Oh yeah, the video...

We are loving Missy. She is so playful. Here is the video I promised when she first came home.

IT'S ANOTHER GIRL!!!!!!

I really thought it would be a year or two before this would happen. To be honest, I think it surprised both of us. We are glad its a girl. They are so much easier to deal with. Sorry we didn't say anything before this. Like I say it kind of hit us by surprise too. I knew it would eventually happen, but the timing is the part that surprised me the most. With biz school possibly on the horizon there is a lot of change coming in the next year, and now this.... Taking care of something so little takes a lot of time and effort. Of course its worth it and I already love her to death, but I guess I'm just surprised.

Meet Lyla, the bulldog. The newest addition to the fam-diddly. She turns two in January. Her former owners spent two thousand on her and have determined they're not bulldog people. Their loss, our gain. We got her on the cheap. She has had all her work done and then some. She is house and cage trained. Mabel and her did really well at first. May be a little aggression and sharing we'll have to learn. She is one of the prettiest bulldogs I've ever met, though. The owners got her in Georgia and say she is a descendant of Georgia's mascot, Ugga, but I bet a lot of sellers in Georgia say that. She does kind of look like Ugga though. I'll post video of the two of them meeting. It was funny.

I really wasn't expecting this, but I am excited and think once the two of them are best friends it will be pretty sweet. Oh, and she is not spayed/neutered so.... who wants a bulldog puppy?

We might also rename her so if you can think of any really good names, leave a comment. Our favorite is Missy.

Happy Halloween w/ a Happy Birthday & Lots of Pictures

First off, to explain, Carl's Birthday is on Halloween, so last week was a week of celebration. It all started on Wednesday when I planned a surprise birthday party for Carl (which I totally forgot to take pictures at). Anyway, of course the biggest news story of the year hit, and he had to stay 45 minutes later at work. Needless to say, he was a little late, but everything turned out well. Here are some pics in random order of the week's festivities:

The kids all ready to get some candy!!!!!!

The police station had a big party on Halloween, so we stopped by there.

Our little man in the yellow hat!

The kids were very excited about all of Carl's presents.

Mainly, they just wanted to open them themselves.

Carl, now 27, with his little helpers.

Our trip to the zoo, and of course, our hard core bama fans.

Some lady gave us a coin to ride the carousel & and the rest of us rode free. Emma Jane was in heaven.


Just Listen to CJ giggle.

Our little farm girl. Ready to get to work.

Our little outlaws!

Best Bum Buddies!

Happy Birthday Carl!! You are amazing in all that you do. I couldn't ask for a better husband and father for our children. Your talents never cease to amaze me. After all of these years, you still make me want to be a better person. I hope you had a wonderful birthday. Thanks for being such a wonderful part of our lives!

Pumpkin family, part 3

I guess I had forgotten how gross the insides of pumpkins are, because I was really excited until I opened it up. Courtney was the master pumpkin carver.
Here is what they looked like outside. We'll let you guess whose pumkin is whose.

Family Night: Part 2: The Pumpkin Patch

So our very astute children asked after last week's Family Night, "Where do baby pumpkins come from?" Well, we certainly weren't ready for the birds and bees question, and I have no clue about pumpkin anatomy, so we did what any parent would and took them to the source.
It wasn't gross at all. In fact, it was kind of fun.
Warning: the following post contains graphic, real pictures of where pumpkins are made.
You start out at a play area with inflatable slides, pumpkins, etc. Best part, kids two and under were free. This was inside the big, inflatable pumpkin. Kind of eery, but cool too. Emma Jane was mesmerized by the pumpkin face at first, but then decided not to jump anywhere near it.
Then you go to the petting zoo/pony ride. Couple turns for a buck. Emma Jane never would have gotten off if I hadn't run out of singles.
Then you take a covered wagon ride to.... well you know, "where they are conceived".
side note to Nana: speaking of conception, this is the town where we picked up Daisy. We drove right past the street.
The kids wanted to pick up every pumpkin in the patch, including the rotten ones. It made for good pictures. Court and I just sat back and watched.

He got it about an inch off the ground before dropping it. I think it weighs more than he does.

Tag team. It's funny watching both of them run.

Video of the day: I don't think she realized how high and fast this thing went until after this first run, becuase after that she only wanted to go with one of us.

Some Funny Pictures

So, this is what happens while I am at work.

I went to close the door to Emma Jane's room at 10pm, and this is how I found her sleeping.

My cute little bama fans. Oh, these kids are hard core. They love to say "Roll Tide". All Emma Jane had for BAMA wear was her little dress, and she wanted a "roll tide" shirt like CJ. She begged me for weeks. I would put her to bed. And when she woke up, she would ask for me. And Carl or my mom would tell her I went to the store. And she would light up and say "tell her to get me a roll tide shirt." I finally succumbed and saw the happiest little face in the world.

Halloween FHE

We kind of stumbled into this idea, but it ended up being pretty fun. We were shopping for pumpkins and randomly ended up getting four of them. When we got home and started FHE I was trying to come up with a lesson. Emma Jane picked the "I am a Builder" primary song about working to build our families and the idea popped into my head to build a pumpkin family. And then we talked about ways to "build" our family. Next week we're going to carve them and put a candle in them and talk about not letting your light be hid (in a pumpkin).

Nana's Visit

It was a blast to have Nana the past weekend. The kids were ecstatic and didn't leave her alone the whole time. Thanks for the wonderful weekend! Here's a couple pics she sent us.

He's a John Deere man...

Fun at the McWane center. We found out at the doctor that CJ is in the 17th percentile for height and 33rd for weight. It makes him very easy to pick up and toss around. He and I love it.

