What can I say about this....

I think I might just leave this one at the pictures. Carter is such a sweetheart to play with his little sis...isn't he??? :)

Respects to a great leader, the Prophet of the Lord.

I just wanted to post my respects to this great man who passed away yesterday evening. Pres. Hinkley, the prophet and president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He was set apart as President when I was turning into a teenager and has been a major influence in my life. Most of you know how much my faith and my church means to me. I have always had a testimony of having a prophet on the earth today, as they did in days past. Studying the Old Testament has increased that faith so much. The Lord has always given his people someone to instruct, someone to lead, someone to give guidance in how our Heavenly Father would have us lead our lives. I am grateful for the many scriptrues which emphasize that God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. I know that we have a living prophet on earth. I know that with all my heart. I know that through inspiration from the Lord to the remaining apostles a new prophet will be named. Just as Adam, Noah, Moses, Joshua, and Samuel were able to lead the people of their day to follow a path that would lead back to our Father in Heaven and our savior Jesus Christ, we have that same instruction from a prophet to give us counsel to follow that same path. I am grateful for the constant that is in my faith. Knowing that the Lord will always be there.

Pres. Hinkley taught many times to "stand a little taller"and to "try a little harder to be a little better." May we continue to follow that counsel, always trying to reach one step above where we are.

And the tummy keeps on growing

Nothing is more annoying to me than standing and taking a picture of my profile...yes yes I know, I'm pregnant it is cute..blah blah blah.. Here is the lastest in the growth of the tummy. We are at 19 weeks--ALMOST half way..very strange!! If anyone says--wow you dont' look pregnant one more time I might be tempted to act pregnant, just to reassure them!! :)

The house in Northwood.

My husband is AWESOME!!

I just wanted to let everyone know how impressed I am with my husband. Some of you might not know about the 'little' side project in our life. We have been helping some friends out with fixing up their home to sell. They moved from ND to England a little over 2 years ago. It all started with a water problem in the bathroom that turned into a flip that house to sell project.
We were almost done with the house last summer when tradegy struck the town of Northwood. The house was hit by a tornado. So needless to say that ruined some of the work we had done, and added a few more thing to get done. Mike has been working hard all winter at getting things cleaned up, fixed up, and ready to sell again. We have to wait for a contractor to finish siding and windows in March, but the inside is coming together so quickly. I can't wait to see the final product and I'm sure Lisa and Damian are way past ready for it too sell..they have been so patient as each problem we encountered set us back that much further.
Mike has done most the work by himself. He has had a couple friends who were able to come and assist in some major projects---FRIENDS ARE SO WONDERFUL!! We owe them big for sacrifcing their days to help out!!
Speaking of my husband, we had the best time last night. We went on a date together and it was so fun. We did the typical dinner and a movie. Then we decided to check out a new indoor splash park in the area to see if it was Mason friendly so we could go with the kids. While there we decided to have some fun in the arcade they have. It was so much fun doing something different for a change. We were able to get plenty of tickets and brought some fun little toys home for the kids. They woke up this morning and found their treasures..it was so exciting for them. We have a wonderful lady who comes and watches the kids. We are going to miss her SSSOO much when we go to England. Not just because she watches the kids, but because she trully has become a friend and someone who the kids absolutely LOVE!!
I love still having fun and being able to date my husband. I think we actually avoided talking about the kids last night as well!! CRAZY!!

What job did our Heavenly Father give daddy's?

Tonight is Monday, so it was time for a Family Home Evening gathering. Carter, Mason and I decided this afternoon we would talk about families. Our church issued a Proclamation to the World on Families, this document is a very important part of our church's beliefs when it comes to the family. Well, it lists the roles of the father and mother and we were planning on reviewing that. As I asked the following question, "What job did our Heavenly Father give daddy's."
Carter replies with all seriousness, "He is suppose to give sperm to the egg so that there can be a cord that will feed the baby all the vitamins when it is hungry." That is the job of a daddy incase any of you were confused! :)
Yes, Carter knows pretty much everything when it comes to how a baby starts and grows. Besides the actual event that takes place to get the sperm there, he has all the info. Mike thought it was the funniest thing ever when explained to him after learning from mommy. What can I say, when the simple, "babies comes when Heavenly Father puts them in the mommy's tummy," doesn't work anymore..you have to do something!
We were able to get the answer we were actually searching for out and FHE went on without a hitch (mom and dad were even able to remain composed after that).

This is a great video of the boys playing how they play best. It does look like Carter is giving Mason quite the run for his money, but trust me....Mason dishes it out just the same!! He was just laughing too hard to be able to do anything this time. I just thought it was fun to watch them go at it. :)

Remember my goal..laugh at the messes they make?

