Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town!

We took our annual trip to see Santa. This is the first year we dressed up. Usually I just make sure everyone looks ok. But this year since the girls we in very festive dresses, I decided to dress them up. It was great! Santa was awesome - as always - and had a good talk with all 3 kids.

I Can't Believe It!!

Well, my little man, Buddy, turns 9 today at 3:35 p.m. I went into labor with him at about midnight. And the pain got really intense, really fast. So about 3:00 am we got to the hospital. My contractions were spiking high on the monitor but I was only dilated to a 2. So they monitored me for an hour and then called my doc. At 4:00 the contractions were still spiking high but I hadn't dilated any more. So my doc said to give me some Demerol and watch me for another hour. After the hour I was at a 3, so they admitted me and gave me an epidural. I dilated all the way to a 5 and stayed there from 10 A.M. to 1 P.M. when my doc came in. Because the baby's heart beat seemed to be dropping a little and his vitals were starting to dip and I wasn't dilating, we decided to do a C-section. Finally at 3 P.M. I was in the O.R. and I was ready for them to open me up. When they started, I could feel - alot. So they hurried and put me all the way out and quickly opened me up. Well Buddy was posterior with his head looking up. He never engaged down the birth canal. So they tried to pull him out and he wouldn't come. According to my family who was watching from the window, one doc got up on the table and reached in for Buddy and pulled, pulling me off the table about 6 inches. YIKES!!! Glad I was out for that. But fortunately, we recorded everything on a mini tape recorder. While I was still out, a lady came to the hospital nursery and happened to catch Bret as he was going in. She told him she needed a child's cry for their ward party that night and could she record our child's cry. Tears come to my eyes as I think about our sweet little baby "playing" Jesus for in a ward nativity. He had just left Jesus' arms. WOW, that seems just like yesterday. Fast forward 9 years - Not quite as sweet as he was. He can certainly be a challenging child - but those challenges bring great rewards! His favorite color is orange and he loves animals - especially dogs and tigers. He knows SO much about them - he knows a lot about animals in general! When ever we see a "stray" dog, Buddy wants to pick it up and help find it's home. "It's the right thing to do, Mom." Sometimes we do, but mostly we don't. Most dogs have a tag and find their home fast. He's in the 3rd grade. He doesn't hate school, but given a choice, he'd rather stay home. He's doing ok in school. His teacher says he's a joy to have in class. She "NEVER has to get after him and he's so well mannered." He doesn't like to wear ties to church and still wants to take toys with him. We're trying to break him of that. He's the best son and big brother in the world - when he want to be! We sure love him and are very thankful for the part he plays in our family. Happy 9th Birthday, Buddy!!

Take a look...

I added somethings on my brag blog - so hop on over and take a look!

Grandma Ruth Tuttle

Last Wednesday night at 11:00 (12/9/2009) our sweet Grandma Tuttle passed from this life to the next to the arms of her eternal companion and other family and friends. I was able to spend about 4 hours with her Wednesday afternoon and it was a great experience. The peace in that room was beautiful and calming. Grandma was one of the sweetest people I know. I loved her from the moment I met her. I loved to just visit with her. She had such and INCREDIBLE talent for sewing. She made incredible porcelain dolls that she poured herself, and added color and eyes and lashes and hair. And then she dressed them - many times having made the clothes herself. She was truly an inspiration. She made my bride doll that constantly commented on. How she had the patience to sew all those beads on that dress, I'll never know. She made each one of my kids, my mom and me a "special" apron. I treasure that. I'll never own another one! She was one of the most selfless people I have ever met. If she could have fed the hungry, she would have. She taught elementary school for 30 years - having had the opportunity to teach some of her grandchildren. She had perfect print. I love her handwriting. She was constantly think of and doing for others. She had a very strong testimony of the gospel and lived it. Her and Grandpa served missions and traveled a lot. Because of this and so much more, Bret and I named our sweet Noodle after her ("Noodle" Ruth). Noodle and Grandma were pretty close. Noodle like to talk to her and go visit her. She liked "looking at all of Grandma's stuff." How I will miss this wonderful lady - but I am not sad. She has been ready to die for quite some time. She as said for a while now that her work on earth is done. Well now she can be with her sweetheart and be busy on the other side - which I know she is. She's finally happy and content. I didn't cry when she died, I didn't cry when I had to tell Bret and I didn't cry when Bret did, but right now I cannot stop the tears. I love and miss her already but I'm so happy for her, how could I be sad? I'm not sad for her. I'm not even really sad for me. I'm not sure why I'm crying. I guess I just feel a void in my heart.

