The tooth fairy has arrived!

That's right! My baby girl lost her first tooth! She actually pulled it out November 24th (my birthday!) and was so so excited! The tooth fairy came that night and brought her a whole dollar! We had family in town since it was the day before Thanksgiving so Brooklyn and Austin slept in mom and dad's room. She checked under her pillow about ten times before midnight and finally feel asleep. That morning she woke up bright and early with the biggest smile on her face I have ever seen to find that tooth fairy has come!
I can't believe my baby is almost 6 yrs old, has started school, is loosing teeth, etc..it seriously seems like yesterday I was heading to the hospital to have her. To my Brooklyn, my only little girl: I love you sweetheart. You are mommies everything and my best friend! Thank you for being such a joy to our family and for being such a great example to your little brothers. Keep being a good girl and know that your mommy and daddy love you to the moon and back!

7 Years!!

This past November Ben and I celebrated 7 years of marriage together!! I just wanted to take a few minutes to tell my wonderful hubby how much I deeply love and adore him and share our story with all our our loved ones.

Ben and I met in the summer of 03 and I head feel head over hills from the firs date! To back up a little bit...out of high school I decided to move to Utah and run track for Utah Valley State College. I ran for a year and as much as i loved Utah and being part of a collegiate sport, it never really felt like home, I always felt like I was missing something in my life and towards the end of the year i decided to change it up a little and move away for the summer. I debated for awhile on going home and living in Boise, but after talking to some friends in Rexburg, they convinced me to take the summer off and come live with them and have some girl time and play there. Two weeks after moving there, my good friend Leslie Goldthorpe set me up on a blind date with a guy who served his mission with her older brother...the rest is history! He swept me off my feet from the moment I met him! Tall, dark, and handsome! Along with being super sweet, kind, so service oriented,amazingly smart, athletic, comes from an amazing family...I could go on and on. Two months after that on September 18th Ben took me out on the date of my life! He picked me from a baby shower I was at in a gorgeous black corvette and drove me to his friends house where in his driveway was sitting a helicopter..ready to take us on a ride! We flew around Rexburg looking at it from a whole different kind of view, it was amazing! After a little while we flew over this HUGE field, the pilot tell me to look out my window and read what I saw in the field. Plowed in this huge field I read, "WILL YOU MARRY ME?" Oh my gosh I melted, I could not believe he did that. And yes, he did that on his own with some help from some buddies, tractors and all! Later that night we went to dinner and when i walked into the restaurant there was my whole family! Two months later on November 22nd Ben and i were married in the Boise, Idaho temple for time and all eternity. THAT was the best day of my life and I still can't believe he chose me.
It's been 7 years since and I don't always get to tell that fun proposal story, so bare with me! In 7 years Ben and I have been through alot. We have moved about 8 times, have had 4 kids in 5 years, been through 2 miscarriages together, jobs, family events, loosing loved ones, enjoying the first day of school for our kiddos, soccer games, dance recitals, and all the ups and downs that life brings. Through all of this Ben has been my rock. We were super young (me 19 and him 21) when we got married, but to this day I will say that if I could go back and change anything...I wouldn't change a thing. He has made me the happiest girl in this world and I can not imagine my life an other way.
Anyone that knows Ben knows what I'm talking about. He truly has a way with people by making them feel like even though you might have just met him you could be best friends! He is the best dad ever and our kids absolutely ADORE him.Life has definitely happened to us and sometimes it can get kind of crazy. As of late Ben has been called to be the 2nd counselor in the bishopric so I'm pretty sure it's about to get alot crazier. But as soon as he got that calling, the first thing he did was come home and reassured me and the kids that even though he might be really busy and not home every night, we were number one and that would never change. I love this man to pieces and feel so lucky to be by his side. Thanks for the 7 years babe, and an eternity to come!...Here are a few things I love about u!
-The way you make us and the kids feel like we're the only thing that matters when you're around
-The way you make me laugh. I can honestly say Ben is the funniest person I have ever met. That is one of things that made me fall in love with him. He has made me laugh every day from the day I met him. Even if I'm mad about something or at him...he ha a way of making me laugh.
-Love that after 7 yeas of marriage I just found out you don't like Ketchup haha
-Even though I say I don't love it, I think it's hilarious that when we go to bed you can fall asleep mid sentence...and I know you can't help it. haha
-Love what a hard worker you are
-Love the way you love your Lakers and Kobe when everyone else hates them
-Love that you make sure I get my girls days in and get a break every once in while
-Love when you speak Italian to me
-Love that you love to read
-Love the way you drive even though it makes me carsick because you're in and out of the lanes like a crazy person! haha
-Love that you never raise your voice and I can count the number of times I've actually seen you mad about something.
-Love that you have given me 4 amazing beautiful kids who you adore more then anything
-Love that no matter where we go, out of town, out of state, out of country...you ALWAYS run into someone you know.
-Love how taking family pictures could be the worst day of your life every year
-Love how I got pulled over this morning and was let go with a warning, got the biggest guilt trip EVER from you..then you got pulled over tonight, got a ticket and we both just laughed about it.
-Love how every year you get so stressed about what do to for my birthday and or anniversary knowing I would be happy just chilling an home with you.
-Love how bugged you get when i start playing Christmas music in November
-Love that you love my family
-Love that you love your family
-Love how when we are riding in the car, every few minutes you put your arm over to me and rub my head or brush my hair away just to let me know you care.
-Love how hard you work for our family
-Even sometimes I say i hate it, I do love how athletic you are and how you are good at EVERY sport you do. Basketball, Tennis, Baseball, Golf, etc...I can go on and on
-Love how I can have the most stressful day ever and can keep it together all day long, as soon as you ask if I'm ok or from the moment I hear your voice I loose it!
- Love your heart and how kind it is
-Love how much you care about others
-Love how you're my best friend
*Ok I could go on and on...I love everything about you! Here are a few pics of the past few years!

