It's been a while!!!

No pictures again this time...boring!!! Well...it's been a busy little while. James has been going absolutely crazy trying to study Arabic into the wee hours of the morning and still not passing any tests...I'm sure it will get better soon...I have faith in him. He is being an awesome dad who always takes time to hang out and play with the family. We have been going on walks each Saturday and James taught Jarom to ride his bike....YIPEE!!!

I've been planning the Valentine's activity, cooking for the missionaries, taking care of 5 crazy kids and exercising like mad!!! I've been trying really hard to get over my bad attitude and so I walk every day about 2-3 miles and every other day lift weights and do pilates. Hopefully it will pay off and I'll start to lose some pounds and feel better about myself...all in due time...patience!!! I've been enjoying hanging out with good friends and going to the movies and shopping with them!!! Life is great!!!

Tank is plugging along in school and loving scouts. He is really sad however that his leaders are moving...stanky!!! I'm sure we'll get another set of good ones. He is enjoying reading Harry Potter and playing outside with his siblings. He is one of the best big brothers I think a kid could ask for!!!

Ana is just being as cute as can be. She really loves to do her hair as well as Beka and Sariahs...and they are sooooo cute! She loves to read her Junie B. Jones books and sleep in the queen size bed that's in her room. She loves HSM and is always asking to buy more and more of it.

Jarom learned to ride his bike and he's amazing...it only took a scraped knee and crying for so long that he had snot running down his nose and puffy eyes...but hey...he can ride now!!! He is really happy that he does...now he can keep up with Tank and Ana and doesn't have to "walk" on our walks anymore. He is loving school and can finally "read". He's been telling me he can't read, he can only sounds out the words...but now he can read! He's a funny one that little Armjo!

Beka is our singing and dancing diva! If she's awake her feet are moving and so is her little (big) mouth. If you live within a 10 mile radius you can probably here her because she sings very loudly. She even sings in the store. I admit....I tried to get her to stop and be quiet until I realized that she's only 3 and I DO NOT want to squash any of her creative style. So Beka...belt it out baby!!!

Sariah is just a scream...and speaking of scream...she does all day long! Whether it's out of anger or just for fun...she likes to be heard. She is talking a little more but it's only one word at a time and everything now is "felf" for self. She's little miss independent!!! She loves to eat yogurt and will open 2-3 in a 15 minute time period and only eat 1/2 each...craziness!!!

I love my kids and couldn't imagine life with out them!!! I hope everyone is having a wonderful start to this awesome new year...I know I am!!! I'll try to get some pictures up since I know I have some cute ones from our trip to SD for New Years. I have one of my grandma with all my kids and my little brother!!! Yeah!!!

My totally awesome weekend!!!

I don't have pictures...but this weekend was one of the most awesome I've had. On Friday Jarom got to go to the aquarium with all the kindergarten classes and loved it. I got to take Tank to the dr. and James was even there with us, which is always nice to see him during the day. It was fun to have a little Tank time. James and I went on a date!!! It was so much fun. We dropped the kids off at our totally awesome neighbors house and headed to the mall. We got movie tickets and then ate some dinner at Chipotle...so good. I got some stuff at Bath and Body works because they were having a big huge clearance...of course you gotta hit it!!! We finally made our way over to see Bride Wars and it was really cute. I loved it and wouldn't mind seeing it again. I really like Anne Hathaway! Then we got some ice cream from Cold Stone. On Saturday we got up and headed to the Oakland Temple with the kids. There were some wonderful ladies in the ward who babysat for us so that we could go do a session. It was so wonderful to be there and the temple is so beautiful. When we got home we had our friends, The Bodens, over for dinner. It was another great night. Sunday we had fun hanging out until 1:00 for church. James dad called and invited him to play risk on the computer and it's always fun for them to share in that kind of bonding. It was a great weekend and I'm hoping for many more weeks and weekends to be just as awesome!!!

My man!!!

So, I was listening to my playlist and one of my favorite songs by Jessica Simpson came on "With You". It made me think about how much I love my wonderful husband. I love the fact that he loves me for me. I'm not a super model, but he thinks I'm beautiful. He loves me even if I'm not always super nice when he wakes me up at 5:30 in the morning, if I'm not the best cook, if I'm not always perfect when he gets home, if the house isn't always perfectly clean. I can be myself with him and he loves me no matter what. I feel so lucky to have such a great guy in my life! He is such a good man to provide for our family even when it isn't the most enjoyable thing to do. He never complains about getting up and going to school to sit and learn all day. He's my hero and best of all, he has 5 children that are absolutely perfect and think he's the best dad in the whole world!!! How could I be so lucky? I love you James and all you do for us...all the sacrifices you make and for being willing to fight for our freedoms so that we can continue to live in this wonderful nation!

It's an overload!

Things have been a little busy around here and so I was trying to catch up...I'm not done but I think I got a good start on it! There like 4 new posts or something there! Have fun!!!

Gingerbread houses with the DeVochts!!!

Kevin, Stephanie, and Sade came over the Monday before Christmas for dinner and to make gingerbread houses. It was sooo much fun! We had lots of stuff to decorate with and lots of laughs to go with it. Sade and Sariah loved the candy most of all liked to share what they got! They are so cute. Thanks for coming over and having some fun with us!!!

more christmas pictures

More fun at Christmas time! We are so excited to have Christmas and learn more about what's really important. This year James had a friend of his in class who adopted a couple of children from the angel tree at the salvation army and asked her to get one for us. It was so much fun to go and do this for a little boy who otherwise wouldn't have anything. He asked for a bike or an elmo doll...we opted for the bike and got him a nice bike to enjoy and a little elmo toy. It is always so nice to be able to give to others. We may not have a lot of money or a lot of nice things in our little home...but we are so truly blessed to have all that we have and I hope that we remember it always and thank our Heavenly Father every day for the blessings that we have! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas as I know we did. We were invited to a friend of James' to dinner and it was really fun to go and enjoy a nice meal with friends like us!

Christmas!!!

The kids in their new jammies on the Eve and their loot from Christmas morning! What a bunch of lucky kids...too lucky if you ask me.

Sariah is 2!!!

Sariah had her 2nd birthday the night of our wonderful Christmas dinner that I was in charge of...so we had to postpone her little celebration. Hey...she's 2! We didn't do anything fancy just a little cake and ice cream and shared it with our wonderful neighbors! I'm so glad to have such good neighbors and friends around here who make life so fun and blessed! Sariah had fun blowing out the candles and then opening her presents. She had more fun running back and forth from the kitchen to the living room with Abby. That's their favorite pasttime! She is such a cute little girl and we're so excited to have her in our family. She loves to make everyone laugh and she loves to help people when they are sad. She always tries her hardest to make her friends in nursery happy by rubbing their back and asking them if they want to play with her. She's a sweetie and makes our lives that much more complete. We love you Sariah!!!