I’m having mixed feelings about some new developments.  Brian and I were asked to come in together to see our Bishop last Wednesday.  Those of you in our church know that means it’s usually a new hefty service calling.  We speculated a bit…Brian wondered if maybe it was a beard intervention.  We wondered about Relief Society for me since one of the counselors is pregnant, very sick, and having to work full time.  We were correct in that I’ve been asked to serve as 2^nd counselor in the Relief Society Presidency.  I believe the responsibilities are over the activities although the Bishop had no idea when he called me what role I would be playing.  I still don’t know who I will be working with either…I’ll find out with the rest of the ward on Sunday…that seems a bit weird.  My mixed feelings come with the fact that it is a completely new presidency which means I’m sure there will be a lot of fumbling over the next few months.  I’m excited at the prospect of being with the sisters again and getting to know some adults in the ward…I already know all the kids.  The other mixed emotion comes with the knowledge that my easy ride is over for a while.  Teaching in primary is a breeze job with no meetings and I have thoroughly enjoyed that, yet missed the interaction with adults.  With Brian in the elders quorum we will surely have to sit down and juggle our meeting schedules every week.  Life is about to get a little more busy, I am sure.

On the home front we have kept ourselves busy.  Serra is back in school after a long winter break combined with track break.  I must admit it was nice to get to sleep in for a few weeks but it’s nice to be back on a schedule again.  I get so much more accomplished when we are scheduled.  Over the holidays Julie taught me some crocheting basics.  I took what she taught me and ran with it.  That, and a few UTube tutorials, and I have had a grand time cutifying my girls.  I really enjoy making small projects.  I can’t imagine doing a huge blanket or anything like that as it seems really tedious.  I like to do things I can finish within a few days.  So, thanks Julie for my new hobby.  Brian complains a little that I am crocheting in the evenings instead of rubbing his head. 

Speaking of the holidays…we headed up to the frigid North Country, (Cache Valley) for Christmas.  Brian was with us for the first few days but had to head home right before New Years.  Serra asked me yesterday “Why at Grandma and Grandpa Arnells there is a party every night?”  It must seem that way to the kids since we get together every day and most evenings is a party atmosphere.  We had a great time spending time with everyone. 

This month we celebrated Brian and then Weston’s birthday.  They shared a yummy oreo icecream cake that I made.  Brian and I celebrated alone for his birthday with faboo primerib from the Golden Steer, which is a sweet old Vegas steak house.  And for Weston’s b-day we celebrated with the Anderson folks Sunday and again on Monday.  Weston got mostly clothes for the coming summer which he tried to try on after opening each one, and a hopper which he knows just what to do with.  I got Brian a new shelving unit and organized part of his office for him.  (He has been working on the lions share of the organizing as he prepared for the audit.) You should see it now…you would never believe it.  It’s the first time since we were married that his office is actually a nice place. 

One of Brian’s bedtime routines with the girls is the one question before he leaves the room for the night.  Most of the questions are centered on animals and there have been some good ones lately.  Brian especially likes giving false answers. 

“Why does a leopard have spots?”  So he can run fast.

“Why does a snake only make the ‘S’ sound?”  Because he can’t talk.

“Why does a rhino have a horn on his forehead?” (Don’t know what the answer was to that)

“Why does a rhino do this with his head?”  They proceed to do the motion with their head.

