Wedding bell weekend!

Aren't they so cute? the giddy little couple!!!

1. Flower girls dresses were a little big but pretty cute! 2. Jordan, Kailey, Lily, Aiden (a cousin), Jason, Parker, Kurt holding Kevin sitting in the window waiting for pictures! Missing: Carter, Luke and Paige


1. Shaun and Callie- the weather was so hot and humid my hair was flat instantly! 2. Jessie and Chris newly wed!

What a busy weekend!!! beware.. long post to follow!

Wed: we left Provo about 4 and were planning on staying at Jacob and Deidre's, but decided to go the whole way! so we picked Jacob up and managed to squeeze 6 of us in our 5 passenger jeep (don't ask how!!!) we got in to Laguna about 3 in the morning

Thurs: we went to lunch at Cheesecake factory with all the siblings (Shaun was kind enough to stay at home and take a nap with the kids while we went!) then we got ready and headed to the temple to get Jessie's endowments out. It was SO cool having all 6 of us and some spouses in the temple together!

Fri: i had about 10 missed calls because my phone was in the car, Grandma Ernie died about 10 min before we all arrived to the assisted living home. Finish wedding stuff, get nails done and we then we had to get ready for the rehearsal dinner at the Newport Marriott. It was SO nice!

Sat: be at temple at 9:30 with all kids in tote! Thanks to Bri, Jessie's friend we were able to not worry about them! The ceremony was great, and surprisingly fast, I wish i could say as much for the pictures afterward! i swear she took an hour to even come out! but we took group pictures and then headed to Dana Point Cliffs for a luncheon, once again, VERY NICE! i got to say a toast and got a huge blister on my foot from the new shoes! not cool! then we headed to the Cooks to help build something and set up for the reception, everyone else went home to take a nap. Sometimes its not a good thing to have a handy man husband! then we took more pictures and the reception started, it looked so pretty!

Sat: to go home or not go home? we left Becky's house about 8 to hit the road, then we got to my parents to drop stuff off and i decided to stay for the funeral, then we decided i would go to the one in Kentucky so that i didn't miss any babysitting (unpacking and packing 2x! awesome!) then we headed home on what SHOULD have been a 9 hr drive. turned out to be 13! I swear Shaun stopped at every 5 exits? then we visited Kathy (his sister) and then to Scott's house (a college friend of both of us) they were both short visits so why did it take so long? but we got home!! and the week was over so i though.....

More of Jessie's Wedding

The flower girls in their cute green polka dot dresses
Jordan Waiting outside the temple
Jordan, Lily, and Kailey


Deidre, me and Carter
This chocolate fountain was at the luncheon before the reception, there was so much food there really was no need to eat at the reception! it was a pretty fancy luncheon!
Deidre and Jordan outside the temple


Dad/Mom, Jessie/Chris, Debbie/Ron... EW!
The girls of the family! Annalyn (Ryan's Wife), Me, Carrie, Casey, Deidre (Jacob's Wife) and front and center Jessie. I thought this picture was funny because no one knew it was happening! it was so humid there was no hope for any of our hair!

Grandchildren- by Ernestine Arnold

I guess my grandma a secret poem writer, my mom found this in her journal that she had written

Grandchildren

Each grandchild has a special way

Of warming my old heart

Their charm, their wit, their precious soul

Discerns them each apart

I look at one- I shake my head

He/She is like no other

Then turn and find the likes of him,

Reflected in his brother!

My life is full- I love the Lord

My Blessings daily flow

But still I find within my heart

A need to let them know

Just how i feel, in some small way

The love I have for them

Then I heard my Savior say

Your angels came from Him!

So on my knees I call each name

His blessing to bestow

The peace I felt thru Gods great love

I know they surely know!

Ode to Grandma Ernie

1. Carter and Luke on Ryan's lap 2. Luke:"what? he likes it, plus i want some hair!" Carter: "don't be jealous of my hair Luke, most people just make fun of it anyway!"



