Well so far we have had a great Christmas month. We decorated the house and it is so fun to have light everywhere. The tree is only half way up decorated, children keep taking them down. We went and saw Santa and everyone was very brave. The kids will help out only if the Christmas music is playing in the background. They are counting down the day and we and getting very excited.

Merry Christmas

Well things fell through the last minute on the house so we won't be moving any time soon. I know bummer. Oh well life goes on.

Happy Birthday to me!! I turn 31 today. I haven't done anything special because I'm sick. My wonderful husband said he will take he out as soon as I am better. I can't believe I'm so old now. There are lots of things I wish for on my birthday but today it is a empty sink. I don't know about you but when I'm sick I hate doing dishes, standing the whole time makes me extra sleepy. So I haven't done any dishes in two day because of being sick. I know that I just need to do it at stages so I don't get so tired, but once I start I don't like stopping in the middle. Oh well that is life. I'm going to rest and enjoy my kids singing me "Happy Birthday" all day.

Well Thanksgiving is over and it was fun. We went over to my parents and had some yummy food. The only thing that was missing was the gravy. I did without because I don't mind my food without gravy but Bryan was a little upset. He didn't want me to get any leftovers because there was no gravy but I told him we have some I can make at home. Let's just say I think he will like the leftovers better that he did yesterday. The kids loved the pies and running around grandmas house. Little Sariah kept getting hurt but on the most part everyone had fun. We went home and had a very nice nap. It was a good day for the most part.

Well it's official we are moving! By January 1st we will be in our own home. Having 3 kids in a small apartment is tiring. I'm so excited to have a backyard and garage. We will be moving to Elk Grove, off Calvine and Elk Grove-Florin rd. I will be closer to my parents and older brother and sisters homes, which will be nice. I will miss my friends that I have made in the Pocket area but hopefully we will be having dinners at our home. We forgot to get a picure of the front of the house so when I go to do some things I'll make sure I take the camera. YAY!!!

So I was looking at all of my pictures today and realized that my cute little boy finds weird places to fall asleep. I can tell when he gets tired but when I try to put him down he won't have it. So when I don't hear him anymore I go and investigate. This is usually what I find, and of course it makes me laugh and I have to take a picture. Here are my favorites.

Kate had just fallen asleep and Conner climbed up and fell asleep right next to her. This is when they were younger.


Fell asleep on top of the pillow like a cat.

This when we were getting ready to have Sariah, I got it out and just finished cleaning it.

I went to get him off the computer and well found him instead asleep.

It took me a long time to find him this time. I kept asking Kate were Conner was and she said she didn't know. After looking everywhere I remembered that he likes to climb behind the couch. So I looked and well....there he was.

Well Halloween was very fun this past weekend. We had a Trunk or Treat with our ward on Friday, the kids were very brave going through the haunted house. We had fun. Saturday was a long day for the kids. They knew it was Halloween and were wondering when can we go out. Needless to say when it did get dark they were ready to go. We got dressed and headed out. It was so cute to see Conner comfortable going up to houses and saying Trick or Treat, but it was funny seeing Sariah grab handful after handful from people who just let the kids get their own candy. Sariah was doing great for a couple of blocks then she got to comfortable and started running in the street. So I took her home once we got all the houses on our side of the street. Bryan took Kate and Conner to the other side and got the rest. Of course they dug in when we got home. I did put a limit on the amount but they didn't seem to mind. I love how my kids will listen to me when I put the limit on. Well on some things at least. We now are enjoying the candy, it filled up 1/2 of a grocery bag. The paper bags you get from Bel Air. For going to maybe 3 streets with 3 kids this was pretty good, not every house was home giving out candy. We had a good Halloween.

I won! I can't believe it, I never win anything. My favorite writer was having a contast and I won third place. I get a copy of her new book and some more yummy things. I love her writing she is very talented. She writes mystery novels with a dash of romance. I can usually finish one of her books in two days. I am usually up until 11pm reading but it is so good I can't put it down. If you like mystery books she is really good you should check them out. You can get it at Deseret Book.

Third Prize - One copy of Murder by the Book, One copy of Poison, mini Hershey bars and Moon Pies

