Robinson Family

Olivia The Escape Artist

2012-02-01T12:12:00.000-08:00

This little stinker is so cute and frustrating all at once. I entered this picture in a photo contest and the theme for the contest is love. Here's what I wrote about it.

My two-year-old Olivia is as cute as they come. She's also as stubborn, opinionated and ornery as they come. She'll be three in April and I thought we were lucky and missed the terrible two's, oh how wrong I was. She's constantly sneaking out the garage door and "running away" when she's mad. She's usually mad because she can't have anymore candy, or it's nap time, or I looked at her funny. At least she takes a buddy with her, her favorite doll. I decided to take my camera with me and sneak some shots as she took off on her 5th journey for the day. But oh how I love this adorable two year old. She makes me very happy, even when she's naughty.

Christmas Lights

2011-12-12T14:49:00.000-08:00

Cam has been working hard on our lights outside and they look terrific!

Greta's Party

2011-12-09T14:36:00.000-08:00

Greta celebrated her birthday party with 5 of her closest friends plus her 2 sisters. They ate pizza, watched a movie, had popcorn, decorated a gingerbread house and did a lot of laughing.

Sarah Lillie, Greta Robinson, Alyssa Vehar, Alina Robinson, Olivia Robinson, Hannah Coe, Megan Gee, Peyton Barrus.

Our Christmas Tree

2011-12-06T18:53:00.000-08:00

Feeling a little sick today and thought I'd cheer myself up and take some pics of the kids by the tree. I love how much they love Christmas.

Greta's Baptism

2011-12-04T19:09:00.000-08:00

Greta's baptism weekend was a busy, but wonderful one. Friday night the kids waited for their Nana and Papa to show up along with their aunt Crystal and cousins. They could hardly wait. We had a little bit of excitement happen to make the time go by faster. A bunch of cows broke through a fence and covered our neighbors lawn. It was quite entertaining. We had to call the cops because these were big cows with horns!

When everyone arrived there was a lot of laughter and fun. We haven't seen each other for almost a year. The kids snuggled up in the basement to talk and watch movies.

The baptism was at 10:20am Saturday morning. It was hard to get ready because Santa was coming by on the fire truck to throw candy. We just didn't know what time and none of the kids wanted to shower for fear they'd miss Santa. Luckily nobody missed him and they all got candy.

I got to do a spotlight on Greta and talk about how wonderful she is. Cameron and I are so glad she is here. So glad she is our daughter and so thankful to Heavenly Father for her.

She was nervous, but did great. And the dress she picked out was beautiful and she received several compliments on it.

We headed over to our house for lunch and family time. It was nice to have everyone there to visit with. I love my families.

Sunday on the way to my parents house we did a quick little photo shoot before the sun went down. It was FREEZING and Greta wasn't happy about it, but we got some great pics.

This is my favorite.

Livy

2011-11-15T20:37:00.000-08:00

Nov 7th
Livy: Mom, where's Austin?
Me: Playing
Livy: Oh, I miss him, he's cute.

Nov 14th
Me: Livy do you want 1 or 2 cookies?
Livy: I want four!

Nov 29-Olivia: Mom I bonked my nuggets!
Me: Oh no, where are your nuggets?
Olivia: My nuggets right here (touching her leg) and my chicken nuggets right here (touching her elbow).

Austin's Birthday Night Out

2011-11-12T09:21:00.000-08:00

Our kids have really struggled this year with what they want for their birthday. We usually let them pick out one thing but this year we changed it up. We decided they get a date night with mom and dad to do whatever they want. Here was Austin's itenary for the night.

Chuck-a-rama
Bowling (Cam won and bowled one of his best games ever)
Race to find objects at walmart that start with every letter of the alphabet. This was my idea and I was on a team by myself and smoked them!! :)

It was such a fun night, I can't wait to do it with my girls!

Halloween

2011-10-31T23:00:00.000-07:00

Halloween was so fun like it is every year. The kids went trick-or-treating in our neighborhood and my parents and came home with a boat-load of candy. Olivia loved getting candy and didn't even need a stroller. She kept up with the big kids easily.

Cam and I even dressed up this year.

How romantic.

Funny Olivia

2011-10-30T20:33:00.000-07:00

Oct 18
Every time I ask Livy to clean her room she says, "SHHHH mom my baby is sleepin'. I think she's found a clever way to ignore me and tell me to shut up, and she knows it. What am I going to do with this 2 year old?!

Oct 28th
Conversation Livy and I had while getting her ready....
Me: go get me a diaper Liv.
Olivia: why mom, you pooped?

Double Digits Austin

2011-10-28T09:08:00.000-07:00

Austin reached double digits today. I can't believe he's that old! Where does the time go? It seems like yesterday I was getting very impatient for him to be born. He was born on a Saturday and on Friday I went to work ticked off that I was still there. I remember doing jumping jacks trying to go into labor and all the guys I worked with thought I was crazy but tried to come up with other ways to get me into labor.

Friday night Cam and I were at my mom's house watching "The Wedding Planner" and I was having contractions, but they weren't close enough. Then finally after a few hours they got close enough. Cameron and one of my dear friends Becki Vawdrey took me to the hospital. I was yelling at them and telling them they were going the wrong way (they weren't). I must have been somewhat out of it from the contractions.

When we got there they put me in a room and checked me. I was only dialated to a 4...a FOUR that's all this pain had gotten me to. Then they said I had to go home because since it was my first I'd be in labor a long time. I remember thinking to myself, "are you kidding me, I'm not driving all the way home on bumpy roads again!" Right then my water broke so they had to keep me. Yay!

As they were cleaning things up we heard HORRIBLE screaming coming from another room. The worst screaming I'd ever heard. Now you have to understand this was my first baby and I was adamant that I was going natural. I even had a birth plan written. I couldn't imagine why that lady was screaming so loudly. Then the nurse looked at me and said, "don't worry she's screaming because she's going natural." I looked at her with terrified eyes and said, "I'm going natural." She paused and said, "oh, you'll be fine."

I was freaked out to say the least. I tried everything to get comfortable and nothing was working. I finally gave into the epideral. It was the greatest thing EVER! Except Cameron thought it was funny that my legs were completely numb and he kept letting them fall off the table. He's learned since then. ;)

When it came time to push they told me to get started because I would probably push for an hour since it was my first. I pushed once and the nurses eyes got big and said, "STOP!" Then they ran to call the doctor because Austin was coming. The doctor took 1 hour to get there. If I had gone natural one of those nurses would've had to catch my baby, but since I couldn't feel anything at all it worked out.

Austin had a huge cone head since he was waiting to come out for so long, but he was beautiful. We were so happy to have started our family. And now here we are 10 years later. I'm so grateful for my sweet boy. He's such a good kid in so many ways. He brings something special to our home that only he can. I thank my Heavenly Father every day for my son. Happy Birthday Austin!

He's not feeling very well today and his birthday party plans with friends didn't work out. So we are going to carve pumpkins, make carmel popcorn, pig out on junk food and watch halloween movies.

We celebrated with my family at my brother's house with his niece Madison who turned 2 on the 23rd.

And here he is tired of me taking pics of him. These are the only faces he gives me now days. I love it!

Silly Olivia

2011-10-28T08:54:00.000-07:00

Oh my goodness this little girl is so adorable. She's always saying and doing the funniest things. Here's our conversation from this morning while getting her ready for the day...
Me: Livy go get me a diaper.
Livy: Why mom, you pooped?

She's also been playing with Garrett Lillie and she gets him to do the silliest things. Sometimes he comes out in her church dress and the other day she had him walk around all day with a ball in his stomach because he was having a baby. If you look at her face in this pic she's about ready to tell him something he isn't doing right. No wonder Garrett loves it when his mom shows up. Hahaha.

I got a new lens yesterday and wanted to try it out. Livy gets so tired of me taking pics of her. I begged her for one more, but she refused to fully face the camera. If you know her well, you can see on her face the "alright mom, but I'm not going to do everything you say." Hence the not fully facing the camera like I was asking her to.

Then last weekend she stayed with my parents. From all the partying she ended up getting gum in her hair. Here's how the conversation went...

My mom: Livy how did you get gum in your hair?
Olivia: My mom did it.
My mom: (laughing)
Olivia: It's not funny.

Livy and Food

2011-09-29T20:30:00.000-07:00

Is it possible to tell your kids you love them too much? Because recently Livy has been sneaking treats and when I asked her why she keeps doing it her response was, "Food loves me mom." Hmmmmmm.....:)

Miss Bossy Pants

2011-09-20T10:36:00.001-07:00

This is a conversation livy and I had while changing her diaper.

Me: Livy don't play with the wipes (in a sing songy mom voice)
Livy: Don't play with the wipes (in the same voice as she plays with the wipes more)
I think to myself, I wonder if she thinks I'm talking to Garrett, her neighbor friend.
Me: Livy I was talking to you.
Livy: No mom I'm talking to you.

Olivia

2011-09-12T10:36:00.000-07:00

Olivia: Greta come sit by me.
Greta: I don't want to.
Olivia: (in a stern voice) YES you do!

Miss Sassy Pants

2011-09-01T12:48:00.000-07:00

Mom: Livy do you want peanut butter on a spoon or bread?
Livy: Ummmmmmmmm.......a fork.

Mom: Livy do you want to wear this shirt or this shirt? Livy: Ummmmmm.....just pants mom.

Livy: Mom I need to tell you a secret.
Mom: (I scoot in close and smell something not so nice)
Livy: silence
Mom: I bet your secret is that you have a surpise in your pants for me.
Livy: (whispering)no.
Mom: Are you tricking me?
Livy: (whispering) Yes I tricking you mom.

Jersey #8

2011-08-28T09:39:00.000-07:00

Austin had his first football game yesterday.  As a parent I always get stressed out when my kids perform.

I want them to do their best, and never give up.

I want them to be proud of themselves.

The first of the game we got slaughtered.  Austin was playing wide receiver, but they only did running plays.

Then the 2nd half of the game they had Austin play on defense, which is what we knew he was good at.

The other team had really big players.

One of their big players caught it.

