Eva's exciting Month

 Eva had a birthday this month. She turned 8! Here she is with her birthday cakes.  She had a good day.

 Some of our friends (and teachers) from school wanted to give her a gift and they chose a beautiful coat and hat/glove/scarf set.  She loves it and she is just gorgeous in it!

 Eva was baptized on 18 December by Chad.  She is so beautiful.  It was a very nice program and we had a lot of friends and family in attendance.

 Wendy, Eva, and Chad before her baptism.

 Jesse and Eva just posing and being cute. Those two are very close.  It is nice to see the love the children have for one another.

 Family photo.  (I guess Eva was cold, or something?)

 Eva with her Grandpa and Grandma Knutti, they traveled from St. Louis just for her special day!

 Eva with her Grandpa and Grandma Maple.  They live close so we get to see them often!

Eva and her friend Ala.  We love all our friends and family and the support they give to us!

Backtracking, just a little

This one was just too cute to pass up.  It was taken a few weeks ago.

As was this one.

This is what happens on Conference weekend when the kids are bored and Mom just wants a little rest.

 

They did have a simply fabulous time drawing on me and then laughing at how I looked! Thankfully, it washed off without too much trouble.

The kids entered gourds they had grown in the County Fair.  They all won ribbons.

Jesse was very proud of his pumpkin.  He earned $3.30 for his blue ribbon on it.

Chad and the huge sweet potatoes!

Saul won a 'Best of Show' for his pumpkin.  I think they may just work harder in the garden and produce more award winning veggies next year.  He earned $10 for that particular ribbon!

One of the wheel barrows full of sweet potatoes.  I think we fit them all in two trips.  There are some that are very, very large.

Our little set up for the potatoes to dry and cure a little.  We'll move them inside soon.

We got quite a few sweet potatoes this year!

Fun note I found in the bathroom one day.  It is a little hard to read so...(Please use other sink.  Out of order.  Balloons freeze bathing.)

Thankfully, we have two sinks and the balloons didn't need to freeze bathe for too many days!

I guess I need to start somewhere....

Elias' volcano birthday cake.

Elias with said cake, notice the proud look on his face.  It was his idea and most of it was his work as well.

He and his two friends, J and Z  awaiting the sparkles on the candles to begin.

Elias just found out he received for his birthday, a $100 shopping spree at Lego.com!

Elias' first temple trip. It was such a nice day!

Saul looking very spiffy in his new suit.

Elias also looking very spiffy in his new suit, and all ready to pass the sacrament for the first time.

We can't leave Jesse out, looking great too!

Ahhhh, so handsome!

The whole crew all together

Last, but certainly not least, the little princess of the family.

The reason why...

On Monday, I went to the car to go get the kids from the bus. When I started it, there was a horrible sound and I had to shut it off. I was heart sick as I knew, from the sound, there had been a cat in the engine. I got out and couldn't find the cat (I knew from a head count, that it was Jesse's cat, Gracie, that was missing-we have six-one for each of the kids and two older cats). No body, no blood, just a fan belt that was ripped to shreds.

I called around and found someone who could pick the kids up and bring them to the top of our road. I planned to walk the mile up and back to get them home safely, but Chad was available to get them from the top down. So, when they got home, they went looking for their cats, as they usually do. Thank goodness! Jesse found Gracie. She had been hiding under the porch.

She managed not only to escape with her life, but the fan didn't even break the skin. It just shaved a line across her back. Jesse brought her to me wondering why all her fur was falling out! I was just so glad that she was alive, I didn't care that her fur was falling out. Here are some pictures of one of the luckiest cats around. I call her lucky because just about a month and a half ago, Eva's cat, Tigrera, was in the engine of Chad's truck and had half of her tail cut off! It could have been so much worse.

It is cute, the kids pray almost every day that their cats will be safe. It seems almost silly sometimes, but I know that Heavenly Father watches out for the little pets of his children at times. I know how devastated Jesse would have been had his cat been killed in that incident. We do all we can to keep them away from the cars, but that seems to have been a favorite hang out for them. I think we can safely say that none of our cats will spend their time in the engines of the cars now!! Too bad it took a few accidents for them to learn.

