Ally's Dance Performance

Christmas is the season for performances...and so Ally got to put on a little show with her dance class. She LOVES dance and it's so much fun to watch her.

Isaac's Concert

This year Isaac's preschool was asked to perform at a local high school's Chirstmas concert. It was DARLING!! He was SO precious. He walked right up, stood front and center and sang in his most QUIET voice! We were all so proud of him!

Christmas Lights

Arizona may not get snow for Christmas, but we make up for it in Christmas lights!! Lucky for us there are 2 houses in our neighborhood who usually make the evening news for the amount of lights and yard art that adorn their house this time of year. The entire month of December cars line up the streets to look at all the lights. At night it is something to behold...let's just say they are not going for a "classy" look! During the day...well, it kind of looks like a Christmas landfill.

But, the kids LOVE it to say the least and think it is absolutely BEAUTIFUL!! Every year they always ask us why we don't put up lights. This year we decided to put them up for the very first time. I'm always a fan of white, straight, simple lights, so that is what we decided to go with. Jonathan did such a GREAT job (he looks good even hanging up lights), they were perfect.


When we turned them on the kids were in awe, they couldn't believe their very own house had Christmas lights on it. After about 2 hours of them being up, they shorted out. Of course I laughed and Jonathan wanted to cry to think that all his hard work was for nothing. So, we fixed them only to have the same thing happen the next night. Luckily Jonathan is also very smart and figured out how to quickly fix them...and we've enjoyed them ever since! One night we were all out looking at our house and Ally piped up and said, "I'm just so worried that cars are just going to drive by and no one will stop and look!". Oh Ally, that is the point my dear, that is the point!!

3 Little Boys Thanksgiving!

All growing up Jonathan, his older brother Jeremy and younger brother Jamison were always called "The 3 little boys". So when Jeremy and Kelly and their little girls came to visit us and Jamison for Thankgiving we had a "3 Little Boys Thanksgiving". We jammed packed their trip with as many fun things as possible. It all started when the Manwarings arrived in their MASSIVE motor home! We had so much fun drving around the entire week while they were here. There was always a little disappointment whenever we would arrive to where we were going because that meant we needed to get out of the motor home. Our kids were in HEAVEN!! We had nightly concerts performed by Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus, comliments of Ally and Gracie... went to a science museum... took cute pictures of the kids... visited Dr. Jonnie at the hospital... looked at Christmas lights... and so much more!!! We had the BEST Thanksgiving week ever!! Thanks for coming guys-hope you come back soon!!

As sad as sad gets

This is about as sad as Isabel gets. It is so funny because whenever she's sad she always says, "Ma ma ma ma"...don't they all!? She also is so funny now because if she see's you accross the room and wants you to hold her, she'll nod her head at you until you pick her up. It's pretty funny!

A note from Isaac's teacher

So if you read my blog you know how much Isaac LOVES school!! Ohhh, he really, really loves it-beyond all comprehension, HE LOVES IT!! I always wish I could be a fly on the wall just to see what he is like there. I've never had any doubts that he was anything but nice, but I still would just like to watch. We just got such a nice email from his preschool teacher that I wanted to post. "We love Isaac! He is such a great kid. He's so easy going always happy. I have never once had a problem with him. I would have a hard time being his mom and ever having to be stern with him~ that smile would get me every time...". And yes, it is very hard to be stern with him, Jonathan and I have said that many, many times. It's a good thing that we don't have to be very often!

A Sweet Duet!

Allyson has been taking piano this year...to say she loves it is an understatement! I never have to beg her to practice, which is so very nice! This is a video of her playing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" and Austin singing along...which is unbelievably hilarious by the way! Ally figured out on her own how to play this song. I know absolutely NOTHING about the piano...so I was very impressed that she just plucked around until she came up with the song!

One Year Older and Wiser Too!!!

Uncle Jamison had a birthday!! Our family has been so lucky to live close to Jamie..there is NO one greater in our kids eyes. He just recently broke the news to us that he'll be moving to Provo in a few weeks, I'm not sure how we'll survive without him!! The good news is that he is "available" ladies...so if you know of any GORGEOUS (he's too cute for anything less), FUN (he is super, super fun-he's Jonathan's brother...it runs in the family), SWEET (I'm not sure we could ever tolorate anyone being anything but that!)and SPIRITUAL (yes, I just have to put that)-contact me...I'll be his self proclaimed dating agent...not that he needs one-but I like to be in charge, I mean-involved :).

Student of the Month!

