mum was kind enough to spoil Bailee with one of the items that I LOVE.....a box of Mary Jane socks. Look how cute she looks with her ballerina feet.

My neighbor also gave me a bumbo seat to use. It's SO awesome. Bailee can sit right on the counter or on the couch with us instead of having to lay on the ground. She is so happy to be right in the middle of the action. We also tried to give her a sippy cup today but she wasn't too interested in drinking from it...just gumming or chewing it.

Bailee: 6 month photos

2009-02-11T13:36:00.000-08:00

My sister, Jacqueline, snapped some photos of Bailee while we were in Utah last weekend. I'm so lucky to have such a talented sister. She truly captures the spirit of those she photographs. The photo above is typical Bailee.....always smiling.

Baby Changes

2009-01-29T09:00:00.000-08:00

With my first 3 children I was so big into reading and implementing all the baby advice that I could get my hands on. I just wanted my children to be normal, well adjusted, healthy children and I'm proud to say they have turned out A-OK! Actually, I'm super proud of the little people they are becoming. They amaze me all the time with their kindness, thoughtfulness and love within our family.

Now, here's where things are different. I seem to be doing everything wrong with my sweet new baby. Maybe I'm mourning the loss of her baby stages as she gets older or maybe I'm just plain tired and I can't stick it out when she won't go to bed or when she wakes up at night. I think its a little of both but mostly I don't want her to grow up!

I hate to even admit this but Bailee is still in our room, in her bassinett. If you've seen the picture, you know that the bassinett is now unsafe because of the low sides. Its so small that she can't even try to roll over and I have only put her in it wrapped tightly in her blanket so she doesn't roll. So, the time has come to move her into the crib (which is upstairs...another factor for me). Yesterday she took a nap in her crib for the first time and as I watched her on the video monitor she just spread out her whole body and for the first 15 minutes she rolled around, stretched her arms and grabbed her toes. It was SO cute! She finally fell asleep on her tummy and I of course watched her every second on the monitor and ran upstairs to check on her a few times because I'm a nervous mum and she was on her tummy.

So heres our biggest problem. At 3 months when we laid Bailee in her crib at night she would fall asleep and wake up a few hours later, usually to burp, but I often didn't realise that so I would get her up and take her downstairs to snuggle until I went to bed at 11pm. Now that she is used to this schedule she is resisting any type of normal bedtime schedule. And....dare I even admit it.....when I was really tired I would nurse her and now that is what she wants every bedtime. I tried to let her cry it out last night but she is stubborn and I am weak! The other bad thing is that she is so used to me that she won't settle down even if Marc goes in to see to her. So, that really has to change. As a mother of 4, I should know these things but I've forgotten so if you have any ideas send them my way.

And my final issue is something that happened with all my babies....refusing the bottle! We started off supplementing with a bottle now and then but nursing is so convenient that we eventually forget to do that and now at 6 months old she will have nothing to do with a bottle...not even with juice in it. She thinks its so funny to chew it and gum on it. But I want to go skiing for more than 3 hours so I need to get this bambino to take an occasional bottle. Any suggestions!?

Even with all these concerns we couldn't be happier to have such a sweet little spirit in our home. She is now scooching around the room. She does the backwards scoot when she's on her tummy...using her arms to push back and on her back she uses her feet to push her up and scoots around the room. I just realised that in no time at all my life will change...its been a long time since we've had a baby roaming around. Break out the baby gates!

Bailee's Laugh

2009-01-21T09:15:00.000-08:00

If this was sent directly to your email inbox you will need to log on to the website to view the video. Click here www.victoriacollings.blogspot.com.

Bailee is now 6 months old. I think the older I get the faster time passes. It just seems like she's growing up way to fast and we don't like that at all. She has now mastered the roll over. She can roll from front to back and back to front again. She is in the pre-crawling stance now and loves to rock. She hasn't yet figured out that she can use her rolling to get around the room although she does end up all over the place.

She's definately had a growth spurt and has also sprouted two tiny teeth on the bottom. That was a big surprise as none of our other children got teeth until they were at least a year. She was very good through the whole process but that would explain the incessant drooling. She was sleeping through the night but began waking to eat a few times until last night when she went to bed all on her own and didn't wake up until 4am. Yeah Bailee!!!

We started her on some solids which she seems to like. She is mastering the use of her tongue as she takes the food then pushes it out with some additional drool attached. I then scoop that up and put it in another bowl and start again with a fresh scoop. By the time were done she has more in her spit out bowl than we started with in her food bowl. So I'm not sure if she's actually getting any food down or just pushing it back out.

Oh and she's finally getting some hair on that little bald head, although its very blonde so its hard to see and doesn't make much of a difference. Thank goodness for bows.

Hat and Booties

2009-01-02T11:17:00.000-08:00

For Christmas this year my sister, Christina, went the extra mile and decided to make all of the children in our family wool hats (10 total). They were SO adorable. Kenadee and Brin had pink hats and Jake had a green/blue hat. I went to take a picture and realised we'd left Kenadee's hat at Nana's.
Bailee originally had a matching pink hat with matching spring booties that Christina had also sewn but unfortunately, Bailee's head was a tad too big for the hat. So Christina decided to give her another set that she had made for a client of hers. It was a beautiful white hat with pink booties. SOOOOO cute! Thanks Christina, we LOVE them!

Bailee's New Sleep Schedule

2008-12-30T13:54:00.001-08:00

Ever since we went to Utah Bailee has been waking up at 4am for a snack and some play time.While I have obliged with the snack because well, if not, then she will eventually go from grunting and snorting to full blown crying I draw the line at playtime. Even though she is exceptionally cute with her wide eyes and smiley face, 4am just isn't a good time for me.

So, she lays in her bassinet, next to my bed, where she coo's and babbles and pulls her binki in and out of her mouth like a suction cup, for about a half an hour and then she goes to sleep. I really hope this is a passing phase because I much preferred the full nights sleep that I was getting.

Finally....Christmas Dinner

2008-12-28T20:36:00.001-08:00

With our long trip to Utah we weren't able to have our annual Christmas Dinner on Christmas Day so we were finally able to have it on Sunday. We have an awesome Brine Turkey recipe and Marc is such a good 'turkey maker' that we look forward to this turkey every year. Needless to say it was a moist, succulent, tasty turkey. Look at us, we hadn't even changed our church clothes so we look all fancy for our dinner.

We also spent the whole dinner eating the 'English' way with our knives and forks. We were very proper and the kids really enjoyed it. It took some practice but they were able to eat 'properly' with their utensils. And this was Bailee's first time at the table with us. We finally bought her a high chair. It attaches to the seat which works out perfectly for our kitchen space. Thats her behind the bottle of bubbly!!

If you notice in the picture above we always have our English Christmas Crackers which is a tradition from my childhood. If you haven't ever seen Christmas Crackers, they pop when you pull them and contain a party hat, party favor and silly joke, which I usually have to explain because they are English and don't often make sense. For example, this years joke:

Q. What did the traffic light say to the Zebra Crossing (term we use for crosswalk)??

A. Don't look now, I'm changing!

Even Bailee wore her party hat which she kept on for quite a while. She spent quite a bit of time just sucking on the Christmas Cracker.

And then she realised there was something on her head and it just had to come off.

Christmas Vacation

2008-12-28T19:04:00.000-08:00

Our Christmas Vacation began Monday 22nd when we headed down to the hotel in Salt Lake City. This is my favorite family tradition because it gives me the chance to really enjoy Christmas. In order to leave town we have to be completely ready for Christmas a whole week before. If not, I'd probably spend the extra days finishing up my last minute errands.

Our usual schedule is to stay until Christmas Eve which we spend with Marc's family and then drive straight home to Idaho where we usually roll in around 11pm and throw the kids in bed. This year we decided to stay through Christmas Day so that we could spend the day with my family as that is when they all gather.

We found a great suite at the Homestead Suites by the Gateway Center. We had a living room, kitchenette and 2 bedrooms with their own bathrooms. The hotel had a great breakfast and also provided a dinner during reception hour. We were able to eat dinner at the hotel for free.

When we arrived at the suite Bailee's diaper had exploded which I realised was due to the apple juice we'd given her during the road trip. While I bathed her I asked Marc to get her travel bag and it was then that we realised neither of us had packed it. That meant no diapers, onesies, pj's, clothes, bibs, socks OR matching pajama's which was the only thing that mattered to me. Fortunately, I had one spare outift in the diaper bag that I always carry around. I put her in the pj's and within 10 minutes she exploded again. Thank you apple juice!!!

So, this time we put her in a diaper and one of Brinlee's shirts. We figured we could grab a few things at Deseret Industries to get us by so we ran out to the store. We pulled up to D.I. at 6.02pm and the lady told us they were closed. I pleaded my case of being an out of towner with a naked baby who kept pooping and she pointed me to the baby items. Within 3 minutes we were at the check register with 3 onesies and couple of pj's. They were definately not our favorite pj's but it was better than nothing. She's so darn cute she can even pull off some ugly pj's. ;)

And, then we were able to wash Bailee's clothes and with no more accidents Bailee survived for the next 3 days with just a few outfits. I also found a red Christmas outfit at Walmart so she had some semi-matching pj's for Christmas morning.
After the Bailee fiasco we went to get a Christmas tree. We bought a purple one and decorated it with silver ribbons and baubles. We thought it turned out beautiful.

We spent the next day at the Gateway and took the children to Discovery Gateway where the big kids ALSO had a great time. This is Marc and his mom in the building center. The little kids enjoyed a life size helicopter, movie making, news room and supermarket.