Well this last month has been pretty crazy. Kate is doing well in school and loves her teacher. Conner has been growing like a weed lately. Nothing is fitting him anymore. Everyday he tells me he wants to be big like daddy. It's nice because when he won't do something that big kids do, I just tell him daddy can do it. He jumps up and try's whatever it is. He is growing up so fast, sometimes I forget that he is only 3. It feels like he is older. Sariah is entering the terrible 2's. She says "NNNNNNO!" to everything. Yes it's a very drawn out no. It's pretty funny actually. She loves to go on walks, everyday she tells me "come on mom", and pull me to the stroller and says "walk". She is talking so much lately, if you let her she will talk forever. She still has to have a bottle at night and plays with someones hair to go to sleep. It's very cute. Her new thing is to say "Ah, Dad" like a teenage girl when their parents are embarrassing them. She is so cute and she knows it. Her hair lately has been getting curlier and is getting more strawberry, which is beautiful.
As far as me and Bryan, well we are just tring to get by day to day. Not with each other but as a whole. We are getting stressed that the house we are trying to buy won't make it to the deadline. There is nothing we can do, it's all paperwork and the waiting game. Yes we are trying to get a house, I haven't said anything on here yet because we haven't gotten a for sure yes from the bank. We want to make sure that the bank will send us through to escrow before we really announce anything. But we're praying it will. It will be nice to get into a house to have a backyard and garage. So that is our life right now. Stress, kids, house, you know the basic stuff for almost everyone. I'll try and keep up with blogging to let you in on everything.

Kate started school today, she loved it. I'm so glad she likes school. Since we got moved to another school Kate has to start taking the bus. I am so nervous. I'm afraid that she'll get on the wrong bus, or is late for the bus, or something goes wrong. We only have one car and it would take Bryan about 20 min. to get to her if anything goes wrong. I hate being this far away. I could walk but it would probably take me longer with two small kids.
Well I'm sure everything will go fine and I'm just worrying for nothing. I hope this is a good year.

So we finally had a birthday party for Kate. She just had a friend over my mom's to swim. It was nice, small but fun. I keep trying to make a special cake for my kids and don't decorate very well. I try and buy those decorating cans, well they suck! It wasn't consistent at all. I finally took some frosting and put it in a zip lock cut a small whole and squeezed it out, so much easier. Kate got dolls and a pink castle alarm clock, which she loves.

Well my brother in law Troy came to visit this weekend and we went to San Francisco. Man it was cold and windy there, and yet I got sunburned. We haven't seen Troy in 2 years, he's never met Sariah, boy does she love him. She would do a silly dance and make a silly face and he ate it up, so she would do it more. Kate was Troy's shadow the whole time, it was so sweet. All day today she would say, "Mom I'm sad, I miss Uncle Troy". She started crying when we went to bed last night because she knew he was leaving in the morning. It was so sad, he gave her a big hug and we told her we would try and go visit. The problem is that he lives in Colorado, and I don't want to drive there. I hope we have some kind of Richmond family reunion this summer but who knows.
We had fun this weekend Troy and we will miss you. Come and visit again soon. We love you!

Kate had her birthday while camping. We had a yummy pancake breakfast, went to see Paul Bunyan and got her a present, and played all day. We are going to have a small birthday party for her soon so she can have cake! But on the way home she asked if she can have more birthdays camping at Prairie Creek! I hope we can! I love my big girl, I can't believe she is 6. She is a huge help around the house and the greatest little reader. Every night before bed she gets the kid version of the scriptures and reads it all by herself. I know this sweet girl will become a wonderful Young Women very soon. Love you Kate!
Kate and Conner on Paul Bunyan's shoe, he sang "Happy Birthday" to her.

Paul Bunyan, went to see it on her Birthday.

Kate with her Birthday Present, she loved looking at the tall trees.

Kate on the beach.

Reading a sign on a hike.

Well last week we went to Prairie Creek, north California in the Redwood Forest. My whole family was able to come. That is all 11 kids with their families. It was very fun and very stressful all at the same time. Let's just say an 18 month girl that is very independent in the woods doesn't go together. Bryan and I were chasing her pretty much the whole week. When she did go down for a nap or bedtime I was saying "shhhh" the whole time. I'm sure everyone got pretty sick of it. It was so worth it though, the big beautiful trees, the clean fresh air, campfires, seeing Elk (which didn't come that often), running around the prairie, going on long but fun hikes, and of course laughing and having fun with family. I defiantly want to go again, when my kids are a little older and don't have to be chased the whole time.
Our cute family in front of Big Tree.

A hike went to the beach.

Fern Canyon, beautiful!

Sariah asleep on a hike.

Running around camp, dirty of course.

Running on the Prairie.

Mom and the kids on a walk.

Dad and the kids on a walk.

Well, Bryan and I had our 9th Anniversary yesterday. I can't believe it's been 9 years already. I love being with him every second of the day. He is my best friend. I find that I love him more and more every day. He is the first person I want to tell everything to, first person I call when I'm sad, or happy. I love Bryan so much. I can't see my life without him.

Well a couple of weeks ago we went to the Jelly Bean Factory. It was so fun. This was Sariah and Bryan's first time there. It's always fun to get free samples and to see how things are made. Kate got a harmonica as a prize and she is pretty good with it. She bought it with her own tooth fairy money. It's always fun to get something with your own money.
Our little family.

