The Girls with all the bells and Whistles!

The girls got all dressed up this morning in tutus and even put on press on nails and lipstick! They looked so adorable and were so colorful and girlie about how they looked it made me laugh. I remember being really obsessed with lip stuff and fingernails when I was young. My sister, Kathryn, even told me recently that I told her when we were younger that if her nails were long that she would be popular! That is so ridiculous! Ha Ha!

Christmas update

Christmas was horrible and wonderful this year! I ended up with a nasal infection on Christmas Eve. Same exact feeling I had 11 years ago when Aaron proposed to me. I felt a little better after a chiropractic adjustment, but the day after Christmas I could not get out of bed. It was like I bumped my head and went to bed and couldn't get up in the morning...ha ha! But it was a miracle because Aaron didn't have to work on Friday, so he took care of everything for me. I slept all day long!! I feel much better today. We didn't get very many Christmas pictures eventhough I got a new camera... bummer. Christian's favorite gift was his pokemon cards, Meliah's favorite was everything, and Lizzy's was her My Little Pony (she actually just says whatever she can see). Aaron didn't tell me what he liked most but he says he hasn't gotten it yet since I've been sick (I wonder what he means by that?? : ) ) My favorite gift was a camera and a family home evening awesomely ridiculous time-consuming set that Aaron's sister, Becky made for me. I love it! But now we all realize that one of the most important things we have is our health, and we are grateful to all be healthy now. Christian was actually the worst on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day... the 24 hour flu bug! Yuck! I hear that Aaron was always sick on Christmas too! Not very good timing!

We were able to spend some time on Christmas Eve with Aaron's family. It was a really nice time. We played murder, ate fondue, and watched Kerri take billions of pictures (She got a new camera for Christmas too). On Christmas day, we opened presents and played games as a family and got together with family in the evening. We did a white elephant gift exchange that was a blast... I didn't end up with what I wanted but oh well! The kids all picked names for each other, it was so fun to watch their faces as they gave to each other! The cousins all love each other so much!

Kids say the funniest things!

Elizabeth is right at the perfect height to hit her head on the mirrors that stick out on cars, but expecially our van. The other day, we pulled into the garage and she got out and hit her head on the mirror as she was on her way into the house. Immediately, she became very angry and said, "I don't know why cars have to have ears! I wish I could cut off all the cars' ears!" I laughed so hard at that despite her tears. It later hit me that mirrors and ears sounds very similiar! Just thought it was a great story to share with her when she gets older! Ha Ha!

Our trip to visit Santa!

Last Saturday we went to see Santa and got the kids' pictures taken. Meliah wants a cupcake maker, Elizabeth wants a barbie that has a horse. Christian said Santa didn't ask him what he wanted but he wants pokemon cards. We thought he looked sooo funny (grown up) sitting on Santa's lap and then assumed that Santa figured he was too big to still believe in Santa Claus. Poor Christian, he is kind of at the age when he is pretending that he still believes in Santa so he doesn't miss out on the benefits. The kids have been so wonderful this year, I know that they are on Santa's good list. I loved seeing how thrilled Elizabeth was to be with Santa. Her sweet voice made Santa melt!

Scout project with cousins!

We decided to do a scout project for Christian and his cousin Ivan last Wednesday! It was a fun time but really messy. I considered doing the project outside but decided not to because we were just going to be carving bars of ivory soap into shapes. How messy can soap be? I thought, it'll just make everything cleaner. Well, I was wrong! I wish I had taken a picture of the table and the floor and the house after they were done carving their animals. It was insane to clean up too! But they had such a fun time and really got into it. They somehow got stuck on wanting to do different animals coming out of their egg shells. Christian and Meliah did snakes, Lizzy did a chick and Ivan did a human coming out of it's egg (I'll let his dad explain that one to him)! I don't remember what Ammon did. Very funny kids... Notice Meliah's teeth... she had them pulled at the dentist last week (entire roots attached)!

Fires, puzzles and marbles

Elizabeth was able to go to the fire station with some of her cousins and their playschool group. She sure does enjoy spending time with cousins. She has been practicing her STOP, DROP and ROLL and how she would get out of the house if the fire alarms went off. She was enthralled with the fireman putting on his suit. It was so cute to watch the fear in the kids after he put on his mask and started talking with the oxygen going. Soon, they all warmed back up to him and realized he didn't magically turn into a monster.


Elizabeth has been so into puzzles lately... she concentrates super hard on them. She can sit there and do them for hours! In this picture, I couldn't even get her to look up!



