Everything That Really Matters...

October 2010

2011-02-01T21:58:00.001-08:00

We are starting at the end of October and working towards of the beginning here.

This is the Rath family at the ward Halloween party.

Mommy the hippie chick with her cute little farmer baby.

The cutest Nerd EVER!!!!

And a very scary headless horseman.

Carter and his buddy Braeden at their Halloween performance at school.

Anderson after the program, I'm not sure he was too impressed with the show. I don't know why he wouldn't be though cause it was a great performance.

My boys carving pumpkins!

Porter takes his work quite seriously.

Carter did a great job of scooping all the gunk out of the pumpkin.

We celebrated Anderson's FIRST birthday!!!!

(While he ate his weight in cake.)

It was finally his turn to be sung to on Sunday by the whole entire family!!!

(yes, I know the 1 is backwards)

Anderson with his cousin Morgie!! He loves her.

Daddy and Anderson just crawling around together.

We enjoyed some time at the pumpkin patch.

This is the cutest little pumpkin I saw while we were there!

He even waved to me. =)

The Rath Family

Anderson didn't really understand why I put him in the middle of all those pumpkins.

Porter trying to see how tall Anderson is.

Carter is definitely getting bigger.

I love all my pumpkins!!!

September 2010

2011-02-01T21:37:00.001-08:00

First of all, I came to my senses and finally taught Porter and Carter how to clean the bathroom.

Yep, it will take years to perfect I'm sure.

Anderson is getting bigger and bigger and is still teething all the time.

I just don't remember Porter and Carter being nearly as drooly.

He also has a great arm. So think fast if he ever throws a ball to you!

Sometimes we are so tired at night we fall asleep before our feet ever get off the ground.

Carter and Anderson got matching jammies and Carter LOVES them!

We went camping and this is a picture of Porter, Kyle and Carter hanging out and playing cards.

Anderson and Sam really enjoyed the night they spent together camping at home!!

Let me explain this camping trip a little. First of all, on the way to the campground the transmission on the van blew again and my dad went and rescued the boys and once they transferred everything to my dad's car they were on their way again. My dad came back to town with the van and the tow truck. Have I ever mentioned how wonderful my dad is???

Then the next day the girls and Anderson joined the boys and we had a good time until Anderson went to bed. He cried and cried until Sam finally decided to take him home for the night. I am not really sure when we will ever decide to take Anderson camping again.

August 2010

2011-02-01T21:14:00.000-08:00

So much has happened in August for us!!

Carter turned five--definitely a big deal.

He asked me if there was really such a thing as banana splits and when I told him they were real he asked if he could have them for his birthday dessert.

Anderson is pulling himself up to get a good view of Carter while he opens his presents.

Can you tell how excited Carter was to get MarioKart for the wii? Soooo excited!

Anderson is still working on those teeth. Man, this guys does a lot of teething for so few teeth!

School started!!! Porter and Carter were both new to Vintage Hills this year but luck for them they have cousins who have been there for a while and have showed them the ropes!

Amelia and Anderson are very excited for when they start school too!

Carter on his first day of kindergarten with Mrs. Shorack.

Porter on his first day of First Grade with Mrs. Herington.

Anderson on his first day of texting??

Oh, this I loved!! The boys put Porter's underwear on Anderson and then

told me that he is fun to "dress-up"!! I thought this was so hilarious.

We spent the day with the Cruz's in LA and Porter and Carter sat and ate ice cream in Exposition Park.

We also saw a new addition to the family! Brandi had a baby girl named Maddison Lily.

Porter loved getting the chance to hold her!!

It makes me so happy that he loved babies as much as he does.

July 2010

2011-02-01T21:08:00.001-08:00

Anderson with big smiles poolside!

Porter and Carter getting the hang of swimming.

They are doing a great job especially without any lessons.

I love watching these guys as they learn new things and get bigger and better at all that they do.

June 2010

2011-02-01T20:28:00.000-08:00

Anderson is getting bigger and cuter!

"Good Times"--Porter Rath

We went to Porter's class and heard him read some of his work from the school year.

This is a picture of Porter with the church friends he had in his class.

Porter showing us his Kindergarten book. He did such a great job all year long and my favorite thing about reading all his stories was that everything was always "vantastik"!

Sam and the boys found a snake in the backyard which always makes for an exciting day!

Carter with Ms. Michelle at his Pre-K graduation. His award this year was the

"A+ Behavior Award" and we couldn't be more pleased with him!!

A little bit of hiking up at Santa Rosa Plateau.

Porter and Carter love to hang out in these uniforms during the day, just for fun.

All of Anderson's outfits have been taking on this "soaked through" look from all the teething he has been doing lately.

Oh, and this is me showing off my wonderful ability to multi-task!

How else am I supposed to get my facebook time in??

May 2010

2011-02-01T17:20:00.000-08:00

We went with our ward to the Storm game and had a great time!!

Everyone took turns holding Anderson but his favorite thing to do during the game was to suck on the strings of my jacket!

Carter does a great job getting Anderson to sleep, what a great big brother!!

Sam and the boys do a good job of getting one another to sleep as well. Am I the only one not sleeping in this post?

Carter is dying for next year's baseball season to start and loves to wear Porter's uniform!

April 2010

2010-05-16T22:58:00.000-07:00

A few more things to add....

In April, Porter was made Royal of the Week at school. He was happy to be honored at the Friday Flag Ceremony and receive his Crowne Hill Royal pencil!

As part of being the Royal of the Week he got to bring home Chester the Raccoon. He had to write in a journal about all the fun stuff he and Chester did over the weekend. This was a picture I took of the boys watching television with the Raccoon.

Sam planted a garden!!!!!

Oh, and I made some really cute signs to go in it!! =)

It is amazing how well it is doing in such a short amount of time. I love to see how excited Sam gets about it and on Sunday when everyone comes for dinner, he likes to show off his garden.

Carter and Anderson hanging out together. Anderson loves to be with his big brothers and man oh man, do they make him laugh!!

Porter and Carter had their first piano recitals and did such great jobs!! Porter played "Old MacDonald" and Carter played "Mary Had a Little Lamb".

Truth be told, i'm not so sure Sam really wanted to boys to take lessons, but after their recital he was so proud of them for going up there and performing after only a month and a half of lessons.

It was really sweet to see how proud Sam was of both of them, so I think that means they get to keep it up. Thanks Briar, you are doing such a great job teaching them!!

Spring Is In the Air

2010-05-16T22:14:00.000-07:00

Blogger isn't letting me move the pictures around so this isn't going to be in chronological order.

Porter is playing baseball for the first time ever and absolutely loves it! Occasionally he gets to play his cousins Kyle and Joseph. Here is a cute picture I got of him and Kyle after a game that they played against each other.

Since we moved into my parents house I have been walking with Heather every morning. Tuesday and Thursday I have Carter with me cause he doesn't have Pre-K those days. This particular morning the walk started with Anderson asleep and Carter awake but ended in the complete opposite. Honestly, I think Anderson likes the company!

What is that big smile for you ask??? It's only because Carter was sooooo very excited to get the SIX shots he needed for his kindergarten registration. I honestly have no idea why he needed so many shots but he took 'em all like the little man he is.

We enjoyed a wonderful Easter/Conference Sunday with the family. Here are all the grandkids after they collected a ton of candy...how else were we supposed to get them all to smile!

Here is Anderson on his first Easter.

Porter looking for candy in the grass.

Carter taking a break from hunting so I can get a picture!

Anderson got his first taste of rice cereal. Don't worry that look is only because he was so sad when it was all gone!!

Porter and Carter started taking piano lessons from their cousin Briar. They are absolutely loving it and you wouldn't believe how often they are fighting to see who gets to practice. Okay, I'm kinda lying about that!

Dad, rejoicing over making it to another birthday!!

I'm only kidding but he might say he isn't. =)

We also went to the temple for his birthday as we do every year and it was my first time since having had Anderson. I was so happy!!!

Porter, Carter, and Kyle sporting mohawks!!!

Our third Baltimore night. I think we had crab cakes and shrimp louis salads.

A picture of a carrot that the boys found in the backyard before we moved. About a year previous, while I was napping, they dug one big hole and dumped like five different seed packets in there and this is what we had to show for their labors.

Megan and Kory at our second Baltimore night.

On the menu: Philly cheesesteaks, collard greens, shrimp salad, and gravy fries.

So this is a brief synopsis from the end of February thru the beginning of April,

which was very busy but full of lots of fun.

Valentine's 2010

2010-02-15T18:30:00.000-08:00

Saturday night we went to dinner with our friends the Roberts but before dinner I gave Sam his Valentine present...a candy bouquet!

One of my favorite things about Valentine's Day is that it is also my nephew Aaron's birthday! Since he is up at BYU he couldn't make it to Grandma and Grandpa's for his birthday dinner so we hung up the poster (which was of him) advertising his most recent dance performance! Aaron, I hope you enjoyed your dinner cause I know that the rest of us did!

Sometime during the evening Porter got a hold of my camera and took a bunch of pictures of everyone! I love it cause he really is starting to become quite the photographer!

This is a picture of all his cousins hanging out in the kids room.

Briar and Leslie (his favorite Valentine's I'm sure!)

Michael and his friend Chloe

Deana and Dave

Heather and Amelia (poor Amelia wasn't feeling the love cause she was sick)

Greg and Charla (a little blurry but still cute)

Kevin and Marybel

Grandma and Grandpa (who just celebrated their anniversary on the 12th--28 years)

Me & Sam (there is a kissing picture but I didn't want to use that one)

I took one of Porter and Anderson together

We moved "Aaron" into the kitchen and sang happy birthday to him!! We even lit a candle. I hope your wish came true Aaron! After cake we played some games including the Newleywed Game which the Morgan's and Shreenan's tied for first in. It really turned out to be a great Valentine's Day! My favorite part was when my niece Chloe was eating a cupcake and said "This is the best Valentine's Day of my life!"

A New Family Tradition

2010-02-09T22:21:00.000-08:00

So a few weeks ago Sam started having a little craving for something back from his mission--

UTZ Crab Flavored potato chips.

He went on-line and decided to order some, just a few!

He ordered a few other flavors but most of the bags were of "The Crab Chip" which aren't really crab flavored chips but are really "Old Bay" flavored chips that Sam grew a major liking of while he served in the Maryland Baltimore Mission.

Well this "Crab Chip" hype led to another one of Sam's bright ideas which was to start having Baltimore Night where he or we would try to recreate some of his favorite meals from his mission. Our first Baltimore Night dinner included homemade fried chicken, macaroni and cheese and collard greens. For the record, I made the greens and they were really good.

Our friends the Beaches joined us for our first Baltimore Night and I think they were pretty impressed with Sam's fried chicken. We went through almost a whole entire bottle of "Crystal" hot sauce to go along with all the chicken wings. It was really fun and the boys absolutely love the idea of a regular occurence of our newest family tradition!

What We're Watching

2010-02-02T12:57:00.000-08:00

Lately I have been enjoying the fact that Porter and Carter are growing up and share some of the same interests in television watching as I do. What I enjoy most about it is that we can spend a little bit of down time together while doing something we all like.

One of the shows we have all enjoyed watching is American Idol. I know that Carter loves the comic relief it provides with all the crazy people they show trying out. He has even made comments a few times about the really bad contestants saying "They don't really think they are good, right mom? They're just trying to be funny." To which I reply "I don't know Carter, sometimes I just don't know what those people think!"

