Lilah and grandma Jacqi

On Thursday Lilah and grandma Jacqi got to spend the day together. They met Karmen at her house and watched Joaquin and Ezekiel while Karmen had an appointment. Little Zeke was so excited when he woke to find Lilah there. He kept laughing and wanting to play with her. Once Karmen returned they all went out to lunch at the Olive Garden. They also went to WalMart and Target running errands. They had such a great day together!!!

Grandma Jacqi is here!!!

Grandma Jacqi arrived last night and we are all excited to have her visiting with us for the next 8 days. Some of the kids had made cards for her and were very excited to give them to her when she got to the house. The kids got to stay up late because she was arriving after their bedtime...but it was worth it!!!

Today Olivia is staying home with grandma so they can have some time together. This morning they played games and then went to McDonalds for lunch. They then went shopping at Walmart for items that grandma had put in her carry-on luggage that they nice security people then threw away because she was not supposed to have them. Poor grandma!!! Karmen and the boys are also coming over this afternoon to play with us and visit with grandma.

The other kids will also get a day to spend alone with grandma and we will update you all on their activities as their days pass. Isn't family fun!!!

Justin and karate

Justin had taken about 1 1/2 years of karate when we needed to stop because of some problems with his karate school. We stopped about 1 year ago and had not yet found a new school for him that would work for his schedule or we felt comfortable with. Well, this week Justin started in a new karate school. This school seems really great and his first 2 lessons got him excited again about doing karate. We will post a picture of him in his new uniform as soon as it arrives.

Oh Jayd...you are something else.

So Jayd is unique in that she gets straight A's in school but in the real world the only way to describe her is.....dumb blond. Ever tell someone something and they just look at you with a complete blank stare and you know they have NO clue what you are talking about? She is so fun to tease because you can tell her anything and she will just sit there wondering if what you said is true or not. Well, that is our Jayd.

The other day in church we were asked by one of Jayd's teachers to describe Jayd in two words. These words were going to be used that night in a "New Beginnings" program for all the young women of our church. Immediately Matt said "dumb blond". Yes, I appropriately hit him and we started thinking of other words. We came up with Energetic and Determined. Energetic because she is constantly doing, going, playing or creating something. It's hard to keep her down and immovable. Determined because if she wants something she will drive you crazy until she has either worn you out and you give in to her or she finally gets the point and leaves us alone. :) She also will spend 2 hours on a homework assignment that should only take 30 minutes in order to make sure it is correct and also looks good. LOL. (Yes, she is also Obsessive Compulsive...but that's another story.)

That night at the program they proceeded to read all the girls names and their characteristics. When they got to Jayd and her characteristics were read, she turned to us with her blank stare and said, "What do those mean?". Of course Matt immediately looked at me and said, "We should have stuck with the dumb blond." Yes, others around us heard both these statements and we all as quietly as we could started laughing. I had to then turn to her and explain.

Jayd does not disappoint us. She is so fun!!!!

"No Dale...Mine!!!"

So I made the mistake of not having Elijah in my site the other day for about 1 minute...and so Elijah decided that was a great opportunity to dump a FULL bag of Cheerios onto the table and floor. Of course our dog Dale saw the opportunity for table food (which we do not give him) and started eating the ones on the floor. Elijah immediately jumped down from the bench, climbed under the table with the dog and proceeded to tell the dog over and over, "No Dale, Mine" as he tried to push Dale away from HIS Cheerios. Of course that is when I walked in. Imagine me then trying to get both the dog and Elijah away from all the Cheerios all over the place. Oh the joys of parenthood.

Moving Final Update

After much prayer and fasting, we have decided to stay were we are and not move. Matt and I really feel that moving would be too hard for Justin at this time in his life. He is finally feeling accepted and finding friends which for some reason has been hard for him in other places. Justin is such a wonderful boy and if staying here helps him than that is what we need to do. We feel good about this decision and know we have been directed in this. Thank you for all your support!!

Update On The Family

It's been a while since I have written an update on what we are all doing so I thought I better do that.

Justin (age 14) is really growing. He is now as tall as mom and gaining weight. He continues to play the baritone in school and is in the pep band for their basketball games. Justin is excited to attend EFY (Especially For Youth) at Utah State this July with his cousins Timothy and James. It is a 5 day program that is really wonderful for the youth of our church. Justin has been diagnosed with clinical depression and is getting help for that. He is on medication and is seeing a great councilor. We love him so much and know that he will get through this.

Jayd (age 12) started taking piano lessons in December and is really enjoying it. She is a natural and is picking it up VERY quickly. She is still playing the flute in school but has said that she will probably not do it again next year but will concentrate more on piano and sports. She got all A's and 1 B this past school term. Jayd has now passed mom's height and is still growing at a crazy speed.

