.

Jaimins Baptism and Kids party

2012-02-06T10:32:00.000-08:00

Jaimin with Max, they got baptised together, they also share a birthday, Jaimin is older by like 12 hours :)

This is the first time we have had to do stake baptisms, in Taylor they are so small we got to do our baptism by ourselves and whenever we wanted. It was nice though having another family sharing this day with us. They did great with their talk and song, it was perfect.

Jaimin and Mike before the baptism

he was kinda nervous about getting "dunked"Us before the baptismOKAY.....CAKE TIME

Eighmey and her cake, she wanted me to make a cake for her that I had just made for a friend but it was pretty big so I made a mini and made it more "Eighmey". (in this pic Eighmey had already bumped her name on the cake :( )

Madden absolutely loved his cake... he had loved anything Thomas the train for a year or so now so when I was asking the kids what kinds of cakes they wanted I knew just the one for Madden. All 3 birthday babes, I love how mini Eighmey and Maddens are :)

Grandpa Starkes (my dad) bithday was the same day as we planned the kids party so I couldn't leave him out. Any chance to amke a cake I say. It was so late when I was making these cakes I wish I would have thought to say "gone fishin' "...its just more hick without the G :)Face shot of ThomasJaimins cake, he wanted camo and something with the army guys so I put my thinkin' cap on and BAM, and numero ocho.Even was camo on the inside, yeah i'm THAT good. HA!

Blowing out his candles

Opening his MP3

Gifts from grandma. GIRL LEGOS!!!

Thomas and Monster trucks, what else could a 3 year old boy ask for.Madden eating all the black on his cake.After the party we all went outside and rode all the bikes and motorcycles and the famous Go Cart grandpa built. Only pic I took was Chancy on it, his head kept hitting the top bar. So we had a great day full of family and fun. My dad had to hurry and leave to visit his dad, kids call him "Grandpa old", or "Grandpa Starkes old" so we know which grandpa Starkes they are talking about. He ended up in the hospital the night before having a stroke. He got an MRI and it showed he had a full on stroke caused by a small heart attack. My dad says he seems fine just a little slow at speaking. Hope he bounces back quick.

Ashton and Madden (My FULL TIME Job)

2012-01-20T08:17:00.000-08:00

Ashton got his FIRST hair cut right before the new year but I am adding it to this years blog so sue me.

BEFOREAFTERI hate cutting their hair for the first time cause it always makes them look so much older, and with Ashton it seemed like he started acting older too. Why do babies have to grow up?

Ashton loved the ring pop candies cause they remind him of a pacifier (which he still sucks on even at 20 months, so sue me again)

Ashton is old enough now to appreciate his baby he got 2 Christmas' ago. He loves holding him and playing mommy/daddy with Eighmey.

This day I found him hugging on him while sleeping, it's just so cute when they do that.

Madden, on the other hand, is........well..........what would you call that?.............um..........oh yeah................A TURD!He will sit in the closet at night after we put him to bed and DESTROY all the kids papers and books and stuff. On this day he pulled out drawers and threw clothes all over, dumped all the boys new drawing stuff, and colored on stuff with markers. WHAT A STINKER!!!!!!

These two definitely keep me on my feet. Even though I'm sure if they tested me they would probably lock me up in a crazy home, I wouldn't change a thing about my crazy days with these two boys. :)

Start the Year off with some fun! 2012

2012-01-12T21:51:00.000-08:00

Jaimin turned 8 on Jan 10th. He picked fried eggs for breakfast and cookies for his treat for his classroom party. We also take just our birthday kid out on their birthday for dinner where ever they choose and Jaimin wanted STEAK! So we went to Black Angus. He did order steak and a HUGE root beer float. He was in Heaven! They also brought him a 8 inch cookie with a softball size ice cream scoop on top. Happy birthday J, now to get ready for the dunk! Jaimin gets baptised soon!!!!

Eighmeys birthday, of course, is 2 days later. She turned the BIG 6! She also picked fried eggs and took cookies to class. She ALSO wanted steak but mommy and daddy didn't want the same restaurant so we took her to Chilis. We had a good meal.Crazy thing about dinner was....we walked in and they asked if we wanted the bar or the dinning area, I thought that was weird cause we had Eighmey with us so I wouldn't think they would offer us the bar, but we decided to go there cause the games were on and there was only like 4 people in there. We order dinner and eat and all is well, then Mike and I are chatting back and forth about how much money we will have spent this week on eating out because of the 2 birthdays. (but we like taking them individually so we planned on it). The lady comes back to get out debit card and ticket and she says."actually your bill has been paid for." What? Are you kidding me? She said nope, they wanted to pay and said your little girl is so adorable. We were speechless and VERY thank full. We told Eighmey what happened and she was glowing. It made her so happy to think someone else thought she was that cute that they wanted to pay her bill. So to sum it up, she had a great time too, she got a brownie with ice cream on it with a candle to top it off. PERFECT!

After dinner Mike and I were saying what a blessing that was for those people to pay. We had the money and had no problem paying but we were just saying how we needed to be better at saving after this week cause we had spent too much on birthday dinners. Then that happens and lightens the load. Heavenly Fathers works in amazing ways and I am so thankful to be apart of the tools he uses in this life to touch His children, on the giving and the receiving end, either way is a Blessing.

Eating cookies with her class

We had a quick little party at the park for them and their friends, Jaimin just got a few cupcakes and Eighmey got a big purse cupcake cake. I don't really know why I did that, maybe just cause the purse was too cute to pass up..

Happy Birthday my 2 "Middles"!

Family PIcs

2011-12-05T10:05:00.000-08:00

We got family pics done by my sis but haven't got the edited ones back yet so I am putting my edited version up.

My kids seem to never smile at the same time. I guess its hard to have 8 people picture perfect all the time. But through it all we got some good pics. Thx Mandy for putting up with us YET AGAIN!

UPDATED....Some of the pics Mandy took and edited. Great Job, Thanks! The whole Yarn family 2011

Halloween 2011

2011-10-30T19:17:00.000-07:00

A Cake

2011-10-30T18:59:00.000-07:00

A quick family pic at Bryce and Reafs Birthday party.

Cupcakes for the party

Top says Reaf but kinda sunk in a bit

Brycey boy

The number 3 and number 1 were kinda funny, but hey they liked it.

Ashton and goofy-ness

2011-10-30T18:33:00.000-07:00

Jaimin making an ugly face

Ashton making his crazy face
Madden making a goofy face wearing a hat Trey made.

Ashton making a goofy face but making it look so darn cute

CHEESE!!!!!!!

Ashton got stuck in a chair and was crying so we ran in to see what was wrong. It was so cute I had to get a pic.

Getting out of his mess.

Happy it's over.

Update, trying to play catch up.

2011-10-30T14:18:00.000-07:00

I am playing catch up again. We moved in July and can't get internet service where we live cause it is the Rural area of Buckeye. So here I am trying to cram 5 months into a post or 2 so I actually can save some memories from this year.

Ashton is my cutie pie, he was acting like he was reading the book of mormon and being a ham.

Mike turned the BIG 3-0, I surprised him with his family coming out for dinner and cake. I also surprised him with a cake, I was rushed through it so much cause he was sitting in the other room and I had to keep telling him to not look. He loved it after all, thought it was clever.

I put yellow gel on it to look like pee, we kept saying Jaimin peed on it cause he always misses.

The kids picked out some candy and stuff for Mike, he liked his card.

Madden has the most pretty eyes

This is our dog Sam, he is a pitbull, Jaimin took this pic so he could use it at school.

Jaimin learned how to do back flips so he practices on the bed cause it is really springy. He can do them flat footed on the ground as well. He is such a superman.

Get away.

2011-06-07T13:25:00.000-07:00

Mike had to go to the valley for a couple days for a class for work so we enjoyed the vaca with him. We stayed in a pretty nice hotel and his work paid for our meals so it was nice. Here are some of the kids with their long john silvers hats on.

Eighmey got her hair chopped off. She did really good and the girl did a great job at cutting it. She looked like a big girl. Her first big cut.

That is her ponytail on her lap.

Ashton fell asleep on grandma Eighmey when we visited her while mike was in class.

Grandma Eighmey gave Eighmey her jelery box and Jaimin was playing in it.

Ashton cracky!

2011-06-07T13:10:00.000-07:00

Ashton has some teeth now and likes showing them off.

He also likes to make funny faces and show off for the camera.

BIRTHDAY PARTY TIME

2011-06-07T10:55:00.000-07:00

We did Jaimin, Eighmey, and Maddens birthday party this year all together. Grandma and Papa Yarn, Gma Parrack, Brian and Ginger and Fam, and some friends from school and church.

Maddden got a train set cause he LOVES trains, he called it his "my choo choo chain now".

Grandmas and Papa

Eatin' some cake!

Blowing out the candles

it's only been 4 months...so what!

2011-05-18T22:15:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I let 4 months go by without a post. I can't believe 4 months even went by! So I guess I will do a quick catch up post then all the details later (and by later, I mean sooner, just later :)

February we had the kids birthday party (Jaimin, Eighmey and Madden). We had them all together because when it was Jaimin and Eighmeys birthday we were way busy then Madden has his birthday 3 weeks later, so rather then throw 2 parties we just knocked it all out at once. It was fun, I decided to make each of them a cake and all my creative juices were stolen from me so they had to be quicky easy cakes. Eighmey ended up with a dang ugly pony, I put too much pink coloring in the frosting so it was like neon. Jaimin wanted a mario cake so yeah...he got what he got. Madden wanted a train, I thought his was cute but still wish i had more time for them all.

Ashton makes crazy faces, he is such a cutie, I love when they hit the fun stage.

We went to the valley for a couple days for a training Mike had for work. While Mike was in class we went and chopped Eighmeys hair. She has never had it cut short so we decided what the heck. It made her look so big and very cute.

We went to Flagstaff for a training for my work during spring break so we decided to get a otel and have fun as a whole family. We couldn't find much to do so we left kinda early from Flagstaff and as we passed Meteor Crater signs we decided to go. It was a fun stop, very informative.

We also had our pinewood derby, Trey and Brian both got to build cars and race. Brian took 1st in show for our ward.

Eighmey started T ball, the boys are all on the same Minors team. They are having fun with that right now. Jaimin and Eighmey are also in Tumbling class and Eighmey si in pom class so we run around like crazy people pretty much everyday right now.So thats what we have been up to, I am going to get in gear and get this blog caught up before summer hits and we get really busy (more on that later)

Week 2- January 2011

2011-01-13T15:10:00.000-08:00

Well to say the least week 2 has been quit a headache so far and we still have 1 more day.

It started well actually, Jaimin turned 7 and got whatever he wanted that day to eat. I made German pancakes for breakfast and steak for dinner. For lunch dad tried to take him to DQ but they don't open till 11 so they went to circle K. He took cupcakes to school (no pic)

Then the next day Mike had to head up to Wyoming. Him and Eighmey picked Grandma Parrack up at 6:30am and headed out. They went the Page way to get there. Mike called a few times to tell me where they were and to tell me how they were doing on time. I can't remember what time he called to tell me that he would be there in a hour and half or so, but it wasnt 15 minutes later he called and said, "Brandi, I have to tell you something but just stay calm." Thats when I knew it wasn't good news.

He then told me he hit an elk and gave me details of the damages and whatnot. I could hear Grandma in the back round saying, "the car wont start". I was pretty scared. He said they had been hit by glass from the windshield and there was blood, but they were fine. Eighmey was still crying in the back so I kept asking if she was ok, she was fine, not even a scratch. The police came and Tonya came to pick them up so all was well after that.....Right! Wrong!

