Brown Family Five

boiling crawfish for easter?

2011-05-20T14:50:00.000-07:00

Im sure your all wondering the same thing i was 10 years ago..seriously who boils crawfish for easter. well let me tell you, pretty much everyone in the south. i have grown to LOVE and cherish this pastime that people have been doing for decades. i mostly wanted to publish this post for my good friend Jane johnson who is a westerner by birth but is now a proud alabamian. she has never experienced the true "crawfish boil" so im going to layout step by step for her what you would need to have a successful boil.
1st- you need about 2 sacks of LIVE crawfish. you bring this to your home and poor them in a bucket or a cooler full of water and salt. this starts the purging process(ya know, to get out all of the poo).
2nd you need a bunch of rednecks(i say that in a very loving way, see my husband on the right?) standing arond a pickup truck drinking beer, smoking ciggs, and shootin the s@*t as i like to call it. of course donnie isnt involved in that :)

3rd you need lots of good family and friendly conversation. this picture below is donnies grandma and grandpa (nanny and papa). they are the greatest, i love hearing his grandpas old stories over and over again.

4th after boiling the crafish for about 10 min. then letting them soak in the water for about 20 with the seasonings, potatoes,corn on the cob,sausage,onions,garlic,and mushrooms you proceed to dump it on a big picnic table where everyone stands around and eats it together.

5th this is me in heaven. your mouth starts burning and your nose starts running from the spices. of course its messy and somewhat barbaric but boy is it worth it! i love it. if you are ever in the deep south you really need to experiance one.

just a little tidbit. your supposed to peel them kind of like a shrimp, then you suck the heads(thats where all of the juices are). donnie does that, i dont.

church easter party

2011-04-28T10:43:00.000-07:00

The branch easter party was alot of fun this year. we met at about 10am for brunch. I made 3 different kinds of muffins and brought milk and juice, and there was also a bunch of fruit! this kids got to make a cute bunny craft while some adult hid the eggs. it was nice because they did a little hunt for the babies first so they wouldnt get trampled by the big kids. sophie loved it, and it was nice to have my cute babysitte amy help her! the girls had alot of fun, although taylor is starting to think she is to cool for this type of thing which makes me want to cry. i think she saw how much fun the other kids were having and decided to participate. she is allo about "coolness" these days. there was a great turnout, which i loved because you never know with our parties if anyone is gonna show up ha ha!

2011-04-16T19:02:00.000-07:00

its really happening!

2011-04-13T17:51:00.000-07:00

First of all HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my hubby donnie!! love you tons cant believe your 34! ok so were so excited because were going to get our stuff in less than 2 months, than im off to seattle for the summer! i cant even tell you how thrilled i am to see my friends and family in arizona and washington. for now were trying to find a house and its taking forever! wish us luck! only a month and a half left of school and its already getting sooooo busy. it seems like there is something going on every week. easter parties,field trips, field days, and so on. oon another note im quitting my job officially tomorrow. its bitter sweet. i dont feel like i have time to work with all of the stuff going on, but i like being able to get out of the house and make some money. oh well, the main thing is finding people to watch the girls, thats really getting old :)

Skylar is 6!!

2011-04-05T06:30:00.000-07:00

Today is skylars 6th birthday! i cant believe it time really does fly by. she is a wonderful addition to our family and we wouldnt be the same without her! i wish i had pictures of her as a baby on this computer but once again all of my old pics are in storage in arizona. so i put up a few of my favorites of her!

this was her very first haircut by aunt angela. i saved the hair, i know thats wierd.

she is such a fun sweet little girl. she is very helpful around the house and latley has been asking to do the dishes.she loves playing with her sisters, they are her best friends. skylar always volunteers to say the prayers, and to help out with sophie. she loves school and is doing very well there! we love her so much and are so proud of her!

mardi gras holiday

2011-03-12T13:38:00.001-08:00

i really never thought i would be celebrating mardi gras as a holiday but when you live in the south its pretty much a given. Over the last 10 years i have been to many mardi gras parades and the girls have gotten a million beads and crap (excuse my launguage) that we will never use, so this year we decided to go somewhere fun. donnie and i both asked for time off and the girls had monday and fat tuesday off. we really wanted to go to destin fl and lay on the beach so i started looking for hotels. our good friends have a beach house here in orange beach and she talked me in to staying here and staying with them for a few days. it was actually the original plan so we decided just to do it. the beach is all the same anywhere down here right? we packed up a bunch of food and headed over(its only about 10 min from the house). we had soooo much fun. the kids swam and swam and swam some more. we really wish the weather was better but what can you do.

sophie LOVED it! i got her some floaties and pretty much didnt have to get in with her the whole time. she just floated around. of course there was a bunch of snowbirds around glaring at us, but we just ignored them.

on the second night we played put put. it was fun other than chasing sophie around the whole time. skylar ended up getting sick and throwing up. she had been complaing that she had a really bad side ache. turns out she had a bad UTI which we got her on antibiotics when we got home.

here is all of the kids, dakota,taylor,baylee, and sky!

dakota tripped over the hump ha ha

here is all of us at the first whole. it was really cold that night and once the sun went down we about froze!

i got the kids kites so one of the afternoons we went out to the beach and flew them for awhile. it was actually really fun and relaxing. best 4 dollars i have spent in awhile:)

the first night we were there we stayed up way to late and played a bunch of games, ate seafood junk food and laughed. we played clue with the kids, the "what if" game (very funny) and family fued. my dad got us who wants to be a millionare, family fued and deal or no deal for the dvd player for christmas. we had a blast playing that one. i think donnie and i beat holly and jake twice in a row. such a fun time and so greatful to be able to spend it with friends! thanks to the richards for being great hosts!!

visit from mom

2011-03-08T18:45:00.001-08:00

we had such a fun time when my mom came down to visit! of course it always goes by way too fast and its so hard to see her go, but it makes it ok knowing that i get to go to seattle for the summer! my girls love her so much, she really is the best grandma ever!

we went down to the beach to walk around and play in the sand. it was beautiful to watch the sun go down. the girls had a blast chasing each other.