Chancey is turning 12 in just a couple weeks and she is excited about going into Young Women's in church at that time. She is so tall now...almost to mom's height. She just finished a science fair project using water and food coloring. She continues to play the piano and has become a constant reader. Chancey also got all A's except for history..she said the teacher was not nice.

Lilah (age 9) is really enjoying school this year as she has some great friends. She also got all A's except for Math. She continues to play the piano beautifully and is great at helping mom with cooking dinner. Lilah is also growing like a weed and doesn't seem to be stopping as she the doctor is saying that she is the size of an 11 year old.

Olivia (age 7) is doing so much better with her reading and amazes us daily with it. She enjoys reading the scriptures with us which we know has greatly helped her progress with her reading. She continues to be in her own little world and that other day Matt asked if he could join her there. She just looked at him with a blank look on her face. Yep...that's our Olivia.

Abe (age 4) is doing amazingly better. We started him in pre-school in November and wow...his behavior has improved so much. His teacher has been so patient yet firm in teaching him that fits, angry faces and crying is not needed or appropriate. We see this improvement now at home and Primary class too. Wow...what a blessing she has been to Abe. I guess he needed someone other than Mom and Dad to help him improve. We now no longer are afraid of him going to Kindergarten next year.

Elijah (age 2)...where to begin. We have decided that he must be hyperactive. I know...all two year old boys are but wow...he is none stop running, jumping, climbing etc. He is learning so fast too. We are working on potty training and he is doing well...not close yet but he is getting the idea and not fighting it. His hemophilia is managed well with the factor that he is getting 3x's a week. What a blessing that is for this very active little boy.

Matt is very busy at work right now. He has had to work longer hours and we miss him but we are so proud of his hard work and example to us. Matt continues to be the Scout Committee Chairman and enjoys playing basketball 2 mornings each week with guys from the church.

Cayr (me) has been working on the quilts for the kids. Abe and Olivia's is now done and on their beds. I am now working on Lilah's quilt. The kids and house keep me very busy.

Well, there is the family. We are looking forward to Grandma Jacqi's visit in February and for spring so that we can get out more. :)

Love Sunday Muffins

Sunday mornings we have muffins for breakfast. We usually have a triple berry first then a chocolate chip muffin. Elijah really got into his muffins this week. They were all over him but he sure enjoyed them!!!

We're Going On A Cruise!!

So remember Matt's declare that he was done with parenting after Elijah had played in the toilet. Well our healthy response to that comment and incident is for Matt and me to go on a week cruise together. :)

We are leaving on April 26th and will be flying to Miami. We then board the Carnival Cruise ship called the Valor. We will be stopping at 4 locations as well as having 2 days at sea:
Grand Cayman Island
Isla Roatan (Island off of Honduras)
Belize
Cozumel, Mexico

We chose this particular cruise because 3 of the locations we will be stopping at have ancient Mayan ruins that we will be able to tour. Plus all the relaxation and sleep we could ever need or want!!!!

He's at it again...

...actually he never stops. He is at a very interesting age right now. These pictures show Elijah wearing one of his sisters head bands as he is playing. He put it on himself. Impressive isn't he.

Then yesterday he hit his head REALLY bad. This is his first major head bang that resulted in a dangerous goose egg on his forehead. Within the hour of hitting his head he had been given a double dose injection through his port of his Factor. The picture doesn't show how bad it really is but I had to try and take a picture. This morning it is looking much better. He still has a goose egg but it is down and the coloring looks better. We will give him another double dose of factor today and a single dose tomorrow to make sure that the internal bleeding does stop.

Then this morning, Elijah decided to make our morning full of fun. He found a bathroom door open and decided to play in the toilet AGAIN. Well this time someone had "done their business of #1" and not flushed. So you guess it...Elijah had water ALL over the bathroom....as if he had been splashing and just having one heck of a good time. I hate to say that after cleaning the bathroom from top to bottom Matt's comment of "I'm done raising kids" was understandable.

Lilah and her friend Payton

Lilah has a good friend named Payton. They are in the same school and church class. They enjoy playing together and the other day Payton came over after school to play with Lilah. As they were eating their afternoon snack they decided to sit on one of the porch benches and listen to the sounds outside. They looked so cute out there that I had to sneak and take pictures from the window in the dining room. I know that Lilah says they are only friends but I think it may be more than friends for him. :-)

Our New Home?