Austin went after him and missed the tackle and was down on the ground.

The boy kept running in for a touchdown.

The next thing we knew Austin came out of nowhere and tackled him hard all by himself, after he had already tried to tackle him and missed.

It was awesome!

Austin can run.

That's why we nicknamed him Dash when he was little.

The team's spirit was back.

He sacked the quarterback.

Austin became a tackling machine.

They finally threw a pass at him and he caught it. 

The only catch made on his team.

At the end of the game they awarded 5 trophies.

 Austin won 2 of them.  One for best tackler, and the other for best defensive player.

Once they realized how awesome Austin was on defense, offense, and the kick off teams he played all 4.

And he was able to hold the other team from scoring more.

He was tired, but excited.

We are so proud of him and his effort for not giving up when it would've been easy to do so.

Austin going in for the tackle.

And making contact.

What it's all about...

2011-08-26T08:35:00.000-07:00

Recently the YW lessons I have been teaching have really made me stop and think.
What is life all about?
Why do we have trials?
I've also come across some blogs of people who have lost their little children to sickness and accidents.
My heart hurts so much for these people and makes me wonder how they can even cope.
And then I taught a lesson on eternal perspective.
We have such a limited understanding of the love our Heavenly Father has for us.
He give us trials to make us grow.
To refine us.
To make us worthy to return to Him.
I am so blessed to have the knowledge of the gospel.
I'm so grateful for callings that make me grow and expound my understanding of eternal principles.
I'm grateful for moments that help me remember what's important.
I'm grateful to be home with my children.
I'm grateful that I get to be a mom, a wife, a daughter, and a friend.
I'm so very blessed.
And I want to make each moment count with my little ones.
For that is what matters most.

New Camera

2011-08-24T09:49:00.000-07:00

I finally got a new camera. I've wanted a DSLR for years and now my dream has come true. So yesterday after the kids went to school Olivia and I played with the camera. I'm lucky to have such a cute little subject for my picture taking craziness.

I love all the detail!

She is in full swinging motion in all these pics and they are crystal clear, amazing!

And here she is telling me she refuses to smile anymore. Now I get to play with editing software. :)

First Day of School

2011-08-23T09:06:00.000-07:00

Well we now have a 4th, 2nd, and 1st grader. Poor Livy is going to be left alone. But the one on one time with her will be fun.

This year Austin has Gina Morgan who is in her ward and I currently work with her in YW's. I know he'll learn a lot from her.

Greta has Ms. Brown who was actually Alina's student teacher for awhile last year. We already know she's great and Alina is a bit jealous.

Alina has Mrs. Hollingshead. We know nothing about her, but so far so good.

When we went to check out who was in the kids classes before school started the first thing Austin noticed was that Madison Robinson was in his class. He has a little crush on her. We've told him if they get married she won't have to change her last name. Hahaha.

And of course a picture wouldn't be complete without Livy in her t-shirt and diaper.

Cameron and Bacon

2011-08-22T20:27:00.000-07:00

We got chickens this weekend and Cameron says to me, "Now if we could only get one to lay bacon."

Weekend of Fun to Weekend of Puke

2011-07-24T16:43:00.000-07:00

This year we decided to take turns planning our anniversary. This year it was mine. I had such glorious plans. Here was the itinerary.

Dinner at Tucano's
Harry Potter
Head up to cabin in Midway
7 Peaks
Picnic Lunch
Sonic Happy Hour
Dinner at Tarahumara's in Midway
Hiking
Movie
River Rafting
Picnic at cabin
Shopping at Park City Outlets
Ropes Course
Dinner
Home
Relax

But our weekend went a little something like this.

-Dinner at Tucano's (disgusting, luckily it was free)
-Harry Potter (boring, and then we got called by our friend letting us know Livy was sick)
-Midway (didn't happen, we had to go home to take care of Livy)
-Our River Rafting trip got changed to Friday instead of Saturday, but since Livy was sick we missed it.
-7 Peaks (success!)
-Picnic Lunch (nope we forgot to pack tennis shoes for our ropes course and hiking so we had to go all the way back home)
-Sonic (success!)
-Stopped in Midway to see if we could river raft on Saturday. They said that since it was our anniversary they would take us out on a kayak trip.
-Dinner (success)
-Movie (success)
-12am rolled around and Cameron spent the rest of the night puking.
-5am I wake up and realize he isn't there.
-6:30am when we were supposed to wake up for our river rafting trip
-7am I drive to Midway Adventure Company to tell them we aren't going to make it. If looks could kill I'd be dead. They were pretty upset we canceled since they were making a special trip for us.
-7:15am I'm buying pepto for Cam and bawling my eyes out.
-11am Cam finally starts to feel better. But I think it was just because all that was left to puke out was his internal organs.
-12am arrive at Park City and find absolutely nothing to buy
-2pm arrive at Plato's closet and find some great stuff
-5:45pm the time we were supposed to be at our ropes course but Cam still didn't feel well enough. Good thing we drove all the way home and missed our picnic lunch to get those shoes.
-6pm return home, watch a movie and Cam is out.

Then to top it all off he has to speak in church so we don't even get to sit by each other with our kids gone. And then he has to do tithing after church so here I am at home blogging waiting for him to come home so we can get our kids.

Am I complaining, heck yes. I couldn't wait for this weekend, and I'm really disappointed it turned out the way it did. But with that being said I couldn't be more blessed to be married to the man that I am. Here's to eternity babe, even if you are puking.

Here we are on "Bunker Hill." That's what I call it anyways. Every time we come to Midway Cam says, "what do you think that hill is with the flag on the top?" (And he never remembers that he says this). This year we found out that it's actually called Memorial Hill. It lists all the names of the men and women who fought in every war from Wasatch County.

And here I am being a snot because I had no desire to come up to this hill, so I'm trying to look astonished and jubilant. I don't think it worked. :)

4th Of July Weekend

2011-07-06T18:28:00.000-07:00

What a great weekend full of friends, family, bbq's, fireworks, and the mountains.

The kids getting ready for "diving for candy" at the Riverton Town Days. They got hooked up!

It was so hot so we needed some shade.

I love this picture of Alina. It captures how much she enjoys life. She couldn't wait to go on this ride all by herself.

Awww....what a cute couple.

We conquered the zipper, but I almost barfed.

The next day we headed up to Silver Lake with the whole family. The kids had to eat on this rock. As you can see Greta is storing her food for winter.

Shane and Amy. They are getting married in September, yay!

The kids and I hiked up the ginormous rock.

And yes believe it or not there was still snow in July, so we went sledding.

And had a snowball fight, Greta won.

I love this picture of Cam in shorts in snow and just how cute he is with Livy.

And here's the cutest picture of all, my parents. Thanks to them I get to enjoy life with my sweet family.

P90X and Olivia

2011-06-30T09:35:00.000-07:00

Whenever I do P90X the kids love to do it with me. Olivia loves it when I do push-ups because she tries to sit on my back, which gives me a better workout. Today she decided to do it with me again, but she had to have my tennis shoes on.
She cracks me up.

Look at those guns, I'm scared, are you?!

That is the face of a serious competitor.

Work Party

2011-06-24T08:27:00.000-07:00

My mom's work knows how to throw a party! We all got matching shirts, had all we could eat stake and chicken with all the fixings. A ginormous bounce house and life sized bouncy balls of terror you sit inside and roll down the hill in. It was an awesomely fun time!

We also had a very competitive game of volleyball and my team of Shannon, Shane, and Austin won! Cameron, Amy, Greta, and some random guy were pretty upset about losing. They now owe us $100 bucks and have yet to pay up.

Olivia was crazy on the bounce house slide. She would jump from the top and land close to the bottom. Everyone there couldn't believe how little and daring she was. One guy said she should take up parkour. I think she already has, she's always been our kid who jumps from coffee table to chair and back again.

I went down the hill and it was awesome. I need one of my own.

Even Olivia loved to go in the giant ball of terror. I can't believe how brave she is.

Fathers Day

2011-06-19T09:03:00.000-07:00

I'm so grateful for the men in my life. My dad has always been an example of what a dad and priesthood holder should be. He's also the perfect grandpa, I've never met someone who is better. I'm so glad that I have Cameron. He's so patient, sweet, and thoughtful towards me. He's a wonderful father to our children. The kids always want to be with their dad, and for good reason.

For Father's day this year the kids and I made Cameron breakfast that of course had to include bacon. For the past 2 years the kids have given Cameron coupons to use for back rubs, tickles, and feet and head rubs, but every time he tries to use one they tell him no. I told the kids they couldn't give him another useless coupon book this year. But they all got together and gave him a group massage for Fathers Day. Some complained, and wouldn't do it so they had to go 5 minutes without talking or complaining or the time would start over again. Let's just say that Cameron had a really long massage.

Alina's Ballet Recital

2011-06-19T08:24:00.000-07:00

Alina has been taking ballet since February and she has gotten so good at it. I love watching her dance, she's always had a natural ability for it.

On June 18th she had her first recital. Her ballet academy did Sleeping Beauty. It was 2 hours long, but so cute. Our little ballerina did awesome and she looked beautiful. I think we'll keep her in.

Big Changes, and Big Blessings.

2011-06-16T09:41:00.000-07:00

We have had another crazy year of unexpected stress and blessings. Cameron was working for Invictus Law where he worked long hard hours cleaning up their books and creating massive spreadsheets for not only Invictus but some other companies they owned. In January he hit his 90 day review and went in asking for a big raise. We were currently making $22K a year less than we were used to. They gave him a $22K a year raise. We were so excited and felt very blessed. We spent a whole Saturday making a new budget with plans to have our van paid off this year and our house in 10. We couldn't wait. Three weeks later they let him go. We never even had a full month pay at his raise.

I was very upset, very confused, and very angry. I couldn't believe this was happening again to us. At the same time I felt calm and peaceful and knew everything would work out, but I just simply did not want to go through it again and have our financial goals put on hold. We had planned to use our tax return to pay off our van. Now we had to live off of it, but I was grateful to have it.

