**Merry Christmas to ALL**
Wow! It's Christmastime and man oh man do the days fly by with all there is to accomplish. School programs, ward functions, work and school parties...the list goes on and on. Needless to say I am glad for the Christmas season. The joy it brings to our home, the excitement of our kids, the amazing feelings we have from watching the generosity of others. I am so glad for such a season.

Mike started teaching his 2nd trimester at school after the Thanksgiving vacation. He was so glad to be able to start a trimester from the beginning and not picking up where another teacher left off. He loves his students and is finding a lot of joy in teaching. (Now if only the pay were just a smidgeon better.) He teaches in Primary and likes it too!

I am still able to stay home with our kiddies. It is a challenging blessing. Aidan and Cole spend the day with me and wow! they are something else. Aidan always has something new to discover and Cole...well...Cole is a discovery in itself... I am the 2nd counselor in the Young Women's and it is a joy in my life. I really do love it and the girls and as a bonus it gets me out of the house 1 night a week!!

Cambree is in 4th grade and started at a new school. She loves, Loves, LOVES school! She is SO helpful in our home. I have really come to rely on her and am so glad she is such a willing and delightful girl. She started piano this year and has loved every minute of it. She begs to practice and it makes me happy to see her like it so much. She is going to start ski school at the beginning of the year and is really excited to try that out.

Brinlee is in 3rd grade and she is a great student. Her teacher really loves her and Brin really loves her teacher. It has been a good experience and I feel blessed about that. Brin also started piano this year and she seems to like it just fine. She tried gymnastics earlier in the fall and while she loved doing it, she loved going to Activity Days a little more so she had to give up one or the other and chose to give up gymnastics. She is quite the comedian in our family and she comes up with hilarious things to make us laugh.

Aidan is nearly 4. He has been looking forward to this birthday for quite sometime. He is enrolled in preschool at the college and it starts in the middle of January. He can hardly wait to be a big kid in school. He got a new Nursery leader a few months ago and fell immediately in love. She is so good to him and he thinks she is so beautiful. He talks about her all the time. Aidan is quite a clown himself. He is also VERY independent. He cooks his own oatmeal and mixes his own crystal light "drinks". He pretty much rules this place. It is a challenge.

Cole is 5 1/2 months old and is going to be the death of me. He cries ALL THE TIME! And I mean all the time. I am starting to think he will never learn to roll over, crawl, walk or do anything for himself because he is held all the time. I have taken him to several Drs, a chiropractor, and have tried many kinds of remedies...all to no avail. I am hopeful that when he turns 6 months old that a miracle will happen and he will turn into an angel baby. I am convinced that he was switched at birth and my mild mannered nice baby went home with the wrong people. :) HOWEVER!! I love this little baby boy. He has amazing smiles and laughs that bring joy to our family. He is starting to eat more solid foods and it is fun to watch this milestone. We do love him and are glad he is part of our family.

I wasn't very good this year so I am getting COLE in my stocking!! Hahaha!

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and hopefully this next year will be amazing for ALL!!

**October's Wrap-Up**

Whew! I am always behind with everything it seems. Here is the rundow of our October. MJ worked in Spud Harvest driving truck for our great friends the Ashton's. It was kind of a crazy harvest...they usually are. The week he was out of school it was so rainy they didn't dig much. The week after he went to school during the day and then drove spud truck at night. It was a long time for the kids and me. I didn't know if I was going to survive. But of course I did. :) We are glad that we don't have to do that every day...

We celebrated Halloween like the rest of everyone else. Here are the costumes in all their glory. We did simple costumes this year and it was nice.







Aidan loved Halloween. He especially thought these green fangs were the best things ever. He must not get out much. :)

Cole continues to grow and grow. He is close to 20 lbs. He is a very unhappy baby. Sure we can get him to smile and giggle. BUT, he is not content with anything. He wants to be held ALL the time. And as you can imagine, 20 lbs of baby is not that easy to carry around. He is breaking my arms and back. And to be quite honest, the crying is really, really hard to cope with some days. There. Now you know that the life I try to portray on my blog is FAR FROM PERFECT!!! I have a fussy baby, a 3 year old who won't leave said baby alone and to be honest, I have no patience with either of these issues. :):)
This picture was taken in a laundry basket because my cute sister-in-law showed me a fun idea to take a picture of your baby every 3 months in the basket for the 1st year to see how quickly they grow. This is Cole and his cute little self. Makes you wanna just cuddle him doesn't it??

