So intrigued!

On Sunday I asked Rex's to run upstairs and get his church clothes so that we could start getting ready for church. He came down as a dinosaur!!!

Last week we had a huge wind storm come through and rip off some of our shingles 0n our roof. I called the roofing company and they showed up today to fix the roof. Rex was soooo intrigued with the whole process. He watched the man put his huge ladder up, climb up to the roof and pound away. Rex looked so concerned watching him and wouldn't come inside until the man had left. I wish I would have zoomed in on Rex's face because it was pretty classic.

Lucy found Rex's helmet and squealed if I took it off. She walked around the house for awhile running into things because she couldn't see.

the louder the better

We celebrated Lucy's first birthday on the 17th and I made her a radio/stereo cake. She loves music and the louder the kids crank it the bigger the grin on her face :). Alivia helped me decorate her highchair the night before. She had fun picking at the cake and looking at it in her fingers before transferring it to her mouth. She also liked opening her presents and got the hang of it after Alivia & Rex showed her how to rip the paper. We got her some maracas and she likes to walk around the house shaking them. We sure love Lucy and are excited about what she will learn in the next year.

LUCY JEAN

Happy 1st Birthday Lucy Jean Jelly Bean

Looster Rooster, Lucy Jean Jelly Bean, Lu Ba Gu, Miss Lucy, Little Luc, Lu Lu, baby Jean, are only a FEW of the names we call Lucy. We can't believe that she is already a year old. It is fun to think back on the day she was born. We decided to not find out if we were having a boy or a girl. It was so exciting when the Dr. delivered her and told us that we had a baby girl. Alivia was SO excited to have a little sister. We had family come and visit and lots of love and support. I loved it when the nurse would bring Lucy into me from the nursery. Her cute little face would look over at me. Ahh, and we would cuddle. There is nothing like a newborn baby.
We have so much fun with her. She is at such a funny age. She likes music and will often try to sing along whenever there is music on. She loves shoes and toothbrushes. She will also bring us her clothes in her mouth for us to put on her. It is hilarious. She has a feisty side which is quite funny. She also has an extremely tender side. She loves to snuggle and give kisses. She makes us laugh and we couldn't imagine life without her. We love you so so so much Lucy.

Hilarious!!!

I like to share some of the many hilarious things I hear out of the mouths of my children. I try to write their little sayings down on my calendar as soon as they say them so I don't forget their exact words. They seriously make me laugh so hard (but I have to laugh in private because Liv doesn't like it when I laugh after she says something). Here are a few of my favorites this last week.
*We were watching General Conference last weekend and one of the speakers mentioned the country Bolivia and Alivia YELLS, "they said ALIVIA, can you believe it?"

*Alivia asked me when Lucy was going to sleep with her. I told her that as soon as Lucy gets big enough she an sleep with her because she has such a big bed. She looked at me with a sad face and said, "Mom, that wasn't very nice." I was a little confused and she said, "It's not nice to tell people that they have a big head." Big BED, not big HEAD.

*Rex was playing outside and he came running in with grass stains on his legs. He called them grass bites.

*Rex came into our room at 5:30 in the morning and went to the window and said (really loud),"Mom. it looks like it smells like morning outside." He is definatley our early bird.

*Alivia told me the other day that she had been in her room thinking about how much she loved her brother. It is times like that when you forget for a moment how they faught like cats & dogs that day.

*We like to watch Amerian Idol and last week they had the Idols Gives Back show and I overheard Alivia & Rex having a conversation over breakfast the next day. This is how it went.
Alivia "Rex, did you like Idols Gives Back?" Rex "It was sad." Alivia "I know. We need to help those little kids and babies. Rex, would you help those kids?" Rex "Yes, because Daddy says it is nice to be a good boy." Ahhh, tender! Miley Cyrus performed on the show and Alivia asked Rex if he saw Hannah Montana and Rex said, "Yeah, without her wig."

*Alivia came up with a brillant idea on Saturday. I was mowing the backyard and she said, "Mom,we should put sparkle ink stuff in the lawn mower and then when we mow the lawn the grass will be sparkly."

* This morning Rex asked me if he could be Santa Clause when he grows up.

* Even little Lucy is added some quotes. Her new word is "NO, NO,NO" It is pretty funny. If she is doing somethings she shouldn't and you start to go near her she says no, no, no at you.