Right away Cameron got interviews, which was better than the last time around. There seemed to be better jobs, but we both just felt like we had to be patient, that it wasn't going to happen when we wanted.

Cameron had a really promising interview with a company called Natures Sunshine. He made it to three interviews. We waited and waited for a phone call and they kept telling us they hadn't decided. During this wait time he received another phone call for an interview with a company called Young Living. He had three interviews with them as well. The waiting almost killed us. Nature Sunshine still hadn't made a decision after 5 agonizing weeks. Young Living told us they would get back to us on a certain day and didn't. It was so frustrating, especially because he felt very strongly that he had the job with Young Living. But Cameron had applied to this job the day after he was let go and it took 2 months for them to even call for a first interview so all we could do was wait.

On Monday May 23rd we thought for sure we would hear something. We waited, we prayed, and 5:00 came and went and we heard nothing. We stopped checking email at that time. It was 6:30 and we were eating dinner, but Cam was upstairs for some reason, probably praying and he came downstairs with a weird look on his face. He grabbed me and said come here. I was worried something was wrong. And he told me that Young Living emailed him an offer letter. I was so shocked, relieved, happy, and grateful. We knelt in pray and offered up our hearts full of gratitude. The money compensation was more than we've ever made. It's located at Thanksgiving Point which is only a 30 minute drive for Cam. He doesn't even have to get on the freeway.

Because we had the job offer it worked out for us to go to California. They didn't want him to start until the 13th so Cam just asked if the 15th would be ok for a start date since we would be on vacation. They were fine with it. He started yesterday and came home so excited. Young Living sells essential oils and other healthy items. He came home with tons of free stuff and told me all about the awesome benefits he has. They have a gym he can workout out for free, he gets free golfing at Thanksgiving Point. They have a matching 401K plan, tons of vacation, free products, a chance to earn bonuses, and an opportunity to work with a bunch of great people and be a part of a wonderful team. Cameron will be in charge of the Mexico office and will get to travel there occasionally. He will also be in charge of budgeting for the whole company which he will be very good at.

It's weird to not have him home with me since in the last year he was unemployed for 10 months, but I'm so grateful we found this job. I know it's because of faith, prayers, and a loving Heavenly Father that we have this miracle and I'm very grateful for all I learned through this trial.

Carlsbad Beach 2011

2011-06-16T08:56:00.001-07:00

We were so excited to go to Cali for a vacation this year and felt very blessed to be able to do so. There were 9 families from our neighborhood that went. The Andersons, Hintzes, Vehars, Lillies, Fitzsimmons, Johnsons, Owens, and the Barneys. e left on Wednesday June 8th and drove to Primm Nevada to stay overnight to break the driving up. We met almost everyone else there and all went to Denny's for dinner. The wait was horrible and the food was terrible. But we were full. Thursday we made it to the campground. The weather started out chilly but by the end of our time there it was warm. We went to the La Jolla tide pools two different day. Our kids love it there. There's a million hermit crabs to catch, sea shells to find and seals to watch. It's also so beautiful in La Jolla. Alina could live in the tide pools of La Jolla. She jumps right in trying to find all the hermit crabs and shells she can. She always has a smile on her face and can't wait to find a new pool to explore.

Austin was always off with his friends boogie boarding or hanging out. I hardly have any pictures of him. I can't believe how old and independent he's becoming. Greta didn't want to go to Cali and begged us to leave her with my parents. But she got there and had a great time, but took awhile to smile in the pictures. She couldn't let us realize she was having fun after the fuss she made :) Olivia hated the water, she was happy to just play in the sand. She also hated the drive. The drive home was the worse. She was so angry and screamed most of the way. We were happy to be home and get out of the car.

The vacation was fun, but frustrating. I left to Cali with a head cold that then turned into a sinus infection and ear infection. I had to call my doctor and pick up a prescription for it in California. Once I got the medicine in me and started feeling better Cameron came down with a fever, then Greta, and all the kids had coughs. On top of it our air mattress didn't work and the ground was very hard and unwelcoming. It was a lot of sleepless nights and by the end of it we were all exhausted. We did get to see Corona beach which has the best sand I've ever seen. The kids buried themselves in it and had a great time. We hunted for shells and I found a perfect sand dollar, which is very hard to find. I didn't get to boogie board as much as I wanted because of my ear infection, but when I did it was so fun. The waves were great, the water relaxing, and the company even better. I'm very grateful to have such great friends and to live in such a great neighborhood. Someone asked us while we were there if we were on a family reunion, when we told him it was just a bunch of friends he thought that was really cool. And it was.

Happy to be in the car because the trip had only just started.

Alina started collecting shells the second we arrived.

Greta refusing to smile because then we might realize she actually did have fun.

Alina so happy to be on the beach.

I love this picture of Cam.

La Jolla tide pools with my girls and Alyssa Vehar.

The squirrels are fat and unafraid of people at La Jolla.

Alina always had her crab bucket next to her and was constantly touching them. She literally loved them to death.

I found the cutest bathing suit and was so glad I did!

Livy loved playing in the sand.

Sami Hintze and Alina making their own hot tub. I don't want to know how they heated it.;)

Alyssa and Greta wave jumping.

Megan, Becky, Holly, Becki, Hilary, and Teresa getting our boogie on.

Alina in a tide pool crab hunting and truly happy.

Megan, and Bella helped Alina and I hunt for shells and crabs at Corona beach.

Livy held a crab, but only for a second.

The anger is starting to simmer in Olivia, can you see it?

Sami and Alina sacked out even with Olivia crying.

Cute Greta

2011-06-05T09:38:00.000-07:00

Sunday dinner at my parents house everyone was asking the kids about their last week of school. Greta wouldn't answer anyone. She was sitting next to me and leaned over and whispered, "mom I need to talk to you over there." We left the table and she said to me in the saddest voice ever, "mom everyone keep asking me about school and it's making me think about Mrs. Z and miss her all over again." And then she broke down into tears. I love my sweet, tenderhearted little girl.

Last Day of School

2011-06-03T08:31:00.000-07:00

On the last day of school my three kids had completely different emotions. Austin could hardly wait for it to be over and begged me not to make him go the last day. Alina enjoyed every second of it and just had fun. And Greta was extremely sad to see it all end.

Austin's teacher Mr. Parks this year was a first year teacher who wasn't very organized and never really challenged Austin. He became very bored, part of that was his own fault for not trying anymore. It was a very disappointing year for him and Austin didn't ever care to get a picture with him. I wish I would've made him now.

Alina loved her teacher Ms. Weber. She is getting better at reading and can recognize all her letters now. I often helped out in her class and was shocked at how much she knew because at home she acts like she doesn't know anything. She enjoyed all the fun things that the last week of school had to offer.

Greta had the best teacher by far this year. Her name was Mrs. Zmoos, Mrs. Z for short. She was so good with her classroom and Greta thoroughly enjoyed learning. Greta has had such a hard time knowing that school is ending. When we got home she cried and cried about having to leave 1st grade. It's especially hard for her because Mrs. Z is moving to Iowa so her husband can attend dental school. Greta knows she won't see her again. When we got home from school today Greta wanted me to take her back for a picture with Mrs. Z and one last goodbye. We are so grateful that Greta had such a great year in school. She has grown in so many ways. They shy little girl who wouldn't talk to anyone is gone and we know that that is largely because she had such a wonderful teacher.

Readers Theatre

2011-06-02T08:23:00.000-07:00

The 1st grade put on a little show for us and it was so cute. Greta loves to read and is so good at it. She can't ever decide what book to read so she's always reading more than one at the same time. There are a lot of kids from our ward in 1st grade together. They did such a great job.

Alyssa and Greta

Austin Moser, Adam Holley, Alyssa Vehar, Greta Robinson, Addie Porter, Jude Vale

Field Day

2011-06-02T08:15:00.000-07:00

Since Cameron is still unemployed (but only until June 15th) we got to help out at the schools field day together. We were in charge of the 50 yard dash, my favorite game since I was a kid on field day. Our kids did awesome, they get their speed from me ;). Alina and Greta came in 4th place and Austin won 1st place. He even ran in cleets on the asphalt. So proud of my kiddos.

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Cultural Fair

2011-05-24T08:52:00.000-07:00

The 1st grade had a cultural fair and Greta's class chose Asia. She did a great job singing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" in Mandarin and she chose to learn about the Komodo Dragon. We had fun making her poster and we learned a lot of freaky things about Komodo dragons, like if one bites you and doesn't end up eating you you'll die anyways from it's poisonous venom. Such a nice thought.:)

Olivia

2011-05-15T08:56:00.000-07:00

Now that this little girl is two she has changed completely. I thought we had already entered the terrible two stage, boy was I wrong. I didn't realize temper tantrums could get worse. This girl is spoiled, and not always in a good way.

But despite her spoiled little attitude it is there for good reason, she's just so darn cute. She can get her way with anyone, because she knows how to work it. She knows how to say "peeeease" with pleading little eyes and a sweet little voice. And if you happen not to fall for it you better watch out because her wrath will be released and you might end up with your eyes scratched out.

On the other hand she is so sweet at times and I just can't get enough of her. The way she say's "Wuv you mommy." Or how she wants us to snuggle her every day. The ways she says "Peeease?" Or how excited she gets when she sees her siblings. This girls loves people and she always wants to be with them.

Now that she's two she doesn't want to take naps anymore and has started climbing out of bed. When we switched her to a bed a few months ago we counted our lucky stars that she actually stayed in bed. Not only would she stay in bed, but she wouldn't get out in the mornings until her calls woke us up and we came and got her. But now she's figured out she can get out all by herself, and she does constantly.

With spring here and warmer weather she wants to be outside always. The second she wakes up she's asking for cereal and wants to eat it outside. We go on lots of walks. She jumps on the tramp daily. She loves to look, smell, and pick my flowers.

Olivia loves to dance. She loves to sing. She makes up songs everyday and they all end with "we all fall down." She loves to perform, and we love to watch her and tape her all the time.

I can't believe my baby is two. Where has the time gone. But we are soaking up every little thing she does and loving her for it. We love our Livy Lou and her spunky little personality,. We'll take her even if she does get mad and try to scratch our face off.

