We are Grandparents!

Yesterday at 4:27 pm Toshia gave birth to a new baby boy! Our first grandson! I am just so excited. Words cannot say how I feel at this moment in time. I knew that this was the week he was going to make his entrance into the world but nothing prepared me for how I was going to feel about all of this. It is simply amazing.


When I held Jonathan for the first time I was filled with such emotion and love for this sweet boy. To think he is here because I first had Toshia. (She did amazing by the way) As you can guess I love babies, having had a eleven myself. There is nothing like the feel of a newborn in your arms. All the hope and love of the world are right there before my eyes as I held that little guy! Getting to share in the experience made everything even more special. Andrew was very patient with Ashleigh, Chelsea and I. (Toshia also had her good friend Amy there). Just before Jonathan was born Andrew looked over at me and said, "In just a few minutes I will no longer be the only boy in the room". Then it hit me all day and the evening before he had women surrounding him - the nurses, us, even her doctor! He is such a great man and good father. Jonathan will be going home to two great half brothers who will love and adore him. Andrew has shown how much he loves his other boys and I know is more than excited to have Jonathan join their amazing family. When I got home I sat down with all the kids and showed them the pictures on my camera. Adrian was so happy and said to me, "I love being the big brother - I am Luke's big brother and I have good practice". That was so sweet.

Hopefully this will be the beginning of many wonderful grand babies to come to our family!

Pumpkin patch

Two Saturdays ago we made it to the pumpkin patch. We stayed local. Usually we go to another one but I did not want to do the drive. This was pretty fun - at least the little kids had fun. They rode horses, played on the hay bails, went on a hay ride, saw some smaller farm animals, and of course picked out their pumpkins.


Not everyone went as you can see and even though Chad looks bored he really did have fun. He just did not want to have his picture taken.


I love fall. It really is my favorite time of year. I love the colors and the beautiful weather we have. I love the anticipated holidays. The fall season for us creates a lot of family time. And that is the time I love most - when we are all together.

Right Now...

Right Now, I am:

feeling...at odds at how to get my children to listen better and doing what I want them to do.

enjoying...the fall weather and watching the little girls ride their bikes.

wondering...what is in store for me this next week.

listening...to the sounds of the lawn mower and my son chopping wood.

drinking...water, but wishing I was sipping hot chocolate at the beach.

wanting...to get to my sewing and craft projects.

loving...all the fall colors I see - they warm my heart.

looking...forward to a new week with new goals and new projects completed.

Where has the time gone?

What a cute baby! Chad has always been a charmer. He was a very easy baby. When he came into our lives 15 years ago we did not realize what a blessing he was and is to our family. He did not have any special delivery story and really we were glad he was not born on Seth's birthday. He is not as laid back as Seth but is easy going and very compilable. That is nice to have in a large family. He has always been brilliant and a quick learner and loved his sisters and Seth. He is closest I think though to Ashleigh. She was his little mom and always helped with him.

Now that Chloe and him are in high school they are very close. They seem to always be there for each other and it is so special to watch. I hope for Chad that all his days are filled with love for the people around him. He is so fun to be around and constantly teaching me. Happy, happy birthday Chad and I know you are anxious to get your permit - I can not believe it where has time gone?


This is our last October birthday! Now Toshia can have her baby and he will have his own day. I vote for the 24th then the boys in my family will be born on 21, 22, 23 (Noah in December) and Jonathan on the 24th - sounds good to me - come on Toshia!

Our boy turns 21

We could not believe that we had a boy! When Seth was born we were so excited to have a son join our family. I think David's face says it all. Although really every picture of him with a new born baby he has the same sweet face. Seth Henry came into this world really fast. I only had 45 minutes of labor at the hospital with him. No one believed me when I said that it was time. The nurse said I just checked you, it will be a while. Then I had David look and he said to her then why is a head coming! Boy, she was running around and their were no doctors around and yelled to the intern in the other room to come in and he barely caught him. Well, that was the last time Seth was in a hurry to do anything. The fun thing about Seth is how easy going he is. I just love that about him. He really was such a good baby!

