Halloween Festivities

Halloween is always such a fun and anticipated Holiday around our house.  I took the girls to Walmart and let them choose whatever costume they would like.

 Hailey was a princess/fairy so she says.  She was so excited to be in kindergarten and to be able to have her own class party and walk the parade route through the school classrooms.

 Ashley decided to be a Southern Belle.  I loved her costume and it fit her personality so well.

Lindsay wanted to go simple and not have to change during school so she was a cat. 

On October 30th we went to Heather's wards carnival/trunk or treat and had a great time.  Lindsay did not go with us since she was invited to a Halloween party.  I was so worried that Lindsay would be sad that she did not go to the trunk or treat since we were not letting the girls go door to do on Halloween with it being on a Sunday this year.  When she got home her bag had more candy then Ashley and Hailey's and she had a fun time. 

Halloween night the girls took turns opening the door to pass out candy.  I felt bad not letting them go door to door, but not once did I hear a complaint.

Ashley the big 1-0!!!

Ashley was so excited that she would be able to move into the older group of Activity Days, at church, and be with her big sister once she finally turned 10.  She loves going to Activity Days and has so much fun making crafts and being with her friends.  She is such an amazingly smart and fun girl.  She is doing really well in school and the teachers love her.  She loves to read and I never have to remind her to do her homework.  She is doing really well at piano even though she does not like to practice very much.  She has been a huge help by taking Hailey outside to play so that I can get stuff done around the house.  She just bought herself a skateboard with some of her birthday money and is getting quite good at it.

We decided that for her birthday it would be fun for the girls to decorate their own cupcakes.  They then went into the living room and watched Diary of a Wimpy Kid on our projector in which we had a TON of junk food and pizza for them to snack on.

 She received a lot of fun gifts and especially loved the card that I gave her that informed her that the next day I would take her to the store to get her an aquarium and fish.  She was so excited.

 After the party and while waiting for parents the girls decided to play on the structure at the park.  I am so glad that Ashley has good friends that are a lot of fun to be around. 

Hood to Coast

And he did it again, he is amazing I am telling ya.

Ever since we have lived here in Portland my sister has tried to get Mitchell to run Hood to Coast with them.  He practiced a couple of times one year and then decided that he was not in shape enough to continue on.  This year was his year to run the race.  Some people in our ward came together to make up a team, "DC Synergy." 

Two weeks before the big day Mitchell had not ran a single mile.  I was so worried and kept telling him that he needed to drop out or he would kill himself.  He was confident that since he had been biking so much to get ready for the High Adventure that he would be ready and able to run.  He decided to run one mile and was in such pain for the following week I thought there was no way!

The day of the big race he decided that he needed a new pair of running shoes.  If you are a runner you know that this is a NO NO.  You do not buy shoes and not break them in before such a huge run.  He tried on the shoes, bought them and jumped into his van to head out for the big race.

Along the way he was able to text message me or call me so that I could know how he did.  I was so happy when I was told that his first of three legs was complete and he was in good spirits.  He said that his third leg, being in the middle of the night, was a hard one and he was running on 1 hour of sleep in 24 hours but he did it.  In all he ran 16 miles.  

The girls and I decided to meet up with his team at the finish line.  It was fun to visit all of the sponsor booths and get free stuff.  The girls made these signs in support for their dad and his team. 

 Another amazing accomplishment!!!  He did it and had a great time with is riding van.  He is excited to run again next year and wants to crush his running time!



Hailey is 6!

 I can not believe that my baby is six years old!  She is such a sweet girl that makes me laugh every day.  She is very witty and does not even realize it.  Yesterday she came up to me and this was our conversation:

Hailey:  "Mom you are not stupid you haven't been in a car accident."

Me:  "Yes, I have been in a car accident."

Hailey:  "Oh, sorry, I accidentally called you stupid." 

She lights up the room and is such a sweet heart.  I am not sure what I am going to do in the next coming weeks when she is not the baby anymore.  She is so excited to be a big sister.  When our nephew Blake was born we visited them in the hospital.  Blake was sad but Hailey really wanted to hold him.  She held him so softly and was the only one that could put him to sleep.  It was such a sweet and tender moment.

