A Tiny Debut

Here is the youngest member of our family scheduled to make its arrival on September 23. These ultrasound pictures were done about three weeks ago. Its ironic that this post follows my previous one (my wonderful mothering skills), but we're all thrilled to welcome this new baby into our crazy family.

My Parenting at its Best!!!

For all you mothers and fathers out there that need to feel better about your own parenting...this is for you. Here we have Joseph asleep with his hands in his alphabet soup. Now, that alone isn't too bad, but after I got his picture, I left him like that. I'd say Joe slept with his hands in his soup for a good half hour. We had just gotten home from church and we had to be at Tim's memorial at the Apple Valley airport in one hour. I knew if I tried to move him he would wake up. The really embarrassing part is when Sonny was finished counting tithing at church, he came home and found Joseph like this. The icing on the cake is that my dad got to the house at the same time and found his precious Joseph as you see him here. I made sure he could breathe though.

What started as the girls watering the new fruit trees, turned into crusty underwear and dread locks. I came in the house to answer a phone call from my mother. I was on the phone ten minutes, when the muddy animals tried to come into the house. They were freezing to death, but I made them stay out there until I could get some pictures and figure out what I was going to do. I brought them in the house through my bedroom slider and carried them one by one into my shower. They weren't happy when I had to spray them off and shampood them about three times, but I think they're over it. Audrey hates showers!

This one is classic. This was Joseph's little battery operated quad that he got for his birthday. We put an orange cone out in the culdesac when the kids want to ride their bikes out there to warn the neighbors, and I of course stay out there with them. Well Joe was getting a little cocky and decided the little circle he was driving in was not good enough. He took off and wouldn't come back. After my photo opportunity he was almost to the stop sign before I caught him. I made it...but for times that I don't I think my kids have concourses of angels watching over them.

Now this particular instance had my neighbors in an uproar. The girls were dying to go up on the roof with Pa and Daddy. Me being the mother I am finally consented. Although Dad and Sonny were supposed to hold their hands the entire time they let them wander with no hand. Now our neighbors had several people from their church over for lunch. You should have seen the crowd of people gathered to watch my children walk on the roof. There were quite a few comments made as well, but I chose to ignore them. The girls had a blast but haven't been on the roof since. I must admit...I was nervous the entire time they were up there.

So here you have little glimpses into my imperfect life that I'm so grateful for. I may not be perfect, but I love my children to death and give it my all!!!

Lots of Birthdays

Well...I finally downloaded the pics off my camera. I had 269! Since my last depressing post that so many have complained about, two of my kid's birthdays have come and gone. Audrey is a big bad four-year-old and Joseph is two. Audrey is obsessed with Hannah Montana so the entire family went to the Hannah Montana in concert for her birthday. She watches the show so often and listens to the CDs so much that I literally get sick whenever I hear it. Here she is sporting the outfit Aunt Kristi got her. I think Kristit buys my kids most of their clothes. Below are Emma and Audrey at the Hannah Montana concert.

Here's Joseph!!! He had such a stinking blast. When he woke up from his nap there were tractor and truck decorations all over the house. He devoted most of his attention to Pa all evening, but everyone still managed to enjoy him.

Here is Kristi's Wyatt at Joe's party. I'm the evil one that put the hat on him and had him cry until I could get a picture. He is the cutest little guy. Maybe that's because he looks so much like Zach.

Okay...I seriously need to go. Joseph just found a knife. and is trying to cut an apple core. I don't know how you all do such nice posts. Where do you find the time! I will finish this later! I'll post some more pics of fine parenting moments as well.

Our Grandpa Manning

On Wednesday afternoon Tim passed away after a hard fight against cancer. I have never seen a person so determined to beat this disease before. We are so grateful that it took him rather suddenly and that his suffering was not drawn out for too long. Both of Tim's parents died by the time Tim was eleven and we're sure there was the most wonderful and happy reunion at his passing.

Here are Tim and Diane on Christmas day at our house. I don't know that two individuals have ever been so much in love. They literally spent every moment together. Several years ago Tim decided he wanted to take up flying and get his pilot's license. Diane wasn't about to be left behind, so she too became a pilot. They became so enthusiastic about it that they bought their own plane. When Emma was three, Grandpa wanted to take her for a ride. She rode in the front seat next to a man that was completely captivated by her.

Here we are trick-or-treating Grandma and Grandpa on Halloween. He wore this hat often during his treatment and insisted on putting it on before the photo. Sonny and I were finally successful in making him realize that he had a sexy bald head and that a hat was unnecessary.

This was at one of Emma's t-ball games. Anyone that knew Tim years ago would have been shocked that he came to his granddaughter's games. We liked to call him a grumpy old man that liked to stay to himself. However, his grandchildren brought out a mighty change in his heart. He was always amazed that my children weren't afraid of him. :)

Like most grandfathers do, he cared so deeply for his grandchildren. I can remember how delighted he was when he first held Emma. He smiled so proudly at her and rubbed her little bald head. You can tell how much he marveled at his little grandbabies in this picture. This was Tim holding Joseph. I don't think he was ever ready to give him up that day.

