The Ellsworths

Christmas Card Photo's

2010-12-10T12:10:00.001-08:00

It's always been a struggle to get a nice family picture for our Christmas card. I always try to do it myself, by setting the timer on the camera and the photos never turn out nice. This year I decided to make a deal with my sister, who is pretty handy with the camera, that if she takes ours, I'll take hers. So we found a spot and spent an hour taking pictures. She did a fantastic job as always. Braxton, Hailey and Logan
The Family.....

Me and my sweet pea!

She looks so innocent....

This is my favorite picture of Braxton, he's getting so old.

Logan's Blessing

2010-12-10T11:42:00.001-08:00

Thanksgiving weekend, turned out to be a busy time....along with hosting family for the holiday, we also decided to bless Logan that Sunday. And to top that off, the bishopric had asked me to speak in church that Sunday. (yuck!) I hate to speak in church. It's always so stressful for me to prepare the talk and I'm just not a very good speaker period. The interesting thing is, prior to being asked, I'd been thinking about how blessed I am, and just feel very grateful for all the blessings I have, especially having this new little one in our home, and the topic of my talk was to be based on the message given by President Monson titled "Joy in the Journey". Finding joy in our lives and being grateful for what we have, here and now.
It was almost like the whole experience of trying to become pregnant coming full circle.
The blessing went very well and I got through my talk, very emotionally I have to say, but I got through it.

I do feel very grateful for all that I have....I come from a wonderful family, I married into a wonderful family and I have a wonderful family, and it doesn't get much better than that!

Logan Porter Ellsworth

He is now just about 2 months old and doing great. When we first brought him home we really struggled with the sleeping at night, as he was up just about every hour and a half to eat. I felt like a zombie all day and tried to sleep when I could, but when you lose sleep there is no catching up. After the 5th week, he started to do better and would sleep for 3 hours at a time, which was much better.

He now does almost 4 hours at a time and sometimes even 5. He still eats like crazy! and is huge! But he is sweet and we are all so happy he's here.

Thanksgiving 2010

2010-12-10T11:12:00.000-08:00

We had a great thanksgiving this year. My parents and brother along with his wife and daughter came out to spend it with us (my sister and I). This is the first time my parents have come out for any holiday, so it was fun to have them. We had a great time eating, playing games and just spending time together. We had Thanksgiving dinner on Friday instead of Thursday, so we could have it with my brother and family. We had so much food, it was a day full of eating! I was even glad to see my parents try a piece of every pie....:) Watching the football game...
Braxton Playing Rock Band with Uncle Jarom and Aunt Liina

Of course the BYU vs Utah game, Mike was the only Ute fan and was pleased when they won.

It wouldn't be Thanksgiving weekend if we didn't do our Christmas graham cracker houses. Growing up we did these every year, and every year my mom would spend the night making the frosting for everyone. I have taken over that job, so I think my mom secretly found pleasure in watching me do it....:)

The kids making their houses. Braxton's, Kira's and Noah's all bit the dust at least one time before they finished.

Halloween

2010-11-09T09:45:00.001-08:00

Halloween fell on a Sunday this year, which normally isn't an issue since most neighborhoods still celebrate it on Saturday. However, this year, because the kids didn't have school on the Monday following Halloween everyone decided to trick or treat on Sunday. I was really bugged, since I'd already bought the kids costumes. We did have our ward trunk or treat and we also went to my sisters ward trunk or treat to get good use out of the costumes. On Halloween we had Sunday dinner with family and some friends and then let the kids decorate cookies. They seemed to be ok with not trick or treating.Braxton and Hailey designed their own pumpkins and Mike helped them carve them.
finished products

Hailey feeding the baby.

Braxton, scary jester and Hailey, super girl
Super girl in action

Braxton decorated our trunk for the trunk or treat

He's here!

2010-11-09T09:15:00.001-08:00

Finally, baby Logan was born on October 14, 2010, via c-section. He was 8 lbs 8 oz and 20.5 inches long and we named him Logan Porter Ellsworth. When I was recovering in the post op room, I could hear a baby screaming. I was pretty out of it and thought it was Logan, not realizing there were other women and babies in there with me. I was thinking..."oh no, a screamer!" When I looked over at him he was just quietly hanging out in his bassinet. I was so relieved, it was another poor ladies baby! He has been such a good baby. He does eat like a maniac, and there are days when I feel like all I do is feed him (He gained 2 lbs in 2 weeks, so I think we are going to have another big boy), but other than that he's been fantastic!Mike and Logan waiting to be discharged on the day we brought him home from the hospital.1 day old My sister, Kristine was kind enough to come over, when he was a week old and took a bunch of newborn photos of him. These are some of the "untouched" photos that she took. She did a great job!

This is my favorite!

Braxton and Hailey adore Logan! I had to ban them from coming to the hospital after the 2nd day of fighting over him.... :) So they were very excited when we brought him home.

Braxton even changes diapers!

We are all so happy that he is a part of our family!

Tender Mercies....

2010-10-01T13:24:00.000-07:00

This past summer has been a bit of a strange one for me. Through out all of the activities and usual summer vacations it just seemed that trials and tragedy were happening all around. End of May the kids got out of school for summer vacation and we were all excited for what lie ahead for the next couple of months, boating, swimming, visiting family, vacations, sleeping in....etc.

The second week into the summer break we found out that my nephew Noah, had been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. It was quite a shock as nothing like this had ever been an issue in my family before. My sister and her husband, now had to make some very big changes in their family's lives.

I also had a friend in my ward who found out that her 3 year old son had a rare brain tumor. Through miracle after miracle they were able to find it, and get in with a Dr who was able to remove it(just this past week).

Another family in our ward had their father and two sons struck by lightening. One of the sons had actually died, but through CPR and I'm sure the Lord's will, was brought back to life and after several months of therapy is doing pretty well.

At the end of the summer my brother and his wife were expecting their 2nd child, a little girl. Liina and I were exactly 2 months apart. I was very excited that my baby was going to have 2 little cousins his age to keep him company. The day before Liina was due I recieved a call from my dad letting me know that the baby had passed away. Eventhough this was a very sad time for all of us, we were able to witness how thin the veil is and how much our Heavenly Father loves us. What could have been a very horrible and tragic time turned out to be a peaceful experience for my brother and his wife.

One night, while thinking about all that had gone on this summer I realized something....with each experience I could see when Heavenly Father was relied on and when he wasn't. When humility and faith were exercised and when pride and bitterness got in the way. Do we use the trials in our lives, no matter how big or small, as stepping stones to help us grow closer to our Heavenly Father, or stumbling blocks to pull us further away? Do we grumble and complain and focus on the "why me" or do we try to better ourselves through our experiences?

I was watching "Music and the Spoken Word" the other day, and between the songs, the narrator said something that has stuck with me...."The Good Shepherd is vigillant by day and by night. When the shadows get darker and the threats seem more real, He stands ready to help. when disquieting sounds and hidden dangers intensify our fears shake our peace, He offers peace....in the night His song shall be with me. That song is a song of peace amid the storms of life of comfort dispite heartache and pain. And above all it is a song of love and tender watchcare. No matter how dark the night we can feel heavens light. That doesn't mean bad things won't happen, good people will suffer, hearts will be broken, and anguish in one form or another comes to us all, but we can trust in the Lord's promises. In our quiet moments we listen to Him who's song in the night was first Peace, Comfort and Joy to the soul."

Summer break ends to quickly!

2010-09-06T07:12:00.000-07:00

Another school year has begun. And this year, I am an empty nester until the baby comes in October. It's actually been kind of lonely to be here alone all day, but I know that it's not for long. Braxton is in 5th grade, his last year in elementary school and Hailey started Kindergarten (out here it's all day). Braxton is always indifferent when school starts up again. He's not excited and he's not dreading it, Hailey on the other hand was very excited to wear her new clothes. She had no idea what she was in store for......school starts at 7:40 am, so the bus comes at 6:43 am and Hailey is not a morning person. It's been a struggle for both of us to get her off, a lot of tears and frustration, but she hasn't been late yet.

Lake Murray

2010-09-06T06:41:00.001-07:00

The day after we returned from Utah, we repacked and headed out to Lake Murray, South Carolina. Mikes sister, Kerri and stepmom were able to join us. It was so relaxing to hang out at the pool, boat and do absolutely nothing! A great end to the summer break. Braxton and Ellie getting ready to jump off the dock.
Her first time swimming and she once she got in it was hard to keep her out.

Mike just chillin....love the pink tube.

Superstar!

Even the dog is enjoying the relaxation..

Getting up in the morning, boating and swimming in the pool and be really tiring.

It's a rough life...

Hailey definately enjoys the camera.

Grandma Patti and Hailey took apart this puzzle thinking it wouldn't be a big deal to put it back together in three days......boy were they wrong. Everybody ended up having to work on it.

I am happy to report that we were able to get it put back together before we left.

Utah!

2010-09-05T08:13:00.000-07:00

Well, we finally made it back to Utah. After lastyears cancelation, due to health issues, we were very excited to be able to go out there and visit family. While we were out there my family had reunion and most of my family was able to be there, minus Jarom, Liina, Mark and Abe. The kids had so much fun spending time with their cousins. We were also able to see Mike's Mom and Stepdad, who live out there part time now, Mike's sister, Traci and our friends The Colemans. There is always a sense of returning home when we go out there.

Enjoying our day at the park with my family.
Our family reunion was a little different this year. We usually spend the weekend up in Park City, but due to a softball tournament this year, which occupied all of the hotels up there, we were unable to go. So my sister, Kerry pretty much took over and set up a fun day at the park for the kids. She set up a waterslide, and games to keep them entertained and they absolutely loved it!

Braxton enjoying the slide.
The kids also had a water balloon fight. There was a big plastic bucket of water balloons, which took all morning to fill up, and about 5 minutes to empty.

More water games.

Hailey, Grandma Hanson and Braxton

Mike surprised us (well as good as Mike can surprise) with a mustang, convertable as our rental car. It was fun to ride in, however, being pregnant and riding in the the hot sun not the best circumstances.

We were able to go to Stacy's pool while we were there. Braxton decided he was going to jump off the high dive....let's just say I had a few contractions watching him do it.

Zach doing a flip.......AAAAGGGGGGGGHHHHHH!
We spent a day with the Colemans. We went to the Hansen Planetarium, and Gateway Mall, so the kids could play in the water fountains.

Hailey and Kenzie playing in the water.

The air in Utah is a little different then here. When you are wet and not in the sun, it can be chilly, where as here it's so humid, you stay warm.

Kenzie and Hailey at the planetarium.
Yikes!Like father, like daughter.Me resting, and Braxton keeping me company.

Boating

2010-09-05T07:52:00.001-07:00

Boating this year has been kind of a bummer for me. There's not much you can do when your 6-7 months pregnant, other than swim around the boat. But it was fun to see Braxton's progression with his wakeboarding. It seems like he went from getting up to jumping the wake overnight. Oh to be young again! Braxton doin his stuff.While Jarom and Liina were here we were able to go out on the boat a couple of times. Jarom and Mike Crosby getting ready to tube......I don't know who has more fun, those out on the tube or Mike trying to make them crash...

Jarom getting some wakeboarding in, not to shabby.

Swett little Hailey

Independance Day

2010-09-05T07:28:00.000-07:00

4th of July, Mike's favorite holiday. This year was no different than past years....food, friends, family and fireworks. We made the trip up to South Carolina to pick fireworks for Mike's show. It's sickening how much money Mike puts out for this, year after year. It's so funny how excited he becomes, it's like a kid at Christmas.

Jarom, Liina and Hannele were able to get away from their busy lives in South Carolina and come up for the weekend and witness the show. We had our good friends, the Maddox's my sister Kristine and her family join us as well. It was a lot of fun for the kids as well as the adults. Only one mishap this year, when a firework tipped over just before igniting and shooting at a neighbors car.....................it just wouldn't be the same if some kind of close call didn't occur. Jarom showing his American spirit and his cougar allegiance.

