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%

Look what I did last night!

My favorite thing...rocking tired babies to sleep! Austin and Isabel needed a little extra help drifting off to sleep last night and I was more than happy help! It's moments like these than are more precious than words could say!



Yes..she sucks her thumb. And YES-I am in heaven!

The Family Dance

On Friday Ally's school had a "family dance". We all had so much fun!! Ally was so cute, she just wanted to dance the entire night with us-she didn't want to leave. It was so fun to watch her dance like nobody else was there! Poor Isaac didn't have quite as much fun because he was SOOO tired-but he still "got down" with the rest of us. And as for Austin....well, you'll just have to watch the video and see for yourself-we like to call it the "angry dance". It was such a great idea for a school and we all had a super fun night together!

Isabel eats rice cereal

We gave Isabel rice cereal for the first time yesterday...always a monument! She liked it better than I thought she would and kept it in her mouth pretty well! I love this video that Ally took while I was feeding her-what a sweet big sister! All the kids were very excited to give Isabel her first "food"!

Walking with the Dinosaurs!

Little boys and dinosaurs...can it get any better than that? Jonathan took our boys to go see, "Walking with the Dinosaurs" that came to Phoenix. All three of them thought it was awesome-life size dinosaurs walking around and doing whatever dinosaurs "did". It did make for a late night so when I heard the garage door when they got home, I was expecting Jonathan to walk in holding 2 sleeping boys. But that was not the case...both Isaac and Austin came running in just beaming and couldn't wait to tell me ALL about everything they saw! There is just nothing better than seeing your kids so happy-what a fun night with dad!

Pets at the pool!

Our kids are so funny! Whenever we are at the pool they find bugs (dead or alive-it matters not) to be their pets. They make houses for them and talk to them like babies. I die laughing when they make a "house" for some dead bug and make everyone be quiet because it is "sleeping". I'm not sure why we have a house full of toys when we already have a yard full of bugs!



And apparently we are raising our 4th little fish! Isabel LOVES the water and would stay out there all day if we would let her!

She did it, she really did it!!

Ally got her ears pierced!!! We can't believe she really did it! For about 2 years she has been wanting to get her ears pierced, but just couldn't stand the thought of being in pain. Every time we went to the mall I would ask her if she wanted to get it done-and the answer was always a definite "NO"! About a month ago she was in serious termoil about getting them done. She started sobbing about how much she wanted them pierced, but was so scared about how badly it would hurt. She kept asking me why I didn't just get them pierced when she was a baby. At that point I decided to tell her that I decided that she couldn't get them pierced until she was 8 years old so that she didn't have to worry about it any longer-all along knowing that that would make her just want to do it. I hadn't heard anything from her about getting them pierced until yesterday and she asked if we could go to the mall because she was ready to get it done. I told her that I thought she should wait (still knowing that I was fueling the fire) but that I would think about it. Then came the begging...ALL MORNING LONG!! We told her that we could go to the mall, but that we weren't necessarily going to get her ears pierced-of course we knew we were, we just had to play the game a little bit to make sure she would go through with it. She continued to ask, and ask, and ask-just fine with us! Finally I told her that I would let her do it if she promised not to change her mind once we were there...she agreed. So we got to the store and I could see it in her face that she really DID NOT want to go through with it anymore. But she knew that she couldn't chicken out and she tried to swallow her tears as much as possible. We were able to have them do both ears simultaneously-which was so nice..1-2-3 and she was all done! There were a few tears-but very quickly the excitement took over completely!! We were so proud of her that she went through with it even though she knew it would hurt. The magic of it all still has not worn off even today. Literally about every 5 minutes she tells us how excited she is to have her ears finally pierced and how cute she thinks they look! It is a pretty big deal around our house!!! Now we just have to wait for 6 weeks until we can get the cute little ladybug earrings that she can't wait to wear!

She Rolled Over!!

Isabel rolled over today for the first time. She has been practicing so much lately. Everytime we lay her on her back she instantly goes right to her side and starts working to roll over and tonight she did it! It's so funny how the littlest things make you clap and cheer!!

Preschool...Here he comes!

