Family Pictures

I know this is a lot but I am in love with all of them! And I had 250 to choose from so it was hard.....there will be more to come!:)

Doesn't take much to please Avah!

Conversation with the girls on our way to Thanksgiving dinner at Mandy's

Me:Mylee what are you thankful for?

Mylee:My family and friends and all the beautiful nature

Me:Riah What are you thankful for?

Riah: You and Daddy

Me: Avah what are you thankful for?

Avah: Cake.

Thankful

Seeing that it is very close to Thanksgiving I have been thinking about the many things I am thankful for. And here are some of them...

*For an amazing mother who always put her children first and who did a remarkable job keeping a stable job and home for her 8 children who she was raising on her own.

*For an amazing and loving family. Parents, Grandparents, Sisters, Brothers, Nieces, Nephews, Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins.

*For three beautiful and perfect little princesses who make me smile every single day and who changed my life and made me a better person.

*For a supportive loving husband who is always there for me and who loves me unconditionally no matter what! I love him so much!

*I am thankful that Shane has a good job that provides support for our family.

*I am thankful for the lovely home we have.

*I am thankful that we always have good food to eat and a warm bed to lay in.

*I am thankful to live in this country, I truly am proud to be an American.

*I am thankful for my friends who never let me down.

*I am thankful for a safe and reliable car to get me and my precious cargo to our destinations.

*For good health insurance.

*For medical technology

*For wonderful teachers who teach the wonderful children in the whole world.

*For good doctors.

*I am thankful for God.

*I am thankful for the power of prayer.

*I am thankful for good books to read, without them I would be lost.

*I am thankful for the Internet. Without it I would also be lost!:)

*I am thankful for central heating, without it we would freeze.

*I am thankful for the beauty of the world.

*And I am thankful for all of you who reads my blog!:)

There are many other things I am thankful for so many other things. But most of all I am thankful to be alive, healthy, and happy. And I am so very thankful for my beautiful daughters and my fantastic husband. I hope you all have a good thanksgiving! xoxo

Halloween......better late than never right?

Halloween this year was fun. Shane had to work but we made the best of it:) The girls and I went to Show Low to go trick or treating with Mandy and her kids. They had lots of fun. Mandy was hilarious as usual. Her and Zach were both mad scientists and it was so funny! They had some great costumes. The girls got way to much candy, that still is sitting in the top of the highest cupboard in the kitchen. They get 3 pieces each day. What a mean mom I am! he he. It was a great night though and I'm glad Mandy invited us. Her neighborhood is a mad house on Halloween! It is clearly the place to be that night. Anyway here are some pictures........

Me and my Cowgirl Mylee after a long night(isn't she perfect??)
My ADORABLE buggie as a butterfly

My ADORABLE Riah the horse/cowgirl!

Another ADORABLE cowgirl!
All of them as we were getting ready to head up to show low.

And have I mentioned lately how in love I am with my girls?? I LOVE LOVE LOVE being their mommy! I love their smiles, their laughs, the way the see the world, their kindness towards everyone, their love for each other, their tender hearts, their sassyness, their spunkiness, their adorableness, the way they can always make me smile even on the hardest of days, the way they tell me that i am the best momma in the whole world, I love them! I am sooooo incredibly blessed to have these three little girls in my life. Hope everyone had a happy halloween!:)

4 years old

Yesterday Moriah turned 4! It's crazy how fast my babies grow. We love this little cutie and all the fun she brings in our life. Happy Birthday Riah we love you!

