We'll Make It There Together

FAIRYTALES AND DAYDREAMS PHOTO SHOOT

2009-06-23T01:00:00.003-06:00

Aliya
Nevaeh

Aliya and Nevaeh are my little fairy princesses. They recently had the opportunity to take part in a photo shoot for Fairytales and Daydreams. They had a lot of fun and we get to have some great pictures. These are just a few of the sneak peek! They are having a contest, if you go to this website http://oohlalaphoto.blogspot.com/2009/06/sneak-peek-fairytales-and-daydreams.html you can vote on which picture you like the best from the photo shoot. Nevaeh is #13 and Aliya is #14!

WHEN I COUNT MY BLESSING I COUNT YOU TWICE

2009-05-24T01:08:00.007-06:00

HaPPy BirThDAy my sweet baby girl!

Nevaeh turned 1 at the end of April, and I'm sad my baby is growing up so fast. She has truly been a blessing to our family. I absolutely adore her, and she absolutely adores her Daddy?! Haydon and Aliya just love her to pieces. I can't imagine any greater happiness in life than loving my children.

I couldn't pick just one picture so I picked a few...;)

You can see the naughtiness in those eyes. She loved eating her birthday cake with her hands

There's no stronger bond than that of a sister I just LOVE those dimples!!! Oh how I love you!

AAHHHHH!!!

There are no words to describe the amount of love she has for this crazy guy

And there are no words to describe how this big guy could let this little girl wrap him around her cute little finger

Two things I love - my Navy and Chocolate

HA! She's so dang cute!

When I look at you I am reminded why I am here. I am reminded that there is no greater love than that of a parent. Your hugs melt my heart and make me wish I could freeze a moment in time. As I watched you learn to crawl and then to walk my feelings of excitement for you to enter into a new world to explore, were mixed with my feelings of sadness that you are no longer my little baby, but my little toddler. I can't get enough of your adorable dimples and your frequent giggles. When I watch you sleep it takes my breath away. I absolutely completely and most definitely am in love with you!

And for that... When I count my blessings I count you twice.

A Princess Party for my Princess!

2009-05-21T23:42:00.008-06:00

My little Aliya just turned 3! I can't believe she's not my baby anymore. She went from a needy baby, to a naughty toddler, to a sweet independent, spunky, stubborn, thoughtful, kind hearted, dancing princess. Yes, she is everyone of these all rolled into one.

To explain the hairdo... she received a Barbie thumbalina for her Birthday. She then decided that her hair had to look just like Thumbalina, which it did when the day started out and then just got crazier from there on out.

We had a Princess Party for her and some of her bestest friends. We played put the princess in the castle window (i.e. pin the tail on the donkey). She got to go first and from then on was insistant that NO ONE put their princess on her princess, which was harder than it sounded due to the fact that all the girls are about the same heigth and wanted to place it straight ahead. I had to redirect about every little blindfolded princess' hand to avoid the frustration from my stubborn little princess.

Aliya's princess is the pink one in the middle turned sideways, with NO other princess' touching it. ;)The girls won mini fingernail polish for playing the game, so they all got their fingernails and toenails painted.

The girls made princess crowns...
Princess Avery
Princess Ella

Princess Kaylee
Princess Morgan My Princess and her Mommy
Princess Makenzie
Princess Tia
My lovely Aliya and her crazy hair

What's a party without a pinata?

I was lucky my sister Tracey came to celebrate Aliya's Birthday with us, she was brave and held the other end of the stick!

Ella loved the Princess lipgloss necklace (unfortunately I had no idea it was PURPLE!)
All Aliya cared about in the Pinata was the Nerds, and she ate a TON of them!
The group shot
Tia, Morgan, Aliya, Kaylee, Avery, Ella, Makenzie

Aliya's beautiful Princess cake that my good friend Crystal made for her! She loved it!
Blowing out the candles She really liked the cake!!!
Until next year...

Your songs move me, your dances free me, your smile brightens me, your love warms me, your sweet raspy voice makes me smile from deep down inside, your enthusiasm for life makes me giddy, your imagination brings me to an enchanted world, your "nuggles" remind me why I will always wish you would stay little forever, and your sweet spirit will always bring happiness to my life. I love you my little Aliya.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

We Love the ZOO!

2009-05-14T20:45:00.009-06:00

When my sister came to visit we took all the kids to the ZOO. They had such a good time and really considering how many kids we had with us, it went really well. Just look at the excitement on this girls face! She loves the ZOO as much as the rest of us!
My favorite sister Tracey and her cute little guy Mason in the tunnel at the ZOO.

Aliya loved the Kimodo Dragon

Mason not so much!

These are my two little pearls in a clam shell.

Aliya riding the little Tiger

Tia & Aliya

My little Navy

Haydon pointing out the bald Eagle that he thought was pretty amazing!

Aliya, Jalin & Haydon in the back of a safari Jeep

All the kids! (Quinn, Mason, Jentry, Conner, Aliya, Jalin, Haydon & Tia)

Conner, Quinn, Jentry, Aliya, Tia, Jalin & Haydon

Good times had by all! :O)

EASTER

2009-04-30T00:18:00.007-06:00

I know Easter was almost a month ago but I just can't blog further without posting our fun Easter together as a family. I just love our family and how much fun we have together.On Friday night we colored Easter eggs before the kids went to bed.
Aliya and I had fun working together to color her eggs.

They were so sleepy but we had so much fun!

My Mom usually does a HUGE Easter egg hunt at her house. We couldn't make it this year so she sent the hunt to our house. Saturday morning Haydon had a T-ball game and afterwards Jay took the kids to the park to play while I went home and hid the goods. They showed up and it took them about 30 minutes to find it all. They had a great time! Afterwards we sat on the patio and played with all their new little trinkets.

