Announcing...

I'm a little behind in my announcements, but better late than never, right? On December 17, 2007, Jeff's brother James & his wife Katharine welcomed a new baby BOY into their family: Lucas Michael LeCheminant. Luke joined 20 month-old Addy and is such a darling boy. Well, at least in the pictures. K & J live in Illinois so I haven't yet seen him in person. :( Check out the cutest pictures of 2 redheads you've ever seen HERE. Luke had some pretty dramatic issues with jaundice for the first couple of weeks of his life and it was a little rough on them all, but he is doing fine now and it seems like everyone is adjusting rather well to the new addition.

On January 24, 2008, my sister Camilla & her husband Brigham welcomed a BOY as well: Parks Samuel Adams. 5-year-old Layton is sooo excited to finally be a big brother and is happy to help his mom out. Camilla did a great job on her 2nd C-section and seems to be doing well. Parks is such a little cutie and looks just like his older brother, with a little extra chub. Again, I'm sad to say that I haven't yet seen Parks in person - Milla & Brigham live in Iowa. But check out their cute pictures HERE.

So, CONGRATULATIONS to the proud parents - we love you all and look forward to seeing your cute little boys soon!

Provident Living

The other night the Slaters were over for treats and the kids were playing so nicely in the toy room while the adults were chatting it up in the kitchen. At one point, Maddie & Ethan came in with a little pail full of wheat. Although the toy room closet is where I keep my food storage, I wasn't quite sure how they had gotten into the wheat so easily. But then we remembered that we had poured two cans of wheat into the bottom of Cole's plastic basketball hoop to weigh it down; otherwise it would tip over every time you would shoot a basket. They had opened the hole and poured wheat into the bucket. Anyways, we of course, asked Madlyn & Ethan to please put the wheat back into the hoop and we adults went back to our chatting. A few minutes later the Slaters were getting ready to leave and we all walked into the toy room to pick things up. I heard Katie ask the kids (in a somewhat shocked voice) what in the world they were doing. Ethan says, "We are hiding handfuls of wheat for food storage." Uh-oh. Yep, you guessed it...little handfuls of wheat were hidden EVERYWHERE in the toy room, in the closet, on top of the bookshelf, inside Cole's push toy, on the Play-Doh art table...everywhere. Some even managed to make it into my living room onto the LoveSac, the couch, and all over the floor. All I could say was, "I'm so glad you guys are learning about food storage! What a great thing!"

I couldn't help cracking up while vacuuming the food storage up, as my vacuum sucked probably several cups of wheat up in about 30 minutes. Yes, it took me about that long because I had to go over every section of floor at least twice just to make sure everything got picked up. Haha.

The Whole Gang

Grandma & Grandpa with the kids

I talk a lot about my family, so I thought I should post some pics. These are the most current we have of everyone and they were taken last January so we are sans Cade, my brother's new wife Ariann, my new nephew Easton, and two new nephews to be born next week and in April.

This is everyone...I have 6 brothers and 1 sister...can you tell which one she is?

And can you tell that I'm fat & prego?

I must say, we are a handsome-looking group. haha. Maybe it's because we have so many boys but that is what we heard ALL the time growing up. It used to bother me that all my friends just thought my brothers were SOOOO cute, but hey...I guess they are, right? And aren't my parents just the cutest, too? They must be pretty good to be able to handle this group!

HaHa

So I am sitting here at my computer; it is now nearing 12:30 am and Jeff is quietly sleeping nearby. Jeff blurts out: "OK. Fold your arms, guys. (pause) Cade, do you want to say it?" I am trying not to laugh out loud, it was so funny. haha. The weirdest part about it is, why is he asking Cade to say the prayer?

I Love Those Dear Hearts

Right after Christmas, we went to the mountains to spend a few days with my parents and some of my brothers; it was a great time. There is nothing like slowing the pace of life down just a little bit in the cozy comforts of home in a small town. The only problem was that we were missing Milla & Brig, Colbran & Stef, and Houston & Danielle...the other 5 of us were there and we definitely missed you guys! Here are some of the highlights:

