Testimony

Kade has always been on the shy side. In fact he is doing really well in all subjects except listening and speech. Once he started playing soccer he has been coming out of his "shell" a little more. Today was no exception. A little while ago Kade asked me if he could go up and bare his testimony. I knew I would have to go up so I talked him out of it and told him we would practice on what to say. Well, we didn't practice that much. Today at church I jokingly asked him if he was going to go give his testimony. He said yes. I told him if he did he would have to go alone because I was holding a sleeping baby and had to watch the other two monkeys. I asked him over and over if he knew what to say. He told me he did. He walked right up and waited his turn. Once he was in front of the microphone he was silent, which I expected. Before he went up I said a little prayer that he would make it through and that if he didn't know what to say that somebody in the bishopric would help him out. Sure enough on of the counselors helped him. I know Kade has a testimony. Next time I need to be ther with him because he would probably be more confident with knowing what to say. However, I really think, for his first time he did an AWESOME job! Connor especially thinks he did a great job. He was standing on the chair the entire time so he could see Kade. When Kade was all done he started clapping and saying "yea Kade". Kyle thought he did good to, but he kept saying "I am not going up there". What a great example to his little brothers! I am so proud of him for even getting up. Some people never get up there because it is so nerve racking. We will practice sharing our testimony at home too so when he wants to share it again he will know what to say. Great job buddy!! We love you!!

 

Side note....Lorenzo Snow is the prophet we are studing this year. I remember reading that everybody thought he had always been an outstanding speaker. He tells them that he actually started out by sharing his testimony that wasn't even a minute long. It happened the same way after that. Soon he started to let the Spirit guide his thoughts and he knew what to say. However, he had to practice. Maybe this is the beginning for Kade :) If he chooses to go on a mission when he is 18 he will need to have the confidence to share his testimony. Starting out this way will help him practice and gain that confidence!

Family Pictures

Last August I called a photographer I knew and scheduled a family photo shoot for October. Unfortunately, the week before she called and had to cancel. I could not find any other reasonably priced photographer. Every one else I knew was booked. So I decided to go to JC Penney. We got some ok pictures, but they are not worth the money. Here are the pictures. You can judge for yourself.

 

 

This is one of the first pictures taken. When I looked at the picture on the screen I told the boys to smile. That is when the picture above was taken.

 

Our four boys that even though they drive Eric and I crazy at times, we could not see our lives without them.



Kade is getting so big! It is only twelve years away that I could be using this picture as part of his graduation and/or missionary farewell.

 



Kyle looks very mischievious in the picture. Still handsome though!

 



Connor is not giving his real smile.

 Too bad because his smile can light up a room!

 



This is my absolute favorite picture of the whole session.

He looks so adorable and I am glad we can see his little feet!

He is about 6-7 months old in this picture.

 



Hopefully this year I will find a photographer that won't cancel on me so I can get the pictures I really want :)



New table and Benches

For Christmas Jeff and Bryan made us these awesome, well built benches. The boys will spill something on them and they will wipe clean. We were using my moms really big fold up table for our table, but we wanted to have our own. One night my mom and Bryan watched the boys. Eric and I went table shopping. We went to R.C. Willey, but didn't find anything we really liked. We then drove all the way down to Walker (where we bought our couch set),but we didn't find anything there either. There was this little furniture store across the street that we decided to take a look at. We found the perfect table there. They delivered the table the next day. My mom and Bryan bought Eric a new tool set for Christmas. He was super excited to have to put the table together so he could use his new tools. Here is Eric and Kade after the job is all done. Of course, we don't get to see how pretty it is every day. We have to put a table cloth on it so the boys don't destroy it.

 

 

Chicago

During the results of the election in November, Eric had to go to Chicago for training. His hotel just happened to be a block away from where Obama's headquarters were. Too bad he wasn't an Obama supporter. Anyways, here are pictures of where he stayed and some of the sites he saw.

Adventures in Car Problems

Lately the boys have been thinking it is fun to get in the car while it is parked in the garage. They usually get in and out when I do not know what they are doing. I have went outside to the garage to throw trash away or get something out of the car and I have found the car lights on. I turn them off and make sure the car still starts. This morning we were on our way to playgroup at the park. There was going to be fun finger painting and playing. I loaded all three boys in the car. When I went to turn the car on, nothing. The car wouldn't start at all. So, I unloaded the boys and went inside. Oh well! It is not like I don't have a million things to do at home, but it would have been more fun for the boys and I to get out and be around friends. Luckily, I have a very handy little brother who is going to come to oud rescue, again. I think from now on I am going to take the keys out, luck the door and hide the keys where only I know where they are at. That way this will never happen again. I am so glad we didn't have anywhere really important to be. 

Cam

Cam at 9/10 months.

He is finally sitting up by himself and he just started rolling over :)

He is eating solid foods really good.

When put in front of something he will stand. However, we stay close by so he doesn't fall.

He is an excellent cuddler. We love to snuggle with him!

His brothers still adore him, sometimes a little bit too much. He is very patient with them though! 

He still sleeps through the night.

