Evie's Home!

Evie Cristine Auger came home on Christmas Day! She was born at 10:50PM on 12/23. She was 7lb 4oz and 21" long. Below a few pics of the new baby along with some pictures of Ike, Jayne, and Brennen enjoying Christmas

37 and 1/ 2 weeks pregnant

Okay, so first I just have to apologize to any one who lives in Indiana and sees me daily or weekly. You can just skip this post.

My friend Megan does not actually believe that I am pregnant and wants to see proof before she accuses me of having adopted this fourth child. So Meg, this is for you. I am actually pregnant, oh and sorry for all the whining in our phone calls. One day it will be your turn and I promise to be sympathetic. This is the one and only picture posted of my pregnant size so enjoy, and look forward to pictures of the baby soon.
I decided to have Brennen in the picture so you can imagine him playing in between my legs, which he seems to do frequently in public. He has become a bit clingy and shy in public. I keep warning him my balance is not great and I can't see him well but he does not get it. Any way 16 days until our schedules induction.

Gingerbread House

We as a family try to make December a month full of traditions. One of the first things that we do is decorate a gingerbread house. I think we got this from Les's family because I don't remember ever making one in my family.

We make our gingerbread house a couple weeks before Christmas and the kids pilfer the candy until it looks to sad to stay on the counter. This year we made it a FHE and talked about different prophets who prophesied of Christs birth both in the Bible and the Book of Mormon. We had a great time and pretty good discussion.

We all had the flu besides me during the past week. Thankfully it was the short one and not the long one. I hope to avoid that one. I was super stressed I was going to get it and be in the hospital getting fluids, but so far so good. It is some kind of miracle. Although my doctor did say it might put me into labor, but alas, I am not that lucky. Although I don't think it would be too much fun to have the flu and be in labor.

Boys and girls can play together!

So, I am not sure whose idea this was (Jayne or Brennen). But wow this is a major compromise, at least I would think so. I actually laughed out loud when I came into the hall way and saw this. I love my creative kids.

Babies Room, Fall in Indiana

Okay so it has been done for a while but I have been feeling lazy, or just really pregnant. I can't figure out which one.

We started this room in July we picked the bedding when we found out it was a girl. Then we chose paint colors. We had to clean it our because it was as storage room prior to a nursery. We painted the bottom then the top. We had to do two coats because the room was an atrocious sky blue before with bugs painted on the walls. We put up the chair rail, caulked, and painted, then touched up everything. I think it turned out quite nicely. And for those who knew me in my anit-pink days, boy have I come along way. I am excited to have this girl and let her like pink. She will probably grow up hating pink because of the colors of her room. But I love it.The drawers are now filled with clothes, and we are down to last few nessecities to purchase before the baby comes. You know, diapers, baby wash, etc. We are thrilled. Can't wait just a few weeks to go.

Any of you wondering who the extra child is in the picture, it is Ethan, the cute, hand full I watch while his mother drives her bus for the schools.

I love fall in Indiana. Infact, I love every season in Indiana except for winter. During fall their are amazing colors and temperatures. I even love the return of the rainy season, which sometimes brings days of rain and drizzle in a row. To the point where when the sun comes out it is shocking.

Winter is ugly and Brown, similar to Oklahoma. There is very little snow and mostly ice storms, which are much scarier then snow storms. Plus the wind blows and any one who has ever lived in the midwest can empathize with that, no one else. It is dry. I am allready starting to dry out which is a switch when you are used to Humidity.

Spring is amazing the color comes back so lush and green that I can't get enough of being outside. It is truly beautiful.

Summer gets rather warm and humid but for the most part it stays green with out too much trouble. In fact, the only people I know that have built in Sprinkler system are from Utah and most of them put them in not realizing it is really not nssecary 85 percent of the year.

Any way, Happy Thanksgiving ya'll.

Changes for Jayne

I just wanted to officially posts that it finally happened. Jayne got glasses. They are just reading glasses for when she is reading, writing, drawing, coloring, etc. She can wear them more if she likes. She was excited to pick them out and her favorite thing to do is clean them so far.

She understands she needs to wear them while "working". However I am paranoid to send them to school with her for fear of never seeing them again. She does like to take them on and off.
Hopefully these glasses will help prevent her from becoming to near sighted. It was bound to happen with the wonderful genes Les and I have passed on to our children. We will see how it goes.

