Life according to Lisa

Haircut/nap time

2009-08-20T08:11:00.001-07:00

With 4 boys in the house, getting a hair cut is quite an expedition. We take them all in and line em' up for a clean up. The girls over at Dollar cuts all know them by name. For some reason every time we go in, Isaac falls asleep. I think he likes the girls fingers running through his hair.

The reason I had kids

2009-08-20T08:00:00.000-07:00

Because they make me laugh!! I must have pasted this box a dozen times, so I'm not sure how long they were waiting in this box to surprise me. When I pulled off the blanket I found my two little toe head babies waiting with a thumbs up, it suddenly made all the grumpy thoughts of laundry and toilets float right out of my mind.

Whitney's Solo Believe - April 2009

2009-07-22T00:43:00.000-07:00

This year Whit did a solo to a song called Believe. Her darling dance teacher, Amy Choreographed it for her. Whitney is amazing at lyrical because she has such beautiful long lines and her turns are flawless. Another great year Whit scored crowns and these enormous trophies that make her little brothers salivate. One competition was up at Kingsbury Hall and it was so fun to show her friends her grandparents dressing room. Congrats Whit! I love ya baby.

My beautiful girl

Whitney and Amy
By the Neeleman dressing room
Who are those good looking people?

Dance and more Dance - April 2009

2009-07-22T00:16:00.000-07:00

Dance Season finally came to an end. Although we were ready for a break we had a blast! The girls did AWESOME as usual. They usually walk away from every competition with a car full of first place - 5 ft high trophies and the satisfaction that all the hard work has paid off. Whitney and I share the same passion for dance. When a good song comes on we can barely sit in our seat. We have so much fun going to the competitions and just spending quality time together. I am so proud of Whit she has grown into such an amazing beautiful dancer. Every time she walks onto the stage I start to cry. Here's to another great year - Way to go girls!

Whit and her girls in Party.
Lollipop
Let it be
Jungle
I'm just a girl

Think Pink! - April 2009

2009-07-21T23:56:00.001-07:00

My darling friend Candice finally got her girl on number three. I was so excited for her since I had just been blessed with a little jewel of my own, that we decided to throw her a pink party! It was such a fun night of food, friends, baby talk and of course the cutest baby girl gifts. Congrats Candice and Chase. We love you!

I love anything girly. We raided Whits room for the decor
Girls just want to have fun
Me and my girl

So much to blog so little time

2009-07-15T21:51:00.000-07:00

So sorry about the disappearing act! Let's just say that the last 4 months have just been a blur. I have all the pictures to prove what a crazy circus it's been, but I have had zero time to blog any of the details. So here we go! Hold on tight.

Takin' a dip and catchin" some rays ;}

2009-04-19T17:00:00.000-07:00

After 2 long days of dancing we headed for the pool to relax and catch some sunshine before we headed back to the dreaded snow storm that was waiting for us.

My sweet girls.
Silly girls way too close to teen-hood
Catchin' some rays. They don't believe me about the sunscreen bit.
Whit and her dance friends

In case you were wondering

2009-04-19T15:53:00.001-07:00

Ok so at the risk of totally being compared to Patsy Ramsey. I decided when we out shopping in St. George that Whitney needed a tan because her costume is such a beautiful aqua blue color. So, I stopped by the local Sally's Beauty Supply and picked up some Sunless tanning airbrush spray. Whitney was not so amused. She hasn't realized yet that beauty is painful. I always tell her that something, whether it be my eyebrows or my feet, always hurts about 90% of the time. I made her strip down and I spray painted her tiny frame. I was admiring my work when Whit sat down to put on her toe undies (these little dance pads so you can turn) on and her feet were completely black from turning and stepping on the sunless tan that sprayed on the floor. So I do what I always do in an emergency situation - I googled. Well apparently Sally Hansens hair bleach works wonders on bleaching you feet when you have to perform on a stage barefoot. How did I ever live without the internet??!!

Girls trip with my girls

2009-04-16T23:39:00.001-07:00

Whitney has a dance competition every year is St. George. So the girls and I packed up the car and headed for some sun. It was Whitney's first time competing a lyrical solo and she did amazing! She got a High Gold which the dance world is AWESOME! My sister Pam was so sweet to hook us up in the sweet 3 bedroom condo. Thanks Aunt Pam :) It was so fun to get away for a few days with just the girls. We got Pedicures, watched some dance, ate some yummy food and watched some more dance. Besides driving home in a horrible snow storm it was a perfect weekend.

Mom and Whit at the dance competition
Sophia already sporting leg warmers
WOO WOO!
Whitney and her dance teacher Amy

Wear Sunsceen

2009-03-19T12:40:00.000-07:00

With spring finally within reach, I headed out the door to pick me up some of that Jergen's natural glow lotion in an attempt to add some color to my transparent skin that hasn't seen the sun in 6 months. Every time I put this stuff on and I look at the sun spots on my arms it makes me think of the inspirational verse "Wear Sunscreen". I wish that I had listened to it 10 years ago. Now that I'm old it just makes so much sense to me. I've added it to my playlist. If you have a second listen to it. It makes you think. And I like it. If you not in the mood, go ahead and skip ahead to "Getcha head in the game" for the basketball post. But then don't come crying to me in 10 years when you have sun spots.

AND 1

2009-03-19T11:08:00.000-07:00

As basketball season comes to an end. Well kind of. We just had our year end party for the 4th grade league but Mike just signed them up for a new tournament and the 3rd grad league just started a new run at Marv Jensen so it's not really over but I thought I should post some pics of the season so far. It used to make me crazy that my husband was so obsessed with sports and coaching my sons. And one day when I was talking to Mark he said so simply "why would you want to keep him away from something that makes him so happy" and my whole outlook changed. It could be a strip club or a bottle of booze, so I guess I'll take the coaching thing and do what I do best - plan the year end party. I took a cake decorating class once because I wanted all my kids to have fabulous cakes. Then I realized it's much easier to buy the cake and tell someone else how you want it decorated. When I showed up with this awesome cake with all the boys pictures on it the boys were so pumped that they got to eat their own face. Little boys are so funny :)

So back to the coaching, I have to say Mike is an amazing coach. I have so many parents tell me how happy they are that they found Mike. He never loses his cool with the boys and he truly loves teaching them and loves sharing his passion for the game.