So that night was hard to sleep, I didn't have lots of details and I had no idea how to get them home. We only have liability on that car so nothing would be covered; towing, rental, glass. nothing.

So the next day I go to work and Mike goes to his interview. While I was at work I had a major meltdown. You see the night before my first reaction was more on the anger/frustrated side. I was grateful it wasn't worse but my anger still haunted me. I asked my mother-in-law on the phone (who actually called Mike right when it happened, so she was freaking out bad), should I be mad or grateful? Of course I knew the answer but I was falling short in my faith I guess. I said to her, we pray for safety and protection and yet they still get in an accident. An accident, mind you, that was totally not avoidable. The elk jumped over a rail guard and landed right on top of the car, crushing the windshield.

So while at work Mike calls me and tells me more details and tells me "do you realise how bad this could have been?" I say,"yes, the elk could have come completely thru the window and you and Grandma would be dead." He said, "not just that, our car could have been hit after the accident and while I was out of the vehicle and then it would definitely been worse." See, after he hit it, he was dazed and just kinda sat there, then when he got out a lady that stopped told him to move his car. She said it several times getting more and more eager for him to move. He finally did and just minutes later car after car came speeding by and slammed into the elk. 2 cars even T boned and had to be taken to the hospital. A semi had to swerve off the road to avoid the mess too. So if Mike wouldn't have moved those cars may not have stopped for him either. That road is a windy/ snowy road so it is hard to see in advance.

At that point of our conversation I lost it, not only did I just want him and Eighmey home, but I knew I was wrong for feeling anger. I knew Heavenly Father answered our prayers that day. He did protect them, they were not hurt and they were able to walk away. I hate to even think what would have happened if we didn't say our prayer or if we weren't worthy to receive that blessing.

I, being a worry wart, had felt scared for the long ride the whole week before. Grandma asked if Mike was a good driver. Mike's brother was teasing him about wanting to work at a mine, saying it was dangerous and said something about dieing on the way to the interview of a job that was gonna kill him. (you have to know their humor). Anyways with all this and then Janet told me she had a nightmare the night before that they all died in a car crash, I began to use my faith and think deeper.

You can "what if" all day but I honestly feel that when things happen like this we tend to say, Wow, well at least it wasn't worse, and then just forget about it. When I feel I need to take more from this. I need to know that Heavenly Father blessed us so it wasn't worse, nothing happened "just because".

I feel all of us as family had an uneasy feeling about it, but knew to say our prayers and let the rest go. That is why now my feelings have turned 180 degrees. I am just so thankful for their protection. Cars and money can be replaced but I don't know what I would have done if Mike and my girl were hurt or even worse, died. Me not being able to be with them in those minutes would have killed me more then it already did when he called me to say they were fine.

A lot is on my mind still, I wish I would have wrote those little feelings down as it happened so I could look back and copy them here, but the point is: LESSON LEARNED- have faith that Heavenly Fathers hand is in ALL things. Nothing happens just because, it is all in His plan.

Sorry if this was long or all jumbled, I needed to write this down before I forgot my feelings at this moment.

So in other news.

Mike had a great interview, we don't know anything yet other than he was 1 of 18 that was picked out of 800 applicants! I am very proud of him for that. I think that is just crazy cause he has given almost every plumber in the valley his resume and not 1 call back. Not even 1! With all his plumbing back ground you think they would call, not a mine that he hasn't a clue what they would want from him.

Mike after his interview, he has a knot on his head :(

Also, while up there Eighmey turned 5! They sent me a pic of her by a cake Aunt Tonya made her. She had a good day being by herself with daddy.

Meanwhile, I am at home with 2 sick babies. They both started trowing up last night and Ashton still is today. (pics in the next post)

Oh and Mikes trip went from spending gas and a little food money, to renting a uhaul trailer,pulling the car back to his Aunts, buying a new windshield, extra gas, and who knows what tomorrow will bring. We are hoping once the window is fixed he can just drive home and be DONE! So pray for a safe drive tomorrow!

Week 1 - January 2011!

2011-01-12T19:09:00.000-08:00

Wow, last year flew by and here we are in 2011! I told myself I would update my blog at least once a week (hasn't happened yet but hopefully when I get caught up I will stick to my goal.)

So to recap the last 2 weeks I will just start from the beginning.

We started the new year with the most crazy night when it comes to temperature. It got to -27 degrees here in Heber. We were playing games all night on new years with gma Parrack and gma Yarn and I remember looking up at the windows in our living room and there being a sheet of ice on the INSIDE of the window. I figured because they are old windows it was doing that, but then I looked at the newer windows that are recently installed and they are the same way. It freaked me out thinking we were gonna freeze that night. Anyways we did ok not totally freezing and the windows didn't do it again so we just assumed it was from being -27. WOW!

We ended up getting about 18 inches. We weren't exactly ready for the snow so the kids didn't have proper snowsuits and such but they played hard in it anyway.

Madden fell asleep so he didn't end up playing in it just walking around outside for a sec.

Since Christmas Madden has watched his Toy Story 3 movie probably close to 3,562 times (approx.). He is just so funny watching it. He will yell the characters names and what they say. He is starting to say lines in the movie before the characters do (that's when you know it is bad :)

The kids made me take this pic cause they thought it was so cute that while he was napping he rolled over and grabbed Jessie and Woody.

Every time the movie gets to the boring part he yells at me and says "tain, mom, tain". This means he wants to see the train again in the first scene of the movie, so I have to skip back like 20 times a day. Also because I always say "AGAIN???", he started calling the movie "tory a-din", this means Story Again. He is just getting so big and can tell me exactly what he wants and it is so cute.

And these are my gorgeous children who all got new suits/Dress for Christmas. They have always wanted a matching suit and Santa finally found them that didn't kill his wallet (or elves)

Brian- 10 Trey-9Jaimin- 7Eighmey-5Madden- 23 monthsAshton-7 1/2 months Best lookin' bunch I've ever seen!

Oh and also in week 1 of Jan Mike got an exciting phone call. It was from the mine in Wyoming asking him to come up for an interview on the 12th. (more on this in newt post)

SANTA

2010-12-31T14:00:00.001-08:00

This years Santa trip was at the one and only......wait for it.......FAMILY DOLLAR!!!!!!!! Awesome isn't it?

They were so excited (haha)

We just ran there last second cause I knew we wouldn't be going any where to see Santa before Christmas...it worked out good.

Madden has a hard time with other people so this was kinda hard for him

Ashton didn't know what to think, he was looking at me here but all the rest of the time he couldn't keep his eyes off Santa.

Madden- our clown

2010-12-30T14:38:00.000-08:00

Madden started going to nursery the first week in August.

I got called to be a leader a couple weeks later. It's a good thing too cause I was already sitting in there the whole 2 hours cause Madden hated it.

I had to take pictures for Christmas ornaments we were making with all the kids.....this is what I got out of Madden :)..............

He is such a silly boy, love that little boy.

Madden almost 2- he says all his colors, he can count to 10, he sings some of daddy's songs, he is so smart because he copies everything his older siblings are doing....SO SO CUTE

My Twinners

2010-12-29T17:54:00.000-08:00

I put the boys to bed togther one night.

I was suprised how big Ashton looked laying next to Madden

Madden- 22 mos Ashton-almost 7 mos.

Madden likes to unbutton his jammas everytime he wears them.

Growing like a weed

2010-12-29T17:18:00.000-08:00

Ashton started pulling himself up December 18th. He still is a little clumsy but it still is cute.

(almost 7 months old)

He gets so tickled when he stands, it's like he knows he is just so dang cute :)

this is him a few days later

why do they have to grow up so fast?

Bad Boy Maddy! :)

2010-12-20T13:54:00.000-08:00

I had to snap a picture of this :) He looked so dang cute standing in the corner. I can't even remember what he did now but I told him to go to the corner and he actually did it (his 1st time being told to). He started bawling, I think it broke his heart to be in trouble.

Madden was only about 20 months old here
He just buried his nose in the corner

and then when he was screaming crying he pointed his head up more.

Madden pretty much gets away with murder so

he wasn't there long, just long enough for me to take pics.

Ashton's new tricks 11-2-10

2010-11-13T18:26:00.000-08:00

Ashton started getting on his hands and knees at about 5 months.

He wants so badly to be a big kid and run around this house like his brothers and sister.
I love his pretty smile

I don't know what the heck this is, he would put his legs up
and his arms and just balance there. Probably makes for a good work out.

Family pics

2010-10-19T22:08:00.000-07:00

So my sister decided to get her own little photography thing going. We were headed to the valley so we took her up on her photo shoot offer. We learned A LOT that day

#1- don't plan on going out at 8ish but really leave at 10ish (sun was way too hot, and kids squint in EVERY picture)

#2- Bring more bribing snacks

#3- DON'T wear long sleves in the valley in October ( I wanted colder looking pics so I could use them for Christmas cards) DUMB!

Needless to say, out of the 800 or so pictures taken that day, we only got a few that SOMEONE didn't have their eyes shut, or squinting, or mouths open, or sad faces, or everything else that could have happened.

Oh yes, I guess I have a few more things we learned that day

#4- It is almost impossible to get a "perfect" family pic with these many goobers

#5- Madden HATES the camera, I don't think we got 1 thing with him looking (smiling)

........k, I guess that is it with my griping, enjoy :)

Milton Dean Parrack; GRANDPA

2010-09-28T21:39:00.000-07:00

Grandpa passed away Thursday September 23, 2010 at about one in the afternoon. He just turned 79 years old. Grandpa had been fighting illnesses for years now but even more in the past 2 years.

For the past 2 weeks Grandpas health was really taking a turn for the worse. His nurse told him he wouldn't live more then 3 hours one night, but he kept holding on.

We visited Grandpa daily after his fall earlier that month. Some days he was sleeping other times he was wide awake and alert as ever watching his TV.

Saturday the 18th was Grandmas birthday, we brought he over a cake and we hugged grandpa and told him we loved him. I think he knew what was coming in the next week, he was so sweet.

Monday we visited, he was watching TV; Tuesday Mike went by and he wouldn't even wake up and respond; Wednesday I went by and Grandpa was laying in his bed awake as can be.

I took the kids to say goodbye cause Grandma said it would be soon. We were so happy to see he was awake. Grandma said he had just woken from a 12 hour nap.

I held his hand and rubbed his arm. I told him I loved him. He told me "I bet you don't love me anymore then I love you." He told me to take care of Grandma, he was so worried about Grandma. I assured him we would.

We talked alot, I wish I could have heard all of it, at one point I just got bits and pieces cause it was such a wisper. He told me to take care of Mike and the kids and told me what a good man Michael was.

He told me not to "moan and groan when he was gone because he was off to a better place." I told him that we would because we are human but that we know it is where we all will be one day and that we would see him there.

In the past 11 years I have known Grandpa his heart has softened so much. It used to be hard for grandpa to express his feelings but just in the past year or so it seems like a different man. I think Heavenly Father blessed him with that softness so Grandpa could express to his family his feeling before it was too late. I have really grown to love this man over the years. He would always listen when I would go over to Grandmas and just talk and talk. He always gave his 2 cents :)

Grandpa, we know you are in a better place, and that we will see you again. We know you aren't suffering anymore, and that you have a work to do with your ancestors, but we will miss you in this earthly stage of our lives. We love you Grandpa!

All of us that were at the house right after Grandpa passed. Grandpa died holding onto his bell that he would ring to get Grandmas attention.
Grandma wanted the kids to be there so they wouldn't be afraid of Grandpa, and so they could understand death better.

Ash Crackers and 5 new posts!

