We had a great Christmas. The kids got a trampoline this year and luckily it came with a net :) No injuries so far :) Alot has been going on since we got back from SLC. Poor Sarah had one of her new baby rats die. Sadness. But life goes on...we got a stud for Daisy and Penny. Daisy I am 100% sure she will have puppies but Penny on the other hand is a little brat and she was totally not interested in the boy dog. He tried but didn't have any luck (that I saw anyway) so we will be expecting some doxie-poo puppies some time the end of February. Also our bunny who I thought was breed apparently wasn't. She should have had kits on Christmas Eve. So we got her re-breed and she should have kits towards the end of January. As always we have extra kids at our house. Yesterday I made wafflers for lunch and I had to take pictures of them all! It was pretty cute.

Butter, Cameron, Sarah and Mari

Cameron, Sarah and Mari

Logan and Dustin



Butter and Cameron



I got a new turbo strength waffle maker from Dave and Lynda. It was super cool and fast. I was able to keep up with these little bottomless pits and was even able to sit down and eat with the stragglers!

There is so much more on my mind but I will just leave this post as it is. Maybe tomorrow I will be able to find time to do another post.

Merry Christmas!!!!

I am going to be picking my pomegranates this weekend and hopefully making some jelly :) I have only made pomegranate jelly once but the kids call it my "famous pomegranate jelly".

Well I guess we will have little D for at least another month or so. Sounds like the parents are going to willingly relinquish rights but they haven't done anything yet. So in other words nothing was resolved at the mediation meeting on Monday. The next step is pre-trial. That will happen the end of September. The case worker has not heard from the family that adopted the other siblings so it is still up in the air as to where he is going to be placed permanently.
He is such a cuttie! He is a super good baby. He sleeps mostly through the night and is a good eater. The kids all love him to death! It would be great if everyone could remember him in their prayers.

We have a new little baby to play with. He was born on the 5th so he is one week old today. We were able to pick him up from the hospital on the 8th. I wish I could post a picture of him so you could see how cute he is but it is against DCFS's rules. I think I texted a picture to everyone that I knew could receive texts so some of you got to see him. I am not sure how long we get to keep him yet. He is most likely going to a family that has previously adopted his three older siblings. The state is requiring the family to get relicenced and approved to be foster parents before they will place him there so it may take a few months. We will just love him and squeeze him for as long as we have him.

We had a rather quiet 4th of July celebration. Troy went over to Ryan's (his brother) house and helped him shingle his roof. The boys and I just stayed home and hung out inside the nice air conditioned house. Troy came home around 1:00 and we all took a nap :) At about 6 we went to the Dixie Sunbowl for a free concert and fireworks. The Sunbowl is basically a rodeo arena. They had free food, a bounce house and water wheels for the kids to play in. Troy and I just listened to the country music and relaxed while the kids played around. Sarah is still up and her Grandparents house so we missed having her there, but I know she is having tonz of fun up on the mountain. 

 Cameron and Dustin have been playing baseball for the last few weeks. The first three games we sat in the rain and then the rest we roasted in the sun...go figure. It has been nice to get out of the house and go watch their games. They are both pretty darn good players and have really enjoyed learning how to play ball and to just hang out with friends. O and of course treats after every game was also a major highlight!

Cameron

Dustin

Today was Dustin's last day of kindergarten! He is now officially a first grader. His class had a cute program followed by a commencement ceremony. They were all adorable! I just can't believe my baby is now a full time student. Time has sure flown.

    Cameron, Sarah, Jimmy and Dustin

We went down to the Santa Clara River this afternoon had lunch and played in the water. It was so nice and cool. I want to get tubes and float down next weekend :) The kids caught three frogs and several tadpoles. They are pretty cute. Dustin was very proud of  the snail he caught. It was nice to have a cool, relaxing outing with the kids.

Sarah and Dustin

Cameron and Dustin

Jimmy

Sarah had her end of year orchestra concert tonight. She did such a great job! I can't believe how fast this school year has passed. It has been one heck of a ride with lots of ups and downs. I am looking forward to the summer and to being able to have my kids home with me. There is no greater love than that of a mother. Now I must go and sit on my kids so they will stay in bed!

