Happy 2013 and Farewell

I feel very blessed with my life right now. So much that I am worried that all of a sudden something terrible is going to happen to me, because I don't deserve all these blessings! (Knock on wood...) I hope that I portray to those around me the happiness that I feel the majority of the time. Don't get me wrong, I'm still human, I still get frustrated and scared and mad and nervous and sad for all those crazy things in life, but for the most part things are good.
Some things that stand out to me that I am grateful for this year are:

My 3 kids. Still so weird to think I have 3 of them. They still drive me crazy and make me more tired than I have ever been in my life, but I wouldn't want it any other way.

My husband and the job of providing for his family that he does so well. It's crazy economic times and I don't ever want to take having a husband who works for granted. 

My faith. Most of why I feel so happy and blessed all the time is because of what I believe in and that I am secure in my testimony of our church and of our Savior's love for everyone.

My extended family. I know most people are not lucky enough to live very close to family and we get to live near pretty much both sides of our extended families and its awesome. There is no shortage of cousins for our kids to play with and no shortage of grandparents for them to love!

My friends. As you all know I am a very social person. I don't know what I would do if there weren't anyone I could talk to. Luckily I feel like I have many, MANY close friends who really get me and who I feel like I can really be myself with. That's an awesome feeling.

My parties. Some people might think its weird that this made the list. But if you know me, then you know that this is what brings me joy! It was an end of an era to have the last Twilight party - I don't know what else is on the horizon as far as epic parties go, but I'm not done forever!

I know there is a TON more things that I have to be grateful for that I am not mentioning, but these things are really the REAL reason why I feel so lucky and happy right now.

On another note. I have hithertofor decided to end my blog. I'm not keeping up with it, like at all, and it's almost feeling like a looming chore that I need to do. Not super fun. So I am not doing it anymore...I'll still update Luke's till he's 3 so I can publish it like I did the girls, tho. I saw a thing on Pinterest about making Yearbooks for your family. You publish a photo book of all the pictures you took that year (or at least all the good ones or significant events) and then all the pictures are not stuck on the computer. SO I am going to start working on that. Cause lets face it, I'm not going to actually scrapbook any of them either!
So... That's about it! It's been an awesome 5 years of the blogging world. Seen me through dealing with my issues of {depression}Africa and not having kids, to pregnancy,4 months of bed rest, having twins, and therefore going crazy, motherhood fun, and another baby boy!
It's been a fun run.
Farewell and

Peace

Cute pics and a bit of nothing

Guys. I have a lot in my mind right now. Nothing too dramatic or crazy (no more than normal), just a lot in my head. And guess what, I don't really want to talk about it right now. It took all my energy to put up these pictures and to update Luke's blog . So you should all go see his cute haircut pictures! I may have cried a single tear over.

OK

Here are some cute pictures of my kids' school field trip to the pumpkin patch

enjoy

Maybe I'll write about anything tomorrow, or next week slash month

Peace

My 3 Kids

I just have a few cute little stories to share and have down in history about my 3 kids, Enjoy!



Luke

Age 10 months

Luke is hilarious just about every moment of every day. I love this picture because it shows all his huge teeth that popped up all in the last month.
Luke is different from any other baby in that he is {basically} raising me, not the other way around. It started when he was 5-6 months old, I was still swaddling him because he would go to sleep so easy. One night he was wiggling and crying and I was trying everything. Finally I just took the swaddler off and BAM, he falls asleep. Fast forward 2 months and it's bed time again. I freely admit that I am more prone to spoiling him more so than I was with the twins, simply because I am able to. I can hold my ONE baby as long as I want and I LOVE it! I could never do that with the girls. So I do. Well, Mr Luke decided that he was going to sleep train himself. Thats right, now if I try to hold him too long when its time to sleep he fusses and wiggles until I lay him down. Then he's asleep within 5 minutes. WHATEVER. I am seriously amazed every time I lay him down and a little part of me still thinks he is going to freak out. But no, he just rolls onto his tummy and falls into a restful slumber. He's an anomaly is what he is.

Joci

4 Years Old

Joci took this picture of herself with the camera without my knowledge. I think its hilarious.
A couple funny anecdotes from Joci as of late:
In the middle of the night she comes into our room, very scared and shaken up.
Joci: Mommy, I'm so scared. I just had a scary dream, it was super duper scary
Me: It's ok, honey, you are safe. (gives hugs)
Joci: Mommy I am so scared. I had a dream about a bunny
Me: ......
Joci: There was a bunny and it was eating a carrot

End of conversation. TALK ABOUT SCARY.

