Day's we'll remember!

Three of my cousin's have been married this Spring/summer and one of our niece's on DJ's side was married a couple of weeks ago. We've been able to make it to most and the best thing about all of these is that they've all been in the temple! I hope all of our kids follow in their cousin's footsteps and marry in the temple!

Tatum and Matt- married June 18, 2010--Logan, UT, Temple

Tatum was a beautiful bride!! The temple ceremony was really neat and Tatum looked so happy. She looks so much like her mother, Jan. Jan passed away from cancer just shortly after DJ and I married (almost 15 years ago). She was an amazing wife, mother, sister, daughter, and her children are just the same. I know she was with us all in the sealing room as Tatum and Matt were sealed together for time and all eternity. I love the temple and I love our family!

Aren't these a cute bunch of kids?

Grandma Teichert with Leah (Ashee's baby) You can tell how tickled Grandma T. is to be holding her Great granddaughter!

Uncle Tim with Kamryn--Tim has always been so cute with Kamryn!

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Crystal and Chris- Married June 11, 2010 (also Porter and Kamryn's B-Day) YEAH!!

Morgan, Kate, Chloe, and Lily posing in front of the beautiful Temple doors. It won't be too many more years when these cute little girls are in wedding dresses coming out of the temple!

The cousin's with the beautiful bride! My kids thought it was awesome that she would break away from her new hubby for a minute to pose for some fun pictures. She's as sweet as she is beautiful!

Chris's mom bought this adorable cake for the babies and presented it to them at the luncheon. How thoughtful is that??

The picture of my Grandma, Kaleb, and my mom is priceless. My grandma has always struggled with her health but lately it's been really bad and it is nothing short of a miracle that she has been well enough to attend all of these weddings. Each time I'm with her I consider it a privilege and blessing to be by her side. Also, my mom is recovering beautifully from knee surgery she underwent just over a month ago. Seriously, I know no braver woman!! She endures her challenges like a pro and always, always, looks on the bright side of things. I love my sweet mom!

The reception was awesome! See the adorable aprons the little girls are wearing? My Aunt Christie made somewhere around 16 of them for all the little girl cousins and they all had a little job helping with the refreshments. (actually, it wasn't just refreshments, it was the whole package, dinner, candy stand, Coldstone Creamery Ice cream, dessert bar, lemonade bar, etc.) My kids thought they had died and gone to heaven!!

Thanks Dad!

Last week I spent several hours in the garden trying to get a handle on the lovely crop of morning glory we have thriving in our garden spot. Honestly, I've never seen so much of the stuff and it's next to impossible to get rid of. It's a miracle we've had as many vegetables as we've had in years past. I guess it's probably because DJ had more time in previous years to tend to the garden but this year he's even more busy which makes it pretty impossible for him to get out to the garden. Anyway, after weeding about half of our garden with help from Morgan, I just gave up. I really wanted to sit in the dirt and just cry my eyes out but instead I just left it and moved on to something more productive--like laundry. (HA HA HA HA) Friday morning we left for a 2 day trip to Logan for my niece, Tatum's, wedding and then a day trip to Lagoon with the kids. After returning home, I walked out to check on our weed patch only to discover that someone had come to our rescue and tilled our entire garden. I admit, I sat there and bawled like a big baby wondering who would've done such a kind act of service for me and knowing that they probably had no idea how overwhelmed I had been with the garden. I found out Tuesday that my sweet dad had gotten off work a little early on Friday afternoon and told my mom that he had a feeling he should come up and take care of our garden. I know he doesn't have that kind of time between his calling as Stake President, his full time job, his own beautiful yard and garden, taking great care of my mom who is recovering from knee surgery, and the list goes on and on. I'm pretty sure there were a hand full of other things he could have been doing on a Friday evening but he chose to come and rescue me and my poor garden from drowning in a sea of weeds and tears. I love my dad so much and though this might seem like a tiny thing to some, it meant the world to me. Thanks for your example dad!