It was such a fun year for Josh because he got to play basketball with his cousin John and his friend Jackson across the street. The 3 of them were a force to be reckoned with. The last picture cracked me up. The boys were all running plays before the game and there was a dad for every kid right there in the middle of it all. It's so amazing to me that you can't get a man home from work but as soon as there is a little league game, their whole schedule just clears up. And I finally figured out what AND 1 means!

What cool mom did that? ME! With a little help from Sam's
One proud dad
That would be my boy
Joshua following in his brothers footsteps
6 boys 6 dads at practice I guess my husbands no the only obsessed dad in the world

Abracadabra!

2009-03-19T10:37:00.000-07:00

For Micah's birthday we hired a magician to come to our house and he put on a show in our theatre. I've since decided that every kid needs a magician party at some point in their life. Magicians are magical and funny all rolled into one. I giggled like a little girl for an hour. It felt good. He brought a real bunny and bird and the best part was that he made Micah the star of the show. It made his birthday so special and it was amazing how he was able to keep the attention of all those little kids for an hour. We ate pizza, did the pinata thing and at the end of the party each kid went home with a magic wand, a magic trick, disappearing ink, a mood fish a balloon sword and tons of candy. What a party! A shout out for Paul Brewer. Thanks Paul!

Happy Birthday! Love mom and dad
My birthday boy.
Plus balloon swords who could ask for more?
He was frozen stiff as a board with the bird on his head.
It was so fun that the magician made Micah the star of the show. The smile on his face was worth every penny.

Happy Birthday Micah Maikai

2009-03-19T10:16:00.001-07:00

As most of you know Micah is our little miracle. When you come close to losing one of your babies not a day goes by that you don't think about how lucky you are to still have them in your life. Although Micah is wise beyond his years, he finally turned 5! Micah has such a sweet little spirit. He is the one kid that I never need to worry about getting in trouble or hurting some ones feelings. Micah is so easy going and so easy to get along with that he has a ton of friends. Girls and boys of all ages love having Micah around. We are so lucky to have him in our family and we are so blessed that Heavenly Father decided that we might need him down on earth a little longer because he is one of those people that make you be a better person. Happy Birthday Micah we love you!

The big rollover

2009-03-19T09:07:00.000-07:00

I know it seems funny to take pictures of such trivial things but since this is our caboose I feel like I need every little minute documented. We also didn't have blogs when my other kiddos were in their first year. The "big roll over" actually happened like 3 weeks ago but my blog runs anywhere from 3-4 weeks behind real time. So anyway, Sophia was so close to rolling over (back to front) so I put some little rings on the floor and sat on the floor next to her with a camera waiting for the big moment and all of a sudden there she went. She was so proud of herself, look at the big grin! I was proud of myself getting the whole thing on camera. Two points for the mom!

But she recovers it and realizes what she accomplished
She missed the rings
She spots the rings
On the side

I love facebook!

2009-03-12T21:52:00.000-07:00

Let me say it again. I LOVE FACEBOOK! I know there are alot of people out there saying that facebook causes affairs and breaks up marriages. Lets be honest here, those people were not happy and were looking for something to screw up their lives. But for those of us that love our spouses and have self control facebook ROCKS! I have had so many fun reunion lunches. This one was with my cute childhood friends that I haven't seen for over 20 years! I've had dinner with my fellow cheerleaders, I had a mid-day play date with my high school girlfriends and I reunited with my very best friend since Kindergarten. Which by the way has a hilarious blog to the left under Tammy and Jim is you ever need to be entertained. My thought on the whole situation is this. Everybody deserves to have a little excitement in life. And if meeting up with some long lost girlfriends give me butterflies and makes my heart beat a little bit then it works for me. So thanks facebook for keeping life exciting!

"Get back to the kitchen!"

2009-03-12T21:27:00.000-07:00

That is a phrase that I say quite a few times a day. All my little kiddos seem to think that they need a snack on the hour, every hour that they are awake. So I try to keep healthy snacks around that they can eat anytime such as apples, oranges and string cheese. Then there are the running out of the door handheld meals such as the hot pocket for the older kids that are always on the go. For some reason, Isaac doesn't seem to understand why he can't just eat anything and everything at anytime of the day. And it doesn't help that the little stinker has learned how to use the microwave. He especially seems to have a hard time with the "we only eat in the kitchen" rule. When the house gets very quiet I start by searching under the chairs, behind the couches and in the closets and this is usually what I find. I want to get mad but it's impossible, Isaac has one of those irresistible little faces that you want to kiss all over.

You're still the one

2009-03-02T21:57:00.000-08:00

Twelve years ago I made the best decision of my life. I married my soul mate, my best friend and the love of my life. I was 24 years old. I had been divorced and had been in and out of relationships. Then I met Mike. I will have that day branded in my head forever. I even remember what he was wearing. I remember thinking how tall, dark and handsome he was and how he towered over me which was a little intimidating yet made me feel safe. I remember thinking "this yummy guy is quiet a catch" and not feeling like I had a chance. But for some reason he was attracted to my emotional drama. He had a thing for my disorganized passion and fell in love with my crazy flair. Within a couple of weeks we were inseparable.

There was a short time that I got scared and pushed him away. I didn't want to get it wrong again and I almost lost him. It makes me sad when I think about it. Then I had an "AHA" moment and I realized what an amazing blessing I had been handed. Here is this amazing man that I was ridiculously attracted to, treated me like a princess and he wanted me! So he gave me a second change that I didn't deserve and 12 years ago he made me his wife.

I know that I talk too much. Everyone that knows me knows that I am an open book. So I'm sure I've told you that he makes me crazy. Of course he makes me crazy he's a man! But what I have also told you is how crazy I am about him. The truth is I love taking care of him and I love making him happy.