G'ma and G'pa brought cousin Grace along which was fun for the kids to spend time together.

Here's Brinlee and Grace enjoying the snow.

We also visited the BUILD A BEAR workshop which is always a window shopping event each year that we go. However, this year, as I was buying something at Banana Republic daddy took the kids to 'window shop' and ended up with their very own BEAR. They were SO excited and had a wonderful time making their bears. I was just sad that I missed the whole process and didn't get any of it on camera.

Each year at G'ma and G'pa's the children present the nativity. Most years I usually end up organizing it with the help of the sister in laws and we try to pull something together sort of last minute. So, this year I decided to make a 'nativity box' with all of the costumes that we would need each year. We though this would be a perfect gift for G'ma who is a hard person to shop for. Brinlee is the star, Jacob the shepherd in the green headscarf and Kenadee was Joseph this year (in blue). The older cousins sang a song about the nativity as each child entered. It worked out great and the kids were AWESOME!!

We thought it might feel weird to be away from home for Christmas but it wasn't. We really enjoyed our suite and Christmas morning was great. On Christmas Day we headed up to Ogden to spend the day with my family. Here's Nana and G'pa with the children.

So, my mum was giving out gifts and I was the last one. She handed me the bag and as I opened it she said, I hope you like it. I got the smallest one. I thought this was odd as I noticed the tag on the beautiful sweater said 3X. Not wanting to be rude I meekly pointed this out and then as I unfolded it and we saw its actual size we began hysterically laughing. It was definately not a small. So here is my sissy and me in the picture wearing my awesome size 3X gift. We figured we can just wear it together. In my mums defense, she looked on the hanger that said size 4 instead of the actual tag.

We ended up staying over another night because of the terrible storm that was happening up North. We didn't want to risk driving in the dark. So, we went to a movie but after a while we decided the movie wasn't quite what we expected and we decided to leave. Unfortunately I left my brand new black peacoat, which I had searched high and low for, and it took me over 2 months to find one I liked, especially in Pocatello (the land of no stores). I had even got a killer deal on it because I found it at Ross (name brands for less). If you look at my last post of New York, it was that coat. I LOVED it!!!

So, I immediately called the theater as the movie was still in progress and I gave my info and my seat number. They assured me they would go in and get it. Well, It turns out that they couldn't find it and no one turned it in. Someone STOLE my coat!!! I don't usually get upset over material objects but this one got the better of me. I cried for my coat, but only for about 10 minutes, and after Marc consoled me I was done. I just prayed really hard that night that it would show up the next day but no such luck so I went home coatless and I froze today as I went to church without a coat.

And so the search for a new, cute, affordable coat begins again. Wish me luck!!!

Christmas in New York

2008-12-19T08:04:00.000-08:00

3 great reasons to travel with a baby.......

1. Jump ALL the lines at the airports, moving directly to the front of the line.

2. Make a gazillion NEW friends by wearing baby in a front carrier so her pretty face and smile can be seen by everyone you walk by who then stop to oooh and aaah!!

3. Get FREE popcorn at an awesome store in Times Square AFTER it has closed, nonetheless (more about that later).

We spent 3 days in New York and packed in about 6 days of sightseeing. It was AWESOME!! New York is our most favorite place to visit. It reminds me a lot of England. The hustle and bustle, walking EVERYWHERE, markets, bakeries, tons of people. I LOVE it.

Day 1: We arrived in NYC Sunday night after an uneventful plane ride. The passenger next to me gave Bailee the 'Best Traveling Baby' award because he thought she was a wonderful traveler. Not a peep, only smiles and then she slept part of the time. Not bad for her first plane ride. That night we ate at a great restaurant named Maxies. The staff were wooed by the baby and when the waiter saw my empty plate he noticed a spot of pink in the chicken so he immediately took it back to the kitchen and didn't charge me for my $22 meal. There was so much food on the plate I just ate around it, plus it wasn't that pink so I hadn't thought to complain. He was an Indian gentleman who told us all about his family and children. Babies are such an ice breaker.

So later that night we went to see the store windows at Saks 5th Avenue and the tree at Rockefeller Center. The weather was so mild and enjoyable we only needed a jacket. Bailee LOVED the lights which were everywhere.

We stumbled upon an outdoor concert for The Carson Daley Show at Rockefeller where T.I. was performing. Had no idea who he was ( a rapper) but it sure was fun to get caught up in that crowd. After the concert we walked around some more taking in all of the sights and around 11ish we went to the movies to warm up and saw The Day The Earth Stood Still. Not a great movie and I ended up falling asleep. We later realised it was Sunday and probably wouldn't have gone to the movie if we'd remembered. Maybe thats why it was such a bad movie!! We finally made it back to our hotel sometime after midnight.

Day 2: Marc had meetings during the morning so Bailee and I went to get something to eat and explore the city. I got bundled in my turtleneck, coat and scarf. Hello....the high was 68 degrees that day. I was sweltering during my lunch and had to go back to the hotel to change. This was a perfect weather day so we stayed out all night again. We took a carriage ride through Central Park (my camera died, so no picture). Our carriage driver was from Turkey. We also took one of the bike taxis earlier that day and he was also from Turkey. He was a chemist but not able to work in USA and was learning English for 6 months before returning home. There are some really great people in NYC. We saw the windows at Macy's and shopped there.

We ate at an Irish Pub named O'Lunneys and had authentic English/Irish food. YUMO!

We went to The Empire State Building which we didn't have time to do on our first trip.

We went to the top (or close to it) where it was SO windy. What an amazing view. You can see my crazy hair in the picture. Around 10.30pm we went to Maxies again to get some cheesecake. YUMO! We called it a night just after midnight again.

Day 3: Big weather change today. We wore our thermals, boots, gloves, hats etc. The high was only 40 and it rained and snowed most of the day. We didn't make it to the TODAY show as early as we had wanted. We were just plain tired but we got out around 9.30am and caught Kathie Lee and Hoda. At one point they caught us on television but we didn't tivo it so we didn't see ourselves.

That's Kathie Lee and Hoda above Marc on the second floor. You can see them if you zoom in on the picture.

We ate at The Variety Cafe (thanks for the recommendation Penny). The food in NYC is amazing. Its all SO fresh and there are large buffets where you can take whatever you want and pay by the pound. No fast food joints there. There is so much variety which is Marc's favorite thing. We took a bus tour of the city.

I waited for the bus inside the NBC store when all of a sudden MATT LAUER walked right in front of me past the glass doors. Cool!!! We took the bus to SoHo and Little Italy where we ate lunch and canolis. We sat in an awesome Whole Foods Store to warm up with ceiling to floor windows up on the second floor. There was a view of the streets below. We LOVE to explore NYC and just take in all of the sights and sounds. It was exciting just to sit there with other New Yorkers.

It really began to snow that evening as we headed to the Rockettes Holiday Show at Radio City Music Hall. My friend, Penny, had told me about the show and that we could take babies in. It was excellent. The neatest thing about the show was the inclusion of The Nativity. They read from the scriptures and highlighted the birth of the Savior. It was really neat. We got out of the show around 10.00 and we went to eat dinner at The Olive Garden which overlooks Times Square.

Here comes the popcorn story. We went to an awesome store called Dale and Murphys the night prior and the young Puerto Rican girl in the store just made a huge fuss of Bailee. She asked her name and I told her Bailee. She said, Like the drink??? (Baileys Irish Cream). Anyways, we went back the last night at 11pm to get a few gifts but they had closed. I tried the door and looked sad and she came running up, unlocked the door and told us to come in. I told her we wanted a few bags and she said okay. I asked Marc for cash (as the till was being closed out) and she said, No, I'll give it to you. Another family walked by and tried to come in and we told them they were closed, the lady said, How come they let you in then? We just shrugged and pointed to the baby!

I had ladies and men all throughout New York cooing at the baby and especially the Puerto Rican ladies who would say to me (with their cool accents), Oh, God Bless...God Bless and then call their friends over to come and see the baby. I had a very large black man at the airport security line, who did not crack a smile until he saw Bailee and then pull out a picture of his 3 year old daughter to show Marc. It was so awesome!

We arrived home Wednesday afternoon in time to feed the kids and then head out to a Kurt Bestor Christmas concert. My old babysitter, Whitney, began watching my kids when she was Kenadee's age and is now old her 20's and has a toddler of her own, came to stay with her husband while we were gone. She had quite a time of it with sick kids, mostly Brinlee who ended up with an ear infection. Thanks Whitney and Colton. You guys ROCK!

So, overall we had an AMAZING time in New York. I wrote this post in such detail for my own memory so thanks for bearing with me. MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!

2008-12-19T08:03:00.000-08:00

New York Christmas

2008-12-10T20:47:00.000-08:00

Only 3 more days until we leave for New York. If you haven't heard, Marc, Bailee and I are taking a 4 day trip to New York. I'm SO excited to have the New York Christmas experience with my wonderful hubby and sweet little baby! We obviously won't be able to attend shows together but we're considering going to a show alone while the other watches the baby and then switching. If we see the same show at least we can talk about it afterwards. I LOVE New York. It's so much like England. I can't wait.

Nativity

2008-12-10T20:16:00.000-08:00

The kids had a great opportunity to take part in the University Ward Stake Celebration. Jake is the Wiseman in yellow, Brinlee the silver star and Kenadee was Mary in pink. Originally she was a cow because all other parts were taken and then during the rehearsal the 5 year old playing Mary decided she was having none of that and refused to take part. Much to Kenadee's delight she readily stepped in to play Mary.

