Trick or Treat

The kids' costumes arrived last night and they were so excited for them to come. I had to go visiting teaching right after they arrived but Dad helped them all try them on last night. Thomas and Spring couldn't wear costumes to school today but Sammy put his on first thing this morning and wore it most of the day. He even wore it when we picked Spring up from school. They were all very excited to go trick or treating. Unfortunately, around 4:00 Thomas started feeling really sick and throwing up. He went into his room and fell asleep fevered and not feeling well. He was so worried though because he didn't want to miss out on trick or treating. We woke him up in time to go out and he was happy he got to go but he just wasn't himself. He was dizzy and just not feeling well. We went around out neighborhood and the kids really had a good time. When we got back home they were able to hand out candy to those coming to our house. They thought it was wonderful. They divided up the jobs the following way: Sammy opened and closed the door. Spring handed out to the girls and Thomas handed out to the boys. I think this is their favorite part! Here are the pictures of our 2 knights, a flower, a bee, and a pumpkin(who slept in my arms the entire time)!

Carving Pumpkins

Halloween really snuck up on us this year with Joshua's birth via C-Section, traveling for Alanna's wedding, getting back into the school routine, and next thing we knew it was Halloween! We didn't get pumpkins until Thursday afternoon and then we carved them that evening. Thomas still does not like cleaning out the inside of his pumpkin and took so long to do it that he was the last one carving his pumpkin. Spring had no problem cleaning out her pumpkin and Sammy really didn't mind too much either once he got started. Mary just kinda observed the whole thing and babbled while she walked around watching everyone.

School Times

Spring is loving Kindergarten. It is so exciting to hear her starting to read and really wanting to read anything and everything she can get her hands on. She also loves to do math with Thomas. She is becoming very fast with her addition facts. She is at the top of her class at school and loves everything about school. She loves to play hopscotch and play on the playground with her friends at recess.














Thomas is now in 2nd grade. He is still doing extrememly well in school; however, he comes home each day frustrated. He tells us he just wants to learn something new and he wants school to be a challenge and hard for him. He also gets frustrated with the behavior of many of the other children. We are concerned that he is going to start to resent going to school and we don't want this to happen. We want him to continue to love learning. We met with the principals, teacher, and district academic coach this morning to see what could be done to better challenge him at school. We feel it was a waste of time and they just pushed us aside telling us we needed to be patient and that we need to tell Thomas, "You will get out of school what you put into school." His teacher said how responsible and well behaved he is and how academically strong he is. She said she thinks he is too sensitive for his age and that he is not emotionally prepared to move ahead a grade. We are not sure what we will do from here. The teacher is supposed to implement some changes to help challenge him 'sometimes' in the classroom. I think this will be a challenge for all of us throughout his schooling years. We are grateful he is an obedient child and that he wants to do what is right. It is frustrating that they look at his sensitive nature as a weakness. He is learning to better deal with situations but his sensitivity is a strength as well. We will see what the next few weeks hold for us.

1 Month Old

It is hard to believe that Joshua is now 1 month old. Where did the last month go? I have a tradition of taking a picture of our kids on each of their month 'birthdays' for the first year of their life and then I do a scrapbook page with them to show how they change each month. So, here is Joshua's first month picture. We are so grateful to have him in our family.

Trunk Or Treating

Our ward had the Trunk or Treat tonight. Grandma Biggs is making Halloween costumes for the kids but we don't have them yet, so they had to rummage through our costumes and figure out what they were going to wear. Thomas decided to be a cowboy. Spring was a cow. Sammy wore the Boy Scout uniform that Grandma Powell made for Thomas a few years ago. Mary was a dog and Joshua was a pumpkin. They all looked so cute and had a great time at the trunk or treat. Thomas took Sammy with him and Spring took Mary with her. They did pretty well staying together which was nice because I was busy handing out candy and Joel is still in Utah. I was impressed that when it was time to leave I had all 5 of them located!

Before we left for the Trunk or Treat Sammy was so concerned because he had his bag but there was no candy in it. He kept asking me to put candy in it and I kept trying to explain that he would get candy at the church. He got the hang of it pretty quickly once we got there. At one point I looked over to see him sitting in the middle of the parking lot dumping out his bag of candy and opening up lots of different pieces. He was very happy!

At first Mary didn't want to wear the hood of her costume. As I was trying to tie it on her she kept trying to pull it off so I asked her what a dog says to try to distract her. It actually worked and she never had a problem with it the rest of the night. In fact it was a fight to get it off for bedtime! She was so cute telling us what a dog says that we kept asking her all night.

We invited our neighbors to come and they accepted. Thomas and Spring were excited that they came. That was nice and they really enjoyed themselves as well. We came home and the kids went through their candy for a while and then off to bed. They all fell asleep FAST! That was a blessing for me!