Jayne also received new bedroom furniture because she was using the changing table. We needed to move that to the babies room. So Jayne got a big girl dresser and mirror. She seems to like it. I love that there are more dressers for her stuff. It is nice to have a dance drawer, along with all her other things.We are getting closer to having everything ready.

Brennen went with me to the baby store today (babies r us). He was really excited. I think he thought we were going to pick one up while we were there and he was bummed when it was just like every other store with clothes and other boring baby accessories. Oh well. He did have fun washing is hands in the tiny sink in the bathroom.

Happy Brithday Brennen!!!

Brennen turned 3 on November 3rd. He has waited forever for his birthday. He was old enough to remember how fun every one else's birthdays have been, and asked me sometimes days in a row, "Mom, is it my birthday today?" after getting a negative response he would ask, "Is it my birthday this afternoon?" What a cutie.

Well the day finally came. He was so thrilled. Les took the day since he has been gone for so long. We got a lot of errands finished and we also took the kids to Holiday park. It is such a fun park with lots of playground toys to choose from. They even took a short hike to look at the White river.We had a speed racer party. Brennen loves cars. He is not picky about what kind. Hot wheels, Speed racers, Nascars (Jeff Gordan is his driver, he chose on his own Zak), and talking cars from the movie Cars. We order pizza and bread sticks. We had a wonderful time.
Brennen also chose his cake which was white with sprinkles. He is such a cutie. He is losing that baby look and starting to look like a kid. I am so sad. I knew it was bound to happen but he is still my baby, at least for a couple of months. I often ask him if he will stop growing and he just tells me, "I can't, I am a big boy mom." Happy Birthday Bren.

Captain Rex, Red Ranger, and a Tiger

I thought I would post some pictures of my cute trick or treaters. Les got back from a two week business trip about 2 hours before trick or treating. I was glad to be able to hand out candy rather then walk up and down the street with the kids.

Aren't they cute. I have to admit after dressing Jayne up 4 days on a row for her various activities I was ready for Halloween to be over. I will be glad when she gets into Kindergarten and they can't have a costume party. She dressed up for dance class which was adorable. We also went to the ward Harvest Festival and all the kids dressed up. What a busy week. I am glad that it is over.

Baby Names

So I decided to take a poll because I just can't decide. Les and I (okay mostly me) have been pouring over names for a while. We finally had a family council not too long ago and strictly talked about potential baby names(while carving pumpkins). So here are our top two.

Evie
Alyza or Aliza

I just want to get some opinions and knowing my track record she won't look like either name and well call her Matilda, or Helga, or Ezmeralda or something like unto it.

Jayne has been super sweet. She gives my bulging belly hugs and tells me how excited she is to see and meet her sister. Playing with her with flesh in between is just nor cutting it for Jayne. Although she did ask me if the baby was going to play with Ethan (the little boy I watch for 3 1/2 hours everyday). I had to break the news that once little sister comes we will only see Ethan at church on Sunday. She was crushed but asked if she could still play with the baby. Which ended up being a conversation about how little a baby does for a while. We will see how excited she is after the baby is born. Hopefully the attention from Grandma's on both sides will help distract her for a while. Thanks for being willing to come with the Grand kids for a while Moms.

Two Years in Indy!

Wow it is amazing how time flies. We have been in Indiana for two years last Thursday. We went to the Zoo to Celebrate. We even rode the zoo train which we have only done one other time(It only drives by behind the zoo buildings and you see more cars than animals. It had a Halloween theme and stopped several times in Halloween town. The kids loved it. Especially Brennen.
We surely have been blessed. We lucked out when we moved here. There are great schools. Lots of diversity of people. We have an awesome ward. We have made some great friends that I am sure we will be friends with for a long time. Les only has a ten minute commute, and he has shorter hours (most days) then he did when we lived in Utah.

I also feel like it has been good for our family to be reliant on ourselves and gives those ward members someone to help and someone for me to help in my turn.

Don't get me wrong of course we miss our family and friends back home but we do love Indiana and the new experiences we have had.

I still have to google directions to where I am going in this town if it is not a ward members house that I frequent. If not I could be lost in corn fields before I know it. And let me tell you most corn fields look identical. I still have not been to Chicago although I am only two hours away(sad I know). I am hoping maybe next year will be the year. We will see.

