President Gordon B. Hinckley 1910-2008

We got a text from Cathy (Taylor's mom) on Sunday night saying that President Hinckley had passed away. He was 97 years old and had been our prophet since March 12, 1995. He was the 15th prophet of our church and was so dedicated to share the gospel with the world. At first I could not believe it. He looked healthy at the last conference. We immediately rushed to the computer to see if anything had been posted in the news. None of the Utah News websites were working...probably because EVERY mormon in the world was trying to research the circumstances of his death. I loved President Hinckley and I will seriously miss him!!

Family Time

This weekend we went to Taylor's family's cabin in Showlow. It was so much fun. We loved sitting around making fun of eachother. Some big events took place while we were there. Houston proposed to his girlfriend, Rachael. YAY!! I absolutely adore her. They are planning on getting married in June. And Blue and Kelly annouced that they are pregnant with child #3!!
My kids really enjoyed playing with their cousins and eating junk food for 4 days straight. There is nothing like having Grandma around to spoil them. We also played in the snow...well the little that was left. Tash and Leland were so amazing with my kids, Natalie won't stop talking about them. I wish we lived closer to everyone to we could see them more often. I forgot my camera so I stole this picture from my sister-in-law. Hopefully I can gather some more and post them later.

Kelly, Laura, Me, Tash, Rachael and Jenn

Pediatrician

My little sister is expecting her first baby in April. She is looking for a good pediatrician and since I don't live there anymore I am not much help to her. She would like one near Higley and Southern or maybe one that is within 5-8 miles. If you have one that you really like please leave me their name and phone number. Thanks!!

Best friends

Taylor and Cody have such a cute relationship. The first person Cody asks for in the morning is Taylor and the last person he wants to see at night is Taylor. That is probably why Cody gets away with murder in our house is because he kisses up to the man in charge!! The other night they were lying on the couch together watching TV. I just had to capture the moment.

Well Child Check

I took Eli in for his 2 month well-child check. He now weighs 12 lbs. and is 23 inches long. Woo Hoo for Eli. Stinks for mom. I want him to stay a newborn forever. I was glad to hear that he is recovering well from his sickness. While I was there I got lectured on how I need to be tougher on him. I have allowed him to continue sleeping in his carseat because I am so scared that he is going to quit breathing. He was so sick just a couple of weeks ago and I don't want him to struggle breathing like he was before. Not only does the doctor want him to start sleeping lying down, he wants me to put him in his own room.....IS HE KIDDING ME? Let's take this one step at a time here doc!! Then he proceeds to tell me that I don't need to feed him in the middle of the night. That he is old enough to go at least 8 hours without food. Ok, hold up, I am a grown woman and I can't even go 8 hours without food. By the end of this conversation I was just nodding and agreeing with everything the doctor was saying. Mother knows best, I will do what I want on my own terms......HA. I showed him!!

Growing up

My kids are growing up and I absolutely hate it!! I wish I could freeze time and keep them little forever. They all say and do things everyday that make me laugh and I tend to ask myself, "where do they get this stuff?"!!

New Years in Arizona

After Christmas was over and the excitement died down we decided to take a trip to AZ to see family. Taylor had to drive a trailor down with some equipment. We would not have to pay for gas, so we figured, why not? One of the nights we were there, my little brother came over with his Wii and the guys played. I have to say that it was the funniest thing I have ever seen. A bunch of grown men getting winded by a little boxing match....HILARIOUS!!
Then on New Years Eve we went out to dinner with Taylor's family and then went back to my parents house to play games. I enjoyed seeing all the family and we had a blast!! My kids held out until about 11pm. They were so exhausted that the moment they were buckled in their carseats they were asleep. New Years day I went shopping with my sister in laws, which was really fun. It was cut short though when I got a call from Taylor saying that Eli was screaming his head off. It is hard to be gone very long from a nursing baby. We enjoyed our trip, thanks to Marlene and Ben for letting us stay at your house!!

Christmas Day

Christmas day was started at 4:00am when Taylor rolled over to me and asked me a question. The conversation went something like this.....
Taylor: Did you get all the presents?
Steph: Yes, I think so.
Taylor: What about the one on the top of our closet shelf?
Steph: Oh, crap!! I forgot that one.
Taylor: Ha ha ha ha ha
Steph: (mumbling under her breath as she exits the bedroom) Dang it, Stupid presents....stupid Christmas!!
I am not much of a morning person, Christmas or not!! I was so mad that I had to get out of my nice warm bed. Ok, enough jusification of my reaction.
I returned a few minutes later to Taylor snoring. "Oh nice, rub it in my face!!" I fell back asleep and again Taylor wakes me up around 6:00am.
Taylor: Steph, can I get the kids up now?
Steph: Don't you dare, let them sleep as long as they can.
Taylor: Oh, come on, I am so excited to see them open their presents.
Steph: If you wake them I will rip your arms off!!
I held Taylor off about another hour and then the kids came in and woke us.
I eventually got over my bad attitude about being woken up early. The kids were so excited I couldn't help but share in the happiness.
Later that morning I found a pile of presents under the bed in the guest bedroom. Oops, Santa must have forgotten to put them under the tree. I called the kids in and we had another round of gift opening!!

Merry Christmas!!

Christmas Eve we went to a friends house for dinner. We decided to have the kids act out the nativity scene. It was so awesome to read the story with them and really discuss why we have Christmas. They had so much fun pretending like Mary and Joseph. We got home around 8:00pm. The kids were bouncing off the walls with the excitment that santa was coming. Unfortunately Santa's elves had to get to work wrapping presents, so we rushed the kids to bed and got to work. We finally got to bed around 11:00.