Bailee Update

2008-12-04T09:26:00.000-08:00

Bailee is been such a wonderful blessing to our family . We don't know what we did to deserve her but she is absolutely the best baby ever! (Maybe it has something to do with 9 months of sickness) Nonetheless, Bailee is amazing.She is an habitual smiler and cannot look at you without throwing her arms up and smiling. She rarely cries, laughs most of the time and sleeps through the night. She now takes a binki instead of her thumb which we definately prefer.

She is a little over 4 months old and she is so close to rolling over. She made it all the way over to her tummy a few weeks ago at my sisters, but she got stuck on her arm. She does well on tummy time and pushes up on her arms, although she doesn't seem to get much tummy time because someone is always holding her. She loves to chat with us; cooing and gurgling. She laughs at the children when they play peek a boo and Daddy can really get her laughing with his crazy faces.

She now weighs 15lbs and has tripled her birth weight. She still looks so little compared to other babies her age but she's growing just fine. Most of us are sick with coughs and colds and fortunately Bailee hasn't come down with anything. The kids are so great at washing their hands non stop when they get home from school. And the ones that are sick are having a hard time not being able to hold her.

We are so very grateful for all of our children. Bailee is a joy to our family.

How did we get so lucky!!??

Thanksgiving

2008-12-04T09:11:00.001-08:00

We spent Thanksgiving this year with Marc's family. The food was delicious and the company was fabulous. The weather was so nice that the children all spent most of the time outside playing games. We played some games, lounged around and talked.

We also had the children trace their hands and make a THANKSGIVING TREE. On each finger we wrote what we were thankful for. I'm thankful for my family, my husband, each of my wonderful children, my faith, my country and that we are moving back to UT. Yeah!

Here is the guys attempt at taking a group photo. (dave, adam, john,kenney, marc and steve in front). I'm not sure if Marc is laughing or grimacing seeing the placement of Steve's elbow. John is attempting a smack down, while Kenney is just along for the ride (as usual) and Adam just looks creeped out by the whole thing. At least Dads happy!! I think the sister in laws make up for it in the picture below (molly, tracy, tori, sandi, caity).

Christmas Tree

2008-11-24T14:46:00.000-08:00

I wrote this last week and then lost my internet so I couldn't post it before Thanksgiving! I'm borrowing someone's internet today to play catch up so I'll post about the holiday later. My internet will be running again on Tuesday, so until then I'll miss ya'll!!!

I have a rule that says No Christmas BEFORE Thanksgiving. That goes for songs, decorations, etc, etc. The only thing that I have given in to is putting the tree together (but not decorating it) just a few days before Thanksgiving because we are always out of town for Thanksgiving and we like to come home and decorate the tree.

So Marc pulled out the tree on Sunday and began setting it up. The two older children got involved and were able to set up the entire tree. AMAZING! I knew there was a good reason we had those kids. This was the first year Marc didn't have to do it all by himself. I know you're wondering what I'm doing during the tree set up but basically, I just refuse. I HATE setting up the tree.

Our only problem this year is that we couldn't set up a tree without it being decorate because our home is for sale and we have showings happening. So, I conceded and we decorated the tree. It is now two days before Thanksgiving and I have a fully decorated tree and Christmas music is playing throughout the house. And you know, I kinda like it.

Food Storage

2008-11-24T14:15:00.000-08:00

"If ye are prepared, ye shall not fear" - I love this scripture. And although its taken me this long to get prepared I think we are on our way to being a bit more fearless.

This weekend we stocked up our food storage room with food that will last us for 6 months. Its ironic that one of the main reasons we bought this house was for the food storage room that we didn't have in our last home. It has taken us the past 2 years to get it all sorted, buy the shelves we needed and stock it with food. And, we are so proud of it.

Marc was the driving force behind it after he purchased a food storage 'shelfreliance' (can organizer) online. It only took about 6 months for us to actually get it put together but once it was up there was no stopping him.

He kept trying to go shopping every weekend but seeing as he isn't the main cook in the house he wasn't sure exactly what we needed. I finally made a list and we headed to Winco and Costco (man, I LOVE costco). We are now stocked up for at least 6 months and we would have done one years worth of food, but the thought of moving all that was too much.

We had a house showing today and I'm sure it would be just our luck that we sell and have to move the 6 months worth we just bought. However, we won't complain because we're just happy that we are one step closer to being prepared.

In other news, we have some interest on the house but if it works out is another thing. There is a family in Heber, UT who saw our house online and want to buy it, however, they haven't sold there home. They are in a hurry to get to Pocatello and wanted to lease the house until they sold theirs. That's not something we are interested in given all of the things that could go wrong, however, if they can sell their home quickly then that would be exciting for us.

We've had a showing every week since we listed and 3 showings last week. Keep praying for us. We still have hope that we can make it back to UT before the holidays, although, its a very slim bit of hope at this point. But while we wait, we'll enjoy our time here and live in the moment.

Bailee's hair

2008-11-21T09:37:00.000-08:00

is finally starting to grow in. Where did she get all those curls??

Picture Update

2008-11-19T19:03:00.000-08:00

Bailee is now 4 months old and weighs 14.5 lbs. Seriously, where does the time go? She is so alert and almost never without a smile on her face. She is such a content baby. She is almost rolling over, at times she surprises herself. She does great with her tummy time and holds her head up well. I was worried she might never roll over because between the 4 of us, someone always seems to be holding her. She has a great laugh and is quite easily entertained. Marc can get her laughing so hard. She also took a binki today at the store which was surprising. I like that because recently she has been shoving her hands in her mouth which isn't ideal during cold and flu season.

Here are some random pictures of her. This is how we find her most times when we lay her down to play or roll around. She just quietly closes her eyes and she's gone.

She is such a good sleeper through the night that we can't bear to move her out of our room (Marc included). However, this is how we find her after naps, grabbing the bars of the bassinet. She's just about the full length of the bassinet now. I'm guessing we'll have to move her to the crib very very soon.

Here's Bailee after our morning walk in the jogging stroller I bought about 4 years ago. I was so excited to get this fancy stroller with all of its bells and whistles and ended up putting it away for a good 4 years until Bailee finally arrived and was able to use it.

Jake holding Bailee during a cold spell when we had to pull out the winter hat for our walk.

Our 4 sweet kids. This was Kenadee's birthday dinner at Wingers.

And the 'Edward' Twilight shirt that Kena got for her birthday. The flash was a little too bright, I promise, she's not a vampire.

Oh, and this is the day I had to watch a total of 7 kids (okay, 8 if you include Marc). They were the sweetest kids and so well behaved. They made it pretty easy, although having two toddlers around can definately wear you out.

Birthday Week

2008-11-14T10:50:00.000-08:00

Kenadee turned 11 this past week (November 12th). This is the youngest picture I have of her that is on the computer. The rest were all taken during the time of 'film' cameras. I LOVE this picture because she decided all by herself to put lipstick on for her very important 'softball' picture. I didn't notice until we got the pictures back.

Nana and G-Pa came up on Sunday to watch the children in their primary program at The University Ward. They are 3/4 of the primary so it was fun to work with them and help them create a program. They did wonderful. Nana and G-Pa stayed through Monday which was fun to have them hang out. They took Kenadee out to lunch and then to choose her present. We always enjoy having them come and visit.

On Wednesday we celebrated her birthday with presents and cake. She is so into the Twilight series right now. She got a movie companion book, poster and Edward T-shirt. She chose to eat out at Wingers where she got her very own asphalt pie. On Thursday she had a late night/sleepover with 10 of her girlfriends (only 5 spent the night). This was her first AND LAST sleepover. We actually don't do sleepovers but decided this might be her last b-day here before we moved so why not!? I'll tell you why not......4am!!!! I was woken up with a loud door banging in the basement. When I went to investigate there were 5 giggling girls running to the bathroom, all lights were on and I discovered they had not yet been to sleep. I was NOT happy. I think the main problem was the little 10 year old girl with her cell phone who was texting, even after I turned the lights out. We put an end to that immediately. Overall, it was a nice party though! Yawn......

On Friday it was Marc's birthday. His parents came up for the day and we had fun taking them to our itty bitty Pocatello mall. We left the kids at home and ate dinner at Texas Roadhouse before they headed home. On Saturday a couple of the students from the ward wanted to babysit the kids so I took Marc out to movies to see James Bond for his birthday. Marc is such a great dad. He always seems to get overlooked with Kenadee's b-day being just 2 days before.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KENADEE - 11 things I LOVE about you!
1. You always tell me about your day, your friends and your activities
2. You are a peacemaker
3. You are a great example to your friends and your siblings
4. You are a mini Marc. I can't believe how similar you are to daddy, its cute!
5. You have a kind heart
6. You take such good care of baby Bailee
7. You have a beautiful smile
8. You're so good at gymnastics
9. You have perfect pitch
10. You're a great friend to others
11. You love your Heavenly Father

Babies crying so I'll follow up with 39 reasons I LOVE Marc on the next post. I took pictures of the b-days with my new pocket size camera but for some reason they aren't showing up on my computer. Hopefully I'll figure it out soon.

I found my thumb!

2008-11-01T21:58:00.000-07:00

I know, SUPER CUTE right? Thats what we thought when Belle sucked her finger as a baby, 24/7. It wasn't until her teeth grew in all haphazard and we started having to see an orthodonist that we realised how not cute it is. We'll be keeping that guy in business for a while. We only hope this habit doesn't last too long, although it is sure cute!!

New Hair Do!