This is my favorite picture....Mike helping Noah shoot off a roman candle.....it almost looks like a small cannon going off.

This is another good picture....yes, it's still light outside. The kids had been pestering all night to do sparkler, so Mike gave in and let them do some of them. In the picture is Mike Maddox, who is very cautious about things, so he made the kids line up with their sparklers and wouldn't let them move for fear they would either burn themselves or someone else, it was pretty funny.

Hailey and Hannele enjoying a Popsicle. Hailey loved spending time with Hannele, it was like having a little sister....not sure if it was reciprocated.

A sample of Mike's show.

Visitors from the West....

2010-09-05T07:04:00.000-07:00

Well, miracle of miracles.....my sister Stacy and her family finally came out to the South to visit. I've lived in Georgia for 11 years now and Stacy has never been able to come out and see where I live, so we were excited that they were able to come. Being pregnant, I was worried that I wasn't going to be the best hostess, but hopefully they had a good time. We were able to tube down the Chattahoochee, do some boating (until the boat brokedown) and even make a trip out to Charleston, to visit Jarom and Liina. Braxton and Hailey had so much fun spending time with all of their cousins. All in all it was a fun filled week. Hanging out at the beach in SC
Zach, Anna, Amanda, Braxton, Kayla and Hailey

A little shark, a fisherman caught in the harbor.

Hailey and Amanda boogie boarding.

Zach, Braxton and Anna.

We were also able to have another one of my sister's, Kerry and her daughter, Elsa come out and visit for a week. Kristine's son, Noah was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the beginning of the summer, and Kerry, being the sweet sister she is, wanted to come out and try to alleviate some of the stress and chaos for her. Between all of that, we were able to do some fun things; lots of time at the pool, boating (Kerry even got up on the wake board), and stone mountain. I realize that we live on the other side of the country from most of my family and that it's not so easy to come out here, so we appreciate and enjoy the times when they can.

Scout Camp

2010-09-05T06:54:00.001-07:00

Every summer is started off with Scout camp. Braxton looks forward to this week filled with sports, crafts and scouting activities and just hanging out with his buddies. When I first put him in scout camp the person in charge accidentally put him in a den a year ahead, so he's always been with the older boys and because of that, this year was his last year. He was sad, but ready to move on. I am just happy I don't have to go to another closing program of cheesey songs and super long skits. Brax in all his garb.
Getting his awards.

Learning to ride a bike.

2010-07-06T18:16:00.000-07:00

Hailey has decided that it's time for the training wheels to be removed and to learn to ride her bike, "like a big girl". So Mike took her out and they practiced over and over out on the front lawn. It was so hot and humid that by the time they came inside they were both dripping wet. After that training episode, both of the tires on her bike went flat and we decided that her bike is too small for her. So, until we get her a new bike, the lessons are on hold. Thank goodness, cause it's too hot to teach her now anyway. Yay, Hailey!
Even when she falls, she's still smiling.

Look at that concentration!

Preschool Graduation

2010-06-08T20:05:00.000-07:00

She did it! Hailey is now officially done with preschool...........YAY!! She is so excited to go to the "big school" with Braxton. Because of the age difference, this will be the only year that they ever go to the same school. I'm just excited to not have to pay tuition anymore............well for a few years. Hailey and some of her class mates singing at their graduation program. Which was about 1 hr 45min long. Mike LOVED it! She was able to do the "graduation walk" and receive her graduation certificate.

Growing up too fast!

Grandma's visit

2010-06-08T19:58:00.000-07:00

Grandma Cheryl came down for a week, to visit and see the kids in their various activities. They were so excited to have her here. They always enjoy it when grandparents come and visit.

Dance recital and gymnastics jubilee

2010-06-08T19:39:00.000-07:00

End of the school year means dance recitals and the gymnastics jubilee. First came the dance recital, this year's theme was "Alice in Wonderland". Hailey was so excited to "dance on the big stage", it was all she could talk about for weeks. Grandma Hanson was able to see her practice her numbers, before the show and Grandma Cheryl was able to come down to the performance. She had a ballet number and a tap number this year and she actually looked like she knew what she was doing. The cast....Hailey is all the way to the right.

Braxton giving her "good job" flowers.

Grandma Cheryl and Hailey

On the drive home, all tuckered out.

And now to the gymnastics jubilee. This is Hailey's 3rd year in gymnastics and this year it seems like she's starting to be able to do things on her own, so it was fun to watch her show us what she's learned.

Hailey and Gabby

Go Mini-team!

Baseball

2010-06-08T19:18:00.000-07:00

This spring Braxton was part of the Marlin's baseball team. In the past, Braxton's always been a little rusty at the beginning of the season, but by the middle he really get's his groove. This year it really didn't take that long before he got the hang of things. The coach put him on third and he rocked! Braxton became a pro at getting the kids out at third. Very rarely did a ball get past him. And he has such a good arm, and can throw far and hard. It was really fun to watch him play. He was awarded the "game" ball three times this season. Baseball ready
Braxton is always one of the bigger kids on the team, and he has such upper body strength, that when he connects with the ball, look out.......he got a double with this hit.

Spring Break 2010

2010-06-07T19:04:00.000-07:00

Spring Break was once again spent down in West Palm, Florida. We always love going down there. It's warm, sunny and the beaches are beautiful. Grandma Cheryl and Grandpa Dave were unable to go down this year, so we met up with our friends the Maddox's. We had a great time relaxing and playing on the beach. I still had my "morning sickness" which kind of put a damper on things, but it was still very enjoyable.

Braxton starting to build a sandcastle

Hailey enjoying her candy

Braxton and Mike

Mike worked on his sand castle for about an hour. Which became a hill of sand with a moat around it. There were jelly fish all over the beach, so he thought it would be funny to put one on top of the sandcastle to "guard" it. Well, hailey ended up touching the jelly fish and was stung, Dads......

Two of the days, we took a ferry out to "peanut Island". When the tide goes out you can walk out a ways to a large sand bar and find all kinds of sea creatures. Braxton would collect them and then make a little aquarium, to he could observe them.

Hailey and I on the ferry on our way back to the main land.

Braxton in the ferry
Mike Braxton and Hailey on the sand bar.....Mike is lounging on a beach chair and the kids are exploring.

We did a little bit of snorkeling while we were there....there isn't really much to see, but Mike did find this tiny octopus. It was about half the size of my hand and as you can see the color of sand, so how he found it, beats me.

Easter 2010

2010-06-07T18:27:00.000-07:00

This year we did things a little different.....we had the Easter bunny visit the day before Easter. That way we could fully focus on what Easter is really about on Sunday. The kids woke up to Easter baskets and eggs hidden around the house. They were very excited to what the bunny had brought and had a good time looking for the eggs. Brax and Hailey with the goods

Hailey's preschool class had an Easter party and an easter egg hunt, before the holiday break.

Hailey and Gabby find several uses for their baskets.....

Orlando, 2010

2010-06-07T18:14:00.000-07:00

This year for Mike's CES meeting we went to Orlando. It rained pretty much the entire time we were there, but we still managed to have a good time. The first day it poured, so we went to the "believe it or not" museum and to a movie. (I wouldn't recommend the museum) The second day we decided to brave the rain and go to Magic Kingdom. We put on our rain ponchos and headed to the park. Because of the rain there weren't very many people there, so the longest line we waited in was about 5 minutes. It was perfect!

Braxton and Hailey having fun dispite being soaked!

The third day we went to Universal Studio's. It was pretty sunny so the park was crowded! We had to wait in long lines (no fast pass here). I couldn't ride a lot of the rides because of the pregnancy, and this park is mostly big rollercoasters, so Hailey and I went on every kiddie ride we could find. It's not Magic Kingdom, but we had a great time.

On the Dr Sues merry-go-round

Dr Sues Town

Thing 1, Thing 2 and the Cat in the Hat

Hailey and I waiting for the boys to ride the Hulk roller coaster

Keeping herself entertained

Announcement

2010-03-26T09:46:00.000-07:00

Well, I figure I'm far enough along to where I can share the news that finally, after three long years of trying, we are pregnant with #3! We are all very excited to welcome this new little member of our family when he or she arrives. I am due October 19th, but will have the baby 7 days earlier by scheduled c-section.
Getting pregnant has never been easy for me, as it took 2 years to do so with Braxton and about 3 with Hailey. So I had succomed to the fact that we weren't going to have a big family, even though I always wanted one. We tried for about a year to no avail, and so I figured that #3 just wasn't meant to be. I had a boy and a girl and we were happy. However, I kept having that nagging feeling that there was another spirit waiting to join our family, so we kept on trying. I met with the Dr. and had several tests done, and he couldn't figure out why I wasn't getting pregnant. I tried two different fertility medications and neither of them worked. We prayed about doing more invasive procedures and even adoption and I didn't feel that either of those were the route to go. A lot of fasting and praying and several blessings from Mike gave me the same answer over and over, "keep trying". Not really something I wanted to hear.
This past December was particularly difficult for me, everything going on in my life at that time had kind of come to a head. I felt I had done all the Lord had asked of me and I had no more strength to deal with it all anymore. I decided to kneel down in prayer and ask for help. I gave one of the most heartfelt prayers I've ever had, and basically told the Lord that I've done all I can do, and I was turning it over to him now. We needed a miracle and I knew it would happen if it was His will. After my prayer I felt impressed to open my scriptures. I stared to read, and on the third verse I read the answer to my prayer. Here I am 34 years old and this is the first time I've found an answer to my prayer through the scriptures! (mainly because I haven't ever looked before) I knew that Heavenly Father would grant me the miracle I had asked for, and two months later, He did.
Why do I share this story? A couple of days ago Mike and I were discussing a talk given by Elder Bednar about sharing and living your testimony. And it got me thinking, I definately live my testimony, but I don't often share it. So I thought I would share it with my family and friends. This whole experience has taught me about the power of prayer and the scriptures. Reading the scriptures has never been very easy for me. I don't like to read very much and I've always looked at reading the scriptures as a chore. About 6 months before this prayer, I started making personal scripture study a priority. We've always done it with the kids, but I was always sparatic when it came to doing it by myself. Had I not been keeping up on my daily reading, I wouldn't have been at the place where I would have found the particular scripture that answered my prayer. I do know that our prayers are answered, we just need to be patient and realize that Heavenly Father is in control. I've come to find out that the biggest spiritual growth, for me, is when I go through trials.
That being said........this has been the hardest pregnancy! This is the sickest I've ever been and all I keep thinking............"I worked for 3 years for this!" What can I say, I'm only human. :)

Cabo San Lucas, Mexico 2010

2010-01-26T17:46:00.000-08:00

Mike's mom just celebrated her 60th birthday, and for her gift she wanted the family to join her down in Cabo. I have to admit that I was hesitant to go, with the swine flu going around, all that we had going on here at home, having a new puppy, and taking Braxton out of school, I just seemed like the wrong time to go, but I am so glad we went. Have you ever gone on vacation and not realized how much you needed it until you were a couple of days into it? That was me.

The weather was beautiful, not too hot, but warm enough to play in the ocean. The kids had a blast spending time with Aunts, Uncle, Grandparents and cousins they don't get to see very often. Our week was filled with swimming at the pool, playing on the beach, whale watching, jetskiing, snorkeling and good old fashioned relaxation.

I've never been to Mexico (other than on a cruise) so I didn't quite know what to expect. When we drove from the airport to our resort I was a bit concerned because of how run down everything was, it is definately a poor country. But as soon as we hit Cabo San Lucas it was like an oasis in the desert. Beautiful resorts with fancy landscaping, lined the beaches. There was even a Walmart and Costco near by. It doesn't get more at home than that.

