Edward Scissorhands

Okay, well not really Edward Scissorhands, but Thayne pulled out the clippers today, this morning in fact, very early and in my bathroom no less. So before I could even open my eyes I had boys coming through excited that dad finally got the clippers out! The boys hate shaggy hair. I wish I would have gotten 'before' pictures, but I did remember to get the after pictures. He got them all clipped down and sent them off to shower. There's nothing better than clean cut little boys! Even Nate got in on the action. He loves getting his hair cut! As Thayne was cleaning up the hair he asked, "Do you think they make industrial clippers?" I just bust out laughing because really, only he would think of that. I guess he thinks he cuts a lot of hair!

Wyatt and Hayden, fresh from their showers and ready to take on the world today!

Willie freshly cut and showered and looking good!Sweet little Hryum came to show me how nice he looks after his hair cut!

Nathaniel with his new 'do'...

Nate and Shayne

This picture just makes me smile. I was trying to get Nate to hold still and let me take a picture. He kept walking towards me and I told him to stop. Just then his uncle Shayne walked up and hurried to lean down and take a picture with Nate! It startled Nate so it ended up being a picture of Shayne posing and Nate looking at him like he is insane! It just makes me smile!!!!

Nevada Day....

There is nothing more awesome to kids than to have Halloween off every year from school! Oh, wait, it's not Halloween... it's NEVADA DAY! We love Nevada Day. There is always a parade. Some years it is beautiful weather, other years it is FREEZING! Like this year! Well, technically it wasn't freezing, but it was close.... 40 degrees isn't exactly basking in the warmth! Add in the wind off and on and you get a cold, cold day! Thank goodness for hot chocolate! With real whipped cream!

Shayne and Kerry and their family showed up too so we got to hang out with them for a while.

Kalli, Kami and Cereta cheesing for me between collecting lots of candy!

The kids always get way too much candy at the Nevada Day parade!
Silly Caitlyn, it was freezing outside and she wore these shoes... no socks! BRRRRR! Maybe it's not as cold in Idaho so she just brought her summer shoes??? :)
Trying to stay warm before the parade started!

Sweet Ella!

Handing out candy!

Willie...

Nathaniel and Kimi...

Jace, Thayne and Caitlyn.... and yummy hot chocolate!

We love our military!

Even the Ely band came!

Willie, Harlon, Wyatt and Jarom... living life in small town America! It's the best!!!!

Jace trying to avoid the camera...

Kimi and her little buddy!

Jace STILL trying to avoid the camera!

CANDY!!!!!! And a sweet car!

GOLD COUNTRY!

Hey Wyatt, is that hot chocolate yummy?

Hayden, Jarom, Kalli and Kami

Ella wasn't so sure she liked being out in the cold!

Kerry and Ella

Best Buddies... Kimi and Kailee! It's a great thing to have your best friend be your sister too!

Jarom, Kalli and Cereta excited for the parade!

Jarom, Willie and Jayson

Jace asked Nater's if he wanted to go with him to town. Nate shook his head yes. We told him we were leaving earlier than he was and would he be okay with that. He shook his head yes again but kind of watched us leave the house like he wasn't so sure he was getting the good end of the deal. We got to the top of the hill and saw him standing there watching us... we waved and told him goodbye and he blew us kisses and yelled bye, but he looked so all alone standing there!

Home Means Nevada
Written & Music by Bertha Raffetto


Way out in the land of the setting sun,
Where the wind blows wild and free,
There's a lovely spot, just the only one
That means home sweet home to me.
If you follow the old Kit Carson trail,
Until desert meets the hills,
Oh you certainly will agree with me,
It's the place of a thousand thrills.

Home means Nevada
Home means the hills,
Home means the sage and the pine.
Out by the Truckee, silvery rills,
Out where the sun always shines,
Here is the land which I love the best,
Fairer than all I can see.
Deep in the heart of the golden west
Home means Nevada to me.