His sisters could not believe that we brought home a "baby boy doll" to play with. I should have known that they had big plans for this baby brother. Many times over his first few years they would dress him up and put make up on him. Seth did not like that to much but played along. He has always been a good sport about things. Seth was a my boy through and through. He did not like other people holding him and he was so fun to cuddle with.

Seth has grown into quite the young man. We are so pleased with his work ethic and his talents in sports and art and music. He does not like to work but when he needs to he really does a great job! We have been told by many people what a hard worker he is. He is our number one baseball player and the one thing I regret is not getting to see him play more. His other talents he shares only occasionally with us. Seth I love you so much and you have taught me and brought into my life sunshine and love. Happy Birthday "little man"

I can't believe it has been 27 years!

Twenty seven years ago at 2:22 am Ashleigh Elizabeth was born. I had wanted nothing more than to me a mother. All my life I had dreamed of playing with my own "real" baby doll. Finally my dream had come true. I could not have been blessed with a sweeter baby. She was so good and happy. At the time I never dreamed I would be the mother of eleven. What a beautiful way to start my journey into motherhood!

Twenty seven years later she still is my beautiful "baby doll". She does have a strong will, and sometimes she had to make adjustments - or should I say I guess we did - but that strong will and independence has been a blessing to her. Happy birthday Ashleigh dear - we love you so much!

Ten things I am loving right now

Fall Decorations!


The reminders of how I should act!


The knowledge that we have about families!


My grandmother's artwork!


The classic novel (Gone With the Wind) I am reading right now!


The signs that the season is changing!


You can't see it very well, but the signs that some little bird used to live here!


Great friends who share their knowledge and plants with me!


The gift of music and the ability to create it!


That fall brings fun family times!

What are you loving right now?

Fun creating going on here

I just finished a lot of sewing projects during the month of September. I had a bazaar that I did this year and made 15 aprons and a number of other things for. While wondering what to do with some of my scraps I came across a pattern for these adorable crayon roll ups. At least that is what I am calling them. I am going to use them for some stocking stuffers and gifts for grandchildren. I was so excited about them and how easy they were. I just love when I can figure things out and it turns out.

Also, for Chloe's birthday she wanted this bag. She had picked out the pattern (Amy Butler) but had a hard time finding just right fabric she wanted. Once she decided on the fabric then the rest was up to me to complete. I had it cut out for a while but with the other things on my plate I actually did not get it made until yesterday while she was at school. She just loves it! Thank goodness because her other present was not as exciting - snow tires! David gave her a cute card and cut out tires when she read it she thought she was getting rims and when she was thanking David he looked over at me and said "I don't think she knows the rims don't come with the snow tires". It was kind of a funny moment as he did not want to break her heart, but also could not bring himself to buy rims for her little car. When she realized it was just the tires she was like " Oh, I guess that will be OK." You could tell she was trying not to look disappointed but she was not as thrilled as she would have been if rims were involved. David was funny because he just looked at me after she left and said "I should have used a different picture, I almost cost us a lot of money". I just smiled and thought how kind hearted he is and how hard he tries to please everyone.
Well, there are lots more things I have planned to create and hope to make this a pretty much homemade Christmas this year. I have done that in the past and those are my favorite Christmas seasons. I always have a harder time making things for the boys, but never have a hard time coming up with girly girl things - I wonder why that is?

She's 17!

Little did I know 17 years ago that this baby girl would be my middle child. I did not know how many children we were to have and did not know that I would have an odd number of children thus creating an exact middle child. This sweet baby girl has blessed our lives so much. When we had Chloe our neighbor could not believe that I had named her Chloe. She thought it was awful and insisted on calling her by her middle name Melissa. I ended up just always calling her "baby girl". But no matter what we called her she was just a happy ,quiet, helpful little girl.
Now 17 years later she still is a happy, quiet, helpful, and sweet little girl. My "baby girl" is now a young lady and handling the middle child thing really well. She does have her dad wrapped around her little finger but when someone is as sweet as Chloe you don't mind at all. She has done very few questionable things thus making the parenting thing realtively easy with her. Although she is quiet she is always taking everything in. One fast and testimony Sunday a few months ago she leaned over and said "I know it's true, I just can't say it in front of people". She is a great example for all of her siblings and we love her lots! Happy Birthday baby girl and hope you had a wonderful day!

