Memorial Day!

Thank goodness Jake knows how to make friends at work. Kurt....who seems to be the favorite at this point.... invited us over for a Memorial Day party. I was so glad. We don't have any family buried close to us, and hadn't made any plans that sounded fun. Anyway, we were at Kurt and Liz's house from lunch till bed time and we had a blast. We also met some new friends. Thanks guys for having us over!

On the way there....

popsicles in the car.
Pool Fun!


Aubrey's new friend Evan.

Then we played Mario Cart and the new Wii Fit. Lots of Laughs.

Funny Girl.

Ok, this is got to be the worst picture of me....but I thought it was funny. Aubrey took this of Weston and me this morning. (I don't know when he came into my bed by the way....probably after Jake was gone...cause he is on his side.) Anyway, wish I could just sleep all day. Wouldn't that be nice?
In this pic she is showing the letter she wrote for me. You can't read it, but it says "to my mom" and it is a tree and a sun. I love when kids get older and can actually get up, get dressed, draw you a picture, then find the camera and take one all in the same morning. Too bad this all happenened before 7am.
Ok, now for the last part of my post. I want all of my friends to give me baby name ideas. I just have been thinking about it lately and I am drawing a blank. Some of you guys are done having kids....so give me your favorites, the ones you wish you could use. The other friends who are still having babies....don't give me ones that you want to use. I don't want to lose friends over this.

Lots going on.

Ok, so everyone is giving me a hard time about not blogging. I guess I do the same thing. The truth is, the more of a life you have....the harder for me it is to blog. I usually do my best blogging, when I am bored out of my mind. These last few weeks have been kink of crazy. Mainly because I spent 4 days driving, 2 days in Vegas, and 10 days in Idaho with family and friends. I and both my kids have had a serious cold/sinus infection and I am just getting back into the swing of things. So here are a few pictures I chose out of say 180 pictures to choose from.
I am trying to think if anything else has happened lately. Let's see.... I got new tires for our Durango. I got a root canal done as well as a crown. I started showing recently (remember I am pregnant.) Speaking of pregnant...I also tried some miracle drug "zofran" and to my sadness...I was still nauseous and it made me horribly constipated. So, I am just trying to stick these few last weeks out. That's enough about that! Ok...so here are some pics (the best part of a blog right?)

Here we are at Pizza Hut/taco Bell in Wickenburg I believe. This is on our way to Las Vegas.

This picture is at my sister Tina's house. Trying out their cousin's scooter.

I love this picture. It shows 4 of the 5 sisters that were at my mom's house off and on. We had fun times just being together and hanging out in the kitchen with our crazy babies.

This one also shows what happened. Aubrey and Weston literally held or carried around a baby all day long. Whenever they were happy...my two wanted a kiss.

The kids just played play dough constantly. We had 15 kids (give or take) any given day. Here is Aubrey and Weston with just a handful.

These pics are of some of the projects we tackled. We (meaning all of the women) handstiched, then tea dyed, then made homemade frames. Michelle (sister in law) and I made tutu's for our aspiring ballerinas.

Jumping on the tramp. Weston doing his dance. My youngest brother Tate is also in this picture. He was great with the kids. I really did get a break on this trip. My sibling made is so I could sleep in, watch movies, and take naps. Who knew a vacation could be so simple.

Here is my family and Tina's cute boys. Also my brother Truman. He is #12

Here is Traci (#11) and Aubrey mowing the lawn. Aubrey just rode with here for at least 1 hour and 1/2 just listening to her ipod. They did well together.

Here Traci is all dressed up ready to go to prom. She wore Aubrey's flower in her hair. Aubrey thought she was the most beautiful princess in the world...and has wanted to date ever since. I had fun doing her makeup. Too bad she doesn't like her date. (hope he doesn't read blogs)I think Truman is showing his "strength" in this picture. He is carrying: Aubrey, Weston and Tate. So this is my home. I love where I grew up. If I hadn't have already posted so many pictures...I would bore you with the 20 I took around the farm. Maybe another day. This picture is of the Hoover Dam. I made the kids get out...they were pretty good on this drive...but it isn't something I enjoy. Not throwing up anyway.

My Mother: Priscilla Belnap Peterson

A tribute to the woman who gave me life.