We decided to have a princess party for her birthday.  She enjoyed decorating crowns with her friends.

 You can not have a party in the Couch household without playing 7-11.  The kids love this game.

 Ashley decided to be a clown and make balloon animals for the kids.  She was really funny and the kids had a great time. 

 I am a bad Mom and did not make her birthday cake.   She decided that cupcakes would be good enough.  Whew!  The best part was I did not have to make them.

 She had such a fun birthday party and got a lot of fun birthday gifts.  We love you little Hailey Jojers!!!



So Proud!

A year or so ago Mitchell, and the other scout leaders, were thinking about this years High Adventure and what fun adventure they would go on.  I remember one day Mitchell mentioning to me that he wanted to cycle the Oregon Coast and that he thought that the boys would be able to do it and that it would be fun.  I kinda laughed because Mitchell did not even own a bike, let alone ride one since we had been married.  How in the world was he going to ride the whole Oregon coast? 

Well, this thought was the beginning to MANY MANY MANY hours of work on Mitchell's and the Scout Troops part.  Mitchell spoke with other scout troops that completed the same adventure, spoke with police along the coast route to see if it was safe, came up with the route, had weekly Saturday rides with the Scouts so that they could be in shape for this HUGE task that was ahead of them.  As the time got closer I realized this was really going to happen and I was so excited for him!

The night before he was to leave we went to my sister Heather's house for dinner.  Mitchell and Paul went upstairs and when he came down this is what I saw!!

 He kept telling me that he was going to shave his head and write the miles that they were going to ride into it but I did not believe him.  I guess I need to listen better.  :)  The boys loved it and Mitchell had fun with it. 

I was lucky enough to drive Mitchell and the boys to Astoria where they would begin their six day journey.  I had some time to spare so I rode along with them for their first 18 miles from Astoria to Seaside Oregon where they ate breakfast.  When Mitchell drove off with the boys tears went down my face because I was so proud of them and all that they had set out to do.  They were actually doing it after MONTHS and MONTHS of hard work and many hours of riding.  It was amazing to see how well the boys worked together and supported each other.

On that Friday I decided to drive down to watch them go through the finish line.  We met up at their campground and had a fun time playing on the beach with Mitchell and some of the boys.  Afterwards we said our goodbye's and the girls and I went to a comfy hotel room.  :)  In the morning we had fun riding alongside Mitchell and encouraging him.  It was so hard to see them have to conquer a huge hill because you wanted to just push them along, they were so tired, but almost done.

 When the boys were approximately 10 miles from the boarder that was when they received the most flats and problems.  The girls and I, and another family were waiting for three hours while they were stopped due to problems.  Mitchell said it was one thing after another, but once they got on their way everything was great. 

There were chase cars so we knew that the boys were getting close.  The girls held up signs and blew horns as each boy went through the finish line.  They decided to let Mitchell go through the line first, which was really a cool thing to see. 

It was amazing to see that each boy actually finished and without too many problems along the way.  Two boys fell and had scrapes, but nothing major and a mother (two mom's went on the trek also and rode the whole way!) fell and was not hurt because of her helmet. 

 They did it!!!!  What an amazing feat to be able to say that you rode 388 miles in six days from the top of Oregon to the California boarder.   (As a side note, Mitchell  kept getting made fun of because the numbers on his head were incorrect as to how many miles they rode, it ended up being more since they had some detours along the way.)

The next day at church Bishop had nothing but good things to say about Mitchell and the Scouts.  He was so proud of each of them.  During Sunday School we were informed that Mitchell and I were to go and speak with our Bishop after church.  Mitchell was upset because he was not even home for 8 hours and would already be released from his calling.  As we went into the office our Bishop said that he was so proud of Mitchell and wanted to call him as the new Young Mens President.  Mitchell and I were in shock!  He really thought he would be released out of Young Mens so he was so excited.  He has done a great job with the boys and is a great Young Mens President.

