The Jarivs Juice

It's Official...

2010-09-14T09:16:00.002-07:00

I am pretending like it is Fall. I baked pumpkin bars-yummy, made taco soup, lit pumpkin spice candles, put on a fall tablecloth, hung my fall wreath on the door, bought a sweater, walked to the park in the middle of the day in jeans-I quickly realized my mistake. But unfortunately it isn't helping channel any cooler weather. It is supposed to be 104 today.

Pretty in Pink

2010-09-05T18:03:00.000-07:00

My Poor Baby

2010-08-21T16:32:00.005-07:00

Addison has started Preschool for the year. She loves it! She can't wait to go play with her friends. But it is pretty funny, because at school she is so quiet and shy. Even when I am there the whole time to help her teacher. I have never had a shy child. Last week it was her special day where she could tell the class about herself, or I could tell the class about her. The day before she broke her wrist! I know SO sad! It was pretty traumatizing. 4 boys and never any stitches or broken bones and bam our little girly princess broke, literally, our streak. She was running and tripped over some little orange sport cone things and slammed into the front door. She goes to the orthopedic doctor on Tues. and they will probably put on a permanent cast. She has been very brave and didn't make a peep when I took her for the initial x-ray.

Addison and her friend Savannah from school at Bradan's pack meeting

Addison's teacher, Ms. Melissa

Bradan and the bear

2010-08-21T16:22:00.006-07:00

Bradan turned 10 this summer! That's right double digits. It is weird that he is getting so old, don't worry he doesn't act like it. He earned his Bear in scouts before he went to KY for the summer, but he didn't get his recognition until last week. He fought the bear. He came out bloody, but still in one piece.
Bradan pinning me

Happy Campers

2010-08-21T16:12:00.004-07:00

Nathan and Tate got to go to Scout camp this year. Our stake held a priesthood encampment, so it was full of spiritual activities along with scouting activities. Jon went up for a couple of days and these are the only pictures he took. I am hoping to get some copies of pictures the leaders took. They had a really good time and hopefully some experiences they won't forget. Tate was just called to be the Deacon's quorum president in our ward. We have 20 Deacons so it is a big deal. I am super proud of him! Last Sunday he was in his church clothes from 8am-9pm. He had church, meetings, and a fireside. Jon told him he was in training to be an apostle, and I thought Tate was going to have a heart attack. He did not think it was funny.

Summertime in the AZ

2010-08-21T15:57:00.009-07:00

I am so far behind, I don't even know where to start. But I am semi caught up on my homework and the laundry so I decided I would try. We had a pretty quiet summer as usual all the big boys were gone for most of it. We spent most of the summer at the pool. We swam ALOT! It was awesome! I had a tan again for the first time in years. The babies love to go swimming. They dive all over the place. We have a pool at the YMCA right down the street so on good days Jon and I, or just me if Jon was at work, and the babies would go to the gym in the morning. They like to play in the childcare center they have there, and we would work out. Then we would go home for lunch and come back and swim. On not so productive days we would just go swimming. We also hit McDonald's playland a few times, an indoor bouncey place, to see Toy Story 3, to the mall with grandma, and hung out with Aunt Jenifer and Trevor while they were here.

Our 4th of July celebration was pretty lame this year. It was on Sunday so I made this cake, which was yummy, and we just went to church and hung out at home. Nothing too exciting.

Girl's Camp...SO Much Fun!!

2010-06-22T18:21:00.005-07:00

This was at our PJ fashion show and we played a little prank on the girls and hung these pictures all over their cabin. I totally rocked these pajamas(I look like humpty dumpty), of course. Jon gave them to me 2 Christmas ago. I had never worn them, but pulled them out for camp. You can only get away with this stuff at Girl's Camp, that is why I love it!

I seriously LOVE my calling! It is so much fun! I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to work with the Young Women in my ward. They are awesome! We had a blast at camp! No drama-AT ALL! Our girls were perfect. They have such strong testimonies and are such an example to me. I also love the other leaders I get to work with. They are so talented and amazing! I left camp completely uplifted, wanting to be better and try harder to do better. It was a great week!

SAD!!

2010-05-25T19:26:00.002-07:00

So our computer had some kind of major malfunction and wouldn't work at all. It was so convenient because it happened the same week that I was supposed to turn in a 1000 word essay and take my final, Bradan's science project board was due, and Nathan had a report and a poster he was supposed to make. Awesome! Finally on Monday this guy came over to fix it. It took him 3 hours. Monday night we were finishing up Bradan's science project and I was looking for the pictures we had taken of him doing the experiment a week or so before. This is the SAD part. No pictures! Not only did we not have those pictures we couldn't find any pictures at all from 2010. Somehow those must have been saved somewhere different and didn't get saved before everything was cleared off. SAD...SAD...SAD I am still trying to get over it.

Mom's Day

2010-05-17T17:04:00.006-07:00

I had a great Mother's Day. Jon and the kids really came through this year. They made me breakfast in bed, made lunch and dinner, got the babies all ready for church, and let me take a nap. It was an awesome day! I am thankful to be a mom. It is seriously hard, but my kids help me want to be a better person and the mom that they deserve.Nothing better than starting Sunday off with a stiff drink. Okay it was just juice, but it did have a little kick.

So Shy

2010-05-17T16:54:00.004-07:00

Addison was supposed to give her first talk in Primary on Sunday. It didn't quite go as planned. She was totally excited and all ready to go until she got up to the podium and then she froze. Hand went in the mouth and not a sound came out. So I ended up giving a fabulous talk on how getting baptized is making a covenant with Heavenly Father and how excited Addison is to be baptized when she turns 8. Addison is often too "shy" to talk, participate in class at preschool, sing, say hi to her friends etc. She has NO problem speaking her mind at home. Maybe next time.

2010-04-16T12:06:00.002-07:00

This bird mistook a plant on my back porch for a tree. It doesn't even fly away when we go outside. We actually do have a few trees so I am not sure why it decided to make my plant its home. It is kind of cool to watch, but bird=bird poop. Gross!

Boys Boys Boys

2010-04-13T08:47:00.008-07:00

Bradan volunteered to be the wolf in a class play they were doing at school, before he read that the wolf had to wear a tutu. He was just a little mortified. But suffered through, what a trooper. (This is a picture of a picture that his teacher took)

Benito Mussolini

Tate's Wax Museum project. He was Benito Mussolini. Look at the picture in the top left corner of the poster-pretty close resemblance. I LOVE school projects! I think we also had two book reports to do that week. More fun than I could handle!

Our super scouters at the Blue and Gold Banquet

This was the cake Bradan and I made for his Blue and Gold Banquet. It was the 100th birthday of Scouting. I am not a creative or crafty person, so projects like this stress me out.

Nathan hurt his knee playing football at the park. It looked bad, but was some word I can't spell or pronounce that basically meant he hurt his knee and it had a lot of fluid that had to be drained out. It is all healed and he is back to full playing time.

HaHaHa...

2010-03-23T18:56:00.003-07:00

Aunt Jenifer was down for a visit last week. She always brings fun treats for everyone. She brought these for the boys, and we all had a good laugh.

The other day Jon was out mowing the lawn and I was standing at the sink and looked out into the backyard and saw this...

At first I thought it was a towel he had stuck back there in case he got sweaty. I could not stop laughing. I managed to snap this shot before he caught on. How do you even do that??

2010-03-05T16:41:00.002-07:00

The big boys are alive and well! They have been BUSY! I have all kinds of exciting pictures of scouting activities, injuries, school projects and more, to come soon.

Party like a Princess

2010-03-05T16:17:00.006-07:00

This year Addison's birthday was literally a week long celebration. It started on my birthday when we went out to eat with the fam. It was so close to her birthday that we had them bring her ice cream and she got to ride on the birthday saddle too. Then on Sunday we had a family party while Aunt Jenifer was here. Monday was her actual birthday so I got her some balloons and a donut. Then Jon had taken the day off so we went to Barros for lunch and then to the park to play with her new sand toys. Tuesday she celebrated her birthday at school with cupcakes and her sweet cake hat. Friday was her friend birthday party. She was SO excited for her birthday this year and wanted to invite all of her friends from school that I decided to let her have another party. We rented a princess castle bouncer and had cake and ice cream. She had a lot of fun and loved having all of her friends over. Then to wrap up her birthday festivities, they sang to her in Primary on that Sunday. I hope she is not expecting all this every year. How cool it must be to live the life of a spoiled, little princess. My big girl.

Some pics of the numerous celebrations, in no particular order of course, because my computer hates me...

Making a wish for the tenth time

Friend Birthday Party

Birthday at School

The actual birthday

Aunt Jenifer came down just for the birthday celebration! Addison and Jace LOVE Aunt Jenifer! She is so awesome with them! I am always so sad when she has to go home.

