I probably should've written this post a few weeks ago, but life has been a little turned upside down lately!

I'm not even sure where to start or how to talk about this, but basically, we are in the midst of a pandemic. A new virus originated in China and has quickly spread throughout the world. There's no vaccination, there's no cure. With time, most recover, but the number of people not recovering is scary. It's hard to find exact, accurate statistics, but as far as I can tell, the virus was discovered in December of 2019 and has spread across the globe, shutting down country after country as the world tries to slow the spread. Personal protection equipment for doctors, nurses and first responders are all but impossible to find. Toilet paper has been cleared off of every store shelf in the entire US. Grocery stores are so picked over that many aisles are all but empty.

Social distancing has been put into practice. It's the idea of staying 6 feet or more away from people you don't share a home with. The schools are closed for the rest of the year throughout most of the country, including here in Arizona. Most schools are attempting to do distance learning through various online avenues. Our school is actually doing a great job of implementing a system to continue learning, but it still requires a lot of time and effort on my part. It can't even be called home school since we are confined to our homes. I call it crisis or Covid schooling.

My kiddos aren't allowed to see their friends. We hold church in our homes, we are living off our food storage as much as possible. At the beginning of April, our governor signed a Stay at Home order, mandating that social distancing be in effect. Non-essential businesses are no longer functioning. Many stores are closed, small businesses are suffering and something like 10 million Americans lost their jobs over a two week window. My dad included.

And it feels like this came out of nowhere. At least for me. I don't watch the news. My social media feeds are full of photography related info. I tend to snooze or delete people who go on about politics and world happenings. Due to Bruce's job, I try to shield myself from those things. I stick my head in the sand and pretend life is butterflies and rainbows as a coping mechanism. It serves me well for the most part, but I feel pretty darn blindsided by this whole Coronavirus/Covid-19 thing.

The first few days, as I started to grasp what exactly was going on were very scary. I spent a LOT of time crying and I went through all the emotions. I was so mad at myself for being lax with our food storage throughout my pregnancy with Jellybean. I was mad at myself for being lazy with my gospel study. I was scared of what this would mean for my family. I grieved the loss of the life I had envisioned at this point in time. I threw myself a two week pity party where I experienced a constant headache brought on by crying, stress and anxiety. I felt like I was on the verge of a panic attack at any given moment. My chest felt tight all the time and oh, the exhaustion. I was so tired I could hardly function because I was mentally and emotionally spent.

We are now on week 5 of living a quarantine life. I'm feeling much better about life and the current state of our existence, but things are strange... I went to Costco a few weeks ago for one last stock up trip before the Stay at Home order that I knew was coming. Everyone in the store was so lifeless. No one seemed to have a smile in them. We were all on a mission. I left with the most full cart I have ever had and didn't even manage to find toilet paper or flour. Good news- the produce section is basically the Garden of Eden. Apparently no one thinks to buy veggies during a pandemic. Which just means more for me!

Our routine has changed significantly. We get out and hike or go for walks when we can, steering clear of other people of course. Not necessarily because we are paranoid (I mean I am, but Bruce is not at all) but because people are literally scared to be close to one another right now. But other than that, we are at home. Our 1800 square feet seems awfully small these days with all 7 of us here most of the time. The kiddos haven't been to a store or seen a friend in 39 days. And it doesn't look like that will be changing any time soon.

But it's not all bad. There have been silver linings. I've seen lots of my prayers answered. We've participated in not one, but two world wide fasts led by the prophet and we've felt peace and power through those fasts. Our home church has meant the chance to worship with my family via FaceTime. We've gotten a few house projects done and played more games and read more books.

It's been a roller coaster of emotions thus far, but we are surviving. And hopefully we'll even find chance to thrive through this. We've made it through 5 weeks of a really difficult time and I know we'll come out stronger on the other side. But until then, we stay home. We try to do something fun every day. And we cling to our faith and our family, because that's what's getting us through.

Let's Dust This Thing Off, Shall We

Well hello there. It's been a hot minute since I've posted over here, but given the circumstances of the world right now, I have some free time on my hands. And with that free time, I am feeling a great need to document our family history.

First, how about a quick update on each of us?

Bruce is still going strong with the police department. He's held many positions and been on countless committees and participated in all kinds of trainings and extra activities. He is currently a patrol lieutenant and runs the department field training program and is part of the department's partnership with Special Olympics. He plays basketball several times a week with some buddies from church and he takes Kevin on several runs a week. She loves it, Bruce tolerates it :) He's a good dog dad.

Sunshine is almost 13. Let's pause for a moment and let that sink in. I am about to have a teenager. One week from today actually. I started our first family blog when I first found out I was pregnant with her, and it really does feel like it was just yesterday. Sunshine is in 7th grade and she is rocking it. She is so dedicated to her school work, she is a loyal friend and she adores her teacher. She is a competitive swimmer and just finished participating in her school's production of Seussical Jr. She was stage crew for two of the shows and played Horton the Elephant in one show. She did fantastic! She played flute for several years in school, only stopping at the beginning of this school year, and has been playing piano since she was six or seven. I love hearing her practice either instrument. She is taller than me, a fact that we noticed on Christmas day. Merry Christmas to me! And we can share shoes and she loves to borrow from my wardrobe. Most of my clothes are too big, but she's snagged a few things from my drawers that are too small on me and I just can't believe this is the point we are at in life!

