Cronquist family happenings

Christmas Morning

2012-01-29T14:52:00.000-08:00

We stuck with tradition and spent the night at Mimi and Papa's house on Christmas Eve.

We also have kept the tradition of making the kids wait on the stairs until ALL cameras are ready to capture the magic of Christmas.

Noah was very excited to get a USC sweatshirt, we can thank Drew for Noah's love for USC.

Cooper got his very own pet lizard...he was so excited.

Malia loved her Liv dolls, along with her new bike that I failed to get a picture of.

Colby got a big boy scooter.... Wow! He has already mastered riding a two wheel scooter.

Both the boys were excited to get leather jackets.

December

2012-01-17T14:43:00.000-08:00

In December Cooper lost his first tooth!! He actually lost it as he was dancing with Malia and didn't even realize it had fallen out. My favorite part was when Malia was helping him write a note to the tooth fairy and she asked, " Mom, was the tooth fairy born when you were a kid?"

I tried really hard to just let the kids decorate the tree how they wanted.

It turned out great, I wanted to move a few things around, but I just let it be :)

Malia, Macy and I went ice skating. Malia is a pretty good little skater.

Can you guess who Santa is?

Josh dressed up as Santa for a family in the ward. It was so funny because even after Colby watched him get dressed he still wouldn't go near him for a long time.

Merry Christmas!

Family Pictures

2012-01-16T16:08:00.000-08:00

In November we also had our family pictures taken...AGAIN! I had won a gift certificate at a silent auction and hoped to use it in getting a good Christmas picture. I think we succeeded.
These are a few of my favorites.

November

2012-01-16T15:56:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving eve the boys went to California City. Me, Sarah, Mom, and Colby stayed home went to dinner and shopping :) The boys spent the night in Cal City and rode all day on Thanksgiving. They got home just in time for the great dinner we made.

October

2012-01-16T15:37:00.000-08:00

October is always a fun month....Pumpkin Patch, carving pumpkins, dressing up, and CANDY!!!

Noah was an 80's Basketball player, Malia was a purple butterfly, Cooper was Frankenstein, and Colby was one of the cutest pirates I have ever seen.

Colby couldn't wait to get home to dig in to his candy.

September

2012-01-16T15:22:00.000-08:00

September was filled with football and cheerleading...Go Packers! Noah's team went undefeated for the season games and lost the Superbowl game. He had a great team and coaches. The best part was that Malia got to cheer for his team! I got to watch both of them at the same time.

First Day of School

2012-01-16T15:16:00.000-08:00

This is the only year I will have 3 kids at one school....I am enjoying it! The three of them walk or ride scooters to and from school :)

Cooper started kindergarten.

Malia is in third grade.

Noah is a big fifth grader!

August

2012-01-16T09:45:00.000-08:00

Summer started to slow down a little in August. We went to the Ventura County Fair , Cooper entered in the sheep riding contest. He had a good ride...it was so fun to watch! Noah and Caden were too big to ride on the sheep, but perfect size to try to catch the sheep and grab the flag.They both won and got a medal.

On August 4th Colby turned 2! We spent the day at the Santa Barbara zoo. Colby fed the giraffe, he still talks about how the giraffe licked him.

He looks sober faced in all these pictures, but I promise he had a great day.

Vegas

2012-01-15T23:18:00.000-08:00

July ended with our annual girls Vegas trip. I LOVE getting to spend kid free time with my favorite girls! I am already counting down until our next trip.

JULY

2012-01-15T23:00:00.000-08:00

Just to get caught up I am going to do highlights of July- December.....

July was a very busy month for us!! It was a whirlwind of fun.

We started the month at the beach house. It was just the Pollards and the Melzers, smaller group then we are used to, but still so much fun.

I can't believe I have a baby this old. He is such a stud.

Here is Dad with three of his girls.

The beach house was perfect!

Home for a few days and then off to Colorado to visit Amy for her big 30th birthday.....

Amy always makes our trip so much fun, she wants to make sure we will come often :)

We went to Red Rocks Amphitheatre.

We went to a water park that was the biggest I had ever been to.

We got to go in some cool caves.

The kids loved having stick races in this super clean creek...YUCK!

The best part was having ALL the cousins together. We were most excited to FINALLY meet Holly!

We got home just in time to celebrate our 13th wedding anniversary!! I LOVE YOU JOSH.
I am still amazed I was lucky enough to meet Josh and super lucky that he fell in LOVE with me :) He makes me a better person.

2012-01-12T16:23:00.000-08:00

Wow! It has been way too long since I have sat down to blog. It would be nice to just start fresh in 2012, but there is too much that happened in 2011 that I do not want to forget...

One of the most important being my one and only girl turned 8!! Turning 8 was so huge because she got to be baptized. It was a very special day. She wore the dress that I, along with all of my sisters, and cousin Summer were baptized in.

Macy will get to wear the same dress in just a few years!

We were grateful that Grandma Snuggles came all the way from Minnesota to be there.

Malia adds the girly touch that I need to our family, but she can definitely hold her own with her brothers. She is filled with personality and spunk. I love her self confidence, I hope she will always believe in herself as she does now. She has a huge imagination, loves to dance, sing, and cartwheel wherever she can! Malia is a straight A student and has been the teachers pet in every class that she has been in. She cheered for Noah's football team this year and blessed us with her cheers morning, noon, and night! Even Colby now chants the cheers:)
I feel very blessed to have a daughter...I LOVE YOU MALIA

Cooper's 5th Birthday

2011-10-09T17:47:00.000-07:00

Wow!!! It has been way too long since I have blogged....Now that Cooper is almost 5 1/2 I decided to write about his birthday party. Cooper graduated from preschool on his birthday. This picture that he looks like a waiter in, is actually his cap and gown :)

The day after he graduated we had a reptile party for him at the park. Cooper was in heaven, that is him LOVING the snake! The party was so perfect for Coop...not so much for a lot of the other kids. One little boy was so afraid of the tarantula that he told his Mom it was the worst day of his life! Lots of kids cried in fear, only a few loved the reptiles as much as Cooper.