Coraline

I'm sure most everyone has seen the movie Coraline. Well, it absolutely TERRIFIES Mylee! I mean completely and totally freaks her out! And that is so not like her! When I saw previews for it, it didn't look that scary so I didn't think anything of it when we rented it for the kids for them to watch when it first came out. Well Mylee started BAWLING when the "other mother" turns into "evil other mother"! And she demanded we turn it off. So we did. Ever since then she has had nightmare after nightmare about that other mother! We had to cover her vents in her room and everything because she was scared the other mother would come through there! Well since then she has almost forgotten about it....or so we thought!
Mylee has been DYING to get her ears pierced again. We pierced them when she was 2 and then when I was having Moriah Shane's mom had her for a week or so and she let them grow in. So she really wanted them re done. So finally we took her to get them done. She was very excited. We went into the place, picked out her earrings and had her in the chair. Well the girl that was doing her ears came up and Mylee completely froze! She had this terrified look on her face. We weren't sure what was wrong with her, she looked way freaked out. So I asked her if she was sure she wanted to do this and she didn't even move or speak she was just staring at the girl with tears in her eyes. So I got down to her level and asked her agian if she wanted to wait and do it another time. She still was just staring! The girl wasn't very nice and she was getting impatient and grouchy. Then Mylee in a very shaky scared voice said to the girl, "have you seen Coraline?" The girl said "yes." Then Mylee turned to us and said, "I think I want to do this another time." So we agreed. Walking out of the store Shane asked her what was wrong and she said, "Dad that lady really looked like Coraline's other mother before she turned to the evil looking lady. Except for the button eyes. But everything else she looked exactly like her. And I was thinking, I don't want someone who looks like Coraline's other mother piercing my ears!! She might decide to put buttons in my eyes too!!" We both tried so hard not to laugh. But when we thought about it, the girl kinda did! And it didn't help that the girl wasn't very nice. Anyway, I just thought that story was funny and worth sharing. So I guess we are going some place else to do her ears. Are anyone else's kids terrified of that movie?? This is a picture of the other mother before she turned evil looking......

One Of Those Days

Today was a rough day. I hope I am not the only mother out there with these days! It started at 3 AM this morning....

3:00AM-Avah wakes up screaming. I go in her room and comfort her, she is better

3:20AM-Riah wakes up screaming. I go in her room and comfort her. She doesn't want to hear it. She is still screaming. So I bring her into our room to let her sleep on the floor. I make her a bed with blankets and she goes back to sleep.

4:15AM-Avah wakes up screaming again. I go in her room. She wet the bed. So I take her sheets off, put new ones on and tuck her back in. She was back to sleep by 4:30.

7:00AM- Wake up and get the girls breakfast and do their hair. Getting ready to take Mylee to school and Avah knocks an entire bowl of cereal on my freshly shampooed carpet.

7:45-Cover up the milk stain with a towel and rush off to get Mylee to school on time.

8:00-Get home and start shampooing the stain.

8:15- Avah got into my markers and colored all over her face. So I start a bath get her cleaned up because we had to be at Riah's school at 9:45. It was her special day today.

9:00- Help Riah finish up her poster for her special day

9:45- go to Riah's school. Shane was at work....for the 10th day in a row so I had Avah with me. And if you know Avah you know how difficult she can be in public. She is well known as my "appendage" She does not like people. So The whole two hours of Riah's school I am helping the teachers and helping Riah and lugging around a 30 pound 2 year old.

12 noon- Getting out of school bring the girls home for lunch. After lunch I let the girls have a piece of candy they got from the school. Riah gets the candy stuck in her throat. I freak out of course. Call her doctor, he says give her lots of fluids and see if she can get it down by herself if she can't in a few hours bring her in. Thankfully she got it down about a half hour later.

1 PM- I try unsuccessfully to get them to take a nap. Avah instead decides she would rather take a walk. They want to ride in the power wheel jeep. So I let them. We go a few blocks and the battery dies. This is a heavy jeep, okay! So we start to walk back and I carry the jeep. Avah falls down and scrapes her knee. So I am then carrying a screaming Avah and a heavy jeep. We get home, doctor Avah up and finally at 1:45 she falls asleep.

1:45-I catch up on house work til we have to pick Mylee up.

2:20- Get girls in car and pick up Mylee, go to the post office, to the grocery store.

4:00- homework, chores, playing, Avah the mess maker making messes.

6:00- dinner in the oven, me playing on the computer counting the minutes until my husband comes home to save the day, girls watching monsters vs. aliens.