Nevaeh really wanted someone to open all her little bags.

On Sunday after church we had Jay's family over for a BBQ and Easter egg hunt. The kids had such a good time with their cousins. Nevaeh had fun in Papa's arms, watching the kids hunt for eggs.
Tia, Conner, Aliya, Nevaeh, Jalin & Haydon after the hunt was over

Navy stole Jalin's egg...
Tried to put it in Aliya's bag...

And decided to eat the tasty treats herself! What a smart cookie!
OK so this is our attempt at getting a picture of our kids on Easter...

Nevaeh?

Feet down please

What is going on here???

And here???

I think this is the closest we are going to get, Aliya holding Navy down, and no smiles on Haydon or Aliya. (oh and where's the camera?)

Off she goes again (she can't even crawl yet and she can't get away fast enough).

Are we singing?

...

We finally gave up. How do people do it?

YUCKY CHEESE!

2009-04-29T23:43:00.003-06:00

Our good friends the Colts invited us to Yucky Cheese, I mean Chucky Cheese for an uninvited Birthday celebration for their daughter Kaylee. My kids love the Colt kids so when we got the call that they were having a family only party at Chucky Cheese and invited us along we thought our kids would appreciate the opportunity to not celebrate Kaylee's Birthday. So along we went.

Aliya and Ella driving the car. I dread the day these two are driving!

One more turn PWEESE Mom?! YIPPEE I got my way, I love this ride!

Little Miss Navy and Daddy

Braxton and Haydon

My kids are LOUD, and they love to YELL!!! (Not just at Yucky Cheese, ALL the time!)
My point! Kohen is such a cute little guy I just had to post this picture!

Kaylee, Haydon & AliyaAliya & Chucky
Haydon & Chucky

A HAIRY SITUATION!

2009-04-29T23:08:00.003-06:00

I was doing the dreaded purging of clothes in the girls closet. Jay had just finished bathing the kids and getting them in their jammies. I asked Aliya to go get her brush so I could brush her hair. She was taking a little longer then expected when I heard Jay say "you better go show Mommy what you did, I don't think I can help you". She appeared in her bedroom doorway with a comb tangled in her hair, not just a little tangled I mean tangled!

She had somehow twisted it one way and then the other. I thought I was going to have to cut her hair to get it out.
Apparently not happy about her choice to comb her own hair.
Now that she knows Daddy has the camera it's really funny? 30 minutes later and almost done, I only had to break both ends off the comb to get it this far.
There's hope!
YIPPEE!!! It's out. There was only one fatality, the poor comb. Aliya cried when I had to break it and said, "now I will never have a comb again". I reassured her I would buy her a new one. Her pretty curls were spared which was all Mommy cared about. :) I think after this incident I will be doing her hair until she's sixteen, she's deathly afraid to touch the comb and brush again.

Utah

2009-04-19T22:08:00.010-06:00

I am really really behind on my blogs. I have a ton of pictures of the last month and a half and have had no time to download them so here they are... I have committed to posting at least one blog a night until I get caught up.

Every GREAT Mom needs a break once in a while so she can continue to be a GREAT Mom. Especially one who is always a Mom with no break. My sister Tracey's husband is in Afghanistan and she is rowing this boat by herself AGAIN. She's amazing and always seems to somehow pull it off and still look like superwoman at the end of the day. Needless to say it was time for a little vaca. So the fam and I took a little road trip to Utah to watch her cute kiddos so she could take a much needed girl trip to Vegas.

Yes, this would explain the need for a girl trip... need I say more?!
My sweet nephew, he was so good to help out with his little bro while Mommy was gone. It took Mason man a bit of time to warm back up to Aunt Callie...

He loves to spin himself in this chair

My niece Quinn came and spent the night one night, Haydon and Aliya love her and Navy became quite fond of her as well.

Grandma Tonya is so good to my kids! She came over while my sis was gone to see them. When we lived in Utah she treated my kids like they were her own Grand kids. She came bearing gifts as usual, it was still a couple weeks until Easter but she brought all the kids Easter Baskets, toys, candy, you name it she had it. They love her. Aliya calls her Grandma Tonie-ya. We're thankful she allowed them to be a part of her life while we lived in Utah and still loves them just as much even though we have moved away.

My beautiful Aliya watching a princess movie on the portable DVD player, while Jentry and Haydon watched a "boy" movie on the big TV.

The boys pulled out their guitars and Jammed out! I love their faces in this picture!This girl absolutely loves her "bru-bru".

Jentry and Haydon we're hilarious. They decided that they were going to play music for money. They setup band in the back of the truck with a bucket for $ and a sign that said "25 cents for the show". They had been playing a while when Grandpa Hoagland showed up and put money in their bucket. They thought they had hit the jackpot!

The tongue is a Hoagland thing??? I think they need it to concentrate, I remember my Dad doing this with his tongue when I was little.

Grandpa helping the kids in and out, in and out, in and out. What a sport!

My handsome little bro Derik who's not so little anymore... :(

Mason chillin with his shades on.

My pretty little Navy

We were lucky enough to visit my Grandma Snelson while we were in town. We played our classic game of Skip Bo and had some lunch and then took all the kids for ice cream. Grandma is such a trooper. She just goes where ever we drag her with no complaints. She loves having the great Grand kids over, although I think it stresses me out. We went to Grandma Hoagland's as well but I forgot my camera :(

Doesn't that face just scream NAUGHTY!

What a HAM!

Aunt Tracey has a swing in her front yard and Nevaeh just loved it!

When it would stop she would scream until I pushed her again. Good thing it was me out there and not her Daddy he would have stayed out there all day long. She has him wrapped around her little finger.
Ahhh, they fell asleep in Aunt Tracey's bed. I think this was the best they got a long all week. ;o)

It was a good time had by all! The kids were great and I think Tracey got her much needed vacation with the girlies!

