Memories

I am so awful at journaling so I figured I would jot down a few quick memories of my kiddos so that I will always have them.

My Joshua Bruce is a pill! :) He is always making a mess and learning how to get into things. He is at such a fun stage and I love it! He loves to sing "Shake it a me" that is from a country song (Shake it for me girl) and it is absolutely adorable. He dances and sings and every time it brings a smile to my face. His laugh melts my heart and I just want to hold him and give him a big squeeze. He also makes a mess with everything. It is a lot of work to clean up after he eats but he always has the best messy faces (as you can note from his pic). His favorite movie right now is Gnomeo and Juliet. One of the last things I really want to remember is how he says castle. Every time he sees the Disney castle he screams castle, only he can't say the c so it ends up sounding like a swear word. It's kinda funny lol. I love him so very much.

William Spens is an angel! We are so very grateful to have him. He makes the funniest little goat noises in his sleep. He is our noisiest sleeper, and it always makes me smile to hear his noises. Gramma called him Billy Goat and that made me laugh, too true. He is getting bigger every day and is a lot more alert. He is starting to smile, and some days I wish I could freeze time because he is growing too fast. We all love our baby so much!

Ethan Paul is a big help! He is growing up and every day I swear he learns something new. He is getting so smart. He is talking very well now and he loves his friends and playing at the parks and outside. He helps mom by throwing away the diapers and retrieving things. I couldn't do it without him. He started preschool this month and I still can't believe it. I see pics of him as a baby and him and William look a lot alike. It seems like he should still be a baby. He is now sitting in a big boy car seat and knows its very ''deengerous' to get out. He says the word so cute. I love my Ethan!

I am so grateful for my 3 boys and a wonderful husband. God has truly blessed me!

Inspiration

Today a very inspired MOPS friend shared this with our group. A lot of us were touched and it was the inspiration some of us needed to hear. Life is not always happy, but the trials and tests we endure are also for our benefit. I have a friend who just lost her 6 month old son to SIDS and I have been struggling with this since I found out. I keep thinking, it's not fair! She has endured so much already why her? But as this story was read I caught a glimpse of the big picture. This trial is not one of the happy moments in life, but when her life is over what a beautifully mastered 'cake' she will have. If you enjoy this please share it with someone else who might be in need!

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.raesmith.com%2Fgods_cake.htm&h=FAQAMbQjqAQBy2-uP6JSyI5hkx_FXzDkK-gYzo4y6qxuPfA

Overdue!

Wow! I didn't realize how pathetically long it had been since I posted. I have summed up our past 9 months quite quickly below. I have also added pictures but the website is not allowing me to move them so they are all over the place. :( Hopefully this kinda makes sense.

December-

December 18th my brother, Michael, and Travis' sister, Kimberly, were married in the Billings MT temple.

December 21st was Joshua's 1st birthday. So glad Saren was able to come help me out for a week and spend this time with us.

We spent Christmas with my family this year and we had a nice but short vacation.

On December 31st we found out that we were indeed pregnant with our 3rd child.

January-

January 8th we arrived in Palmdale, California to start our new life. We were s

o glad our parents were able to help us pack and move!!!

We also went to the San Diego Zoo this month. It was a lot of fun to get away and we had a wonderful time.

February-

February 19th was Trav's 26th birthday. He is getting soo old. ;)

March-

We found out that #3 was a boy!

April-

Ethan had his 3rd birthday. Our oldest baby is growing up. :(

May-

Ethan, Joshua, and I flew home to Wyoming for a few days. It was nice to be back in Wyoming, but it was so crazy that it rained the entire time we were home. Don't think I remember it raining that much while growing up!

June-

Travis and I had our 4th anniversary on the 29th.

July-

We had a nice relaxing 4th at home. We miss the Cody celebration though!

I had my birthday on the 19th and turned 27.

About now we found out or due date had been off and the doc said we could expect our baby any day..... of course he didn't show up in July though. ;)

August-

William Spens arrived August 10, 2011 at 5:09PM. He weighed 8 lbs. 4 oz. and was 21 inches long. My water was broke that morning, but I didn't have contractions until 2PM when they gave me pitocin and the epidural. I had him a short 3 hours later. He was by far the easiest labor. His little head was black and blue from coming out so fast. Dr. Edralin said he looked like a prize fighter. We were so glad to finally have him here!!!

Mom and Matthew came the Saturday after he was born and stayed for a week to help. Gramma got lots of cuddle time with her 3 grandbabies and Uncle Matthew got worn out! He was such a good sport and the boys still miss him!