Ally was nominated for Student of the Month in November. Words cannot even express how incredibly PROUD we are of her. This is what her teacher wrote about her, "Ally is such an extraordinary student! She is kind, warm hearted and easily makes friends. She is very responsible and is always ready to help out in the classroom. Ally always shows up, ready to learn with her best smile on! We are so lucky to have Ally in our class!"....And WE are lucky to have her in our home!

Victims of CRIME!!

Alright, I'm going to try and tell this story, I wish that I could just tell everyone in person because it really is quite the story and very long. I'm adding all of the details so that we won't forget...although how could we?? The summary is at the bottom if you don't have the time to read through it all...or if you just don't want to you can just read the bottom and get the idea :).

First of all our garage is small (our house is small too...I'll write a post about that later), we can barely fit both cars in it together. But somehow we do. When we do however, there is NO room to get out the passenger door, which makes getting sleeping kids in and out a little difficult. This year I feel full well what mom's mean when they say, "All I do all day is run kids to and from everything!". I feel the same. SOOOOO while Jonathan is at work and I'm making constant trips I park right in the middle of the garage to make it easier. When I make my last trip for the day I squeeze the van as far over to one side of the garage as possible to make room for him to park his car. Well, on Thursdays Ally has piano (which she loves by the way...I'll write a post about that later too) and last Thursday I was planning on taking her so I had parked in the middle of the garage when I got home from getting her at school. Anyway, after we were home, 2 of the 4 kiddos weren't feeling so well so I called and cancelled piano and we stayed put. When Jonathan got home and opened the garage and saw that there wasn't any room, he parked his car in the driveway...not a big deal-it occasionally happens. We went to bed.

The next morning was going to be an early one. Ally had been nominated for "Student of the Month" at her school (also another post I'll do later) and there was an assembly to honor her that I was taking all the kids to. After the assembly I had to take Isaac to school and then go visiting teaching (visit other women in our church). So as I'm getting all the kids ready and feeding them breakfast and feeling quite proud that we were even going to be a little early, Jonathan kissed us all and went out the front door to go to work. As quick as he walked out, he walked back in. "Honey, did you pull my car in the garage?". I knew that I absolutely hadn't but we checked the garage anyway. When it clearly WAS NOT there, all I could do was laugh. Our car had been stolen!! I couldn't believe that someone just took our car...I mean really...just took our car. I couldn't stop laughing but tried really hard because it was very apparent that my other half was not as amused. I guess I just thought that stealing was kind-of "out", like something people did in the "80's" or something. And then all I could think of was how disappointed the thief's would be once they started up our 1995 Honda Civic and realized that it wasn't even in as good of condition as it appeared (which wasn't that good anyway). We called the police to file a report and started thinking about everything that was in the car.
There really wasn't much in there, Jonathan's lab coat and badges, golf clubs in the trunk, a stethoscope and Ally's car seat...good luck with all of that! It was funny to think of them looking through everything and being sorely disappointed. We joked that once they got in they would try to ditch it as quick as possible. By this time Jonathan caught on to the humor and we both were laughing pretty hard.

The ironic thing was that the night before I was preparing the lesson I was going to give when I went visiting teaching. I chose to do it on the talk that Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin gave in this last conference titled, "Come What May, and Love It". I thought of a specific quote he said, "The next time you're tempted to groan, you might try to laugh instead. It will extend your life and make the lives of all those around you more enjoyable". And so I shared that with Jonathan, and we laughed again. I then told Jonathan that I had actually thought as we were going to bed the night before, "I think his car is going to get stolen, maybe then we can get a new one!". His laughter ended and he was so mad at me for thinking that and wondered why I wouldn't have said anything (not really, I don't think he's ever been REALLY mad at anything). I just never REALLY thought it was going to happen, I have weird thoughts like that ALL day long that never happen. It made me laugh even more as I could tell he wanted so bad to blame me...but he obviously couldn't and laughed again.

Back to the story...right.

So I loaded up the kids in the van and the phone rang. It was a young girl calling on her cell phone who was on her way to school and found one of our dogs roaming around and called the number on the tag. So in the madness, Benson apparently had escaped. The only problem was that the girl didn't know the name of the street she was on, only that it was by the school and there were 2 big palm trees she was standing by (UMMMM....we live in Arizona, pretty much palm trees EVERYWHERE!). Normally I would send Jonathan, but he had to stay and talk to the police while I took the kids and roamed the neighborhood in the van (worrying the whole time that Ally was going to be late on her special day). I drove up one street and down the other and saw the girl standing on the corner, almost right in front of our house holding our dog. I yelled and Jonathan to get the dog and was off to the school. We made it just in time!