2010-09-06T17:29:00.000-07:00

This is Ashton, we started calling him Ash and then for some reason it went to Ash crack, (which doesn't sound too good), then I started calling him Ash crackers and now finally it is mostly crackers. Don't ask where any of it came from cause I couldn't tell ya but it just did.

This pic to the left is him at 3 months and the one on the right is him at 1 month. The pics kinda mess it up but if you pay attention just to the baby doll you can see his growth.

These pics are of him smiley and of him crashed. He sleeps so well and I haven't even done anything really to train him. He is also way smiley and has a little wrinkle on the top of his nose when he smiles. I love it, he is just such a joy.

July (catch up post)

2010-09-06T17:18:00.000-07:00

This is a few bunches of pictures to sum up our summer.

Trip to valley to go school clothes shopping, we went to jungle jims, we stayed with grandma Eighmey for 5 days.

Ashtons Blessing and 2 month mark

Ashton was blessed on July 25th, we did it at Mikes parents house,

Mike did a good job (I think he has had some practice don't you?),

Ashton also had his 2 month doc appointment, he had to get shots, so sad :(

4th of July

Kids at the rodeo and misc.

Jaimin had to get shots to go to kindergarten this year, we were teasing him telling him to be strong and stuff. Well the next picture showes his feelings the best I guess.

BEFORE SHOT

DURING SHOT We thought that was pretty funny, he didn't cry or even feel bad after he just acted like hewas dying during it.

Birthday Parties!

2010-09-06T16:02:00.000-07:00

Some people at the party

Mike can't just take a straight face picture

He just blew out the candles here.

here is the side view of the little burger cakes

these are what everyone got

Mike had his 29th bday on the 1st. We made him breakfast in bed and made a yummy dinner for him. We kinda just let things go that day cause I knew I had something a brewin'. I was working on a surprise party for Sunday. On friday I started baking and on Saturday I finished all the details. Sunday after church we went over to Brain and Gingers for what he thought was just normal dinner, but instead he was surprised by his Parents, Chancy, Grandma Parrack, Charlotte and Bryce, and the whole Larkin Parrack Family. It was cool to see the look on his face but my camera didn't catch it :(

I can't believe the man I married is already 29! That just seems so crazy to me, I remember when he turned 18, how does time fly??? I have decided that I am going to be one of those people who hates the number 30. I really don't know if I am going to be able to handle it. I guess we will soon see :)

Grandpa Parracks birthday is the day before Mikes. They are 50 years apart. We brought him over some candy and his favorite soda. I didn't get Ashton in the pic but I always like to get a pic of gpa and the kids.

Back to school and update

2010-09-06T15:11:00.000-07:00

Summer seemed to zoom by. We moved to Heber and had lots of work to do at our house so of course it went by way too fast. I applied for a job at the school while we were registering the kids for school. They called me for an interview, and the next day called me and told me I got the job. Even though working full time is a whole new world for me, I was so excited.

Needless to say our lives have been crazy since then. I didn't get to take my kids to their first day of school because duh, I'm cooking breakfast for the kids at school. So I got pics of the kids with their teachers after school. I also took them to meet the teacher night to make sure the teachers would know I'm at the school if they need me and so I felt better about not being there the first day.

This is Brain with Mrs. Myers ( I LOVE her)

This is Trey with Mrs. Duncan and her aid (very fun teacher)

This is Jaimin with Mrs. Connor (she is the absolute BEST)

All the kids before meet the teacher night

Brian- 9, Trey-8, Jaimin-6, Eighmey-4, Madden-18months, Ashton-2.5 months

We are 3.5 weeks into school now and we have only had 2 fights, haha, no but really 2 of them have gotten into little fights but both times they weren't at fault, they were just defending themselves so there was hardly any punishment. I hope that is just kids learning o get along and not an on going this this year.

Jaimins teacher says he is so smart, she says she doesnt have enough work for him, and he is only there for 2.5 hours :) Brian is doing awesome in pretty much everything, Mr. wiz kid! Trey sill hates reading but is slowly doing better now that we found books he likes, and his teacher never gives homework so he is in heaven. Eighmey stays home with dad and the babies during the day and just pesters Madden. She can't wait till school next year. Madden is just Madden, and Mike is enjoying getting to play with him alot seems Madden loves him. Ashton stays with daddy too and Mike is also loving getting to know a three month old. Mike has always been good with the babies but he has never had enough time with them to really get to know their personality till they get older.

Mike also got a new job here in town in the evenings, so for now he has the day shift at home and I get the night shifts. It works out cause we have the same days off. I am loving the kids at capps, they all have such good hearts and tell me I am their favorite lunch lady :)

Prayer

2010-09-06T14:25:00.000-07:00

Madden has known how to fold his arms for awhile now but just recently he started trying to close his eyes and be on his knees. (all these pics were taken AFTER the prayer :)He was actually bowing his head, sooo cute!The next 2 are of him saying amen, He says it real loud and throws his hands apart, it is kinda funny when he does this a church after the sacrament prayer :)

HAIR, HAIR, HAIR

2010-07-08T00:19:00.000-07:00

While I was away Mike buzzed all my bigger boys' heads. Mike missed the strip down the middle on Brian :) I guess he just needed something crazy before he had to chop it all off for school

Madden got his first cut, we only know how to buzz it, or pay someone else to cut it but we end up not liking it and buzzing it anyways. Madden hated it so much he was screaming crying and his nose started to run, yuck!

More of him HATING it!

Then I got him a otter pop, that worked :)

And of course I only got an after picture, I bet you can see how his hair looked before by just looking through my blog, sure a cutie though.

2010-07-08T00:16:00.000-07:00

Ashton is getting so big (even bigger now since I am behind on my blogging). This is Ashton at 1 month, he went to the doc and weighed 10lbs (1lb 10oz gain) and he had grown 2 inches. I took a pic of him next to Madden's baby so I would see his growth every month (but I forgot to take a pic at his 2 month mark, so there goes that idea :)

This is him and daddy in the car waiting for something (can't remember). I just love when they hold their heads up, they make such a cute face.

Family reunion

2010-07-08T00:13:00.000-07:00

I keep forgetting to take pictures when we are places but I did get a pic of THIS. This is Jaimins splinter he got while playing/ sliding on an old piece of plywood. It was so deep, he cried like a baby, (not really).

This is Madden and Bryce, they wanted to be pulled around in this wagon ALL DAY! They were so cute thought, covered from head to toe in dirt. Gotta love boys and dirt

Ashton's First Bath

2010-07-08T00:11:00.000-07:00

Finally his belly button thingy fell off so I could clean the stinky boy :)He wasn't very happy to say the least

I have to be in some pics sometime, right?

Dang, his bellybutton looks funny here

Finally enjoying it!

Memory Lane/ valley trip

2010-07-08T00:08:00.000-07:00

I took a quick drive down memory lane last month, Mike had work to do about 5 miles away from here so we waited while we drove around (me and the kids). This is where I grew up, 737 E. Carol Ave, Phoenix, Az......The house has changed alot, but it still has the same mailbox we checked our mail at out front, it still has the same tall palm tree, the same concrete driveway we used to skate on. It brought back alot of memories. The orange building {Do drop inn} was/is a bar just down our road, we used to be too scared to walk by it fearing a drunk would take ius away. I enjoyed the days living in that neighborhood, taught me how to grow up.

We went to the valley that weekend for Mandy and Andrews house warming party. Here is Mike and Madden chowing down.

I didn't get too many pics that weekend, but we had lots of fun swimming, working, shopping, visiting. :)

Gross!!!

2010-07-08T00:06:00.000-07:00

This is what you get when your kid sticks a potato

in your 50lb bag of flour over 5 months ago.

It scared the crap out of me, I reached my hand into the bag and felt something funny. I yelled for help and my father-in-law came and pulled it out for me. All I could say was GROSS!

{I know it was 5 months ago or more because I used to keep the potatoes next to the flour then}

Kidney Stones :(

2010-07-02T23:39:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, during Sunday School, I felt a pain in my lower back which was getting sharper and sharper. I told Mike it felt like my kidney stones again (haven't had a problem since December 07). Mike took me home where it got worse and worse for the next about 2 hours. Finally Gpa got home with our kids and him and Mike gave me a blessing. The pain went away about 30 minutes later. It was great, I felt the Lord answered that prayer so quick, I was so blessed.

I felt fine after that till Tuesday, that night they came back just as painful as ever. Then after some pain med and a heating pad the pain went away.

This leads us to Thursday, now the pain isn't just in my kidney, it is in my tract area (not sure how to say this), you know, where you pee? That pain is pretty uncomfortable, it feels like you have to pee ALL DAY, and every time you try, NOTHING!!

Anyways, this leads us to Friday, all day I feel the same pain, this time worse, they are attacking me again. Finally after drinking lots of water and a shot of lemon juice and olive oil, at 11:00p.m. I went to the bathroom and saw this in the toilet. I wasn't gonna get it out but my doc says they want to analyze them so I know what they are made out of so I know what I can quit eating. Here is a pic of it next to a penny.

Hopefully this can be the end of these annoying things, good news is everyone says how painful they are to pass and I can't even feel it, weird maybe???

Check out some pics!

2010-06-17T12:18:00.000-07:00

On Nicole Coombs blog there are some awesome pics of our baby. She did an awesome job and I definitely recommend giving her a call for pics. Ashton gave us a hard time cause I didn't feed him good enough before we got there, so he ended up eating every few minutes between shots and background changes :) Despite all that, Nicole did awesome so check out her blog till I can get some up on mine. Thanks again Nicole, sorry he was a hungry bug :)

jakeandnicolecoombs05.blogspot.com

Ashton's 1st week

2010-06-01T22:23:00.000-07:00

Ashton sleeping with daddy (2 days old)All curled up, he loves sleeping on his belly with his legs way far up.
1 week old

Saturday, Jaimin was throwing up all night so he stayed home from church with me and the babies on Sunday. We took a few pics of the 3 youngest boys. This one is when Ashton was laying on Madden's chest but then Ashton tried to eat him so Madden didn't want him there anymore.
This one is of Madden trying to smile, I think he looks like Kermit the frog :)

Just chillin'

And this is all 3 of them.

(yes my kids are all way white, but Ashton is still a little jaundice)

Introducing....

2010-05-24T08:03:00.000-07:00

Ashton Bentley Yarn

8lbs 6oz 20 1/2in.

12:57 p.m.

5/21/10

Warning: long and boring, for my journal entry mainly: As I said in a post before, at 6:00 we would be at the hospital, at 7:30 start surgery...blah blah blah....well we got there at 6 and they started all the stuff; paperwork, blood work...then my nurse came back in and said they might have to postpone my surgery cause they might need the room for an emergency c-section if this lady couldn't get her baby out. Totally understandable, we were ok with that. Then they said noon, we weren't so sure we could wait THAT long :) But we did anyway.

Sitting there for those extra 5 hours started to make me panic. I had these leg things on and the monitors on my belly, my room was getting hot, I wanted to rip it all off and cry. Mike calmed me down just as the nurse came in and said lets go. We all walked into the surgery room, which is new to me cause they used to do them down stairs in the O.R. now they have their own c-section surgery room in the O.B. Dept, they told me to sit on the operating table and wait for Dr. Tindall to get there. From that point it all happened so quick.

Mike was standing on the outside of the room looking through a window until it was time for him to come in. Meanwhile I was getting my spinal and getting all scrubbed up and ready. I started to panic again cause the numbing was so extreme I could hardly feel myself breathing. I asked if Mike could come in, they allowed him even though they weren't quiet ready. If my legs had any feeling in them I may have just ran away at that point, I was getting so claustrophobic. Just Mike coming in, rubbing my head and holding my hand made it all go away. All of a sudden the extreme numbing became so comfortable. I just layed there waiting to hear the baby cry.