Man, I am exhausted and my house is a mess. Please tell me I'm not the only one who has had a day like this!! Shane has been working 10 straight 12 hours shifts. He gets a day off tomorrow then he goes back for 10 more straight 12 hours shifts! Poor guy. The mill shuts down for a week on the 19th and I have to say I cannot wait and I couldn't be more thrilled to have him home for a whole week! Could be worse right! My girls are hard work, as all children are I'm sure. They are sassy, spunky, wild, crazy, and messy, but at the end of the day they are still my very best friends! Here's to a better and less hectic tomorrow!:)

I'm old!

This morning I got a text from my niece Savannah.

Savannah:I GOT MY PERMIT TODAY!!

Me: You did not!

Savannah: Yes I did!!

Me:How????

Savannah: Um I went down to the dmv and took the test and got my permit!

Me: You're not old enough!!

Savannah: Yes I am, I'm going to be 16 in February!

Me: No you're not!!

Savannah: Yes I am!

Me:I'm old

Savannah: Yep!

So there it is! My adorable niece is almost a grown lady!:( I seriously feel so old today! I honestly had no idea she was so grown!! I will always think of her as the adorable funny little 3 year old who would follow me around and mess up my room! Congrats Savannah!! Drive safe and no wrecks! Please!

Lava Cave

A few weeks ago Jessica, Mandy, their kiddos and Shane and I and our kiddos decided to go explore the lava cave by flagstaff. Mandy found this place in her Arizona highways magazine and it was awesome and well worth the sore legs the next day. It's pretty rocky in there and their is a lot of climbing which wasn't easy since shane had to carry Avah most of the way and Mandy and I took turns carrying Riah. The kids had so much fun though, they were troopers. Here are some pictures......
made it to the end, yay!
silly girls

takin a break before we hike back, and I know you all are jealous of my hott headlamp!:)

Me, shane and Avah hiking back.

It really was a lot of fun, although next time I think we will leave the kids at home. Mylee did really well but it's not the funnest thing for toddlers.

Sisterly love

Conversation between Riah and Avah while watching Lilo and Stitch.....

Avah:Her mom mad her huh Iah?

Riah:No Avah that is her sister.

Avah:Why her sistow mad her?

Riah:Because she is being a pain. Sometimes sisters are pains just like you are my sister and you are a pain to me sometimes but I still love you and always will!

Avah:Oh

And on a side note, I have come to realize that all my blog is about is the funny things my kids say and do. That's what my life is though!:) They keep it exciting. Man, my life would be boring without my 3 cuties!!

What am I gonna do without.....

HIM......and


HER

Shane returned to work on light duty today after being out for a month and a half for his knee surgery! I miss him already! It was so nice to have him here to help out.

Mylee started 2nd GRADE today! She's growing too fast! She helps me out so much and I'm really glad I had her this summer. It was a rough couple of months but my Mylee is so strong and she made me smile on even the hardest of days! I sure will miss her help! And so will her sisters who love her so much! Next week Riah starts pre-school.....where does the time go and why do my babies keep growing??

Lil miss sassy pants!

Me: "Moriah, it's time to clean your room"

Riah: "No thanks mom I'm busy ask me later."

Me: "It's not a choice lil miss, c'mon lets get it nice and pretty!"

Riah: "Geez mom you're so BOSSY!"

Me: "Fair enough, after all that is my right as your mother, so chop, chop!"

Riah: (big sigh) "GOSH!"
And she stomps into her room.
If she is this SASSY when she is only 3 I don't even want to think about what she'll be like in her teenage years!!!