This is Mason deciding that the amount of powdered sugar Mommy offered on German Pancakes was just not enough. Jen, you are not the only one with powdered sugar disputes, rest at ease my friend! :)

This is my 'new' bathroom floor. Isn't it beautiful? Carter 'spilled' some water on the floor and decided he would give me a new floor. Here is how he told me he did it. Comes out to the play room, "Mom, I need you to come see what I did."

Mom says, "Really, what did you do?" I am now getting up from cuddling with Mason to join Carter.

Carter smiles, "mom I made you a new bathroom floor, it has all your favorite colors!"

I come around the corner to see all my towels that about 1 hour before I had put in the cupboard freshly washed and folded all over the bathroom floor.

Carter has a HUGE smile and asks, "Mom, did I just make you so happy with your new floor? I used all your favorite colors, didn't I?"

Mom smiles and says, "That is incredible Carter, lets take a picture."

Carter then says, "mom, we need to leave your new floor until we go to England, then we can make the floor in England too."

I just smile and get the camera....knowing I will now have to wash all those again. They did stay there for two days, then thankfully Taylor vomitted over most the towels and Carter said we could take up the floor to clean it. :) We have not had to replace said floor again.

Mason and Taylor both love Barney and decided to cuddle up for a show together. They actually stayed there for awhile. Mason and Taylor are so cute together. They have so much non-verbal vocab between the two of them, you never know what they are up too. Taylor is always so excited to see Mason's bus come after school. He is just as excited to see her!

I love vomit..ok not really people..who does?

So last night we had the Elders(missionaries for the Mormom church) over for dinner, which is a very normal thing in this house. There are 4 missionaries in our area and they need to be fed, right?
Well, Mike went with them after dinner to help teach a guy who is getting baptized this Sunday and I had bed duty for the kids. Let me tell you, I can have all 3 dressed, ready for bed, medicine for Mason, books read and in bed in the record time of 20 minutes. Like I have stated before. "I dont' mess around with bed time schedules." Well, I was so proud of myself for once again accomplishing this task. All the kids in bed resting soundly and then what do I hear.....one big vomit session going on in Taylor's room. So I run in there to find that lunch, snack, dinner and dessert that day did not settle well. Sorry, but really you are lucky I didn't take pictures. So I am cleaning her up, have her in the tub, getting sheets pulled off the bed etc..most of you know the routine! Well, I am trying to get her out of the tub and we walk around the corner to find that daddy is home and is right to work getting new sheets, blankets etc.. This is when I realize how lucky I am that I have a hubby who will jump right in! Mike has been deployed a couple times and those are frustrating months all alone. You forget how much they really do when they are here.
So we get Taylor settled down, she is running a fever at this point and wants to cuddle.(I am a bad mom who does like that one thing when my kids are sick, they actually sit down and just cuddle with me) Finally we get her in bed. We sit down for little couple time and about 30 minutes later we are hearing crying. So we run to the back of the house this time to find Mason up. Mason being up is not a big astonishing moment. Part of Angelman Syndrome is the difficultly of sleeping so this is normal. Mason comes out, tries to go potty and wants a drink. He downs a sippy full of milk and seems content. So Mike and I sit down with Mason laying on the couch to continue our conversation. Next thing we know Mason is throwing up ALL of dinner. That kid has to be cut off at some point when we have enchilada's and last night he wasn't. So all over the couch, PJ's, floor, etc.. I am laughing because my poor child is just smiling away COVERED in his own vomit. I wanted to take a picture to post, but thought again about that. (I like that people read my blog). So more vomit to clean up...and WOW!! that was a big mess.
I'm sure everyone loves reading about my kids vomitting all over themselves, but I just had to share. We have had to clean up probably more than the average parent when it comes to weird messes(just trust me on this one..dont' debate me:) ).
This story I had to share because yesterday was also the day I decided my main New Year's resolution. Laugh more!!! I have many pictures of my boys making HUGE messes, mostly Mason that is. I never take pictures of the messes anymore, I roll my eyes, roll up my sleeves, get to work and am lucky not to be cursing by the end. So, I want to laugh like I use too at these messes. Ranch dressing, flour, chocolate pudding, lotion, soap, laundry detergent, sugar, hot cocoa mix, milk, and some I will leave out because too much information is sometimes WAY to much information. These things will never make me cringe again, I will laugh, take a picture(if appropriate) and then proceed to clean up.. I will let you know how this goes next time my spice and baking supplies cupboard gets emptied. :)

On one more note...all of you who have boys that plan on serving missions one day...Make sure they know the difference between Skim, 1%, 2%, and whole milk. As we were talking about milk last night we learn that one Elder went to the store for the first time on his mission and had NO IDEA there was more than 'blue' milk! At least they are color coded and so he was able to buy the blue milk like his mom and go home, but can you imagine the confusion if they weren't! Got a GREAT laugh out of that one.