My sweet Cooper, I can not believe he is 5 and in kindergarten. I have actually had a hard time with Cooper starting kindergarten. I know that in a snap of a finger he will be in 5th grade!

Cooper's favorite thing to do is catching things (lizards, snakes, crabs, bees, bugs, frogs, etc..).

He is still my best snuggler and likes to sneak in our bed in the middle of the night. My favorite thing about Cooper is that he still gets super excited to see me. He will run to me open armed to give me a big hug :)

Cooper likes music, after seeing the Justin Bieber movie he asked me if I would start calling him Justin. He had me mark his water bottle this summer with the initials JB. He loves to dance around and flip his hair. He is independent and pretty happy most of the time.

I love you Coop, don't grow up too fast!

Family Pictures

2011-08-14T09:54:00.000-07:00

We had these pictures taken in April. Julie Campbell is an amazing photographer, her blog link is listed under my friends if you want to check more of her photos out.
These are just a few of the awesome pictures she took that day.

A FEW SUMMER HIGHLIGHTS

2011-08-14T09:46:00.000-07:00

We have had a very fun filled summer, I can't believe it is coming to an end!
Here are a few highlights I will blog more about later..............
San Diego, Sea World, Beach house, Colorado, Grandma Snuggles visit, Girls trip to Vegas, Zoo, Fair, Beach, pool, hikes, splash park, and picnics at our favorite spot :)
WE LOVE SUMMER TIME!!!!!

We Love California City

2011-05-22T08:56:00.000-07:00

Who knew the middle of the desert chillin in a dirt lot could be so much FUN!!

Here are a few reasons why....

Motorcycles!!! Malia and Macy both followed in their big brothers' footsteps and learned to ride a 2 wheel motorcycle :) They were both fearless!

Quads....lots of them, we had a quad or motorcycle for every person there.

Colby even rode with Josh running along side.

Desert tortoises....Cooper said the tortoise was his favorite part of the weekend.

Games.... What would a vacation be without games.

Jumps.... Uncle Chris made a pretty sweet jump. This is Noah getting some air.

Horny Toads.... The kids were so excited to catch this horny toad. Trey wasn't afraid to hold it.

Sisters.... Anytime with my sisters is a good time, we missed you Amy! Ginger was there, but refuses to have her picture taken.

Guns.... Yes, the boys had a lot of fun shooting.

Family Bonding.... The best part of the weekend.

We love California City!!

Spring

2011-05-14T15:17:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Noah

2011-05-14T14:15:00.000-07:00

Noah and a few friends at a trampoline place called Sky High.

I really can't believe I have a 10 year old! I know we all hear it a million times, but it really does go too fast. I can remember so clearly the day my water broke, at my baby shower, 5 weeks early!Driving to the hospital with Josh we were so excited and couldn't comprehend what was to come, our lives would never be the same.

It is now so fitting to Noah that he came so early and broke my water at exactly the right moment to make the most dramatic "story". Noah is a little dramatic! He is full of energy, passion, and fun. Sitting around is not an option. He is very athletic, his passion in life is for sports. He has no back up plan...he will play in the NFL :) He loves anything outdoors... hiking, fishing, camping, boating, motorcycles, biking, catching animals, dirt, building, and anything else "fun" he can do outside. Noah has a tough outer shell, but I get to see under it and see his sensitivity and love. I am so grateful to be Noah's Mom.

I LOVE YOU NOAH!

Goodbye to The Chase

2011-03-27T10:13:00.000-07:00

This week we took a walk down memory lane with Daddy.....

In 1994-1996, while I was still in high school, Josh was stationed in Long Beach, Ca. on a 378 ft. ship called, "The Chase". Next week they are retiring the ship. We took the kids to see where Daddy called home for 2 years of his life.

This was his bunk, they are stacked 3 high. The bunk lifts up with storage undeneath that is the only space they have of their own! He liked the bottom bunk the best.

I think it is a little ironic the ship's number was 718! 18 has always been my lucky number.

Goodbye to The Chase, Josh is feeling pretty old that a ship he was on is retiring :)

Colby's first blackeye

2011-03-27T09:58:00.000-07:00

Colby fell off the trampoline onto the concrete on his head! This picture was taken a few days later, it really looked a lot worse then the picture shows. His eye was swollen almost completely shut and very dark purple. You can imagine what a terrific mother I felt like when less than two weeks later he flipped off the back of the couch, once again landing on his head, on the tile floor! He threw up 10 minutes later and I FREAKED out. Grateful to say he is fine and climbing on everything again :)

Colby 1 1/2 years

2011-02-18T13:54:00.000-08:00

It's hard to believe my baby is a year and a half. I can't imagine what life was like without him, at the same time I can not believe he is 1.5 years old!!
Colby is a joy to our family. He keeps us laughing daily and reminds us all how to just stop and have FUN :)
Colby LOVES... dancing, snuggling, blowing kisses, avocados, treats, playing outside, his motorcycle, making others laugh, jumping off the bed, animals, and his B (pacifier).
I think Colby can understand EVERYTHING!!! He can answer yes/no and his new thing is to shrug his shoulders meaning he doesn't know. He is starting to talk more every day, he is saying a new word almost daily!
Colby, WE LOVE YOU!!

Winter Break in Cali

2011-01-16T08:05:00.000-08:00

We had such a great time over the two week winter vacation. It has been hard to go back to school, homework, early bedtime, and a schedule.

