Happy Holidays

We took the kids to see the lights at Temple Square. The falling snow was beautiful, but freezing!! The kids liked going inside the Visitors Center to see the Christus and to warm up!



Elizabeth loves her new kitchen. She has a shoe problem already at her young age, so the princess shoes were a big hit.

Caleb and Kayden with their new Christmas toys.

The kids all took turns hiding in the empty box at Grandma Stones house. Elizabeth loved jumping up and saying "boo". We had a wonderful Christmas with our family and are so blessed to live close to them.

Forever Outnumbered

On May 6th, or close to it, we'll welcome a new baby boy into our home. The Stones just don't produce girls. I think my sister-in-law and I were lucky to get the one girl each that we did. Kayden has been so cute with this pregnancy. He's very careful not to push up against my stomach so that he doesn't squish his baby brother. He's also concerned with how the baby gets out from under mom's skin. So far "the doctor takes him out" is working for him. We had our official ultrasound today and everything looks great. My sister Elisa had scanned me earlier. She laughed after two seconds of scanning me when she saw it was another boy. Even the darn cat is a boy. I guess Elizabeth and I were just destined to be outnumbered.

Elizabeth at 18 months

Elizabeth hit a wonderful milestone this month- NURSERY!! Who would've thought that our little mama's girl, that cries for even Grandma and Daddy, would go to nursery with no problems?? Prayers are definitely answered!!!! At Elizabeth's 18 month well check up she weighed in at a whopping 19 lbs 12 oz, still only the 3% range. I asked, well practically begged at the doctors office to let us put our 18 month old in a new car seat instead of the infant carrier she's had since she was born. Permission was sort of granted. Elizabeth may not be gaining much weight, but she's growing longer, 31 1/2 inches (50% range), so her legs hit the vans seat since she's still facing backwards. Here's some of the cute pictures my sister took of Elizabeth. It was so funny during pictures. Elisa or I would pose Elizabeth how we wanted her and Elizabeth would instantly fold her arms and sometimes close her eyes. I don't know if she thought it was time to be reverent or what?

Happy Halloween

Matt and I took the kids to visit Grandma Hayes and Great Grandpa and Grandma Lee for Halloween. They went Trunk or Treating in our church parking lot and the die hard boys went around the neighborhood with Dad afterwards. Elizabeth had fun helping Mom pass out candy to the trick or treaters. The kids enjoyed carving pumpkins. Well Elizabeth enjoyed eating the "pumpkins brains". We had to keep pulling it out of her mouth. Kayden kept saying, "Don't hurt my pumpkin" over and over while carving (a line he remembers from one of the Critters books).

Small and Simple Things

The last few minutes before we walk out the door for church usually involve yelling and fighting to get everyone to "hurry up and get in the van or we're going to be late". This last Sunday was different. We were ready early and the kids just looked so cute and sweet in their church clothes that I had to capture the moment. I knew it would be a rare moment and had to appreciate it while I had it.

Black Island Farms

For the past two years now we've gotten free tickets to Black Island Farms. It's a Halloween place with corn mazes, hayrides, farm animals, giant slides and more. Last year we skipped the hayride because the line was too long, but the kids wouldn't let us this year.

The hayride stops in a huge pumpkin patch where everyone gets out and picks a pumpkin. We ended up with 4 large pumpkins that now line our porch steps. It was pretty funny to watch us try to get the boys, a stroller and 4 big pumpkins to the van.

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The Crayon

So the other day my sister Elisa and I are driving with our kids in my van. Samantha, my 3 year old niece, informs me that Kayden is picking his nose. So tell me something new. He keeps doing it. Finally Elisa says that she thinks he put a crayon up his nose. Hmmm. So we get home and sure enough there's a crayon stuck up his nose. I tried to get him to blow it out and it wouldn't budge. I got tweezers and they just pushed the crayon up even more. At this point Kayden finally has realized that maybe he should be a little panicked. I'm thinking, great, another ER visit for Kayden. Last time being when he ate all the drugs out of the first aid kit. I decide to have him try to blow one more time. Of all the colors, a green crayon came shooting out. Yeah! No visit to the doctor.

One Week Down

Caleb survived his first week of First Grade. The first day he came home exhausted. After 2 1/2 hours of Kindergarten, than Summer break, a whole day of school is a little overwhelming. He loves his new teacher, Miss Hellewell. Kayden and Elizabeth come with me in the morning to drop Caleb off at school. Kayden insists on bringing his backpack with him every morning. Poor Kayden has cried a couple of times and thrown a flat out tantrum other times because he wants to stay with Caleb and go to school so bad. He still has two more years before he starts Kindergarten. Hopefully Kayden and Elizabeth will become friends and entertain each other.

Happy "29th" Birthday Grandma

My family came over to celebrate my mom's birthday last Sunday. We had lots of fun and lots of laughs. You'll have to ask her about Edward.