Beebs is still our little fireball. She's short and petite and full of spunk and attitude. She's a natural comedian and loves to perform. She was also in Seussical Jr, playing Young Kangaroo and she just beamed from the stage. She was absolutely in her element. She has been taking ballet for several years and the novelty is wearing off. I'm grieving the fact that she is no longer wanting to dance as she is a beautiful ballerina. She wants to continue just long enough to dance in a performance of The Nutcracker, then give up dance to pursue something else. Who knows what at this point, the options are endless! Beebs is in 4th grade and has a great teacher. Sometimes the social part of school is tricky for her, but she loves going and she is learning and growing so much. She is an excellent writer and is always working on some fun story. She is also a very talented artist and takes lessons from a lady we know from church. I'll have to scan some of her paintings to share on here. They are amazing. Beebs also takes piano and loves it. She also sort of plays cello in the school orchestra... there has been quite a bit of turnover with music teachers at school, which is why I say sort of! She knows some of the basics but due to all the teacher movement, I don't think she has been able to embrace the cello as much as she and I both hoped she would.

Man Cub, oh Man Cub! He has grown up so much since I last blogged. He is in 1st grade, and I have to be honest. I worried about him going to school. But, he is THRIVING! He loves school so much. He loves his teacher, he loves his friends, he loves to learn. He is an excellent reader and he is obsessed with the "Who Will Win" book series. He has even written and illustrated several of his own versions of "Who Will Win". He is very creative and artistic, always creating or drawing something. We go through a lot of paper at our house these days between him and Beebs. I try to limit them but then I also don't want to stifle their creativity! Man Cub is a super social boy. He love to make friends and will talk to anyone. ANYONE. We participated in a hike with a group from my gym last weekend and Man Cub decided one of the gym owners was his new best friend. He talked the owner's ear off throughout most of the hike- Star Wars, Legos, school. He chatted about anything and everything. He is also eating me out of house and home right now. He is definitely a growing boy and I'm not sure I can keep up with how much food it takes to keep him going! He is also really enjoying sports. After several seasons of soccer, he switched to flag football at school this past quarter and loved it. Right now the highlight of his day is playing football in the backyard with Bruce. Man Cub is quite the stylish little guy... every Sunday he insists on wearing Hawaiian print shirts and boat shoes to church. I'm going to be a little bit sad when he switches to white shirts and ties after his baptism this fall!

Shark Bait is my little lovey mamas boy. For the moment! He loves to snuggle and he is such a big helper. After six years of teaching preschool, and teaching three of my own children, I closed up shop, so Shark Bait attends preschool at the home of a friend of mine. She is a fantastic teacher and Shark Bait just adores her. His best friend Ben goes to the same school and they love being in the same class. Just like all my kiddos, Shark Bait is super social. He loves to spend time with friends. Between school, soccer, gymnastics and Primary, he gets plenty of time with friends and he loves it. Each morning he asks me "Do I have anything going on today?" Cracks me up each time he asks. He is very much into super heroes. Spiderman is his favorite. He also loves Star Wars and he will spend hours playing by himself while the others are at school. He loves to be outside and will often grab the shed key and head out back, all by himself even, to dig in the sand and play elaborate dinosaur games. He is absolutely fearless which is terrifying and exciting all at once. Man Cub has to be coaxed to try new things but Shark Bait jumps right in, sometimes without thinking things through all the way. He is also quite opinionated, especially about what he wears. No long sleeves or pants for this boy! Basketball shorts, t shirts and a pair of flip-flops are his full time uniform.

And then there's Jellybean! She's new around here, and I hope to share the full story of how she came to be soon. But for the moment, just know that she is the missing piece to our family, a long awaited arrival and the answer to many many pleading prayers. She is such a joy to our family and we all adore her so much! She was born on October 14, 2019 after the hardest pregnancy of my five. I was sick from basically the day I found out I was pregnant until the day she was born. I had lots of issues throughout the pregnancy and her birth was such a relief on so many levels. She cried for the first hour of her life and I was so scared that she would be as much of a stinker on the outside as she had been on the inside, but it has actually been the opposite. Jellybean is the happiest, most easy going baby I have ever had. She loves to sleep (but not to nap), averaging 6 hour stretches most nights, but sleeping as much as 7-12 hours at a time. She is super smiley and chatty. She thinks her siblings are the greatest thing in the entire world and already wants to be just like them. She is growing up way too fast for my liking in an effort to catch up to all of them. I never really wanted this large of a gap (4+ years) between kiddos, but oh my goodness, I am loving it. Each of the kiddos has such a special relationship with her and they are all so helpful and loving. I was nervous about throwing a newborn into our crazy, chaotic lifestyle but she has been a champ about it and the older kiddos are so great with her. It has really been a breeze.

