Families are a gift that last forever

2012-02-12T19:54:00.000-08:00

The weather was great this weekend so we decided to let the kids ride the 4 wheelers at Grandma and Grandpa C's house. We helped move some rocks for grandma too. Olivia was so excited to help!

Ledger likes being outside. He's the only one of my kids that has ever liked being sat down on the dirt or grass at this age.

Asher got a little tired of riding around and was soaking up some sun! It was a gorgeous day!!

Grandma Shelli gave the kids a bunch of safari stuff that she got from a party and the kids had fun playing with it all. Olivia is my little Jane!

Go Go Go!

2012-02-10T15:42:00.000-08:00

My sweet Ledger. He is into anything he can get into. I love it for now!

He finally learned to open and empty, but still working on the crawling thing! I think he may skip that part and go straight to walking since he can go anywhere at this point by rolling and army crawling and sitting himself up, who needs more?

Trying to get away but the apron was wrapped around him and the darn floor is so slippery!

2012-02-10T15:34:00.000-08:00

Friend Ava and Olivia always have so much fun together! We'll be so sad when she moves at the end of the year! Poor Olivia, she's had so many friends move!

Yum! cupcakes with sprinkles!!

Sunshine for Camie

2012-02-08T19:08:00.000-08:00

To my dear friend Camie who I miss very much! I know you need some sunshine and I wish you were here to enjoy it with us. Here are some pictures I hope will help. If it just makes things worse maybe you'll come back sooner! Love ya!

It's February!

Asher playing outside with Zane

The most beautiful day outside and this is what she decides to do!

Sisters

2012-02-07T18:04:00.000-08:00

Most of the time you can't tell but they really are BEST friends!

Ledger is getting so big!!!

2012-02-07T18:01:00.000-08:00

Ledger spends most of his time in the high chair, he LOVES food!!!

Hanging out with brother

He fell asleep while playing with toys. The girls love to make sure he has enough toys to play with. I'll empty everything out and five minutes later it's full again!

Olivia took this picture. He has major bed hair, and I love that he's learning to sit up on his own.

Olivia was making him laugh

He loves his food!!!

Can't crawl yet but rolling and army crawls get him where ever he wants to go. He's already opening cupboards and drawers

2012-02-07T17:45:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Grandma Shelli!

Oops!! Ledger was too fast!

Yummy!!!

2012-02-07T17:11:00.000-08:00

Asher is loving basketball! He made a basket in his last game and was so excited that he stopped playing to celebrate and then realized everyone was at the other end of the court. He has improved a ton since he started last month!

Family pictures

2011-09-19T17:12:00.000-07:00

My sister in law is so AMAZING!! She did our family pictures for us and did such an amazing job!! We love her!

Ledger

2011-07-13T20:12:00.000-07:00

Who says fat people shouldn't wear stripes?

Baseball and Dance

2011-07-13T20:09:00.000-07:00

Asher on 1st base

Asher loved playing on the same team with neighbor friends and a good friend from school.

Avaree is the 2nd from the right. She looked very cute at her dance recital!

Olivia is the one with her arms up! She knew all the moves and steps to the dance. She did very well on stage! So much fun!!

Family Reunion

2011-07-13T20:00:00.000-07:00

The long drive...

Cousin Lucas and Ledger

Avaree and Cousin Berkley

Olivia and Avaree. Avaree doesn't have a shirt for a reason!

Asher loves plain noodles! The kid needs food therapy!

Olivia loves to pose for pictures! She had a blast playing with all the girls!

2011-07-13T19:44:00.000-07:00

Asher and Aunt Amie

We went to Cedar for the summer games opening ceremonies to see Uncle Jake on the big screen giving his family and cute wife Amie a message saying he misses us and loves us. He is deployed in the army soon to be shipped off to Iraq. After the movie of the soldiers messages to their families they had some amazing fireworks that shot off about 15 feet away from us and we literally were blasted with debris we were so close! It was so amazing though, the movie and the fireworks, we're so glad we went!

Birthday party

2011-07-13T19:37:00.001-07:00

The girls both had birthdays in June and We had a luau.

Such cute girls!

Teeth!

2011-07-13T19:33:00.000-07:00

She lost her teeth...

And she got new ones. We didn't like the idea of no teeth for 3-4 years.

Ledger Tatum Christensen

2011-04-26T13:58:00.000-07:00

Ledger was born on April 10th at 9:24 a.m. He weighed 7.1 lbs and was 20 3/4 inches long. The kids are so excited to have another brother in our family. He is named obviously after his big brother Tatum. We love him so much, Asher wakes up almost every morning and just wants to hold him. Olivia loves to be helpful and get him or I anything we need. She also loves to hug and kiss him. Avaree loves him, but is having a hard time adjusting. She doesn't resent him, but she cries over silly things all the time. It's getting better every day though. Brandon and I don't hardly ever put him down, I'm afraid we're totally spoiling him, but I don't mind one bit at this point! He is going to grow so fast that I want to enjoy every stage as much as possible. I want to enjoy every stage with all of my kids, they are all so precious and grow way too fast!

