MTC

This is the day we took Jon to the MTC. It was so neat to be able to be there. What a great example for all those little nieces and nephews. This picture should be fun to look back on in two years and see how much they have all grown.

What great faith my brother and sister showed by leaving even though the future is uncertain about my mom. I love both of my missionaries!!!

Isaac's Baptism

We were so proud of Isaac for wanting to be baptized. He was so insistent about wanting to be baptized in Utah I was a little worried, because it looked like that wasn't going to happen for a while there. But everything worked out and it was a wonderful day! Almost everyone from both sides of our family was able to be there, and it was the day after Christmas so that was fun too.

We were so grateful for everyones willingness to help get everything ready for the big day. The program went really well, we had Uncle Sterling and Grandpa give talks and Amy played the violin. We all sang Christmas Hymns as we waited for Isaac and Eric to change. Eric and I were both able to share our testimonies at the end.

After the baptism we had an assortment of soups and salads with some rolls. It was easy thanks to all the people who offered to bring stuff and very tasty! Isaac really wanted to have a birthday cake at the Baptism so we all sang him a happy Birthday song and had cake.

He is such a sweet little boy. He is affectionate, caring, energetic, imaginative and just the cutest kid ever. I love you Isaac and I am so glad you decided to be baptized. What a special day!

Meg was put in her car seat because she fell asleep. When she woke up she decided to take a peek out. I thought this picture was pretty funny even though it doesn't really relate to the post...I just had to add it.

Christmas Morning

Packing up Christmas was a pain but turned out just fine. This photo shows where we set up, Jamie and Jed, Jamie and Kirk, Eric and I, Mindi and Dave, and my Parents all had our Christmases in the big family room so it was quite the sight to see...presents everywhere!

EMMA really liked her music box that was filled with jewelry.

ISAAC loved the rock polisher, he even got a book all about rocks and minerals to go with it.

GABE was super excited about his Ipod! The boys both loved the Nerf dart tag they got to share.

Our little babies slept in so we didn't open their presents until later that morning, so the adults got to go next.

ERIC was thrilled and surprised by his IPhone. I was really happy about my new black skirt and black boots. (even though there are no photos to document it, this photo of the babies and me was all we ended up with.)
When Elijah and Meg finally woke up they were more interested in breakfast than presents so after they were fed they finally got down to business

ELIJAH Loved both his toys, the dump truck was a huge hit and the little radio kept him entertained the whole car trip home.

MEG didn't know quite what to think but she still had a good time!

Everyone who lived nearby had their Christmases at home then made there way to Grandmas when they finished up for more gifts from Grandma and Grandpa.

The kids had quite the stash this year!!

The boys also loved the marble maze from our other Grandma and Grandpa. They had a ton of fun putting it together and even more fun watching the marbles go through it.

What a great Christmas!!

PS--all these pics were taken in the PJ's Grandma and Granpa Gave them, Here are the PJ's from Eric and Me:

Christmas Eve

After we found out that my mom had cancer we decided that we would go out to be with the family for Christmas Eve and Christmas. Jed and Jamie decided to come down as well. That meant our entire family on my side (except Jess who left to the England MTC on Dec. 11) celebrated Christmas together. The total head count was 15 Adults and 24 grandkids. It was definately a houseful.

Lots of craziness but lots of fun!

The cousins and adults do a gift exchange and we did that on Christmas Eve. (I only got pictures of the kids)

My mom got everyone PJ's the grandkids love having matching pajamas...and so did the adults! :)

It was a fun filled night with caroling, reciting the Christmas story, fondue, frape, wrapped mini hotdogs, and lots of good company!

Isaac's Getting Baptized

Obviously I need to do a MAJOR blog update...my "to blog" folder on my computer is full of TONS of pictures but that will have to wait until after Christmas. For now I just wanted to post the cute announcement my sister made. I told her what I had in mind and she is a whiz at photo shop. I really liked the way it turned out. She also took that picture of Isaac for me when we went to Utah for Thanksgiving.

Thanks Jacki...you are awesome!

Emma's birthday

We Celebrated Emma's birthday with the family, but decided to hold off on the friend party until the after the craze of Christmas...maybe in Feb. or March.