You know what's cute???

These two stink bugs!

They turned 2 last Friday. I still can't believe it. Seems like just yesterday when they were born but other times it seems like an eternity (you know what I mean)! I still can't figure out why Heavenly Father would trust me with twins but I'm sure glad he did. It's really not something I ever envisioned myself going through and though it's been one of the hardest things, it's definetly been one of the most rewarding. I love them both so much & can't imagine my life without them. Their relationship is one of a kind. They adore one another even though they are so completely different in every way. Their B-Day pictures did not turn out. I sure wish I had some skill in photography area but since I don't, this is what ya get! Love you both, Kamryn and Porter!

Someday...

I'll get around to blogging about the following items:

* Our babies turning 2 years old!
* Porter getting stitches (our first kid to ever have stitches)
* Regan and Morgan running in the Hershey's Trackmeet (Regan took 1st in the 800 meter run and 2nd in the 400 meter run; Morgan took 2nd in the 50 meter, 3rd in the 100 meter, and 4th in the long jump. Both get to go to the State meet on July 10th in Rexburg
* Tennis camp for Regan and Morgan
* T-ball with our ward buddies organized by my friend, Holly! The kids were most excited about the treats and the t-shirts with their name and number on the back and the team name on the front, St. Leon Lions
* my adventures in searching for used tires in the pouring rain and mud for DJ's car that's still running and nearing 300,000 miles. Who knew I'd get so lucky as to find 4 near new tires for $80 at a junk yard??
* Jordyn getting a part in the chorus for the Idaho Falls Youth Arts Council Fall production of Willy Wonka!
* Porter and Kaleb going to the Father and Son Outing with Dad!
* My very unpleasant bout of full body hives caused by a severe reaction to Naproxin Sodium. Next time I have a bad headache, I think I'll just tough it out.
* DJ spending 3 days at Helaman Camp with the 16, 17, 18 year old boys in the Stake.
* Our fun day in Logan/Tremonton last Friday for my cousin Crystal's wedding.

Why??

Why am I so impatient with my kids? I'd like to blame it on sheer exhaustion from the past 2 years of my life taking care of our sweet little twins (who happen to turn 2 tomorrow:) Unfortunately, at some point I have to quit blaming my grumpiness on them and take some responsibility. Does it have to be today??? I really, really love summer break but it takes a while to adjust to having all 6 kids home all day. The sheer amount of laundry, dishes, meals, fights to break up, children to entertain, jobs to get done, errands to run, etc. just overwhelms me sometimes.

"Kalebisms"

Kaleb: Mom, are we going to be able to eat in Heaven?
Me: I sure hope so!
Kaleb: Me too, do you think we'll have pizza cause I LOVE pizza!
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While putting Kaleb to bed this evening he let out a gigantic smelly toot, (must've learned that from his dad:)!!!! He then asked me if he would need to take another bath because he was so stinky!! I love his honesty!
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He is completely obsessed with the scriptures---I wish I could say it's because he's a spiritual giant at age 4---not exactly--he loves to hear about the wars and weapons and frequently stops us during scripture study to ask more about them. He loves the Book of Mormon readers for kids but it takes about 15 minutes each night to make it through one chapter because he's pointing at all the bows, arrows, spears, clubs, etc. and repeatedly asks me questions about each one. I was beginning to wonder if he was getting anything out of the scriptures besides the violence until he mentioned to me tonight that King Noah was a really bad guy and Abinadi was the good guy. PHEW, maybe there is hope for the little guy!
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Last week I took all the kids to Jordyn's soccer practice. It had been raining really hard all day and I forgot to warn the kids about the pool of water that was sure to be at the end of the slide. I looked up from the van just in time to see a huge wave at the bottom of the slide and one very embarrassed little boy. I'm ashamed to say that I was laughing hysterically as I ran over to assess the situation but quickly got control of myself when I noticed his "painted on smile, trying to be tough, just about to burst in to tears look." He was humiliated but kept his composure until his face was buried safely on my shoulder. He was literally drenched from head to toe as if he'd jumped in to a swimming pool and not loving the idea of staying in wet clothes for the next hour. I loaded he and the babies in the van and headed for home to make a quick change of clothes and while driving I looked in the rear view mirror and noticed Kaleb grinning his adorable grin. He said with a little giggle, "mom, that was really sad but it was pretty funny."
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Kaleb takes after Jordyn with his bubbly, talkative personality. He loves visiting with people, particularly our neighbor's, the Berrett's. I think he has a secret crush on their 4 cute girls and maybe even their mother. Whenever I can't find him I can be sure he's wandered over to their house to pay them a visit. Today his excuse for visiting them was that he needed to ask Kae Lyn if she was going to T-ball, funny thing is, we had just gotten home from t-ball a couple of hours before. Short term memory, I think not!