Cancun Part II

2009-03-31T23:50:00.011-06:00

The second half of our Cancun trip was really the best part! Our good friends Crystal and Drew met us in Cancun and we had such a good time. The first night they were in Cancun with us we went to this yummy mexican restaurant that sat on the Lagoon. Jay being well, Jay!
Jay & Drew

We changed hotels after the first part of our trip, this is the hotel we moved to The Gran Milia. This is a view of one of the "towers". There were 5 towers, they were enoumous. We somehow got lucky and got placed in the private part of the hotel where we had our own outdoor pool private check in and out and private restaurant. This is another view from the hotel
We went to spend the day in Xcaret, an eco park about an hour and a half away from our hotel. We got to ride in these very cush buses.

These crazy guys come marching in playing their instruments in the middle of this small arena in the park.
They then begin to climb this HUGE log.

Now they're all on top, you can see the guy in the middle standing up, he's actually playing a flute and stomping his foot on the TOP of this log. He's CrAzY!
And now they casually begin to fall backwards and spin their way to the ground. Almost down... at the end the guy standing at the top playing the flute slides down one of the ropes from a guy that has already made it to the ground. And to think they do this several times a day EVERYDAY!Crystal and I at Xcaret. We had just finished snorkeling the underground river. It was very worth the FREEZING cold water we had to endure.
At the end of the day they have a show. On our way to the show there are people dressed up all along the way. The guy in this picture is just one of the MANY amazing costumes that were involved. This is one of the performances during the show. Look how big a few of the people are, the costumes were amazing. Jay's boss and his wife ended up at Xcaret the same day we were there and we ran into them at the show so they took a picture for us.
On our way back to the hotel from Xcaret. We had such a fun filled day with great friends!

Yes I know, not a good picture. My lips got sunburned and the next morning they were so swollen it looked like I had cologen injections. We hitched a ride on one of the local "meat wagons" and headed to Capitan Hooks Pirate Ships. These buses were insane. They pull over if you flag them down and you have to literally jump on board because they don't actually stop. As your giving the driver your money he is already back on the road going 30, when he finally shuts the door. When you want to get off you have to look for the hidden LET ME OFF OF THIS MEAT WAGON BUTTON! Once it has been found and pushed he then veers to the side of the road opens the door and you better jump as he's slowing down or you are on for another ride. There's no stopping on these buses. They drive them like they're little race cars. Scary, but efficient you definitely get to your destination in shambles but quickly. We were on the red ship (captain hooks ship). It was very fun! The entertainment was great, we laughed from the moment we stepped on until we got off. I would definitely recommend this to anyone going to Cancun.

AAARRGGGHHH MATEY!!! Crystal and Jay, they have a "special" relatlionship!

This was SOOO HILARIOUS! During the entertainment Mini Me came up to Drew and started rubbing his nipples! This is uncomfortable laughter coming from my dear friend. Not quite sure how to handle an akward situation when it only gets worse... Mini Me kisses his own hands and puts them on drews lips. Then he licks his fingers and rubs them on Drew's hands. Everyone on the ship is laughing. POOR DREW! We were hysterically laughing but it was so uncomfortable. Good times!!!
This "Mermaid" sat on Jay's lap and Capitan Hook asked Jay if he liked her, Jay said yes, and he said THIS IS MY SISTER!!!

So this super nice guy who had probably had too much to drink came over and asked Crystal to dance. As you can see by her bag still around her neck he didn't really give her a chance to respond. He took her out there to country swing, little did he know she is like the queen of swing. She was awesome! (Somebody later asked Drew how he felt about a random guy dancing with his wife and his response was one I feel comes from a true gentlemen. "If there's a pretty girl standing on the side not dancing, someone should take her out and dance").
And then it was my turn...
Jay took this picture

The classic picture "hold the camera yourself and click".
The green pirate ship (Jack Sparrow's ship) pulled up along side of us and we had a pirate cannon war, pirate fight & dance. Their guys jumped on our ship and had a sword fight, and then we jumped on their ship for a sword fight. In the end we stole the treasure back. As their ship pulled away our DJ played "we are the champions".

The food was great, the entertainment was great, the company was FaNTaStiC!
We love you Drew and Crys! Waiting for our lunch to be served, Jay loves to watch the ocean.

My sweet friend Crystal, I just LOVE this girl!

Me and the love of my life!

This was our final day so we took a stroll on the beach, one last moment in paradise.

We are so greatful for such good friends. We look forward to many more adventures with these two. After 12 years of marriage I still get buttereflies when I look at my Jay.
This was the INSIDE of our hotel, it was amazing. There were plants growing from the highest balcony tiering all the way down to the lobby. It had waterfountains and so much greenery. It was amazing inside. Too-da-loo til next time!