They are already planning next years High Adventure in which they will kayak the San Juan Islands in Washington.  How fun!!!

Visit with Grandpa's and Grandma

In July Great Grandma and Grandpa Couch made the trek from Oklahoma to California where they stayed a couple of weeks and then on their way home they stopped by our house to see us.  We had a wonderful time.  We were also able to visit with Grandpa Couch who was their chauffeur.  :)  It was wonderful having them here in our home. 

We enjoyed a lot of visiting, Mitchell took his Dad fishing with our neighbor and we even snuck out for dinner and lunch.  They were only able to stay about 36 hours, but it was wonderful!

Grandpa Couch came with presents galore for the girls.  Grandma and Grandpa Couch and Nana went on a cruise and got the girls a lot of fun trinkets and gifts.  Grandpa was really good at making sure that each girl got the same amount as the other.   

 It is always fun when Grandma's and Grandpa's come.  We look forward to seeing them as soon as the baby comes in a couple of weeks. 



29 Weeks and Counting!!!

I can not believe that I am 29 weeks along already.  Late at night, when the kids are in bed, Mitchell and I like to talk about how our life will change in just a few short weeks.  We won't be able to just tell the kids to get into bed, we can't just pick up and do the everyday things that I have been so accustomed to the past six years.  BUT it is ALL worth it.  We can not wait for our son to arrive.  We can't wait to hold him, snuggle with him, hear his cute little cry, watch him smile for the first time and watch our girls fall in love with their baby brother. 

He has been so active lately and it is so fun to grab Mitchell's hand or let one of the girls feel my belly.  Ashley loves to talk right at my tummy to see if he moves.  He will defiantly know Ashley's voice when he comes out.  :)  He gets the hiccups quite a lot and that is such a weird sensation to feel.  I remember when I was pregnant with Hailey she would get the hiccups every day and sure enough when she was born she had them every day for about a month or so. 

With all of the fun comes the pain, but he is worth it!  A couple of weeks ago I took my girls to a Mexican Restaurant and I got food poisoned because of it.  Shortly after I threw up some blood so I called my Dr and he told me to go to the Labor and Delivery immediately.  As I sat there with the monitors hooked up to me I started contracting and they became more and more steady.  The Nurse gave me a couple of glasses of water and told me to drink them and sent me on my way.  Luckily I have not had that many contractions since.  I have about three or four good ones a day. 

At about 26 weeks I started having really bad back pain and a strange pain under my right chest.  Every night I would lay on a heating pad and that did not do anything for the pain.  At my 28 week appointment I told my Dr about it and he sent me in for an ultrasound to see if I happened to have Gallstones.  Luckily they did not find them, but now I am just confused as to what the pain is. 

To top that all off I was getting my mail and I tripped pretty hard on the concrete step and landed on my hands.  I am so glad that I did not land on my stomach.  I have had pretty bad back pain since falling and I am trying to take things slower, but that is so hard with three active girls.  Before school started Mitchell gave each of our girls a Father's Priesthood Blessing and he also gave me one.  He told me that I need to listen to my Dr and follow what he has to say.  After I told him about the fall he told me that I HAVE to slow down and stay down, Dr's orders!  So, my nights have been sleepless and I toss and turn with pain, but he is worth it and I am just readying myself for when the baby comes.  :)

HIS NAME

We have finally chosen a name for this sweet little Spirit that will enter our home.  He will be named BOYCE CALVIN LEE COUCH but will go by the name Calvin for short.  :)  In Oklahoma it is very common for the men to have three names so we have taken on their tradition since a lot of Mitchell's family is from Oklahoma and we could not agree upon just one name.  He will be named after a couple of amazing men!

The Boyce Lee comes from Mitchell's Grandfather Boyce Lee Couch.   Grandpa Couch is one of those men that make you feel special every time he sees you.  He loves to get "sugar" from our girls and loves to spoil them.  Every time we go to his house in Oklahoma he cracks open his piggy bank and gives every penny to his grand kids, which last time amounted to about $25 each grandchild.  He is very interested in what our girls are doing and how their grades are.  The second grades come in the mail we are to mail them to him so he can send them some money for how well they do. 

