A Visit from Friends

We love when our friends visit but, too often, I get so involved in catching up, I forget to take pictures. (And since I blog off the pictures I've taken, I often forget to mention when we've had visitors.) Luckily, when Adrienne and her boys, Caden & Cohen, visited February 10-16th, she brought along her camera and was kind enough to share the pics. Adrienne and I became good friends when we both lived in Idaho Falls. A couple of months after we moved to Utah, she got married and moved to Arizona! We visited them last year during Spring Break and get to see their family every few months, since her in-laws live in Utah. She and a friend decided to load all of their kids and drive to Utah to visit friends and family. We were on the list!!!

Caden turned 5 while they were here and we were invited to the birthday party...however, Harrison & Madi were both under-the-weather and we didn't get to go. :( We did get to go for ice cream the next day though. There was a little ice cream shop in Idaho Falls called Leatherby's that became our favorite. It went out of business in Idaho but they have a location in Utah, so that's where we went. Seriously, if you haven't tried Leatherby's, you should. Here's their website. And here are the pics from the night:





We had a great time! Let's do it again SOON!!!

6-months old

Harrison and Madison are officially six months old. The adjustment to having two new babies at our house has been easier than originally anticipated. Everyone in our house has finally settled into a "groove" and things just work out, somehow. We go through a lot of diapers and laundry and it seems that my house is never completely clean but these babies bring such a joy to our family, it doesn't really matter. Because, at the end of the day, we have 5 beautiful children and couldn't be happier!

Harrison was born one minute before Madison and is appropriately bigger than she is. His dad calls him "Han", as in Han Solo from Star Wars. Owen calls him "Harry", even though we'd prefer he didn't. Gavin loves to make him smile by dancing or jumping in front of his face. Cameron likes to take him downstairs to "play with the boys" on occasion. Harrison has one adorable dimple in his right cheek. When he smiles, it takes up his entire face! His hair is growing in blonder than any of our other boys and with a tint of red, like his sister. His eyes are blue! He loves being on his tummy and can roll from front to back and almost back to front. He has figured out how to move already and will push/pull himself around his play mat to get where he wants to be. He HATES eating anything other than breast milk but is forced, daily, into eating a few bites of cereal. He will almost tolerate oatmeal but detests rice. He sort of liked carrots the other day but dislikes squash, green beans, bananas, pears. I'm sure that will all change eventually. Harrison can laugh and coo and makes me smile. I do not know what I'd do without him. I love the quiet times when I can just sit and hold him, without being needed by Madi or any of his brothers. I often thank him for coming to us.





Madison has the entire family wrapped around her little finger. Her brothers cannot get enough of her. A couple of weeks ago, Spencer was playing with her and was throwing her in the air and catching her. She GIGGLED this high pitched giggle. Spencer kept saying, "Did you hear that?" as he'd attempt to make her do it again. If you have 4 boys, a high pitched giggle is a rarity in your house and it is SO exciting! She has many nicknames: Madi, Mads, Madi Jayne, Lady, Princess, Sister, etc. I have been astounded by how our laundry pile of reds/pinks/purples has grown since she joined our family. I used to only have to do a specific load of reds/pinks/purples maybe every 10 days or so. That is no longer the case! We have been overwhelmed by "GIRL" colors and I love it! Madi loves to eat. She loves rice & oatmeal cereal, carrots, green beans, squash, bananas, pears, etc. She is to the point where she wants anything I'm eating too. So she occasionally gets a little taste of grown-up food (bread, pizza crust, mashed potato). Recently, I was drinking water through a straw and she wanted some...bad! So I let her try it and she loved it. So we got her a sippy cup with a straw. She thinks she's so big when she sits in her Bumbo and holds on to it's two handles and drinks water like a big girl. She loves being on her tummy, like her brother, so rolling hasn't been very important to her. But she can roll from back to front and she has started sitting up a little better every day.





Han & Madi have a special relationship already. Whenever they are sitting next to each other in their Bumbos or laying by each other on the ground, Madi reaches over and grabs Harrison's hand. Maybe any baby would do that but I think it's adorable. I hope it's the foundation of a lifetime friendship. I hope they will be the best of friends and that they will help each other make good choices as they grow up. I am so grateful that we were blessed with these twins!





And a comparison of how they've grown from birth to 6-months:


Oh, how we love them!

