Church Ball

I love going to see my boys play ball. I did not get any good action shots though. Oh well. Here they are with Conner and their coach, Ken.

A Beautiful Morning!

Jeffrey took this picture before the sun peeked through.I went out a little later and took a couple more. These pictures hardly do it justice. It was just so pretty this morning!

Frosty

Mary, Drew and I went out before Drew's kindergarten bus came and shoveled the walks. After Drew left, Mary and I shoveled the back and nearly 1/2 of the driveway. I was very tired, hot and ready to go in! Mary had dressed herself in crocks and a skirt so I imagined she was really ready to go in. But no, she wanted to build a snowman! She was very insistent!! So we made a little one. She was happy. So was I.

I have to add that as I was shoveling and spending time with my kids I felt incredibly blessed to be able to be here right now, working so hard! It felt so good! Last summer I was unable to do any yard work (and I don't really enjoy yard work but I found that I missed it! Wow!) I also would not have been able to push snow Tuesday or yesterday (I had chemo on Monday). Can I just say how wonderful it is to feel wonderful??!!

Happy Birthday Brandon!

Oh boy! Another teenager in the family. It's a good thing we love teenagers around here! Love ya Brandon! Thanks for being a wonderful son.

place mats

I started making these last summer. But my idea was to sew clear vinyl on the top and bottom and that failed miserably (pucker pucker). I was disappointed and put the project away. I just uncovered them and decided to finish them differently than planned. I had previously Mod Podged them so I thought I could just apply the clear acrylic spray and that would be good enough. I had to unstitch the vinyl off of 3 of them. Then I put them on the table for breakfast. But they looked so flimsy next to the gallon of milk that, with 6 children, can spill without a moment's notice! Up until then I did not want to laminate them because I have had issues with laminating. But at that moment I knew that is the only way they would survive. So I sent them to school with Dennis and he got them laminated. Now we are set!

I just used a 12x12 sheet of paper and sewed on about 3 inches of coordinating card stock to make them a bit bigger. I then rounded the edges. I cut out the letters and glued them on. I was worried about them slipping so I did a machine stitch along the bottom of the letters. Easy (if you learn from my mistakes)!

Mary & Marie (the kitty)

Mary and Marie attend meals, Family Home Evening and church together (but Marie has to wait in our vehicle while Mary goes in). Marie is present for potty sessions and listens to stories. While I am sitting here typing, Marie and Mary are watching, one talking to the other and sharing the excitement. Marie and Mary, Mary and Marie. Perfect.

Adventures of Motherhood: Priceless

I had chemo yesterday and am feeling lousy so I have been hanging out on the computer. Turns out I should have been paying more attention to my children. Drew said, "Mom, Mary spilled spaghetti." It was everywhere (it does not all show in the picture!) But look, she left me some hearts to remind me she loves me.

Some of my Favorite People

Next time we will use a different photographer (grrrr). But at least we are all accounted for (except for Joe and Kelsie's baby, Keni, who was born a couple of months after the picture.)

More New Years Pictures

Here are some more pictures I wanted to share. You can also check out my sister's pictures (she has a link that has professional photos of the house.)The front door.Kitchen (a lot of these were taken by Camille.) Exercise room in the basement. The library went up 3 stories! There was a look-out landing midway up that the kids had lots of fun on--I think the favorite was throwing New Years confetti down. The loft at the top of the library .

The playroom (also in the basement).
Master bathroom

Jeffrey actually swam across the pool (I think I heard someone say it was about 40 degrees--brrrrrrrr!) Brandon and Caleb also went off the diving board.

New Years

The Keith Porter Family got together in St. George (my dad's brother was kind enough to let us stay in his extra home--thank you so much Uncle Kenny!). We had a wonderful and relaxing time.

Mom and Dad gave all the kids "Cousin Power" t-shirts.

Here are all the grand kids minus one.

Drew and Greta; (it was Greta who was missing from the pictures above.)Here is Dad giving instructions for Sardines. It was fun in such a big house!Bringing in the new yearThe kids had a blast in the hot tub!

Dennis was in great need of a little r&r.