We didn't have to go far to see it snow. At the mall a few miles away every night in December it snows bubbles!!! It really looks like it is snowing as it is coming down, once it hits the ground not so much.

We also took the kids ice skating. They had such a good time and all did surprisingly well :)

The beauty of living in California is this, beautiful hiking all year round.

The kids got free bowling coupons from their school. Mindy and I took 11 kids bowling and didn't even pay a penny!

I feel very blessed to live in California and close to family. The holidays wouldn't be the same without sharing them with family.

Happy New Year

2011-01-14T16:22:00.000-08:00

We were lucky enough to ring in the New Year at the Beach house.

We found treasures ......

spent lots of time in the warm jacuzzi....

Enjoyed the sunsets....

Had a bonfire.....

Played in the sand....

And enjoyed spending time with our family.

It was a perfect way to start 2011.

All I want for Christmas is my 2 front teeth

2011-01-07T13:30:00.000-08:00

Malia did it, she lost both her front teeth just in time for Christmas. Her primary teacher, who has pulled almost all her teeth, told Malia her front tooth was not quite ready. Malia said otherwise and begged her to pull it, she did and couldn't believe how tough Malia was. She also wondered if Malia was trying to get some extra cash from the tooth fairy in time for Christmas!!!

Christmas Eve we spent with my parents at their house. We had a great dinner~ Mexican food, my favorite! Sparkling apple juice is a holiday favorite as well.

This is as good as we could do....unbuttoned shirt and all.

Christmas morning tradition, stockings on the stairs. We spent the night at Mimi and Papa's house.

The kids built a giant fort that they all slept in.

Everyone woke up with huge smiles :)

The highlight of Christmas morning was Colby. He got a small motorized quad from Santa. As soon as he saw it without anyone pointing it out or telling him it was his, he jumped on it and started to go. He rode it all morning through all the presents, wrapping paper, and toys with a huge smile on his face.

Sisters

2010-12-07T20:23:00.001-08:00

My sisters are my best friends. Near or far we know we have each others backs no matter what. Growing up with 3 sisters I could never imagine what life would be like without a sister. So, you can only imagine how it broke my little heart when Malia said to me all she wants for Christmas is a sister!!!

Super Bowl Champs

2010-11-25T09:57:00.001-08:00

This year Josh and Dwan coached their first year as head coaches, previous years they were the assistant coaches. Thanks to their unbelievable coaching talent and AMAZING boys we went undefeated this year!! They went on to coach the All Star team and once again DOMINATED! Noah was so happy to have his Dad as his coach and number 1 fan.

Running the tunnel after winning is the boys favorite.

Noah had an AMAZING season. At the All Star game he caught an interception and ran it for a touchdown. Later he ran a 40 yard run to score again. He made 2 of the 4 touchdowns. He also made lots of touchdowns throughout the season. He was known to come out of nowhere to pull flags to stop the other team :)

Josh and Dwan were so great together, we nicknamed them LUNDQUIST ( it is a combination of their last names)

Halloween

2010-11-25T09:24:00.001-08:00

Colby was so cute this Halloween dressed up as a skunk! He won the cutest costume award at a Halloween party we went to. Cooper was very impressed at the "real" trophy he won.

Noah went as an army guy, he was happy because he got a gun and face paint. My days of theme dressing our family are over, Noah is too old and has too much of an opinion!

Cooper got his walking cast just a few days before Halloween. He made the perfect pirate with his peg leg :)

Malia was a flapper, all she cared about was being able to wear makeup and sparkles on her lips.

Cooper and Nadia had a lot of fun at the trunk or treat at our church.

Here is the gang of my kids, minus Colby, and Sunny's three. I loved Lilly's costume as a voodoo doll.

We Love The Beach House

2010-10-19T16:55:00.000-07:00

If you were to ask me what my favorite place in all the world was I would have to say the beach house:) It is definitely not the prettiest place I have ever seen or the most luxurious. I also know there are a ton of places I have never seen, but I know the beach house is my favorite. Here are a few reasons why....

~memories of walks on the beach with my Grams looking for "mermaid purses"

~building the worlds biggest forts

~the sound of waves crashing

~laughing

~beautiful sunsets

~ board games (Settlers until the sun comes up)

~cousins galore

~ dinners in the garage

~seals and dolphins

~tide pool treasures

~the "pee" Jacuzzi and the adult one

~sleeping on the patio

~sleeping 12 to a room

~night swims

~unlimited amounts of sugar

~being delirious

~scavenger hunts

~jump roping with seaweed

~playing celebrity

~after dinner walks

~jumping off the sea wall

~sleepless nights

~and a million more memories that have bonded us as a family.

I am certain that if it were not for our times at the beach house it would be much harder for our extended family to be as close as we are.It is a place where we can all meet and spend multiple days together. I love seeing my children enjoying the simple pleasures in all the things I used to LOVE to do. I am so grateful for the beach house.

These picture are from Labor Day weekend at the beach house.
This is the "pee" Jacuzzi

The kids have a blast playing butts up against the sea wall.

We found a dead baby great white

Colby in his model pose.

Coop prefers playing with the boogie board on the beach better than the ocean.

Noah has tried to surf a few times, and actually got up.

Papa brought this rubber boat, we had so much fun riding the waves on it.

First Day of School

2010-10-11T16:44:00.000-07:00

I was sad for summer to come to an end. A new year of school is reality to me of how quickly the kids grow. Coop with his friend Jane. Cooper is a big preschooler!

Noah is in 4Th grade, that means 5 short years until high school!!!!

Malia started 2ND grade, she was a little hesitant to have her first boy teacher.

purple seemed to be the popular color for the girls this year.

Summer Fun in Denver

2010-10-10T13:41:00.000-07:00

I try to go to Denver every summer to see my sister, Amy and her family. She is a great hostess and always makes sure we have a fabulous time. This year it worked out perfectly that most of Josh's family was there for a wedding.