As for me, I keep busy with driving the bus (aka our 2001 9 passenger Yukon) to and from school and the kiddos various activities, trying to keep the house from imploding and occasionally cooking meals that we can all sit together at the table and eat. I've been running my photography business as an LLC since mid-2017, though I have a feeling that with the current state of the world, that might be changing. Bruce and I serve together at church, heading up Activity Days for the boys turning 10 and 11 this year. We love serving together so much and our group of boys are so much fun... high energy and exhausting, but fun!

So there you have it. An update on us. I make no promises as to what will come of my desire to blog again. I do plan to add Sunshine as a contributor so she can help me keep things up to date, but we shall see! I don't want to make any promises I can't keep, but the desire to write our story is strong so I hope that will keep me coming back.

This Is Us

I don't really know where to start, other than to say, I sure miss this place! Sunshine was working on a school project the other day- she was writing an autobiography piece for English and needed information about her birth and childhood. It brought me so much joy to pull out the printed version of our blog from when she was a baby and let her look through it. She poured over it for the rest of the day, laughing at things she read, oohing and ahhing over photos and asking questions about things I had written. I loved it!

And at the same time, it broke my heart.

She has the story of her life recorded through word and photo. What about the rest of my kiddos? I've done them such a huge disservice by not keeping our blog up. I don't really have the time. A lot of the time I don't even have the desire. But seeing her enjoy the fruits of my labour made me want to really try harder, to be better at recording our family history.

So here I am.

I make no promises.

I will absolutely not be going back to fill in blanks. I can't put that kind of pressure on myself.

But I'm going to try to be here more. To put in the effort of recording our history and our stories.

So here's a little update.

Here we are. This is from last June, but we haven't changed much. The kiddos are all a little taller, but that's about the only difference. I might be slightly skinner! At least I hope :) 

Bruce: Bruce is in his second year of teaching seminary. He still enjoys it, but the early mornings are killer. Especially when followed by 10 hour days at work. By Friday afternoon, he is in need of a nap! Which he usually takes once he is home from Seminary and some time at the driving range. After writing up our family Christmas card last year, and realizing that he didn't have anything exciting to include as his "highlight" for the year, Bruce has decided to run a marathon this year. I'm excited for him. It will be a good challenge, but still encompass something he enjoys doing. He is getting ready to test for a promotion at work. It's a scary promotion in that it will mean a significant pay cut. Kind of backwards, but it is a necessary step to reaching his career goals. We are equal parts excited and nervous. 

Claire: I'm still teaching preschool and plan to teach for one more year before giving it up for good. Photography has taken off in a big way and I am loving it and want to be able to put all my extra energy into that. But I also want one year of teaching Shark Bait. One more year seems like a good compromise. I am starting to see some changes in my health after a long, seemingly treacherous route and it feels so good to be feeling "normal" again. Or at least more normal than I have in a long time. Hormone issues are no joke and mine have been taking a toll for the past two and a half years. It is nice to be feeling more like my old self again. 

Sunshine: Sunshine is in 5th grade and can I just say, 5th grade is hard! There have been some friend issues, so struggles with learning, some difficulties finding where she fits, but she is rocking it! She is such a strong, sweet girl and she makes the best of pretty much every situation. She is super social and loves planning activities for her and her friends. She is currently in the school play which means swimming has taken a back seat, but just last Saturday, she started doing some private coaching with a guy from our stake who is coaching before he leaves on his mission, as a way of making a little more money to go towards his mission. She loved being back in the water and is looking forward to a few more coaching sessions with him before he leaves. Then when the play is over, she'll go back to piano lessons and swim team. She is doing the Mozart program at school which means four days a week, she is getting music education in school. She is playing the flute in the band, taking piano at school and doing choir. I love hearing the sound of music fill our home when she practices. 

Beebs: Beebs is in 2nd grade and she loves it. She has an amazing teacher whom she absolutely adores and she is learning and growing so much. She is also in the school play so swim and piano have been on hold while we pursue that, but this past weekend, she took her first ballet class and oh. my. goodness. I've always known she is built like a dancer, but I had no interest in putting my girls into dance. This past Christmas, for our traditional mother-daughter Christmas show, I took the girls to see one of my Young Women dance in The Nutcracker. Beebs couldn't see from her seat, so she hopped onto my lap and as soon as the first dancer came on stage, I felt her entire body lighten with excitement. She hardly moved through the entire performance and I sat there with a knot in my stomach, knowing exactly what was coming. When the performance ended, Beebs turned to me and said "I want to be a ballerina!". It took me a few weeks to get on board, but we signed her up at a studio and she had her first class yesterday. And hasn't stopped dancing since. She was laying in my room tonight to fall asleep and when I walked past my door, I saw her in the dark, standing in front of my full length mirror, practicing ballet positions. It melted my heart. I think she has found her true love and I am excited to see where it takes her. 