Whenever the sun at the close of day,
Colors all the western sky,
Oh my heart returns to the desert grey
And the mountains tow'ring high.
Where the moon beams play in shadowed glen,
With the spotted fawn and doe,
All the live long night until morning light,
Is the loveliest place I know.

Home means Nevada
Home means the hills,
Home means the sage and the pines.
Out by the Truckee's silvery rills,
Out where the sun always shines,
There is the land that I love the best,
Fairer than all I can see.
Right in the heart of the golden west
Home means Nevada to me.

I Love To See The Temple...

I love to see the temple
I'm going there someday
To feel the Holy Spirit
To listen and to pray
For the temple is a house of God
A place of love and beauty....

And this is where I went today. And it is a place of love and beauty where you can find peace from the crazy world around you. It brought peace to my soul and filled me in a way that I can't describe. It made me feel like I could come back out into the world and deal with everything that is thrown at us day after day! There is nothing like sitting in the most beautiful place on earth with my husband and share a little piece of heaven!

Up, up and awayyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!

Kalli had activity days today... Karen is her leader. It is a program for girls 8 through 11 in our church and Kalli has waited for what she thought was FOREVER to go. It didn't help any that she knew Karen would be her leader. My kids LOVE Karen. Karen was the secretary when I was the Relief Society President and I love her... I knew she would always go above and beyond. She proved that when she was some of my kids' primary teacher. And then she was my girls young women leader and they ADORE her. And now Kalli gets the blessing of having her. Karen planned this activity for weeks, and then worried herself sick over it but she didn't need to do that... the girls LOVED it! They made hot air balloons! They looked so cute and were so excited! Is it any wonder that they love Karen!

Thanks Karen! We love you and are so glad you are part of our lives!!!

Be afriad, be very afraid....

Well.... the day has finally arrived and my heart has been filled with terror once again... that can only mean one thing. Another kid has a learner's permit! When it says she has blond hair on the license, they aren't kidding!!! :) In fact she told me in the store after her dad let her drive a little bit that this could be tough because she isn't good at multi tasking and watching the road AND her speed at the same time might get complicated! Ummmmm... is there any wonder I am paralyzed with fear at the prospects of teaching yet another child how to drive... AGAIN in winter??? I blame their father really. We've had this conversation before and while he hasn't come right out and agreed completely, he shook his head enough that I took it as agreement that some of the kids took to driving like a fish to water.... LIKE ME! And some have trouble multi tasking things like watching the road and the speed... like him!!! :) So, it is only fair that HE should have to teach the children that can't multi-task right??? :) haha! No really... Thayne is an EXCELLENT driver... though he did answer that I am the better driver when we played a newlywed game... and that is probably because when he and the boys have a vehicle stuck at the bottom of our driveway I am the one that has to go out and get it to the top of the hill... and he is almost 3 years older than me and I was driving before him... but in truth, he is just fearless.... and I am not!!!

But... for better or worse, this child has her learners and life has taken on a whole new meaning for her. It's an exciting time. She is growing up. And I want to know who said she could do that???

Yes I did... I really passed!!! It's legal... she can drive!

Signing on the dotted line and ready to have her picture taken for her learners.... watch out world, here she comes! She practiced signing her name for days just for this occassion!

Oh yeah... I passed!!!

Organizing...