Fantastic Weekend

2011-05-08T10:16:00.000-07:00

We had such a great weekend. It started Thursday night with an early birthday date for Cam and I. My dearest friend Jen sent me a gift card to Chili's so we went. It was a much needed reprieve from life. Friday I turned 33, I can't believe how fast time flies. That night we had our ward no talent show and I was so excited for our performance. I had been trying to talk my family into doing a dance to MC Hammer's "You Can't Touch This", but they wouldn't comply. So I came up with something even better, I think it was inspired.;)

We danced to a Will Smith's song "Men in Black." Austin was already working on a dance at school so he and Cam used some of it for the opening scene. It was great. Cam and Austin were the "men in black" and the girls and I were the aliens. Since we have keys to the church we were able to practice it a few times. It was so much fun putting together and Olivia was so funny playing dead and screaming when she got shot. But when the day came to actually perform it for everyone she just walked around in her frog costume silent. She was still adorable though.

The girls had me paint eyes all over their face and make tails and extra arms. They were all such good sports. I'm so proud of how brave they were. It was a really cute performance. I'm so mad that we forgot to take a picture of us all together after it was done. Oh well.

Bathroom Montser

2011-05-02T09:14:00.000-07:00

The older three kids were at school. Cam and I were reading with Livy near by. All of a sudden the house got eerily quiet. We called for Olivia. She wouldn't answer. We got up and started looking for her. Still no answer. Then I went to my room and my bathroom door was shut. I knew she was in there. I called her. No answer. I could hear her moving. Trying to hide. I open the door and this is what I found.

She had taken my bed head (hair product) and lathered it on her head. She was a sticky mess. And now it's a constant battle to keep the bathroom monster out of my bathroom. Now she's after my makeup.

Birthday, Easter, and Big News!

2011-04-25T12:47:00.000-07:00

Olivia is 2! We can't believe how fast she is growing. She has been so excited about her birthday. The morning of she woke up at 6:30 (which isn't normal) to rush down to get her favorite cereal, treat, and present. For some reason she wouldn't smile with her eyes open.

Olivia loves shoes so of course I made her a shoe cake. She loved it. Every time someone says the word birthday she yells, "shoe cake!"

She got to be the center of attention opening presents. She got a bunch of new clothes, tons of play shoes, treats and toys.

We also did Easter egg hunts, and egg dying at my parents house. Ryan was the only one missing from the weekend festivities because he couldn't get work off.

My sister Tessa and her husband Kevin announced that they are having a baby in November. We can't wait!

My brother Shane told us he's going to propose to his girlfriend Amy and be married in September. It was such a great weekend with my family.

And here are our beautiful kids in their Sunday clothes. What a great Easter. I'm so grateful for the atonement so that my family can be mine forever.

The Eve of Livy's Birthday

2011-04-21T09:08:00.000-07:00

The kids got Olivia so excited for her birthday. She couldn't wait for her special day to come. The night before her birthday they all slept with her in her room. There was a lot of laughing and not a lot of sleeping going on that night. I love how excited my kids get for each other.

St. Paddy's

2011-03-17T10:08:00.000-07:00

Greta had to make a leprechaun trap for St. Paddy's day and I thought it turned out so cute. The top of it has slits cut in it and toy money covers them so the leprechaun will be tricked by the pretty shiny money, climb the ladder and fall in the top of the hat. Unfortunately he got away by using his tiny knife and cutting through the bottom, but he left a treat.

And here is the trap all the kids made, but he got out of this one too. Darn it!

My kids really wanted to know what leprechauns look like so they googled it without me knowing. Come to find out they saw all sorts of "naughty" leprechauns and scary leprechauns. We had to have a lesson for FHE on rules for the computer after that incident. Greta and Alina no longer think leprechauns are nice, I bet they don't even try to capture one next year.

New Fashion

2011-03-12T09:11:00.000-08:00

Livy really wanted to go outside even though it was freezing. So she took it upon herself to get ready. Who would've thought gloves would work for socks.

Funny Kids

2011-01-28T09:32:00.000-08:00

Greta: I'm going to name my daughter Elizabeth
Dad: Did you know I'll be her grandpa?
Greta: Yeah, you'll be a big old grandpa.
Austin: If your even still alive.

Olivia: (crying)
Mom: Where's your binky?
Olivia: Addy ook it.
(Daddy took it)
He's not even home. What a stinker.

Alina: Mom you said we were going to Halle and Jacks tomorrow, and today is tomorrow.
Mom: Yep you're right Alina we are going today.
Alina: You lied mom, today isn't tomorrow.

Dodgeball

2011-01-23T11:21:00.000-08:00

Playing dodgeball with a bunch of crazy competitive adults was one of the highlights of our weekend. We had such a great time. We're so blessed to have such an awesome neighborhood and ward. I can't wait to do it again. We forgot to take our camera so this is an after shot in all our sweaty glory.

Cam and I also got to go on a date Friday night to see Ryan Shupe and the Rubberband. It was at BYU and was so fun. It was nice to getaway. I need more weekends like this.

New Year Resolutions

2011-01-18T08:08:00.001-08:00

I've noticed how quickly my children are growing up. How right before my eyes they change every day. I promise this year to take more time to show them that I love them.
To hold them for as long as they want.
To read a bedtime story to them.
To sing to them.
To dance to Hannah Montanna with them.
To play games.
Go for walks.
To really listen to them.
To inspire them.
To build their confidence.
To laugh with them.
To be silly.
To snuggle with them while watching a movie.
To tell them many times daily how much I love them.
To help them develop their talents.
To teach them meaningful FHE lessons.
To be an example.
So that when they leave my home I'll have a good relationship with my children So that they will want to come home and visit often. So that they can grow up with confidence in themselves and know that we love them no matter what. So that I can soak up every memory of my children being small. I never want to forget these years, and I don't want them to either.

Six Hours in the Making

2010-12-27T09:16:00.000-08:00

We started at 9am and didn't finish until 3pm. I didn't eat, blink or move from the table while making these 2 roller coasters with my kids. I think I enjoy them more than my kids do. K'nex are pretty awesome!

Christmas

2010-12-25T08:44:00.000-08:00

I want to be able to say that Christmas was great this year, but it was only okay. I was so excited for Christmas this year and really into it. But my kids kind of soured my mood about Christmas. They loved all their presents and were grateful for them, but after they opened them I found everyone doing this....

Nobody was enjoying the new things they got. We don't buy a lot of toys in our home because of this, but they each get 1 new toy for Christmas and it was something they all really wanted and instead they are all playing with electronics that we already have. Then all they could think about was getting to their grandma Halle's and my parents house for more presents. It's almost as if they only care about the number of presents they get and not what is actually inside the box. I was irritated. We had enjoyable visits with everyone but when it came time to opening presents my children's faces were reflecting their like or distaste for what they opened. It made me want to take everything back to the store. So Cam and I talked that night about what we can do to improve our kids understanding of what Christmas is all about. We have so many fun traditions that we do throughout December and we've decided that maybe it's too much. We're going to keep things simpler this next year.

We did have a good Christmas, just different than other years. The thing I love most about Christmas is spending time with my family and extended family. I love that I can shut the rest of the world out and just focus on those I love most. I love that Cam had an entire week off of work and we did fun things with the kids. We went sledding, to the dollar movie, shopping for each other, game nights, movie nights, treat making days. It was so nice to be with my little family. I'm very grateful for them.

And here are my kids sporting their favorite gifts. Austin received a Max Hall and Jake Heaps card and can't put them down. Greta loves her new K'nex roller coaster, Alina loves her new jewelry box and Livvy Lou loves her baby doll.

Christmas Eve

2010-12-24T16:46:00.000-08:00

I've been terrible with my camera lately, I keep forgetting to take pictures. Last week we went to Idaho to celebrate Christmas with some of Cam's family. The kids had so much fun seeing their cousins, and I didn't get any pictures to document it.

Cameron also had a work Christmas party where he was given an iphone 4 with a paid contract. He was very excited. We are so lucky for him to have the job he has.

On Christmas Eve we went to my parents and had pizza and played games for my brother Ryan's birthday. He's 22 now, crazy!

Mike came to the door as Santa and the kids instantly recognized him. They were happy to sit on his lap and get a candy cane anyways though. Olivia was especially excited about the candy cane.

And here's the kids in their new Christmas PJ's from their Nana and Papa all excited to go to sleep for Santa to come. They opened up Santa Paws the movie for their Christmas Eve gift. They put out cookies for Santa, carrots for the reindeer and wrote him a note. Then they all huddled together in Greta's room to watch the movie. I can't wait for morning!

Olivia

2010-12-22T16:30:00.000-08:00

Olivia has been so fun this Christmas season. She can feel the excitement in the air. She loves to have Christmas music on and dance and she never tires of it. She loves the lights, and the tree. She loves to do the advent calendar. It's been so fun to watch the kids with her. They also love making sure Olivia is included and having fun in everything we do.

Olivia is getting so big. She wants to brush her own hair now and do Greta and Alina's as well. She doesn't know how to brush very softly though, so we can only handle her hair brushing for a minute or two.

She loved helping Cameron put up the lights outside. She climbed in this wagon so she could watch him, and then she fell.

She loves cell phones. I swear she can smell them. She will often be found walking around with my sister Shannon's phone like this. She's so adorable.

And most of all Olivia is fun. She loves to be silly. She loves to laugh. She loves to make everyone happy. She's talking a lot. Here are a few of her favorite words.
Daddy
Mommy
livia
Austy
Deta (Greta)
leeny (Alina)
Heyo (Hello)
appy (apple)
uppy (Puppy)
eat
candy
cracker
dinky (binky)
ganpa
And her favorite word is thank you and she says it all the time.

Check Off List

2010-12-17T16:06:00.000-08:00

Making snowflakes....check

Making Christmas cookies.....check

Making peppermint bark and making sure Cameron doesn't eat it all......almost check

Loving the season......double check

Weekend With The Garretts

2010-12-12T16:01:00.000-08:00

We spent a weekend hanging out with our dear friends Jen and Greg. We've missed them so much since they moved to Ogden.