Her Majesty...Minnie

2010-02-22T10:02:00.007-07:00

We got Minnie in June of 2005, right before I found out I was pregnant with Addison. She was so tiny and cute. She was an inside dog for a few years, until we moved and she started going potty in the house. So then she was demoted to the back yard. We have tried a few times to put the doggy door in and let her stay inside, but she always blows her shot at living in the lap of luxury. A couple of months ago Addison began to form a pretty tight bond with Minnie. They became BFFs and Addison would let her in the house constantly,so Jon put the doggy door back in and Minnie has since regained her superior status. We have recently discovered when the boys leave their doors open and clothes on their floor she likes to go in and mark her territory-GROSS! I don't know what to do about that. We have been trying hard to keep the doors closed and it seems to help. She doesn't seem to have the urge to go anywhere else in the house. We'll see how long this lasts...

Baby Minnie, she weighed almost 2 lbs. when we got her.

Heart-Attack

2010-02-17T14:00:00.003-07:00

There is nothing better than eating heart-shaped JUNK with the ones I LOVE! Happy Valentine's Day! (We did have a "real", balanced meal for dinner.)

How Lucky am I...

2010-02-09T21:52:00.006-07:00

Jon always tries really hard to surprise me somehow for my birthday. Which always makes me feel bad, because his birthday is on Christmas Eve so I am always too crazy with everything else to give it any real attention. This year I spent the day before my birthday all by myself. WOO HOO! I went and got my haircut and did some shopping and it was fabulous! Then on my birthday Jon arranged for us to go out on a date, but then it ended up looking like it was going to be too crazy to get everything arranged so we decided to take the whole family to Texas Roadhouse for some yummy food. Jon's parents and Gary and Lori joined us. Jenifer tried hard to get an early flight so she could be there, but ended up spending the day and most of the night waiting at the airport. We got stuck in a traffic jam on the way there so the drive took twice as long then we had to wait for a table for almost 45 min and then dinner lasted about an hour and a half, but the babies were perfect. It was so AWESOME! We had a fun night! As usual Jon gave me more presents than I deserve. He brought a whole bag full of presents and a card with tickets to BON JOVI-the BON JOVI!!! I was mega excited until I realized it was on the same night as New Beginnings for YWs. I have to speak and help out in other ways that I didn't feel I could back out of, so I don't think we are going to be able to go. I know...I totally STINK!! I somehow always manage to ruin every surprise. So how lucky am I that I have a husband that still puts up with me and makes efforts even though I try my best to mess it up.

My "Bon Jovi ticket"

Addison and I giving a big birthday YEE HAW!

The good-looking party crew

Happy Birthday Addison!

2010-02-09T09:11:00.008-07:00

Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam...

2010-01-11T15:37:00.005-07:00

Addison is in Primary! Check out her cute little sun pin the primary gave her. 2009 was such a big year for our little Addy-Boo! She went from a baby to a full-fledged big girl! Big girl bed, potty-trained, no bink, preschool, primary. Sniff sniff

Bubba's new do

2010-01-11T15:33:00.001-07:00

BEFORE

AFTER

Christmas Eve

2010-01-03T22:51:00.004-07:00

Christmas with the babies

2009-12-29T13:39:00.007-07:00

Christmas Morning

Reading "Twas the Night Before Christmas"

Putting out food for the reindeer

Making cookies for Santa

This year Christmas for us was a little bit different. Tate and Bradan were going to be in Kentucky and Jon had to work, so Nathan was going to stay at his mom's. So we had Christmas Eve on Dec. 23rd with the babies and Christmas on the 24th. Addison and Jace were SO excited for Christmas this year and were into everything. They loved visiting Santa, seeing the Christmas lights at the temple, talking about baby Jesus, singing carols-they know all the words to several. On our Christmas Eve they couldn't wait to put cookies out for Santa and food for the reindeer. It was so fun to watch how excited they were. They are getting so big!

1st Christmas Party

2009-12-27T23:05:00.011-07:00

As usual, something is wrong with my computer or blogger or something and I can't journal in-between pictures. I am beginning to think maybe it is me. This was our Christmas party that we had to celebrate a little before the big boys headed off to their other parent's for Christmas. We had FUN, FUN, FUN! We all got new jammies, put those on, opened a few presents, had a big Christmas breakfast-which I got no pictures of, and then later Grandma, Uncle Gary, Aunt Lori, and Katie came over and we decorated some delicious sugar cookies that grandma made. I think this was my favorite part, I ate at least 5 that night and may or may not have eaten several the next day. YUMMY! We had pizza and wings and watched a little of Nathan's new Brian Regan DVD. I finished off the night by taking Jace to urgent care for an upper respitory infection, but all in all it was a great night. It was awesome to get to hang out as a family and make some memories.

2009-12-22T12:24:00.002-07:00

Click on to see better

Merry Christmas

2009-12-13T12:29:00.003-07:00

Catching Up

2009-10-29T20:20:00.015-07:00

It seems like I am always playing catch up in every area of my life. So then I stop and wonder, if I am never caught up with anything what do I spend all my time doing? I am still trying to figure that out. Time continues to fly by whether I am ready or not. It is hard to believe we are coming to the close of another year. These are a few of the major events from the last few months-(in no particular order, because my computer won't let me move the pictures around..grrr).

Nathan got this nasty thing removed from his lip. We were all glad to see it go!
Trunk-0r -Treat, the rest of us were dressed up, but I have been a complete slacker at taking pictures lately-maybe on Halloween. Aren't they so cute?

Nathan has been playing baseball on his school's team and they won the championship! Go Dust Devils! We are really proud of Nathan for trying out and sticking with it.

Happy 12th Birthday, Tate! I didn't get any pictures of the actual day, these are from when he got ordained. Aunt Jenifer came down for the weekend, we always love it when she is in town.

Tate's ordination minus Nathan

Happy 12th birthday, Nathan! Nathan's ordination-I was so proud to see these boys pass the sacrament. They go to mutual on Wed. nights with me, weird. Pretty soon they are going to have deep voices and arm pit hair. I am officially freaking out!

The gang at Nathan's ordination

Happy Birthday to my Bubba! My baby is 2! Hallelujah! No more bottles, binks, and only 1 kid in diapers. Yes you heard me right Addison finally potty trained. I can't even believe it! It was on the night of the General Priesthood. Jon was gone to that and the babies and I were hanging out and out of the blue Addison says "I want to go to the potty." And then she actually did it! Then she says "I want panties on", like it was a totally normal thing. And she has been using the potty ever since! I believe in miracles! So because she FINALLY started going potty she got to start preschool this week. I will post more about that later.

Scout Stuff

2009-09-13T16:57:00.005-07:00

Tate and Nathan are going to be 12 in a couple of weeks! I can't believe it! Where did time go and how is it possible that my kids can be just a few years younger than me? All year they have been earning their Tenderfoot and now 1st and 2nd class ranks. We are excited for them to receive the Priesthood and hopefully their youth leaders can penetrate their hard heads and whip them into shape. These are pictures of some of the fun stuff they have been doing in scouts all year.

Elton Jace

2009-09-13T16:52:00.004-07:00

When Jace puts on these glasses, Jon always calls him Elton Jace. I am sure he will love these pictures when he is older. HaHaHa.....

I have an announcement to make...

2009-08-16T15:30:00.006-07:00

WE ARE...

...drum roll please...

Done with binkies in our house!!! That is right, we FINALLY did it. We took all the binkies put them in a bag and left them for the binky fairy.

And she brought us this. A Belle Barbie for Addison and a LittlePeople Airplane for Jace. I can say I am over-joyed to be done FOREVER with the whole binky thing. It was getting ridiculous the constant searching and searching the house 20 times a day. The desperation to find a binky or pay dearly. Addison has had a hard time adjusting. She doesn't ask for her binky, because she knows the fairy has it. She just throws ridiculous fits and the worst is at nap time and bedtime. She can't figure out how to go to sleep without it. The new nightly ritual is to keep getting out bed, going to time-out, and screaming her head off until she is too exhausted to do it anymore. Hopefully this too will pass. Jace has been a trooper and only asked for it a few times. Tuesday is 1 week binky-free. Now if we could just get Addison to potty-train....

Aunt Jenisper

2009-08-15T12:02:00.011-07:00

We LOVE it when Aunt Jenifer comes to visit! Addison loves Aunt Jenifer! Aunt Jenifer brings her fun presents, plays tea party, stickers, and all the other fun stuff that little girls love to do. We wished she lived closer and we could see her everyday. This last time she came to visit it was her birthday. We had a big birthday bash for her, Uncle Gary, Bradan, and Aubree.

The kids love to run laps around the clubhouse at Grandma and Grandpa's.

Aunt Sandra made this delicious chocolate cake! I ate a huge piece.

Addison and Uncle Gary

Some of our Summertime...

2009-08-14T09:33:00.017-07:00

This was actually awhile ago, not really in the summer, but funny. We went to an Ostrich farm at Picacho Peak. We fed the Ostrich, which are INSANE and pretty gross close-up, some deer, and these birds. Jon and Tate were the only ones brave enough to actually let the birds land on them. Birds freak me out.