There is just something about him - he just does it for me. I love his hands. We hold hands every night as we fall asleep. I love his size. There is nothing like being held by a man that is 6'5 with big strong hands. His arms are comforting and secure like a toasty warm blanket.

Cool is such a funny, childish word but he is just so cool to me. Cool in a smooth and romantic type of way. He has this amazing voice and I still get a little embarrassed when he sings love songs to me, but I love it. He has a way with the women. He sings to Sophia and she can't take her eyes off of him. It melts my heart and makes her so happy.

When I see him out on the football field coaching my son there is something just so sexy about that to me. Sharing something that he is so passionate about with his little boy. I don't always realize how lucky I am that his first priority is his children. I'm jealous - but I'm still lucky.

I love his great mind. I am amazed on a daily basis how intelligent he is. I love that I never need to feel insecure about the well being of our family because I know that he will always take care of us. I love that he makes me feel desired and beautiful. He always tells me I'm beautiful even when I'm 9 months pregnant. I love that he says it so much that my four sons tell me I'm beautiful daily.

He doesn't always tell me how great I am but everyone else he tells tells me. So I know he thinks it even if he can't always say it to me. I love that we do everything together. We shop together, we travel together, we Ebay together, always go to bed together and we raise our children together. There's nobody else I would rather have on my team. And most importantly I love the six beautiful children that he has given me, they are my world. So to my hunky husband on our 12th Anniversary. I hope you know that you are my "Everything". You are "Still the one" and I wouldn't trade our "Love Story" for the world. I am and have always been totally, completely and passionately in love with you.

I've added all of the songs that he sings to me. He is such a romantic:)

My Sophie's little hands

2009-03-02T08:51:00.001-08:00

This post is for me. Ever since my sweet Sophia was born, she has this cute little thing she does with her hands. She always like to have her hands clasped tight. It is so feminine and girly, it's one of my very favorite things in the world. I was looking through pictures of her short time on earth wishing that this time of my life could last forever. But nothing last forever and one day soon she will stop holding her hands and that little memory of her will slowly fade away. So this post is just for me so I never have to forget her sweet little hands and how happy they make me.

There is LOVE in the air.

2009-02-24T22:49:00.000-08:00

This year we had the most romantic Valentines Day - WITH OUR KIDS. I know not so romantic but Sophia had RSV so we didn't think we should take her out or leave her with a babysitter. On Friday night we had a fancy dinner with crab legs and steak. I think the kids had more fun cracking open the legs then they actually like eating it. As you can see my legs where just a little bit bigger than the ones the kids got. But I decided that I deserved it. In the morning we had a Valentines brunch complete with heart shaped chocolate chip pancakes, heart shaped eggs, chocolate dipped strawberries and pink milk. I love Valentines Day because I love all of the decor that goes along with it. Pink, red and heart it's just all so cute.

The kids enjoying their pancakes
Isaac always seems to have chocolate on his face
How romantic is that for a Valentines dinner? Look at my crab legs!
I'm so impressed with myself!
Whitney always begs for crab legs, she was in heaven.

Off track week 2 - Classic Skating

2009-02-24T14:53:00.000-08:00

On week 2 we decided to spend the day at Classic Skating. That's the good part of having year round school, there were only about 20 kids in the whole place and we brought 10 of them. I had to have a temper tantrum because the girls at the front desk refused to give us a deal that I saw advertised. Those of you that know me well know that I don't go down without a fight. After talking to the manager he agreed to let us in and not 5 minutes later the deal that they insisted didn't exist kept flashing up on their screen. Stupid people. I have bad customer service. Lucky for them I had 10 little kids that had their hearts set on skating or I would have gone somewhere else. Besides all the drama we had a great time. The kids skated, bounced and ate pizza. Sophia loved being pushed around the rink and she was freaking out over the bright lights and loud dance music. She is definitely her mothers daughter.

Surprise! Happy Birthday Grandpa.

2009-02-24T14:35:00.000-08:00

The kids were so excited that they were going to be off track on Grandpa's birthday. They worked on a huge card all morning and they wanted to surprise him with lunch and a sugar-free cake. We stopped at Smith's Marketplace on the way in town and we found an actual real cake with frosting and everything that was sugar-free. Then we headed over to the candy aisle and they each picked a bag of SF candy because they all wanted to give grandpa a gift just from them. We called grandma and told her to meet us at Sizzler for lunch. When they saw their car pull into the parking lot they were all freaking out. My dad has always been so cute with my kids that it was fun for them to do something special for him. It is always a little crazy taking 6 kids to a restaurant alone but we had a great time.

Happy Birthday Grandpa We love you!

Grandpa blowing out his candles.

Off track week 1 - Gymcats!

2009-02-24T14:14:00.000-08:00

Every time the kids go off track we try to do something fun at least once a week. It's hard in Utah because alot of our off weeks are in the winter so we all get a little cabin fever. We have such fun friends and neighbors and we are all on the same track. The first week off we all carpooled over the Gymcats and then went to Mcdonald's for lunch. It was so fun for the kids to be able to run, jump and play after being cooped up in the house. The job of a stay at home mom has lots of things that are not so fun. Laundry, dishes, poopy diapers. But it is all worth it when you get spend time with your babies. I could watch them laugh and play for hours. Moments like these won't last forever and I cherish every second.

Date Night!

2009-02-24T13:47:00.000-08:00

A few months ago Mike and I came up with the idea to have a "Date Night" with each of the kids one on one. It has to be hard being apart of a family with so many kids that are so close together. We pick an activity or maybe just eat dinner together but it has been so much fun spending time alone. They grow up so fast and our date nights have helped us to make sure each one of our beautiful babies know that they are treasured and special. Unfortunately we don't always take a camera but this is me and Micah on our date to Cabela's. We watched them feed the fish, shots some rounds and shared a muffin. I knew we had made the right decision one night when I was sharing a soup bowl on a date with Josh and he said "wow you really do talk alot on a date". If you knew Josh you would know that he never seems to think that he gets enough attention but that night he got more than he wanted.