This is about as adventurous of a pumpkin patch I could handle this year. I felt like I could not go on a hayride in a bumpy trailer. So we went down the street to a Methodist church and supported some nice Methodist missionaries by purchasing some pumpkins. By the way I had to take four pictures before everyone was sitting down.

We carved pumpkins. Thanks to Les. We at least have one person in the family with an ounce of Artistic ability. The kids had a great time however the pumpkins are starting to look a little scary with a week to go until Halloween. Oh well it couldn't be helped.

We are looking forward to still spending some years here unless things change so family and friends you have an open invitation to stop by if you are ever in the neighborhood.

Rome is amazing!

Okay so I am finally going to try to wrap up our trip to Italy that we took in April. Wow how time flies. One of our highlights of going to Rome was that Les had earned an excessive amount of Hilton Honors points form his work in Puerto Rico the past two years. We had an amazing hotel, Hilton Cavaleiri Hotel. We were on the executive floor. Which meant we had an express elevator and an executive lounge that served snacks from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. It was nice to grab a snack before hitting a bakery in the morning, or getting fresh fruit after along day of walking. We stayed at the hotel for 4 nights. It was sort of an ordeal getting to the hotel. We had luggage and the metro was pretty easy to figure out but we had a map quest map to get us from the station. We thought about taking a cab but decided not to. Wow, we should have, it was a long walk up hill and to top it off it was sprinkling. We also had to be adventurous in the route we took because none of the roads went all the way through. Thanks to a wonderful local gal we made it by taking a short cut of sevral large stair cases, at least 100 stairs.

Once we got there and caught our breath, wow is all I can say. It had black out blinds, towel warmers, a double door to block out sound from the hall, and a comfy bed. I slept like a log at this hotel. I am still trying to get Les to install blackout blinds in our room (Ha)!
We tried to break up our days knowing that we had pushed ourselves in Venice and Florence. Our first day we went to the Colosseum and Palatine hill. It was surreal to be at the colloseum. It has been there for so long. Built by Jewish Slaves and we all know about what took place there. I am grateful that I am a woman now and not way back then. That is all I can say. Les had to have a picture although I think we ended up with at 20 pictures in and around the Colosseum.

This is a picture of the back of the Colosseum, obviously, since there are no other tourists in the picture. Rome had a ton of tourists but it was so fun. The streets are much wider then Florence, and the city just seems to be set up better. The metro takes you pretty close to most of the sights, so the walking wasn't quite as excessive as in Florence. The poeple were very friendly, the food again was incredible. There was a freedom in Tibet peace parade and me and Les were seperated for a few scary minutes. Les said go, so I went. Well, he stayed, I had to walk way back up the hill to find him and it wasn't easy. There were people everywhere.

The roman Forum was incredible. We had a "free tour" by an american that had given 1700 tours of Roman Forum. We ended up going on one of his tours later that week. We learned so much. We walked on steps that Julius Ceaser did. Wow can you imagine. So much History. The sights were beautiful too. Rome is much cleaner than Florence. We had no problem with pick pockets although there were a few scary situations. We had to be vigilant and we did talk to other tourists who hadn't been so lucky. We saw the circus Maximus, where chariot races were held and walked through palatine Hill.
We also saw the arch of Constantine, and tried to see the Pantheon. We did see the outside but it was closed for an Italian Holiday. We went back a few days later to see the inside. We went to the Piazza Navona. There were artists and performers all over the long piazza.

This picture was taken at the Triton fountain in the Piazza Navona. This piazza was crowded but had a fun atmosphere and some of the art work was amazing. I am going to skip talking about our second day for another time but I promise to try soon. On the third day we went to a museum called the Borghese Gallery. We had to have advanced tickets by about two months and it was somewhat inconvenient to get to via mass transit but it was so worth it. This gallery held beautiful , happy, artwork. Most of the art in Italy is somewhat depressing for understandable reasons, but the person who put this private collection together liked happy instead of sad (okay he was slimeball, but wow he had good taste in art). It alsohad one of the most amazing sculptures I've ever seen. Below is a picture of the gallery.

