Where has the time Gone?

Wow it has been a long time since I blogged. I decided today was the day to get things updated. So since January 24th, the date of my last post, a few things have happened.

February was not really filled with anything to blog about. So on to March. I was kinda dreading March because my birthday was at the end and I was turning 28. That is 2 years away from 30 and that scares me. Will had to work all day and I was at home with just the boys. However my friend Leslie made me a cake and came over to eat some with me. It was the highlight of my day. In her family they have a tradition that the birthday person has to take the first bite...with no hands. So I did it.

So moving onto April. There was Easter. We had a nice family get together with Will's family. The boys enjoyed finding their baskets and I can't believe i forgot to take pictures. I video taped it though. One of these days I will figure out how to upload videos.

Samuel also decided he wanted me to shave off all his hair. So I did it for him and he loves it.

Samuel also lost his 1st and 2nd teeth. The crazy thing is the new ones had already grown in before the baby teeth fell out. He was very happy to be visited by the tooth fairy.

Will's sister was also visiting during the month of April and it was fun to see her and her family. They live in Arizona for the time being and her husband was here doing a medical rotation.

Onto May. Nothing has really happened yet but this moth has a few exciting things going on. I signed up for another "Biggest Loser" competition and fully plan on winning. I am doing well so far and will keep you posted as I weigh in. My first weigh in was on April 30th and I weighed 191 1/2. I know I am brave to post my weight for everyone to read. I am weighing myself at home as I go and my goal is to lose 2 pounds a week for the 6 months of the contest. That would put me at 137 1/2. Today I weighed 184.4. So already I am ahead of my goal. I have taken some before pictures and will make them a bit more modest before I post them. I want to take pictures at the beginning to track my results. My next weigh in is on the 20th. I will let you know how it goes.

Mothers Day is coming up and for my gift I get to go on a girls weekend to a cabin with 11 friends in Island Park. I am very excited for this get a way and leave this Thursday.

Samuel will be done with pre-school on the 20th and we will leave for Oregon on the 21st. My sister is flying into Boise so I can pick her up there and have someone to drive to Oregon with. I am so excited for this. I have not seen her since my wedding 6 1/2 years ago!

James has gotten big and will be 7 months old on the 18th. His 2 bottom teeth broke through this week. He is getting better at sitting up and loves to play with his toys. He is the happiest and smiliest baby. We love him and are completely enjoying the stage he is at right now. I will end this post with some recent pictures of him and the boys.

Samuel Turned 5!!!

I can't believe my first born is now 5! The time has gone by so fast and he has grown to be quite a mart little boy and so much fun. We love having Samuel as our son and he has taught us many things as he has grown. So this post is to him, not that he can read yet but I thought it would be fun. His birthday was the 17th of January and he wanted a party so I let him plan his own party. He had a bean bag toss, a pinata, and played pin the tail on the donkey. He had a blast.

He wanted me to put Happy Birthday Sasafrats on his cake because I call him sasafrats or sas as a nickname.Here is a picture of the house decorated. He colored a couple hundred pieces of paper green and taped them together to pretend they were grass. He is a crazy kid.

I didn't get any good pictures of the bean bag toss but here he is getting ready to pin the tail on the donkey.

Here he is before with his pinata he picked out.
Here is what was left. I took the final swing to brake open the head after the kids smashed the body.

Samuel with his gifts.

I thought it would be fun to post pictures of the last 5 years of Samuel's life so here they are. Samuel on his 4th birthday.

Samuel on his 3rd birthday.

Samuel on his 2nd birthday.

Samuel on his 1st birthday.

Samuel the night he was born.

Samuel is a great kid and I can't believe how fast he has grown up. We are alot alike so we are good buddies. I am excited to see what he will accomplish in the future.

Baby Blessing For James

James was blessed on the 28th so my parents could attend. The outfit he is wearing is what Will wore when he was blessed over 30 years ago. All out boys have worn this outfit. After his blessing some family came back to our home for muffins and fruit. It is always fun and special to share these kind of events with family and I was grateful that my parents were able to come. More pics of the special day...

Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas My parents were able to make it which was great and we all loved having them here for a week, especiallay the boys. They got in a 7 a.m. on Christmas Eve after driving 17 hours stright. On Christmas Eve we read "God Bless Your Way". We read Luke 2 for FHE on Moday and I love that book so I read i to the family. We decided to let the boys have a Christmas Eve presrnt this year. The boys all got slippers as their Christmas Eve present. Christmas morning was fun as the boys opened their gifts and got to have their Papa & Gramoo with them. At the request of Will I made cinnamon rolls and bacon for breakfast. We just kinda hung out and played the Wii throughout the day since Will got me that for Christmas. Samuel is the champion boxer in our house. Hope you all had a great Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Snow Storms

We are getting hit hard by some snow storms here as I am sure a lot of other people are too. The only that sucks is that my parents are coming for Christmas and there are 3 road closures along their route. We are praying the roads open up and they can get through.

The boys however love the snow. Samuel would play outside all day if I let him. I love having a white Christmas and seeing the beauty of the snow. Here are some pics from them playing out there today.

Getting Ready For Christmas

This is what I have made my Dad for Christmas. I have made a similar thing for Samuel and Russell and my Mom told me this is what he wanted. I am glad I can give him a meaningful gift. Of course I had to make one for myself also.

We have been having fun wrapping gifts and decorating but it has been more fun to teach our children about Christmas and the true meaning of it. During Family Home Evening we have taught Samuel why we celebrate Christmas. We have had opportunities to serve sick people in the ward by taking hem meals and I have taken Samuel with me and tried to make them learning experiences for him. I love this time of year and the Spirit that I feel. I am able to reflect on my Savior and all he has done for me. I am so grateful for the birth, atonement, and resurrection of the Lord and that He has made it possible for me to be with my family for eternity.

Here are a few pictures that I have taken in December.

My parents are coming for Christmas and surprising the boys. I can't think of anything I want more. I have not been able to spend a Thanksgiving or Christmas with my parents for 4 years so it means a lot to me that they are able to come. I will post pictures of our family fun after Christmas.

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and that the blessing of the Lord will be with you.