Tatum's first birthday

2011-04-26T12:54:00.000-07:00

It's been a year and I can't believe how fast it's gone! I have more of the birthday posted on his actual blog tatumsangels.blogspot.com We miss him so much! Love you Tater Bug!

Poor Olivia!

2011-04-26T12:50:00.000-07:00

I win the mother of the year award with this one! Olivia was in the back seat of the car and I pulled out of the driveway. I asked her if she had her seat belt on and she started screaming because she couldn't get her boots zipped up so I hit the brakes to pull over and get her buckled. I hit the brakes harder than I thought and she went flying into the front of the car and hit her teeth on a plastic part that knocked her front teeth up into her gums. A few days later they came back down, but they are very crooked now. After lots of dentist appointments we thought we were done for a while, but just this last weekend one of them started to abscess. So we have another dentist appointment on Wednesday and they will probably have to take out one of the teeth. I feel so bad for my sweet beautiful girl! She actually was so brave when it happened, I'm pretty sure I cried more than she did. She just kept saying it's okay mom, it doesn't hurt that bad any more. That just made me cry more! She's such a sweet strong girl!

Thanksgiving

2010-11-26T14:27:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving this year has been a good one, other than Brandon had to work Thanksgiving day :( No fun. We were with my family this year and Grandpa and Grandma Sheriff were able to come down to be with us even though the crazy winter storm almost made them cancel. But they made it and we had a really good day. Grandma Evertsen made some fun books for the kids that was called The Turkey with the Terrible Tantrum. The kids loved it and loved to color in them. Then we all got to say what we were thankful for and the kids loved being able to say what they were thankful for and be the center of attention for a minute. Asher was thankful for the turkey books Grandma made them. Olivia was grateful for all her blessings and for her family and Avaree said (with help) that she was grateful for grandma's and grandpa's and all our family. We ate and ate and ate till we wanted to burst! It was all so yummy! We didn't have room for any pie for a few hours, but when we finally felt able to eat again we totally indulged ourselves in the amazing pies that Lexy (my sister) made. We took the kids to see Tangled and they loved it. It was pretty cheesy even for a disney movie, but really cute. By then it was time to go home and go to bed. We were grateful that Brandon was able to join us for the movie, the kids were so sad he wasn't around especially Avaree, she was clingy all day and cried for her daddy.

Asher playing with a raw lasagna noodle. My kids are so weird when it comes to food.

My sister Delecta Avaree playing peek a boo and me.

Making fudge with Grandma! Yum Yum!!

The fudge never got to set up because we ate too much of it.

While we were busy cooking and cleaning, Avaree found great Grandma's lipstick and isn't she so pretty? Love the color Aves!

We had so much fun making fudge with Grandma! Even me if you can't tell! I revert back to a child when Grandma Sheriff is around- I love her to pieces!! Grandpa too! Over all it's been an enjoyable weekend.

November craft

2010-11-06T16:49:00.000-07:00

Asher was really board today when none of the neighbors could play and he said we needed to do an activity and paint something. I thought that was a good idea and got online to find a simple craft to do with stuff we already had.

This is what we came up with. Plastic cup turkeys. I think they are horrendous looking but they had a lot of fun making them and spending time together is always a plus!

2010-11-04T19:09:00.000-07:00

So I was baby sitting my nephew and my neighbors baby at the same time and the kids thought it was so fun to hang out in the baby seat. Avaree is obsessed with baby seats and car seats with buckles!

While I'm busy watching babies all day long Avaree is free to get into any thing she wants to. Like my make up. It's not the first time and probably won't be the last time it happens.

Halloween Night.

2010-11-04T18:59:00.000-07:00

Grandma and Kitty Avaree

Kids trick or treating!

Soldier Asher

Grandma Avaree Daddy Asher Olivia Cory and Mindy

Just an ordinary day at the Christensen house

2010-10-27T10:42:00.000-07:00

We are so lucky to have so many kids in our neighborhood that are so fun to play with! It keeps my kids entertained and I love them all!

Halloween party

2010-10-27T10:29:00.000-07:00

Scary kids!!!

The devil and the Kitten

My little army dude

The halloween party with the neighbors

The best street ever!

2010-10-14T13:29:00.000-07:00

We seriously live on the best street ever! No through traffic and tons of kids! I love my neighbors and all the kids that are so close to my kids and have become such good friends! I hope no one ever moves away!