Aidan and his friend Keaton get to come play at our house every Wednesday afternoon while the girls are at dance. This past Wednesday while I was feeding Cole and putting him down for a nap, these two little angels decided to make use of their time. Aidan even had green hair. How adorable. Everyone wishes I would watch their children.

Here is a picture of our 4 children. It is as good as it gets. We had at least 3 of the 4 looking. Cole was more interested in chewing on his shirt. Sigh. At least they were ready for church on time. That's something.

**September has come and nearly gone...**

At the beginning of the month we blessed Cole. Well, MJ blessed him, and the rest of us were in attendance. It was a nice summer day and MJ did a great job. Thank you to those who came. It meant a lot to me.

Cambree played soccer through the end of August and into September. It was starting to get chilly the last couple of games so it was a good thing it didn't go much longer. She had a lot of fun playing.

Brinlee and her dad went up to the temple to have some baptism dress pictures taken. We did the same with Cambree, but it was nicer weather in July versus October. :)
Aidan is quite the character. He loves his brother but a little too fiercely. It is hard for him to understand why Cole is crying from all the "love" he gives him. :) Cole has continued to grow. At his 2 month appointment he weighed a whopping 14 lbs. 13 oz. Which ironically is just 1 oz over what Aidan weighed at his 2 month appointment. We like 'em big, we like 'em husky. :)

MJ and I have been so blessed the past 2 years. He became unemployed in August 2009 and immediately went back to school to get this teaching certificate. In February 2011 he landed a job teaching high school economics and computer classes. In May the principal told him there was a budget cut and his position was being cut with it. So, we went back to searching for jobs. ALL summer...Nothing was offered to us...So we continued to wait and receive multiple blessings from numerous sources. Two weekends ago he became aware of a position at a local Jr High and applied. It was teaching 7th grade science which was what he taught while student teaching. We had a to wait a very long week, but in the end he was offered a job!! He started teaching this past Monday and is really enjoying it. It has been a long trial with much learning for us both. I am sure we have more trials awaiting us, but it is nice having this amazing blessing in our lives! (Cheesy, but TRUE!!)

Cambree turned 10 years old yesterday!

It was so strange to see the anniversary of 9/11 come and go and think about what I was doing 10 years ago...just 12 days away from having my 1st baby. I can't believe that 10 years have passed. Cambree has grown up so quickly. Ten fun things about Cambree are:
She is VERY helpful.

Very responsible.

VERY friendly.

So loving and kind.

Loves to laugh.

Loves to read.

Loves to help cook, clean, sew...

Loves to create and "invent" things.

Loves to try new things (basically everything).

LOVES LIFE!

We love Cambree. She is such a joy to raise and is a great member of our family!!

**Our August in a nutshell**

As you can guess we have had a busy month and a half. This past Tuesday was Cole's 6 week birthday. :) We took him to get his pictures taken in his blessing outfit. (Will bless him over Labor Day weekend.) He started smiling at us when he was 5 weeks old and now it is a big contest to see who can get him to smile the most....However, this is usually the face we get. Not so sure how he really feels about us. (At least not Aidan. Heehee.)

Since Cole was about 5 days old, he has had a bum rash that just won't quit. It is the worst rash I have ever seen on a baby and we can NOT get it to go away. We have tried every trick we can think of. Lay under a lightbulb, wash with soap and water EVERY diaper change, every bum cream you can imagine, every cornstarch remedy and air it out solution possible. It just will not go away. It is painful for everyone involved because the poor thing has never known a good diaper change and it breaks my heart to hear him so sad. Ugh!! (We have literally been to the Dr's office every week since he was born...EVERY week!!)



But, he continues to grow and grow. Last Friday he weighed in at 13 lbs. 1 oz. and today he weighed in at 13 lbs. 11 oz. He is putting on the weight and we love it!