I am really grateful that we had the opportunity to go. Thank you Dave and Cheryl!We stayed at the Hacienda Del Mar. The resort was amazing! The backside was lined with several swimming pools, hot tubs and infinity pools. Hailey enjoying the pool, getting ready to swim to Mike.Taylor, Ryan, Braxton, Dayton, Mike and Hailey relaxing in the infinity pool, looking for whales. The Whales were so close you could see them come up out of the water. Braxton, Taylor, Mike and Hailey

Taylor and Hailey were best buds on the trip. Taylor slept at our condo just about everynight. Taylor was kind enough to give Hailey swimming and "manner" lessons. One afternoon, Hailey and I were at the pool and she wanted to swim off without her arm floaties on. When I told her no, she reminded me that Taylor (who is 6) taught her how to swim, so she could do it just fine.

Mike and I at Chaleno Beach

There was some awesome snorkeling at Chaleno Beach. Braxton has only snorkeled in Florida, where there isn't much to see, so he was pretty excited to so many different types of fish.

Mike and Braxton snorkeling.

We also found a lot of sea glass on the beach.

Cheryl requested that one night we go and take family pictures on the beach, so after about an hour and a half of driving around to find the perfect place we ended right back at a beach close to our resort.

Cheryl bought Hailey and Taylor matching dresses for the pictures. As soon as we got there Hailey and Taylor ran straight for the water, and of course, Haileys dress got wet. She was very upset!

Braxton, Taylor and Hailey

Another infinity pool.

One of our excursions we took a boat out to the Arch at the tip of the Baja peninsula. There were a cluster of rocks covered with sea lions basking in the sun.

One morning Braxton and I made a trek out to the beach to meet Kerrie to take some sunrise photos.

Another excursion was whale watching. What an amazing experience! We were lucky to find a mother and baby whale hanging out. The baby even jumped out of the water a couple of times, which I of course missed with my camera.

This is the snorkeling area at Chaleno beach. The rocks you see were just filled with fish.

Mike and Braxton heading in to do some exploring.

Mike, Braxton, Hailey and Taylor enjoying the beach one last time before we headed home.

The famous arch at the tip of the baja.

So long Mexico, back to the real world.....

The Real Storm

2010-01-26T17:10:00.001-08:00

Little did I know that the little snow storm I blogged about earlier, was just a preview to what was to come. We actually got a couple of inches and school was closed. It doesn't sound like much, but that's a big deal here. The kids had a blast playing in it.

This was just the begining of the storm

Hailey enjoying the new snow

The street was covered with a sheet of ice, so the neighborhood boys took their body surfing boards and sled down until it melted.

Hailey and Gabby were content sledding down this little hill. The body boards didn't work so well, so I ended up pulling them down the hill.

Since we don't get weather like this very often, we aren't really equiped to clothe the kids, other than a coat. I found some of Braxton's old snow pants, and Hailey was not pleased that they were baggy.

A snowball!

Braxton having a snowball fight.

Grandma and Grandpa Ellsworth Visit

2010-01-26T16:57:00.000-08:00

New Years day, we were privilaged to have Grandma and Grandpa Ellsworth come down and visit. We spent the weekend pretty much playing games. I'm sure Grandma and Grandpa were "gamed" out by the time they went home. With the exception of Ellie chewing Grandma's shoe (after I'd bragged at how she never chews anything) we had a great time. Grandma and Grandpa playing Tippo Uno with the kids

Not quite a Christmas Miracle, but I'll take it anyway...

2010-01-03T17:34:00.000-08:00

As I've stated in previous blogs, being a Utah girl, Christmas just isn't Christmas, without snow. However, living in the south, I have yet to see it. Every year I hope for the "christmas miracle" as I call it, for it to snow on Christmas Eve or Christmas, and every year I am disappointed. The weather man even forcasted it the week before, so I had hope, but NOTHING! Well we did get rain. Anyway, 5 days after Christmas, the kids come running up to my room to let me know that it was snowing outside. Granted it wasn't much, and it wasn't Christmas anymore, but I'll take what I can get. This picture is pretty disceiving, as there was barely a dusting on the grass. Even with this little, it still was pretty, and you could still hear the "hush" of the falling snow.

The big 5!

2010-01-03T17:17:00.000-08:00

I can't believe that my little baby is 5 already! Time really does go by too fast! It just seems like yesterday I was coming home from the hospital with her. After having only 1 boy for almost 5 years, it was a change to have a little girl. While Braxton was mischievious, and couldn't sit down for more than a minute, Haileys more calm and loves to sit and color and play quietly. She loves to help me with household chores, and with Nicoles baby, Spencer. She is very loving and loves affection, where I'm not really that way, it's been good for me to learn that it's important to show that more often, to my kids and family. She loves to laugh and has a very loud giggle, she idolizes her brother and loves to snuggle with Mike, and to my surprise is very much a mamma's girl, eventhough she is more like her dad. She loves for me to do her hair and paint her nails. One of our favorite things to do together is to sit on my bed and color in her coloring books. She doesn't like to see anyone upset, but isn't afraid to stick up for herself. She is truelly a blessing to our family and we don't know what we'd do without her. I can't believe she will be starting all day kindergarten next fall. Our gift to hailey was this vanity. She loves to sit and play with her hair and play dress-up. This year she's been talking about having a party at Chuck-e-cheese. I gave her a choice, a party or I would take her to get her ears pierced....she chose the party. CRAZY! So I guess we'll be headed to Chuck-e-cheese soon.

Hailey with her cute headbands from Grandma and Grandpa Ellsworth. The perfect gift!

Christmas 2009

2010-01-03T16:46:00.001-08:00

Christmas this year was pretty quiet. No family visit's, or anything out of the ordinary. Although with my sister and her family living here we are able to spend it with them. We headed over to their house for a delicious honey baked ham, Christmas Eve dinner, followed by a Christmas program, put together by Uncle Mike. After, the kids exchanged gifts with each other and then they all were able to put on their Christmas pj's.

Hailey and Kira are the angels, Noah was a shephard and Joseph and Braxton was a wiseman. Kristine played Mary since she is "great with child."Everyone in their pajama's

With the Sampson Family still living with us, that makes for a very large crowd, Christmas morning. It's just not the same if Christmas morning is calm and quiet, so I enjoy all of the excitment and craziness that comes with 7 children. About a week before Christmas, I was talking to Braxton about one of my favorite Christmas's growing up and asked him if he had a favorite Christmas memory, he replied that last year was his favorite Christmas. I asked him why and he answered, "because the Sampson's were here". I wonder what the kids are going to do when their friends don't live here anymore.
The tree, Christmas morning.

Opening gifts from Santa.

No one was left out, not even Ellie.

This year Braxton asked for several versions of the rubiks cube and an acoustic guitar. He was very excited when he saw that santa had left him the guitar and that Dad had signed him up for lessons. I decided to take lessons with him, and we start tomorrow. This should be interesting.

Santa gave hailey a three muskateer barbie, a barbie guitar and something else I can't remember. However she was very disappointed that he didn't give her the cupcake maker she'd been talking about for the past few weeks. And she was sure to let everyone know, that he didn't bring it! I pointed out that maybe he didn't bring it because he knew that someone else was going to give it to her and that she needed to be patient. Well, sure enough, Grandma and Grandpa gave her the cupcake maker and she felt much better. When all of the gifts were handed out and unwrapped she came up to me and said...."that's it?!" Wow, she is hard to please.

Preschool performance....

2010-01-03T16:21:00.000-08:00

Well, this was the last preschool Christmas program I will have to attend, for Hailey. She did a great job, singing all of the songs and doing the actions. It was fun to see her up there having a good time. The best part was to watch the little boy behind her pull faces and goof off.

If Hailey didn't know the words, she'd still move her mouth, like she was singing.

Last year Hailey and her class were supposed to black, which wasn't very exciting for her. But this year, they were supposed to wear their "best". She picked out a fancy church dress, and was very excited to wear it. Miss Nancy and the kids playing a game at the class party.

Gabby and Hailey. I never understood why they invited the parents to the class parties, just so we could stand around awkwardly and watch the kids eat.

Christmas Goodies..

2010-01-03T15:24:00.000-08:00

I grew up with a Mother, who would make and hand out plates of goodies to friends and neighbors, every Christmas season. I remember the homemade cookies, suckers, marshmellow/popcorn candycanes, and my personal favorite, the homemade carmels, that she she spent hours putting together. Then my dad and and all of the kids would drive around and deliver it all.

I never realized how much work she put into those plates, until I tried to do it myself. Every year, I'd make a goal to at least come up with something for the neighbors, and every year, I never followed through. This year, Nicole and I decided that we'd spend a day baking and put plates together. We made sugar cookies that the kids frosted and decorated, she made "bark" which is basically chocolate, corn syrup and saltine crackers, I was to make chocolate mint cookies, which I botched the recipe of course, and they ended up having to be thrown away. And our pride and joy, homemade chocolates. Destin headed this project up. We all painted molds with colored chocolate, which took hours. And they looked amazing. I'd never done this before, and actually had a lot of fun doing it. After we painted the molds and filled them with chocolate, we then put them outside to keep them cool. Well, we forgot about the molds and they sat out in the sun for most of the day. It wasn't super warm, but just warm enough to melt everything together, ruining all the work we had done. The big chocolate blob.
Nicole was actually able to salvage some of them and we did include them on the plates. I am proud to say that dispite all of our little snags, our Christmas goodies were a success!

The New Puppy Poop

2009-12-28T18:13:00.000-08:00

The week before Halloween Mike's mom and step-dad came down for a visit. I'd had a pretty rough week, the week before, and Mike was playing with idea of getting me a puppy to cheer me up. As soon as he mentioned it to his mom there was no turning back, we were all on line looking trying to find the right one. Mike found an ad for a litter of yellow labs in the paper, so we loaded up in the car and headed about an hour away to see the puppies. There were 7 of them, and they were all so sweet, making it hard to pick one. I did spot one puppy, that was pretty shy, but calm. She cautiously came up to me and sat herself down on my lap, while the other puppies were running around like crazy. That made my decision a lot easier. The kids named her Ellie, an abreviation of Ellsworth. We brought her home and were totally unprepared to have a new puppy. She slept in the baby pak-n-play until we were able to get a crate. She's been a really good puppy. Everyone keeps telling me that Labs like to chew, and to be careful. However, the only thing she's really gotten a hold of is garbage off the floor. She loves wrappers, and paper. She's never chewed anything else, other than her toys. She can be really playful and then just collapse on the floor and sleep for hours. Ellie at 3 months

Christmas time is here......

2009-12-15T14:37:00.001-08:00

Hands down, Christmas is my favorite holiday! I love the lights, the music, the decorations, the snow (eventhough we don't get that here in the south). It usually takes me a few days to get all of my decorations up. Just putting the lights on our 12 foot tree can take up to 3 and 1/2 hours. I try to get half of my house done just before Thanksgiving and the other half right after. This year for some reason I drug my feet getting it all done. The storage boxes sat out for a couple of weeks, but finally I got my act together and got everything up. I suppose as I get older, I'll cut down on what I do, but for now, I like our house to look like Christmas exploded. It does take a while to plug everything in, and then unplug everything.....one of these years I'll invest in the clapper!

The big tree in our keeping room.This tree is covered in angel ornaments that I've collected from our different vacations. This one is from Virginia.

Our Family room tree. It's supposed to be stripped like a candy cane, it doesn't look so good. We like to put a real tree in this room and this year I really wanted a flocked tree. Since I can't have snow outside, why not inside? So thinking I was so clever I bought the cans of flock so I could do it myself and save money. Well, I coated the thing twice and it just gave it a dusting of white, making it look dead. Oh well, next year I'll just pay for the real thing.

