PLEASE HOLD.......

Sorry folks. I know you have been waiting for pictures and info about IKE. But we are still waiting for our internet to get working again. My good friend Wend was kind enough to let me use her computer for a minute today. Just suffice it to say, that we have learned a lot and are safe as is our house.

8 years

September 8, 2000
Eight years ago I had the awesome privelege of being married not only for time but for eternity to my very best friend in the Bountiful, Utah temple. Even though there have been struggles I wouldn't trade one second. Scott is such a thoughtful, understanding, and unselfish husband. He is so super smart and talented, I mean how many girls do you know who get a beautiful song written for them for their wedding???? Like I said, he is talented!!! Scott is such a good dad to our 4 children. All 5 of us look forward to 6 o'clock each day when he comes home. I could go on and on. Thanks for 8 wonderful years. I couldn't ask for a better HUBA-SAND. I love you. Love, Amme

Back to School

Monday was the first day of school. Where did the summer go? I am now realizing how well my children entertain each other. Carly and I are a little bored without the big boys. You can only play Barbies and Polly Pockets for so long! Anywho.... here are my handsome boys on the big day.



I can't believe my little Carter is in school. Some comments he has made, "I like school 'cause we don't have to take naps!" and "We haven't even done any work, my teacher just wanted us to make an 'A' for her."



Second grade! Where has the time gone? It literally seems like yesterday when Taylor started kindergarten in Logan. I think he is excited to be back in school even though he is trying to be is usual nonchalant self. You should hear him read!



Carly wants to go to school too. Notice the scripture case on the ground that she called her "pack-pack". It is nice to be on a better schedule of getting up early and going to bed on time. I enjoy my time alone with Carly and Spencer but I am excited to see Taylor and Carter each afternoon and hear about what they learned.

Mr. Smiles

Spencer is such a good and happy baby---especially in the morning. All he has to do is see you and he breaks into a huge grin. I tried to get some good ones for you but there is really nothing like seeing it in person---hint, hint, grandma and everyone else. This movie isn't as good as the other one I had the other day but that one was too big of a file and wouldn't upload. But he is just such a cute baby you'll want to watch the whole thing!!! Perhaps multiple times ;). Here are some cute smiley pictures too.

Taylor is 7!!

Happy Birthday, Taylor. We love you so much. You are such an important part of our family. You are so thoughtful and sensitive. A smart student and an awesome ball player.

Taylor is 7!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Homesick

As I sat on the couch this morning after eating No Bake cookie #3 and it was only 10 am, and was holding my twelve and a half pound Texas souvenir I began to cry. So, to keep myself from eating cookie #5 I am writing. And not I didn't mess up my numbers I already had cookie #4. Today is a very dark, cloudy, pouring rain day. Days like this tend to be a little depressing for me so it kind of plunged me into a pity party since last week we had our first year anniversary of being in Texas. I have been pondering this for several days. In many ways it has gone so fast and phone calls and blogs have really helped. In this whole year I have had only 2 maybe 3 short bouts of homesickness for family and friends and Logan. But, today is probably the hardest day yet. I am tired of being strong. I just plain miss my family. I just miss sitting and talking face to face with my sisters and sisters-in-law. I miss hanging out with all the "girls". I miss my walking and running buddies. I miss sitting around and watching a big group of kids play while the moms sit and talk. I miss the phone conversations that come being in the same town (it is different). I miss Gossners and cheap cheese. I miss good ice cream (Good ice cream can not be found here). I miss dry air (humidity was 90% last week). I miss the mountains. I miss leaves that change color in the fall. I miss being able to open my windows at night. I miss being able to go to the store with all my kids and just being one of the masses in the norm and not being a freak show with SO many kids. I miss seeing my nieces and nephews grow up---I haven't even seen 2 of them yet and they are already 9 mos old!!! I miss family parties. I miss neighborhood parties. I miss the Logan library and their cheap overdue fines. I miss Maceys grocery store and all their good prices. I miss the Willow Park zoo. I miss roads that are wide enough to have cars parked on each side of the road and still have enough room to pass a car going the other direction. I miss church being a block away. I miss being minutes from a temple. I miss Logan Parks and Rec. And, if you are reading this, I miss you!!
Okay, so you get the idea. I am just plain homesick. Texas is great and I have learned a lot and made some good friends. But I really need to come visit. Almost every day I think about the visit we are hoping to make in November. If for some reason it doesn't happen, I might go crazy.
Thanks for reading the ramblings of a cooped up, tired, bored, homesick gal.

Another Test!

So, I took another personality test. Charlynn, are we the same again?