Monday was Isaac's first day of preschool...and without a doubt, he LOVED it!!! He's watched Ally go off to her "first day of school" for 3 years now and he was beyond thrilled that it was finally his turn. He got right up and put on his bran new clothes (getting a boy ready for school is SO much simpler than getting a little girl ready, ate his favorite breakfast (German pancakes***side note***Whenever we watch the Olympics he always wants Germany to win because he says he loves German pancakes so much), grabbed his new dinosaur backpack and we were off! We'll be carpooling with two other families that live close by, but of course I drove him on the first day. When I went to pick him up and he walked out the door he looked at me kind-of funny and would really come over to me. When I finally said, "Isaac, come here and tell me how your day was!", he hung his head and came over to me with tears in his eyes. When I asked him what was wrong he said, "I didn't think you were coming to pick me up, I wanted to go home with someone else"! Apparently he missed the fact that I would be driving him AND picking him up and he was so disappointed to see me. Luckily my friend Katie, who's little girl is in his class, said she would bring him home for me (thanks, Katie!). What a funny and independent little boy! I was worried about Austin being sad to leave Isaac, but he did just fine. He insisted on wearing his backpack the entire day and I think loved being the oldest one home!

We have a 1st grader!!!

We can hardly believe that Ally is already in first grade!! She had her first day of school today-it's always a bittersweet moment! I try to build it up so that she will excited but deep down I HATE her to leave everyday. Luckily she loves school and was once again super excited to start. She is at a new school this year and didn't know anyone in her class so she was a little nervous-but had a GREAT day! We are so very proud of her-what an example she is to our family!!

Our trip to Idaho!

*****WARNING*****
THIS IS BY FAR THE LONGEST POST I HAVE EVER CREATED IN MY HISTORY OF BLOGGING! I DO REALIZE THAT NOT EVERYONE CARES ABOUT EVERY DETAIL-BUT I WANTED TO MAKE SURE I WROTE IT ALL DOWN TO REMEMBER OUR FUN TRIP TO IDAHO!