Well the best was the other day we were watching and Porter said "You know the guy who has hair like mine?" I said "Are you talking about Simon?" He said "Ya, him. Well you know he's actually kinda pathetic really?" Laughing at his comment I ask why he thinks he's pathetic and Porter replies "Well he just doesn't ever think that anyone is good enough and you can't just think that about everyone!"

Another show that Porter and I really have fun watching together is America's Next Best Dance Crew! He thinks it is really cool when performers do flips and all the other cool tricks they do. It's the best when he tries to get all acrobatic and flips around the room while he watches it.

The last thing I wanted to add is that Carter is really getting into watching the old Batman movie. He asked me to record it one day while it was on and I've turned it on for him quite a few times since. I watch it with him, not really seeing the appeal, and ask if he really likes it. He doesn't just like it...he loves it! It cracks me up the way they take to certain things.

I Just Don't Get It

2010-01-26T11:21:00.000-08:00

Carter ate this cookie and left it sitting on the table. I asked if he was going to finish it and he said "No--I don't like the crust."

He did the same thing with his bagel that same morning.

Hail?!!??!! What?!!?!?

2010-01-25T20:28:00.000-08:00

So, we are all well aware of how crazy the weather was here in socal last week with all the flooding, hail, and tornado warnings but here is just a little idea of what we got out of it!

Yep, that right there in Sam's hand is a hail snowball!

I took the boys to the doctor on Friday and on our way out to the car it started hailing....big time! I was shocked to see that the hail was sticking to the ground and was amazed at the winter wonderland that was left as a result. I wish we could upload the picture that Sam took of our putting green in the backyard cause he said it was covered in hail and from the looks of the picture you can't see a bit of green through all the white.

For all you out there who live in the snow, this post is not for you, but for the Rath family, all this torrential weather offered a bit of excitement!

Our Little Giggler

2010-01-23T17:49:00.000-08:00

So last night Grandpa Ken was playing peek-a-boo with Anderson and it sent him into a giggling fit. We got it towards the end and you could tell he was actually getting a little tired from laughing so much. It cracks me up to see how stone cold his face would get inbetween giggles.

How We're Surviving the Rain

2010-01-21T19:36:00.001-08:00

So not only have we been stuck inside with all the rain, but Carter hasn't been out of the house since Tuesday because he has been sick with a cold and a little fever that comes and goes.

The boys got a hold of my camera while I was making dinner tonight so I thought I would use the pics to explain how we're surviving being "shut-ins".

Porter and Carter take very good care of Anderson. Although it has been absolute torture trying to keep Carter and all his coughing away from the baby all week long.

Thank goodness for cool little toys like this that keep Anderson entertained while Porter and Carter are doing other things. But can I tell you how sick I am of hearing Old MacDonald over and over again?

When he isn't busy asking me when Porter will be home from school, Carter has had a lot of time to play with Legos. I think he would be smiling if he didn't feel so crummy!

And this. This is a picture I took. Porter and Carter have been getting a ton of wii time. It probably is a bad thing but at this point i'm just not sure I really care. This wii gives me a great break in the day...that is when they aren't yelling and screaming at eachother while they play it.

Mother & Son Rockstar Night

2010-01-14T23:49:00.001-08:00

Tonight we went to Mother & Son Rockstar Night at CHES. It was so much fun to see how excited Porter was to go. I'm not quite sure his excitement was because he wanted to have a little date with me but I will just go ahead and pretend that was why anyway.

We ate some yummy dinner with all of our rockstar friends!
The rockstar moms posed for a picture!

Our sons were totally rocking the stage with their air guitars.

As we were walking on our way out to the car Porter looked up at me and

said "We Rock!"

I couldn't be more happy to be this little guy's mom.

Newborn Photo Shoot

2010-01-14T14:10:00.000-08:00

My friend Alisha Hammond said that she wanted to take newborn pics as a present and I was so excited cause she does such a great job. Here are some of the pics she took and I absolutely loved them!

Big Boy in the Bumbo

2010-01-14T14:08:00.000-08:00

Check out this cute little guy in his Bumbo! I can't believe he is already sitting in this thing. When Abby gave it to me a couple weeks ago I thought, oh it'll be a while before we use this and here we are using in two short weeks later. This little guy is growing way too fast for me. I love him a ton. All of us adore him and he is such a little blessing in our family.

Tummy Time!

2010-01-14T14:04:00.000-08:00

Last week we went to Anderson's two month check up to find out that Anderson is in the 98th percentile for his weight and the 74th percentile for his height. The doctor was very impressed with his size and said that he is doing very well, although we still have to go for a follow up ultrasound and urologist appointment for his kidney. He asked if I was giving him much "tummy time" and I admitted that I hadn't. He kinda chastised me for it so I went ahead and made sure that he got some when he got home. Porter and Carter decided to do it with him.

(I swear this is not staged and they really did do this on their own.)

Mommy's Little Helper

2010-01-14T13:52:00.000-08:00

So the year started off just like any other day for me...with lots of laundry. Luckily, I had this little cutie and the Twilight Zone marathon to keep me occupied through out this daunting task!

Happy New Year!!!

2010-01-14T13:50:00.001-08:00

So we rang in another new year at my parents house for their annual New Year's Eve party!

Carter couldn't get enough of the noisemakers! Porter barely made it to midnight. Anderson slept through the whole entire thing. Sam and I fell asleep at about 12:30 on my parents couch and so we all wound up spending the night even though we only live less than five minutes from my mom and dad's house.

I really do want to blog more often this year. I love people who blog 365 days a year. I wish I could commit to doing something like that but i'm just not even going to try. I will try to post on a more regular basis so I can keep better track of the "Goings on" of the Rath family.

HAPPY NEW YEAR to all of our family and friends--here's to blogging!

Christmas 2009

2010-01-14T13:37:00.001-08:00

Christmas Eve day we went to Lakewood to celebrate Christmas with Sam's family. I love this picture with Grandma Sherri with all her grandsons!

Then we were back in Temecula that evening to celebrate with my family .

Sam and the boys--picture perfect!

Christmas morning--Me, Porter and Anderson sleeping...

....while Carter is patiently waiting.

And finally the moment they had waited so long for....their present from Santa.

A wii!!!! They were so excited!

That morning after opening presents we had my parents over for breakfast. Then we enjoyed our presents a little longer and finally made our way back to Grandma and Grandpa Morgan's house to have some for fun with the family.

This Christmas was a wonderful time for our little family this year.

Carter's Christmas Program & Porter's Polar Express

2010-01-14T11:43:00.001-08:00

Every year the kindergarten classes at the elementary school put on a Polar Express program. The kids are all asked to make a Polar Express train and then they wear their pajamas to school and parade around. Well with having Carter and Anderson, Porter and the train I managed to forget the camera so thank goodness we had taken these pictures the night before when Porter was taking his train for a test drive.

Hopefully I will get some cuter pictures to post with this from friends.

I really think Sam did a great job on making Porter's train.

So, on to the Christmas program at Ms. Michelle's. Do you see someone missing from the lineup? Yep, it's Carter because he was sitting right next to me.

I was finally able to get him up there because I told him that if he didn't do everything he needed to do in Pre-K then he wouldn't be able to go on to Kindergarten next year! Luckily he made it up there just in time for the last song.

Carter and Owen.

Bathtime with Anderson

2010-01-14T11:27:00.001-08:00

These are bath pics with Anderson at almost two months. It is amazing to see what a chub he is because Porter and Carter were both skinny little babies.

I love the cute little fat roll over his belly.

Carter and Anderson hanging out after bathtime. Love this picture of those two!

Creche Festival

2010-01-14T10:51:00.000-08:00

We were asked to helpout with the stake Creche Festival again this year just as we had been when Carter was a little baby. My first instinct is to decline just because it is so emotional to be in that setting, admiring my precious little newborn son, while thinking what a blessing Christ's birth is in all our lives. I choke back the tears and realize what a great opportunity it is. Our friend Debbie Robinson from the Palos Verdes Stake, who has recently moved to Temecula, was in charge of the nativity room and so she took these pictures of us.

Anderson loved staring at the star that was shining above his head and he also enjoyed the soloist behind the backdrop singing "Silent Night".

It was so wonderful admiring our sleeping baby while thinking about the baby Jesus.

Anderson did get a little fussy about halfway through our time in there and Sam did a wonderful job getting him to sleep and we were finally able to put him in the manger. Such a little sweetie!

Anderson's Blessing

2010-01-14T10:42:00.000-08:00

The first Sunday in December Sam blessed Anderson in our Sacrament Meeting at church.

It was such a wonderful blessing and both Sam and I bore our testimonies afterward. A wonderful day that I will be sure to always remember.

The family all came over afterward for a little breakfast.

What a great day to share with our family!

Jeff, Dave, and Marybel

Kevin hanging out with the Turleys

Kim, Kelly, Robert and Mom

Aunt Laurel and Aunt Amber holding baby Anderson

The Rath Family

Dad and Deana

Sam's dad and sisters

Abby, Leslie, and Michael

Thankful in November

2010-01-14T10:34:00.001-08:00

PORTER'S 6th BIRTHDAY

Porter wanted a picture of Anderson on his birthday. My big six year old with my little 1 month old.

Porter and Carter getting ready to blow out the candles on Porter's cake. Yes, Carter insisted on helping. What are little brothers for, right?

Anderson and Mommy wishing Porter-boy a happy sixth birthday!

Porter had been planning his birthday party for quite a while and wanted Sam to take him and his friends fishing. They went to a fishing hole in Murrieta with a few of his friends and cousins. Almost everyone caught a fish and I think they all loved it! Porter has been begging Sam for another fishing trip ever since.

THANKSGIVING

So thankful for all my blessings--especially these three!

Our little turkey...or should I say our little butterball cause he is so chubby!

The adult table

The kid's table

October Was a Bundle of Fun

2009-12-29T12:57:00.000-08:00

The night before we had Anderson we went to the pumpkin patch with the boys. Here I am almost a week overdue! It is amazing how those last few weeks I think I felt the best that I had my whole my pregnancy.

The follwong day I went to see Dr. Bielman and was hoping to hear that I was in progress. When she checked me I was at 2 1/2 cm. I said I was really hoping I was atleast at a 3 and then she stripped my membranes and she said now you are!! I went home and about 1 hour after my appt I lost my plug. Then I was upstairs in the boys room making sure all their clothes were packed because I was supposed to go in that night to be induced and my water broke. I told Sam and he said let's go now! I asked if I could finish packing up the boys bag and he said "No, we are leaving now." We were in the car and out the driveway less than five minutes after my water broke and making hurried calls to find places for the boys to go. We made it to Rancho Springs about a half hour later (12:30 pm) and the waiting game began...

When we got to the admitting desk the sweet old lady there said to sit down and fill out a packet of papers. Keep in mind that even though I had a really nice initial gush of water I was still getting smaller gushes trickling down my leg and I gave Sam a look and he said "Can't I take care of this while you take her back to Labor and Delivery?"

Once we got outside the doors she told me to have a seat on a bench while she went in to let them know I was out there waiting. Did you know that when your water actually breaks your contractions tend to come on A LOT stronger? Well I didn't know that before this experience and my contractions were coming on harder and stronger pretty quick. The sweet old woman came out and said that they didn't have any room for me but to sit and wait and someone would come out in a few minutes to talk to me.