If any of you know Elizabeth, she is so stubborn! I have really struggled this year with the terrible 3's. I felt like I had tried everything (positive attention, negative attention, a reward system, etc. etc.) She was really starting to drive me crazy because I just could not get her to do anything that I wanted her to do! This is really a new thing for me because my other 2 kids just listen to me. Well, I call it inspiration because I didn't think about it until I was on my knees about it one morning. Rewarding her with MARBLES? Silly me, this idea that has been around forever and I've never tried it (In fact Christian's teacher uses it in their classroom). We found this really cute snowman jar and told her that we would let her put in a marble every time she quickly obeyed us or did something nice without being told to. It has been a week and I tell you what, it has been the ticket to better behavior for this stubborn girl. Last night she said, "I'm going to just keep doing good things until the jar is all full!" I then said, "then we'll get another jar!" I have had so much more fun with her! I sure do love my Lizzy Lou!

New Family Pictures!

My brother is married to the photographer in our family. She does a really great job! We needed a family picture bad and really appreciate Lindsay making us look good. We sure do have sweet kids.

The Kids from a couple of years ago...

So, I don't have any good pictures to post so I thought I'd post some from about this time of year a couple of years ago. It really makes me want to keep them young and tiny. I am trying to go with the flow and allow the change to come. It is a different phase of my life not having a baby. I'm trying to adjust, but am not doing too well with it so far. I miss babies!

Family Home Evening!

Sometimes we struggle with ideas and preparation for our Family Home Evenings. Many times it is a last minute throw it together FHE. Today, I was searching for some good ideas for a family home evening for tonight. Well, I came across one that I thought was amazing! http://fheplanner.blogspot.com/2008/08/obedience-to-parents-lesson-plans.html

Opposition in all things!

My vehicle was in the shop to get some minor things fixed this weekend. I knew that I could handle walking the kids to school and walking to go pick them up in the afternoon too. No big deal! Well, on the way to school and back, my 3 year old complained to the point that it was getting super irritating. I've been really trying to relate to her because I don't want to give her negative attention (which sometimes, I think she likes). So, I had a talk with her about the pioneers and how in the those days, they didn't have cars and they had to walk for miles and miles! I told her that they suffered many hardships and that they really appreciated the less difficult times. I wasn't sure whether she understood everything, but it seemed to sidetrack her enough that she didn't complain a whole lot more. Well, Monday afternoon was pouring down rain as well as being fairly windy. I bundled her up and put her in a stroller so I didn't have to hear the complaints this time. She had an umbrella too... so she was set. After a little while, I started making a couple comments, like, "wow, it's really windy" and "oh no, my umbrella is going inside out!". Then, Lizzy says, "Mom, are you suffering?" What a cute little gal she is. I love how her mind works like a sponge. She is such a blessing to me from day to day. I wanted to remember this experience because it was a great lesson to me of opposition and the trials of motherhood. This scripture about Adam and Eve comes to mind, "And they would have had no children; wherefore they would have remained in a state of innocence, having no joy, for they knew no misery; doing no good, for they knew no sin" (2 Nephi 2:23).

Election Day!

My nine-year-old boy read my sample ballot last night and gave his opinion on some of the propositions and has been asking a lot of questions lately. This morning he said, "Why is it that I can't vote? The kids are going to need to say how they feel about all this." This really touched me and confused me! I wish he could vote... and it is so true, this election does affect our children! If only they could be a bigger voice in the decisions that will affect their futures.

We have been pretty involved with proposition 8 supporting Traditional Marriage between a man and a women. Christian and Meliah have been a huge part of the election and our hope that Prop 8 passes. They have done last minute putting flyers on doors (rain or sunshine). We could not have done it without them! They have been so helpful! I hope and pray today that God will guide those that vote today! Kids need us to make good decisions for them!

Halloween 2008

Aaron makes one good-looking scarecrow!

The Tin Man

The Cowardly Lion not wanting a picture!

Meliah made the perfect Dorothy... she even cried when she lost Toto.

I found that kids really are terrified by witches... I don't like scaring kids... and I did!

The kids invited some friends for the Truck-or-Treat and had a blast together.

A blast from the past Halloweens!

2007
At the Truck or Treat with a bunch of cousins (Minnie mouse, Jasmine and Batman)

Meliah and Taylor both dressed up as Jasmine!

2006

Aaron as the 6 Flags guy (Do you remember that commercial?)

2005

2004 (Christian and Meliah are the smallest kids there) The rest of them are older cousins!

2002 Aaron and I caught a shark and a huge goldfish!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

Lifeguard is on duty! (Grandpa Eller)

Uncle Jon aka Water boy (Aaron's Brother - currently serving a mission in Brazil as a district leader and loving it!)

Fiona (Grandma Eller)

Frankenstein and the want to be wife!

These are a few pictures of past Halloweens! Trick or Treat!