He has his top two teeth now.

He is still really calm and easy going (they stay that wasy until about 2-3 years).

Now when we go to the grocery store he sits in the seat.

I no longer have to put the car seat in the cart.

He LOVES to clap!!

He definitely knows his own voice and loves to hear it, whether he is being quiet or loud! We usually can't stay in sacrament or any other part of church because he starts to be so loud.

His favorite thing to say is "da, da, da".

He weighs a whopping 16 lbs. I think that is the lightest of all the boys.

 

Here are some of his cute expressions.

 

I love this picture of Cam, however, the shape of his head kind of looks like Mega Mind :) 

It is probably just the way the picture was taken because he doesn't look like that in any of the other puctures

Another favorite.

 



One of my favorites!

 



These are the kind of moments I am going to miss when we no longer have a baby in our home.

Lately, Cam has only been wanting to go to sleep when I am holding him. Which I am fine with. He looks so peaceful and content.

 



 

We love this little guy and couldn't imagine our family without him!

Kade's Tooth

Kade lost his very first tooth in January. One day while I was brushing his teeth I noticed there was a a tooth growing in behind his baby tooth. I looked online and even took him to the dentist to make sure everything was alright. Everything was! Sometimes teeth grow behind the baby tooth. The new tooth starts to grow and kills the root of the baby tooth. The baby tooth becomes loose and eventually falls out. The new tooth will move into the open spot.

 

I thought it would be fun for Kade to have something to put his tooth in for the Tooth fFiry. I found a toothfairy bag on Pinterest made out of felt. When his tooth finally fell out he was so excited to use the bag.

 

 

Kade woke up the very next morning and found $3.00 in the bag. He was super excited!! After we went to the store he decided to save his money so he could get something bigger and better in the future. A couple of weeks later the same thing happened with the other bottom tooth. However, he was very disappointed when the Tooth Fairy left him only $1.00. We had a talk about being grateful for what he gets. He is looking forward to his next tooth falling out and saving more money :)



New Year's

We don't have any grand traditions for New Year's Eve. Eric and I got married a few days before New Year's. We spent our first New Year together in Hawaii. However, from the wedding and then traveling all day we were so tired we slept through it. I remember waking up and seeing everyone celebrating on T.V., but I was so tired I fell back asleep.

 

This year we did decorate and celebrate more. This holdiay will be more fun as the boys get bigger. Here is a cute picture of them. I don't think any of us made it to midnight. We all fell asleep watching T.V.

 

After Christmas....

The day after Christmas we were lucky enough to go to the North Pole via the Polar Express thanks to Grandma and Bryan. Eric unfortunately had to work. We missed having him there with us. While driving one of the boys had to go potty so we pulled off to the side of the road. Good thing they are boys and know exactly what to do when they are outside.

On our way to Arizona we stopped at this awesome train. The boys were able to walk up the stairs and all over. They LOVED it!!

Everyone except Cam and I. Grandma was taking the picture and
Cam and I were in the car staying warm.

 

We also stopped at this wildlife park. Part of the park is a drive where you HAVE to stay in the car. Here are some pictures of the animals we saw. I am so bummed my phone broke because Kade took some pretty good pictures of the animals. Oh well! At least we have these ones.

 

 

We couldn't understand why these black birds were flying around the wolves, especially when the black wolf was eating one. Gross!!
 

 

 

 

We were also able to walk around some of the park and see some smaller animals.
 The boys LOVED playing in the snow.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After driving for a little bit longer we finally arrived. Before going to the train we ate at a little restaurant. We also had to change the boys into their pajamas. Again Kade thought he was too big to change into pj's. Right when we were boarding the train it started to snow really hard. The boys were walking really fast and we had to cover Cam up with a blanket. I believe the train was built in the early 1900's. It was fun to ride on such an "antique" train.
 

 

 

I had to copy and paste these pictures from Facebook. I have no idea why they are so big.



Cam was super excited to go on the train too!!



Kyle's pajamas were very fitting for the ride.
They said "Santa Express" and had a big train on them.


 

After the train started going the hostess served cups of hot chocolate and chocolate chip cookies, just like on the movie Polar Express. The cookies were YUMMY!!

 

After we left the North Pole Santa came aboard the train.
All of the boys were so excited!!
 

He came up to each of the boys and gave them a bell, just like the boy was given in the movie.
 

I was just going to grab the bell when he gave it to Cam, but he said "no, no wait". He patiently waited for little Cam to notice the bell and reach out to grab it. What an awesome Santa Claus!!
 

 

After it was all over we bundled back up and headed to the cars to start our journey back home. The boys soon fell fast asleep for the car ride home. Thanks Grandma and Bryan for taking us!! It will probably be one of the boys' favorite memories.

**About a month later I was talking to Kade. He told me that we didn't really go to the North Pole. I asked him why he said that. He said we didn't go because all of the buildings were fake. They didn't were not completely built. Which they weren't. They only had the front and were being held up by long boards. I told him the rest of the buildings were imaginary. It is going to be a sad day when the boys don't believe in the magic of everything.