The kids had so much fun playing in the rain. It rained in the afternoon most days, but it always came and went quickly. Daddy was excited to get to see a lightening and thunder storm, California rain is just NOT the same:)

JC and Cooper.

It was super fun to be able to hang out with Nick and Sengdora, she was such a trooper being about 32 weeks pregnant...I definitely would have complained more than her.

Sullivan, Malia, and Coop.

Go Vikings!! Yes, we had to go to a tailgating wedding party! I made sure we were all in full team spirit.

The kids loved going to Belleview Park. We caught crawdads, rode the train, went to the petting zoo, and made sure to stop for a few pictures.

Josh, Mom, and Nick

JC, Noah, and Finn

Max and Colby.

We spent the day at the pool and this is the only picture we got.

The kids had too much fun having a water balloon fight in the rain.

We even went to a Rockies baseball game!

Noah and JC.

This is Denver's idea of a beach, actually it was a lot of fun. We rented paddle boats and a small fishing boat and took turns riding around the lake.

We had such a great time in Denver, Hope we are invited back next year....We love you Warnicks.

Pollard Family

2010-10-06T20:34:00.000-07:00

I am still trying to get caught up from summer, but we just took this picture and I wanted to post it.
This weekend we were lucky enough to ALL be together. It has been awhile since we were ALL together.
We set a self timer and took a few pictures and this is the best we could come up with:)
I do not know what it is about pictures that seems to make most guys grumpy, but they are over it after one picture (not Josh of course). We managed to take a few before they stopped us.

Bobby and Mary's wedding

2010-10-01T17:21:00.000-07:00

This summer we went to Denver for Josh's cousin, Bobby's wedding. We were lucky enough that my sister, Amy lived in the same city as him.

This is our fun filled night at his wedding.

We all danced the night away, it was so FUN. Cooper waited all night for the song, "Beat It", when it finally came on at 11 he was passed out on the chair!!

2010-10-01T16:56:00.000-07:00

I could just skip right over this and pretend like our summer was perfect, but reality is THIS really happened to our house. We had major water damage after a 5 dollar part from our toilet came out of the wall and water ran for 12 hours!!

The water restoration team got there quickly and less than 12 hours later this is what our house looked like on 80% of the downstairs.

I did these pictures backwards! This is what the walls looked like when we first got there. It was raining from the ceiling. I walked in and did not know what to do first...cry, scream, move my stuff, or just sit and get rained on. I did all of the above.

This is the ceiling directly under the toilet.

So life goes on.... we have been unable to live in our house for 2 months, hopefully we only have about 2 weeks left:)

Viva Las Vegas

2010-09-28T15:53:00.000-07:00

Our annual girls trip to Vegas was so much FUN:)
We started going to Vegas 7 years ago for my Aunt Marsha's 60th birthday. My Mom and her sisters and all the girl cousins and cousin in laws are invited to come. Can you believe that for her birthday she plans the trip and pays for our rooms, who wouldn't want to come?

This year was Sarah's FIRST year! She has been in school, working, or having babies all the other years. It is a Vegas rule, NO BABIES...we tried it one year and it didn't really work.
It was fun to have Sarah there.

This is all the younger generation at the Grand Lux restaurant. We always eat there at least one of the nights sometimes two.

This year my trip was super quick,I only stayed for one night and two full days. I had a baby that still liked to nurse. My cousin Mari and I had fun having pumping parties in our room, but I was too nervous to be gone for more then one night, the pump only works so well.

I was there long enough to relax, laugh a lot, eat too much, hang out at the cabanas,shop, and bond with some of my favorite people in the world.

Happy Birthday Marsh, can't wait for next year.

Boating

2010-09-27T15:43:00.000-07:00

We are lucky enough that our Papa has a boat! Whenever we have a chance we like to escape to the lake. Noah and Malia both can water ski with a children's u shaped ski, pretty cool. We went to Lake Pyramid and both Noah and Malia went cliff jumping! Malia has no fear and went higher then Noah, she jumped off about 15 feet high. Cooper is still a little hesitant of being in the water but he loves the boat. All the kids had a great time climbing the hill and sliding down.
Thanks Papa for all the fun!

Go Team Orange!

2010-09-26T12:44:00.000-07:00

At the end of June we went to Richfield, Utah to a family reunion for the Ogden family. The Ogden Family is my Mom's Dad. The reunion was for his parents, my Great Grandparents, 100th wedding anniversary. Of course they were not there to celebrate with us in person, but they were in spirit. We started our trip with just my family in Marysvale, Ut., never heard of it? That is because if you blink you will miss it. This is one of two restaurants in town, it closed at 4:00 p.m. but we were lucky enough for them to open just for us!

We stayed in cabins for one night in Marysvale. We went on an all day quad ride...so fun. This is the two babies in the back of the rhino.

At the end of the ride we were so dirty, layer after layer of dirt. Marysvale turned out to be a lot of fun. It is the exact half way point between our house and my sister, Amy's house. We decided we will meet there again.

Sarah and I look pretty tan, it is actually just dirt.

We then drove to Richfield which is the town my Grandpa is from. This is my Grams and Grandpa's grave. I was very close to my Grams she is one of my biggest heros. Being in the cemetery with my family really made me miss her. I knew she would have loved to have been there to see all of her posterity. I also know that she too was there in spirit.

Colby's middle name is Ross after my Grandpa.

I grew up going to Richfield a lot. My great Grandma lived there and we would visit her and other extended family. One of the places we always went was the Big Rock Candy Mountain. We attempted to bring the kids there, as you can see we almost blew away.

Once the 3 day reunion started every one of my Great Grandma and Grandpas eight children's families were represented by a different color. We were team orange, there was over 70 oranges!! Over 250 total people in all.