When Mike and I first moved out to Georgia I was pregnant with Braxton. I'd had some complications with kidney stones, so the pregnancy was pretty awful. I was homesick and lonely, because Mike was in school leaving me home alone a lot to ponder on my sad life. :) When December came I was very excited, we had planned to go back to utah to spend Christmas with my family. I was 6 almost 7 months pregnant, but I really needed to go home. A couple of weeks before we were to leave I ended up in the ER with pain, which had started contractions. After tests and xrays they found a very large stone that was blocking my kidney. So that night I was admitted into the hospital and scheduled for surgery the next day, as they were worried I would miscarry or lose the kidney all together. They removed the stone and put in two stints. Now having one stint, without being pregnant, is very uncomfortable, having two and being pregnant is down right miserable. On top of that the Dr let me know, that under no uncertain terms was I to travel anywhere! My life was coming to an end!

Mike drove me home from the hospital and tried to convince me that we'd still have a great Christmas. But there was nothing he could do or say to make me feel better. When we got into our apartment there was this Christmas village that Mike had gotten for me. My mom had one just like it and I'd always wanted one. It was one of the sweetest things Mike has ever done for me.

This is the University of utah tree in our dining room. When I worked at the U, my employer gave me a U of U ornament, since Mike graduated from there I thought it would be cute to do a theme tree. Go Utes! Yeah, I'm really an Aggie.

Family Christmas Card '09

2009-12-15T13:30:00.000-08:00

Every year it's a big production to get our Christmas cards done. I like to include a family picture and even with only two kids, it's still hard to get everyone looking at the camera at the same time. Usually I'm doing it with timer, on the camera, so I snap the shot and then run and try to get into place before the timer goes off. This year I made a deal with Nicole, if she would come and take our picture I would do her family picture. We decided to do it at Poole's Mill, which is a river with natural rock slide formations. (In the summer we take the kids there to play in the water and slide down the rocks)

We arrived before the Sampsons so I tried a couple of timed shots. I think next year I'll just have Kristine take them. One if the timed shots
Mike practicing his smile.....

A version of the picture we ended up using

Parker, Spencer, Braxton, Gabby, Max, Hailey and Zach playing on the bridge.

It was really cold! So we did the best we could as fast as we could.

One of the pictures I took of the Sampson's

Always gotta get a picture of the girls.

Christmas Showcase 2009

2009-12-15T13:18:00.001-08:00

Every year, before the Christmas break, Hailey's dance and gymnastics classes put on a little showcase so the parents can see what they've been learning. This year Hailey's ballet/tap class is very small, by that I mean, it's pretty much her and her cousin Kira. There is another girl in the class, but she's not there very often. The girls have a great time together, and Hailey looks forward to class every week. I'm not sure if it's because of dancing or because she gets to see Kira.Stretching at the bar The girls did a little "reindeer" number to the Manheim Steamrollers "Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer."
The Elf and the reindeer

Practicing "shuffle-ball-step"

Snowflake fairy

Spreading her joy

The girls picking out their tu-tu's, wings and crowns

Ward Christmas Party

2009-12-15T12:56:00.000-08:00

On the way to the "family" ward Christmas party, Mike mentioned to the kids that Santa would be there, so Hailey practiced over and over what she was going to ask for, a "pink 3 muskateer barbie doll". "Yay" I thought, already got it. So she gets on his lap, he asks her what she wants and she say's "a cupcake maker". What?!

He's baaack...........

2009-12-15T12:46:00.000-08:00

The Elf is back for another round of reporting the childrens behavior to Santa. There really is something creepy about a little doll sitting there with a stupid grin on his face staring at you, motionless, but the kids love it. He came a couple of days after Thanksgiving, however Hailey and Gabby, touched him (which is a big NO NO), so he went back to the North Pole. The kids were very nervous that he wouldn't return, and they would get nothing for Christmas. They wrote an apology letter asking him to come back. After about a week he did return, however he's now become a mischievous elf. (which is exactly what I didn't want) One morning we woke up to toilet paper all over the house there he was, sitting on the tree, with that grin holding an empty toilet paper roll. Another morning he was hanging from a light fixture holding an empty cereal bag and all of the cereal had been dumped all over the counter. I can't wait until he heads back to the North Pole for good! Hanging out of a hole in the ceiling (a hole that Mike was supposed to fix oh, about two years ago after our washer flooded the laundry room) He got into the Christmas candy and is enjoying a candy cane.

Basketball '09

2009-12-15T12:33:00.001-08:00

With the winter season, comes basketball! This has quickly become Braxton's favorite sport, and he's gotten pretty good at it. With the Sampson's living here, he has three boy's to play against. They are constantly out on the driveway playing, giving him good practice. He is actually one of the best on the team. He hasn't made a basket yet, but he is by far the best rebounder. He's not afraid to get in there and get the ball. He's great at passing and dribbling. He get's a lot of praise from his coach, which he loves. Jump ball at the beginning of the game. The boy that Braxton went up against was about a foot taller than him and Braxton still got the ball.
Shooting a basket, it hit the backboard and the side of the rim, barely missing the basket.

Brax the Man!

Graham Cracker Extraviganza 2009

2009-12-15T11:32:00.000-08:00

This was the first year we were able to have family here to join in on the tradition of Graham Cracker house making. Now that my sister and family live here we can get together every year! Yay! I'm sure she's excited too. :) The Sampsons were here too, so we had quite a crew, and quite a mess to clean up!

I have taken over the roll of my mom and have become the frosting maker/frosting dispenser filler and Kristine, Uncle Mike and Mike helped the kids build their homes. We had some great houses this year. Now that the kids are getting older they need less help, and it's fun to see what they can come up with.Uncle Mike and Aunt Kristine helping the little ones come up with their structures.Hailey distraught that Uncle Mike made her house too big......this can't be my daughter, the bigger the better! After a tantrum, and a short nap, she was pleased that I made a smaller house for her to decorate.

Braxton's house, before it collapsed. He ended up decorating the one that Uncle Mike had made for Hailey.

With the Sampson's here we have quite a village.

Hailey's house.

Braxton's finished product.

Another one bites the dust.....

2009-12-12T17:06:00.000-08:00

Well, we had to make the difficult decision to put our other dog, Skyler to sleep a couple of weeks ago. He'd been really depressed ever since we put Saga to sleep and his health had really gone down hill. We got Ellie, our new puppy, hoping that would help him a little bit, but nothing changed. He was healthy in every way, other than not being able to control his bowels. The Vet had determined he had some type of tumor in his colon. We tried medication to see if that would help, which it did for a while, but eventually he was bad again.

We've all been really sad about it, but we know he is much happier wherever he is. He was a really hard dog, sweet and gentle, but really high mantenance in every other way. I realize that the title of this entry seems pretty insensitive, but it seems fitting considering the fact that we've had to put down two dogs in 3 months time. We know how to have a good time

Utah vs BYU

2009-12-12T17:01:00.001-08:00

As Elders Quorum President, Mike has decided to up the # of EQ social events. So he hosted a Y vs U football party. He set up a big screen in the family room for everyone to watch the game. Hailey and Gabby really got into the occasion, not so much the game, but more into looking cute at the party. Mike was a little perplexed that Hailey was in BYU attire, as he's a U grad. But it's all in good fun.

Thanksgiving program

2009-12-12T16:47:00.000-08:00

Another November, another preschool Thanksgiving program. The kids did a great job at all of the songs. It took me a while to find Hailey amongst the sea of children.

Hailey was a pilgrim, she is right behind the indian in the middle. It was hard to get pictures of her, everytime I snapped one, the indian in front of her would move and cover her face with his feathers.

Hailey at the "feast".....macaroni, canned beans and chicken nuggets, not much of a feast.
Hailey and Gabby

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

2009-11-12T17:55:00.000-08:00

We have had the wettest fall I've ever experienced here in the south. It seems like it's been raining constantly here. I normally love to wake up to cloudy days in the fall, but when it's day after day, it get's really old. The past fews days have been rainy and cold, shocker, so when I woke up this morning to blue skies, it just seemed extra pretty today. I looked out our back window and saw this one really low cloud hanging out in the trees, in the woods, behind our house, I had to capture the moment. This may not seem very pretty to most, but when all you see is gray and gloom, anything different seems amazing.

Hailey is in a stage, along with her friend Gabby, where make-up, nails and hair are their favorite toys. They both have vanities in their room and will spend hours in there doing themselves up. A lot of the time they look pretty scary....black eyes, nail polish all over their fingers and toes, and hair that looks like they just got out of the shower or bed. But to them, they look like rock stars. Gabby just celebrated her 5th birthday, and received these feather eyelashes, so she and Hailey had to try them out.

Halloween 2009

2009-11-09T16:26:00.000-08:00

Another Halloween, come and gone....thank goodness. We had so many Halloween partie's this week, I am very Halloweened out. We started off the week with our ward Trunk or treat. It was a rainy cold day, so they ended up having it in the building. Everyone picked a classroom and set up their decorations in the doorway. Hailey and Gabby at the trunk or treat. I couldn't keep Braxton still long enough to get his picture.
Halloween night was spent at the Crosby's. Mike's Mom and stepdad came down for a visit, and Ryan and Kerri flew out to surprise Cheryl for her birthday, so we all crashed Mike and Kristines home. The Maddox's came too, so it was a house full. The kids had a great time, very excited about trick or treating. Braxton, However had a very high fever and didnt fell very well. Being the good sport he is, he still walked around with everyone, he just didn't trick or treat. Braxton was a mobster and Hailey was a flapper girl.

Brady started out as Eyore, but ended up looking like one of our neighbors out here in the backwoods.

Everyone looking through their loot.

Dave, Cheryl, Me, Braxton, Mike, Hailey, Ryan and Kerri. It was fun to have them here.

The mobster with his two flapper girls.

Seth showing his batman like moves while the girls, Kira, Ella and Hailey, shake their fringe.

Gymnastics and Preschool Halloween Parade

2009-11-09T16:14:00.001-08:00

Hailey and Gabby had "dress-up" day at Gymnastics. They were able to wear their halloween costumes and have pictures taken. I didn't have Hailey's costume ready, so we picked something out of her dress-up box for her to wear. She picked the Jasmine costume. After the girls parade around and have pictures taken, it's back to business. Hailey and Gabby were both moved up two classes, because they are too advanced for the class they are in now. We also had the Halloween parade and party at Hailey's preschool. This year Grandma Cheryl and Grandpa Dave were here to see her in her class. She was very excited. If you can't tell, her costume is a flapper girl. Gabby and MaKayla are here with here, they are both in her primary class too.
Hailey with Grandma and Grandpa

Pumpkin Patch

2009-11-09T15:59:00.001-08:00

We made our annual trip to Bert's pumpkin farm. It's amazing how excited the kids are about going, cause it's actually pretty boring, and the past couple of years we've only let them pick out a small pumpkin, and when I say small, I mean "baby" size. Anyway, the Crosby's came with us this year which made the visit all the more fun!

We went on the "hayride", which in all the years we've gone the ride has never changed, so we were surprised when we looked out into the woods and saw what looked like a black bear. Everyone was very excited, announcing there was a bear. "Is it real?" "Of course it's real, it just moved." But as we got closer we could tell it was fake. Oh Bert, you got us!

Mike and Braxton on the hayride.

Kira and Hailey enjoying the tractor

Look how excited Mike is...."Yes! pumpkins!"

Why ask why?

2009-11-09T15:54:00.000-08:00

One day after school, the boys came and asked me where some duck tape was...not really thinking anything I directed them where to find it. They then went to Mike and asked him to tape their arms behind their backs........why? I have no idea. The girls then had to get in on the "fun". Mike had mercy on them and used packaging tape. The boys kept it on for a few hour....the girls didn't make it that long.