Colorado Trip

I lucked out with this post because my sister, Jenifer e mailed me a few pictures from our trip to Colorado so this post has pictures!:) Thanks Jen! My amazing grandmother smithson(aka Shima) arranged a wonderful family reunion at Ragged Mountain Ranch in Colorado. It is a LDS church camp and it is beautiful! We got to stay in cute little cabins with electricity and running water and everything!! My kind of camping! We were there for a whole 7 days and it was a lot of fun. Shima being the amazing wonderful woman she is rented a motor home for all her AZ kids to get there in comfort.(and since our car was wrecked we wouldn't have been able to go otherwise) It was a nice relaxing drive there. Shima flew my brother Will from Utah to AZ so he would be able to drive us all in the motor home. Shane had just had knee surgery and I had 2 cracked ribs from the accident so it was nice to be able to relax the whole drive. It was a lovely drive and I have decided that someday we will live in Colorado. It is gorgeous there, I LOVE IT!
We did the drive in 2 days, staying in a hotel overnight in Grand Junction. When we finally got there we were able to gaze at the beautiful scenery and visit with family who we haven't seen in a very long time! I was especially happy to see My Uncle Jim, Aunt Merrie, and favorite cousins Bradeigh and Ellie and their adorable kids. My sister Jenifer and her new husband Dave and his son Mike were there also so it was fun to spend time with them. Mylee is madly in love with Mike and their very adorable pugs Stewie and Cosmo. So thank you so much Shima for letting us ride in the motor home with you! We had so much fun. The whole trip was amazing! Here are a few pictures. Most of Mylee because she wouldn't leave Jen and Dave's side the whole time they were there!

Mylee and the adorable Stewie
Maddy, me, Cosmo, Radar, and Avah enjoying the beautiful weather!

Mylee, Cosmo, Stewie, and Mike.

Her favorite thing to do was climb all the big trees there!

I can't wait until we can go back to this wonderful place again. Totally worth the long drive! The drive back was even more beautiful than the drive up if that's possible! Thanks again Shima for the whole trip, we love you!

A Miracle!

Most of you know about the nasty car accident Shane, Avah, and I were in at the end of June. But not everyone knows about the miracle that happened to us and that because of that miracle we still have our perfect Avah with us! Here is our story...
On June 29th we were headed out camping with my sister, Jessica and her family. They already had Moriah and Mylee out there with them. As we were leaving Snowflake Avah who's car seat is on the drivers side had somehow unscrewed the lid on sippy cup and spilled juice all over her car seat. I still don't know how the heck she got that thing open, she never did it before then and she hasn't done it since. At first I was going to just let her sit in it but then I thought what the heck I might as well switch her into Moriah's seat. So I asked Shane to pull over and I switched Avah to Moriah's seat which was right behind me in the passenger's seat. I will thank god every single day for this. About 25 minuets after I had moved Avah from her carseat we were driving on highway 60 in between show low and springerville when a vehicle lost total control of the trailer they were pulling and smashed right into where Avah would have been sitting if she hadn't spilled her juice. I cannot even describe the feelings we felt after that. Everything happened so fast and all I remember is that none of our doors worked from the inside. Shane jumped out of his window that was completely shattered and ran around and got Avah out of the car. I got out and just held her and hugged her and cried. I couldn't believe that she was okay! She had a small burn on her neck from the seat belt and that was it! I went over to the side that was smashed in and cried some more. The door to the seat Avah would have been sitting was almost unrecognizable. The only thing I could think about was Avah and how grateful I was that she was smart enough to open that lid and spill her juice. I will be thankful for that for as long as I live.
So that is the story of our miracle. Not a day goes by that Shane and I don't think about that day. We find ourselves looking at the pictures of our car from our phones and just staring at them. It is amazing. The next day when we went to collect our personal belongings from our car that was sitting in a junk yard we both just could not stop looking at that door in amazement that we still had our beautiful Avah to go home to! So I am a true believer of miracles and listening to that little voice in your head telling you to do something. I don't even want to think about what would have happened if I wouldn't have listened to the voice in my head telling me to switch Avah to the other car seat, or what would have happened if Avah wouldn't have been given the stregth to open up her sippy cup, or if my sister hadn't kept Mylee and Moriah with them. Our car is totaled and dealing with insurance companies is a total nightmare but we are still here and we still have our perfect girls and for that I will always be thankful!

WARNING!