Lizzy Loves Pomegranates

Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Eller and their pomegranate tree, Elizabeth has become very fond of pomegranates. Luckily the weather has been nice enough that I can send her outside to eat them. She also likes to get the seeds out herself. It's so fun to spend so much one on one time with her. She is my little buddy and I love her hilarious personality!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Geneology, Fall Fun and Snow

We had such a wonderful trip to Park City! We have been planning this trip for a long time! We went 3 years ago and have been looking forward to going back ever since. We were able to spend some time with grandma and grandpa, visit the temple, Thanksgiving Point, the Olympic Park, visit a lot of family that is back there and even help Grandma out with some geneology! The first day we arrived it was snowing, so the next morning was a great surprise. The kids had a blast playing in it... for a while, then they were cold!!! Enjoy the pictures!





This is my dad with his Uncle Henry. He is such a funny guy! He is always making wooden things (puzzles etc.) If you'll look closely, he is holding a little tiny stool. He gave it to my dad as a joke "stool sample". I no longer need to wonder where my dad got his sense of humor!

I've been tagged again!

Well, I guessed I've been tagged by Amy! This is the 4th picture in the 4th folder. And, if you are reading this you have been tagged as well! So, find the 4th picture in your 4th folder and post it and explain it a little bit.
This one is easy so I got lucky! This is my Christian with his best buddy, Ivan (who happens to be his cousin too). They are only 2 months apart in age and so my sister, Kathryn and I were pregnant together (that's another story). Ivan is 2 months younger but taught Christian how to roll, crawl, stand up, walk, talk, etc. They decided one day that they will be companions on their missions together in China. Ha Ha! In this picture (taken about 3 years ago), they were playing on different Soccer teams and we met up with them and hung out a little bit that Saturday. Ironically, Christian just got to spend some time with Ivan and Ammon and their family this last weekend. He is still talking about hunting, getting wood and go on some four wheeled fast devices (can't remember what they are called) with the boys in the Pietz family. He can't get enough time with Ivan and Ammon. When we have talked about moving, his only concern is moving farther away from Ivan and Ammon... it's funny that is his main concern! It's such a blessing to have so much family surrounding us!

So, if you are reading this... 4th picture in your 4th folder! It's actually kind of fun!

Tears turned to laughter!

I have to share this experience because it was so hilarious and I don't want to forget it. Tonight we put Elizabeth to bed early cuz she hadn't napped and the kids wanted to play a game together. We decided to play "Clue" which is funny because we have played it about 6 times in the last week. Christian and Meliah hadn't won a game and they really just wanted to win one game. Aaron and I decided that we would just let one of them win. That was very hard to do because that made the game go on forever. Anyway, Meliah ended up finally winning the game and immediately Christian was devastated. Christian is so darn competitive... no idea where he gets that!He kept saying, "Everyone in the family has won except for me." He was in tears and got extremely angry at Meliah for being so excited. She made him even angrier as we were cleaning up the game. She started organizing the cards with a little jingle in her voice saying, "person, weapon, room...". Well, Christian was fed up with it and said, "stop acting like you are the richest person in the world!" Soon his anger and his tears turned into laughter as his Daddy started cracking up and saying, "I'm the richest person in the world because I say, "person, weapon, room,..." (Of course Aaron hammed it up and used a very high pitched voice). The laughter did not stop there, we couldn't even make it through scripture reading tonight without some rolling on the floor (Aaron couldn't even read anymore, I had to take over). We just could not stop laughing! I'm sure it will be a night we will giggle about for a long time!

Alexa and Brent

Well, it all happened very fast but it did happen! Alexa and Brent got married yesterday and it was an incredible experience. It was a spiritual experience and a fun-filled day! We are so proud of you Alexa and Brent!

6 quirks about me

So Kerri tagged me, so here are six quirks about me that I really think are completely normal....
1. I have toes that can do almost as much as my fingers, I'm beginning to realize that it's not normal though, because everyone else seems to have short stubby toes.
2. I have to sleep with a pillow between my legs!
3. I cannot go to sleep at night without flossing my teeth, it drives me so crazy I have to get up and do it.
4. I am addicted to e-bay!
5. I love doing my girls' hair (this is a pretty recent thing). If they let me, I try to do it 2 or 3 times just for fun, before I come up with the final hairdo!
6. I always say my favorite color is purple just out of habit but I really don't particularly like anything in that color.

If you're reading this, you've been tagged! I expect to hear about your quirks too!

Hey mom, watch this...

It's so funny that when my kids get in a pool they are constantly doing tricks and are wanting to show me their newest manuveur. This is Meliah and one of her best friends! Oh and Christian got in there too, he thinks he's so funny (right in the middle you'll see an eye).
Christian and one of his good friends and their turtle, Lucky.
The group together in the pool... hopefully not the last our summer days in the pool!