Project

2009-11-09T15:41:00.001-08:00

This year for our 13th anniversary, I thought I'd redo Mike's home office. The desk and furniture we had in there was getting old and ratty....and I always like to change things up when I can. So we bought a new desk, and repainted the room. I wanted to put some sort of "storage" piece that would be different, and custom. And by custom I mean I fix something up. So I found this old dresser at a furniture store that sells second hand pieces. It was bulky, and outdated, but solid wood, so it had good bones. Well, as usual my quick project turned into a long project. There were some bumps in getting it finished, but I did and I have to say it turned out pretty nice. Mike thinks it's a little feminine, but I think it works perfect in the room. The dresser when I bought it. It actually looks pretty good here, but it was chiped and scratched. The paint color behind it was the first attempt in Mikes office. I don't know what I was thinking....even when I did the first paint stroke I realized it wasn't going to work, but hating the fact that I'd spent the money on the paint I did the entire room. I tried to see if the color would grow on me, but it never did. I finally broke the news to Mike that I was going to be repainting. I am so glad that I did, the color turned out perfect.

The finished product. I painted it a silver/bluish color and then glazed it. Put new handles on it.

Lake Oconee, GA

2009-11-05T18:19:00.001-08:00

Home Theater Dudes, the side business that Mike has along with a friend, Mike Maddox, had an install at Lake Oconee, for a Dr he works with at the hospital. The lake is about 2 hours away from here, so Mike thought it would be fun to go and stay overnight and do some boating. The Lake was really murky and muddy. I didn't know this ahead of time and wore a white swimming suit, which is now in the trash. That "georgia red dirt" just doesn't come out. After boating Mike and Mike worked on the home theater while Natalie and I took the kids to the pool. It was really HOT! So much so, that the pool was really warm too so it wasn't really refreshing. But the kids had fun. Braxton, Jake and Luke, throwing rocks into the little pond behind the house.
Ella, Hailey and Seth

Hailey

Braxton and Jake

Hailey and Seth

Peek a boo! Mike installing speakers in the ceiling.

School Daze

2009-11-05T13:07:00.000-08:00

School started first for the boys. The second week in August is when they went back. We went from sleeping in to waking up at 6:30 am to make the bus. Eventhough they were sad that summer was over, they were all excited to wear their new clothes and to see their friends again. Braxton's teacher this year is Ms. Lee. She is a young, single teacher, which I was a bit worried about. Last time he had a young teacher, I was constantly meeting with her about Braxton. She didn't have much patience for him. But so far so good.
The girls didn't start school until Labor Day week. They were really excited to go back to preschool. They laid their clothes out the night before and were up late chattering about their big day. Hailey's teacher is Ms. Nancy. We call her "Fancy Nancy". Gabby is in her class, along with two other kids that are also in her primary class, which is almost unheard of out here.

Washington DC

2009-09-13T10:05:00.000-07:00

This past August Mike's family had an Ellsworth/Brallier reunion up in DC. I decided to go up a few days before the reunion started and have the Sampsons come with us, since they'd never been there. It was fun to go with them and experience all the capital has to offer. Cheryl would drive me and Nicole's baby down town, while Nicole would take the other kids on the metro. We'd meet up and visit monuments, until the younger kids were ready to go home. Then Cheryl and I would take the two girls, and the baby home, while Nicole and the boys would stay. It actually worked out really well.

Hailey and Gabby at Arlington Cemetery

At the Challenger Memorial

Braxton and I at the Arlington Cemetary

The tomb of the unknown soldier

The kids on day two of the trip....they were pretty tired. Nicole made sure that the boys saw all they could. We'd leave around 10am and she wouldn't return until about 9pm.

Lincoln Memorial. Thanks to "Night at the Museum" the kids recognized the different monuments and they were excited to see them.

Hailey and Gabby at the FDR Memorial

FDR memorial

The kids with Roosevelt

In diar need of food, eventhough she literally just finished eating a Cheeseburger.

The lake is BACK!

2009-08-25T19:14:00.000-07:00

Finally, Lake Lanier has some water in it. We were able to do a bunch of boating this summer. Because of all of the boating we were able to do, Braxton has become pretty good at wakeboarding.

Braxton

Hailey and Mike cooling off

Braxton jumpin in

At the beginning of the summer Hailey wouldn't even jump into the pool. After a while she felt more comfortable and would let Mike throw her into the lake.

Haiely and Gabby

Annual trip with the Crosby's

2009-08-25T18:40:00.000-07:00

We took our second, annual trip to Destin, Florida with the Crosby Family. It's so fun to live close to some family and be able to do fun things with them.

After what should have been about a 6 hour trip, turned into almost a 10 hour trip, due to a flat tire and road construction, it was so nice to finally get there. We had a great time at the beach and the pool. Hailey and Kira in San Destin
Hailey and Kira at the bbque place for dinner.

Mike and Braxton waiting for our dinner.

Kira, Braxton and Kira

On the beach

We had some cloudy/rainy weather while we were there. The day we were to come home the weather was beautiful. While the Crosby's headed home we just couldn't miss out on such a nice day. So we stayed for a few hours and got home late that night.

Loungin in the water

Independance Day

2009-07-12T18:38:00.001-07:00

Once again, Mike made his trek up to South Carolina to pick up fireworks for our annual 4th of July bbque. In the past we've invited several families over for dinner and the "show", but this year we just had the Crosby's, Sampson's and the Howell's over. This was the first time that we've done fireworks in this house, and I was a little worried as to how well it would go over. The "fallout" from the exploding fireworks, can be kind of messy and our neighbors can be pretty uptight.

We had a delicious dinner that would have made any relief society proud, along with a pinata, snaps and sparklers for the kids, which they absolutely loved. As soon as it was dark Mike and the boys went down the back and lit up the fireworks. I have to say that eventhough it was a great show, I was super nervous, especially after one firework , instead of going up, flew sideways right at the neighbors window. Luckily no damage was done, but I was pretty stressed that something was going to explode or be set on fire. Everyone enjoyed the show, and Mike vowed that next year it would be bigger and better. I think I might need to start anti-anxiety medication before then..... Ryan Howells and the kids watching small firecrackers.

Hailey trying to bust open the pinata.

Will, Gabby, Kira and Hailey anxiously awaiting their turn for the pinata.

Braxton's turn. In trying to figure out where the pinata was he tapped it lightly, which ended up counting as his turn, he was bummed, but was a good sport about it. Which is good, cause had he hit it hard it would have for sure busted it open and no one else would have had a turn.

Everyone watching the pinata....

Candy frenzy!!

The boys and sparklers.

Hailey

Fireworks!!!!

Pictures curteousy of Kristine

Summertime 09

2009-07-05T19:37:00.001-07:00

Summer this year has been very different than last year....with our unexpected rental home project, last summer, we spent every moment working on it, getting it ready to sell. Plus Georgia was in a drought, so the lake level was really low, making it dangerous to take the boat out. So, we worked instead of played
.
This year, the lake levels are almost to "normal" and we have no projects to do, so we've been boating and enjoying Summer best we can. We've been able to go out on the lake at least three times a week so far, and are taking full advantage of all there is to do around us.

We also had several vacations lined up. Our first trip was out to South Carolina's, Lake Murray, to meet up with Grandpa Ellsworth and Aunt Kerri. Aunt Kerri was able to get a lake home for us to stay in for the weekend. The house had a pool and a hot tub and a dock. We had a great time swimming and boating. The kids really enjoyed spending time with Kerri and Grandpa. Hailey relaxing in the pool.

Braxton

The pool, hot tub and the dock is on the far right.

Our next trip was a weekend camping trip to Lake Chatuge, North Carolina, with the Crosby's and the Maddox's.

Hailey playing in the lake.

From left to right, around the table, Noah Crosby, Kira Crosby, Seth Maddox, Ella Maddox, Braxton, Jake Maddox, Hailey and Luke Maddox. Everyone taking a break from boating to eat lunch.

These next two pictures are my favorite.....this is our tent (the 4 of us) it was a 2 room, 12 man tent.

This little tent was the Maddoxs (2 adults and 4 kids) all slept inside this little thing. I think their air mattress barely fit. We offered to have some of their kids sleep with us, but Mike Maddox insisted that they would all be fine.

This was an early morning picture of Lake Chatuge from our campsite. It was very peaceful. I was just glad to see the sun come up, since I'd been awake since 4 am. I never sleep very well camping.

These last pictures are all on Lake Lanier, the lake that is right by our house and finally has water in it. Braxton has really come a long way with wakeboarding, and Hailey loves the tubes, and to swim in the water, in between wakeboarders.

Cute Braxton

Sweet lil miss Hailey

Braxton taking on the wake, yes he's getting some air.

Brax the pro.

We've had a pretty good summer so far. A couple of speed bumps, the biggest one being having to cancel our trip to Utah, because of health issues. I'll never forget Hailey's sad reaction when Mike explained to her that we couldn't go out. She was devastated. I finally broke down a couple of days ago and unpacked our suitcases, realizing it just wasn't going to happen. We'll just have to postpone it for a while. We are off to the Beach in a couple of weeks and then up to Virginia for an Ellsworth/Brallier reunion, can't wait for that.

Preschool Graduation

2009-05-28T19:57:00.001-07:00

Hailey has graduated from her first year of preschool. The school did a program and then each of the childrens names were called to get their "diploma". And then we were able to attend yet another class party.

Hailey singing "I'm bringing home a baby bumble bee"

Not happy she's up there
She's done!

Dance and Gymnastics

2009-05-28T19:44:00.001-07:00

Hailey had her Gymnastics Jubilee, where they showcase all that they've learned this year. Hailey's the one standing on the green square
Hailey and her medal, you gotta love the underware coming out of her leotard.

We also had Hailey's first dance recital this year. She and Kira looked so cute out there doing the dance. You could tell that they were the only two that didn't go to dance rehersal (because it was on Sunday) so they were a little lost at time on the stage, but they still did a really good job. Braxton was the photographer of these pictures.

The recital was called Princess in the Tower. Hailey's class were the Star Faries. (Hailey is the second one from the right)

Hailey is the third on from the right.

Braxton and Baseball

2009-05-28T19:29:00.000-07:00

Well, this baseball season has been a very interesting one. This was the first time that the kids pitch instead of the coaches. Some of the games were very long and painful, but towards the end of the season the pitchers had become pretty good. Braxton, again was put into the outfield, and sometimes on third base. He has really improved. He was one of the kids that could actually hit the ball, could pretty much catch anything and can throw really far. There was one particular game the other team hit a popfly to left field Braxton stuck his glove out and caught the ball. Everyone was up and cheering, cause no one thought he'd actually catch it. He recieved the game ball three times this year.

Once again we made it to the finals in the tournament. However, during our final game in the 4th inning, the umpires were switched for some reason. We were ahead 8 to 2 and then all of the sudden they were ahead 10 to 8. The ump made some really bad calls. During the last inning, two of our coaches were thrown out of the game, parents were yelling, it was chaos. The boys were just ready for the game to end. It was a 2 1/2 hour game! Glad it's over......Trying to get Braxton to games was always such an ordeal, that I always forgot the camera, so I have no pictures of him this year. Next year I'll do better.

London

2009-05-28T18:23:00.001-07:00

The second stop was London. It was a lot different than Ireland, which you wouldn't think because they are so close, but they are. It just seemed two steps ahead of Dublin. We were able to tour the city the first couple of days we were there, which the architecture was so beautiful, you could spend a month trying to see everything and not see it all. The third day we were there we went up to Bath, Windsor Castle and Stone Henge. It was fun to see the countryside. I am a Jane Austen fan, thanks to my mom and in all of her books she talks about Bath, and how it was the place to be if you had money. So I've always been curious as to what it looked like. Stone Henge was exactly how I thought it would be, looks just like all of the pictures. Hyde Park, which is London's equivalent of Central Park.
Buckingham Palace

Big Ben

Some of the architecture...I could have stood and just stared at all of the buildings.

There were statues of all of the past kings and queens, they were really pretty cool.

