Oaks and Acorns

The Last Year

2011-05-14T21:13:00.001-07:00

The easiest way I could think of to catch up on the last year was to put a bunch of pictures. They aren't in any particular order.

Ashlie's birthday

Family Picture
David turned 8, got baptized and started scouts
David and Kevin's birthday
Anna joined our family. As uncomfortable as it looks this was
her favorite sleeping position!
Anna's first Halloween
Anna was blessed on the same day that David was baptized
Anna and cousin Lauryn
Halloween
Ashlie lost her first tooth, which mommy immediately lost so
Aunt Laura helped her write a note to the tooth fairy explaining
what happened and it worked
First family trip to Lagoon
Tyler's birthday

Finally!

2010-05-14T09:28:00.000-07:00

A lot has happened since the last time I posted!!

Kevin and David had another birthday.

We had a wonderful Christmas. We spent lots of time with family.

My brother and his wife had their first child. I darling little boy!

I got a new sister-in-law when my brother married his sweetheart.

Ashlie had another birthday too! She is very excited to go to Kindergarten next year!

And we are expecting our fourth child. We found out the other day that we are going to have another girl! We are all very excited! David and Ashlie have been telling Kevin and I for about a year now that their mommy was going to have a baby and it's a girl!! I was very worried that if it was a boy that my children would be very upset.....but they were right!

Life has been crazy and wonderful!

Happy Birthday!

2009-11-23T19:47:00.000-08:00

My baby is 2!!! I have a hard time believing he is 2! I don't want to think about it because if he is really that old it means he isn't my baby anymore, he is officially a toddler.

I love Tyler's goofy smile. I has started with a silly pouty face that is so cute and funny! He loves to give hugs and kisses. He wants to everything that his big brother and sister do and will get mad when he isn't included. He has naturally curly hair which in the last couple of days I have started showing off and we get lots of comments on how cute it is.

I love you Tyler and you are a wonderful member of our family.

Halloween

2009-11-12T12:50:00.000-08:00

We had a great Halloween this year. We really enjoyed that it was on a Saturday and we could start when we wanted and didn't have to many time conflicts. David was really excited to be Spider-man this year. I wasn't able to find the costume that I wanted for him so I ended up making his. I had a lot of fun making it and, painting his face too.

Ashlie couldn't decided which princess she wanted to be, so we talked her into wearing the same costume as last year... with some additions to it. A new crown (which is kind of hard to see in the picture) and a princess cape.

Tyler didn't really understand the dressing up thing, but he really enjoyed the idea of going to peoples houses and getting candy. No, I didn't make his devil costume. My mom made it 20 or so years ago. We have pictures of my youngest brother wearing that same costume, but it still looks great.

School Started

2009-11-12T08:31:00.000-08:00

Ashlie started at a new preschool this year. She loves it. It has let her meet new people and make some new friends. Plus it is a lot closer to home which is so nice for me!

David started 1st grade this year! He loves going to school all day. His favorite things of school is eating lunch at school and having 3 recesses everyday!

2009-08-06T12:49:00.000-07:00

Seaside Oregon

In the beginning of June we went to Seaside Oregon. We had so much fun. Kevin wasn't able to go with us because of work. We spent time at the beach and lots of time with family. The picture just below was the view out our back door. It was gorgeous! The weather was nice a cool, but not very rainy. It was perfect.

As Tyler was trying to run away from the wave he tripped and the water caught up with him. The water was pretty cold, but so worth it.

There was a Carousel Mall and in the middle of the mall was a carousel. The kids loved riding on it.We visited the Tillamook Cheese Factory, got to taste different kinds of cheese, and had ice cream. They have some YUMMY ice cream.

Visited the Cape Mearers light house. It was the first time the kids and I have ever visited a light house. We went inside and got to climb up and see how it works.
Got to ride pedal cars. We rode one that 6 adults could pedal at the same time. They were a blast but a lot of work. We all realized how out of shape we really are.

We also got to try surfing. We all had wet suits. I thought that David and Ashlie looked adorable in theirs...mine wasn't quite so flattering! Luckily there weren't many pictures of me. David had a blast kneeling on a boogie board in the shallow water and letting the waves push him around. I tried actually surfing. I couldn't balance on the board at all, but I kept trying...until the surf board almost hit me in the face. I stuck my hand up to protect my face and bent all of my fingers backwards and sprained my hand. It hurt really bad. I wanted to keep playing in the water, but I was in so much pain there was no way. Everyone was ready to go by that point anyway so it all worked out.

