Another baby!!!!

well I kind of surprised Spencer last night








when I bought a new Golden Retriever Puppy. The kids love him and at the same time they get a little nervous when he runs after them, we haven't come up with a name yet but we like duke and copper if you have a suggestion then let me know ! here he is!

my hair

I wanted to post a little better picture for my mom so here we go, Also my excitement that I have lost 20 pounds since my sisters wedding in Aug. Yipee!

Picture Tag

Here is my picture tag from Rheanna, this is the first time I have done a tag but I am glad I went through all of my pictures and organized them last week. This is a picture of the boys a few months ago in our "homeless" state, we were staying at one of the cabins at Spencer's new job. we are grateful for the experience but we are so glad we have a place of our own now!! and I am glad that I was not in this picture.

The Pumpkin Patch!

Well the boys absolutely loved the pumpkin patch this year, we went all the way down to Santaquin to Stonyfield farms, it was beautiful, as always the donuts were wonderful and the cider was even better, we bought 4 gallons! you have to go on a 10 min or so hay ride to get to the patch one of the most crazy things happened as we stepped off into the patch, we ran into the wonderful family who watched Zack and Logan when I went to Whitney's wedding, all of them were ecstatic the kids were snapping picts with their phones it was a fun little reunion. anyways here are some super cute picts! you can click on them to make them larger. Logan is in the letterman's jacket

Trip down to the valley

civilization it actually quite far away from us, we have a store in town that opens at 7 and closes at 6, most of the things like raisins or candy are stale or dried out, much of the meat has the the red die almost gone so it looks bad and overall the prices are horrific, there is also a gas station in town, but the gas from it makes my check engine light go on.
the next closest place to buy anything is in Roosevelt 30 min away, they dont have much, pretty much 1 grocery store and a "one stop shop without walls" which is a grocery store an ace hardware and a radio shack, the selection is pretty poor and there is nowhere to buy toys which is probably good.

we decided to take a trip down to the Utah valley which is a 2 1/2 hour drive, but we had a wonderful time down there, Spencer has been so busy with this job that he works nearly every day of the week even his days off, so getting out of town where no one could call him in was very nice. We were able to stay with my grandma which was really fun for the kids because they hadn't seen her since we moved. we also were able to visit with Spenser's brothers families who live down in the valley, we had such a wonderful time seeing them and are amazed at how big all of the kids are getting, we had supper over at Eric and Mandy's beautiful new home, it was absolutely delicious! the best chili I have ever had!

We also were able to get some wood for Spencer to make a few side tables to hopefully sell.

last of all but not least we went to the Pumpkin patch of which I will blog about as soon as my pictures finally upload (there are 350 since I have not had a computer to dump them onto until now.)

My new best friend!!

I just I have to blog about this because it is AMAZING AMAZING AMAZING! It is called Shop'nCook Menu, there is also one called Shop'nCook Home that doesn't allow you to menu plan but I prefer the Menu one. you can go to this site and download a free trial period of 45 days! anyways now I will get to why it is my new best friend.

You can type your recipes into the program or copy and paste a recipe from the net, you click ok and it sorts everything out into a form where you can either see the recipe (which you can attach a picture to) or you can view the ingredients, if you type in how many servings it makes it will add up all of the nutrition facts. all of these recipes are stored for use or reference at any time.

Menu!
you can plan your menu for every day of the month, or year if you want, then you can save your monthly menus to refer to in the menu library.

Did some one say grocery list??
when you add something to your menu it adds all of the ingredients to your shopping list and tells you exactly how much of each item you need for your combined recipes as well as what recipes the item is used for, it is all divided into different sections in the grocery store. You can go through and uncheck items you already have and it makes them light Grey instead of black. you can also add dishes to your shopping list without putting it into the menu.

Printable menu!
on top of everything you can select print the menu for the week/month and a menu will be printed for you to place on your fridge!

There is a lot of other features to this but I just thought I would share my excitement!! go check it out and let me know how you like it!!

Calling Armenia for 3 cents a minute

Spencer and I woke is parents at 5am this morning, I tried to tell him it was a little too early and we should wait till after Bones (the one show I get to watch without interruption) but he was quite excited to talk to his mummy and daddy. his parents are serving a mission in Armenia, I call Mum quite often and enjoy hearing of their coming and goings, blogs are wonderful and e-mail is great but it can never replace a good talk. They seem so happy in doing the Lords work. We are so happy for them and so very grateful and proud of their service.
Mum thought it would be a good idea for me to send her the info, so I told her I would jut blog it. at nobelcom.com
http://www.nobelcom.com/nobelcom/jsp/productselection/productselection.jsp?from_country=1&to_country=14&x=44&y=17

is where I get my phone cards for Armenia, for $20 I get a card with about 8 1/2 hours of talk time yes 8 1/2 hours, I have used it several times and have recharged it once, it is a great steal,

Thought I would share :)

We are Connected again!!