September-

Travis' parents came for Labor Day weekend when we blessed William. We were so glad they came. We got to play at the beach and go to the Santa Barbara Zoo while they were here. It was a pleasant visit and we were all very sad to see them go.

Ethan started preschool on the 13th. He was so cute about it. He loves learning, but both him and Josh were sad Josh couldn't stay at preschool. What a great pair!

We are currently in escrow for our first home, yay! :) We are so excited and should be moving in the 1st of October. We are very thrilled to be getting out of apartments!

That sums up the past few months in a nutshell. Hopefully it will not be another 9 months 'til I post.

Tribute to a teacher

Yesterday someone very dear to my heart passed away. Mrs. (Judy) Morgan, my high school English teacher and Speech and Debate coach passed on. She will be greatly missed! I often did not feel like I was a super important person when I was in high school and Mrs. Morgan always made me feel better about myself. She was not only a teacher, but my friend. I will never forget the many speech meet trips with her and Gwennie. We had a lot of good times and I appreciate all she taught me. Her smile and laughs always made me happy. I remember that one year she got me a huge stuffed rabbit at a speech meet. It made me feel so important. She was amazing and no one will ever take her place. She made this world a better place, and I hope that I can emulate her happy spirit. Mrs. Morgan you are so loved! You will be greatly missed! Love you and sweet dreams 'til we meet again.

A month of Thanksgiving

This week has been trying but at the same time amazingly wonderful. We are closing in on the big move (7 weeks from last Friday) and things are beginning to fall into place. I am so thankful for the many blessings which my Heavenly Father has seen fit to bless me with. Things get stressful when you move, but things have gone fairly smooth at the same time.

Earlier this week I was giving Joshua a bath and he laid his head down in the water and gave me the biggest smile ever. It filled my heart with joy. He is learning so much and growing up too fast. He has picked up shaking his head no and yelling 'Dad'. He is also standing up on his own very well. He is such a wonderful blessing in our home. He fills our lives with joy and it is so hard to imagine that he has only been with us 11 months.


Ethan is beginning to talk... a lot. :) It is so awesome to see him learn things and begin to put things together. He knows a lot of shapes and is starting to get the colors more and more. He has a very funny, silly personality and makes us laugh a lot. He is growing up too fast.


Travis only has 1 week 2 days and finals (as he tells me :D ) 'til graduation. He has been working hard on school and hunting. He also works at Handel and we are VERY excited to go to his Christmas party.

As for me, I have been busy blogging and crafting. I am also working on a couple of piano pieces and teaching myself the guitar. It has definitely been an experience. The guitar has been harder to learn than the piano.


Well, that about sums it up. This week we are having Thanksgiving here and we are very excited to be cooking our own dinner. Hopefully it turns out well. We are truly blessed and have so much to be thankful for.

P.S. Pic of Trav to come. We have no good recent ones of him alone.

Halloween: Tricks and Treats!

This past Friday and Saturday we celebrated Halloween. It was a weekend jam packed with a ton of fun. This year we got two costumes: Buzz and Woody. Ethan of course wanted to be both so Friday he was Woody, Saturday he was Buzz. Joshua didn't care because he hated both costumes.


Friday, we started our Trick or treating out by going to the Union Trick or Treat. There were a TON of people there and Ethan was a little overwhelmed. He really got the hang of saying Trick or Treat though. He got to do a pumpkin toss, pumpkin bowling, and got to walk through a little haunted house where he was scared. The people running it dropped the candy on his Woody hat and he ran out crying. It was an interesting experience for him.


Next, we went to the Children's Clinic Trick or Treat where the boys were gushed over. Everyone thought they were so cute. They got a lot of good loot there including some glow sticks which Ethan was bound and determined to try and open.

Saturday Travis had the FE Exam so the boys and I were on our own. We trekked downtown to Trick or Treat. I wasn't quite sure how to do this so I loaded both boys in the John Deere wagon. They did amazing. Woody (which was Joshua on Saturday) passed out early on and enjoyed a snooze almost the whole time. Buzz was busy charming everyone and smiling extra candy out of them. It was a beautiful morning and we had a nice time.

From there we went to the Scrapbook store and took Halloween pictures. I will post one when I get it back.

Saturday evening we went to the Trunk or Treat at the Stake Center. It was a little chilly so Ethan and I walked around while Travis and Joshua handed out our candy. Ethan got a little tired and started to shout Trick or Treat so we didn't stay out too long. He still said thank you but rather interestingly.

It was a very nice weekend and next year will be a new adventure since we will be Trick or Treating in California.

Oops! Pictures

I forgot to insert the pics in my last blog so here are a couple.

Travis and the 'box car' children

The Beet Digger and Semi

My Mom at her 50th Celebration