Lowes.... let's build something together. We love the every-other-Saturday workshops. I got to stay home this time to work on a hot water pipe that was leaking (scroll down for story), but the kids had a great time making a mini ball toss. Emma Jane obviously has her own style.

So Friday I get a call from Courtney while I'm at work, saying we got a pipe leak. Fortunately it was leaking into the crawl space and not on our hardwood floor. So I came home to see what was up (did I mention how much I love working half a mile from home). I shut off the hot water so they at least had some water (no showers or baths) and went back to work.

That night I cut out the wall and found that when I was putting on the baseboards the nail gun sent a nail through the copper pipe. That was months ago, but it jarred loose this weekend. So, Saturday I went to Lowes, got the parts, cut the pipe, fit it all together and find out I have no clue how to solder pipes together.

I'd seen people do it, so I tried and tried, then I gave up and called someone. Too expensive. So I leave for work and Court and Nana are like 'what about the hot water?!?' I asked Court to borrow a bigger blow torch from some friends from church. I tried again during my dinner break, but now there is water in the pipe, so there is no way to solder it. And it's halfway soldered so I can't take it apart and drain it. I called my dad on the way back to work, adn he says get a "gator bite".

Best invention ever. It's engineered so you can pop the pipes in and it just locks. No solder. No leaks. So, Court goes to get some, but they don't have all the right pieces. Crap. No way around soldering at least some of it.

I get home just before midnight, sit down between the washer and wall and say a little prayer. Then I hear a still, small voice whisper 'suck the water out with a straw.' I turned my head and there was Court on the stairs. I guess my noisy attempts had woken her up, so she came down stairs with a good idea. It did the trick. I was able to solder it (not well, but it hasn't leaked yet) and put a gator bite on the rest of the joints.

Voila! Hot water is back on and Nana finally gets to take a shower, just in time for church (the kids got eight pots of hot water the night before). I celebrated with a long shower at 2 am. Hot water never felt so good.

Day at the park...

It was a gorgeous day outside (two days ago) so we ventured over to the park. The kids LOVE being outside.Emma Jane can now climb up and over the huge ant. Had no idea.

Pinkalicious wanted to show off her bike with newly-inflated tires (finally found the pump). She was so excited to ride it at the park.

Obviously I had more fun with the chalk, but I kept Emma Jane's attention though her first name. CJ was just happy to be outside.

My favorite parts are Emma Jane's purse full of chalk on the handle bars and CJ cheering with his arms while I cheer for Emma Jane. Anytime you cheer for anything he will do this.

Random Pics Download

Camping in the Playroom!

Carl, the notorious story teller, entertaining the kids.

Washing the street's abandoned puppies. Thankfully someone else was taking care of them.

CJ loving my Ipod.

Nothing like jammin' out to music in your diaper.

I think he should have been curious george. He's sure gotten the look down.

Is it Halloween yet?!?

We are already excited, can you tell? We got the kids costumes at a consignment sale last night. So of course we had to try them on to get excited.

Let's go swimming...

We were practicing at the kitchen sink

The Cousins' Last Day

Aw, how sweet!

...Maybe Not?!?

The Attack!

The well-needed bubbles in the park after Stake conference...and naps of course. By the way these bubble sticks/wands are the bomb, and they are .50 at Walmart!!

Super bubble bath time. We turned on the jets, so the bubbles were to the top of the tub. You will notice that CJ is in no other bath time photos. Apparently, that many bubbles is very scary. It is true though, some one (CJ) could poop, and no one would ever know. :)

Robbie, King of the Bubbles!

The Mess Makers

All the kids all ready for bed. Of course this picture is after several minutes of jumping on the bed. Aubrie and Robbie, we sure will miss you guys!

Fun With Cousins

Robbie (3) and Aubrie (5) have been with us since Wednesday, and we have been having a blast. The only the that has been killer is Mabel has been sick. She has literally thrown up over 30 times on every square inch of our house, bless her heart. I drove 2 hours to go see her vet that knows her to see what was the matter. I left at 6 am...got back around 2, and still more vomiting. Also, Mabel can't even hold down water let alone food, and if you know Mabel, you know something is up if she won't eat. Anyway, we took her to a local vet to get put of fluids b/c she is so dehyrated, and she will be staying the weekend. We miss her dearly, so please keep her in your prayers. Here is me bringing all 4 kids to the vet by myself. (Carl went to the BYU v Tulane game...he owes me big time :).

Then after getting depressed about missing Mabel, we decided to go to the zoo...After we went to a consignment sale that was on our way home from the vet. It was 50% day, so how could you not stop for that?

This Tiger was so cool. It was pacing right up next to the glass. I am sure he was debating which kid would have been the tastiest. He sure liked CJ, so I am glad for the glass.Kangaroo Country at the zoo has a mine where the kids can go mining. Doesn't CJ look cute!
KWho wouldn't want these guys working at your mine?

I have about 20 pictures like these. It was like this at every exhibit....So Cute!

And then, there was the petting zoo, or shall I say, "kid heaven".

Aubrie wanted to get her picture taken with every animal. I think we have like 10 other pics that look just like this but with a pig, goose, lama, baby goat, etc.

Now, this is boy heaven.

Seriously, boys and their tractors.

That is supposed to be a lion face.

Again, another lion face.

She was actually growling at me. That's a true lion.

Then, after the zoo, we invited all the girls whose husband were at the BYU game to come over to have homemade pizza. Then, after pizza, icecream, and then after icecream, our new toy...

WHAT A DAY!