Holy Cow, time flies when you're having fun...

Wow, I can't believe that it has been so long since I've updated our blog. It is baseball season so everything kind of takes a back seat to that. I am so happy that Mark takes care of the kids during the games so I can actually watch and concentrate. I LOVE to watch Brett play and it makes me sad when I get interrupted with, "MOMMY Kehli hit me" or "I'm hungry can we buy some gummy bears." His team is doing so much better this year with a record so far of 11-3. There's actually a possibility that we could win the All-City Tournament in June. I don't want to get ahead of myself, but the prospect of after season play is so exciting. Brett is doing well at the plate - I guess all the batting practice over the winter actually helped. His batting average so far is 0.316 which is considerably better than last year. When he pitches he does well also. One game he pitched the last two innings and only threw 19 pitches. Not bad!! He's been walked 10 times and hit by a pitch twice. As long as he gets on base he's happy! If you don't care about baseball stop here and skip to the next section as I ramble on about our last game...Saturday's game was disappointing - we were down by 2 in the last inning with one out. Our kid gets up and bunts the ball, but he was still in the batters box so it was called a foul. But then he hits it again with the bat and the catcher picks it up and throws him out at first - the outfield ump calls it out. Obviously we complain that it was a called foul by the home plate ump first - after deliberations and lots of exchanges with our happy coaches the batter is called out. Two outs, a player on first, and Brett is up to bat. He hits it out to center field just over the second baseman's head. They get it to second base and the runner is out. Game over and Brett feels it is all his fault for hitting it where he did. It was a disappointing loss and even worse when there were several bad calls by the umps. I am a good spectator though and only get upset for a while. I've only been told once to be quiet. I don't want to embarrass Brett too much!

Kehli decided to try softball this year and her first game is on Saturday. It will be fun to watch her play and so different from watching Brett. She is one of the only girls that can catch the ball most of the time so she's pretty confident. I'll post pictures of her next time.

Here are pictures of the lot that we are going to build on. It is about one acre and is on a hill. The first picture is from the bottom looking up and the second is from the top looking down. It's hard to tell on the second picture since the slope is considerable, but I like how it feels country a little bit. We are finishing up bids right now and hope to go to the bank with everything next month. It is such a process so far and we haven't even broken ground!! Mark puts so much time into gathering bids that I try to not complain about designing the kitchen and picking out plumbing & light fixtures. I have to do it all now though because with the kids home in the summer there will be little time for things like that. We are praying that interest rates stay low until we lock in our rate. We can't wait to get started!!

Right now we are also working on getting the yard done here at our rental. Mark finished the sprinkler system on Saturday and started on the fence - at least digging post holes. Hopefully the fence will be in by weeks end and we can get the dirt all leveled and the grass and garden planted before it gets too hot. There are so many rocks here. The kids and I have been gathering rocks for 3 weeks now - I almost believe that they are having babies overnight! I'm about to the point that I'm not going to make them pick up any more that are smaller than their hand. It will be fine, right!?

Erin loves to sing. Unfortunately she inherited my singing abilities so we are looking into voice lessons for her. Since she is not interested in sports or dance I figure this is one talent that we will try and help her develop. She is trying out for a solo at school this week and I think she'll be pretty disappointed if she doesn't get it. Luckily there are 30 kids trying out for it so I think she'll understand if things don't go as she has planned. She volunteered our family to sing the reverence song in Primary a few weeks ago and it was the most embarrassing few minutes of my life. It is a new song that Mark and I had both not ever heard before except for the kids singing it around the house - so it doesn't sound like it should. So the pianist plays it once through for us and I get through the first line before the giggles set in. I laughed all the way through the rest of the first verse and the second. There were tears rolling down my cheeks. I don't know what happened, but I couldn't stop. So, Erin basically sang a solo into the microphone as I laughed, Bubba mumbled a few words here and there and Mark sang as quietly as possible. I felt bad because I am sure it didn't help reverence the kids, but I'm happy to say that they will never ask our family to sing again!!

The kids have said a few cute things that I want to document before I forget:
The first was when I was tucking Evan in for his nap. I alway say, "Evan, I love you forever and ever." As I was tucking him in the other day he grabbed my cheeks and said, "Mommy, I love you never, never, never."