One of my fondest memories of Grandpa is the last time that we went to Oklahoma for vacation.  All of his family was there and Grandma and Grandpa were in heaven.  Every night for five or so years he would go to the local nursing home to take care of his Mother in Law.  He would bring her a special milk shake and comb her hair for her and make her feel comfortable until she fell asleep and then he would sneak out to go home and sleep.  In the five years that she was there he only missed going there five times.  What amazing dedication.  One of the nights that we were there I snuck over to the nursing home to sit with him and Grandma Maxey.  He was so gentle with her and so loving.  I cherish the hour or so that I was able to hear stories about how he met Grandma and how well Grandma Maxey always treated him.  He is such an awesome example to me of dedication and love.  I am so proud that my son will carry on his name.

(Grandpa Boyce Couch, Hailey, Lindsay, Grandma Betty Couch and Ashley at our home June 2010).

Calvin Courson is another amazing man that we are proudly naming our son after.  I only saw Grandpa Courson a couple of times but each time that I saw him he made me feel loved.  I remember on a trip from Utah to California stopped in at Grandma and Grandpa Courson's home in Boron, California.  Grandpa let Lindsay play with his furbys.  This was special because he NEVER let anyone touch his furby dolls and I believe that he had like 50 of them in all.  His collection was amazing.  They were all in their original packaging also.  Grandpa got out about 8 of the dolls and sat them all in a circle and let them communicate with each other while Lindsay sat there enjoying every second.  After Grandpa died we each received some of Grandpa's furby dolls that we cherish!

When Mitchell grew up he was lucky enough to live around the corner from Grandma and Grandpa Courson.  They would go to his many football games, wrestling matches and school activities.  They took a very active roll in his life and truly loved it. 

When Grandpa died a couple of years ago I was so glad that Mitchell was able to fly down to be with his parents and Grandma.  He was an amazing man full of love and compassion.

(Grandpa Calvin Courson and Grandma Sharon Courson)

It is very important for us to have our son bear the middle name LEE.  He will be the fifth generation of Lee's in the Couch family.  His genealogy chart is as follows:

Opal Lee Couch (Great Great Grandfather)

Boyce Lee Couch (Great Grandfather)

Hershel Lee Couch (Grandfather)

Mitchell Lee Couch (Father)

Boyce Calvin Lee Couch

I am so excited to finally be having a son!  I can not wait for all of the boy things that we will get to do from t-ball practice to scouting to his mission and everything else that comes along with having a boy.  The other day I bought his first little outfit and I am so excited that it is not pink.  :)

10 more weeks until we get to hold our sweet little baby and I can NOT wait!  

Christmas for a Family in Need

So I would not normally post things like this, but I am the one that started this fundraiser so how else do I get the word out, then on my blog?  The family right behind us lost their father due to a sudden heart attack back in June.  He left behind a wife and five children ranging from ages 3-16.  I am wanting to set up this fundraiser/pledge so I can help them with Christmas gifts this year.  The Mom did not work and was a stay at home Mom so she is really in need of the assistance right now, and has yet to find a job.  It is a really sad situation and I just can't sit here at my home and do nothing about it.  I am keeping this totally unanimous since I am their resident manager and I possibly could be fired for doing this so I will leave whatever I buy on the porch and watch their reaction out my back window.  Thanks in advance for the help in bringing smiles to this sweet family this Christmas.

http://pledgie.com/campaigns/13841

Playing Catchup - June Happenings

PIANO RECITAL

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Back in June, Lindsay and Ashley had their yearly piano recital. They have grown so much in piano and are doing really well. I can't say that I do not have to fight them to practice or to go to piano, but it is worth it and they get excited when they pass of their songs. We told them that when they can play a Hymn from the Hymn book we will allow them to quit piano. I hope that they will choose to continue after that, because that is when they start getting good and start playing the fun songs. I like to tell them that I have always regretted quitting piano at about that time and I know they will also if they do. We will see how things go the next couple of years.

