Mama, wanna go da beach...

Mama, wanna go da beach. Tuesday we go da beach? Mama, wanna go da beach. Tuesday we go da beach?

That's pretty much all I've been hearing for the past few days.

We told the kids we were going to make a trip to the beach on Tuesday and we finally made it.
Five of us had a great time and got a little or a lot wet depending on the person.One person, the main questioner of the questions above, was not happy to be at the beach. He decided he was scared of the beach. We've taken him to the beach before and he was just fine- no problems. But this time was different for some reason and we can't figure out why. But, the rest of us had a good time.

Hyrum got knocked over by a larger wave than he expected and fell in, but we just sat him in the sun for a few minutes and he was ready to get back in the water.


They also had a great time in the sand.







It was so nice to be able to spend some time together as a family doing a wholesome recreational activity. We were all exhausted by the end of it all and everyone slept on the way home except the driver (me).

Future Missionaries

We've finally found suits for all our boys! Gotta love thrift stores!

What you see before you is four future missionaries! We belong to the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. All of them are carrying copies of the Book of Mormon. They're almost ready to go out and share the gospel of Jesus Christ to all the world! (Well, maybe in about 15-18 years when they've grown a little more.)



In our church young men are expected to serve a full-time mission for 2 years they can apply for this when they are 19 years old (at their own expense). Young women aren't expected to serve missions because their primary responsibilities are to become a wife and mother. But, if they don't have marriage prospects by the time they are 21 they can apply to serve a full-time mission for 18 months. Young men and women are sent all over the world preaching the gospel in many languages.



They teach that Christ was born on this earth!

That he atoned for our sins, died for us, and was resurrected making it possible for us to return to God our Heavenly Father after we die.

They teach that there is a LIVING PROPHET on the earth today! President Thomas S. Monson (who is pictured below in the center, the other two are his counselors) is the prophet of God on the earth! He teaches us under the direction of the Lord Jesus Christ who is the head of our church. Oh how we love our prophet dear.
Brigham, Rebekah, and Marc love to sing the song, "Follow the Prophet" as they march around the house. They recognize pictures of him and when asked who the prophet is today they replay with "Thomas Monson" or "President Monson". Well, most of the time... A few months ago I asked Marc "Who is the prophet today?" He said "Thomas the train." : ) Well, I guess for a three year old that's close... maybe.

Brigham, Rebekah, Marc, and Hyrum are preparing for missions not only by dressing like them, but by learning about Jesus. They are learning to pray, they are learning the scripture stories, they are learning the articles of faith.

Brigham's favorite article of faith (which he has memorized along with about 4 others) is "We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the gospel are first faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, repentance; third baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost."

Marc's favorite one is "We believe the bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly. We also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God."

Rebekah's favorite is "We believe in the same organization that existed in the primitive church, namely apostles, prophets, pastors, teacher, evangelists and so forth."

Hyrum's favorite one is, as he says: "Holy Ghost" He doesn't have his memorized yet, but he's still really young. "We believe in God the Eternal Father and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost."

Happy Birthday Rebekah!

We officially have three 3 year olds in the house now. Rebekah turned 3 on August 26th. (Brigham is 3 years 11 months, and Marcus is 3 years 4 months)
She said she wanted a purple cake for her birthday, so I decided to make a purple butterfly. For my limited cake decorating experience I think it turned out pretty good.
"Nana and Papa" and their family came over to help her celebrate. All the kids were so excited! They kept asking when we were going to eat the cake and the boys were excited to give Bekah her gifts.

Gram-Gram, thanks for the card you sent... this is the outfit she picked out from your birthday money.

Motherhood:-An-Eternal-Partnership

Motherhood:-An-Eternal-Partnership

This video was very touching and uplifting for me. A must-see for every christian mother.

Yet another catastrophe

2 boys

Playing chase

Bed room door

Slammed in face

Not only face

But also pinky

Smashed -

Blood oozing

Parents worried

Doctor questions

X-rays, stitches

Lots of pain

Fussy Hyrum

:(

Family Picture Day

We got family pictures done today. It's hard to get four little ones to all smile at the same time. Here are a few of the pictures.

Poopy day

Yesterday was a poopy day. Rebekah pooped in her pants during nap time and stuck her hands in it and got it all over herself and her floor and a couple of blankets. That took about 15 minutes to clean up (not counting laundry time).

Then, not more than two hours later Marc pooped in his pants. (Two poop accidents in one day is normal at our house, but these were the two most messy AND in the same day.) So I walked him to bathroom and started cleaning him up. As I was I realized that there had to have been more poop that must have fallen out of his underwear and shorts because his underwear wasn't too messy, but his leg was covered. So, I thought I'd better go find the "fallen poop" after I finish cleaning him up. Anyway, I got him cleaned up and by this time Hyrum was fussing so I sent Marc to his room to get clean clothes and went to check on Hyrum. Well, Hyrum was covered in poop. He had it all over his face- YUCK!- his hands his clothes, his feet and sandals. He had two toy animals in his hands and they were covered in poop, he had managed to smear it all over one half of the couch and it was all over the kitchen floor. By this time I figured I had three options: clean it up crying, clean it up yelling, or clean it up laughing. I decided to laugh- it was much more pleasant than my other two options. I got Hyrum in the bath and confined the other to their bedroom to play until I got things cleaned up. After Hyrum's bath I scrubbed the couch and floor and toys and sandals for probably 30 minutes.