The talk of the baby's gender was filling the room, everyone was asking what we wanted and what we had. Mike and I knew in our hearts we were going to have another boy so we talked about that a lot. Finally doc got the babies head out, Mike said it looked just like Madden. They got the body out and confirmed it was a boy. I was crying and Mike jokingly asked if I was crying cause it was a boy :) Of course not, I was crying cause I finally got to see and hear my baby.

Mike left with the baby and I went to loo loo land till they wheeled me to my room.

It was nice this time, because of all the new stuff at the hospital you actually get to recover in your room while the baby lays right there, so I got to be with my baby a lot quicker then before.

Because they used something different or maybe a different dosage (not sure) in my anaesthesia this time i was so loopy for the rest of the day. I have never been like that before but it felt really good. Just recently now I can remember talking to people on the phone and I have no idea what was said, so sorry if you are one of them :)

Everything went good, baby is super healthy, mom feels great:) I just love this little new guy. He is such a good baby already. Never spits up, never cries, sleeps great. I feel so grateful to be blessed with such a good baby cause Madden has started acting a little different now that all the attention isn't on him all the time. Mike and I talk about it a lot and if one of us has the baby then the other one tries to have Madden so he will still feel special.

When I nurse Ashton, Madden will just kiss his head like a billion times so I know Madden loves him, that makes me feel better.

Ashton laying on dads lap before we left the hospital

The only pic of all 3 of us at the hospital

Ready to leave

Eighmey holding Ashton for the first time. She was so excited to see him finally.

The first picture of all 6 of our kids. 5/23/10

HE'S here!

2010-05-22T16:30:00.000-07:00

That's right, I said HE. We got ourselves another cute Yarn BOY. He looks like Maddens twin. I am happy Madden gets a little brother, especially one that looks so much like him.

He was 8lb 6 oz, 20 1/2 in long. I will post the birth story later. Here are a few pics from yesterday.

Grandma and Grandpa Starkes
Last pic of myself being prego

Mike and I laying on the bed waiting for surgery.

Our newest Yarn boy.

This looks alot like Madden, I'll have to post

pics of Madden later to compare.

??????????

2010-05-20T08:40:00.000-07:00

??????????, this is what my mind feels like today.

We will be leaving our house tomorrow at 5:15 a.m. to get to the hospital by 6, to sit around and get prepped till about 7:15, to start surgery at 7:30, to see my baby's' face at about 7:50, to say goodbye to my baby till about 9:30 when I can be in my room holding "IT", eating every second of it up!

Even though I feel I am not completely "ready" and my mind is kinda blank, I still am so ready and way excited to get this over with tomorrow.

I know every parent says this and I have said it 5 other times, but I just can't imagine another little baby around here. It is weird cause as normal as it feels to have a baby (at least in this house), it still flips your life upside down for awhile. What isn't weird is the love you already have for a baby growing inside you, the second you see it's face your heart melts. I just love that feeling.

Well my mind went blank and I have lots to do in the next 12 hours so I will part.

Oh, I have to post one more thing so we can always remember this:

Eighmey was helping me go through all our baby clothes the other day and she said in her little 4 year old voice, "Oh this is making me so esscited, I hope it's a gril" {Italics is the way she said it}

Then yesterday I had her help me pack a boy diaper bag and a girl one and she said, "Oh, I am so esscited, I can't wait for the baby to be here, I just want to squeeze it, and rip it out with my CLAWS" {CLAWS she said in a very deep voice, also she knows the doctor has to cut me open, so I think that is why she would say something like that}

Anyway, she is a funny bunny, always saying something that cracks us up.

Until tomorrow.

Twins/ 5 new posts

2010-05-02T19:34:00.000-07:00

Madden and Jaimin have matching suites for church. Madden just barely got to wear his today cause it has been too big for him. You could tell by the way he walked around that he knew he looked so dang cute in it.

Here's Madden and Jaimin walking out the door for church

I wish I would have gotten a better pic of Madden but he pretty much hates the camera or standing still when I ask him too :)

Baby Blues

2010-05-02T19:21:00.000-07:00

I guess Madden hasn't grew into his eyes yet. They are just so dang big and blue, and look at those eye lashes. You just don't see this much on a 14 month old BOY.
He just melts our hearts, we have so much fun with his sweet personality
Madden likes giving his cheesy smiles too, gotta love this guy.

2010-05-02T19:04:00.000-07:00

Brian had a piano recital at schhol on Thursday. They asked any kids taking lessons if they would perform in a recital and Brian loves showing off his skills so he signed up.

Brian did a good job, he told me after that he messed up once but just kept going, I couldn't even tell.
Earlier that week he had a more formal recital at the church with his teacher and the other students. He just loves his teacher, Rinda Hancock, she says she likes him alot too.

Brian playing his song

Brian does really good at the piano, he has been playing for a little less then the school year but he has caught on great. He has a natual talent for it and I hope he sticks to it.

Homemade Train

2010-05-02T18:46:00.000-07:00

Mike made a train for the kids on afternoon. I didn't know what Eighmey was talking about when she ran in the house telling me she needed to get something so she could ride "the train". I blew it off and was like, oh okay. Then Mike called me and said I needed to come out and see what he did. This is what he came up with.He hooked 2 radio flyers to his dads tractor/lawn mower thingy. He took the kids up and down the road and all over the yard.

Madden loves being outside and riding in his wagon

These 2 had fun too :)

Eighmey sat on dads lap. Here they are stopped so I could snap a quick pic.

Bath time buddies

2010-05-02T18:39:00.000-07:00

Bryce, the kids' cousin, stayed with us for a few days so Madden and him became buds.One morning they ate lots of fruit and got way sticky so I threw them in the bath, they had a good time playing with the toys and splashing at each other

These 2 are 5 months apart, Bryce born in Sept. 08 and Madden in Feb. 09, there is a pound/pound in a half difference, and about 1 inch height difference. Madden takes both those claims. While Bryce was here we kept saying Bryce will teach Madden how to not be so shy (cause Bryce isn't shy AT ALL), and Madden would teach Bryce how to eat (cause Madden eats anything and Bryce is a little picky)

My blog book, 3 new posts

2010-04-16T11:49:00.001-07:00

I got my blog book in the mail the other day. I love it. Best money I ever spent for sure. I love it cause now in the future when I can actually go back and scrapbook all these pics and events I can use this book as a guide to remember the feelings we had and things that were said. This may not be useful to some but I have realized how much I have forgotten about the pics I take,(and seems I won't get around to scrapbookin' anytime soon), I need this book. I plan on printing one every year, so happy!It is just like a year book, very nice quality. Next year I will make sure every page is how I want it cause the pictures sometimes don't place exactly like your blog. I was just n a hurry this year.
Oh yeah, by the way, we only have 5 weeks till we meet our new addition, I might add, I will be soooo ridiculously happy when "it's" out.

2010-04-16T11:29:00.000-07:00

Madden loves sleeping with his "nie nie".(it is a piece of my silky) I had to get a

pic cause he was hugging it so tight , I just love it.

Like all the drool on the pillowcase? :) Don't worry I washed it.

Crazy J!

2010-04-16T10:55:00.000-07:00

Jaimin took his jammies and wrapped them up around him and this is what we got!

Crazy Child!

Crazy kids

2010-04-05T22:17:00.000-07:00

This is out of order from the other posts but I had to ad what goofs my kids are. Jaimin likes to suck his nose in and hold it. It was so thin every time he did it so I started taking pics but then it didn't look the same in the pic. It looks like a weird cabbage patch kids nose. Eighmey tried it on for size too. Looks pretty funny if you ask me.

Easter, Easter, Easter!

2010-04-05T22:09:00.000-07:00

First, we colored eggs on Saturday night. Madden kept grabbing the eggs and throwing them so I guess we will just have to see if he can handle coloring them next year. In a couple of the below pics Madden has a sticker on his nose, I didn't get a great pic but it was cute cause he went cross eyed to look at it and he couldn't figure out how to grab it he just kept rubbing his face.

Sunday morning the kids woke up to find Easter baskets. Madden tried eating all his candy first thing, wait so did all the other kids :) The Easter bunny didn't do grass this year he did this confetti stuff that looked fun (and it was cheaper ;) It was all over the place. Not such a good idea, we are still vacuuming it up.

Then in between conferences we had an indoor (again) egg hunt. Madden just kept dragging his basket around and breaking all the eggs.

I liked Easter being on conference weekend this year. We didn't have to get all pretty, we were just lazy around the house as a fam. Eighmey didn't even get an Easter dress cause I just didn't care, ha! We had a yummy dinner, played games and took naps.

The talks from conference were awesome. All the talks about raising our little ones makes me excited and greatful to be a mom, yet scared for my children. I pray Mike ad I can be better parents and continue to teach our kids the gospel.

2010-04-05T21:39:00.000-07:00

We went to the Easter Pageant this year. We thought it would be good for the kids so they can SEE the story of Easter rather then us explain it every year like we do and it still doesn't all quiet stick :) We had pretty good seats so in the end I took a couple quick pics.

Eighmey was the only kid who got a pic with an actor cause the boys all left for the bathroom and took forever getting back.

We had a fun time. We got there a couple hours early so we made subs and ate them there. Everyone else was bringing little ceasers pizzas while I was making this huge sub on my lap, I say pizza next year :)

Pinewood Derby time

2010-04-05T21:33:00.000-07:00

The boys had the derby this past week. Once again we started WAY too late on their cars so they are kinda plain but they still liked them and had fun. Here is a bunch of pics of the boys racing their cars.

Brian and Trey had to race each other only once. Their cars weighed almost the same amount but were cut different. Brian won the race between them.

This is Brian and Trey picking up their cars after their race. Brian took 1st between them. Overall Brian took 6th (I think) and Trey took like 9th. Brian got runner up for show so if one of the other 3 boys don't get to go to district then he will, he is excited :)The whole group got root beers for participating.

2010-04-05T21:28:00.000-07:00

We had one more fun day before heading back to school from Spring Break. We headed to good ol' Showlow to go bowling. We haven't bowled in so long we thought it would be fun now that our kids are getting bigger and can hold the ball themselves.

Brian and Trey kept swinging the ball sideways and lobbing the ball for some reason. Jaimin got a spare or an 8 every time. Eighmey started off getting strikes but ended not so well :) It was so cute cause her ball went soooo slow but it stayed in the middle so it ended up knocking all the pins down. Mike and I had fun trying to kick each others butts but in the end Mike won only by 10 points, Jaimin followed, then me under Jaimin by 10 points, then Trey, Eighmey and Brian. It was a fun game for sure.

After bowling we ate some yummy mexican food and while we were there we decided to hit a movie as well. We watched Alice in Wonderland. I fell asleep so I don't know if it was a good movie or not but they liked it :)

Swimming

2010-04-05T21:10:00.000-07:00

We went swimming on our first day of Spring Break. I only got pictures of Madden cause he was just so cute in the water. Madden has always loved water so much.

He loves splashing in the water

Mike got a kick out of him splashing all over he place

Just chillin'

Buff Madden

2010-04-05T20:17:00.000-07:00

Madden likes to watch his dad work out and lift weights
He kept trying to lift the heavier weights and would get so mad that he couldn't lift them so we gave him some of his own

They are 2.5 lb weights. He wouldn't stand still for a pic but it is so cute cause he will lift them high and make a grunting noise like his daddy.

This is how he starts his lifting stance. Then his arms extend up real high as he strains. He actually is pretty buff for a little guy. He is gonna give Jaimin a run for his money I am betting.

10 years baby!

2010-02-26T08:58:00.000-08:00

Well, today is our BIG 10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY. I am embarrassed to show this picture cause we look so young and I not so good :) But the truth is, we were what we were, and we are what we are so I'll show it anyway.

