Then There Were Three

Gingerbread houses and polar express trains

2011-12-22T20:44:00.000-07:00

Today I got to volunteer in my kids classes. Both of the activites were at the same time, so I had to rush in between to both of them. I don't get to volunteer as much as I would like having a baby and all, not complaining or anything, but I enjoy the time I do get to spend with them in their classrooms.

Here's Ethan starting to make his polar express train

Madeline making her gingerbread house

Ethan's train

Madeline's gingerbread house

Christmas pictures with Santa

2011-12-10T10:59:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures we had taken at Sam's Club. All the kids on Santa's lap. Ashton's first Santa picture.

Halloween parade and Halloween night

2011-11-01T20:58:00.000-06:00

Madeline as a vampire

Jared holding Ashton (dressed as a monkey)

Ethan as Indiana Jones

Halloween night...Ready to go trick or treating

Pumpkin Patch

2011-11-01T20:56:00.000-06:00

We went to a pumpkin patch in the area and picked some pumpkins. The kids were in their costumes.

Autumn Leaves

2011-11-01T20:54:00.000-06:00

We drove up the canyon one day and took pictures by some of the leaves that were changing color.

Day 7 at the Beach

2011-10-16T18:10:00.000-06:00

Yesterday at the beach...

Day 5-7, Disneyland

2011-10-16T18:09:00.000-06:00

Our pictures at Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters

Madeline and Ethan by the Castle

Our family by the Mickey pumpkin

Jared and Madeline on Space Mountain

Madeline and Ethan by Hollywood Tower of Terror, their favorite ride.

Tower of Terror pictures

World of Color pictures

Day 4 Universal Studios

2011-10-16T18:03:00.000-06:00

Madeline and Ethan by Universal Studios entrance

Our family by a fake Hollywood sign

Ethan and Madeline by a Spongebob picture

Day 3 Sea World

2011-10-16T18:00:00.000-06:00

Day 3, We went to SeaWorld. Here's a picture of Madeline by the starfish.

Ethan posing on a fake sea turtle.

This was an aerial ride that you could see the whole park on.

Journey to Atlantis ride

Madeline on sea turtle

Madeline and Ethan at SeaWorld entrance

Ethan and the giant grouper fish

Trip to California, Day 1-2

2011-10-16T17:51:00.000-06:00

Day 1, we arrived at Long Beach and went to a beach. Ready to start using our CityPass for Southern California the next day. Day 2, we went to the San Diego Zoo. Here's a picture of our family by the Zoo sign. Also a picture of Madeline and Ethan by the polar bear area.

New things I've done with our house

2011-09-18T17:17:00.000-06:00

I used Groupon to get this vinyl lettering for our house. "The Best Journey Takes you Home"

A "Welcome" sign on our door

Then I installed 3 of these lights by our garage.

"Pantry" sign.

Also "A True Love Story Never Ends" in the master bedroom.

Labor Day

2011-09-12T15:48:00.001-06:00

For Labor Day, we went up to the canyon. Here are some pictures of us by the stream.

Madeline's cabbage

2011-09-12T15:46:00.000-06:00

Madeline's cabbage that she planted for school.

Ashton

2011-09-12T15:45:00.000-06:00

Some pictures of Ashton

Ashton's first rice cereal

2011-09-12T15:42:00.000-06:00

Here is Ashton at 4 months eating rice cereal. Come to find out his pediatrician says to wait until 6 months to start. So we stopped.

One on One Luau

2011-09-12T15:39:00.000-06:00

Jared's work had a work party. It was a luau. I thought it was a blast! They had shirts for the kids, even Ashton had one and leis and dinner. They also had popcorn, snow cones and cotton candy and games and bouncy houses for the kids, balloons and face painting. We went on the bungee trampoline. They also had a polynesian dance show. The kids favorite part was the hula hoop contest. I thought they had a good chance of winning, but there were girls that did the hula professionally, so they had an unfair advantage and Ethan got 4th place and Madeline 3rd place with the 2 hula girls taking 2nd and 1st places.

My brother's family visit to Utah

2011-09-12T15:31:00.000-06:00

My brother's family visited from Washington. Love it when they visit! These are the only pictures I took though. My sister's husband dared them to dunk in the lake and he would give them a slurpee and a candy bar. Here are some of the kids.

1st Day of School

2011-09-12T15:28:00.000-06:00

Here is Ethan on his first day of 2nd grade. I feel like a bad mom because I forgot to take one of Madeline's first day of 4th grade. We were running a bit late though that morning.

Redo of Ashton's room

2011-07-27T20:17:00.001-06:00

I decided to do Ashton's room differently with brighter colors. So I used a few things from the way I had it before and changed some. He still hasn't used it much because he is still in our room overnight. He sleeps pretty good for a 3 month old though - He usually goes to bed at 9 and gets up at 6 or later. He is such a good baby! I love having a baby again and it makes our family closer. My kids love to spend time with him as do Jared and I.