After the gallery we went to the spanish steps. Les was having allergies this day (go figure) with all of the flowers. The Spanish Embassy was being cleaned to it didn't look to grand but this attraction was slammed. Infact, we walked up the back stairs and down the Spanish Steps just so we could say that we did. The back stairs weren't crowded at all.

Okay so here comes my plug for the good old Mc Donalds. I know we are in Italy right, so why eat cheesy American food. Well I will tell you it is all about the bathrooms. The public restrooms are few and far between in Italy. Most of them you have to pay to use. But if you can find a McD's there is always a free somewhat clean restroom to use. At a McD's near the Pantheon I waited about 45 minutes to use the restroom. This may be an overshare but this is also when we found out I was most likely pregnant and boy was I glad I wasn't trying to find a restroom every two hours to use. That would have been a nightmare. So hooray for McDonalds. The food was somewhat close to what they serve hear although I did wait 20 minutes at the register when Les ordered a Mc Ckicken Sandwich. Stick with the burgers people. It is easier on everyone.

I made Les stand in this picture at the first McD's built in Italy. Near the Spanish Steps in Rome. By the way, It was huge and decorated beautifully for a McD's. We went to the Trevi Fountain on the third day as well, we also went the first day. It was crwoded no matter what time of day. But it was worth looking at . The aquaduct is amazing and although I have heard you can fill your water bottles all over I wasn't brave enought to drink any thing but bottled water.
We finished our third day in Rome with a swim in the pool. Yep, swim caps and all, then we rested for a few hours, and went out for a nice dinner. Well that is all. Sorry that was a long post and I'm not even completely done. But I will finish the trip recap another day. I loved Rome!

6 Quirky things

Okay so I got tagged by my friend Jessie to tell 6 quirky things about my self. So here it goes.

1. I have to use hand sanitizer after being in a public place. Especially Wal-Mart or any where I have to use a cart. I do not like to even touch the steering wheel in my car until I am clean. I just feel dirty and grimy until I use the little bottle of sanitizer. I love that Kroger has sanitizing wipes and I hate when the container is empty. I am more of a germaphob now that I have children. I was a freak about the sanitizer while I was in Italy and I am thankful for the hygene efforts most people make here in the USA.

2. I always have to be reading a book. Even if I have very little time in a day, I feel so much more relaxed if I can read for a minute or two here and there. Itis my escape from reality for a few moments. It is also a way out of the house even when you have sick children.

3. I do not like feet. I have a hard time even touching my husbands feet without a pair of socks. It all stems back to college when a group of friends came over to watch conference at my apartment. I remember being pinned too the ground by several young men while Russ (I won't use last names) stuck his bare feet on my face during the prophets closing remarks of conference. Needless to say, it traumatized me, and I have never been the same.

4. I love to sleep in. I am so much happier when I can. Although I don't really have a day when I can sleep in. Even Saturdays are just too darn busy to get much extra sleep. Les leaves to play basketball at 6:50. I am looking forward to conference Sunday, which I am happy to say doesn't start until noon in this part of the country. There is time to sleep in, shower, and cook a hot breakfast all before the first session. I am also looking forward to 11:00 o'clock church even if I will be up doing night feedings with the baby. Ward council will not be nearly to tyring at 9:00 instead of 7:00.

5. Telemarketing calls. Charity or otherwise. I have insurance companies call me multiple times a week. Honestly if people knew how much I allready paid to charity, I think they would bypass my number.

6. I can not stand clutter in my house. Inevitably by the end of the week I have clutter that builds up on my island or desk in my office or both. I get panicky if my house has clutter and I have to get rid of it, or the family can feel my irritation.

I will not tag any one else but if you feel so inclined to share. Please do.

Les, Can you take the baby for a while?

Okay, so I know that is impossible but last night I was so exhausted and needed a break. Unfortunately when your pregnant you can't just hand off the baby. I am getting to that uncomfortable part of pregnancy when your body bends and twists and turns in odd angles. It is hard to pick things up (especially small items that I can't pick up with my toes). It hurts to stretch, stand up, sit down, get out of bed, pick up children etc. By the end of the day I am doing well if I can roll of the couch and walk up the stairs to get into bed. Les tells me not to pick things up but I don;t think he actually realizes how much picking up I do during the day. He says its the kids job but I don't have time for them to pick things up all the time.