Serra continues to love school and is still my right hand at home.  She is such a great kid.  I forget she is only 7 most of the time. Rosie is getting much better about helping me during the day.  She complains that cleaning up is too hard and takes too long but she will do it with a lot of coaxing.  Last night Serra asked me what Rosie did during the day to help and I told her she helped clean up some toys in the living room.  Rosie piped up…”I did clean up toys but I was super whiney.” She nailed that one on the head.  Weston OH Weston…continues to try my patience with his menacing antics.  We will title this next excerpt…Weston’s Bad Day .  I believe the day was Tuesday although I have tried to eradicate it from memory.  We start the day by putting the chairs up on the table after breakfast.  This slows him down a little since he doesn’t have as easy access to the chairs for climbing.  He decided he wanted a banana though and so went into the little kid TV room and got one of the short rocking chairs.  He climbed up on the counter, selected a knife from the knife block and tried to cut one off the bunch.  He actually succeeded in getting a banana but sliced 2 fingers in the process.  Where was I…doing laundry in the next room.  He refused to let me put on a bandaid so I just had to sit there with him and hold his little hand until the bleeding stopped.  That one could have been a lot worse.  Lunchtime.  We pulled the chairs down.  Brian was home and so we were sitting at the table together chatting and eating.  Weston was all over the place.  He kept climbing on and off the table and missed the chair at one point and fell flat on his face.  Bloody nose.  He proceeded to draw on the wall while I was gone visiting teaching and broke a ceramic elephant I made in the 8^th grade.  Later, he pulled a stool out from its hiding place in his room and was pushing it around trying to get access to forbidden places.  He tipped it over and it fell breaking a tile in our entry way.  That left a nice sharp piece on the floor that Serra cut her toe on yesterday.  Finally it was bath time.  Brian was getting him in the big tub and Wes was super excited and slipped on the edge and fell again flat on his face…another bloody nose and a fat lip to go with it.  Poor little guy had a banner day.  Of course, he fell asleep late that afternoon and was up until past 11pm  so it was a LOOOOONG day.  He refuses to sleep in his room and wakes up within an hour of falling asleep extremely ticked off.  He ends up in bed with me which makes for a lousy night sleep most nights.  What am I going to do with this kid?  We now have to duct tape his diapers on as he deems nakedness his personal preferred state of being.  And if he gets the diaper off we find little puddles everywhere. His new favorite past time is tormenting Rosie…Man!  He sure knows how to push her buttons to annoy her and beats the crap out of her while she screams.  I think he finds it funny to get the drastic reactions and Rosie especially obliges with those.  It’s actually pretty funny to watch Rosie playing with something and he walks up calmly, snatches it, and tears off running.  He is very fast and laughs hysterically while Rosie chases him screaming.   He sure has a great laugh though…and says to me yesterday after unraveling a skein of yarn all over the house, “Sorry Mom.”  He is such a cute menace.  So that’s what our home dynamics look like most of the time.

Last Saturday morning we cleaned up breakfast and then lined up a few family members for haircuts.  Brian got his trimmed although he is still sporting a beard.  Weston cried up a storm while we buzzed him and Serra asked to go short again.  We took 7 inches off and she is sporting a cute new bob. 

Brian has been staying busy with work and was stressing lately over an audit that was scheduled to take up 3 days this week.  He has been organizing and preparing for weeks for it and it paid off.  It only ended up taking one day and hopefully the lady was forthcoming in that there won’t be too big of a bill. 

On the Charlie front…she is officially 6 months old and weighs in at 20.3 lbs and is 27 inches long.  The doctor says she is short and fat.  I’m cool with that.  She hates rice and oatmeal cereals (see photo) and gags and pukes whenever I try to feed it to her.  We have had better luck with apple and pear sauces.  And she did really well when I added a little cereal to that.  I also decided to retry a bottle with diluted juice and she really digs that so I’m hoping to try again with the bottle and milk when she gets good with the juice.  I have a feeling I’m going to need the freedom soon.  She continues to be a delightful smiling baby. She sits like a champ and grabs at anything she can get to and puts it in her mouth promptly.  The whole family thinks she is just the greatest thing ever and we continue to have a great time with this sweet little familial addition.  (And she is a great sleeper)

WHEW!

Christmas in Logan.   Two sweet babies, same age, different as night and day.   I love the one below of Evelyn's and Rosie's faces.

Weston's birthday...we couldn't get his shirt back on him...notice Rosie's funny face and all of Wes's scrapes.

Wes the champion hopper and Serra with a new do.  Charlie is now 6 months.

We had some cousin time with the Andersons before Christmas.

Momma and Charliea before we buzzed her. 

Some local pre CHristmas sight seeing here in Vegas.

Largest C-mas tree in N. America right here in Vegas at the M resort.   And a visit to The Bass Pro shop. 

Christmas with a different camera...Wes gets his dolly from Grandma.

Wes's fat lip.

Some shots of my handsome boy at 2 years old.

Candles to blow out after a nap isn't a good combo.  Wes didn't want to do it.

 But he thought the cake was ok.

Grandma Anderson always gives all the kids presents on birthdays.  Rosie with hers.

Charlie loving rice cereal.

Fresh Charlie.

And back to Christmas and Charlie at 5 months.

Forget about sitting!  Look who's standing!

Why do we even bother with gifts...just boxes will do. 