Fourth of July
We went to the hot air balloons. We also went to the Provo parade. Back to my parents house for homemade ice cream! Then we sat in the field next to the hospital and watched the Stadium of Fire fireworks with my parents, sister and her family. We had lots of pizza, candy, popcorn, and games while we waited.

Camping!
We actually went Camping!!! Kevin and I bought a tent and sleeping bags after we had been married about 1 year. We used it once and it has been sitting in the garage collecting dust ever since. Everyone had a lot of fun. David and Ashlie went fishing with Grandpa and Grandma and Ashlie caught the most fish out of everyone.

Ashlie was VERY proud of her fish! She was so cute and not afraid of the fish at all. Though she wasn't willing to cook the fish and eat it, so we threw back all the fish.

David had a lot of fun fishing too, but wasn't about to touch any fish. (I can't blame him...I didn't want to touch them either!)

Tyler didn't want to even touch the fishing pole let alone get anywhere near the fish, but he had a lot of fun watching David and Ashlie.

What a Month

2009-06-01T12:50:00.001-07:00

What an exciting month it has been. The best part of the month was that my sister, Jessica, had a beautiful 8 pound little girl. Aleaha has been a wonderful blessing to our whole family.

David graduated from kindergarten. He loved kindergarten, but is very excited to go to 1st grade next year. He learned to read and loves it. He can't wait to learn to read more books like his Daddy.

Ashlie finished her first year of preschool. She has one more year of preschool and is going to be going to a different class. It has been a real blessing that I was able to get her into the new preschool that is not only closer to home, but the preschool that all of my sister's kids, and David went to is completely changing next school year and I don't know that she could have stayed in that class. The Lord had a hand in this and I have been able to realize the blessings that he gives us.

Tyler is babbling like crazy. It sure seems like he says things like "here you go" and "your welcome". He also loves to say "mom" all the time. He has this darling, cheesy smile that can melt your heart!

We are very excited be going on vacation next week to Oregon! Unfortunately Kevin isn't going to be able to go with us because he can't get the time off work. We are going with my amazing Mother in law and family. She is the one that has planned the whole thing and has made it possible for us to be able to go on this trip. I hope to take lots of pictures and share them with you when we get back.

WICKED!

2009-04-27T19:26:00.000-07:00

Because of my amazing Mother-In-Law, My husband and I got the chance to see "Wicked"! We both absolutely LOVED it.

I have had "Wicked" songs stuck in my head all day long. And I am already longing to see it again.

Thank you, Karla, for the amazing opportunity! I love spending time with you and your family.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ASHLIE

2009-04-23T12:53:00.000-07:00

Ashlie turned 4 years old this week. Can you believe it! 4!!! Well I am having a hard time believing it. We had lots of fun for her birthday. We got to celebrate early with all of our big family. And then on her birthday our little family had our own little party for her.

These are some of her favorite presents she got.

She has slept with her "my size Barbie" every night since she got it and as you can see from the picture there isn't much room, but she enjoys it.

Ashlie is a wonderful member of our family. She loves to give as many hugs and kisses that you will allow her to give you. She loves to snuggle and is defiantly all girl. She loves to play dolls and with her friends, which she is quickly making good friends with every girl in the neighborhood. She gets very upset when she can't find someone to play with. She is already very emotional about everything that happens to her, because of this I fear her teenage years.

We love having her in our family. She continues to make us laugh! We all love you very much Ashlie!!!

St Patrick's Day and Silly Stuff

2009-03-19T07:43:00.000-07:00

We had a fun St Patrick's day! For Breakfast we had green pancakes. For lunch we had green vanilla wafers, bananas, and green pudding. And for dinner we had enchiladas with green sauce. Now, I don't normally make every meal green on St Patrick's day but that day I went a little crazy, and had lots of fun doing it too
I also had lots of fun dressing the kids in as much green as I could.

On Sunday David was spotlighted in Primary. David stayed standing for everything until they said the birthday and he sat down. Everyone giggled at him as he looked around for the one person left standing. When he realized it was him he smiled great big and proudly walked to the front so that everyone could see him.