You Are 9: The Peacemaker

You are emotionally stable and willing to find common ground with others. Your friends and family often look to you to be the mediator when there is conflict. You are easy going and accepting. You take things as they come. Avoiding conflict at all costs, you're content when things are calm. At Your Best: You feel connected, trusting, and fulfilled. You feel at peace with your place in the world. At Your Worst: You compromise your values to make sure peace is maintained. You give in to bullies. Your Fixation: Harmony Your Primary Fear: Causing conflict Your Primary Desire: To preserve things as they are Other Number 9's: Marge Simpson, Ronald Reagan, Audrey Hepburn, Jerry Seinfeld, and Abraham Lincoln.

What Number Are You?

Ice cream

So, I took the ice cream quiz. Interesting.

You're Coffee.
Compared to other ice creams, coffee ice cream has a strong flavor, and it's packed with caffeinated sweetness. You're like that, too! You're always busy, and determined to stay focused as you move from one task to the next. You get frustrated when other people slow you down or hold you back, but when you're in control, you can find ways around any obstacle.

Spencer's Blessing

On Sunday, July 27 Scott blessed Spencer at church. Here are some pictures of him that day in his very best.

We Love Carter

Yesterday was Carter's Birthday. Here are some pictures of him through the years along with his favorite song. Carter has SO much love in his heart he can hardly contain it. He is such a peacemaker and is almost always the one to give in and let the other kids have what they want. He is very sensitive to me and tells me all the time, "Mom, you're beautiful" or "Mom, I love you". He is also a goof ball and says and does some of the craziest things. Our family would not be complete without hime. We love you CARTER BUG!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Let's Remember!

Here is something I have seen on several friends blogs lately. It looks fun.

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory (or more) that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing (but you don't have to) and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

Grandma! Grandma!

A new update of our little Spencer. At the rate he is growing he won't be little for very long! This week Scott's mom has been visiting. It has been fun and she has been a big help with the kids. You give me a kiss. You give me a hug. You let me have a nap on you too. I wish every child in the whole wide world had a Grandmother just like you.
You read me a book.
You made me a quilt.
You make cookies with us too!

I wish every child in the whole wide world had a
Grandmother just like you!

FINALLY!

After much anticipation, Taylor has finally lost his first tooth. It is a little hard to tell in this picture that there is a hole there because the new tooth is showing a little. He is very excited to finally begin losing teeth and to also have another one loose. The night he lost it he said, "Maybe the tooth fairy will bring me like a thousand dollars!" Thank goodness that he was happy with just one dollar!

Into the mind of a 3 year old

Today Carly was sitting by me holding Baby Spencer and this is the conversation we had:

Carylyn- "He's so cute!"
Amme-"Do you love your brother?"
Carlyn- "Yes, can we keep him? Pleeeease?"
Amme- "Yes, we'll keep him."
Carlyn- "Can our other baby be a girl baby? Cause I really want a sister. A sister would be more cuter."


So, I barely got Spencer here and Carly wants another one. It's a good thing 3 year olds aren't in charge of family planning!

Maracas

Scott has been home taking care of us this week and has been being SUPER DAD! Not only has he been cooking, cleaning, and doing laundry, but he has tried to do something fun with the kids each day. I told him he is a better housewife than I am! They have been swimming, gone to the Johnson Space Center, and on Monday they made Maracas out of old gatorade bottles and beans and rice. The kids had a blast painting them and had even more fun when Scott taught them about keeping time in music for Family Home Evening. A happy smile from Taylor says this is

a great activity.
Carter is so detailed and precise.
Carly loves to paint and often sings while she does it.

Spencer Bruce is here!