So I sat and waited, labored, and cried by myself for about twenty minutes when Sam finally got back there. He was really frustrated seeing me sitting there and asked what was going on. We sat there together and waited for a nurse to come out. Around 1:15 someone finally did and then she said she would let us know when there was a room available. Apparently they're in no hurry because labor takes a while but what we didn't get a chance to tell them is that I usually go from about a 3 to a 9 or 10 in less than an hour. Atleast that was my experience with Porter and Carter but they also like to tell you that every labor is different so we didn't think they would really care to know that.

At about 2 they got me back into a really tiny triage room where they checked me and I was only at a six. They asked if I wanted an epidural, and I said yes even though I had debated the whole pregnancy whether or not I would try it without. The anesthesiologist got there and I had a real hard contraction and she made them check me again. I was at a seven and my labor and delivery room was ready and they wheeled me just across the hall where I said that I couldn't stay still for the epidural. They checked again and I was at an 8 and it was 3 o'clock. She said she could still give me the epidural and I told here there was no way I would be able to hold still for it at that point. All I wanted to do was PUSH!!!! My nurse told me not to so when I had a contraction I tried really hard to breathe through it. Through one it would work and then through the next I would start with every intention of breathing through it and then I would give out a push. I apologized every time I pushed and promised I would breath through the next one. My nurse was laughing at me and telling me not to apologize. I asked why I couldn't start pushing and she said because I wasn't fully effaced yet. Then the next contraction came and I said "I have to push I have to push" she said that I could and I asked if she was sure and she said yes and then I asked why it was okay to push. She was laughing again and was probably thinking "I'm letting you push like you wanted and now you don't want to?"

Anyway, I was finally able to start pushing, my doctor got there and a after a few pushes and three contractions Anderson Levi Rath was born at 3:31 on October 23rd weighing 7.95 ounces and 20 1/2 inches long. When he came out the cord was wrapped twice around his neck and it was amazing to see how quickly she unwrapped that cord with her one hand while holding him in the other. Boy, you could tell she had delivered a baby or two.

As soon as he was out I pronounced quite earnestly my sincere love for my newborn son. "I love you Anderson, I love you so much baby" were my exact words and Deana commented on that later. I said "oh that was a Anderson I love you so much thank you for getting out when you did cause I don't know how much longer I could've handled the pain 'I love you'".

Deana was there with us during the delivery. She had been with us during Carter's as well and Sam seemed to have found her being there a great relief. While we were laboring in the hallway I could tell he was getting pretty frustrated and he said "Is Deana gonna be here, I think we need to call her now so she can be here too." So thanks Deana, you're a great help!

Grandma and Grandpa Morgan came to visit and so did cousin Michael.

The next day Charla brought Porter and Carter to see their new little brother. It was love at first sight for sure! Grandpa Ken also stopped by to see his newest little grandson.

HALLOWEEN TIME--

Carter with his Pre-K class during the Halloween program.

Halloween night and our sleepy little ghost baby.

Porter the UFC Fighter (upon his own insistence), Carter the Frilled Lizard, and Anderson.

The boys with "Charles".

A Little Bit of This & A Little Bit of That

2009-10-20T21:45:00.001-07:00

I really wanted to catch up on blogging before I have the baby so here goes:

October started off with Conference weekend which is my absolute favorite. Of course on Sunday we spent the whole day at my parents house with the whole family. At some point in the day Carter found this spider and was so excited to show it to everyone.

I love that Porter is holding Carter's hand out as if he is helping him handle it better because the only one of the kids willing to even touch it was Carter! Sam was very proud of his little boy.

The following weekend was the annual Morgan Family Campout. Porter and Carter were so excited to go that they wore themselves out before we even got there.

I was not very good about taking pictures while we were there. Saturday was spent at the beach by most everyone but Sam didn't want me walking down there in case I went into labor so I hung out with my parents, the Erickson's, Kim, Heather and Abby. The boys fished while they were down at the beach and actually caught a few fish. It was the highlight of the whole weekend and I totally missed out!

These pictures were taken Saturday night while we were all hanging out around the campfire.

The battery was about to die so that is why they are so blurry but something is better than nothing right?? Well, maybe.

Now here are just a few random pictures that I thought I would post since they were on the camera. Yes, the boys got a hold of my camera again but there were quite a few pictures this time that were way too inappropriate to post. Trust me, you don't even want to know.
Luckily there were a few cute ones that are safe enough to share.

Carter, self-portrait taken upside down. I love those lips!!!

Carter again...dressed up as a gangster pirate, I guess!

Porter as a cowboy...a really excited cowboy!!

Well, our next post should be in a few days and will have pictures of our newest little Rath.
We are so excited to add another son to our little crew and
I can't wait to share pictures with everyone.

A Baby Shower Brunch With My Family

2009-09-27T15:48:00.000-07:00

My wonderful niece Abby planned an awesome brunch for me with the family. It was so fun to get together with my mom, sisters, sister-in-law and mother-in-law!

They all were so wonderful to be there to show their love and support.

Marybel, Mom, Me, Charla and Morgan
Deana, Me and Abby

Me, Amber, Memphis and Sherri

For those of you who have been wanting to see a nice fat pregnant pic of me...there you go!

(Amber -- I should've listened to you and stood in the middle)

Butterfield Stage Ward Baby Shower

2009-09-27T15:21:00.001-07:00

Can I tell you how lucky I am to be in my ward?? I have such great friends and they were kind enough to make sure that they all help me get ready for our upcoming arrival. My visiting teacher Emily Slusser hosted the shower at her home and Charla helped her along with lots of other people in the ward who brought yummy desserts and appetizers.

Visiting Teachers past and present: Tara Slusser and Emily Slusser!

Wonderful friends: Melanie Hilbig, Ann Armstrong & Luella Downs

Sisters: Me and Charla

Great friend and Porter's primary teacher: Ericka Morris

Great neighboors and carpool pals: Erin Ek and Janine Butters

A picture with Luella, who is also pregnant!

Not fair having to be pregnant at the

same time as this girl!!!

Aren't these girls the best?: Jessica Lay, Chantel Skidmore and Kristin Hughes

They just keep coming!: Brookie Fellars, Michelle Miles,

Kristen Beach, Emily Slusser and Heather Murphy

Still more...Jeanine Wulfenstein, Teresa Soles, and Karen Ji. Love these girls!!

Hanging out with Brenda Rojas...so much fun to talk to!

Stephanie Lucero and Naomi Yocum...great people!!

The whole gang!! I had such a great time and you guys really got me excited for this next baby!!

Thanks for being such great friends and for all your support.

My little fishermen

2009-09-27T14:54:00.000-07:00

A few months back I noticed a show that kept popping up on our DVR and I kept deleting it thinking that it was an obvious mistake. No sooner than I would delete it, there would be another episode of "Angling Edge" on the DVR. It took me a while to figure out that this show has become one of Porter's favorites.

Well to go along with this, a few weeks ago we had some friends visiting us and Sam thought it would be fun to go play around at the arcade. While we were there, Porter found this Bass Fishing game and was absolutely "hooked" and it didn't take long before Carter was right along there with him. We have even gone back since and all they played the whole time we were there was this fishing game that they both enjoy a ton!

For Porter's birthday he has planned a fishing party and can't wait to take a few of his friends and their dad's with them. It is all that he talks about and I know that he is picking up lots of tips while he is watching "Angling Edge".

Carter Starting Pre-K

2009-09-27T14:48:00.000-07:00

You know, last year when Porter was in pre-k it was very important that I make the distinction between that and preschool...now that Carter is in pre-k there is still no exception. I officially have no more preschoolers, atleast not for a few more years! =)

Carter has been so excited to start up school again and with the struggle that we have had to go throught with Porter, I am very thankful it has been so easy for Carter. He normally is the one I would worry about being away but all of a sudden he seems to be quite the big boy, not to mention that I think he is so very bored at home while Porter is at school that he is just thankful to have something of his own to look forward to.

Carter's 4th Birthday

2009-08-30T13:36:00.000-07:00

Good morning birthday boy!!!!
Smile it's your birthday and you are going to have a party!!

A waterslide party at Grandpa Morgan's house!!

You are going to invite all of your friends over to play and have pizza.

You get to open lots and lots of presents!!

And don't forget about decorating your own ice cream cone cupcake. Yummy!

You are all gonna have such a blast.

And it will all end at Sunday dinner when the whole family sings happy birthday to you!!

We love you Carter and hope that you had a wonderful 4th birthday.

Porter's First Day of Kindergarten

2009-08-30T12:01:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it but the day finally came for Porter to start Kindergarten!!

YAY!!! He was so happy to go to school that first morning.

Porter was definately looking very cool for school!

We got to stay in class with him for a little while and this is a picture of me putting

his name tag on him.

All the kids waving goodbye to their mom's and dad's.

Since this blog serves as a journal for our little family there are a few things that I want to include about Porter's first few weeks as a kindergartner.

The first day home from school, all day long he was saying "I can't believe I'm a kindergartner!" and "Can you believe I started kindergarten already?" It was so cute and I was so happy to see how excited he was to start school. Then the following morning when it was time to get ready for school he said that he wasn't feeling good, and I realized that he didn't really want to go. I convinced him that he should and did and he got out that day and everyday very excited about the days events and very happy to see us. He has struggled a little bit with having to leave and it has really been hard on my pregnant emotions.

One day last week Porter and I were talking and he asked if I had ever cried when I went to kindergarten. I told him that I did, that I cried a lot because I was very shy and didn't know how to talk to people very well. I told him that I knew that wasn't a problem for him, that he makes friends very easily. He told me that he worries while he is at school that we aren't going to pick him up. I then told him that while he is at school I think about him the whole time and wonder what he's doing. I assured him that when he is not with me I am always thinking about him. He then went upstairs and got ready for bed. When he came back down quite a few minutes later he said "Mom, thanks for telling me that stuff that you told me...it really helps."

Sending Porter off to school those next couple days went a lot better and although we are still trying to work through some other anxious feelings that come about we are getting through this little adjustment period. It is funny how I always thought that Porter was SO ready for this time in his life and never would've imagined that he would have a hard time leaving home it makes me feel as though I really need to be sure that the time that he spends at home with us is positive and that I should be thankful that he should love us so much and feel like he might be missing out a little bit while he is away. Now, if only he still felt a little of this ten years from years I will probably be the happiest mom ever!!!

The Wild Animal Park with the Roberts

2009-08-30T11:54:00.000-07:00

Our last fun activity for the summer was going to the Wild Animal Park with the Roberts.

We were really excited to go and were very thankful for the opportunity.

Joseph, Porter and Carter standing with the Meerkat.

The boys loved the dinosaur expedition that they had going on there at the park!

Carter, Reby, Porter and Joseph on the Rhino.

Thanks Marybel and Kevin for inviting us to go with you guys.

We really had a blast...and boy were we beat by the end of the day!!

Our Trip to Spanish Fork

2009-07-27T16:32:00.000-07:00

Every summer I grew up spending a couple weeks on my mom's parents farm in Spanish Fork, UT. I told Sam early on this summer that I wanted to somehow get the boys up to the farm for Pioneer Day and Spanish Fork Fiesta Days. I think my mom was happy to know that I had such fond memories of those vacations that she told my dad that they should take me and the boys up for a week. I think she would've stayed even longer if the boys and I could have handled being away from Sam for so long but there was no way that was even possible. My parents stayed at the farm in Leland and the boys and I stayed with my cousin Karalee in Payson. I appreciate all the driving that my parents and cousin did driving us back and forth.

Monday as soon as we got to Karalee's we made plans to go to Santaquin to the Family Tree Restaurant where we ate their gigantic yummy scones and honeybutter. Then we went back to the house and hung out for the rest of the night which was perfect after our long drive.