Man Cub: Man Cub is as rambunctious as ever. He and his best friend, Ike, spend every spare minute possible together. They play almost daily and they are so fun together. When Ike is not around, Man Cub doesn't really know what to do with himself and just wants to play video games ;) He's a big fan of the Lego Jurassic Park game he got for Christmas. Once I can convince him to go outside and play, he loves to dig in the sand and play fetch with Kevin. He is a total homebody and is super sweet, when he wants to be. He is doing well in preschool, but thinks he owns the place, since it is at our house. It causes us to butt heads sometimes, but overall I'm grateful I get to be his teacher. He loves to write his name and do puzzles. He starts soccer with Ike in a few weeks and I'm so excited to see him play. We played kickball tonight at a picnic with friends and he did a great job participating. I think soccer will be a good experience for him. Man Cub is currently doing speech therapy to help get him ready for school in the fall. He is missing several sounds which makes it difficult for those outside our family to understand him. I adore the way he talks and it is sad to think that it will be changing soon. But I know it's the best route for him and I am grateful we have resources to help us. 

Shark Bait: Oh what to say about Shark Bait! He is full of life and always into something and keeps life interesting. He has no fear and regularly injures himself, but jumps right up and says "I'm ok, I'm ok!" He has an extensive vocabulary and uses it regularly. He is way ahead of the curve when it comes to speech and that scares me! He's too smart for his own good! He attends preschool with us most days and can say the Pledge of Allegiance. Mostly. Ü He love Rescue Bots and can identify all his colours, based on the Bot they correspond to. His favourite colour is Bumblebee. Yellow, for those who don't speak Rescue Bot. Shark Bait is currently not a part of any extra curricular activities but he loves to run around and chase his brother and sisters. He loves to play with his best friend, Benny Boo Boo and he thinks his dad is the greatest person in the world. He asks daily to go to the beach and I so wish I could indulge him! But Bruce has 8 more years until he can retire, so we won't be moving to the beach anytime soon! 

I think that about sums up where we all stand right now! I make no promises, but hope to be back soon with more pictures and more stories. 

Happy 8th Birthday, Beebs!

Sweet Beebs,

Your 8th birthday has finally arrived! You've been talking about this day for months... well, really you've been talking about what will happen in just a few days, on January 6th, when you are baptized! You had your interview with the Bishop on Sunday and it went so good. You came out of his office so bubbly and excited, clutching a beautiful little card with a picture of Christ that the Bishop gave you. And a package of fruit snacks. You enjoyed those fruit snacks, but I loved watching you hold and stare at the picture he gave you. You love Jesus Christ so much and are so excited for your baptism day.

You are absolutely loving school this year. Your teacher is so kind and loving and you particularly enjoy the stories she tells you about her daughter Winnie, and that she sings songs to you throughout the day. You are quiet and a bit reserved at school, or so I've been told, and I have a hard time imagining that! At home, you are the life and energy of the party. You are a straight A student this year and working really hard to keep it that way. You have become really self motivated with your school work, most recently demonstrating this when you had Sunshine quiz you on spelling words on the way to school each morning so you could get 100% on your pre-test and not have to take the spelling test on Friday. I love watching your love of learning grow. You particularly love math and science, but your reading skills are incredible too. Its so fun to hear you read to us from The Book of Mormon during family scripture time. I am always impressed with the big words you are able to sound out effortlessly.

Like I said, you are the life of the party here at home. You love to goof around and dance silly and talk in funny voices or snort to make us all laugh. This is great, until bedtime rolls around and you are still putting on a show for us all. You are getting better about bedtime though. You aim to be in bed asleep before 8pm, and sometimes you are even successful. It's a work in progress Ü

You are still as social as ever, though you are already finding out that sometimes little girls can be difficult to be friends with. Luckily, you have a wonderful best friend, Dailyn, who you enjoy playing with every chance you get. The two of you love to wear each other's clothes and paint nails and play with your American Girl dolls.

Along with lots of fire and spunk, you are very tender hearted and sweet. Seeing people in need breaks your heart, and you inspired your 2nd grade class to put together blessing bags for homeless people for your class Christmas party. Watching you give away your bag brought me to tears. You were so brave and walked right up to the homeless man you had chosen to help, handed him the bag and wished him a merry Christmas. It was beautiful to watch. You are also extra kind and selfless. My favourite example of this is that you are currently practicing to be an Ompah Loompah in your school's production of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. You had NO desire to be in the school play, but tried out anyway because I had said that it was all or nothing... either both you and Sunshine were in it, or neither of you were. Sunshine really wanted to participate so you put on your brave face, tried out and got a part. You have such a good attitude about it, even though you've confided in me several times that it's not what you really wanted to do.

You and Shark Bait are still very close. He adores you and you him. You also have an extra special bond with your Aunt Tressie. She may or may  not spoil you rotten, but that's ok! You deserve it. You rarely ask for anything and for Christmas this year, you wanted pajamas. And for your birthday, pajamas and a colouring book.

We love you so much, Sweet Beebs, and are so excited that you are getting baptized. You have some fun adventures ahead in your year of being 8, and I can't wait to experience them along side you. Have a wonderful birthday and enjoy this fun time in life!

We love you so very, very much!

Love always,
Mommy & Daddy

Happy 5th Birthday, Man Cub!

Oh, Sweet Man Cub!