It has been a very very long time since we last blogged, we have also been with out the internet for almost 6 months, as many know we have been living here and there with spencers new job in Altamont, UT housing is a huge issue here and there was nothing available finally The company spencer works for had a house come avaliable for us to rent, it is perfect for our family, there are 5 bedrooms and 3 baths, the kitchen is huge which Is a huge thing for me, it is so nice that everything has a place, even my casserole dishes and pie plates have their own slot in divided drawers, and we have nowhere used all of the space in the kitchen. I have been moving in and out of places for 6 months so when moving in here I was eager to paint, (the company doesn't care what we do to make it our own as they bought the place for the beautiful property and plan to tear it down and build a home here in the future, ) on friday as everything was not even unpacked I painted my kitchen a deep red, about the color of dried blood :)

Abram
Abe as may of you know is very bright and ambitious, he never ceases to amaze me. on Thursday abe went to spencer to have him fix his training wheels, but the tools were not here, so spence took the training wheels off, abe was devastated for over a half hour. once he calmed down within 15 min he was riding his bike all by himself up and down our sloped driveway, with a few more minutes of practice he could start all by himself... a few more and he was turning corners, I surely did not learn how to ride my bike by the time I was 3 1/2!

Zack and Logan are growing like weeds and are anxious to be more and more like their older brother, all of them love to wrestle and kick the ball around, they have a secret hideout that they play in together. Logan has a heart made of crystal, it is very delicate and he has his feelings hurt very easily, but he is so very sweet, he randomly says i love you and gives kisses. Logan is also a dare devil, the other day he climbed onto the table, he was quickly scolded and was told to get down, he simply hoped off the edge.
Zack is wild and as all of my boys are a bundle of energy I think zack is the one who fills up on the most energy.
I often tell spencer he has to increase my budget for groceries because our boys eat so much, almost every morning we have oatmeal, and I make 5 servings of the quick oats for the 3 boys...it is always all gone and most want more, but I have to tell them they ate enough... this is not 5 oatmeal packets, this is 5 cups of water mixed with oats!!! oh how I fear them as teenagers and athletes!!

Spencer is enjoying his job although he works all the time, he is also loving getting some woodworking in, we have a large garage here he is setting up shop in.
I am doing well and am so very happy to be getting settled in our new home, as fun as it was I was getting a little tired living out of a tent one weekend and a one bedroom cabin the next. I have made many friends here and I am amazed at how loving the people are here we feel completely opposite from Saratoga. A friend of mine whacked my hair off again and I love it, I just hope I can have it replicated again, I traded her me making some stuff, because there was some things she wanted, but otherwise she did about a $200 job on my hair! if I had to pay for it I would truly consider paying that to.
Here are some photos :) the picture off the deck with no people in it is the view out of our bedroom in our new house.

Abes new bike

Abe has been asking for a bike for a few months, so we finally got one today, he has been riding downhill only but has been able to do it with dad only next to him and not holding on! he is very very excited!

A BBQ at the park

Here are a few pictures of 2 saturdays ago when we went to the park up by our house to have a little BBQ and some fun, I guess the boys faces didnt get washed before they played! Zack is in the letterman jacket and Logan is in yellow.

nighttime fun

we were just getting ready for bed and the boys were very giggly, Zack often loves this headband and wears it like this for hours. these are pictures from a few weeks ago

Dude...I love sweet potatoes!

I had many sweet potatoes that would soon go bad so I baked them all up in the oven thinking I would make some muffins, Last night we had just gotten home from going swimming at the legacy center and Spencer decided it was a good idea to hand out sweet Potatoes for dinner. the clean kids loved them , but I stepped in and put them on a plate! they each ate 2 potatoes!

Pizza after a long day

well the day for spencer started about 5am, for those of you that dont know, spencer has taken up cycling, and he will ride anywhere on his bike, the other day he helped his brother move and rode his bike from work (down town salt lake) to Todd's in south Provo. he rides to work on all the nice days durring the week, it is 30 miles to work, so he rides quite far regularly.
on this day Spencer decided to do the alpine loop, starting from our house in saratoga springs
and riding to alpine summit through american fork canyon coming up and going down through Sundance and provo canyon, then back up home. needless to say it was a good ride. when he got home the rest of us were ready to start the day, so we went on the hike in my previous post and since there was alot of hunger we went for pizza in provo and Ice cream at the BYU creamery where Aunt Whitney was. um, our buys are not light eaters, i believe each of them ate 2 pieces and abe wanted a third, to give you some idea, our family finishes a costco pizza, and I usually eat 1 possibly 2 pieces if I am really hungry.

a few more hiking pictures!

