Crazy December.....

We took off for Utah on Dec.11th. We took Mady out of School a week early and headed out for a very busy Holiday season. The drive out with the kids was so much fun. We had talks with the kids, played games, watched movies, played at the reststops in Texas, Climbed the rocks in Moab.

We created some great memories!

On Dec.13th we got to attend Bri's best friend Brett and Jessa's Wedding. It was a beautiful Snowy day and so nice to spend an afternoon together. We went back to temple square with the kids to see the lights, it is one of my very favorite Christmas things to do. It is so beautiful and peaceful and the kids love it. Mady and Ethan loved the nativity and the holiday season has been so much fun with the kids this year. They have been so excited about everything but mostly it has been so nice to feel the true spirit of Christmas with them. Our Christmas was simple but so much fun and the kids loved it. Mady kept reminding us all through December that Christmas is not about getting presents but about Jesus Birth and how much we love him.

I love my kids so much and i am so grateful for ALL the lessons that they teach me.

Art Work and Bikes

We went to a cute pizza restaurant in Louisiana that had paper for table clothes and the kids loved being able to just color. Mady created this picture of the helicopters. You can only imagine how proud Brian was. :)

We have been trying to get Mady to take the training wheels off her bike for a long time, and she finally did it! She did great, but the weather has been cold since so hopefully she can pick it back up in the spring. This picture was taken just after she crashed, so there are some tears.

Our Thanksgiving

Brian had to work for Thanksgiving this year so we had a traditional dinner on Monday and then went down to Louisiana with him for a few days. On Thanksgiving day we hung out in our room, had burger king, and watched Brian take off in his helicopter. The kids loved it and it was nice to be together as a family for the holiday. We have so much to be thankful for and enjoyed our non traditional thanksgiving.

Happy Very Late Halloween :)

Our Bat

Our Halloween Witch & Batman

Our little Bumblebee

We hope you had as much fun trick or treating as we did.

Look at Me

Hey Daddy look what I have mastered now. I can't wait till you can come home and really see. I love you - Alicia

The Car...

This one's for you babe!
Yes the car looks really nice in front of our house, and you do look smokin' hot in it. I know it goes really fast.

Sorry, we cannot have one even if we could afford it....

Alicia and Ethan

I am so Lucky to be able to wake up to this smile every morning! I love it. She has the biggest smile and the chunkiest cheeks! Besides about 1 hour in the evenings she hardly ever cries she loves to sit and talk to her brothers and sisters and has become such an important part of our family! We love you so much!
Ethan is such a good big brother and he has been in awe of Ali ever since she joined our family. It was so cute the other night he wanted to hold her so we layed her down by him and this is what we got! It was adorable. I love my kids so much and I really enjoy these precious moments!

Speed Racer

On Friday night we invited some friends over to build box cars and give their Mom's and Dad's a chance to go on a date. We had so much fun building these cars with them. Jake even equipped his with GPS. I think Bri may have had more fun than the kids. :) After we got our cars finished we watched Speed Racer. I'm not sure if the kids really liked the movie but they did enjoy the popcorn and hanging out in the cars.

Texas State Fair

We headed off to the state fair last week on Brian's Day off. It was a nice cool day and we realy enjoyed walking around and checking out all the fun stuff. If you love fairs you should come to this one! There are always so many people there and so many things to do and look at. It was much cooler and less crowded this year than when we went last year and we had a great day. The kids loved the bird show and doing little hands on the farm. Bri and I realy enjoyed all the cars, it was fun to look at all the smaller cars that we will not be able to fit in for a very very long time :)

Playing & Happy Birthday Babe!

Logan working on the computer like Daddy does.

Ethan creating a house out of crayons :)

Mady practicing her radio calls


Happy Birthday! This is the I know i need more candles then this face :)
I love it when Bri's birthday finally rolls around and we are the same age for a little while then i can stop hearing the you are so old jokes :) I love you babe and I hope you had a great Birthday!

Seasons of Change

I love Fall! I really miss home and the mountains this time of year but I am still grateful for things cooling down and moving into fall. Since November of last year things have been interesting for us, we have been enduring lifes trials. Some have been small, others tragic, and some have turned into immense blessings. Through all of this my sweet husband has been amazing. He is such a blessing in my life (and pretty Hot also!) he keeps me grounded when i want to freak out and has supported me through some pretty tough times. I don't know what I would do if i didn't have him to hold my hand. Today he got a new job doing something he loves and has been looking forward to for a long time and I just want him to know how proud I am of him and excited that he gets to follow his dreams! I Love you babe, thanks for all you do for our family!

Joy

I love being a mom. It keeps me on my toes all the time but my children have found a loop hole in my ability to keep them out of trouble. Nursing... the boys feel they have free rain when i am nursing Ali. To them when I sit down to feed Ali it means: I have 15 minutes to make a big mess and or get into as much trouble as I can. There have been numerous times my adorable mischiefs have created quite the mess for me to clean up during these few minutes I have with my new baby. Any suggestions? This picture was taken a couple of weeks ago, after nursing I went into the boys room to find this: Ethan had emptied all three 120 count boxes of Kleenex that were supposed to go with Mady to school. It does look like fun though.

"Mom will cupcakes really turn me pink?"

