Hanson Family

Priorities ... huh

2012-01-29T14:02:00.000-07:00

I've been doing a lot of thinking and praying lately about my priorities. It's easy to say, "my family is my number one priority" but I really think that it's a much more difficult thing to make happen. I know that I am a selfish person - I crave for solitude a lot of the time. I enjoy being alone doing what I want to do. It's something that I have to really work on because as a mother of 4, how much time do I deserve to really spend by myself! With my new job, my kids are now even spending less time with me. I've been trying to juggle my family, work, my photography, and my church calling. I've decided that something has to give because my family unfortunately has been being put last. With a lot of sadness, I'm going to have to give up my photography business. I thought that if I just gave up doing weddings this year that I could have a lot more free time, but even doing families has proven to be time consuming and stressful. It no longer is something that I'm enjoying - it's become a job. That's not something I ever wanted it to be. I LOVE photography, but I found myself taking hardly any photos of my own children doing the things they love because I was tired of picking up my camera! Before any of you gasp at my announcement, I would love to still be able to take my friend's and family's photos. This does not cause me stress, but it's something I enjoy doing. So if you wanted your family photos taken this year, please still hire me! I'm just not going to be advertising myself any more or actively looking for new clients.

My photography website will be going offline this February. I've decided that I want to make this blog t not be only about my family, but about all aspects of my life. I will be sharing more of my photography projects on here along with some of my designs also. I recently was called as the Relief Society Meeting Coordinator in my ward, and from time to time, will be sharing some of the activities that we plan here on my blog. Maybe I will even share some free downloads of posters/handouts/ideas that I create!

Here are a few of my favorite photos from January:

Promptings, an MBA, & SignCity

2012-01-05T10:43:00.000-07:00

I've started writing this post a few times, but can never seem to put in words what I want to say! I really hate writing - I'm not very witty or funny so I know it's not very interesting to read.

In my last post, I promised that I would write about my new job. I think it's a pretty good story so I want to share it...

We have some good friends in our ward that are just awesome people. They are the kind of people you want to hang out with all the time because they know how to make you feel so good about yourself, and they make you laugh nonstop! We're very grateful that we've gotten to know Keith and Lisa! Keith happens to own a sign company - they design and print anything from business cards to outdoor business signs. Last year I did their family photos and their newborn baby photos. I designed their Christmas card and birth announcement for them. I was still very new to the world of design! Keith told me that when I learned a little more he wanted me to come work for him. I sort of laughed at that! No way would I want to work for a friend ... what if I failed or did a horrible job!

So fast forward a year -- my photography business was going pretty well, but it was taking me away from my family more than I ever thought it would. Weddings are wonderful, but they are extremely time consuming. To say the least, I was putting in way more time than I was getting paid for! But we needed the money! We found out in September that the home we were renting was being foreclosed on. We had rights as renters, but knew that it would just be a matter of months before we had to move out. I'd been looking within our ward boundaries for a few months for something we could rent and afford. Nothing was coming up. We did not want to have to move our children to a different neighborhood again. We love it here - we love the people, we love the neighborhood, we love the lake, we love the small town, we love the swimming pool! We all prayed and prayed that something would come up. Then something bitter-sweet happened. I found out that some good friends of ours that live down the street bought a house in Lehi. I was so sad to hear that they were moving, but being the somewhat selfish person that I am, I had to find out what they were doing with their house! As you guessed - our prayers had been answered! They were trying to find renters! As anyone who has ever rented a home before, you know that you have to come up with quite a bit of money - deposit, first months rent, moving expenses. The rent was a little more than what we were paying so we knew that we were going to have to come up with more money.

In comes the reason for this post! A couple weeks later, out of the blue, I get a call from Keith. He tells me that he has an opening for a part time designer and immediately thought of me. He really wanted me to try and if things worked out, he would even let me work from home. I'm still not sure why he thought of me or thought I could do this job! All I know is that he was an answer to a prayer - so thank you Keith for answering that prompting! I would need to train in the office for the next month every day. Ok - so how does a stay at home mother do that? As "luck" would have it ( and I say luck when I know that Heavenly Father has a hand in ALL things!) my sister Sydnee had just quit her job and was looking for something. She offered to watch Brock for me. And because she's the amazing person that she is and another person who answered the prompting that were given to her by the Spirit, she let me pay her by buying her lunch!

So now, we get to rent the house, I get to work at a job I love, and Sydnee gets some major bonding time with Brockers! My first month of work was probably the scariest thing I've ever done! I hadn't used Illustrator (the design program we use) for about 6 months and really only knew the basics anyway. I jumped right in, faked a lot of it, but somehow made it through. After a bit of a struggle with setting me up at home, Keith bought an iMac for me to use at home. It's GORGEOUS! I still have things that come up that I have no idea how to do, but I somehow figure things out! I work 2 days a week from home and it is the most perfect job I could ask for. Brock is pretty good for me most days :) I only hope that I'm doing a good job for Keith!