Sorry I cant get these to turn

A hike up Rock Canyon

last Saturday was beautiful and the boys were all itching to get outside so we decided to take a hike up Rock Canyon! The little ones had a great time talking to passing people and dos as well as yelling at and throwing rocks into the creek. we stopped very often to throw rocks and pick at things with the sticks. all in all the boys had a great time! their hair is a little nasty even though they got a bath in the morning because we styled it with sunscreen!

Picture ID's

I forgot to explain the pictures of the messy boys, Logan is standing on the table (i don't know hoy they do it I took all the chairs out of the room) finishing a jar of jam, and the chocolate boy is Zack, Spencer was craving Éclairs so I made some mini ones (about the size of lady finger cookies ) and we all enjoyed them quite a lot ( they are much better chilled, if anyone is interested) the boys were asking for them for several days.

What a POOPY day!

WARNING: toddler Poop talk!
So we are on the potty training train with my 22 month old boys, we really only have been working on it the past week because of company and a busy schedule, Zack has been doing very well and now each time he sits on the potty he wees, sands up and exclaims " I go pee pee Yeay!! " and claps. I bought big stickers that turn into a smiley star or pig when peed on so they can see that they peed. Logan however believes weeing should be done standing up. so I find him standing next to his potty with his pants down swaying back and forth.... not peeing, but the other day (Friday) he finally pooped and peed on the potty!!! he was so very excited and we were all so happy for him I made brownies!! however he has not gone again on the potty, but he is talking much more about it. I know many are fascinated I am potty training so early , but I am so done with diapers for a long while! I will keep you updated on how it all goes.

My three Strappin Boys

Here are a few pictures of my ever so handsome boys Abram, Zachary and Logan, They are sure growing up! Zack and Logan are talking up a storm they are now 22 months old, when we head to the ward family reunion they will be 2! many people ask if my twins are identical and some ask if I have triplets, when you put Abe into the equation of looking alike you can easily realize that Zack and Logan are not Identical ad that the look as much like one another as they look like Abe, they just happen to be the same age at the same time :)

One Bussy Mama

Well each day there is a new mess and usually a bath that follows. I am a pretty laid back mama and probably most people think I am too laid back. I enjoy teaching my boys new things and having lots of fun with them, we like to cook things together, so I think they feel they have a right to the ingredients when I am not around..... this does not usually go over very well.

CHILD PROOFING.... OR SO THEY SAY!

Many of you are blessed with children who stay out of things :) I guess I was just blessed with boys who "just want to figure it out"
First we have door knobs... Abram who recently turned 3 learned to open doors when he was just over 1yo, basically if he could reach it he could open it. so naturally we put child proof locks on... it only took about 25 minutes to figure how to remove it! now what, well when he was 20 months we decided to take the door knobs off, because it is hard enough for an adult to open a door like that right? well about 3 weeks ago Abe figured it out, the only thing we can do is to lock the door from the other side which he has even opened a few times when he can find something small enough to get into the hole :) He is a very smart little boy

fridge locks, now they really need to improve on these.... well I will give them a little credit, It took my 18mo Abe an entire 3 days to figure it out and when he did he clapped his hands and said with a fat grin on his face "yea!! did it!!" it was a puzzle to him. since then I believe I have cleaned dozens of eggs off of the floor, including a few months ago when my 3 strappin boys dumped a dozen eggs out and drove their big trucks through them, I think I was scrubbing the egg spots off the carpet for a few hours before Spencer got home.

My boos truly need a huge mud puddle in which they could roll in in the morning just so they feel their day is full.

Sometimes it is really difficult and sometimes our house is clean for weeks at a time, but most of the time I vacuum 1-2x per day. I remember watching John and kate+8 a mother of twins and sixtupplets. she had to mop her floor 3-4x a day, I am glad I only have to do it twice :) luckly there is another mama in my ward who has a 4yo and 2yo twins, all boys, yesterday at enrichment people were saying we were supermoms, it is nice to have one person who understands no we are not supermoms just moms gone crazy, every mom is amazing and I don't know how anyone does it with a sane mind, but all of the fun, and joy in my boys eyes makes it all worth while.


Sorry for my babbling I get a little scatter brained sometimes.