February 26th, 2000

I hardly remember much from that day, it was all a big blur.
It was a happy blur, but a blur. I remember my friends Rikki and Shana doing my hair and makeup at my house; being at the church; and looking at all the people that were there. I don't remember who all was there though, I read over the sign in book every now and again when I come across it and I didn't even have a clue half of them came. It is just crazy how full your head is when going through such a special time in your life that you can't even absorb anything else.

Michael and I always reminisce about the little yellow banana trailer we went home to that night. We thought it was awesome to have our own place. It is just so funny to look back cause the carpet smelled like pee, the roofed leaked, it was dirty as heck, and very spider infested. I remember hanging my clothes out to dry one late afternoon but they weren't quite dry before bed so I left them for the morning, in the morning I got up and got the clothes down, as I was folding them I saw spider eggs in my undies. Talk about never hanging laundry outside at this house again. We moved out of this house 5 months later when the roof started leaking so bad we just weren't gonna do it anymore.

We had the best memories at this house too. We played battle on Nintendo every night it seemed. We watched movies in each others arms and had romantic candle lite dinners all the time. ( you can do those things every night when you don't have kids) I loved those times with that man.

Now I have other reasons to love "these" times with "this" man.

He still loves watching movies but now we involve our 5 beautiful children whom adore this man. We still battle on Nintendo (yes the same system even) but now our kids kick our butts at it. We still light candles at dinner time but mostly to get rid of the yummy kid/ diaper smell that likes to linger in our home (comes with the territory I guess), and sometimes we light them for one of the 7 birthdays we get to celebrate every year.

I guess what it all boils down to is, I fell in love with this man when he was a hot, fully haired, awesome kid. Since then he is still smokin' hot but has gone bald, and grown up from a kid to a man, to a father. We have grown up together, learning as we go, wondering some days how we are ever going to raise these spirits God has blessed us with to their fullest potential. But, we have done it together. We never make decisions without one another. We are in it together, forever! My thoughts may be all over the place, for this I am sorry. I just want Michael and my prosperity to know how much I love and appreciate Michael Dean Yarn. I want them to know what a perfect father he is. He is always there for them and if he can help it he never misses anything of theirs. I seriously could never do it without him, I am not the single mom type of woman. Call me needy but YES, I need him, I need my husband. I am grateful for how strong of a man he is. I am grateful for how hard he works for and worries about his family. This past couple years have been tough with having our own business and all but Mike never gives up, he keeps on going. I love that. I love his attitude about it, he says "as long as we are together as a family we will be fine". It has helped me realize alot. I have been humbled through his words.

So here is to the next 10 years, hope they bring us as much fun and happiness as the past 10 did. I'm sure they will :)

Happy Anniversary Dean, I love you from here to eternity!

Madden's bday party

2010-02-24T17:52:00.000-08:00

Well I finally squeezed a cake in before Mike had to go to the valley to work again. Between that schedule and us moving, this past 2 weeks has been a little crazy. Here is Madden's BALL cake. He loves balls so that's all I could think to make. It didn't turn out like I had hoped but it wasn't like I cared at that point. I had been trying to do this cake forever it felt like so something was better then nothing.

Madden got 3 shots earlier that day so he didn't really care either. And, NO, he didn't blow out his own candles. I had 2 extra weeks to work with him and I never made it that far. Well. I lied, I got him to blow out of a straw but as for just putting your lips together and blowing it wasn't happening.

I guess I taught my kid to be a clean freak while eating cause he didn't want to grab it with his hands :) He just kept bending over and biting it.

And I gave him a spoon with his ice cream, he liked that.

He got a blue bouncy ball cause he loves balls so much. I don't know if he didn't want to unwrap it at first or if he thought it was a colorful ball or something. He just played with it with the wrapping on for a little.

I finally took the paper off so he could see what was inside, no surprise really.

Thoughts

2010-02-14T20:23:00.000-08:00

Today as I sit here somewhat alone, I think back to a family that has been on my mind this past week. I don't know this family, never spoke to nor have I seen them. They are a family I feel grateful to have "known" through the blogging world. ( stakerzxposed.blogspot.com )Read the story: This mom made one simple mistake, a mistake all of us moms make, we worry too much on the small things. We let time slip away from our hands, we let our busy schedules consume us. The difference between this mom and most of us is the consequences we get in return, we may find our kids just into the cupboards making messes with you name it, food, dishes, toilet paper, and yes even cleaning supplies (I am guilty of all), but we rarely walk into the bathroom and find our child has drowned. I do not point this out for blame, I point this out because of shame, shame I have in my heart to think I have made this same mistake and have been blessed thus far to ONLY walk into the small messes that you can simply clean up and move on with your day. Never do you think your life could change that quick, that you, like this mom, would have to leave your home in a matter of minutes to sit and sleep for days in a hospital waiting and praying for the news you hope for.
I was on edge as I returned to this families blog everyday to see how their little 16 month old boy was doing (4 months older than my baby). The first few days look grim, I cried as I sat on the other side of the computer saying a small prayer in my heart that this babies sweet spirit would return to his family. As a few more days passed and I checked on them I learned his condition was better but they still needed a miracle. Finally Thursday they announced they are going home, their baby boy made it, he was whole. My heart just burned. I don't even know this family, why did I care so much? That brings me to today, my heart is full.

I am grateful for my Heavenly Father, I am grateful for His plan, the blessing of knowing He is real and He loves me, that He answers prayers, even when your not so diligent He still cares and would never turn His back. I am grateful for my family, for my rock of a husband, for our 5 beautiful healthy children. I am grateful for those few close calls our family has had that ended safely, even though we might not have thought much of it at the time I know Heavenly Father was there to catch our fall. I pray I have more patience with my kids and cherish more moments with them. I am not a perfect mother, but through our Savior I know I can improve daily.

I am grateful families can be together forever, no matter what path this earth life way lead us, we still have family and they are ETERNAL!

Now go hug your babies, I know I will :)

My eternal family

Another trial cake

2010-02-11T22:06:00.001-08:00

I made a bday cake for Eighmey's boyfriend, I mean my friends son :) (She says she is going to marry him when they are older) He was so excited to pick what kind of cake he wanted so I was sure to bring his dreams to life.(don't know if I would go that far)I really enjoy making cakes, especially with fondant but I still haven't got the swing of it. I think I do okay with just quickly bday cakes but for any other occasion I think I would be scared out of my mind.

So here are the pics of it. I am going to find a class to sign up for to teach me some better skills so hopefully that will help.
All in all I still think it was pretty good and my friend and her boy especially loved it so that's good. I am going to try to squeeze Maddens cake in this weekend. Wish me luck cause when I say squeeze I mean SQUEEZE!

2010-02-08T13:13:00.000-08:00

This is Mikes new puppy, his name is Sampson, he is a pit bull. He is Punch's pup (our old pit bull). I hate dogs, just for the record!

This is all about Madden, here are lots of pics through the past year. Yes I said YEAR, he turned 1 year old on Saturday. I can't believe it has been a year, I know I say that even if it is 7 years. It is just something moms do I guess.
Madden is such a good, fun baby. He has been sleeping through the night since he was 31/2 - 4 months old. That has been awesome. I never have used a monitor or anything cause his schedule is so perfect and he just sleeps from about 7 to 7. Madden has a cute personality, he will just run over to me or Mike and hug our legs and give us kisses.
I remember when my oldest was this age he was so smart and knew so many things like pointing to body parts and holding up his finger when we asked him how old he was, on and on. So I have tried to teach all my kids as much as I can and I was beginning to think I was falling short with Maddy, but I think he is doing pretty well for not having my full attention all the time like Brian did. He doesn't blow air when we ask him yet(he only did through a straw), but that is important for blowing your candles out on your 1st bday right? He doesn't hold up his finger when I ask him how old he is yet, (I have pics of all my kids doing this by their birthday cake, so it's kinda important too). Those are my failures BUT, what he does do: He says uh oh, dada, mama, no, here, yeah and ball(kinda). He spins roundy round which is so cute, he dances which is even cuter. He tries to poke his food with a fork, he points to our nose and mouth and ears and bellybuttons.He goes and gets his diapers and wipes when I ask him too, he loves to help clean up. He does so much, everyday he is getting so much smarter.
One funny story: the other day I got him naked to jump in the shower with me and while I turned around to take my clothes off he peed on my shower mat. He was looking down and kinda around/over his big belly to see what caused the wet mess.When I asked him what he did he looked down at his peepee and smiled really big. It was cute, like he never knew it was there or something.
I let him run around naked sometimes while changing his diaper just so he can air out a little and I found him looking around/over his belly again and just smiling at his parts again. His smile is almost like an embarrassed smile, he just is so giddy at what he found down there.

He got his big boy car seat on Saturday as well, now he can see where we are going. He liked it alot.

He also tried dipping taters in ketchup by himself. That is still a little messy but sure cute. He loves ketchup, he just sucks on it and re dips and never even bites the tater, just keeps sucking.

We didn't have a bday party yet. (prob this weekend) So stay tuned for pics of Madden getting his first handful of cake :)

Yarn Family

2010-02-01T10:38:00.000-08:00

This past week we got to get together as the Whole Yarn family. We haven't been all together since Chancy left for his mission in August 2007 and since then our family has had 4 new babies and 2 marriages.

We ate and played games together through the week

The kids played with their cousins, they are all getting so big

It is sad to see the family go home unsure of when we will all be together again. I guess that is just what happens when your family grows. It was nice to see Larry's family and their new baby girl Alli. The next time we will see her she will be crawling, time flies! (I tried to post another pic of Molli with baby Alli but it didn't pop up).

Birthday Party!!

2010-01-18T20:47:00.000-08:00

We had Jaimin and Eighmeys birthday party today. They had their little friends come so it was really fun. It was fun to watch them play musical chairs. They ate up my beautiful cakes:), and ate pizza.

This is Eighmeys cake, I liked how it turned out, being the first time I have ever done anything with fondant, I thought it was okay. I definitely would have done things different but I have years of bdays to practice.

This is Jaimins cake, he walked in the kitchen after I had it done and said it was perfect so I think he liked it.

So it was another successful bday and I must say cake making too, until next year :)

Baskeball time!

2010-01-18T20:17:00.000-08:00

Brian after his b-ball game

Brian is in the gray shorts, he was very scared here (it was his first game). His second game he did much better and wasnt so nervous. In Taylor/Snowflake they start city league basketball in 3rd grade. We love it cause watching these kids they are as good if not better then the 7th graders Mike used to coach in Heber cause it was the first year for them too. We are so happy that our kids can have this experience so young in life. Mike really hopes Brian likes it and keeps going with it. Mike loves Basketball, he needs a baller boy.

Happy Birthday Eighmey!!!

2010-01-15T07:50:00.000-08:00

K, I feel like I am repeating myself but I can't leave Eighmey out. She turned 4 on the 12th and I've been too busy to post yet but here it is. I can't believe she is 4! That just seems like such a big number to me. She does act like she is 16 so I can't be too surprised but still. I remember bringing her home on the 13th from the hospital. She wasn't even 36 hours old. She was so precious. She was my smallest baby at 7 lbs 5 1/2 oz. She was sooo cute. She still is very small, she only weighs 30 lbs, maybe 31 these days. Her personality is awesome, I love it. She is kinda shy at first around people but when she opens up you usually can't get her to stop talking but she is so smart I could listen to her for hours. She loves singing, she does this little walk and shakes her booty when she walks away from you,(yes it scares me for her teenage years). I just love watching her grow. She is the only girl (and probably always will be) so she is spoiled but I can't say rotten cause she is very understanding and polite if I tell her she can't have something (most of the time). I know all this won't last long when dealing with a girl but I am hoping for the best.