The weather was beautiful so we played football outside and had races on Greg's jazzy. Those things are hard to maneuver, I was terrible!

We made gingerbread houses, played games, relaxed, talked, laughed, and ate some yummy homemade chicken noodle soup. It's nice to have good friends.

Christmas Lights and Pranks

2010-12-05T15:41:00.000-08:00

We were so good this year that Santa came to help us put up our Christmas lights. See, here's a pic of him.

Our home is the Griswold's house this year. Mike brought us a bunch of his blow up Christmas yard decorations and lights.

We had a neighborhood Christmas party and our friends Jason and Hilary Fitzsimmons have been joking a lot about our blow ups, especially our flamingo driven sleigh. So we went to the party a bit late so we could set up the flamingos in their yard. They kept it up all December long, we knew they secretly loved those flamingos. They say they are going to get them back. I welcome it, I love a good prank:)

Reason #1 I Love Christmas

2010-12-01T15:43:00.000-08:00

This is the note Austin left for Cameron and I last night with a little treat.

Our kids all have stockings on their doorknob for December. They are supposed to write nice notes to each other, leave treats, or whatever else they want. I love this tradition because my kids are always finding fun little things to do for each other. I love leaving them notes and having them come up and hug me and say "thank you mom." I love to watch them quickly hide something in someone's stocking. I love to hear little squeals of delight when something is found. I love the love that my little family shows to one another.

A Little Bit of Everything

2010-11-24T08:18:00.000-08:00

What's been happening in the Robinson home, I'll tell you. Alina decided to decorate her room. She chose a maxi pad to accent her walls.

Olivia thinks she can walk around the house with this armor on. The problem was that she had the helmet over her eyes and kept running into walls. She quickly learned it wasn't real armor.

Cameron is always wrestling with the kids and they love it. I think Olivia won this match and Greta lost.

We got a skiff a snow and Alina and Olivia decided to brave the cold. They lasted about 5 minutes.

We have our tree up.

And our stockings hung.

Greta turns 7 on the 29th but we did her party early because she couldn't wait.

We had dirt cups with worms inside for dessert. Greta's choice. Those two sweet girls in the back are two of my Beehives. They came to paint the girls nails all fancy.

And this is how Olivia looks after she eats anything. Why do I even try to get her looking cute.

Dancing The Night Away

2010-11-14T09:29:00.000-08:00

Cam and I went dancing with my parents, brother Shane and his girlfriend Amy. We went to the Murray Arts Center. Cameron and I went there a few years ago and took a dance class, we were the youngest ones there and it was a lot of fun. So I was very excited when my family wanted to go again. We went out to dinner at Chuck-A-Rama first and then off to the ball. It was so much fun, so many cute old couples to look at. The live band was great and I can't wait to go back many more times.

Gratitude

2010-11-04T08:11:00.000-07:00

This year has been a year of remembering to always be grateful for me. Cameron lost his job the day before Thanksgiving last year. At first I was terrified, but then because of prayer I was calm. I've learned that through adversity we can become stronger. That we have something to learn. That our Heavenly Father knows best. As I'm being molded and shaped into someone better I can't help but be grateful for my trials. Because Cameron lost his job we had many tender mercies offered to our family. It was a chance to teach our children. We had food dropped off, presents for Christmas, money sent in the mail, gift cards, neighbors coming over and demanding to take us to the store to get us what we need, and the list goes on. People are good. My heart was touched. I'm grateful for what I learned, and for how I have become closer to my Savior. Cameron was out of work for a little over 5 months. I got used to having him home. I loved all the time we got to spend together. When he did get a job it wasn't the one we wanted it was still a huge pay cut and far away. But I was once again reminded to be grateful. He now has a job that is down the street. He doesn't even have to get on the freeway, and he loves it. Gratitude brings forth many blessings. I have seen that work in my life so many times. Any trial we face has a reason and a blessing attached to it. It's our duty to find out what that blessing and reason is. It's our duty to become stronger and never waiver. My new favorite quote by Elder Monson says, "Be of good cheer! Your future is as bright as your faith." How true that is.

Halloween

2010-11-02T08:36:00.000-07:00

Halloween this year was a bit disappointing because of all the rain. The kids still looked adorable in their costumes. The kids and Cameron braved it out in the rain. We only had an hour in our neighborhood because we needed to get to my parents so we could see my brother and his family before they left.

As we were rushing out the door we were very happy to know that we didn't miss this site. Jason in a flying monkey costume.

The kids got lots more candy in my parents neighborhood and luckily it wasn't raining. Olivia loved getting candy, she's doing a happy dance here in the picture.
And this is Olivia the next day after church. She got into her bucket and took out 3 suckers and would switch between them all. She loves her candy, and we love watching her happy dance when she gets some.

Quality time with Olivia

2010-10-29T08:23:00.000-07:00

Last night Cam and I had so much fun with Olivia while trying to get her ready for bed. She ran away while changing her diaper and hid in her closet. She loved this game. She's a daddy's girl and loves her time with him.

We finally got her dressed and she insisted on feeding us from her play food. She refused to look at the camera because she was being a stinker. I love my little family, I love spending time with each of my kids and my husband. I'm so blessed to have them. Tonight made me realize how I just wish I could bottle up each little memory and never forget. I'm already forgetting what Olivia was like even 6 months ago. I'm grateful that I realize I need to enjoy every little bit of right now, soak it all up because my babies are growing and they are growing fast.

Austin's 9th Birthday

2010-10-28T08:18:00.000-07:00

Austin is 9, I can hardly believe it! His party this year consisted of a lot of hyper boys in costumes and I got them dancing on video to Thriller. I'm sure that'll come in handy one day.

Austin's disgusting finger and eyeball cake he insisted on.

It's so nice to be in a place where Austin is making friendships that will last forever. I love all these boys and I'm so glad they are his friends.

Halloween Party

2010-10-24T07:36:00.000-07:00

Cameron and I hosted our 2nd annual Halloween party in all our superhero glory. We love Halloween. It's the one time a year we can dress up and see our friends in their crazy creative costumes.

The spread at the party, and this isn't even all of it.

My cousin Lyndsey and her husband Josh. I think he made a creepy Willy Wonka. :)

Trent and Jamie. We had great fun with her Dodo Bird.

Jen as the cutest Indian ever.

Tyler and Deann. I love how creative they were.

Clint and Michelle, Clint actually dressed up.

Cam's cousin Amy and her husband Steve. They look really pasty in this pic. :)

Lyndee, Lyle and little Ava. Ava is wearing Liv's costume from last year.

Andy and Joe. Andy is so dark you can barely see her.

Julie and Chad.

My sister Shannon and her friend Amy.

Becki as the God-dess

We played a game we titled human wac-a-mole, we drew pics of each other that were not flattering. We played mafia, ate good food and chatted. It was a great night. It's making me excited for all the holiday parties we have coming up with the same great people.

And here is little Olivia after everyone left. She had so much candy we couldn't get her to sleep. And yes those are boogers all over her face and she's dipping her hand in the salsa. Good thing it happened after everyone left, or maybe it didn't ;)

Reflections

2010-10-20T17:45:00.000-07:00

Our three cute little kiddos won reflections this year. They each entered in visual arts and photography. Greta and Alina's both went to district rounds. Grandma and Grandpa came to the awards assembly and the principal let the kids show them their classrooms. We're so proud of our kids!

The theme was "Together we can...." And here is what the kids said.

Together we can teach my baby sister how to eat without making a mess.
Together we can be a hero for someone.

Together we can enjoy the beauty of the earth.
Together we can be a friend to someone.

Together we can grow a garden.
Together we can be a happy family.

Our Little Me Monster

2010-09-28T09:03:00.000-07:00

This little girl is so very sweet, and so very spoiled at the same time. Her new favorite word is "NO!" She will walk around the house saying "no" for no reason at all. If the kids touch something that she doesn't think they should she runs up to them screaming "NO" and pushes them away. She also can't keep her clothes on or her face clean. But then this cute little me monster will walk up to me and squeeze me tight and tell me "hi," and all is well..... And then out of the corner of her eye she'll see Alina get a drink and she thinks it should be her drink and the me monster returns.

Paybacks

2010-09-21T11:04:00.000-07:00

So here are our friends Jamie and Trent....

They look pretty innocent right?!? Well they aren't. Let me just tell you a little story about these innocent looking people. It all started last Thursday night. I went to a play with Jamie called The Mousetrap by Agatha Christie. Jamie loves anything scary and I had decided that I was going to scare her since she thinks she can't be scared. So after the play we were walking to the car and I grabbed her and screamed. I totally scared her, although she says she was just startled. Then on the way home we are passing a semi and she screamed and got me back. So you'd think we were even, apparently not....

While Cam and I were driving home from Ogden Sunday night I was already spooked out by the blackness of the sky from the fire. It reminded me of the book "The Road." It was eerie that night. We get home, tired and ready for bed and I walk into my room and this is what greets me....

I screamed so loud that Cameron came running and he asked me what was wrong and I said, "JAMIE!" She broke into my house while we were gone, so watch out for the Coe's all my EM friends. Cameron is laughing hysterically and my heart won't stop pounding. I call Jamie and she just laughs as well. So as if that isn't enough I continue getting ready for bed, very jumpy at this point and I go to my closet to change my clothes and this is what's waiting for me.....

If any of you know me I HATE clowns. Ever seen "It" by Stephen King? That movie freaked me out as a child, Jamie knows this. Cameron had already seen this in our closet and was just waiting for me to open the closet door for my "surprise." I screamed even louder with this one. I had to have Cameron take it out, I don't even like to look at the picture. Needless to say Jamie got me good. I was too scared to even get into bed, I made Cameron make sure there was nothing under our sheets.

Now you'd think it would end there, but no, it doesn't. At 12:37am we were serenaded with LOUD evil screaming coming from under our bed. I almost had another heart attack. Jamie and Trent had put a tape player set to a timer to go off and scare us while we were sleeping. So if any of my neighbors were woken up to this sound like we were blame the Coes! I think Jamie and Trent need paybacks, anyone want to help me?