2008-11-01T21:47:00.000-07:00

I've had long hair for a long time now. I wasn't really enjoying it lately so I thought I'd get a few inches cut off and have it rest on my shoulders at my next hair cut. However, after my last cut about 3 weeks ago she layered me kind of funny so I had layers at my ear level and then a huge drop down to the ends of my hair. It was bugging me so I thought I'd cut an inch or two off my hair. I'd done it once before and it worked out. It was always long enough that it all blended in.

But this time I kind of messed up. I knew I'd done something bad as soon as I'd snipped. So, even though it looked okay and no one could really tell, I went to my neighbor who cuts hair to have her even out the back with the front. Hello..... she had to cut another two inches off the back to match the front. So my hair that was resting nicely on my shirt collar is now two inches above. Yikes! Not what I had planned but hey, now I know its not a great idea to cut my own hair. So, heres the new do. I have to say, its a nice change and the good thing is, it will always grow back. (oh and by this point I have all my teeth and my eye is cleared up so I don't look as bad as I sounded).

Halloween Recap

2008-11-01T21:10:00.000-07:00

This is what we woke up to Halloween morning. The kids were SO excited because it looked so spooky. Muwahahahahah! (kena took this picture)

Here are my peeps heading off to school in their halloween get up! Notice those black church shoes Kenadee has on with the slight heel. Well, she ended up slipping at school and fell smack on her back and head. She saw stars and felt like she fainted but I think it mostly shocked her. She still has a lot of pain in her back, poor kid! What kind of a mother would let her child wear shoes like that to school?

And here are my peeps heading out the door. I love these kids! We did get Bailee a cute little snow leopard outfit but each time we had a party to go to she was fast asleep and there was no way I was waking her up. She was fast asleep when the kids headed out the door so we didn't ever get a picture. Kenadee finally put her outfit on late last night. It was cute, but again I forgot to get a picture.

After school we had a party for the kids in the neighborhood. There were about 18 kids there. It was fun. Here's a picture of my spider cup cakes. We decided to do them purple for Halloween but they ended up being rainbow spiders because in Pocatello we are sometimes limited on whats in stock so I couldn't find black licorice for the legs, even after checking at 3 stores. Thats small town life for ya! They were still yummy.

I'm so pretty, oh so pretty!

2008-10-29T08:08:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend I ended up at the urgent care, nothing too urgent, however, my eye was very, very red. I saw the Dr. and he said I had a couple of cysts on my eye from my contacts. I LOVE my contacts. I was so excited when I got the 24 hour, day and night contacts about a year ago. Problem is that I forget I'm wearing them so I'm not very good at taking them out and wearing my glasses for a day. My glasses give me a headache anyways. SO, after having to wear my glasses this entire week and not being able to see too well out of my 'bum' eye I guess I've learned my lesson.

And last night we decided to eat our carmel apples that we made for FHE the night prior. The dentist had warned me NOT to eat anything sticky. I didn't even give it a second thought when I took a small bite of the apple and then realised I'd lost my temporary crown. The worst part is that I can't find it, so I obviously swallowed it.

I know, I know, you're all thinking that Marc must be unable to resist me with my bad eye, glasses and a missing tooth. Hey......be nice!!!

Costco

2008-10-25T21:30:00.000-07:00

Pocatello is growing up! We finally have our very own Costco. It's hard to believe that our small town could attract something so big. I hadn't ever been to a Costco until my sister took me about 3 weeks ago in Utah. I was in awe at the variety, sizes and prices. It was the best thing EVER!

So, today we went against our norm of avoiding 'grand openings' and Saturday crowds as we ventured out to Costco with all 4 children plus one friend. How brave are we?! We figured that we would just go in and look around and as we pulled up we realised that we still needed a membership card to go in. Sooooo, we waited in line for 15 minutes to get our membership and then we headed in.

It was pretty crowded but it was FUN! We filled up our cart with a variety of excellent foods at super great prices AND we fed the kids with all of the free samples. It's exciting to have somewhere great to shop. I think I might actually enjoy food shopping and not avoid it so much. I know my kids will thank me for that!

Halloween Party

2008-10-23T11:19:00.001-07:00

Marc's parents had their annual Halloween party. It's always a lot of fun to see the cousins all dressed up. I'm a terrible picture taker and didn't really represent the party well. There was a pinata, donut eating contest, apple bobbing, FOOD, FOOD, FOOD, carmel apples etc. Then the kids watched Hocus Pocus in the basement.

Kenadee; The Saloon Dancer. We were lucky to stop by the Odgen D.I. one morning and saw the racks of halloween costumes. Kenadee found this one for $4.00. Awesome! I told Jake if the girls got a cheap costume that I could probably get him the one he wanted online. You should have seen him buttering them up, telling them how good they looked!!
Jake: Jenga Fett (Star Wars). I know, I had NO idea who Jenga Fett was either.
So I ordered this online which would have been a bargain at $20, IF the shipping hadn't been $12. I don't really like to spend this much but he was SO excited. AND when it finally arrived it was a size 8-10 for ages 5-7. They didn't specify the age so its a little on the small side. Nothing a pair of black gloves and long black socks won't hide! Jake said he didn't care. He was just so excited to get the costume.
Brinlee; The Witch minus her accessories (hat, broomstick, SHOES!) She originally found an awesome home made Pokemon costume; Chancey (not sure how to spell). Only $4 from D.I. It was a round padded outfit with ears and her face poked through. She had second thoughts and decided she wanted to be a witch after all. She makes a cute witch!! (I posted two today so scroll down to see the other).

2008-10-23T11:13:00.000-07:00

Grandma Loa Jean's Birthday

2008-10-23T08:41:00.000-07:00

Grandma's are moms with lots of frosting! That's a funny quote, but how true. Grandma's are special, even when they aren't directly your own. About 7 months before Marc and I were married his Grandma Collings passed away and just a few months later, Grandpa C. worked his charm on this special lady and they were married. She has been an important part of the Collings Family for the past 16 years and she is SO loved by all. I especially LOVE her sense of humor and I always enjoyed our regular email contacts.

This past weekend was her birthday and fortunately we happened to be down in Utah. Marc's Grandpa took ill last summer and has had to stay in a nursing home. He just celebrated his 89th brithday. Marc has been down to see him but the rest of us had not been able to visit yet. It's hard to see Grandpa this way. He looks so different now.

The children were tentative and slightly nervous, except for Belle who just walked right in and planted a hug and kiss on G'pa while he was lying on the bed. He wasn't very coherent and didn't seem to know who we were but we were glad to see him. Once they moved him into the wheelchair Kenadee said, Now that looks like Grandpa. I know Kenadee's a lot like me. We try to avoid those situations that aren't always happy such as sickness or death. It was a good experience for my children. We LOVE you both!

Grandma and Grandpa with the 4 Collings children. Craig, Eloise, Dave (marcs dad) and Allen.

No Deal

2008-10-21T10:19:00.000-07:00

And.......exhale! I told you we were holding our breaths and now we can let it out. There is no deal on the house. The interested couple works in between our small town and another larger one further North. While they were waiting for the financing they found a home in the other town. I don't blame them actually, its a much more happening place. We're going to list with a realtor today so we can get some exposure on the MLS. We'll keep you posted. Ahhhh, the joys of selling a home.

House Update

2008-10-17T08:29:00.000-07:00

We have an offer on the house and we're just waiting to finalize details and sign paperwork. They are working with their lender and getting their end tied up. So......we're holding our breaths until we sign papers, but we think its a pretty sure thing.

They are a super nice German couple working in the U.S. and have been here for 3 years. They don't have children but are planning to so they will grow into the house. They are the nicest couple that have seen our house so I'm happy to leave our home to such nice people.

We are all SO excited and now we can start some house hunting.

Rude Awakening

2008-10-15T10:02:00.000-07:00

I woke up at 1am to feed Bailee (we'd put her to bed a little too early, won't do that again) and as she ate, we fell asleep together until 3am. When I woke up to put her back in her bed I felt all kinds of woozy and nauseaus. After I deposited bambino in her bed my next stop was a mad dash to the bathroom, where I lost my lunch!! Ickkk........it brought back some bad memories of the last year when I did that on a daily basis.

But this was worse. I was shivery and achy and my head hurt. My stomache really hurt but I was able to sleep until the alarm went off at 7am and then I was hit at the other end (I know, way TMI) sorry! This is just a miserable day AND I have so much to do; Belle's haircut, her dentist appointment, her soccer game, a wedding shower for one of the students and I'm missing my weekly lunch date with BFF (pout)!!

So, Marc got the kids off to school (love that guy!) and took care of bambino until he had a meeting. He's back home again taking care of me, well, actually he just ran to the gas station to buy me some 7-UP. I had some Zofran left over from my 'sicky' days and took one. It seems to have eased the nausea so I think I'm ready for some 7-UP. I hope this thing is only a 24 hour. Wish me luck!!!

Utah!!

2008-10-10T16:03:00.000-07:00

This past week was the 3rd consecutive week that Marc had been out of town but this time I was able to tag along because he was headed to Utah. We worked out a deal with his co-worker, Shane and his wife Laura, for a kid swap because Shane travels with Marc. So, this way Laura can go with Shane on a trip and I can go with Marc now and then. Utah worked out perfectly because all our family lives there. We ended up staying in a hotel in Sandy, just one exit from my sister, Jacqueline. It was so nice to have a place to go and hang out, especially in the evenings AND to have such great homemade meals.

I think the main theme of this trip was 'shopping', however, I spent one day with my sister having a girls day. I treated Jacqui to her first pedicure which was very entertaining. She hated having her toenails cut by someone else and then when the lady scrubbed her feet she couldn't stop laughing. She laughed out loud and kept pulling her foot away. The lady said (in her asian accent), you need lot of scrub! It was pretty funny.