GIRLS CAMP!! I got to go to girls camp this year with the YW in my ward. We went over the July 4th weekend. So we were there on the 4th and a Sunday. I had a good time hanging out with the girls and getting to know them better. Except for my neck popping out of place it was a great experience. I am excited for next year.

Jon and I celebrated our 5th anniversary this year. We wanted to take a cruise on the Caribbean, but being unemployed for several months, having kids, and just life in general foiled our plans. So we settled for a night at the Sanctuary(Thanks Jenifer for watching our demons), dinner at Alto(some fancy, smancy Italian restaurant) and a gondola ride at the Hyatt Regency in Scottsdale. The below picture is not from too much celebration, just a camera flash way too close to our faces in the dark. We were on the gondola. The guy even sang us some "romantic"song in Italian. It was a little awkward.

Our neighbor's sister works at the Arizona Science Center, and got us free tickets. We took Nathan, his friend Tanner, and the babies. This is Nathan riding the sky bike.

Having lunch at the Gecko Grill with most of the ladies of the Jarvis clan. I love hanging out with them and wish that we did it more often.

Nathan's Last day of school. We had ice cream sundaes and he put some weird hair glue stuff in his hair?? He is now a big 6th grader. At his school this is Jr. High so he is pretty convinced that he is hot stuff. I am NOT ready to have teenagers!!

Mother's Day-May is summer, right? These 3 studs took me out for a night on the town. We went to Texas Roadhouse, Target, Old Navy, and Lowes. I love these guys!

So that is a tiny taste of what we have been up to. I still have a few things that warrant their very own post. One of these days I will get around to it. Tate and Bradan spent the summer in Kentucky living the good life. Everyone is home and we are into the full swing of school and "normal" life. I HATE homework! Jon is still working under another RN as he learns the ropes. He will hopefully be on his own by the end of September. We are so glad he has a job, but miss him when he is not home. Why can't we be independently wealthy? I am still holding out hope for some unknown, rich relative.

Bubba-licious

2009-06-19T10:00:00.007-07:00

My baby is getting so big! Even though Jace loves his Daddy WAY more than me, I still want to eat his little face, because he is so cute!

He loves his big brothers and wants to play ball and wrestle with them. He follows Addison's every move, which isn't necessarily always a good thing, as he has picked up her bad habits.

He is talking his head off. Which is so funny to me, because Addison refused to speak until she was almost 3. He will basically repeat anything you say, but speaks without being prompted. This morning he told Nathan "give it to me right now, please". He is also very good at yelling. He will say your name once and then he yells it at the top of his lungs until you answer him.

He has peed in the potty twice, which is twice as much as Addison. I am sure he will be potty trained before she is. When he gets in trouble for hitting or throwing things he will sit in time out all by himself .

He still has no interest in Nursery and basically screams until he goes to sleep. Horrible, I know. I feel sorry for the Nursery leaders, but Jon insists on leaving him in there. He is warming up to the family. He loves his Grandma and Grandpa and even bonded with his Aunt Jenifer on her last visit. He LOVES his blanket! It is his constant companion. He is a sweet boy, most of the time and we LOVE, LOVE, LOVE him!

Officially Official

2009-06-13T10:40:00.003-07:00

(This picture is from his last day of school)

Jon took his state board exam on Thur. and he PASSED!!! He is an official RN. He had me and himself completely convinced that he failed, so when we found out the next morning that he passed we almost couldn't believe it. Congratulations! All the hard work and stress has paid off.

Hip Hip HOORAY!!! Jon's Graduation Day

2009-06-04T21:54:00.002-07:00

This is my studly husband and I on his blessed graduation day! Yep, that's right he is all done with school! This has been a goal in the works for a long time and I am super proud of him. I don't give him enough credit( I can't have him walking around here with a big head thinking he is in charge or something), but I am so thankful that he suffered through for all of us! And on top of that HE GOT A JOB! WooHoo! Now he has to take his boards and he is good to go. So remember him in your prayers!

When it rains, it pours

2009-06-04T21:44:00.005-07:00

This year Jon and his brothers, Gary and Jim, took the boys and Jim's kids camping up on the rim. They were all very excited for the trip, but when they got there it was pouring down rain. So they set up camp in the pouring rain and were thinking about calling it quits and coming home when it continued to come down. I guess they were discussing this and Bradan suggested they say a prayer. So Heavenly Father had mercy and let them have a couple of hours rain-free where they could sit by the fire and hang out. Then as soon as they got up in the morning the rain started again. Better luck next year!

2009-06-04T20:14:00.006-07:00

Because I am so far behind, I have had no motivation to blog at all. It feels too overwhelming, trying to get caught up. And then I opened an email on Jon's facebook account that launched a horrible virus on our computer so it was out of commission forever. (I guess that is what I get for being nosey) And we still haven't put all the pictures back on, so I decided I would just start current. Yeah for progress...

We always take the kids to some local resort for a night before Tate and Bradan leave for KY for the summer. It is our "mini" family vacation. This year we went to the Arizona Grand Resort. They have these huge eight story water slides. Needless to say I have never had enough courage to take the plunge down one of those. Jon and Nathan have both gone down them and this year Tate harnessed his fears and went for it once. It was pretty hilarious. He sat up at the end and literally looked around with a look of total amazement that he was still alive. I was pretty proud of him as I know what it is like to be terrified of everything. We had such a good time! All of the kids were so well behaved. The babies slept well, had a blast in the baby pool, and we didn't have one single melt down. We even got to go out to eat at Rustler's Roost without incident. I was thrilled that miracles do happen. (For some reason it will not let me move the pics. WHY??)

Where Jon grew up...

2009-04-04T17:43:00.007-07:00

Tucson Trip

2009-03-30T14:44:00.009-07:00

At the end of February, we took the kids to Tucson for a little weekend getaway. We went to the Old Tucson Studios the first day. The weather was nice and it wasn't crowded at all, so the kids could ride the rides over and over without waiting in line. They loved these cars and rode them at least 30 times. Addison and Jace could run around which they always enjoy. We even got to see an old west gunfight. Our hotel had a heated pool, jacuzzi, and some fire pits. The big boys and Jon hit these both nights we were there. They loved them! Jon has been begging to go back. The next day we went to the Sonoran Desert Museum. It was more crowded and less baby friendly. So our stay here was somewhat shorter. We hit the highlights and then hit the road.

We also went sight seeing in the neighborhood Jon grew up in. We got some pictures of his house, school, bike routes, alleys, friends houses, etc. It is always fun to reminisce and remember where we came from. It is hard for me to imagine Jon as a little kid, how much more immature could he be? Just kidding!

Look at me I am 3...3...3!

2009-03-01T21:24:00.004-07:00

Addison's Barbie Diamond Castle Cake. It is the magic mirror. She started off the day with a heart shaped doughnut. She LOVES doughnuts! She was very excited! Playing with her new castle with Katie
Presents from Aunt Jenifer

Happy Birthday to Me!

2009-02-12T21:23:00.006-07:00

Jon really out did himself this year for my birthday. He arranged for us to go out on my actual birthday, which was a Wednesday. Dates in the middle of the week are unheard of. He didn't tell me until Tuesday night about 11:30pm. I am not a big surprise person and was a little worried about leaving his parents with the utter chaos of a weeknight, but I was excited. We left the house about 4pm and went to eat at Texas Roadhouse, one of our favorites. I love their salads, bread, and they have delicious ribs. Then we went to see the Broadway Lion King at ASU Gammage Theater. Jon had bought us balcony tickets which sounded cool, until we actually got to our seats. We were WAY up high. You literally look straight down onto the stage. STRAIGHT DOWN!! Looking over a cliff down, and I am not kidding. The picture I tried to take did not turn out because it was so high and my camera stinks, so it just looked like a black hole. I seriously didn't think I was going to make it through the whole play so we upgraded our seats to the Grand View, which is actually like a normal balcony seat, a gradual decent, not straight down. The play was really cool and neither of us had ever been to anything like that. When we got home the kids were all in bed, the house was all cleaned up, and Jon had bought some little jewelry boxes for the kids to paint for me. Jon's parents gave me all kinds of make up and scrapbooking stuff. I felt extremely spoiled! It was a great birthday!

Note about the Author...

2009-02-07T16:06:00.003-07:00

I have noticed that in like every single entry I must comment on what food we ate. It is obvious what is important to me...Eating Junk! This should be another goal I need to work on, but nobody is perfect.