The second was on Saturday night after dinner. We are having an issue with ants coming in under our kitchen door. It could be because we are working the dirt outside and stirring them up, or the fact that there are holes under the door so they can walk in freely, or that Evan's chair is right next to the door and he drops a lot of crumbs on the floor - or a combination of all of the above. Anyway, I have to sweep the floor after every meal and I mop every night after dinner. So this was the conversation in the kitchen one night:
Bubba: You're cleaning the floor AGAIN!?!
Me: Yes, so the ants won't keep coming in.
Bubba: Well, the devil will keep sending them.
Erin: No Bubba, the devil doesn't send them, he TEMPTS them.
Bubba: You mean with our crumbs?
Too cute - I couldn't keep from laughing!!

Well, this is long enough. Hopefully it won't be two months before I post again. I'm a little better at Facebook because I don't feel like I have to write as much so check there for more pictures if you are interested. HAPPY SPRING!

Well, we finally sold our home and moved into a rental for about a year. We hope to start building in July and are in the process now of finishing up our house plans. Then the fun begins!!Here is our new family room / living room - there is only one front room in our rental house. This is what it looked like after we moved in and they cleaned it up. It's been 9 days now and it is finally our own. We moved the couch in on Friday and are now just waiting for a TV. I didn't think I'd miss it this much. Most boxes are unpacked - I only have about 4-5 left to go. So far the kids have adjusted well. The girls are all in one room and Brett & Evan are in one together. I'm going to like having less space to clean. Mark is hoping that I get out of the habit of having piles everywhere because there just isn't room in this house to have piles. It's in my blood...

Evan has had so much fun watching the "workers" out the front window. He loved the "little tractor" and even asked if he could have a ride, but was turned down.

I love this picture of Evan & Mark watching the last of the three cement pours. It will be wonderful to have all the concrete done so the tracking of mud can be cut back. I will be happy to plant grass - hopefully sooner rather than later! Brett can't wait to mow again - NOT!

Brett helping Mark cut plywood to put in the rafters in the garage to store more of our junk...I mean treasures. I was happy to see him wearing safety goggles as I stood in the window praying that he didn't cut off any fingers. He did a great job!

Evan cleaning out the dryer after putting a handful of sand in it. He's such a good helper!

Evan being a good helper again putting the computer cabinet together with Mark.
Here are Mark and I at the Hawaiian themed Primary Appreciation Dinner. Yes, those are coconuts that I'm wearing - Mark made me wear the shirt under them because it was 30 degrees outside and he was afraid I would catch a cold - he's so thoughtful.

Here are some shots from Brett's last basketball game of the season. They ended up only losing one game and really worked well as a team.
Brett in the middle - not letting go of the ball.
Way to block out Brett!
Get that rebound!!!
Baseball season started last week with practice 4 days in a row, four practices this week then the first game on Saturday. They appear to have a strong team this year and we are hoping for a few more wins than last year. The league Brett plays in is switching to a 70' baseline with a few rule changes. Brett is nervous about that, especially since he is a pictcher and the kids can lead off 1st base now. He'll do fine though - he just needs to be confident!! Evan is ready for baseball season and wears Brett's extra baseball "mitten" around all the time. Why can't he stay small for just a little bit longer?

Kehli's Baptism & Bubba's Assembly

On Saturday, January 31 Kehli was baptized. She has waited a few extra months because Mark and I were out of town in December and his parents were out of town at the beginning of January. She was patient and very excited that the day finally came. She looked like an angel all dressed in white. She had many friends there to support her on this special day. It's occasions like these that make me wish we lived a little closer to family, but our Ward friends have truly become our family at times like these .

Kendall sang in a music assembly at school last week. The Kindergarten classes all sang a few songs together. It was as entertaining as any school assembly could be. The whole thing only lasted about 10 minutes. Bubba is the one in the striped turtleneck and ponytails on the left side. She got to stand next to Ryker Buttars, which she thought was pretty cool.

Cooties...