Cancun Part I

2009-03-29T23:25:00.006-06:00

OK, so I have finally found the time to blog about our Cancun trip. Part one is the part of the trip that's "free" (yes, we like free!). The first three days go something like this... We get up and go to breakfast with all of Jay's colleagues (great food, full buffet of every breakfast food you can imagine) then Jay heads to "break out" sessions from 8-12:00. While he's being inspired and motivated to hit his goals for the next year, I am lounging on the beach reading a book and sipping a virgin "foo foo" drink as Jay calls them. We then head to lunch with all of Jay's co-workers and their spouses. We have the afternoons to ourselves so we would spend time on the beach or walk down the hotel strip and shop. One day we went to the flea market with Jay's boss and his wife, it was SO FUN! We had such a good time. On our way back Rob (Jay's boss) got pulled over. The reason for being pulled over is for running a light prior to the flea market. Wait a minute... we just came from the flea market! Are you sure it was before the flea market??? Of course the officer (who only speaks espanol) is sure it was two lights before the flea market. After much arguing and showing the "proof" of our flea market excursion, the officer decides to let us off on a warning. We were lucky Rob speaks fluent spanish and was not about to give him cash to be used as lunch money by the Mexican Policia. We are now running late for the award ceremony dinner. With a quick change of clothes we made it in good time. I forgot to take my camera and was bummed because it was REALLY amazing. They had an artist that did live portraits on this huge canvas. He was phenomenal he danced to music while he painted he looked like a crazy man that was having fun throwing paint around. By the time he was finished it was a picture of a famous person. He painted Marilyn Monroe, Johnny Cash, Albert Einstein, and Ray Charles. After the award ceremony they auctioned them off for charity and were able to donate $16,000 to a really great cause. The final night of awards was met with good food, good people, and good times. I remembered my camera YAHOOEE! On this particular night they gave away 10 awards to individuals that were part of their "elite" circle of champions. In order to get the award they had to meet certain criteria in several areas. KUDOS to Jay he was one of the top ten! This award was kept secret to everyone until it was announced so it was a surprise to all. I am so proud of Jay for all of his hard work this last year, most of it away from his family. This trip was so much fun and was only possible because Jay works so hard to meet his goals. Just a little burden for Jay to carry through this year... if he hits his goal, next year we will be in JAMAICA!!!

Jay and Dave (one of the owners of Spacesaver) Jay got sick and crashed the day we were swapping hotels... :( I'm sure he would appreciate this picture. ;)

The view from our Ritz hotel window, it was so beautiful. It was windy so there were a lot of waves (uncommon from what we were told).

Amy-Rob-Jay-Callie

Jay and I at the final award ceremony! :)

Jay and I before one of his award dinners

Amy & Rob (Jay's boss & his wife) Great people!

Dave and Julie (Jay works with Dave in SLC) before one of the award dinners. This dinner was suppose to be held out on the beach but it was too windy so last minute they brought it inside. The Ritz was amazing, you would have never known there was ever a change of plans. It was flawless.

Julie & Sunday (Jay works with Sunday in SLC)

My handsome Jay on our hotel balcony before dinner. It was windy the whole time we were in Cancun but it was a warm wind and it was beautiful.

PAY IT FORWARD!

2009-03-25T00:50:00.002-06:00

Pay It Forward (I stole this idea from my sister). The first 3 people to leave a comment on this post will receive a gift from me during this year. When and what it will be is a surprise. There's a small catch...You knew there would be didn't you? Post this on your blog then come back and leave a comment, telling me you're in. So that means you are committed to doing it to three people.....Fun, huh? Remember, only the first 3 comments receive the gift or treat. Let's see who looks at my blog! I may not have your home address, so please tell me your e-mail so I can GET your home address! :) This should be fun!

Our hospital adventure

2009-02-24T13:36:00.006-07:00

The last five days have been very eventful in the most uneventful way. Our little Navy caught the bronchitis and croup that Aliya and Haydon had. She started coughing just like the others. She began wheezing which is all too familiar in our little house. I took them all to the Dr. who said "just do breathing treatments" which we had been all along. A couple days later Nevaeh was getting worse. I decided to take her to quick care (our doctor was too full, as ALWAYS!). When I was told the wait would be two and a half hours Jay suggested taking her to the ER. They took her O2 levels and listened to her lungs. A quick X-ray. With a baby is NO fun, balancing them on a bar about 2 inches wide with their arms in the air (that's where Mom comes in) and squoze together by two plastic pieces that are buckled together. Naked none the less. She was cold, sick, uncomfortable, and looking at me like "why would you do this to me". I hate baby X-ray's. It only got worse a nose and throat swab and the dreaded catheter. Moments later we were admitted. She had pneumonia. Jay rushed to the hospital as soon as his Mom came to take care of the other two kids. They need to take blood for some labs (unfortunately she not only inherited her Daddy's lungs but his teeny tiny roley poley deep veins as well). The phlebotomist arrived she prepared to poke my sweet little angel in the arm. Well poke she did for 15 minutes. NO LUCK! She decided to try the other arm, no maybe her hand, between the knuckles, that sounds fun! She poked her again for another 15 minutes digging around just like before to find that roley poley vein her Daddy so kindly gave her. Meanwhile we were instructed to pin her down. This is where Jay falls to pieces. He absolutely hates to see his kids in pain none the less to be the bad guy holding her down. You all know Jay my sweet softy. He can't stand it and you can see the tears welling up in his eyes. At this point another phlebotomist comes into help. He gives it a go in the same knuckle, NO LUCK! Hey how bout we try the foot, right here on the side between the little toe and her ankle bone, that sounds like fun! At this point we are desperate for them to get the blood they need and get her IV in. Phlebotomist #2 gives it a try. YUP you guessed it, the two of them dug around for ANOTHER 15 MINUTES, taking turns hunting for that sneaky little vein that refuses to be poked and sucked dry. I have had ENOUGH! Poor Nevaeh, poor Jay! "Mom says we're done! No labs are worth the continued torture of my loved ones". So they pulled that little needle out and came up with another brilliant plan. Hey let's poke her in the foot and get enough blood to fill a vile for a white blood cell count. You know much like the PKU test they give your newborn at their first Dr.'s appointment. Poke and squeeze for EVER! This was another 15 minutes. By the time they were done her foot was blue, once the color returned to normal there was a bruise that was the exact replica of the hand that was squeezing her little foot. They reassured us that the best phlebotomist in the hospital would be in at 5am and would be able to do what they themselves couldn't accomplish. So after putting oxygen on her and dressing her in hospital jammies they gave her a breathing treatment. All the while she is screaming because of the oxygen in her nose it's too big and doesn't leave her room to breath which makes her hyperventilate on top of the mist that's now engulfing her face. Now snot has filled her nose and making it all the more harder to breath. By the time they are almost done with the breathing treatment I look at Jay while holding my baby and he looks like he is going to knock the nurse right out (it's a male nurse)! So I pull the nose thing off which requires more then just pulling considering it's taped to her face and say "we're done with that"! He looks at me and says "well, she needs oxygen". I said "find another way". So we taped the open end of a tube to her jammies so that it blew in her face for the night. At 5am too early for those of us with little sleep our hero phlebotamist #3 the pro arrives. She checks Nevaeh's veins and says "well it looks possible although they blew all the good veins". She pokes my little one who was very sleepy up to this point and pokes around for about 5 minutes and says "we're not going to get any blood or an IV from these veins". She pulls out and leaves unsuccessful and yet another hole in my baby girls body. Later that morning the respiratory therapist comes in and makes it all better. She cuts the ends off of the nose piece so that they don't protrude so far into her nose and helps me tape it on top of her Binky out of her nose. This works great! From this point it's just a waiting game. Nevaeh was such a trooper! I don't recall only a few times she cried after that. We spent our days napping, reading books, watching baby einstein, doing treatments, and taking meds. I thought hospital beds were bad but being curled up at the end of her hospital bed every night was even worse. Jay didn't sleep well either, he had his own bed but was too stressed to sleep well. Every beep he would jump up and watch the monitor. She didn't really improve until her fourth night there. Finally her lungs had cleared and she was almost off the oxygen. On the Fifth day we put her on room air. She didn't do great but good enough to go home that night. YIPPEE!!! Haydon and Aliya were SOO excited to have her home. The next morning Aliya said to me "Mom I lub Abaya home." I said I love Nevaeh home too. She said "I don't lub Abaya sick". I said me neither. She said "I lub Abaya happy!". Me TOO! My heart is so full of love and appreciation for my family. I feel so blessed to have such a great support system. Jay's mom stayed at our house and took care of our sick Haydon and Aliya while we stayed at the hospital. Jay was amazing, he loves his kids so very much and he doesn't hide how they emotionally effect him. He absolutely hated leaving the hospital but wanted to spend time with our other kiddos. We have such great friends! The Ricker's brought us movies, DVD player, books, cards, and an IPOD. All which filled empty time while Navy was sleeping. The Banning's brought us pizza one night and stayed to keep us company for a bit. We had lots of visitors! My family from Utah called several times a day to check up on Nevaeh. I feel so blessed to have those we love near and far put your arms around us, and let us know you love us, and are supporting us where ever you might be. We are thankful for all your love and support! I am so honored to have Jay as my husband what an amazing Dad he is. He's my ROCK!