Lindsay and Ashley with their piano teacher, Becky Baker.

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Ashley playing her recital song, "Spanish Caballero."

Lindsay playing her recital song, "Morning Snowfall."

HAILEY's PRESCHOOL GRADUATION

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Hailey really enjoyed preschool this last year. She met a lot of fun friends and really enjoyed her teachers, Jen and Patti. They were awesome with the kids. She want to school at Mini Hearts Preschool in Roy at the Catholic Church.

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Her graduation was such a cute day. She looked so grown up with her cute little cap on her head. They sang a song for the parents called, "Tony Chestnut." Each of the graduates also told everyone their name along with what they want to be when they grow up. Hailey said she wanted to be a ballerina when she grows up. A lot of little kids wanted to be a vet or as one child called it, a "vegetarian."

UTAH FUN

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In June my family had their Doug Adamson Family Reunion. Since Mitchell was so busy with work, I decided to take the kids and go for a week to Utah while he finished up stuff at home. It worked out great that I could take Danielle and the kids with us. It was fun driving together, and the kids loved having their cousins in the car.

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I stayed a couple of nights with Tricia and her family. We had fun playing outside, making a campfire in their backyard, ice blocking and running through fountains. It is always so much fun to have lots of cousins for the kids to play with and they got along really well.

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Allyson lives close by so I went to her house a couple of times. I enjoyed holding baby Eliza and playing with Myles and Rose. We had a little soccer game in front of their apartment with Uncle Dallin.

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Since I was in Utah during the Manti Pageant I decided to take my girls. It was amazing and the spirit was so strong there. I met up with my friend Krissy Lundeen and it was a lot of fun talking and catching up while waiting for the Pageant to begin.

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The main reason for going to Utah was for the Reunion. We decided since there would be two pregnant women that we would camp out at Tricia's house. It was a wonderful idea and the kids decided to camp in the back yard with tents while I slept inside in a comfy bed.

The first day we went to Wheeler Farm and enjoyed walking around their beautiful grounds and looked at animals. It was just fun being together as a family. We then went to Allyson's church where we played outdoor games until it was to hot then we brought them inside. The kids made fun hats with their names on them and Camille made some balloon animals. Paul put together the game Minute to Win it. I had never heard of it before but it was so much fun. Everyone laughed so hard and we really enjoyed ourselves.

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Before we went home I took the girls along with my parents, Allyson's family and Tricia's family to Temple Square. It is always amazing to go there and the girls really enjoyed walking around visiting the museums and the temple grounds. It was the perfect ending to our wonderful vacation!

1st Day of School

I will have to do a summer post later since we have had so much going on. I want to just kinda catch up to today before I forget all of the exciting things that are going on in our lives.

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This school year was such an exciting one for my girls because they all knew their teachers already. Lindsay and Ashley were lucky enough to keep their same teacher as last year and Hailey already knew the kindergarten teacher since she taught Lindsay and Ashley and I helped so much in the classroom.

Lindsay is the head honcho on campus this year since she is in Sixth Grade which is still in Elementary School here in Oregon. I remember my first day of Sixth Grade I wore a My Little Pony t-shirt and had pig tails in my hair. Not sure why I was able to walk out the door like that, but I did. I am so glad that Lindsay is more mature then I was at this age. Her teacher is Mr. Williams and she is lucky enough to be on the SALT team which is a leadership group that meets every Monday to discuss the weeks activities. She also gets to read the bulletin over the intercom. I was worried about her this year since her best friend, Victoria, decided to go to a Private school, but she has done really well. She has a lot of friends and is a big help to all of those around her. She is my special helper around the house. I always know that I can count on Lindsay for anything. The past couple of days she has decided to clean up our neighbors yard without her knowing who was doing it. I would say she has spent five hours beautifying her yard. We are so proud of her.

Ashley loves being in Fourth Grade. She is lucky enough to have Mrs. Greenlee again. She is such a great friend to all and is a big help to her teacher. The other day she told me about a boy that throws tantrums when he has to do anything and she felt bad for him. She asked her teacher if she could change seats and sit next to him so she could be his special helper. I love that she sees a need and fills it in her class. During recess she loves spinning on the bars. When I was in fourth and fifth grade that is where you would find me also. Her poor hands are full of blisters, but she does not care and has a great time. She is really excited to start writing her novel for NANOWRIMO in a couple of months.

