Birthdays, Birthdays and MORE BIRTHDAYS!!!

four of our six birthdays fall between June 7 and August 5...talk about a lot of celebrating, crepe paper, cake/ice-cream, presents...and MONEY!!!

Boe turned SEVEN on june 7--since it was his "golden" birthday, he got SEVEN cool gifts. he really wanted a remote control truck (and NOT a SMALL "dumb" one) so that was his "big" gift this year. he got some other fun stuff too. Boe just started the SECOND grade, he is getting so much better at reading, he is an awesome big brother to ryder and lucy, especially lucy. he just can't get enough of her. unfortuanetly, she CAN get enough of him and doesn't let him love on her as much as he would like to. boe loves math and science and has such a logical brain. he just gets it. he just finished up his second year of competitive soccer and he is excited to start flag football this fall. he is still taking piano lessons and really enjoys them. boe is a GREAT friend and has a bunch of cute, fun buddies that he LOVES to play with. all the other mom's always tell me how nice boe is and how much they enjoy having him at their house-this seriously makes me feel SO good! what a great kid! here are my top SEVEN fave things about boe right now:

*his sense of humor. he totally gets adult humor and can even participate in it
*his ability to love. boe is so loving and he still likes to cuddle with neal and i
*his voice, it is seriously so cute. i guess you'd have to know him to get this one
*his lopsided little smile
*how kind he is to his little brother and sister
*his brain-he is so good at math-me, not so much
*his passion for life, he is curious and excited and awed by so much still-i love that he still has that little boy innocence about him

Happy Birthday Boe-Boe we LOVE you SOOO much! xoxoxoxo

my BABY girl turned ONE on july 15th---seriously, where did the YEAR go?! i can't believe it. lucy is so fun. she is drama all the way around. she will throw her head back and scream with the best of them if she doesn't get her way. lucy's hair is SO blonde-i don't even know if you can call it blonde, she is a tow-head to the max. she HATES having her hair done---i on the other hand have waited a LONG time to be able to do a little girls hair and well, it doesn't look to me like either one of us is giving in on this one ;) she started avidly walking around 11 months. she can sign more, thank you, yes, bottle, food, no and milk. she will "say" mama, dada, she can quack like a duck and bark like a dog. she LOVES her brothers, she LOVES her daddy. she is full of life and can take apart a room in ten minutes flat. she loves to be naked and takes her diaper off ALL the time if she doesn't have pants on. lucy LOVES to be outside, she LOVES the pool and she LOVES animals. we are so grateful to have her in our family---happy birthday baby girl-thank you for bringing a little bit of "PINK" into our lives! xoxoxox

my baby BOY turned THREE on july 27---seriously, i remember the day that this kid was born like it was YESTERDAY---how can it have been THREE years ago?! ryder is still the funnest, easiest, most adorable three year old on the planet. he LOVES mickey mouse, CARS, legos, playing house, playing games, reading, riding his bike, playing outside and being with his family (epesh dad-still a TOTAL daddies boy) ryder LOVES dora and got the whole back-pack ensemble set up for his birthday this year. he also loves puzzles and he can entertain himself for hours if you give him a bunch of toys to play with in an empty room. ryder is by far my best listener. rarely do i have to tell him more then once to do something or not to as the case may be...ryder is very opininonated and has his ideas and the way that he wants things done, he is quirky and fun--he is my little shadow in the day and neal's at night when he comes home from work. he adds so much to our family and we love him SO much! here are my top THREE about ryder:

*his little voice and the way he talks-seriously, i could eat him up!
*his loves and kisses
*i LOVE how he KNOWS what he wants, he will make a birthday or christmas wish list six months before the date and he DOES NOT deviate from his list

HAPPY THIRD BDAY ryder we sure do LOVE YOU!!! xoxoxo

neal turned the big THREE-FIVE on august 5---since we have SO many birthdays, we combined neal's and ryder's so our family only had to come out once. neal wanted a raft and running shoes this year and he wanted to pick both of them out...bor-ring...so no fun bday surprises this year from me. that's okay, i already told him i want a BIG combined shopping spree to H&M for my bday and christmas ;) i am not going to lie, this year has been a bit rough on mine and neal's relationship. i don't do well with change or stress and there has been A LOT of both this past year. we had our fourth child which quite honestly put me over the edge emotionally, i had a horrible recovery from her birth and i am not going to lie, over a year later, i am still feeling not quite up to snuff, we put our house for sell and don't worry, went under contract only to have the sell fall thru two weeks before we were supposed to close, life has just been pretty crazy and it's taken it's toll. we are working on it and even though this hasn't been the most rosey filled year, i love neal so much and am so thankful for him. can't imagine my life without him and all his crazy quirks. he works hard for our family, he tries to do what's right, he is an excellent dad who really gets down on the kids' levels and really talks to them. they adore him and i so appreciate how involved he is in their activities and lives. happy happy birthday sweetcakes-can't believe you are such an OLD man and that this is the FOURTEENTH birthday we have celebrated together. xoxoxoxo