More architecture, and a statue of Queen Victoria, there were a lot of her.

Windsor Castle. I can't remember the town it's in, but it was about 2 hours outside of London. This is one of the 5 castles that Queen Elizabeth lives in, and is actually her favorite castle. We were able to tour a part of it and it was awesome! Unfortunately we couldnt take pictures. The queen was actually there while we were.

This is the Queens apartment.

Changing of the guard

Another view of the castle, along with the church that Prince Charles and Princess Diana were married in.

This is where Bath get's it's name. There were Roman bath houses that were discovered, that were buried for years.

This was a Roman steam room. They built a floor ontop of the stacks of stone

A street in Bath

Stone Henge

My favorite picture.

We also visited the train station that was in the Harry Potter book. Mike on platform 9 and 3 quarters.

The train station

The end of our trip

Ireland 09

2009-05-27T19:43:00.001-07:00

Mike and I had the amazing opportunity to go over to Ireland and London with my parents. After getting through a couple of anxiety attacks over leaving the kids, we were ready to go...:) Ireland was our first stop. We stayed about 15 miles outside of Dublin at a golf resort. The hotel was beautiful! Ireland has to, by far, be my favorite place. It was chilly and drizzly there, but is was awesome! The countryside was breathtaking! There were castles everywhere. I guess I'm more of a country girl than a city girl. We visited a few castles, and went into Dublin for a day. Mike was brave enough to rent a car and drive (they drive on the left side of the road). Which he did a really good job. Charleville Castle, by far my favorite castle. Pretty much untouched, except for the owners. Becoming Jane and Northanger Abbey were filmed here.
This room was still in it's original state, even the walls. This was the Den. The ceilings had amazing detail.

This was the great Hall, or ball room

My parents and I at the Cahir Castle, in Cahir Irleland. The funny thing was, this castle was smack dab in the middle of the town.

Cahir Castle

This is the Rock of Chashel. I was walking through the burial part of the grounds, and there were tombstones as late as 2007.

This is one of my favorite pictures. It's a good representation of how green and lush Ireland is. This was an abbey that was built off of the Castle.

Rock of Cashel

This was inside the St. Patricks Cathedral. The masonry and architecture was so amazing, but it just seemed really dark and drab to be a church.

We also saw the Dublin Castle. The artwork was unbelievable. Can you tell I'm into castles? I think everyone was castled out by the time we were done, but not me. I could have seen 100 more!

My mom and I at Trinity College

Trinity College

Downtown Dublin

Easter 09

2009-05-27T19:18:00.001-07:00

We got back the day before Easter Sunday, from Florida, so we were all a little tired. But it was nice that we were smart enough to have the Easter Bunny visit us Saturday morning at the hotel, before we left to come home, so we didn't have to worry about it that night. The kids were very excited to wear their new Easter clothes. After church the Crosby's, the Sampson's and the Hilton's joined us in our traditional Easter feast, which included Honey Baked Ham, my favorite! Then we had a big Easter Egg hunt in the back yard. It was a lot of fun.

Handsome Braxton

Cute Hailey

Hailey furiously trying to find some eggs.

We hide some of the eggs in easy spots, for the little kids, and for the bigger kids we hid them in the woods behind our house to make it a little more challenging.

Preschool Easter Egg Hunt

2009-05-27T19:12:00.001-07:00

I seriously have never been to so many school functions in my life! It seems there is another class party everytime I turn around. Hailey loves it though. Her class had an Easter egg hunt and then a snack and did a craft while all the mother's sat around and watched. Yeah, it was as fun as it sounds. Hailey with her butterfly craft.
Heading in to do the hunt. She was so excited to find eggs.

Spring Break 09

2009-05-27T18:46:00.000-07:00

First stop....Magic Kingdom at Disney World. I think I was more excited for this day than anyone else. Apparently we go there too much. Go figure. But we had fun. Mike is a master when it comes to the fastpass's, so the day always goes pretty smoothly. We were able to hit every ride and even were able to do some of them twice.

Braxton and Hailey on the Carousel

Hailey and I in line at the Pirates of the Carribean ride.

Hailey, Mike and Braxton at the musical....ok I can't remember the name, but it was a 3-D show.

We have never done pictures with the disney characters before. But hailey really wanted to meet the princess's. So we waited in line. We were able to see Princess Aurora, Cinderella and Belle. She was so excited, but once we actually got there, she was very shy.

Hailey in Minnie Mouse's house.

At the end of the day, we usually watch the firework show, but i talked Mike into trying to go on a few rides instead. So he and Braxton did Space mountain, while Hailey and I did Small World. There as absolutely no body in line! Hailey was not happy that I made her go on the ride, she was tired and ready to go home.

Part two of our trip, was down in West Palm Beach. Mike's mom and stepdad rented a condo down there, so we joined them. It was so relaxing. Kerri came down to stay for a few days, and we hung out at the pool and the beach. Cheryl and Dave also brought their waverunners and we were able to take those out and hang out on peanut island for a couple of days. It was really fun. Even the Maddox's (our friends from Atlanta, joined us) The kids had a great time!

Braxton on the beach

Hailey being silly.

Hailey showing her "Ariel" impersonation.

Getting ready to dump water on Aunt Kerri.

Spring is in the air....

2009-03-24T12:10:00.000-07:00

Boy, where has the time gone? I can't believe it's spring already! Probaby because it's been colder than normal. But we are slowly inching up there in the temperature department.
In the Georgia school system they allow three "snow days" throughout the year. And if they never have to use them, then they place the days off where they can in the Spring. Last friday was one of those days. It wasn't super warm, but it was nice and sunny, so we thought it would be fun to do a little hike. Where do you hike in a place the really doesn't have any "mountains" per say? We live really close to a preserve area called Sawnee Mountain. By georgians standards it's a mountain, but Utahns standards, its a hill.
The hike is about 2 miles long and fairly easy. However, it was the first day that Hailey was really feeling like herself after a long bout with the stomach flu, so she pretty much complained the entire way that she was tired and wanted me to carry her. But I made her walk, and when we got to the bottom I told her how proud I was that she did it all by herself, and she realized that she had, and was quite proud of herself. Now all she talks about is "remember when I walked all that way by myself!"

Hailey, Max and Gabby on the trail.At the top you could see the entire valley. It's amazing all of the home building that is still going on in this economy. Braxton and Zach and Max looking over the cliff.
There is a legend that the indian cheif (don't know which tribe) would come up here and watch for the enemy. You can actually see where the rock is worn by people sitting there. This rock is actually called "indian seats"

Hailey and Gabby

With the Sampsons, came a trampoline. The kids really enjoy going out there and jumping on it.

Pinewood Derby #2

2009-03-09T13:48:00.001-07:00

We just completed our second pinewood derby....this year was different because Mike put off making the car until two nights before the race. After painting the car he didn't wait long enough for the paint to dry before he sprayed the top coat on it, which made all of the colors run off the wood. But he repainted it quickly and pulled it off. They styled the car after a ferari, painted it silver with flames up the sides. He even made a tail fin for it. Braxton was so excited. He only won two races, (which I was glad, thinking we would be leaving soon, cause these things can go FOREVER!) but to my dismay we made it to the second round. However that was as far as we got. Braxton was a little disappointed, but took it in stride. Watching his car race.
Waiting for the next race.

Braxton at the church with his car.

Braxton

2009-02-23T12:43:00.001-08:00

Photo Shoot

2009-02-23T12:28:00.001-08:00

The little girls and I had a little photo shoot at home last week. It was rainy and cold outside so we were stuck in the house, and I thought it would be fun to have them dress up for pictures. They were really excited about it. It was cloudy outside, which made for perfect lighting conditions. Here are some of my favorites... Gabby
Gabby

Hailey

I love this one, it's so them, trying to make each other laugh.

Saga

2009-02-23T12:15:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately, last week we were faced with the decision of putting Saga to sleep. She'd really been going down hill the past few months, not eating, loosing a lot of her hair, not being able to walk very well, not being able to hear or see very well and she'd become very very skinny. We put it off for as long as we could, but came to the conclusion that we were just being selfish, and it was her time to go. I've never had to make this decision before, and it was very hard. You don't realize how much an animal can become a part of your family until a situation like this occurs. She was a really good dog and we all loved her, but we know that she's much happier wherever she is.

(this picture was taken a few months ago, when I was trying to figure out something on the camera. Seeing what she looks like here and remembering what she looked like when we took her to the vet, reconfirms that we made the right decision.)

Braxton's 9!

2009-02-22T06:54:00.000-08:00

I am now the mother of a nine year old. There is nothing that makes you feel older, then when your kids grow up. And they grow so fast! He's becoming such a loving, helpful, smart young man.

The week before his birthday, I was asking him what he wanted to do for his birthday, hoping that he wouldn't say he wanted a party. To my surprise he said that he just wanted to be home with his family and closest friends. So, we met up with the Crosby's, Maddox's and the Sampsons at the Golden Coral. Braxton and his two best bud's, Jake and Zach.
Braxton getting ready to blow out the candle on his birthday cupcake.

Noah, Seth, Gabby, Kira and Hailey

Everyone eating dinner.

Happy Birthday Braxton!

Teddy Bear Parade

2009-02-22T06:33:00.000-08:00

Hailey's preschool, comes up with some of the silliest things for the kids to do....and the worst part is it's always parents participation. I have been to Hailey's preschool more this year, than the entire two years that Braxton was in preschool. But the kids enjoy it, and Hailey is always excited when Mike and I come and watch. Just before Valentines day they had a "teddy bear parade". The kids decorated a shoe box, like a float, and put their favorite bear in it to pull around. They also were able to wear their pajamas to school that day. It was pretty painful to watch kids pull around shoe box's for 30 minutes and then sing songs about bears. But it's all for the kids right? Some of the boxes the kids brought were amazing! You could tell that the parents had put a lot into the creation of the "float". Hailey and Gabby's boxes were pretty simple, I just covered the entire thing in glitter, so they sparkled. They LOVED them! Hailey and Gabby with their floats, you can't tell, but they really sparkled.
Hailey pulling her float.

The Princess and the Diva

2009-02-10T06:24:00.001-08:00

Hailey and Gabby have been "kindred spirits" since the day they met, which was when they were babies. They've always enjoyed being together. Whether its playing dress-up, putting on make-up or riding their bikes, you can always hear them joking and laughing. Since Gabby's family has moved in with us they are inseperable. They share a bedroom and pretty much everything else. It will be a sad day when the Sampsons move out.

We call Hailey the princess, because she loves anything "princess", pink and sparkly...we call Gabby the Diva, because she can have attitude, loves clothes and is obsessed with her hair. showing attitude
Superstars!

A Break From Winter

2009-01-22T17:30:00.000-08:00

Last weekend we were fortunate enough to join Mike's Mom and Step-dad, down in West Palm Beach, FL, for some R and R. Unfortunately, they were having record low temperatures for part of our stay. We did get a couple of days of sun, and not so much wind, which made it feel warmer. It didn't matter, however how cold it was, the pools were heated, so the kids were still able to swim and that was all they cared about. Dave, Cheryl, Braxton and Hailey, on the balcony of our room.
Our Fam....notice Mike lookin skinnier...he's lost 40 lbs so far.

Me and my sweet little Hailey.

The water comes out of the tap that color......it tastes just as yucky as it looks.

The resort. It looks so sunny and warm.

Braxton looking for shells. The water was COLD!

Hailey was so excited to find shells. Too bad I threw most of them away before we left.

Looking for shells.

Playing in the pool

Good thing the water was heated.

Grandma and Braxton playing Idiot. Braxton is the reigning champ, and quite the trash talker....wonder where he learned that?