Cute of Sariah, so excited to see all the jelly beans.

This past weekend we went to Lake Tahoe for the day. Bryan's old college roommate and his family were on vacation and invited us up for the day. We played some games, the kids had fun running around some beautiful trees, it was great. It was a quick and yet very fun weekend. I can't wait until we can do it again.
All the kids on the balcony looking at the beautiful view.

Here is Conner having fun with his new friend Julia.

We had a fun weekend and relaxing weekend. On Friday the kids and I went shopping for some books and good food for the 4th. We started the day with a yummy breakfast at a friends house. The kids jumped and played ball. We went home had some naps and I read a book, yes a whole book (Bryan wasn't to thrilled that I finished it in one day). When I read I get hooked. We had yummy hamburgers, from scratch, chips, and some Pie! We watched some fireworks and then went to bed. We had fun, but I was wanting to do some others things but it never works out how I want. Oh well. I hope everyone had a fun weekend.

Well Father's Day wasn't the best this year. Both of my girls got very sick. So instead of happy smiling faces and nice relaxing day for Bryan it was high fevers and barf. I was able to make him his special dinner, however Kate barfed 1 hour later. So this weekend will be a fun day with dad and hopefully no one gets sick! I like the idea of a second chance at having a fun and relaxing day with the best dad ever. Or the way Kate says it "You're my very special Dad!" We love you Bryan and I hope this time around you will see just how much!

Well today was the last day of school for Kate. She has loved school so much. She is my good reader, she doesn't need any help anymore. I can't believe how much she has grown up. She had a great teacher, she was perfect for Kate. She was very structured and sweet with the kids, in that order too. I love Kate so much, she is my sweet and very helpful little girl. The best part of the day was reading the comments on her report card from her teacher. It said "Kate has past expectations for Kindergarten and is VERY ready for 1st grade". Kate also got the rest of her stuff that she did through out the year and my favorite was a paper that said "If I had 100 dollars I...." then they had to write and finish the sentence. Kate's said "I would buy a video game". Man I love this girl. She loves school and I hope it last for a very long time. I hope she gets her brother and sister excited to learn also.


Congratulations Kate!!

This past weekend all of my brothers and sisters where is town. My youngest sister Jodee went through the Sacramento Temple. Why this was so special was because my sister has prader-willi syndrome and we didn't know if she would live past 21. Having every single sibling in the Temple was so great, the spirit was so strong. I miss them all ready. We are having a big family reunion this August with spouses and kids, it's going to be big!
Names from Left to Right LaRene, Dad, Lynda(back row), Craig, Diane, Mike, Brian, next row JoAnn, Jolene, Todd, bottom row Mom, Jodee, and Janell
Yes, this is everyone, it's big and fun, oldest to youngest Craig, Diane, Brian, LaRene, Mike, Todd, Lynda, Jolene, JoAnn, Jodee and Janell(twins).

Well for the past week everyone in our family has gotten the flu. Kate was first last Saturday, then it moved to Sariah. This was sad, she threw up in the middle of the night and had to take a bath. We had a couple of days to rest then Conner got it. He was the most frustrating because as soon as he threw up he would run away and hide. Took me forever to clean up his mess. The next day I got it, man it is bad, I hope no one gets this! I guess it's worse for an adult than it is for kids. I was down for 48 hours, slept most of the time. I'll spare you the disgusting details but lets just say I spend the first 8 hours in the bathroom. Well as I was just starting to feel better I hear Bryan in the bathroom. So here I am not feeling well but much better than before, at least I can keep food down now, I have to take care of Bryan. I'm sure most of you wives know husbands can be just as demanding as kids when there sick. The big difference was I was still not feeling well. I totally understood though that you don't want to move. So today I am feeling much better, I think I might take my kids to my moms so they can play a little.
Have a fun Memorial Weekend!

Well I had a great Mother's day. I told Bryan that I didn't want to make dinner so Saturday night he went out and got a pizza so we could have it Sunday. It was good. I didn't have to cook, it was my favorite pizza and everyone enjoyed it. Kate made my bed for me and put the silverware away. She did a great job. I'm so glad she is getting to the point to help out.
I hope everyone had a great day.

I know this is late, but I had a busy past couple of weeks. I was a fun weekend. We went to my moms for dinner on Saturday, Kate swam with the older kids and had a blast. On Sunday it was fun watching Sariah walking around with a small bucket looking for eggs, as soon as she found out there was candy inside she stopped and started eating. All three kids got a new church outfit, all green. It was so cute to see them. We had a nice day relaxing.

Well a couple of days ago my little man turned 3! He was so excited, probably because Kate kept telling him his birthday was soon. He didn't get that much stuff but he sure loved everything he got. I love my little man he is so funny. He laughs at people when they get hurt, just like mom. He loves to climb everything and eat banana's, he's our little monkey. Love you Conner!