I know I sound lame. I am giving props to all moms who have ever carried multiple babies at one time. I just can't imagine.

I am grateful for this little ones movements that let me know she is okay. At times I admit they get annoying, especially when trying to sleep. But I am grateful at the same time.

I had a moment today. I was going through old boy baby clothes from Brennen, for a friend who needs a particular size of pants for her son. I lost it. So many cute outfits and memories to go along with them. It is hard to imagine not having another little boy. However, this is 95% our last baby,unless something unforeseen happens, and as long as this baby actually comes out a girl there will be no more little boy Augers. Brennen gave me a big hug and told me (because I asked)"Mom I can't grow smaller, I am big. " More tears from the mama.

I am hanging in there but emotionally unstable. It has got to be the hormones. Oh, and congrats to Rachel and Ken and there new addition Lindsay Jane Golightly born last friday. Cuddleing and kissing a new baby is much easier to do in person.

No time to think let alone Blog! 29! Jayne first day of preschool!

Okay, I know I am lame. I have not had any time to do anything it seems. I am hoping that things will calm down soon. Hopefully after Sunday. My calling is stressing me out, but it is looking up. This is a busy time of year for primary. The program is coming, inservice, curriculum orders, new teachers, switching schedules, budget & calendars for next year,and looking forward to next year new theme and ideas. It is crazy. Add trying to remodel a room for the new little one before Les's schedule becomes to demanding to get it done, homework, activities for the kids, and football games to watch. That leaves no time. Plus, I still have days that I don;t feel so grand. So I am doing the best I can.

By the way. I was the entertainment at Jayne's soccer game on Saturday. Her coach who is a friend of mine asked me to be the second coach. (The team plays on two fields so everyone gets to play). I was on one field. It was so muggy, humid, and hot. She neglected to tell me before I showed up at the field. I was not dressed for the weather or any type of physical activity. I was one sweaty, 6 months pregnant momma running after 4 year old girls. It was a sight, but Jayne was so excited that I was her coach. She almost scored twice. I couldn't move for the rest of the day. I was so sore. Maybe I shouldn't admit that. But this is baby number four and my muscles are all out of whack. Oh well.

By the way. I turned 29 on the 10th. Yep I have officially had my last birthday of my life. I can get no older. What a feeling. The kids had a fun time celebrating my birthday, and Les bought me a beautiful cake. It was a little small but the kids all had a bite and a delectable cupcake from the same bakery. Jayne woke up with pink eye, so I was pretty much stuck at home except for the visit to the doctor. On the upside the doctor gave us samples so we didn't have to go to the pharmacy, and infect half of our town in the process. I was a cleaning maniac and no one else has gotten pink eye yet. I am hoping they won't!. Jayne started preschool. She looks so bug. She actually went last year, but this year she is staying longer, eating lunch at school. So far she is enjoying it. the school just opened up and is very unorganized. I am hoping they will get it together in the next month or so, but she is thrilled she knows kids in her class form church. She also gets a note sent home saying she sang by herself just about every day. I guess she isn't very shy after all.

Brennen and I now have some quality alone time at least until the baby is born. Unfortunately the majority of my time has been spent on Primary up to this point but I have hope that within the month I may have some time to spend hanging out with Brennen.

Leaning Tower of Pisa

We only went to Pisa for a half of a day. We woke up as early as we thought we could in Florence, hopped on a bus to the train station and rode a train to Pisa. We then stored our luggage at the train station, boarded another bus and went to see the tower. Wow, is all I have to say. We almost didn't go to Pisa but we were so glad that we did. It was one of the most amazing things that we saw on our trip. It was beautiful and just so much better in person then in pictures and movies. We forked over the 30 Euro to walk to the top of the tower for 20 minutes. We walked up to the top and boy was that a trippy feeling. Half the time you felt like you were not going up at all and half the time the stairs were impossibly steep. Go figure, it is leaning, and not just a little.We went to the baptisterio, which coincidentally leans the opposite direction the tower. The accustics were amazing. we also went to a graveyard there which the center of claimed to have soil taken fromt eh holy land during the crusades. So much history, so little time. The tourists shops were always fun. If you are going to buy marble, buy it in Pisa it is much cheaper than in Rome and there is plenty to choose from.

