Thursday, January 7, 2016

November

Max hasn't taken regular naps in a very long time but sometimes you just gotta snuggle up with your giant stuffed froggy and snooze in the middle of the floor!
Reese taking her baby with her to pick braden up from school!

Reese loves to play with my nail polishes while i'm getting ready...she takes them out one by one, and puts them in a very specific order! she will then put them all back in the bag and start over.

The kids have been begging to fly kites so when we had this perfect windy day we took advantage and played for over an hour!

I felt I have been slacking in the "spontaneous" and "fun mom" department...so i figured out how to build a fire and we had s'mores before dinner one night! the kids LOVED it!

I believe this is the first time Reese has ever gone to "feed" the ducks...this is something all my other kids have done well before 2 years old but i guess the 4th kid just gets the short end of the stick sometimes...she loved it when she wasn't trying to sneak the bread herself!

We are so lucky that Oma is always up for an adventure with us no matter what it may be or what time we might call...she will always drop whatever she is doing to join us!

There was quite a bit of this in November...Reese went through a phase where she just HAD to be held ALL day long!!!
The new housing development going in across the street from us has been a pain...SO MUCH dust in and around our house and no cows grazing there anymore but it does make for a fun family bike ride!

Riley and Bradens first soccer season came to a close...Riley really enjoyed soccer and the girls on her team! This was the last time she saw the Glitter Girlz

Slow dancing with my loves at a wedding


We went to visit Uncle Matt and Autn Mariel one saturday...there house is so fun Max LOVED holding the chickens...no one else would touch them

My brother had such a good time letting the kids dig around the "craft house" for some treasures to take home.  He kept saying "This is so great".  It's so nice to see the tradition and the magic of the craft house continue to a new generation.



We also saw carrie and Bradley that day and as always had so much fun hanging out with them! We took the kids to the El Dorado nature preserve where i had been a number of times as a kid...it's so fun to take my own kids back to those places.

Playing in the museum room


We did a nice 1-2 mile loop with the kids...they did great!

And we got to hot tub before we left, always a favorite!

I recently touched base with my childhood best friend Melissa Baker...we used to spend all our time together as kids and we had been out of touch for probably 15 years! i surprised her and showed up to her baby shower..it was so fun to see her and her mom and sisters again and re connect

We get weekly updates from Elder Fisher aka uncle Daniel.  He is doing so great on his mission and is so happy! I love the pictures we get from him.

This came across my instagram feed and just thought it was too true at this point in me and josh's life...i had to blog it for posterity!

Reese and Abigail getting their snuggles in.  They really are two peas in a pod.  Reese asks for her multiple times a day along with Aubrey and Lydia and jack-jack.

Braden had his Thanksgiving Pow Wow feast at school and i was lucky enough to attend! He was chosen to be in the middle to play an instrument for one of the songs.  Mrs. Coppage (holding the microphone) makes this such an incredible and educational experience.


The boys LOVE to play video games together!  The speed at which Max caught on totally surprised me...its shouldn't have though, he really catches on fast in order to keep up with riley and braden!

We went on a triple date for Russell's birthday...Mongolian BBQ, which i have a new obsession with now, with cold stones for dessert.  I am so grateful for these people in my life!

Us three girls spent probably close to an hour-pathetic, i know- to get a decent shot of the three of us!







Grandma Ruth passed away this month.  She had a doctors appt on a monday and they drew blood.  The nurse called her at home on tuesday to have her switch up the doses on some of her meds and my grandma said she felt too tired to write it down right then and was going to take a nap.  The nurse called my Aunt and let her know that it didn't sound quite right. My aunt waited about 45minutes since she said she was going to nap.  When she did call the fireman answered the phone; my grandma had used her life alert.  My aunt could hear her talking in the background...they took her to the hospital where her heart stopped.  They called my dad who was en route and he said to resuscitate, they were successful after about 15minutes. My brother and his wife, along with my dad and judi, myself and my aunt showed up to her ER room where she was intubated and sedated but stable.  We stayed with her until about 1am when she was transfered to the ICU.  I went back to her house, cleaned it as my aunt and dad were stressed that it needed a good cleaning.  Slept for about 3 hours and then drove home to get my kids off to school.  I went back that night after dinner to stay with her in the ICU.  She was still sedated and intubated when i got there and the nurse filled me in best she could.  She explained that when her heart stopped for 15 minutes her liver and kidneys took a big hit and were not performing well at all.  The sedative, although no more had been given, could not leave her system unless her kidneys functioned to filter it out.  It was not looking very good but we had hope and were discussing where and with whom she could live when she got home.  I was at her bedside and talked to her although she was sleeping, just told her where she was, that i would stay all night and just to sleep to get better. When i said her name she would open her eyes and look and focus at me, she squeezed my hand, the first time i thought it was just because i had squeezed hers but she did it about 3 different times.  I am so glad she knew i was there and hopefully that helped her to not be scared.  I left her with a kiss at about 5am just as susan was getting there....at about noon my dad called me and matt and told us to head down, that she was failing and it was time.  She passed on her own with my dad and susan by her side as i was getting off the exit.  We all miss her so much but i feel so grateful for all the years i had with her and that she never had to move, she lived in her house until the last day surrounded by all the things she loved and her kitty.  My brother, dad.,aunt and i went back to her house after we said our goodbyes too look around get her cat sylvie.
   I was looking though some photos and it took me by surprise how much my kids look like my dad!
this looks so much like max to me