On Tuesday I had used my phone and left it sitting on the table, or at least I thought I had. After searching the house several times I still wasn't able to find it. I was chatting on line with Kevin and asked him to call it to help me find it.
As I stood in the kitchen, the most central place in my house, I could faintly hear it singing. I walked down stairs, suddenly it was gone. I walked up stair, and again it was gone. So back to the kitchen I go. I listen closer and really follow the singing.
I finally found it! In the .....DISHWASHER!!! I had to laugh and can't help but love my helpful children!

Tea Party

2009-02-27T20:50:00.000-08:00

We had a Tea Party! Several years ago a sweet friend gave me some really fun Precious Moments dishes. I remembered that I had them, got them all cleaned up and told the kids we were going to have a tea party. We had peanut butter sandwiches cut into little sandwiches, and cut up bananas. The "tea" was actually Great Value sugar free lemonade. And for dessert there was apple bars. Everyone really enjoyed it and David and Ashlie keep begging to do it again.
Ashlie decided that the little dolls needed to be part of the tea party!

Spotlight

2009-02-22T20:45:00.000-08:00

I received a phone call the other day from a member of the Primary Presidency in our ward. She told me that they would like to spotlight Ashlie in primary. She asked me a few simple questions about Ashlie and what kind of things she likes.
Today during sharing time they had all the kids stand up. They were supposed to stay standing up if they liked peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. It was fun to watch the kids in the primary because they would sit down if they didn't like something (like the color pink, most of the boys sat down) but when it was something the did like they would stand back up (like playing with play doe). When it got to the last one, which was Ashlie's birthday, she jumped up and said, very excitedly, "That's ME!"
They talked about how she chooses the right by helping around the house and likes to help mommy set the table. She then received a picture of the temple. She was very excited

How DO mommies always know?

2009-02-22T20:32:00.000-08:00

On Friday after picking up kids from school we headed to my sister's house so that I could babysit her little boy. She was kind enough to feed my kids sandwiches for lunch. In the middle of eating they both decided that they needed to go potty.
Ashlie came back out and I sent her back in to wash her hands.
David came out and I asked him if he washed his hands. He looked at me very suspiciously and nodded his head yes. I didn't believe him so I asked again. With the same look he nodded his head again. I still didn't believe him so I asked to see he hands. He quickly tucked his hands behind his back and said "no". "David you are lying to me," I said, "go back and wash your hands." To which he replied "Oh, how do you always know?" as he stomps back to the bathroom to wash his hands.
I look at my sister who is doing her best not to laugh while he is still in the room. My answer to David's question is "Because I'm a mom!" As I sit down next to my sister she turns to me and says "If he had only showed you his hands, he could have probably fooled you!" And I had to agree with her
I love the mind of my 6 year old!

Update...Finally

2009-02-17T07:38:00.000-08:00

Tyler is growing like crazy! He is 15 months old now and very healthy. He love to run, play and get into everything that his older brother and sister are doing. It is so fun to watch him discover his world around him. He doesn't quite talk yet but does let you know what he wants and gets his point across.

We had a wonderful Christmas. Kevin got sick but we were all still able to enjoy our time together.
Playing in the snow on Christmas Day at Grandma's house with Grandma's puppy, Leroy.
Christmas morning at our house
Kevin and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary! We left the kids with Grandma and Aunts and went to Salt Lake for a couple of days. We also had the chance to go to the Salt Lake Temple which is where we were married. We have been to at least 1 sealing together there that we could remember but we had not been in the Celestial Room together since we got married. It was wonderful.

Merry Christmas

2008-12-24T10:14:00.000-08:00

We hope that this Christmas finds everyone happy and healthy. Have a very Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

Happy Birthday Kevin and David

2008-12-23T09:18:00.000-08:00

Okay, I know it has been a really long time. No, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth. Yes, I have been busy. But mostly I have been lazy about updating. Sorry.

We had a wonderful day on Kevin and David's birthday. Kevin is just old. David turned 6. I can't believe he is 6 years old. We had our usual big party for them. Thanks to everyone who braved the weather and came to support and celebrate with us. And those who couldn't make it we missed you but completely understand.