Thank you mother nature!

The forecast for tomorow reads: Sunny, 70 degrees, light and variable winds. I will believe when I see it.

Kaleb on 2 wheels!

Kaleb's been begging us to take off his training wheels for quite a while. Last week I finally got around to helping him and he's been the easiest one yet. I think the hours of riding scooters with the kids helped with the balance issue because it took one time down the road and he took off by himself. Now comes the hard part, starting and stopping w/out any help.

Bordom buster

The babies and Kaleb were totally bored one day so I got out old ice cream buckets, large beads & cooking spoons, and we created a band which later turned in to lots more crazy ideas! (ice cream buckets for hats, bead soup, pretend Easter egg hunt, and much much more. I'm convinced that kids don't need toys!

Kami

Kami on the drums--she came up with this with out any help. Yikes!


checking herself out in her little compact mirror!

Goodbye mullet, hello piggy tails! She was SOOOO excited when she saw what I'd done with her hair--she's such a girly girl!

Snow day! (still backtracking)

This is what we woke up to on April 5th. Our kids actually had a snow day--has anyone ever had a day off of school in April because of snow???? The weather has continued to be crazy the past 2 months. I'm not sure where summer is--if you find it, please send it our way!

The little boys filled the wagon with snow and then proceeded to eat it like little puppies. Gross but definitely cute.

Belated Easter Pictures

(yes, I know that was over 2+ months ago)

I'm so far behind in blogging, thought I'd do a little catch up before I try to move forward.

Regan loves being the oldest cousin and is always good to help the mom's with preparations. This year she couldn't decide whether she was too old to hunt or not. She ended up helping Porter and eventually got a basket of her own.

All the cute cousins on the back porch--Jordyn, Chloe, and Kaleb, eating their stash of candy in a secret hiding place--Morg's and Katey bug having a ball together. They are the best of friends!

Yep, that's a large laundry basket plus a big box filled with goodies! We're in candy heaven!

That's my cute mom with Porter and Cannon (Julie's little guy)

Kamryn preferred using the Easter basket as a hat rather than to gather candy. It took her a while to catch on to the idea of hunting for Easter eggs. On the other hand, Porter took right off filling his basket. He's the biggest candy lover in our family besides maybe me, and Kaleb takes a close 2nd.

This year we had our big Rose family Easter egg hunt at my sister's house in Logan. The weather was gorgeous and the cousins had a blast hunting for tons of candy as well as bubbles, crayons, etc. Actually, if I'm being honest, there really wasn't any "hunting" involved at all. There was so much candy that you couldn't even walk 6" w/out stepping on something. The kids fill there baskets over and over, dump it in to a huge bowl, and then we divide it all up amongst the cousins so it's all even. We've always done it that way and I love it. We even fill bags for our Florida cousins (Luke, Emma, and Gavin) and my mom mails it to them. It's such a fun tradition and the kids love it!