Our little fairy princess

Nativity

2009-01-05T19:49:00.000-08:00

This year for our Christmas Eve program, we had the kids reinact the nativity. It's the first year that they've done it, so Braxton and Hailey were a little confused, at first as to why they were wearing a costume. But once I explained, they were excited. Hailey was the Angel, Kira was Mary, Braxton was Joseph and Noah was a sheperd/wiseman. Brady was a little too wiggly to be baby Jesus, so we settled for a doll.

Happy New Year's

2009-01-03T09:37:00.000-08:00

Another "low key" New Years, this year. We spent it at home with the Sampsons and the Crosbys. We ate, played games, ate, and ate some more.

This year instead of watching the "ball drop" as we do every year....Mike wanted to check out another show that was on ESPN. I guess every year in Vegas they have some kind of stunt show on the strip. So we watched a guy flip his truck 360' and another guy jump on his bike and land of top of an attraction I think it was 100 feet high or something like that, then he jumped back off. Very exciting.....

Hailey and Kira helping themselves to the food.

Watching the stunt show.A little smoochy smoch at midnight....

At midnight all of the kids went out and did sparklers....it was SUPER COLD!

The princess turns 4!

2009-01-03T09:25:00.001-08:00

Unfortunately for Hailey, her birthday is 3 days after Christmas day. By the time Christmas is over Mike and I are both done with the celebrating.....this year I was in bed the day before her birthday, passing a kidney stone, so we got a little sidetracked. Thank goodness we were able to quickly decorate the kitchen the morning of her birthday before she went down to see. We also promised her a party at Chuck e cheese, which was supposed to happen today, but seeing as I'm in bed once again with more stones, that has been postponed.
We did have a birthday cake for her and she opened her presents. A few weeks before Christmas she saw a disney princess vanity that she absolutely fell in love with. And she would tell everyone that was what she wanted for her birthday.

Hailey asked for a white cake with strawberry's, so mike made the cake and then mixed berries with cool whip. It was really good.

Hailey's princess vanity. She was so excited!
Putting on her make-up.

Christmas morning.

2008-12-31T11:43:00.000-08:00

Well, as usual Christmas has come and gone....but this year was a little different. We usually have one or the other of Mike's parents here, but this year with all of the changes here at the house everyone thought it would be too much. Maybe next year. The kids had a great time with the Sampson's here. It was complete chaos, which is what I love. Lot's of kids opening gifts. I think everyone got what they wanted. The Sampsons and the Ellsworths both got the wii, Hailey got a lot of princess stuff, which is what she loves. The one thing she asked for was a barbie cash register and she got it. But I think she played with it for about 10 minutes and was bored with it. I guess you can't win them all.

Sorry about the pictures, I don't know what happened this year. By the time the morning was over, I realized that I'd taken very few photos. I guess I was just so concerned with getting enough video footage. Candy!
The boys opening stocking gifts

Hailey and her crazy hair

Thoughts

2008-12-22T11:34:00.001-08:00

Ever since I can remember I've looked forward to Christmas. When I was younger it was the visit from Santa that excited me....as I've gotten older, I've come to recognize the spirit of the season that comes along with the holiday. As Thanksgiving gets closer, I become more excited, cause I know that as soon as we are done eating the turkey, the official Christmas season begins. This year wasn't quite the season I'd hoped for. Complications with kidney stones, once again, threw a wrench into my plans. Not being able to get out of bed and do all of the fun things that I'd been looking forward to started to darken my outlook. Three weeks in bed gave me a lot of time to sit and stew about struggles that I'd been having physically, and I started to become angry.

Yesterday, on the way home from church Mike asked me if going through what I do, every time a kidney issue arises, brought me closer to the Savior? The question caught me off guard and I really didn't have an answer for him. I'd never thought of it that way. The more I thought about it, the more my heart softened causing me to repent for the anger that I'd felt.

I truly feel blessed, for all that Heavenly Father has given me. I know that the Savior, Jesus Christ has suffered, just as I have through every trial I've had. I am blessed with a wonderful, loving, hardworking husband, 2 fun, healthy children, wonderful parents who filled my childhood home with the spirit and taught me through example what the gospel is about, amazing siblings and in laws who treat me like I'm their own, and friends who I know I can always count on. How can life get any better than that?

I want to thank everyone for the help, well wishes, thoughts and prayers in my behalf. And I want to wish everyone a wonderful Christmas!

Santa Claus is comin to town.....

2008-12-22T11:22:00.000-08:00

Braxton and a friend from our old ward, Rachel, working on their craft.

Braxton, just reminding us what a good big brother he his. Holding both Hailey and Gabby on his lap.

Hailey telling Santa what she wants....

Eating breakfast.

Another event I missed was the ward Christmas party. Mike took the kids and was kind enough to take some pictures for me. They had a pancake breakfast made by the bishopric, they did a holiday craft and then Santa came. Hailey sat on his lap and told him that she wanted a Barbie Cash register.....Braxton on the other hand refused to sit on his lap. He says he's too old to do that, but he still believes that Santa will bring him presents anyway.

Dance/Gymnastics

2008-12-22T11:04:00.001-08:00

Hailey doing her "kick tap"

Had to make sure I was watching her.

Doing a leap...pretty good

Watching the teacher and waiting to be noticed.

Balance beam

Bars

Vault

Bars

Hailey is still doing gymnastics this year, but we've also added ballet and tap. The last class, just before Christmas break, the parents are allowed to come into class and take pictures. It's a lot of fun to see what she's learned. Although I have to admit, she does stand around alot in ballet and watch everyone else, until the teacher takes her hand and helps her. I think she enjoys the attention from the teacher. She's already working the system.

Another program........

2008-12-22T10:50:00.000-08:00

Hailey's preschool class did a Christmas program. It seemed like I'd just been to her Thanksgiving performance..... I still wasn't feeling very well, but Hailey really wanted me to go and see her sing and dance with her class. Plus, I needed to get out of the house. So I went. It was soooo long and Hailey's class only had a short part at the very end. She did a great job! It was fun to see her sing and do all of the actions to the songs. They sang three songs, Up on the Housetop, jingle bells and Frosty the Snowman. Afterwards her class had a little Christmas party. She had a great time. As soon as we got home it was back to bed for me.Hailey decorating her stocking at the Christmas party.Hailey singing up on the housetop.

"Wax Museum"

2008-12-22T10:37:00.001-08:00

Boy this month turned out NOTHING like I had planned. Three weeks in bed has really put me behind this season. So, I am trying to catch up on everything, including shopping for Santa!

Just before Thanksgiving break Braxton's class did a wax museum. Each student had to pick a historical person who changed America in some way, learn about that person and then prepare a three minute bio on that person to present out loud. Then they either had to dress-up or create a puppet that looked like who they had picked. All the parents were invited to come and hear about all of people who had contributed to history. Braxton chose Christopher Columbus and decided to do a puppet instead of dress up. He did a great job!

Thanksgiving Program

2008-11-18T09:56:00.001-08:00

Hailey is front/left indian

I am quickly finding out that Hailey and Braxton's preschool's are completely different. Braxton's was more of a "hands off" experience where I would just drop him off everyday and that was pretty much it. Where as Hailey has programs and lots of parties for the parents to come to. Hailey had her Thanksgiving program followed by a "feast", which was made up of chicken nuggest, beans and green beans......Yummy! Hailey's class were indians. In the program they just sang different songs about being thankful and indians and pilgrims. The strangest part was when they announced the children would be singing the blessing on the food.....and after the song/prayer everyone started clapping....never experienced that before. (Hailey's preschool is run by the Methodist Church)

Hailey enjoying her "feast"

Hailey and Gabby showing me their indian princess costumes. On the back says "Princess Hailey"

Pumpkin Carving

2008-11-18T09:41:00.000-08:00

Gabby, Hailey, Mike, Max and Parker.

With all that has been going on in our lives I completely forgot that I'd taken pictures of our pumpkin Carving. We usually do it early in the month, but this year we didn't do it until the week of Halloween. We let the kids design and carve their own this year....they love'd it!

Zach and Braxton proud of their combined design..

The girls not enjoying the gooey insides so much.

Zach and Braxton cleaning out their pumpkin

Too much CANDY!

2008-11-04T14:18:00.001-08:00

Every year our kids get to go to a "trunk or treat" that is done by our ward, plus trick or treating. We always end up with a lot of candy. Now that we have 6 kids in the house we got three times as much this year! I think we are going to have the "great pumpkin" come and visit our house soon. So he can deliver all of the candy to needy children all over the world.... :) Kris and her little bee
Noah and Hailey

Braxton as Dracula

Braxton and Hailey on the way to the trunk or treat.

Kira and Hailey

It's hard being a "princess"

2008-11-04T14:01:00.000-08:00

This is Hailey's first year of preschool.....and with preschool comes holiday parties. She was able to wear her costume to school that day and was so excited about it. Mike, the ever supportive husband, signed me up to help with the Halloween party. (I think as payback for making him go to "open house") anyway, when I showed up at her school she looked like she was having a great time. Then she saw me, and she immediately wanted me to hold her. When I finally convinced her to rejoin her class, she realized she'd left her princess wand at home. She was very upset and started yelling "I forgot my wand!" and begging me to go home and get it for her. I finally persuaded her to go on with the party without the wand. (threatening her with sitting on my lap) Soon the wand was forgotten and she had a great time. When we got home from school she and Gabby went through all of the goodies they'd recieved from the party and found a stamp. They both stamped themselves all over and Hailey got it all over her dress.....when I went to wash it, hoping I could get it out, I read the tag of instructions it said, "Do not wash, Do not dry clean, do not dry" Well that didn't leave me with many options, so we did away with Sleeping Beauty all together and she picked a belle dress from her "dress-up" clothes and she was Belle. Boy, I'd wish we'd done that earlier, it would have saved me money!

Hailey with her class
Hailey and Gabby being silly.
Party snack

Mickey mouse cheese, you can't beat that!

The unicorn and the princess....

Gymnastics, costume parade 08

2008-10-25T15:37:00.001-07:00

So, I am quickly finding out that Hailey is much more "opinionated" than Braxton ever was. Every morning is a struggle for us to agree on what she is going to wear that day. If I let her, she'd wear a swimming suit over a pair of tights everyday.
Picking out a Halloween costume this year, proved to be just as difficult. We went to "Party City" and stood in front of the wall of costumes for about 20 min while she picked which of the princess's she wanted to be. It was so painful....She finally picked the Ariel costume, so we went to get some accessories for it and she spotted the Ariel wig. The picture on the package was hideous, so I can only imagine what it looked like out of the package and there was no way I was spending $20 on that! So we argued about getting the wig for another 15 min. She finally gave in and decided that since she couldn't have the wig she didn't want to be Ariel anymore. So back to the wall of costumes..... We went back and forth with every princess, because they all had wigs that she wanted. I finally got her to get the Sleeping Beauty costume, without the wig. I convinced her that she already has Sleeping Beauty princess hair. Next year I'm hoping we can do something a little more creative.

Hailey in her gymnastics class.

The costume is so cheap.....the crown looks more like a headband. But she loves it and that's what matters.

Doing her stretches....and she just couldn't put the sceptor down.

Gabby and Hailey.

My parents last visit.......

2008-10-25T15:19:00.000-07:00

My parents made their annual trip out here. Although this time, now that my sister Kristine and brother Jarom live close, that would mean that half of the family would be together. So we were all looking forward to their visit. My parents flew out and drove down to Charleston to stay with my brother and his wife. Jarom had to work at the hospital while they were there, but was going to drive out here with my parents to stay with us. The first half of their trip went as planned. They got to see Charleston and where Jarom and Liina live.

However here in Atlanta, Kristines daughter, Kira had come down with the stomach flu. We all hoped that she would be over it by the time my parents and Jarom came out. No such luck, not only did she not get better quickly, my nephew, my sister and brother in law all got it. So Jarom and Liina decided not to risk getting it, and stayed home. My parents stayed one night with Kristine and decided to move to a hotel, when the rest of the family came down with it. The worst part is my mom ended up getting it the night before they went home.