My best friend




















Favorite place on Earth, Lake Powell!

Last year Ben took me on a hike that was so much fun and so beautiful!

Happy Halloween!

We've done this a few times together...

On our way to Vegas!!

And many more to come....

Four Months Old!!

Here's my adorable chubby four month old,
yes he had a double chin! haha














Rice cereal for the first time! You actually
liked it and talked through the whole feeding!














Aunt Brittany and you on Halloween!














My boys. Here are your big bros, they LOVE
LOVE LOVE you!













To my dear sweet four month old! That's right, another milestone, FOUR MONTHS!! I cannot believe how fast these past four months have flown by! Granted I'm crazy super busy since I have three other little ones running around you and still a little (ok alot as of lately) sleep deprived so maybe that's why it all just seems to be a blur lately...but still, four months is big time !! I just want you to know how much I LOVE LOVE LOVE your chubby little body and how much you brighten my day. I love how every time I we make eye contact your whole little body shakes and I get the biggest smile ever! I love how you're talking your own little language right now and how you tell me stories all day. Boy do you love your bouncer, I'm pretty sure besides my arms that's your favorite place to be and one of these days you're going to bounce yourself right out of there. I love how you love your siblings and as long as you can see one of them, you're golden.
We're still working on sleeping through the night, mainly because you love that dang binky so so much but can't quite figure out how to keep it in at night so mom's been to the rescue a little to much lately in the middle of the night to put it back in. (Dad made sure the pediatrician told mom that you should be sleeping through the night by now and swears tonight is the night we're making you cry it out...we will see if my heart can handle that little scream of yours though!) So sorry about the mauling that occurs with your big sister. She loves holding you, smothering you with kisses and as of late playing dress up with all of your cute new winter hats that I have pulled out of the bin. We started rice cereal a couple of days ago for the first time and you actually liked it! I don't care what anyone says though, rice cereal does NOT help babies sleep any better and the doc also confirmed with me that that's just a myth and it's not necessary for you to be on it (considering you weighed in at 16.5lbs and 28 in!! long and are in 9 month clothes!!...haha, I love the rolls!) but we can try it here and there if we want so we will see!
So, another thing dad is stating and has been since I was prego with you...you are my last baby. I have always wondered how I would KNOW without a shadow of a doubt that I am done having babies. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the small peanut cuddling stage and maybe that's why you and your siblings are so close because after a year I get super baby hungry!! Because four kids is ALOT and you are most likely my last, I have been trying to enjoy EVERY SINGLE MOMENT I have during this stage of your little life. Sometimes I'll be in bed, mind racing and not being able to sleep, so I sneak into your little bedroom, scoop you up and we cuddle for a few short minutes just staring at you. Wondering what you're going to look like, what your personality is going to be like etc.. actually I catch myself doing this alot these days with you and your siblings.
You're such a fun baby and definitely meant to be part of our family. Words cannot describe how much your mommy loves you. How privileged I feel to be able to have that as my responsibility. Thank you for being such a joy to our family, love you baby boy.