Jay went and picked up Haydon & Aliya and took them to McD's and then brought them to the hospital to see Nevaeh and spend some time with us.

When I count my blessings I count you twice!

Poor Jay was so tired he fell asleep in a chair and I moved him to the bed, he didn't remember getting there.

She was such a trooper!

All the nurses and respiratory therapists just loved her, she was such a good girl and so easy to work with.

I love every little bit of her. I just loved snuggling with her in the hospital. She has such a sweet spirit.

We're in the hospital jail!

She's so beautiful

A little entertainment to break up the monotony. She loved watching baby einsteins DVD's.

Our friends and family showered her with gifts. I think she loved the tissue paper the most. We are blessed that so many people came to visit and called to check on our sweet baby girl.

Jay took this picture without my knowing, I didn't feel really stressed but this picture would tell it differently. Oh and the scrubs... she threw up on me so many times I no longer had clean pants so our nurse kindly brought me a clean pair.

She loves her Daddy!

Little Miss Navy

It's amazing how much trust and love these little bundles of sweetness come with

The jail cage that was offered for Nevaeh to sleep in... NO WAY she's not going anywhere near that thing! Haydon and Aliya thought it looked like great fun!

She needed more fluids so we tried a Popsicle with no luck :(

The Madison's Third Annual VALENTINES PARTY!

2009-02-15T01:24:00.009-07:00

We had our annual Valentines Party. So the night started off with dinner. I made my favorite soup but it didn't turn out quite like I'd hoped. I make it all the time but it was a little mooshy.

We played the Madison's version of the "Newlywed game", which is always a hit. I take the gals into my bedroom and Jay keeps the guys in the kitchen, we ask them 12 questions about their spouse. I love that I get to think of the questions and don't have to answer them. The answers never cease to amaze me, as well as I know these great friends of ours I learn more each time we have a party. The Seader's and Davidson's came out victorious in a tie!

We then had our gift exchange which was very practical this year. Love my GC to Louies. We lost the Colts at this time :( (babysitter relief).

We broke out a new game I thought of called Hot Potato. We tossed a beanbag to someone and asked a question (not always an easy question to answer), they answered it and tossed it to someone else in the circle, this continued until the buzzer (15 seconds) goes off. Who ever is holding the beanbag is out. We then had a final round with all the winners and Crystal conquered all! Way to go girl!

Dessert was next, Jen is our dessert queen. She always plans a delicious dessert. Bryan absolutely hates it when she volunteers for dessert, but we LOVE it! Very yummy heart shaped brownies with little scoops of ice cream on the side a fanned strawberry and a dusting of powdered sugar. So delish. We then lost the Seaders :( (babysitter relief as well).

Our final game was pictionary. Jay and I wrote the categories and the topics. It was hilarious! I love our friends, we have so much fun with them! Such good sports! The guys won, I couldn't believe they won! They had better rolls the then girls. ;) On a side note I ended up with a lot of butt shots during pictionary sorry about that.

