Its Egg Time!!

The following are photos of the great time the kids had coloring the eggs!!! Max and Owen were loving it and Max couldn't get enough, as soon as he put his egg in a color he was asking for another one!!







I think my mom boiled something like 8 dozen eggs...WOW!! She always wants to make sure everyone gets a turn making as many as they want!!





Halfway through the eggs we got a surprise knock on the door...it was cousin Jeremy and his wife Shannon from Washington!! They stopped on their way through to Arizona and Vegas. I haven't seen him since Grandpa's funeral so it was a great surprise!!!
They are going to spend a couple nights here and then get back on the road!!

Monica pretty much frosted all the sugar cookies by herself and so it was time for the marshmellow eggs!
All the kids wanted to help and there were alot of fingers in the pan. I should have taken a picture of the finished product...once they were covered in chocolate, oops. They were SO DELICIOUS!!!

Cougar Cub Choir

Alex has been going to Cougar Cub Choir every Wednesday after school for the past few months. He has had a really fun time learning new songs and making new friends!
They put on a performance yesterday for a nursing home and then today they did an assembly for the whole school and then they had a show tonight for the families.
They did a terrific job and Alex had a little part in the program that was really cute! Here is Alex with his certificate of completion and his new friend Sydney.

Blessing for Sophia

My WHOLE family slept over at our house last night!!! It was a P.A.R.T.Y!!!
I think this was Harper's very first sleepover and she was such a good girl. I stole all these photos from Melissa because I have been terrible at taking pictures lately!
I curled all the Clark girls hair with this sweet new tool I got...it took longer than I thought it would but they all looked super cute!!
Nixon and Korver needed a bath so they jumped in the sink...Max and Owen used to do that too!!
All the kids love holding Harper. We are heading up to Herriman to go to Sophia Keller's blessing.
After church we all headed to Ry and Trisha's house for lunch. We had the most delicious food!! Here is the cute Keller family: Lilly, Trisha, Sophia, Haley and Ryan. We stayed at their house all day and Max LOVED playing with their 2 dogs. It was such a great way to spend the day!!!

Rainbow Cake

I saw this recipe for rainbow cupcakes somewhere online (I think Facebook), anyway I thought they looked so cute that I went out and bought the stuff to make them!

I decided to make a cake instead but I think the cupcakes would have been easier, it was hard to spread the batter in nice layers. I have NEVER used gel food coloring before and was completely amazed at the way they work!! My mom always bought the liquid food coloring and so that is what I always buy...NEVER AGAIN!!! The colors are amazing and the cake was so moist and delicious!!!
It was a yummy treat!!!

Overnighter

Since Rich was in Nephi all week watching the Pauole kids he decided to book a room in Salt Lake for us. I dropped Max off to Pieper's for a sleepover (they were both so excited) and then Rich and I dropped Alexa and Alex off at Sule's in Herriman. They are going to spend the weekend with him.
We ate dinner at Kneader's (a first for both of us). It was pretty good. We checked into The Plaza hotel and wanted to relax in the hot tub. The hot tub was out of order and we were both really disappointed! Rich called the front desk and the guy told him that we could go to the Radisson and use their pool. It was just across the street so we headed over and hung out there for a few hours. We sat in the sauna and the hot tub and we even swam a bit! We stopped at the gas station for snacks and breakfast and headed back to the room!

The next morning we got ready and checked out. We went to Chili's for lunch and then to the movie "Alice in Wonderland" in 3-D
This is the only photo I took all weekend, these 3-D glasses are quite stylish, don't you think?
The movie was good, a little disappointing though, there was a lot of hype but still really good! We stopped in at Target for a little bit and then headed back home to pick up Max. He had tons of fun playing with Pieper and didn't want to come with us!!

I met Sule on Sunday afternoon to get the kids, they also went to Alice and Wonderland and went to their baby brother's blessing. They had a fun weekend!

The Miracle of Life

This post is for me, I decided that I commentate about our life too much and need to do more "journaling" on the blog. Since I print my blog as part of my family history I think it's important that I share my thoughts and feelings more than I have in the past, so here goes.