This is us going to the justin beiber movie. we had soooo much fun and we LOVED it!!

we decided that on the girls half day we wanted to take them to the zoo. we had alot of fun and the weather was perfect. i love this tiny little zoo.

sleeping

2011-02-04T12:41:00.000-08:00

for some reason this picture was really small when i saved it. maybe because it was from donnies iphone. anyways is this not the funniest thing ever! donnie sent this to me while i was at work. he said when she finally woke up he had to pry the bars apart to get her fat legs out. poor thing!

not so classy

2011-02-01T21:00:00.000-08:00

so is it wierd that i feel like i cant "vent" on here for fear that someone will not like me? anyways other than my be a better friend new years resolution im going to try and do a, what im feeling post. tonight we went to a wedding reception where we were asked to bring something (food). this is the couples 2nd wedding each and they both are very succesful people. what is up with that? why are we supplying food for your wedding reception. anyways yes i feel better now, although it was a little scary. good night

updates and things

2011-01-17T13:03:00.000-08:00

So first and formost i had posted awhile ago about loosing my baby weight. so far since May i have lost about 35 pounds. i know this may sound vein but i want to loose about 10 more. i have this crazy thing( im sure you all have never heard of it) but its called love handles and belly fat. i just ordered a pair of spanx to fix that right up.

This is sophie with her baby that she got for christmas. she loves to hold her and take care of her. she is very sweet and soft with her, thats a good sign right? well just in the last few weeks when im busy and she is trying to get my attention she pinches or bites my leg, i hope that habbit ends soon.

The other day while i was at work a good friend of mine was watching soph while i had to work and she fell asleep on the floor playing with a paper bag. she has NEVER done that with me. i asked her if she doped her up ha ha

PIGGY TAILS

Taylor is such a good big sister, she loves giving sophie piggyback rides.

GREAT NEWS: my mom just bought her ticket to come down here in feb. i cant wait!!!!

also my dad is getting me and the girls airline tickets to seattle for part of the summer, super exciting!!

squeaky shoes

2010-12-31T14:25:00.000-08:00

silly girls

2010-12-27T12:48:00.000-08:00

sophie is in this stocking:)

this is skylar at her best.

snow!

2010-12-27T12:39:00.000-08:00

no it did not snow down here in southern alabama. my mom sent some fake snow which turned out to be sooo much fun! you poor water on this powder stuff and it puffs up into snow! its even cold like snow. it looks real doesnt it!

merry christmas!!

2010-12-27T11:41:00.000-08:00

This first picture is of christmas eve. looks nice right? well you will never know the drama behind trying to get this picture taken. i would love to say that we had a wonderful family filled evening of baking cookies singing carols and all getting along, but thats just not the case. i think i had too high of expectations of how christmas eve should go. i have wonderful memories of christmas's as a kid where we had a program and all of us had a part. granted we were all in junior high when we participated but i was trying to make the night amazing and that just didnt happend. oh well maybe next year.

The girls had a great christmas where im pretty sure they got everything they wanted. scooters, squinkies, clothes, taylor got a camera, skylar got games, ds games, a million movies and more. donnie was very good to me this year, i got a camera, a new cell phone, a month at the spa, and eclpise. we got him a bunch of art stuff, cologne and some other small things. all and all it was a nice morning and a greats few days off, other than sophie being ill for 3 days. i think she is finally feeling better though!

Grandpa jim got the girls dance dance revolution, SO much fun!! we have played it for hours. even sophie likes to get on it and dance! its a great workout too!

my mom got the girls these adorabloe skirts, that skylar has worn everyday now! i need to get a better picture of them in the skirts with my new camera!

sophie and her new weebles wobble tree house!

oh boy

2010-12-21T13:06:00.000-08:00

wow we are going on week 5 of being sick. a few weeks ago we all had really bad colds, ear infections and sinus infections. that lasted about 2 weeks. we finally got over that and had about a week of feeling good when the stomach virus entered. its gone through all of the kids. THANKFULLY donnie and i havent gotten it. skylar had to miss her christmas party at school because of it. im soooooo dang sick of this. we have about 3 days to get everyone better before christmas gets here. its a good thing im phsycho about being prepared and i had all ot my shopping and wrapping done weeks ago because i would be out of luck. i am so excited for christmas, the girls are getting some really fun stuff this year! we are having a quiet little christmas with just us and the kids this year. its always great to be around family and friends of course, but im really excited to just be with my little family for the day! i hope you all have a wonderful and safe day!

holiday festivities

2010-12-02T09:27:00.000-08:00

This is taylor at her schools christmas musical performance. they sang jingle bell boogy which was adorable, but its too bad we could only see the top of taylors head the whole time. just a side note. taylor came home from school that day and said her friend came up to her and asked her if she would"go out" with this boy in her class. i literally screamed out loud when she told me that. i am NOT ready for this at all!!!!!!

i had to throw in this picture of the little tree monster sophie. she is ruining everything!!

i had to put all of the ornamants up high so she couldnt reach them, and now we really have a charlie brown tree.

our stuff is still in Arizona (including christmas decor) so we are still making due with what we have. i bought some garland this year and we went and collected pine cones around the parking lot. we sprayed them with some glitter spray. didnt it turn out pretty! i was very proud of myself!

On sunday we didnt go to church(big mistake) because i had to work and so did donnie (well donnie went because he had early morning meetings), so me and the girls stayed home and cleaned all morning, i know im a sinner. well sophie grabbed the mop and was walking around with it. she knocked over the very heavy stocking holder thing on top of her head. lets just say blood everywhere. i thought for sure we were going to have to get stiches, but it was just a puncture wound. it scared the crap out of all of us. Skylar came up to me a few minutes after it happend and said,"lets forget that that EVER happend" ha ha ha i love her!!!

what am i thankful for

2010-11-23T12:16:00.001-08:00

To be able to support my girls at there school parties!!! i love being able to go to every holiday party there is. this is taylors party. they had a charlie brown thanksgiving party which was a very cute idea. they watched the movie and got to eat, buttered toast,jelly beans, popcorn and pretzles. taylor LOVED showing off sophie, she was the hit of the party! Aunt marilyn was in town all week and came to both the parties! we love her and appreciate everything she does for us!