UPDATE, Sunday, January 18th, 2009: Isn't life interesting!! As we wait to hear back from the bank Matt and I are now trying to decide if this is the right time to move. There is a strong possibility that we will wait. We LOVE that area and the home and who knows...maybe we will feel the time is more right in 6 months. With the economy there could be many more homes foreclosed in that area that would give us the opportunity again. We went to the Temple yesterday and that was what we have decided. Yes, I'm disappointed but know that we are being directed if we but listen.

UPDATE, Friday, January 16th, 2009: So the process of a short sale has nothing to do with the word "short". LOL. It is taking forever to get an approval from the bank although the home owner has given his approval of our offer. So, the last we have heard is that the bank will be another week on a decision. We found out that we are the only offer they are considering and since we offered their asking price we think that may be good. On our own home we are still working on if we will do a Lease To Own with someone we know or put it up on the market. The details on doing all these things are staggering and hopefully they will not kill this whole thing but we are praying still that it will work. We will update again when we know anything.

Written 1/13/09: This is possibly our new home. Yes, we have put an offer on a home in Herriman, UT. It is really beautiful and so perfect for our family. It has 7 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms upstairs on the 2nd floor. We will use one of the rooms (which is HUGE) as a playroom until we finish the basement family room. On the main floor is the living room, formal dining room, office, kitchen with an attached family room, laundry, 1/2 bath and another room with a full bath next to it. The only problem with that room is that it does not have a closet....who would do something like that? So that room will become my sewing/project room. The basement, when we finish it, will have 2 more bedrooms, a full bath and a huge family room. The area is really beautiful set up next to the mountains in the southwest corner of Salt Lake County.

This is a short sale home which means the people have already moved out because they can no longer may the payments. The bank has already approved the selling price which is about 100k less than the homes value. Yes...this is a GREAT deal. So the status is that the owners have approved our offer and we are now waiting for the banks signature. Wow!!!!Here are some pictures of the home. I wish they had more on the MLS listing but they didn't....so enjoy these. We'll keep you all updated.

Formal dining room looking into the entry, living room and den.

Stairway looking down from the 2nd floor.
Kitchen Family room off of the kitchen.

Terrible Two's Already?

I'm not sure what happened on his 2nd birthday but since that very day Elijah has been impossible. He now thinks that playing in the toilet is fun and is completely soaked when I find him. Yuck!!!! At the store the other day he decided that I didn't go the way he wanted to go so he threw a huge temper tantrum. He started hitting me until I pushed the cart away from me and I just let him cry until he decided he had had enough. Elijah also now pulls the chairs up to the counters to get things he wants...such as the crayons in the cabinets which are there so he can't get them. I found him standing on the counter as he was trying to get the crayons out. Yes, my heart stopped at that very moment thinking about what would have happened if he had fallen. And then this wonderful job he did on himself and the piano. Argggg. Lucky for him it was a washable marker. We can't leave him alone for a minute!!!
His eyes are closed in the picture because he has decided that he doesn't like the flash on my new camera and so refuses to have them open as soon as he sees the camera come out.

Nana and Papa's Adventures

On November 1st, 2008, Nana and Papa began their 3rd mission as a couple in the Jordan River Temple. Papa is the 2nd Counselor in the temple presidency and Nana is the assistant to the Matron. They will serve in the Temple for the next 3 years. We are so excited about this new adventure for them.

Potty Training Time

Elijah has been sitting on the potty for the past month and not doing anything...but he sees his big brother sit there so he wanted to also. Well yesterday afternoon he finally went "pee" in the toilet and proceeded to do it 2 more times that day. This morning we missed the opportunity when he woke up but an hour later we were successful. So...looks like we will be starting the process. We are so excited!!!

Some memories of our Mama

Today we wish to share some memories of our Mama. We want this day to be about her life and the joy that she brought to each of us.

