The many faces of Porter

I love this kids facial expressions! He's just got one of those squishy, squeezable, kissable faces. His favorite thing to do lately is get on the Ottoman and jump off and he's so proud of himself afterwards. Gotta love Kamryn's wild and crazy hair-do--or is that a hair-don't???

Cousins & friends & parties!

I've been going through tons of pictures lately trying to backtrack a bit. Morgan had 2 of her cousins from Cokeville come for her Baptism, Leona and Janae! They are the cutest little girls and my girls have the best time playing with them. They even got to come the night before and have a sleepover with the girls. We watched the movie "Up," ate popcorn and orange julius, read Fairy Tales before bed and then everyone got situated for bed in the living room. Then they a few of them decided they'd rather utilize the beds in the girls room so before long, every last one of them was packed in Regan and Morgan's tiny bedroom. Even Kaleb managed to find himself a little corner. I can't believe I didn't get a picture of them but it was a pretty cute sight. Saturday afternoon after the baptism they played for atleast 4 hours in the basement, dressing up, rearranging the basement, dancing, house, etc. and just had the best time. Cousins are the best!

I also realized I left out pictures from Morg's family B-Bay party on the 27th. Grandma and Grandpa Rose came as well as Grandma Johnson. Jared and Richelle drove out for a few minutes before they were off to meetings. They are always so good to our kids. Anyway, Morgan wanted to have everyone make their own pizza's which was so much fun. I have the easiest dough recipe that a friend gave me and we had lots of different toppings to choose from then everyone built there own and we popped it in the oven. It was probably one of the easiest B-Day dinners I've made. We opened presents after dinner and she got some of the cutest clothes from G&G Rose, a marble set and a whoopy cushion from Regan, (yes, that was the favorite gift of the night and I was somewhat responsible for helping pick that out). Jordyn gave her a pair of socks and a cute bag and DJ and I gave her a scripture case, the game Sorry and the swimming suit she's had her eye on for a month. G&G Teichert gave her lots of money along with Great Grandma and Grandpa, Aunt Julie, and our neighbors. She came away one rich little girl! She commented that she's never paid that much tithing at once before and was pretty excited about it. After presents came Birthday cake time. My kids love decorating their own cakes and I love it as well, it takes tons of stress off me and I figure it's a way that they can express their own creativity. Morgan just wanted frosting, chocolate chips, and gummy worms, and of course, the #8 candle was a must have. I made the cake earlier in the day so it would be all ready for decorating and while moving it out of the pan, I broke the darn thing in pieces. So, I made another one and ended up breaking it as well but I pieced it back together and Morgan didn't seem to mind. I really stink at making cakes so it's a good thing that my kids don't know what a good cake is supposed to look like.

She also had a friend B-Day party the week before which was pretty much planned by her. She invited her good little group of friends, most of which are either in the ward or on the soccer team. They are such a cute bunch of girls and really easy to have around. Morgan and I came up with a few games, they all decorated cupcakes, opened presents and that was about it. We don't do friend B-Day parties hardly at all and I only do them on one condition, that is that they do most of the preparation and help clean up. I guess I'm just a lazy mom but I figure you don't have to go all out to have a good time.

Grace and Morgan

Kailee and Morgan (they share the same B-Day, their good school buddies, and they were baptized on the same day) Kailee's mom and I went the school to deliver treats to their class and we nticed they were wearing the same colored shirt, they said they didn't even plan it that way.

Morgan and Brooklin

Here is the cute bunch of girls. This was taken at Brooklin's B-Day party a couple of weeks later so I just stole it from my friend. Besides the belly shot, this is the cutest picture ever! I hope these girls remain friends forever!

Funny of the day

Kaleb just came upstairs in his underwear carrying his pants with the most disgusted look on his face. He say's, "mom these pants feel slimy and I don't know what to do about it. When I'm wearing underwear with these pants, it feels like I'm not wearing underwear at all!"

one more great thing....

...to add to my list of stuff:

I finished Morgan's 8th B-Day DVD the evening before her Baptism. Phew....just in the nick of time. She loved it and I was just happy to have it completed. It still needs some tweaking here and there and maybe someday I'll get to it, but for now it's done. All 17 minutes of it, gobs of darling photos from birth until 8, 4 really fun songs= 1 happy 8 year old. Now to think I will repeat this whole process next year when Jordyn turns 8. I think I'll start now!