This is skylars party. she made a placemat that says skylar is thankful for mom. it almost made me cry when i saw it. im sure all of the kids said there mom, but it definatly made me feel loved! they had a HUGE feast for there party. we came and helped hand out food, taped down the placemats, and refilled cups.

they made the cutest little indian shirts and hats, and then they played duck duck goose, but called it indian indian pilgrim.

isnt she the prettiest little indian ever! a mom that was there helping came up to me and told me she has twin boys, one is in sky's class and one is in another class. she said they come home everyday and tell her how pretty skylar is. they say, sometimes she has a one braid and sometimes she has 2 braids, she is just so pretty all the time! the mother thought is was so sweet they they noticed the details of her hair, ha ha!

Santa List

2010-11-15T15:31:00.000-08:00

Last night we had a meal together at the kitchen table. i am sad to say that this has not happend in a really long time. with donnie and i both working, both of us having 2 callings, the girls in piano, and the many million other things going on it tends to not happend ever! it was wonderful to catch up with everyone and here the funny things going on with the girls at school. Skylar has her picture retakes this week(those of you that dont remember she had a fat lip and nose from a bad fall at school the day before her pictures last month). then of course next week is thanksgiving! After dinner the girls wrote there letters to santa, which consisted of camers, squeakies,clothes,ds games, and Taylor asked for a robe(because she has never owned one before) this year is going to be a christmas with just us, and as much as the thought of that makes me really sad that we wont have any family over, i love having those christmas's every now and again. I love my family so much and would want nothing more than to just spend that day with them.

The evolution of 10 years

2010-11-04T10:11:00.000-07:00

November 3rd was our anniversary of 10 years! i said this all day yesterday that i really cant believe it! it has been a crazy, amazing, sometimes scary and most of all a wonderful ride so far, and i cant wait to spend the rest of eternity with him. he is a wonderful sweet soul, that never fails to amaze me each day. im so greatful that after 10 years he is still attracted to me:) still loves me, and still thinks im the one for him!
This is when we were dating in provo utah. its the only old picture i could find of us, because the rest of them are in storage.

happy halloween!!

2010-10-31T19:44:00.000-07:00

What a fun filled LONG 3 day long halloween extrvaganza!! it started out friday night with the church trunk or treat. they had great food, fun games and lots of scary trunks! there was a ton of people that showed up,(i wish all of those people showed up to church on sundays:) the kids had alot of fun! then sat. night our apartments trick or treated. i wasnt going to do it but we had a ton of candy left over so the girls threw there costumes on and went around again. then of course tonight was officially halloween! we had some good friends, and the missionaries over for sweet pork tacos and pumpkin bars. after we ate we went down the the "it" neighborhood. wow i thought arizona went all out. this place was CRAZY. i know i exaggerate alot but there was seriously millions of people there. they had the streets barracaded off, the houses were decorated like haunted houses and the kids were loving it. skylar of course pooped out after about an hour and sophie was running around like a crazy girl. everyone loved her costume! we have WAY too much candy. Who should i donate it too?!?!

The girls were "rocker girls" donnie airbrushed both of there shirts and they turned out so cute! the front said girls rule and the back said boys drool! this is them with our favorite babysitter/piano teacher amy, we love her!!

donnie was edward

Sophie and her shenanigans

2010-10-26T12:27:00.000-07:00

at the beach in october

2010-10-26T12:17:00.001-07:00

Donnie caught this thing with the spear. i cant remember what its called but it they said if you touch it, it would shock you. this is donnies home aways from home. i dont think he feels more comfortable anywhere else than in the ocean.

Sophie was LOVEING the beach this day. she ran around for hours playing and running into the water. she loved putting donnies goggles on ha ha!!

aunt jessy playing with sophie on the beach! it was so much fun having her here!

A funny story

2010-10-26T12:09:00.000-07:00

So in july my whole family came to alabama for taylors baptism. before they came my friend holly and i were talking about our siblings (jess and zach) who were both 25 and single, we had this idea to set them up on a blind date while jess was here. well holly called me a few days before jess left and said that zach wanted to take jess out. i think she didnt really want to go at first because she was only here for a few day, but decided what did she have to loose. well they went out and and a great time. they have been talking ever since (pretty much every day) and she just came down here a few weeks ago to see him again. they have really hit it off. We are all stunned and freaking aout a little bit! its exciting and a little crazy at the same time! we are all rooting for them, although being so far apart has been hard for them. i will keep you all updated.
they are totally a cute couple!

BON JOVI!!!!

2010-10-18T09:39:00.000-07:00

donnie got free tickets to bon jovi. they have been having concerts on the beach to bring revenue to the coast because of the oil spill. it was sooo much fun, and i dont usually do concerts they scare me ha ha! he really did put on a good show, and his songs have been in my head for a week now.

3-0

2010-10-03T11:43:00.001-07:00

yesterday was my 30th birthday. to be honest it was a pretty somber day. i hate feeling sorry for myself but man i feel old. i feel so blessed to have these little critters. today i am so glad to have a day to myself, watch conference in my sweats, make my lemon birthday cake, and not cook dinner. thank you to all of you who wished me a happy b-day, i love you all very much!

ok seriously she is beautiful. i mean all of my girls are of course, but just look at those eyes.