50 days of summer fun

2011-07-27T20:09:00.000-06:00

I saw this idea on a fun website: http://thecraftingchicks.com/2011/05/summer-fun-chart-and-photo-journal.html and thought it would be fun for our family. So I came up with 50 ideas to do over the summer and we finished them just in time for the kids to go back to school on Tuesday of this week.

Ashton's baby blessing

2011-07-20T22:37:00.000-06:00

Here's a family picture after Ashton's baby blessing.

Ashton and his cousin Michael who is 2 weeks older.

Girl cousins

Ashton Makaio

cousins with their grandma

Cousins! (Jared's side)

Summer reunion and summertime days

2011-07-20T22:33:00.000-06:00

We had a fun time getting together with Jared's side of the family and having a little get together at our house. Here are some pictures of things we did...

Madeline and Ethan and their cousins - BBQ time

cousin Tyler's birthday

Fishing

Hollywood Connection

Hula Hoop Contest

Thanksgiving Point with cousins

Temple Square with cousins

Madelines photo taking

2011-06-11T21:20:00.001-06:00

These are pictures that Madeline took with the camera. I like the different perspectives she uses.

This is the place Heritage Park

2011-06-11T21:17:00.001-06:00

We went to This is the place Heritage Park yesterday for the free day. It was very crowded! You can tell with the cars above. It is hard to do things with a newborn baby. Especially 2 babies, since my sister went too with her baby. We mainly got the free ice cream and did the gift shop and then the pony ride, which was very short - only one loop around and then rode the train back to our car. My advice would be to get there when it opens and is less crowded.

Awards Assembly

2011-06-11T21:07:00.000-06:00

Ethan - he earned his high flying hawk award

Madeline earned her Soaring Hawk award

Madeline and Ryann

Madeline and her teacher. We loved her as a teacher.

Teddy Bear Picnic

2011-06-11T21:02:00.000-06:00

I took Ashton and went with Ethan's class on a teddy bear picnic. Ethan brought his dolphin pillow pet. Here is Ethan with his teacher. He will miss having her as a teacher.

U2 360 tour

2011-06-11T20:58:00.000-06:00

Here are some pictures from the U2 concert Jared and I went to. We were planning on going last year, but it was cancelled until this year.

Bella baby photos of Ashton from the hospital

2011-05-24T13:30:00.008-06:00

I couldn't resist buying the copyright of these pictures. Ashton in the hospital...

Ashton Makaio - our new addition to our family :)

2011-04-28T17:58:00.011-06:00

Ashton's ride home from the hospital

Getting ready to leave the hospital

My room number at the hospital

Ashton

Jared - the proud father

Ashton's rosy cheeks

Ethan and Madeline with their new brother

Ethan, proud older brother

Proud grandpa

Aunt Lisa and Ashton

Grandma and Ashton

Madeline and Ashton

Happy mom and baby

Our first family picture with Ashton

Easter Morning

2011-04-24T14:10:00.003-06:00

The kids were pretty excited about their new toys from the HOP movie. Madeline got a pink beret and Ethan got EB.

Madeline actually let me do her hair today.

Here are the kids in their new Easter clothes

Madeline

Ethan

Egg hunt at grandparents house

2011-04-24T13:56:00.005-06:00

We had an egg hunt yesterday at my parent's house.

Here they are before the hunt. My sister's kids and mine.

Ethan looking for eggs

Madeline on the hunt

My sister's kids and mine looking

Tommy wasn't too interested in egg hunting

Keona looking at her eggs

Eva and her eggs

Madeline and her eggs

Ethan and his eggs

Madeline holding her new cousin, Michael

Ethan holding his new cousin Michael

Egg hunt

2011-04-24T13:52:00.004-06:00

We went to the egg hunt for our city and there were tons of people! Madeline and Ethan were in the 7-9 age group. One thing we didn't like was that when Madeline was c0llecting stuff, someone took a coupon and popcorn out of her basket! Maybe we will skip them altogether next year.

My new nephew - Michael Alimakaokalani

2011-04-09T16:14:00.003-06:00

My sister had a baby last night - April 8th at 6:43pm, 9lbs. 5 oz., 20.5 inches. The best part of this is that I am having a boy too (probably April 25th - induction date), so I'm hoping they'll be close friends growing up like my Madeline and her cousin, Eva are.

iCarly party - Madeline's 9th bday

2011-04-09T15:49:00.006-06:00

Madeline's birthday cake from Sam's Club. Never done a picture cake before, but it turned out nice. Cupcakes for her party today. She wanted marshmallow frosting with sprinkles on chocolate cupcakes. The goodie bags for the party iCarly decorations - a banner, table cloth, and pink and orange balloons. An iCarly pull string pinata Making clay sculptures to bake and paint More sculpture making

Our cat bubbles in the window

We had pie making time with graham cracker crusts and cherry, blueberry and lemon pie fillings. Cherry was the most popular and finished it with whipped cream.