Where do I start?

2009-02-24T13:07:00.001-08:00

A DI trip is in order!
It really is amazing in person.
Oh my gosh! I have not posted for over a month! I'm so disappointed in myself. My kids have been off track for nearly 4 weeks and that always seems to throw me out of whack. So brace yourself because we have been busy. First of all an update on my New Years resolutions. I have to say I am very proud of myself. I have stuck to my diet perfectly! I exercise everyday and stay away from the ever so addicting carbohydrate. I have lost a total of 65 lbs since I had Sophie. Mike is looking awesome! He has lost 41 lbs and is looking hotter than ever. Way to go babe!

It's especially impressive that I have lost weight since I have made 9 birthday cakes (another resolution of mine) so far this year. Let's just say I go through a ton of gum to make sure I don't lick the spoon. I even made sure that each cake was delivered on the actual birthday (except for one because her birthday was January 2nd so I hadn't made that resolution yet).

I have also become an organizing machine! I cleaned out my closet and gave away 5 large garbage bags of clothes. I don't dare give away my maternity clothes until Mike takes care of his part of the bargain, but they're packed up anyway.

It took me 3 days to organize the pantry but I feel so much better. I made tons of space for a trip to the cannery. I even cleaned out my desk and made file folders and organized all of our family paperwork. Yeah! I'm skinnier, more organized and I have happier friends. What a great way to start out the new year.

I am proud to be a UTE!

2009-01-17T10:04:00.000-08:00

We unfortunately were unable to pull together a trip to New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl due to the fact that we have 6 kids, it was a week after Christmas, one of the 6 are still considered newborn and it was just too freaking expensive. We did however pull together a big Sugar Bowl Party to watch the game. Everyone was adorned in their red and ready to watch our Utes steam roll the Crimson Tide. And what a game it was! It has been such a fun year watching our Utes end with a 13-0 season. I am such a loser! In all of the excitement of the big game I completely forgot to get out the camera. So for the first time I am posting with no photos :(

Here's to 2009!

2009-01-12T16:17:00.000-08:00

2008 what a year! But I have to say that I am very excited to see what 2009 has in store. I personally have set several personal goals. Of course I have a weight loss goal. What else would I have to obsess about if I didn't always want to lose weight. I did pretty good right after I had Sophia. I lost 42 lbs, then came December. I decided to take some time off because I didn't want to set myself up to fail. But it's a new year and I'm working on a new me! So far so good and the scale is finally starting to move again.

I also want to get my house completely organized so that life can be less stressful. Our stake is having a 7 week workshop that focuses on organizing your life. I'm so excited to learn some things that will make my life easier.

Another goal that I have is to be more appreciative of the great friendships that I have. One plan I have is to make sure that none of my friends birthdays goes unnoticed. I have a horrible time remembering birthdays so - Wish me luck!

And last I want to be more loving to my beautiful children and my hunky husband. I think so many of us take life for granted and you never know when your next day may be your last. So my goal for 2009 is to live everyday like it's my last. To bring in the new year we had all the fam in town. David and Vicki and their fam was here but they had to sneak out right before midnight to make a flight. But the hard core party people including Steve and Julie and there families were all her to kiss and sip some sparkling cider. Those crazy mormons!

Santa needs a bigger lap!

2009-01-11T08:32:00.000-08:00

I know this is kind of a silly picture. But we did it! We fulfilled our yearly picture with Santa so that we could be good parents. We got all of the kids dressed up in the red and cream and made our way down to the mall with anticipation that we would run in and snap a picture. Well we were wrong. The line to visit Mr. Claus was worse than the Matterhorn in July. But we weathered the stormed and after standing in line for 1 hour and 45 minutes we finally got the Santa picture 2008 completed. We really only planned on having the kids in the picture, but we bought the USB which allowed us 3 pictures with Santa so we jumped in on the last one just for the memory. One thing for sure Santa needs to get a bigger lap!

The gift of Friendship

2009-01-06T14:46:00.000-08:00

Every year the whole neighbor gift thing completely stresses me out. First of all you have to do something more creative than you did the year before. You have to make a list of all of the neighbors that you plan on giving a gift. You spend hours putting together your little creative gift and then you need to tromp through the snow to deliver them all. And right when you think that you are all done someone delivers a gift to you that you forgot and you find yourself running through the house looking for something to regift pretending the whole time that they were always on your list. This year we decided that we would bypass the insanity and give the gift of friendship. We had an open house for all of out friends and neighbors. I made way too much food as usual but it turned out to be a really nice evening. We ate alot, played a little pool, played a little Wii and sang alot of Karaoke until 1:30 in the morning. There's nothing more comforting than good food and good friends.

My favorite part of Christmas

2009-01-05T23:16:00.000-08:00

Whitney Performing at her Christmas Show
The Grinch and his girls
Santa at the Preschool Program
Micah performing at his program
Joshua my handsome little poser
One of my favorite parts of Christmas is watching all my babies in their Christmas programs and recitals. I feel horrible that I forgot to charge my camera the day of Zach's program. He did such a great job. The little obedient thing that he is, stood with his hands clasped behind his back and sung every word to every song. Joshua's program was about a runaway gingerbread man. Josh was so cute he would practice his line everyday over and over. "Add the ingredients" and he performed it the day of the program just perfect! Micah had a singing program and got to sit on Santa's lap. Every time we go to Micah's school Isaac joins tight in as if he is part of the class. He is very excited about starting school.

We were also able to get a sneak peak of Whitney's dance competition routines at a family Christmas Program. As usual she did awesome! Whit is such an amazing dancer. Every time I watch her on the stage I start to cry. I feel like she is slipping through my fingers if I could only stop time. If my beautiful babies had any idea how much I love watching them. It's what I live for.

Santa found our house!