I feel so blessed to come from such a strong heritage. My Great Grandma and Grandpa were good parents. They loved their children,grand children, and great grand children. They started an eternal family, now only a hundred years later so many people are blessed because of their choices.

On the first day we went on a scavenger hunt to all the different places that had meaning to the Ogden Family. This is the house my Great Grandma and Grandpa raised all their children. The owner was gracious enough to allow us to walk through the house.

This is on the steps of the church building where their family went to church.

We attempted to get a picture of all the Pollard Grand kids:)

We did manage to get a cute one of Coop and Carson

Just before going home we retired the orange shirts that we had worn for 3 days!

Malia turned 7

2010-09-25T12:40:00.000-07:00

On June 18th Malia turned 7!! She is seven going on sixteen!! We kept it simple this year and it was great. We had a fun dinner at Islands as a family and even managed to get our food free, I guess they forget our order. We never complained just thought they were busy but the manager came out and said thanks for understanding your dinner is on us!
Malia is easy to please and still gets excited about simple things, a birthday cake with candles and soda to drink made her birthday perfect. She also got a camera and has taken some great pictures.

Malia really is a Daddy's girl. She told me that Daddy told her he missed her the most while he was in Cuba....he knows how to get to his girls heart:)

It is so funny to me how different yet how much alike my kids look. I think Cooper and Malia look a lot alike and Colby and Noah look a lot alike. Then they all have little pieces of each other that bring them all together.

2010-09-24T15:21:00.000-07:00

This is just another fun summer day, we spent the day at the zoo and then went to our favorite place to eat in Santa Barbara, Wahoos. I just loved this picture of my four little darlings:)

Palm Springs

2010-09-23T21:36:00.000-07:00

So we started the summer out right with a trip to Palm Springs. We left the day school got out the kids stayed with Mimi and Papa (except Colby who was still milking:). My sister, Sarah and her husband came and left their kids with Mimi and Papa too! We got two nights of relaxing as adults (Summer and Drew, Sunny and BJ, Sarah and Chris, and us with a few little kids) and then the PARTY began, we got all 11 of our kids.
We had so much fun pool hoping at the hotel, going to the water park, running to each others rooms, going to the children's museum, getting pedicures, walking around the golf course in 100 degree weather, and just all being together.
WE LOVE PALM SPRINGS! It is a great vacation that is close to home with lots to do and great resorts.

Crazy Hair Day

2010-09-23T16:47:00.000-07:00

Just trying to get caught up from all the fun times we had that I have not blogged about.
Last year the last week of school we had crazy hair day....we went all out!! Malia looked a little like a dinosaur with her big blue spike in the front.

2010-09-21T11:53:00.000-07:00

On August 4th my baby turned 1! I have mixed emotions about this. He is 99.99% our last little guy and as I watch him grow and move on to the next phase of his little life, I close the "baby chapter" in my life and it is a little bit sad and a little exciting all at the same time.

Colby has really grown up in the past few months. He went from being a baby to toddler over night. He started walking at 10 months and is now running most places, especially, to the back door to escape outside whenever someone comes in or out. He is a curious baby and likes to observe the other kids. His sister and brothers can still make him laugh harder then anyone, he really LOVES to play with them. He now says, dog, ball, Papa, Dada, keys, and this. Yes, he does not say his favorite person yet, Mama! He can answer Yes or No by shaking his head and he loves to sign all done when he wants out of his highchair and I am ignoring him.

We learned after Noah there really was no need for a big jolly jump, 40 people, first birthday! So we settled on a few cousins...

A cute dog cupcake cake...

and a party hat.

Happy Birthday Colby, don't grow too fast.

Cooper's leg

2010-09-19T14:50:00.000-07:00

So I decided to take the summer off from blogging, now here we are already close to the end of September!! We had a fun filled summer that included a trip to Palm Springs, Utah, Vegas (for me), Denver, and San Diego. When we were not out of town we spent lots of time at the beach, pool, zoo, hiking, or just hanging out. I was sad when school started and we had to slow down and get back to reality!

Our latest adventure is poor little Cooper that has really had to slow down. Last Wednesday he fell off the trampoline and broke his tibia. He is in a full leg cast for 4 weeks. He can not put any weight on his leg and is too small for crutches, that leaves me at his mercy!!
Coop is very active and this whole cast thing has really frustrated him. When the Doctor was putting on his cast he said, " How can I ride my bike with this?" This summer he told me he wanted to ride a bike with no training wheels he jumped on Malia's bike and off he went!
Poor Coop will not be able to be back on his bike for at least two months, after 4 weeks of the full cast he gets a walking cast for another 4 weeks!

4 years old!!!

2010-06-09T10:54:00.000-07:00

Cooper turned 4 on May 26th, luckily Daddy made it home just in time.
Cooper makes me laugh at least 10 times a day. He is filled with smiles, hugs, energy, and fun.
His favorite things to do are catch lizards, bugs, crabs, and even snakes!!! He loves riding his scooter, bike or quad.
When he hears music he can't help but dance, he even has pretty good rhythm. He is a sugaraholic, WOW!!! He is known to hide and eat more sugar then I want to think about. Cooper plays very well independently, he can entertain himself better then any of my other kids.

Happy Birthday Cooper, I can't believe you are 4!

Daddy's home

2010-06-06T13:18:00.001-07:00

Two weeks ago we drove to March Airfield base and picked up our Daddy:)!!! It took us over three hours to get there, we were all so giddy the entire way. I loved seeing the kids so excited, far better then Christmas, Disneyland, or any vacation. We were singing , dancing, laughing, and anticipating seeing our number one hero. The kids found a small place to see the airplane land.