Emma you are such a fun little share-bug. You love anything girly especially painting your nails and playing with makeup. You are a very good little reader. I love all your drawing and coloring. I love you Emma!

Eric's trip to India (by Eric)

India was unlike anyplace I have ever visited. It is impossible to really describe and so I hope that a few photos will at least give an impression of our experience. Above is the Taj Mahal. It was amazing to walk around it and consider that it was being built in the early 1600s a few decades after the English set up their first establishment in the Americas at Jamestown. It was impossible not to be amazed.

Here are some pictures of people and places we visited.


I love people watching anywhere I go, even somewhere like Kmart. So you can imagine I had plenty to take in on the streets of India. The people were some of the most friendly I've met anywhere.

This is Sarnath, the birthplace of buddism.

Sandstone windows at Jodhpur fort.

Riding camels in the desert outside of Jaisalmer.

Humayan's tomb and precursor to Taj Mahal.

Ruins in Lodi Gardens, Dehli. On the banks of the Ganges River before our dawn ride.

Emma's first visit from the Tooth Fairy

Emma lost her first tooth on Dec. 15th--three days before her 6th birthday!!

And the tooth fairy didn't even forget to visit!

Mom's Cancer

I got home from my Thanksgiving travels on Wednesday and my Dad called me and told me that my Mom had Cancer. My dad asked if someone could get a blog started for her. Here is the link, my dad keeps this pretty up to date with how her treatment is going and how she is doing.

This is what I posted on Dec. 9th:

Here is a little background or as much as I know at least. I came down to visit for Thanksgiving this year arriving the Saturday before. My mom had a Doctor's appointment a few days after I got there, it was a follow-up visit for a bump on her neck that she had been taking antibiotics for. The doctor said that it should be removed since the antibiotics were not helping. The surgery was set for the day before Thanksgiving. My mom was in and out, and ready to host Thanksgiving dinner for about 50 people.

Here she is Thankgiving morning making cornicopias (sugar cones stuffed with candy) with the grandkids.

She was told it would take a week to get the results back from the biopsy. I guess she was trying not to worry anyone, but she never once gave the impression that she was very worried about it, even though I am sure she was. She was happy and bubbly just like always. On the Tuesday following Thanksgiving I asked if she had heard anything yet and she said they called that day and scheduled a follow-up/test results appointment on Thursday, and added with a laugh that it must not be very good if they can't give me the results over the phone.

I left on Wednesday and got a call Thursday morning from my Dad, he could barely get the words out...my mom had lymphoma. I couldn't believe it. He said they have an appointment with the oncologist the next day. That was a rough 24 hours.

On friday we found out exactly what we are dealing with. She has Diffuse large cell lymphoma (non hodgkin's). They said it is treated successfully in 70% of cases...good news. She is getting a CT PET scan today to see if the cancer has spread to anywhere else in her body. We are praying that the cancer will not be anywhere else. She will get the results back tomorrow, and we will know more of what to expect.

8 is Great!

Isaac turned 8 this month. Gabe started out the day by giving him 2 pokeman cards...how nice Gabe.

A little later he opened his present from Grandma

After church the next day, we had time to break open Grandma's gift and Isaac had so much fun...Eric-not so much. Eric's words "the makers of this toy hate children and the parents who raise them". The general idea of the toy is that you put together the skeleton and then build the outer casing and then pour in a mixture that hardens up making the body of the dinosaur. It sounds alot easier than it was. I was laughing at Eric trying to show Isaac how much fun this was. I think the main problem was that there were tons of tiny pieces and elastic and all sorts of stuff and the instructions had a couple diagrams and thats about it. You just kind of had to figure it out.

Even though it was kind of a pain, Isaac sure thought it was cool and still has them displayed in his room.

Next we had birthday cake and he opened his presents from us.

Isaac wanted blondies for his birthday cake, but of course he wanted it decorated as well...Eric helped Isaac turn it into a dinosaur landscape complete with a volcano made out of brownies.

When He blew out the candles it looked like the volcano was smoking...Isaac thought it was really cool!

Happy Birthday Isaac.

You are such a fun tender hearted ball of energy. You have an incredible imagination and you are a great artist. I am glad that I was chosen to be your Mom!! I love you.