2009-01-05T22:39:00.001-08:00

Mom sold her soul and bought Micah a DS :(
"oh no not clothes!"
Isaac and his Ironman car
Joshua made dad a "dad and me" book
My girl Christmas morning

2009-01-05T17:07:00.000-08:00

Joshua and my favorite gift
My girls
Opening gifts
I love my men

Well apparently Santa was able to over look a few things this year because Christmas morning came and we found way too many gifts under the tree (again!) Mike and I went to bed at about 4:00 because I waited until the last night to make the kids blankets. And just because we had a long night, for the first time since they were born, the kids all came to wake us up at 6AM! Being the mean parents that we are, we made them wait to open any gifts until 9:00 when we finally rolled out of bed.

Although they didn't seem to get the items on Santa's list, such as cell phones, itouch, dogs that you can carry in a purse and laptops they did pretty well. What ever happened to a bike, a barbie or roller skates? We did have a surprise this year. Mike's mom "Grandma Hawaii" as the kids know her, decided to pop in for a visit. It was fun for the kids to get to know her and to spend Christmas with her. I was a little emotional thinking that I will never again have a baby's first Christmas. I know I'm so dramatic! It's just a strange feeling when you know it's your last baby. Sophia is getting so big so fast. I am savoring every second with her. Not only did she get her first Christmas gifts, even got her Christmas Eve PJ's.

Besides all of the beautiful jewelry that I got from Mike, my very favorite gift had to be from Joshua. Joshua is such a determined little kid. He found an old frame in the storage room that Mike had in the throw away pile. He found some paint (in his sisters room) and painted the frame red with white polka dots. Then he found a picture in my laundry room of us at Disneyland in Pirate hats and he even tied a ribbon to the frame for me to hang it. I found it Christmas morning wrapped under the tree. Never once did he ever ask for anyones help. Lotions, jewelry and clothes will come and go but that will be a gift that I will always treasure.

Gingerbread and Pizza

2009-01-05T16:17:00.000-08:00

Isaac and Anthony decorating cookies
The boys gingerbread house
The girls gingerbread house
Born Engineers!

December was such a fun month. It was just one party after another. I never thought that I would ever say "I'm partied out" but guess what? "I'm partied out!" Although I'm ready for a long winters nap we had so much fun! Our crazy month started out with a Pizza and Gingerbread house building contest with our neighbors and friends. It was a little dramatic because the girls used all of the sticky frosting to decorate the pieces before putting the house together, so when it came time to put the house together all they had left was the soft frosting and needless to say the girls house fell apart. So in order to hold the house together they had to wipe frosting over the whole house. They were all crying and stomping around the house like a bunch of drama queens. The boys actually did a really great job. I guess because they followed the instructions. Isaac and his "best buddy" Anthony just had a great time decorating and eating sugar cookies. Let's just say they did alot more eating than decorating.

The Quads just turned Quad!

2008-12-23T07:53:00.000-08:00

Four years ago my sister Pam gave birth to 4 tiny little babies that were all under 2 lbs. It was an exciting buy very stressful time. They are all doing great (except for Stephens accident) and they just celebrated their big number 4 with a big Cowboy Celebration that only their mother could put together. HAPPY BIRTHDAY Abby, Dillon, Carter and Stephen! We love you!

Baby Stephen goes home

2008-12-15T22:32:00.000-08:00

My sister Pam as most of you know has quadruplets. Unfortunately they were in a horrible accident earlier this month and Stephen broke his femur. He was flown to Primary Children's Hospital and he was put in a spika cast like the one Micah had after his accident. Due to the problems that Stephen has had since birth he is so fragile, so whenever he has a problem there are usually many more to come. Long story short, my poor sister ended up back at PCMC for another 3 weeks after several complications. After much stress and many sleepless nights, Stephen finally was released to go back home on Friday. As you can see, even when times are rough rest assured baby Stephen will always have a smile on his face. We are so happy that he is feeling better and that Pam and Stephen were finally able to go home and have Thanksgiving dinner with their family 3 weeks late. We love you Stephen!

Sophia is 3 months old

2008-12-15T21:55:00.000-08:00

Sophia is always smiling when she's sleeping. Sweet Dreams.

I can't believe how slow the time creeps by when their in your belly and how fast time fly's as soon as they come out. I can't believe my sweet little girl is already 3 months old. It seems like yesterday that I was running the stairs trying to get her to come. She is such a good girl, she always has a smile on her face. I always have a camera on hand so I don't miss one second of her growing up. I feel like every time I blink she grows another inch. Happy 3 months my sweet girl.

My Sweet Sophia

2008-12-02T22:22:00.000-08:00

I am so fortunate that Heavenly Father has chosen me to care for this sweet little spirit. Sophie is now 10 weeks old. She is such a happy baby. Her sweet smile melts my heart. She has recently found her voice and I hang on every little sound she makes. This past Sunday my dad blessed my Sweet Sophia. She wore the most beautiful tulle dress that my sister Pam bought me when we found out we were having a girl. She looked like a little princess. My family was in town for a post Thanksgiving celebration so it made it extra special. After the blessing we headed back to our house for a panini party. Thanks to all my friends and family that helped make Sophia's day special.

Ladies and Gentlemen - The Perfect Turkey!

2008-12-01T11:26:00.000-08:00

This year Thanksgiving was a little bit more of a intimate affair. My family when down to the resort to be with my sisters Pam and Julie and their families. We unfortunately weren't able to make the trip because Zach was in a basketball tournament. Although the guest list was short, we had a great time. For our Thanksgiving dinner there was my little family, my brother Mark who was home from Brazil where he is currently working for Azul my brother David's new Airline and my sister Pam joined us up from Southern Utah. My sister has been at Primary Children's Hospital for over a week with her little boy Stephen. Although I'm sad that Stephen isn't feeling well, I'm glad that I was able to spend the holiday with my sister.

I was so proud of my self. I pulled off the perfect turkey! It was moist and it looked like it was out of a magazine. I love entertaining. I have so many fun glasses, punch bowls and serving platters and decorations thanks to my cute husband. Every Christmas he gives me some amazing piece that puts me in the mood for a party.