Here are pictures of the newest addition to our family. I am also going to tell you the story of his labor and birth because I am still in shock myself and this is kind of my journal too. So, if you want you can skip all this part and just look at pictures. On Sunday, June 29 I was having a lot of contractions and thought I was starting into labor. Well, it was false and I felt pretty foolish because every other time I "thought" I was in labor I was. So, I was pretty down this week and beginning to wonder if all my hopeful positive thinking that I would have this baby on July 3 (this would allow maximum time for Scott to be able to take care of us) plus it was a few days before my actual due date. Zooming through my week now.....................................Thursday, July 3 I went to my appointment at 9:30 am. I was 4 cm dilated and my nurse-midwife knew that I wanted to have a baby that day. She stripped my membranes and said I would probably start contracting within an hour. By 11 am I was having regular contractions! I then spent the day at my good friend Janine's house since the kids were already there. She was so great and made me lunch and helped me relax and not be bored while timing the contractions. Scott arrived at around 2 pm and I was feeling bad like maybe I had called him home from work too early. My contractions were definately still there but I was not feeling any pain really. At 3 or so the nurse midwife's office called and told me to come in and they would check to see how I was progressing. When I got to the office I was a 5 and while she was checking me she accidentally broke my water!!! That's how close I was. That was at 4 pm. So, I continued to walk around. My contractions were finally getting closer but I still wasn't really in much pain. For those of you who know me well know that my labors are usually 10-14 hours and I can't move hardly at all. So it was about 5 minutes to 5 when I started having more pain and actually had to bend over and Scott rubbing my back--Thanks for the time reference LEIGH!! You called and left a message to check on me right before they started to hurt! I walked and sat on the ball for a little bit longer. Then about 5:30 I got in the water. Yes, I had a water birth. At this point I was starting to have a little pressure (but nothing like what I remember pushing pressure should feel like from my other labors) and about 5:40 she told me to just push a little bit and see what happens. I didn't know this until later but with that first push the nurse midwife could see the baby's hair sticking out!!!! So I pushed a few more times and was starting to think that we were going to be there a while since I didn't feel like my pushing was accomplishing much. Then at the same time I felt a bit of relief and saw the nurse midwife pull her hand back. I wanted to scream and tell her to stop cheking me--no wonder I felt better- her hand wasn't up inside me. But then about 15 seconds later I saw a little body come out! It wasn't her hand coming out that had given me that great relief, it was the baby's head! So, now you know all the details and probably some you could have done without, but as I said in the beginning, this is my journal too. So, if you really got through all that introducing: Spencer Bruce 8 lbs 14 1/2 oz 21 1/4" long.

About 4 pm on July 3
About 8 :30 pm on July 3. The kids are so proud of their new baby brother. I don't know what we were thinking, Scott should be in this picture with us not taking it!
What's better than TV?

How about watching a 1 day old baby in a swing!
Look at that strong boy!

The look on his face reminds me of Carly.
Father and son #3!
"I want to be just like him when I grow up."
I think in these last two he looks quite a bit like his cousins
Logan and Nathaniel.

I will post more pictures soon and try to figure out how to post

movies soon too.

Staycation?!

The last few weeks I have been feeling bad for my children because we are not doing anything fun this summer. We just sit around in the air conditioned house and wait for the baby. So, the other night for Family Night we went to Chuck E. Cheese and let the kids play games. They had a blast. Any and all suggestions for our summer "staycation" are welcome. When the boys go to school and the teacher asks what they did over the summer I'd like them to be able to say more than just, "we watched Cyberchase on PBS." Here is Taylor saving the world by blasting asteroids.
Carter playing skee ball.
Carly in a car ride.
Counting their many tickets.

Better Late Than Never

This post is dedicated to Scott. I was planning to put this up on Father's Day, but alas, I never get anything done when I want to--thus the title of this post. So often he is the one behind the camera and we don't get very many pictures of him. Which is a pretty good description of him. He is always there in the background making sure everything gets done and goes smoothly. He quietly does his job and doesn't draw attentiont to himself. He works hard and especially lately has picked up so much of the slack from me. He is unselfish and such a loving and worthy priesthood holder. We all love him so much and don't know how we could ever get through this life without him. We love you, Scott. Here is Scott with his Father's Day Dessert request---DIRT! You all remember the pudding and gummy worm treat you enjoyed as kids? Well, apparently when Scott was about 6 or 7 his primary teacher made dirt for them but also used ice cream so it was an all frozen treat. My poor husband has been waiting all this time to have it like this again. He really enjoyed it.

You Say Tomato, I Say Tomatoe!

Some of you have been asking to see pictures of me fat and miserable! Why, I don't know. Maybe so you can sigh and say, "OH, I am so glad it's not me!" At any rate I couldn't just have a picture of plain old me. This is what I have been doing this week. A local farmer sold his "not quite perfect for the store" produce to our stake. So I ordered 3 boxes of tomatoes so we could make salsa. When we talk about making salsa at our house it is made by the gallon. I got 27 pints and 6 quarts of salsa. We are happy to have it since we ran out of homemade salsa a couple of months ago. Even after all that salsa I still had a box and a half of tomatoes left. I was so worn out from the salsa making and really dreading doing it. I was trying to gear up to do it this afternoon when my good friend Janine and her family came to my rescue. Janine, Kyle, and McKenna did tomatoes while Kaeliann and Kaden kept the kids happy. In just over an hour they had 24 quarts of tomatoes ready for me to process. They saved me hours and hours of work that I would have had to do by myself with kids running through the kitchen. The whole time they were at the house I was in such shock that my tomatoes were getting done and after they left I called Scott and just cried. Thanks so much guys! I thank you from the very bottom of my fat, swollen feet!! You deserve the "Friends of the Century Award".
Had I not been rescued today you can imagine how much worse my poor elephant ankles would look!