There are some really long posts coming up!! And thanks to Avah's latest terrible 2's rampage my camera is on the fritz and they will all be posts without pictures. Boring I know but at least I'm updating!:)

2 year old for sale......

She is very naughty,
She hides everyone's stuff,
She goes potty in the bathtub and makes her sisters squeal,
She colors on walls, cupboards, doors, and anything besides paper,
She tries to flush various items down the toliet including cell phones, keys, and her sisters toys,
She gets into the fridge and gets the yogurt and finger paints with it,
She sometimes bites,
She sometimes hits,
She has a scream that could probably break glass,
She throws some pretty crazy tantrums,
She uses her mommy expensive makeup as makeup for her babies.
Any takers????
No??

She has good qualities too.....
She is cute,
She is funny,
She has a smile that can melt your heart,
She has the prettiest blue eyes,
She talks adorably,
She gives the best snuggles,
She is so lovable,
She can always make you laugh,
Come to think of it.....................
I think I'll keep her, I kinda like her! Naughtiness and all!

The Granatos!:)

Our good friends Chris and Sarah were married over the weekend and I just wanted to give em a little shout out! We are so happy for them! Aren't they such an adorable couple and they have been awsome friends to us for years and years and we love them!
Mr. and Mrs. Granato!!! We love you guys, congratulations!!

Tribute to Ben

Mylee's beloved hampster, Ben died today. Poor guy. And poor Mylee. It's never easy to deal with the death of your first very own pet! So here's to Ben, the cutest, furriest, most awesome little rodent out there! Mylee and Ben the day she got him! Love at first site!

A Different Kind of Friend

Most of you know this adorable little 3 year old and you know that when she opens her mouth chances are something pretty dang funny is going to come out of it. The following story is probably one of the funniest yet.
Some of you may know about Moriah's imaginary friend, Alaina. She has had this friend for about 6 months now and we have never heard too much about her except for, "My best friend Alaina said this" or "my best friend Alaina did that." And sometimes she'll ask me to get her best friend Alaina a drink or a snack or something. Well today we heard a lot more about this infamous Alaina. And this is how it happened.....
Riah:"Mom I want to go play outside"
Me: "Okay go ahead. Make sure you stay in the fence."
Riah: "Oh I will. Alaina never lets me go out of the fence, she hates rocks."
Me: "Well she sounds like a smart friend to want to stay in the fence."
Riah: "She is smart, and she doesn't like sweaters."
*(note-at this point I am trying so hard not to laugh. This kid cracks me up!)
Me: "Well why not? Sweaters are good for keeping us warm"
Riah: "I know but she doesn't need them because her fur keeps her warm"
*(note-I am barely containing myself at this point)
Me: "She has fur!?"
Riah: "Yep! It's yellow, purple, pink, and green."
Me: "Wow that's a very colorful friend."
Riah:"Yeah she is but her tail is just white like me" HAHAHAHAHAHA!!
Me: "She has a tail?"
Riah: "Yeah but only sometimes. Her tail is shy"
Then before I could even respond she took off down the porch steps into the fence. So the basics of Alaina are, She doesn't like rocks, she doesn't like sweaters, she is yellow, purple, green and pink, and she has a white tail, but only sometimes because it is shy. MMMM..... sounds like an interesting friend. What an imagination my adorable 3 year old has!:)

Our Baby is 2!!

Our Little Avah is 2 today and I just cannot believe it! She has grown and changed so much in the last 2 years. She is so much fun and I'm so glad she is ours. Avah was our little surprise baby but what a wonderful surprise she was. Here are some pictures of her growing up the last 2 years......enjoy!

Newborn Avah about an hour old
All the girls on the 4th of July. Avah was about 2 and a half months

Avah at about 6 months old

8 or 9 months

One year old! She was just getting over RSV. Poor baby.

18 months old in the mud! (Notice Riah in the background with the dreaded paci!)

And this is the little angel on Easter just 4 days shy of being 2. What a cutie!

We are having her party on Saturday so stayed tuned for those pictures. Happy Birthday Avah Brooke we love you!