HOLY COW-CATCH UP TIME-AGAIN!

i just can't keep up on this dang blog-but it's really my only form of journaling these days so i need to update every once in a while-i am just going to do a BORING update post and will post pics later and maybe ONE of these days, i will get caught up on my life and actually become a regular (reader and poster) again-

here is what has been happening since i last posted (IN JANUARY!!!)

FEBRUARY-we took the kids to disneyland while we were off track. we decided to road trip it this time around and it was great (well, i thought it was, neal HATES long drives and says he will pay the $2k next time to fly)ryder was only a few months old last time we went so he LOVED it-it was magical to watch him see it for the first time. gage and boe loved it as well-they were more into the adventurous rides this time around and boe was SO happy that he was tall enough to ride indiana jones. they both loved seeing the characters and getting autographs and were good sports to go on rides with ryder. we got 5 day hoppers and stayed a full seven days-it was a good time, nice to get away.

MARCH-commemorated the FIVE year anniversary of Nathaniel's death-it's crazy how sometimes five years seems like SO LONG and other times i wonder-wow-it's ONLY?! been five years?!? i sure miss him. soccer started up again and gage started tumbling and boe started piano. busy busy but super fun. we also decided to bite the bullet-we bought an AMAZING lot in bluffdale in an AMAZING neighborhood-started finding houseplans, found a great builder and got our house ready to put on the market. we are currently 6 weeks into the experience(for lack of a better word) we have had TONS of traffic and two semi-low ball offers-but we are optimistic that given time, it will definitely sell. i am quasi suicidal-keeping a house up on any given day is a challenge with four kids, but keeping a house up to par to show with four kids is just about IMPOSSIBLE. hopefully it's ALL over soon...

APRIL-we took our annual trip to st. george over easter. this year our friends the gee's joined us. it was a blast. the kids swam to their hearts content and we did a lot of hiking and playing. snow canyon became our new favorite thing to do there, in fact, i think next time we will camp a few days there as well as stay in st. george. sharon and i took the kids to the wildlife museum, it was amazing all the exotic animals they have there. way fun trip.

MAY-celebrated Mother's day, went to the U2 concert(BEST U2 concert yet and HANDS DOWN the BEST concert I have EVER BEEN TO!)seriously AMAZING-i loved every second of it, in fact i am, as we speak, trying to convince the mister that we should drive to anaheim for the last show of this leg of the tour on June 18 (which would be my SEVENTH time seeing them!!)---he says i should make it a girls trip without him :((( he has seen them 4 times with me-he doesn't love them like i do-so i am sure there are different ways he'd rather spend his time (and money) we'll see what sorts of powers of persuasion i can pull out on him :)

GAGE-8 1/2-LOVING tumbling, almost done with SECOND GRADE-loves to color and create things, loves to read, LIVES to play with his friends, wants to start basketball this fall, is sweet and kind, has a jack-o-lantern crazy crooked smile, is still super into MJ, LOVES his DS, the Wii and TV (seriously would sit and do all three ALL day long if i let him--but i don't!)has a huge heart, is compassionate, caring and aware of others around him, is the resident "funny" kid in his class and all-around loves life. he LOVES lucy and has also started to be super nice to ryder and helps me out IMMENSELY on a daily basis

BOE-6 1/2-LOVES piano and his teacher, almost done with soccer, wants to give basketball, flag football and wrestling a go, has lost six teeth in the past three months, got a PERSONALIZED PICTURE from the tooth fairy!!! LOVES to play outside, is almost in the SECOND GRADE-has a birthday in TWO WEEKS!!! loves his little brother and sister(sometimes TOO much ;) is gaining a fast appreciation for the music of U2 ;) tries so hard to be good-is thoughtful and kind, is sweet and sensitive and STUBBORN-heaven help us! is amazing at math and doing SO MUCH BETTER with reading and is the kid that everyone loves (well, except gage-those two fight like NOTHING else ;)))