Oh how we love fall

I have to admit that I LOVE LOVE LOVE fall. Something about watching all of the trees change colors, being able to play outside at the park without cooking to death, all the yummy pumpkin spice smells, the fun of dressing up for Halloween and watching my kids get all hyped on sugar that that makes my heart smile. So, our church put on a ward Halloween party last night where the kids (and some crazy adults! haha I loved it) got all dressed up, had some great deserts, and then all the parents lined up around the church and the kids went around from room to room and all around the building trick or treating getting gobs and gobs of candy! Talon was not sure what to think about just being able to say "trick or treat" and random people would just hand him a piece of candy. He kept looking up at me with this crazed look that said, "Seriously mom, I get to keep ALL of this? This is really ok?" Trying to pry away that Halloween bucket from his little paws that night was nearly impossible! He was so cute, i love this age! Brooklyn and Austin had a blast as well and loved being able to see all of their friends and getting all dressed up.

It was pretty funny because the day before I had asked Ben to pick up some candy at Costco for Halloween, so last night before we were getting ready to leave he was putting the candy in the bucket and of course...he bought the cheapest candy of all. Yes, we were the family handing out the gross red and green mint candies. I said, "Babe, seriously? You seriously bought mints for the candy for tonight?" He replies,"what's wrong with mints?" After explaining that most little kids don't like mints and making him pull out another bag of candy to add to the grose mints, he disagreed and said, "We'll see." After I took the kids around the building I went over to help him pass out the candy. NO JOKE, 3 kids in a row picked up the mints, looked at Ben and said, " I don't like these." Ben just looked at the kid, then looked at me and shook his head. Probably every other kid that came through our line said they didn't like mints and took the tootsie rolls. I was seriously laughing out loud and Ben just sat there with the funniest smile on his face. Oh how I love this man. He hates to admit when he's wrong, but when he does he has a way of doing it that makes me laugh. So yes, now I have a whole bucket full of gross mints for anyone that is interested.

A few days before this, Austin's pre-school class had a fun Halloween party that we got to go to with him. It had a fun corn maze, (that we finally gave up on after a half hour and turned around, found the entrance and continued on.) Fun animals, a fun pumpkin patch, and a huge playground the kids had a blast on. Austin loved having us there. I've been trying really hard with him lately because I feel like he gets looked over a lot these days. With four little kids, Brooklyn being the oldest and getting lots of attention for being the oldest, Talon and Dru being the youngest and just plain requiring a lot of Attention, Austin just kind of goes off and does his own thing. Don't get me wrong, he's SUPER loud, runs around and plays all day long, but when it comes to things like being involved in his school activities, getting loved on, and having one on one time, he acts like he'd be good without all of that...mom knows best though! Sometimes that happens a lot with the middle child so we're working on it!

It's seriously crazy that it's already fall again and Halloween is just in a few short days! I feel like last Halloween was just yesterday! I also can't believe that my baby Dru is almost 4 months old...wow how time flys. He's doing really good, just growing like a little weed! He's now in 6-9 month clothes, sleeping a little better ( we're in the stage now of not eating every other hour but having to go in and put the Binky back in every hour...which is not the funnest event in my life when I'm already getting up at 5 am to run in the mornings. So, we are hopefully going to break this habit as soon as mom gets the nerve to let the little guy cry it out.