Kevin is a wonderful husband who loves to spoil me and takes really good care of me. I love you so much and I'm lucky to have you in my life.

David is such a joy to have around. He is learning to read in kindergarten and he loves it. He is so smart and loves to make people laugh. I love you buddy!

Tyler's 1st Birthday

2008-11-03T19:32:00.000-08:00

Can you believe he is 1! I waited to blog about his birthday until after his appointment so that I could tell you that he is 21 pounds (34%), 29 inches (25%).

We had a big party for him Saturday night. All of our family came and we had a lot of fun.
The toys in his hands are just 2 of the fun presents he got.

And he really enjoyed his cake.

We love having Tyler in our family. He is such a happy and good baby. The last year has been wonderful. He has brought such joy to our family. And we look forward to the future.

We love you Tyler

Halloween

2008-11-02T08:06:00.000-08:00

We had a great Halloween. The kids all enjoyed wearing their costumes all day. David and Ashlie had lots of fun going Trick-or-Treating with their cousins. All in all it was a great day!

Tyler's Walking

2008-10-29T19:53:00.000-07:00

Tonight we went to my families ward Halloween party. David and Ashlie ran around everywhere having fun. Tyler enjoyed being passed between Grandpa, Grammy, Aunt Jessica and Aunt Anganel. All of the sudden I looked down at him and he started to walk! We were all VERY excited and enjoyed cheering him on.

It was a good ending to a not so good day.

David Lost His First Tooth!!

2008-10-14T14:26:00.000-07:00

Actually he lost it about 2 weeks ago, I just haven't gotten around to blogging it 'till now. I did manage to take pictures though.

We were at Grammy's house and he was eating a caramel cookie when it fell out! I think that it was really ironic that this is the way that it fell out because the Sunday before Grandpa Roger had told me to give him caramel to make the tooth come out.

David was really excited to put his tooth under his pillow that night. And even more excited that the tooth fairy brought him a dollar.

I put his tooth in a plastic bag so I didn't loose it between Grammy's house and home. Dad suggested that we leave the tooth in the bag. David made us leave a message for the tooth fairy to leave the bag, because he wanted the bag!

When I asked him what he was going to do with his dollar, I suggested he put it in his bank and he did.

His tooth came out the day before they did school pictures. We should get those back soon and I will post those pictures.

Oh Roger!!

2008-10-01T07:16:00.000-07:00

He is so many wonderful things - husband, dad, stepdad, friend, but most of all for my family he is a wonderful grandpa. He will be missed for so many reasons.

Here are a few memories that I have started recording so that my children can now ( and hopefully remember some) of what thier grandpa love to do with them.

How he loved his grandkids and kids! He never said so, but mom knew that he would never grow up. He always wanted to be a kid and his grandkids help with that.

He loved to take David back into Deena's room and mess it up. They would hide her chapstick or lipgloss in the foot of her bed and things like that. She would find little suprises all over her room for days!

He loved to get out the water hose and let the kids get wet, no matter what they were wearing. And he said it was always more fun when Mom didn't come prepaired with a clean change of clothes.

We all went sledding down the driveway of the house across the street (there was nobody living in the house at the time). David got completely soaked. Grandpa threw his clothes in the dryer and gave him one of his old shirts to wear in the meantime. Grandpa gave us the shirt and it turned into Davids favorite pair of pajamas.

One of the many times that we went to visit, Mom and Grandpa were sitting in the front yard visiting and Grandpa decided to turn on the water faucet in the front and let the water run down the driveway. David and Ashlie loved it. He then found a bucket to put the water in and then dumped it over. Ashlie decided it was a bath and would climb in the bucket. She ended up pretty wet that day.

No matter what Grandpa was doing he would find someway to let David and Ashlie try to help.

Grandpa had a raspberry bush in the back yard. He really enjoyed taking David and Ashlie out to pick rasberries. They would each come in the house with a bag full of raspberries and usually have them eaten before we left.

From about age 6 months to 11 months Tyler was very leary of strangers. We would walk into Grandma and Grandpa Rogers house and he would take one look at Grandpa (and Grandma) and cry-trying his hardest to get back to mom or dad. But once he got used to everyone he would sit with Grandpa and loved him just as much as anyone else.

