Hi. You know those moments in life that happen every now and then that put everything in perspective? You're just cruising along busily going through each day and then in one moment everything changes and can seem to turn up-side-down? This past week or two has been one of those times in my life. I had minor surgery last week and it has been one of those soul searching times when life appears fragile and you realize how important it is not to take even a moment of it for granted. I'm still waiting to hear back on the results of the biopsy and should get that news this week. I've re-realized that my one greatest hope is to be able to keep on going with my life just exactly where I am. To let go of the unimportant things and spend as much time as I can with my husband and kids being a family and enjoying our time here on earth together before time runs out. It's so easy to get pulled in so many directions as the days speed by but when something happens that makes you remember that life is not forever it is a snap back into reality, a reminder to cling to what is truly important. The greatest treasures we have are the people we love, our children, our husbands, our families and dear friends. Dave and I went to the temple a week ago and I'm so thankful for moments of peace and for eternal perspective and how easy it is to feel Heavenly Father's love there. The temple always fills me with hope and makes me want to be a better person and I come home wanting to live my life the best that I can.

(Kyler's picture - "Mom and Me")
The last little while I've realized that I need to stop trying to document every moment of my life and instead really LIVE every moment I can, really live these moments and savor them. So, I have to stop blogging as much. It's so easy for me to spend too much time sitting in front of the computer and I have the darndest time turning it off. So please know that I still love all of you dear friends even if I don't comment as much anymore. I know that takes some of the fun out of it because I love comments too. I'll still be reading through your blogs when I get a minute and I'll also post every now and then for our family journal. It's hard for me because I just love it, but I've got to cut back and work on enjoying living right now while I can. Life is too short and you just never know what is around the corner... I want to sit with my kids every minute I can.

Here are a few pictures I've been wanting to post of Porter and Brenner while the other two kids have been at school. The quiet mornings at home with them are so fun.

Porter loves to read to Brenner and I quite often find him in Brenner's crib when I get out of the shower. I love listening to Porter's interpretations of the stories since he doesn't know how to read yet.
I like this picture because Porter looks so grown up and Brenner looks so small sitting next to him.Brenner reminds me of a cuddly little round bear. I love that he is such a cuddly baby.
Jumper time...
One morning Porter put on quite the show for Brenner. He's definitely got the moves! Brenner was smiling and jibbering, it was pretty funny. Porter was cracking me up because he was so totally serious about his dancing.
Making Halloween cupcakes...

















Love the chocolate frosting kiss mark left on Brenner's cheek from his brother...

















Porter gave Brenner a ride in his Bumbo and they were cruising all over the floor...
Love these two boys!
Anyway, I really do love you all and hope all is well! Enjoy each moment, make each day a great one!

Porter's preschool had their first field trip to the park to pick up leaves. It was supposed to be last week but it was snowing so it got rescheduled to yesterday. It was freezing but fun for them anyway. I thought all the kids looked cute in their huge coats and hats. Lexi was excited she got to come.
Porter was climbing on some bleachers and his foot slipped and he fell and got a goose-egg. That poor kid falls more than any child I've known! His poor head, seriously. But they got to play at the park after gathering their leaves which made it a super fun day for him.

Dave turned 33 yesterday. It was a bummer he had to work and go to mutual on his birthday and I was sad that we didn't get to see much of him all day. He had a football game for mutual and he came home a little sore but happy. We waited until he got home to eat his cake and watch him open presents. Earlier in the afternoon we tried blowing up some balloons and I don't know what was wrong with them but they seemed like they were made of steel, they were so hard to blow up! So Kyler had the idea to use the bicycle pump, it really was quite funny. And it worked swell! Brenner watching the balloons from the couch.
Dave's favorite cake is angel food cake with strawberries. It doesn't look that great but it tasted good and that's the important thing right? Dave hates pictures and so he always makes crazy faces at me so I won't take any of him. It's always so funny and makes us laugh. The kids blew out the candles while Dave was still wishing...Love your cheeser Dave!Happy 33 to the best husband I could have ever hoped for. I LOVE YOU!

Dave and Kyler went on the 3rd Annual Guys Weekend in Denver this past weekend with Dave's dad and 2 brothers, a brother-in-law and a few cousins. Kyler was so excited because this was his first year to go along. They even got to fly! It was Kyler's first airplane ride and he loved it. His favorite parts were taking off and landing and it's cute how he describes it.

