Trick or Treat

Well the boys got to experience for the first time actual trick or treating. They have only ever gone to the ward trunk or treats, so this was new and exciting! We didn't go to a ton of houses, but it was slow for the trick or treaters in the neighborhood, so people were giving handfuls of candy. They filled their buckets pretty quickly! Grant kept asking if we could go home and within a few seconds he would be saying 'we should do this'. I think for him, he was torn between the candy and getting more and just really didn't know what to do. We would laugh and continued on until they filled their buckets, which really happened in less than an hour. Cole was a trooper, walked for part of it, but loved the getting the candy part. Haden thought it was great! Although for him, he is still wanting to know what is next for Halloween. He isn't satisfied that we had Trunk or Treat on Saturday, carved pumpkins on Sunday, my family party on Monday, and then their pre-school parties today and trick or treating :) What can you do?!! Delaney stayed happy for the most part as we walked from house to house, and enjoyed being outside! Here are the pictures I got of them tonight:


The boys with their candy! Cole is more interested with what is in the bucket then taking a picture! Grant has his mouth full! And Haden is wishing you all a Happy Halloween!

~HAPPY HALLOWEEN~

Update on us, Jeff and I were called to be the 11 year old teachers in Primary. And it is quite interesting right now when we still have Cole and Delaney. But next month Cole gets to go to nursery, so that will be better :) But we are excited and it will be fun to work with Jeff in Primary! Delaney actually laughed out loud yesterday at Jeff and I. It was the cutest sound, I actually got all teary eyed, so sweet and wonderful. She is getting big and really isn't a little baby anymore. I can't believe she is almost 3 months old, where does time go?!!! The boys are doing great! Cole is over whatever he had, and is back to being himself. We had our ward Trunk or Treat on Saturday and it was lots of fun! They did dinner and then the trunk or treat. Someone in the ward mad a train type ride for the kids to ride on, it was so much fun! It looks like they used plastic barrel type things and cute one side off and then put a seat in it and put on some wheels. They then hooked a bunch of them together and pulled them with a four wheeler. I took some pictures, so you can see it. We stuck all 3 boys in it, we were worried that Cole might not like it, so I had Jeff go stand in the middle of the parking lot to watch them. But Cole liked it as much as Haden and Grant, and they got to go on it twice. The kids looked so cute all dressed up! Haden is Superman, Grant is Batman, Cole is Robin and Delaney is Super girl! Tonight was my family party that my parents put on each year. It is lots of fun and the cousins all get together and have a blast! Thanks for so much fun Mom and Dad! And all the time you put into it to make it fun for our kids!! So I have attached pictures from both things with the kids all dressed up! There are also a few randoms pictures are well, and there are LOTS of pictures! Enjoy them :) Just double click on the picture to see the rest.

Halloween, etc.

Man I Love These Kids!

Can I just say that I have been extremely blessed with the 4 wonderful kids that I have! They are amazing and like I said in my previous post, I often wonderful what they have in store for them. Poor little Cole is having trouble breathing and we are hoping and praying that he can make it through this without a hospital stay. He was almost to the point of being admitted into the hospital, but was sent home on breathing treatments. I take him back in on Monday and I hope and pray that he is much better by then. The child who never slows down, completely mellows out after having a breathing treatment. It is so sad to watch! And breaks my heart. Delaney is adorable! She is at the stage of talking a lot and smiles all the time! We are waiting for her to laugh. All I can say is that girls are a ton different than boys, I think anyway! The way they move, sound, everything!! Grant and Haden are the greatest big brothers. They love and adore Cole and Delaney, it is so fun to watch. Jeff was telling me that tonight in the van Jeff told them that he loved them and they teased that he didn't and then Haden says 'yes he does and I love you Grant'. Grant told Haden that he loved him too, and then Haden said something about him being mad at him sometimes. Grant said to Haden that he was sorry that he got mad at him sometimes, and Haden said 'you don't have to say sorry, you love me, it is okay'. It was the cutest thing and I only wish that I could have been in the car to hear it! Anyway, I personally think I have the greatest kids! I look forward to each day with them!! Once again, more pictures :) Just double click to see the rest!

