New Family Pictures

We recently took family pictures by the bosque. My friend Tammy Staley took them and did a great job. She is an awesome photographer and it also helped me fulfill my fundraising requirement for the preschool where Nate attends. Here are some of my favorites plus look to the side to see individuals of kiddos!

Going Through The Motions

It's seems like for months now that the title of this post describes my life. I don't know if it was that the timing of this baby was a surprise or that I have four other children to take care of, or that I'm just getting too old to be pregnant. This pregnancy has really been rough and I keep thinking that the light is just around the bend just to find that it is still out of reach. I still feel horrible eventhough I'm 18 weeks. Yes, I know that things are a little better because I can actually get out of bed and do things. Yet still it is a daily struggle to get out of bed and accomplish anything. I really feel and see the toll it is taking on my family. My kids are troppers but still dealing with a sick and tired mom that has no patience is no walk in the park! Josh is swamped at work trying to solve everyone's problems (litterally). He has had so many rapes of children and child abuse cases that they have really taken a toll on him. How do we get back on track because that is what it feels like. It feels like our train has derailed and we are using so much effort to move but make little progress.

Today I got my hair cut and colored and I brought the Ensign to read. I think I cried or at least teared up as I read every article. Yes, I know that I am hormonal but I know that it was mostly The Spirit. Elder Uchtdorf's talk was just what I needed. He spoke about how people, when they hit hard times sometimes try to go faster to try and make it through the rough spot faster. This is wrong. It is times like these that we need to slow down and focus on what is important. It was like music to my ears~ slow down and not go faster! We need to focus on our relationship with God, with our family, with our fellowmen and with ourselves. So, that is what I am going to do. Slow down and focus on what really matters until we can put this train back on track.

I am so thankful for the Gospel and for living prophets who recieve revelation for what we are going through today!

Ultrasound for Baby #5

We finally had an ultrasound to get a due date last week. I was 16 weeks so just one week farther than I thought. That gives us a due date of April 19!

I love the little feet!

Arm and leg

Profile shot!

Yes, baby #5 is boy #3. I was shocked! I was SO sure that is was a girl. We had a name picked out and we even built the house around it. With the girls having bigger rooms so that two could share and the two boys would have their own rooms. I mean I was positive. So it has taken a week to adjust to the fact that our last baby will be a boy. Yes, we've decided that this is the end of our family for my health and the well being of our family. So slowly I guess I will start to give away our little girl clothes. I mean I'm lucky that I had two of each sex going into the ultrasound. So... any good boy names :).

p.s. I won't be completely convinced until the second ultrasound next month!

Hello Old Friend, It's Bitter Sweet to See You Again!

On our travels this summer I picked up a little bug! It took me awhile to figure it out. Thanks goodness when we returned from our very last trip it finally hit me. I'm pregnant! I go to the doctor tomorrow to find our how far along I am but I think it's about 3 months so that means an April baby.

It was a shock even though we knew we weren't done having kids. The timing was a little off but the Lord knows all. I feel horrible which is normal for me. Throwing up is all I seem to do. No, none of the medicines work so it's just try and stay hydrated and wait it out. I have had wonderful help from family and friends which has been awesome. This kids are really excited about the baby and are always trying to help me feel better. We are excited to have another baby in the house.

NYC Day 2

Here are some pictures from Day 2 in New York City. We went to The Today Show, Fox News, saw Enrique Iglesias in concert and a lot of site seeing!

New York City Day One

Our first night we went to the opening night of Harry Connick Jr. He has always been a favorite of ours. He was amazing!

Harry himself

So excited to be there!

Here he is on stage!



After the show we were hungry and stopped at a place called Carve and had some of the best pizza ever!!!!

Regulators... Mount Up!!!

The last leg of our trip through New Mexico was to Lincoln County and Raton. It was beautiful. You would never know that you are in NM because it is so green there. Lincoln County is famous for the Lincoln County Wars. If you saw any of the Young Guns movies growing up then you know what I am talking about. This is what made Billy the Kid famous. Basically the man he was working for here was murdered and this is where he began to avenge his death.

Here is a picture of the Regulators. They were the group that road with Billy the Kid

This is the bullet hole where Billy shot the deputy and escaped from prison.