After dinner we put on some Christmas music and we decked the halls. I was so excited to get all of the Christmas decorations up so early. It just makes it worth the effort when you have more time to enjoy them. So here's to spending way too much money and eating more than we should. Who doesn't love the holidays?

Utah 48 Byu 24 - What a game!! GO UTES!

2008-11-24T07:42:00.000-08:00

Grandpa, Seth, Zach, Me and Mike at the game.
Seth and Zach right after we spanked BYU
Me and my honey. Cute letter jacket.
What a party! All the fans on the field after the game.
My sweet Sophia-Cheerleader in training.
Saturday was the big game we've all been waiting for. Utah vs. BYU. And I must say our Utes performed. We couldn't have had a better game it was beautiful. David's whole fam came out to go to the game we had a blast. This game was definitely history in the making. For the second time in 4 years the Utes ended their season 12-0 and they're on their way to a BCS bowl. Thanks for a great season Utes, you made us proud.

My darling niece Ashley and her stinky cute little boy Samuel came out a few days early just to hang out. I had so much fun just talking and exchanging baby wisdom. Ashley is such a fashionista, always looks fabulous. I can't believe she is all grown up and she is such an amazing mom. Thanks for spending time with me Ash I love you and I had so much fun.

Isaac turns 3!

2008-11-22T09:07:00.000-08:00

My littlest man Isaac turned 3. I can't believe how fast the time fly's by. Isaac is just one of those kids. You know the kind, the enormous personality in a tiny body. Even at such a young age, he just has a way of making everyone around him fall in love. Isaac loves all sports. In fact I just had a painter come through the house and it took him 4 days to repair all of the chipped sheet rock from Isaac hitting my walls with balls and lacrosse sticks. The other day Zach's football buddies were over at the house playing football with Isaac. They were all freaking out saying that he was a quarterback for sure. He can throw a pretty amazing bomb for a 3 year old.

To celebrate Isaac's birthday we went and saw Madagascar and stopped by Chicky Donald's (that's Isaac calls it) for a Happy Meal! The boys had a great time shooting baskets.

My sweet boy your mom loves you so much! This is my very favorite year. The last year that we have all alone before you go off the preschool. I love waking up to your cute little face an inch from mine asking for waffles. And even though I hate potty training I still laugh every time I tell you your a big boy and you say "nope I'm a wet boy". Happy Birthday little man.

2008-11-22T08:51:00.000-08:00

HUNK SMASH!

Yeah.. I found my camera!!

2008-11-16T17:21:00.000-08:00

I misplaced my point and shoot and I have been freaking out because all the pics from Joshua's birthday party at Lagoon were on that camera. Well after lots of prayers and tearing my house and car apart I found the stupid thing in the drawer next to my bed. How weird I never put anything away. Well anyway like I mentioned before we celebrated Joshua's 7th birthday at Lagoon. My cousin Lori and I had our boys one day apart so we thought it would be fun to take the kids to trashy, way too expensive Lagoon for a double birthday party to celebrate. Stephen, Christine and Family joined us and the kids had a great time!

2008-11-16T17:08:00.000-08:00

Football Season Coming to an end

2008-11-14T15:49:00.001-08:00

With 4 sons and a husband that played football and loves to coach, football has become a huge part of our life. With the holidays right around the corner that is a sign that football season is coming to an end. Zach's little Gremlin team ended up going to the Championship where they lost the State title to Bingham. You can't see the line, but this great photo of Zach was the touchdown in overtime that sent his team to the Playoffs. When Zach made this TD he jumped up with his little arms in the air and my dad and I both burst into tears. My cute parents were so great to come to so many of Zachary's games this year. My mom would snuggle Sophia and keep her warm, while my dad paced up and down the sidelines with me.

Our team is in a couple border wars games next week so I'll keep you up to date on how they did.

How about those Utes?? Undefeated thus far and we are having a blast! I have a good feeling about the BYU game. It's our year. So whoever keeps putting those blue balloons on my house better watch out.

Halloween Festivities

2008-11-05T08:59:00.000-08:00

Indiana Jones
In honor of Twilight
My pumpkins with their pumpkins
Mummy game - they were so quite
Carving pumpkins!

The Pumpkin Patch pickin pumpkins

2008-11-05T08:02:00.000-08:00

Check out his pants! He loves to dress himself and I thought it was cute.

This is the place - Little Haunts

2008-11-04T15:34:00.000-08:00

What a SPOOKTACULAR month

2008-11-04T15:08:00.000-08:00

What a fun month! I love the month of October. Although the weather is still definitely starting to change it is still fairly warm and there are so many fun things to do with the kids. We started our off track string of adventures with a trip to the "This is the place monument" Halloween little haunts. The kids all dressed up. They trick-o-treated, made pioneer crafts and went on a couple train rides. That same night (I know I'm crazy) we went to a pumpkin patch where they watched the movie "Great pumpkin Charley Brown". They had hot chocolate and hay rides.

Next we headed to Lagoon for Joshua's birthday. We had a great time. We went with my cousin Lori and her cute family and my brother Stephen and his crew. After going on a couple rides I realized I am definitely getting older. On calm little Jet star II I cracked my neck and peed my pants a little (keep in mind I just had a baby). Regardless it was a fun night and Josh was happy.

I live in this fun cul-de-sac. If you can believe it there are 20 kids and 12 of them are crazy really energetic boys. On Halloween we had a little block party. First the families got together to carve pumpkins and played games. After trick-o-treating we got back together for fun Halloween music, chatting and of course Hot Cocoa. We even had some fireworks! They were just left over from the 4th but it made the night seem extra special. The weather was great and the kids had a blast. Here are a few pics of our fun month!

Way to go Zach!