Birth story (for record): We went to the hospital at 5 or so in the morn to get prepped for c-section. By the time they got her out it was 7:53 a.m. All went well, she did have a small scratch on the top of her head (I think they said she got it when they were cutting her out or cutting umbilical cord, not sure). She had the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck twice so they couldn't get her out till they unwound it. She was in my belly screaming because she had her little face sticking out of my belly but they didn't have any slack to pull her out with that cord around her so she was able to start breathing and started screaming. Mike left with her and while in the nursery they noticed a small birth mark on her thigh, they told Mike "she came with that", I guess so they don't get accused of anything. I finally got out of recovery and they said the rooms were full so I had to share rooms, I knew my friend Tiffani Owens was in there with her baby boy so I asked to be with her. I thought it was fun cause I didn't have to feel awkward around her. Mike had to leave to take care of the kids in between babysitters so I had to ask Ross a couple of times for things. He was taking care of 2 mommies and babies, haha. Anyways, I got really antsy so I asked if I could leave, they told me no cause I had a c-section and it had only been 24 hours but I finally won. That afternoon they decided to let me go because there were so many people there. We were home at last. Eighmeys pregnancy was pretty easy, I wish I had more of them. I only gained like 22 lbs instead of the normal 30. I left the hospital in my pre-pregnancy pants and shirt( I didn't look hot but they fit). I have pics of 2 weeks after having her where I am wearing a skirt I can't even fit into now or anytime after I had Madden. Oh the good ol' days. Why can't they all be easy??

Anyways, HAPPY BIRTDAY EIGHHEY, we love you. Remember your my best friend and daddy's little princess, oh and our squirrely.

Happy Birthday Jaimin!!!

2010-01-11T12:12:00.000-08:00

*******************

Jaimin's birthday was January 1oth. He is now 6! I can't believe he is 6. He seems so big to me yet I always think of him as my baby boy.
I sat at the dinner table Sunday night and told the kids what I was doing that very night 6 years ago. I remember clearly I was planning my c-section for the 16th but on the 9th contractions started. It scared me because I didn't want to go through what I did with the last delivery.(details in Treys birthday post in Oct.) So I called Wendy and she called me in a prescription to stop contractions for the week. After taking them for just a few hours I realized I could not do this for a week, they made me crazy. I was jittery and they made me feel sick. So I called Wendy again and she was able to set everything up for the morning. All night I cleaned and got ready for a trip to the hospital. I had to get last minute babysitters, it was a long night. I remember getting like 3 to 4 hours of sleep if that. We left about 8ish I believe that morn to get to the hospital. All went well and Jaimin was born at 10:49. He was 8 lbs 5 oz. He grew very fast and was my fatest baby. He had the cutest cheeks, he still has them but they fit his body much better. Jaimin is a special spirit, he definitely has brought and still bring alot to this family. He is the child that challenges us everyday but he is a challenge worth taking. We love you J!

All aboard!

2009-12-23T21:38:00.000-08:00

We took the kids to the Polar Express last week and we all loved it. This is pictures of the kids opening their gift in the car and changing into them (PJ's). We drove to Flagstaff and did some shopping earlier that day and told the kids that we had a surprise but they never would have guessed.

It was funny cause the night before we went we had them watch the movie The Polar Express, and after the watched it I kinda asked them some questions and Jaimin said he would be so embarrassed to go out in public with his PJ's. That kinda scared me thinking he would fight me to wear his jammas. Anyways, after the kids dressed in the car we started walking toward the building and the boys started talking about the movie and saying they were embarrassed to have their jammas on in public. I told them they were fine and they still didn't have a clue what we were doing. We sat in the Polar room where the kids colored and stuff for about 30 min, they never really even asked questions, they just made comments about everyone elses jammas. To make this long story a little shorter, we were standing in line, after probably almost an hour of hanging around, and we finally told the kids what we were doing. They were so shocked. (pics of in the car below)

Pics of us hanging around before ride.

Pics of in the train

They got hot cocoa and cookies while we listened to the Polar Express story on the way to the North Pole (30 Min. Ride). On the way back we sang Christmas songs and waited for Santa to come. BACKUP: Santa was at the North Pole, but when we started going backwards towards the station Santa was gone, then they told us they got word that Santa was on the train, Eighmey said Santa "poofed" on the train. Santa gave the kids a jingle bell. They loved it. Madden even was all smiles when Santa came and handed him his bell. We had a really good, maybe we'll go again ;)

The Tree

2009-12-23T21:17:00.000-08:00

Madden loves looking at and touching the tree, he has now learned how to say the word "NO" because we have to say it so much when he's around the tree.

Madden grabbing stuff on the tree

All the kdis by the tree, Jaimin (far right) is gonna give me gray hair I swear, he can't just take 1 nice picture for me.

Christmas Tree and Eighmeys hair and 4 new posts

2009-12-02T21:32:00.000-08:00

We set up the tree finally, we didn't get it done we just set it up. So here is a pic of our family(minus me) by the not so done tree.

I had Eighmeys hair cut, she only took off like an inch or 2 but it seems alot shorter now to me. This is her hair before we cut it just so I could remember how long it was. Haven't got after pics yet.

2009-12-02T21:25:00.000-08:00

Madden likes to ride daddy like a horsey. This is him when he was getting tired of it.

Cute ol' Madden

Gettin' big!

2009-12-02T21:03:00.000-08:00

Madden is now 10 months old (in 4 days) and is getting so big. He still seems like such a baby to me so it kinda amazes me some of the stuff he does even though my other kids did it even faster than him. Here he is crying cause he got sad.Here he is walking to me, he does okay. He took his 1st steps like 1 week after his 9 month mark but just hasn't got it down yet. Note: 3 of my other children took their first steps right at 9 months and by 10 months walk dang good, except Jaimin he took his 1st at 8 months and by 9 months was a pro. So Madden is just a little bit slower with walking but is doing fine (it is probably cause he doesn't have much furniture to walk back and forth from to practice is my guess). He takes about 5 steps real good and gets off balanced except yesterday I let him just go and he knew dad was in the other room so he concentrated really well and took like 15 steps till he got there, it was cute.

Madden walked over to me

Madden walking over to me

All I know is he is too dang big. As for the other things he does that are cute *He starts to clap when you sing patty cake to him. *He dances and bounces anytime you turn on music no matter where he is. The other day driving somewhere he was in his car seat facing backwards of course and one of the Black Eyed Peas songs came on and he immediately started to bounce in his car seat, his feet were hitting the seat and his head was bobbing up and down, had to be there I guess but way cute. *He gives kisses if you ask. *He gives fives when you ask. *He listens when you say "no Madden" or "come here". *He knows when you are playing with him like chasing him or when Mike changes his diaper Mike always tells him to stay but somehow he knows Mike is kidding so he turns around real quick and crawls away, even if he is naked. *He plays peek-a-boo using a blanket to cover and uncover his face. * And my favorite, he loves my silky garments so I have made him his own "nie nie" is what we call them, he can't sleep good without it. On and on I guess but needless to say we are having fun with him.

Eighmey's smooth moves????

2009-12-02T20:51:00.000-08:00

So Eighmey likes to dance ( apparently she likes to make faces for the camera too).Here she is posing for me in her cute girly stance

Here she is shaking those hips, (she scares me for when she is 14-16 thats all I got to say)

breakin' it down

not sure

And obviously she watches WAY to much Michael Jackson :)

Oops, I did it again!

2009-11-24T18:09:00.000-08:00

HAHAHAHA!!! I know right. No you are not having deja vu. Yes it is what you think it is. ANOTHER BABY TICKER! I guess this is my "official announcement." I am 14 weeks along now, due in May. We are quietly praying for a little girl to surprise us (and yes it will be a surprise) but we are quite sure its a boy, not cause I have crazy intuition or anything but come on do you really think this Yarn man can produce a girl very easy? Apparently not! We don't have ANY names but have all we need for either sex so we feel good about not finding out the sex this time. I am so excited to have them hold my baby over the blue tarp as they shout out the gender to me. I remember doing that with Trey and can't wait.

The shock has worn off by now (if your wondering), and yes my babies will be 15 months apart. I know alot of people think thats not too bad but they don't understand my point. Let me give you my point: K, I had my first 2 children 2 days short of one year. I loved it, it was like having twins. From day one I dressed them alike every chance I got. They have always been best buds and always did everything together, even to the point I have to make them seperate sometimes cause they don't realize they are seperate beings. Like I said I loved it and still do, BUT, and thats a BIG BUT, I have had 3 other kids since then whom I spaced out fine for that same reason. I like to enjoy my babies and not hurry and make them grow up like I did with my first. I didn't know any better at the time but looking back he did some things at 1 that most 3 year olds couldn't handle. I don't want to do that with Madden. He is my baby and most of all acts like my baby so how do I take that away. I must say he has changed to me in the last little bit, he has started to walk and he responds well to lots of things we say, he sleeps perfect, he is getting more independent in his play times, BUT, and yes, that's a BIG BUT, he is my baby! I want to keep him my baby.

I know we can do this all over again, I know we can cause Heavenly Father obviously has trust in us to do so. Talking to some of my friends lately I have realized even more now how grateful I am for a body that functions correctly. I have never had a problem getting pregnant (we've only "planned planned" 1 out of the 6 if that tells you anything). We love them all and they all came when they were suppose to but we have never sat down and discussed the "right time" to have a baby. Is there ever a "right time"? I don't think that's anything we have a say in, our right time is never the same as our Heavenly Fathers, that is for sure. So here's to the next 26 weeks, or should I say 25 cause I go in a week early due to c sections. Yes I should say 25 makes it sound quicker. :)

pic of Madden at 9 weeks, haven't got one of this peanut yet

Misc. of Madden

2009-11-16T09:26:00.000-08:00

Dressed like a girl

5 months or so

and giving me loves with his sleepy eyes on the way home from flagstaff, just him and I

2009-11-02T08:49:00.000-08:00

This is one of the 2 family pics we have. I just had to add it. I know, we look so happy huh? Mike never smiles so what can you do.

Halloween!

2009-11-02T08:02:00.000-08:00

So I usually like to make costumes every year for Halloween, I am even so anal most of the time I make my kids match with some kind of theme (note: doesn't work the older they get) I wanted to do something this year that had a 5 group like wizard of oz or something with 1 girl and 4 boys, I don't know. Anyway, i decided to never mind all that when the kids wanted totally different stuff and I realized I really didn't want to make costumes this year. End result was borrow from my mom, who has everything you could imagine, and open the costume bucket from years before. Brian and Trey dressed up like pirates this year at school.

This is the kids before trunk or treating

Brian: a girl, and a very cute one at that, we borrowed this costume from my mom

Trey: a pirate, and a very mean looking one I'd say, we borrowed this from my mom too.

Jaimin: is dash from incredibles, I made this 4 years ago for Trey Eighmey: is strawberry shortcake, adorable! I made this last second cause she changed her mind. I kinda mixed the strawberry shortcakes though, we have a modern movie that she wears the pants and shirt and has a hard looking hat, the 1980's shortcake has this kind of hat and a dress, so they are mixed, still cute huh?
Madden: spiderman! He was cranky before we left and could care less about the whole thing so we just used this costume from when Jaimin was a baby.
I think it turned out well this year, we went to trunk or treating in our ward and got just enough candy to last a week or so (so much better than years past when we have enough candy to last till Christmas).