My next goal: get started on family history friday again. Won't happen this Friday though due to tons of end of school activities. The 6th graders built rockets and will shoot them off this morning. Jordyn has an Accelerated Reading Assembly today and pet day tomorrow. No, we don't own any pets which makes Jordyn very sad. Luckily she has one of those battery operated dogs that looks pretty life-like. It also came with its very own carrying case and she thinks it would be complete with a bowl of dog food beside it. Anyway, the next week is packed with fun activities, I'm just hoping that since they're all scheduled on the calendar, someone won't decide to throw-up or run a fever. I'm crossing my fingers, please cross yours.
----

Stuff

My life is full of stuff lately...yep, just lots of stuff, really good, good, not so good, some ugly, but....mostly good stuff. I'll attempt to name a few:

DJ, Regan, and I ran in the Great Harvest Fun Run Saturday morning. DJ tackled the 10k while Regan and I ran the 5k. This was Regan's first time participating in something like this so she was pretty nervous and excited. We signed up over 3 months ago and like everything else in my life lately, when I commit to something, someone always ends of throwing up or running a fever the day of. So, why would I think this day would be any different??? Well, this time, the lucky someone was ME!! I came down with something nasty Wednesday, felt so-so Thursday, Friday I felt alive again so I tackled lawn stuff- power raking, mowing, weeding, and then and within 15 minutes of being finished I was feeling awful, fever, pounding headache, stomachache, chills. I didn't even have the energy to make it in to the house so I parked myself on the freshly mowed grass for a good half hour while the babies climbed all over me playing the "pick the grass and throw it on mommy" game. I was covered but they were happy and I was feeling too crappy to care. Just about the time I made it in to the house our Relief Society President and her husband showed up at the door with a huge watermelon. Seriously, these people are the most amazing people I've ever met. They serve tirelessly--end of story. My kids LOVE watermelon more than anything so they filled their starving bellies with watermelon until DJ got home to open a few cans of soup for dinner. Thank goodness for canned soup! Okay, back to the race, I felt rotten all through the night Friday, woke up Saturday morning determined to run the race because I really didn't want to make Regan run her first 3 mile race alone, so I popped a few Ibuprofen and off we went. Regan did so great, she had a bad pain in her side the first mile so we walked for about 10 seconds and then she wanted to go again, so we started up again and she only asked to stop one more time for all of 5 seconds and then she was off and running. She decided she wanted to see how many people she could pass for the remainder of the race and we passed a bunch. It was cute to see her determination and work through the pain of a nasty sideache. We ran through the finish line together and she had the biggest grin on her face and was so excited to have finished with such a great time. And, the yummy Great Harvest bread was luring her to the finish line as well. Way to go, Regan! As I mentioned, DJ ran the 10k and ended up finishing 5th or 6th over all. I'm not sure how much "fun" he had but I thought he did a great job. DJ and I love to run together but I think we'll try to make it more of a family sport as the kids get older.

Gotta love the FINISH line!! Miraculously, I felt great until I got home, then I hit the couch and didn't move for 4 hours. Today I think I might actually be kickin' this nasty bug.

-----

Quick Porter and Kami update--2 words--naughty sleepers. Yes, they've battled with sickness as well, but c'mon, they are almost 2 and they still haven't completely mastered the sleeping thing. I love them to pieces but I'm just tired and sick of screaming babies in the night and evidently Jordyn is too (her room is directly below there room) She's been extremely cranky for 3 days now and we couldn't figure out why because she's been so good lately. Well, today she told me that every night she hears Kamryn crying and she has a tough time going back to sleep. I think I'll invest in a good pair of earplugs for the poor little girl.

----

Morgan has been having sleeping issues of her own. Yep, she's 8 years old, always been our best sleeper, and she needs her sleep severely--enough said. I'm hoping it this is just a phase because my patience is running very thin.

----

Jordyn came home from school on Friday frantic to tell me some dramatic news: "Mom, the absolute worst thing happened today." A boy and a girl in our class went far away from everyone so they could kiss!" I have to admit, I was a bit alarmed but so happy that she was thinking it was the "absolute worst" thing ever. She and her little buddy went straight in to one of the teachers and told her the whole story which I'm sure was full of Jordyn drama. Jordyn's teacher called this afternoon to let me know she'll be having the "keep your hands (and lips) to yourself talk once again. Go Mrs. Campbell!!