I can't believe that Hailey is old enough to be in Kindergarten. I want to keep her home forever but that is not possible. I was really worried about her going to school and being a tattle tell or being really shy. At our school picnic/open house her teacher, Mrs. Weber, came up to me and said, "Hailey can run my class." The first thing I though is "OH NO! What did she do?" Apparently it is a good thing. She loves to help the other students and whenever someone needs to go to the office, Hailey is always right there to help. Her favorite part of school is riding the bus to and from school. On the first day I had to control myself to not drive behind the bus to make sure it made it to school with her on it. :) She waved at me out the window and was so excited! I cried, but it did not last long since I realized I would have a couple of hours of peace in the home to get things done.

We look forward to this school year and seeing how our children are able to excel in different subjects. I know that it will be a great.

The suspense is over!

Lindsay and Ashley had their first day of school today (Hailey starts on Thursday) so they did not get to go to our ultrasound. I tried to think of a cute way of telling them whether it was a boy or a girl since they could not come and this is what we came up with.

Blogging

One day a couple of years ago I wanted to know how a friend was doing from High School so I googled her name. I found out that she had a website and I was floored that it was so professional and looked so good. This website happened to be her blog. It was fun to be able to see how much she had changed, how much she had grown and what she was up to. Upon noticing her blog, I then noticed a little side bar that had a lot more blogs on there of people that I grew up with. I was HOOKED! It was so fun to reminisce and take a peek into their world and a see what they have been up to since leaving the little town in California where we grew up.

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Through the years I have talked a lot of other people into doing blogs. Some keep up with them, some do it periodically and some, Heather, :) have given up with their busy lives. I still love viewing them and hearing of their fun adventures, their pregnancies, their not so happy times, their struggles, their engagements, their weddings and their beautiful spirit. I have grown to love these women again and I admire them.

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I think that blogging has changed me in so many ways. I have learned that it is okay to not be stressed about keeping a journal, since my blog is my family journal. I have learned that I am not the only one that struggles with my children especially on Sundays before church. I have learned that the women that I have known for years, they may not know this, but I love them dearly and I love love love that I am back in touch with them again. I have learned that blogging takes time and that I am not a good writer. (Mitchell proof reads my posts after they are published and he gasps with all of my grammatical errors. :) ) I have learned that there are AMAZING women in this world with AMAZING stories to share from adoption to dying of cancer, to suffering burns from a plane crash to loosing their babies. Each blog has an amazing story to tell!

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So here's to many more years of blogging and keeping up with my friends and family and all that they have taught me. I hope that this blog finds a lot more joy and a lot more adventure along our way.

KOA May 2010

Every year we look forward to our annual family "camping" trip to the KOA in Astoria. We "camp" in a Kamping Lodge that comes equipped with everything from a television, shower, flushing toilet, stove, microwave, fridge, comfy beds, pots and pans and a couch. Ok so I would not call it a camping trip, but we did have a campfire and roasted marshmallows and made smores.

(Hailey was scared of the fire, as you can see. :)

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The KOA offers so many fun activities also including an indoor pool, the beach about 1/2 mile away, jumping pillow, miniature golf and BINGO games where you can get fun prizes.

(Miniature golfing)

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This trip could not have come at a better time. Mitchell was in the middle of the job from you know where. He thought it would take a week to remodel a home and it took over a MONTH because the home owner kept changing things in the middle of the job. I was looking forward to no cell phone coverage and having my hubby all to myself!

(Hailey, Lindsay and Jade on the jumping pillow.)

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We enjoyed all of the fun things that the campground offered and even got in a fun bike trip to the beach. As a tradition, Jared and his family came down and stayed the day with us. We enjoyed eating out, swimming and just hanging out.

(My girls hanging out on the ship wreckage)

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We can not wait until next year when we will get to enjoy the comforts of the Lodge with a new baby.