The Pure Innocence of a Baby

Today has been one of those days. And Delaney has decided to not want to sleep a ton. And as much as I love to hold her and interact with her, those breaks are nice, especially when I have 3 other little ones as well. Just when I got to that point of frustration today my sweet little girl gives me this huge smile and starts to 'talk' a ton. I couldn't help but cry, smile and feel guilty for being frustrated. These little people come with huge spirits and I am constantly amazed by them. I am so very grateful for my kids. I am grateful for the things that they teach me, the little things to be grateful for, that I would have missed if I didn't have these little ones running around here. Laney and I just sat her, she smiled and talked and I watch in amazement at her. She is 2 months old and is absolutely amazing to me. I have watched as Haden has become this wonderful helper and wants to help me out. He is a great big brother and loves that he can help his brothers and sister. Grant has developed and become so independent since he started pre-school. He is growing and learning so much, it is awesome. Cole is learning new things daily and is such a happy little guy that you can't help but smile when he does. I feel very inadequate to have this amazing spirits as a part of my family. I often wonder what their purpose is on this earth, what they are going to do. I feel they have great things ahead of them and I am very humbled and very grateful for them in my lives.

Primary Program ~ Oh So Fun!

Today was the Primary Program and Haden was so excited. He of course was the child who went to the bathroom twice :) He also enjoyed biting his pants, jumping and many other lovely things. My Mom and Dad came to see him and he LOVED that, so did Grant and Cole who played with them the entire meeting! As I leaned over to say to my Mom that I can't believe Haden, as he was being crazy, she told me that I needed to look around. Haden wasn't the only child acting like that, which he wasn't and everyone was probably watching their kids, so it is okay :) Anyway, His part was 'I am grateful for my dinosaurs, how I can do sommersaults, my nice clothes and my nice bed.' The Primary presidency called and asked him what he was grateful for and this is what he told her, and what they made into his part. He did good, at first pretended like he didn't know it, but he did and did great! I also got a video of Laney 'talking' away today, I took it side ways, sorry! But you can hear her and it is fun, so I hope you enjoy it!



We also have a video of Cole, who has started to greet Jeff (or anyone walking in or out of a room) by throwing his hands in the air and yelling "HEEEEEYYYYY". It is was too cute and makes me laugh everytime!



Also here are some pictures we have taken. We did a mini photo shoot to get a new picture of Laney for our wall, so there are a couple of her :), We also went to a park here that is referred to as the dinosaur park. It is lots of fun and has ducks and a little water park, and a huge playground and sand pile. The boys had a blast!! Just double click on the picture! Love you all!!

The Park

Pre-School Fun!!

Well yesterday we went on a field trip with the boys' pre-school, to Anderson Dairy and then to the park afterwards. It was a lot of fun! I was worried at first to take all 4 kids, mainly because of Cole :) But he was great! And stayed in the stroller through the whole tour. Plus my Mom was kind enough to help me when it came time for eating the ice cream, I was feeding Laney, and so she helped Cole eat ice cream. I wasn't sure I wanted to go with all 4 of them, I hadn't done all 4 by myself besides driving across town with them. So going out somewhere made me very nervous! I know I can do 3, so that has never worried me, but the thought of one more, well I wasn't so sure about it. But it worked and turned out to be just fine! I told Jeff I feel like I can go anywhere with them now, which is a great feeling :) Then after the dairy we went to a park and let the kids play. Cole climbed up the big kids playground and as I look up I see Haden sitting Cole down on the biggest slide and pushes him. As I run over to see if Cole is okay, I meet him at the bottom. He had this almost confused look on his face, but wasn't crying or upset. So I talked to Haden and let him know he can't push Cole down by himself, but he could take him down if he went down with him. So soon after I see Haden sliding down with Cole, and Cole LOVED it! He yelled and laughed and smiled the whole time. It was funny to watch, but they both had a blast! Anyway, here are the most recent pictures and then pictures from the field trip! Just double click on the picture :)

So Fun!