True Religions

2010-09-24T13:22:00.000-07:00

I have lost 20 pounds so far. i only need to loose about 5 more pounds and i can fit into my True religion jeans that i bought before i got pregnant with sophie. it really is my one and only motivation for loosing weight, sad i know.
On a different note, donnie left for sacramento today. he is going to Bellas baptism. i think he is doing the confirmation and giving the holy ghost talk, fun for him! he will be back monday so we get a lazy weekend. a friend of mine from mississippi is coming to gulf shores for a soft-ball tourny so she is going to stay with me, should be fun!
hope everyone has a great weekend

first tragedy at school

2010-09-18T11:17:00.000-07:00

Well i guess i wouldnt call it a tragedy but in her little mind im sure it was. you saw in the last post where we went on her field trip. well after we went to the park and ate, i left to take sophie home for a nap. i wasnt home for 5 min. when her teacher called me and said a little girl had accidentally ran in to sky and knocked her over. she landed right on her face and elbow. they said her nose bled really bad for awhile. she came home with dried blood in her nose and a swollen lip. if you lift her lip up its black and blue. poor little girl, she wouldnt even go to gymnastics because she said she didnt look "cute" anymore. do you want to know what the best part about this is? the next day was school pictures, we will for sure be retaking those ones!

Sky's first field trip

2010-09-18T11:07:00.000-07:00

The other day skylar had her FIRST field trip as a kindergartner! i had planned on going with her and being a chaperone but it turned out i had no one to take sophie that day for me. it was kinda crazy but im glad i mad the effort to be there for her! we went to a place called sea sand and stars. they had a little aquiarium and star exhibit. they got to touch sting rays, fish, and star fish. sophie LOVED the big ginormous fish!

She looks so cute in her red shirt! her teacher says she is doing really good. alothough she is very quiet she says she is very smart, thats my girl!

New pets

2010-09-18T11:01:00.001-07:00

ok i finally caved and let the girls get some hamsters. a good friend of mine has 2 hamsters and they had babies twice in like 3 weeks, so im "helping" her out by taking a couple:) they pretty much are just one more thing for me to look after and clean, but its ok maybe they will die sooner than later(i know thats so mean). skylar named hers cupcake and taylor named hers spike. i gotta admit they are cute little critters though!

COLLEGE FOOT-BALL!!

2010-09-04T10:46:00.000-07:00

BYU

TEXAS LONGHORNS

ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE

OKLAHOMA SOONERS

(this ones for you finnestads)

Today i will be lighting all ot my fall candles and checking to see if the BYU-UW game is being played down here on the Alabama gulf coast! SOOOOOO excited for college foot-ball. i will be following a few teams this year, as we have MANY different team fans in our family. here is the list. (in no particular order)

Baton Rouge Temple

2010-09-02T13:24:00.000-07:00

Last weekend a few sisters from our branch and i drove 4 1/2 hours to the temple in baton rouge, to do a session. it was amazing of course. it pretty much poured down on us the whole way over and the whole way back. of course it wasnt raining right when we walked out so we got to snap a few pictures before the drive home. i cant wait to go again soon!

2010-08-31T12:41:00.000-07:00

First day of school continued.

2010-08-31T12:18:00.000-07:00

Taylor and sky in front of the school

Both of the in there class room

skylar and her teacher

walking in to school

missionaries singingWed, 25 Aug

2010-08-26T07:47:00.000-07:00

Its so hard to not feel the spirit when you have missionaries in your home, especially when they are singing. im so greatful for music and for the wonderful spirit that this brought into my home. love these guys!

Sophie turns 1!!!

2010-08-25T12:12:00.001-07:00

I cant believe my baby is one! i know i say this alot but she really is the sweetest baby around! here is a few things that she is doing, she loves to sing and dance. she weighs a healthy 22 pounds, and is in the 85 percentile for her height. she says dada, mama, and uh-oh.she really loves her sisters, and gets very excited when they come home from school.

here is a timeline from the last year.

stop it right now!

2010-08-20T07:13:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe that i have two babies in school! it honestly really depresses me. i know at some point i will have to stop having babies but I DONT WANT TO! i love these 2 girls dearly. they have gone a full week of school, and it has been great. skylar loves her teacher, has made many friends, and also says there is a cute boy in her class. taylor has a bunch of old friends in her class, thinks her teacher is very nice, and loves P.E.(thats my girl!) dont they look adorable in there school uniforms?!?

SCHOOL!

2010-08-13T14:25:00.001-07:00

Today the girls and i got to go meet there new teachers for the year. Taylor will be in the 3rd grade and her teachers name is Mrs. Pennington. she seemed very nice and very organized which i love! she gave taylor a big hug and told her she is beautiful. Skylar is starting kindergarten this year and her teachers name is mrs. anderson. she was adorable, and about 9 months prego. she seemed very sweet also! i think we lucked out with both of them! im so excited to be back on a schedule starting monday! alothough i probably will cry, because i cant believe sky is in school!!

breaking dawn!!

2010-08-05T15:54:00.000-07:00

so excited for this! too bad it doesnt come out until november of 2012!! that is way to long!

Baptism day

2010-07-30T12:59:00.001-07:00

Well its official im finally old enough to have an 8 year old child. i really cant believe it. Taylor is really the sweetest, smartest, kindest, most helpful child ever! we love her so much and are so proud of her decision to be baptised. that day was honestly the most amazingly spritual day i have had in a REALLY long time. my whole entire family flew in from all parts of the country, and donnies parents, aunt marilyn and his granny was there. we also had our reeally good friends the voisins come over from LA. i felt so so supported and loved to have all of those people there for taylor. My dad prepared the most wonderful talk for her and instantly invited the sprit into the room. there was not a dry eye in the place. he gave her 2 different books on being baptized and the holy ghost. then he also gave her a snuggie, which was an example of feeling the warmth of the spriit, and it also got a good laugh! My sisters angela and jessica sang taylors favorite song he sent his son, and let me tell you they sounded AMAZING! it was so funny because taylor heard them practicing and just had the biggest smile on her face. i think she was really impressed! Donnie did the baptism and the conformation, and did extremley well. he is such a proud dad. other than reecie burping during the conformation there were no flaws whatsoever. i was such a big baby that day, i really couldnt keep it together, thats why i planned the program with me out if it:) After the baptism, all of the family met at ryans (tays fav place to eat) it was great to have both sides of the family there to catch up with eachother! Taylor came up to me while we were there and said,"mommy when daddies hands were on my head i felt like crying" i asked her if she knew why, and she said no. so i told her that is was the spirit that she felt, and she gave me a huge hug. what amazing day for her that she will never forget!