Grandpa loved to make popcorn. David loved to watch grandpa's popcorn popper. He would sit and stare at it until all the popcorn was popped. Then he would share the popcorn with everyone. Ashlie was alway happy to eat it.

Grandpa loved to give us ice cream, especially the drumsticks by Nestle.

And olives. Grandpa loved olives but nobody in the house would eat them, so every time we would go to his house for dinner he would open some olives and make us help him eat it. There were times that mom ended up eating half the can.

We left Ashlie's flip flops at Grandpa and Grandma's house for about 3 weeks. One day, on a Thursday, Grandpa showed up at our house just to bring Ashlie her flip flops. Ashlie was so excited to see him. He had a hard time getting away because she wanted him to stay play.

The day before he passed away, Mom had been so sick and didn't even go to church. We decided that we really need to go. As soon as we walked in he started chasing David and Ashlie around teasing them. And trying to hold Tyler (with out much success-at least at first anyway). Mom and Dad sat and visited with Grandma and Grandpa, and even worked on a crossword puzzle a little bit. Mom is so grateful that she went, even though she didn't feel good.

He is a wonderful Grandpa who loved to spoil his grandkids - in every sense of the word. He has lots of friend and people who love him. We are very lucky to have had him in our lives

I know that the picture really isn't the best picture, but I love that picture. He truly would try and include my kids in everything he was doing.

We love you Grandpa Roger and will miss you!

Random things

2008-09-17T12:56:00.000-07:00

Since school has started, I have tried to walk David to and from school. I love it. And when I actually do it, I walk about 4 miles a day! I feel great and totally exhausted. I have enjoyed it, until yesterday when I was quickly walking down the stairs, not paying attention to where I was going, and stepped on a toy that was at the bottom of the steps! I twisted my ankle and it still hurts. I don't think I broke anything but I defiantly bruised it. The main reason I am blogging right now is that I am trying to not clean my house so that I stay off my ankle so it can get better. I am horrible at this!

An update on Tyler- he is on a bottle full time. I just had to wait for him to get hungry enough to take a bottle. I felt guilty doing that, but it worked. It has been a rather easy transition. Tyler seems to enjoy the freedom of a bottle.

Help!

2008-09-09T20:45:00.000-07:00

I finally got Tyler to take a bottle!! We started out with 1 particular bottle, which I only have 1 of, but today I tried a different bottle and he liked it!! I am very excited about this because up until just recently he wouldn't take a bottle at all. My next dilemma is he will only take the bottle if it has apple juice or water in it. I can't get him to drink formula or milk. Does anyone have any good suggestions that might help?

First Day Of School

2008-08-28T20:13:00.000-07:00

David started kindergarten on Tuesday! So far he loves it. I have been crazy running him back and forth everyday. I am not used to everyday. When he went to preschool the last 2 years it was only 2 days a week. This was only made harder because our van broke down on Monday and I have been squeezing 3 car seats in the back of a 4 door car!
After getting home on the first day I asked him what he did and the first thing he said was "I didn't learn to read yet"! He is so excited to read. Go figure, his Dad loves to read, and I do too-when I have time. Ha ha!

Ashlie got to start preschool on Wednesday. When we first got there all she wanted to do was play. I had to walk her over to where she was supposed to be and tell her to grab a book to look at. "But mom, I want to play", was the answer I kept getting. Finally I got her to sit and I was able to leave.
When I picked her up she got really mad at me because she wanted to ride the bus and I wouldn't let her. When she calmed down I was able to get her to talk about what she did in preschool and she had lots of fun. This is her trying to say cheese and "smile" at the same time.

Happiness for Today

2008-08-21T12:58:00.001-07:00

Why is it that sometimes the silliest things make us happy. Well I had one of those today. Brace yourself, this is really exciting.

We got the garage door fixed!!!

Silly, isn't it? I know! But I can't help the feelings of excitment. Our garage door broke 3 weeks ago and we have been parking in the driveway. We couldn't have picked a better time for it to brake. The weather has been hot but it's so nice not to have to drag kids through the rain or worse snow. I didn't think I minded parking in the driveway, until we got it fixed today and started with the happy dance around the house, singing to my kids "it's fixed, I'm so happy"!