After I ran all the errands for the day and all the kids were at home, I all of the sudden thought, "THE GARAGE DOOR OPENER!!!". I was totally freaked and wanted to cry at the thought that someone could so easily get into our house. I can tell you...I wasn't laughing. I decided to check the caller ID to see if by chance the police had called with any information while I was gone. I was so thrilled to see that they in fact did...they didn't leave a message, but did call. I called immediately back and left a message with them to call me asap. I hurried and paged Jonathan to see if anyone had called his cell phone. At the time he was with patients so couldn't check...not a good enough excuse if you ask me :). Finally he checked his messages and the police had found our car...not even one street away...the very street I had driven down that morning to find our dog!!! I probably drove right by it without even noticing!! Apparently one of our neighbors came home from work at 2 in the afternoon to find a strange car sitting in his driveway. He called the police and since they couldn't get a hold of us they had the car towed. By the time all of this had been put together and we were in contact with the police, the tow yard was closed. So we had to go to bed that night still now knowing the condition of our car or what had been taken. My main concern was the garage door opener...as you can imagine. We unplugged the garage door, locked up the house and probably woke up throughout the night about 20 times each at EVERY little sound. I was very glad to wake up the next morning.

Jonathan had to work (Saturday...yeah the life of a resident is not the greatest!) but luckily he was able to leave for a little while to try and get the car before the tow yard closed. So, we loaded everyone up and drove to a not so lovely part of town. I was very scared for our well being when we got to the 'yard'...and I'm still not convinced that the people working there weren't the ones who stole it in the first place. Especially seeing as how the manager had the EXACT same car that we did...hummmmm. We paid the $86 to get our car back (I still can't believe we had to pay!) and Jonathan went to claim his prize, the kids and I waited in the van in the front. It was taking a while and the next thing I see is some fork lift bringing our car out with Dr. Manwaring riding on the side-it was very funny at the time. The car wouldn't start, meanwhile about 6 "choppers" were staring us down and I wanted to get out of there as quick as possible-although I did shoot them a few mean glares back their way-just in case they were the guilty ones. The car was missing it's 2 mirrors (or ears as Ally calls them), the face plate to the stereo (but didn't take the stereo), a speaker cover, the bra on the front, Jonathan's "doctor" bag (that really didn't have anything too valuable in it) and come to find out the "computer" that makes the car actually run had been ripped out. Very strange that the golf clubs, stereo and passports/social security cards were untouched. And best of all....the garage door opener was just where it should be.

We had to find a "computer" as soon as possible so that the car would actually run. So we were sent on a wild goose chase to find the part and ended up in South Phoenix in a place that was described as the "Las Vegas of auto body shops". I guess I had a different idea of what this was going to be like, but when we got there it literally felt like another country...I think a better description would be like the "Tijuana of auto body shops"-it was horrible, yucky and scary. We had been in the car for about 3 hours by this time and I still can't believe how nice our kids were-I think they were also in a little shock. The worse part was that they kept having to go to the bathroom and I was NOT about to let them go in ANY of the places we were at, so the day entailed a lot of "holding it" until we could get to a nice gas station or something. We got the part...only $65 plus they had the 2 mirrors we needed at $40 a piece. So on back to the tow yard we went. The manager came out and helped Jonathan install the computer and in the process let quite a few expletives fly-why does it not seem as bad when a mechanic swears??. It wasn't too long and the car started right up. Without hesitation the guy offered a good, old, sincere "fist bump" and Jonathan went right along with it. At that point I had to turn my head because I was visibly laughing and if I would have made eye contact with Jonathan, it would have been very uncomfortable. I was just releived that the whole thing didn't end in a chest bump. So home we went. And now here it sits, about $300 later, almost just as before...except now braless and no stereo face plate. I guess this makes me glad that we don't have "nice" cars however, I would like to now convince him to get rid of the thing!

And I'm also happy to report that we are having an alarm installed in our house tomorrow :)! It will be a good night!

SUMMARY
Car stolen from driveway. Car located just one street over. Car towed. Car missing mirrors, stereo face plate, speaker cover, bra and "computer". Found parts, fixed car. Fist bump. Car safe and sound (but still braless). Home alarm to be installed tomorrow.

Isabel Sits!!

It's been about a week now, but we are thrilled to announce that Isabel now sits! It changes everything SO much once they can sit on their own and play! She thinks she is quite the big girl and does really well until one of her siblings kiss her to the ground! And yes, remains still just as happy as ever!

