Family Picture

I had to share this great picture. Sam drew a family picture at school. You can see everyone, even Troy in his walker.

Star Wars

This is my Sam. And this is Star Wars. Our neighbors have loaned us their Star Wars movies and Sam really can't get enough of them. He has even decided to be part of the action by getting the Star Wars gun his cousin gave him and helping to shoot the "bad guys". You can see his gun in the top picture and the shadow of it in the bottom one. I love my boy.

Two-Headed Bus

Some of you may be wondering what a two-headed bus is. Well, the picture is above. Actually, the picture above is of the Las Vegas RTC's Deuce Bus. It is a double-decker bus that you can find on the streets of Las Vegas. We were on our way to Henderson when we overheard Sam explaining to Leah that THAT kind of bus was a "two-headed bus". Not bad, huh.

They Say It's Your Birthday...

Cute baby Shaunie

Here are some pictures of her party. I decided to throw a little friend party with just the ward members because she is such a good girl. I wanted to let her know she was appreciated. We invited just kids she knew well in the ward and had about 17 kids show up. That was with about 5 kids who couldn't come because it was a holiday weekend and they were out of town. The kids age range was from 3 years to 12. We painted jars, played Duck, Duck, Goose and had a Birthday BBQ. The kids had fun and Shaunie felt like a queen for the day. It was all worth it! She got lots of fun toys and a lot of money (she says she's trying to save up $1000) . Thank you to everyone who came and had so much fun with us. I know Shaunie appreciated it and that she loves you and your friendship.

Sorry, I can't get this cake to go straight. I guess you can just turn your head to the right a bit.

My Shaunie Rae turned 7! She is just getting too old! I have been asking her for about 5 years now "Who said you could grow?" She used to just smile and say "Nobody." Now she still smiles but instead of saying anything she just rolls her eyes.

She is... my first born love ...the first child who stole my heart and still hasn't given it back ... everybody's friend, everybody's shoulder to cry on, and everybody's example on how to treat others ...is very mature and a natural leader ...a cuddlebug ...the best big sister in the world!

...a great example of unconditional love.

She teaches me on a daily basis how to be a better person. She gets along with everyone. I always hear from her teachers and parents of her friends that she has a very special spirit about her. She loves to get and give hugs and loves. She has always had a natural care-giving love for children. Troy adores her, Leah runs to her when she is sad, Sam looks up to her as a friend and a role-model, and they all love to hear her read. Thank you Shaunie Rae for all you have done for your family. We are blessed to have you and learn from you every day!

Welcome Baby Miles

My sister Lindsay just had her second baby boy. His name is Miles Jay Noble. He is handsome and oh so small! I stole these pictures off her blog. You can go to her blog if you want to see more and get more information. He is a cutie-patootie! Congratulations to Lindsay and Andy.

First Day!

We have finally started school! We started yesterday and it seems like this year is going to be great. We were finally able to get the kids on the track 5 since our school went to year-round. That is the track that is most like the 9 month calendar school year and the track that most of our ward is on. We are so grateful to be on this track! I only had to promise the assistant principal that I would be on the PTA this year. That is actually easy to do because my ward IS the PTA. I am even the PTA president's visiting teacher!

Anyway, the kids had a great day. Sam had his first day of Kindergarten with the cutest teacher. Her name is Mrs. Hernandez and I am so glad he got into her class. He seems to really be liking school and is very excited to get up and get going. Shaunie has a great teacher too. She has Ms. Ramirez who is excellent too. Here are some pictures of the first day of school.

Later that day we had a special Family Home Evening. Our treat was my pencil cake (not it's not made of pencils). It didn't turn out exactly as I had hoped, but it was still fun and very yummy.

What'cha bin doin'?

Here's what we've been doing since we've been back from our vacations. We've had lots of fun. The kids are in little classes at the community rec. center up the road. Leah is in Tiny Tots Ballet, Sam is in a sports class that does all sorts of sports, and Shaunie is taking a basketball skills class. They each go once a week and they are loving it. It has been a nice break from being at home. Vegas weather doesn't really let us go outside in the summer time very much, so this is what they are doing. We are having fun watching them develop their new talents and skills, too.




I also had a ton of fun visiting with my long, lost, MTC companion Taralyn Poll. She is now Taralyn Hadley and she has two adorable children with a third on the way. Here are some pictures with her kids. The boy in the middle is her son Jed, and the boy with Troy is Andrew. We spent some time with them on a Saturday and got reacquainted and laughed and just has some fun. She is still so much fun to be with. We also invited Jenny Hodge over. She was in our district too and she was our roommate. Jenny is a lawyer here in Henderson and I am so glad she is so close. We ran into her almost a year ago at a BYU/UNLV football game. I didn't even recognize her at first because she has changed so much. She has always been beautiful, but she is gorgeous now! She is also a lot of fun to be with and it was so much fun getting together. I am so blessed to have such good friends. They are people who I can truly say know me and STILL like me. Thanks to them for all the good times and memories. I hope we can get together more often.