Here's the group from the party.

Pie and cupcakes and ice cream. Too much sugar you think?

We also played iCarly trivia, bingo and put the mustache on Spencer (an iCarly character)

Madeline opening presents

Baby Shower - March 19th

2011-03-21T21:30:00.005-06:00

shower favors - baby booties with pastel mints inside

The games for the shower

The wonderful punch that Claudia made

The cute cupcakes and Brazilian chocolates Claudia made

Cupcakes again

Me and my mom

Prizes for the shower

Games for the shower

Me and the spread of food

The congratulations autograph baby clothesline

Me opening gifts

from left to right - Jenny, Sylvia, Cassie, Kathy

Left to right - Carol, My mom, Lisa - my sister

The food again

Me and the food

BYU onesie and booties

Me and Lisa (my sister who is pregnant as well

due 2 weeks before me)

Melissa (my friend from high school) and me

opening gifts again

Me and my wonderful friend Claudia - who threw the shower for me

Valentine's Day

2011-02-22T15:11:00.004-07:00

I was able to volunteer for my kids parties at school for Valentine's Day. I have to take advantage of the time before the baby comes and volunteer as much as I can. I'm not sure how long it will be after the baby before I can volunteer again.

Ethan came home after his Valentine's Day at school and showed me this conversation heart and was so excited about it. He wanted me to take a picture of it. He said he loved the message on it and was devastated when Jared ate it.

Here is Ethan with his Valentine folder and valentines from his class

Here is Madeline with her Valentines folder and valentines from her class

Here is the valentine from Madeline's teacher. She made them little ipods from sweethearts candy boxes and rolos and string.

Here's Ethan with his cupcake from the cake walk they did in class.

Ethan at the cake walk

Ethan with the flowers he was making - one for me and one for his teacher who is out because she had surgery

Here's Madeline's class. She is making a heart magnet

Madeline's class also had bingo and red food - jello jigglers, strawberries and chips and salsa.

Party time for Ethan

2011-02-12T17:12:00.005-07:00

Ethan getting ready to blow out the candle on his cupcake.

Opening presents

In line for candy, for those who didn't get candy from the pinata

Ethan upset because he didn't get candy from the pinata. The pinata was a dragon,which didn't fit too much candy in, so I just gave some out to those who didn't get some.

Making swords and shields

How to Train Your Dragon - Ethan's 7th birthday party

2011-02-12T16:32:00.007-07:00

We had a party for Ethan's 7th birthday with his friends today. It was a bit chaotic with 16 kids at our house. I hope everyone had a good time though. Luckily I had helpers - my husband, mom and my friend Claudia. Without them, I couldn't have done it all. I DIDN'T get a group picture, which I regret!

Here is what we did:

howtotrainyourdragon.com was a big help! We had coloring pages, mazes, word searches, connect the dots. We didn't get to all of them though. We also had a couple of games. Feed toothless the dragon - I had printed out pictures of fish and put them over bean bags,

and pin the tail on the dragon

We also decorated cardboard swords and shields. Here are pictures of Madeline and Ethan with theirs after the party (Ethan is doing one of his dramatic faces - he loves to pose):

I'll post some pictures from the party in another post.

Off the cruise and seeing alligators by Everglades in Florida

2011-01-18T11:43:00.004-07:00

On our drive to the airport to go home, we saw alligators on the side of the freeway behind a fence and went on a short hike.

Ethan lost his first tooth

2011-01-18T11:41:00.001-07:00

Ethan lost his first tooth on Jared's birthday as well. He has his first one pulled, so that doesn't count does it? So the tooth fairy visited him while on the ship.

4th and last port: Roatan, Honduras

2011-01-18T11:30:00.005-07:00

We went to Roatan on Jared's birthday. What a great birthday present to be able to be on a cruise! We hired a tour guide who took us to an iguana farm and to the beach. We got to drink a real coconut, stopped by some souvenir shops, got to hold a little monkey (that was Madeline's favorite part and snorkeling)

Madeline had her hair done in braids and beads by a local.

3rd port: Belize and cave tubing :)

2011-01-18T11:12:00.007-07:00

We used cavetubing.bz, which was a really great tour company that we would recommend to anyone going to visit Belize. Very personable, helpful and good deal for what you get.

Getting our gear to cave tube: helmet with flashlight, life jackets and tubes.

Getting ready to get in the water

Our family chaining up to go into the caves

After the cave tubing, they brought us to a place to eat. They served a yummy lunch with chicken and beans and rice with soda pop in glass containers. They had my favorite - Fanta red cream.