1. Lisa, Linda, Leslie 2. Mom and Linda (mom's sister)

After we got back Sunday night I tried to book a flight to Kentucky to where Grandma was born and would be buried next to my grandpa, it turns out tickets cost an arm, leg and then a redemption fee so i opted to fly back with just Carter to Laguna on Tuesday night so that i could go to the service in Long Beach (where she lived all of my life) We got in about 4 pm and left wed morning about 8:30am, a VERY quick trip and Carter was amazing on the plane! I was so glad i went. There were so many people there to honor and show their respect for her.

I am so blessed to have had such an amazing example in my life, I am sure everyone thinks their grandma is the best but they are all wrong! I do! She was so kind, funny, generous, caring, selfless, a hard worker and more. Words can't express how grateful i am for her. i

I did a biography on her and she told me some stories about her life but as she was telling me about her life she completely skipped over her second husband (she was married 3x) when I asked her about it she said, "oh yeah, i always forget about him"

Whenever we visit or she would visit she would slip us a $5, as we got older sometimes it would be a $20 who can't use $5 bucks every now and then?

The last few months to year she has been on a lot of medication but she never forgot her swear words!

she would make us biscuits and gravy every time we stayed at her house. I am not a fan of the gravy part, but I would smell the bacon cooking and wake up to help her make the homemade biscuit and i got to eat the dough! it was may favorite! i still love bread dough to this day!

She would make fudge and mail me fudge all the time! i thought she had some special recipe because it was so good and she always had it. She is definitely the one who got me addicted to chocolate! I asked her for the recipe and she was like "i don't know it, its on the back of some marshmallow creme bottle"

She used to work at a jewelry store and she pierced my ears! my first and second hole! my mom didn't know i was going to get a second hole it was pretty funny, grandma was pretty hip!

I couldn't help but laugh

I am such a bad mom! so after a day of babysitting, i feed carter and as soon as he is done (before I burp him) someone comes to the door, we talk a bit and I am holding Carter in one arm and holding back Anna in the other and Kailey and Jordan are at my feet, they leave and i hear " mmm... mom...ummmm" i look over to see Kailey like this:
mom: Kailey what happened?
Kailey: (with pursed lips and whiney) Carter, help
mom: ok, hold on (i run to get a towel and change my mind to go get the camera, i am so mean! kailey sees i am taking a pictures and says, "NO MOM")
Kailey: (takes the towel) its all in my hair (we wipe it off) now i need to change my shirt, and this is my favorite shirt!
Mom: oh its not that bad, he really just got your arm and hair, we'll give you a bath tonight.

so funny though! he normally isnt a spitty baby but i guess they all have their moments

Lunch for 3 of the kids, i am so healthy!
this is only half of them! today we had a few a extra to help people out

A typical day...

I think I am a hermit, and i think i kinda like it? Since I babysit so much i rarely leave the house before 4, if at all, and when i do its because i know i need to get out... either because i haven't left the house or because i need something. and I am so sick of cleaning! Does anyone else feel this way? Its like every single day i do the same things over and over, i don't know why i even bother? This is my typical day.. more or less kids depending on the day
7:15- 7:45- feed Carter
7:45-8:15- try to go back to sleep, fail and make my bed
8:15- get up shower (OK, i don't always shower...)
8:30- 1babysitting kid arrives/feed and take Anna out (our dog)
9:00- 2 babysitting kid arrives and breakfast time!
9:30- clean the kitchen, put on a kids show and finish getting ready
10:15- 3rd babysitting comes/feed carter
11- kid 4&5 come over (2 days a week) get on the computer because i don't want to clean my house!
12- lunch time! and clean the kitchen AGAIN! pick up all the toys and put carter down
12:30- Jordan and kid 1 down for naps, kid 2 goes home
1- back on the computer to avoid cleaning the upstairs or play with Kailey (she is a big fan of playing games on the computer)
2- OK fine i clean the upstairs! this normally consist of cleaning all toilets and bathrooms, or picking a room and just doing it.
3- kid 4&5 go home, clean kitchen downstairs AGAIN! kids awake from nap and eat snacks
3:30 kid 1 goes home- look in Kailey's room and make her clean it up (poor kid gets the shaft everyday cleaning up after her friends, it would suck to be the oldest!)
4- kid 3 goes home- i think about what to make for dinner, but decided to wait because Shaun will be home within the hour and i am not hungry because i snack, every time i clean up
4:30- my thinking "ok, shaun will be home in about a 1/2 hr.... what can i do that looks like i was the most productive... and what is for dinner... oh it doesnt matter anyway Shaun doesn't care if the house is spotless, only i do, and he probably had a nice lunch somewhere and isnt hungry yet, maybe i will get back on the computer...."
5- shaun home, we sit on the couch and talk about the boring day we both had
6- we decide we are hungry but dont want to get up and cook anything
6:30- kailey has soccer practice or a game on Tuesday and Thursday if not I break down and actually make dinner
7:30- time to clean up again! load unload, switch laundry, pick up and if the house is a lucky a vacuum?
8- read to Jordan and put her to bed
8:30- read the scriptures and books and Kailey to bed
9- take the dog out before we both go upstairs and read and go to bed~!