Somehow, you are 5. I keep asking you not to get older, but you insist that you have to grow up. You have big plans! You want to be a dad and a construction site worker. You have to get older to do those things, so I gave in and you turned 5.

You are as spunky as ever. You are a little comedian and love to make us all laugh, especially Shark Bait. He looks up to you and you absolutely love it. Sure, you can be a real stinker to him, but more often than not, you are sweet and adoring and you cater to him. You often ask me for another sibling, so Shark Bait can have a baby, like you have him. It melts my heart every time you say it.

You love Hawaiian shirts and boat shoes, unless your Transformers or shark shirts are clean. You are obsessed with your toys- right now Star Wars, Transformers, dinosaurs and Disney Cars rank highest on your list. You also love to read books. You have lots of favourites that we rotate through and my favourite moments are when you bring me a stack of books and ask to sit in my lap while we read.

You love Primary and Nephi is your favourite Scripture Hero. You once told me that you like that he is strong and kind and serves people. You want to be like him and I support that 100%! Your primary teachers adore you... really, most people do! You have quite the fan club and have stolen many hearts. You are sweet and polite and have no fear when it comes to talking with adults. You save your rebellious moments for me and Dad, but for the most part, we don't mind. We know it means that we are your safe place and we appreciate your determination and spunk.

You are quite the negotiator and have a bit of a stubborn streak. While it can be challenging at times, we recognize that these characteristics have the potential to make you a strong leader in the future. We just hope and pray that we can help you to grow that potential and become the wonderful father and construction site worker that you want to be Ü

Kevin the Bird is still one of your best friends, along with Isaac, from church. You and Isaac are practically inseparable and play together at least 2-3 times a week. Isaac has become an important member of our family and the bond you two have is so much fun. You are so creative when you are together and you keep each other in check. You love Isaac's family and often tell me that his mom is your favourite! But it's ok, because you still tell me almost daily that I am the prettiest mom you've ever seen, and now days, you tell your sisters that they are the prettiest girls you've ever seen as well. Your future wife is a lucky woman. You are learning early on how to treat the women in your life with love and respect and I know that will bless you later on.

We love you so much little man! We are so blessed to have you in our family!

Love Always,
Mom & Dad

The End of an Era

Monday morning I leave for Girls Camp. I'll be gone for 4 days, during which time, Shark Bait will not get to nurse. By the time I get home, he will be weaned and my 8 years of nursing will officially come to their final end.

The thought is pretty devastating to me. I love nursing my babies. I remember being pregnant with Sunshine and dreaming, very vividly, about holding a sweet baby in my arms and nursing. It was then that I knew without a doubt that I planned to nurse my babies.

It hasn't always been easy, or fun. Middle of the night wake up calls for nursing, especially past the age of one are tiring. While it is so convenient to not carry bottles and formula, there are plenty of times when it is inconvenient, like you are teaching Primary or Preschool and the baby just can't wait another second. But for the most part, it was magical for me and it is killing me to think of being done.

I decided I needed to commemorate the end of this beautiful time in my life with pictures. I actually had a hard time finding someone to do the photos at first, but an opportunity to trade with a photographer from one of my classes fell into my lap. Then more stars aligned and we were able to rent a beautiful studio near my home for the session. It all worked out wonderfully and the results are incredible. I have about a hundred amazing photos I could share, but decided to narrow it down to just a few. After we finished with the nursing portion of the session, Shark Bait and I just enjoyed playing together... we did "This Little Piggy" and "Round and Round the Garden". We tickled toes and did airplane and played with a few of the "bo-bots" he got for his birthday. It was so amazing to focus on just him and I and to enjoy each other for a little bit. I really wish I had thought to do this with each of my kiddos... But without further adieu, here are the results of our magical afternoon.

Happy 2nd Birthday Shark Bait!

Happy birthday sweet Shark Bait!

I hate that this day has arrived. I've been emotional and had bittersweet feelings on each of my kiddos birthdays, but yours are always the most difficult. Each milestone you hit, I think "this is the last". This is the last time I'll do a "my favourite things" two year old birthday. This is the last time I'll wean a baby. This is the last time I'll have a two year old. It's killing me. I hate how fast you are growing up, so if you could just stop it, that would be great!

But no matter how much I begged and bribed you, you went and turned 2. You are still one of the happiest children I know. Your smile is infectious and lights up the room. But, you are also developing a bit of an attitude at times. It's hard to blame you though- as the baby of four, you have to learn to stick up for yourself! You are learning not to let your siblings push you around and you have no problem giving Man Cub a run for his money. I'm equal parts proud and concerned when I witness this behaviour.

You love to cheese for the camera and you are a bit of a clown. If you know it will make people laugh, you will do something over and over again, grinning the entire time. You are obsessed with "bo-bots" (rescue bots), in particular- Bumblebee and Optimus Prime. You also love Star Wars (Darth Vader is your favourite), Mickey and friends and playing with cars. You also love to be outside where you play with Kevin, dig in the dirt and chase the chickens.