The girls started school on the 17th of August. They were so excited. Cam is in 4th and Brin is in 3rd. They go to different schools this year but don't seem to mind a bit. They love their teachers and I am hating the early mornings and homework already. It could be a long year!!

Aidan was so excited for the girls to start school too. He would have liked to go, but decided that having everything at home to himself was way better than anything in the world. So, he plays the Wii a lot and he is my little buddy who loves to watch everything I do for the baby. Change diapers, dress him and feed him. It is so special to have such an attentive audience. :) It is fun to see him love his little brother so much!
MJ and I celebrated our 13th anniversary this year. I can't believe how fast the time goes. I never would have dreamed what our years together would be like, but I am excited to see what the next 13 bring. :)

**A quick update**

All is well in our household. Summer is going by quickly. The kids are home from a week long vacation to their grandparents in Utah. (Thanks again Grandpa Jer-Bear and Grandma Lori and Auntie Em--even you Uncle Sean :)). It has been quite an adjustment having 4 kids. We have been taking it easy all week since little newborns make me a lot nervouse. :) The kids are bored but would it be any different any other summer?

Cambree has proven to be a great helper with many things. She is growing up so fast and I appreciate her kindness to her siblings and her helpful attitude.

Brinlee. Sigh. She is dealing with some middle child syndrome issues I think. She has developed a need to wash her hands and worries constantly about things that supposedly make her dirty. After a chat with the Dr. I feel that I can help her past this but man is it trying my patience. Hopefully with school starting and getting her back into a routine she will overcome this need for being a clean freak. :)

Aidan has actually adjusted way better than I expected with a new baby in the house. He loves this little fella and is very interested in the ongoings of caring for a baby. Feedings bring on quite the audience and it is special. He is learning to self entertain really well and I have only had to deal with 2 meltdowns from him. These are possibly from being over tired.

Cole went to the Dr. for a 2 week check up yesterday and he now weighs 9 lbs. 14 oz. He is growing very quickly and once we get this nighttime stuff under control, I will be a happy mom!! :):)

Cole on his 2 week birthday.

**INTRODUCING...**

The newest member of our church...and...the newest member of our family!!

On July 2, 2011 Brinlee was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. She was so excited to enter the waters of baptism and be confirmed with the gift of the Holy Ghost. When she came out of the water, she had a shocked look on her face and said to me, "Wow! That was really wet!" Apparently she wasn't expecting to get wet in water?? :) We had a good day and I think Brinlee will make very good choices in her life.

Grandma Judy and Mike's sister Sharon and 5 of her kids were able to come celebrate the day with us, but they didn't stick around for photos after. :) We are so glad they were able to come though and appreciate their love and support for Brin!

On July 12, 2011 we welcomed our new baby boy into the world. It was kind of a wild day. I was supposed to be induced on the 13th but was debating whether or not I really should. My mom was at girl's camp for the week (she is the stake YW president) and would not be able to come up right away. I was in good hands though because my sister Emily was willing to come whenever I needed her! Mike's mom was also very willing to help where needed and boy did we end up needing her.

I ended up going into labor in the middle of the night on Monday night (Tuesday morning technically). We had Judy come to our house about 4:30 in the morning and we headed up to the hospital. I had him about 10:50 am and went to fast for the Dr. to get in the room so the nurse caught him at an angle and were we ever glad for an experienced nurse!!

July 12 is my grandpa's birthday so we were excited to have such a special little baby born on such a special man's birthday. My grandpa is SO great!! Thanks for sharing your day with our little guy Grandpa!

We have named our new bundle of joy:
COLE JAMES

He weighed 8 lbs. 10 oz.

and after a couple of measurements we believe he is about 20 or 21 inches long. :)

He is a healthy eater and is so dang cute!
We love him and are excited to have him in our home...

**Our Blondie Turns 8**

Brinlee turned 8 yesterday. She has been anticipating this birthday for quite some time. In fact, she started asking for her birthday present about 6 or 8 months ago or longer. All she wanted was a Nesting Doll. Her teacher had a nesting doll at school and it was all Brin could talk about. She begged and begged for one. She even told me that I should "google" it so I could find a place to order one on-line. Well, as luck would have it Grandma Lori has a neighbor that actually was working in Russia this past winter and in April he brought one home for Grandma Lori to give to Brin. Whew. Mission accomplished.

