A Whole Lotta Not Much....

Some recent happenings in our family. Nothing really important...just everyday stuff.

Cute Claire. She is sitting up now. Those blue eyes melt me!

More garage photos. It is coming right along. Kyle and Tuna were able to get the felt on the roof this week, so now it is ready to tile. Kyle and our neighbor, Gene Sandusky (who happens to be a retired electrician) wired the garage this week, too. Next week, we will hopefully know what will happen with the stucco and the tiles will be delivered. We are hoping to be done with this garage by the end of October so that we can start on converting the old garage into a family/storage room. Lofty ideas. The picture that is of the inside, shows the 2 rooms in the back. One will be for storage and the other will be a workout room. Yes, it will be air conditioned.

Claire has started eating solid food and drinking the occasional bottle of watered-down juice. The kids are fascinated by the idea of Claire drinking from a bottle. Eli insists on the being the one to help. I love the look on his face in this picture. He loves her so much. We have to photograph his sweet moments...they are few and far between these days.




Soccer season has begun again. Josh and Nate are both playing again this year. Josh loves his team because his best friend, Jerrick is on his team and Jerrick's dad is their coach. He has already had 2 games. The first game they won 5 to 1 and their game today they got killed 6 to 1. Josh doesn't care. As long as he gets a treat at the end of the game, he is happy. Nate has played one game and they won that game. Nate likes playing goalie and he is very good at it. He is not a fan of playing forward...too much running. Nate's team is the green team and Josh's is red (aka Red Rockets...they named themselves). Nate plays with 4th and 5th graders and Josh plays with kindergarten and 1st graders.

I just realized that there are no pictures of Ansley. We have hardly seen her this week. She has had dance team practice everyday and lots of homework. She will dancing at some football games next Saturday and I will be sure to gets lots of photos of that.

12 Years Have Come and Gone So Fast.

Kyle and I recently celebrated (by celebrated I mean we gave each other cards and said, "Happy Anniversary" to each other. That is as good as it gets after 12 years and 5 kids. Oops...I also got beautiful flowers the next day because our anniversary was on Sunday so they were delivered on Monday) our 12th anniversary. My oh my how time does fly! I can't believe it has been that long. It still feels like there is so much to learn about each other. I still get that weird feeling every once in awhile...the feeling where I look at this husband sitting next to me and I think, "Who are you? I don't even know who you are." I am so glad that Heavenly Father saw fit to bless me with this wonderful husband. He does so much for our family and usually does it with no thanks at all. He gets my witty humor (well, I think it is witty), he lets me take off without the kids when I need it, he forgives my shortcomings, he sits in the car in the heat and waits for me after church while I "visit" (he doesn't like it, but he does it), he thinks I am beautiful (let's not forget...beauty is in the eye of the beholder), he puts the kids in their place when they talk back to me, he loves our kids and loves to spend time with them, he has been pretending since after Josh (#3) was born that he didn't want anymore kids, but it was him that decided to go for #5 (Eli (#4) was my idea), he is a great friend and wants me to do the things he loves like golf (bless his heart...I will never golf...but he wants me too...that is love), he is a great man and I am one LUCKY girl.

Memories from September 16, 1995:

1. Kyle's really bad haircut. It was bad, but it could have been worse. My brother, Keith got married a couple of months before us and he decided to use the Flow-bee (for those who don't remember this contraption...it is a little vacuum that sucks your hair into a tube where it is then cut) to cut his own hair right before the wedding. Needless to say, it didn't go well and he got married with a shaved head.

2. I woke up early that morning and assumed I would be very nervous, but I wasn't. I was very calm and felt a sense of peace.

3. After getting dressed in the Bride's Room at the Salt Lake Temple, I was taken into the room where the grooms wait for the brides to get ready. When I walked in, there were all these very nervous young men and when Kyle saw me he had such a look of relief on his face. It was so cute. I will never forget that moment. I could tell he was nervous, relieved, and excited all at the same time. He smiled at me, took my hand and we were escorted out of that room. All the other men looked disappointed that they had to wait longer.

4.Kyle and I were taken to the Celestial Room and told to wait and someone would come and get us when it was time. Well, we sat and waited and waited and waited. Other couples were coming and going and there we sat. We starting getting nervous...like maybe they had decided we weren't worthy of this wedding or something. Finally, someone came and got us and our wedding started half an hour late. It turns out that the sealing in front of us hadn't gone well and the bride decided half way through the wedding that she was making a mistake and she didn't want to get married. (Kyle...remember the nose hair?)