2008-10-27T20:31:00.000-07:00

At Willow Springs Elementary they give out a Wildcat award. It is very prestigious award. Each teacher only gives out 2 for the whole school year. Last year Zachary, Whitney and Micah where all awarded wildcats. We are so proud of all of them. This last month Zach was awarded the Wildcat award again for this year. Way to go Zach we are so excited for you! Zach is a great kid. He does great in school and he is always a good friend and a teachers dream. Not realizing that he won't be in school or at Willow Springs forever, Zach said that his goal is to turn 40 years old and to have 40 wildcat awards hanging on his wall. Keep up the good work buddy.

GOODBYE SUMMER 2008

2008-10-23T09:41:00.000-07:00

Stranded at the drive Inn

2008-10-23T07:41:00.001-07:00

Whitney and cousin Isabelle with the primo spot
Just hanging with the boys
Waiting for the movie to start
Zach and cousins Justin and Seth Fishing in Idaho
Playing on the beach

2008-10-23T07:27:00.000-07:00

Mack's Inn Idaho Whitney, Isaac and Micah
Micah loved fishing everyday off the dock
Teach them to fish and they'll eat for a lifetime

Whitney and her two cute cousins Rachael and Isabel at Mack's InnWhat cute boys! Joshua and Isaac

2008-10-22T21:46:00.001-07:00

Isaac on the fishing boat at Mack's Inn
The whole fam at Old Faithful - I'm not looking so hot here
All the boys and big cousin Seth at Yellowstone
My tweens (above) and my white little babies (below) at the draper days parade

2008-10-15T10:47:00.000-07:00

Draper Days Parade with friends and family
Nothing like baseball season to start up the summer
A day of play at Boondock's
Anyone for some golf?
4th of July neighborhood parade
Hanging out at Silver Flat resevoir
Fishing at the Cabin

Summer came and went so fast. Just a few weeks ago we were swimming in the pool and enjoying the warm summer evening at football practice. But I guess winter and the holidays will just bring more happy memories. And the anticipation of summer of 2009 will just us something to look forward to. So here's to the memories we made in the summer of 2008.

Happy Birthday Kona Coconut!

2008-10-15T10:32:00.000-07:00

Sunday was Joshua's 7th birthday. We have decided to go to Lagoon this Saturday with the Larson's for his birthday party so we just had a little family party for him on Sunday. We had cake, we sang and watched Ironman in the theatre. Josh is such a great kid. He is always the one that helps me clean and organize. One day when we were bustling around cleaning the house and Mike was fixing some things, Josh said with that big beautiful smile "this is the best day of my life!".

Josh also has such a cute little sense of humor he always has me laughing. Happy Birthday my sweet boy! I love you.

Let's hear it for the boys!

2008-10-15T09:57:00.000-07:00

Weekends for the Wilson's means sports. All kinds of sports. Friday night Zach had a soccer game and he played AWESOME! as usual. He made 2 goals for his team.

On Saturday morning Zach and Mike of course had a football game. They won 38-0. Zach had a great game he made 2 TD's, threw another pass for a TD and he caught an interception. He is having so much fun with his dad as the coach. They will usually stay at the park all day on Saturday and watch game after games. I'm sad that I wasn't able to get any action shots because it was freezing outside so I had to watch the game from the car to keep my babies warm. But this is a picture of the boys after the game. WAY TO GO JORDAN GOLD!!

After Zach's game we headed over for my handsome little Joshua's last Flag football game. What a game! It was freezing and raining and Josh still managed to pull 2 flags for his team. He pulled 3 at Wednesday's game and he is having a blast playing with his buddies Dallin and Jackson.

Mother, Wife, chauffeur, Photographer??

2008-10-03T10:00:00.000-07:00

I am so excited! I was freaking out watching Sophia grow by the day. I started looking online for a photographer and I thought I can do this. So I set up a little photo studio in my basement and Soph and I had a 4 hour photo shoot. I had to nurse between each new set up. But I was surprisingly happy with the results. Maybe not quite as good as a real professional but not bad a an amateur.

Go UTES! Can you say 6-0

2008-10-03T09:26:00.000-07:00

How about those Utes! About 5 years ago I bought Mike 4 season tickets to the Ute Football games. They are on the 45 yard line 2nd row. I know I'm a pretty good wife. Anyway unfortunately I wasn't able to go to the game last night because Mike thought it would be too loud for Sophie. I think he wanted to be surrounded by testosterone. So I watched the game from the comfort of my bed with my princess. But WHAT A GAME!! Go Utes way to hold on to it. And an extra big shout out to King Louie who kicked in a field goal in the last second of the game to win it for the Utes.

What? Still celebrating?

2008-10-01T21:31:00.000-07:00

One of several darling outfits for Sophia
The guest of honor wearing Whitney's dress
Jen, Bailey and Kelsey the party planners
Cutest cake!
Whitney's dance friends

I have this great friend named Jen. I love her because she makes me not feel so crazy. She does all the crazy things I do for my kids but I think she does a little more. She is always doing so many great things for other people. So of course with all she has going on she still finds the time and energy to have a fun little dance shower for me and Sophia. One of Whitney's dance teachers, Kelsey also planned the shower with Jen. They are so sweet to think of us.

It was at the studio on Thursday night after dance. All of Whitney's friends were there and all the fun dance moms that we live with during competition season. Again so many fun gifts and the cutest girly clothes. Thanks for a fun night girls!

Celebrating Sophie

2008-10-01T18:57:00.000-07:00

Tracy and Becky Hang loose!
Letti and Chelle love ya girls!
Cousin Cindy and Niece Hilary - looking hot ladies.
Me and Char - I wish I had her cute bod.
Lookin' good girls - Jen, Candace and Megan
The hostess with the Mostess and Me
All the girls - There are 4 babies in this picture 3 are still in tummies.
Me, Soph and Lize
We (me and Soph) had the greatest week! We have been blessed with such great friends and such an amazing family. My so cute cousin and very good friend Lori had a fun shower for us on Wednesday. She makes the best party food ever. We had the yummiest salads and deserts. One of my BFF's Liza and my fun friend and neighbor Kelly helped make the shower amazing!

You can always tell who your true friends are. They are the ones that cry with you during the bad times and they celebrate with you during the good times. I have so many great friends and they were all there to celebrate my sweet little girl. They all know how long I have waited for another princess. Here are some pics of our fun night.