As usually life has been super busy! Troy and I are studying for finals at the end of the month. The kids are getting ancy to get out of school. They only have 6 weeks left! I am totally looking forward to summer! This weekend Troy and I are taking Jimmy and four other Webelos in our ward on their day hike. It should be fun, they will be able to get several things passed off. This weekend is also Troy's birthday :) I don't know what we are going to do for that yet.  The playhouse is looking good and nearly done. I love it!!!! We are also going to do regular foster care since we decided to maintain our license for Alexis. We will have a home study on May 4th and hopefully have a placement this summer. We must enjoy our lives being so busy because it seems like we are always creating more craziness! We are definitely going to have to do some camping this summer to get away and relax. :)

The weather has been so nice here. We have been spending a lot of time outside. Here is out latest project :)

Dustin



Sarah




Jimmy




Cameron



In case you can't tell.....it's a playhouse! I love it! Eventually it will have a swing set coming off one side and a fire poll off the deck area. :) Troy is such a handyman. Who needs plans right!

I have come to realize I have major test anxiety!!! I took a Psychology test last week and almost threw up! I did a little better today when I took my first CIS (computer class) test. I was much better when I saw that I got a 95%!!!! Yeah!!! Now I need to study for my English test that's on Monday. I will NEVER be an English Major!!! I am just hoping I pass that class. Who would have thought that a language I have used my entire life would be such a pain in my butt! I may just protest and learn to speak and write only Spanish!!! Haaa that will show them!!!

Yesterday was Alexis's birthday! She is 4 years old now. I can't believe how fast time has gone by! Yesterday was a day of reflection for me. I spent a lot of time thinking about Alexis and her parents. I am still concerned about how everything will turn out. They are in our family prayers and my personal prayers every day, some days most of the day. It really killed me to take her back to her mom but it does make me happy to know she is safe and warm and being feed currently. I really hope this was a major reality check for Diane and Matt. Alexis will always hold a special place in my heart and in my family. She will always be welcome to stay at my home! Love you Alexis!!!! Happy Birthday!!!!!!

I survived the first week of school and have had VERY little time to do much of anything but homework. I think I am getting the hang of it now and hopefully I am a little more organized with my time. Now I just need to catch up on my house work! I was reading Tracy's blog and it has inspired me to also have a bin to place things in we don't need anymore.
Sarah and I are starting a new project :) We are making reborn dolls! She loves her dolls and doesn't want to get rid of them so we are going to make them into real looking babies and have them more for display than to play with. I am pretty excited to try this out. Right now we have several dolls torn apart and ready to dye and then paint. I will try to post pictures as we go.
Our yard is currently full of truck parts. Troy and the boys have both trucks torn apart and hopefully will make some progress in getting the one put somewhat together this weekend. Ahhhhh its ALL GOOD!!!!

Everyone is always telling me how crazy my life is. It seems like we always have something going on. So take a deep breath and I will give you an update on my "crazy" life so far this year.......ready........o.k. so far my couponing is still going FABULOUS! I love getting a great deal on stuff. Our food and misc. storage has gotten to a comfortable amount. Before I don't think I could say we could live off of our food storage for more than a couple of days. Now I feel like we would be fine for several weeks! That is very exciting to me!!!!
Troy has a new truck project he is working on. We have two trucks in our driveway that will eventually become one cool truck! The boys are totally excited to help out. Jimmy and Dustin have both already been helping pull the engine out of one of them. It is so cute to see them sitting on the edge of the truck with their legs on the motor leaning over the engine turning wrenches! I will have to post a picture.
Troy and I are BOTH in college now!! Classes start today! We have three classes together and two classes that are not together. I am excited to go back to school!
We are also going to keep our Foster Care license and continue to help kids in need. We both have to complete 12 training hours before April to maintain our license.
Also just something to keep in the back of your mind.......Cameron will be turning 8 on Feb. 14th! He is very excited to be turning 8 and wants to be baptised in March. I will be sending out invitations but I realize we live a long way away and it wouldn't be very convenient for most of you to come so I thought I would at least give you a heads up just in case you can come. :)

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