and this is just the spitting image of braden minus the ears!

spending good qaulity time with opa is always our top priority!

Reese is still getting used to her big bed...i never want to forget this sweet moments!

Visits to Grancy are treasured more these days as they are fewer and farther inbetween! she always had the best snacks for the kids and fun cups and plates and lots for them to do!

We did a big slumber part switcheroo...i got all the older girls (Riley, madylin and morgan, ava and anabelle), katie took all the boys (nathan, braden and cody) and shelley got the little girls (aubrey and lydia) max is still a little too little to hang with the big boys for the whole night so he invited caiden over!  Reese said she wanted to sleep downstairs with the big kids so we let her try it and she stayed there all night just fine! so the next night i asked her if she wanted to sleep on the bottom bunk or her crip and she chose the bunk bed and did great all night so we stuck with it, she is officially in a big kid bed! for the past 8 years as soon as one kids transitioned out of their crib i was putting a brand new baby right back in but not this time...the crib got taken apart for the first time in 8 year sand given away.  So very bittersweet.

Thanksgiving breakfast tradition continues and this time ashley came! Chocolate waffles with whipped cream were served, with bacon, eggs and fruit!

The kids helped with the thanksgiving food prep and loved it! they were realy into watching josh smoking the turkey

Apple pie!

Goodness, they are gettting big! i have so much to be thankful for

Reese would not leave uncle justin alone and he obliged!

Oma played games with the kids at Aunt Jolenes

Reese and Zoey colored toghether


Uncle Mark playing cards with the kids

Reese loves her Oma!

Max wanted a turkey leg and handled it like a champ!



I got to get in on some game action too, my favorite!


We spent the day after thanksgiving at my dad's celebrating it...Judi's dad ray is so sweet to my kids and plays with and compliments them all night long!

The host and hostess!

More turkey legs!

My dad and Judi always set out such a pretty table and tons of food!

and the kids always come home with a HUGE stockpile of fun new toys

s'mores at katies house


Rachel sent me the best belated birthday gift! She ordered a blanket created from the pictures she found on my blog! It was such an incredible and thoughtful gift!! We even got two blankets because one was messed up although i can't tell which one is supposed to be the mess up, so lucky us! i laid them out for the kids and they crawled over them for a good hour looking at all the pictures and reliving the moment! The kids and i LOVE them! they fight over who gets to sleep with them, we take them with us on walks...love it!

She looks so tiny in a real bed!

Reese naps from about 1:30-4 pm each day, i have to wake her at 4 otherwise she would never go back to sleep at 7:30 with the other kids, so because of this she is often super cranky for awhile after i wake her, and that is right when i am trying to make dinner! This night i set her on the counter and she called all her "puppies" to her and threw crackers to them!  I am so grateful to have 4 healthy kids who love playing together.

Putting up our christmas lights!
We had a funeral service for my grandma and were treated to lunch afterward by her nephew and his wife, Don Allen and Kim.  It was so nice to reconnect with family and start a new bond with them.  It wasn't hard for me to see my grrandma placed next to her parents and siblings because i felt i had already said goodbye to her at the hospital.

Just a few notes from this month that i didn't want to forget:
-Reese starting to talk a lot this month; we can understand a lot of what she says, it's so fun and cute.
-Reese plays family with Riley braden and Max, Max is the dog Riley is "mommy" and Braden is the puppy
-She HATES being called a baby, she is NOT a baby, she is "reese".
-After watching inside out Braden said the biggest part of his personality is "fart island" (in the movie the character explained the different parts of her personality as islands such as "family island, friendship island, goofball island" haha
-Reese talking a TON by the end of the month likes to say things are "cute".  
-She jumps all the time and all over the place, it brings back strong memories of riley doing the same thing at this age

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