I will say its pretty monotonous! some days i throw things in like bath time for the kids, Kailey and I spend time doing "homework" during Jordan's naps, about once a month i get really ambitious and during nap times i clean all my baseboard or the downstairs windows in and out, (how lame am I?) people stop by because they know i am ALWAYS HOME!!! i will go to Wal-mart and the bank (my two most visited places) I like to run my errands at night and i like to go to the store with Shaun so that I have help and i like to just be with him (or an adult that i can talk normal to!!!) during the day i am banished from most rooms either because there are kids sleeping in them or kids playing in them, that is why the bathrooms and downstairs get so much attention! you would think it could stay cleaner? if anyone has some fun ideas for me to do at home other than reading, cleaning, being on the computer or crafting (it makes to big of a mess) let me know! what does everyone else do all day, especially if you don't want to spend money?!
well this was a long blog, but hey, its nap time! and Kailey has at least one friend over all the time so she keeps herself pretty entertained!

I was looking at old pictures, its crazy how fast life changes! this was Kailey 3 years ago almost to the day! they grow up so fast!

Hair Cut?

Who would have thought that i gave this kid a hair cut? believe it or not i halfed it! he was just hanging out in his boppy!

Happy Birthday Kate

Jordan and Kailey helping me make a German Chocolate cake.. yum. My two little kitchen helpers, aprons and all! if I am in the kitchen, so are they!
Kate got some help blowing the candles out (imagine if i would have put 28! j/k Kate :))
We also watched Wendy's kids that night too, it was busy night after a really busy day! but Kailey sure loves her cousins, and so does Jordan!

Well, I wouldn't say this date is to happy of memories to most but it was Kate's birthday so we decided to make her a cake! I was a pretty hectic day with LOTS of kids (we had a total of 14 throughout the day/night) but it was fun and who doesn't like cake??

Jumpin Jacks!

Kailey getting ready to go up and down!
Jordan following suit right behind her big sister
Carter getting ready to go down to! ok, he didnt go down, but he liked this place so much before he was ready to come and see it for REAL!!!
Kailey and Grace

Tradition! it was Carter's 3 month birthday so we decided to go back to Jumpin Jacks, (where my water broke!) it was fun! we went with Kate and her 2 kids Grace and Blake

Crimpy Hair!

She looks so old!
it was a little lionesk, but pretty fun!

You would think because my hair is so curly i would have curly haired children... not the case, in a lot of ways they are lucky! Kailey wanted her hair curly so we braided it in a bunch of tiny braids and took them out a day later.. she looked pretty cute!

The first Soccer game!

Getting ready for the big game on the sidelines
She got a few good kicks in!
Chasing the ball, a very proud mother moment

Can we say total defeat? Oh yeah, lets just say these first few games have been for practice? It is so funny to watch these little kids run up and down the field. especially when some know what they are doing (the other team) and others.. not so much. Kailey would watch the ball pass her and we would yell "GO Kailey, go get the ball!" she would do a little jog, catch up and then watch again, its pretty funny. She runs up and down the field and every now and then, stops, looks at me and says "mommy, i love you" and then runs again. i think the first game was like 10-2 and the second like 15-2 (i don't keep track, it was just a lot of goals on us and none by us) good thing it really doesn't matter, she loves it and gets so excited on days she has games and practices. Shaun is going to have to do some fatherly teaching of soccer!