2nd port: Cozumel, Mexico and trip to Tulum - The Mayan Ruins

2011-01-18T10:54:00.006-07:00

The Ruins were beautiful to see, although it could've been a better day. It was raining, so we had to buy overpriced ponchos that broke - Jared's broke completely, so he got soaked. The ferries over to Tulum were terrible. Lots of people got sick on them because of the rocky waves, including Ethan and myself and it was 40 minutes long. I wouldn't have gone and paid the money for the Carnival tour had I known what the day would be like. We had to buy t shirts for the kids because they were soaked. We only had peanuts, chips and water to eat and no time to stop for lunch or go to the beach. We got back late - like 7pm for dinner. We look happy in the pictures though at least and it was nice to see the ruins.

1st port: Grand Cayman

2011-01-18T10:41:00.006-07:00

Grand Cayman was the best day for weather of our ports. The sand was almost white and the water was a teal blue. Very pretty and warm. We went to the beach for most of the day. Here's a cute sign they had by the beach. Jared and the kids did some snorkeling.

Towel Animals

2011-01-18T10:36:00.003-07:00

Each night, we had our beds turned down, chocolate mints, and a towel animal.
This is the first night: a towel pig.

2nd night, an elephant

3rd night, a bunny

4th night, a monkey

5th night, a dog

6th night, a frog

7th night, a swan

Here's a group of them. The kids liked to save them.

Hanging out on the ship

2011-01-18T10:29:00.005-07:00

Kids in the hot tub

Here is a view of the Lido deck

Here we are dressed up for one of the dress up evening dinners.

Here is the Washington Dining room, where we ate our dinners.

7 day Western Carribean Cruise from Miami

2011-01-18T10:02:00.004-07:00

We went on our long awaited cruise after the Carnival Splendor incident. It was our first time visiting Florida. We flew to Orlando and met up with Jared's brother the first night and then the next day we drove from Orlando to Miami - a 4 hour drive. There was a cold snap there, but it was warm to us compared to the Utah weather. On January 9th, we boarded the Carnival Valor with our kids. Here are pictures of the first day on the ship. We cut it close to the cut off date - you can't sail if you are 25 weeks pregnant and the day after we got off the cruise, I turned 25 weeks. We tried to go before the baby was born since we thought it would be hard with a little one.

Baby room

2010-12-31T10:00:00.004-07:00

I have started nesting early I think. I'm so excited for the baby to come since it'll be 7 years since our last baby was born. I have the room all ready and all organized. I did a transportation theme for the nursery.

Reversible Car Seat Cover

2010-12-31T09:52:00.002-07:00

I made my own car seat cover for the new baby. I went to this site: http://www.sweetnsassygirls.com/2010/02/how-to-make-a-reversible-car-seat-covertentcanopy.html and followed it, but added a few changes. I turned up the corners so you could see both sides of fabric and sewed on buttons. I also added some ric rac to two of the edges.

Christmas morning

2010-12-30T09:15:00.004-07:00

The kids got up way early - at 4 am and had to wait until we got up at 7 am to open presents. This was the earliest so far that they got up on Christmas morning.

Madeline's gingerbread house

2010-12-21T15:13:00.002-07:00

I got to volunteer in Madeline's class while she made a gingerbread house. I got called to leave early though because Ethan was sick. He wasn't as sick as I thought though, so he won't be sick for Christmas, which is good! Only 4 more days until Christmas!

Pics with Santa and Mrs. Claus

2010-12-19T13:55:00.002-07:00

Here are some pictures of the kids with Santa and Mrs. Claus. Horsley Orthodontics, where Madeline has gone was having a free picture taking, so I thought I would take them. Cute background and all and the pictures turned out great!

Family Gingerbread House

2010-12-19T13:46:00.004-07:00

I loved how this kit looked and had to buy it and make it!

Look at the cute little santa claus and reindeer.

Here are the kids with the finished product.

Skate with Santa for the 2nd year in a row

2010-12-19T13:39:00.005-07:00

I went with my sister and her kids for this activity, which was free. My kids love ice skating / roller skating. I just watched from the outside, because of my pregnancy I was worried I would fall, but my kids were great and didn't need any help. Someone was handing out free cake and Santa gave candy canes and afterwards we went to McDonalds for some hot chocolate.

Ethan's class - gingerbread houses

2010-12-19T13:33:00.002-07:00

Here's Ethan with his finished gingerbread house. I was able to go in and volunteer for this activity. They had tons of candy donated by the parents! Some kids were scooping it all up and piling it on their plates.

More ultrasound pics

2010-12-16T22:14:00.003-07:00

Ultrasound for Baby Boy Katz December 15, 2010

2010-12-16T22:01:00.004-07:00

We found out that we are having a baby boy! Anyone have any name suggestions? I love having ultrasounds and seeing the little miracle that is growing.

Elves Gift Show

2010-12-11T21:41:00.005-07:00

I went with my sister and her kids and my mom and my kids to the Elves Gift Show today. Here's some of the highlights: They had a free photo booth with dress up things to put on. They had nice Christmas decorations to pose by and free face painting. All the kids wanted a reindeer painted on their cheek, even though there were many choices.