My bestie Lacey made this headband for her, it turned out ADORABLE and it matched her dress perfectly.

All of the family that attended!

Pioneer day!

2010-07-30T12:39:00.000-07:00

Our branch goes all out for pretty much every holiday so i wasnt surprised when we go there and they had pioneer clothes all ready for us! we had a wonderful skit, an amazing dutch oven meal, and a bunch of fun crafts for the kids to do! hopefully the video will work. this is a mand in our branch who always sings and plays the guitar. he reminds me of bb king:)

The last day of my company:(

2010-07-30T12:32:00.000-07:00

The last day i wanted to take my mom and chris to a little town called fairhope. its on the mobile bay, and is pretty much adorable. there is a ton of beautiful big homes right on the water. the town itself is amazing and green, with a ton of cute little shops! it was a very hot sticky day but we still had alot of fun!

Fun with the cousins!

2010-07-30T12:22:00.000-07:00

This summer Donnies sister came down for a few weeks from sacramento. she has 3 little girls also so the kid had soooo much fun hanging with them! we did sleepovers, swimming, the track, and many playdates!

Visit from our besties!!!

2010-07-30T12:10:00.000-07:00

About a month ago our friends from Houma Louisiana came over to stay with us for a few days. Donnie grew up with Greg, they have known each other FOREVER. i love his wife, we get along great! we are both from out west and married southern boys so whenever we get together there is alot to talk about ha ha! plus her name is Jen so of course we clicked.
we went to the hangout, which really is the funnest place ever. they have a big bubble foam machine that the kids love! this is scottie and taylor. what a playa, HA HA HA!

The balloon man is a hoot! he is there everytime we go!

Peter pan catching tinkerbell

The beautiful view from the restaurant.

The whole crew!

KaNgArOoZs!!

2010-07-28T19:03:00.000-07:00

we have a bouncy house place, yaaaay!! everybody else's kids have been to these bounce house places a million times, but this is the first time that my kids have ever been. i know my kids are so deprived! we have so much fun when we go!

The little zoo that could

2010-07-28T18:50:00.000-07:00

We went to the zoo a few months agp so this is kind of late, but everyone that knows me,know i LOVE the zoo. this is a super cute little zoo. its actually been recognized on animal planet. its a really small intimate zoo, that is very interactive. they give you food for the animals right when you walk in. you can feed goats,pigs, dears, and a ton of other stuff. I WANT TO GO BACK!!

Taylor turns 8!

2010-07-28T18:26:00.001-07:00

For taylor's b-day this year she was lucky to have her 3 little cousins out from california. she has never really had a "friend"party because we have been traveling the last 3 years in the summertime so this was really a treat for her. we went to this place called bath junkie that is in the outlet mall here.

They got to have hand massages from the cute girl that worked there, and this was one of the last activities, by this time they were wanting to stay the night there!

she was soooooo excited to get a ds from her maw maw, paw paw and her and nickie and uncle thomas. she has wanted one for awhile now!

of course she picked out a big cookie cake and some capri suns, very low maintanance, which is great for me!

the first thing they had to do there was pick out a fragerance for there bath crystals and body scrub. there were a ton to choose from and many fun combinations. once they picked out there favorite one they wrote it down and the lady that worked there took it over and started mixing it for them.

then she put the scent they chose and the bath crystals in a mixing bowl for each of them. they got to choose a color and mix it all together. she then put it in a container for them to take home. they did the same thing with the body scrub and i think they even got a glitter spray to take home!

this is all of them with there cute baggies to take home! such a fun idea for little girls, we all had a blast!

sophie of course looked adorable, so we put her in the loofa bath. everyone walking by was looking at her.

my sister in law nickie and her adorable girls, bella who is 8 almost 9, kaia who is 7, and lily who just turned 4!

roberts family reunion part 1

2010-07-24T09:58:00.001-07:00

this is owen and sophie, the are best buds!

roberts family reunion part 2

2010-07-24T09:41:00.000-07:00

This past week was probably the funnest week i have had in a long time! my family all came down to the Alabama gulf coast for Taylors baptism and a family reunion. we rented a big beach house and had many fun things planned along with alot of seafood eating. we were not going to let the iol ruin our week:(

this is all of the kids eating lunch. we made them a tropical drink and put a strawberry on it. its all about the memories!

we had our own private doc into the bay where we went everyday to fish and catch crabs. the kids had so much fun, and we loved being in the shade for a little while. the sun gets really hot down here!

this is angelas little girl reece. she is the funniest kid i know!

of course we had to do alot of souvinier shopping. buying lots of gulfshores t-shirts, shells, and junk food!

we also had our own beach acces, but with the oil problem we werent sure we were going to be able to go. we decided to walk over and just let the kids play in the sand. we asked an EMT worker if we could get in the water and he said at our own risk, so the we got in for a little bit.

there is a donut shop with a pond that has an aligator in it. so i took the kids early one morning to see him, and of course get some donuts.

me and my mom and sister jess! they are so beautiful!

family beach photos

2010-05-24T19:00:00.000-07:00

loved this

2010-05-05T08:54:00.000-07:00

sophie is 8 months

2010-04-26T13:42:00.000-07:00

my one word to describe this one these days is spastic. she is a bundle of energy, crawling and pulling up all over the place. she pretty much looks like she got beat up in a bar. we love her to death though. she is a fat chunky baby!!

SKY IS 5!!

2010-04-26T13:30:00.000-07:00

My little baby is 5 i cant believe it! for her birthday we did a little party at donnies grandparents where she got a littliest pet shop cake. after we got home i took her to build a bear! that was her first time and she had so much fun! she is such a sweet girl and im going to miss her so much when she is in school all day. here is 5 things about skylar that you should know:
1. she plays by herself really well
2. she loves candy more than life itself
3. she is the first to tell you you look pretty, she likes your outfit, and she loves you
4. she wants to be an animal dr. when she grows up
5. she is starting gymnastics in a month!

beach

2010-04-26T13:27:00.000-07:00

this is my first of many many many beach posts. please dont get annoyed because i get to go here all summer:) you may come and visit me amytime you want!