The next one happened when we were camping. I had some glowsticks I gave to all the kids there. Joci took the one that belonged to Luke. She was having trouble giving it back so I told her she had to choose between having 1 glowstick or zero. She thinks about it for a minute then says, "I choose ZERO" very proudly.
She was highly disappointed to find out how many zero actually is...

Claire

4 Years old (+ 5 minutes more than Joci)



This picture is from one of our MANY camping trips this summer. Some day I will put the pictures up on here...

Some stories about Claire:

She and I were fighting...about what I dont remember. Honestly, this happens pretty much on a daily basis. She is so strong willed, bless her little heart. Anyways, she was yelling at me and decided to give me a consequence for action. She said "You better not do that or Joci and me and Luke will go play with Daddy and you will be ALONE". Little did she know that that is actually MY DREAM

The next quote she said was in the car and completely random:

Claire: Mom, why do boys like dinosaurs and cars?

Mom: I'm not sure. But girls can like dinosaurs and cars, too. They are not just boy toys.

Claire: Well, I only like girl toys. Like my dragon. She's a girl.

Ohhhhh. I get it.

I just love my cute kids!

More pictures to come soon I hope

Peace

the post you all have been waiting for

So I have to admit. I put off posting about this for too long and now I feel like I hyped it all up and really you all will be disappointed. So, I'm sorry.  For what it's worth, THIS is the story.

The Bulgarian Serial Killer (slash pedophile slash creepy sales guy)

So it all starts with last Wednesday ( I know, I know, why did it take me a week to post this?). I was trying to put Luke down for nap and get some things done while the girls are at preschool. Amidst the screaming baby I hear a knock at the door. I briefly look out and see a bike on the lawn. I was recently released as ward missionary in our ward, so the elders come by my house a lot, no big deal. I totally thought it was just the missionaries. I opened the door to find only one young man standing there. Great, just a stupid salesperson.

Side note: I HATE salespeople. I hate saying no to people. I hate hurting their little feelings, no mater what they are selling. Magazines for the homeless, candy bars for a random sports team, cleaning supplies for single mothers. I have had 2 Jehovah's Witnesses come to my house on a regular basis for FOUR YEARS because they were so nice and I didn't have the heart to tell them I am already pretty well settled in my religion...

Anyways. So this guy starts talking. He says he is a Bulgarian exchange student and he started telling me about all the kids hes met in the neighborhood and what schools they go to. Weird, right? For a long time he is telling me all about the kids who live around me. I just had a creepy feeling about this guy. He never once told me about anything that he is selling. Then he just picks up his backpack and STARTS WALKING INTO MY HOUSE. Seriously. So, because I am working on my whole don't-be-nice-to-salespeople thing, I had the door half closed anyways. I quickly block his way and tell him its not a good time and he needs to go. Close the door. Lock. Go get gun. No just kidding about the gun. But I thought about it.
Later I told my down the street neighbor about this creepy bulgarian and to be wary of him.

Another side note: I am not against ALL bulgarians. I just refer to this particular guy as The Bulgarian because he introduced himself as one. In principle I have no objections to any other Bulgarian that I should meet in the future. As long as they are not creepers.

So then Thursday comes around and guess what happens... The Bulgarian came back! He came at 8:30am knocking on my door. He even was looking through the window! I did NOT answer the door. Crazy. I called Tyler to tell him about this guy and he said I should call the police. So I did. The police said they have had calls about this guy before but haven't found him. So I told them he was in my neighborhood right now. Then I called my down the street neighbor and she didn't answer. Usually I am not this much of a freak, but it scared me with this crazy guy on the loose. So I packed up the kids and we drove 2 houses down to knock on her door (I was relieved to see no bike in the front yard). She was fine, but the guy had gone to her house  that morning as well! Talked about kids the whole time, asked her about her kids and any other kids in the neighborhood. CREEPY.
So then I decided to check out my other friends house the next street over. We drove down her street and I saw THE GUY AT HER DOOR!!! At this point I am freaking out. I frantically call her and tell he to not answer her door. The good thing was she wasn't home. Phew. Crisis Averted.
I drove down the street a little more, cause I didn't want the Bulgarian to see me. Then I saw the cop car pull in to the neighborhood! I discreetly pointed out the guy and then I drove away. For one, we were late for gymnastics, and for two, I REALLY didn't want the guy to know I had called the police on him. He would probably kill me.