Catch-up :(

I have been a crappy blogger lately. And I don't like that. I don't like when I post numerous back-dated posts in one day, just to catch up. I don't like when I take pictures but never put them on the blog. Or when I forget to take pictures of special moments. I don't like when I write a blog post in my head but take weeks to actually type it out. I'm making a valiant effort to change. Starting NOW. So, although I hate doing the backtrack thing, here are a few important and/or random things that have happened at our house recently.

One Sunday morning when we arrived at church, the ward music specialist caught me in the foyer. She asked if our boys would be willing to do a musical number in the near future. I said I'd check with them but I was sure they would say yes. And they did. We were scheduled to sing the last week of January until someone realized that week was Ward Conference. We were asked to push it back to February 27th. I had been debating between a few Primary songs that the boys could sing without much practice but nothing "felt" right. Then one night when I was up with one of the babies, a song came to my mind and I knew it would be a great song to teach them. It was called "A Young Boy Prayed" by Janice Kapp Perry. It teaches that because Joseph Smith prayed and received an answer, we can pray and know that we'll also receive an answer. Although it was only vaguely familiar to me, my mom had the music and it was scanned to me within the day. (Ahhh...the power of technology.) I started playing the song on the piano and typed out the words for Cameron & Gavin to read and then began teaching the words of the chorus to Owen. Whenever we were in the car, we'd sing the chorus. I'd sing a line and they'd sing it back, over and over and over again. Then we learned the 1st verse. Then I had the idea to have Cam learn the 2nd verse and Gavin learn the 3rd verse. These boys are SMART and I knew they could do it. We practiced as often as we could, mostly when Spencer was at work. Then one Monday night the boys decided they'd like to sing it to their dad for FHE. ***A little background info is needed at this point: Our Primary has been trying to help the Primary children recognize when they are feeling the Spirit. The kids are encouraged to write down moments that happen when they've felt the Spirit and they are printed in our monthly newsletter.*** Back to the story. So we all gathered around the piano and Spence sat in front of the boys. They sang their little hearts out and when the song was over Cam said, "Mom, I'd like to write this moment down and give it to the Primary because I can feel the Spirit right now." Gavin agreed and immediately went and phonetically wrote "I can feel the Spirit when I sing with my brothers." Tender moments!

The Saturday before they were to sing, I took the boys to the church to practice with the microphone. Just as we were finishing up Owen said, "I don't want to do this anymore." And he was serious! I was so relieved when Sunday finally came and all 3 boys stood up to the mic and sang so well. We were also very grateful for the family support that day as Aunts Sylvia, Callie, Emily, and Uncle Jeff & Miley came to our meeting. (And Granny Jane & Grandpa Rick joined us via cell phone.) I know this was just the first of many performances for my boys and I was thrilled that it was such a positive one.

I should have taken a picture of the boys that day but I didn't. I did, however, take a picture of their adorable little sister:

I have been participating in a monthly book club with some ladies from my ward. I have enjoyed each book we've read and have LOVED the discussions we have regarding the books. At our most recent gathering we started talking about the importance of strengthening your relationships. It was then and there that I decided Spencer and I needed to go on a date without the babies! If only we could find someone brave enough to babysit all 5 children at one time. Enter our fabulous home teacher, Chris Metzger. We put the babies to bed by 8 pm on Saturday (March 5th) and he came and entertained the kids. We went to dinner. That's all. But it was SOOOOO nice to be alone. To talk without being interrupted. And yes, we even held hands because neither of us had to carry a carseat! And when we got home ALL the boys were awake, including Harrison. But everyone was happy and well taken care of. We may even do it again sometime!

Earlier that day, we visited Grandma Tisa & Grandpa Dave. Grandma has been under-the-weather for a bit and hadn't seen the kids and was missing them. So we took a little drive and stayed for a couple of hours. Shortly after we got home there was a knock at the door and my Grandpa Don & his wife, Gloria, were there. They hadn't seen the babies since their blessing. We had a nice visit.

Monday night Callie cut Chopper's hair. Chopper (Spencer's brother) is one of the greatest people in the world! He has such an infectious smile and makes everyone feel at ease immediately. He had long hair...like, past-his-shoulders-long. He's the lead singer in a band and it fit him! However, he decided he was ready for a change so he asked Callie if she'd help him out. She was happy to oblige. But when he said he wanted more of a "missionary" hair cut, I nearly fell off my chair! I wish I had taken a "before" shot. (Here's a link to his wife's photo blog of some recent pics she took of him and the band, if you're interested.) Anyway. Here's the "after." Can you even believe? I think it's fab...