My conversation with the kids about Christ

2008-08-10T20:47:00.000-07:00

David decided that he didn't want to go to church today. He argument for staying home was "but I already know everything about Jesus". I was intrigued so I asked, "why do we celebrate Christmas? Why do we celebrate Easter?" He gave me a blank stare and shrugged his sholders. Oh good, I guess that I need to step it up and teach my children the real reason for Christmas and Easter.

Later as we were in the car on our way to Grammy and Grandpa's house, I decided to ask what David talked about in his primary class. Of course he told me he couldn't remember. Ashlie on the other hand starts telling me how Jesus died. I took me several times of asking her to repeat herself but I finally understood that she was telling me that "they put Jesus on a stick and that's how Jesus died"!!! I was amazed that my 3 year old could tell me this but my 5 year old can't even remember if they showed a picture in his class.

New Friends & Date Night

2008-08-06T21:50:00.000-07:00

David and Ashlie have discovered what neighbor hood friends are. The cute kids who live across the street have started coming over and asking if they can play. It has been really fun.

On Wednesday nights Kevin and I have our date night. We feed the kids mac and cheese and after they go to bed we do our own dinner and watch a movie. In the past we have gone out to get something to eat. Tonight we decided to try something new. We stayed home and made crepes- thanks Maureen for the yummy recipe. It was really fun. We have decided to try some new recipes. And since our kids don't like to try new things, we will try them without the kids.

Camping

2008-08-04T22:00:00.000-07:00

David and Ashlie got to go camping with Grandpa David and Grandma Chris! They had so much fun! They left on Thursday afternoon and came home today. They haven't stopped talking about how much fun they had.

Tyler, Kevin and I had some fun while they were gone. We went out to eat several times, and Kevin and I managed to sneak away to watch "Wall-e". The remainder of the time was spent cleaning. Not very exciting, but can be gratifying. I cleaned the carpet in the family room, go through the toys and give some of them away.

All in all, everyone had a good weekend. I missed them and am very glad to have him them home again.

Thanks again Grandpa and Grandma for taking them camping.

9 Months

2008-08-01T19:39:00.000-07:00

Tyler is 9 months old today! He weighs 20 pounds 2 ounces (44 percentile), is 28 inches long (53 percentile). He has 3 teeth, 2 on the bottom, 1 on the top and another one about to cut any day. He crawls and pulls himself up to a standing position. As soon as we put him down he is off to get into something that he shouldn't. He loves to follow David and Ashlie everywhere (that he can anyway) and they love to get him to laugh!

Tyler is such a wonderful blessing to our family. We all love him and are so greatful that he has joined our family.

Happy Pioneers Day

2008-07-26T06:04:00.000-07:00

We had lots of fun on the 24th of July. Actually we celebrated on the 23rd. All of my family came to our house for pizza, homemade ice cream, and fireworks. David didn't care much for the sparklers but did enjoy the popits and the rest of the fireworks, especially when he could watching his shadow on the house while he danced.

Ahslie loved the all of it. She really got into the sparklers.

We were very grateful to be able to have everyone over to our house and be able to have so much fun, with out any accidents.

Dinner time........AUGH

2008-07-19T20:00:00.000-07:00

Dinner time is a real challenge at our house. Last night we had wagon wheels. I guess most people would call it foil dinners. It's potatoes, carrots, hamburger, you know the kind most people wrap in foil and cook over the fire while camping only we have as more of a casserole that's been baked in the oven. My family grew up calling it wagon wheels because the carrots look like wheels.

Ashlie refused to eat it. She chose to sit in the corner for about 30-45 mins rather than eat. With David it was a little bit of struggle but not to bad. Ashlie did finally eat and was able to enjoy the rest of the evening with the family.

Tonight we had pizza! Granted it was frozen pizza, but it was Frechettia, one of the nicer frozen pizza. And what kid doesn't love pizza of any kind. Well David refused to eat it. He sat in the corner for a while. But still refused to eat. Even with the promise of brownies if he ate-yes, we resort to bribery with our children, but not every night.

This is continually a challenge and we continually endure. And try new things, learn from our errors.

It can't last forever, right???

Time to Get Started

2008-07-12T22:14:00.000-07:00

I am blogging for all the same reasons. I want to try and keep family and friends updated on my fun children. I also am not very good about keeping a journal. I have enjoyed reading blogs and hope that others enjoy reading about our family.