We ate the best sticky finger chicken salad at Wingers and as we were getting in the car the manager came running after us and said, Ladies....did you forget to pay! duh...... yeah! So I went back in to pay. We were so excited to get to IKEA that we dashed out without paying. This was my first trip to IKEA and now I can see why my s.i.l. Molly raves about it. I didn't have kids with me but I wished I had so I could have thrown them in the awesome playland. WOW! That is one uber cool place. Talk about variety. (not the most flattering self portrait)

The second day we met my mum in Salt Lake for another girls day. We ate at a fantastic Lebanese restaurant. My mums friend is the head chef and she cooks some amazing food. We also browsed the super expensive boutiques in the area. Later that night we watched my nephew who is one of the lead actors in 'The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe'. He plays Edmund and he is fantastic. Having an authentic English accent really helps too.

The kids had Thursday and Friday off school so Kenadee drove down with Laura Wednesday night and was able to see Daniel in his play. The next day we swam at the hotel and then met Jacqui for one last shopping trip to Plato's Closet. This is a really cool consignment shop that sells tons of name brand clothes. There were racks of American Eagle and Hollister etc. I'm not much of a name brand person but I do enjoy a good, cheap find with a brand on it. So, Kenadee got a few shirts for $6, $7 each. She got the cute hat and glasses as a treat because she mowed the lawn all summer and we never paid her. She looks so cute! My baby is definately growing up.

I had to throw this picture in. It was just too cute to pass up.

A Good Nights Sleep

2008-10-09T22:00:00.000-07:00

I'm happy to report that at only 2 1/2 months, Bailee, had her first full night of sleep. I could have included myself in that exciting news, if I hadn't woken up twice (at 5am and 7am) to see why she wasn't waking up!! She had gone to bed at 11am and slept until 8am when I finally had to wake her up because I was a little uncomfortable and needed to feed her! How lucky are we to have had a nice nights sleep and be blessed with such a wonderful little baby!?

Old Navy

2008-10-05T10:32:00.000-07:00

If you know me at all then you know I LOVE a great deal. This past weekend I received an Old Navy email offering an extra 40% off any $100 purchase. I knew the weather would be changing and that the kids had NO long pants. So after the soccer games we took a 45 minute drive up to Idaho Falls and headed into Old Navy. Our mission: grab all the levis, try them on, choose some shirts, pay and get out of there. Marcs mission: keep baby happy, happy, happy!

I'm pleased to say we pulled it off in less than an hour. The kids got some great clothes including 4 pairs each of $20 levis for only $10 (they were on sale plus the extra 40%) and at least 4 shirts each that were normally $16 (on sale for $10 plus 40%, only $6.00). My total bill: $330ish. My final bill (after 40% off): $208. Not bad for 3 kids! I LOVE a great deal. Here's a picture of our stash.

Our Burritto

2008-10-05T08:35:00.000-07:00

New Baby = No Sleep!! Okay, so that's an obvious statement but I was starting to think that I was creating a monster given the fact that I had slept with Bailee in my arms the past 2 months. We certainly gave it a shot as we had tried to put her in the bassinet beside my bed on a few occasions. She would sleep for maybe 20 minutes tops! Then my sister gave me a co-sleeper that fits nicely in between us in the king size bed. She would sleep from 12-3am in the co-sleeper but after that she was done and ended up back in my arms.

Marc commented how funny it was that we were acting like first time parents again. Seven years ago we booted our kids out of our room and into their own in the first few months, no questions asked! But this little baby is getting the royal treatment. I know its my fault because as much as I want to sleep I also want to hold her as much as I can. She's so snuggly.

At the store the other day I came across a product called a 'kiddopotamus swaddler'. It is my new best friend. Baby's feet go into a little pouch and then you wrap one side around baby tightly and the next side wraps around and attaches to velcro. It's sort of like a mini straight jacket but seriously, she LOVES it. She's our little burritto. So, the first time I used it she slept...well, like a baby! During the night she slept in longer stretches only waking at 3am and 6am.

On Friday we were in Utah. We headed home around 10pm after I fed Bailee. We got home after midnight and laid her down in her burritto blanket, in the bassinet and went to bed. I was expecting her to wake around 1 or 2am and I was pleasantly surprised when she woke up at 5.30am. WOW!! She had a 7 hour stretch and I had only enjoyed about 4 hours of it, but thats okay even 4 hours was the most consecutive sleep I've had in 3 months. After I fed her she went straight back in her bassinet and slept till 8am when we woke up to her 'cooing'. She did the same thing last night. Maybe we're not doing such a bad job after all. (jake missed this photo op!)

Quirky....

2008-09-24T18:54:00.000-07:00

Molly tagged me to share 5 quirky things about myself. This was a hard one for me. I'm sure I have plenty of quirks I just couldn't easily come up with them. I even called Marc thinking he would for sure know my quirks off hand. He came up with a couple of super lame ones and then told me I just wasn't that quirky. Funny thing is I had a bunch of quirks on him. So here goes.....

1. I absolutely hate to wear anything wrinkled or even let my kids wear anything wrinkled, so for that reason I iron everything. I don't love ironing but I do it. Marc laughed at me the first time I ironed his levis. I don't mind others being wrinkled at all, just not me.

2. I cannot block out noise. When I'm in a crowded room I can hear every single noise including what each person is saying and what music is playing etc. The result is a big headache and frazzled nerves. So, for that reason I never go to the mall at Christmas time. What's worse is that Marc can completely block out every sound in the car so I'm the one who hears, Dad! Dad! Dad! Dad! until I finally yell out, Marc, your kids are calling!!!!!

3. I love to eat lays potato chips on white bread with butter. I just love the salty/buttery combination. Growing up we only ate wheat bread so I guess I developed this snack habit later in life ( I think when I met Marc and his parents always had white bread and chips on hand). And while were on the topic, I also love sliced banana's on toasted bread with miracle whip. My dad taught us that one back in England.

4. I have to steal this one from my friend Julie. I hate being bossed around too. Like at church when I'm whispering during the meeting and Marc 'shushes' me, I turn into a total teenager and I get all offended and I say, "You're not my dad". Needless to say, he doesn't 'shush' me often but I have to admit if he does, I usually deserve it.

5. I cannot go running without earmuffs. Well, I don't wear earmuffs per se but I do need an ear/headband to cover my ears or I come home with a pounding earache/headache. Even this past Saturday when the weather was on the warmer side I forgot my earcoverage and came home with a bad earache. Luckily it doesn't last too long and goes away once I'm all warmed up again.

6. Marc thought of a quirk for me later that night so I had to include it. He reminded me that I talk to myself. Usually when I'm driving with the kids I like to have discussions with people in my head and then suddenly I will blurt out a sentence and Jake ALWAYS asks me who I'm talking too because he thinks its funny to point it out and the other kids are just used to it and ignore me.

So, I tag Marc, Penny, Claire, Heidi and Christina. (only if you want too).

Seeing as Marc doesn't have a blog, here's what I came up with for him.
1. He has to wear socks at all times, especially to bed.
2. He starts to itch when he goes running so therefore, he can't go running.
3. He has to hold a pillow on his chest when he sleeps or he has weird arm problems when he wakes up.
4. This is an old quirk. When he wasn't listening to me he would always say, Whats that? It used to drive me CRAZY!!!
5. He plays games on his blackberry when he's at the movies with the kids. They've mentioned it a few times. Caught ya!

Going Private

2008-09-19T08:31:00.000-07:00

We've decided to go private with our blog so please send me your email if I don't already have it, so I can send you an invite. Thanks!!

Family Reunion

2008-09-17T13:26:00.002-07:00

This past weekend was my family reunion. With my sister living in England the past 18 years, this was the first time we were all together. We stayed at a condo in The Wolf Creek Resort in Eden, Utah.

We did a lot of swimming.......

We enjoyed volleyball and a BBQ.....

And we enjoyed an awesome talent show. I didn't get any pictures of my act with my sister and this is the only one I could copy from her that was large. The others came out small so I hope you can see how funny they are!!! Jacqui and I are doing yoga (with our husbands legs). We would say, ' lets stretch right' and our amazingly flexible legs would stretch right!

Other talented acts included Kena and Caroline dancing, Brinlee singing Animal Crackers, Jake was a snake charmer, Nana sang a funny song, Grandad was a hippie and sang 'San Francisco, Tally 'tooted' with his arm pit, Ethan read a funny poem, Landon skateboarded and Christina sang an awesome Patsy Cline song. After the talent show Mum gave us all some very well thought out gifts. I got an England hat and a musical box with my baby's picture in it. Marc got some 'gangsta' bling that he's sporting with Chris in the picture below.

I love this picture of Kenadee and her cousin, Daniel. Except for Dan's English accent I swear they could be twins. They get along so well and are always joined at the hip when they are together. Enjoy the slideshow of the reunion below.

2008-09-17T13:26:00.001-07:00

to go faster click the +button and to see labels put cursor over the picture.

First Smile

2008-09-14T22:13:00.000-07:00

We had Bailee's baby blessing last week. I'm late in posting because I was going to take pictures of her after the blessing but we got too busy and I haven't been able to get her in her dress to take a picture. After most of the family had left my sister Christina was holding her and working on a smile. This is how she looked when she began.

And it didn't take more than a few minutes for her to get her to smile. Kudos to my mum for catching the smile on camera. Marc was so happy that she had finally smiled but couldn't believe that she did it for Christina and not for him. He said that he had been working on her for the past 4 weeks. He said that Christina is just prettier than him!!