A Milestone for Lewlew

If Lewlew stretches and stands on the tip of her toes, she can turn on a light switch. She's not quite tall enough to turn it off. So as I walk through our house I find several lights on - and who knows how long they've been on. So with this new discovery and the Christmas lights, I have a feeling our power bill will be slightly elevated this year!! But I guess it's worth it - for Lewlew to hit a milestone (sniff, sniff) and for us to celebrate Christmas.

Private

I have finally decided as of January 1, 2010, my blog will be private. So give me your email addersses so I can invite you. I don't know if it'll be permanent or not. We'll see. Plus, I may not be able to do it. I've read several blogs of people having a hard time figuring out the "private" thing. Since I'm not exceptionally computer savvy, I may not be able to figure it out.

Merry Christmas!

Here is our Christmas card to all of you who won't be getting one in the mail!

Reflections

At Buddy and Noodle's school (and several school schools around here), there is a contest called Reflections with several categories to enter. The theme this year was "Beauty is..." Both Buddy and Noodle entered the photography category and Noodle won!! So now her picture goes on to regional. Yea!! That's so exciting for her - heartbreaking for Buddy though. But he handled it well! He won a couple of years ago.

Buddy entered this one, entitled "Beauty Is...A Self Makeover."

Noodle entered this one entitled "Beauty Is...A Mother's Love"

We're excited for her and to see how far she goes. This is a picture of a lady from our ward with her baby. Without making this too long, she nearly died 2ce when she had him in July. She flat lined 2ce and had to have 8 pints of blood and 4 (I think) of platelets. When they first check the baby and he couldn't move his left side. But the next day he was completely fine. It was VERY scary. But gratefully they both are fine!

School Pic's

This year I opted to NOT pay for school photo's and impossed on Hubs's sister to take them for us. Once again, she has out done herself. She always does such a fabulous job! Thanks so much, Gina. You're the best!

4??? Are you sure?

Today my baby is 4. I can't believe it. I keep thinking she's only 3. I have to say I'm quite emotional about the whole thing. I'm just not ready to have her be 4. I feel like I didn't treasure every moment, because I thought we'd have at least one more. So now that it looks like we aren't, I feel like I've missed so many things. Lewlew is so different from Austin and Emma. She's quite her own. She's also different when Austin and Emma aren't here. She's much more clingy and less whiney. I love the time we have alone. She LOVES flavored chips. I think Dorito's are her favorite, but it might be Pringles. She LOVES chocolate milk. She has MANY Polly Pockets and plays with them everyday. Her lastest "phase" is Strawberry Cake - a.k.a. Strawberry Shortcake. She likes doing things with her hands. Lately she's loved puzzles. We put together puzzles several times a day. She likes Darby, Pooh, Tigger, and Piglet, Hannah Montana, Scooby Doo, and playing the "puter." Her voice sounds like she just took a hit of helium and she talks really fast. She's really sweet and I'm so thankful to have her.

Here are a few pictures of Lewlew through 2009.

Thankful List - in no particular order

I am thankful for:

My husband
Our kids
My mom
My BFF (next to Bret of course!)
Friends
Our ward
The Gospel - every aspect
My Savior
The Atonement
Joseph Smith
The Pioneers
My toothbrush
Toothpaste
Heat
My health
My eye sight
My Hearing
My sence of smell - no matter how strong it is
Our home
A/C
My sence of touch
My sense of taste
Ability to read music
My education - however limited
That I'm a SAHM

I could go on and on. These are just a few off the top of my head. Every once in a while I get really thankful. We are so blessed. We have so much more than many people - and not just monitary things. I think it's good to do this and not just this time of year - all year round. Happy Thanksgiving!