You love animals. Puppies are your current favourite, though you also have fallen in love with ocean animals like orcas and dolphins. We took you to SeaWorld and the beach at the beginning of June and you were a big fan of both! You definitely have my love of all things ocean. And dad's love of doing things to freak mom out! You love to be thrown "in the sky" by dad, and your new favourite trick has been to climb into the bathroom sink, fully clothed, and turn on the water to bathe yourself.

You are such a smiley, happy guy and you are well known and loved for your white blonde hair and crystal clear blue eyes. We love you little Shark Bait and are so glad you are ours. Even though I'm not happy to think you are my last, I couldn't have asked for a better caboose!

Here's to a wonderful year of the terrific two's! Happy birthday sweet boy. We love you so much and are so grateful to have you in our family!

Love Always,
Mommy & Daddy

Catching Up With Us

I'm terrible at blogging. I don't even know what to say other than that. I want to be good at it, but with four little kiddos, a busy husband, serving at church and two businesses on the side, blogging often gets tossed to the side. So I pop in when I can, and try to give myself a little grace when I can't. I have tons of things I could catch up on, pictures to share, stories to tell, but I really just want to give a little written snapshot of how we are doing, so at the very least, I have that recorded!

Bruce- Bruce is busy with work and his church calling. He is an early morning seminary teacher so he gets up at 5 each morning, gets ready for the day then heads over to the church to teach 18ish teenagers about the Bible. This year they are studying the New Testament. I know we aren't suppose to aspire to callings, but this truly is his dream calling... he debated heavily between becoming a paid CES teacher and a police officer. This calling is wonderful because he gets to have his cake and eat it too Ü The calling has been a challenge at times, but overall he loves it.

Work is going well. He is the PIO for his department, so he has a nice cushy day time schedule with the fun of every day being new and different. Sometimes he is in city meetings, another day he is touring news stations and meeting celebrities and other days he makes videos to post on social media. There are plenty of other responsibilities as well, but each day brings variety and he loves that.

Sunshine- Sunshine just finished being part of her school production of Annie Kids. She played the part of July, an orphan with a few speaking parts and solos in songs. She put in so many hours of hard work and it completely paid off. The play was adorable and she loved being a part of it. The commitment level was difficult on my end, but somehow we made it through and in the end, I am glad she participated.

Now, Sunshine is back to swimming several times a week, she is taking piano and plays the flute in the school band and she enjoys Activity Days at church. She is a busy girl! On top of all her activities, she is excelling in school and has made the Principal Pride list for straight A's the past two grading periods. The switch to the new school has been a challenge at times, but overall, she is excelling and really does love her new school.

Beebs- Beebs also made the switch to the new school and is thriving there. She is learning so much and is already becoming quite the avid reader. Her favourite books are Elephant and Piggie and I could listen to her read for days. She has such fun intonation when she reads, I just adore hearing her! She still loves to play and sometimes it can be a bit of a struggle to get her to do things like homework or practice piano because she really just wants to get out all her toys and escape into her imaginary worlds.

Like Sunshine, Beebs swims multiple times a week and she is getting so good at it! She also plays piano and is picking that up very quickly. It is such a joy to have our home filled with the sounds of the girls practicing.

Man Cub- Man Cub keeps me busy! He is such an active child. He has preschool (taught by me!) three days a week and he does gymnastics on Mondays. He LOVES gymnastics and I just love watching his new tricks each week. He loves Primary and always comes home with stories about the things he learned. He is so good at telling us about his lessons each week. He is super social and always wants to go to a friend's house or have a friend over to our house. He would rather watch TV and eat than anything else, but once he gets to playing, he is a lot like Beebs. He comes up with elaborate games and can play for hours. He recently started taking swim lessons with the girls coach and he counts down the days each week. He tells everyone about swim lessons and invites them all to come watch him. He is so eager to be like his big sisters!

Man Cub has a little bit of a speech issue that is absolutely adorable. I wish I could adequately describe the way he talks, but I just don't do it justice. It may be something he needs help with down the line, but for now, I just enjoy the adorable way he talks. He also has such a sweet side! He brings me flowers, tells me I'm "the prettiest mom he's ever seen" (I taught him that, but he'll just say it randomly and it melts my heart every single time) and says things like "I want us to have another baby so Shark Bait has a baby to play with". He adores Shark Bait and looks up to both of his sisters.

Shark Bait- Shark Bait is growing like a weed. We took away his pacifier, I gave him a haircut and he started talking up a storm, all at once. He runs everywhere, he climbs everything. The boy has no fear at all. Not even one little bit. He talks all the time and is very good at telling you exactly what he wants. He thinks he is a big boy and opts to sit on a barstool at the kitchen island instead of in his high chair. He loves food, but not typical kid food. He turns his nose up at macaroni and cheese! He really loves fish and avocados and greek yogurt and beans and veggies. He is such a great eater... though sometimes too good because he eats all his food and then moves in on mine. Ü He also loves to read and play with toys. He makes all kinds of sounds, like he is trying to read, or acting out something elaborate with his toys. It's adorable to watch. And speaking of watching... another big screen fan in this guy! His favourites are Mickey's Monster Musical, Baymax, and Frozen.