Weekend means Football!

2008-09-21T11:50:00.000-07:00

In this oh so exciting photo my little man Zach ran it in for a TD!!
He almost....
He almost...
He almost gets him but Zach gets away!

Just a little insight in case you aren't aware that the men in my life are football FREAKS!! Zach is the quarterback for his little gremlin team and Mike is his coach. Last year they ended the season with a 14-0 record. We went to Las Vegas over Thanksgiving Weekend and they took Nationals, it was a very exciting year for everyone. Mike is a great coach, all the boys love him.

This year there is a little more pressure because Zach is on the "A" team and there is alot more expected, but he is doing great! This weekend they played Alta and we won 14-6. It was a little tense at times but they held on to it in the end. Which brings their record this year to 4-0.

Then we headed out for Joshua's flag football game. Josh is going to be the one that follows in his big daddy's footsteps as a lineman. So flag football doesn't really show what he does best-- knock kids down! In my rush to get to the game I left the camera in the car so I will post some pics of Josh on Wed after his next game.

So far Sophie is doing great and fitting in just great! All of her big brothers adore her maybe a little too much. I keep telling them not to touch her little princess hands with their dirty little boy hands but if I turn my head for a second I catch them trying to kiss her right on the lips! I told them only mommy gets to do that but they can't help it.

Stay tuned for her 10 day old photo shoot!

Sophie's first day home

2008-09-18T10:47:00.002-07:00

Big brother love Sophie so much
I am having way too much fun.
She travels in style

You can't tell I'm excited to have a girl can you?

2008-09-18T10:47:00.001-07:00

Our first family photo
Grandma and Grandpa with their newest grandchild
My cute friends Kelly and Tracy came to see us at the hospital
Auntie Julie is always there for me

2008-09-17T21:37:00.000-07:00

Me and my girls
Dr. Daddy and his new little princess
Waiting for baby!
I'm so glad everyone could share this special day with us.

2008-09-17T21:33:00.001-07:00

All the boys watching the first bath. They are so excited about our new princess.

2008-09-17T21:31:00.000-07:00

Whitney and her new little sister.

I finally did it!

2008-09-16T22:02:00.000-07:00

Hello family and friends! Well I have tried to start a blog, with the support of my darling niece Ashley for over a year. For those of you that know me, you know that I have a beautiful 10 year old daughter named Whitney. Then I have 4 of the most handsome, most sensitive little boys Zachary 8, Joshua 6, Micah 4 and Isaac 2.

It was a huge decision for us whether or not to go for number 6. First of all I had to make sure that I was going to be fine with 5 boys. Then I left it in the lord's hands. I told him that he had 2 months. If we were suppose to have one more then he better make it quick. Well I was pregnant by the next month.

Well guess what?? We were able to pull it off! Which bring me to the main reason that I was able to get my blog put together. I couldn't wait to introduce the world to my beautiful little princess. Sophia Rose Mineki Wilson was born Saturday September 13,2008 at 1:13pm. She was 7 lbs 13 ounces and 20 inches long. Just like the rest of my babies she has the cutest little round face and luscious lips. My husband, Mike is from Hawaii so we have decided to give each of our children a second middle Hawaiian name. The kids think it is so unique and fun they love it. We named Sophia Mineki which means Mindy in Hawaiian which is Mike's little sister that past away from a brain tumor when she was 9 years old.

My labor went great! Mike is the coach of Zachary's football team and they had a game Saturday morning. So my Dr. wouldn't break my water until his game was over. Once he broke my water she was here in about 2 hours.

It was such a special day. My mom was suppose to go the our family ranch but because Sophia decided that she didn't want to come out, my mom had decided to stay for the birth. She was so great. She was there all day with me and she even brought me back Cheesecake Factory for dinner! I was so glad she was there. My sister Pam was also suppose to leave the day before and she stayed for Sophie's debut. She was in Salt Lake my last week and she was amazing! She brought me treats everyday, she brought me yummy food and walked with me everyday at the park. Yes, I walked abut 10 miles trying to get Sophie here early. Mike and I made the decision that it would be special for Whitney and Zachary to be in the room when Sophie was born. Don't worry they didn't see any crotch shots. They just stood back by head and it was so fun to hear them giggle and get so excited when they heard her cry. Whitney also stayed the night with me at the hospital. Besides her hogging my little princess and eating my cheesecake it was the most precious time with my little girls that I will never forget.

Mike was able to deliver Sophie (he delivered Isaac also) of course he couldn't pass up an opportunity to tease me. He looked at me with a totally straight face and told me she was a boy! That's so Mike. Compared to the way that I felt the last 2 months, I feel amazing! Besides my porn boobs, trying to regulate my milk and needing to lose 70 lbs all is good and my baby girl is worth it all.

I am so lucky to have such great friends and family. My cute Neighbor Shaunly brought me Sonic crunchy ice (my pregnancy obsession) every week and she took my crazy little boys on many occassions. My darling neighbors Kelly, Tracy Debbie and Letti that fed my little family when I didn't think I was going to make it. My amazing sister Julie lives in Orderville and has driven 5 hours up here every time I have a baby including this one. She came to see my little sweetie and we ate nachos and talked until 1 am. My cute cousin Lori is having a fun shower for me. She is so sweet to think of me. We have had 4 of our kids together. It was always so fun to talk everyday about how miserable we were, how much weight we had gained and how we were going to get the babies here early. I really missed having her pregnant with me this time but she was still such a huge support the whole 9 months.

And let's not forget my cute husband who gave me this beautiful gift. He stayed home from work for 2 days after I got home to help me. I love you baby. I just want to let everyone know how much I love them and sorry I have been a little cranky. Anyone trying to decide on that number 6, just know it was a hard one but as I sit with this precious little girl in my arms, I would do it all over again. Sorry for the Academy Award Speech I promise my updates won't be so dramatic from now on. Here are a few pics from her first photo shoot.