Tuesday the Porter and Carter played with Karalee's kids and we decided to go to the dollar movie in Provo and say Monsters vs. Aliens. Then we met up with my parents and Aunt Jolene on the farm and decided to go to the Pizza Factory to celebrate Russell's (Karalee's husband) birthday. Thanks Russell for picking the Pizza Factory because it was so yummy!

Wedenesday my parents planned to take us to Provo to meet up with the Smith's but when we got up there Joanna called and told me that Grace had a fever. We ended up just hanging out at BYU. We went to the museum there on campus which the boys loved, we played games at the Wilkinson Center, and we had lunch at the Creamery. We also drove by the Provo Temple and pointed out all the missionaries that were walking between there and the MTC. Then I had the boys take a picture in front of the MTC cause I thought Sam might like that since he is always talking about them being future missionaries.

Then we headed back to the farm for a little rest before going out to see the stock parade and to have a picnic and then we were off to the rodeo.

Aaron and Michael joined us for the rodeo.

Don't tell anyone but I think Michael thought it was pretty fun!

We took a picture of ourselves while waiting for the rodeo to start.

Katelyn and Samantha sat next to us and loved helping me keep the boys entertained.

Carter really took to Samantha -- it was so cute to see him with her.

My cousin's wife, Wendy, did such a great job trying to keep Porter awake for the last and most exciting part of the night--

the Bull Riding.

You can tell by the look on Porter and Carter's faces that they ABSOLUTELY loved it!

Thursday we went to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House. It was beautiful and I couldn't help but get a little choked up when I got to be with Porter and Carter in the sealing room. What a great experience, I only wish Sam could've been there to share it with us.

Porter, Carter and Logan waiting patiently to go inside.

Friday we were so excited to celebrate Pioneer Day, well atleast I was.

We got to see the parade down Main Street in Spanish Fork.

I got the boys snowcones to eat while they watched.

Then we took the boys over to the carnival to ride rides.

Carter and Katelynn on the boats...don't you love Carter's pageant wave?

We finally made it over to visit the Smith's. The kids played together so well and it gave Joanna and I plenty of time to catch up. We miss them so much.

Aaron and Michael picked us up and we went back to the farm to finish off the Pioneer Day festivities. The boys got to feed the cows some hay.

I love this picture of the boys. They had so much fun together on our trip.

With the look on his face, you'd think he got bit by one of those cows or something.

I think Porter could have spent the whole entire time feeding those cows and would have been perfectly content.

We had a great dinner at my cousin Reid's house there on the farm and then drove over to Salem to watch the fireworks!

The next morning we were up and on the road by seven and Porter and Carter were so good the whole, except for Carter kicking Michael's seat...sorry about that Michael.

The only thing that would've made our trip any better was if Sam had been able to go with us. Next time there is no way we will go without him.

Thanks Mom and Dad for the whole trip...it was just the way I had hoped it would be and I know that they boys loved it.

Thanks Karalee and Russell for letting us stay with you guys, we miss you and your family.

A Visit With Abby and the Boys

2009-07-27T16:10:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago we made our way out to the OC to spend a couple days with my niece Abby and her boys. Although we were only with them for like a day and a half we were able to do lots of fun stuff. We started out by going to the Irvine Spectrum and let the kids play in the fountains. They loved it.

Abby had these little sand toys and the boys would put them over the fountains and they had so much fun watching them shoot up.

Carter loves playing in any form of water so this was right up his alley!

My great-nephew Ryder loved that Abby sat him down in the middle of all this. He was so funny cause he would try to make sure he was sitting right where a stream of water would shoot up.

I loved this picture of Porter--he had such a great time.

Me and Abby had fun watching the boys.

We went to Golden Spoon after all the water fun and had ice cream cones.

The next day we went swimming together at Jodi's pool and then we headed out to the OC Fair.

Porter and Carter were so excited to see all the animals and especially loved the baby piggies.

We watched them milk the cows and I decided that would be a great breast pump for my baby registry...I'm totally kidding of course.

The boys rode one ride that they got free with our admission tickets and you would have thought it was the ride of their lives.

Thanks Abby for such a great time.

We loved having the chance to spend some time with you and the boys.

4th of July!!!

2009-07-13T22:35:00.001-07:00

I love the 4th of July!! Last year we were in Temecula so this year

we went to Grandma Sherri's to celebrate.

Carter taking a break from the pool.

Porter hitting anyone up to play ping pong with him.

Porter and Carter with Grandma Sherri.

The boys played lots of ping pong and took a dip in the pool with their little cousin Memphis.

They played croquet for their first time ever and this is Carter just before getting hit in the head with a mallet by Porter!

Since fireworks are legal in Lakewood it is such a different experience than what I grew up with and I think that for the first time this year I really enjoyed Sam's idea of 4th of July.

(Probably because the boys loved it soooo much!) They LOVED these gigantic sparklers!

Carter watching Sam set off fireworks in the street.

Justin, Brandi, Porter and Carter enjoying the show!

Me and Sam!

Sam with Amber and Laurel.

The Family--I love that Porter and Carter aren't looking at the camera because huge fireworks went off nearby in the sky and so they were a little distracted!!

We had a blast!!! (No pun intended.)

Snake Charmers

2009-07-13T22:22:00.001-07:00

So at Sam's office complex they sent around letter to all the offices letting people know that as they are walking on the premises, to watch out for snakes that might be close by. Sam, being the kid at heart that he is, decided that this letter was his personal invitation to start catching snakes!! He caught a few, but finally worked it out to catch one, put it in a pillow case, and bring it home for the boys to play with. Have I mentioned yet that I HATE SNAKES??!!!??!!?!!

So he decided to empty the snake into the boys little pool that we got for them. Porter and Carter had so much fun following that thing around in circles. One of the best parts was when it peed in the pool which I now need to make sure is completely sanitized before the boys ever use it again!!!! DID I MENTION THAT I HATE SNAKES??!!!??!!??!!

That snake kept trying to climb out of the little pool over and over again and I think he was just getting more and more frustrated everytime he tried. Sam wanted to make sure that I got plenty of pictures of the darn thing! I HATE SNAKES!!!!!!!

Luckily, Sam decided that the snake really wasn't having as much fun as he, Porter and Carter were and thought it would be best to let him go. This was my MOST favorite part of the snake encounter and I was soooo happy to see it go. Needless to say, I SO HATE SNAKES!!!!!

Chloe's 7th Birthday!!

2009-07-13T22:17:00.000-07:00

Chloe invited us to go with her and her family to the free summer movies. We were supposed to see Hotel for Dogs but we weren't able to get in so we ended up going to see Kit Kitteridge and absolutely loved it!!! I hope Chloe had a fun time cause I know that we did!!!

Swimming with the Skidmores

2009-07-13T22:11:00.000-07:00

One of the funnest days we have had so far this summer was going Jaida's grandma's house for a nice cool swim. The boys had so much fun in the pool and it made for a very relaxing day for me. Chantel even took some prego bathing suit pics of me--can you guess why they aren't on here?? Yep, that's right--they were AWFUL and DELETED quicker than you can say

"Fat lady in a swim suit!!!"

A Day at Knott's Berry Farm

2009-07-13T22:03:00.000-07:00

Father's Day weekend we had plans to go out to Bellflower to spend the night at Aunt Amber's and so I decided to take the boys to Knott's on our way.

We had a blast in the few hours that we were there and made sure to hit all the boys favorite rides, except for the log ride cause I told them it probably wasn't a good idea for me to go on it with the baby being so big and all. They understood, but were a little disappointed so we got some cotton candy to fill the void. Porter and Carter haven't stopped talking about that cotton candy since!!

Our First Summer Trip to the Beach

2009-07-13T21:55:00.000-07:00

In June we made our first trip to the beach we Deana, Leslie and Briar. Carter was really very concerned about the trip and kept telling me that he didn't want to "get dead" while we were there. Can you see the concern on his face??

So this is where he spent most of his time...right by our feet, nice and far from the water, playing in the sand practically the whole entire time.

On the other hand, Porter, spent most of his time down by the water and had a blast. It took most of the day to convince Carter that he could go down in the water without "getting dead" and when we finally got him down to the water he loved it and didn't want to leave.

The Blueberry Farm

2009-07-13T21:47:00.001-07:00

Earlier in the month of June we went on a Saturday to a local blueberry farm and picked fresh blueberries. Carter loved every single minute of it...can't you tell??

Sam's favorite part was eating a blueberry for every blueberry he put in the bucket!!

Porter wanted to try to pick the biggest blueberries he could find until we were able to convince him that just because they were really big that didn't always mean they would be the tastiest.

A picture of me with the boys and all the blueberries we picked!

I never really thought I was much of a blueberry lover but boy were these yummy and we had such grand plans of making blueberry pancakes or muffins with them but honestly they didn't even last long enough for me to even get the chance to bake them in anything.

Our Little Graduate!

2009-06-10T15:18:00.000-07:00

Can you believe...Porter has graduated from pre-K and is on his way to
Crowne Hill Elementary for kindergarten.

As always, Ms. Michelle and his class put on a great show for all the parents.

Porter did a great job performing. He did a great job reciting his line and singing

all the songs and doing the dances.

Performing: "You've Got a Friend In Me"

Porter hanging out with his buddies after graduation.

Ms. Michelle hands out awards for all the kids and gave Porter the "Leaps and Bounds Award".

She said that he is very well prepared for kindergarten and that he has come very far this last year in how he behaves in class. We are so proud of him and know that he will do great in kindergarten this next year. Thanks Ms. Michelle!!

Carter's Spring Sing

2009-06-06T17:31:00.000-07:00

Carter had his preschool Spring Sing a couple weeks ago and although we thoroughly enjoyed it, I think Carter might have considered it some form of torture.

He started out with pretty good intentions I think. There was no way he would sing but he would do the hand motions for the songs...

...until he decided that it was a little too cold and didn't need to do the hand motions either.

When he went up there to say his line I thought for sure he would perform that well but decided to only say the last word of it which was blue (in reference to the red-white-and blue in the flag).

By this point he knows that this whole Spring Sing thing was a bad idea.

He manages to pose for one last picture with his class before he gets his award for the year that explains his behavior throughout the whole program.

Carter received the "Does everything he is asked to do as long as it doesn't involve singing" award.

Although Carter wasn't too willing to do the singing he was willing to dance as long as he had a girl there making him do everything. He really did a great job and I am so proud of him for learning and growing as much as he has this year in preschool.

Memorial Day 2009

2009-06-06T17:20:00.000-07:00

I always tell myself that I am going to take a bunch of pictures at the family gatherings that we have at my parents house and for some reason I never get around to it. Abby really is so much better at this than I am, hence all of her cute posts of her little boys, but I really have good intentions and know that I should be getting a better handle on blogging

(mainly because Sam is so happy whenever I post something new).

Well for Memorial Day we started out with a quick visit from Grandma Sherri and a surprise guest, baby Memphis. The boys had so much fun with the baby and were so happy to see their grandma. After their short stay we headed over to my parents house for some major waterslide fun. I really wish I had taken pictures of the boys because they had such a blast out there with al their cousins ALL DAY LONG!!!!

Mom and Dad made a wonderful dinner with BBQ'd ribs and everyone thoroughly enjoyed them...including the little baby in my tummy that was doing all kinds of somersaults while I was chowing down. (Little baby--you definately love ribs!!!)