So all in all I spent over an hour cleaning poop yesterday- what fun!
Sorry this a no picture post. I figured I'd spare you that kind of detail. :)

First Day of School

Brigham and Marc got to start preschool this summer and are loving it! They are in a classroom with about 7 teachers and 10 students, plus service providers like speech pathologists and others. So they almost get one on one attention at school in a high quality environment! They sure love it!
They get to ride a "bus" (it's really a big 12 passenger van) and they got to get new back packs and new shirts! They decided on matching shirts. They love every minute of school!

Broken Arm

This may be old news to everyone by now, but I thought I'd put a little about it on here.

Two weeks ago (I know I'm way behind) we were at the park playing with "nana and grandpa" Hyurm's old foster parents. We had my four plus two extras that I was watching. I was helping Hyrum on a spin thing Brigham and Rebekah were running around and Marc was climbing on a stair/ladder thing. I was half watching the others while I helped Hyrum, so I saw Marc begin to climb, but didn't see him fall. Next thing I know "nana" alerted me that he had fallen. I ran over and he was in a heap on the ground. He wasn't screaming or crying. I picked him up, guessing he was fine, and he started fussing and I looked at his arm and it was bent out of shape. I instantly knew he had broken it. We threw all the kids back in the strollers and walked back home. I was getting shaky and my heart was pumping fast- I was trying to decide if I should take him the Urgent Care of the ER. "Nana" stayed with Timothy and the kids while I took Marc, finally deciding on the ER. He was in a lot of pain and my last experience with Urgent Care was SLOW. Luckily the ER got us in right away I walked through the doors and without a word they guided me to the triage room and within about 10 minutes we were in the exam room.
It turns out he broke both bones in his right forearm and luckily he's young enough that they didn't have to do surgery. (Same brake in an adult would have resulted in surgery for placement, pins, and/or plates.) They just put him to sleep and the doctor straightened his arm by physically moving the bones with his hands until they lined up- no incisions! It was very quick. They put a splint on- no cast at first to account for swelling- then he woke up about 2 minutes later.
Two days later I took him into orthopedics to have it checked and they put a cast on. He chose bright orange. He's adapted really fast to only using his left arm, but there's still a lot he can't/won't do with his arm, but it will heal quickly.

Vacation part 2

After visiting my family we went and visited Timothy's family. The kids got to play with their cousins- Fred, Sierra, Robert, Kiera, and Nathaniel. They also got to visit with Gram-Gram, Grandpa, Aunt Brindy, Aunt Cindy, Uncle Dan, Uncle Eric, and Aunt Deserae. They had a good time playing in Gram-Gram's wading pools, and riding bikes with their cousins, but the best of all was playing in Gram-Gram's playhouse.
Gram-Gram turned an old van into a playhouse for the grandchildren. They all seemed to love it! She has a kitchen set and a toy sewing machine and small tools and lots more for the kids to do. They played out in the playhouse a lot.

Brigham fixing the van

Kiera and Brigham

Hyrum at the park

Rebekah sewing

Marc climbing

Thanks everyone for letting four toddlers invade their space for a while! We had a great time visiting all of our family!

Vacation Part 1

We were able to take a 10 day trip to see family. We saw all of Timothy's immediate family and all of mine except for my Dad who lives in Missouri. It was so good to see family and spend time with them.
On our way down to Utah we stopped to visit Aunt Katherine and her new little baby Emma. Emma was in NICU so only I could go see her, but I was glad we did.
Then Aunt Katherine joined us for a picnic in the park before she went back to the hospital to take care of Emma and we drove the rest of the way to Grandma's house.


While in Utah, my mom and Brittany took us to a place that Brittany likes to play called Jumping Jacks. It is a room full of huge blow up jumping places and blow up slides. The kids loved it!




We spent three days at Grandma and Aunt Brittany's house. We got to play with Aunt Brittany,
and her piano,
and baby Mikayla (Aunt Tasha's baby).

While at Grandma's Hyrum learned how to put ice cream buckets on his head and made his hair so sticky- it stuck up for days!
The other kids thought it would be funny to put things on their heads too.


We had a great time visiting Grandma and Aunt Brittany. We also got to visit with Uncle Brett and Aunt Tasha and their baby, Mikayla. We went out to Uncle Jason and Aunt Marji's new house and got to play with cousins Kaitlyn and Faith. while in Utah we also went to my 10 year high school reunion- which was interesting. I wish more of my high school friends had come, but it was fun to visit with those who were there.