• My younger brothers got a Wii for Christmas and we rocked it up playing Guitar Hero and I loved it! I could have done it for hours but had to take turns so I only got the chance to work up to Medium skill level; Stanton was awesome playing Hard. It was fun bowling with Jeff and I beat him, AGAIN (we met at a bowling alley and yea, I'm pretty sure I was better).
• My mom, Madlyn, & I went to Ariann's baby shower and had fun playing fun baby games and visiting with some old friends. Ariann is married to my younger bro and their baby boy is due in April. It was great getting to see them since they are in Provo at BYU and we don't get to see them too often.
• We were introduced to the world of politics (Jeff & I have had little or no previous interest in this area) and were converted! It was fun watching the lead-up to the Iowa caucus and even my high school brothers enjoyed watching with us. It is a good thing though that we all have very similar views on this subject because we're all pretty stubborn in our opinions...but no heated discussions this time!
• My 3 younger brothers and I stayed up until the wee hour of 4am one night, just talking. Quinton, Stanton, and Lincoln are 20, 18, and 14 and I feel pretty privileged that they enjoy talking to me, their older and just a tad bit bossy sister. I'm not sure if I gave them any good advice or not but it sure was good for me to chat with them. I feel so grateful for them and for the good examples that they are for my kids.
• Stanton turned 18 while we were there and he actually stayed home with us and played games instead of going out with friends. And that was after he M.C.'d the program at my Grandma's Christmas party. What a good guy!
• Grandma Hope's Christmas Party...we've been having this party for as long as I can remember, and it keeps getting bigger and bigger. If you ask my grandma, she can tell you the exact number but I think she has something like 35 grandkids and about that many great-grandkids. It was a good night of eating, visiting, and lots of good talent. Some of my cousins sang songs, my Aunt Sharon recited a couple of poems, my Grandad recited an all-time favorite about a prospector and a mule, Uncle Ashley sang some songs, and then my dad closed it out with a little guitar and song. As my dad sang, I couldn't help but feel grateful for this great family and all the fun memories that we have together. I don't know the name of the song and I can't tell you all the words, but I'll end with a few that reflect much of what I felt that night and always.

I LOVE THOSE DEAR HEARTS AND GENTLE PEOPLE,
WHO LIVE AND LOVE IN MY HOME TOWN.

I'm So Excited...I Can't Sleep!

While I am naturally a late-night owl, it has been quite some time since I have hit the pillow without dropping off to sleep almost instantly. I don't know, something about being up half the night just makes me tired. Maybe the fact that it is hardly ever before 11pm that I even get in bed doesn't help either. Tonight Jeff & I actually settled in bed for the night at about 10:30 but I was so wired that I just kept talking and talking...and feeling sad that he was drifting off because I knew that I wouldn't be able to go to sleep yet and what in the world was I going to do now? Twenty minutes later, I am giving it up and am finally going to write a few of the things that have been going on in my head for the past couple of weeks. First off: the top reasons why this day is a good one and why I am so excited (trust me, it's nothing big).

1) My music class started up again yesterday and I am sooo excited for the weeks ahead; we have some fun new songs and things that we're learning and it will be great fun! I never thought I'd love it as much as I do!
2) Preschool was at my house today and we had a lot of fun...but even cooler is the fact that it isn't my turn for another 5 weeks! j/k I love having these cute little kids over and it really isn't much work but for some reason I always breathe a sigh of relief when my week is over!
3) Cadeson is finally figuring out that he doesn't need to eat at night (or maybe he's just feeling better after teething, ear infections, etc.) and he has been sleeping so well. I finished feeding him tonight and tried to cuddle with him to put him to sleep but he just wanted to get into bed and didn't settle down until I put him there...so cool.
4) I officially only have one child in diapers...yes, that's right. After 11 months of double diaper duty, Cole has graduated to big boy underwear!! He is wearing pull-ups at night still but has been diaper-free since Saturday morning. On Friday night after we bought the new undies I told Jeff that nothing puts fear into my heart quite like the thought of potty-training. But Cole has exceeded my expectations and even used the toilet 2 times today without my prompting! I'm sure we have more road to travel still, but the prospects are looking good.
5) I went to Midweek tonight at Kristy's house and learned all about goal-setting; it was such a great night. Like I told everyone there, I am a self-improvement guru and read all the parenting, marriage, time management, and organizational books I can get my hands on so this was so exciting for me! Unfortunately, I think I spending more time reading about improvement than doing any actual improving. But this time will be different ( I just know it)! I came home with my mind going 100 miles a minute and my tongue even faster - I couldn't wait to tell Jeff all my ideas. We had such a good discussion about our financial and food storage goals, I didn't want to stop. Another one of my new obsessions is food storage and I am busily planning and taking steps to prepare ourselves for the future. It makes me so happy to buy in bulk when things go on sale, I really get way too excited about stuff like that. We also talked about my garden that I am really going to plant this year (my good intentions weren't quite good enough last year) and I can't wait!

So anyways, it was a good day and I feel very grateful for these and all the other little blessings that make up my life.

Can I Have Some Grandpa's Juice?

Let me tell you a little bit about my dad. He is a character. You know the fruit drink mix from the cannery? Well, he mixes a gallon of that stuff up almost every day when we are visiting. The funny thing about it is that he adds way more water than he is supposed to and it results in a very weak, watered-down version that nobody likes but him. This drink has been dubbed "Grandpa's Juice" and the kids love to have it when we're here. The last few times we've been here, they didn't have any so it was somewhat disappointing for Maddie & Cole. In anticipation of our latest visit though, Dad made sure he had some on hand and informed the kids that they could have Grandpa's Juice when they got here. I think they were more excited about the Grandpa's Juice than anything else...they even talked about it on the drive. Sure enough, within ten minutes of us getting here on Friday, Madlyn & Cole were in the kitchen with Grandpa, mixing up a gallon of his special brew. Mmmm, good stuff.