She had a great day. She was treated to a breakfast of crepes that her dad made her. Then she was able to take 2 friends to the movie and out for snow cones after. She came home and we celebrated with dinner and more presents from Grandma Judy and Grandpa Gene. It was a day to be remembered.

8 things we love about our Brinlee are:

1: She is quite the comedian. She comes up with some of the most hilarious things to tell us and keeps us laughing.

2: She is thoughtful of others.

3: She is always good to share things with her sister and brother.

4: Brin is a great student in school. She reads fast and does well in all her subjects at school.

5: She is usually helpful. She will do what needs done...if you can get her attention.

6: She is truthful to a fault. She tells you EVERYTHING she does wrong. And I mean EVERYTHING!!!!

7: She has a contagious laugh and she laughs a lot. (She also has a sad face that she uses a lot and at times can be heartbreaking...but only SOME times!)

8: She loves to color, paint, draw, create. Anything crafty or creative this girl is all about it!

We love this blonde haired, blue eyed little beauty. She keeps our lives entertaining. She is about to be baptized so we are so excited for her decision to do that. She is a joy in our lives!

**My hour of Terror**

On Wednesday Aidan was outside playing. Next thing I know the neighbor boy had let Aidan out into our front yard through the gate and they were playing. So, I made them come into the backyard again and I shut the gate once more. I had the screen door open and was ironing while listening to them talk and play. Then silence. I went outside and called for them and more silence. I picked up the neighbor boy's shoes and marched over to the neighbors house to retrieve Aidan for a punishment of a lifetime. Unfortunately the boys were not there. So, I proceeded to go on a boy hunt. Calling for Aidan and wondering where 2 barefooted boys could have gone. Luckily there wasn't water in the ditch near our house. But after a quick walk to the local park, I didn't find any trace of them. I began to get a little panicky. I called MJ and wondered what to do. I got in my car and drove around the big block. I came home and went in the backyard again. At this point most of the neighborhood was out looking and checking every backyard and place they could think of. Still nothing. 45 min into the search the police were called. They came to our house and began taking descriptions of the boys. I was walking back to our house with a couple of neighbors and one of them heard little voices and after looking through the slats in our fence we found the missing duo. They were crouched down under our canoe in the backyard playing a great game of hide and seek I guess. I was so relieved that I broke down crying but so angry I wanted to whip them both. Aidan always answers me so I am amazed that he would be so quiet for an hour and not move.
Needless to say the outcome could have been different and I realize how blessed I am to have all my children safe at home. I am so grateful Aidan was safe so I could spank him. :) But only after the audience had left. :):)

**A Sad Day for Me...**

So today I was finally going to update my blog with dance pictures, Easter pics and everything else from the past month. But as luck would have it, I completely erased it all. So, all those fun pictures are just a distant memory... :(

Here is a quick word recap:
Cambree and Brinlee had a dance recital on the Saturday before Easter. They did a really great job and had a fun day. Grandma Lori, Grandap Jerry and Grandma Judy were able to come. My BFF Mic does such a great job with dance and the girls absolutely adore her. Their costumes were amazing this year and I just wish I had a pic to show it. Sob, sob...

The Easter Bunny comes to our house on the Saturday before Easter. How lucky is that? So, we were able to see what he brought then head over to the Easter Egg hunt at the park right by us. It was fun and Aidan had been well trained by his sisters to go for the EGGS! That's where the real prizes are after all. So, we ended up with 12 free ice cream cone certificates to DQ thanks to Aidan and his need for some eggs. :) Cam had fun at the hunt as well, but Brin thought hunting eggs in the big kid section was a major rip off. So, we had a few issues with blondie over that one. Life is never fair to her...

I can't think of anything else that is too exciting in our lives. We are in some countdowns right now to major happenings in our lives. Only 3 weeks til school is out. Brinlee turns 8 on June 20 and is baptized on July 2. And we are in the last 10 weeks of pregnancy. WOW! This should be great! I promise to take pictures and keep them safe this time! And if we are lucky, I might blog them too!!!