Meet the "Monster Fighter"

We all sleep so much better at night knowing that we have our very own "Moster Fighter" that resides in our home. Austin, luckily, has taken it upon himself to fight all of the monsters that visit. They must come a lot because about 3-4 times a day he has to put on his "monster fighting shoes", go outside and take care of business. He has perfected the "running kick" which is quite the sight to behold.

He may appear "lean and mean", but in the end he's still our lovey little Austie!

We Voted!!

We voted!! It has been quite the election season...it seems like for months it occupied our thoughts and words-whew are we glad it's over. And although the person we voted for may not have won, we are excited for the next 4 years!

Ally got to go with both Jonathan and I to vote which was pretty exciting for her. We had fun teaching her about the process and the importance of voting. She was very anxious to find out when she will be able to vote herself...only 12 years :). For a long time Ally was the only one in our family who knew who she wanted to win. Both Jonathan and I were raised in predominately "conservative" homes but really found ourselves wondering who we wanted to vote for. We followed Mitt Romney forever in the primaries and when he lost, so were we. There were a lot of things we liked about both of the candidates. Ally was not confused whatsoever. If you would ask her who she was voting for her response was always, "I'm voting for John McCain because he's Republican and that is Mitt Romney's team, and I want Mitt Romney's team to win!" It was always so cute and she was %100 convinced. The boys would always answer, "Obama"-I think they mostly just liked saying his name. Jonathan took her with him to go and vote first. After they got back it was my turn to take her with me. I should say that she took me with her because right as we got there she showed me right where to go. She greeted all the little old ladies working and took me to my booth-it was all I could do not to laugh out loud, she thought she was "hot stuff". As I was quietly filling out my ballot, looking over all of the items to vote on, Ally said, "Mom, all you have to do is mark the ones with the 'R' on them because that means 'Republican'". I shhhhed her and thought to myself how proud her Manwaring grandparents and Meigs great-grandparents would be! I was proud that when she woke up in the morning and found out that her candidate didn't win, she was still excited to have a bran new President and to have been a part of it!

....I forgot to add that when Jonathan took her, she really thought that John McCain and Barak Obama would be there...kind of funny!

Ally's Fall Carnival

At the beginning of November Ally's school had their "Fall Carnival". We absolutely LOVE her school and LOVE everything they put on so we packed up the troops and headed out. Ally even got to bring her good friend Reese-she was thrilled!

Everyone loved the bouncers and slides....





the hayrides....



and of course, lots of cotton candy!! Even Isabel loved it!!



It was a super fun day!

Couple of proud and relieved parents!

I haven't blogged in so long...I don't even have a good excuse!! I thought I'd just give a quick update on Isaac's surgery. He did it!! We had been talking about him having it for a while and told him that he could pick out a new toy afterwards. He never once showed any signs of being scared or worried at all. Then the morning of his surgery as I was getting him ready we were just talking about a few things and he all of a sudden stopped and looked up at me. "Mom, is this going to hurt?", I felt terrible when I had to tell him that it might a little. He just hugged me and sobbed a little, and then said he was ready to go. Jonathan took him while I stayed home with the other 2. I had told the surgeon that I wanted to see if he could do it without being put completely under...he said he would try and see how things went. I was not surprized at all that Isaac sat there as calm as ever and did it all with only local anesthesia!! Jonathan said that they took him back all by himself while Jonathan waited. He heard him cry only one short time when they gave him the shot, then a nurse came right out and said that he was just fine and not crying at all but instead talking about being a Ninja Turtle for Halloween. In about 5 minutes they brought him out to his dad with a mouth full of gauze. "He was by far the best child patient we've ever had, and better than most adults!" were the words they used! No tears and as much of a smile as he could muster with a numb mouth stuffed full! When he got home to me his eyes were beaming..he could not have been prouder of himself..and neither could we! The best part was that they only had to remove the one extra tooth and he was able to keep his two front teeth! Although they are still gapped, I am thrilled he still has them. After he got home we went and got yummy smoothies and picked out a toy...Ninja Turtles to be exact!

Happy Halloween 2008!

We love Halloween in our house...and this year it didn't disappoint. Of course it is SUPER, SUPER busy-but always worth it. This year we had a "scary pixie", "Leonardo the Ninja Turtle", "Woody" and the sweetest little ladybug EVER! Oh yeah, and Joe Dirt also joined our family! We had a party for a few friends the week before and then of course all of the celebrations today...carnival, haunted house and trunk-or-treat...WE LOVED IT ALL!!