(Hailey enjoying the indoor pool!)

Silly Girl

Hailey is my deep thinker. The past couple of Sundays during Sacrament meeting she sits there with her Scriptures in hand and likes to pretend to read. She will use her finger and go through every line one by one on each page. I think it is hilarious that my other two girls will sit there fighting, while my baby sits there reading her scriptures. :)

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Yesterday Hailey got out her scriptures and did it again. She started line by line looking at each word. After awhile she came over to me and whispered, "Mom, you know if I could read I could read this a lot faster." Needless to say, it was hilarious! She is such a fun girl and says the darndest things. We are so lucky to have her in our family.

Meet Baby #4

We are so excited that we are having our fourth child. After having the miscarriage two years ago at the time Mitchell and I both felt like it was such a traumatic thing that we went through that we did not want to ever have to go through that again. We were content in our life and so were the girls.

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Until about a year ago, I kept having strange feelings that I can not really explain. I would be watching my girls play outside and then I would feel like one of my kids were missing. I would look around, then count my kids and realize they were all there. This happened a couple of times to me. I truly feel like this was the first time in a year that I felt as though there was a child waiting to come to our family. I have had a couple of dreams about babies also, in which I never had before. I have also had a couple of friends that had babies and it was so fun to hold them, but then when it was sad for me to hold the babies I realized that I was so ready to have another of my own.

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When I took the pregnancy test I was so excited! Mitchell and I both told each other that we would not say anything to anyone for a couple of weeks, especially to the girls. But, the excitement billowed up and we had to tell parents, then our children. They are so excited and ready for this little baby to come into our home. I even have them fighting over who will change diapers, HA, I hope they remember this come January.

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At about five weeks along I started feeling really sick and could not eat anything. I lived off of crackers and bread. At my 6 week appointment we were able to have an ultrasound and I saw my babies heart beat. It was such an amazing experience to be able to share that with Mitchell. At my 10 week appointment I found out that I had lost 8 lbs. Luckily the morning sickness has pretty much left at 13 weeks. I am extremely tired, and nauseous in the morning, but if I eat something right away it seems to help me.

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My girls have said some pretty crazy things that make me laugh and I do not want to forget it. Ashley said, "Mom, when you throw up, is that your baby going to the bathroom." Right when we found out we were expecting and when Hailey would say the family prayer she would pray that if the baby is a boy, that it would please change into a girl. Now she is just excited that we will have a baby in the house.

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I went in for another ultrasound this morning because the past couple of weeks I have felt a pain in my stomach that feels like I pulled a muscle where my c-section scars were. It would be a really sharp pain for about an hour or so, then go away, and then come back a couple of hours later. In the ultrasound we found that the baby is doing so good. Baby is growing really well and I saw two arms and two feet. It was moving around inside me and it looked like it was sucking it's thumb but I am not sure. As for my pain I was feeling Dr. Bair said that I have a cardinal ligament strain. He informed me that I am to be on bed rest, then laughed and said, "yeah right with three kids." He told me to take things slow and rest as much as possible. I hope that the pain goes away, but it sounds as though it will just get stronger as my belly continues to grow.

Here is a picture of our precious little one. (Sorry, it is a picture of a picture) I can not wait to find out if it is a boy or a girl. Any guesses on what it will be, we will find out in 7 weeks?

Lindsay's 11th Birthday - April 19

(I guess this post is better late then never.)

I can not believe that my oldest is 11. This means that she can babysit her sisters, but if you know me you will know this won't happen. :) Next year she will be in Young Women's and go to Girls Camp. I just want them to stop growing up and stay small!

Lindsay is such a huge help around the home. She loves to help me clean and do what I do not have time to do. She usually is very willing to help me with her younger sisters and is an excellent friend to everyone.

For her birthday party we decided it would be fun to tie-dye t-shirts. They turned out to be so cute and the girls had fun making them. The following Monday at school the girls all decided to wear their shirts together, wish I got a picture.