Friends Forever

2009-02-07T15:42:00.004-07:00

I am blessed to have a wonderful friend who actually loves me enough to come all the way to Arizona to visit me. Miriam was going to be in Las Vegas for a hair show and wanted me to come meet her there so we could hang out, but I didn't think I was going to be able to make it work so Miriam came to AZ, what a good friend. I haven't seen her since she came to AZ when Addison was born. One of these days I will make it to Philadelphia. We had so much fun while she was here. We went to the mall, ate some good food, got pedicures, and had some excellent girl talk. I was so glad she came and very sad to see her go. I love Miriam, and am still holding out hope that one day we will be neighbors again.

Happy New Year!

2009-02-07T15:30:00.002-07:00

This year Jon and I rang in the New Year with NO KIDS!!! Jon's parents watched Addison and Jace while we went over to Jim and Sandra's for a wild and crazy New Year's Bash-there was even silly string involved. We had fondue and a chocolate fountain and played Monopoly Wars, where you switch boards if you roll odd doubles. It was a great time, but I did realize when I don't have kids to concentrate on I tend to be even more obnoxious than normal. One of my goals for the new year is to think before I speak. I think Jon will be most excited about any steps made toward achieving this goal. I will have to make a separate post with all of our predictions and goals for 2009-when I am all caught up.

Christmas Day

2009-02-03T15:26:00.005-07:00

We seriously got very few pictures of Christmas morning, It was probably the sleep deprivation. The big boys woke up about 15 min after we went to bed, but Jon banished them back to their rooms with strict orders to not wake us up until 7am. We decided for every ones sanity we should probably just let the babies sleep until they were ready to get up. So Nathan, Tate, and Bradan opened all of their presents, attempted to hook up Guitar Hero World Tour, and searched the house frantically for 2 lost Nintendo DS, which caused a little bit of a fiasco, but was luckily resolved when "super mom" found one and Tate found the other. Jon had to take Nathan to meet his mom at 9am and Tate and Bradan had to get ready to go to the airport. In the middle of all that and making Christmas tree french toast the babies woke up and were completely unimpressed by anything, but the fruit snacks in Addison's stocking. We shuttled the big boys around and then went over to Jon's parents for dinner. We had some yummy roast and key lime cheesecake, which I think Jon ate 3 pieces of. Then we came home groaned at the HUGE mess we had waiting for us and went to bed, vowing to clean it up first thing in the morning.

Christmas Eve/Jon's Birthday

2009-01-30T11:29:00.009-07:00

Every year on Christmas Eve we attend Jon's aunts little Christmas get-together. She reads Twas the Night Before Christmas, while we all pass presents on the word and. Whatever you end up with at the end is yours. This year there was a mix up with the time and we missed it. We were pretty bummed, but we still had a birthday dinner for Jon at his parent's house. We ate cheesy spaghetti casserole, in honor of my family, and had some coconut creme pie. The boys tortured Trevor and vice versa. Addison played with her new best friend, Aunt Jenifer.
Happy Birthday, Stud!

Jace and his best buddy

Then we headed home to hit the hay so Santa could come see us. The boys put out cookies for Santa and oats and carrots for the reindeer. Last year when we got home there was a bag on our door with sparkling cider and goblets so we started a new tradition of making some Christmas toasts. I look like I have had a few too many toasts, but don't worry it was just grape juice.

Then we put the kids to bed and wrapped presents and put together toys until 3:30am, when I went to bed. I think Jon was up until after 4am. *Note to self-I will NEVER again wait until Christmas Eve to wrap every single present!!*

Jarvis Family Christmas Party

2009-01-30T11:14:00.005-07:00

We always look forward to partying down with the Jarvis family. It always means yummy food, good company, and plenty of entertainment. We had our Christmas party at Jim and Sandra's house this year. Jon's mom planned the menu. We had Cafe Rio's pork salads, well we used their recipe and made them ourselves, and they were DELICIOUS! I wish I had one right now. This year Grandma started a new tradition. She brought chimes and we all joined in playing some Christmas carols. It was fun and the kids loved it. Kayla, Jereme, and Aubree shared their musical talents with us and played the piano and saxophone. Then we had our annual present exchange-game. Grandma and Grandpa provide all the presents and we draw numbers and pick, switch, and fight over the goods. We are lucky kids.

Jim and his crew set up their train table for Jace and Addison to play with. It was so thoughtful and they loved playing with it. They also loved climbing on it and destroying the track.

Addison is becoming more and more social. She is beginning to love to play with her cousins. It is so nice to have only one screaming, petrified child at family functions. Hopefully Jace will overcome his fear one day.

Holidays 2008-FINALLY!!

2009-01-27T13:18:00.009-07:00

Okay, this is for journaling purposes only! You can have your blog turned into a book and WaLa! Family Journal. I remember right after Halloween all the stores starting hauling out all the Christmas goodies. Everyone was saying it was too early...blah..blah..blah. I was excited, because I thought awesome now maybe I can actually get everything done that I want to. Christmas pictures, sending cards, baking goodies, starting new traditions, hanging lights, decorating, etc. etc. etc. I am not sure why we try to squeeze all that into one month anyway. So I honestly tried to utilize time, shop early, plan, organize-all that. If we had time to do something like drink some hot chocolate and build a fire in the fire pit we did it. But guess what about two weeks before Christmas I had not gotten our pictures taken-I had all the clothes(which is the hardest part) which means I had not sent Christmas cards, I had no ornaments on my tree-I do have a 1 yr. old, I had only baked half the stuff I wanted to, etc. etc. etc. WHERE DID THE TIME GO??? I pulled together what I could and then anxiously waited for it to be OVER! The same as every other year. Maybe next year the stores will start in September?! These are some of our Holiday season festivities

This year our stake held a live Nativity program. It was really cold the night we went. This is a horrible picture, but you get the idea. It was a nice reminder of the true "reason for the season."

We took along our friends and neighbors, Casey and Joshua, they also went to a Primary activity right before this where they watched a Christmas movie, made some ornaments, and ate red and green popcorn balls.

We made the trek to the Temple to see the Christmas lights. Tate is taking this picture. Addison and Jace enjoyed the lights. Jace spent the rest of the month pointing and saying "look" everytime he saw some lights. Afterwards we hit Dairy Queen for some ice cream and then went to Chik-fil-a for some fries. Every family outing MUST include junk food for it to be a success. This was our trip to the mall to see Santa. Jace HATES to ride in a stroller. He wants to be out running around and trying to get as far away as possible from where he is supposed to be. So I thought maybe if we rented one of these strollers he might not scream the whole time. Of course Addison insisted upon not being left out of the fun. They did have fun driving and playing bumper cars, while we waited in line for Santa. Addison was very excited for Christmas this year. She understood a little and loved to see all the pretty decorations. It was fun to have a little one who just enjoyed the spirit of things rather than just worrying about how much she was going to get. We had some fun times and hopefully made a few memories along the way.

2009 Here We Come...

2009-01-01T19:07:00.019-07:00

My goal was to have my blog all caught up before the end of the year, but obviously that didn't happen. For some reason we are having trouble transferring our pictures from the camera to the computer, so I still have most of Nov. and all of Dec. to blog. UGH! That is going to take me forever!

We are excited for the new year! Jon will finish school in May-WOOHOO! He finished up block 3 and will be starting his very last block in a few weeks. He is enjoying his vacation, and is very anxious to finish up. Tate and Bradan are in KY visiting their dad, Nathan has been at his mom's since Christmas day, Jon, the babies, and I have been spending lots of time with Jon's family. Addison has finally become sociable and loves her Aunt Jenifer! We are going to work on our goals for the new year and I will post them so I am accountable. There are lots of things that we want to work on in the upcoming year. Here are some Kodak moments of 2008...

Merry Christmas

2008-12-18T07:32:00.001-07:00

If you click on the picture, you can see the joy and excitement that Addison and Jace felt about meeting Santa. I forced the big boys into sitting with Santa, even though I think they secretly wanted to. Santa was a dud, he didn't even ask the kids what they wanted for Christmas. He didn't say ho ho ho or Merry Christmas. Seriously, what is the world coming too? I have so much blogging to catch up on. I need for time to stop for about a week, okay a month, so I can get caught up with my life.

Happy 49th Anniversary!!

2008-11-24T23:08:00.003-07:00

This is Jon and I, with his parents, the day we got married. Today is their 49th wedding anniversary. I am so grateful to be part of their family and appreciate their example of commitment to an eternal marriage. They have a lot to be proud of, 4 exceptional kids, 3 super-fabulous daughter-in-laws, and 15 wonderful grandkids (including Greg). Congratulations! We love you!

Movie Night

2008-11-14T10:46:00.007-07:00

On Veteran's Day I took Addison, Tate, and Bradan to see Madagascar 2. Jon's parents watched Jace, Jon was at work, and Nathan was at his mom's. This was Addison's very first movie theater experience. In our family, this is a big deal. Jon and the boys LOVE to go to movies and are hoping to pass along the tradition to Addison.

Lesson #1-Must have large bag of greasy popcorn! Lesson #2-Must have huge giant cups filled with sugary, sweet soda!

Lesson #3-Sit back and enjoy the show!