Wheeler Farm Winter Pics

2010-12-11T12:07:00.007-07:00

We used Screamin Daily Deals, http://www.screamindailydeals.com/ to get a great deal on a photo shoot. It was only $25 for the photo shoot and the picture CD and copyright! But the deal is over - it only lasted a day. The photographer was Kimmy and her site is: http://photosbykw.blogspot.com/ . We took the pictures at Wheeler Farm. It was freezing that day, but we got some great pictures out of it I think. Next family pictures will be with a new baby!

Christmas Card

2010-12-10T22:34:00.002-07:00

Most Wonderful Story Christmas 5x7 folded card

Personalize your Christmas cards at Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

Here is our Christmas card for this year - 2010. If you want me to mail you a card make sure I have your address. Shutterfly is awesome! Love the card that I made and inside it has 6 pictures with a synopsis of what happened to us this year. It might be a little late this year, since I only got our family pictures back today and ordered it today. But hopefully it will get to where it needs to go before Christmas.

Wax Museum

2010-11-24T21:27:00.003-07:00

Madeline participated in a wax museum for her class in school. She doesn't look too excited here. She chose Marie Curie to do a report and project on and dress up as her.

Some of her fellow classmates:

First Snowfall

2010-11-24T21:25:00.003-07:00

Here are the kids playing in the snow. The first snowfall.

Our First Cruise - on the Carnival Splendor

2010-11-13T20:57:00.009-07:00

Our first cruise - 7 days of the Mexican Riviera - that we never got to do. We didn't know what we were getting ourselves into...

Ethan and Madeline boarding the ship

Our cabin

The first night

Then unexpectedly at 6 am the first morning, we were woken up by the boat shaking and smoke. We were told to go to the open decks, though we didn't know what was going on. It turned out that there was a fire in the engine room that burned for 3 hours. The captain shut off all power to the ship during the fire. When it was over, the crew could not restart it. So there we were, stick with 4,000 other people in the middle of the ocean. The first day was the worst. There was no electricity or running water. Later that night, the water was restored, which was essential because sanitation was becoming critical. The next day a coast guard ship, a Mexican naval ship arrived. The second day, the first of 5 tugboats arrived, along with the USS Ronald Reagan Aircraft carrier!

Deck cleared for a helicopter from the aircraft carrier to drop off supplies to the ship

Helicopter with supplies

Lines for food. After water was restored food was the major issue. With no power, nothing could be cooked. The crew got very creative. We had almost every kind of sandwich available -- mozerella, hot dog, and even beet sandwhiches.

Amid the ship's breakdown, we did have some fun. Here we are playing mini golf.

The Chihuahua tug that was the first to arrive and help pull the ship back to land.

Shitzu and Rotweiller tugs also helped

After 3 days stuck at sea, we finally see land - San Diego.

Here we are eating our last meal on the ship - breakfast.

Passengers ready to disembark

Almost our turn to leave the ship

View of people leaving the ship. We were lucky and were one of the first groups to leave.

On the bus ready to go to our hotel for the night.

News reporters camped ready to interview people leaving the ship.

We've already booked our free next cruise because of the problems we had with the first one for Jan. 9-16. We wanted to go before the new baby comes. This time we are going to leave from Florida and are stopping by Cayman Islands, Isla Roatan, Belize, and Cozumel, Mexico.

50 Free Holiday Cards from Shutterfly

2010-11-12T20:30:00.002-07:00

Shutterfly is having a promotion for their holiday 2010 collection of cards. I thought I would join this fun promotion and blog about how much I love to send out cards for the holidays and choose the perfect design for our family. If you follow this link, you can sign up to earn 50 free cards: http://bit.ly/sfly2010 . We got a great deal with a photographer, but the date we are having pictures taken is November 27. So once we do have the pictures taken, we have to get right on it and order the cards right away. Shutterfly is really great at turnaround time though, as I have experienced in the past. Some of my favorite designs of cards are: http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/cards-stationery/all-wrapped-up-christmas-card-5x7-flat and http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/cards-stationery/pretty-poinsettia-print-christmas-card and http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/cards-stationery/starlight-flurries-christmas-card-5x7-flat . I will have to decide which design works best with the family photo we have taken. But they have such a huge selection that I won't have any problem finding the perfect one.

Saying Bye to Foster Care for now

2010-11-05T08:50:00.002-06:00

Yesterday we transitioned Lehlonnie to another foster home. Today we are going to visit one last time to say goodbye. I thought it best since we are having a new baby next year and it was looking like Lehlonnie would need a family that could adopt her. I wanted to see how well I did with a new baby since I had problems in the past with stresses and didn't think I could handle 2 in diapers. We are also going on a cruise to Mexico tomorrow, so we didn't want to give her to another family while we went on the cruise and then transition her. Too much for her I think. This new family looks like a perfect fit though!

