February

Is Victoria not just the cutest in this one??So this month has been a crazy one. I have been sick for the entire month. Our doctor said he believes we (Hazel, Soren and I) all have RSV. I took it the worst. I was in bed for two weeks and only barely moving for the rest of the time. I am only now starting to feel like I might not die. On a good note, Nathan and I celebrated our 8th anniversary. I thought it might be fun to put some of the pictures from the wedding up here. The quality is not great (this was our photographer's first wedding) but you get the gist of it. Nathan and I are more in love now than ever. It sounds (and is) cheesy, but I never imagined it was possible to love him more than I did in these photo's. He is amazing. He works so hard to provide for our family's needs and he is trying to secure a future for his widow mother who accuses him of doing the opposite. He never asks for any fanfare so I just want the world to know how much I love him and am glad he is my husband. This year has been the worst in our eight but I know together, we can get through anything.

ps. Yes Nathan I will live with you, in our van, down by the river. XOXOXO

Jan.

January was a hard and wonderful month at the same time. So much has happened. We celebrated Soren's sixth and Hazel's first birthdays. Soren was a ninja and Hazel was well, one. It was a blast. We also remember their Grandpa Eames who died last year at this time. We miss him and wish he could have stayed longer but know he is never far.

Christmas

This was Hazel's general opinion of the whole Christmas thing. She just wanted to go back to bed.

Soren got so much cool stuff. He is now well equipped to be a superhero.

And Victoria just LOVES Joe Jonas. (someone help me)

The kids really had a great time. They were very cute.

Snow

It snowed in St. George!!!! We played in it.

Gingerbread Trains

The kids made these for family home evening this week. They did a good job and we had a lot of fun.

This is Victoria's train. She thought it would be funny to have Santa making a little "yellow snow"

This is Soren's truck (he did not want to make a train). He liked the mini candy canes and put them everywhere. So Cute!!!

This is Mariah's train. She wanted it to look like candy land. I think she achieved it.

Oh Christmas Tree

This is a picture of some of the things on the kids tree. They decorated it themselves. It is cute.
This did not look as blurry on my camera. but you can see Hazel helping decorate the tree. You can also see it is giant. Nathan is standing on a step stool on the second step and I still cant get all of the tree in the photo.

Thanksgiving

sooooo, I am the biggest lame-o. We went Christmas Tree hunting and stupid me, I forgot the camera. I have no pictures to prove it but the kids looked pretty cute in the snow. We found our tree and it is the most beautiful one we have ever gotten. Hazel was puzzled as to why we were bringing the forest home with us and she is amazed that we have attached lights to it that she is not allowed to touch. I promise I will post some pictures of both of our trees when I get them both decorated. Oh and we had a lovely Thanksgiving with the Sargent's this year. It was nice to escape the drama for a day or two.

Nathans hard work

I thought there might be some interest to see what Nathan has been so hard at work doing. This is a picture of a building that they have been working on recently. It is really big. It is some kind of industrial building. The block is looking really good these days. I am really proud of him even though secretly (or not so secretly) I have been wishing we could run away and start a new life. It has been hard to watch him turn down viable job offers but, he is so determined to make it work.
He brought beautiful red roses home to me yesterday. When I asked him what they were for, he just shrugged and said I was a wonderful wife and that he loved me. How did he know I had a rough day?? I don't know. (I know you are all envious and will poke your husbands and say "why don't you do that??")

For those stuck in Paradise

It is a tale of woe that can only be understood by those who have experienced it first hand. To attempt an illustration of its doldrum would be my own undoing. So to keep its inhabitants from mortal peril, some photo's to uplift.

If you look close, you can see she is splashing wildly..

And blowing raspberries!!

Yesterday was Nathan's birthday!

He is finally joining me in the ripe old age of 31. We had a few festivities. His family made phone calls or sent text messages wishing him well. My family came over bearing gifts. We had a party at our house and I made his favorite cake. (Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake! It is a Paula Dean recipe so it lives up to its name.) It was a quiet affair and I think that is how Nathan prefers life. He is still working two full time jobs. I wish sometimes he could have just one day to rest, but alas, no rest for the wicked. I am too, working and trying to raise these three kids that seemed to arrive from out of no where. I feel, often, like a single mother again. It is a creepy feeling. (like deja vu) But, when he is home, he is a great dad and that is awesome. So we tried to have yesterday be all about Nathan. The kids wrapped some books we had purchased for him. I should have gotten a picture because they looked so great. The baby was, as usual, such a daddy's girl and I just told him how much I love him and think he is the best. It's no firearm (which was my gift of choice for his b-day in the first few years of our marriage) but, I think the love was felt all around.

Happy Birthday Nathan!!!