This is the one picture I got of Bailee in her dress (with her grandma's). My mum made the blessing dress 10 years ago for Kenadee. The amazing thing is that she hadn't ever sewn and she didn't use a pattern. I wish you could see it up close because it is so well made. Her grandmother was a professional dressmaker so I think she must have inherited some skills. All 3 of our girls have worn the dress and bonnet for their blessings.

Memories

2008-09-12T08:05:00.000-07:00

I've been organizing and 'digitally' scrapbooking my photos from the past 5 or 6 years. It had been a huge stress for me to know that was so far behind and I think I just gave up. But thanks to SMILEBOX.COM I can easily insert my pictures AND voila! its all done. I came across these mini video clips while organizing and thought the family would enjoy them. Its Brin, Jake and Kena (ages 3,5,7) and our cousin Kaylea (about 10 years old. ) I love how Kena makes herself laugh and how Kaylea endures the torture from my kids in the second video. Enjoy the high pitched 'girl' scream. Its Jake!!

Fruit Trees

2008-09-10T16:43:00.000-07:00

We have some wonderful fruit trees in our backyard. I will definately miss them when we move. We have 3 apples, 1 pear and 1 plum. The fruit is delicious, especially the plums. So while Marc was out of town and I had my mum here to help me, I took advantage of some time to pick the fruit. Together we all pretty much cleared off the plum tree. Now its time to make plum jam. Enjoy the pics below!!

2008-09-10T15:44:00.000-07:00

No More Newborn

2008-09-09T09:07:00.000-07:00

This is Bailee's birth announcement. Thanks to my sister, Jacqueline for the photography and the announcement. She's SO talented. The picture on the far right took us by surprise. We can't believe she captured that shot from a 2 week old. We call it the 'Papparizi; I'm naked, don't take my picture' look. It's our favorite.

My baby no longer has the newborn look or the newborn cry. I miss that but I enjoy the new changes. Her new cry is even sweeter. She has definately turned it down a bit and she sometimes makes little cat sounds. She still snorts when she cries though. I find that amusing!!

My mother in law always used to say that I feed my babies pure cream because they get so fat. I'm starting to believe her after seeing Bailee at 7 weeks. She has really filled out and become quite chubby. At her Dr. appt last week she weighed 9lbs 2oz. She gained over 4 pounds in a month. Quiet an achievment but not surprising considering how often I feed this child!!

Organized Chaos

2008-09-04T10:17:00.001-07:00

I've always thought that I don't want to be one of those crazy moms who lives in the car driving her kids from one thing to the next, however, its always been very important to us that our children get to do at least one activity that they enjoy so they can develop their skill and be really great at something. Neither Marc nor I got the chance to do that so as adults we find our selves good at a lot of things but not great at one thing. I can play the piano but not in front of people, I can sing but I'll never make it on American Idol, I can dance but only on my Playstation dance mat, I can sew but only straight lines, I can....well you get the point!

So here is how my Tuesday went.

3.15pm I have scouts with my scout troop. It took me a minute to realise Jake was no longer in my troop and I wasn't sure when his troop met.
4.00pm Jake's troop shows up at the church but I'm not home to tell him or take him.
4.15pm Scout's ends, I run the scouts home, Feed baby so we are 15 minutes late to gymnastics. 4.35pm Take Kenadee to gymnastics.
5.30 pm Leave gymnastics to go home and take Jake to soccer for 6pm
6.15pm Leave soccer to pick Kenadee back up
7.00pm Pick up Jake from soccer and go home to eat dinner

Thank goodness I have an awesome neighbor who lets my kids stay and play while I have to do other things. And In between all the driving I have a nursing baby who prefers to not be in the car seat the whole afternoon. Marc is also visiting all the new students in their student ward every night this week and next from right after work until 10.00pm. If he's not doing that then he's out of town. And then I get to do this again on Thursday except we have piano from 3-4p and Brinlee has her soccer practice at 6.15pm. I'm glad that we coordinated this on only two days a week and I really do get a lot of satisfaction watching my children excell in their chosen activity. I'm really not complaining because I know its all worth it!!

Bailee: 6 Weeks Old

2008-09-02T20:25:00.000-07:00

Here is Bailee who is now 6 weeks old. She is an absolute joy in our family and she brings so much happiness to each one of us. She is definately 'chubbing' up and weighs over 8lbs now. She LOVES to eat, which is currently every 2 hours. The last few nights we have implemented a plan. I stay up till Bailee's midnight feeding while Marc goes to bed at 10pm. After the midnight feeding Bailee and I go to bed. At the moment she has a tendency to grunt and wake up when I lay her down so I often end up sleeping while holding her. At her 4pm feeding Marc gets up with Bailee and gives her a bottle. He stays up holding her till about 7pm. So I get uninterrupted sleep from about 3pm to 7pm. I feel like a new person these past few days. I have such a great husband.

And last week when Marc went out of town for 6 days my mom came up on day 3 to help me. Thank Heavens! She was such a great help with all of the children but especially with Bailee. It was so nice to have her help. She was wonderful! We had a good time getting ready for the yard sale and she was so attentive to Bailee while I did the sale. Thanks Mom!

For Sale

2008-08-31T18:22:00.000-07:00

It's been a weekend of sales! Besides the garage sale we also had our trailer and our house up for sale. I'm posting the info for both the trailer and the home in a shameless attempt to use the internet to get the word out and hopefully get them sold.

Marc made an awesome flyer with a bunch of pictures and information. He figured that those picking up the flyer would see the entire house so he didn't include the 3 car garage (partly because I was having the yard sale). Thats me in the corner coming to ask Marc why he isn't taking a picture of the whole house. Anyways, we're valued at $320,000 and we're asking $305, 000 without a realtor. Our home is 3780 sq feet with 6 bedrooms, 3 1/2 baths. Fingers crossed we get some interest. This is our 2004 Tahoe Trailer. It has pop outs on both ends which are brand new, just replaced, a stove, fridge, shower, toilet, sleeping for 6-8 people. We love it but haven't used it the past two years. Its in excellent condition, asking $9400 but we will definately take offers. So spread the word!

Theres a Dog in my Yard Sale

2008-08-31T12:42:00.001-07:00

The garage sale went well. We made a couple of hundred dollars. Not to bad! I got rid of a ton of stuff given that it was priced to sell at 50cents. I thought that was a really good deal until a lady started talking me down to 25cents for the clothes, but I was all for it. It's great to get a bargain.

One lady came and left in hurry because she had a reunion to go to. So we set aside the dresser and other items for her to come back for. Meanwhile a large old black lab turned up in our garage and wouldn't leave. We let him play with Shakespeare for a while and gave him some water and still by bedtime he still wouldn't leave our porch. During the night the dog was howling and whining. Didn't help my lack of sleep with the baby! At 4am Marc got up to drive the dog down the street away from our house but I wouldn't let him because I knew he belonged to someone and I didn't want him to get picked up by the pound (he had no collar). So by 9am he was still whining and I was about ready to call the pound, when the lady returned for her items and realised she had left her dog at my house. I was SO relieved.

Yard Sale

2008-08-28T15:56:00.000-07:00

For anyone interested in stopping by I'm having a yard sale Friday and Saturday. I've been cleaning the house out all week and trying to get ready to put that For Sale sign up. I know it's Labor Day Weekend but hopefully we'll have a good show. We've got lots of girl clothes, some furniture, some toys and lots of FREE books. I'll let you know how it goes!

Island Park Cousin Camp

2008-08-26T14:54:00.000-07:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Here are some snapsots of our final vacation before the kids headed back to school. Every year around this time we have our annual cousin camp which we started when Kenadee was a baby. It is a tradition that we always look forward to. This year we went to Island Park with Marc's family which consists of a total of about 12 adults and 17 children. We stayed in a great cabin with 3 levels and a total of 9 bedrooms. One of our favorite pastimes was the game ROCKBAND that we played on the wii. As you can see from the pictures there were plenty of rockstars in our cabin that weekend. We had a lot of fun playing games, doing puzzles and hanging out.

We spent one day at the river playing in the freezing cold water. We were supposed to do a river float but all the rafts were rented so we improvised. Another day we spent at Yellowstone. I'm waiting to get more pictures from that day. We spent about 8 hours in the car that day and I was impressed that Bailee made it through except for the last hour when she had just had enough of her car seat.

We also did some fun crafts including a tie die t-shirt and some awesome mad hatter hats that G'ma did with the children. I can't wait to post the picture of that one. Overall it was an awesome experience and a great end of summer vacation. It is so nice to be a part of such a wonderful and large family. The memories are priceless.

Autograph

2008-08-23T15:47:00.000-07:00

When I put Brinlee to bed last night we had a funny conversation that went like this.

Belle: Mom, when will Jesus come?

Mom: (thinking she might be worrying) I'm not sure but it probably won't be for a long long time so don't worry about it.

Belle: Will we be able to pet the lions when he comes?

Mom: I'm not sure but that would be nice.

Belle: It doesn't matter because it will still be fun.....because Jesus will be here.

Mom: Yes, that will be nice.

Belle: (very serious) Yeah, because I want to get his autograph.

Then checking to see if I was going to laugh at her, which I didn't, and it took a lot of self discipline not too she added,

Belle: I'm justkidding. And then she said,

Belle: But do you think he'll give me one?

20 Year High School Reunion

2008-08-21T10:06:00.001-07:00

Where does the time go? 20 years since Marc graduated high school and I have to say, Boy, does he look good!? I was fortunate to be adopted into Marc's circle of friends along with the other wives when we married. Marc has a super circle of friends whom he has stayed in touch with over the years, although not as much in the past 5 years or so. It was so good to reconnect and reminisce.