Shark Bait does not love nursery. He's been attending nursery since he was born and did great in there, but they released me a month before he started attending on his own and that month ruined him! He does not like nursery very much anymore. He is still my best sleeper in that he'll go down quickly and without a fight, but he does not sleep through the night most nights. He likes to nurse once or twice during the night, if I'll let him. Which I usually do, because he's my last one and that breaks my heart a little bit.

Me- Oh there is so much I could say... I'm busy with preschool and my photography business. I've taken several amazing photo classes lately that just have me chomping at the bit to go completely full time with photography, but I know I'm not ready for that at this point in my kiddos lives. I am so enjoying all the education though! I look forward to sitting down at my computer each evening to do a little more of my classwork and I'm seeing my photography improve by leaps and bounds. It's amazing.

I've been dealing with some health issues lately that have been stressful and frustrating and annoying. I think I am finally getting a handle on things and maybe I'll devote a post to explaining it all later. I just feel like such a Debbie Downer when I talk about it all! But it makes me feel like a Debbie Downer to be experiencing it all too, so it's just been hard. Things are improving though and just this week I have taken a huge turn for the better! Here's to hoping things continue on this positive path.

So there you have it... updates on us, in a nutshell. Just know we are here, we are alive and well, we are just busy and I don't see that slowing down anytime soon. But we are also loving life and working hard on house project, planning some fun vacations and just enjoying each other. I'd love to say I'll be back soon with more posts, but I don't want to set anyone (including myself!) up for disappointment. I have more I want to post and hopefully I can find/make time to do it soon!

Happy 10th Birthday, Sunshine!

Happy, happy birthday sweet Sunshine!

Today is a big day for you... double digits! You've been simultaneously excited beyond belief and hesitant and nervous for today to arrive. You weren't sure what to expect when moving to the double digits, but hopefully it has been a wonderful day! We started with your traditional birthday breakfast of beniets and ended the day with tacos and angel food cake... all your favourite things. You were showered with wonderful gifts, perfect for the grown up girl that you are- new clothes, some fun art projects, lots of new books to read and Harry Potter Wizards Chess. You've already played it a handful of times, and I'm sure it won't be long before you are beating your dad every once in awhile. 

This past year has been a challenging one for you. At the end of the summer, we made the very difficult decision to pull you from the school you had attended since Kindergarten and all the wonderful friends you had made there, and move you to a new school. It was such a scary decision that we all prayed about for months on end before making. It was a hard transition at first, but you were so brave and full of faith. You knew it was the right choice and even when it was most difficult, you have always had a great attitude and found the good amidst the trials. You've made new friends, discovered new interests like band and drama, you've excelled in your studies and been on the principals pride list two of the three quarters this school year. You are such a great example of thriving during difficult times. We know this change has disrupted your life more than ours, but you have grown so much and it brings us so much joy to watch you bloom.

You love church and are such a great example of Christlike love. You are kind to all you meet (except maybe your siblings!) and you often ask your church teachers some hard questions that they cannot always answer. Your desire to learn and grow is strong and we love when you bring us your challenging questions and let us help your testimony grow. You have a wonderful understanding of the scriptures and enjoy reading them alone and as a family. We hope your love of the words of the prophets never dwindles!

You are just as creative and artsy as always. You are doing a wonderful job learning to play piano, trying your hand at the flute in the school band and playing the role of July, an orphan, in your school's production of Annie Kids. The school play has been a huge time commitment but you are handling it with grace. Even the weeks when you have multiple days of practice, plus swim team, plus piano, plus before school commitments, you are smiling and happy and never say a word about quitting. You work hard and give all your extracurricular activities your best effort. Unless that extracurricular activity is cleaning your room... Ü We are working on that hurdle still. 

We are so blessed to be your parents and find so much joy in watching you learn and grow. We love you so very much and are excited to see what your second decade of life brings! But just remember, no matter how old you get, you will always be our baby... the sweet baby girl who entered our lives following a magnificent Arizona sunrise all those years ago, our own little bundle of Sunshine.

Love always, 

Mom & Dad 

Merry Christmas to All!

Designing our family Christmas card is always one of my favourite parts of the holiday season and this year I was excited to take advantage of my lab offering foil cards for the first time ever! The finished product turned out amazing with a beautiful rose gold foil spelling out "Noel" along the bottom of our cards. Unfortunately, this Photoshop image of the design just doesn't do it justice!

Itchies for Man Cub

Somehow, Man Cub managed to make it to 4 years and 3 months of life before his first ER visit. To be completely honest, we are all shocked he lasted that long! But his streak came to an end on December 14th when I was at Mutual and got a call from Bruce telling me to get home immediately because we needed to take Man Cub to the hospital. He didn't really give me details, but I quickly handed off my responsibilities at the activity, got in the car and calmly headed home. I had gathered that Man Cub would need stitches so I called around, let the Young Women's president know I would miss our meeting that night, found someone to sit with the girls and got home to pick up Man Cub and Bruce so we could head to the hospital. And because Shark Bait was pretty hysterical, we took him along too.