Halloween 2010

2010-10-31T15:30:00.002-06:00

Here are our kids with their cousins for trick or treating. They went for 2 1/2 hours!!! and got a load of candy! Except Tommy and Lehlonnie couldn't make it being so young and came home earlier.

Here's Tommy as a monkey

Here's Lehlonnie as Belle

Madeline as a dead cheerleader

Ethan as a dead Tae Kwon Do person

School activities for Halloween

2010-10-31T15:25:00.002-06:00

Jared and I were able to go to the Halloween parade at our kids school. Jared luckily had the day off. We both volunteered in their classrooms as well for their school Halloween parties. They were both at the same time, so Jared went to Ethan's class and I went to Madeline's class.

Here is Madeline at one of the classroom games being dressed as a mummy.

Madeline in the school parade. She wanted to be a dead cheerleader.

Ethan following his sister's example chose to be a dead Tae Kwon Do person

Halloween Carnival 2010

2010-10-31T15:16:00.005-06:00

We went to a Halloween carnival the week before Halloween with our kids and their cousins. They had a great time hearing stories, watching short movies, and then searching for the great pumpkin.

Here's a picture of my nephew Tommy who was wearing an adorable monkey costume

Here's Madeline with her face painted

Lehlonnie, our foster placement, as you can tell had just been eating some of her candy.

Keona, my niece with her face painted

Eva, my niece with her face painted

Madeline and Eva

Ethan with his face painted

Teeth Pulling

2010-10-31T14:57:00.002-06:00

Mid-October, Madeline had 4 of her teeth pulled to make room for some teeth coming in. We took her to some orthodontists and they recommended it. She was very brave. Her cousin had the same thing done. She will have to get braces in the future though because of crowding. Ethan had a tooth pulled a short time after. It was his very first tooth lost.

Aspen Grove

2010-09-24T11:43:00.003-06:00

We were able to attend Aspen Grove last weekend Fri. night - Sun. morning. It was a fun experience. The foster care foundation of Utah paid for most of it, we just had to pay $10/person. We got to stay in a small cabin without running water, but with beds and electricity. We got to eat all our meals in the Emerald Dining Hall and got to see a magic show, talent show and had some hands on family activities outside. They even babysat the kids while the adults had a 3 hour learning session. We even ran into friends that lived in Virginia when we did - Brad and JanaLynn. The evening we came back, the Herriman fire started.

Herriman Fire

2010-09-22T10:53:00.003-06:00

On Sunday, the 19th, there was a fire that started on the mountain by Herriman. We were at my parents house eating dinner and were worried that we might be evacuated, so we left early and went home to pack some things and saw the huge fire on the mountain by our house, we could see the glowing red and could smell the fire. We kept wondering whether to leave or not. We could see people being evacuated in the houses above us. We decided that the smoke was not good for me to breathe, being pregnant and all, so we left and stayed at my parents house and came back the next day to check everything and we were so lucky to have everything be ok for us. I am so thankful for all the firefighters and workers that were able to contain the fire. We were truly blessed.

Pregnant!?!

2010-09-22T10:40:00.003-06:00

I found out I was pregnant on August 30th and I couldn't believe it after 6 years of waiting! It was like Christmas to me I was so excited and still am! I found out the due date is May 2, 2011. I can't wait to find out if it is a boy or girl! This is totally a miracle baby. I don't know how it finally happened, but I am very thankful for this opportunity that has been given us!

We still have Lehlonnie as a foster placement and so that is keeping us busy, but I think she'll go back to her mom if her mom gets in the intensive program that she's trying to get in, to get her back.

I am excited to be pregnant at the same time as my sister as well! She is due April 14 or 15.

The doctor said he'll probably have to induce, because my babies are so big when they are born and I am small. So the babies will be close in age - my sister's and mine. Yay!

Orange Dragon Belt

2010-09-03T10:14:00.004-06:00

Ethan got his orange dragon belt on August 26th. He got a letter that only a few kids get in his program and it said your student has shown great progress over the last few weeks of training. So he got to have a belt promotion. Usually they have to wait longer to get promoted - every 3 months, but Ethan loves it and does well in it.

Ethan got his gold dragon belt

2010-07-17T20:41:00.003-06:00

We went on July 15th to see Ethan get his gold dragon belt. He started taking Tae Kwon Do at the end of June and has been loving it!

Fair Oaks ward reunion

2010-07-17T19:50:00.003-06:00

I am just catching up on all the blogs and have posted quite a few. Lots has happened in the last few months...

We had a reunion from the Fair Oaks ward in Virginia, where we used to live from some that had moved to Utah and some just visiting for the summer. We had it at the splash pad near us. From left to right: Jared & Christi, Karen & Paul, Shaunae & John, Summer, Janalynn

The 3 Madeline's

Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park

2010-07-17T19:42:00.004-06:00

After Iowa, we went to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park and camped one night and the kids earned their Jr. Ranger badges. We got to have a campsite near Debbie & Nate's family and it was fun to spend time with them some more.