Last night Brett was trying to give Evan a love before they went to bed and Evan's response was, "No Brett. Give me cooties never." I guess he's heard us tell the girls that boys have cooties and to stay away from them.

Mark is out of town for a couple of days. He had to go to Twin Falls, Idaho for some farming thing. It would have been fun to go with him...maybe another year.

Kehli & Brett will have their first basketball games this Saturday. Kehli especially can't wait.

We had New Beginnings last week at church. We have a great bunch of girls and I totally enjoy working with them! We only had two missing that night and had a great program.

Another funny from Evan...

I was putting on Evan's pajamas so he only had his arms in - no feet yet. He said, "Mommy, me Super Why." I said, "Oh really." His response, "Yes, cause my have the power to read."

For those unfamiliar with Super Why it is a show on PBS where the super hero wears a cape and flies. They go through a story book and solve word puzzles - "super readers to the rescue!"

It was so cute because it was out of no where and I have never heard him say that before.

Evan can be so sweet sometimes

If my heart could literally melt, it would have last night. Evan was on my lap and he took my chin in his little hands and said, "Mommy, you're booful (beautiful)." I couldn't hug him tight enough!!

Kids are back in school...

We had a great Christmas - nice and quiet here by ourselves. I'm glad that we weren't planning on traveling anywhere because the weather was so extreme here in December. We had lots of snow - lots of places in the state have already broken records. Now our snow is gone and we've had crazy wind this week.

One tradition we have for Christmas is to pick a menu for dinner all new - things we would typically not fix. This year everything was good and it didn't take us ALL day to prepare. We had grilled lamb chops with fresh herbs (these melted in your mouth - YUMMY!), whipped rosemary & garlic cheese potatoes, tangy garlic tortellini salad, glazed maple acorn squash, savory cheese bread and chocolate mousse napoleons with strawberries and cream.

Here are the kids playing in the snow. I don't know who had more fun - Mark or the kids he was pulling around. We went up to the church parking lot so we could have more room. It was a blast!! We went with the Holladay family and Ethan Ellsworth on a couple different days before the snow all melted. Kehli and I both tried out the cross-country skiis. I was happy that the parking lot was flat!

New Years Eve we went out with two other couples to eat at Famous Dave's BBQ and the came here to play games. We had fun with the Wii. Mark and I kicked butt probably because he is so coordinated with the remote as you can see by the light saber that he drew in about 10 seconds. I need lots more practice!
We got the house back on the market last week and had two showings this weekend. One couple came back tonight and they have made an offer, but it is contingent on them selling their home first. We'll see how that works out. We repainted the laundry room and put up a new border and also did some updating in the master bedroom. Both of those rooms look much better now. Hopefully it sells soon....

I am on a team at the gym that is involved in a 6 week contest. Every week there is a new challenge to complete as well as at least 3 regular workouts. This week was easy - only 300 jumpropes. It's a good thing it is easy because our team also signed up for group training sessions 3 times per week for 30 minutes each time. I didn't think I'd be sore because I have been exercising regularly, but I can hardly walk today. Tomorrow is going to be a nightmare, but after that I should be okay. Can't wait to see the results after 6 weeks!!

The kids are all doing great. Brett started pitching lessons last month getting ready for baseball season this spring. They changed the baseline length this year to match the next league & middle school ball. So, he has been taught a new way to pitch. He's doing great. Erin is doing well with her violin and seems to really enjoy it. She twisted her ankle at recess today and I'm hoping it isn't broken. We told her to sleep on it and we'd see how it was in the morning. It wasn't swollen so I'm not too worried. Kehli keeps growing taller and taller - she's about the same height as Erin now. She is so happy that it is basketball season and can't wait for the first game. Bubba is impressing me with her reading. At school she has reading in Spanish so I didn't expect her to be so "advanced" with her English reading. She's very good at sounding out the word one letter at a time. Evan is my little wild man. He loves to go to the gym and play in the kids room and then come home and fly the remote control "hopter" (helicopter). His day revolves around that hopter - play, charge battery, play, charge battery... Jaylee has decided to go back and live with her Grandma. We are sad and a little hurt, but continue to pray for her and hope she is happy. I guess having a cell phone is more fun than having chores!