Catching Up

Well I can't believe it's been so long since I last posted. So many things have happened so I'll have to do a brief recap. I guess I'll begin with April. Of course there was Easter. Coloring Eggs and Easter egg hunts. As always the girls had a ball. The bad part was there was still so much snow on the ground in Kamas that it wasn't hard finding eggs and also we didn't get to fly kites at the Crandall's this year. It has become a tradition that the girls really look forward to every year and they were pretty bummed that they didn't get to do it this year. I don't think their dad was too bummed. 3 girls, 3 kites to put together and get in the air and of course I have to stay inside with the baby. Nuff said.

Ally B., Alley Mack, Shyanna, Gracie, Hayden,

and Chandler at Aunt Kay's Easter Egg hunt

All the Crazy cousins at the Averett Easter Egg Hunt

Next was the bridal shower we had for my younger sister Jamie. She and her boyfriend met last summer and planned on getting married in May. They weren't officially engaged however and she had given him a deadline because the wedding plans were well underway and they were scheduled to have their engagement pictures done so of course she wanted to be "engaged" for them. So my older sister Shelly and I threw her a shower the day before the pictures were scheduled. Jamie brought Justin over to meet all the friends and family at the shower because most of them hadn't met him yet. After he had been introduced he said "I guess now I've met everyone I'd better make it official" and got down on one knee and proposed in front of all of our cousins and Aunts who were there. It was quite the surprise even though we had an idea it was going to happen at some point. I sort of expected him to just hand her the ring and ask her if she wanted to get hitched. That happened to someone I know :).

Next, my nephew Jordan came home from serving his mission in Boston. What a cutie! We went to the airport to meet him and it was a lot of fun. The girls were excited and had never been to the airport. (Sad, I know) As we were pulling into the parking Garage, Chandler said "mom is this Boston?" I'm not sure who was more excited to see him. His mom or his 7 year old little sister. Even Greg choked up a little when she ran into his arms the second he walked off the escalator. 2 years is a long time when you're 7. Poor guy didn't even get a break. He came home on Thursday and had to start back to school the next Tuesday. This fall is going to be challenging for me and Greg. Jordan is playing football at BYU and we're going to try our hardest to cheer for the Cougars. It will be hard but we've had a couple years to get use to the idea and football season is still a few months away. I'm very excited for him and super proud.

I think that's enough catch up for now. I hear chaos going on in the other room and I have to go discipline some little people. Ahhh remember the days when you really looked forward to summer vacation? Those days are looooong gone!

My Gracie Jo turned 9 !

I say it every year but I just can't believe my big girl is another year older! Where has the time gone? It doesn't seem that long ago that we were celebrating her 8th birthday and it definitely doesn't seem like 9 years ago that we walked across the street to the Logan hospital to have our first baby! Gracie is such a sweetheart and has been such a big help to me these days. I'm realizing more and more that I really rely on her for help and it's so great to know she's getting old enough that i can really depend on her to help out. She is a such good student and loves school. We had to talk her into missing a half day of school to go to St. George with us last weekend. She was almost willing to miss out on our trip so she could go to school for half the day! Not sure where she gets that from! In the last year she has really grown up. She is more willing to try new things. She played junior Jazz basketball this year and really liked it and she also started taking guitar lessons. If she can just remember to practice I think she well be good at it. She has also become her dad's number one farm hand and drives the truck for him when he needs help feeding the cows. She is such a good example to her sisters and she loves them very much. She loves teaching them new things and is usually pretty willing to help them out. There are those times when she can get a little feisty and a tad on the moody side but she is a girl after all and we are learning that's what girls do. We love Gracie so much and can't wait to see what the future holds for her.

Cheese!

I finally caught a smile on camera! At 12 weeks old, this open mouth, toothless grin is priceless and for some reason it's even better at 3 am and mommy is the only one around who gets to enjoy it.

One of these things is not like the others....

The girls were playing dolls the other day and when I walked in to see them all sitting on the couch I couldn't resist adding another.

In a nutshell...

I can't believe this cutie is 8 weeks already! What a blur the past 2 months has been. It started off with Quinsie's birth. C-section #4 was the best yet. The actual procedure wasn't great but the recovery this time was a breeze. I wish they all would have gone so smoothly. Then came Thanksgiving, which was great. Then I had surgery to remove calcium build-up in my left shoulder and once again it was a breeze. I'm really starting to believe that I'm one tough cookie! I wasn't sure what to expect especially with a newborn but It went surprisingly well. I'm glad I decided to do it while the baby was still so little because it would have been a little harder trying to heft around a big baby. I'm glad that all that is over and knock on wood we're done with hospitals for a while and thank goodness we had so much help from family and friends who brought dinners and helped with all the girls. Especially after the shoulder surgery. It was really hard convincing my mom and sister to come stay with us and hold the baby for a couple days. I'm afraid when they went home she was a little spoiled and expected to be cuddled 24/7! Anyway thank you to everyone who helped. Especially Shelly who was here to help me with hairdo's for the dance performance the day after my surgery. Getting 3 girls ready for that is hectic enough with two hands so her help was definitely appreciated.
Then of course came Christmas. The girls were super excited for Santa to come this year and Hayden counted down every day without fail. They must have been pretty good all year because they all got everything they asked for. For the past few years we have given them Christmas pajamas on Christmas Eve and they were excited to open them and get ready for bed. Hayden wanted to go to bed at around 5! She said she wasn't hungry and didn't need dinner but we made them wait till 9 and it still took a while for them to go to sleep. Then I was up feeding the baby at 2:30 and heard footsteps running around. I finally had to go close their door and threaten them if I heard it open Santa would take back all their stuff. It worked because we all slept in until 8 and then spent the rest of the day running around. We went to Salem and ate and did presents there and got to talk to my nephew Jordan who is on a mission in Boston. Then we ran back to Kamas and ate and did presents again. Then we came home and everyone crashed. It was a great day. I still can't believe it's all over. This year was really weird because I tried not to go out too much with the baby and so it just didn't feel really christmasy. I'll have to make up for it next year and shop twice as much!
Then came New Years. We are getting old I guess. Grandma Dixie came down and watched the girls and we went to dinner then went and hung out with a few friends and I think we were home by 12:30. Pretty mild compared to some years but I guess it was bound to happen sometime.
So this week we got back into our old routine. Everyone went back to school and I even started babysitting again (2 of the kids anyway).
I was a little nervous and wasn't sure how the last 2 months were going to go but in the end it turned out to be a pretty good way to close out 2009. For 2010 I'm not planning on any babies or surgeries or any appliances dying. We have the crappiest luck when it comes to appliances. I forgot to mention that while I was in the hospital having Quinsie my dryer died. We spent $150 and Greg replaced the motor and fan and then 3 weeks later it really died so I got a brand new used washer and dryer for Christmas (Woo Hoo). So this year my New Years resolution is to have a great year! I plan to enjoy my beautiful family and my wonderful life and count my blessings everyday! I hope everyone can do the same and we all live happily ever after!