Tonight Uncle Jeff & Aunt Emily showed up at our door. This is highly unusual since we generally only see Jeff on the weekends. Jeff is so dedicated to his school work right now and spends hours studying. Emily had wanted to see Cameron. See, today at school they were having a special event called "Grands & Goodies." Students were supposed to invite someone who was "grand" in their life to share a "goodie" and look through the books at the book fair. I'd asked Em if she could go and she said she could but then when I talked to Cam about it he said it "didn't matter if she couldn't make it." I understood this to mean that it wouldn't matter so I told Emily not to bother...I was wrong. So she came over tonight to let him know how much she cared. Then Jeff added to her words by carving him a wand like Harry Potter. He did this in about 5 minutes and also made one for Owen & Gavin!


We are so grateful to those of you who support us in everything we do. Whether you're a relative, a ward member, an old friend, or someone who knows us through our blog...we feel your love! Now I'm mostly caught up. Six-month pictures of the babies in the next post.

What do YOU think?

Madi has been blessed with beautiful red hair and blue eyes. I'd be thrilled if neither her hair or eye color ever change. Recently, we've had a number of people comment that we should look into signing her up to be a baby model. We just chuckle (besides, where would you even start?) Yesterday I got a Carter's advertisement in the mail and was a little surprised at what I saw on the cover. Here's what the ad looks like:

I showed it to Owen and asked, "Does this look a little like Madi?" He said yes.
I showed it to Gavin and asked, "Does this look a little like Madi?" He said yes.
I showed it to Cam and asked, "Does this look a little like Madi?" He said yes.
I showed it to Spence and asked, "Does this look a little like Madi?" He said yes.

What do you think? (I sure wish I could capture my adorable children's faces better...I need a live-in photographer.)

Birthday Breakfast

To celebrate Emily's 25th birthday (yes, she's a quarter of a century old now), we decided to go to Kneader's for breakfast. Kneader's is a Utah-only restaurant that bakes their own bread and desserts and I've never tasted anything there that wasn't fabulous. So, here's what we ate...Cinnamon French Toast, YUM!!!

And here's who got to go to this delightful breakfast:




I'm loving our new tradition of celebrating birthdays. I only wish No'el & our mom lived closer so they could celebrate with us. Happy 25th Em!

Four Month Check-up

I took Harrison & Madi to the doctor for their 4-month Well-Child on February 1st...they were almost 5 months old, oops! Both babies are very healthy and they are growing so quickly. They both have great smiles and Harrison has the funniest laugh. He usually only laughs at his daddy so we anxiously await Spencer's arrival home from work each day. I heard someone in our ward call them the "ward's babies" because they get passed around on Sundays. The young women always want to see what Madi's wearing and we get a lot of help at church. We love it! Here they are, waiting for Dr. Sheri:


And their stats:
Harrison~ Weight= 16 lbs 5.5 oz, 60%
Height= 26 inches, 75%
Head Circumference= 16.8 inches, 60%

Madison~ Weight= 14 lbs 11.5 oz, 60%
Height= 24 inches, 25%
Head Circumference= 16 inches, 40%

Madi recently met Madi Fullmer, our friend from Idaho Falls. We thought it was appropriate to take a picture of them together!
And just a few more pictures of the twins...I can't get enough of them! Madi generally loves getting her picture taken. Harrison, not so much!

Life is like a ...

Bountiful Basket. You never know what you're going to get! (Okay, that was way too cheesy.) My sister, Emily, & I decided to get our first Bountiful Basket this month. You can visit their website here. We were both a little apprehensive about what we'd get in our first basket, if we'd be able to use everything, if we'd recognize everything, etc. I'd heard that sometimes you get out of the ordinary vegetables or fruits that you aren't quite sure how to prepare. However, it was fabulous and we've ordered our second basket already. Included in the first was:
8 bananas
7 green apples
1 cantaloupe
16 oz strawberries
12 pears
3 tomatoes
1 bunch spinach
1 bag red potatoes
2 red bell peppers
4 broccoli florets
1 head cauliflower
2 bags celery

One thing I loved about the basket is that when we picked it up there were a few things that weren't ripe yet. I was able to use the fruits and veggies at my own pace and didn't have to throw any of it out. Totally worth the money!!!