Baby Rath #3

2009-04-18T11:46:00.000-07:00

So yesterday I finally went for my first official doctor appointment at 13 and a half weeks. When she went to find the heart beat she had a hard time of it, thought she might have picked it up for a quick second but then lost it again. Because she didn't want me worrying about the baby, my doctor got me a referral for an ultrasound. We went through the next few hours until the ultrasound appointment a little nervous and praying that everything would be fine. Sure enough, when we got in there for our ultrasound we were quickly reassured and saw that everything was all right with the baby. The tech asked if we wanted her to tell us what she thought the baby might be and I said "no" but Sam said "yes". I closed my eyes and ears while she told him, but have since figured out that her guess was boy, just as I have suspected all along.

He looks just perfect to me and I have to admit that I shed a few tears of joy when I

finally got to hear his little heartbeat.

What a beautiful end to such a long and unnerving day!

Such a Lucky Girl I Am

2009-04-15T16:13:00.001-07:00

It isn't just enough that these three gorgeous guys belong to me but can I tell you how much they spoil me?? I had to leave for a quick trip to Utah for my uncle's funeral and while I was gone Sam had family night with the boys. They talked about King Benjamin and the importance of giving service. Sam then decided to ask the boys how they could show service to their mom. Needless to say, on Tuesday night when I got home from Utah, I saw that the house had been cleaned from top to bottom. Then this morning when Porter woke up he was so excited for me to go out in the backyard to show me that they started a vegetable garden and Carter told me that I came home too soon cause he didn't have time to finish the necklace he was making for me.

How lucky am I that I have these guys who would do so much to show me that they love me through these sweet acts of service.

Easter at the Raths

2009-04-15T16:01:00.000-07:00

Easter came and went so quickly for us this year that it was amazing that I even managed to get pictures of the boys. They had so much fun going through their baskets and were happy to find some special treats this year like CTR rings and some cool church books and toys. The Easter bunny really thought they we should focus on the true reason for the occasion and so brought these special gifts along with the regular fun toys and candy.

Here is a picture of Carter breaking into they eggs that the boys and I dyed the day before. I am not sure what they love more, dying the eggs or eating them

(of course with salt because they are my children).
A picture of Porter showing us one of the many eggs that he found in the backyard.

I love these guys so very much and I am very happy that they were able to have a wonderful Easter and were still able to learn a little bit more about why this day is so important in our lives.

March 2009

2009-04-01T16:08:00.001-07:00

March was a very fun and exciting month for the Rath family!

We went hiking up at the Vernal Pools and Carter found a frog.

We have been going to the park, enjoying sunny afternoons.

We went to Knott's with Charla and Kyle one day.

Porter got to go to a "Rock Star" party for his friend Mae, sporting this "faux-hawk".

We went to Tom's Farm one day to celebrate Abby's birthday and Aunt Deana got the boys pony rides. They LOVED this!!!

We got to see the Smith's and went out to dinner with them.

(Porter hasn't stopped talking about how he wishes that Wyatt still lived close to our house.)

We also got a very fun visit from a little mischievious Leprachaun on St. Patrick's Day. Sam suggested that the boys make a really good hiding place in case someone needed to hide some gold and then the next morning they found chocolate coins in there hiding spot and a few other tricks were played as well. The boys are still doing little pranks around the house blaming it on the Leprachaun.

The other thing we did this month was celebrate our 8th anniversary. Sam planned a really nice overnight getaway for us in LA. It started out with a trip to the temple where we were able to reminisce our wedding day. Then we checked into a hotel in Santa Monica and hung out at the 3rd Street Promenade for the evening. That is where we went on our first official date and so it was really sweet that Sam had that all planned out too. The next morning Sam had scheduled massages for us and I really enjoyed that. It was such a nice little get away although I missed the boys terribly and couldn't wait to get home to them.

February 2009

2009-03-02T18:19:00.000-08:00

So Sam seems to believe that I have been ignoring the blog because I am spending too much time on Facebook but I just haven't felt like there has been too much to blog about! I emptied my camera onto the computer and here are a few things that I managed to come up with.

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We had a great night out with the Robertsons --bowling at Trevi!!

It was Porter's and Carter's first time going and I think they loved. If Carter looks a little confused in this picture it is probably because he is.

I thought it was funny that Porter sat on top of the ball return but even funnier that Carter has his head down at the return waiting for balls to come out...uh, where are these kids parents??

Heidi and Ray...they really know how to put a party together. Heidi had it set up that we got this private bowling room with four lanes all to ourselves and it was such a great idea!

Madison and Chansea are a crack up as always!!! Porter and Carter had a ton of fun dancing with them in between their turns.

I even managed to get Porter to take a minute from being "too cool" so that he could pose for this picture with his mommy!

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We also met up with the Cruz's at Knott's Berry Farm. Branden and Justin were nice enough to go on some of the kid rides with the boys! I know that Porter and Carter loved it...I'm not so sure about Branden and Justin though!

Me and Amber while the boys were all on the kiddie coaster!

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On one of the many rainy days we had this month, Sam decided that the boys should put on jackets and let them play outside in the rain. So these are pics of them enjoying their time out there. Of course I enjoyed all this from the nice, warm, dry inside.

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On Valentine's Day we enjoyed some more time at Knott's.

This is Sam and Carter on the log ride.

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The Cruz's stayed the night with us and then we all enjoyed a day in San Diego going to the Natural History Museum. We had a really good time with them and Porter had a really good time hanging out with this dinosaur. =)

So there you go! This is all the fun we had in February and then some.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention the most exciting thing that happened this month--

we found out that I am pregnant!!!

Our Family Vacation

2009-01-30T15:35:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago we planned a trip to visit our good friends the Corsis in St. George.

We had such a great time while we were there and Sam is even talking about how excited he is to go back in the spring.

We went up to Zion for the day.

I don't think we were planning on it being quite so cold but the kids were very excited to be around snow.

We went to the St. George Temple and hung out at the visitor's center for a while.

We went to the Wild Life Museum and started taking these pictures. We were having way too much fun and I think we were disturbing some of the more serious patrons.

We also went to the dinosaur museum that they had their in town and the boys thought it was way cool.

The most fun we had was the time we spent with the Corsi Family and they really made the whole trip completely enjoyable for all of us.

Thanks so much!!!

We had such a great time while we were there and we are already planning on a return trip. (Hope the Corsi Family doesn't mind!)

Amelia Marie Morgan

2009-01-12T20:56:00.001-08:00

Last week we welcomed the newest little addition into the Morgan Family. Amelia Marie is Dru and Heather's fifth child and she is every bit as cute as the other four.

I had a really cute picture of Dru and Heather holding the baby in the hospital but I was afraid Heather would be mad if I posted it, not cause she looked bad, but because she didn't want us taking any pictures of her without having primped after delivering the baby.

We also took this picture with Deana, Dru, Charla, myself and Amelia and I loved it!!

Happy New Year

2009-01-12T20:47:00.001-08:00

Every New Years Eve we hang out with my family at my parents house for lots of fun, games, and of course food!

This year the guys seemed to drift to one table for games...boring ones like Monopoly and it was just too boring to get a picture of it.

The older kids all hung out together and then there was a tag along in there somewhere (can you find Porter in this picture).

If he could read what this says he would say "Mom don't be so immature". Yes, he actually said that when I was talking about him to another mom last week.
The rest of the kids hung out waiting for the countdown...I think that most of the kids lasted to midnight this year minus a couple Trapps.

Finally, this is a picture of the ones who kept the party going. We all sat around playing Chicken Foot and some other fun games. I love hanging out with my family on New Years Eve and I swear it never gets old.

Christmas Day

2008-12-26T11:27:00.001-08:00

We had such a great Christmas day. We woke up the boys, yup, we had to wake up the boys, and we didn't even have to drug them the night before. They opened presents, Carter opened a few extras that weren't for him and I had to quickly rewrap them all before we went to Sam's mom's house. We got to Lakewood by 9:30 am, ate breakfast and celebrated Christmas with Grandma Sherri, the Cruz's, and the Downing's. After that was over we met up with Sam's dad at Peter and Amber's and hung out there for awhile. Then we went to the movies with Peter, Amber, Branden, and Justin and saw Bedtime Stories. After that we went back to Temecula to my parents house and finished up the Christmas festivities, opening a few more presents, playing some games, and of course eating more food. This has got to be one of the best Christmases I have ever had. What a wonderful day.

Porter and Carter in front of our Christmas tree.

Matt, Brandi and Memphis -- The Downing Family
Branden, Justin, Amber and Peter

Then there was us...and Wednesday, the dog, who I think wants to be adopted by us because Sam takes her for a walk everytime we got to his mom's house.

Briar and Leslie performing Carol of the Bells

2008-12-26T11:17:00.000-08:00

This is a little clip of my nieces doing their own little version of Carol of the Bells. It is so funny, although I think they stopped it a little short.

Christmas Eve

2008-12-26T10:51:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve we celebrated with Cari's parents and the Shaws, Morgans, Stansels, Shreenans and Sam's dad. We had a wonderful dinner, enjoyed a great Christmas program put together by Morgan (Shreenan), and watched the kids open their presents from their secret santas. We really had a great time there at my parents and then came home, opened pajamas (Porter & Carter) and went to bed.

Porter and Kyle wearing the sweatshirts they got from Grandma & Grandpa

(Porter just learned about "Bunny Ears" but doesn't quite get it)
Us on Christmas Eve 2008

Briar and Porter

Kim, David, Kelly & Freckles

Heather, Dru, Deana, and Dave

Sam and Ken playing chess

Chloe, Leslie, Autumn and Erin

Greg, Charla, and Kyle

The grandkids doing their Chrismas performance (they are such performers).

Goodbye to the Smiths...

2008-12-22T11:30:00.001-08:00

I can't tell you how thankful we are for the friendship we have shared with the Smith Family these last three years. I think that each member of our little family has definately formed a bond with each of them and we are really going to miss them.

Porter and Wyatt
Sam and Tyler
Me and Joanna

Gracie wasn't there that night and I am sad that she and Carter didn't get a picture and weren't able to say goodbye to eachother but they have been able to spend a lot of time together these last few weeks at preschool and at our house.

Guys, we really can't say how much we will miss you and I hope that it won't be long before we make our way up to Utah to see you all again!

The Boys Christmas Programs at School

2008-12-22T11:11:00.001-08:00

The boys had their Christmas programs at Ms. Michelle's last week and they both did such a great job.

This is a picture of Carter holding Santa's hand and telling us that wants an Optimus Prime for Christmas.

Carter singing about how yummy that peppermint stick was!

I think he really tried a lot harder this time to do the motions as he sang...he really is a little shy.

This big cheesy grin totally makes up for it though!

The next day was Porter's program--he wants a Bumble Bee for Christmas.

He is much less afraid to perform than Carter.

Singing away in a manger.

In his class performance the boys paired up with the girls and here he is dancing with his friend Jaida. They were so cute and did such a great job!

Thanks Ms. Michelle for another great performance. You are an amazing teacher!!

Baby Memphis!!!

2008-12-18T22:22:00.000-08:00

We finally made it to Lakewood to see our new little nephew Memphis Gene who was born on Thanksgiving Day. Porter and Carter had been asking practically every day when we would get to see him and we ended up going out there last Saturday for Sam's birthday.

Carter Eugene and Memphis Gene both named after their great-grandpa Eugene Feack.

Porter was so excited to hold little Memphis and he was so content to just sit and stare at him while he was sleeping through out the day.

Oh yeah, and Sam hasn't lost his touch with babies. He wrapped that baby up tight like a burrito, gave him a bottle, burped him and got him right to sleep. He was so happy to spend some time with his little baby nephew. This picture ALMOST makes me want to have another one.