National Night Out

We went to an event in Henderson called National Night Out. I'm not sure what it is for except there were a lot of booths and a lot of cops. It was geared towards families and safety and the community. Michelle told us about it. We had a lot of fun gathering pens, pencils, papers, eating free food and making projects. Shaunie and Sam made flag holders while Leah made a boat. We also had Uncle Clint etch our vin number into our van windows for FREE! Thanks to Henderson PD and to Michelle for a fun, family night out. Here are some pictures.

Happy Birthday Troy Boy!

We had Troy Boy's birthday party. I am finally getting this up. Here is his cake. I always have fun making cakes. He didn't enjoy his own personal cake very much. Jeremy ended up taking it apart for him so that he might find some part of it appetizing, but that didn't even work. Notice the picture where he is happily holding a saltine cracker instead of chowing down on his cake (maybe he thinks it's a Mint Milano! thats for my family, it's an inside joke). This ball ended up being one of his favorite presents. He got it from his cousins, the Petty's. He actually really loved all of his presents. He has played with all of them. I don't know if my other kids were just different or that Troy is different, but he actually PLAYS with his toys! He even dances to the music from a little truck he got. I love to see him play with them and really get into it.

Another highlight of the weekend was visiting Jeremy's uncle Eric who works at the church office building. We rode up to the 23rd floor to say hi and then he took us on a little "insiders" tour of Temple Square. We went to the top of the church office building and took some awesome pictures. What a way to get a new perspective of life! Also, we got to go under the church office building and see the tunnels that the members of the 12 Apostles take to go to the temple and other locations. It was amazing and fun. Thanks to Uncle Eric for taking some time from his busy schedule to show us around. We really loved it!

Also, while in Park City, the boys spent a morning golfing. It was Jeremy's first time on a real golf course and I was told he did great (with a few minor tumbles). I think it was a great little get-away for the men and I am glad they were able to go. Thanks to Dad for setting that up.

Park City 2008

We also visited the Church History Museum in Salt Lake City. Here is a picture of Uncle Andy and cousin Eli pushing a replica of the handcarts. The museum has a hands-on, interactive display called "I Am a Child of God" it is for the kids. We spent a long time playing with the dolls, setting up a primary class, taking part in the manger scene and many other fun things. It is a must-see for the kids. Part of our Park City adventure included swimming and going to the Park City City Park (yes, that IS the name). The only ones daring enough to climb to the top of the rope web were Leah and Russ. Don't they look triumphant!? We had a really fun time and look forward to the next reunion.

Happy Anniversary!

Jeremy and I celebrated our 8th anniversary on the 11th of August. I love you Jeremy! Thanks for being a wonderful husband and dad. I don't know what I would do without you. You are everything to me.

Just so ya know, I really do hate this picture. What is that THING on my head?! I guess it is just memories. So much has happened since we were married. We have come so far and gotten so much done. We have four beautiful children, a beautiful home, and lots of love to go around.

Highland Fun 2008

We had so much fun hanging out at my parents house in Highland. We had s'mores (a big tradition at my parent's house), played on the big blow up water slide, had exciting sleep-overs (as you can see), and even visited Kanagroo Zoo! So much to do! The weather was great and it was really hard to come back to Vegas weather. The kids has so much fun with their cousins, which to me is the best part, and I had a lot of fun hanging out with my sisters and brother. Thanks to everyone for making our vacation so much fun!

Emily and Ben Gutierrez! I hope I spelled that right. The wedding was beautiful. She got married in the same room in the Timpanogus Temple that my siblings and I have all been married in. It was really special and she looked so beautiful. The kids all looked adorable too. Here there are posing with the newlyweds. Leah was a little tired and just would not stop crying. I guess it makes for a better story later on, though. I also posted a picture of all the women in my family. From left to right, Ruth Ann (Jeremy's wife), Heidi, Kelli, Emily, my mom, Celeste, Lindsay, and then me. Ok, I had to post a picture of us working on the wedding food, too. We had veggie cabobs (yes, that is right), and mini fruit pizzas, with yummy little chocolate cups filled with a divine chocolate mousse. The food was done by me and my sisters. I have to give them most of the credit because I just showed up and helped put a few things together. It looked gorgeous when it was on the table. The best part about it was that it was mostly healthy and we really had a fun time working together. It definitely looked like it was catered and most of the people made comments about how nice it was.

Oh, and doesn't my little Sam look sooo cute in his newsboy hat?! If you look closely you can see a gigantic bruise across his forehead. He was jumping on the "beanbag couch" and somehow hit is head on the step in the theater room. Ouch! He was a very strong boy and didn't complain about it.

By the way, if you want to see any pictures up close, just click on them and you'll get a better view.

Hello out there!

It has been almost a month since my last post and sooooo much has been happening. We went to Utah, saw my beautiful sister get married, had a Haws Family reunion in Park City, Jeremy turned 31, and Troy turned 1. I have lots of pictures and fun stuff so now I will start to put them on for you. Thanks for looking!