Is it really already the middle of September? Time is getting away from me these days... the last couple of weeks have flown by with Mady in school. I wanted to post some funny things the kids have said lately, they are always keeping us laughing with their perspective on life.
After reading the cute book Pinkalicious that we have heard so much about we made pink cupcakes. Mady was saying she wanted to eat all the pink cupcakes so that she could be pink... she then asked Ethan if he wanted a pink cupcake with which his reply was a very stern and concerned "No" the matter was dropped and after about 20 minutes Ethan came into the kitchen and said "Mom if i eat a cupcake will I really turn pink?" The poor kid had been so concerned and thinking about it the whole time he really wanted a cupcake without being pinkalicious! :)
As for Mady they were watching a cartoon that had someone losing their teeth. Ethan then came in and said Mom Mady is trying to hit me. I went to have the talk with her about how we don't hit each other when she quickly responded "Mom i wasn't hitting him I was trying to knock his teeth out backwards!" aah, the joys i love my kids so much and they are always keeping me on my toes!
The weather out here is beautiful today. It is 70 right now and we are sitting on the back porch watching the kids swing and play baseball. This is heaven.

First day of Kindergarten

Mady showing us her school uniform
Ethan wanting to join in on the big day
Ready to go after saying bye to mom & dad


It's official we have a kindergartner! :) She was so cute and excited to go. She went to bed early but didn't get much sleep. She woke once asking for water which she never does and then somehow ended up in our bed, I'm sure she was just anxious for her big day! I got her up and got her ready why Bri fixed breakfast and then it was off to school. The whole family walked her in gave her quick hugs and said goodbye. She gets so shy in new situations but she did go right in and no tears were shed. What a long day though from 8:15-3:45 when we picked her up she was excited to see us but also excited about all the fun big things she got to do. Her favorite part was making their official kindergarten crowns!

Bri and I also celebrated our 6Th anniversary on Sunday so after dropping Mady off we cleaned the car and took the kids to play with their cute friends Dallas and Kyson so we could enjoy a quiet lunch together. It's crazy that we have been married 6 years already but we are looking forward to the next 50! I love you Bri... you are the best dad and husband!

Family Pictures...

We had heard of a photographer out here that does newborn pictures from one of Bri's co-workers a while back and decided to give him a call. He came to our house and took the pictures three weeks ago and we finally got them back! It was a really great experience, he only does newborn pictures but he did take individual pics of the kids and a family picture and all from the convenience of our home, so much better than trying to get the kids all out to JcPenny or somewhere. We got all the prints on CD in black & white and color to take anywhere to print. He also does a online slide show of our pics if anyone is interested in checking it out. www.poeticexposure.com/alicia He did such a great job and we would recommend him to all our friends with new babies!
On a side note today was meet the teacher night for Mady... she got to meet her teacher and then we took a quick tour of the elementary school. Her teacher seems great and although Mady was very shy i think she is excited and is going to do just fine. (I might not survive) One of the cute little girls from primary is in her class too so that will be good! I still can't believe she starts school on Monday!

Dance

Mady started Dance last thursday and loved it! It was so much fun to see her so excited and everyday she asks if it is dance class day! She also learned to tie shoes, she doesn't have any shoes that we have to tie but I thought it may be a good thing to learn before school starts and after a few minutes she had it down!

The Childrens Museum

We took the kids to the Childrens Museum to get out but escape the heat while Grandma and Grandpa Hooley were in town. The kids really liked it! Ethan thought it was cool you could dress up like a fireman, Logan loved the slide, and Mady thought dressing up was pretty fun. (although she doesn't look very excited in the picture.) After we were finished there Grandma and Grandpa took the kids to mcdonald's, had cake, popped popcorn, and watched a movie while Brian and I went to a movie! Thanks Grandma and Grandpa the kids loved it and it was so nice to be able to go out on a date!

Happy Birthday Mady!

Happy 5th Birthday Madyson! Mady's Birthday is on August 4th, but we got to celebrate twice with all the Grandparents being in town! We celebrated with cake and presents with Grandma and Grandpa DeLong the week before her birthday and then again with Grandma and Grandpa Hooley on her Birthday! We loved having the grandparents her to celebrate with us! I can't believe Mady is 5 and headed to kindergarted in a week! She has always been our little spunky one! She always keeps us on our toes and entertaines us! She is so outgoing... but is starting to get a little shy, she is the best big sister and helper we could ask for! She has been so helpful with Ali and keeping the boys entertained lately and she is always trying to do what is right! We love you Mady and are so proud of you!

Our New Addition

Alicia Abbygail was born on July 16, 2008 at 8:02 am. We had to be at the hospital at 6 so we dropped the boys off at Jill's very early in the morning! (Thanks so much Jill!) Madyson and my mom came to the Hospital with us, Mady was so excited to finally have a sister I don't think we could have gotten her to stay home. We went to the c-section room at 7:30 so they could do my spinal and she arrived at 8:02. She was 7lbs 90z and 19inches. Everything went smoothly and the recovery has gone great! So much better than I had anticipated. She is such a good baby and sleeps so well at night already! We are so spoiled with good babies (maybe that is why we have 4 :))

We're gonna give it a try....

After looking at all our family and friends cute blogs I thought we'd give this a try. I can't promise much... i am apparently out of date and fairly computer illiterate these days. I hope that you enjoy keeping up with our family as much as we have all of yours!