Asher's Birthday

2010-10-14T13:24:00.000-07:00

Asher and Carson are both cute spider man's.

So I have a 6 year old now and it freaks me out. I am glad that they are getting bigger and can help out more, but I'm so sad that my baby is so big! We had a HUGE party for him and had 26 kids show up for the party. We had a Super Hero Training Camp in our back yard, though the biggest hit was the bounce house. Asher was so spoiled, and cleaning up the mess was far worse than cleaning up after Christmas! We had a lot of fun though.

Asher driving the 4-wheeler

2010-07-26T09:09:00.000-07:00

24th weekend

2010-07-25T21:52:00.001-07:00

The kids had a blast playing with the cousins and playing in the river!

They loved the parade and got loaded with candy!

Asher learned how to ride the 4-wheeler all on his own and even went on a ride with Grandpa Christensen-driving on their own seperate bikes. He had a good time and is very proud of himself for doing it on his own.

Miss you Tate!

2010-05-22T20:10:00.001-07:00

So life has been flipped upside down at our home. Things are different and can never go back to being "normal". I miss my son so much it hurts. I hate that life has to go on, but the love I have for my other 3 children keeps me going and helps me to be strong. I have the most amazing family and could never have gone through the pain and struggles without them. Life definately has continued and will continue with or without me, so we are doing our best to remember the life that touched ours every day for 41 days here on earth and will continue to change us and help us learn and grow for the rest of our lives, and we're hoping to become the people that he knew we could be. We miss you Tate!

Blue Jay's

2010-04-12T13:52:00.000-07:00

Asher is on the Blue Jay team this year and I can't help but laugh watching a bunch of 5-7 year old kids playing baseball! It's so cute. They are more interested in the dirt than watching what's going on in the game, but the uniforms are cool and they are playing baseball! They have to be told every little thing to do so there is a coach on every base telling them when to run. Asher was on 3ed base and the ball got hit his way and the other team coaches were yelling for someone to get the ball so Asher (being the good listener that he is) reached down, picked up the ball and handed it to the other teams 3ed baseman. It was really funny, but I didn't feel bad because he wasn't the only one who did funny things like that! The whole game was really funny!

Happy Easter!

2010-04-12T13:45:00.000-07:00

Warm Springs

2010-04-12T13:37:00.000-07:00

We went to the warm springs and enjoyed the day swimming with Grandma and Uncle Daryl and Aunt Lexy and Berk! Lots of fun!

Tate's blog

2010-04-02T10:07:00.000-07:00

For any of you who don't know, Tatum has his own blog site so we can keep all of his updates on tatumsangels.blogspot.com

New baby boy!

2010-03-31T15:43:00.000-07:00

So our birth didn't go exactly as planned. Tatum was born at the hospital by ceacerian on Friday May 26th. Soon after which he was on a life flight to Primary Childrens Hospital with his daddy by his side and mommy left to recover in St. George. For the next 48 hours we were all heart broken and devistated. Since then we have hade time to cope and pull our feelings together and all we really care about is taking home our precious baby boy home. He has a cleft palat and some heart problems and he just had surgery on his esophagus and trachea to repare the trachea and put the esophagus together because the middle part wasn't there so they just connected the two ends together. His right ear didn't form fully and he only has one kidney, but he's a strong fighter and is hanging in there. He really is beautiful and has stolen all of our hearts and thrown us through the ringer!

Asher Olivia and Avaree are having a hard time with me being gone for so long but Brandon went home with his parents yesterday and the kids are so glad to have grandma and grandpa watching them during the day and daddy home at night. I miss them so much I'm in tears every time I have to say goodbye on the phone. I'm so looking forward to seeing them this weekend and I really hope they all get better soon. They've all had the flu this week and it breaks my heart to have to be so far away and not be the one comforting them and cleaning up the mess. It's hard to have to have other people taking care of all of my responsibilities. I hope everyone knows how much I love and appreciate them. I have amazing sisters and sister in-laws that have been there for my family so so much this last week. I love them so much! All of my family members and friends have sent their love and support in any ways they can even if it's just a phone call or text. I love you all so much! My brother James has been here every minute he can and I really appreciate his support. I love all of my family so much!

Thanks again for all of the love and support!

Baby to be!

2010-03-05T16:37:00.000-08:00

We still don't know what we're having... It'll be a surprise to all of us! I only have 4 weeks left and it's getting so uncomfortable, but I'm so glad it's the end! I decided to take some prego pic's since I don't have hardly any pic's with me in them and I'm hoping that this is my last time being pregnant so I wanted some good pic's. I'm huge! I don't feel that big, but there it is! Can't wait to be done!!!