County Fair

We took the kids to the Davis County Fair. They had so much fun going on the rides over and over again. Although, when asked what their favorite part of the fair was, one of the boys said it was the special food. I have to admit that the funnel cakes were really good!! Elizabeth loved the cotton candy.

While looking at the animals, Caleb found out how true it is that goats eat everything. He wasn't paying attention to the goats in the pen he was standing next to, when all of a sudden the goat was eating his shirt. It took me awhile to get the shirt loose- goats have a strong grip apparently.

15 Months Old

At Elizabeth's 15 month well check-up she weighed 18 lbs 10 oz (3%), she's 30 3/4 inches tall (70%) and her head was 17 5/8 inches (25%). She's still in her rear facing car seat. We'll reach that 20 lb mark someday!?!? At least my back isn't sore from carrying around a normal weighted child. Don't let her size fool you though. She can keep up with her brothers pretty good. And don't think about crossing her- she's learned to take care of herself fast with two older brothers!!

Good Thing Aunt Elisa is Patient!

Elisa took pictures of Caleb for his 6th Birthday. Caleb thinks he's a model and was very "helpful" in "posing" for the pictures. He'd grab a vine and wrap it around like a scarf for example. He'd lay across the rocks like he was getting paid for the pictures. Somehow Elisa managed to get some good pictures amongst the several not so good ones. Thanks Elisa!! Check's in the mail.

A couple of the better of the funny ones. Caleb rarely had his head straight and even bent his body in half while he was posing. Don't quit your day job kid!

Pioneer Days

Every year my mom rises early (thanks Mom) and saves us seats for the Bountiful Parade. My Grandparents, Mom, Elisa and her gang and us lined Main St and "cooked" while enjoying the parade. After the parade we went to Artic Cirle for a treat than on up to watch the fireworks. It was a fun night.

Elizabeth loved the parade. Last year she cried through all the sirens, but this year was much better!! She especially liked the Sheriff departments helicopter that flew really low over the parade route.

Kayden enjoyed giving his mom an ulcer during the parade. He ran across Main St (before the parade even started), when he saw Great Grandpa and Grandma arrive. Then he took off during the parade to chase after candy. I put on a nice show chasing after him.

I tried to get the boys to turn around and pose in front of the floats, but they didn't want to miss the parade. The Monsters Vs. Aliens float was so cute I took a picture even though the kids wouldn't turn around and look at the camera.

Six Years & Two Teeth

Caleb turned 6 years old on July 18th. We took him and the kids to the Roy Aquatic Center to celebrate. The kids loved it. Caleb was spoiled with lots of new presents from our family. Our home is being taken over by Transformers!



Happy Birthday Caleb!!

Caleb has been envious of all his classmates since they started losing teeth and he wasn't. When a new tooth finally started coming in, it didn't loosen the baby tooth enough to make it fall out since it was coming in behind the baby tooth. So.....yesterday Caleb went to the dentist and had two teeth pulled. He was so brave. He didn't even use the laughing gas they offered. I think it was harder for mom than Caleb.

Oregon

Our family actually had a family vacation this year!! Every other year my Grandma Lee's siblings and everyone on down gets together for a family reunion in Oregon. For the first time in over 30 years we went to a new location because of repairs at the usual lodge. Camp Elkanah, the new place, was quite the upgrade. The kids really enjoyed themselves. There was so much to keep them entertained. They loved the little playground with slide, monkey bars, tire swings and regular swings. There was also miniature golf, tether ball, basketball, volleyball, ping-pong, air hockey a giant water slide (my kids were mad at me because I wouldn't let them go) and so much more.


Elizabeth loved the tire swing. She also loved putting rocks in her mouth the whole time! It was a constant battle to keep them out!


You would think with two extra seats we would've had plenty of room in the van. Let's just say the only floor you could see was where Matt and I put our feet. Good thing the kids are young enough not to complain about leg room. It took me awhile to get used to not being able to see out the back window. (Next time we'll bring a luggage carrier)






This is the cabin we stayed in- Ephesus was the name. All the cabins had Bible names and used to be train cars. We planned on staying in a tent and packed for it, but when we saw how nice the cabins were- heat and electricity, we opted for the cabin. Caleb cried- he wanted to sleep in a tent.

Caleb, Kayden and Samantha playing together. The boys loved playing with my cousins Lyndsey and Kelsey from Las Vegas. They spoiled them with all their attention. When we got home Kayden kept calling Elizabeth Lyndsey- I think he was having withdrawals.

Daddy teaching Elizabeth how to play tether ball.

When we go to Oregon, the really young kids get to bathe in the kitchen sink. The only other option is a shower. This kitchen was incredible. It was huge and included a restaurant style dishwasher. Conner and Elizabeth had a blast splashing each other during their baths.