We hope you all had fun, we did for various reasons. After everyone left Jay and I sat and talked about how much we enjoy spending time with all of you. We feel so blessed to have such great friends. We enjoy each and everyone one of you and all of your individual qualities that we have grown to love. Thanks to those of you who made our party so much fun! We look forward to next year.

The guys answering their "newlywed" questions which later came back to bite them in the butt. I will have to admit their questions were loaded...

The girls answering their questions, they had it easy so really we just chatted. Oh and the guys had to draw a picture of their wife, it was HILARIOUS!!! We laughed while each one tried to pick the picture their husband drew of them.

The Davidson's we love you guys!

The Ricker's we love you guys!

The seader's we love you guys!

The Banning's we love you guys!

The Cole's we love you guys!

The Colt's we love you guys! Nate's AWESOME!

My sweet friend Melisa

Two beautiful gals crystal & Jen

Such a hottie. Shake your bootie, shake your bootie!

Jen, Melisa, Kari, Callie, Crystal

Nice butt shot Nate!

I just love Bry, such a funny guy!

Oh so funny!?

Matt I love your drawing. Nuns? Chinese? You're so great!

THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKIN ABOUT!

SOOOOPER funny picture!

"You da man"

If they could only stay little

2009-02-15T00:41:00.004-07:00

Haydon unfortunately inherited his Daddy's lungs

But it only makes him stronger... so he thinks...brain power

My sick little Aliya :( Never complains and puts on a happy face - kinda

Watching "D D Dora" is always good medicine

And finally asleep cuddled up next to her prince

We woke up today with sick kids. Aliya is not typically a snuggly girl, but because she's not feeling well she has been a little more clingy than usual. I thought I would write down some of the cute things she said today while not feeling so well.

Most of you know Jay recently lived in Utah for six months while we lived in Idaho. At least four times a day she says "Mom I lub daddy home".

I was rocking her tonight and I said "Aliya your so pretty", she said half asleep "your so pretty too mom". Who else would tell you your pretty after a late night with little sleep and no shower.

She said earlier today "I lub this house". I love this house too. I feel like we're growing out of it but after being away for a year I have found a new appreciation for it. And a bit selfish for ever thinking we needed something more. To those of you (you know who you are), braving it in a small apartment with lots of little ones for schooling or life dream pursuits, I hand it to you. I truly look up to you (Jay wants to go to law school, we may be living the small apartment dream before we know it).

My all time favorite is "Abaya (Nevaeh) is sooo cute!". She says this several times a day as well.

She tells Haydon often "Haydon your my bet friend".

When we lived at Tracey's house Jay made oatmeal cookies. I usually make the cookies and they aren't usually oatmeal (I do love oatmeal though). We all sat around eating cookies when Aliya took a big bite out of hers and said "YUCKY, Daddy cook it!" She then proceeded to spit it out, we belly laughed for quite some time.

I wish I would write down more of the silly things my kids say. I always think that was so funny, I'm sure I'll remember it, but I never do.

While Daddy's gone

2009-02-14T21:57:00.007-07:00

Jay travels about once a month for work. I thought I would post a few pics of what we were up to while he was gone. (Nothing real eventful)

Grandma and Papa came over to see the kids while Jay was gone. Papa played a game of air hockey with Haydon while Aliya cheered for Haydon to win. Then it was Aliya's turn, she was so excited to win Papa too.

Haydon was good to help Aliya when she couldn't reach far enough

Tub time for Navy

We made sugar cookies for Haydon's preschool class Aliya was a BIG help

Haydon and Mom after the cookies were done

All the while Nevaeh slept

The kids couldn't wait for Daddy to come home they waited for him in front of the window for quite a while and once they spotted his car they were so excited! They are always sad when he leaves and ecstatic when he comes home. After a while you would think they would get used to it but it hasn't happened yet.

A cold day at the park

2009-02-14T21:25:00.010-07:00

You can't catch me. Nanner nanner...

Makenzie

Haydon was so excited to play at the park

Aliya refusing to leave

Being hauled away by Dad

Screaming in protest to her "mean" Daddy - I'm glad I don't have to be the bad guy ALL the time.

Our friends the Bannings invited us to come and play at the park. When we headed out it was semi-warm (for the middle of winter in Idaho) 45 degrees. When we got to the park it was a little cooler and by the time we left about 45 minutes later it was freezing cold. None the less Aliya wanted to stay and play, she would have played all night if we would have let her.

Pizza Power

2009-02-06T20:54:00.006-07:00

The kids and I headed out this morning to go to my sweet friend Michelle's house. She sewed some aprons for my girls, while the kids played (I don't sew, if I did those aprons would have fingers instead of ties). We were there most of the day and then headed out to run some errands. I don't recommend errands "after" the day is over. We ran to Walgreens and made a mad dash for the bathroom before my little man had an accident. When he says he has to go he means NOW! Aliya on the other hand made a mad dash to anywhere that I couldn't see her. Once I caught up to her lugging Nevaeh on my hip and towing Haydon behind, she was forced to hold my hand throughout the store. You would have thought I was torturing her. She screamed and stomped and pulled with all her might to get free which made the situation even more exciting. I love days like this (no naps, a bag of fishy crackers for dinner while running errands, people staring as though I am out of my ever loving mind, and three beautiful children that looked like I have drug them through the ringer "ragamuffins" if you will). We made it to the transportation mobile where I strapped them into their torture chairs and headed out for some more fun. We finished up our "my" errands and headed home. By this time it was too late to make dinner, what's the next best thing I ask? Pizza of course! We grabbed a pizza on our way home and just in time to find two of my three "ragamuffins" sound asleep in the back seat. Haydon was crashed, no pizza for him tonight. Navy woke up and joined Aliya and Jay and I for dinner. We have an issue getting Aliya to eat, it's not that she is picky, she actually likes about anything, she just doesn't like to eat. A challenge I wish I could encounter myself. So Jay told her that if she took a bite of her pizza it would give her power. Then she could "KAZAM" the decorative plate on the table. It would make a loud BOOM noise and shake (Jay is quite creative, when she would zap the plate he would stomp on the floor which would make the plate shake.) She thought this was fantastic she could take a bite of pizza and KAZAM the plate with all her power. Once the bite was gone the power ran out. So to get her power back she had to take another bite. Needless to say she ate all her pizza and a breadstick, I don't think she has ever cleaned her plate. It was quite funny to watch her. I think Jay was having just as much fun as she was. I love watching my children enjoying the little things in life.