I wanted to tell you mom how much I love you. You carried me for 9 months.... probably closer to 10 (I was 9 lbs 9 ozs.) You nursed, loved, diapered, cuddled and cared for me throughout the baby years. You saw who I was at a young age and decided to let me be myself...and encouraged me to do so. You then went on to listen, feed, clothe, listen some more, encourage, laugh, and just see me for who I was. Later you respected, taught, disciplined, trained, and showed me how to be happy by example. You taught me how to work, clean, cook and take care of a party. Thank goodness for that. As I have become an adult...you have been the woman I look up to. You have always been there when I needed you. You have taught me the gospel and about testimony. You have taught me about patience. You have helped me through breakups...marriage, school, moving, loss, pregnancy, childbirth, raising children and more. I love you and know that you are the best mother for me. I believe you had legions of children who wanted to grow up in the home and enviroment that you would someday create. (No wonder you had such a desire to have children.) I believe I was one of the lucky...maybe more aggressive ones, who was able to be your child on this earth. I am glad that there is an eternity where we can continue to be friends and learn and grow. I love you mom.
Here are some fun pics that I have had...so I thought you might enjoy seeing.

This is right after I was born and just some cute pics of me.

Here we have the whole family on our trip to Yellowstone. I think we are missing Tate.

Here we have Thomas on top, followed by Tina, Me, then Ty, Tod and Trisha. How cute.

How it all started.

Ok, here are the pics I was trying to upload before. This one is the night Jake actually proposed. He did it on a plane. It was a total surprise and my sister flew us over the Bountiful temple....where we later married. He had bought the ring without me even helping or knowing. I love him. I just read the journal entry from that night. So cute.



Ok...so this is our Wedding announcement.

This one is for everyone who can't believe I am from a family of 14 kids. Here we all are at the reception. Everyone is older and better looking now. I just don't have a lot of pictures of us all together.
This is just my favorite wedding photo. My brother Ty just took it. I love that Jake is looking at me and smiling. (Not always the case.)

Uhugg!

So I was so excited because while filing our taxes...I found some old pictures of Jake and me when we were dating and engaged. Anyway, today I scanned them into our scanner and tried to upload them .....to find that blogger is having some problem with pictures today. So I am sad. On a good note. For those of you who actually read a blog without a picture.....and don't know already, we are expecting a new baby! Yep! I am not very far along at all, but it seems like I have been sick since conception...so that makes it seem longer. Yesterday I had an ultrasound and everything looks good, so why not tell all the good news. I am 8 weeks and 4 days. By the end of the year...our lives will be even fuller. It was so cute to see the kids yesterday. They came with me to the ultrasound and just absolutely were the cutest. Aubrey explained to Weston that babies start out with big heads and a heart...and then grow their bodies after that. She is so funny. Can't wait to find out what we are having and stop being sick. Being pregnant is hard work for some of us.

Nothin!

So, I have wanted to blog now for like a week....but I just don't have anything to blog about. I think the main problem is that I only have 12 new pictures since Easter...so not much to work with. This is a pathetic post really, but here is something none the less.

Weston before church. Who wouldn't love this face.
Strange, spontaneous, random, behavior... this happened on conference weekend, when Jake's family came to visit. Still don't know why.

So I was trying to get Aubrey to do this dance for the family,.... but she of course will not entertain on command. So, here is a little clip of what she does. It really is so cute. I wish I had more of it.

Easter Time

Here are some cute pics of Easter Weekend. We were able to go to Gilbert and spend time with Jake's family. My kids and us had a blast. Then some pics of the group of kids that had an Easter Egg Hunt (thanks to Misty) at the park. On the actually Easter Sunday, not much happened...in fact, it was pretty boring (other than church.) All in all it was a great Easter to remember. We even painted another hall way.

This pic isn't any good of us on Sunday morning...however, the batteries died after only one picture...so this is all we got.
This was Weston swinging on the "monkey bars" at Aunt Connie's house. He loves her back yard, but wait...all kids do. Grandma and Grandpa even put 1 dollar bills in some of there Easter Eggs.
They got so excited when the dog got to come outside with us. It was funny to watch.This really is a boring picture...but we have painted all of the white in the main spaces of our house. This hallway is actually a shade lighter than we have been using, but you can't tell in the picture. This is the party at the Park. The kids had fun, but were tired that day.

We loved how they were all in Easter colors.

Today!

So for all those "High School Musical" fans out there. I hope hearing this doesn't ruin the songs for you. This is what I had the pleasure of listening to all afternoon today. My children...trying to sing songs from the musical (never before hearing the songs mind you) to some wii game we borrowed from the neighbor girls. This went on for over about 2 hours. They never got sick of it. I did. I have never heard so many "non-words" spoken in one day. Enjoy! Weston cannot hold his little legs still. Ha Ha



Next, here are some pics of us decorating and coloring some hard boiled Easter eggs. We did this before the wii. You don't even need a kit. 1tsp vinegar, 1/4 tsp regular food coloring, and crayon/marker...there you have it. (You learn to be resourceful when you live in Maricopa...town isn't very close.)

Daddy's Girl.

Jake was so tired last night...he fell asleep on our couch. Anyway, I guess Aubrey found his work clothes left there this morning and surprised me by dressing herself! She is her daddy's girl. She says she wants to wear them all day. This made me laugh! Enjoy!