Date Night

2010-03-04T17:44:00.000-08:00

The kids earned a date night. Asher, for doing his chores for a whole week. Olivia, for not wetting the bed for a whole week. So we took just the two of them to Jumping Jacks, and it was a huge hit. They headed strait for the biggest slide there. It only took 45 minutes to totally wear them out, so it was worth the money, even though we didn't stay as long as I'd planned. Then we took them to get "smoosies" as Olivia would call them (smoothies). I forgot to take my camera that time, but a few weeks later the kids went to the dentist and since all 3 were in at the same time, Brandon and I had to rotate between the 3 of them, never leaving Ava alone, because she'd freak out. Any ways long story short... Asher had 2 cavities and they numbed him while neither Brandon or I were in the room. I was a little pissed off about that and so was Ash. Once I got there he was screaming and starting to hyperventilate, so I took him to the bathroom and calmed him down a bit and then Brandon sat with him the rest of the time. His reward for being so brave (or neglected and abused) was to go to the bounce house, so we took all 3 kids this time and my camera. The pain was soon forgotten and he says he still likes the dentist and is going to work really hard at remembering to brush and floss every day so we won't get any more cavities!

Cute kids

2010-03-04T17:37:00.000-08:00

Ava was asleep at the time or I would have put here in there too.

Nap time

2010-03-04T17:34:00.000-08:00

Avaree doesn't like taking naps very much lately, so she climbs out of bed quietly, gets all of her toys out and eventually I find her like this curled up on the floor in a pile of toys zonked!

Early morning DIVA!

2010-03-04T17:30:00.000-08:00

The other morning, like most mornings, Olivia wakes up and has breakfast and then the first thing she asks is "can I do my makeover?" So here is a pic of her doing her "makeover" in her pj's first thing in the morning. What a cute little diva she is turning out to be!

Sisters

2010-03-04T17:24:00.000-08:00

So on bowling night my sisters thought it'd be funny for us to all look prego and since Kristina and I don't have to fake it, JoLee and Lex put bowling balls in their shirts-they look totally fake, and they got to loose their totally fake babies after the pics were taken. Unfortunately for Kristina and I, we still have to haul our "bowling balls" around for another month!

Bowling Night!

2010-03-04T17:07:00.001-08:00

So we wanted to do something with the kids for valentines day instead of leaving them with a babysitter and doing something on our own, so we called my family and invited everyone to go bowling with us-Asher's idea. He was so excited to go! Grandpa and Grandma and Aunt Lexy and Uncle Daryl and Aunt JoLee and Uncle Jon and Aunt Kristina all joined us and hopefully had as good of a time as we did! It was really funny to watch the kids bowl. Asher did it all by himself and did really well. Olivia had to have help but she tried really hard to do it on her own. The ball maxed out speed at 2 miles per hour. Avaree had fun pushing the re-set button and messing up the game. We all had fun though!

Date with Livy

2010-02-01T10:39:00.000-08:00

Olivia and I had a nice girls afternoon and gave ourselves pedicures. She had a ball! She is so girlie already and loves makeup and nail polish and anything else that's feminine! She was very insistent that we had a picture of our matching toes.

Jake leaves for basic

2010-02-01T10:36:00.000-08:00

I wish we would have gotten pictures of Jake, but I'm a slacker and just got pics of the cake we made for his farewell! He is at basic training right now and I hear it's killer! We are so proud of him though and wish him well!

Beaver Santa

2010-02-01T10:28:00.000-08:00

My monkey on the table!

Sleding in Beaver

2010-02-01T10:20:00.000-08:00

Olivia basically sat in the sled the whole time and ate snow, that was her idea of a good time. Asher loves to sled down the hill though. He would wait patiently for Grandpa to take him up the hill on the snowmobile and then sled down by himself, he had a blast! Avaree was held almost the whole time since she could hardly move in all those snow clothes that were a bit too big for her!

Christmas

2010-02-01T10:04:00.001-08:00

The Sheriff Christmas party was really fun, Asher and Olivia Loved Santa this year. Avaree needs some coaching still but she loved opening presents! Grandma S. made the girls tutu's and the boys super-hero capes with their names on them. They were in heaven!

Pizza night!

2010-02-01T09:52:00.000-08:00

Asher and Olivia got to help Aunt Mindy make pizza. They had more fun playing in the flour than actually making the pizza! Avaree was just enjoying herself with the toppings! She loves pepperoni!

50 mile relay!

2010-02-01T09:30:00.000-08:00

Back in December Brandon ran a 50 mile relay race. We were so proud of him. The kids love to see him run and cheer him on! Good job daddy!

Asher riding his bike!!!

2009-11-03T15:56:00.001-08:00

I can't believe how much he is growing up!!! He's so big! Ever since he learned to ride his bike he has been on it from sun up till way after dark, basically until I tell him to eat or sleep. He is already being quite the dare devil! He likes to pop wheelies and stand up while riding. He said to me this morning, "Mom, I can ride standing up with my tongue out and my eyes closed!"