New Moon

Just wondering who has New Moon tickets, when you're going, and who has NO interest in it at all. Just for the record, I really like the Twilight series (and "The Host" as well), but I am NOT, however, a big fan of Rob Patinson and really not Kristen Stewart. I do think Kellan Lutz is a hottie. Having said that, I am really excited to see the movie. Would you like to know if I have tickets already?????

What a MESS!!

This is what it's like taking pictures of Lewlew:

She won't stand still:

She won't focus:

She's goofin' off:

She's bein' silly:



She won't cooperate:
AHHHH!!! Can we say A.D.D.????

Buddy is almost as bad.

Dopey...

The camera is over here:

Hey, look AT the camera:

What kind of face is that?!?

And then there's Noodle:

Trying NOT to smile:

Laughing:

Photographer Error:

Good:
Ah, the joys of taking pictures of your kids to try and save money...

Happy Halloween!

This year for Halloween:

Buddy is "Ben 10"

Noodle is "Hannah Montana"

Lewlew is a "Good Witch"

Memory Lane Monday

This goes back to Halloween 1978. This is the only picture with my hat on. I wouldn't wear it. So I went trick-or-treating without it. I have been a witch a few times over the years - and not just on Halloween :) I was 2 in this picture and in a couple of days I'll post my kid's Halloween pictures and then you can see a HUGE resemblance of Avrie and me. (Note the price tag is still on the pumpkin.)

Weekend trip

On Oct. 9, my mom, Bestie, Lewlew and I set out for Colorado.

It's a 500 mile trip (one way) - but there is some pretty country, especially this time of year. This is just a picture of some mountains between Green River and Price. They are so jagged and so for once, I took a picture.

We stayed with my sweet Aunt Kate, my mom's sister. She always makes us feel so comfortable. Thanks a bunch!!!

While we were there we saw some Amish people. They fascinate me. I'd love to visit one of their colonies back east for like a week. It's just interesting to me. So anyway, I snapped a picture. There is actually a funny story to this picture. We passed one on the road and saw another one coming and I said I wanted to take a pic of them. So I stopped the car and got out. Then Bestie said, "Maybe we should be taking pictures of the landscape so we don't look so obvious." So that's what we did. Ya, we still looked extremely obvious! But we had a good laugh.

Bestie, Lewlew and I went to Taos, NM while we were there. We had a great day. Taos is only about 1 1/2 hour away from where we were staying. It's an OLD Native American town. We went to the plaza and looked around and bought some souvenirs. I never thought I'd want a souvenir from Taos, but it's been 10 years since I've been to Taos. It's funny, when I was younger, I never thought of taking pic's of Taos. We went all the time. But since it's been SO long since I was there, I really wanted some pictures. I didn't get all that I wanted, but I did get some of the gorge. This is a picture of the bridge.

This is looking down from the bridge. It doesn't look that far to the bottom, but it's actually pretty deep. When I was younger, we used to see rafters floating down the river. We'd yell at them and sometimes they would wave. I'm sure they waved because they saw us, not because they heard us.

This is the top of the gorge. It's so flat and then it drops off. You wouldn't even know it was there almost until you got next to it. This isn't the greatest picture to describe it, but it's ok.

We came home on the 12th. While we were there, we were able to see my grandma, my mom's mom. We didn't stay very long because Lewlew was anxious to go (thank goodness) but it was good to see her none the less. It's been 2 years since I've seen her. It's hard to carry on a conversation with. She just doesn't talk. We also got to see Bestie's nephew who is serving a mission in CO. Right now he's serving in Monte Vista. So while we were dropping off a care package at his house, he and his companion came out of the neighbors house (which is actually their land lords house). So we stayed and chatted about 10 or 15 minutes. It was neat!