Sam Turned the BIG 30!

2008-12-18T22:03:00.000-08:00

For Sam's birthday we went out for Chinese food and then tried to go bowling for our first time ever with the boys but of course we had no clue that a Tuesday night would be packed with bowling leagues so as a second choice we went to Mulligans to play some games. Porter and Carter had a blast on the video games and Ken and Sam had a blast playing air hockey. I couldn't believe how much Porter got into this Motorcycle game. I swear I thought he was going to fall off the side of that thing when he would lean from side to side to avoid obstacles and he was even making motorcycle sounds with his mouth: NOTE the picture on the left. Carter had a really great time playing the car game and actually did quite well, as long as one of us was standing by him with our foot on the gas pedal. Check out how serious he looks with his hands at 10 & 2.

I really think that we all had a great time!
Especially the Birthday Boy!!!!!

A Boys Day Out

2008-12-18T21:44:00.000-08:00

A few Saturdays ago Sam asked Porter if he would like to take a couple friends to the gym to work out a little. He invited Kyle and Isaac to go play around with Bob--the workout dummy.

Not only did they fight with Bob--they fought eachother

and when they got tired -- they just watched Porter and Carter.

They enjoyed some McDonald's after working up an appetite.

These cute little guys sure do have a much bigger bark than a bite!

I Bet He's Dreaming About A Red Rider BB Gun!

2008-12-18T21:25:00.000-08:00

One night, a couple weeks ago,

Porter fell asleep like this while watching t.v.

I guess he just couldn't stay awake long enough to rewind to

his favorite part of A Christmas Story!

(The part where the kid sticks his tongue to a pole)

Oh, these kids...

2008-12-05T17:09:00.001-08:00

So Porter and Carter crack me up all the time with the funny little things that they say. In my previous post I had pictures of lizards that Sam had brought home one night for the boys to play with. Well, that next day Carter had put an army tank (from one of those plastic army men sets)in with the lizards and the lizards climbed on top of it and Carter told Sam: "Those lizards are so silly...they think they are army men!"

Then the other day we were driving in the car and Porter said "Mom when I am married me and my hunny (that is what he refers to his future wife as) are just going to live with you so we don't have to drive so far to get to your house everyday."

The best is when they just banter back and forth with one another. A few days ago Carter opened up the scriptures and said "Look mom, a picture of Jesus." Porter, in a sorry attempt to be funny said "No Carter, you're Jesus". I then said "Porter, don't say things like that--it's blasphemous." Porter then turned to Carter and said "You're not Jesus...you're blasphemous!"

These are probably a few things that I am writing down more for us than anyone else...maybe you won't find them very funny, but I am telling you these kids just crack us up sometimes.

Blogging from memory?

2008-11-29T22:37:00.000-08:00

Yep, I think that is just what I'll do. I am going to take the pictures from my camera and whatever the different pictures are from that are on my memory card I will say a little something about them. (This is just my way of catching up on a month's worth of pics!)

We're trying to sell the Expedition so Sam asked me to take a picture of it.

Sam came home one night with four baby lizards that someone had found and given to him.

The boys absolutely loved playing with them...I don't really see the appeal though.

Wyatt and Grace were with us that night and had fun playing with the lizards...even Gracie did, except I didn't manage to get a picture of it.

Porter and I celebrated our birthdays this month, Porter turned 5 and I, well, we just won't talk about that...

Our Disneyland passes were about to expire and we aren't planning on renewing them this year so we thought it would be fun if Sam and I take Porter to Disneyland, just the three of us, so we could take him on all the fun rollercoasters without Carter holding us back.

WE HAD SO MUCH FUN!!!

Porter also shared a birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese with his cousin Kyle. Gotta love it.

And finally, although I didn't manage to get any pictures from Thanksgiving Day, I did take pictures of the kids when we took them and my niece and nephew out for ice cream on Friday while everyone else in the family went to the movies.

All-in-all I would have to say that November 2008 made for some pretty good times.

I'm dying to know, what is on your memory that you wouldn't normally blog about?

Come on lets see.

Ken's Birthday

2008-11-02T14:41:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was Grandpa Ken's birthday and we had a little birthday party for him. Earlier in the day, Ken and Sam, went to the gym and boxed a little while Porter, Carter and I set to work decorating the house with streamers and balloons. Grandpa Ken was really suprised to see the decorations for his birthday and the boys loved being a part of it.

Amber, Peter and the boys came down to have dinner and spend the night. We had a lot of fun with them. See how much those kids just love their dad?

We really do have a good time when everyone is together and we hope that we were able to make Grandpa Ken's birthday a very special day!

Happy Birthday Ken.

Halloween Night

2008-11-02T14:32:00.000-08:00

Halloween night we had our friends the Smiths and the Wulfensteins over for a pre-trick-or-treating potluck. The kids were so excited to go out together and really had a good time.

Carter's friend Grace decided she wanted to be a bride instead of Cinderella for the night. Joanna told me that when they were getting ready she asked Grace if she was going to marry Prince Charming, and she said "No, I am going to marry Carter."
Sam did an excellent job with the boys scary makeup, I only wish that I had been able to take a picture of them before they smeared their faces. They really did look a little more scary with their faces done up.

We had a great Halloween and enjoyed the night spending time with our friends.

(Oh, and Sam had another successful year of scaring kids with the "Charles" mask)!

Porter's Halloween Program

2008-11-02T14:24:00.000-08:00

Porter's Halloween performance was definately more eventful than Carter's was, only because he actually performed. He had a great time singing the songs he learned from Ms. Michelle.

Porter with his buddies from Preschool/Church:Cory, Isaac, and Kyle.
The whole class with Ms. Michelle.

A picture of Porter showing us his skills.

Carter's Halloween Performance

2008-10-30T15:08:00.000-07:00

Carter--The disillusioned ghost!

The look on his face in this picture pretty much sums up his whole performance.
Here he is with all the other kids in his class.

In a picture with Porter we finally get him to smile, kinda.

I guess Porter got all the performing genes in the family because Carter didn't sing a single word or do one little hand gesture throughout the whole program.
All in all, I think he was just happy when the whole thing was over.

A Fun Day at the Pumpkin Patch

2008-10-25T16:54:00.001-07:00

So I saw this really cute idea in the Family Fun Mag for these Pumpkin tie-dyed shirts, so we made them for activity days this week and then it was so fun and easy I decided to make some for me and the boys. Porter had a birthday party for one of his Pre-K friends at the Pumpkin Patch and insisted on wearing his cool new shirt...of course Carter then insisted that he wear his as well.

The party at the Pumpkin Patch was such a great idea. The kids loved it. Here is Porter with his friend Isaac and his "best-cousin Kyle".

After the party was over we walked through the corn maze with Charla, Morgan & Kyle. Here is a cute picture of Morgan with her little bro.
We had a fun time at the pumpkin patch--can't you just tell by those smiles?

Family Campout 2008

2008-10-22T15:32:00.000-07:00

We had our annual family campout this month at San Clemente State Beach and we had a great time. The boys had a great time playing with all their cousins. Carter and Noah were getting into a little bit of mischief on their Spiderman scooters but they were really cute together. Sunday morning while we were packing up I found them in our car feeding eachother Nerds and Sweet Tarts. It really was too funny. The adults along with some of the older kids played football and baseball at the beach and that was a lot of fun till we all realized how old we are once we got back to camp and were limping around. (Yep, I am officially old I have decided!)

Sam and Greg teamed up to come up with the perfect scare on the kids involving the "Charles mask"! (For those of you who don't know or don't remember the Charles mask please see my October 2007 posts). The adults and the kids all got a good laugh out of it. We had a great time and can't wait to do it again next year!

Sam and Carter hanging out by the campfire.

Me with my dad.

Me and Sam. (Please don't judge, this is day 3 of camping.)

All the cousins. They spent most of the weekend in this tree they are standing in front of.

Porter and Carter sleeping on the way home...they had way too much fun.

What are those boys up to?

2008-10-22T14:52:00.000-07:00

Porter and Carter have really been having a good time this last month. They both love going to Ms. Michelle's for Pre-K and preschool. Here is a picture of Porter with his "best cousin" Kyle after going to school on "D" Dog Day. (Notice that Kyle named himself Jake Ryan? I thought that was pretty funny being the "Sixteen Candles" fan that I am.)

One day we went to my nephew Michael's water polo game which Porter and Carter thought was pretty cool. Afterwards we went to White Lime and brought my niece Leslie along.
Carter was so cute cause he kept on feeding Leslie his yogurt. He was so excited

to spend time with her.

I can totally see why--she is such a cutie, I'm sure that lots of boys would like

to hang out with her.

We went to Disneyland with Aunt Deana, Abby and the boys. I got this cute picture of Noah and Carter while we were in line for Finding Nemo.

(This was taken just before Noah landed head first into the planter behind them full of dirt. He didn't hurt himself but he thought it was awfully funny.)

Carter is puppy obsessed and after he eats a chicken leg clean he loves to go around with it in his mouth pretending he is a puppy. His friend Trent joined in with him on the fun one day and I just had to take a picture of the two of them.

Everyday Porter and Carter come up with some new thing that they like to say or do -- we get such a kick out of those boys.

Grandma Sherri's Birthday!

2008-10-22T14:20:00.000-07:00

In September we went to Sam's mom's house to have a special dinner party for her birthday. Sam and his sisters made a great dinner and I think she really enjoyed it. For her birthday we gave her some framed pictures of her grandsons to hang in her room. I thought that they turned out really well (for my mediocre photography skills).

Branden

Justin

Porter

Carter (he was being such a turkey!)

I also got some other cute pictures from the evening--

Sam with his mom.

Me with my sisters-in-law (Amber & Brandi)

Grandma Sherri with her boys.

Carter's First Day of Preschool

2008-09-18T21:30:00.000-07:00

I feel bad that it has taken me so long to post this picture, but better late than never, right?

Carter was talking all summer long about going to preschool at Ms. Michelle's and that day finally arrived! When I took him in there he was holding my hand so tight that I thought he might not let it go. Well, he did and he had a great day. The next day of preschool, Porter asked if he could walk him in and Carter was okay with it and there was no problem. The next day of preschool, Porter tried getting out of the car to walk his brother in again and Carter said "NO, I'm gonna go all by myself." Here we are a couple more weeks later and he will hardly gives me a kiss goodbye before walking in to preschool all on his own. Is this just the beginning of the end?

(Oh, and by the way Porter is totally enjoying Pre-K, not preschool, but Pre-K. He wants to make sure that everyone knows the distinction.)

A Trip to Oceanside with Grandma Sherri

2008-09-02T07:39:00.000-07:00

Last week we spent a few days in Oceanside with Sherri. We spent a lot of time at the beach and it was so beautiful there. Porter had no problem playing in the water but Carter wouldn't really go down there without me or Sherri. The boys had the most fun jumping over the waves and looking for shells and sandcrabs.

After spending a few hours at the beach we would go and spend some time at the pool. Porter is just about ready to go without floaties and had so much time to practice. Carter was just in his happy place since he was able to spend so much of the day in water. He loves, loves, loves being in water.
Thank you so much Sherri for inviting us to spend the week with you. We all enjoyed it so much. In fact, the first thing Porter said to me this morning was "Mom, I had a lot of fun at the beach." We will always remember what a great vacation we got to have with Grandma Sherri.

Carter's 3rd Birthday!!