------

My mom is having knee replacement surgery tomorrow in Salt Lake. I'm nervous for her but I know she'll be just fine. She's seriously the toughest lady I know and has put up with so much pain over the years due to bad knees and a battle with M.S. I love you tons, mom, and we're praying for you.

---

Soccer season is coming to a close. Jordy's team has struggled, in fact, they haven't scored a single goal. Poor kids, they really are a cute bunch and I love watching them! They are all trying so hard but just can't get the ball in the goal. Saturday was a bit better though. They actually tried shooting at the goal 3 or 4 times so I'm hopeful that they'll keep improving the last few games.

Morgan's team has done really well. They've played together for a few years now so naturally they know what the're doing. I've decided that Morgan really does love soccer--and I love that she's found something she loves.

-----

We have Middle School registration for Regan tonight. I have a big lump in my throat everytime I speak those words. In some respects I feel exactly like I did when she started Kindergarten--scared, excited, nervous, overwhelmed-I know she'll do just fine--it's me I'm worried about:)

----

I went to the mall the other day and while driving out of the parking lot I mistakingly drove up the wrong direction of the parking area and was met by a car with 2 extremely upset ladies! (side note--I was driving approximately 2 miles per hour, and no where even close to them)They quickly put all 4 middle fingers in the air and were shouting all kinds of lovely things at me (I can read lips) I was dumb founded at how immature these two grown ladies were acting at such a simple mistake that I'm 99.9% sure the've made themselves. I decided I'd handle the situation calmly, so, I stopped the van for about 10 seconds, sat there and smiled at the two of them and mouthed, "I'm sorry, calm down" over and over. Then I drove on my merry way. I wanted so bad to get out of my car and approach them calmly at their window but for all I know, they would've run me right over.

----

On a much more positive note: My Mother's Day was awesome!!! Regan surprised me with a quilt she and my mom, with the help of my mom's visiting teacher, had been working on undercover for about a month. I knew a little about it but certainly didn't know how amazing it was going to turn out. It is the cutest quilt and even cuter was the excitement from Regan about the whole thing. She wanted so much to tell me ahead of time but held out with encouragement from Grandma and surprised me in the morning! I'm loving my very own quilt and loving that Regan came up with the idea all on her own, had the help from a wonderful grandma and friend, and then, kept it a secret until a very special day! Thanks, Reg's!

That's enough stuff for now. I have a major headache and I've got to gear myself up for this middle school registration tonight!

Morgan's big day!

What a special day this was! It was so neat to see Morgan all dressed in white sitting by her dad. She was so excited and just beaming all day. She thought it was cool that her dad is the Bishop and could be the one to introduce her as a baptismal candidate and share some fun things about her with those in attendance. One of the Sister Missionaries (Sister Wadd) gave a talk on "Baptism" that Morgan really loved. The Sister's had spent a lot of time with Morgan prior to her Baptism teaching her the discussions in preparation for her Baptism so it was special for Morgan to have Sister Wadd be a part of the program. It was so neat to see Morgan be baptized and to recieve the gift of the Holy Ghost. She has a sensitive spirit and sometimes amazes me with the comments she makes during our family scripture study. She has a desire to learn and understand what she reads and I'm so proud of the decision she made to follow her Savior. It was really great to have so many of our family members in attendance. Morgan was extra happy that both sets of Grandparents could be with her for the day and that her Great Grandma Johnson could be there as well. We are blessed to have such a close family that loves and supports each other.

T

They really know how...

....to melt my heart.

Kamryn has been really sick with the flu the past couple of days so she hasn't been sleeping in with Porter at night. This morning she heard Porter jumping around in his crib so she quickly ran to open the door, climbed up on the bars of his crib and says with a big grin on her face, "Hi" while waving her hand as fast as she could. The smile on his face was priceless, he was grinning from ear to ear and equally as happy to see his good buddy!

My New Life

If you haven't viewed this on LDS.org yet, please take a minute to do so. This is a beautiful story about one amazing woman, and her family overcoming a huge trial as they put their faith and trust in Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Thank you LDS.org and the Neilson family for allowing us to view this amazing story!

My New Life