PIZZA POWER!

"KAZAM"

VICTORY SMILE

FOLLOWED BY THE VICTORY DANCE!

AND... THE VICTORY KISS, A JOB WELL DONE!

NEVAEH THOUGHT IT WAS QUITE FUNNY TOO

And throug it all my Haydon slept...sweet dreams

Dance yourself silly!

2009-02-01T23:31:00.009-07:00

My beautiful princess!

Aliya and Mommy on our date

Aliya and I had a date today I took her to Playhouse Disney. Our good friends the Bannings came along as well. Makenzie had a cute princess mickey mouse hat that she let Aliya borrow. Aliya's favorite was handy manny. During intermission she danced up and down the aisle. One of the cast members saw her dancing and asked if she would like to come on stage and dance to "hot dog". She happily agreed. It was priceless. She took his hand and walked up on the stage as if she was part of the program. She danced the cutest little hot diggity dog dance I have ever seen. She was pretty excited. We had a lot of fun. Afterwords I took her to Mcdonald's (her choice of course), we got her happy meal and went to sit down in the play area. No more than two bites into her nuggets and this screeching alarm began to sound. A curious little boy decided to open the "emergency exit, do not open alarm will sound" door. Not one of the Mcdonald's employee's including the manager could turn it off. So after about 10 minutes of this ear piercing noise we decided to head home to finish lunch. We had a great day together. I love spending time alone with Aliya. She is so much fun and so different when it's just the two of us. I am so blessed to have her as my "Little Lady".

Aliya dancing at intermission

Born to dance

Hot dog hot dog hot diggity dog...

Way to go Aliya!

Aliya waving to the crowd

Her love to dance has already got her on stage

Crystal - Drew - Makenzie

Pat Pat Pat Pat....

BLAST OFF!!!

Aliya & Makenzie

My glowing magic wand

The year of the OX

2009-01-26T10:55:00.009-07:00

Last night we went to Jing Mei's house and celebrated the Chinese New Year! For those of you who like fish, and I don't mean just fish I mean EVERY kind of fish you can imagine, you would have loved this night! BUT, for those of you like myself the thought of fish makes my stomach turn, not to mention the smell, AHHH hardly bearable. So this is how it works, there's a big pot in the middle of the table, a million different kinds of fish, meat, spinach, and other items I have never seen before. They toss a bunch of it in this pot and let it boil. When it's done they dish up and start round two. This process goes on for quite some time. Jay's Dad and I and some of the kids prefer the better tastes in life so I made chicken enchiladas for the rest of us. The kids had a color the OX contest. They thought that was great fun! There's a chinese tradition that the adults give the children red envelopes with money in them. I have to say they made out like bandits! It was a great time had by all!

Tia and Aliya are the best of buddies

Jalin receiving her red envelope, you can't tell she's excited!

Haydon was pretty enthusiastic

Tia had to give kisses before she could get hers

Aliya wasn't quite sure what was in this strange envelope, she just knew she wanted one if everyone else was getting one

Aliya talked Uncle Russ into playing barbies with her, it was so cute!

An adorable picture of Jalin and Jing Mei

Aliya and Jalin eating apple pie YUM!

The feast

The pot and some of the fish...

Conner, Haydon, Aliya & Tia

Nevaeh and Mommy!

ohhh Navy sure loves her Daddy!

Nevaeh and Grandma. You would have never known Navy wasn't feeling well.

My Grandpa and Me!

Oh the things they say...

2009-01-24T00:01:00.003-07:00

The shower is on and awaiting the banging of toys on the walls and water strewn from one end of the bathroom to the other. It's time to hop in the shower Aliya. I take off her shirt and to my surprise she plops on my lap and says in a very matter of fact voice "Do you want to tickle my back or something". I couldn't help but giggle and tickle her back before sending her off to the shower. I love the silly things that come out of a 2 1/2 year olds mouth. This reminded me of something Haydon said at about her age. One day we were sitting at the kitchen table and he said "Mommy, i'm going to marry you when I get big". I said "well I would love that, We should tell Daddy of your plans". So later that night I said to Jay "Haydon said he's going to marry me when he grows up". Jay asked Haydon "What about me"? Haydon said "I can't marry you Daddy, your not a princess". Oh how I absolutely love that boy! I only wish he would always have that perception of his Mommy. When he's fifteen and forgets that he's going to marry me and that I am his princess, I will surley remind him. ;O)

