Charley turned 4!

Just wanted to take a little walk down memory lane and remember our precious moments with Charley as she's grown up. She was born December 15th in Pleasant Grove, UT. What a tiny little bundle of joy she started out to be and has turned into a joyful, funny, loving, animated, smart, energetic, thoughtful, sweet girl.

Her first days at home

Some fun moments in her first year

First time in the snow

First Halloween

Her first birthday!

Charley's 2nd Birthday!

Charley's 3rd Birthday!

And now look how big she's gotten!

For her birthday we had a little at home party and on Friday she and Makenna are going to celebrate their birthdays together with the rest of the family. So a post will be coming in the future on the "Pajama Puppy Party!" Here are a few shots from her party with Mom, Dad, Kenna, and Port:









We hope all your wishes come true!
Happy Birthday Charley girl! We love you!

Riddle

What do a vampire, a mouse, and a fifties girl all have in common? They are all the offspring of this crazy Mom! I got to be in the classroom with Porter and Kenna this year to take part in all of their Halloween festivities . . . it was ghoulish fun!

We of course could not pass up our yearly tradition of trick or treating through downtown Sisters. It's always more fun when you're punked out zombie cousin comes along.

Candy-crazed

Let's play Halloween I-spy: can you spot a pipi long-stocking, a lady bug, 2 skeletons, a vampire (hmmmm), a zombie diva, a 50's girl, a mouse (this one's especially hard to spot).

Hope your Halloween was as spooktacular as ours!

Parable of the dirty bathroom

As I was passing through my dirty bathroom today, I thought to myself, "This is disgusting, I really hate being in here." I can give you whatever excuse I can think of for why it is still not clean. Somehow, none of them seem to hold any merit. It pretty much comes down to this: it's dirty and I hate being in there. Why, you may ask, do I not just take 10 simple minutes out of my day and spruce it up? Because it's easier to walk on by and try to ignore it. This thought came to me tonight that this is similar to life. Sometimes the things in our life that need some cleaning just get ignored, pushed aside. Why? Because it's easier. However - if we will take a little time and clean it up . . . and continue to do this everyday, the job won't seem so hard, not so bad. And so it is with sin and simple repentance every day. So I'm making a new commitment - to my bathroom and my self, to keep on top of it. To make sure my spirit and my bathroom have gotten spruced up everyday. nice.

Funny Kenna

So the other night I was in the kitchen cooking when Charley pipes up, "Mom, can I marry Porter?" I replied, "Oooohhhh, that's so sweet, but you really can't sweetie." Makenna then says, "Yeah Charley, that would just ruin the whole generation!"

Life after swine flu

Yes - we got it, the dreaded H1N1 or SWINE FLU. It was everything they said it would be and worse. Porter and Charley got hit with it bad, Makenna had a little bit different symptoms - but I believe just a milder version. They had the whole list: high fever, chills, aches, pains, sore throats, constant moaning and groaning that turned into the coughing and runny nose, even some diarrhea, YIKES! We made it through though and now I believe there is life after swine flu (I wasn't so sure for a while there)! Porter was out of school for 7 days (that didn't include his sick time over the weekend) and Makenna was in and out of school over the course of a week and a half. Their coughs are finally cleared up and they are completely back to normal (as normal as we ever were). So here's a voice of warning coming from a once stressed out, exhausted Mom (I'm rested and relieved now) - do whatever you can to protect your family from this thing!

Trip to Texas!

I am blessed with an amazing family and an amazing Sister-in-law who decided we needed a girls weekend! She and Dane made it possible for Britt, Mom, and my self to fly to Texas for an amazing weekend. We went to Canton, this shop-til-you-drop acre upon acre flea market, out to fun restaurants, pedicures, a glorious mall, Hobby Lobby, walks in their neighborhood, kissing and smooching Emmy and Easton, lots of laughing, eating, and reminiscing. Plain and simple, it was a great time! Thank you so much Dane and Linds for the amazing hosts that you are and an unforgettable trip! Love you!

First Day of School. . . 1 Month Later

So the kids are back in school and I'm finally blogging about it! Porter is a big Kindergartener this year and Makenna is in 3rd grade. There was a mix of emotions that bright and early first day - excitement, nervousness, sentimental weepiness, curiosity . . . the list goes on. Overall it was a great first day and the kids are finally adjusting (especially Port) to the schedule and busyness of it all! I am so proud of them, they are such independent and capable, smart kids.

Catching the morning bus has proven to be very inconsistent this year, and that's OK with me. Porter was more than excited to ride - but came away a little disheartened. When asked how the bus ride was he replied, "Loud."

Charley's days are filled with lots of Mommy and dance and playing. She and her good buddy Brooke look forward to play dates and dance class. They are such sweeties!

Porter's Birthday

On September 5th Porter turned 6! He wanted a "Shark Party" and we celebrated with ALL the Liddell cousins, aunts, uncles, and Grandma and Grandpa - what a fun night! Here are a few pics from the party:

Pin the Fish on the Shark!

Decorating the table cloth and coloring fish!

After the party, he had a few quiet moments to himself to REALLY enjoy his new toys - and boy has he been enjoying them! Thanks so much for all the wonderful gifts!

The "Birthday Shark" poster was created by Makenna and I! While Peter took Porter and Charley out for the afternoon, Makenna and I decorated for Port's party - I drew the poster and Kenna painted it, we had so much fun!

Since Porter has had his big 6th birthday and is starting Kindergarten on Monday, Peter and I have been feeling very sentimental about our baby boy growing up. We wanted to look back and remember the day he was born - what a special boy and what a special day!


We love you Porter! We're so glad you had such a Happy Birthday!

Cold Cheeks at Three Creeks

In spite of fair warning, we decided to brave the wind and go up to swim at Three Creeks Lake! With the Boivie kids in tow, Grandma Liddell wanted to provide fun entertainment while Uncle Greg and Aunt Robin enjoyed a relaxing mini get away! Trish, Maria, and I plus our kids came along for the fun - and in spite of forceful wind gusts and the occasional sand storm, the kids had fun and always do swimming, getting sand down their pants, digging, and especially getting Grandma wet! You're a sport Debbie!