We were supposed to have a big rain storm last week so Rex & Liv sat outside waiting & waiting...it never rained.

Little ball of fun!

Our friends went out of town for a few days and asked us to watch their dog. He is the cutest thing! Jared has been wanting a dog for a long time, but I am not sure if I am ready for a dog. I feel like I have my hands pretty full. If we could have a dog like Rowdy, I would have a dog. He is so calm, cute and well behaved. The kids are having so much fun with him.

We got my bike and bike trailer out and went for a ride this morning. I had Rex & Lucy in the trailer, Alivia rode her bike and Jared ran with Rowdy.

little lady

Lucy is into purses and babies these days. It is absolutely adorable. She likes to walk around holding a couple of babies. She usually holds them by their feet and cuddles them. She also just started loving Alivia's purses. There is definitely not a shortage of babies and purses around our house. I find it so interesting how they are born with their little personalities. Lucy is so much fun right now. I had to include a picture of her beyond adorable chubby legs with her baby leg warmers. So cute!

You Are Special!

I love this book. It has such a great message. I read this book to the kids the other night and they really enjoyed it. It was so sweet to see their little faces as they listened and asked questions. I think that they are at such an important age in their lives when their self esteem is tender and they really listen to what people say. I feel a big responsibility to make sure they know that they are special and that it doesn't matter what others may say or think, even though it may hurt them, but that they have a mom & dad that loves them and thinks they are perfect the way they are and a Father in heaven who loves them so much. Even though they are still little, they understand a lot, and I hope I can instill in them things that will help them throughout their lives. Being a mother can be overwhelming and I really loved Elder Ballards talk on Sunday about Motherhood. It was really touching and exactly what I needed to hear. I loved how he talked about how there are moments of great joy amidst the hard, tiring moments. I am very grateful to be a mother and can't think of anything better that I would want to be doing right now but being home with my babies. They teach me so much and make me laugh my head off.

I also wanted to share a special memory of President Monson. When I was 19 years old, my dad was teaching at BYU and I had the opportunity to go with him to a dinner at the Wilkinson Center. President Hinckley and his counselors were there and their wives. I was in the hall when the Prophet and his counselors walked off the elevator and it was such a sweet feeling, standing there, seeing the Prophet. It gives me the chills thinking about it. As I stood there, Pres. Monson was greeting people and it was my turn. He took my face in his hands and said, "You look like a Scandinavian girl." I said, "Yes, my mom's family is from Denmark." He said, "I love Scandinavian girls. My Francis (his wife) is Scandinavian." He also commented on how much he liked my freckles. He is such a neat man and I am grateful to be alive while he is the Prophet.

ReAdY tO gO cAmPiNg!!

We out grew our two man tent so we have been eyeing the 6 man tent at Costco. It finally went on sale so we bought it. We are very excited to go camping this summer. I love smelling like camp fire, the crisp morning air when you first unzip the tent, cooking hot dogs over the fire and letting the kids get dirty, dirty, DIRTY! We went camping last year and I could not believe how much dirt was in the tub when the kids took a bath. They had a ball rolling in the dirt with their friends. So we put the tent up in our living room and played in it for a bit. Hopefully there won't be bear problem like there was last year. Not really excited about being eaten by a bear. :(

On Monday night we had a great visit with some good friends. Shanna and her son Clarke (He is one of Alivia's friends), were in town from Canada. We used to live by Jonathan & Shanna in Orem and we both moved around the same time. They moved back to Canada where they are both from. We hadn't seen them for about a year so it was so great to see them. We went to dinner and had a fun time catching up. Jonathan wasn't able to come so we missed him. They are such great friends!!

VIVA ITALIA!!!!

YEAH!!!!!! Yesterday Jared was looking through the church news last night that came in the mail and he told me about a new stake that was created in Italy on March 2, 2008. I was so happy, to say the least. I was pretty emotional. The stake was created from the Como, Italy and Trieste Italy districts, and Milan Italy, Venice Italy stakes. The members in Italy have been waiting and working so hard to get a stake established. I believe this makes 4 stakes in Italy now. I got emotional thinking about all of the wonderful people I met on my mission and how much I love and miss them. Many of them I may never see again. I am so proud of the work that is going on in Italy. Slowly, but surely, the membership of the church there is growing. Now we are even closer to getting a temple built in Italy. Just thought I would share this exciting news!! CHE BELLA!!