They were also great restaurants very close by, although we had to leave to get to another train to leave for Rome. Since returning home I have actually craved Italian food. Real Italian food. I am not crazy about spaghetti, but there are so many other types that are so yummy. I can't remember exactly how long that trip was 3 to 4 hours near the coast. It was a beautiful view, but we rode 2nd class because it was a more local train. It was a little scary, if any of you ever go to Italy traveling 2nd class just don't go in to the bathroom. If you have to go take lots of hand sanitizer.

Little Sluggers

Les has been working with the boys in a very dedicated way teaching them how to bat properly. As you can see, Brennen is picture perfect. The amazing thing is he can hit the ball off the tee every time. He also hits it when Les pitches it to him. His bat is a little thicker then a normal bat but he is only a little under three. I am impressed. He has a sucker in his mouth that he earned from his potty training adventure that we are still enjoying(I am not sure if that is the correct word, I think of something much more colorful). Ha!

Isaac loves baseball and is also doing very well. He sometimes gets down on himself. I am not sure why. He likes to succeed and do well at things, but does not really understand you have to fail to learn to succeed and the practice, practice, practice thing. We are trying and he can hit very well. It depends on his mood. Some days he hits it threw the fence slats, others the ball barely moves. Anyway, we are trying and having a lot of fun along the way.

It's a . . . . . . . . .GIRL!!!

I have thought since I knew that I was pregnant that it was a boy. I had names picked out. (Rex was my favorite.) I was absolutely confident that it was a boy. Well I have had several Ultra sounds this pregnancy and they could finally tell what it was.

It is a girl. First of all I was in shock. Me lucky enough to have two girls. I asked "Are you sure?" "I am pretty sure, look." then she showed me. I could not contain the tears. They flew freely. She asked warily if they were happy tears or sad. Of course they were happy tears. I was so excited Jayne would have a sister. You have to have a sister. (Sorry all of you who don't have one) Life would not be the same without mine.

To make a long story short I made her check again at the end. Sure enough it was a girl again. After the ultrasound she gave me a hug. The nurse gave me a hug. The doctor gave me a hug. I am pretty sure if there had not been a wall in between me and the receptionist she would have given me a hug. Don't get me wrong I love my boys and would have loved to have another, but there is just something about girls.

I am not quite ready to get rid of all the boy clothes (at least until it really comes out as a girl) but I am excited to get a girl nursery ready. Any way I am thrilled. I need serious help with names if you care to share any. All that I like are very popular and I just can't decide. Any suggestions?

Beautiful City, Nauvoo

We had the pleasure of having my parents come and stay with us in Indy this July. It was so much fun to see them. We had a great time at the track, zoo, and war museum. Our favorite part of the trip was our visit to Nauvoo. It is about 5 1/2 hours to our west. Isaac learned so much. Jayne tolerated most of the time. Brennen was bored out of his mind, hot and tired, but he sure made an adorable pioneer.

Jayne's favorite part of the visit was the horse ride and the oxen and wagon ride. I know it is a shocker since she is pretty obsessed with animals. She wanted to know their names and everything about them. It was also a humbling experience to see an actual sized wagon and the amount of supplies that fit in. What an amazing feat the pioneers undertook. I am amazed at their bravery and conviction.

I am so proud of our church's heritge and am so grateful to that boy prophet, Joseph Smith, who was brave enough to start this new dispension here on earth. I am so grateful to them all for their sacrifices and faith. I pray my faith can be as strong as theirs and that my children will grow to unerstand and know thier Savior.

First Day of School-August 11, 2008

The day I have been dreading for a long time has finally come. Isaac started his first grade year. He is now gone all day five days a week. In my mind I know he is ready. In my heart I will miss him every day. I had a terrible week before school. Chalk it up to pregnancy and hormones but I finally had to get a grip and gain control of my emotions, when Isaac started to cry too. He assured me that he would talk to Jayne because he was not going to be here to help any more, she would have to do it for him. What a sweetheart.

He has two teachers Mrs. Gaudreau in the morning and Mrs. Jenni Robinson (Coincidence?) in the afternoon. He was excited to go back to school this week so it must not be all bad. He even told me that his really fun math teacher is way better then last year teacher. His biggest stress of the day is remembering what he is having for lunch. He also has to wait and see who orders hot lunch so he can pick someone to sit by him at the peanut free table. So far he is a little obsessed about it, but I am sure he will figure it out.