Blessed easter

2010-04-26T13:11:00.000-07:00

once again i love this time of year. i love the meaning of easter, i love the warm weather, i love being with my family and most of all i love candy. i am so glad the easter bunny puts candy i love in there basket. it was a very busy weekend, infact i feel like easter went on for about 2 weeks. of course my pictures are not in order so i will explain accordingly. this here is our last easter egg hunt at donnie's grandparents house on easter morning. they pretty much have the best yard for hiding eggs. the girls had to find about 50 eggs, i think a few went missing, oh well.

This one above is still at his grandparents house easter morning. they really loved the easter baskets. this year donnie and i did most of our shopping at the cracker barrel, which was so fun. they have the old country store and it has all of the old school toys and candy when i was a kid.

dying eggs for i think the 2nd of the third time dying. we did it alot this year, but they of course loved every minute of it!

This here picture is of the church easter party the week before. as you can see my children are not loving this easter bunny. it is kind of freaky looking. i absolutly love this picture.

Here is my little sophie bean. she looks so pretty in this picture.

here are the girls frosting cupcakes at the church party. they got to make crafts for an old folks home and hunt for eggs.

ARIZONA!!

2010-03-28T08:51:00.000-07:00

kids and babies

2010-03-28T08:24:00.000-07:00

It was really hard and very nice at the same time to not have my girls there.:) i loved being able to spend time with braeden and reece! they are both adorable and a handful, i love there personalities!

Sophie and owen are about 4 months apart! they did very good while we were there!

Angela gets so mad when i fro reece's hair out, ha ha! how can you not though, she is a little fiery redhead, but we love her and wouldnt want her any other way!

This was in superstition mall. its a hurricane simulater and of course they both wanted to try it out! reece liked it at first then was really scared. the problem was you couldnt open the door until it was done so we were trying to console her through the glass.

arizona trip

2010-03-28T08:15:00.000-07:00

of course its not a complete trip without going to grandma and grandpa taylors trailor at greenfield village. this is pretty much a must do! we love going to see them and spend time with them. my grandma is the sweetest person i know, hopefully i can turn out like her some day.

this is all of us at tiffanie's community pool in las sendas! this is where the surprise went down! it was so much fun having everyone there for it!

teeth and travel

2010-03-23T17:53:00.000-07:00

Sophie is almost 7 months and has gotten her 2 botom teeth. i dont know what it is about my kids but they start teething really early. that just means, slobber, fevers, snot, and unhappiness for a whole lot longer. she sure is super cute though with them.
this last week i have been in Arizona with my family. about a month ago i decided that i wanted to go out and visit the fam. my sister angela and her kids and my dad were all going to be here for the week. i got my ticket and decided it was going to be a surprise. i ended up telling just a few people but we kept it from my mom and angela. jess came and got me and sophie, (tay and sky stayed home with donnie, his family helped take care of them while he worked) from the airport and we drove to my cousin tiff's pool and the heist began! it was so fun surpriseng them! they both freaked out and stared crying, then me and jess started crying, it was awesome!! we have had so much fun shopping and eating at all of our favorite places! once i get home i will try and upload the video of the suprise, and of course all of the pictures!

6 months

2010-03-10T07:16:00.001-08:00

sophie is 6 months old now. she is growing like a weed!! she is crawling/ scooting all over the place, and loves to snuggle! she weighs 18 pounds still has her baby blue eyes. i just bought her a high chair and she loves to sit in it an eat her baby food.

maw maw got her this new bouncy and she hasnt quite gotten the hold of the concept yet. she likes to sit in it and twirl around but hasnt started bouncing yet. i think she is about to cut her first tooth on the bottom , so we shall see!

LULU'S!!

2010-03-10T07:06:00.000-08:00

Lulu's is a fun place to eat down here in the south. its actually jimmy buffets sister's place that is famous. before taylor hicks won american idol he perfomed here on a daily basis! it has the best fried green tomatoes, seafood and live music! donnies sister nickie was in town so we got the whole fam together and went to eat, we all had a blast! if you ever come to gulf shores this is the place to eat!

taylor bouncing!

2010-03-10T07:01:00.000-08:00

25

2010-02-21T14:01:00.000-08:00

i need to loose 25 pounds in the next 3 months! my whole family is coming down for taylors babtism and i dont want to look like a beached whale as i sun bathe on the beach. i would hate for everyone to mistake me for one! i am going to try P90X and go back to my "S" diet, so wish me luck!

valentines!

2010-02-21T13:45:00.000-08:00

these are some outfits that my mom got the girls for valentines day, they looked so cute in them!!
donnie and i went to dinner, at ruby tuesday! it was fun spending time alone with him, that doesnt happen alot these says.

sweet little sophie

2010-02-18T05:58:00.001-08:00

Sophie is 6 months old now! she is absolutly gorgeous as you can see! this last week she had RSV so that was a little scary. she is feeling much better now.

BABY OWEN!!!

2010-01-23T09:42:00.000-08:00

Congrats to my sister and her hubby for there new baby owen james finnestad! he is just adorable and i cant wait to meet him! i was privelages enough to be on the phone while she had him and although o would have rather been there, it was the next best thing! love you guys!

fun ones!

2010-01-23T09:35:00.000-08:00

here is just a few fun and random ones! this is skylar with her new sun glasses!

sophie with her pretty headbands

the fam before church

sophie in the tub, what a chubbers!

board walk/nature walk

2010-01-23T09:28:00.000-08:00

The other day we needed to get out of the house so we went to this little nature walk that im sure in the summer has all kinds of wildlife. there was even a sign that said dont feed the alligaters. we will def. be going back to that spot when it warms up. then we went to this board walk, by that time the sun was going down and it was one of the coldest days we have had this winter, so we froze! it was really pretty thought and we were lucky enough to be there when the sun went down!

cereal

2010-01-23T09:25:00.000-08:00

Sophie is almost 5 months old and just a few weeks ago we started feeding her some rice cereal before bedtime. she likes it for the most part, and its definatly making her sleep better. i think i will start putting some fruit in in in a few weeks or so. i cant believe she is getting so big!

happy new year!