**Spring Cleaning or Baby Nesting??**

Either way, many changes...

It all started in February when MJ was home all the time. (Before the job...) I decided that I wanted to paint the main color of our house. So, after seeing what my BFF Mic had painted on some of her walls, I got the same paint. We painted the front room and hallways in the shade of October harvest. And, we changed the furniture and wall hangings up a bit. It was a refreshing change...

Then I decided that the girls needed new bedding. So, we purchased bedding that can be reversed and changed. (According to the package it can have 384 different looks...or something.) We painted their room the colors of a watermelon. :) Green on top and pink on bottom. I have accented things in their room with blue like the bedding and orange and every color in between.

I remodeled a lamp from DI (actually I started painting it orange and failed so MJ took over and painted it so amazingly great!) Then I took an old lamp shade I had and covered it with ribbons. (Inspiration for this project from my friend Rhonda!)

I loved the design of the curtains they had up with the old room, so I found matching fabric and copied the old curtains. (Design by my mom who is a creative genius!!) Sorry, the photo isn't so great. But you kind of get the idea!

After their room, I moved on to my room. With help from my friend Lisa, I decided to paint it a blue gray color and do stripes on the main wall. It was a fun project!! I convinced MJ that we also needed new bedding to complete the look and I was able to sew a lot of pillows and also a valance that is quite lovely if I do say so myself. :)

And, with the addition of a new baby and a 3 year old boy who is not the greatest sleeper, we decided to move Aidan to the middle room and give Baby Dirt (story of name to follow...) A's old room. So, he also got some new stuff. Thanks to MJ's mom Judy, we have an AMAZING bedspread that she made to match the curtains and car theme that I loved. Seriously. Isn't it great?? The curtains were too long so I had to cut those and hem them and I made the pillows on his bed to match. (I can't get enough of sewing and painting I guess!) MJ helped me make the name board to add something to his room for decoration. :) We just need a little table to go next to his bed and cover the cords. They lead to the computer that we had to store in the closet because we are just running out of bedroom space around this joint! :)

Now, on to the last untouched room in our house...Baby Dirt's...I will be working on that in the next couple of weeks and will post the final outcome. I have the bedding and am so excited for the vision of it all. I bet you can't wait either! :)

Side note: With the moving of bedrooms, the remaking of rooms, I have cleaned every closet in

our house. I still need to work on the kitchen, and when MJ has spring break, we are clearing out our crawl space. I am having a yard sale and there is a lot that is going!! Whew. I can't decide if spring is in my blood or just nesting. Either way, it's madness around here. (According to my hardworking assistant Mikey!)

The story of Baby Dirt: When my kids found out we were having another baby they didn't think it was true. We must tease a little too much around here. They were excited when they realized it was true and after seeing the ultrasound pics. :) (Great parenting huh?) Anyway, at Christmas when we were at my parent's house, my mom asked Aidan what we were going to name our new baby and he said Dirt. It stuck and that is how we refer to our baby. Sometimes to be funny we call him Joe Dirt and other times Mud. Just kidding. We just refer to everything about him as baby Dirt. If it had been a girl it would be the same way. At least boys like dirt more. :)

Here is a little mischief our baby A has been up to lately. He loves to color... :)

But he has been saying some of the funniest things: "This is gonna be GREAT!" "Thanks Mom, you're the BEST!" I will say, "Aidan, you are such a good boy." Aidan then says, "Yeah, I am." Or "I know, I am." "I love Mom, and Dad and Girls." "My favorite color is pink." "I am a girl!" Some things will come back to haunt him I hope! :) :)

The girls are busy lately with dance. It is ending in a few short weeks so we have had a few performances lately. I will post pics of their recital that is coming up soon.

Brinlee was able to celebrate her June birthday in March so we sent these treats to share with her class. They were bookworms and it was perfect cuz it was National Reading week. She loved being the star of her class for a whole week!

Cambree is loving 3rd grade and has a great teacher. I help in her class every Tuesday and it has been fun getting to know the kids in her class. She is a good student and kind to everyone which I really admire about her.

And that is the finale! Thanks for reading or at least looking at my long post. But it really has been awhile. Tomorrow we are headed to Utah for Spring Break!!