Everyone cheered the moment they were safely on the ground. That is the moment I felt that it was real..... Josh was home safe and he was home for good. We couldn't wait to see him!!!
WAITING is exactly what happened next. They got off the plane, walked 30 feet in front of us, and we didn't see them again for 45 minutes!!!!

Malia made a sign she held for Daddy.

Flags were passed out to everyone along with snacks while we were all WAITING.

I couldn't believe Josh was so close and we still couldn't see him or touch him.

Cooper was the most impatient wondering if Daddy was really coming.

The reunion was amazing. Colby went to Josh happily. I wish I would have taken more pictures. In the moment I didn't care about pictures, I just wanted to hug Josh. I wore a shirt that said, "I Love Josh" and I didn't even get one picture of it.

Colby~ 9 months

2010-05-18T16:42:00.000-07:00

I can hardly believe my baby is 9 months!!! He is so much fun, I love this age. As you can see he has his two bottom teeth, all four top teeth are coming in also. He weighs almost 22 pounds and is in the 75th %, he is a big boy. He loves to give big wet kisses. He just learned to clap, do the sign for all done, and wave ( we are still working on waving he has done it only a few times). He loves when I sing the itsy bitsy spider, if he is in a good mood he will do some of the hand signs with me.

Colby gets around well. He crawls all over and pulls himself up on everything. He loves pushing the step stool around the kitchen, it is his own little walker. After 4 kids I finally realized Uncle Nick's theory of not wasting money on baby toys is pretty much true. Colby's favorite "toys" are my cell phone and the TV remote. He also really enjoys paper. As I am writing this he is surrounded by toys but has settled on the camera cord:) Colby is sweet and affectionate. He loves attention and isn't shy about letting you know when he wants something or doesn't like something. He hates sleeping in his own bed, having his diaper changed, and when I won't let him have my phone.

~ can you believe this picture really doesn't do his rolls justice?

You are so adorable

2010-05-06T18:04:00.000-07:00

Cooper came up to me today and said, "Mom you are so adorable", I am pretty sure he doesn't know what adorable means, but it sure made my day:)

My 3 Boys

2010-04-28T16:49:00.000-07:00

I still have a hard time believing I have 3 boys!! Coming from a family of all girls I feel like a much better girl Mom:)
I am learning how to find joy in bugs, mud, wrestling, catch, and anything that could be dangerous! My boys are a lot of fun and I am grateful for each of them, they help make life exciting everyday.

Josh the lizard

2010-04-25T15:11:00.000-07:00

We are on the countdown, 25 days to be exact until our Daddy is home:) Cooper asks daily how many more nights until Daddy gets to put him to bed. Today we had a great Sunday, Colby went down for a nap and the other 3 each caught their very own lizards to play with. Cooper came in to tell me his lizards name....JOSH!! He told me he named it Josh because his Dad "Josh" is his best friend.
I think these next 25 days are going to seem long for Cooper.

Colby and Max best Buds

2010-04-25T15:00:00.000-07:00

All of my kids except Noah have a cousin within four months of them. I feel so grateful that my kids are able to be close with their cousins. This is Colby's "buddy cousin", Max. Max is four months older than Colby. As you can see Colby dominates him in the rolls department!
It was so fun having these two together for almost two weeks:)

California City

2010-04-19T21:43:00.000-07:00

2 trailers filled with quads and motorcycles...........

A trampoline...........

2 motor homes and a few tents...........

And all the other "stuff" that Papa can think of to make a perfect weekend!

Colby had a blast riding on the back of me, don't worry I didn't go too fast.

Having all of my sisters there didn't replace Josh, but they were a close second :)

Finding desert tortoises were one of the highlights of the weekend.

Cooper probably rode the most hours of anyone~ he really never got off a quad!

Noah had so much fun on his new motorcycle. Noah and Trey did awesome for their first time riding on 2 wheels!

For over 20 years my family along with some friends traveled to San Felipe Mexico for spring break. It was the vacation we looked forward to all year! A few years ago we decided it had gotten too dangerous to bring our families to Mexico! I still dream of San Felipe, but for now, California City has taken its place.

We had a great time riding, playing games, finding tortoises, eating too much candy, jumping on the trampoline, talking, and enjoying being together with our entire family minus JOSH:(

Happy Birthday Noah

2010-04-18T16:22:00.000-07:00

Noah wanted to play with the puppies at the mall for his birthday. He also got a new bike so he can go bike riding with Papa and keep up.

Wow! I can't believe I have a 9 year old! Half way to 18 that is scary! It really does make me feel old to think I have a 9 year old!

It feels like not that long ago that I was at my baby shower for Noah in my 35th week of pregnancy and my water broke! Yep, Noah came into this world wanting attention and he hasn't slowed down a bit.

A few things I want to say about Noah.............

He has passion. Noah is passionate about life. Right now he is most passionate about football, motorcycle riding, catching lizards, dramatic stories,being outside, and anything that does not involve school ( if he had the passion he had for football in his school work he would be a top student).

He is a hard worker. The inside chores are not his favorite, but outside he works for hours! He is a great helper for his Papa.

He is determined. The things that Noah wants he finds a way to get. He is very motivated by making money to be able to get the things he wants.

He loves his brothers and most the time his sister too! Noah is very sweet with the baby and with Cooper. I rely on him a lot to help entertain Coop he plays well with him and helps him a lot.

He makes Colby laugh the best. At night before falling asleep I hear him and Malia giggling and talking with each other and I know despite the teasing Noah loves Malia:)

He is energetic. Wow is he ever~ he never slows down. This year was the first year he could win a terrific kid award. He won the first month for being the most energetic and enthusiastic!
The last thing Noah wanted on his birthday was a shaved head. Yes, I had to shave his beautiful fohawk off to a #2!! He knew I would give in if he asked on his birthday.