The only problem with waiting so long to update during the last few months of the year are the sheer number of photos taken that must be shared.  YIKES!  We have Halloween, Rosie's birthday, Thanksgiving, numerous baby shots, all the pre-Christmas festivities, and our recent trip to CA.  These are completely out of order.  Sorry. 

This is Charlie girl at about 3 months when she discovered her toes. 

Next is Rosie's birthday.  The big #4.  She wanted a lemon flavored princess cake with blue icing....and that is what she got. 

Me and my big girl.

Me and my other big girl.

Can't forget the boy.  Isn't he handsome?

Silly string....the little kids didn't think I was funny at all. 

Grandma Anderson always brings gifts for the other kids too.  Weston got a gun that lights up.  He was showing Charlie...or was he shooting Charlie?...not quite sure. 

Blowing out candles...

One of her gifts....wall stickers.  They can be moved...and are... daily. 

...And then the Christmas card photo shoot.  160 shots later...we got one.  Here were some of the good times.  We did Rosie's 4 year old shots at the same time.

The winning shot. 

And in black and white...the one that now hangs on my wall. 

The wheels are starting to come off.

...and the wheels have officially fallen off.

Candy house fun.

Rosie taking her job of the star topper very seriously. 

 Meeting Santa and whispering in his ear.

Our trip to CA.  and the Santa Barbara zoo and a stop at the beach too.

And back up a bit for some Halloween parties and trick or treating. 

My sweet Wes man.

My dark haired girls and Charlie sitting tall in her Bumbo

How Wes takes naps.

Thanksgiving.

Thats all folks!

Happy Halloween! 

Trunk or Treating tonight so we can collect enough to hand out to trick or treaters tomorrow...cackle cackle...

Wes the Pirate...not interested in the earring...earrings are for girls.   Serra lamented that the clip on earring for Westons costume didn't come in a pair so she could clip them on herself. 

Charlottes Web...also not overly amused by the costume.

Weston thought picture taking time was fun...kept running in the shot and posing and grinning...until it was his turn.

And last but not least...Rosie our resident princess, as Cinderella.

Un-uttered Prayers

While I was serving in the Relief Society Presidency in our last ward the other councilor was taken into a Stake calling, leaving an opening in the presidency.  As Dalea Ellis, the President was going back and forth over names to submit for a new councilor she was impressed to call Debbie Sutton.  Debbie has had quite a story.  Although most recently her husband joined the church.  She has always been fearful of "pushing" the temple on him because her mother warned her that's when her own father left the church and the family.  Dalea had the distinct impression that if Debbie accepted this calling it would be the means by which her family would go to the temple.  She told her as much after Debbie accepted.  Debbie fulfilled her calling faithfully until her family moved out of the ward a few years later.  They still hadn't gone to the temple. 

On Monday the 12th Debbie called me to invite me to the temple the following Saturday.  They were finally going.  Her husband, who is career navy, is getting deployed next month to fight pirates in Africa.  He is the one who got the ball rolling...as soon as he said the word Debbie went to work.  In just over a week they got everything in order...you see, sometimes it isn't a matter of worthiness.  They have both been worthy for years.  Sometimes it's about being prepared in every way.  They were finally prepared and knew they needed to get this done.

Minutes after getting off the phone with Debbie my mind started rolling.  What am I going to do with my kids for 6 hours on Saturday.  Brian would be out of town and I have a nursing baby.  I called Dalea and she arranged to have her 12 year old Brailey at the temple with the baby.  A few minutes later I received a phone call.  It was Coral Briscoe.  She is a woman in our ward who is Weston's nursery leader.  I don't know her well.  I have talked to her a few times and she loves loves loves Weston.  She took out her own endowments just a few months ago.  She is single with 2 great teenage kids.  Anyway,  after the initial pleasantries she came right out with it.  "I just had a feeling I needed to call you and ask if there was anything I could do to help you...can I ever watch your kids or anything?"  I paused,"Seriously?"  I told her my situation and clarified that we were talking about 5-6 hours with 3 kids (one of them being Weston...who is like 3 kids alone ).  She declared she would LOVE to as her kids were with their dad that day and she had nothing else going on.  Have you ever had an answer to an un-uttered prayer?  I have. 

Saturday came.  Jeff and Maren had the 2 older girls overnight and brought them back about noon.  I picked up Coral at about 1pm, brought her home, and gave a few instructions.  I was off.  I had Charlie with me.  Upon arriving at the temple a few minutes early, I fed the baby and handed her off to Brailey who arrived just at that moment.  I was in the temple....it's been awhile since I have been able to go with the new baby and pregnancy making it a difficult thing to do. 