2009-10-26T12:55:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Trey was baptised. He was so excited and a little nervous. He said he thought he might drown, I wonder what goes through these kids heads?, do they think their own dad would just hold them under for a while or something? Kinda funny. Trey actually had to get dunked twice cause Mike added a couple of extra words to the prayer:) He told me afterwards that he knew it was wrong as he said it but there was no going back at that point :)

After the baptism we had everyone come to our house for yummy food. I made a cake very quickly that morning cause we were gonna celebrate the boys birthdays that day too. My older boys don't really like any certain themes that I could go with and make a cake from, so last second I just whipped up this(picture below). They like black and red so I just did that. The party was fun and the boys got some gifts so they were happy.

It was a good Sunday!

Children!

2009-10-16T10:36:00.000-07:00

Who needs a good camera when your kids are freakin' GORGEOUS!

Happy Birthday Brian!

2009-10-13T17:00:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday B!

You are my biggest boy and how I enjoy you around. You help me with everything and without you here daily I probably wouldn't function.

I remember your birth story as well, it is a long one too so I will skip parts. We went to the hospital Thursday the 12th at 7am (we had to go get you turned but the doc thought that would make me go into labor so he induced me). Labor was started, I remember thinking in no time I would have a baby, Wrong! The doc broke my water early just to get everything going, long story short, nothing happened. 24 hours after my water was broken they told me because it didn't appear I was gonna have you anytime soon we needed to do a c- section to prevent infection. After a couple more hours of paperwork and prepping they did a c-section. I was so deathly afraid of needles so I told them to just knock me out for the procedure (I regret that now). Anyways, you were born at 9:05 p.m. on the 13th. It was Friday the 13th, kinda funny. You were so dang cute, you had the prettiest skin and a perfect round head. You were 7 lbs 14oz. 21in. long. I was still having a hard time coming to that I hardly remember holding you that night. We got home 3 days later and I couldn't put you down. You never cried and you ate so good. You were perfect!

Thank you Brian for choosing us as your parents and coming into our lives when you did. We are truly grateful to have your spirit in our home. People have made comments to me about how you have a special spirit with a special purpose, I can't wait to find out all the details behind that. We DO know you are special and I love you for that. Happy Birthday Babe!

Happy Birthday Trey!

2009-10-11T09:04:00.000-07:00

TREY!, what can I say about Trey! First off, Happy Birthday, I can't believe your EIGHT. I was just telling you yesterday on our way to your "special birthday" dinner how I was in the hospital at this very moment 8 years ago. That seems so long ago, yet just the other day. That got me thinking about your definitely hard labor/delivery.

You were due October 2nd, but because I didn't want another c-section we decided to wait till you came on your own. After weeks of doing anything possible to get you out the doctor said you had to come out this week no matter what. So, we went to the hospital on the 9th at 8 am. The labor was induced. I felt labor pains all day. Your dad and I slept that night at the hospital, I was barely dilated to a 2! We woke up and started the process again. After another full day of pain and agony I was still only to a 4, the doc asked me if I would PLEASE get an epidural so my body would relax and work. Michael made me! It was midnight by now and the epidural just kicked in. The doctor decided to break my water, now that I have an epidural it will all work, right? WRONG! 10 hours later I was still barely a 6. That is 50 hours after entering the hospital, at a WEEK overdue, I was still only at a 6!

I gave up then. The doc was telling us your heart beat was slowing down and that it looked like you were under stress, so we agreed upon a c-section. At 10:49 a.m. we had our "TEY TEY". You were 9 lbs 6 oz. Just the cutest fatest little guy ever. We didn't know your sex till you were born so were so excited to see ya. I remember being SO tired that after they let me kiss you and I knew dad was going to the nursery with you I CRASHED! I told Wendy that I was going to sleep now and to wake me in recovery. That is the story of my long, hard painful labor with you, Trey!

We are definitely glad to have Trey in our home. He is our sweety of the family. All the other kids want to play with Trey over anyone else. Trey would give up anything of his for anyone. Trey has always been our family clown. He could make you laugh when you want to cry. He had a big heart too. He was only 6 when Azure died and I remember sitting in his room with him 2 nights after she died and I told him something sweet Azure used to say about Trey. He started crying. I didn't think a 6 year old had so much emotion. Recently we were talking about Azure and he just says "Oh that makes me sad" in a way you could tell he was holding back tears. I love his soft heart. He always talks about our family that has past from this life with such excitement, and how happy he is to see them again one day.

Thank you Trey for being yoou sweet, soft, funny self. We love ya!

Standing and 9 new posts

2009-09-30T20:58:00.000-07:00

Madden stands. He tries so hard to keep balance now that he can stay up for a while now. He is too big :(

Mashed Potatoes

2009-09-30T20:56:00.000-07:00

I made some of the nasty potato pearl thingies one night and madden couldn't keep his eyes off them so I let him dig in. He was covered by the end and I swear he ate half the bowl full. I guess I know what he loves.

Jaimin/Madden

2009-09-30T20:55:00.000-07:00

K, so I thought Madden was Jaimins twin when I first had him, now I'm not so sure. I think Madden may look more like Brian and Eighmey did. What do you thing? (come on all you blog stockers, leave a comment, I don't bite)

Too Big!

2009-09-30T20:54:00.000-07:00

Madden is getting TOO BIG, TOO QUICK! He stands up on everything and as you can see on the pics is starting to let go. I guess he'll just be like all my other kids and be walking at 9 months, but dang stay little for a little please.

Sick of sick!

2009-09-30T20:53:00.000-07:00

Madden got the flu bug for a couple of days last week. I hate when babies are sick :(

All he did was lay around and cry. Jaimin let him lay on him while I was getting ready to take him to the doc. I gave Jaimin dads fuzzy gloves to rub Mads tummy with and Madden fell asleep. Poor little guy, glad it's over now.

Jaimin & Soccer

2009-09-30T20:48:00.000-07:00

Jaimins playing soccer this year. He is kinda shy out on the field for some reason. We keep telling him to act crazy like he does at home but for some reason he wont let loose. Maybe by the end of the season :) ( that kid in the pic is his friend Chase)

The many faces of Madden

2009-09-30T20:47:00.000-07:00

Madden makes the cutest cheesy grin face now, we love it. Anytime he is wanting to be smiley he makes this face. We took him to get pics done yesterday and these crazy smiles were all over. He is so dang cute!

SNACKS!

2009-09-30T20:03:00.001-07:00

This is our pretty snack plate that "MOM" is so wonderful to make for us!(That is what my kids would say)

I must say, I do make awesome snack plates though. As you can see I just clean out the fridge and the pantry, arrange it nicely on a serving platter and serve it with napkins and toothpicks so they can poke all the snacks they want. We do this on those days that everyone wants a snack while watching a movie and I don't feel like taking orders, I just make a variety :)

ALL MY CHILDREN

2009-09-30T20:03:00.000-07:00

I found another pic with all 5 of our kids, I tell ya they are hard to come by. As you can see here Jaimin (far right) didn't want to take a picture, the others just have their cheesy, done with picture smile. Gotta luv um!

Update! (very long)

2009-09-26T21:43:00.000-07:00

So I haven't updated in forever so this post is LONG!

Circus

During the summer we took a few trips to the "valley of the sun", we went to the B & B circus this trip. We didn't tell the kids where we were going till we got there, they were so surprised. My camera didn't take good pics of the show so this is all I got. Mike said it was fun but he wouldn't spend money on it again (?), whatever that means huh?

Madden
Madden got so big so fast. His personality is just so fun. Here he is trying out his johnny jumper, we got this when Brian was a baby.

Madden started sitting up during the football camp this year, he was 5 1/2 months here.

Family Reunion
At our family reunion this year the kids decided to run off and put their hands down some holes in the ground. Well thanks to brave Eighmey they caught 3 baby cotton tails. We went back to the hole where they found them and confirmed the mom was dead so we kept them. Needless to say they didn't live long, they needed their moms heat and lovin I'm sure.

The guys caught toads everyday and night and had contest with them, like who's would jump faster and further and what not. They were so dang big and gross!

Eighmey all scrubbed out and catching lizards

Eighmey... all dolled up one day for a Mother/Daughter dinner

Madden trying rice cereal, YUCK!

Trey lost another tooth, he also skinned his nose on a tree(long story)

Brian made a bird house for a scout project, he did a good job and is very proud of it.

Mike loves to play with Madden this way, Madden loves it to obviously :)

Brian got awards for scouts, he looks thrilled right?

Eighmey helping dad replace fuel pump in our car. She loves getting dirty, go figure my only girl tries to be a boy.

Madden likes taking baths in the sink, I made a mohawk out of bubbles. He's sooo cute!

Jungle Jims (Jeepers)

We always go to Jungle Jims when we go school clothes shopping. We have gone now for at least 5 years now and the kids will never let us stop (well maybe when they are older :) )

My grandma used to take me and my siblings to Jungle Jims so that is what I call it. I guess the name now is Jeepers. I still love all the rides there, anything to get me dizzy. The place isn't huge or anything, but fun for kids.My brother and mom dropped by this time because they happen to be down that way and my bro thought it was alot different from when we were growing up. To me it is the exact same!

1st Day of School

Finally got all my kids in the same pic

Trey has the same teacher as Brian did last year. I am so glad, she is the best ever seriously. Trey loves school, he is a hard worker most of the time and very easy going.

Trey and Mrs. Bentz 2nd grade

Brian has Mrs. Hamling for his 3rd grade. He likes school but is too smart for his britches. He thrives on challenges and is a social bug.

Brian and Mrs. Hamling

So this was June to August in a nutshell. I have more recent pics to post later. All is well!

Happy Father's Day Part 2

2009-06-21T16:59:00.000-07:00

Now time to wish the other fathers in my life "Happy Father's Day."

First, my dad, I do love this guy. We have sure had our rough patches but I think it's all good from here (right dad?). Why not get all the crap on the table while you are young and be able to enjoy the remainder of your life, right?

My dad is the best, I am able to ask that man ANYTHING and he has an answer, not just an answer to hold you over either, a REAL answer, one that is usually right and works.

He is a dang hard worker, him and my mom both instilled this trait in their kids for sure.

My dad has the best sense of humor. I love when we can sit around and just laugh at the years past. We have had some crazy times.

My dad is always willing to do anything for his family. He would give you the shirt off his back. He would protect his family till the end for whatever reason, I always feel safe with him.

My dad loves my kids, he has gained a great relationship through the past year as my kids saw him at least every other week. They love you dad.

My dad isn't materialistic in any way. I have learned alot from this man in the past year. He has what he needs, (and sometime wants) and that's just fine with him. A great thing to learn I think.

I love you dad, thx for the past 25 years, I have learned alot from you, to 25 more years :)

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

To my Grandpa Starkes, I don't know you much but you raised a great man one way or another, thx and Happy Father's Day.

To my 2nd dad, Joel, not because you are second but because you came to me in my life second, get it :)

Thank you for being a great example in the church for me and Mike. You have taught us so much through the years.

Thank you for the love you show our kids, they really admire you.

We love you, Happy Father's Day!

To grandpa Parrack,

Thanks for being such a sweet grandpa through the years, I know Mike has more memories of you but I am grateful for the ones like:

Going through the temple with you for your first time

doing our annual family reunion

listening to your stories

our annual Thanksgiving dinners at your place.

Thanks for being a great father as well

we love you, HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

To my grandpas who have passed through the veil, Grandpa Eighmey Grandpa Vogel, and Grandpa Yarn, Happy Father's Day, we love you and miss you, thanks for raising awesome children that I call parents.

And to all my brothers and brother-in-laws, Brian, Brandon, James, Larry, Rhett (and one day Andrew and Chancy, I am sure) HAPPY FATHER'S DAY! :)

Happy Father's Day Babe!