2010-01-23T09:20:00.000-08:00

new years eve ocnsisted of lots of good food, and loads of fireworks. we went to picayune which is about 3 hours from here. the southern tradition for new years is cabbage and black eyed peas. i think it means health and good fortune? we had alot of fun setting off fireworks. and dont call cps on me but skylar was lighting the fireworks, that child has no fear. we had a very rough 2009, so im hoping that this year will be much better!

taylors christmas program at school

2009-12-26T20:27:00.000-08:00

christmas

2009-12-26T20:12:00.000-08:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS

2009-12-24T04:47:00.000-08:00

sophie's blessing

2009-12-12T09:08:00.001-08:00

What a wonderful special day! we love her so much and are so blessed to have her in our lives!

3 months!

2009-12-03T08:12:00.001-08:00

Sophie is 3 months old now and is such a love! she is really such a good baby! we just started her on some cereal at night, and she likes it. she only wakes up once a night now, yay! she is starting to see everything and loves looking at the t.v and the christmas lights!

all the pretty dresses

2009-12-03T07:59:00.000-08:00

My mother inlaw bought the girls a ton of dresses for church, along woth tights and shoes. im so glad that they dont look ghetto anymore! they look so adorable, thanks so much pam!

this is what they wore to there primary program! they did so well. i was just glad that they didnt chicken out. they both had like 4 parts each, (very small branch). i was so proud of them!

randoms

2009-11-04T13:33:00.000-08:00

here some random pictures from the last couple weeks. were starting to get settled in alabama, although some things are still crazy. we dont have a washer or dryer yet, which sucks very bad. you never realize how much you love something until you dont have it anymore. we have a hook up in our apt., we just need to find a set we can afford. the girls have been to the beach a bunch with donnie, they love that. i like the beach but not as much as them. honestly the sand everywhere drives me bonkers. this chair is an antique chair we found at a garage sale for 10 dollars, i love it!

What a big girl!

2009-11-04T13:28:00.000-08:00

I cant believe how grown up taylor is! she is such a big helper with sophie, infact sometimes its kind of annoying, ha ha! she always tells me, do you want me to calm her down mom, like i cant do it. she is loving school, and is doing great riding the school bus. let me tell you, i LOVE the school bus. i dont even have to leave my house all day, which is nice when you have a new born.

Happy Halloween!

2009-11-01T07:29:00.000-08:00

The girls were mummies for halloween! it only cost me 8 dollars total to make there costumes, very cheap but it took me forever both nights to wrap them up. they had a great time at the trunk or treat and on halloween night!

visit with the Finnestads!

2009-10-23T18:13:00.000-07:00

On my way down to alabama we had the privelage of spending the week with ang and her family. we had so much fun! Reece loved baby sophie! she would say hi suga, hi suga! it was so cute!

Angela cut my hair for my birthday, she also made me this really cute countdown to christmas thing which i accidentally left there. we went to dinner that night without the big kids. her wonderful hubby ross watched all of the kids, and sky was actually sick that night.

the kids had so much fun together. i dont think there was too many arguments. it was so good seeing them!

oklahoma beauties

2009-10-09T09:41:00.001-07:00

while i was in oklahoma city visiting my sister on the way to alabama we got the kids pictures done and they turned out AMAZING! im not even kidding you they are absolutley beautiful. i will not be able to choose some to print out. i cant wait to frame some.

more oklahoma beauties

2009-10-08T20:19:00.001-07:00

picture time!

2009-09-25T22:27:00.001-07:00

baby shower!!

2009-09-25T22:16:00.000-07:00

yesterday was my baby shower and it turned out wonderful! my good friend lacey, my mom and sister jessica put it on for me, and we all had a great time. there was freat food, papa murpheys pizza, mini cupcakes, fruits and veggies, and the best choc chip cookies ever, oh of course with my favorite drink rasberry sherbert with sprite! i got a ton of adorable things, including very many bows, she is gonna have the best dressed head in all the land! were leaving town in 2 days so it was great seeing everyone before i left.

just a few randoms

2009-09-21T08:35:00.000-07:00

sophie is now almost a month old, i cant believe it! this is her at bathtime, she loves it.

last week we planned a lunch at my cousins with all of the girls. this is all of the babies, from left to right, thats sophie, elly,ivy and nicholas. they were cracking us up when we were trying to take this picture.

BABY SOPHIE!

2009-09-09T21:08:00.001-07:00

She is wonderful we love her so much! she was born on august 25th at 6:18am, an weighed 8lb 1oz, and was 22 inches long. she is 2 weeks old now and is starting to look like her daddy!

34 weeks

2009-08-01T22:17:00.001-07:00

well im 35 weeks now and feeling pretty good. i am having braxton hicks atleast 2 or 3 times a day and not sleeping at all. my c-section is scheduled for the 25th of august, and i have to be there at 4am. she will be born at 6am, thats so early but i think it works out better that way. I CANT WAIT TO MEET HER! also donie will be here a few days bever and its been 4 months since we have seen him. i am so excited to se him that i think i will probably loose it at the airport!

taylor starts school

2009-08-01T22:13:00.000-07:00

I CANT BELIEVE SHE IS IN THE 2ND GRADE! she is such a big girl. so far she is not loving her teacher, but her best friend is in her class so thats good. she will only be at this school for a few more months and then we will be heading down to alabama.

Taylor turns 7!!