RYDER-2 1/2-affectionately referred to as "donkey" because the kid NEVER stops talking to neal and i(is super shy around others though) is my little shadow during the day and neal's at night, loves cars, loves to play outside, loves to sing and dance, loves mickey mouse, is also gaining an appreciation of bono, the beatles and MJ, loves his little sister, idolizes his dad and big brothers, tolerates his mom ;) is the SWEETEST most EASY going baby of ALL time(for the most part-has started a few tantrums but pretty manageable) can count to 15, knows his colors, shapes and the ABC's, has an amazing memory, LOVES his grandpa, is STUBBORN and independent, is COMPLETELY potty-trained(DAY AND NIGHT!!!YAY!!!) LOVES treats and sippies of milk, LOVES diet dr pepper and diet coke (almost as much as me!!) has THE best one-liners EVER (EX: mom do you have a weiner? ME: no ryder is don't HIM: well i think you should ask for one for your birfday...haha)

LUCY-10 MONTHS-WHAT?! is sweet loving and DRA-MATIC--TOTAL girl already! is still super small and petite, FINALLY made it on the charts (1%) in weight at her 9 month check-is just about walking, cut her first tooth this past week, says mama, dada, and no-claps her hands, can sign yes and more (kind of thank you)-LOVES big people food, LOVES her brothers but is still totally attached to neal and i, loves to be held, loves story time, loves to crawl around independently, can crawl up and down stairs, holds her bottle with one hand and crawls at the same time (HI-LAROUS looking!) is still super sweet and easy but definitely knows what she wants and lets you know! is SUPER fun to dress and i am LOVING doing her hair!

well, i think that about covers it. hopefully i can upload pictures one of these days and i can start posting more regularly...haha, i'm not holding my breath!

Another year over.....

so 2010 is coming to a close. i have mixed feelings about this year, it's been a good one, we got a squishy, beautiful baby, but i feel it's been an emotional year as well. i think you always feel that way after having a baby, it's such a HUGE recovery and adjustment. emotionally, mentally and especially for me, physically---but enough about all that, maybe sometime i will find another extra 15 minutes and blog more details but for now, let's focus on the events of 2010 in the gatherum family...here are some of the highlights {for me}

*this is the first year that our house and yard really came together, we have been working NON-STOP for FIVE long years on it and i felt that it was really awesome this year--JUST in time to put it on the market---maybe we are just crazy-who knows!

*we had our 20 week ultrasound and found out that our 4th baby was healthy, thriving and growing right on track, we also decided we weren't going to find out the sex--the funny thing is, the ultrasound tech told us that the baby was being VERY generous-so we totally could have found out, for some reason, her saying that made neal and i think we were having a boy...it just added that much more to our EXTREME surprise in july!

*we commemorated the 4th anniversary of nathaniel's death and the 5th of my moms...funny how i can now put these days on the lists of "highlights" from the year-it's taken many, many years of healing and grief to be able to list these days as anything but sad, so that to me is major progress, thus making it a highlight of my year!

*we switched the kids rooms around in anticipation for #4, painted, redecorated and made them all really cute.

*we started in the hellish i mean exciting CRAZY world of competitive soccer--holy cow, i NEVER knew something could be SO time consuming. jury is still out as to whether we are going to continue with that for the time being or hold off a few years---i am STILL recovering and it starts up again in less than THREE months---the kids did great though and they improved and learned a lot!

*boe turned SIX!

*neal and i celebrated NINE years of being married! holy cow-time FLIES by, in another 9 years, gage will be SEVENTEEN!

*neal got a sweet promotion at work--i am so proud of him!

*we got the BIGGEST surprise of our lives, when on july 15th, we had a baby GIRL! i kept asking my doctor if it was really a girl and he asked me if i knew the difference between boys and girls!

*ryder turned TWO!

*neal turned 34-OLD MAN-with the GRAY hair to prove it!

*we blessed lucy

*we went to bryce canyon for a week and lake powell for another

*kaylee got MARRIED--my littlest sissie is now a married woman, it was THE most beautiful day ever!

*neal got himself neutered-i KNOW this is TMI but most of the three peeps that still read this blog are family or very close friends and they already know and they know that neal and i have a very inappropriate sense of humor...so sorry if you are a random reader and this offends you---it is AWESOME to know that we are done--LOVE having babies and LOVE my kiddos but SO happy to move onto the next chapter of our lives.

*gage turned EIGHT!

*gage was baptized!