Dancing with Giggles

2009-01-19T23:48:00.005-07:00

Today we woke up with everyone feeling well again. A day at home with no where to go, no work, no playdates, no errands, no sick kids, and nothing to get in our way of a FUN day together. I listened to Haydon and Aliya play together in the playroom, how lucky they are to have each other. The best of friends. Aliya asked Haydon to play barbies with her so he did only he played "hero barbies" he plays with HULK and she's barbie. While she is dreaming of dancing with a prince, Haydon in scheming up a plan to save her from the evil witch. I love knowing that they enjoy being with each other so much. Aliya says to Haydon everyday, "Haydon you are my bef friend". It doesn't get much sweeter than that. I turned on some music and Nevaeh giggled and giggled as we bounced around the room. Oh how I love her smile. She has a way about her, so even tempered and peaceful. She is truley a joy to have, how blessed can one person be. Apparently Haydon and Aliya heard our fun and came to join us. We danced and laughed until my legs hurt and my stomach ached. Jay heard the fun and left his office to join us. The kids ran to get their instruments and sang and danced. We all crashed on the floor in exhaustion. I grabbed the camera for some quick shots but of course little miss naughty pants was only being herself. Uncooperative, stubborn and cute as ever. Aliya asked daddy for a "woopie doo ride" and being that Daddy is wrapped around her little finger, despite his recovering back, couldn't say no. She demanded him this way and that way and he obeyed her every command. If she could she would "bippity boppity boo" everyone to her tune. Family home evening was "fire safety" we talked to the kids about what to do in case there was a fire in the middle of the night. Afterwards they wanted to try out our new plan. So Jay set off the fire alarm (which Nevaeh thought was funny) as the kids pretended to be asleep in their beds. Surprisingly they did exactly as we had explained. They thought is was so much fun to role play and we felt better knowing they're more prepared. We ended the night with a little raspberry sherbet and tucked the kids into bed. It's amazing to me how fast they grow. Jay and I look at them and just can't believe they're ours. What beautiful amazing children. I only wish this precious time with them wasn't going by so quickly. How truley blessed we are.

Navy has just learned how to wrinkle her nose, it's so dang cute!

Giddy up Daddy!

I am now short one eye! ;O)

Nevaeh thought it was just as much fun to suck on the tamborines as it was to bang them together.

I can't tell if Aliya is singing along or the reality that her brother has gone crazy is just setting in.

Shake your bootie!

My trip with Nevaeh to Utah

2009-01-14T21:11:00.003-07:00

Nevaeh and I had so much fun in Utah. We went to stacee's wedding on Friday, it was beautiful. We had so much fun at her reception Nevaeh danced with Aunt Tracey and giggled, and giggled, and giggled. It was priceless. Saturday was Tracey's Birthday we met Dad for breakfast at the one man band and then headed out on a shopping spree with Derik and the two babies. Derik is a good sport! Korey met us all for a late lunch at Olive Garden. When we got home we put the babies to bed and Cory hit the hay, he was exhausted from guard. Tracey and I made a little birthday apple crisp and played a good ol game of yatzee. It was so fun to spend time with my sis again, we have such a good time together. On Sunday Tracey, Mason, Nevaeh, and I went to Grandma Snelson's, Derik me us there we had pizza and played skip bo. Tracey took Navy down to visit Grandma Cindy. Grandma Snelson came back to Tracey's house with us for Mason's Birthday party. Mason had his own little chocolate cake to eat and eat it he did. He was so cute. On Monday I cut my hair off and Navy and I hopped on an airplane and headed home. We REALLY missed our family. It was so nice to see them again and Aliya could finally stop saying "I want my Mommy". What a fun trip!!!

We LOVE Great Grandma!

2009-01-14T20:41:00.005-07:00

We got to spend some time with Great Grandma while we were in Utah. We went to her house and played skip bo and ate pizza. It was really fun!
Nevaeh absolutely adores her Great Grandma. She was so tired at Mason's Birthday party but didn't want to miss out on all the fun. After her bath she snuggled up in Grandma's arms and fell asleep.

Utah here I come!!!

2009-01-14T19:09:00.004-07:00

Mason and his HOT Mama on his First Birthday, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MASON!

Nevaeh loved spending time with her cousin Mason when he wasn't crawling or walking on her they were fighting over toys. It was very fun!

Jentry wrestling with Uncle Derik!

Quinn wrestling with Uncle Derik, i think Quinn's winning!!!

Good Morning at Aunt Tracey's house!

My Handsome Prince

2009-01-07T00:11:00.003-07:00

Aliya thinks Haydon is her prince and most of the time he treats her like a Princess!

It Snowed!!! again...

2009-01-06T23:34:00.016-07:00

We didn't have a hill so Daddy pulled them around the neighborhood instead!

Cute little Chica's

2009-01-06T23:26:00.004-07:00

Aliya and Makenzie in their matching pink hats! CHEEZE!!!

Pirate Navy

2009-01-06T23:07:00.006-07:00

ARGH MATEY! Navy lookin like a pirate tongue and all at Haydon's Pirate Party!

2009-01-06T00:26:00.004-07:00

Well today was a pretty laid back day. The kids and I hung out most of the morning. Once Aliya was down for a nap Nevaeh and I went to Costco with Holli and Tysen. Do to my loss of memory with each and every child I forgot my purse so for me it was a pretty pointless trip. We dropped Holli off and picked up my purse and headed to D&B for a much needed shovel. And then off to our daily trip to wally world. We had a very fun dinner with Holli and Darin and their fam. She made a pretty amazing chicken tortilla soup. We played a little ticket to ride, which they were pretty good at for their first time. And the kiddos made candybar cookies. YUMMY!!! Haydon had watched a scary movie a week or so ago at his cousins house and had nightmares for a couple days and couldn't go to sleep at night because of the "demonds". So tonight we overheard him telling Tysen that if you think of Jesus then he will take the place of all the "demonds" in your head. I thought that was so cute! What a big boy he is. We headed home and bathed the kids and got them into bed. Tomorrow we are back to the grind, Mom and Dad back to work and Haydon back to preschool. On the other hand for Aliya and Navy they get to play tea party and spend time with Grandma which is funner than what the rest of us are doing. Aliya really looks forward to her Grandma time!

Our Kiddos

2009-01-05T00:03:00.001-07:00

2009-01-04T23:39:00.003-07:00

So we are officially bloggers. I know way behind the eight ball but better late than never. We are all officially back in Idaho and love spending time as a family!