So the trip didn't quite turn out how we'd hoped! Such is life, better luck next time! (the funny thing is, none of the Ellsworths got it and we'd all been exposed)

The one day that we were able to go out and do something before my mom got sick, we went up to Helen and to the pumpkin patch. Kira had started feeling better by this point, but you can tell in the pictures she's not quite herself.....

The bug house cont.....

2008-10-02T13:53:00.000-07:00

The tenants had done so many odd things to the house....Like wall paper some of the windows, the cupboards, the bathtub? I don't know what the tradition is down in Mexico, but it just seems odd to me. If you notice even the windows are new. Mike was inspired by my Brother in law, Craig, who had replaced their windows himself. So, Mike did it all on his own and saved us a lot of money!

There is much more that we did, but this gives you an idea. I don't know what we are going to do with ourselves now that we are done! It will be nice to have a free Saturday.

The "Bug House"

2008-10-02T13:01:00.001-07:00

Mike and I have had a lease/purchase home for a little over 4 years. The tenants that lived in there were supposed to purchase the home after 3 years. Well, the 3 year mark came and went and they were unable to get the loan. This past June we find out that the family had just up and moved, owing us 2 months rent. A few days after we found this out I went over to the house to see what kind of shape it was in. It was so......I can't even find the words that would do it justice. Definately not a place I would wish on my worst enemy! The smell was so awful, I could barely stand to be in the house. And the cockroaches were so bad they were falling from the ceiling.

Our summer was pretty much spent in fixing up the house so we could sell. We started in July and literally just finished on Tuesday. We worked on it every spare second we had. Even the kids helped out. Mike taught Braxton how to cut and lay tile, and Hailey helped with painting. (I'm still trying to get paint out of her hair).

When we first started working on the house, Hailey started to refer to it as the "bug house", because of all of the bugs.....so that's what we've called. Although now that it's clean and we had an exterminator come there are no more bugs. Here are some before and after shots.

the kitchen....there was caked grease everywhere! And roaches in all of the cupboards and drawers and crawling all over the floor. Who wall papers their stove?

The after shot. We did everything ourselves, we even taught ourselves how to lay hardwood floors.

Mike added on extra cupboards. I'm so glad I married someone who's so handy.

this is the family room. The carpet was so gross I didn't even want to walk on it with shoes on.....and they had taken the light fixture.....and it wasn't this color when we rented them the house.

amazing what some paint, new floors and a nice light fixture can do.

The Bug house

The house after some TLC

FINALLY!!!!!

2008-09-07T14:43:00.001-07:00

Yes, we finally took the boat out and were able to do some wakeboarding. My brother and his wife made a last minute trip out here, so we thought we'd take a break from usual weekend activities and have some fun. We went back up to Lake Chatuge, NC for the day. The weather was beautiful, and there were hardly any boats out on the lake. It was so relaxing! Just what we needed. Lil miss Hailey
Brax calling Mike to see when he was coming back with the boat to pick him up.
Brax and Hailey playing on the beach

Hailey and Kira watching the boys wakeboard.

Lake Chatuge, NC

First day of preschool

2008-09-03T17:35:00.001-07:00

Hailey just started preschool this week. I was a little nervous about her going, after the "meet the teacher" open house we went to. Hailey was not very nice to the kids or her teacher. She clung to my legs and if anyone tried to talk to her, she'd yell "NO!" and shove her face into my thy. So I didn't know what to expect when I dropped her off on her first day.

They didn't allow the parents to bring them into the class. We just dropped them off at the car pool line and the teachers took them into class. When we pulled up and the teacher opened the door, Hailey said "Bye Momma and Dadda" and jumped out of the car.

When I picked her up, she talked non-stop about her day. She loved it! I'm sure it helped that her buddy Gabby is in her class. But she's excited to go back, so that's a good thing.

Labor Day

2008-09-03T17:28:00.001-07:00

So our original labor day plans were to go and work on our rental house that we are rehabing all day long. Well, the plans changed. Mike still went for part of the day along with my brother-in-law Mike and our friend Mike (yeah three Mikes) but I took Hailey and met my sister and a friend at chick-fil-a for lunch and then we all met back here for a bbque. We had the Sampsons, the Maddoxs and the Crosbys over for dinner. The Maddox's were kind enough to bring their huge waterslide for the kids to play on. The kids had a BLAST!

Georgia is in a drought right now and we aren't supposed to use out door water......So I was a little nervous to have this huge thing right in the front yard. However, I figure if all of our neighbors can use their sprinklers to water their lawns, then we can run a waterslide for a couple of hours.

12 years....

2008-09-03T17:22:00.001-07:00

Mike and I just "celebrated" our 12 year anniversary. Mike had originally planned a weekend getaway for us, but in light of our having to carry two mortgages, we made an executive decision to cancel the trip for now.

Our anniversary was on a Sunday this year, which what can you do on a Sunday? But Nicole, the ever service oriented friend, insisted that she take our kids after church for the rest of the day, so Mike and I could be alone. After a long nap and dinner we just hung out. Not too exciting I know but it was nice to have peace and quiet.

Charleston, SC

2008-08-29T16:05:00.001-07:00

My brother, Jarom and his wife, Liina, just moved from Utah out to Charleston, SC. After graduating from Medical school he is now doing his residency in Neurology at MUSC (I always get the university wrong) Anyway, we were able to make a quick trip down there to visit and to see a little of the town. It was a quick trip, but we were able to hit the beach for a few hours. The little kids had a blast playing in the sand and waves. We also did some sight seeing and took a tour of the city. I love architecture and the history of the buildings and old homes was really interesting. It was a lot of fun and I can't wait to go back for a longer visit. Hailey and her cousin Kira on the beach.
Mike (my brother in law), Braxton, Mike, Hailey (asleep) Kristine, Noah and Brady in the stroller, Liina with Honele (sp?) and Jarom.

Our little visitor from Utah....

2008-08-14T15:19:00.000-07:00

We had the rare opportunity to have my niece, Amber, come out and stay with us for a week. It was so fun to have her here. The kids really enjoyed having her around. Braxton was so happy that Amber likes to play the xbox, so when we weren't out and about doing things, they were playing the xbox.

We did so much while she was here; floating down the chattahoochee river, playing on the natural water slides at Pooles Mill park, going to the Lanier Islands water park, swimming at the pool, going up the Chattanooga, TN and hiking through the cave to see Ruby Falls. Kristine and I were also able to have a girls night with her and do some shopping. It was a lot of fun. Ruby falls
Hailey and Gabby

Amber, Braxton, Zach and Parker in the cave

Max, Braxton, Amber, Hailey and Zach at Pooles Mill

The good Ole days!

2008-08-06T09:16:00.000-07:00

My sister, Stacy did a post a little while ago about she and her friend Dawn and posted some pictures of her college years and today. So when I got these pictures from our trip to Utah, I went and compared my pictures from my days at Utah State along with the recent pictures.

Me, and my roommates, Jodi ( we shared a room) Karen and Jeana. This was taken the fall of 1994.There were many nights up in Logan where we had to entertain ourselves. I have no idea what we were doing, but I'm sure it was fun! Why I'm the only one that looks like an indian.....heaven only knows. Jeana, Karen and me. (Jodi lives in Ohio) We are able to get together at least twice a year and catch up. And we are still pretty good friends.
All four of us decided to join the LDS sorority. We were accepted into the Xi Eta chapter. Which our career as sorority sisters didn't last for very long. I found it kind of silly, and I was just happy I got my free sweatshirt, so after a couple of months we quit. Anyway, we were selected to do the Spring Fashion show for the Lambda Delts..... This is Karen and I.....yes we look scary!
Karen and I have stayed very close over the years. Which is amazing considering I live in Georgia and she lives in Utah.

Visit with friends

2008-08-06T08:32:00.000-07:00

A put together a cluster of pictures from our visit with the Colemans out in Utah. They've been our good friends for a long time, and we are lucky to have such great friends!

The kids playing in the fountain at Gateway Mall.

Doing sparklers. Hailey and Kenzie on the slides.

Karen, Kenzie and me. Chris and Mike

Park City, Utah

2008-07-31T15:28:00.000-07:00

I totally spaced blogging the main part of our trip to Utah..........every year my family has a family reunion up in Park City. We all stay at the Silver King resort, and do some swimming, hiking, the alpine slide and some more swimming. This year we were up there over the 4th of July, so we had front row seats to the firework show up there. And I mean literally front row, we were right across the street from the parking lot where they were setting them off. It was amazing! Braxton had a great time with all of the cousins. And everyone was able to go except Jarom and Liina, so almost the entire family was there. Amber, Hunter and Anna
Zach showing off his back dive
Some of the fireworksThis is my favorite picture....Mike and Hailey came down the slide together and their sled stopped about 100 yards from the end. So Mike had to pull Hailey down the rest of the way.
Mike and Hailey
Braxton and Noah
Kira, Hailey and Carter

Spencer, Zach, Abe, Carter, Braxton and Uncle Craig heading up to ride the Alpine slide.
Stacy, Amanda, Jeff, Parker, Summer and Kim....below them you can see Mike, Hailey, Kerry, Sophia, Kim (Kerry's babysitter) and Amber.

Air and Space Museum

2008-07-23T03:44:00.001-07:00

Actually, I'm not quite sure what this museum was called. It's out at the Dulles airport and there were airplanes and space equipment in it, so I just assumed. We met up with Mikes Dad and Stepmom there. It was pretty cool to see all of the old fighter jets and a real Space shuttle. Unfortunately my camera battery died, so I wasn't able to get many pictures. Braxton and Grandpa Ellsworth
Aunt Kerri and Hailey

Hershey Park, Pennsylvania

2008-07-23T03:15:00.001-07:00

Part of the plan to go up to DC, was to also go up to Palmyra, NY and see some of the church sites up there. Along the way, we were going to stop at Hershey Park for a day. However, after driving to and from Utah, and then up to Virginia, I'd had enough in the car. We'd already bought our tickets for the park, so we decided to go up for the day. Hershey is about 2 1/2 hrs away from Mike's, mom's, so not too far. The park turned out to be a lot bigger than we had anticipated. There were a ton of rides, big roller coasters, and a lot of little rides for Hailey to go on. Braxton and Hailey on the hot air balloon ride.Hailey and Aunt Kerri on the spaceships Aunt Kerri and Hailey
Braxton and I

This is my favorite picture....Hailey wanted Mike to ride on the Frogger with her....I am surprised they let him on the ride.

Look closely at Mikes belly....tight squeeze.
It was hilarious watching him on the ride. The platform would just bounce up and down.

In a previous blog, I posted a picture of Mike, Braxton and Kerri on a ride...this is the ride. It was called "Storm Runner".

Braxton and Cheryl after we'd gone on the "wet" ride. I can't remember the name of it. But dumb us pick our last ride of the day to be one that SOAKS you! We all had to ride in the car soaking wet....well Kerri and Hailey didn't.

Hailey had seen little girls with their faces painted at the park, and had begged all day to have her's painted "like a princess". I had put it off all day, but while we were on the wet roller coaster her Aunt Kerri had her face painted. She loved it so much she wouldn't let me wash her face the next day and walked around with smeared face paint.

Trip into DC

2008-07-23T02:57:00.000-07:00

Mikes Mom and Stepdad live just outside of Washington DC, so it's easy to drive into town and do some sight seeing. It was very hot and humid, however, so that made for some cranky kids...and adults.

Me, Hailey, Braxton and Mike at the FDR memorial. (there were some amazing sculptures and water fountains)

Braxton, Mike and Hailey standing in line with the unemployed workers, during the depression.

Grandma Cheryl, with Braxton and Hailey.

Me, Braxton and Hailey standing in the Jefferson Memorial, you can see the Washington Memorial behind us.