I often tell a friend that I really need to stop living life like we have a 'normal' family and figure out some sort of system that is going to work for us! Since we aren't likely going to have anybody show up on our doorstep and do it for us, I am thinking it's really, really time to get down to business! We spent Friday and Saturday cleaning rooms downstairs. I managed to clean and purge Kami and Kalli's room. THAT was a chore! This is what I get for believing kids when they say they cleaned their room and then just glancing in while passing to do the laundry! I knew they had WAY too many clothes and they had kept WAY too many school papers and other 'stuff'... so when I walked in and saw them cleaning I kind of lost my mind! I went through their cloths and ended up throwing a great big black garbage bag of old worn out clothes away and sending another great big bag to the thrift store. I appreciate when people give me clothes for Kami, the one lady only has one child that she and all of the grandparents buy for, and this poor little girl ends up with so many clothes that she can't possibly wear them all. So we get bags of them. And then it overwhelms Kami.... so I pass the blessing along! These aren't just everyday run of the mill clothes. No, this little girl only gets the best. Which means Kami gets the best... often with the tags still on! That would be all well and good if I stopped buying for her... but I don't! It's a vicious cycle of madness. You would think I would learn! But I did manage to get their room cleaned, organized and put back together and took their bunk beds apart so that they can actually make their beds after they are done sleeping. Now all we need is new flooring since for now we just have the subfloor (we had a flood after a horrible rain and tore the carpet up, fixed the window well and now just need new flooring!)... we are trying to decide if we are going to do laminate flooring or carpet. We kind of like the idea of sweeping the constant dirt the kids seem to accumulate downstairs rather than carpet again! I also managed to do the same thing with Hyrum and Hayden's bedroom. I got their clothes organized and purged! Bought buckets to put them in. For some reason dressers just don't work for us well. And their closets are organized. Got more tubs for their toys and took their bunk beds apart too... and now we are just awaiting the flooring also. All 4 bedrooms downstairs need new flooring. Thayne is going to do subfloors in the last two bedrooms also, so for now they are all just living on wood or cement floors (with big throw rugs) until we get the flooring done... which we will be doing in the next couple of months. Yippee! Maybe after living here for how many years we will finally have the entire house completely finished all at the same time! Thayne got the new doors hung and our new laundry program will be going into effect by next week (assigned days... I know, I am laughing too but if I actually manage to find something that works one day we won't be laughing anymore!!!). Because I have a DOOR with a keyed lock on it and I can now control who enters and when!!! Insert wicked laughing here!!!

I did start on Willie and Wyatt's room, but we had to stop and go to conference Saturday night so I didn't get it all done. Their room will take more work to get it competely organized and finished. We got off to a good start and got the shelves and baskets we wanted so that they can be more organized. We are also purging their clothes because they too have much too much when it comes to clothing. How in the world does that work???

Now if I can keep my promise that they are going to have just a very few presents for Christmas this year I might be getting a handle on being a mom to an extra large family. I will probably really figure it out just about the time the last couple of kids are grown! :) That's usually the way I do things!

Great day yesterday!

Yesterday was our stake conference. I love stake conference weekend and look forward to it every six months. I especially love the Saturday night session for adults. It always leaves me inspired and fills my cup enough to get through the craziness of life! This was a special event because after around 9 years, we were getting a new Stake Presidency and that meant we had visiting authorities here. That is a treat to hear a General Authority speak. I love the gospel of Jesus Christ. I love what it gives to me in my life. I love what it brings to our family, and what it helps our family become. When the new Stake Presidency was sustained, it felt like a fire rushed through my body and I felt a strong witness that they had been called of God. I love how the Church works, how men and women are called and how they become what the Lord wants them to become. It was a great day! I love talking to the kids about their feelings after meetings like this. I love to hear them say that they could feel the Spirit of the Holy Ghost speaking to them. I love to share with them what is most important to me! I am so grateful for days like this. It helps me remember that there is more to life than the everyday craziness that can sometimes bring you down!

Blogging together....

My family teases that I am obsessed with blogging. (And that is funny that they tease because they all seem to be obsessed with me blogging... they all find reasons for me to blog and Kassi's class checks out the blog at school... so it would seem I am not the only one obsessed!) Which might be true! I have always loved keeping journals. I guess I got that love from my grandma and my dad. And blogging is just two of my favorite things... the computer and journals... together! I get to journal about my favorite things... my family! And Nate will often be found playing on a toy computer next to me, his little fingers going a hundred miles an hour.... he came into my room and grabbed me, pointing at my laptop and made me bring it to the kitchen so we can blog together. Don't mind the laundry baskets in the background, Jace was doing his laundry and brought the clean clothes up from the laundry room... lucky me, I have clothes to fold again! :)

Here's our mad blogger.... hard at work!