We went through the endowment session and then straight on over to the sealing.  After sealing Debbie and John the sealer had John stand in front of the mirrors alone.  He asked him what he saw.  "Myself forever"  The sealer then hammered home that had he not come to be sealed to his wife, that would be his future...a lone man for eternity.  I have never seen that done in all the sealings I have been too.  He then had Debbie come stand with him.  "Now what do you see?"  It was quite a moment.  And then they brought in the three children...

Not a dry eye...

Especially Jordann, their 14 year old daughter who really understands what is happening here...

After sealing the family the sealer had them stand together in front of the mirrors to see what they had for eternity.  It was one of the most moving experiences of my life.  I have difficulty putting in words how beautiful and TRUE it was.  How anyone, who has been through something like this, could doubt the truth and power that is the gospel of Jesus Christ is beyond me. 

Everyone worried about how John might take this new experience, as he is the lone member in his extended family, need not worry.  The smile he had on his face the whole time and the look of understanding and light in his eyes was enough to know that he gets it and was more than ready to take these steps. 

The baby was fine, although completely unwilling to take a bottle, so a bit hungary.  The other children had a great time with Coral who did not let them watch TV (bless her) and played games, played princess, and read books all afternoon. 

How grateful I am for an answer to my un-uttered prayer so that I might participate in such a spiritual,  uplifting, and faith promoting day.

  Ok so maybe I never did get back to subtitling the last pictures...sorry.  I plead super busy-ness.  Quick up-date on the kids. 

Charlotte...the dream baby.  Her only fault is she refuses to take a bottle even if it's expressed milk.  I was hoping to get a little freedom from the 3 hour feeding demand but she throws major fits when we have tried.  In fact...since I have tried coaxing her over the past few weeks she has decided she won't even take a pacifier.  None of the fake stuff for her.  Luckily she is so good I guess we'll just wait this one out.  Like I said she is on a 3 hour feeding schedule.  During the day that is pretty much like clockwork...at night she will stretch 7-8 hours.  I have been able to put her down at about 8:30-9:00 which is better than any of the other kids at this age.  She is extremely smiley and talkative.  She goos and squeaks and will have a regular conversation with us.  Cuteness in abundance.  She is sooo pretty with dark hair and dark but still undetermined eye color.  She has really fattened up and is in 6-9 month clothes already...she skipped the 3-6 month.  She has developed rolls on top of rolls.  I just want to eat her up.  She loves to be held sitting up so she can converse and giggle but she loves her swing as well and is content to sit there.  Sometimes her sister Rosie likes to love her a bit too much and a howl ensues but mostly she is just content and sweet.

Wwwweston...it seems this last week his vocabulary has grown ten fold.  I think he has figured out that he gets further if he uses words.  I thought it was so cute that he actually used the word "cookie" that I gave him a cupcake he was pointing to.  WHAT was I thinking...minutes later cupcake crumbs were spread all over the house.  A momentary lapse.  Won't happen again.  He says "tub" when he wants to get in the bath.  " Done, cookie, more cookie, daddEEE, momEEE, babEEE or bubba for Charlotte, nack for snack, stuck, I stuck (it happens a lot), dypee for diaper, owwie (which he presents for a kiss) are a few of the ones he uses most.  Of course, he understands everything pretty much.  He continues to try my patience with menacing behavior like pulling the ovens open and using them to stand on to get to the stove and microwave...and yes he has turned the microwave on until it overheated.  The stove he just dismantles.  He uses chairs from anywhere he can find to climb on counters.  He is usually after the sink which he likes to turn on and play in.  Unfortunately we have the kind that the faucet comes off to spray...all the more fun.  We go through a lot of towels.  He likes to push buttons on the washer and dryer as well so sometimes laundry day turns into days because he either starts loads over or turns them off.  So most of our chairs are on tables and counters.  It slows him down only slightly as he still manages to find a way most of the time.  It takes me forever to get anything accomplished because I am following him around undoing the tornado in his wake.  He can open the dishwasher and has recently learned to open the cupboards with handles that are beyond his reach.  This means the canned food and jars are in danger.  I have been using socks to tie the cupboards shut.  I'm running out of mismatched socks.  He is a problem solver and has figured it all out which creates loads of new problems for me. Brian thinks it's child abuse when I put him in his high chair for the hour (or so) before dinner but I say it keeps me from child abuse to confine him for a period of time so I can finish something  like feeding the rest of the family.  He still takes a nap in his high chair as well...its the only place I can get him to take one outside of the car.  He has to be bored and when there is so much to get into he doesn't take a nap unless he is confined.  So at noon he goes into his chair...falls asleep within 10 minutes, sleeps for 45 minutes, wakes up and eats lunch.  By then I have usually gotten my bearings back.  He still has trouble sleeping through the night and usually ends up cuddled up to me.  Lucky for us Charlotte is a good sleeper.