Yesterday I had the most amazing experience. After having 3 of my own children, I was finally able to "be on the other end" so to speak. My sweet sister in law Jennifer gave birth to a beautiful 8 lb 5 oz baby boy named Daxon and I was there for it.

I have always wanted to see a baby come into this world, I am not a pervert or a sick-o, I just find it all incredibly amazing. I was never offered a mirror (or even thought to ask for one) with my first two kids. With Max I fully intended on watching him be born but he just came so fast (barely 1 push) that we didn't even have a camera ready let alone a mirror. I have wanted to be in the room with my sisters when they have had their babies but it has never worked out. I have mentioned this several times and Jennifer has always told me that next time she has a baby I could watch. I am not sure if she thought I would actually take her up on her offer, but I did!!

She texted me when she was about an 8 and I went to the hospital. We talked and tried to patiently pass the time. It was just her, Dustin and me in the room. She made me promise that I wouldn't look at her differently and of course I did. When it was time, her legs were so numb from the epidural that they wouldn't stay in place so the Doctor put Dustin in charge of one and me the other. She pushed once and the head came right out. That moment choked me up but I held it together, then the rest of the sweet baby came out and it was...I don't even have the words, a miracle I guess is the only way to describe it. Having been on both sides now I can completely appreciate the miracle of life and I am so grateful.

Typing this up has made me very emotional and I can't really explain why. I am not sure if it because I am so thankful for the three beautiful, healthy children that I do have, or if it's the yearning I have for another one. I think I know the reason and it is the later for sure.

Last night right before I fell asleep I was re-living the events of the day and I just started sobbing. Rich is tending kids in Nephi so I had the bed to myself and I was glad, I needed to get it all out.

Rich and I wanted to have another baby right after Max was born, back in 2006. We had to have fertility treatments to help us get Max here and we tried the same thing several times after him but it just didn't work. The funny thing to me is that when I met Rich I was totally happy and content with the two kids I had and didn't want any more kids. Rich and I talked a lot about it before we got married and I never promised him that I would have more. After being married for 2 years (his due date was actually on our 2 year anniversary) Max was born. I knew that we needed one more and I have felt it ever since. I have found that for the past year this is something that I think about constantly. I can't even count the number of nieces and nephews on both sides that have been born since I had Max. Every single sister and sister-in-law has had a baby (some are even on to their second ones) since Max, everyone that is, except me. Why did I have to think about it like that, now the tears are flowing again.

I am not sure why I have such a longing for another baby if there isn't another baby for me. I know that with all the ups and downs of Rich's employment it is probably a good thing that we don't have another baby and when I think about it logically it makes perfect sense, unfortunately my heart does not have that ability and so here I am, still longing for a baby.

I am very happy for everyone who is pregnant around me, friends and family. I have 2 really close friends that are expecting twins (something I always have wanted) and a friend that has struggled with infertility for many years who is finally expecting, and I am so happy for them, but I am not going to lie, I am a little jealous.

I know that Heavenly Father knows what is best for me and my family and I have total faith that whatever happens is for a reason that I don't fully understand and I am OK with that. It makes me feel better to get that all out, I know that if there is someone that needs to come to our family it will happen one way or another, I just need to keep having faith and patience.

More Hospital Fun!!

We went on our usual "donut and refill" run this morning and dropped by the hospital to give Melissa and Steve some donuts. Melissa was all showered and up and around looking great! We only stayed for a little bit because we hadn't gotten dressed for the day!!

 

We went to lunch and hit most of the regular stores, we were trying to find a preemie outfit for the baby because she came out so tiny that the clothes Melissa had to bring her home in look huge!! We didn't have much luck.

 

Melissa thought they would be going home tonight but the pediatrician wanted them to stay over one more night so we went to keep them company!

 

All the sisters and baby Harper, well almost all, I am not sure why Amberly isn't in these pictures. We had a fun time hanging out in Melissa's room and holding the sweet baby!!

Dress Up Time

This is what we came home to...