She did really well! About half way through she decided it would be fun to climb up and down the stairs, so we took a bathroom break to regroup. After that she was fine and we made it to the end of the show.

Flag Football

2008-11-09T20:59:00.008-07:00

As I have mentioned, Tate and Bradan have been playing flag football. Saturday was their last game for the Fall season. They both scored touchdowns! Woohoo! They had lots of fun and are wanting to sign up for the winter season.
"The spectators"-excuse obscene gesture, she learned this from her dad.

Fall Festival

2008-11-09T20:47:00.010-07:00

We took the kids and our neighbors to Nathan's school's Fall Festival. They had like 15 bouncy slides and things for the kids to play on and a big rock wall to climb. I think all of the boys made it to the very top. I didn't get any particularly good pictures. Santa, if you are listening-I need a new camera BAD!!! We ate some popcorn and cotton candy, can't go to a Fall Festival without eating plenty of junk.

Halloween

2008-11-09T20:34:00.006-07:00

For Halloween we went to our ward's Trunk or Treat. Neither Addison or Jace were interested in Trick or Treating. Addison was all excited about the candy, but when it came time to go car to car she was too scared of everyone to participate. Jace just wanted to run crazy through the parking lot and play with the tires on all the cars. So we didn't stay very long. Afterwards, Tate and Bradan went around the neighborhood with their friends Joshua and Casey and their dad. Jon, the babies, and I went to pick up Nathan from his mom's. Then the boys stayed up and watched a scary movie on the Disney channel, "Mostly Ghostly", ate popcorn, and drank some root beer.

The Turtle Man

Coupon $ense

2008-11-06T11:42:00.002-07:00

I subscribe to this online program that tells you what is on sale and what coupons to match with the sales to get the best deals. I get 5 Sunday papers, so when there is a good deal I can stock up. Frys is having some really good sales, plus they are tripling coupons. So I have had some awesome shopping trips! This was last nights-

5 boxes of Toaster Strudels
5 18oz Quaker Oats
4 boxes Zatarains Rice
3 Dial liquid hand soap
2 3-pack Dial bar soap
5 boxes Hefty Ziploc bags
5 boxes Betty Crocker potatoes-scalloped, mashed etc.
1 box SwissMiss hot chocolate

ALL OF THIS FOR A GRAND TOTAL OF:

$6.15 WooHoo!!

Schnepf Farm

2008-11-05T13:21:00.005-07:00

We went to Schnepf Farm the Thursday before Halloween. It was half price for Queen Creek residents and it wasn't crowded at all. Last year we went on a Saturday and it was SO packed. All the rides had enormous lines and very long waits. This year was perfect! I had the kids dress up-Addison-Aerial, she picked it out. We went to the Disney store and let her choose out of all the princesses. We then bought the costume at Target for 1/3 of the price. She had a crown, but it would not stay on. Jace-turtle, you can't see his little shell in this picture. He absolutely HATED his turtle hat! He would only keep it on for a few seconds at a time. Tate and Nathan-Vampires, and Bradan-was a special forces soldier, most of his costume you can't see. He picked it out online months ago and was so excited to wear it. We had such a good time at the farm. The babies were perfect, which was a little weird. No fits and Jace rode in the stroller most of the time. It was awesome! Some of the boys friends from our neighborhood came with their dad so the babies and I left about 8pm and Jon and the big boys stayed until closing and rode home with the neighbors, so they could see the fireworks. We ate some yummy corn, BBQ, and hot dogs. The boys rode on the little roller coaster over and over again. Addison rode the Bees with Bradan, the airplanes and carousel with Jon. Good Times!

Bradan, Nathan, Joshua, Tate, and Casey

Pumpkin Carving

2008-11-04T22:40:00.003-07:00

We carved our pumpkins way too early this year. It is hard to try and work it in where everyone is home and we have the time to get it done. We were able to get 1 good night of Jack-o-Lanterns before they rotted. We even brought them inside during the day.
The big boys each designed a pumpkin and Jon carved them all. I supervised and cleaned up all the guts. Addison loved pumpkins this year and was so excited every time she saw one. Jace was in bed. He can join in the fun next year.

Blog Lazy

2008-11-03T12:41:00.002-07:00

I wish I could report that I have not been blogging because I have been scrubbing and organizing my house, but that would be a big fat lie. My only excuse is laziness. October has been a busy, busy month. I like busy and I am a fan of passing time. It seems that there is always something better in the future...Jon finishing school, Jace outgrowing his "try to kill himself everyday" phase, cooler weather the list goes on and on. I am trying hard to focus on the counsel of Pres. Monson and "find joy in the journey". He was specifically talking to me when he said "piles of laundry", I don't see how I will ever miss that. So what have we been up to-

Football practice and games(Tate and Bradan are playing flag football on a league organized by the YMCA in our neighborhood)
Scouts-Tate and Nathan started 11 yr. old scouts. They have had 2 meetings and have played football both times. That is totally fine with them. Bradan is working on his Wolf.
I have mutual every Wed. and miscellaneous meetings and firesides. Jon does great about watching the kids.
Jon has had homework, tests, and clinicals. School takes a lot of time and effort on his part.
He has also been busy at work, as the approaching holidays seem to bring out the crazy in us all.
Jon helped his brothers Jim and Gary put some kind of shiny coat on his parent's driveway, I can't remember what it is called.
Jon and I got to go see a movie together a few weeks ago-Eagle Eye, it was pretty good. We also went to the adult session of stake conference and out to eat. Thanks to his parents! Kid-free nights are priceless!
Tate and Bradan went to KY to visit their dad for a few weeks. They always have a great time.
Nathan also had fall break at the end of Sept., beginning of Oct. He got to go over and spend the night at his friend Randall's house from our old neighborhood.
Because it has cooled off a teeny, tiny bit(it has still been in the 90s during the day) I try to take Addison and Jace on a walk to the park everyday. It helps break up the day and keeps us all sane. They are getting so big. I am going to have to break down and attempt to take the binky away from Addy Boo and teach her to use the potty. My goal is when she turns 3.

So that is the wonderful excitement that is our lives. We did some fun stuff this last week that I will post about later. I almost forgot the most exciting thing. We ran over a frog in our garage, going to a fireside last Sunday. We were unaware until Monday morning when it was still hopping around bleeding and suffering in our garage. I was totally freaked out of my mind and could barely pull the van back in for fear it would get near me. I left the door open all day hoping it would hop home to its family so they could at least get to say good-bye and have some closure. When Jon came home from work he couldn't find it anywhere so hopefully it has been laid to rest somewhere outside of our garage.

BRRrrrrrr....

2008-10-15T10:58:00.004-07:00

This last weekend we FINALLY got a break from the heat. The highs were in the 70s and the lows in the upper 40s & 50s. Jon opened every single window in the house to partake in the fabulous weather. After suffering through the blistering heat forever, it was actually kind of chilly. So of course I did what any mom would do. I went and got my baby some footy- pajamas, so he doesn't freeze, of course. Isn't he cute? I can't get enough of him. Okay that is a lie, by about 7:30pm I have had all I can stand. But by morning I have forgotten what a stinker he is and he is perfectly sweet all over again. Addison will not wear footy pajamas, because she has to play with her bear's tail with her toes-strange I know. Otherwise, I would have gotten her some too. The "frigid" temperatures have already hit the road. It is supposed to be back up in the 90s this weekend. It was nice while it lasted.

Bradan's Baptism

2008-10-04T19:23:00.006-07:00

Bradan's baptism was on Saturday, Sept. 27. He asked his Uncle Gary, Jon's oldest brother, to baptize him. Jon performed the confirmation. I am so thankful that Bradan chose to be baptized. Afterwards, everyone came over for some lasagna-Bradan's favorite-and peach cobbler that Jon's mom made. I hope it was a day that will always be special to Bradan.

Nate and Tate

2008-10-04T19:01:00.006-07:00

Over the last 4 years Nathan and Tate have developed a "brotherly bond". They are best pals most of the time. I think they might even love each other, whether they admit it or not. They share a room, secrets, torturing Bradan, and a birthday-even though they are 3 days a part-we usually celebrate together. These pictures were taken at our family birthday party. I hope they will always continue to be a positive influence in one another lives. I am excited for them to go off to the MTC together. It makes me tear up a little to think about it. On Friday (Oct. 3) we took them to Stratum to play laser tag for their birthdays. I took the camera, but forgot to take pictures. Happy Birthday for the last and final time-seriously!