Our trip to Iowa

2010-07-17T19:33:00.004-06:00

Ethan & Madeline getting some energy out from our long trip to Iowa. They jumped from bed to bed - they called the game jump for life.

Our family at a waterpark in Iowa - that was probably the funnest day we had in Iowa.

A train ride in Iowa. Tyler had the idea to put coins on the track and have the train smoosh them and it worked. After the train ride we checked and they were flattened. The kids loved it.

Jared's mom with the grandkids

Jared's parents at the butterfly garden

Tyler holding a butterfly

Madeline with a butterfly

Jared & the kids

Madeline & Ethan and their cousins in a park in Iowa

Madeline & Ethan and their cousins

Madeline needs glasses

2010-07-17T19:29:00.002-06:00

Madeline needs to get glasses, so while we were on our trip to Iowa, we stopped by a Walmart and tried on some glasses...

Here's Jared and his sister Debbie

Christi, Jared, Ethan, Madeline, Ande, Tyler and Creede (cousins)

Christi & Jared

Madeline & Ande

Tyler's baptism

2010-07-17T19:26:00.004-06:00

We got to go to Logan and watch Tyler - our nephew get baptized. It was beautiful to see a baptism done outdoors and in a creek. Here's pictures of their family. It was great also because it was his birthday that day as well and we got to celebrate both.

Another Carnival night

2010-07-17T19:08:00.003-06:00

Ethan Madeline & Lehlonnie (our foster placement)

Ethan

Madeline & Lehlonnie

Madeline & Ethan

We went to a carnival and the kids loved this ride from last year. We liked it because it was free :) Lehlonnie was sad when she couldn't ride it anymore and we had to go home.

Another Foster Placement

2010-07-17T19:00:00.003-06:00

We had our 2nd foster placement. An almost 2 year old girl named Lehlonnie. We got a call on June 21st and agreed to take care of her until her mom can get better. We found out that the mom is also pregnant. We hope she can get better because Lehlonnie really misses her mom. We have pictures of her mom up in the room she's staying in and she points and says mom all the time. I'm going to 2 visits/week for her to see her mom.

Ethan's Kindergarten Graduation

2010-06-24T21:48:00.003-06:00

Today was Ethan's Kindergarten graduation program. They sang some songs, and then the teachers passed out these cute graduation certificates that looked like diplomas. Ethan was ecstatic to receive the medallion and wore it all day today. He wants to wear it to school tomorrow too. They still have a week left of school before summer break. It's crazy because they end on July 2nd and go back to school on July 26th. Such a short summer break!

Ethan posing with his medallion and Kindergarten graduation certificate.

Proud parents with their Kindergartner

Ethan and his Kindergarten teacher Mrs. Jackson

Ethan getting his graduation certificate

Madeline's baptism pictures

2010-04-24T20:52:00.004-06:00

Here are some pictures from Madeline's big day today. Our first child was baptized. What a great day! Both Christi and Jared got to speak at the baptism and then Jared baptized and confirmed Madeline. Look at the post below to see the kids singing a song from the baptism.

Madeline's baptism

2010-04-24T15:15:00.003-06:00

This is the musical number at Madeline's baptism on April 24, 2010. In this clip are some of Madeline's cousins singing with her and Ethan. They are singing the song, "When I am Baptized." Here they are in order from left to right: Keona, Madeline, Eva, Ethan, Ande, & Tyler.

I will post more pictures in another post.

family studio pictures

2010-04-23T10:40:00.002-06:00

Studio pics of Madeline

2010-04-23T10:36:00.005-06:00

Here are some pictures we got from SmilesbyWire for Madeline's 8th birthday.

Baptism Invitation

2010-04-11T15:49:00.002-06:00

Here's the invitation I made for Madeline's baptism. I copied the idea from a friend's blog. If anyone is in the area and would like to come, just email me to find out the directions.

Princess and the Frog Party

2010-04-11T15:22:00.010-06:00

Group shot

Getting ready for the party..... balloons for the relay race

Bingo card game

Cupcakes

Kiss the frog game

Musical Lillypad game

The pinata for the party - couldn't find a princess and the frog one at the party store

royal playdough - playdough with glitter

The frog prince craft

Madeline's birthday cake

Madeline's Tiana cake

Madeline opening presents

Doing the frog prince craft

Getting ready to blow out the candle on her cupcake

Facebook night at Hollywood Connection

2010-04-11T15:19:00.003-06:00

I love that they give free things away on Facebook for becoming a fan and there was a free night at Hollywood Connection last week that I took my kids and their cousins to. They did the dragon roller coaster, bumper cars, the pink bus ride, roller skating, and mini golf. They had a blast!

Madeline's dance class

2010-04-11T15:18:00.003-06:00

Madeline and her cousin Eva in a ballet/jazz dance class they are taking now.

Easter clothes

2010-04-04T16:49:00.004-06:00

HAPPY EASTER Everyone! Here are some pictures of the kids in their new Easter clothes.