Marathon

2009-11-03T08:24:00.000-08:00

So I really hope to get some pictures of Brandon running the marathon, because he did amazing! I just didn't get any on my camera. My kids had a good time waiting for daddy to run by so they could cheer him on. He looked great for running 24 miles at the point where we were waiting to see him. He ran the whole thing in 3 hours 35 minutes! We are all so proud of him! He's amazing!

Pine Valley

2009-11-03T08:18:00.000-08:00

We've been so busy lately and haven't had a chance to blog so now I'm catching up. and there's more to come! I just have to wait for some pic's from other people. We spent some time up in Pine Valley before it got cold and Elsie (Brandon's sister) took some great pic's of my kids, these are just a few.

2009-11-02T10:23:00.000-08:00

Halloween turned out to be a really fun day for the kids! Brandon taught Asher how to ride a bike without training wheels and I really wish I would have gotten some pic's of that, but I got it on video, I just don't know how to do anything with it on the computer. But we carved pumpkins and made pictures to put on glass jars with candles in them. We went to Grandma and Grandpa C's house and went trick or treating with them and they were all asleep by 8:30. They had a blast! Asher was Spider man, Olivia was Tinker Bell and Ava was a Ballerina with her cute cousin Berkley. Thanks Aunt Lexy for the cute Tutu!

Grandma Sheriff's house

2009-11-02T10:09:00.000-08:00

We went to Grandma Sheriff's house and made fudge with her. The kids had so much fun! They ate more than they helped, but that's the funnest part of making fudge with grandma! We also had a lot of fun playing outside in all the places I played when I was little. Asher thought that was so cool that he got to play where I used to play, and was really excited that his grandma Evertsen grew up there too! We made lots of memories!

Grandma S.

2009-11-02T09:56:00.000-08:00

The kids had so much fun playing at Grandma Sheriff's house. We had a lot of fun spending the weekend with cousin Berkley and Aunt Lexy. Oh and I'm not getting fat, for those of you who don't know, I'm pregnant again. Big surprise eh? We're excited though!

Panama

2009-11-02T09:42:00.000-08:00

Brandon went to Panama for almost 2 weeks and I thought I wouldn't miss him too much. Next time he does something like that I am going with him and leaving the kids home:) He went with his dad and friend Dave to go paint the Panama Temple. They didn't have a ton of time to sight see but what they did get to go see was amazing! One night they got lost going to dinner and ended up driving across the bridges of the America's and ended up on another continent. They all seemed to have a good time but were glad to finally be home!

2009-11-02T09:33:00.000-08:00

Asher and Olivia are absolutly loving pre-school this year! They have awesome teachers! This was them all dressed up and ready for their first day of school.

Wyoming Vacation

2009-08-01T16:47:00.000-07:00

This whole week has been really fun! The kids have had a blast and overall it's been really relaxing and enjoyable! We've been hanging out with lots of family members that we only see maybe once a year and have taken the kids to town to the emporium in Victor Idaho to get their famous shakes! Yummy! Brandon and I took the kids fishing today in the creek that runs right next to Grandpa Berry's house, it's so BEAUTIFUL here! The weather is kind of crazy though! one minute it's extremely hot with the sun burning your skin off and the next minute the clouds cover the sun and it's chilly enough to need a jacket. But I love that it's not unberable outside, like St. George is! It has really been nice! Everything is green and beautiful!

secondhand serenade concert

2009-08-01T16:29:00.000-07:00

We have been super busy these last few weeks! We tried to do a patch up job on our banister in the front room last week and it turned out worse than when we started, so we decided to paint the whole house instead. It was a total last minute hair brained idea, and we knew we didn't have much time, but we got the whole upstairs done and made it to the concert and then to Wyoming all in a matter of 3 days! It was all fun though! The concert was fun. Love their music! And I'm so glad the house is done and we can go home tomorrow to a new fresh house!

2009-08-01T16:21:00.000-07:00

My little Maxine Avaree is growing up so fast! She is walking all over the place and her next stop is school! She already has her lunch packed and she's ready to go!

The girls birthday party

2009-07-14T12:53:00.001-07:00

We had a Luau for the girls for their birthday party! They were spoiled rotten! We all had a lot of fun! Thanks everyone who came and celebrated with us!

Jake and Emery's Wedding

2009-07-14T12:44:00.000-07:00

Take me out to the ball game!

2009-05-28T13:31:00.000-07:00

My cousin Mac is staying at our house for the summer to play baseball for the Roadrunners. We have really enjoyed watching the games this week and Loved seeing him pitch! Good job Mac! My cousins little girl Tia got to dance with Reggie the team mascot. Super cute!