Weekend of Fun!

2010-09-21T10:54:00.000-07:00

My brother and his family and my dearest friend Jenalee both moved the same weekend to Ogden. So this weekend we went up to see both families and their new homes.

How I've missed my friend Jen. She used to live in Lehi, not too far from us. Through the years we have been through so much together. We had a nice talk one night about all the things we have learned because of what we've been through. I love being able to have a friend I can talk to, one who will listen and give advice without judging. Someone who I have fun with, can laugh with and cry with.

Jen taught me how to can while we were there. I'm so grateful to her for that. I'm so grateful that our kids have so much fun together. That they took in a disabled dog to be a part of their family. That she kept us well fed the whole time we were there. That her parents are so sweet. Good friends are hard to come by and just because you moved to Ogden Jen don't think you're going to get rid of us.

Alina's First Day of Kindergarten

2010-09-01T12:17:00.000-07:00

Our sweet Alina Mae started kindergarten today. She was so excited and so patient in waiting for this day. She insisted on wearing her new yellow dress with tennis shoes and I think she made the perfect choice, she looks so beautiful. I already miss her, but I'm also so excited for her big day. I'm so grateful for my kids, I really do have the greatest kids a mom could ask for.

Trafalga

2010-08-31T12:29:00.000-07:00

I wanted to have a special last day before school starts with Alina. So I took her and her best friend Brooklin to Trafalga. The highlight of the outing was when Alina and Brooklin went on the bumper boat rides. They were on one boat and Olivia and I on another. Alina was steering and didn't know really what she was doing and she kept steering their boat right into the fountain. They got completely soaked. Alina kept trying to get out of the fountain, but she was just going in circles. I was laughing so hard I almost peed my pants. Alina then got scared that she wouldn't ever get out of the boat and she stopped steering altogether. I couldn't reach her steering wheel to help her. She had to be coaxed for quite awhile by the guy running the ride to push the steering button again. They were drenched and not happy. It took awhile to dry off, but they did.

Olivia was a little daredevil. I took her on the roller coaster, the mini tidal wave and the frogger and all the baby rides. She even played laser tag with me and I came in 3rd place carrying a baby. We had such a great day.

FHE Fashion Show

2010-08-24T07:31:00.000-07:00

"Welcome to the jungle, we've got fun and games." Is what you heard as our kids walked down the red carpet to model their new school clothes. Then it was followed by "I wanna be a billionaire so freakin' bad." The kids danced and wore a pink boa. Greta did splits in the air and then landed on the ground still in splits. Austin had some awesome dance moves and Alina was graceful as she always is when dancing. Even little Olivia moved to the beat. Our new theme for the school year is "Be of Good Cheer," and they certainly were last night.

Camping in Kamas

2010-08-15T13:22:00.000-07:00

Our camping trip was almost ruined because we couldn't find anywhere to camp. Luckily my brother in law Kevin knew the perfect place in Kamas. It was great, no running water, but we had a stream, the perfect company and it was so beautiful up there.

Alina got to open more presents for her birthday. This is what she does when she's done listening, she puts her hand over her ears and says "blah, blah, blah." Apparently she was done talking about the presents, she wanted to open them.

Here is Olivia ticked off and dirty, this is normal for her.

We call Alina the bug whisperer. She can catch flies in mid air. She'll touch any type of creepy crawly thing and it doesn't bother her. One summer she got stung 3 times because she kept trying to keep pet bees in nerd boxes. Here she is using her new birthday present collecting large ants and who knows what else.

Tess and Kevin brought Camo, all the kids were so happy to play with him. He's so big he'd often knock Olivia over, but she loved him.

Shannon, Cameron, Kevin, Tessa, Melinda.

Olivia trying to eat pine cones. I swear most of her diet is dirt, no wonder she only weighs 18lbs and is almost 16 months old.

Kevin knows how to take a picture! At least my dad is smiling a little bit.

The first day Alina went through 3 pairs of clothes because she kept getting them wet. She just wouldn't put on her swimsuit, silly girl.

Carson covered in dirt.

Olivia covered in dirt and throwing rocks in the water.

Cam sneaking pics of me.

Grandpa and Livvy Lou.

Me and Tessa.

We dared Austin to lay down in the water, it was cold! Love his expression!

Tessa, Greta, and Alina had a contest on who could hold their breath the longest.

Alina ticked off at me because I wanted to get a picture of how dirty she was. Gotta love that girl.

Happy Birthday Alina!

2010-08-13T12:59:00.000-07:00

This little girl had a birthday on August 10th. She's five now and starting kindergarten on September 1st. Oh how time flies! Here are the top 10 reasons why we love Alina.

1. She's always smiling.
2. She squeals with delight at the littlest things.
3. She's always telling us how much she loves us.
4. She makes up her own words like "yummy yumscious and sunjock."
5. She can eat massive amounts of candy and not get sick.
6. She's very imaginative and that imagination is going to get her places.
7. She teases like no other.
8. She loves to play with her family and never wants to stop.
9. She sings made up church songs to her stuffed animals.
10. She's the one we can count on to be happy and excited about things.

She chose mac and cheese and hot dogs much to our dismay for her birthday dinner.

We got her a Jasmine barbie. I love this picture, it captures her excitement.

She had a princess themed birthday party on the 12th and invited 19 people.

Here's the group of 19. If you notice there are some older girls there. Three of the 19 are some of my Young Women that she loves. She insisted on inviting them and they came and are so sweet for doing so. Thanks Shay, Kortney, and Brooklyn.

I had great plans with this princess cake, it was going to be one of my masterpieces. But at the last minute Alina decided she wanted to make it with her sister and brother. They did a really good job. On the side of it I wrote "Alina Mae" since that's what we call her. None of my kids realized Mae is spelled the way it is, they think I spelled it wrong and refuse to believe me. Go figure. :)

And at the end of the party Olivia was so pooped out from all the attention that she just laid on the kitchen floor. It was a great party. Happy Birthday Alina Mae!

Girls Camp-"Happily Ever After"

2010-08-08T12:24:00.000-07:00

Girls camp, how do I explain girls camp? Here's one word FUN! I had the privilege of being the camp director and what a lot of work it was but so much fun as well. We camped in a million dollar cabin up Sundance, we were pampered. Although it rained most of the time and foiled our plans we still had a great time. There were 30 girls and I loved being able to get to know them more. Here is just a few pics of all the fun we had, I can't wait for next year!

The Bishopric had shirts that said "Princess Guard" on the back.

Bro. Moser trying on all the props for our fractured fairytale we had to create. We had so much fun planning it, probably too much fun. Here's the rundown.

We had Bro Backus play Rapunzel who just wanted a good hair day and to not have to deal with all that hair. His wish came true because I (in the youth size Incredibles costume) made his wish come true. He came out in a face mask and bald.

Ariel sang "Look at this rope, isn't it neat, wouldn't it be great if I could jump with two feet." And abracadabra she's got legs and she can jump rope. (Ariel played by Hilary)

Sleeping beauty couldn't sleep, she needed her stuffed duck, so I supplied it. (Sleeping Beauty played by Michelle Moser)

Snow White decided she didn't want Prince Charming, she actually wanted a wee little white pasty leprechaun. I provided her 6 foot something husband. (Snow White-Michelle again)

Every time a wish came true we would all say "that's incredible." Now the girls say it to me all the time. You had to be there.

Kianna Smith did mine and Hil's hair. At one point mine was sticking straight up like Hilary's. We had so much gel in our hair.

Cute Sydney Triggs who turned 12 right after camp. She was so fun. I'm so glad she's a Beehive because I'm her advisor! The Beehives rocked camp, they knew how to have a good time. Sometimes I forgot I was supposed to be a leader, I just wanted to play right along with them all the time.

Another one of my cute Beehives Bella who leaves to Miamaids in a month. We were playing Minute to Win it on our one day of sunshine.

Jessica and Sydney hula hoop queens.

When Dads Dress Little Girls

2010-08-02T21:47:00.001-07:00

When Cameron dresses the girls they always come out looking like this.

Notice the two different patterns of stripes, and that they don't even match. I asked Cam why he thought they did match and he said, "because they both have stripes!" At least she's still cute in it. That's her favorite necklace, she has to wear it every day. We have a little fashion queen on our hands, even if Cam has no sense of style at all.

Dress up

2010-07-31T10:06:00.000-07:00

Olivia wanted to play dress up. So I let her pick out her own outfit and this is what she came up with.

She'd make me put these slippers on just so she could take them off again. Then she'd start feaking out if I didn't get them on her feet fast enough, can we say high maintenance!

And then sweet Alina came in the room and all was well.

Bee's Game

2010-07-29T09:59:00.000-07:00

We went to the Bee's game with the whole Egan clan, even Matthew and Melinda came from Ogden. We go every year and the best part is it's free, with free food. My mom's work sponsors it every year.

The kids got to go on a train ride and play on a bounce house. They had waaay to much soda and treats. This was the first year Austin was too old to play with the kids. He stayed and watched the whole game. Our boy is growing up too fast!

Pucker Up!

2010-07-27T09:56:00.000-07:00

Livvy likes to pucker up.

So she can give kisses like this.

Impossible

2010-07-25T09:43:00.000-07:00

There are a few things in my life that seem impossible. Like keeping the kitchen floor and my closet clean. But the thing that seems the most impossible is keeping Alina and Olivia clean.

Seriously, do you see what I'm talking about?!? Impossible!

Baking time

2010-07-22T09:51:00.000-07:00

Alina has been having a rough time lately. She's been feeling left out and sad. So I decided to have her help me make some homemade pretzels. She was so excited. Olivia decided she needed to help too. She kept sneaking the dough from Alina.

And Alina sure does know how to get messy (see previous post)!

24th of July Floats

2010-07-20T10:03:00.000-07:00

We took the kids to see the floats at the South Towne Expo Center. It was great because it was free to get in and they had free face painting. Plus you didn't have to swelter in the heat at the actual parade. The kids even got to vote for their favorite float.