Our Anniversary

4 years ago today Shane and I were married. But, our life together started way before then. All in all we have been a team for 8 and a half wonderful years. In honor of our marriage anniversary I just wanted to say a few things that I love and appreciate about my husband. Feel free to skip this post all together, it might bore you.:)
*When I told him I was pregnant with Mylee he didn't get scared like most kids who were still in high school would. Or maybe he did but you couldn't tell by the way he acted.
*He was ALWAYS there for me. He quit his part time job and got a full time job to support us. Even though I wanted him to finish school. He had been living on his own and basically supporting himself since he was 15. He was the most responsible teenage kid I have ever seen in my entire life!
*Not many people know this but he immediately asked me to marry him and I said no. It wasn't that I didn't love him, I did sooo much. It was that the thought of marriage absolutely terrified me to no end!!! My parents were divorced and I saw the tole it took on me and my siblings, especially my older siblings and I was completely terrified that my poor baby would have to go through that if we jumped into it too soon.
*Even though pretty much everyone in my entire family was horrible to him he never said anything negative about them. He was there for me and our baby and that's all that mattered to him. I will always respect him for the way he handled things.
*The second Mylee was born I saw this amazing love for her in his eyes. It was really wonderful to see. It was like something immediately changed him. He knew things would never be the same. He was ready for this responsibility. He was ready for this new little life who was ours. I will never ever forget the look in his eyes when he first held Mylee.
*He has always been so supportive of me no matter how crazy my ideas sound.
*He is such an amazing dad to our girls! He is so patient with them, I need to learn from him.
*He has never, not once disrespected me. No matter how mean or grouchy I can get at times he never ever says mean things to me. I will always love him for that.
*He is always asking me if I need any help with anything
*He is such a hard worker and has been since he was just a kid. And I have never once heard him complain about it.
*He is so determined and so motivated it's amazing. He is always looking for new things to do and try to better himself and our family.
*He can always make me laugh. No matter how mad I am at him or how grumpy I am he can ALWAYS put a smile on my face!
*He is the funniest person that I know(anyone who knows him can attest to that)
*He makes it a point to spend time alone with our girls together and individually.
*No matter how tired he is after a 12 hour shift of the hard work he does he ALWAYS plays with our girls for at least an hour after he gets home.
*He doesn't mind being made over by the girls, or wearing dress up jewelry or make up. He plays barbies and has tea parties like a champ!
*He loves me, completely and unconditionally.
*He loves his daughters, completely and unconditionally.
I could go on and on about this wonderful guy that I married but I think I have bored you all enough. Happy anniversary baby, I love you!

Easter

We had a really good Easter. On Saturday we colored eggs and the girls had so much fun! It was Avah's first time really doing it and she was a crack up as usual. This is them watching the eggs soak in the dye.
And this is Avah after she saw that the white eggs were magically colored beautiful colors! That face is a keeper!:)

Them painting their beautiful eggs. They didn't want any help. The eggs turned out pretty interesting!:)

Then Sunday Morning the girls got all dressed up in their Easter best and after church we did a big Easter hunt at Grandma Jeanette's and Papa Audie's. The girls had a blast. Avah thought it was pretty dang cool. She would only pick up the plastic eggs though. She learned pretty quick that they are the only ones with goodies in them!

Karter and Riah are pretty much in-separable when they get together. I have a feeling they are going to cause a lot of trouble together when they are older! Just like their Daddy's who were best friends all growing up!

Mylee always takes time to pose for the camera.

Papa showing the kids where to find more eggs. I think all together we hid 200 eggs. Grandma and papa spoiled those kids!

All the kids after the hunt. Mylee, Aiden, Karter, Riah.(Avah was too busy throwing a fit because we told her she had to eat her lunch before she ate her candy!) I know what mean parents we are huh? They had so much fun as you can tell by their faces.

We had a great day and the kids we completely worn out by the end of it. Thanks Audie, Jeanette, and fam for inviting us. We love you guys! I hope you all had a great Easter as well.