2008-09-02T07:07:00.001-07:00

So here I am again catching up on my postings. Carter celebrated his 3rd birthday on the 22nd and oh --how much fun he had!!

He opened up some birthday presents from us first thing in the morning...he was having a little trouble with the tape and found his own way to work around it.

He told me he wanted donuts for his birthday breakfast so Sam got up before the boys even woke up so they would be there first thing for him to enjoy.

We went to the park and enjoyed some time with his friends.

He caught a lizard (with Sam's help of course at Grandma & Grandpa's house).

We threw him a super fun birthday party and watched "Underdog" in the backyard.

For one of the games we had everyone break up into their families and make a poster depicting Carter in his very own movie. The McLaughlin's won it with this super cute Super Carter poster.

We had lots of candy and popcorn for the movie but not before we all sang to Carter and had a piece of cake. I think Carter had a wonderful birthday. We love him so much and enjoy what a fun little guy he has become in these last few years.

A Visit to see Baby Ryder...

2008-08-12T07:49:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago we also went to see my niece Abby's new little baby Ryder. Actually, I was just looking at her blog and she said he is a month old now and I realized I never posted these pictures. Porter and Carter were so excited to hold little Ryder.

Carter was doing the best that he could to manage holding the baby on his own, but mom lent a hand to support Ryder's head.
Porter was just a pro sitting there holding the baby...he loved it!! He didn't want to stop holding him so that we could go home. (I was almost afraid Abby would've been left with 4 boys!)
Porter was soooooo cute holding Ryder. He kept looking at his hands and feet saying "Mom, look at his fingers and toes, they are so cute and tiny". I really enjoyed watching Porter and Carter with Ryder. It made me a little baby hungry myself. When the boys got home they took their stuffed animals and wrapped them in blankets and were carrying them around like their own babies. They even "dropped" them off with me so I could babysit them while they went to work. These guys are so funny and I just love watching them grow up.

A Night Out With the Girls...

2008-08-12T07:40:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago my mom took some of the girls in the family out for a night. We went to Vista to the Moonlight Theatre and saw Joseph and "The Amazing Techni-Colored Dream Coat".

We had a great time and I really enjoyed spending time with the girls in the family.

Grandma with Carly, Morgan and Leslie
Deana, me, Charla, Marybel, and mom
Leslie...texting away. I think she did manage to watch some of the play! =)

He's Not Just Cute--He Does Tricks Too!

2008-08-02T09:18:00.000-07:00

So this is Porter's latest trick that he loves to do! (I swear he is taking years off my life). He can scale just about any door jam now. The worst part of this is that when he first started doing it he would just drop down to the ground from there and now I have trained him to "scale" back down. I have managed to convince him that he will break both his legs if he were to drop from that high up. Porter is so funny because he loves to show what he can do. I was showing him how to do cartwheels the other day...at first they were glorified forward rolls, then they became something very close to a cartwheel without the straight legs, and finally with all his energy he was doing something that resembled a front handspring. He does tricks on the rings of the playset at my parent's house and I can't stand to watch. I asked my parents if they remembered me doing the same type of tricks when I was his age and they said they did and that it took years off their lives watching me do them just as I swear it's taking years off mine. Luckily, I was a girl and eventually learned I have limits...I'm not sure that boys learn this lesson quite as early.

Aunt Amber's Birthday

2008-07-31T08:04:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we went to Amber and Peter's house for Amber's birthday. We had a lot of fun with them and the boys love hanging out in the pool in the backyard. It is always do much fun hanging out with Amber...I love being her sister-in-law! Amber and Brandi making funny faces while reading a card.
Amber blowing out the imaginary candles on the dessert. Sorry I forgot the candles, but I am sure that your brithday wish will still come true.
Amber hiding from the camera because really she is pretty shy and I hope she doesn't mind that I put this post up on my blog that was all about her on her special day.

We love you Amber and hope you had a great birthday!

The Dance Festival for Me--Camping For the Boys

2008-07-31T07:52:00.000-07:00

Last Friday I went to the Inland Empire Regional Dance Festival to see Michael, Leslie, Briar and Connor perform. I had planned on the whole family going, but Sam decided that the dance festival is for girls so I went with my parents and the boys decided to campout in the living room.

It was cute cause Sam packed them snacks and gave them water bottles, labeling them so they would know whose was whose.
Porter and Carter both slept all night long in the tent and neither of them came and got in bed with us during the night! Yay!!!
Porter was telling me the next day, "Mom, I have two rooms..one that goes in the garage and one that doesn't." He just makes me laugh sometimes with the things that he says.

I am glad that the boys had fun camping at home while I was having a great time at the dance festival with the rest of my family. Great job, Michael, Leslie, Briar, and Connor. You guys were awesome and I had so much fun searching you out in the crowd.

More Summer Fun

2008-07-31T07:39:00.000-07:00

So last week we finally made it to the beach for the first time this summer. The boys and I climbed in the car with Deana and Leslie for a last minute trip there...thanks for the ride Deana!

Even though I don't really enjoy the messiness of the beach, we had a great time down there--especially the boys.

Chloe and Porter playing together in the sand.
Autumn, Briar, & Leslie trying so hard to convince Carter that it is safe to go in the water!
Me with the boys.Dru & Heather smiling for the camera.

Porter, covered in sand, reminding me why I really don't like the beach--but with that great big smile on his face I guess I can try to get over it. =)

The Summer's Goings On...

2008-07-19T17:37:00.000-07:00

...is that even correct english? I'm pretty sure it's not but I will just get on with my post. It has been extremely long since I've posted anything new and that isn't necessarily because I have nothing to share. We have been enjoying a relaxing summer, spending most of our time at home, or with friends, or at Grandpa Morgan's house. The boys were able to take swim lessons and now want to go to the pool all the time. At 4th of July we went swimming at some friend's and Porter was doing flips into the pool with his floaties on. I couldn't believe it! We go every now and then to the pool but not as often as the boys would like.

We spent a weekend in Palm Springs with my family and had a blast there, although I don't have any pictures to share from that trip. All in all we've been having lots of fun but no pictures to prove it. I have some pics from a few months back that I thought I would post instead.

These are some pictures from Porter's end of the year water day at preschool. He has been talking about all of his preschool friends and can't wait to start preschool again with Ms. Michelle in September. Carter will be starting preschool too and is soooo excited. He puts on his backpack and wathces himself in front of the mirror with it on...too cute!

Kaitlyn & Isaac

Porter, Brynn, Rexi, and Evan

Isaac & Rexi

Carter joining in on the fun! (I can't keep him dry with water around)

Porter & Jaida

A few months ago we took the boys to fly kites. Carter was so funny because once we got to the park he got this really concerned look on his face and said "I don't want to fly on the kite". I laugh to think about what goes through these kids heads sometimes.

Carter worked so hard to fly his kite. He did such a good job and I couldn't believe how much time he spent running back and forth to keep his kite up!

Porter on the other hand, well he smartened up quick after watching Carter work so hard and just let Sam worry about flying the kite.

I can't believe that time is just going by so quickly. These guys are growing up so fast and we are enjoying all of our time with them. They are so excited to try new things and to go to new places...I am not sure how I manage to keep up with them sometimes. Which reminds me, I started running with my friend Joanna about a month ago and today I ran my very first 5k. I was so nervous that I would want to stop and walk but I ran the whole thing. This really is a huge accomplishment for me and I am so happy to have a new hobby that I can enjoy. Thanks Joanna for being such a great trainer. =) Sorry for such the long winded post to any of you who might actually read this, I will stay on top of things a little better in the future.

Gracie & Carter

2008-05-24T15:31:00.000-07:00

Carter's best little friend in the world is Gracie Smith.

Carter will do just about anything that she tells him to do which could very well be the reason why the two get along so well together.
One day Gracie was hanging out at our house and I decided to take pictures of them...
I love the way Grace is trying to pat Carter's head in this picture. She really tries to make sure that he is taken care of...as long as he is being nice to her. They are so funny to watch together and I am so happy that we have such a great friendship with the Smith Family.

So much to post...so little time to post it!

2008-05-17T09:21:00.000-07:00

We really have been doing things, I just haven't had much time to post about them. Last weekend the boys went with Sam on the father and sons campout and I think they really had a great time. I wish I had pictures to show but I forgot to pack the camera for them. Needless to say, I had a wonderful (less than 24 hours) all to myself. Saturday we went to Oceanside and spent some time visiting with Sam's mom and his family while they were enjoying a mini vacation there. Again, I really wish I had some pictures to share but I didn't even think to bring the camera with us.

Then on Sunday I enjoyed a wonderful Mother's Day. The Thursday before, at Ms. Michelle's preschool, Porter had made me a beautiful pin for Mother's Day. He was so excited to give it to me that he unwrapped it himself and pinned it on and everything. That night while he was sitting by me he asked "Mom do you really love the pin I made you?" I told him that I loved it very much. He then said "Someday, I will make you a necklace to go with it." I thought that was such a sweet thing. Anyway, Sunday morning I was ready for church and all I needed was to put my pin on and Porter had lost it. I was very sad because I was excited and proud to wear it to church. On the way to church Porter told me that we could say a prayer that we could find my pin. I love it when he tells me things like that. Needless to say, Sam found it in our bed that night when he got under the covers. How it got inside the bed that was all made I have no idea.

I have to mention that my husband kept me very well fed all day long. For breakfast he (and the boys) made Belgian Waffles. He made some yummy lunch for us when we got home from church and then we were off to my parents house so he could start preparing dinner for the moms. He made really tasty steaks seasoned with lots of yummy herbs and made a shallot reduction sauce to go over it. He also made a salad with avocado, red onion, red peppers with vinegar and lemon and then served bacon wrapped shrimp on top of it. He made salmon for my mom with a tasty dill sauce. I'm telling you the man goes all out when he cooks and it always tastes so good!

It really is hard for me to post without pictures so I thought I would share these pictures from a couple weeks ago. We went to Mulligan's for a couple hours so the boys could play some games and then Sam decided to take the boys to the batting cages to hit some balls. They were so excited to swing the bat and wear the helmet but when it got down to standing in the cage while balls were thrown at them, well they didn't want anything to do with it. I got some cute pictures anyway and Sam and Ken atleast had a good time in the cages.

Crowne Hill's Finest

2008-04-30T21:08:00.000-07:00

If any of you in the Crowne Hill area ever find yourself in need of some extremely inexperienced, somewhat destructive, but darn cute firemen--well I have got the boys for you!

(If there really is a life threatening emergency please don't call us--call 911)

Sam's mom got this firetruck for Porter two Christmases ago and we are just now starting to take it out. Boy am I glad we waited as long as we did because Porter and Carter, are definately not some of the best drivers I have ever seen. =) The first day we took it out Porter had a head-on collision with a big truck parked on the street, luckily I had left Sam with the boys while I ran home to get the camera when it happened, otherwise I probably would've freaked out and put a stop to all the fun right then and there. Porter got an earful from Sam about how important it is to pay attention to what is around you while driving that I hope will last until he's fifteen and ready for real driving lessons.

All in all they did very well and they love, love, love, the firetruck. Thanks Grandma Sherri!!

Some More Disneyland Fun!

2008-04-26T09:53:00.000-07:00

So we made our way to Disneyland on Wednesday morning with Charla and Kyle for a few hours. The best thing ever, for me, is that I no longer take a stroller for the boys. We hop on the train and use it to get to all the different "lands" and save a ton on walking, plus the boys love, love, love the train. Can't you tell?