I will always remember how sweet and concerned he was for my family. Whenever he hugged the kids goodbye, he knelt down on one knee and grabbed them up. He even did this when it physically hurt him. When Joseph was diagnosed with asthma Tim would always ask about him and send home his own personal medications for him. He loved the kids so much and longed for their happiness. Sonny will miss working with him and the many conversations he was privileged to have with him. Tim wanted to be known as a gruff old man that wanted nothing more than his privacy. However, we'll remember the real Tim. He was good at so many things, but awful at hiding how much he loved his family. He was so loyal and will be missed more than he ever thought possible.

Junie B Jones

For any parents out there...Junie B Jones is a must have for any child's library. We were reading Junie B Jones last night and I've gotta say these books are hilarious. It will brighten up any bedtime routine and make even the most serious adult laugh. Back in the day of the lost camera cord, these pics were taken of Emma and Audrey. Emma's school got to dress up as their favorite story book characters. How could Emma resist Junie B Jones? Audrey asked to dress up too. Emma was the winner for her Kindergarten class and went on to be the grand prize winner for all the kindergarten classes. She won a $4 credit at the book fair. What a day. Don't delay...go get your kids some Junie B Jones books today!

TAG

What is his name? Timothy Sunshine George (how’s that for a mouth full).

How long have we been married? 7 years

How old is he? 27

Who eats more? Usually him, but myself occasionally.

Who said I love you first? I think he said it first. I think I loved him first though.

Who is taller? Him…he actually grew a little after we were married.

Who sings better? Probably me. Although nothing can cheer me up more, than having Sonny sing to me. He’s got passion!

Whose temper is worse? Mine probably rears its ugly head more, but his is more intense.

Who is smarter? Probably me. My parents raised me with that over achiever kind of quality. He knows the scriptures and carpentry more than me.

Who mows the lawn? We both do. We bought a new lawn mower last summer that has a key to start it. Who wouldn’t want to mow the lawn?

Who pays the bills? I do. He never questions where the money goes.

Who does the dishes? Sonny does awesome in this area. We both do them, but he probably does them 75% of the time.

Who cooks dinner? I usually do but its things I’ve made a hundred times before. He's the one who always experiments with meals and most of them are fabulous. He’s a big Food Network fan.

Who drives when you are together? He does. I love sight seeing.

Who is more stubborn? Definitely me. I’m queen of holding a grudge.

Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? He is, usually seconds afterwards.

Who has more friends? Probably me. I think a girl’s friendships are usually stronger and deeper.

Who wears the pants in the family? We both keep this family running. We both need each other and each of us have our different strengths. My brother argues that I do. What does he know?

I tag Amanda, Kristi, Adriana, and Misty.

Winter Road Trip

Our family took a road trip to Utah and Wyoming to visit Sonny's sister and her family. Star's daughter Rachel was baptised. The kids had a really great time with their cousins. It's just getting there that sucked. Joseph became quite pissy whenever we strapped him in his car seat. Observe the photo to the right. That poor guy had to ride in between both of his sisters, who would often pick on him for entertainment purposes. Thank goodness for The Grinch. They watched it three times total and The Little Mermaid twice. During the third viewing of The Grinch, Audrey asked in all sincerity if the Grinch had a wiener. Ya...we did have other forms of entertainment. On our way up, we took the kids to that huge dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point.

The kids got to see actual scientists working on real fossils. The guy to the left wore head phones and rocked out the entire time, oblivious to any of us. What a job!

The kid's favorite part was the erosion table they played in. They all suited up in blue aprons and got to play in the mud and water. Joe was fascinated by all the toy dinosaurs buried in the dirt. Here is his line of dino friends. It got even longer after the photo was taken.

The girls tried out the tunnel they had. They're big chickens like their mama. That's as far in as they would go (about two feet). I think Audrey was sick and tired of pictures at that point. A kid can only say cheese so many times.


Here is a giant Megladon. As if these things are not terrifying enough, let's give it bloody jaws with it's mouth hanging wide open. Kids will love that. Sonny and I are extremely sensitive and awesome parents. We decided it would be a great photo to make the kids stand in front of it and scream. When they were too terrified to do it, Mommy got in the picture and forced them to do it. Audrey was really scared and Joseph was ready to move on to other exibits.

On a more cheery note, Rachel's baptism went really well. We're glad we made it to Lyman the day before becuase a small blizzard hit that night. Most of Daniel's family couldn't make it because the roads from Utah into Wyoming were closed. Here we are at the baptism with Star's family. The kids thought it was so cool wearing snow boots with their church dresses. The only one you can see is Joseph's Thomas the Train boot hanging out. I'm not a huge fan of character shoes, but Joe loved them so much he was wearing them when we arrived at State Line on the way home.

Now how many boys do you know that can pull off pink powder pants. Well maybe he doesn't, but Wal-Mart didn't have any black ones in his size so he was forced to wear Audrey's old ones. He looks humiliated doesn't he?

Here's the girls attempting to enjoy the snow. It was about 6 derees outside when this picture was taken. I think our family lasted eight minutes top outside our cabin before we headed back in. It was miserable. I wouldn't last one month anywhere, but California!

Sadly, we had to leave Wyoming before we all died of the bitter cold. Star traveled back to California with us to see her parents. This is the road into Ogden. Isn't it insane! Believe it or not, the pass before Cedar City was even a bigger nightmare. We saw several accidents and cars that had slid off the freeway into the center divider. I finally had a nervous breakdown when we reached Cedar City and Sonny found a hotel. I'm grateful to be alive and I'm grateful for Sunny California!