In Denver they stayed with Dave's brother Dan and his family. They do fun activities like indoor skydiving and then of course head to a Denver Broncos football game. Here are some pictures I got from my sister in law Brigit's blog. Thanks Brigit! You're such a trooper to endure a weekend full of testosterone!

In their indoor skydiving gear. We can't wait to see the video!6 of the 16 boy cousins. It will be so fun one day when some of the other littler boys are old enough to go too! The whole gang heading to the game.
It was seriously Kyler's dream to get a real Denver Broncos hat. I think he's asked for one for Christmas for the last 3 years. He finally got one this weekend! Thanks everyone for making it such a fun time for Dave and Kyler. It will definitely be a great memory for them!

We got this out the other day and Brenner liked it for a little bit. It was cute how his little feet tap tapped on the floor while he tried to figure out the jumping thing. He got in one or two good jumps. The other kids thought it was a hoot. The only doorways we have on the main floor are the bathrooms, the master bedroom, or the pantry door. So since I can see him when I'm in the kitchen I put it on the pantry door and he liked looking at all the food when he accidentally got turned around backwards. Jump away baby Brenner! You'll get the hang of it one of these days.

Here is what you have in store for you one day. Follow in the footsteps of Captain America (a sneak peak of Kyler's Halloween costume that he hasn't taken off since it came in the mail)...

When half a bottle of hot-pink fingernail polish gets spilled on cream-colored carpet rubbing alcohol will take it out. Did any of you know that? It's seriously a miracle!

I let Lexi have fingernail polish in her room because she is usually so super careful and hates messes. So far we've been okay but yesterday she had a little friend over and somehow or other it got spilled. And it was quite the spill. About 10-inches by 3-inches of BRIGHT hot pink on her carpet. A quick phone-call to my mom saved the day. I'm thankful Moms always know what to do. Of course I never spilled fingernail polish when I was younger so I'm not sure how she learned that... but anyway, thanks for the tip Mom! It took the whole bottle of rubbing alcohol and a lot of scrubbing but the carpet looks good as new. Phew!

The bear photo... A few fun things about Brenner at 4 months:

* He weighs 17 lbs 7 oz so he's slipped down in rank from the 95% to the 90%. He did great getting his 4 month immunizations and only cried for a minute. I'm always so glad when shot day is over. The doctor's office was out of one vaccine last week so we went back yesterday for the last shot and he didn't even cry. Good boy!

* He's learned how to blow raspberries. We love how he spits and blows bubbles and the kids get mixed up and tell me he's blowing 'cherries' again.

* He loves to stand up on his legs when we hold him and grins from ear to ear when we tell him he's so strong.

* He recognizes his name and looks when we say, "Brenner." Of course that could be he just knows our higher-pitch when we talk to him but I like to think he's super smart and knows his name.

* He loves to look at books, especially "Ten Little Ladybugs."

* He loves attention and sometimes cries to let us know he wants to be talked to. Good thing he has 3 siblings that run to him the minute he makes a peep.

* He had his first taste of rice cereal a few days ago. Liked some bites and made faces with some bites, but gobbled it all up!











* He loves his feet. When he finds them he won't let them go.
* He is a such a fun baby (even if he's still getting up every hour or two, at best every three hours at night). He is so full of smiles and squeals and joy. We love him to pieces!

Today we had lunch with Kyler at school. It was so totally fun! Porter, Brenner and I surprised him and showed up a few minutes before lunch time. He was so darn cute and excited to show us how to do everything. Porter was in awe of how it all works and thoroughly enjoyed standing in line, following Kyler with his tray to get his food and watching all the big school-kids that are so cool when you're only 4. And I'm so glad that in 1st grade kids still love their Moms! I know the days are coming (hopefully not too soon) when they will think I am too weird, so I'll treasure these times when it's still okay for them to like their Mom. It was fun to sit by Kyler and a few of his friends as we ate our crispitoes (no, we didn't have a new October calendar for what was on the menu for today)... But it was so fun. Kyler was so happy to sit in between Porter and I. Brenner's head was covered in spiced apples by the time lunch was done from Kyler kissing him every few minutes. Everytime I go to Kyler's school I am really impressed. All the teachers and workers are so kind and I know the kids are in great hands. And eating on the school lunch trays brought back great memories of those good ol' school days! We also watched Kyler do some tricks out at recess afterward. Oh to have back the worry-free happy-go-lucky feeling of being a kid. Lexi was broken hearted that she was in kindergarten and didn't get to come so we promised another lunch day at the elementary school one day when she doesn't have school but Kyler does. We sure love you Ky! Thanks for a fun lunch-date!