Back Home

We are adjusting to being back home from our vacation even though we wish we were still on vacation and with everyone! Joel left Wednesday morning to fly to Utah. He is at BYU for a recruiting trip for his company. He will get back home late tomorrow night. Just today Spring was coloring and she said, "Mom...I really miss Daddy. I wish he was home with us so we could all be together as a family." She will be one happy girl when she sees him on Sunday.

We got out our Halloween stuff on Wednesday evening and the kids had fun hanging up decorations and trying on old costumes. Today, Sammy and Mary were playing with Halloween buckets and started to put them on their heads. I don't know which one did it first but it didn't take long for the other one to join in. What one doesn't think of-the other one will!

This morning Sammy and Mary thought it would be fun to lay on the floor with Joshua. They thought it was so funny. I was just surprised that through it all neither of them layed on top of Joshua! He is one loved little brother!

Time with Grandma & Grandpa

We were able to enjoy a couple more days with my parents (Sat. and Sun.) before heading back home. Saturday we rested and enjoyed the time together. Joel, Brandon, and my dad went shooting at the gun range in the morning. Then my mom took Thomas and Spring to Chuck E. Cheese to play some of the games. Joshua and I went along but Sammy and Mary stayed home because they were napping. This is something grandma does quite a bit when she visits us so the kids really enjoyed the time with her. It was fun to see them get so excited about playing the games.

Spring and Grandma had to have their tea party as well. Spring loves tea parties and she loves to have them with grandma whenever she can. Spring is so cute as she plays along and really takes on the role of how to act with tea parties. The kids enjoyed playing air hockey with each other and with Grandpa. We also enjoyed going to church with my parents on Sunday. Brandon blessed Isaac so we were able to be there for that as well. We had such a great trip and it was really hard to leave Monday morning to come home. I love being able to be with my family and it is hard to leave. I think the wish of my life would be to live close to all of my family so I could see them and be with them at any time. I think that will be one of the best things about the next life...being able to be together eternally with our families.

The Reception

We enjoyed our evening at Alanna and Eric's reception. Unfortunately, Spring was sick all day. She started to get fevered before the sealing and she slept the whole time she was in the waiting room. She slept most of the day as well. I felt so bad for her because she loves wedding receptions and was so looking forward to the evening; however, she slept through the whole thing. She woke up as we were cleaning up and wanted to make sure there were some chocolate cupcakes left for the next day because she still didn't feel like eating anything!

Another exciting event during the reception involved our little Sammy. Big surprise there! He started to cry for his Daddy. When Joel looked over he had lots of red liquid running out of his nose. We were really worried at what had happened until he told Joel he had stuck an M&M up his nose. The red wasn't blood...it was from the shell of the M&M. We took him into the bathroom and Joel worked on getting it out. Sammy kept saying, "Get it out Daddy. Get it out!" Luckily Joel was able to get it out of his nose! The last thing we wanted was another trip to the ER with Sammy! Sammy promised us he wouldn't put anything up his nose anymore!

Sammy found a new friend as well. He loves Eric's brother and they were together from the time we were at the temple through the reception. Sammy loved goofing off with him. He would tell us he was his new friend.

It was a wonderful way to end an incredible day. I am so grateful for the family I have. I love them all so much and I love that we were able to spend a little bit of time together even though we all would have loved for it to continue longer!

Alanna's Wedding

It was wonderful to attend the sealing of Eric and Alanna. One of the most wonderful parts was that our entire family was in attendance to the sealing...my parents and all of my siblings with their spouses. What a wonderful occasion and a reminder of how truly important family really is. As we listened to the sealing I was overcome with emotion as I reflected on the day Joel and I were sealed together almost 10 years ago. Then as I looked around the room and saw each of my siblings and my parents I was overcome with gratitude for the gospel of Jesus Christ and my testimony of the Plan of Salvation. I know families can be together forever if we endure in this life. It really puts life into perspective and reminds us that when it really comes down to it...family is what matters and family will be with us forever. I am so grateful I was able to attend their sealing.

Trip to the Temple

Saturday morning we took the ferry to Seattle and then drove to the temple for Alanna's sealing. It was a beautiful morning...cold but no rain! The kids loved being able to ride the ferry as this is something they look forward to whenever we go to Washington. We enjoyed muffins and juice on the ride and just enjoyed the time we had to visit and be together.

We arrived at the temple early since we took the ferry so we used the time to take some family pictures. Brandon took many of them for us. He is really talented in photography and did a great job. In fact, he took all of Alanna's wedding pictures and did so wonderful. We were grateful for the beautiful weather...something you can't always depend on in Washington.

Frosting Fight

Alanna decided she was only going to have a small cake and then have cupcakes to serve at the wedding. So, Thursday evening we spent time frosting the hundreds of cupcakes that mom had already made. I was peacefully minding my own business and being so very helpful to my mom by frosting the cupcakes. I have to admit I think next to my mom I frosted more than anyone else did.