*we celebrated lucy's first halloween {she was the CUTEST lil pumpkin you ever did see along with a perfect harry potter, a "NICE" lion and a rad hip hoppin' michael jackson}, first thanksgiving and first christmas. she pretty much slept through it all!

*i turned 33!!! the jury is still out on how i feel about that one!

and here we are on the last day of the old year. there is something about this time of year that gets me sentimental. reflecting back on events and happenings. evaluating situations and thinking about how i could have done things differently or better. all in all, i feel this was a year of self exploration, of many, many realizations and reflection. i have made many goals for the new year. sure i have the old stand-by of "getting back into shape" i have discovered that no matter how thin {or not} that i am, i ALWAYS have this goal, so it doesn't really count. i want to focus on the inside this year (although, i feel that i need to be honest and give full disclosure for a moment--i am planning on getting a rockin' bod back AND getting breast augmentation {read: boob job} this year, so i am not going to pretend to be completely... um, pure? ;) continuing on, i really want to focus on being a better person, being more patient and kind and empathetic and less judgemental. everyone has a story and sometimes finding out those stories can change perspective and opinions. speaking of opinions, i am going to try to be less opinionated too---i know this one is a STRETCH, but i'm gonna try. i said T.R.Y! i have realized that while i am trying i can always TRY harder, so i am going to. i think my number one goal for 2011 is going to be to try to live in the moment. i have a hard time with this. i have a tendency to look ahead and always plan for the next big thing, i am going to try to enjoy the little moments of life that make it real and that truly matter. i am going to try to live everyday so that if something were to happen tomorrow, i WOUlDN'T have a regret from yesterday. i hope that each one of you has a happy new year, that you look back and reflect on another year over, and a new one just begun!

Christmas 2010

we had a great christmas this year. i was so excited--i put my tree up the second week of november---i NEVER do that but i have LOVED having it up for the last two months. (i am however, VERY ready for it to come down--that's my project for tomorrow) my kids were off track the entire month of december, so i felt like we spent three weeks celebrating before the actual holiday and then another two weeks after. it's been so fun. we have gone to classic skating, mcdonalds, the zoo (it was SO warm at the first of the month) the dinosaur museum, to several movies, sledding and ice fishing . those are JUST the activities we have done together, not to mention all the fun things the kids have done with my dad and kim. gage told me that this has been the BEST off track EVER---i am confident that will change come march when they go off track again, because we are going to DISNEY LAND!!! but i digress, back to christmas. my kids lists this year were super simple and short, they got everything on them and then some. the best thing about it all is the older two are kind of getting out of the "toy" phase and are totally into the "electronic" phase, electronics are SMALL and don't take up any extra room in my already overly crowded house so that is great for me!

we spent christmas eve at my dad's per tradition. we ordered chinese food and it was DELISH. my dad and kim gave my kids the micheal jackson experience for the wii---let me stop here and tell you that my kids (espesh gage is OBSESSED with MJ) they have wanted this game for forever, i adamantly told them that i would NOT waste $50 bucks such a dumb game---so, (Thanks Heather!!) my parents gave it to them and they opened it on christmas eve. they were ESTACTIC!!! i have to say, it is SO fun---i totally felt like the best dancer ever, and well, suffice it to say, i'm not! we also opened christmas jammies while we were there. we came home and retold the christmas story, put cookies and diet coke (funny thing that santa has kinda been in a diet coke phase lately, INSTEAD of diet pepsi!) out for santa, carrots for the reindeer and put the kiddos to bed. i have been done christmas shopping since the end of november and have been wrapping steadily since then, so we didn't have too much to do as far as putting the gifts out.

christmas morning the kids slept till 7:30!!! awesome for neal and i. they were so cute and loved everything they got. ryder is so funny. for the past two months, he has had a VERY consistent christmas list that HAS not deviated. when you ask him what he wants for christmas, he says "a firetruck, a backpack and a sleeping bag-that's all!!!!" sometimes socks (??) and elmo jammies would make an appearance on the list but the other three things DID. NOT. CHANGE. so, ryder got JUST what he wanted and he was super content. he carries his backpack with him EVERY.WHERE. he is so funny.

we went to my dad's christmas morning for brunch, more gifts and a little wii competition---that afternoon we went to neal's parents for {more} gifts, lunch and visiting. it was such a wonderful day. i am so grateful for the spirit of christmas and the way it changes the world every winter. if someone could figure out how to bottle it up and sell it the world would be a much better place. merry christmas!

