Stop. Drop and Roll.

I know this sounds like a drill in some kind of fire safety brochure. but it's not. It's simply what Jazzy does when she sees her bottle. anytime. anywhere. The girl will drop as soon as it's in site. oh how she loves her milk!

and oh how I love her!

Lani-pooh......

Everytime we see this girl I become more amazed at how beautiful she is. In every way. Lani - you are someone who stands for everything that is good. I am so proud to be your sister (even if it's only through marriage :)! I hope when my daughters grow up they are just like you! That would make me so very happy!

Thanks for being such an amazing example to all your little nieces of what a beautiful daughter of God should be!! We love you!!

Wounded...more pics.....

Wounded.......

I guess you could call this the teaser........

can't wait to show you more pics......

S.I.C.K

I have now reached a new personal record for medicinal intake in the last 48 hour period......



Chad, if somehow you can read this in the middle eastern desert, I hope you'll understand my impulsive buys at ikea were all because i have been SO sick. crazy sick. and there's nothing like a bit of retail therapy. Just a heads up.......there may be a few surprises when you get home....... :)

Quotes and Kids......

Words of wisdom from our beloved President Hinkley. Simple but poignant. (and so relevant to myself since i'm single mothering and have been totally s.i.c.k. what is up with me getting sick every time chad is away.....but i digress). It's always nice to have gentle reminders of how we should be rearing these little spirits entrusted to us.

"......love them, take care of them. Mothers, control your voices, keep them down. Rear your children in love, in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Take care of your little ones, welcome them into your homes and nurture and love them with all of your hearts.....be patient, be patient.....Never forget that"

(click HERE) to read the unparaphrased quote)

We have a 5 year old in the house!

This day has been on the count down for a while now. A while as in, "how many days until i'm 5. Asked most days for at least the last month. This boy could not have been more excited that the day was finally here!!



So to celebrate him on his 'special day' I thought I'd share 10 things We love about him! (brace yourselves people. this may be long for some of you :)....

1. The excitement he shows in everything he does. I often say that he has 'fire in his belly' because he is so passionate about things. what things you ask. Everything. Doing a puzzle. Making pancakes. Eating pancakes. Wrestling with Chad. Reading stories at night. Counting. whatever he's doing, he shows extreme excitement.

2. Zahn is SO SO grateful for things. He will often thank us over and over again when he is given things. Even if they're only little things. I love it when hours later he reflectively thanks us for something that happened so 'long ago'.

3. He is such a good big brother to Jazzy. He plays with her. Takes care of her and makes her laugh.all.the.time. She ADORES him and he her.

4. He is a home-body. He loves to be at home with our family and when someone is away he never feels quite right with that person missing. He loves his family!

5. He is such a loyal good friend. I love it when I see him sacrifice things and give them or share them with his friends. (especially treat food. This means so very much to him :)

6. His hair and his freckles. It was such a shock to see his 'orange' hair when he was born. But now that we 'know' him - he could only have this colour hair. It is just SO him.

7. Sometimes when he talks (and especially sings) his lips kind of 'pout' to one side. Chad and I love it. A LOT! It is ridiculously cute!

8. Zahn is a little artist. He spends hours and hours drawing and colouring in. Each stroke and line is carefully considered before appearing on the page. I love the things that come out of his little mind and are conveyed on paper!

9. He is determined! (other wise known as stubborn :). This has taught me to pick our 'battles' carefully. I love this about him because he has such a strong sense of what HE likes and what HE doesn't like. He's happy and OK with things, even if others don't feel the same way.

9. Zahn is HAPPY! He smiles and laughs OFTEN. I LOVE THIS! The fact that he can and does laugh SO freely may even be right up around number one for me. That might seem funny to be so high on my list, but it's a quality that can and will make life so much more enjoyable for him as he grows. The often say 'humor' is the best medicine and this boy is in no shortage of that. (I should put a disclaimer in here......he is such a happy kid but he can and does throw whooper tantrums. they don't last long. but they do happen. just check out THIS PIC -YOU'LL KNOW THE ONE). He has the kind of smile that when you see it, you think he's about to tell you something really funny. But he's not. It's just his smile. so reflective of the happy kid he is/can be :)

10. He get's so excited when he learns something new. It is such a buzz to watch him learn and show us new found skills or tell us what he 'now knows'. He almost bursts with excitement. I love it when he states (so confidently) something like, "i'm really good at this" or "i'm pretty talented arn't I". His enthusiasm is completely contagious.

In Zahn's baby blessing it stated.....'he will be a great joy to his mother'. How true those words have proven to be. Then and now. MAN I LOVE THIS BOY!

Happy Birthday 5 year old!

Snow days!

It would be an understatement to say we loved the snow! The kids were in pure heaven! Heaven I tell you. And despite the fact that I could hardly walk for days after skiing we had so much FUN. So many new memories shared together. Playing. Laughing. Reading. No work calls for Chad. minimal sibling rivalry. Baby sitting for Jazz when she'd had enough. Such.a.good.trip!

Rylan mastering getting up by himself......



when I asked Zahn if he was having fun this was his response........



So determined to make it to the bottom of the hill 'upright'.....



Jasmin was SO SO cute in her 'michelin man' suit. Even if she wasn't in the snow for more than half an hour total over the 3 days! We attempted several times to take her out but every time we did, it either started snowing or raining. So we made good use of the snowy day care and she had the best days ever playing with all the baby dolls and prams she could get her little chubby hands on! I do wish I had a pic of her rolling around in the snow.....but this will have to do! Doesn't she look so cute!!!! (and the excitement on her face when she saw us after her 'day care' was the.cutest.thing.ever. She practically squealed in delight to see us!



love it!



This photo is meant to be the representation of Chad and I while skiing. Not sure if it depicts that very well, but we didn't get any pics while out there so this will have to do. I tried not to think about all the photos I wanted to take....and instead tried to memory bank everything.



Rylan doing his crazy dare-devil taboggoning. I wanted to say it was too dangerous. But. He was having so much fun. (this hill was much steeper and longer than it looks).





more dare-devil tricks! we did a few runs with both tabogons linked up to each other and Rylan surfing down in the middle of us! Like I said. The boys.were.in.heaven!









getting ready for our snow ball fight! Zahn's most anticipated activity before going) - this was serious business!



the beginnings of the 'giant' snow ball the boys made.







On the first afternoon we went to a GIANT maze. It was huge! and despite having Jazzy as a beacon.....no one made it out. We only found our way back to the beginning. The boys did actually 'exit' at the end of maze. but they totally cheated. So it doesn't really count! We were hoping to go back and try again but we ran out of time.



I can't wait to go back if only to conquer this maze!