Baseball in Beaver

2009-05-28T13:20:00.000-07:00

We went to Beaver for the weekend and had a really good time playing baseball and basketball with the fam. Asher did really good considering he hadn't ever played baseball before. It took him a while to figure out which base to run to next, but overall he did good and had fun!

Lemons!

2009-05-28T13:15:00.000-07:00

Avaree got her first lemon! She really didn't mind it too much. She didn't want a second taste, but she handled it really well!

2009-05-28T13:10:00.000-07:00

JoLee and Jake graduated! My camera died at Jakes Graduation though so I didn't get any pictures, but we're so proud of both of them! Congratulations Graduates!

graduation time

2009-05-28T12:51:00.000-07:00

We had so much fun watching Ashers Graduation! He was so cute and he was so excited to do his part. He got to say Tongues are for tasting into the microphone and he was beaming! He has lots of family members that were there to love and support him in his cuteness! Both sets of Grandparents and Aunt Lexy and Aunt JoLee and Uncle Daryl were there to enjoy his special moment. Love you Ash!

Lake again!

2009-05-19T09:54:00.001-07:00

We went out on the lake again and this time daddy came along. Kristina and I rode and had a good time, but then I made the mistake of riding with Brandon. Daryl thought it would be funny to be a little rougher on us and it hurt really bad when we crashed! The kids had a good time riding with daddy though! Brandon taught Asher how to say cut it wher you're all done riding.

Mothers Day

2009-05-19T09:36:00.001-07:00

For Mothers day Brandon surprised me and took me and his parents to Zions for the day. We had a picnic and hiked the emerald pools. Asher and Olivia did really well and they both hiked almost the whole thing by themselves! Olivia finally let Brandon hold her half of the way back. Asher held Grandma and Grandpa's hands and they swung him half of the way back. We had a really good day. I love my family!

Summer Time!

2009-05-15T14:05:00.001-07:00

We LOVE summer time! Asher and Olivia are bugging me every day to go swimming at Grandma Shelli's house! Asher can swim pretty well by himself and Olivia tries, but fails miserably! But she always comes out with a big smile on her face. Avaree likes to splash around in the water after she's gotten used to it. It usually takes her a few minutes at first, but eventually she really likes it.

2009-05-15T13:56:00.000-07:00

Uncle Daryl took us out on the boat for the first time this summer. Me and Asher got to ride on the big Molecule tube, that was really fun! All of the kids loved it!

2009-05-15T13:48:00.000-07:00

Avaree is getting so big! she is crawling all over the place and into everything! She is lots of fun and still a very happy and content baby! We get to watch Brandon's cousin R.J. at least once a week and they have lots of fun together. They are so cute!

2009-05-15T13:32:00.000-07:00

We went camping again a few weeks ago with Brandon's family this time and again the kids had a blast. I didn't get many pictures, but Grandma Shelli bought the kids kites and they had lots of fun flying them. Asher loved climbing in the trees. Olivia was wearing grandma's head lamp and kept going cross eyed when she would try to look at the light. it was really funny. She kept looking at Cory's light and saying hers was white, because his was white, but when he got closer to her we said look Olivia your light is red and it's making Cory's face all red, and she said "Oh sowey Cowey!" It was really funny.

2009-05-15T13:25:00.000-07:00

Okay I'm a slacker. Back in April Brandon ran a 10k and did really well. It was his first race and he came in 3ed place in his age division, and 31st over all out of 700 people. He currently is training for the marathon, and is hoping to run it in 3.5 hours. I think he's amazing!

Easter

2009-04-14T13:45:00.000-07:00

Easter was fun. The kids really enjoyed playing with the cousins and doing the Easter egg hunt at Grandma and Grandpa Gublers. On Easter Sunday we went to the farm and the kids loved playing on Grandpa's hammock.

2009-04-14T13:30:00.000-07:00

We went to the park last night for Olivia's best friend Kaylee's birthday. The kids had a blast. We stayed long after dark because they were playing so well. Brandon got on that weird swivel thing and got spinning so fast he was sick when we left. It was pretty funny!

Camping was a blast!

2009-04-09T13:58:00.000-07:00

Camping was a blast! The kids loved it and I loved that the kids loved it! We rode 4 wheelers and hiked and enjoyed the cool 80 degree weather. It was really nice! Asher Loved the hiking!!! We went for a 5 mile hike that seems to me like a 20 mile hike. Asher did the whole thing by himself and loved every minute of it! Then we did it again the next day with Brandon's family, and both Asher and Layla loved it!

2009-04-09T13:32:00.000-07:00

We went camping 2 weekends ago with my family, and Olivia loved every second of it! She was literally rolling in the dirt and I never had to get mad about it! It was so great. We all had a lot of fun!