Happy Easter

2010-04-04T22:53:00.000-07:00

Everything was great today except this~ Cooper dropped a brick on his toe!! This is the giant blood blister that he got. He also has a huge scratched face from yesterday when he ate it on Noah's scooter:) I must have jinxed myself when I texted Josh that Cooper got stitches on April Fool's Day (I will never joke about that again)!!!

We had a great time today! We enjoyed waking up with our cousins, had an Easter basket scavenger hunt, laughed at Colby wearing silly floppy bunny ears, cried with Cooper at his foot being smashed, ate way too much candy, enjoyed listening to our prophet speak at conference, and ended with an egg hunt and dinner at the Saylors' house.

5 months!

2010-04-02T12:36:00.000-07:00

Yes, today marks 5 months (152 days) of Josh being away in Cuba!!!! It has gone fast and painfully slow, but I am surviving and our family has been blessed. These pictures were taken just a few hours before we drove to Long Beach to say Goodbye. Wow! Thinking back the anticipation was the worst part~ What would it be like without my best friend, my eternal partner, our daddy?

We are very grateful for modern technology. We are blessed to hear from our Daddy daily, by phone, text, or skype. I can go to sleep each night knowing that he is safe, that alone makes this so much easier.
We are on the count down! About 50-60 days left, we do not know the exact date. I go to sleep every night dreaming about the day that we our complete again:)

The chicken did what?????

2010-03-31T07:03:00.000-07:00

Noah and Cooper catch lizards in Mimi and Papa's yard almost daily. Cooper has actually gotten really good at catching lizards with no help!
Yesterday I heard Coop screaming outside, I ran out to find Cooper muttering something about the chicken ( Mimi and Papa have three pet chickens). I finally figured out the chicken ate Cooper's lizard right out of his hand!! Yes, it really did! Cooper was holding the lizard in one hand and sitting down, the chicken came over pecked at Cooper's hand, scared him, and took the lizard. I hope Cooper is not scared for life, at the moment he is still pretty upset about it.

Malia, The Super Star

2010-03-29T16:03:00.001-07:00

Usually when it is super star week it means a lot of extra work for the Mom, this was not the case for Malia's super star week. She happily did her entire poster by herself. The only thing I had to do was print out pictures for her to put on her poster.
Malia's poster told us............
~ Favorite food is skittles, mangoes, and pizza (in that order)
~ Favorite color is turquoise
~ Favorite TV show is I Carly
~ Favorite book is " Always in Trouble"
~When she grows up she wants to be a Mom
~ She likes to swim, ride quads, play with her cousins, do art projects, hike, ride scooter, go to the beach, go to the zoo, go to Sea World, hold her baby brother, be silly, and have lots of fun!

Her poster was very cute. She has great writing and used a lot of colors. We added about 20 pictures of her doing all the things she loves.

~ Other things I love about Malia is her imagination, you can find Malia most days playing with her dolls wearing my shoes and talking on her "pretend" cell phone.
~ She is very observant. One of my favorite stories is when we were at a football game and I asked the teenager sitting next to us if he was the crossing guard at the elementary school, he looked just like him. The guy smiled and said no. Malia whispered in my ear it is him because the crossing guard wears those same shoes! Sure enough at school on Monday the crossing guard was there wearing the same shoes:)
~ She is helpful. Malia really does help me with the baby a lot. I can depend on her to help watch him when I am trying to get things done around the house.
~ She is happy. Most of the time Malia is a pretty happy kid, she laughs a lot and likes to be silly.
~ She is thoughtful. Malia enjoys making things for others, especially cards. If she is not playing with her dolls she is usually coloring a picture for someone, mostly her Daddy.
~ Malia is a Daddy's girl. She told me that Daddy told her he was going to miss her the most! She misses him a lot. When we had to say Goodbye I had to pull myself together to console Malia.
~ She is compassionate. Malia cries in most movies because she has so much compassion for the characters. One of the first cards she sent to Daddy said, "Are you Happy?" she was concerned about how he was feeling.

2010-03-28T14:35:00.000-07:00

It has been one of those weeks for me. Instead of focusing on the negative I want to start this new week by counting my blessings. I truly have everything to be thankful for.

~ Colby's laugh, you can't help but crack up when you hear him laughing.

~ Cooper's embrace, when I pick Cooper up from preschool he always runs to me full speed and tightly hugs me.

~ Malia's help, being the only girl sandwiched between boys I rely on her for her nurturing and helping out, she really does help me.

~ Noah's hard work, it is a blessing to see Noah work side by side on yard work and things around the house with his Papa.

~JOSH!!!!!! I miss his touch, I miss waking up to his kiss, I miss his help, I miss his hugs, I miss saying my last words to him every night, I miss everything about us being together~ I am grateful for him. I am grateful I miss him so much:) I am grateful for his devotion, love, honesty, testimony, happiness, and passion for his family, the gospel, and his country.

~ The Gospel, I would not be able to count my blessings if I did not have the plan of happiness in my life.

~ My parents, I do not know how I could do these 7 months without Josh if it were not for my parents. They help me every day in numerous ways. I am especially thankful for the breakfast that they make about 4 days a week!!

~ Extended family and friends, it's nice to just be able to say it has been a bad week and know that others really do care:)

~ My blessings are endless these are just a few.

Look at those lashes

2010-03-28T07:12:00.000-07:00

I get a lot of comments from people about how great Colby's eyelashes are. All my kids were blessed with great lashes but Colby has the longest and darkest. I just got this picture that shows how wonderful they are! If he wasn't such a solid chunk they might look a little too pretty, but he is definitely masculine enough to pull them off!

The wig!!