We forgot to take the camera so I had to take one when we got home of the awesome face painting they got. Alina was not happy that she was still awake.

Olivia and pony tails.

2010-07-12T09:23:00.000-07:00

This cute little girl will finally let me......

.....put a pony tail in her hair. It doesn't last long, but it's sure cute while it does.

4th of July

2010-07-10T09:32:00.000-07:00

These 3 adorable girls let me do their hair "crazy" for the 4th. We had fun coming up with new ideas. And my good friend Michelle made them matching hair bows for the day.

Olivia can only handle a pony tail, much more and she'll lose patience.

Alina's is my favorite. We can do this hairstyle for every occasion.

Greta went for the crazy fire cracker twists and it looks so cute on her.

Here is Olivia happy being outside with her family and getting all the attention in the world.

Here we are at the Riverton park where we went on rides, played on the playground and had lots of yummy treats. We love this tradition with my family every year. The only thing missing was Matthew and Melinda. They moved to Ogden this last week. We sure miss them.

Unwavering Faith

2010-07-08T10:01:00.000-07:00

I've recently read two books that have changed my thinking about life. It's changed how my faith works. Crazy thing is I've always known this. I've applied the same principles all my life but didn't understand what I was doing.

When Cameron and I lived in Idaho I was unhappy. We were poor, living pay check to pay check with nothing left over to ever do anything fun. I wanted a change, I needed a change. My sister told me to make a vision board, I did just that. I listed the dollar amount I wanted put up a picture of the the kind of home I wanted to live in, and I believed it would happen. I knew it would happen. I had NO doubts.

A couple of weeks after I made my vision board Cameron came home from work and I knew the second I saw him he had been laid off. I wasn't even nervous or scared. I KNEW we would be okay.

A couple of weeks before this Cameron and I both felt prompted to start applying to jobs back in Utah. We didn't know why, we just KNEW we should. Cameron was laid off on a Tuesday. He already had two interviews set up in Utah for Friday of the same week.

Cameron went into that interview knowing he would get the job on the spot, and he did. The dollar amount was $10,000 less than what we wanted, but still more than we had ever made before. We were okay with it though because we had given a time limit of making a certain amount by the end of the year, and it was only May. And we were grateful for this job.

The job was hard and frustrating. We didn't have a good feeling about it, but it did get us back to Utah where we wanted to be. The job was also with a home builder so we thought that maybe this was how we were going to get our dream home. Things didn't happen that way at all. Cameron once again felt like he should start looking again. We did and on December 10th he started his new job making $10,000 more than what we had stated on our vision board. That's $20,000 more a year from his previous job.

On Christmas Eve we finally sold our home in Idaho and moved into our house in Eagle Mountain. As we were unpacking our boxes I found our vision board. Here is a picture of what we wanted our house to look like.

And here is a picture of our home now.

We got our home by applying simple principles of faith. By actually believing it, not just asking, but believing and being grateful before we even received it. We got $10,000 more a year than we wanted. It works. I just wish I hadn't forgotten these principles when Cameron was laid off again last November. It's okay though because now I know exactly what to do and my vision board is made and I'm grateful for this trial. My spirituality has grown like crazy and my children will learn all of this at a young age.

And now I want to be like this special woman.

She's on my vision board to help me become a better person, a better mother. And to always remember that everything comes from God. We accomplish nothing on our own. And all of our gratitude goes to our Heavenly Father for his bounteous blessings. And the Robinson family is going to be greatly blessed, just wait and see.

Gratitude Rocks

2010-06-16T19:21:00.000-07:00

Whining....I hate it, so I had to do something about it. My solution, gratitude rocks. We used to do this before we moved to Eagle Mountain, then in the move our rocks got lost and we just never got around to painting new ones. Well the time came Monday night. After a full week of nonstop whining I knew exactly what our FHE lesson would be on.....Gratitude. Now whenever my kids get whiny they have to hold their rock and say 5 things they're grateful for. And at night before we pray we all take our turn holding our rock and remembering 1 thing we were grateful for throughout the day.

The kids had a grand time painting their rocks every color imaginable and of course we had to have glitter. After their rocks and themselves were covered in paint they decided we also needed to paint some of the bigger rocks in our yard for decoration. It was a great FHE and the best thing is that my kids are having fun being grateful.

Olivia, Teeth and Popsicles

2010-06-10T19:24:00.001-07:00

This little girl is teething and she thinks she needs popsicles.

And she likes to make a mess with them.

But it makes her happy. She'll finally have more than two teeth now and that makes her momma happy.

Summer Has Begun

2010-06-06T20:38:00.000-07:00

Popsicles and friends summer has begun!

Although Alina still thinks she needs to wear a coat.

Young Women Princess Night

2010-06-02T19:44:00.000-07:00

For Young Womens tonight we had a princess party. All the girls got to invite a girl between the ages of 4-8 and do makeovers on them. They sent them out personal invitations and we had a few girls show up in princess dresses.

We had stations for hair, nails, makeup, and costumes.

Bella chose to invite Greta.

Kianna chose to invite Alina

12 big girls plus 12 little girls makes for a big group of fun. It was one of the Beehives favorite activities so far.

Greta's Kindergarten Graduation

2010-05-27T15:37:00.000-07:00

This was the first year for Eagle Valley to do a Kindergarten Graduation. Greta was so cute in her little green cap and gown. She got a diploma, a cap full of candy and some pictures to remember the day.

Greta and Alyssa Vehar

Mrs. Spaulding

Mrs. Joy

Austin's Field Day

2010-05-26T15:29:00.000-07:00

Austin has 18 boys in his class and only 9 girls in his class. He came in 2nd in his class for the 50 yard dash. What a great job!

Nick, Austin, Curtis and Jimi.

Getting ready for the tug of war.

Pulling with all his might, love his face in this picture.

I love being able to volunteer at the school and that I have great neighbors who will watch my kids for me so I can go. It's been a busy week, but I'm loving spending this fun time with my kids. It brings back so many memories from my last weeks of school.

Greta's Field Day!

2010-05-25T15:19:00.000-07:00

We were not very prepared for field day, it was colder than it should've been and we couldn't find Greta's tennis shoes anywhere. But she had a lot of fun, and I had a lot of fun being there to help her class.

These are Greta's best friends. Payton, Maddie, Greta and Alyssa.

Getting ready for tug of war. The girls beat the boys.

They played water games and had more fun getting each other wet instead of filling up the bucket.

Greta even won 2nd place in the 50 yard dash with her slip on shoes. She would've won by a mile if she had her tennis shoes. I'm so glad Greta got to have such a fun day and that I got to spend it with her.

Pinewood Derby

2010-05-19T14:41:00.000-07:00

I had no idea what was involved in a pinewood derby car. The wheels have to be balanced just right, you have put graphite on the wheels and the weights in the right place. For Austin's first car he did great!

Jeremy, Austin and Braden watching the race.

Austin's car taking off!

Grandpa, Grandma and Uncle Ryan came to watch the race. My dad is the pinewood derby making king. All of my brothers are first place winners more than once. He gave us some great tips.

Austin came in 7th place out of about 30 cars. Good job Austin!

Murray Park

2010-05-15T14:29:00.000-07:00

We decided to spend some Saturday's visiting all our favorite parks. We spent today at Murray Park. This park has a lot of memories for me, I used to come here all the time in high school with friends. My bridal portraits were also taken at this park.

We packed a cooler full of food and the kids were so excited. Olivia loves playgrounds and couldn't get enough of the slide.

The kids found this huge dirt pile and had to climb it and get messy.

Then they had to clean their feet in the river.

There was an old military gun for them to climb on.

It was a great day spent at the park. It ended with Olivia having a major diaper blowout all over the place and Austin getting a tummy ache. We arrived at home with 4 sleepy happy kids.

Greta's Bug Program

2010-04-29T14:52:00.000-07:00

Greta has been waiting for weeks for her Bug Program for Kindergarten. She has been saving all the songs for us to only hear on the night of her performance. She chose to be a ladybug for the big night. So now her nickname "Gretabug" really fits.

Here is Greta with her some of her classmates. She is sitting next to Alyssa, Chelsea, Maddie, & Payton.

This is her teacher Mrs. Spaulding and one of her closest friends Alyssa. Mrs. Spaulding just had a baby in March and was gone for 6 weeks and Greta is happy to have her back.

Greta sang every song and did all the actions. Olivia was really proud of her big sister. The second Greta came down from the stage Olivia started clapping and yelling and instantly threw her arms around Greta and started patting her back. She really loved the show. Gretabug we are so proud of you!

Olivia is ONE!

2010-04-22T08:33:00.000-07:00

Our Livvy Lou, Princess Squishy, Livvy, Squish Tot is One! We have had such a great year with our little girl. She is so much fun in every way. Here is why we love Olivia.

Every morning when she sees me she reaches for me to get her out of her crib.

We love when she wakes up with her crazy hair and boogers everywhere. All she wants to do is eat right away. She'll give everyone a hug and then she wants foooood! She loves pancakes. She always wants to stand in her highchair no matter how many times we tell her not to.

Olivia loves animals. She loves to snuggle all the kittens.

Every morning and night for prayers Olivia will fold her arms. It's so sweet. She will even mumble like she is praying. She is just so cute.

And sometimes she'll even bow her head.

Olivia loves to play peek-a-boo. She'll do it with her hands, food, toys, or blankets. She just loves to play.

Olivia loves to take a bath. Her two favorite words are "bath" and "food."

Olivia loves to be outside. She wants to explore everything, but mostly she just wants to be with her brother and sisters. I'll take her in the stroller to meet Austin and Greta from school and she gets so excited to see them.

She loves to swim. She loves to try and drink all the water and gets mad when we won't let her.

She loves babies. This is her cousin Madison and Olivia always wants to hug her until she starts crying. Then she thinks she needs to hug her more so she'll stop crying. She has no idea that she is the reason why Madison is crying.

This is her little best friend Faith. They are 8 months apart. They love being together and luckily Olivia's hugs are well received with Faith.

Olivia has so many funny faces. This is her fish face. She will do it on command. When she was younger she would stick her tongue out and say "Ahhhhh" to us each morning. It was her own special hello.