Rosie....hit a growth spurt recently and looks 6 instead of the nearly 4 she is.  Her hair is finally growing back after the incident earlier this summer.  She loves to tell us stories about anything and has quite the imagination.  She really can be delightful and has a smile with giggles that warm my heart.  There is the inner monster though that she struggles with...it screams really loudly and throws fits when it doesn't get it's way.  She is learning to get it under control though.  Her older and mostly sweet older sister and little brother like to push the monsters buttons to see it come out on occasion though.  She has become much more helpful to me the last few months.  She like to take on new responsibilities that she sees Serra doing.  She likes to set the table, change the laundry out, make the baby or Weston happy, or help me with anything in the kitchen that will allow her to sit on the counter.  She is the consummate question asker and even after you give her an answer she will ask it again...I think she just like to have conversation.  She loves her daddy and sometimes cries when he goes to work.  She has started getting up at the crack of dawn to make sure she doesn't miss him.  For some reason she doesn't require sleep like most children.  Even when she gets up at 6:30 or 7 she has trouble going to sleep by 9pm...and comes out of her room for every reason in the book.  Brian usually spends 30 minutes or so in a bedtime routine with back scratches, back draws, stories, questions, etc...and that helps to settle her down.  There have been a few times that Brian falls asleep on the couch watching TV late at night.  At about 2am the DVR switches channels to Disney to record Little Einsteins for Rosie.  She hears it and wakes up and comes in and climbs on Brians lap to watch.  He wakes up and asks what she is doing and tells her to go back to bed..."Not yet Daddy...It's not over yet."   She loves a handful of shows and I can get her to do all her little tasks with the reward of getting to watch them.  Mommy's mood is very important to Rosie and she chastises her when she loses patience.  She has started writing some letters and "wumbers"  and loves to draw pictures.  She tells and talks out stories as she draws.  Most of the stories involve her cousin "Ebawin" or Evelyn.  We sure love our little Rosie.

Serra...our second grader...is doing fantastic in school.  She really loves it and is taking responsibility to a new level.  She has taken the challenge of becoming responsible to a very mature level, so she can get her ears pierced.  She does her homework on her own and has a slew of morning chores she takes care of.  She also is so much help with the baby.  Sometimes I forget she is only 7...she seems so much older to me.   She is even receiving the responsible citizen award at school next week...quite an honor.  She lost another tooth 2 days ago making the gap in her face substantial.  She is missing the top four front teeth and only one is starting to peek through.  Poor kid can't eat apples, corn on the cob, hamburgers or anything that requires a good set of teeth to bite with.  She is delightful and oh so beautiful.  I wonder if she will ever go through an awkward stage?  She loves to tell jokes (still learning there) and loves to play games.  The other night after she lost her tooth she was asking about the tooth fairy and said, "sometimes I wonder if the toothfairy is parents."  Brian balked and declared he looked nothing like a fairy and that he was far too noisy to ever pull off that kind of stealth.  That night the toothfairy fell asleep on the couch and forgot to replace the lost tooth with monetary compensation.  When she disappointedly came to us the next morning to let us know the toothfairy hadn't shown up we told her that maybe the fairy had felt bad she had questioned her existence and so didn't come.  Her eyes got wide and she declared she was a believer.  The toothfairy came last night. 

I stole my sister Serra's idea on selling recycled flowers on Etsy and business is booming.  I have about 6 Goodwills, 2 DI's and a few Salvation Army's to keep me supplied and I hit the motherload last week.  So I spend a few hours a week keeping that endeavor going on top of all the rest. 

Charlie at 3 months

Serra and the gap

Serra and her second grade teacher Mr. Avellino

Charlie a few weeks ago and Rosie and Wes just messing around.

Rosie found a hat and accessorized with a flower.  And the rest are some of Rosie's awesome art work.

The last one is a haunted house in case you couldn't tell.