I'm posting the couples pictures for you Pen and Trish! Thought you'd enjoy seeing these guys again. By the way, that's The Govester, not Jack Frost. Hee Hee.
Sorry honey, I know, I totally 'girlified' the slide show with pink hearts etc.

Park City Vacation

2008-08-21T09:29:00.000-07:00

We've been so busy this past month that I haven't had time to blog about our vacations. When Bailee was 2 weeks old we took a much needed vacation to Park City where we spent a week in a great condo. We played at the pool,shopped, went down the alpine slide, shopped some more, visited the Olympic Park and watched the skiers train, ate chocolate at the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory and played on the inflatables.

Marc took the children to Lagoon for the day with his mom and two cousins. They had SO much fun while I spent time with my sister who took Bailee's photos and then my mom and I went shopping and had dinner at Rainbow Gardens. YUMMO! On the weekend we had Marc's 20 year reunion which I will post about soon. The Sunday before Park City my family got together to see the new baby so I have some photos included in the slide show. Enjoy!

Back to School

2008-08-21T09:13:00.000-07:00

Today the children went back to school. They were SO excited to see their friends, meet their teachers and wear their new outfits. We have had such a crazy August trying to fit in all the vacations that we couldn't do when I was expecting in June and July. We just got back from Island Park on Monday and had 2 days to get school supplies and clothes so we all decided that a new outift and shoes would suffice.

Kenadee got some cute little green ballet flats and she found a matching shirt at another store. What a cutie! Brinlee found a super cute blouse/shirt that she just loves and she is sporting her new 'bob' haircut. Jake was over the moon when he found a SONIC THE HEDGEHOG shirt and his new Vans (gotta love Ross).

It was a bitter sweet day for me. I wasn't quite ready to have the kids go back to school after having such a short summer with them. But after the day we had yesterday trying to get ready for school, taking 4 kids to a mall etc I think I was ready for a day alone. It was hard to pry open my eyes when my alarm went off at 7am and I had just fed Bailee at 6am (and 3am and 12am) prior. So I'm spending my morning in bed, updating my blog and getting ready to take a quick nap when Bailee decides too.

Bailee's Pictures

2008-08-09T13:59:00.000-07:00

Here is one of the pictures that my fabulous sister, Jacqueline, took of Bailee. We've spent the last week in Park City for a much needed vacation and she was able to spend some time taking Bailee's newborn photos. It just goes to prove that she is an amazing photographer because this little girl did not enjoy her photo session at all.

After a while she finally fell asleep and Jacqui was able to get some great shots but it certainly took some patience and perserverance. Plus, we turned off the A/C to keep her warm so we were all sweltering by the time it was done. I'll be posting the rest of the picture when she sends them all to me and a recap of our vacation when we get home. It's Marc's 20 year high school reunion. Can you believe it? We have a big gala dinner tonight. We're excited.

Happy Birthday Baby Boy!

2008-07-28T10:21:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe my sweet little boy is now 9 years old! With three beautiful girls, we feel so blessed to have our sweet boy and he is exactly that...sweet as pie! We couldn't have asked for a more kind, loving, sweet, thoughtful and obedient child.

Yesterday was a busy day to celebrate because Marc had to have the floor sanded so the guy could come and varnish in the morning. We're off to the hotel again! Fortunately, my awesome friends are taking my kids so they aren't stuck in the hotel with us. For lunch, we took Jake and some friends over to the brand new McDonalds here in town. It's quite fancy inside and lots of fun for the kids. Later that night Marc took a break from sanding and we had a birthday cake and presents.

Jake began collecting WEBKINZ last year for his b-day when he turned 8. Being the mean mom that I am and not wanting to have a million stuffed animals around I told my kids they were limited to 4 each, then it went up to 6 and now I lifted the ban because Jake has a serious interest in these animals and he will work so hard to save up his money for them. This birthday he got 2 Webkinz (horse and toucan) from Nana and G'pa Holland, 1 Webkinz from us (samoyed dog) and 1 from his best friend (alligator/croc). He is waiting patiently for the Manatee to be released in August and he is using his b-day money from my Nana Hussey and Ron (his Nana Great) from England. He is SO excited. He also got a baseball net that returns the ball when he practices his throws. He is really into baseball so he was excited to get that. And G'ma and G'pa Collings got him a remote control moon that lights up all different phases of the moon. It goes so nicely in his 'planet/cosmo' bedroom.

Later that night the neighborhood kids gathered outside to watch "Gremlins" on the side of the neighbors house. We live in the best neighborhood and we have awesome neighbors who organize things like this for the kids all the time. I turned in early, around 11:00pm and the kids rolled in around 1:00pm.

Tonight we took Jake to dinner at his favorite restaurant,. Texas Roadhouse, where he ordered a sweet potato covered in toasted marshmallows!

The Light Box

2008-07-24T09:31:00.000-07:00

At Bailee's two day check up she was a looking a little yellow and her bilirubin levels came back a little high so with her being so tiny the Dr. erred on the side of a caution and told us she had to be in a light box for the next two days and two nights. Of course I was a little weepy because I wouldn't be able to snuggle and hold her and I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep a wink all night with her in there, and I didn't. I thought she would be so uncomfortable if not dressed and swaddled but to our surprise, once she got used to it she did great.

The first night we had the box on the bed between the two of us. We had to make sure the blue flap kept her face covered and because she wasn't swaddled she kept flailing all over the place. The lights were so bright I felt as though I had slept in a tanning bed with my eyes open for two nights. My eyes are kind of sore and bloodshot and my 'sleep in' contacts had to be taken out because they were drying out.

The second night we were at a hotel. I know.....crazy! The floor saga continues. Marc has spent the last few weekends trying to get the floors completed but he ran into a couple of problems with the finish which bubbled in spots. So he sanded those few spots and then touched up with a brush. Yikes! It looked kind of bad. He was so tired of the floors that we called someone to come in and revarnish them. We had them scheduled this week because we were expecting baby sometime next week. We are desperate to get our house put back together so we kept the appointment and baby, Marc and I went to a hotel. It was a very nice and I really enjoyed it because all we could do was sit around and watch Bailee in the light box anyways. Jake is spending the week in Utah with his cousins and my mum was kind enough to take the two girls out to Lava to spend the night.

We had Bailee re-tested and she is doing much better. So no more light box. Thank Heavens!
I think we'll have a much better night's sleep tonight.

So, the floor! We came home the next day and found that the floor had a very bad reaction to the new varnish the guy put on. It all bubbled and looked like a bad sunburn. I can't describe how disappointed Marc was. Poor Guy! So, he's sanding it again this weekend and the guy will come next week to varnish it and then hopefully we will be done. I'll keep you posted!

Memory Lane

2008-07-22T20:17:00.000-07:00

I have seen this tag circulating and it looks like FUN!

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.

More Pictures of Bailee

2008-07-20T19:13:00.001-07:00

Bailee Kherington

2008-07-19T12:05:00.000-07:00

I am CRAZY in love with this little girl. Bailee Kherington was born at 4.29am on Friday July 18th. She is our smallest baby weighing in at 5 lbs 6oz and 19 inches long. She has strawberry blonde hair and the biggest eyes.

I always enjoy hearing how it all went down so if you're interested, here's a recap of our events. I went to bed at 12.30am on Thursday night and as I lay in bed saying my prayers I ended with a slight plea saying,

"Heavenly Father, she's full term now so anytime she's ready, we're ready"

and *pop* my water broke. I hadn't showered that day so I jumped in the shower and spent an hour at the house. And, wouldn't you know, my awesome friend and neighbor, just left for a 4 day camping trip that day and I was counting on her to take the kids. I hadn't made a back up plan yet but we have some good friend we knew we could call at 1.00am (thanks Shane and Laura).

My contractions began slowly at the hospital at 1.30am and were in full force by 2.30am. I went from a 4 to an 8 in about 20 minutes. The labor went quickly and with Bailee's perfect cooperation she was born by 4.30am.

I know I'm not the only one CRAZY in love with her. For one, her daddy is totally smitten. The children have started to come and complain to me that daddy won't let them hold her. Kenadee is one of the best helpers. She is so sweet and so gentle. She said that she can't believe this is our baby and we get to keep her. Jake was a little more reserved at first not wanting to hold her but now he can't hold her enough. And Belle, who would hold her all day if she could, asked me this morning with a smile on her face,

"Mom, do you still love me?"

The cute thing is that I could tell when she asked that she wasn't feeling unloved, she was just checking!

We feel so blessed to have this amazing little spirit finally here with us. So, good bye Unisom, B6 and Zofran, my nightly cocktail, and hello sleepless nights with the most beautiful baby ever!

10 Reasons Why I Wear Pink....

2008-07-17T16:28:00.000-07:00

This is such a great T-Shirt that Jake picked out. We had just back from Lava and he swore he couldn't move his face because it was a little sunburned, so this is the best smiling pic we could get.

10 REASONS WHY I WEAR PINK

1. My dad did the laundry
2. My mom made me wear it
3. Rock Stars wear pink
4. I wear this shirt to annoy you
5. I make this color look good
6. It's a fashion statement
7. Pink is the new black
8. To get attention
9. Smart people wear pink
10. And most of all, tough guys wear pink.