Sick babies....

Another day, another sick kid I guess. Is this how the winter is going to be? Oh I hope not!!! Yesterday I finally called and asked if the clinic had any openings. I was shocked when they told me yes. I should have known! There is one doctor that is so horrible that I am sure NOBODY wants to see him so that is why he alone had openings. They usually don't make me see him since he has misdiagnosed my kids one too many times. But, desperate times means you do things you don't like to do, and that was going to him instead of the ER, which has it's own problems! Kailee joked when we were driving to Utah to see the doctor that they tell med students that barely pass that it's okay, they have a plan for them, they will just send them to our town!!! :) So I took her in. I knew in my gut that she had pneumonia. She had the exact same symptoms as Nathaniel and I just KNEW she had it. She didn't sound like it, but neither did Nate when I first took him in. 5 days of a fever and not too many other symptoms but being run down didn't seem like the flu to me. We get there and they are trying to make Kami wear a mask. She freaked out just looking at it. I knew she didn't have the swine flu so I just held her on my lap and didn't let her breathe on anyone! :) Kami watched the doctor with his duck like mask on in complete awe... like she couldn't believe someone was actually so ridiculous!!! He tells me that he hears something in her lungs. But he wouldn't treat her, even after 5 days of a high fever without an x-ray. I have to say I was not happy to make her have a chest x-ray when he knew and I knew that she had pneumonia! Lucky for me, the x-ray showed what I already knew... that she has pneumonia too!!!

And then, poor Hyrum got up with a fever too. He had to miss his field trip at school today because of the fever. Hopefully he just has the 24 hour bug that the other kids have, not pneumonia like Kami and Nater! This is going to be a really long winter if we have to go through this too many times!

Pumpkins...

Tonight the kids finally, finally got to carve their pumpkins! They were so excited! They had been waiting for this since I first brought the pumpkins home. We were trying to use them as a bribe to get the kids to really deep clean their rooms! Kalli and Kami went down to do just that, but I went into their disaster area they call a room and started completely gutting the room, closets, clothes, everything! Moving it around, throwing bags of old clothes and trash out and another bag of clothes to go to the thrift store... and somehow while I did that, they disappeared and I ended up spending a couple of hours cleaning it! How DOES that work??? Mom cleans, and they get to carve the pumpkins!!! I am relieved to have it done, and they are thrilled to have the pumpkins done! Sadly, I didn't get Hyrum and Hayden's room done... that will come tomorrow. And being the push over that I am, they got to do the pumpkins too!!! But, it's fun to watch them intently carving their pumpkins, making plans for it, learning to cooperate and have a blast doing it together! I walked up the stairs and heard a couple of the boys arguing about something. Then Thayne told them to find a way to get along because that was their best friend sitting there! Instantly the attitude changed and they had a great time from there on out! I cannot believe that the end of October is almost here. Where did the time go? Where did the year go??? It went too fast!!!!

Nate checking out the jack-o-lantern!!!
Hayden and his poor, sad jack-o-lantern!

Nate!!! The big red mark on his head is where Kailee's friend kissed him! :)

Hyrum, are you cleaning his ears???

What's wrong Nater's????

Had to sneak out before bed to take pictures!

Yummy pumpkin seeds!

So excited to carve the pumpkins that have been sitting by the door for a few days!

Carving contest....

Cleaning out the pumpkins...

Carving Pumpkins....

Wyatt....

Kailee, and blurry faces of Kami and Bummy....

Willie and Hayden...

Kinzee and Kalli....

Kailee and Hyrum's pumpkin....