When, out of the blue Alanna started to squirt frosting all over me! So, what was I to do but defend myself. I couldn't let her attack me without getting her back! I know she will tell the story otherwise, but this is my story and I am sticking to it! What proceeded was a massive frosting fight between the two of us. We were covered and so was the kitchen floor. We had run off down the hallway after each other and my mom walked back into the kitchen and couldn't figure out what all the red stuff all over the floor was until we ran back into the kitchen after each other. Needless to say, my mom's poor kitchen floor is still sticky even though she has mopped it many times since! It was fun though and it is something we won't forget!

Our Trip to Washington

We left on Wednesday afternoon after the kids were out of school to travel to Washington for Alanna's wedding. It took us about 20 hours to get there but we were also able to stop by our old neighborhood in Manteca on the way for a few minutes. That was a huge highlight as well. It was so wonderful to see all of our great friends that we miss so much. We got to my parent's house Thursday morning. It was so good to see everyone. We were able to meet Issac, my newest nephew, for the first time. He is about 3 weeks older than Joshua; however, he is much smaller. It was fun to get some pictures of them together.

Mary loved to play with Grandma's porcelain dolls. Everytime we turned around she had one in her arms and was mothering it so nicely. We even caught her one time with her shirt pulled up as she tried to 'nurse' the baby doll.

Thomas and Sammy loved spending time with Aunt Alanna. She even played the game of Life with them. This made Thomas' day. Thomas also enjoyed the opportunity to play video games with Uncle Brandon and Uncle Matt.

We all enjoyed the time together. Our entire family was together for the first time since Brandon's wedding, almost 2 years ago. Family is so wonderful and there is nothing I would rather do than spend time together. We had some last minute things to get ready for the reception. Spring helped Grandma make the flower arrangements for the reception. It was so fun to watch her with Grandma. She loved helping and Grandma made some beautiful arrangements.

New Family Picture

This family picture was taken on Saturday, October 4th.

Joshua's 1st Bath

Joshua's umbilical cord fell off Saturday evening but we just got around to giving him his first 'real' bath tonight. Joel and I did it after the other kids were all in bed, which I am sure they will be disappointed about. They have been wanting to help us bathe him. There will be plenty of opportunities for them to help in the future! He seemed to enjoy the bath for the most part. The only time he fussed was when he got some water in his mouth and up his nose. Other than that he was really content. Joel bathed him as I took the pictures which has happened with all 5 of our children! Then I get to take him once he is bundled up in a warm towel. I love the smell of newborn babies and I love cuddling them after a bath.

Bike Ride with Dad

Yesterday Joel was helping Thomas fix a flat tire on his bike. Then Thomas was telling him that sometimes he can't get his bike all the way into 5th gear. So, they worked on it and fixed that on his bike as well. Then they decided to go on a bike ride. They rode their bikes along the dirt path in the cornfields. They rode really far and had so much fun. The whole time they were our riding bikes Thomas kept telling Joel, "Dad, this is the most fun I have had in years." Joel said Thomas said this over and over again while they were out. When Spring woke up from her nap she wanted to go with them too so the three of them went on a bike ride around the neighborhood. It was a good time had by all.

New Pics of Joshua and Mary

We took Joshua and Mary in for pictures last Friday.

Here are Mary's 18 month pictures. At first she was stone faced and we couldn't get her to smile for anything. She warmed up after a few minutes, however.

Here are Joshua's pictures. He is 6 days old in these pictures.

A Glimpse into our Morning

This morning was nice because once I got Thomas and Spring to school I didn't have too much to do and I didn't need to be anywhere. We just stayed home and played and started some laundry which Mary gladly 'helped' me with! Sammy was on one this morning...well he is pretty much every morning so I guess that wasn't too unusual! He is really into dressing himself lately and before 11:00 this morning he had been in 3 different sets of clothes! No wonder I have so much laundry! He was just acting silly all morning and telling me he was just making "my baby brother Joshua laugh." He also thinks it is the greatest thing to climb into Joshua's swing and swing himself back and forth. He gets going so fast that we are surprised he hasn't fallen out and/or that swing is still functioning! Now Mary thinks she can do that too. I think those two are in the swing more than Joshua! Sammy and Mary are more and more becoming 'partners in crime.' They keep me laughing and running after them!

Mary really enjoys having her hair brushed even though she really doesn't have enough to do anything with. She will grab my hand and pull me back to my bathroom so she can sit on the counter and look in the mirror while I brush her hair. I will have to remember to get a picture of it one of these times. She must be watching Spring a little too much! I enjoy the time I have to spend with our children and watching them just do the fun little things. I love being a mom.