Happy Birthday Tate! (Sept. 28)

2008-10-04T18:31:00.005-07:00

I love this picture! Tate is so cute and check out Addison is that not hilarious. This was her first "captured on film" smile. Those cheeks and chins-plural-what a little fatty. Jon says Tate is my little clone, only a boy. I would like to apologize to everyone who had to put up with me. Ha! Ha!-kind of. This is further testament that you reap what you sow. But seriously, because me and Tate are one in the same, he is obviously one cool kid. He has an amazing ability to understand and learn from the scriptures, when he puts his mind to it. I know that he will be an amazing missionary. He is very concerned about others. He feels things very deeply and is not afraid to show his emotions. It is hard for me to believe that 11 years ago I became a mom when I had Tate. I think I held him 23 hours a day for the first 4 months of his life. He never slept in his own bed, until he was 2 1/2. The first time he ever spent the night away from home was when I was in the hospital having Bradan, Tate was almost 3. He was my little side-kick. He is a special boy and I am glad he is mine! We love you!

Arrow of Light

2008-10-04T18:22:00.003-07:00

A few weeks ago Nathan and Tate received their Arrow of Light in a special ceremony. It was really cool! The guy with the fox on his head was one of Jon's scout leaders. He is now in our stake and helps put this ceremony on for all the boys who earn their Arrow of Light. The boys felt special and important and Bradan was so impressed, that he has set a goal to earn his in 3 years. Another big thanks to super-duper scout leaders, I can't say it enough. Awesome job guys!

Happy Birthday Grandma!

2008-09-25T21:28:00.003-07:00

I love Jon's mom! I totally scored when it came to my mother-in-law! This is huge and I highly recommend always getting to know the mother before you marry her son! I got lucky considering I barely knew the son:) She has saved my sanity on many, many occasions by watching our kids! I always know they are safe and well taken care of. They love their grandma! She is kind and generous and always anxious to help. She is a hard worker and trained her kids well:) For that I am extremely grateful! We love you!

Happy Birthday Nathan!!

2008-09-25T10:22:00.002-07:00

Nathan is my "bonus baby". No pregnancy, child birth, middle of the night feedings, or diaper changes for me-and that is a total bonus-but I am still lucky enough to participate in raising him. He is just like my own, he drives me crazy and I love him, all at the same time. We are all so glad that he is part of our family!

Some of the really cool things he can do-
Draws some awesome flames
Can do a front and back flip on the tramp
Brushes his teeth without being asked-I LOVE that!
Actually watches the babies, if asked
Loves to play football at recess and with his dad and brothers
Loves to play Zelda
Reigning guitar hero champ at our house
Knows all about music-who sings what songs and words to songs
Can quote Brian Reegan verbatim-and is actually pretty funny
He can just hang out and chill, which is a breath of fresh air around here
He is our oldest by 3 days and is a good big brother

Happy Birthday Dude!

LOOK WHAT MY DAD DID TO MY HEAD!!!

2008-09-17T09:27:00.002-07:00

Poor Jace! I will never leave him unsupervised with Jon again. All those pretty curls down the drain, literally.

Miss INDEPENDENT

2008-09-16T20:58:00.004-07:00

Addison's new, slightly psychotic phase is to do EVERYTHING all by herself. She must always be in control, or everybody pays. She has to get in the car by herself, climb into her car seat herself. If she is touched or assisted in anyway the whole process must start again. She only has her diaper changed on her terms-where ever she chooses to lay down and only when she is ready. Bath time, bedtime, basically anytime are no different-she must be allowed to choose and act for herself or she gets a "runny nose" which is a whole other story. Anytime she gets even remotely upset her nose must be wiped, or she walks around screaming "I have a runny nose" repeated at increasing decibels until it is wiped. I am not sure who is crazier, her or the people that cater to this nonsense.

Happy Birthday Grandpa!!

2008-09-06T19:59:00.002-07:00

Jon's dad was the first member of his family that I met. We walked in the door after Jon picked me up from the airport, and he gave me a big hug. He made me feel welcome and at ease. He is someone we can always turn to for any kind of help we need and always has good advice. I am so grateful for his positive influence in our lives. He is the best dad and grandpa that we could ever ask for! We love him very much and hope he has a happy, happy day!

Super Scouts

2008-08-29T21:14:00.004-07:00

Tate and Bradan both earned some important awards at this month's pack meeting. Bradan received his Bobcat. He is so excited to finally be in Scouts! He absolutely loves it! He was captured by this experienced bobcat hunter, our cubmaster Bro. Heath, and branded with a bobcat paw while Jon held him upside down. Tate earned his Webelo and gospel knot. He has also earned his arrow of light, which he will get next month at a special ceremony. That is the highest award you can receive in Cub Scouts. We have been so blessed with the best scout leaders, the Carpenters. They have worked so hard with Nathan and Tate. I could never thank them enough! Nathan has also earned his Webelo, gospel knot, and arrow of light, and will be getting his awards next month.
We are proud of you guys! Keep up the hard work!

The Birthday Bash

2008-08-28T19:52:00.015-07:00

My baby is 1!

"It's my party and I'll cry if I want to..." I accidentally popped Jace in the face with his party hat rubber band thingy. Opps!

Party animals! Addison was the most excited about Jace's birthday party. She could not wait to tear into the cupcakes, and even helped Jace out with his.

Jace was actually very neat with his cupcake. He ate it all, but wasn't covered from head to toe in icing.

Happy Birthday Jace!!

2008-08-28T19:29:00.016-07:00

I can't even believe it has been a year! We love you bubba! Happy Birthday!

2008-08-26T10:50:00.007-07:00

Jordan and and his girlfriend, Danni, came down for a visit this last weekend. We were so excited they made the long trip so we could see Jordan before he leaves for the MTC in a couple of weeks. We went to the little water park by our house on Friday afternoon and then came home, ate, and played RockBand-that they brought with them. I totally rocked Bon Jovi's-Dead or Alive. I should have been a rockstar. The boys loved it! The babies were around, but they were too terrified of Jordan to get close enough to be in a picture. On Saturday Jordan and Danni took the big boys to Big Surf. How awesome is that! The boys worship Jordan and show it by relentlessly harassing him. I am so thankful Jordan is such a good example to them and takes time out of his life to spend time with them. I know these are memories that they will remember forever. We enjoyed getting to know Danni. She is sweet and quiet. I am sure we scared her to death. We can be a little much to take in, but we appreciate her putting up with us. We will miss you Jordan! You will do great!

Thanks a bunch!

2008-08-26T10:44:00.002-07:00

Thanks Grandma, Grandpa, and Aunt Jenifer for the cute clothes! I really needed them. I miss you a lot! I hope you are having a fun trip!

Love, Jace

Jace is Walking

2008-08-25T09:15:00.003-07:00

This video is kind of dark, but it gets the point across. Our little bubba is officially on the move. Although he won't be passing any sobriety tests in the near future. What a big boy!

Happy Birthday Landon!!

2008-08-25T08:48:00.004-07:00

Lovable

Absolutely the cutest kid

Nephew

Doesn't ever meet a stranger-very friendly to everyone

Outstanding

Never a dull moment when he is around

Landon was just a baby when we moved to AZ. He has grown up so much. He started kindergarten this year. He is such a sweet kid and we wish we could see him more often. We love you buddy!

Happy Birthday Amy!!

2008-08-24T20:25:00.004-07:00

(I stole this picture from her blog)

Fun Facts about my sister-in-law, Amy-

She introduced me to cute boys in a neighboring stake, and drove me and other friends to their church dances.
Let me borrow her clothes, that most of the time she never got back-SORRY!!
She always had cool ideas for things to do.
Had fun sleepovers
Decorated my room with cute quotes and stories, just so I would know I was loved.
Was my escort the first time I went through the temple.
Lived about 4 doors down from me and would come over almost every night and hang out-I miss that
Married my brother
Has always been a great friend to me.

We hope you have a fabulous day!!

Messy Little Monsters

2008-08-18T12:50:00.005-07:00

Lately I feel like I am fighting a losing battle when it comes to keeping my house clean. It feels like there is junk everywhere and all I do is move it around. The laundry remains my worst enemy, and is never done. I remember the days when I only had one kid and I mopped my floors everyday and I was always caught up on the laundry. I cling to those memories so I don't feel like a total loser when I can't remember the last time I actually cleaned my bathrooms. Addison and Jace do their best to try and keep things neat and tidy-thank goodness for that. Otherwise, we might have a real disaster on our hands. I put Addison down for a nap in the portacrib in Bradan's room the other day, because I did not want to risk her waking up Jace, who was sleeping in their room. She laid right down and I never heard a peep, but this is what I found when I went to get her up. Apparently she could reach the desk and a marker from her little baby cage, and decided to have some craft time before her nap. I love how she is trying to pretend she is upset about her artwork. She was not upset, but did let me know several times that she was "only supposed to draw on paper." She even drew on the bottoms of her feet, but not her clothes.

Then, about an hour later I was taking a poopy diaper to the outside garbage can when Jace decided he was hungry and pulled Addison's spaghetti Os off the table. I guess until I strike it rich and hire a maid, I just have to learn to embrace the fact that boring people have clean houses.

Week in Review...

2008-08-10T21:38:00.003-07:00

Summer vacation is over, and "normal" life is back in full swing. I wish the heat left with my sanity and semi-clean house. These are some of the main happenings from our week...