Since we had a tie-dye theme going on I decided to make her a tie-dye cake. Mitchell had to work so I pretty much did this whole thing by myself and it is okay, don't look too close.

A couple of years ago we bought a projector and Lindsay wanted to watch "Alvin and the Chipmunks, the Squeakwel" on it. I got popcorn, candy, pizza and sodas and the girls had a great time. After opening presents Mitchell told Lindsay to go into her bedroom. She thought that was a strange request but she did it anyways. She ran in and found a Guinea pig cage with a cute little Guinea pig inside. This was the ONLY thing that she wanted for her birthday and she started to cry. It was so sweet. I was so against the Guinea pig and Mitchell went out and got it anyways but surprisingly Lindsay has taken really good care of Fruit Loop.

Now my other girls think that they can get whatever animal they want and I already assured them that the answer is no. Hopefully they do not ask their Dad.

Mitchell's New Hobby

Mitchell has the amazing opportunity of being the Priest Leader in our ward. This means that he works directly with the 16-18 year old boys. He absolutely loves his calling and he loves everyone that he gets to work with. One fun thing, there are are many, is he gets to help plan the High Adventure which is usually a week long trip. Two years ago they went rock climbing and white water rafting, last year they went on a 50 mile hike and this year they chose to bike the whole Oregon Coast.

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(Mitchell went for a practice ride down 45 miles of the same route of Highway 101 that they will go for their High Adventure. The view was AMAZING!)

Biking the Oregon Coast is not a small feat. This means the the boys, and leaders have to train every Saturday morning and ride alone during the week so they can get in shape for their 360 mile trek. The first couple of training rides Mitchell went on my bike that happened to have a baby seat stuck to the back of it. I wish I had a picture, I bet it was hilarious to see. Needless to say, he was slow and needed something new. Since then he has bought a road bike off of Ebay and he has enjoyed bike riding ever since.

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He has enjoyed many rides on country roads and the girls and I love meeting up with him on his ride to cheer him on.

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Two weeks ago he set out along with his friend, Alex, to bike the Washington Coast. They started up at the Peace Arch in Canada and biked all the way to Astoria, Oregon where I picked them up. This took them four days and they biked over 200 miles. The first day they biked 125 miles which is amazing! His goal is to bike the whole West Coastline and after the High Adventure, in three weeks, he will be over half way there.

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I can not wait to hear what next years High Adventure will be, not sure how they will be able to top this one.

Utah Getaway

Mitchell and I decided that for our 12th anniversary we would go on a trip somewhere alone. We had many destinations in mind but decided to go to Utah for General Conference. Our stake had a couple of tickets and Mitchell had never gone so it was a wonderful opportunity.

My parents were kind enough to watch my girls the first day we were gone and then Jared and Danielle watched them the two days following that.

On Friday we met up with Allyson and Dallin and went to their house to see their sweet kids. I was able to meet sweet Eliza for the first time. Rose loved hanging out with Mitchell and before they dropped us off at our Hotel she would not let go of his finger, it was so adorable :)

On Saturday morning Tricia and Byron met us at the Conference Center and we were able to go to the first Saturday Session of Conference. It was amazing and we had pretty good seats in the first balcony. Following conference we went to lunch at Macaroni Grill and I had some pretty amazing mushroom raviolis.

Saturday night Mitchell and I went to the Mayan restaurant via the Trax train. The ambiance at the restaurant was excellent, but the food was horrible. That is definately not a place that I will return to. On the way back to our hotel Mitchell was looking through his wallett and two other guys on the trax train noticed his wallett was out. One of the guys came and sat right next to us (there was only one other person on our part of the train) and he started looking under his chair. He said he was there the other day and lost something. At this time I was not worried, yet. After awhile his friend came behind him and blocked the train door. Mitchell noticed what was going on and stood up and put his wallett into his pocket. Luckily it was just in time and the guys got off at the next stop. It was a pretty scary moment but I was so thankful that we were not mugged.

It was a very relaxing trip, other then the almost mugged part, and we had such a great time seeing family and walking around Salt Lake. Our next trip is definately going to be Hawaii!