1. We were coming home from a Curtis family reunion when Mama saw a bird. She thought it was a crow but it ended up being a golden eagle. We then enjoyed watching it fly.
2. Mama always had the dish towel over her shoulder and we could never find it to dry our hands because it was with her.
3. Mama liked to eat things that were burned or very crispy.
4. Karmen and Mama sounded exactly the same so sometimes we could not tell who was talking.
5. Mama liked to put lots of lotion on her feet and hands.
6. Mama's laugh is pretty.
7. Mama's smile is pretty.
8. Mama's favorite ice cream is Ben and Jerry's Cherry Garcia.
9. Mama made the best pot pie and fat noodles even though she did not like either of them.
10. We enjoyed it when Mama would just sit down with us and talk.
11. We liked it when Mama read to us...which was often.
12. Mama didn't like us to have the Internet or tv so instead we rented movies.
13. Mama's hair is pretty.
14. Instead of saying a bad word Mama would say Doodlebug.
15. Mama made the best waffles.
16. Mama would make a funny noise when she scratched behind her ear.
17. Mama liked to eat pickles and Doritos together.
18. Mama liked to take us to the park and library all the time.
19. Mama liked children's books.
20. Mama sang some special songs to us when we would go to bed. One of them was "Telephone Operator" and the other one was a sad song about two teenagers.
21. Mama liked to sing "Did You Think To Pray" to us and when she would get to the part that talked about being weary we would fall down as if we were weary.
22. When Mama would put us to bed at night we would ask her tons of questions so that she would not leave the room...even ones that we knew the answers to.
23. Mama sometimes would do a funny dance with her feet and we would laugh at it.
24. Mama liked to cook and cooked the best things.
25. Mama won a state price for her chili.
26. On our birthdays mama would put candy all around our room and our bed and tied balloons to our bed so that we would see it when we woke up.
27. Mama always said that she was 5'11" even though she was really 6'.
28. Mama loved to listen to book tapes when we traveled or during quiet times at home.
29. Mama loved to read murder mysteries.
30. Mama loved to read the Book Of Mormon.
31. Mama was part of a book club with some of her friends.
32. Mama would only drink water if the glass was completely full of ice first. If it was not she would send us back to fill it up with more ice.
33. Mama loved to drink water and very rarely drank anything else.
34. Mama loved boiled peanuts and would have people bring them to her when they came to visit.
35. Abraham liked to get a chair and bring it up to the counter to help Mama cook.
36. Mama liked to give us lots of hugs.
37. Mama and Abraham liked to sing songs in the car when they were running errands.
38. Abraham and Mama liked to roll around on the ground together.
39. Mama and Olivia played games together while the girls were at school.
40. During the summer when Mama was having quiet time we would watch a movie and have a Popsicle.
41. During the summer we would go to the school with Abraham in the stroller and us on our bikes.
42. We would take walks with Mama and our dog Lincoln.
43. It was mama's idea to name our dog Lincoln because we already had an Abraham.
44. We liked to take Sunday walks.
45. Mama liked when we would pick wild flowers for her. She would put them in a vase and keep them for a while.
46. Mama's favorite music as a teenager was Duran Duran.
47. Mama loved to listen to the music from Le Meserable.
48. Mama wore sweat pants or pajama pants with a t-shirt around the house.
49. Mama always wore her hair up in a bun.
50. Mama never took off her shoes. She always had tennis shoes on.

WE LOVE YOU MAMA!!!!!

Braces Faces

Look who has braces!! Jayd and Chancey got braces in October and already they have made a big difference!! Each time they go in for a check up they get to choose new band colors. Right now Chancey has blue & silver and Jayd has caribbean green & yellow. Of course they are soooo patient and already talking about when they can come off...but they have at least 18 months still to go. Keep up the smiling girls!!!

Today I Am Two!!!!

Today I turned 2 years old and it was quite a day for me. First I got all dressed up for Church and my mom took a picture of me. I think I looked pretty handsome. After church dad made my birthday cake and I was so excited about having cake that I sat in my chair even though I was so tired I almost feel asleep there. It's a good thing that our Bishop came over and gave me a birthday cookie because I got to eat that while I waited for my party to start.

This evening Grandma, Grandpa and Andrea come to visit me for my birthday party and I finally got my cake. Dad didn't think I knew how to blow out the candles...but I sure showed him. As soon as they gave me my cake I blew them out. My presents were great too. Grandma, Grandpa and Andrea gave me books and Elmo slippers. I loved the books so much I didn't want to see my other presents. Mom, dad, Nana and Papa gave me more animals to go with my new jungle set. I love animals so I'm excited to play with the lions and monkeys!!! I also got a great card from Grandma Jacqi...thanks Grandma!!! Today was a great day. I wish I could have shared it with each of you.

Christmas with Karmen & family

Tonight Karmen, Rodrigo, Joaquin and Ezekiel came over to celebrate Christmas. It was lots of fun to play together and we are so glad that they are now living near us so that we can see them often.

Sledding With Dad

This morning we woke to about 8" of new snow. The kids were excited to have dad pull them on their sleds down the street with the 4 wheeler. They all bundled up and went outside to have fun. Matt connected 2 sled together so it could hold 4 of the kids at a time. He would also put kids on the 4 wheeler to ride when it was not their turn on the sled. All the kids had such a fun time....and Matt did too. At the end of each ride Elijah would cheer and then say "again". They were out there for a good 2 hours and by the time they came in they were all frozen but they had a great time. The kids can't wait to go out again. Enjoy the slideshow of pictures I took.