I just had to show how to make these cupcakes. You may have seen the magazine near the check-out at Walmart. I thought they were so cute so on a whim I grabbed the magazine and threw it at the checker as she was telling me my total amount. I'm so glad because they were so fun and not too time-consuming. I only made 2 of the 7 different kinds so I didn't have to buy so many different types of candy. Anyway, so fun to do with your kids.

Ms. Spider
Use a Ferroro Rondnoir candy for body and an almond M&M for head. Pipe 2 dots of icing onto M&M and attach 2 M&M Minis as eyes. Pipe icing as pupils and legs.






Wiggly Worm

Place 6 peanut M&M's on cupcake for the body and head. Pipe icing on top of 5 and attach 1 M&M's Mini to each. Pipe 2 dots and attach 2 M&M's Minis to the head as eyes. Pipe icing as pupils and legs.

Roll the edges in colored sugar for a cute finish. We rolled ours in black and orange sprinkles.

No school + 4 kids at home = Bonkers!

I really was almost bonkers on Monday morning by 9:00am. I wondered how in the world we were going to survive a week of harvest break with everyone out of school. But it actually turned out to be a great week. I sure love my kids! I'm going to miss them all over again when they go back to school on Monday.

The kids have done lots of art projects this week. One morning we traced them onto paper and they are pretty proud of their self-portraits. We even made one for Brenner and Lexi colored it. Their coloring doesn't show up very well in this picture but they each turned out pretty darn cute.
We had gorgeous weather all week. It has been a gorgeous fall. In honor of the fall leaves the kids and I went hiking one day to Mud Lake. My kids did great for the first half of the way up. They were so excited and gung-ho running up the trail. Then it got too hot and too long and Lexi, who was certain she could not go on, kept sitting down in tears. Porter seemed in a stupor straggling behind us, but every now and then would get a burst of energy and pipe up with funny comments. When our legs were burning after the first steep hill he ran past me saying, "My legs have an ear-ache"although it didn't seem to bother him. As we kept on walking and walking... and walking... he said, "I think this trail will take us to New York." The cute way he says things just always makes me laugh.

I kept thinking we were almost to the top otherwise I wouldn't have made them keep going, all the while giving them pep-talks about how we musn't quit when things get hard. Kyler was a trooper and found walking sticks for everyone and kept us bouyed up with his positive attitude. Brenner slept in his pack as I carried him and got in his afternoon nap while we hiked. We kept trudging ahead while poor Lexi cried. Every turn we came around I kept expecting to see the lake but just kept seeing more trail ahead of us. After lots of rest stops I was almost ready to give in and turn around when we finally saw the lake ahead. We didn't make it to New York but we did finally make it to our goal. Hooray! The boys threw rocks into the water while Lexi cried. We took some pictures while Lexi cried. We walked back down the mountain while Lexi cried. She did feel a little better the closer we got to the car so all in all it had a happy ending. I did find out how out of shape I am though (never a pleasant thing to re-discover). But kudos to my kids for making it!

Happy and excited in the beginning...
Not so much half-way up...
At the top... (now I see why it's called Mud Lake)
Everyone's true natures came shining right through, bless their little hearts...It was quite the experience. Not one I'll do again real soon with 4 kids. But I must say the view of the valley on the way up and down was quite spectacular.


I celebrated my 32nd birthday this week. Yikes I'm old! But I don't feel old. And I've come to the realization that it's not so bad to get older because it means we're still alive. Dave took me to dinner on my birthday and then a couple nights later made me this fabulous chocolate cake (I found the recipe on someone's blog and wish I could remember whose, it really was amazing)! The kids helped me blow out the candles after they were ready for bed.

This is a random tidbit, but do you want to know a great investment? A dry erase board! Who knew? My kids must be really bored this week, but they have seriously spent HOURS drawing on this board together. It's really been a fantastic thing.



And tonight we made these creepy crawly cupcakes. I love them! Aren't they fun for Halloween? (Idea from an 'All You' magazine - Oct. 24, 2008 issue).

After I decorated most of them (since we were taking them to people) I let the kids climb up and make one too. So fun!
And we can't wait for General Conference tomorrow! I'm grateful for all you who have posted and emailed the fun Conference packets for kids. Thank you! I've got some printed off and ready to go for tomorrow. We can't wait! Happy Conference-ing!