CHRISTMAS EVE:

CHRISTMAS DAY:

THE DECK{ED} HALLS...

just a few pics of the merrimas and cheer that is decking our halls....

lucy at {five} months

i can only say that i wish pregnancy would go by as quickly as time does after birth. i can't believe my baby is FIVE months old! she is such a sweet, sweet baby. i can't imagine not having her in our family. we LOVE to hold her, probably a bit too much, but i am just enjoying this last stretch of babyhood in my life and i am sure i will not regret one minute that i spent holding her. here is a glimpse of lucy at five months:
*she is mobile! not crawling but she definitely gets from point A to point B by a combination of army crawling and rolling
*she LOVES to eat--she is still SO tiny but she eats A LOT. she does NOT however, like rice cereal, so she is still just on formula
*she is such a SMILER...she LOVES to smile and her entire face LIGHTS up when she does
*she LOVES her brothers, well, maybe she doesn't love when they hold her, but she loves attention from them
*she has full-on DEEP belly laughs-they are SO cute and we all make major fools of ourselves to hear them
*she sleeps 7-10 hours a night--YAY!!!
*she is happy and content, especially if she knows her mom or dad is in the room with her
*she loves to hold things and is starting to play with her little toys
*she sits up and can go from sitting up to laying flat
*she is already DRAMATIC!!! she can turn on the waterworks like NOTHING i have seen! so funny---{well, it's funny and cute now, don't know how i will feel about it when she is 5}
*still loving her bumbo chair {thanks cousin jack jack} but has figured out how to arch herself out of it-so we have to watch her carefully in it
every time i look at this little angel, i see my mom--i don't think she looks like her per say, i just think she brought a small piece of her grandma kimmie down with her from heaven. i love having a baby in our house. her little personality is really starting to show and we are just loving our little lulu.

The Giving Tree

last year i took my kids to the festival of trees. i was overwhelmed-oh the stories that accompany each of these beautiful trees! i called my dad as soon as i got in my car and told him that i wanted to do a tree (next year which is THIS year--follow that?!) in honor of either my mom or nathaniel. he of course agreed. we began planning our tree right then and there! the first week in january, we went to the after christmas sales and bought most of the ornaments and the tree. we decided to do one for my mom first, we wanted to capture her--she loved beautiful things, her house was always amazing, especially around the holidays-we wanted to capture "that" in her tree. all i can say is, we tried! all year we would add a bit to our display and we would talk and plan---FINALLY october rolled around and we had the decorators workshop-me, my dad and kim went to it and i was SO.EXCITED! i apologize to those of you who heard me talk about it NON-STOP but it was ALL i could focus on for those last two months---we decided to name our tree {the giving tree}. my dad wrote a beautiful tribute about my mom that we included with the tree. he is SO good at words, i won't butcher it by trying to restate it verbatim, but pretty much he said that just as she was always giving to others, we wanted to give back in her honor. the {gifts} around our tree were filled with coats, hats and gloves for children, the {stockings} were hygiene kits for children along with some fun christmas toys and candy. we asked that whoever bought our tree, continue the {giving} by passing these things along to others who could use them. not only that, but by buying our {giving} tree, they were giving back and donating a lot of money to primary children's hospital. when decorating day FINALLY arrived, i was SO excited--me, my dad and kim all got to the expo at 7 AM (that my friends is a RECORD for me to be out and about--i am NOT a morning person!) and we finished up around 2 that afternoon. i was SO happy with it-it was BEAUTIFUL (if i do say so myself ;) i just HOPED that it would sell at auction! the next night, we got to go to bid night, me, neal, my dad and kim and kaylee and mikeal all met there. our tree had SOLD!!!! we were so happy! we spent the next couple of hours browsing the other beautiful and AMAZING trees and reading the heart-wrenching stories that went along with them. i was at first filled with sadness and even despair. there was SO much loss,sadness and suffering in that one room. but then my sadness turned to hope and i remembered the whole point of the christmas season. i felt peace and comfort and i felt the TRUE christmas spirit stronger then i have in a very long time. i really needed that---i needed to get outside of myself and look around me. yes, our circumstances are sad and less then desirable. no, i would never in a million years want to go through this and lose two members of my family, BUT, why NOT us? why should we be spared the sadness and trials of this life? i know that i have learned SO much from what we have been through. i have gone through the grieving process and have come out okay, it is now my turn to take what i have learned and try to help others who are sad and lonely and who are in need of my empathy, love and support. it can ALWAYS be worse. that is the beauty of events like the festival of trees. perspective is gained, lives are changed and hope is given. we are already planning our tree for next year.