We just got back from our trip to Idaho! We love it there so much during the summer and always have such a fun time! This year with Jonathan's schedule we were only able to stay for a week which was WAY too short so we jam packed it all in! Here is a breakdown of our trip... ************************************************************************************* On Saturday night we drove from Provo straight to Bone, Idaho where the annual Holley Family Reunion was going on. Josh and Joni (Jonathan's brother and wife) were SO nice to pack us all the stuff we would need to camp for the night. It was so beautiful and had the most awesome lodge with nice bathrooms(my way of camping)! And although quite a few people had already packed up and headed home it was still so fun to see a few familiar faces that we hadn't seen in a while. Our kids got to see most of their cousins and aunts and uncles there-which of course is always the highlight! That next morning we got permission to have sacrament meeting-which was so special! It was so much fun and I'm so glad we got to go! Then on Sunday afternoon we drove back to Idaho Falls to Josh and Joni's house (where we stayed), got all showered and cleaned up and then got together with most of Jonathan's brothers and sisters and their families-which always consists of LOTS of kids and LOTS of laughing!
************************************************************************************* On Monday we met my mom at the ISU extension in Idaho Falls where she teaches all sorts of science classes. She had the microscopes all set up for the kids to look at all sorts of cool and gross things. They soak up every minute with her and love to learn all the "stuff" she teaches them. Isaac told me that he LOVES science and wants to do it everyday! After "doing science" we went to lunch with my mom and then we were off to the river to feed the ducks with Josh and Joni, their kids and Kelly and her girls. After feeding the ducks we drove to Shelley and ate dinner with the Anderson's-who are some of my very best friends and who I actually lived with for a while in high school. It was soooo nice to catch up and watch our kids play together! I wish Melissa and her family and Katie could have been there...hopefully we can catch them next time! ************************************************************************************* On Tuesday we went to Ross Park in Pocatello. The kids LOVED swimming and going down the water slide with their cousins. Then that night we met up with 3 of Jonathan's best friends from high school and their wives-Kyle and Odelsa Taylor, Ron and Katrina Jensen and Ben and Holli Ritchie. We didn't take any pictures, but had the best time talking, laughing and of course eating! After we got home and rounded up all of our kids to go to bed, we quickly remembered that they had long naps after the water park. So we decided to put on a movie and see if any of them would fall asleep. Jonathan and Josh were in charge and I went to go feed Isabel and get ready for bed. When I came back, some of them had fallen asleep...but as you can tell from the picture...it wasn't any of the kids :)! ************************************************************************************* Wednesday we drove out to Shelley again to see my mom's new house and eat lunch. She had a whole box of special crowns that she let Ally choose from-she even let Ally pick one for Isabel and one for me-I think that I liked trying them on more than Ally! After we left my mom's we drove straight to the movie theater to see "Kung Fu Panda" (I seriously LOVE this movie!) with a few of the cousins. After the movie ended we went to the county fair to see a few things our two nieces (Bailee & Macee) had entered. While we were there we also walked through the cow and pig barns-it was hilarious to watch all these little kids plugging their noses and screaming "EWWWW" the whole time. After the fair we met up with my mom again to go to the zoo-she's been volunteering there for the summer and so we were excited to go with her. The monkeys were by far my favorite part! One of the monkeys love our brother-in-law, Brooks-it was the funniest thing ever! Everywhere Brooks would go, the monkey would follow and if he ever turned his back the monkey would hit the glass and scare everyone. One time Jonathan the monkey hit the glass really hard right by Jonathan and it scared him so bad that he jumped and somehow really hurt his toe in all of the commotion. We were all laughing so hard. After the zoo I got to go out to eat with one of my very best friends, Michelle Ball. She is one of the most amazing people I've ever met and I love seeing her when I come to town. Jonathan says it always recharges our whole family when I visit her! While I was at dinner Jonathan's brother Jeremy and his wife Kelly had a hot tub party at their house. They sure know how to have a party and when I showed up late after dinner-it really seemed like an amusement park-everyone was having the BEST time! Then that night Isaac and Jaden decided to sleep in the "fort" while Jonathan and Josh slept outside under the stars. Surprising enough..they all made through the whole night-through the rain and all!!
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On Thursday we had a picnic lunch at Tautphaus Park. We met up with Josh and his kids, Jeremy and Kelly and their girls, Betsy and her girls and Mattie and Colby. The kids just loved playing. This is a funny picture of Ally in a swing made for a disabled adult. She had no idea what it was-but thought it was very, very cool! We also took the kids and their cousin Jaden to "Funland" to each go on a ride-it's certainly no Disneyland-but the loved it anyway!!





After the park we went to my aunt Janelle's house to visit her and my cousins. It's always fun to show off my 4 cute kids to family who don't get to see them very often!! Then that night we enlisted some of our nieces to babysit while all of Jonathan's brother's and sister's and their spouses (except for Jason and Jen and Jamison) went out to a yummy dinner at The Sandpiper.
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Friday was Jaden's 5th birthday party. We were so excited that we could be there this year!! Jaden is Isaac's best bud in the whole world-he's lucky that he's also his cousin-and we never get to be there for his birthday. We were so glad that Joni planned it a little early this year (Thanks!!) so that Isaac could be there. Jaden got to come all the way to AZ for Isaac's birthday this year also-how lucky they are! It was such a cute little party for a bunch of scurvy pirates!!


After the week we had...we were all completely BEAT!! But knowing that it was our last day in Idaho-we had to go out with a bang! So Josh, Jeremy and Jonathan all loaded up the jetskiis and took them for a spin. Then later that night we all got together again for one final goodbye party! I LOVE being married into a family that has so many "party animals"-there is NEVER a dull moment!
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Early Saturday morning we loaded up and drove to Provo to spend the rest of our short trip with my Grandma Mary. Our kids love visiting her house and playing in her yard. Ally especially loves her flowers and they all love to pick apricots in the church yard behind her house. She'll be 89 years old this month and she still managed to get out some of her old things when she use to teach school and play with my kids!

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By 6am on Sunday morning we were on the road back to Arizona. We had the BEST time! We love our families and friends and cherish all the times we get to spend with them-it was way too short of a visit and went by way too fast! We can't wait until next time!!