Officially 2 months, where did it go?!!

Well as of Saturday, Delaney is officially 2 months old! I can't believe how quickly time goes. She went in for her shots and well check today and she is 11 lbs. 12 oz. and 23 inches long. She is right on track for weight and is in the 80% for height. Everything looks good and she smiled for everyone in the office. In fact our doctor asked if she was smiling and right as she asked it Delaney gave her a huge grin. It couldn't have been timed any better. I laugh because the whole office knows us as soon as we walk through the door. I told Jeff that it is because we dare to take in all 4 kids in at the same time (not what we like to do, but sometimes we have to). They all asked me where the boys were, and Jeff was kind enough to go in early today so he could come home and watch the boys while I went. Kind of nice to be out with only Delaney :) Anyway, just thougth I would give you a quick update and of course show off our cute kiddos :) Just double click on the picture and then again on the first picture to make them bigger and read the captions. Love you all!!!

2 months

Little boys love BUGS!

So this morning Haden was headed to wash his hands when he saw a cricket. He yells 'Mom there's a cricket over here'. So I tell him to go wash his hands (I was feeding Laney and figured I would get it once I am done). Before I can even tell him I will get it Haden and Grant start yelling 'we need to get it, where's a shoe we could squish it'. Grant grabs a shoe and starts pounding this poor cricket to it's death, Haden kept telling him how good of a job he is doing, and Cole was standing there with this huge smile on his face. I just sat and laughed as I thought 'I am glad they got it, I don't like bugs'. They then get a tissue and clean up the shoe and this cricket and all join each other in the bathroom to watch it get flushed. Cole clapped and the boys were all so proud. I do have to say that Grant has improved a ton, he used to run from bugs, so that he is wanting to even come close, let along get a cricket it quite amazing :) Laney and I are so lucky to have so many boys in our lives to 'get the bugs' for us! I wish I could have taken pictures of the looks on their faces, but I couldn't. They were great though, and I am sure you can just picture it all :)!!

8 Weeks Already?!!!

Well as of this past Monday Delaney is officially 8 weeks old! She will be 2 months old on Saturday. It is so crazy to me, there is a part that seems like she has been with us forever and then there is a part of me that can't believe that it has already been 2 months! She is getting bigger, more awake and a lot longer. I think she may be on the tall side when she is older, which I know some really pretty tall girls, so that is okay! She smiles all the time, and a ton when her brothers are around. She is staying awake a lot more, so that is fun, and we are learning how to balance all of the boys along with her being awake. I think each stage is going to teach us something new! We are enjoying the cooler weather here and the boys love it because they can go outside without dying. Although it is all dirt in our backyard, they still have fun! It usually doesn't get this cool outside until Halloween, so this is not normal, but I am definitely not complaining! Jeff got his results back from his interview with the Elevators Union, he ranked 74 on the list. And he got an 81.5%!! So he is on the list and now we are just waiting for them to hire. So your prayers that the will start hiring very soon would be much appreciated!! Well once again, some more pictures :) I hope you enjoy them! To view the pictures bigger just double click on the slideshow.

Orange Chicken Recipe!

We absolutely LOVE this recipe and if you have ever had PF Changs Orange Chicken then you will probably like this recipe as well.