Kiddos pretending to be in jail.


A picture of Billy the Kid. This place was so cool and full of information. If you are a fan of the Old West then you need to go here! The town is small but you can walk and vist several of the orginal buldings from the time of the Lincoln County War.

Carlsbad Caverns

Our second stop on visting the Land of Enchantment was Carlsbad Caverns. I was amazed. They are quite beautiful. The girls really thought that it was cool. My Dad hadn't been there since he was a boy scout. Few tips for those who want to visit. It is always around 58 degrees year round there so bring a sweater or buy one there . It's really too dark to take pictures unless you have a low light lens. And invest in the hand held radios for the tour. They give you a lot of neat info. Take the elevator down. It saves you walking 1.5 miles and you don't miss a thing. You go down 700 ft in about a minute. It's crazy how your ears pop.

Much pretty in person.

Mom, Dad and Ali

One picture that wasn't too bad.


Overall I would say that it is a great family vacation spot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Roswell and it's Aliens

We decided that we needed to go on vaction in our own state and see what it has to offer. This particular trip had three stops, Roswell, Carlsbad Caverns, and Lincoln County. I admit I had low expectations but wow did we have fun! I recommend doing this for all families that live in the state or surrounding areas! We invited my parents to some with us and they had fun too. Here are the pictures from our stop in Rowell. I got onto Tripadvior.com and found our that the hot spot to stop isn't the Alien Museum but a little whole in the wall store called The Alien Zone. It is so cheezy but the kids had a blast. Here are some pictures we took with the aliens.

A world up-side-down

When you got to go you got to go!


We found the crash site!

I thought this poster was funny!

The kids made some new friends

We even stayed and ate with them!

4th of July (Finally)

We had our 4th annual 4th of July Party. We had so much fun and Josh and Jason had the best fireworks. You know the kind... illeagle and from the reservation. Too many pictures so I had to do a slide show!

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My Birthday!!

This is what Josh got for my birthday!!!!

His new commuter car!!

Of course he had to get a convertible!


Oh, by the way, he got one for me too! This is mine.



I love it!!!!

And this was the cherry on top!

It was a great birthday!!!!

Princess Abby in a Nut Shell

My baby girl turned 6. She calls herself my baby girl because she is the youngest of the girls in our family. She is such a great girl. She loves to sing and dance. In fact she makes up her own songs and sings them all of the time. She wants to be in ballet and gymnastics. She even has her Mom a little scared because she says she wants to be a cheerleader and not a basketball player!

She has a great imagination and has the great talent of staying out of trouble. She will be in first grade this year and loves school. She is reading great and loves to read to her little brothers.

Her favorite colors are gold and silver. Her favortie food is pretty much anything Italian. She loves to play with her cousin Colin.

Most importantly she has learned to recognize The Spirit and has the habit of reading her scriptures and saying her prayer. We are so proud of her! WE LOVE YOU BABY GIRL!!!!

Abby Turns 6

This year Abby wanted her bday party at ABQ Jump. Here are all of the girls who came.

Abby's iCarly Cake

The princess herself!

Daddy surprised us and showed up at Abby's party with his staff!

The kids had a lot of fun going down all of the inflatable slides

Make a wish!

Puppy Love

We recently added two white German shepards to our family. They are 10 weeks old and adorable. They are so good with the kids and the kids have done really well with the responsibility of having dogs. They are brother and sister. If you have seen the Disney movie Bolt than they might seem familiar. The movie's main character "Bolt" is a white German shepard. So it seemed only right that they be named Bolt and Penny.

Bolt is in the orange collar and his ears point up where Penny is in the pink and has floppy ears.

They are really good with the kids. Even Tyson isn't afraid of them.

Bolt relaxing in the grass


Penny with the floppy ears.

Ali loves the dogs and is in charge of taking care of them. She has done awesome! She puts them out every morning and then lets them back in at night. She is even really good about picking up their poop!

Swimming Lessons

We had swimming lessons this year for 2 weeks. This was the first time I didn't have to bribe someone to get in the water. I guess having a pool helps! The kids did great and even went down the slide during the party on the last day.

Nate, I love that look

Ali, going into the water.

Abby, having her teacher catch her.

Ali, playing in the water

Nate doing the aligator crawl.