 

Owen and Max were just playing downstairs minding their own business and having a great ole time in the old dance costumes! Don't worry Rich put a stop to it right away, he didn't even find it a little cute. I laughed my head off and of course took pictures!!!

Baby PEACH

You may be wondering why this post is called "baby Peach" the reason is, my niece Brinlie has this talent for coming up with the cutest names for babies before they are born. The whole time Melissa was pregnant this baby has been called "baby Peach." It is a name that is not going away any time soon either. But for the record her real name is:

 

Melissa got induced and had the baby before we made it to Logan. We headed up to my parents house first because Logan Hospital does not allow kids under 14 unless they are the siblings of the baby so we had to drop off Max.
Here is Melissa in her room, she was really nervous about actually having the baby but I think she did a great job and didn't have too much trouble!
We all took turns holding the sweet new baby and checking out her tiny little feet. She was only 6 pounds and that is the smallest baby for our family. She is precious!!!

Valentine's Day

After church I sent the kids downstairs so that I could get dinner and everything ready! It was fast Sunday today and I didn't want to take a lot of time preparing dinner so I picked up a heart shaped pizza last night.
I made Rich take a picture with me, he is getting really sick of me always taking pictures of us but one day he will thank me for it!!
Here is our dinner, I might have to do this more often, it is nice to not have to worry about making dinner after church (especially when we get out at 4pm)!!!
I wanted dinner to be special so I decided to do candlelight and eat in the living room at a table, to mix it up a little! I got everyone a little valentine box with teats in it and we had sparkling cider in fancy (plastic) heart glasses. I thought the table looked fantastic and I was excited for the kids to see it!
I let them upstairs when everything was ready and all the lights were off and the candles were lit. Alex was really impressed and I think Alexa thought it was kind of weird but I think she liked it. We ate all the food and went through 3 bottles of the sparkling cider. It was a great time and I think it is something we will need to do again.
After dinner we gave the kids a valentine and then me and Rich exchanged gifts. Somehow I only got a picture of Max and his elephant. Alex got a panda bear that makes sounds, Alexa got a new bag that she was dying for. Rich gave me the cutest boots and 2 rings and I gave Rich a couple new shirts and a little photo book I made for him with pictures of us over the past 6 years!!! I really enjoyed this season of love, can't wait for next year!!

"LOVE FEST"...Day 14

Since this is the last day of the "love fest" I just want Rich and the kids to know that I love them so much!!! I have had a lot of fun thinking of all the things I love about each of them. I can't express in words all the joy and love that they have brought into my life and I am thankful for it every day!!!

"LOVE FEST"...Day 13

Rich: I love that he is always willing to let me do fun things with my friends and family, ie: book club, bunco, weekend trips, girls nights etc. I know he gets jealous but he never makes me feel guilty about having fun without him!!!

Alexa: I love that she tells me about things going on in her life, ie: her first kiss, troubles with friends etc. I am glad that she trusts me and knows that she can tell me anything!

Alex: I love his smile, it makes me happy!

Max: I love how I was helping him say his prayer and he whispered to me in the middle of it, "I think I got it mom" and then he continued on his own...it was adorable!

Sugar Cookies

We didn't have much going on today so I thought it would be a great idea to make sugar cookies for the FIRST time EVER!!!
I had to go buy cookie cutters from Macey's after work and then I got started. I got the dough made and started baking, man this recipe made a ton of cookies!!! I was cooking them for hours and Rich was getting really impatient because he wanted to go to dinner!
Finally about 7pm all the cookies were baked and we went to Papa Kelsey's for dinner. It was just me Rich and Max, Alexa and Alex were at their friends houses.
When we got home, I made the frosting and Rich helped me frost the cookies while we watched the news. It was great having him help but it still took a really long time to get them all done!
They turned out really yummy and I am really glad I made them!! I am not sure if I will be making green shamrock cookies next month, we will just have to wait and see!!

"LOVE FEST"...Day 12

Rich: I love laying in bed with him in the morning and wishing we could just stay there all day!!!

Alexa: I love that she has such good friends!

Alex: I love that his head finally feels better!!!

Max: I love that he rarely pee's the bed anymore, I was getting worried!!