Not much going on just the regular stuff. Kate school, Conner and Sariah at home getting every toy we own out and throwing it. Bryan at work, working very hard. Last but certainly not least me, making sure everyone is fed, clean, happy and safe, all the time slowly going insane. No I'm doing fine, would love to have a girls night sometime soon again. Anyone instrusted? I had a dream last night about visiting Utah and seeing all of my old work buddies showing off my cute kids. I would love to visit Utah again show the kids were I used to live, walk around all the temples just taking in all the mountains.
The dreams are always nice but I guess it's back to reality. I hope everyone has a great week.

It was my friends birthday party last night and it was so fun. I haven't had a girls night out in a long time. I don't count Enrichment night as girls night out. We were talking laughing and playing games all night. When I finally looked at the clock it said 10pm. Now I know that isn't late for most people, but when you have young kids staying up past 9 is late. When I realized what time it was I had to go. Now I wish I didn't look at the clock, I was having so much fun. Yeah I'm tired today but it was so worth it.
Happy Birthday Marcy!

We had a ruff night last night. Sariah woke up around 2am and didn't stop crying until 5:30am. When she did sleep it was either on my shoulder or Bryan's chest. For some strange reason she was having a ruff night. I game her some milk to try to get her back to sleep it worked for 10 minutes. I hope she does take a good nap today but not sleep all day. I want to get some sleep tonight. Hopefully I can stay awake today.

So all three of my kids are sick. Of course Kate has it the worse. I'm slowly going crazy. I feel bad that there sick, but they keep fighting over what movie to watch. There not up to doing anything but movies. Top it all off I think I might be getting it too.

It's my baby girls birthday! She has turned one and such a fun girl. She brightens up the room with her smile and laugh. I love my little "ROO".

Well this is the first Valentines that I'm not going out to dinner with my husband. I'm OK with it too. I love going out with him alone mind you, but today I really don't need to. We are having a fun day at home, with chocolate and movies. I went out with Hubby for a day date and it was fun. Valentines day has never been that big of a deal for me. I kill flowers, I eat to much chocolate, and Bryan is the first and now only boyfriend I've ever had on Valentines. Our anniversary is a much bigger deal than this. I hope it has been a fun day for you all and have lots of yummy chocolate.

So Sariah is walking all over the place, but what is fun is that she is talking. She walks around saying "Go, Go, Go" it's so cute. She also says "Daddy" all day long. The only time she says Mom is when she's really hurt or really sad. When you hear "Mom" you know somethings wrong and you need to pick her up right away. I have got to get a video of her walking because it's so funny. She will be walking and all of a sudden she changes directions. My little girl already knows how to pivot, it's awesome. I think she will be a good dancer she's so graceful doing it. I love this age they walk they are learning to talk. Man they are so cute.

So Sariah has been walking for the past 2 weeks. She started Christmas day and has gotten better since. Now that she is walking she has beautiful bumps and bruises everywhere. She still is very beautiful but just a little purple from the bruises. My kids are on the small size so when anyone sees her walk they can't believe it. She looks younger than she really is. Both of my girls walked at 10 month, Conner waited until 1 year (which was fine with me). So now my day consists of thumps followed by crying, then I hold her and she won't let me put her down. I love when they learn to walk they learn everything else quicker it seems.

DVD HELP! My kids won't put the DVDs back after they watch a show and I just put them away and well were missing one. arrgg. I do try to get them to put them away after but they never do. Then when they pick one up it has finger prints all over. When they leave them out, Sariah now will pick them up and well everything she picks up goes in the mouth. So now we have scratched DVDs. I've tried to put the DVDs in a cabinet with a baby proof thing on, Conner figured them out pretty fast. He can even open the baby proof door knobs, that kid figures stuff like that out so fast. Kate doesn't know how to open the door yet.
If you have any ideas on how to keep these things safe that would be great but I guess nothing last forever. Oh Well.

Well We all stayed up for the new year. Everyone got a nap so everyone was up at midnight. Sariah and I were the first to go to bed. Kate and Conner liked looking at the fireworks on TV. I am so tired, with going to bed so late I thought they would sleep in, NOPE. Conner woke up at 8:30 like usual and then everyone else woke up too. Well I hope this is a great new year for everyone.
I have made my new year resolutions.
1. Start exercising (I'm sick of people that I've known my whole life not know who I am)
2. Read More, Less TV
3. spend more time with the kids (I know I'm home with them all day, but I want to do stuff with them)
4. take more pictures of the things we do together
5. go on a weekly date with Bryan (even if it's just a walk around the block by ourselves it will do us good)
So here is my list hopefully by writing it down and telling everyone I will keep to it this year.
2009 will ROCK!