2010-03-27T11:45:00.000-07:00

Who would have known A wig could be so much fun!! Last Sunday Sarah, Chris and the kids were here for a visit. We all tried on Aunt Sue' s new wig. It was pretty funny. Here is Sarah, Colby, Trey, Malia, Carson, and Noah. For some it turned them into rock stars, others just pretty funny hair. For Colby we saw how much he truly looks like his sister Malia~ Do you agree???

Is that heaven?

2010-03-24T20:53:00.000-07:00

Cooper must be a little confused at where babies actually come from. He remembers Colby being in my tummy not too long ago. He also has been taught babies come from heaven.
I had him on the bathroom sink while I was brushing his teeth. I was wearing a sports bra ( I had just finished my work out). He stuck his finger in my belly button and said, " Is that heaven in there?"
I think that is in my top five favorite things any of my kids have ever said!!!

Our family of 6!!!!!

2010-03-14T14:37:00.000-07:00

In November Josh was activated by the Coast Guard and sent to Cuba for 7 months!! It has been crazy, but we have really been blessed. In February he came home for a 1 week "visit". Here are a few of our only pictures, thus far, as a family of 6!!!!

We miss our Daddy!
Life is so much more fun and silly when Daddy is home. He really is the best Dad and husband, I truely feel blessed.

Meet Colby!!!!

2010-03-14T14:17:00.000-07:00

So, I gave up blogging for awhile trying to adjust to life with 4 kids! I am still not adjusted. I think parenting is always just a work in progress. Just when you think you have it down you find a new "thing" to adjust to.

Colby is now 7 months. He just started crawling, still prefers the worm crawl. He has 2 teeth. Loves to eat "real food".
Is attached to his Mommies hip most of the day. Laughs at his big brothers and sister constantly.
Can say Da Da and Ha ( Hi). Demands his rights, not going to be the pushed around baby brother!

2009-05-10T14:41:00.000-07:00

Meet our newest member of the family......Cookie the rat!!! Yes, I gave in and Noah got a pet rat for his B-day.

California City!!! We went to California City for Spring Break in place of our annual San Felipe, Mexico trip. We missed the warm sun and ocean we always have in San Felipe, we even missed the dirty showers at Petes!! But did have a great time-no showers for a few days was kinda fun and the weather warmed up by the last day.
Noah got up on a 2-wheel 50 and now asks daily to replace his quad with a motorcycle.

Cooper and Carson wore their .helmets all day - they looked like booble heads
No bathingsuits needed - Malia and Macy wore snow clothes.

2009-03-21T17:27:00.000-07:00

Lego Land was so much fun!! It was our first time there, it really was amazing to see everything built with legos!

Cooper had so much fun playing in the water. He made us all cold just watching him.

We were lucky to go with all of our cousins, this is the best picture we could get.

2009-03-15T11:04:00.000-07:00

Christmas was kind of a blur. We were surprised to find out we were having another baby a few weeks before Christmas. After the shock set in we have all been very excited. Cooper still hopes that the baby is a puppy inside my stomach. Malia wants a sister and Noah is hoping for a brother. We will find out on March 18th. Life has been a little crazy at the start of 2009. I have been pretty sick thanks to being pregnant. I am 20 weeks now and finally starting to feel better.

I love my sisters!!! We were lucky enough to all be together for Christmas.
Ginger was there too, just missed this picture.

Ginger and Summer

2009-03-15T10:47:00.000-07:00

Cooper had so much fun giving Sue and Sadie a mohawk like his!!

My mom is a hot Mama for almost 60, Wow!! I hope I will look that good.

Noah with his favorite cousins, Saylor and Caden.

2009-03-15T10:37:00.000-07:00

Thanksgiving at the beach house was a time to be grateful...... great weather, great family, great food, lots of fun, and a lot of laughter. We are so grateful for our many blessings.

Papa and two of his favorite guys-Cooper and Carson.

Malia with her cute smile!!!

2008-11-23T15:07:00.000-08:00

Cooper was a little scared the first ride, by the second ride he was having a blast!!!

He was hoping he would be tall enough for the big roller coaster. Noah was tall enough this time for most of the rides.

We had a really fun day at Knotts.

2008-11-23T14:42:00.000-08:00

The adult Halloween party! Tahne and Carey were the perfect Palin and McCain. I think even Tahne was surprised at how much she looked like Palin.

Noah's flag football team took first place in their division. Winning the final game by just 1 point!!! Noah made 1 of the 2 touchdowns that were scored-Go Saints!!!!

2008-11-23T14:27:00.000-08:00

Cooper had so much riding the ponies. He is such an animal lover.
The corn maze was our favorite part of the day.
Noah said it was only fair if he got to take a picture of us because we had taken a million of him!

2008-11-23T14:20:00.000-08:00

Noah, Malia, and Cooper at the pumpkin patch.

2008-10-29T15:00:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween

2008-10-29T14:59:00.000-07:00

The wonderful wizard of Oz

2008-10-29T14:57:00.000-07:00

We are off to see the wizard.....

2008-10-29T14:54:00.000-07:00

Cooper is 2. He gets to hang out with Mom all day! He is so much fun. He is easy going, happy, and friendly. He loves his big brother and sister and cried their first day of school. Cooper puts a smile on our face everyday.

2008-10-29T14:44:00.000-07:00

Malia just started kindergarten!! She is our little Mom. Her favorite thing to do is play that she is a mom. Malia is very independent and does not like to be told what to do!! She is funny, imaginative, and very happy most of the time-Just don't catch her on a bad day.

2008-10-29T14:43:00.000-07:00

2008-10-29T14:40:00.000-07:00

Noah is 7 years old. He just started 2nd grade. He loves to play football, catch lizards, ride his bike, hike, and play with his friends. He loves his Dad being his football coach this year. This summer Noah learned how to water ski!! He got up on his second try. He is very athletic and can run very fast!!!