We spent a lot of our time in fantasyland because Charla said that because Kyle is usually at the park with his older siblings he never gets to hang out there.
Our last ride for the day was the Casey Junior Train. Look at the cute circus animals I saw! =)
The other great thing about not having a stroller--super worn out boys who just sleep....

....and sleep. (How could that even be comfortable?)

Mr. Baker Man--I've Got an Idea For You!

2008-04-21T20:59:00.000-07:00

Well we've all heard of muffin tops, right? (And I'm not talking about the ones that spill out over the tops of our jeans sometimes). But there are food manufacturers that are selling muffin tops in stores now. Anyway, Mr. Baker Man, I was wondering if you could somehow start making donut tops because it seems that both my boys have this weird habit of eating their sprinkle donuts the same exact way, and well this idea just occured to me and I thought it could really be the next big thing. Well, not really but I thought it would be fun to blog about anyway...

Now I had many, many nieces and nephews and babysat lots and lots of different kids before I had my own children but Porter and Carter are the first kids I have ever seen eat a sprinkled donut this way. Actually, Carter had a chocolate raised glazed donut later and did the same exact thing again! Please tell me--is this normal? Do any of you have kids that eat their donuts this way too? Are there any other weird ways that kids eat things that I should be preparing myself for?

Hey,Who's That Hot Looking Ref?

2008-04-15T19:07:00.000-07:00

So, as some of you may or may not know, ever since Sam came home from his mission he developed a love for MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) fighting. He was training at a kickboxing gym in Hermosa Beach up until the time we got engaged when I asked him if he would stop training for fear that he would have a black eye or something in our wedding pictures.

In the last seven years that we have been married he has gone back to various gyms from time to time but finally concluded that he didn't really want to pursue anything on a professional level, for him, fighting is more of a hobby(thank goodness). Then, one day I asked if there was anything else he wanted to do in the MMA realm other than fight and he got the idea that he would like to try and become a referee.

After finally getting in touch with the State Athletic Commission, he found out that before he could go further with them he would have to get some experience and so he started making phone calls and was able to get in touch with a promoter who would let him come in with no previous reffing experience. For the next month or so he went to Team Quest and they let him practice reffing during their team training sessions. All the guys there were very helpful and he felt really good about going to Cahuilla Casino to referee alongside Herb Dean.

There were fifteen fights and Sam got to referee three of them. They were short on judges and so he was asked to judge when he wasn't refereeing. There were lots of guys from our Stake who went out there to cheer him on and Ben videotaped him (thanks so much Ben) so he can now send it to the State Athletic Commission and see where things go from there.

He had such a blast, loved every minute of it, and I know he can't wait to get out there and do it again. He looked like a total pro and I am so proud of him!

How We Spent Our Spring Break

2008-04-07T11:53:00.000-07:00

Spring Break for us started off with Sam and I participating in the Murder Mystery Dinner put on by our ward activities committee. It was so much fun and a lot of work but we had a blast! I was so proud of Sam because he had his lines down perfectly and had most of my lines down as well. Leading up to the night of the play he would throw me a cue out of nowhere trying to make sure that I had my lines down too. He was great as Tuff S. Nails while I was trying so hard to fit into my role as S. Candy Luss (talk about really having to come out of my shell).

We had a super fun family day at the park planned by my niece Autumn for her Faith in God Award. There were lots of great activities and treats for the kids as well. Porter and Carter had so much fun and no longer ask for balloons but are now asking for water balloons all the time!

We went on three day camping trip to San Clemente State beach. The Shreenans invited us to go with them and so we went. Sam wasn't able to come until the next day so I braved it and took the boys the first day on my own. It really wasn't bad at all because Charla, Greg, and the kids were a total help. Porter and Carter had so much fun except for having to walk up the ramp from the beach--thanks Greg for carrying Carter, otherwise I think one of the three of us might have been left there.

Carter's new favorite snack: roasted marshmallows. (Who knew they could be even better than just eating them right from the bag.) My least favorite part of the trip: taking the boys to the bathroom before bedtime and Porter screaming bloody murder because he was afraid of all the bugs in the bathroom that he attracted with his flashlight. Charla took him back to camp while I tried for almost five minutes to get Carter to calm down from his fear of all the bugs so he could go pee pee. Boy is he stubborn and I resorted to awful threats to get him to go by telling him that the bugs would get him if he didn't. If only I had thought of that sooner there wouldn't have been nearly as many tears and screams. After that experience I think Greg was afraid that he would be woken up in the middle of the night by me telling him I wanted to go home, but I didn't. Porters favorite thing about the trip were all the trees by our camp that he got to climb on. He had so much fun and it was fun to see what a great climber he is! We had a great time and came home telling the family how much fun we had and want to plan a family campout there at the end of the summer. I have always loved camping with my family...I'm just a little out of practice!

Our break ended with a wonderful conference sunday at my parents house. There were so many wonderful talks to be heard as always and just having the family together is always fun. We missed the Shaws and Trapps but know that they were having fun at Leo Carrillo.

Camping, picnics, family, and General Conference ...what a great way to spend Spring Break!!!

Easter Sunday

2008-03-29T18:56:00.000-07:00

Easter Morning brought lots of great surprises from the Easter bunny!

Like a really cool spider man wallet for Porter.

Lots and lots of yummy candy for Carter. (He was so excited about his basket that it took a lot of coaxing to get him away from it so he could go potty!)

Silly string! (Thanks so much Mr. Easter Bunny & thanks to Sam for cleaning up all the mess)

They were so excited to come home from church and eat their candy that this was the best I could do as far as getting a picture of them in their cute easter outfits! They really looked cute and I wanted a better picture but oh well...this is the real deal!

Easter Saturday

2008-03-29T18:46:00.000-07:00

The day before Easter we went to Grandma Sherri's house and celebrated Easter with Sam's family. It was such a great day and the boys had such a blast playing with their

cousins, their aunts and Grandma Sherri! It was really a special day for Sam that he could spend Easter with his whole family there!

Playing with bubbles with Aunt Laurel and Justin.

Drawing with sidewalk chalk with Aunt Amber, Branden and Justin.

Hunting for easter eggs...

...and getting lots of loves from Grandma Sherri!

Date Night at Disneyland

2008-03-04T07:18:00.000-08:00

On Friday night the Shaws, Morgans, Shreenans, and Raths went on a group date to Disneyland.

We had a ton of fun and Sam and I felt a little guilty that we have now been to Disneyland twice in a row without the boys. I said we only felt a little guilty.

We drove with the Shreenans and had a fantastic dinner at McDonald's to kick off the evening!

This is a picture of Charla and Greg on the tram...don't they look so excited? After we went on tons of fun rides at California Adventure and Disneyland we went and

had ice cream on Main Street.

Here is a picture of me & Sam.

Dru and Heather were both very thirsty and therefore having a very hard time posing for a little snapshot...these were all the pics I had to work with of them!

Deana and Dave left before I could get their picture. I think we might have done Deana in on the Tower of Terror. Isn't there some kind of restriction for rides like that for people who have had brain surgery? I'm not sure but Deana just likes to live on the wild side...there is just no stopping her sometimes.

We had such a blast at Disneyland and I hope that we can do it again sometime. The Stansel's and Robert's should really think seriously about getting passes so we can all do this again! Hopefully Abby and Jeff can make it next time too except I don't know that Abby will be having much fun there in a few months...maybe Deana can just keep Abby company while we go on rides. That way everyone can have a fun and safe time! Thanks to all of my siblings for a great night!!!!

March Air Museum

2008-02-28T07:54:00.001-08:00

Just Like Dad

2008-02-24T08:41:00.001-08:00

When Porter was getting ready Friday morning he held up a dress shirt and asked "Hey mom, can I wear this shirt today?" I replied "Porter, that shirt is to wear when you go to church." He came back with "But, Dad wears shirts like this when he goes to work and I want to wear this kind of shirt just like dad, then maybe I can go with him to the office." How could I then tell him no? Then I went and told Sam what happened and although he has been working from home most the time he suggested that he take Porter to the office for a couple hours. Sam said that while they were there Porter worked on his homework and pushed the print button every time Sam went to the printer. I guess someone saw him working on his workbook and offered him some crayons and he said "No, thanks I'm just gonna use a pen." I wanted to take a picture of Sam and Porter all dressed up for work! I think Sam was just as excited to take Porter with him as Porter was to go. After work they went and had lunch at In-n-Out and although Porter isn't a burger fan, I think he tried to impress his dad so he ate as much of it as he could stand.
A while ago Sam's mom gave me a paper that Sam had written when he was a little boy. It said "When I grow up I want to be a businessman and a dad and I want to have a cat". I wouldn't be surprised if Porter were to say the same thing (except he'd probably prefer a dog over a cat). He just wants to be so much like his dad and that makes me very happy!

Q. What are you guys doing???

2008-02-17T08:38:00.001-08:00

A. We're gonna play basketball!!!

I have to say that these guys crack me up. I will have them all ready and dressed for the day and the next thing I know they are either dressed as cowboys, fighters (complete with Sam's boxing gloves), or the latest...Basketball players. I asked Porter who picked out Carter's outfit and he admitted proudly that he did it and got him dressed too. Should I be concerned that the boys like to play dress up? They have been begging me to make them capes so they can be superheroes and I can't wait to see what they come up with once I do.

These guys are way too much fun!!!!

Valentine's Day

2008-02-16T07:07:00.000-08:00

For Valentine's Day this year Porter and I made play-do for all of his preschool friends and shaped them into hearts. Porter and Carter had so much fun making the dough and I was really proud of myself because it was probably the first time I've ever really let them do a lot of the work. Porter was really excited to give his friends the Valentines that he made. After preschool I asked Porter if he thought his friends liked the play-do and he said "Yeah, I thinked they liked it cause they all said 'Porter-sanks so much for this really cool play-do!'" I'm not exactly sure if this is how it really happened but it was funny to hear him say it anyway.

Sam took me to Disneyland during the day and we had so much fun. We've been wanting to go for awhile, just the two of us, and it was as much fun as we hoped it would be. We got to go on rides that we haven't been on in over five years and we managed to escape Disnelyand without going on The Buzz Ride and Dumbo. What a happy day!!!

After we picked up the boys we all went grocery shopping together for the yummy dinner that Sam was to make for us. He made Filet Mignon, Lobster Tail, Spinach Salad with avocado and strawberries and yummy honey-orange dressing, and asparagus. This meal had special meaning because he made one similar for me for our first Valentines Day. He is such an awesome cook! For dessert I made chocolate dipped strawberries and pretzels and the boys thought those were a real treat. Oh, and they also loved smashing the lobsters with the mallet.

All in all I think that this Valentines day was fun for our whole family and was

just what I was hoping for!

Splish Splash!!!!

2008-02-09T18:08:00.000-08:00

Especially when Porter and Carter take baths. Porter and Carter love, love, love taking baths and I hate, hate, hate it. Although they have a ton of fun playing with their toys, dumping water on eachother and "swimming" in the tub, I go crazy because they get more water dumped outside of the tub rather than in. You walk into our bathroom when they've been in the tub andthere is water everywhere! Oh and Porter's newest practical joke to play on his brother is to fill a cup up with ice cold water and pour it over Carter's head. We've put an end to this so we no longer hear blood curdling screams coming from Carter while they are in the tub. I'm sure it is a matter of time before Porter figures out a new "trick". How is it that even when they are doing something they love, like taking a bath, they still try to torture eachother? Is this a brother thing? Is it really true that they will grow up to be the best of friends...cause sometimes I'm not so sure.