5. My big, tough husband didn't bawl his eyes out during the ceremony like I did, but when I looked at him across the altar, he had one tear running down his cheek. The thought of it still chokes me up.

6. Many wonderful things said and promises made during the sealing.

7. We took a nap together in between the wedding and reception.

8. At the reception, my sister, Kathy was helping me pin my dress so it would stay up all night and she pricked her finger on the safety pin and got blood on my wedding dress. Kathy was horrified. My mother-in-law came up with the idea to cover the spot in baby powder and it worked. You couldn't even tell there was a spot. Seemed like a big deal at the time, now it is just a funny memory.

9. Leaving the reception together. It was strange that we had no parents to be accountable to. We could just leave together. It was wonderful.

10. We were so exhausted when we got to our hotel. When we got to our room, there were chocolate covered strawberries waiting for us and some lovely robes to wear. We slept like babies that night.

I have many more memories of that day, but those are some of my favorites. It seems like only yesterday, but it seems like a lifetime ago. We have been so blessed since that day.

I LOVE YOU KYLE!

P.S. I hardly recognize the people in that picture. We were so young...and thin...and naive...and clueless...and faithful.

"Happy, Happy Birthday Kyle Dear!"

Hard to believe, but Kyle is officially 37. Which means he is offically almost 40. Which means we are officially getting old. Where have the years gone? When we met, he was 23....23!!! (Twenty-three year olds are children, aren't they?) He was so young and SO cute (still is). I knew when we started dating that he would be a great husband, but I had NO idea how great he really was. I really lucked out. To see this picture of Kyle with his posterity blows my mind. We have 5 kids!!!! Who would have guessed 13 years ago when we started dating that this is where we would be in life? Not me. Not Kyle. We are getting old. Our kids are getting old. Time is flying by and we need to take advantage of every second that we can. I love you, Kyle. You are a great husband, father and friend. You have given me more (more love, more kids, more understanding, more patience, more headaches, etc.) then I could have ever asked for! I hope you had a nice birthday. You deserve it! Enjoy the Chargers game (that is what Kyle gets every year for his birthday...aren't I a great wife?)!

YOU'RE THE MAN, SHMOOPY!

School Days...School Days...
School has started again. Where did the summer go? There were so many things we wanted to do and see, but there just wasn't enough time. Maybe next summer. I miss them when they are at school, but I also enjoy being able to catch up on everything I ignored over the summer!

Ansley and Lauren on the front porch. Ans started middle school this year and her bus leaves an hour and a half before the boys, so she walks to the bus with Lauren. On the first day, I had to take them because the Dance Team had to perform at the back to school assembly. That is why Ansley is wearing dance clothes (she changed into her "new first day of school clothes" after the assembly). She is also carrying her viola because she is in orchestra this year. She is excited about playing the viola like her dad. I can't believe she is in middle school. Where have the past 11 years gone? We are so proud of the young lady she has become. She is such a great daughter, sister, student and friend.




The dance team waiting in the wings for their turn to perform.

Nate and Josh at school. All smiles! Josh started 1st grade and he loves it. His teacher is Mrs. Wilson and he really likes her. He was so excited to eat lunch at school. It has been a transition though. He has never had to get up early in his life (he had afternoon kindergarten)and he is not a huge fan of it. It takes him some time to wake up and get going. I miss having him home for lunch, but I am getting used to it and I have Eli to eat with. Nate is in 4th grade and he has the same teacher that Ansley had in 4th grade, Mrs. Newman (for those Seinfeld fans: when we speak her name, we say it the same way that Jerry said his neighbor's name..."Hello, Newman"). He was a little anxious because he didn't have any good friend in his class, but he can make friends with anyone and has. He has already done a book report because he volunteered to do it! I hope he keeps this enthusiasm he has for school.


The boys waiting for school to start. Notice the lovely overcast sky. What a relief...for one day anyway.

The neighborhood kids waiting for the bus.

This picture absolutely kills me!! Poor Eli watching everyone get on the us...everyone but him. He wants to go to school so bad. He tells me everyday that he is 5 now so he can go to school. Bless his little heart. The first day of school, we got everyone off to school and then I fed Eli breakfast. He was sitting at the table eating and said to me, "Mom, come sit by me, I am all alone." So sad. He sure misses them all day. It is going to be a long couple of years until he starts school!