Avaree is standing

2009-03-11T09:53:00.001-07:00

Avaree is getting so big, it really is going so fast! she is 9 months this month and she is standing up by herself on anything she can pull herself up onto. It's crazy! She'll be walking before I know it!

2009-03-11T09:35:00.000-07:00

Okay, I know what you're thinking, and I am not a pageant mom! But we did enter our girls into a pagent just for fun, and amazingly they both won the grand queen in their divisions-which is the highest thing they had. They gave us 2 free nights for each girls so 4 total nights at a 5 star resort in palm springs to go to Nationals in July, we aren't sure we are going, but we thought it was really awesome they both won! My camera died partway through the pageant, so I don't have the best pic's and I don't have any of Olivia in her dress, so I'll have to get some hopefully from mindy, or Lex! We really had a lot of fun though!

Boston

2009-03-01T21:29:00.000-08:00

We got a new addition to our family! This is Boston our chihuahua! She is 8 weeks old now and the kids are in love with her! She is hardly like a dog, more like another child that is easier to potty train and can eat all by her self, so I love her! She weighs 1.2 lbs and will get to be between 3 and 5 lbs. She's fun to have around!

Brandon's 80's PARTY!

2009-03-01T21:16:00.000-08:00

So we had an 80's birthday party for Brandon and we had such a great turnout! I loved every ones costumes they were totally fabulous! I had games and activities planned, but so many people showed up that we all just hung out and laughed at the great 80's outfits! The kids got to do the Disco Ball pinata and loved it! I didn't get as many pic's as I wanted, but we had a good time. I made the disco ball by the way, and I was kind of sad to let the little kids break it apart, but that's what I made it for and it really was awesome! I hope everyone had fun dressing up and hanging out. Next time be prepared for twister and some 80's trivia! Brandon had Mindy shave the sides of his hair so it was a mow hawk/mullet thing and it was so awesome!

Brandon's birthday

2009-03-01T20:58:00.000-08:00

Brandon's birthday was last month and we went to a little narrows hike on the Dixie rock here in Saint George. The kids had a blast hanging out with dad and doing one of his favorite activities- Hiking. If none of you have ever been to the little narrows- it's a really tight squeeze but it's really cool if you can fit through it! There are spots where you get stuck sideways and can't move except a few inches at a time. It was super fun. The kids loved it! Aunt Mindy and Grandma and Grandpa joined us for the fun activity. Then we went back to the house and had cake and ice cream! Happy Birthday Brandon!

2009-01-20T21:46:00.000-08:00

Asher and Olivia have been playing so well together lately! They have become best friends. They don't fight too much and it's been really nice, I don't know what caused this change, but I love it! They are playing my favorite game- Bed time! Now if they would just do that for real!

2009-01-20T21:43:00.000-08:00

Avaree is 7 months old now and is quite our little chunck! She LOVES to eat! I think she's super cute though! How can you not love that smile and those cute little cheeks!

2009-01-20T21:21:00.000-08:00

We were playing hide and seek and Olivia's favorite spot was the bucket, so Brandon would move the bucket each time to a new spot and she thought it was a new hide out every time! It threw me for a loop when I found her in the bucket up in the closet! She thought that was great!

2008-12-24T14:24:00.000-08:00

Now none of my siblings can say that mom never cooks. I have proof!

2008-12-24T14:09:00.000-08:00

The kids were Sooo thrilled to get new pj's and blankets and pillows from grandma and grandpa Evertsen! We all had so much fun at the Christmas party, all the boys acted worse than 2 year olds and we all got along really well, which is saying something for my family! We had everyone there and had no arguments and we all had a really good time! It was nice to all be together and have fun! Me and JoLee had the best ginger bread house I would have to say, until the boys had to go and chew up all the gum balls and put gross blobs on it! But I say we win and that's all that me and JoLee care about!

2008-12-24T14:06:00.000-08:00

Olivia wasn't so sure about getting up on Santa's lap, but she saw there were presents involved and didn't cry. She is learning to love Santa!

2008-12-24T14:04:00.001-08:00

Asher was so funny when Santa came to the cabin! As soon as Santa sat down, Asher backed right into him and sat on his lap without anyone saying anything to him! He was so cute!