I did the unthinkable the other day..signed myself up for a full marathon! After getting begged by a friend to do it with her, and knowing I needed something to start training for I decided to do it. Yes it took me twenty minutes starting at the registration form on the computer telling myself to push the "register" button to complete it..and then I thought, "what the heck did I just do!" It's not til May, so that gives me time, but still...any advice from you crazy runners out there would be great!Anyways, we hope you all have a fun and safe Halloween with your loved ones, eat lots of candy, and enjoy yourselves!

Buzz, Power Ranger, and my Butterfly Princess













Daddy and Brooklyn passing out candy













Brooklyn and her cute little friend Callie













What! All this candy is MINE?!





















Mom!! I'm tired, will you carry me?



















Pretty girl




















K this was my favoirte part of the night..haha!
These are our friends Matt and Aubrey and their
cute little girl Andie. Funny thing is...this was
Matt's idea!! Haha, you would never know
it if you knew they type of guy he is. I
still laugh out loud looking at this pic.





















Pretty dang cute bumblee bee
if you ask me!




















We woke up yesterday morning to snow...sad
i know! The kids were so excited and i knew it would
be melted by the time afternoon came around,
so out they went, PJ's and all!









































My little artist














Austie and mom














Austin and his pre school class. Out of this whole
class Austin and the little boy Graham sitting next
to him are the only little boys..lucky boys!
















Cheese!

















My little pumpkin..kind of a scary looking
pumpkin in this pic..haha
















Boo!














This little guy just chilled in his carseat and was
a dream the whole time...love you baby Dru!

Road Trip Home!!

So last week I decided to head home and visit my family in Boise, Idaho! I haven't been back since I was about 6 months pregnant with Dru so it's been quite awhile. It was really fun and so good to visit with family and friends. We had decided before I came that I was going to throw my little sister Taucia a baby shower, so that was way fun! She's having a little boy (due January 30th) hence all of the blue decor.
Ben had a ton going on that week with work, youth conference camping with the young men, etc.. and I didn't want to hang out all weekend on my own, so it was a great opportunity to spend some family time. Ya, fun, but a little crazy!!!! All four kids and me, in the car, four 6 hours...wow! Luckily, on the way there they did awesome! Watched a few movies, read books, played with toys, etc...the way home..a little more stressful, but we just took our sweet time getting home and eventually made it back home to daddy. This was the first time I have made the trip ON MY OWN with all four kids. WOW...will probably not be doing that again by myself! When we get to Grandma's, the word "NO" doesn't exist, bedtime is out the window, sugar is pretty much thrown at them, quite voices are no longer available, and grouchiness and temper tantrums are expressed at a whole new level!! On top of this, Dru came down with a little cold so was literally up ALL NIGHT EVERY NIGHT!!
Don't get me wrong I had a great time, visited with some friends, (Thank you again for lunch and entertaining us for an afternoon Steve and Kami!!) and spent some much needed time with my little sister who is the only child at home right now and had so much fun throwing Taucia a baby shower...but realized on this trip how much of a help Ben is and how much I rely on him! Yes four kids under the age of 5 is crazy busy, but without a husband is INSANELY CRAZY! It was so nice to come home and get back to real life with my best friend!
Taucia received some very nice things and we are so grateful for all of those that came and supported her. We are so excited to have little baby Heath Cherry running around with my little boys! Thanks to the fam for the hospitality and for putting up with the craziness for a few days. We LOVE YOU!!!

Party Party!!













Mom and Taucia

So So cute...go Broncos!

And of course the men couldn't keep their hands
off of my food!!













Me and my little sis..I love her














Thanks for hanging with me for a few days, come
see me soon sister!














Dru loves Kyli and gives her the biggest smiles
everytime he's with her.

Can't help but kiss those cheekies!!

Dru talking with Aunt Tresa, he was going on

and on, it wa so cute!

Mommy to be opening her gifts!

The famous creme cheese Costco cake..

wow!

Baby Shower!

yummy chicken salad crouissants

Cheese!

What mom!

I love these big smiles!!

"How old are you Talon?" "I'm two mom!"

My 3 year old man

Watch out, supergirl is here

My little Buzz Lightyear, he would wear

this everyday if I let him!

Love of my life

This little man is 3 months old, almost four and

is in 6-9 months clothings...he's a chunk

and I LOVE IT!!