P. F. Chang's Orange Peel Chicken Recipe
My favorite restaurant is P.F. Chang's and this is my favorite dish! If you like spicy dishes then you'll love this one! UPDATE: Temperature can be controlled by the addition or reduction of the oriental chili-garlic sauce.
by Galley Wench
4 servings
45 min 30 min prep
Sauce
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 tablespoons minced garlic
4 green onions, sliced
1 cup tomato sauce
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons oriental chili-garlic sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
chicken
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 chicken breast fillets
1 egg, beaten
1 cup milk
1 cup flour
1 orange (peel from 1/4 orange, julienned into 1/8-inch thick strips)
1 cup sugar snap peas

1. Prepare sauce by heating 1 tablespoon of oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add minced garlic and sliced green onions. Add tomato sauce and water quickly before the garlic burns. Add sugar, chili garlic sauce and soy sauce and bring to a boil. Simmer 5 to 6 minutes or until sauce thickens, then turn off the heat.

2. Prepare the chicken by heating 1/2 cup oil in a wok over medium heat. Slice chicken breast fillets into bite-size pieces. Combine beaten egg with milk in a medium bowl. Pour the flour into another medium bowl.
3. Coat chicken pieces by dropping them into the flour a few at a time, then into the egg/milk mixture and back into the flour. Arrange coated chicken on a plate until all chicken is coated.
4. When oil in the wok is hot, add about half of the chicken to the oil and cook for a couple minutes or until brown on one side, then flip the chicken over. When chicken is golden brown, remove the pieces to a rack or paper towels to drain. Repeat with the remaining chicken. When all of the chicken is cooked rinse the oil out of the wok with water and place it back on the stove to heat up.
5. When wok is hot again add julienned orange peel and chicken. Heat for 20 to 30 seconds or so, stirring gently. Add sugar peas and sauce to the pan and cook for about 2 minutes. Stir dish a couple times but do it gently so you don't knock the coating off the chicken. Cook until the sauce thickens then serve up the dish with white or brown rice on the side.

**we don't do the green onions or the snap peas, and it is still delicious! Also instead of doing the julienned orange strips, we just grate the orange peel, something Jeff and I prefer. Just some ideas!!

TAG!

I just saw that I got tagged from both Dana and Emily, so I thought I better get it done :)

4 jobs I've had:

1. I worked at the front desk for IHS Physical Therapy. I scheduled appointments, checked people in, took phone calls and even helped out in the back when needed. I actually enjoyed working with people (usually elderly people).
2. I worked for Latter-Day Book as part time. That was a fun job, especially because there was never a day that didn't go by when you didn't have someone you knew come into the store. And the discount was nice :)
3. I worked for Wright Engineers as a receptionist and then went to the back office. I loved working there and running the back office and making sure projects got out on time. I loved the people I worked with.
4. I was a receptionist for a doctors office. It was quite an interesting job and I learned a lot about all types of people. I also learned more than I needed about trans men and women. I met some who you knew right away they weren't what they wanted to be, and others who I would have never known.

Places I've lived:

1. Kearns, Utah
2. Las Vegas, NV
That's it! I need to move :) We really want to but it will be a while.

Movies I love:

1. Just Like Heaven
2. Both Legally Blondes
3. Mr. Hollands Opus
4. The Secret

Favorite Foods:

1. Mexican
2. PF Changs Orange Chicken (or the recipe we found that taste just like it, so we have it all the time)
3. 4 Cheese Pasta from Cheesecake Factory
4. Chilis Chicken Fingers, yummy :)

4 weird things about me:

1. To a lot of people this is weird :) I have 4 kids, under the age of 5, before I turned 25! Go Me :)
2. I used to have an imaginary friend when I was younger
3. I smell my food (if it is something new) before I eat it (Jeff laughs at me every time)
4. I had a great imagination where I played with everything, from crayons to toothbrushes to my Mom's make up. Anything could entertain me for hours. I even would put up folders around my desk in elementary and play with my crayons, right there in from of everyone. I have NO clue if anyone was watching! Oh well, right?!!

Favorite Shows:

1. The Office
2. ER
3. House
4. Heroes

Places I'd rather be:

1. Hawaii!!!!!
2. Anywhere but Vegas
3. Visiting Family we don't get to see all the time
4. Italy

People I'm tagging:

1. Jilene
2. Ramona
3. Natali
4. Amanda