As we drove to our favourite children's ER, I finally got all the details. The kiddos and Bruce had been playing their favourite game, the blah blah game, which is basically just a lot of running around and chasing each other while yelling "blah blah". Never been one of my favourites, mainly because they play it right around bedtime when I'd really prefer the kiddos to be calming down, not getting riled up. On this particular night, as they played, Sunshine tripped and fell and Man Cub fell over the top of her and his chin had an unfortunate meeting with the edge of a door resulting in a pretty deep cut. Sunshine and Beebs freaked out and started screaming and crying, Man Cub doesn't deal well with blood anyway and his sisters freaking out scared him even more so he was hysterical and all three of them crying put Shark Bait over the edge as well. It wasn't a pretty sight when I got home! But the girls calmed down and by the time we got Man Cub to the hospital, he was relatively calm as well, he just really did not want "itchies" as the girls had told him he would need.

We got checked into the ER and shown to our room. The doctor quickly came in and confirmed what we already knew- that Man Cub would need to be fixed up. We told her not to say stitches and instead they told him that he would be getting a special bandaid and then they would fix him up. They dressed the cut with a Lidocaine soaked gauze pad and let the medicine go to work while Man Cub watched Zootopia on the hospital TV. After about 45 minutes, once the cut was nice and numb, the doctor and a nurse came in to stitch him up. By this point, Man Cub was nice and relaxed and didn't care at all what they did, so long as he could keep watching his movie. When Beebs got her stitches, they rolled her up in a sheet so her arms were pinned to the side, but with Man Cub, they just had Bruce and I hold his hands. He hardly even flinched while the doctor gave him four stitches to close up the 1 centimeter cut.

Once all was said and done, Man Cub got the world's most expensive popsicle and toy cement mixer ever (yay ER copays :P) and we were on our way.  He handled it like a champ and was excited to show his sisters his blue whiskers. He was even more excited that he had a great "i" show and share at preschool the next day... an injury!

The Polar Express

Many moons ago, or 4 years ago to be exact, Bruce and I took the kiddos to Williams to ride the Polar Express. Man Cub was only 2.5 months old at the time, but the girls loved it and ever since we have talked about doing it again. Especially since Man Cub is a big fan of trains.

This year, all our talking finally turned into something more. In September Bruce told me that he was completely serious about doing the Polar Express this year and asked me to make arrangements. I booked the train, found a hotel and made plans for Bruce's dad to join us on the adventure. Then we kept our mouths shut. We didn't say a word to the kiddos! Even when we surprised the girls by pulling them out of school early, we didn't say a thing. We were a good 30+ minutes into our drive north before we finally told them where we were headed and they were so excited!

Unfortunately, there wasn't really any snow in the Flagstaff/Williams area while we were there,  but we still had such a good time and enjoyed the chance to do something extra Christmasy. We drove up and got ourselves checked into the hotel. Then the kiddos opened their Christmas pjs and we grabbed some dinner. We made the quick drive from Flagstaff to Williams and boarded the Polar Express. The train ride was a lot of fun, though Shark Bait was over it by the very end. The hot chocolate and cookies that were served were delicious and we especially enjoyed singing Christmas carols and welcoming Santa aboard our train car where he presented each of us with a silver sleigh bell. After the train ride, we visited with Santa for a few minutes back at the train depot before heading back to our hotel.

Saturday morning we slept in, then ate breakfast and took the kiddos swimming at the hotel pool. After we checked out, we went to Walnut Canyon to do a little hiking. Bruce and his dad assured me it was a flat hike... um. No. It was a steep hike, straight down a deep canyon. Yes, it was amazing to see the Native American ruins and watch the kiddos amazement as they learned about the way the Native Americans had lived right in the side of the mountain, but I'm pretty sure we took several years off my life in the process. I am deathly afraid of heights and my legs were legitimately shaking in fear the entire time we hiked. In fact, Sunday morning I woke up with some intense leg pain from how severely they had been shaking for the several hours we spent in Walnut Canyon. It was beautiful, but I still cannot say it was worth the toll it took on my anxiety to do the hike.

After Walnut Canyon, we ate lunch and headed to the Lowell Observatory in hopes of taking a look through one of the huge telescopes. The Observatory was incredible. I was a huge astronomy nerd back in middle school and high school. At one point, I even attended a weekend long AstroCamp in Idyllwild, California. The Observatory was definitely my favourite part of the weekend. We spent a lot of time in a cool room where the kiddos got to be space cadets and learn about astronomy in ways that total appealed to them like video games and trivia questions. Then we headed up to the telescope and wouldn't you know it, while we were inside the Observatory, a bunch of clouds had rolled in which meant they didn't open up the large telescope. There was a smaller one we got to look through, but only Man Cub and Beebs got to actually see the moon. The rest of us just used the telescope to look at street signs and cars in the city below. But we still really enjoyed it and Man Cub especially thought the telescope was the greatest thing ever.

Our drive home was uneventful. We were all exhausted after our jam packed, whirlwind of a trip. We had such a great time and hope to be able to go back again soon... we've gotta give the Observatory another try! Hopefully without clouds next time.