2009-08-01T22:01:00.000-07:00

Taylor turned 7 on july 17. i cnat believe she is seven, i was seriously emotional that whole day. it probably doesnt help that im pregnant. i think she had a really good day though. my mom took her to get a mani and a pedi. then i took her to one of those pottery painting places, and she painted a hippo. we met my mom and jess at red robin for dinner, and they sang to her. we then went home and opened presents and had cake. my cake was a disaster. she wanted a cake with musical notes on it, which was going to be hard for me to do anyways. of course my frosting was all melted and wierd, and the day i made it it was like 115 outside so the whole thing melted everywhere. my mom called it the slug cake, ha ha!

water fight

2009-08-01T21:54:00.001-07:00

my dad had an idea to get some water balloons while the cousins were there. they had so much fun. it took us forever to blow all of the balloons up. then he decided to play a trick on them and we told them we were gonna take there pictures and to stand underneath the balcony then he dumped water on them. they loved it and wanted him to do it again!

seattle part 2

2009-08-01T21:45:00.001-07:00

the 4th of july was a blast. we never have good weather in seattle for the 4th, but this year was awesome! in fact all summer was really nice. we got to go to the lake a few times also. we went over to some friends from my dads ward who every year throw a huge bash, the girls loved it!

poulsbo

2009-07-19T11:48:00.000-07:00

Poulsbo is this cute little vicking town about an hour from auburn. we went with our good friends and had a blast! there was this bakery there that had these cinnimon rolls called vicking hats..amazing! we had a picnic, saw some seals and jellyfish, and than rode the ferry home. it was an absolutly beautiful day!

more good times

2009-07-19T11:43:00.001-07:00

just a recap

2009-07-19T11:34:00.001-07:00

its hard when you dont have a computer to blog all summer, then there is alot of catching up to do. these pictures are not in any particular order. we had a blast hanging out with my dad, and all of our seattle friends all summer. it was very hard to leave them but at the same time im excited to be back and get ready to have this baby!

i am alive

2009-06-25T16:59:00.000-07:00

i guess you could say that....its been pretty much the most stressfull summer yet. donnie officially does not work for apx anymore, and has gone down to alabama to look for work. well he got a job there and it looks like i will be heading down there after the baby is born for a little while. he keeps promising me we will be back in arizona before i know it...we will see. i am leaving washington in about 2 weeks to drive back to arizona to have the baby. this sunday i will be 30 weeks. i wish i could put some pictures up! maybe once i get back to arizona.
i am feeling good, and the baby is moving around a bunch! i have gained about 17 punds so far, definatly the smallest i have ever been in a pregnancy. its probably a blessing in disguise because i am a single parent for now. i couldnt imaging being huge and having to take care of my girls. we have loved being up here out of the heat, but are ready to finnish the next chapter!

update

2009-05-12T11:07:00.000-07:00

the girls and i are in washington and donnie is in baltimore. were having a good time mostley just hanging out and sight seeing. i grew up here so i have been driving around to every house i used to live in, every school i went to, where i use to hang out, and all of my old friends houses. its been alot of fun going down memory lane and showing the girls my old stomping grounds. the girls are LOVING it here. i figured they would get bored and want to go home but they have never said that once. they love grandpa and love his house. even though its cold and rainy i know we would rather be here than in the 100 degree weather right now. i am feeling good, still not as big as i probably should be. everyone keeps making the comment that i dont look pregnant. im not sure if i should take that as a compliment, maybe i was really fat before, ha ha. its kind of nerve racking to be here and not have a dr. to go to, last night i got really freaked out because usually right when i lay down for bed she starts moving a bunch but last night she didnt and i totally siked myself out and almost drove to the E.R. im sure everything is ok, but i hate that fealing.
donnie is doing good, he has started out good so hopefully he can keep the momentum going. he is living righ in the midst of a college town so im not sure how i feel about that ha ha. i am hoping he can hit his goals pretty early and so we can get back to arizona and get settled in a house before this baby comes.

heading to washington

2009-04-23T21:26:00.000-07:00

while donnie goes to baltimore to sell, i will be heading to washington to stay with my dad for a few months. we are packing up our stuff and putting it in storage until july then coming back and finding a place before i have the baby. taylor starts school at the end of july so i will most definatly be back before then. its been SOOOO stressful trying to decide what the best scenerio would be for us, and im not sure this is 100% the best decision, but its a decision, which is more than i can say we had a week ago. i will be very excited to be out of the heat for a few months, to catch up with old friends, my 10 year reunion will be going on while im there also. i will of course miss my friends here, my ward family, and most of all my family, but its only for a few months which is sooo much better than the last few years where i have been gone for like 5 months! ok well there is my update!

21 WEEKS

2009-04-19T20:43:00.000-07:00

here i am at 21 weeks. i am still feeling pretty good, although today was the warmest day yet and i was feeling very hot and miserable. this summer i am going to die, i can tell already. she is moving around a ton, i love to feel that! thats all for now

DONNIE turns 32

2009-04-16T10:01:00.001-07:00

For donnies birthday we went to see the movie monsters vs aliens, and went to eat sushi. we also went to get icecream at neilsons custards, which was soooooo good. he turned 32 this year but doesnt act a day over 21. i love that he is still so entergetic and full of life. he can never sit still and is always wanting to do fun stuff. i love him so much and will miss him dearly when he is gone all summer. love you babe, happy birthday!!

easter

2009-04-16T09:27:00.000-07:00

I lOVE EASTER TIME!!! i love the spirit that you feel at church and to be able to learn about christ. i love getting to spend time with my family dying easter eggs, and filling there baskets. we got to go to the easter pageant at the temple this year and it was seriously amazing! we had pretty crappy seats, but it was still so powerful! sunday we got up and went to church, and came home and we straight to my uncles house for easter dinner. he is seriously the best cook i know. we didnt have a traditional easter dinner, he made italian food and orderves(i dont know how to spell that), it was amazing food!the girls had fun with the things they got in there easter basket, and i of course enjoyed eating there candy. it was seriously an awesome weekend! oh ya, i forgot every year i take the girls to see the easter bunny, this year it was free at walmart, so we did that saturday.

skylar is 4!!

2009-04-07T19:31:00.001-07:00

skylar LOVES spongebob so of course she picked this for her b-day. i pretty much think its the most annoying show ever, but i had to do it for her. it turned out really fun, and she of course had the best day. we love her so much she is becoming quite a hoot. along with alot of attitude! i cant believe she is 4, it makes me sad to think she is really not a baby anymore. her and taylor are going to be great big sisters!