This is her cheesy smile that she does all the time. I hope she never stops giving us this smile.

Olivia loves her brother and sisters. She has a really hard time when Austin and Greta go to school and Alina goes to play. She will follow me around the house crying because she wants them home. When they do get home it's lots of hugs and smiling.

Most of all we love how Olivia loves her whole family. Already at a young age she recognizes how important family time is. I'm so glad she loves being with us because we sure love being with her. Happy Birthday Olivia!

Spring Break April 5-9th

2010-04-19T07:57:00.001-07:00

We had a great spring break with the kids. It was Cams last week to be unemployed so we played hard with the kids.

We took them to a hotel in Lehi for two nights because it was cheap and just got all of us out of the house. We swam, pigged out on junk food, and played nintendo. The kids thought it was the greatest vacation ever.

All they wanted to do the whole time was swim. Even Olivia loved the pool and was so cute in her little baby float. And she discovered her new favorite treat, chicken in a biscuit crackers.

Thursday night we put the tent up in the living room because it was still really cold outside, and had a little sleepover with the girls in it. Austin decided to spend the night with Carter at his home. We watched Nanny McPhee and did some dutch oven dinner. We had a great spring break just being together as a family.

Fun Busy Weekend

2010-03-22T09:21:00.000-07:00

We had a really fun busy weekend. It started Thursday with Mike coming to stay with us. My friend Lyndee had a baby so Jamie and I went to go and see little Ava and Cam and Mike held the fort down. When I got back Alina had bandages all over her face. Our cat Taboo had been spooked by Mike's dog Buddy and scratched Alina. Cameron had to leave for a job interview so when I got back Mike really thought I should take Alina to the instacare and I agreed. Luckily we were the only ones there and we were in and out really quick. She didn't have to have stitches (thank goodness) but they were worried about infection so she had to be put on some antibiotics. She was so brave. The nurse there just thought she was so cute and so good that she gave her 2 suckers. On the way home Alina said, "I'm the luckiest girl ever because I got two suckers!"

We rushed home so we could go to dinner and see Mike's mom Halley and Cameron's cousin Amy and her family. We had a nice spaghetti dinner and got reacquainted since it was only the second time we had seen everyone. Our kids and Amy and Steve's kids got a long great, they had so much fun playing. Amy made some cheesecake (my favorite) for dessert and the adults just visited.

Friday we were going to let Austin stay home from school, but he wanted to go for half the day so he could take his spelling test. Greta missed all of school and was very happy about it, she begs to stay home everyday. Mike wanted to take the kids to the zoo but it started snowing so we went to Cabela's instead. We had a great time shooting targets and looking at all the animals. Mike even bought them french fries and ice cream.

Mike got all the kids hats and Olivia loved to wear it. She was so cute with it. Then again she's always cute!

We buried Olivia in a bin of stuffed animals. She loved it until she started sinking.

We headed back and had Amy and her family and Paula over for dinner. Cam and I laughed so hard all night. Amy, Mike, Steve, and Paula are so funny to watch. They tease each other like crazy and Paula is hilarious. We had a great time with them. We had a marshmallow roast and then 3 of Amy's kids stayed the night.

Alina, Whitley, Cyndal, Zaley, Austin, Greta, and Renic.

Saturday we played football and then Mike had to leave. That night we went to our ward party at the Legacy Center and went swimming and Amy and Steve came with us.

Oliva loved Mike's dog Buddy. He was the best behaved dog I've ever seen. He's huge but quiet!

Cameron only made Austin cry during football about 5 times. Thing are definitely improving.

A Leprechaun Came

2010-03-17T10:28:00.000-07:00

Austin set a trap to catch a leprechaun. He tried to lure him in with candy and fools gold. But the leprechaun ate his candy and stole his gold, and he left the kids a fun surprise. He placed shamrocks and candy from their beds to the kitchen table with a huge box of lucky charms and TONS of candy. They each got there own chocolate bar from the Wonka factory, unfortunately none of them had the golden ticket. The kids think this was the best day ever. Maybe next year our trap will work and we'll have ourselves a real live leprechaun. Happy St. Patrick's Day!

We Are in Trouble!!

2010-03-15T08:03:00.001-07:00

I put Livvy in her highchair to eat some cheerios, left to get Austin ready for school and this is what Cam found when he checked on her. We are in serious trouble with this one!

Spring is coming!

2010-03-14T08:14:00.000-07:00

Friday was such a beautiful day and I spent a lot of it outside with the girls. Alina decided we really needed to go for a walk and that both her and Livvy had to be in the stroller together. They were squished, but they had fun. We even made cookies and Olivia had her first chocolate chip cookie and ate it while standing up all by herself. She's growing up so fast.

Cam had a job interview and when he got home the van tire was flat. He had ran over a screw. So Cam went to go and fix our tire and he left hoping it would just be a cheap repair but $200.00 later we found out the tire wasn't able to be saved and we needed another new tire because it was completely worn. Even though we don't have a job we were blessed because we had been given and anonymous $300 chase card that we were saving just in case and that's what we used it for. We really do have great friends and family who have helped us out through this rough time.

Then Saturday it snowed all day and Austin and Greta were mad that their day off was a cold one. But we got to do some service and clean up the church and it felt really good to do so. After that we went to our friends the Moser's and played Rockband and ate lots of junk food. The kids said it was the best night of their life. It was a great weekend!

Ryan's Homecoming

2010-03-02T11:16:00.000-08:00

Sunday was such a great day. My brother Ryan reported from his mission and Nicole Maples down the street had her farewell. It's weird for me to see Ryan all grown up and home from his mission and so strong in his testimony. It's a really cool thing to see. He did such a great job on his talk, the spirit was strong with Nicole's talk on going on a mission and her choices for why and then Ryan finishing it up with stories about the spirit testifying to people he taught on his mission. It was such a wonderful sacrament meeting. And the whole Egan clan was there and we were all squished on the side benches together I loved it!

This is Ryan and John Vawdrey. They had their farewells on the same day, left for the MTC the same day, came home the same day and they both had homecomings the same day. John and his family moved to Washington a few years ago, but John stayed behind and went to the singles ward I went to and wanted to have a homecoming there. Unfortunately it was the same time as Ryan's so we weren't able to go, but we hung out the rest of the day at my parents with Becki and John.

It's my long lost friend Becki. I've missed her so much. We had so much fun catching up and just hanging out. Becki reminded my dad of the time he was ward clerk and was counting everyone in sacrament meeting and handed her a note when he passed her bench. He gave it to Becki's mom to give to her and the note said, "you left your cigarettes at my house so come and get them later." Hahaha , that's my dad always teasing, so many fun memories from my younger years.

Becki, Shan, and I went to see some old friend from highschool, Andrea and Jenn. All the boys stayed at home and had long deep doctrine discussions. It's what Cam, my brothers and my dad love to do every Sunday and having Ryan back to do so and John there to visit made it even better.

Me and my hot husband. Man I love him!

My cousin Shansa and her husband Nick came all the way from Pocatello. Livvy just loved them and Nick put her to sleep for me. They are expecting their first baby in September, can't wait!
My kids, Matthew's kids and my cousin Lyndsey's kids. They tore the house up and ate tons of junk, but they sure had fun doing it. We had about 70 people show up, it was such a great day. I just love my family and I love spending time with them. 27 hours straight of game playing with them for Matthew's 27th birthday here I come. It's gonna be a blast!

Blue and Gold Banquet

2010-02-24T15:51:00.000-08:00

Austin has been waiting for this night since he found out all the things he can earn in scouts. He has been working so hard to earn as much as he could before the Blue and Gold Banquet. He earned his bobcat, Wolf, a gold arrowhead, a silver arrowhead, and a belt loop and pin for basketball, football, and reading. We are very proud of all of his hard work. Cameron and Austin really enjoy working on scout projects together.

Cameron had to put war paint on him after Austin got his awards.

They had a balloon game afterwards and the kids just went crazy with having fun! Alina is there in the pink and purple.

We forgot to take a picture of the cake Austin made for the night before it got cut into. The kids were happy to find out that our cake had almost every piece left in it since there were so many cakes there. If you can't tell what it is the twinkies are sleeping bags and there are Werther candies that are the heads and Austin painted faces on them with frosting. Then he took mini marshmallows and put them on toothpicks to look like a marshmallow roast. He also has candles in the middle for the fire to roast the marshmallows on. There is also a sign made out of popsicle sticks that says pack 1016. He did a really good job!

Not so Easy...

2010-02-22T14:07:00.000-08:00

I tried to get a picture with all three of them looking at the camera and I failed. It just isn't possible. We think they're still pretty cute though.

Austin and Greta and School Projects

2010-02-21T14:17:00.000-08:00

Greta had a report to do on Leopard Seals and she even had to make a clay model of one. She really enjoyed her project and wanted to take a picture of it.

Austin has been learning about George Washington and made a wig after him.

They both had parent teacher conferences and their teachers raved about them. Austin is still on the highest possible spelling and reading list. Greta is the best at math in her class. We are very proud of both of them.

Young Women's Princess Castle

2010-02-17T15:41:00.000-08:00

Greta and Alina helped me make this princess castle for Young Women's. They had so much fun decorating it. Greta is turning into quite the little artist. Alina decided that it needed a wicked step sister in the castle. Can you see where she is? She's the ugly brown creature in the middle. And of course Alina is covering up Greta's beautiful princess. The castle was a big hit for our game that night.

Valentine's Day

2010-02-14T14:11:00.000-08:00

So we have this neighbor and friend named Condon Hansen. He's as old as my dad and loves that Cameron is unemployed right now because he's retired and has somebody to play with now. He'll stop by our house to see if I have baked anything that he wants, drop off his homemade bread, or he'll take Cameron to the temple, coyote hunting, or out for a drive. His latest appearance involved him telling us he'd teach us how to make his homemade bread if we agreed to feed him. We agreed. Because of Condon's fine teaching skills I woke up this Valentine's morning to my cute hubby and his heart shaped loaf of bread. I'm such a lucky girl!