2008-12-24T13:40:00.000-08:00

We went to Beaver for our family Christmas party with Brandon's family, and the kids had a really good time. We all did, but especially the kids. The whole weekend was centered around the kids and doing things that they would like to do, and for the first time in a long time, Brandon and I didn't have a complaint about one of our kids. It was so nice to just enjoy them and not feel burdened by them when we're trying to get stuff done or play an adult game. We had a blast and I realized that I need to be centering my activities around my kids and do more things that they would like to do instead of trying so hard to have my own life. My life is my kids and I am just realizing how much I really love that! The kids really enjoyed sledding down the snow hill with dad, and eventually on their own. We made ginger bread houses and had a contest with the other families and Asher was so proud that our family won the contest! The kids made all of the decorations for the Christmas tree and got to see Santa. Asher is still so innocent this year! He thought that since Santa gave him a ninja turtle at the party that Christmas was done and he was totally okay with that. He was happy with one small toy! We are being really simple for Christmas this year and I am glad to know there is no expectancy level for my kids! They will have fun with whatever they get! They were so excited at my family party that they got pajamas! Christmas is such a great thing when you're so young! It still is, but I miss the excitement and pure thrill of seeing it all through an innocent child's perspective. I can't wait to see the looks on their faces tomorrow morning when it is Christmas day! It'll be good!

2008-12-17T22:07:00.000-08:00

This has been a really good year for our family. Asher is 4 and goes to pre-school and loves every minute of it. He comes home with a new letter almost every day and loves to think of words that start with that particular letter. He ADORES his baby sister Avaree. He loves to talk to her and hold her. He is a very sensitive child. If I am mad at him for any reason it dosen't take him long to come give me a hug and tell me sorry for whatever he has done, even when he hasn't done anything! He is such a sweet heart!
Olivia is 2 1/2 and a little fire ball! I am surprised she dosen't have bright red hair with horns underneath! No really she is a lot of fun, but watch out for her! If she is making a lot of noise I don't worry about her, it's when she's quiet that there is a problem. She loves lotion and makeup and anything I have told her not to get into. She, like her brother, loves Avaree. She climbs into bed with her in the morning and talks to her and sings her songs. She loves to hug and kiss her and rub her face all over avaree's face. It's really funny to watch her when she thinks no one is watching. She sings to herself and has pretend tea parties. She has an amazing imagination! She knows that she's daddy's little princess, and calls herself princess beauty. She really has her daddy wraped around her little finger! She won't let me give her her sippy at night, daddy has to give it to her and tuck her in. She really is a fun and bubbly person and we love her!
Avaree is-well-amazing! She is such a good and happy baby! You can tell instantly by just looking at her that she is a happy and content baby. Random strangers in stores-every time I shop- look at her and say "Oh what a happy baby. Oh she is so smiley!" She hardly ever cries, and I usually have to wake her up to eat! She is such a joy and blessing in our family.
Brandon is still working for Desert Door, and we are very blessed to have the boss he has! He has done so much for our family and is so generous to Brandon! He never ceases to amaze me. Just when I think he can't do anything nicer, he does something else.
Brandon is also very lucky, he gets to go to Venisuela in January to help work on the temple there, for 2 weeks. I am jealous, but very excited for him! He says it won't be a vacation, since he will be working 6 of 7 days a week and 10 hour days, but he's going to be in Venisuela! Warm and comfy while the rest of us freeze here in the cold desert. I really am excited for him though. I think he'll have a great time!
We have increadible family members also! Both of our parents are so involved in our kids lives and are always concerned for their welfare it's like our kids have 3 sets of parents! It really helps me out when I need that break, and my kids adore them! I never worry when they are with the grandparents, I can leave and they don't cry until I come back and tell them we have to go home! They do so much for our little family and we are so greatful for them and for all the other family members-aunts and uncles and great grandparents. We love you all!
That's our family for now- We hope everyone has a great holiday season and enjoys the spirit of christmas! We love you all!

2008-12-17T21:58:00.000-08:00

It has been so cold this week! Snowing in Saint George! I love Avaree's seat cover, it comes in very handy when it's cold outside!

2008-12-17T21:54:00.000-08:00

For any of you who know Olivia, this isn't a surprise. This girl goes and goes and goes, and then when she sits down... the rest is history. She was watching a movie after a long day of trouble and play and she passed out while sitting at the table. She is so funny.

Lagoon

2008-12-14T19:58:00.000-08:00

This is Brandon me and Kelly (Brandon's dad) While at Lagoon, we rode the Sky coaster and the sling shot. It was a major RUSH! I would totally do it all again.

2008-12-14T19:49:00.000-08:00

For our family vacation this year we went up to Grandma and Grandpa Sheriff's house in Centerville Utah. We went to Hogal Zoo, Lagoon, rode the Heber Creaper, and hit a corn maze. Lots of fun!

2008-12-11T18:55:00.000-08:00

Asher loves the splash pads! He had a blast at this one jumping from rock to rock. Olivia tried to keep up, but usually just ended up crying and getting hurt. Overall they both had lots of fun!

Mascara Mess!

2008-12-11T18:43:00.000-08:00

Olivia is a very free spirit! This is her getting into the mascara. She at least knew the general area that it is supposed to go on. She is full of energy! We are always cleaning up her messes. She's lots of fun, but hard to keep track of.