Dora the Explorer and Star Wars

I just thought I would post some birthday pictures of my kids. Jayne had a Dora Adventure birthday party for her fourth birthday. We had a gooey geyser and a crocodile pond and guess what we did find the birthday cake. We also played water games with guns and balloons. Yeah, it was fun. Fifteen kids is a lot of kids at a party. She has a lot of little girls in her primary class, and a few other girls from her dance class and a neighbor were invited. Impressive cake huh? That is from the combined total of zero art classes I ever took. It is not my forte for sure. But it will due and it tastes just as good as a pretty cake.
Isaac turned 6 this year and had a Star Wars pary. This actually was a very fun party. He had friends form church come to celebrate. We made character masks, had Jedi training, Guess the character, and a piniata. We were having so much fun we didn't finish all that we had planned. There was no time for guess who said it, pin the lightsaber on Darth Vader, pass the death star, or the melemium falcon relay.

These were my first attempts at birthday parties for my kids and their friends. Overall it was a lot of fun and even my kids had a great time.

What are you doing New Years Eve?

I just love that song, but unlike most of you, I already know what I am doing New years Eve. I am having another baby due on December 31st. I will actually probably have it a few days to a week before that, if my doctor gets her way. That's right it may be boxing day. My son/daughter will share a birthday with family and friends. Any bets on what I am having? I should find out soon I hope. The last ultrasound was not able to show what the result is although the baby looks good. I did have some complications and we are praying things will continue to go well. I am now 17 weeks pregnant and the baby is very low (right on top of my bladder in fact). Oh, the joys of pregnancy.

We are feeling very blessed, we have tried for over a year to have another baby. We have had one official miscarriage in January and another in August. So hear we go again. This baby will be younger than Brennen by 3 years and almost 2 months. My other children were all born within 3 1/2 years. I am looking forward to having lots of helpers. Brennen also assures me, no matter how many times I've told him that he can't have a baby, that he also has a baby in his tummy. He shows me right where it is located(what a cutie)We are very excited and are looking forward to our storage room officially becoming the babies room.

Florence

This picture was taken at the Duomo in Florence. We got there early to beat the crowds and boy were we glad an hour after this picture was taken the square was full of tourists and umbrellas.



This was the smallest car that we saw while in Italy. It actually has one seat in it. It is sort of like a threee wheeled closed moped. the streets are so small in florence they were not an uncommon sight.

I have to admit that Florence was not my favorite city we visited in Italy. Don't get me wrong it was beautiful, and unique and different from anything here, but there were aspects of it that I did not enjoy.

Things I didn't enjoy include the massive amount of people everywhere and how dirty everything was. It made me sad to see how people have treated some of the oldest buidings in Italy. It also rained almost the entire time we were in Florence, so if we look a bit damp in the pictures you will understand. This picture is of Pointe Vechio a world famous Jewelry area is on the brigde. I found several items I would love to have but unfortunately most of them were over 3,000 Euro. Too bad, maybe next time!!!

We spent two days and three nights in Florence and saw so much. I also haven't walked this much in a long time (at least since the college days). The bus system was a bit crazy, and crowded but I am happy to say we hardly ever missed a stop we were aiming to get off on and only had to run to catch a bus once or twice.

One of the reasons to go to Florence is the shopping. They have some small markets which sell all kinds of things, but mostly leather, ties, scarves, and other souvenirs. It was a fun place to shop especially in the rain. It wasn't too crowded.

We also ran into about 6 sets of missionaries from the states and of course I just had to say hello. We are all children of our heavenly father and that is perhaps one of the best things I learned form this trip. I am so blessed to live where I do but people in other places are different and that is what makes this world so wonderful. Embrace the differences, and be grateful for what we have.

If you can see it we probably saw it. This picture was taken formt he piazza michealangelo where the original David was located. We saw the replica and the original. I guess that is what you go to Florence to see and we did. Overall we saw so much stuff in Florence it is hard to list it all so I wont try. We aso had some great food in Florence. The time went by too quickly. If I had to do it again I would have spent time in Umbria (it was so beautiful in the rural areas) rather than in Florence, but like I said maybe next time.