So that's the story. The officer called me later and told me the guy had a solicitors licence (for what I still have no clue) but they were revoking that. And he said if we see him again to call 911.
Talk about crazy... Neighbors: You are welcome.
I've been kind of freaked out about showering when Ty is not home and really making sure my windows and doors are all locked, but now its getting back to normal and I can shower now...

And that, my friends, is how I singlehandedly (with the police) saved the world (neighborhood) from the Bulgarian Serial Killer (slash pedophile slash creepy sales guy)

Peace

I know everyone has been wondering where I have been for so long. I've been enjoying summer with my family! So I took a little break from updating the blog. But the time has come to show you my EPIC Forks trip of the century!

So to celebrate my 30th birthday I decided I wanted to have a girls trip to Forks for a weekend. All I have to say is that it.was.AWESOME. A big thanks to everyone who came and helped make it such a great time!!

So here are some pictures, even though they will not even portray the awesomeness of the weekend.

Thats right, we stayed in Jacob Black's ACTUAL house

La Push, First Beach

 Wolf print...

I had to document Cali's first time going to the ocean. EVER.

So there happened to be chairs set up for a wedding on the beach. What transpired next was possibly the most hilarious and embarrassing moment of my life. Yes, the wedding reenactment. Complete with my Edward cardboard cutout. It was such a sight that random tourists came and took photos of the event as well. Awesome.

On to Forks!

 Bella's truck

 Swan House

 Hospital where Dr Cullen has a parking spot

 Cullen house

 Note from Esmee

 High School. FYI: The tourists from the beach saw us here as well... That was fun

 I think Baby Dani had the best Bella face

 Right before we left Joci gave me her dragon to take with me so I decided to take some photos of what he did. There was a cool shed on the property with lots of old stuff  in it

 And cows

 Jacob's motorcycle

 There was an extreme vampire threat that day...

  This is the official Forks gang sign

 Sarah pondering life

 Beautiful Rialto beach

 About to leave...

Thanks everyone. it was a BLAST!!!

peace

The 4 Year Olds and their EPIC Birthday

Time to fill everyone in on the last month or so!

Claire and Joci had their 4th birthday. It turned into an EPIC birthday week extravaganza. They had 2 extended family parties, 1 friend party, and 1 immediate family party. All in one week. It was awesome. And tiring. And I probably wont do it again.

But here are some pictures my brother in law took of the fun party. I didnt really take any pictures of other stuff... Sorry.

Claire and Joci: Welcome to our horsey party

Thanks to Uncle Richard, Aunt Nani, and Dad for taking all the kids on the horsey rides!

Having fun with friends!

Fun presents

Horse cupcakes (I'm NOT a cupcake expert)

We had so much fun, Thanks everyone!!!



Peace

A long awaited update

Wo, when did they change the blogger layout?? Where have I been?

So I have been SO LAME at updating the blog, but I had a few minutes this morning where I didnt feel like doing dishes or folding laundry or taking a shower, so I am finally giving you all a glimpse into our life as of late.

I kind of feel like the last three months went by in a blur. Ty was working crazy hours on 3 back to back houses which equals me being a single mom. Super fun. I demanded some time off after the last house was done and we have been having fun  now having him home for a week now!

So my sister in law had her baby on the last day of April. Little Baby Dani is the sweetest little baby whose arrival was long awaited by all. She was born a little bit early and was only 5.1 lbs! She is doing so well and her cousin Luke loves her so much! (That was a joke, I am not sure Luke knows what is going on yet... But the girls LOVE her!)

We snapped some pics of luke "holding" Baby Dani. Super funny

He's got about 15 pounds on her

And then he tried to eat her.

End of photo shoot.

The other night I was making my rounds checking on the sleeping children before going to  bed. When I went into the girls' room I found one bed empty! I started calling her and looking all around the room, I did not find her. I started to freak out a little, maybe a lot. Finally I decided to look in her various hiding places and low and behold here she was fast asleep behind the couch:

So we went on a camping trip for some mandatory relaxation. (FYI, going camping with 3 small children is not exactly relaxing. But it was fun fmaily togetherness nontheless)
Here are some pics of our fun trip.
There was a horse field next to our camp site, the girls loved calling the horses over and feeding them grass.

They figured out that wearing goggles by the fire helped the smoke not get in your eyes. Yes, they look special...

All snuggled up in bed. Yes thats a remote in tylers hand. Yes we motor home camp. Thats how we roll. No haters

It was super fun. I guess thats it for now. More on Mr Luke later, he has his 6 month check up today!!!

Peace