I'm so glad the kids have these pets. They love them so much!

So Chad went about fixing the fan belt that night only to get it on and find it was the wrong size. He returned to town and procured the correct size, put it on and in the process of tightening the tension adjuster, broke that! So, it was another day without the car. He got the part and had the car fixed by time to get the kids on Tuesday afternoon. So, working on the car is a scary thought for me. See how easily someone who knows more than I do can break a very expensive part($50)?

On to other topics....


My visiting teachers and I were visiting today about the lesson on nurturing the rising generation and they mentioned that my children all seem to know who they are and are not concerned about what others think. Here is an example:

This morning, Eva came and said she wanted to dress like a cowgirl today. I helped her find a shirt in Saul's closet that was cowgirl-ish and she donned her boots and completed the outfit with a bandana tied about her neck. I thought she was just adorable and I know she doesn't care what other kids think so it was a great outfit.

Working on the car is scary for me!!

I had better get this down before the excitement wears off. The front turn lamp in the van went out the other day. I looked at the manual to see how easy it was to change and what number bulb I would need to replace it.

Well, I got the bulb today (the reason will follow in the next blog). The instructions indicate that I must remove the headlight assembly. Now, on our van, that is a rather large-ish piece on the front/side of the car. So, I attempted to remove this assembly twice before I had the courage to just pull the thing out; all the while I was checking my watch, gauging the time, to see if I would have enough time to duct tape it to the vehicle in the event that I broke the thing off......

It went more smoothly than I imagined it going. I was able to get it all off and dig down to the lower light and change the bulb. Wouldn't you know it, I even purchased the correct bulb!

I am so proud of myself! Fixing the car isn't my thing and I am always afraid that I will break it beyond my own repair abilities, or Chad's, and have to humbly take it to a mechanic.

I'm pretty proud that I did it without breaking anything.
Next time, why it was that I couldn't drive my car yesterday to go and purchase a new bulb....

Sorry for the jumble of pictures just below! I don't know what went wrong, the preview was just fine! The kids were very excited to go to school, especially Jesse. He just walked off and left me behind, calling out, "It's okay, I know the way!" I just wanted to walk him to class!! Oh well......He's certainly ready! They are all growing up so fast. It is fun to have them here.

School Pictures 2010

Sorry, I worked so hard to make the captions line up with the pictures, but it just didn't work out. Hopefully, they are self explanatory enough that it won't be too hard.........:)

Fun stuff in June

This June, we were able to pick blueberries at my VTer's home. She likes to let the kids pick. They have such a great time!















Here is my little diva. She acquired these cute glasses in St. Louis on our trip there early in the month. She is really growing up fast.













Ah, the boys, THEY ate more than they picked and then ate most of what I had picked on the way home. They both had a great time.











The diva again. She will be eight this year and got her own set of scriptures, including a carrying case and a small hymnal. They all love to sing and follow along in their own hymn book.
She was also showing off her new church sandals. Very cool!








The zoo picture. This was the second trip to the zoo for the kids. The first time, they didn't get there early enough to go and do the free things, like petting the sting rays. For some reason, it is a real thrill for them. It is somewhat lost on me, but, sea creatures don't hold my interest very much.











And here they are trying their hands at petting the slimy little things. They all were able to touch one at least once so the extra trip to the zoo was a success!















Oh boy, and how they do grow. I think the stair step pictures are so fun and really show their growth spurts. I try to get one every six months or so. I sure do love these kids. They bring us a great amount of joy.

#4 turns 5

#4 had a great birthday. I can hardly believe that he is 5 now. He will be starting school this fall and is really ready to go. I'm excited, but I feel lonely just thinking about all the kids being gone......!











This boy sure loves money!

















He is really into cars and suggested a racetrack cake. The color scheme was his choice and I took the liberty to call the red fire instead of blood, which is what he wanted to red for....he thought it would be cool to have cars crashed on the track and blood all over the road. Gross! But that is a little boy for you! We called it a fire and he called it what he wanted.