Chelsea turns 24!

On October 11, 1984 our third little girl entered our family. We were so happy to have her. We looked forward to her arrival and I personally was glad to have a third daughter so her older sisters could have a new "dolly" to play with. That I am sure was what Toshia thought as when we brought her home from the hospital. Toshia was still a baby by all rights and I am sure did not know what to make of this little one entering her world. Ashleigh was so happy and I remember she just wanted to help and hold and love her. That was 24 years ago. I cannot believe that she is so grown up and how special she still is to all of us.

Chelsea has the most amazing dimples and smile. She lights up the room when she comes bouncing in. We love her and wish her the happiest birthday ever. I know it has not always been easy being daughter number three but that has given her great strength and character.

Happy Birthday baby girl!

Great Conference Weekend

What a marvelous wonderful weekend! It was a long trip but well worth the time it takes to drive there. From the first sounds of conference as we entered the conference center to the last sounds I heard on the radio on our return trip home, I felt peace and comfort. Do we really appreciate and know how lucky we are to have a prophet of God here on the earth today to lead and direct and counsel and give comfort to us during these trying times? I know at times I just take it for granite that everyone just knows that such a man exists. Not only our dear prophet President Monson but his counselors and the quorum of the twelve. All these leaders and others are here at this time for a purpose. What they speak is for us now! I love it! As I sat in the conference center waiting for the first session to start I heard the choir warming up. I immediately thought about what they were singing. The words to all of the hymns sung during conference this time seemed to be an answer to me for questions I have had of late. To hear "live" the music I am sure made it all the more meaningful to me. Often my prayers are answered through music and this time my spirit was so touched by every note sung. I really felt that we were being told to just stay the course, do what is right, turn your heart to the Lord. All will be fine in this chaotic world if we are doing what we know to be right. Everyone struggles. Everyone has adversity to deal with. No one is exempt from these things. These things are to help us grow and humble us. Our Savior will be beside us every step of the way. The talks and music confirmed to me the love He has for us. I heard several times to put our "trust in the Lord". I thought of that a lot this weekend and my dear friend made a comment that has stuck with me all weekend. "Can the Lord trust me?" Can He trust I will do my part. That I will keep the Sabbath day holy, that I will pay my tithing to help build the kingdom, that I will honor my covenants made at baptism, that I will remember to say my prayers and study the scriptures he has given us. As I have thought about this idea of the Lord trusting me I have thought about how much I value the ability to trust my children. As I trust these young people more I give them more responsibilities and sometimes when the trust is broken how responsibilities are taken away. Do I deny myself blessings because I can't be trusted? Just some food for thought. I know He knows my heart and His abilities are greater than mine. I do put my trust in Him and I hope that I can be better trusted to live my life according to the covenants I have made. I thank my Heavenly Father for our dear prophet and the words he gave us this weekend!

Living Life

I have been so busy with projects and school with Autumn that I have not blogged as much as I would like. A sweet friend reminded me that if you aren't blogging then you are busy living life! I just loved that! That thought kept coming back to me all day yesterday as I was doing things. I am living life! What a blessing that is to be busy with all the things I do. Really, teaching and loving my children, creating and making things, taking time to listen to my husband (even if what he is telling me is sooooo boring-sorry honey), making myself learn new things, working out, studying, all these things are what living is about. This weekend as David and I get to go to Utah for conference I am excited to fill up on the spiritual side of living. When David got up this morning he was so excited and said that he's looked forward to this weekend for so long and can't believe we are almost going. It always seems to go by so quickly once we are there - but isn't that how life is? Those moments just go by and if we aren't using them to "live life" then they are just moments wasted. Thanks, Lynn for teaching me a valuable lesson that made my day yesterday the best busy day ever!