Baby Update

2008-07-16T20:38:00.000-07:00

I saw the Dr. today and I'm dilated to a 3 and 25% effaced, which was good news to me to know that something was actually going on, however, I know that means absolutely nothing because I could be this way until my due date. After the visit we went to the zoo and I did quite a bit of walking, by the end of the day I was hurting a little for the first time and it felt as though 'sweet pea' had definately dropped down. You could see the difference in my stomach. So who knows?!

If she doesn't arrive in the next week my Dr. said we could induce.

"How about the 28th?" he said.

Hmm, that's Jake's b-day. When I asked Jake he wasn't too keen on that but today he said,

"Mom, if you get me the Webkinz Toucan or the Alligator for my b-day you can have the baby on my b-day."

He's not usually much of a bargainer and he never if ever asks for things. But Son......you've got a deal!!

Opening Night

2008-07-12T13:04:00.000-07:00

A Star is Born! Kenadee was one of the best darn Munchkin's I've ever seen. Her opening night was last night and she was fabulous. She has put a lot of time, effort and late nights into practicing. She did a really great job and was so much fun to watch. The show was really well done. I could tell she had such a great time. She was so giddy it took us until midnight to get to bed. Here's some pics of the night. Kenadee with her friend Brooklyn.

Kenadee is definately the cutest one in this picture. The "Winkie's" were excellent.
G'ma and G'pa Collings came to see her on opening night. G'pa gave her roses and she was absolutely tickled pink. I knew she would be because we always forget to get her a flower on her recitals etc. so when she got a whole bouquet of roses she was so surprised.
Before the show the "Winkie's" were gaurding the door and Brinlee and Jake had a great time running past them as they tried to catch them.
This is one of the original munchkins from the MGM movie. Margaret Pellegrini. She is 84 years old and was 15 when she made the movie. It was such a treat to see her. Before we got there I was telling the kids that there was going to be one of the real munchkins at the show and they both kind of looked confused and Belle said, "Whats a 'real' munchkin?"
Here's Kenadee after the show (still in full make up) with her favorite roses.
You can't really see her hair on the other pics so here's a close up. We used a plastic cup to extend her pony. At first she had two pony tails but that wasn't as cute so we went to one. She's a regular little conehead!!

Sister Time

2008-07-10T12:59:00.001-07:00

This week we had a visit from my youngest sister and her children. Unfortunately we were still working on the kitchen floor which made it a bit more difficult to get around the house. The kids have to climb through the living room window onto the deck, to avoid the kitchen. Feeding 6 kids breakfast, lunch and dinner was also a challenge. But we had a great time visiting and playing. I especially enjoyed our late night talk till 1am when the whole house was quiet. We're so glad they drove all this way to see us and hang out.

My 5 year old nephew Landon is especially cute. He loved riding his bike on the dirt hills / jumps in the field. He enjoyed it so much he kept asking Jake to take him there but Jake got tired in the hot sun and didn't want to go. Landon came to me and said, "Aunt Victoria, we have a problem! I want to ride on the jumps and Jake doesn't. Now that's a big problem." He also said to Brinlee, "I have never had a problem in my whole life and now this is my first problem". He says the funniest things.

Snakes

2008-07-10T12:18:00.000-07:00

We live on the end of a street next to a field which we have come to find out holds a variety of different creatures that like to visit our back yard. When we took our trailer to be serviced last year the poor service man at the shop had quite a surprise by the 4 foot long snake wrapped underneath, the hornets nest that had infested the inside and the mice that taken up home in the storage bench. It was a regular petting zoo on wheels.

This year we don't seem to have as many mice falling into our window wells and we think that is due to the family of snakes that live under our deck. I know it sounds really creepy but they usually don't come out during the day and they don't seem to be much trouble until the other day when we were sitting outside and one ventured out. Our dog Shakespeare, is very protectivce of us and will stalk the snakes for hours if he sees one in the yard. It was actually quite alarming to see the size of the snake. I've been told it is a harmless blow snake and given that it keeps the mice out of my strawberries I don't mind having them visit.

So we have now confirmed that this is where the snakes enter the deck . It is a large deck, completely sealed off, other than this entrance.
The first time Shakespeare found out there were snakes in the back yard he spent days trying to sniff them out for days. He was really obsessed and this is what happened to the deck the first day (when we were'nt watching him).
The snake made it over to the grass as it tried to get away from Shakespeare. It sure was hissing a lot.

We were all good and calm while the snake was under the trampoline but when it slithered under our chairs the screaming ensued. This was what Kenadee and and I looked like as the snake slithered under us, onto the grass.

Swimming at the hotel

2008-07-06T12:27:00.000-07:00

Here's some pics of the kids swimming at the hotel the day after. We also spent some time shopping in IF before heading home because they have the good stores like Old Navy and Target. We did our first bit of baby shopping which was mainly an outfit to take baby home in and some socks, onesies and pants, just the basics to get us going. I guess I'm ready now so heres to hoping baby will come in the next week or two!!

July 4th Celebration

2008-07-06T11:55:00.001-07:00

After 11 years of living in Idaho this was our first 4th of July spent here at home. Our town has a nice celebration that actually takes place at the fairground right down the street from where we live. We spent the morning at the parade, which by Utah standards the kids said was incredibly 'weak'. Jake was used to catching t-shirts and footballs etc from last years Utah parade so he didn't think the salt water taffy was quite as exciting. But the weather was nice and it was slightly overcast so the parade was very enjoyable.

We knew that we would really miss not hanging out with our families during the day and if given the chance to just stay home, I might spend the day laying around feeling miserable SO we went up to Idaho Falls to stay in a hotel. We stayed on the riverfront overlooking the IF temple. We heard the Melaleuca Fireworks show was awesome. This is the outside of our hotel below. We took the kids to see the movie Wall-E and ate at the Olive Garden. YUM! The movie was SO cute. We all loved it. Then we spent time at the riverfront celebrations making things and having fun.

The fireworks show was amazing. The Melaleuca company hosts the show and they sure did put a lot of effort into it. I believe it went on for over 30 minutes. The fireworks were not the typical ones but had such a variety of colors we don't often see. It was beautiful. You can see the temple in the background of the children.

Blog Lists - FYI

2008-07-05T15:13:00.000-07:00

I just figured out how to get my own blog list (Thanks to Tracy's sis, Jamie), which indicates which of my favorite blogs have been updated recently. I am SO excited about this because now I don't have to check every single blog and look like a blog stalker:O) I thought I'd share with ya in case you're interested. Go to where you add a page element and click on the new link; blog list. You will have to re-enter the actual URL of the blogs and I did have trouble adding a few of my blogs as it wouldn't recognize the URL so I just left those as links.

Mr. Sandman

2008-07-01T21:18:00.000-07:00

Marc rented a sander last Friday and spent all of that afternoon/evening and all of Saturday sanding our wood floors in the kitchen. He ended up having to put the first coat of stain on when it was dark so when we woke up the next day there was a slight line in the floor where he had stopped and re-started. Needless to say he was a little frustrated, but overall I think it looks wonderful. It definately needed a good sanding and coat of stain. There was seriously so much dust it carried over into the living room and office. You can see from the pictures how much dust was created. That was fun to clean up.

More Cowpokes (on horses and dirt bikes)

2008-06-29T13:58:00.000-07:00

Brinlee on the motorcycle with Lindi and (below) riding the horse.

Here's Jake on the horse and the dirt bike. Riding the dirt bike was by far the most favorite thing that Jake did. When he got back he told me that he definately had to get one of those for his birthday, which just happens to be next month. Hmmmm.....

Kenadee FINALLY rides a horse

2008-06-29T13:24:00.000-07:00

After seeing a school assembly with 'cowgirls' who presented a special lasso presentation, Kenadee has been determined to become a cowgirl and ride a horse. During the last few weeks of school she wore cowboy boots and anything else she could find in her closet that resemebled a cowgirl. When my parents visited they took the children to the Western Store and treated them to their own cowboy hats. Kenadee reads the sports section every day and cuts out the horse riding section. She has a collage on her bedroom wall. She LOVES horses!!

So anyhoo, Marc had a work BBQ hosted at Lindi's house (one of his employees). They live on a couple of acres just 10 minutes South of our town. I was SO excited for Kenadee when I heard they had horses and even motorcycles to ride. After the kids went fishing in the river across the street they rode horses and motorcycles. Kenadee was able to ride with Lindi's 14 year old niece, Jessica, who is an experienced equestrian. They were all very impressed with her skills for never having ridden before. So watch out Uncle Chris and Uncle Steve, she knows you have horses and she's heading your way!!

Zoe's Blessing

2008-06-29T13:08:00.000-07:00

Now my camera is working I have some photos from last month that I wanted to share. This is at the baby blessing of our newest niece, Zoe. She is Marc's youngest brothers, Adam and his wife Caitlyn. I didn't even get a photo of Adam and Caity. Oops!! Zoe is the cutest little thing. We are so excited to have a baby girl cousin for our new baby to play with.

My cute sister in laws, Tracy, Molly and Sandi.

Me and Zoe.
CUTE cousins; Kaylea, Kenadee, Brinlee and Maili.

More CUTE cousins, Jake and Kelton.
Our oldest cousin, Jessica, newly graduated and off to college. Isn't she beautiful?
Cousins; Handsome man, Steven and sister Jessica with their cousin, Sage.
Not the best picture, sorry. Here's G'ma and G'pa.

Backyard Campfire

2008-06-23T12:07:00.000-07:00

We finally bought a firepit table and some comfy chairs so we can enjoy the evenings in our backyard. We didn't have marshmallows on the first night so the kids tried to roast hot dogs.

The second picture includes our sweet little neighbors who live across the street. Brinlee seems to live over at Kendall's house. We love our neighbors, they are the best!!