Easter morning

2010-04-04T16:45:00.002-06:00

Here are the baskets from this morning. Ethan took everything out.

Here's Madeline's basket.

My family had a tradition of getting chocolate covered marshmallow eggs with our names on them for Easter and here is Madeline's.

Here is Ethan's.

Coloring Eggs

2010-04-04T16:42:00.002-06:00

Here they are with the finished eggs. Ethan always does these interesting poses.

Here are the finished eggs. They are glitter eggs - Ethan chose them. We did an egg hunt in our house this morning because of the snow.

Egg hunt in the snow

2010-04-04T16:34:00.002-06:00

We went to the local egg hunt and look at how much snow was on the ground. They didn't put the candy and eggs in the snow, they had an enclosure that they used. It made it feel more like a corral of people pushing and shoving their way to get their kids to the egg hunt. They did 5 different rounds of putting candy out for the different ages because there wasn't a big enough enclosure.

Here's a picture of how crowded it was.

I can't believe how crowded it was! Especially with the snow and all! The kids only got a few pieces of candy from it. But they did get pizza at the end.

Hollywood Connection and Classic Fun Center

2010-03-03T20:48:00.002-07:00

This week the kids got to go to two fun places: Hollywood Connection and Classic Fun Center. The first was for Ethan's friend's birthday party and the second was for a fun day with Madeline's friend, but Ethan and Madeline went to both of them. Here are some pictures from them. The lighting was kind of bad, so most of the pictures didn't turn out. Here are the ones that did.

Valentine's Day

2010-02-14T16:17:00.004-07:00

Here is a picture of Jared with a big Hershey's kiss I got for him. Isn't he so cute! He gave me flowers and candy. He's the best example to me. He has such willpower for dieting and exercise. Wish I could be more like him.

My parents babysat for us last night so we could go out to Olive Garden and to a Stake Valentine Dance. The wait for Olive Garden was 1 1/2 hours, pretty long! The Stake put together a pretty nice time. They had a chocolate fountain with fruit and also other desserts. They had a picture taking area also where we took this picture:

Ethan's 6 year pictures

2010-02-14T16:07:00.006-07:00

School Valentine Parties

2010-02-12T14:22:00.002-07:00

I was able to volunteer at both Madeline and Ethan's school parties. Now they are off track for a month. Hopefully I can find things for them to do.

Here's a picture of Ethan with his school valentine envelope.

Here's a picture of Madeline with her school Valentine envelope

Here's Ethan with the craft he made.

Ethan's 6th birthday party

2010-02-07T15:32:00.004-07:00

Today is Ethan's 6th birthday and we are going to celebrate with my family tonight. Ethan had a great day at church. He got the CTR ring that he has been waiting for at church and got sung Happy Birthday to and got candy from the bishop.

Yesterday, he had a friend birthday party. There were 12 kids that came to it and it was crazy, but fun. Ethan chose the theme of Mario. On the previous post, I put up pictures of the games and decorations. I forgot to take a picture of the whole group of kids, but here are the pictures that we have from it, thanks Jared for taking these. I was busy the whole time in charge of the games and everything.

Ethan having fun

Taking a small break on the Wii. Look at the Mario hats I made from www.coolpartyblog.com

Playing Mario dance off

Opening presents

Thanks to all who came. Ethan had a great birthday!

Getting ready for Ethan's birthday party

2010-02-07T14:35:00.005-07:00

Ethan wanted a Mario party for his 6th birthday. Seeing that there isn't a whole lot at the stores for this theme, I had to research it out on the internet and there are excellent ideas out there. Here is a picture of Ethan in front of the cupcakes and mario and luigi figures.

Here are some games we played:
Mario Matching

Hide and Boo Seek - where you tried to find the boos and shoot them with a nerf gun.

Pin the moustache on Mario

Yoshi's egg toss

And we played two other games. Mario dance off kind of like musical chairs with pictures on the ground that they had to land on when the music stopped. I had music from Super Mario Galaxy and the New Super Mario for Wii, since those are the games my son loves to play. We also had a treasure hunt to find princess peach. I had pictures of where the next clues were and they followed them until the last clue told where I had placed a picture of Princess Peach. I gave out gold coins when they won a game and if they got 5 gold coins, they got a star necklace.

Here is a picture of the table where they could color pictures of Mario and Luigi.

Here are the cupcakes we got from Sam's Club. I made some toppers of Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, mushrooms, stars, and gold coins.

Here are the decorations. I got a bunch of blue balloons since that is Ethan's favorite color and some blue streamer paper.

Here's a banner that I made from an idea from one of my friend's blogs

Here are the Mario and Luigi pops that I made and placed in a question block favor box for each of the kids. I found how to do the pops from www.coolpartyblog.com

Here is the Mario pinata that I made from the site: www.coolpartyblog.com I changed it a little to make it easier.