Tate and Bradan came home from KY on July 30. They started school on the 31st, and just finished up their first full week.

Jace finally slept in his own bed in the room he shares with Addison. We are still adjusting to keeping them in the same room and asleep at the same time.

Bradan had his first cub scout den meeting. He was super excited and will be earning his Bobcat at this month's pack meeting.

Nathan and Tate went to the Phoenix Zoo with their scout den.

Bradan went shopping with Grandma and Grandpa for his scriptures and CTR ring. Turning 8 has some serious bonuses.

Grandma and Grandpa brought pizza over for dinner and spent some time visiting with us.

Jon and I got to attend Ward Temple night together, for the first time in months.

I got to go to the cannery and help can spaghetti sauce.

HALF-WAY!!!

2008-08-05T11:23:00.008-07:00

Yesterday, Jon finished up his last final for his second block of the RN program. So that means he is HALF-WAY done! He has worked really hard and put in a lot of long hours studying. We appreciate the sacrafices he makes for our family and are very proud of him. 2 down 2 to go!

Bradan is 8!

2008-08-02T11:11:00.006-07:00

I can't believe that Bradan is 8! It seems like yesterday that I was waddling my big, pregnant rear end around the block, praying that "tonight" would be the night. At about 34 weeks my dr. examined me and told me I was dilated to a 3. Holy cow! With Tate I hadn't dilated at all until the day he was born. This kid must be coming any day. I was in the YW presidency at the time and was scheduled to go to girl's camp, at the end of June. It wasn't far from home and I was tough so I decided to go ahead and go. Maybe it would put me into labor. No such luck! I made it the whole week-sleeping on a cot and using an outhouse. I came home and began my nightly walks hoping to encourage the process-with no luck. My due date was July 14th and no baby, July 16th was a full moon-that would be the night-still no baby. Finally on July 17th I went into labor about 11:30pm. We drove to the hospital and by the time we got there I could barely walk. I had not had an epidural with Tate and I had no intention of doing that again, but just my luck I was too close to delivering. No epidural-AGAIN! Needless to say, I was not happy. Bradan was born at 2:50am on Tuesday July 18, 2000. He weighed 8lbs. and 14oz. What a cow! He wanted me to know who was in control and that he would come when he was good and ready. He still likes to torture me on a regular basis, but I love him anyway.

8 GREAT things about Bradan

1. He is very artistic. He loves to draw and write stories he has made up.

2. He is pretty carefree, which I am so jealous of. He didn't inherit my anxiety. His main concern is when he is going to get to eat.

3. He LOVES lasagna! He always tells me that I am a good cook.

4. He does a great job with homework.(most of the time)

5. He loves to build things with Legos.

6. He loves his friends.

7. He is a big sports fan. (Most of the time rooting for the opposite team as Jon)

8. He is a super cool kid and we all love him very much!
My sweet little baby, just a few days old.

Always into some kind of trouble

Bradan decided he was a cowboy at the age of 2.

He loved horses and anything to do with the wild west.

He would watch the old black and white, John Wayne cowboy

movies. And knew all about the old west outlaws.

Summer Fun

2008-07-16T10:29:00.004-07:00

With Tate and Bradan in KY visiting their dad, our summer's around the Jarvis home are always relatively quiet. It is a nice time for Jon and Nathan to hang out and spend some quality time together. This year they went camping up on the Rim. They reported some nice bonding time and pretty weather. It looked like so much fun that I want to take the whole family when everyone is home.

Binky Babies

2008-07-16T10:18:00.003-07:00

A couple of weeks ago we got Jace a "big boy" carseat. He was so ready to be able to sit up and see what was going on. I love this age when they start doing all kinds of new stuff and everything is a big deal. So here are my big kids-Addison with all of her paraphernalia-binky, bear, cup, and always shoes(which you can't see in the picture). She wears her flip flops 24-7, unless she is in bed. And the binky, she is too big and I know it. But I am too chicken to try to take it away. So for now I will just enjoy having 2 binky babies.

4th of July Fun

2008-07-08T22:18:00.008-07:00

Jon's brother Jim and his wife Sandra hosted their annual 4th of July bash. It is always loads of fun and this year was no exception. We celebrated with the short end of our crew. All the big boys were off partying with their other families. Jon, Addison, and Jace had fun swimming. I was a party-pooper and opted out. Jace has no fear of the water. He wants to dive right in and must be restrained constantly. Addison on the other hand is pretty nervous of just about anything-she takes after me. But she did pretty well and even shocked everyone and decided to be a little bit social, playing basketball with Uncle Jim, Colin, and Jereme. We ate some good food and had homemade ice cream. Yummy! Jon dreams about Sandra's homemade Oreo ice cream all year. It is his favorite! We stuffed ourselves until we could barely move. We all headed over to Banner Desert to watch some fireworks. Addison was a little afraid at first because the fireworks were "noisy", but she relaxed and enjoyed the show.

I am grateful for people like my older brother Preston, my good friend Christopher, and so many others who defend our freedoms and keep us safe. I feel blessed to live in a country where we are free. Happy Birthday America!

Blue Steel

2008-06-29T14:17:00.002-07:00

For those of you that have seen Zoolander, Jace is giving me his best "Blue Steel" look. For those of you that haven't, Don't. I am embarassed to say that Jon thinks it is hilarious. My little baby is 10 months old. He has graduated from Baby Jace to Bubba Jace. This is not a KY thing, I never called any of my brothers bubba, and I didn't know anyone that did. But somewhere along the way Jace became Bubba. I literally could not get him to hold still for 10 seconds so I could take a picture. He is busy, busy busy! This month Jace had his first haircut. Jon cut all of his pretty curls off while I was at the dentist. So now he only has a short little afro. After Tate and Bradan left for KY I moved Jace's port-a-crib into Bradan's room, from our room. We were going to test out the-it is time to go to bed-no more rocking you for 30 minutes-you are going to have to cry thing. And low and behold he has started sleeping all night. Who knew, that he just wanted a little privacy. This is a MAJOR accomplishment, as some nights he was getting up 2 or 3 times to eat. I am not sure what we are going to do when Tate and Bradan come home? Maybe the garage?

4 Years of Wedded Bliss

2008-06-27T10:58:00.012-07:00

Okay, here is the story...Jon and I met, he fell madly in love and begged me to marry him. I wasn't so sure, but then he promised he would tickle my back every single night of our lives. How could I pass that up? I would love to report that he kept his word on the back-tickling, but you know how it goes. To celebrate our 4 years of holy matrimony we were able to go away for a little break, thanks to my wonderful in-laws!!

We had a great time lounging by the pool, reading, watching movies, eating some yummy food, and lots of sleeping.

In 4 years, we have both grown, literally-we have both packed on a few pounds, spiritually-we have seen the hand of the Lord in our lives countless times and have felt his love for us, and emotionally-we are stronger together and continue to develop a bond that will last for eternity.

Called to Serve

2008-06-27T10:44:00.003-07:00

Our nephew, Jordan, recently received his mission call to Puebla, Mexico. Jordan is a super cool guy! We will miss him, but are so excited that he has chosen to go on a mission. We are very proud of him and know he will make an awesome missionary. I am thankful for his and Trevor's great examples. I hope that our boys will follow in their footsteps.

Happy Father's Day!

2008-06-19T11:44:00.012-07:00

One of the things I love most about Jon is that he is a great dad!He has gone from 1 kid to 5 kids in 4 years, and has handled it like a pro.

He is such a good stepdad to Tate and Bradan. He loves them and they love him.

He tries hard to teach our kids the gospel and to help them make good choices. He is an excellent example of service and hard work. He is always taking the older boys hometeaching with him or to help someone in need. He honors his priesthood and uses it in our home.

He works hard for our family and goes to school, so that I can be at home. He never complains and he always lets me know that the things I do are appreciated.

As soon as Jon walks in the door, Jace is at his feet. He LOVES his daddy! He loves for his daddy to rough him up. He laughs and laughs. Jon is by far his favorite. He can pick out matching outfits and bows for Addy Boo. He plays with her and always tells her how pretty she is. Jon is the big boys expert on music, movies, and sports. He makes paper airplanes, draws tanks and guns for Bradan, helps Tate and Nathan with their scout stuff and homework and answers those hard questions, that I would rather avoid.Even though Jon is busy with schoolwork, church callings, and work he always helps me out. He is usually the one that gets stuck doing the laundry.(And he is much better at it than I am) He gives baths, brushes hair, changes diapers, makes bottles, takes care of the yard and the garden, and anything else that needs to be done. I could leave him with the kids all day and he wouldn't complain or call me 100 times asking when I am coming home. I know that he loves all of our kids. He wants them to succeed and be happy. He prays for them and would help them any way that he could. I am grateful Heavenly Father has blessed our family with such a great dad! We love you!

It's Great to be 8!