2009-06-21T10:30:00.000-07:00

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY TO MY ONE AND ONLY!Cheesey and always

No pictures please

Thats why she's so cute

That's why he is a dork

Baby faces

tired from clownin' around

clownin' around

Mike,

You probably won't read this for awhile, but I had to tell you how much I love and appreciate you. You are the best dad around. Every time my friends and I are talking about husbands there is no comparison, they even say you are perfect, and I have to agree.

I may complain every now and again about you but that is because I am spoiled by you and I can't function if your not around to spoil me. You are so great to me when it comes to the kids; anything we do with the kids you know is a team effort and you never let me do it all by myself (which i appreciate). I always say " I am not meant to raise children by myself" and you never let me. I really don't know how some women do it, I can't do it all by myself, they are alot stronger than I for sure.

Thank you for being a great friend to talk to about anything. I am grateful I can vent to you :)

I know lately you are tired from being gone all the time and not having any days off but I am grateful for your efforts and your hard work.(It will pay off)

Thank you again for all that you do for me and our family. You are truly my hero and my motivation to keep going. I love you forever Dean!

Things on my mind today.

2009-06-09T22:46:00.000-07:00

Well. I am REALLY good with remembering dates, for the most part, and today 1 year ago I found out we would be blessed with another baby in our home. Of course at the time of finding out I didn't have those "exact" thoughts, I was actually very shocked and kinda overwhelmed with the idea. I knew we possibly wanted more kids but I really didn't picture right then. It took me about the day to get over it, then I was happy but didn't know how to tell Mike, he was the one always making comments about how DONE we were. So with Father's Day around the corner I held my tongue. That was the hardest thing ever, I tell Mike EVERYTHING. I kinda made comments every now and again but he never caught on. So, the day before Father's Day we were at our family reunion and Molli encouraged me to tell him then in front of everyone before we all went home. So we made a plan, we would have everyone get together and give out our Father's Day gifts for those who had gifts to give. I went last I believe. I gave Mike a shoe box, and in it was a shirt that he lifted out and read. "PROUD FATHER OF 5." He was confused and so was everyone else till his mom said "Really?". Mike said "we need to talk", he laughed it off but was very surprised. It took him a week to get over that, and now that Madden is here we wouldn't change it for the world. 9 weeks along

Another thing on my mind today is Azure. Today is her birthday. She would have been 26. I will always remember this day because I messed it up 1 time and promised I wouldn't do that again.

Azure was one of my best friends, I sure do miss her. For awhile there when I needed to talk I would pick up the phone and she was the only one I would even want to talk to. That feeling when I pick up the phone has differently numbed a little but I still would love to have that conversation with her.

When I look through things in my house while organizing I still find things that remind me of her;

A recipe she wrote for me on a yellow piece of notebook paper

Her signature in my sign in book for my wedding

A "don't eat pete" game board she made for my kids while babysitting

A fat, black hair tie I have that looks like the one she was wearing the day of her passing

(and the only reason I remember that is cause Brian asked me what he should do with it when it was given to him)

A night gown that Eighmey still wears, was one she was wearing while taking a pic with Azure

(pictured below, yes it still fits Eighmey it is just a bit smaller)

When I make certain foods like chicken cordon blue(spelling?)

JUST EVERYTHING!!!!!

I sure do miss her. Today I was telling Mike that it was her birthday and Jaimin heard me and told me we should make a cake and hide it and act like she ate it. I think Azure would love a cake made by Jaimin.

Now I am getting teary eyed so I must close, I just want to say I will never forget this beautiful girl, I will never forget the fun we had together. I will never forget the time we watched The Office for the first time and she hated it, just to stay up and watch episode after episode months later (that show grows on you). I will never forget playing games with that woman, she always got crap from Brian and Mike about cheating when they were the ones cheating. She would always say she was never going to play with them again and still did cause we would beg.

The list goes on and on of the things I wont forget. I am grateful for this list, and for all the memories that it holds. I miss you Azh, Happy Birthday!

Behind Again

2009-06-06T08:51:00.000-07:00

Excuse me while I catch up, I wanted to post this last month but I have been busy like crazy.

Well May 15th marked the day that Mike and I went to prom together 10 years ago. Can you believe it, I can't. He asked me to prom about 2 months earlier after a horrible date at GAB. I, of course, said yes cause I was in love with him. (He just liked me as a friend :)

Let me take you back; first we had our day date thing, we went to a movie and to bowling (who didn't), then we went back home and mike hung out for a little and we watched MTV and listened to music. We had alot of fun that whole day. The time came and we had to go our separate ways so we could get ready for that night.

Let me take you back to that night; I was so worried to impress this guy, cause like I said I loved him, I wanted to get it right. I was living with Nicole at the time so we went dress shopping like a month before. Everyone told me they liked the dress we picked out but my hubby still makes fun of me to this day about it (picture below, don't laugh, i'll explain)

Then Nicole told me she would do my hair and makeup, well for some reason, can't remember, Nicole was in the valley that day and was trying to get back but didn't, so I called Hilary DeWitt and she did my hair and makeup. Jesse Cochran and Mike picked me up and went and got Jesses' date. We went to the prom and everything was cool. THEN, Mike was acting weird all night, I thought he hated being with me or something. I was sad cause I thought this was it for our friendship. We got through the night and Jesse drove us home. Mike took me to the Porters' door(where I was living at the time), I asked him why he was so quiet all night. (he would hate for me to write this but), He started tearing up and told me he thinks he likes me. K what kind of person says that I know, but we were "just friends" so for his feelings to change was weird to him I guess. So then he asked me if he could kiss me, I was a prude so I said no. So he left and I went a balled in my room. I didn't know what to feel for that guy, I loved him for so long, but now he pulls this on me? Nicole finally made it home that night she was sicker than a dog throwing up every 5 minutes. That's all I remember.

K now let me explain the pic.

The night before I was riding around on 4 wheelers with some friends and I was on the back riding with Ryan Baker. We were somewhere behind the High School and going way too fast. He was in and out and around every tree flying as fast as he could when all of a sudden he hit a LARGE branch on the ground. He ducked but I didn't see it so it hit me right in the face. It made a cut on my forehead which made a goose egg under that. So my forehead was swollen and huge and bleeding. They took me to the school, I went to a friend doc and they fixed me up. THE NEXT DAY... I woke up and had 2 black eyes. Not funny when you are a teenager girl going to prom with the love of your life that night. So we decided I needed bangs to cover up the goose egg and bandage. The black eyes I couldn't do much for other tat tons of makeup. So that is why I have like 4 inches between my eyes, very swollen.

SO IF I LOOK LIKE A FREAK TO YOU IN THIS PIC LIKE I LOOK LIKE A FREAK TO ME IN THIS PIC, THAT IS WHY, K, DON'T JUDGE!

So for the rest of our story, The following week was the last week of school. I guess I decided to chase another boy so my friends tried to hook us up. Well, that same night Mikes friends were trying to hook him up with another girl too so we saw each other around town that night with other people. I think that's when it clicked. The last day of school Mike asked me out and I said yes. I remember him writing it on my arm or something cause the music at the year book signing party was too loud. We haven't been apart since. His parents didn't like the idea then much but 10 years later I think they are okay with it.

I love that man. Remembering all the drama it was when I was a teenager just makes me laugh, I'm glad he is mine now forever and ever no matter how ugly that pic is.

Last day of school

2009-05-22T14:07:00.000-07:00

Madden Again!

2009-05-22T13:31:00.000-07:00

Madden sitting in his toy thingy, he sits and watches use play on the tramp.

Camping

2009-05-22T13:11:00.000-07:00

Mike couldn't take the kids to fathers and sons cause he had to work early Saturday morning so we set up tent outside our house. We had a good time outside, we played cards and ate a bunch of snacks before bed.
Getting ready for bed

Eighmey striking a pose

Goodnight!

Madden 3 months

2009-05-22T12:55:00.000-07:00

Madden turned 3 months on the 6th of May. He is gettig so big. He started laughing out loud on May 2oth. I had been trying for like 2 weeks to get him to laugh and he was right on the edge, Papa Yarn came over and Madden laughed at hime so good. Papa kept making funny noises, Madden loved it. I love hearing their first laughs, it makes me see their individual personality so much. This pic is of Madden on his belly(I'm not sure where the eyes came from).
Bath time

Big eyes again( I don't know why the camera makes it look worse,

he has big eyes but not that BIG !)

(sorry about the nudeness, I didn't notice it till now)

Red Neck Bath Time

2009-05-22T12:31:00.000-07:00

I bought a kiddy pool for the kids to cool down in on these hot summer days (I don't know why I say COOL off because they always want me to fill it up with HOT water), crazy kids.

So I decided after they had been playing in it to put bubble bath in it. (I didn't take a pic till after the bubbles were going away) They loved playing with bubbles and splashing in the water. They ask me everyday if I will fill it up.
There is a glare on the pics cause the sun was going down, sorry.

And that is why I names this post Red Neck Bath Time, like I would really make them bathe outside, wait I have before, I'll save that one for another time.

One Big Happy Family!

2009-05-22T12:00:00.000-07:00

The Yarns got together before Larry and Molli left for S.C. We had fun riding a little dirt bike outside and eating hamburgers. The guys tried their hardest jumping the bike across this ramp they made. It was funny. The yarns now have 10 grand babies with non on the way (I think, Molli???????) :-)

left to right: Addison, Hailey, Baby Rylan, Brian, Baby Madden, Aiden, Eighmey, Trey, Baby Bryce, Jaimin.
Us girls with our babies.

The Yarn Barn

Late Shout Out To My Bro!

2009-05-12T07:23:00.000-07:00

He knows I remembered him last Wednesday but I wanted to make an entry in my journal for my reference. This is my old school scrapbook page I made in the 1800's of my bro's baptism. I loved these 2 missionaries. Look how skinny my hubby(not my hubby then) and Brian were.HAHA I look like a zombie, "what was I thinking" is the only words I can think of right now.

So, 10 years ago May 6th, Brian was baptised. 2 months prior to him getting baptised was when I did and he was the last person I thought ever would. Even though we were good friends in school those days he still made fun of me telling me I was only doing it for my friends. I told him that I wasn't and told him he should check it out. He didn't care what I said but his friends did convince him to take the discussions. A very short time later he was baptised and hasn't slowed down since. He has been very faithful throughout the last 10 years. He served an honorable mission in New Jersey. He has fulfilled his callings. He was married in the Temple to his wife Azure and through her passing kept and gained so much faith. He has accomplished so much in life that I give credit to that one special day, May 6th, 1999. Without the Gospel in his life I am sure none of this would have been possible. I am grateful for his commitment and for helping me along the way too, he has been the strength in our family as other members have gotten baptised as well. Thanks Brian for all you have done, keep the strength, I love you.

My Bargains and My Big Boy

2009-05-03T18:15:00.000-07:00

Well Kmart week killed me. All I could think about was Kmart, sick right, I know. I got so much stuff for so little. Some pics of my finds. I can't even make a list of it all cause it was sooo much. I can say I maybe spent a little over 100.00 and saved well over 500.00. I might have even saved more but I haven;t looked at my receipts yet.

I did a class for the ladies in my relief society so I set up a table for my first days finds. The other 2 pics are later that week

Brian decided he wanted to have his own room. I'm not sure why but he is the oldest and is pretty mature when it comes to certain things so we moved him in with Madden. Madden didn't use his crib up there much because he was still in his crib with me down stairs, but he has been sleeping so good lately I decided last night to put him up there. He did so good. I put him to bed about 9 and he woke up at 4:30. He has been pretty consistent in this so I think he might be officially up stairs. YEAH!!!! Now I just need to find Brian a matching bed spread for that room.