Fall Colors

Last night for FHE, we took the kids up to Sundace to enjoy the fall colors. Wow, they were spektacular!! Of course these pictures don't show justice, but it was beautiful. The kids enjoyed pointing out the different colors and pick leaves. We hope to press them in contact paper and make a book mark. We had a nice time and thanked HF for our wonderful blessings and this beautiful earth and the oppertunity we have to enjoy the seasons.

Women's General Conference

My mom and I and 2 of our friends attended the Women's General Conference Saturday night at the Conference Center. It was SO cool! We ate at the Nauvoo Cafe first - MMM so good! Then walked to the Conference Center. After clearing security, we found our seats. It was fill almost to capacity and the buzz from women chatting was fairly loud. We could talk with our normal voices and be heard just fine. But then the First Presidentcy came in and the Conference Center was instantly silent. You could have heard a pin drop. Pres. Monson waved to the choir and then to each section of the center. It was incredible. As soon as they were seated, the buzz picked up. It was awesome just to be in their presence, no matter how far away we sat. After the meeting, as the First Presidentcy left, Pres. Monson stopped and wiggled his ears a few times. That was so neat! The company we enjoyed to and from the meeting was also great. How blessed we are! What a great meeting!!

Growing Pains...

My sweet little Noodle had 2 baby teeth pulled today. She did SO good, not even 1 tear. But I could tell it hurt her and that made me so sad. She's doing ok now - after I gave her some pain meds. One tooth had a cap on it and was abscessing so there was no point in saving it. The other one was abscessing too, but the dentist thought it best to pull it too instead of doing a pulpotomy on it. Now she will have a retainer/space maintainer until her adult teeth come in. In a month we have to do the same thing for Buddy - O-Boy do I dread that one. He does NOT do well at the dentist. Maybe I'll send Hubs with him. Buddy needs to have 2 baby teeth removed to make room for her permanent teeth. I don't know it's a big explanation that I can't really explain typing. On a happy note, Lewlew doesn't need to have ANY work done. Yippee!!! I think she'll be more like Buddy - difficult!

A Great Day

This is for my wonderful hubby!

Happy Birthday Hunny!! I love you!

Happy Birthday Dad! We love you so much!!

Spiders

I miss the Japanese Beetle. For the summers of 2007 and 2008 the city had our yards sprayed for the Japanese beetle. The spray not only killed the beetle, but it killed spiders too. Since the weather has been getting cooler, I have had Bret kill 2 spiders in my house the past 2 days. YUCK!! I HATE spiders and then I get all paranoid that they might be Black widows or recluse or something else. For that reason alone, I wish they'd keep spraying for the wretched beetle.!

Great Day

A big shout out to my mom today!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM!! YOU'RE THE BEST!!!

Can't let go of Hannah...

Lewlew has really started liking Hannah Montana - just like Noodle. Well this shows how much she likes her... (Yes that is a HM pillow case - go figure!)

Glad this only happened once.

The kids and I walked over to their school to play. Instead, Noodle's dare devil came out. She pushed her bike up this hill and rode it down. She did this MANY times. Finally, she let Buddy have a chance (he didn't ride his bike). Of course not to be out done, Lewlew joined the fun.!! Of course with her training wheels, she didn't get going as fast, but still, she did it and LOVED it! Crazy kids!

She's beautiful and she knows it!

Lewlew LOVES to give herself a make-over. She does such a great job. She HAS to put on everything, at least once!

Good Clean Fun...

On Aug 29, 09, we were invited to go to a slip-n-slide. Ya, I think that's an understatement. Bestie's brother-in-law works for a billboard company. They have several billboards that aren't used for whatever reason. So he kept 2, laid them out on a gentle hill near his home, ran a hose from his house, and made a slip-n-slide out of them. Holy cow, was it fun. To make it slicker, they added soap to it. It was about 15 feet wide and 50 feet long - no exaggerating! It was great!

This gives you an idea of how long it was...

Buddy sailing down on a tube...

Lewlew and Noodle enjoying the fun...

All 3 kids sailing down...

Noodle modeling the "subs" (As Lewlew called them!)