Spilling the beans...

I think it is finally time I come clean with our little secret we have been holding onto. I am pregnant with baby number 4! I am 17 weeks along and for some reason this has seemed very unreal and so I have side stepped posting about it.
I will have Mike take a picture soon of the growing belly. So I have been pregnant a few times..:) and let me just note that each time I grow faster and faster..my body LOVES getting big and pregnant I guess!!!
You would have noticed in the Monster Truck picture of me and the kids, but my bag just happen to land right there and disguise the obvious! At least to us it is obvious. Apparently people don't pay that much attention to your stomach. Most people are still very surprised when they find out. Typical response,"What, you do not look pregnant!" My mind responds,"Great so basically I look this fat all the time....fabulous!"
I do have an ultrasound on the 5th of Feb for the middle of the road check-up. No, we will not be finding out what it is. I know, we are extremely annoying to people because of that. I am due June 25th(maybe a big bday present for Gma Mason) and will be delivering in England.
We now have to leave here a bit sooner, so I can still fly. Our plans are as follows; drive out of ND around May 1st, going to Utah for Kellie and Richard's wedding!! (congrats to them) and then flying out of SLC too England about the 11th of May.
So there you have it. We are very excited, although to me this still seems totally weird that we will have another baby!

MONSTER TRUCK NIGHT!!!

Welcome to Monster Truck Rally night. It was fun for the kids, although I guess I did expect alot more for the buck if you get what I mean. Carter and Mom rode in a Monster truck, which was probably the highlight for Carter. Mason was excited about the show the first while, but then I think it got a little old for him. Taylor was totally bored unless the Monster Trucks were out. She would point to them and say, "vvrroooommm!" That was very cute and she kept plugging her ears, which was also very cute. I think everyone had a really long Saturday, so staying up late was not as fun as we thought it might be. :) Those who know me know that I am a little obsessive about bedtime--vitally important in this house...so these nights are rare! Just thought I would share a few pictures of our fun night!!

here's hoping

This is a test of my videos post, they haven't been working, so here is another shot. This is sideways because I am still figuring out my camera. Trying to get to Mason's tooth is what is going on. :) Everyone have a great day.

North Dakota..isn't bad at all :)

These pictures don't give today justice. It was absolutely beautiful here today. The trees are covered in ice and snow and it is too cold to melt, so it just sits on the trees. It was wonderful to drive around base today and just have a gorgeous site to look at. North Dakota doesn't have the best reputation, but days like this make you appreciate the beauty that can be found here. We really do enjoy being here and will miss it when we leave this spring. So here is what we got to see all day today out our backyard.

Taylor's New Words

Taylor is an amazing 20 months old and she has been so quiet her whole life. Carter by this point in his life was so talkative. I don't know if I was given that blessing because of Mason's non-verbal ways, but it was great. I was starting to get worried about little Taylor who is very watched over by two big brothers. They fill in any blanks about her wants right away without giving her a chance to sign, talk, or anything really. Mason will often ask for a drink for himself, take a sip and then passes it on to her. Well, little Miss Quiet may not be for much longer. I was in the process of dinner and things needed to simmer so I went and sat on our couch and began to talk with Mike. She ran up to me and pointed to the kitchen and said, "Go Cook!" I just started laughing!! Now when she is hungry she just runs to the kitchen and points to the stove, "cook." I think it is so funny, mostly because I am never told to go cook in my house.
I am so grateful for Taylor's new found vocabulary. Carter talks enough for Mason, Carter and Taylor, but I wouldn't have it any other way. We sometimes have to tell him to wait his turn to talk, but never tell him to stop talking. It is such a blessing to hear sweet little words, ideas, wants, needs, and anything else they come up with. Mason communicates in his own right, but to have him talk would be such a miraculous blessing. So my challenge to all the parents today is to enjoy the talking...as much as it may be some days. :)

Some Random photos from the last few days of 2007!

Mason 1st tooth of 2008!

Mason lost his second tooth today and we were not going to let this one get away. His first tooth was lost when it fell out while no adult was around. We don't know if he swallowed it or what. Well, today this little guy was ready and so daddy worked some magic with some floss. Mason was laughing the whole time. To bad we won't be able to pin down our other children like that. :) He wouldn't let us take a picture after, but I guess we will take what we can get. :)

HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone!!!