These are pictures of the kids and a few of their friends at the Halloween party we had last weekend. We decorated treat bags, ate "spooky" food (mummy pizza faces, Dracula teeth dipped in blood, jello brain, spider crackers and more), played games, made picture frames, ate donuts from a string, we didn't even get to the popcorn hands or bobbing for apples because we ran out of time. And we didn't get too many pictures because we were so busy running from one activity to the next. It was so much fun and a great reason to get dressed up a little before Halloween!

"Your smile is broken"

When Ally lost her first tooth Isaac kept saying, "Ally, your smile is broken". We all thought it was so cute! Well, now it's going to be Isaac's turn to have a "broken" smile. When we first took Isaac to the dentist when he turned three years old, we found out that he had an extra "mid-line" tooth. At the time there was nothing we could do about it except wait for it to descend enough have it removed by an oral surgeon. The dentist said it would most likely have to take place sometime around his 5th birthday. I have DREADED it since that very day!! This summer we noticed that his 2 front teeth started to gap a little..then it was a lot and we knew it was the tooth pushing down and causing a gap. We made an appointment with the oral surgeon and he said we still needed to wait since he was so young. Well, the mid-line tooth is now visible and the time is here to get it removed. Isaac had another appointment, which also happened to be on the same day that he had to get his shots, and the surgeon said "it's time". I really HATE the thought of it and dread it beyond belief, but I'm also anxious to get it over and done with. Next Tuesday is the day. At his last appointment the surgeon was so impressed that Isaac would just sit there so bravely (and believe me, he was BRAVE), he was so impressed that he thinks he can do the whole surgery with out putting him completely under. It makes me cringe to think of it, but then I think I cringe even more thinking about him "going under" anesthesia. If there is any kid that can do it, I KNOW it's Isaac!! This is a picture of him holding his new special dinosaur the day of his last appointment and shots...I can't wait to get him the other one he just couldn't decide between! And I can't wait to hold him ALL day long after his surgery and dote on his every need and want!! What a SPECIAL, SPECIAL boy he is!!

Is she for real??

If you are not in the mood for a mother bragging about one of her children...you probably shouldn't read this post-I might just go on and on and on!

This is Allyson's 1st grade picture-is it not precious! I find myself staring at it a lot in complete awe that she is really in the first grade!! And I have to say that she is one incredible child-as I'm sure all parents think theirs are! I can't begin to explain how blessed we ALL feel that she is in our family...for SO many reasons! Sometimes I feel like she is the glue that holds us all together so tightly. She completely adores her parents and is so sweet in that she always wants to do what is right and wants us to be happy more than anything. She hangs on every word that comes out of our mouths and so willingly follows our direction (boy oh boy I hope we lead her in the right direction!). I love watching how much her 2 little brothers completely adore her and are following right in her sweet, sensitive footsteps. She organizes the BEST games for them and is constantly teaching them the ways that only a big "first grader" can. They LOVE her and always want to be right with her. Sometimes when Austin is sad and I can't help him for whatever reason, he is perfectly happy with his sister holding him tight. Isaac can't make, draw or do anything without sharing it with Ally first. Before he even wants to show his dad or me, it's Ally he calls. The look on his face when Ally laughs at one of his jokes or praises something he's done is just...well, beyond! She is perfectly happy to pack Isabel around wherever she goes and loves to just have her right next to her while she's playing. Isabel kicks her legs and flaps her arms whenever Ally looks at her or talks to her-it's perfect!
We just had her first parent-teacher conference this year. To no surprise her teacher was full of praise. The comment that made me the happiest was, "Ally is just so kind..to EVERYONE! Everyone always wants to be around her and wants to work with her. All the kids fight over who gets to be Ally's partner and I have to remind them that everyone will get a turn!". I'm not sure I could be MORE proud! We were so nervous sending her to a new school knowing that she is a little more quiet and soft spoken and might not make friends easily. I am happy that I don't worry anymore. I think that if I could hand pick one quality for her to posses it would be kindness-and I can honestly say, I think she's mastered it!

4 Months...Heelarious!

My Aunt Janelle sent Isabel these "Heelarious" high heels so we just had to get her 4month pictures taken in them. The lady taking the pictures was laughing so hard and said that in all her 20 years of taking pictures she had never seen such a thing.

Isabel is still the nicest baby we've ever known-even still at 4 months. She makes life so much fun and I sometimes forget that I really do have 4 kids because she is so EASY! She smiles all the time, sleeps through the night and can roll from one end of the room to the other. We completely ADORE her!! As you can see she is chubbing right up-just the way we like it!

Height: 24 3/4 inches-75%
Weight: 14 lbs.-75%