2008-06-17T08:43:00.004-07:00

Or almost 8...Bradan has been so excited for his upcoming 8th birthday. He can't wait to be baptized! Because he always goes to Kentucky for the summer, he is never here on his actual birthday. So I told him that because it was such an important birthday we would have his party before he left for KY. He chose to have his party at Amazing Jake's. They rode go karts and bumper cars, climbed the rock wall, played laser tag, twisted and turned on the teacups, and played video games. It was a grand celebration!

The Party Animals

Nicholas, Bradan, Thomas, Nolan, Tate, Nathan, Joshua, Addison, and Casey

Our 2 Mr. Cleans

2008-06-12T21:42:00.004-07:00

A few weeks ago I realized that I was afraid to look in Tate and Nathan's room, much less enter it. We tell them to clean their room almost everyday. So they go up there and clear a square out of the middle of the floor, by piling everything on top of their desks, dressers, in their closets. Putting away clothes is another nightmare. Clothes are shoved everywhere and they can't ever find anything. So Jon and I put on some rubber gloves, grabbed some trash bags, and waded into the mess. With the boys help we got everything clean and organized, even their drawers and closet. Now why I am writing this, is to brag about what an awesome job they have done keeping it clean. They dust and vacuum regularly and are even putting their clothes in the right drawers. It is a miracle. I am super proud of them! Keep up the good work, guys!

Teething is TERRIBLE

2008-06-08T21:37:00.004-07:00

At the present, Jace has four teeth-his two top teeth and two on the bottom. Each was a hard fought battle, that usually waged in the middle of night. He has the hardest time. He doesn't sleep or eat well. His nose drains enough snot daily, to fill a bathtub. He cries and cries and wants to be held constantly. It is rough on everyone. Now we have discovered two more top teeth trying to break their way through. It has been a rough few weeks, with little sleep and an unhappy baby. But for the last few days he seems to be feeling better and has only woke up once at night to eat. We cherish those days, and pray that next time the teething won't be so terrible.

Addison's First Haircut

2008-06-08T21:26:00.003-07:00

I took Tate and Bradan to get their haircut on Friday. I decided I would see if Addison would let them cut hers. I was not expecting it to actually happen. She acts like I am touching her with a hot iron when I just try and brush her hair. But to my complete surprise she actually sat up in the chair like a total big girl. I of course forgot my camera, so I didn't get any action shots. These are the after pictures. I was so proud of her. I can't believe how big she is getting. She is finally, talking up a storm. She loves the Disney princesses right now. She wants to watch Cinderella at least 5 times a day. It was cute at first, but now it is driving me crazy. She has a princess pillow and blanket that she loves. She has us convinced that she is the sweetest, smartest, cutest little girl in the world.

Beans, Beans Good for your heart...

2008-06-08T21:07:00.003-07:00

These are the fruits of Jon's labor, in our garden. Our very first harvest, consisted of these 5 Contender Bush beans. Jon was very excited that he succeeded in growing something and we were all very proud. Addison ate almost all of them herself, raw. I tasted one. It tasted like mowed grass, or exactly like mowed grass smells. Pretty nasty. I am sure they will taste better cooked.

Just Peachy

2008-06-05T09:00:00.001-07:00

We have been trying hard to get our food storage built up, so when Jon's cousin Brooke called and said she had some free peaches, I felt like I should try and do something domestic and make some jam. I haven't ever done anything like this before, so I spent almost the whole day (in between taking care of kids) peeling and cutting up peaches. I learned later that I could have just put them in a steam bath and the peeling would have just fallen off. I guess some good info for next time, if I ever do this again. It was kind of a pain, because I didn't know what I was doing. But it all set up and all my jars sealed. Not bad for a first-timer.

Cooper-The Beast

2008-05-28T20:52:00.000-07:00

This is my mom's dog, yes it is a dog, not a horse. His name is Cooper. He is HUGE! Check out his head's size in comparison to Jace's head-which is pretty large itself. These pictures aren't very good, but I had to give Cooper his own post. He was a really sweet dog. He is obsessed with my mom. He follows her around 24-7. When she is not home he waits by the door, for her return. He is very smart. He does lots of tricks and usually listens when you tell him to do something. He loved to give the babies kisses, which is nasty. They loved him and were not afraid at all. I was afraid he might crush them accidentally, but everyone survived.

Memorial Day

2008-05-28T20:38:00.000-07:00

We took the kids and a couple of friends to Makutus Island, on Memorial Day. It was so cool, and the best part was there was stuff for all the kids to do-from Jace on up. It is hard to find something that makes everyone happy. The older boys ran wild and climbed all over the place. Some of those tunnels are pretty high up there. Addison loved the aquarium. She watched and watched the fish swim around. They had an area where Jace could climb around on these multi-shaped mats. We had such a good time! We ate some pizza, played some games, and all the boys got shell necklaces with their tickets. They were happy! That evening we went to a BBQ at some friends in our ward. The food was delicious. Joanna made homemade bread, that was awesome. It was fun day!

More May Madness!!

2008-05-28T12:31:00.000-07:00

Tate, Bradan, and I went to see the new Narnia movie the night it opened, May 16. The boys thought it was awesome. On Saturday, I took Tate to the urgent care in the morning. He started feeling bad and running a fever after the movie, Friday night. He had strep throat. Fun stuff! He insisted he wanted to go to Jon's work picnic that afternoon. Because it was outside and he wouldn't be around anyone I let him go. It was held at the Pinal County Fairgrounds. There was bounce houses, a huge water slide, lots of games and food it was a good time. Until... Tate barfed everywhere while waiting in line for a crazy balloon hat. Then I picked up Jace because he was screaming, and his shorts were covered in poop. Now the fun was really getting started. Jon and I took turns trying to carry Jace, without getting slimed, while listening to Tate and Bradan gripe because we had to leave. Hello?? I will never understand a kid's rationale. I guess it was my fault for letting him go in the first place.

Sunday we went over to Jim's so that all the men could ordain Jordan an elder and give Jon's dad a blessing, he was having surgery on Monday, to remove a tumor from his kidney. We had a good time visiting with everyone and eating some yummy BBQ chicken and potato salad. We are very proud of Jordan and can't wait to see where he will be serving his mission. Jon's dad's surgery went well. He came home from the hospital on Friday. We are praying for his full and speedy recovery. We feel very lucky to have him in our lives. He is such a loving, kind person. He makes everyone feel special and important.

On Thursday the 22nd Jon and I took all the boys-Nathan, Tate, Bradan, Trevor, and Jordan-to see Indiana Jones. Jon's mom and sister Jenifer watched the babies. I think everyone agreed that the first 3 movies were better than the 4th. After the movie it was pouring down rain and pretty chilly, for Arizona. I thought it was great to actually have some weather. It was a nice blessing before the scorching, summer heat.

Father and Sons

2008-05-28T12:05:00.000-07:00

We got back from KY on Thursday night. Friday was school, work, and Fathers and sons campout. The boys really look forward to this all year. They seemed to have a pretty calm trip-no ER trips, poop accidents, or psychotic breakdowns-that I heard about anyway. They took Uncle Gary along to chaperone. And they did have an airsoft war with some of the men in our ward. They have been plotting next year's revenge since they got home. I am so excited, because next year Jace will be old enough to go. Addison and I can have an official girl's night.

Home Sweet Home

2008-05-28T11:48:00.000-07:00

May has been such a busy month! I feel like I haven't had time to breath, much less clean my house, blog or anything else. Jon finished his first block of the RN program at the end of April. WooHoo! One down, three to go. I can't wait! I am sure he can't either, as he is the one that has to do all the work. He had a week break from school, so we went to Kentucky to visit my family. I was so excited, because I haven't been home in a year and a half. It was a good trip. Literally, every time I fly it feels like a complete and total miracle when we land safely on the ground. I feel like I am lucky to be alive. But I wanted to see my family and we did, we saw everyone. It was great! All my brothers and sisters, all my grandmothers, my parents, and lots of friends. We were fed so much yummy food! It was so good to see everyone! It made me more homesick than ever. Addison and Jace had a hard time being away from home, and Jace had the runs almost the whole time we were there. That was a total mess! My mom and gran took good care of us. I am thankful for my family. And wish I could see them more often. My brother Jared has a hot air balloon. He took Jon for a ride, I was too chicken. Airplane and hot air balloon in the same week, I don't think so. Jon loved it and we got some neat pictures.

8 Months!!

2008-04-28T20:52:00.000-07:00

Jace is 8 months old! He is just so stinkin cute I can hardly stand it! He is a wild man, but I love him anyway. Tonight when I gave him a bath I let him play a little. Usually I just put him in, scrub him off, and get him out. He loved playing in the water. I could only keep an inch or two in the bath because he tries to drown himself if there is more. He was flipping and flopping all over the tub, pulling himself up to look over the edge, and sticking his head completely under the running water. I feel so blessed to have him in our family!