As I mentioned in my last post, Paul graduated with his MBA in November. He didn't want to make a big deal about it, so I didn't even blog about it. But he needs to be recognized here! It was a long 15 months of him doing homework every night until late hours of the night. He graduated with all A's and I'm so proud of him. Things weren't going so great with his job because of some management issues, so he started looking for something new. Through the help of a friend, he found out about a corporate recruiter position at WJ Bradley. He started working there in the middle of December. It's been nice for me because it's only about a 20 minute drive compared to his 45 minute drive that he had been taking. He's home by about 6 every night. We're not used to seeing him until about 8! The job also pays better which is always a plus! I have to say that I'm grateful to not to be a man. I would hate having the responsibility of supporting the family. I think we all need to give our husbands and fathers much more credit for what they do. Paul amazes me in his commitment to take care of us! So that was another answer to our prayers that happened this year!

I think that I've written enough, but those are only a few things that happened to us this year through the power of prayer. Thank you, Keith, for being in tune with the Spirit. Thank you, Sydnee, for your service that you gave to me. Thank you, Brailsfords, for helping us rent your house. Thank you, Paul, for supporting this family.

(Can you believe I did an entire post with NO PHOTOS!)

Our Holiday Week

2011-12-26T15:03:00.002-07:00

Our holidays started with our church party and the primary children's program of the Nativity. It was so cute and the kids all sang the songs beautifully. Gracie got to be Mary, which she was really excited about but also very nervous. Gracie doesn't like people looking at her so being up on stage was a pretty big breakthrough for her! She made a GORGEOUS Mary. After the program, they opened up the back of the gym and had a gazillion bowls of candy ready for the kids to decorate gingerbread houses.

Eli's Gingerbread House

Gracie's Gingerbread House

While the kids were out of school this past week, we took an entire day to bake goodies for our neighbors. We decided to make cookie balls, dipped in chocolate. Of course they didn't end up looking like the one's in the magazine photo, but I thought they turned out perfect! We had a fun day making them, but didn't get them out to all the neighbors we'd planned on. The recipe only made half of what it said! So I'm sorry to some of my neighbors who didn't get these gorgeous "Balls" that we made!

The rest of the week we spent hanging out, going to the movies, going to lunch, playing the Wii. We don't have any snow so it didn't really feel like Christmas. There's hardly any up in the mountains either. It's kind of weird!

On Christmas Eve, we went to my parent's house for dinner and a party. We missed Sydnee like CRAZY! She is the one in our family who can really get us all laughing and having fun. It just wasn't the same without her. The kids had fun, but Gracie cried all the way home because she was worried about Syd and missing her so badly. They enjoyed being with their cousins though.

Eli and Andy having fun during the game!

Brock got right in the game and took his share of the loot!

For Mom and Dad's gift from us, we had our family photos of each of us printed and framed and then I had a canvas print of our whole family printed for them.

All the grandkids (except for Jared's kids) in their new jammies from Gma and Gpa! I love that Wazy made it in the photo - I don't think Brock would have gotten in the picture if Wazy didn't!

Santa found our house and we had an amazing Christmas morning. We love our new house and it was fun spending Christmas here. We have a log burning stove in our front room, so Paul started a fire before the kids opened presents. There's something about a real fire going that really brought the feeling of Christmas into our home. Without snow, we've all had a hard time, but the fire helped! I love when Christmas is on a Sunday. We were able to go to church and worship our Savior on this of the most special days. We spent the afternoon at my sister's house eating, eating, and eating!

Eli really wanted drums for Christmas. We didn't want to buy him a "real" set because we don't know yet if it's something he's going to like. So we found this beginner set and he LOVES them! It's fun listening to him pounding away!

Gracie got an underwater camera. She's been taking photos nonstop! Maybe she'll take after her Momma ...

I love this photo! It's the genuine reaction that Emma got when she opened her present. It's an iPod Touch. We don't usually spend that much on Christmas, but we really felt she deserved it. She has been amazing this past year. She bought all of her own school clothes in September and babysits all the time for me. We are so lucky to have a daughter like her.

Brock received a lot of cars! He was tired and cranky from the late night party the night before. He opened up 1 gift and just played with it and didn't care about anything else!

I had to post this photo! Emma got this foot soak from her Grandma Hanson. This is what she did all day yesterday - soaking her feet and playing on her new iPod! She'd get up and play the Wii every once in a while, but then go right back to her "spot"!

We hope you all had a good Christmas. We learned a lot this season about how blessed we are to live where we do. Learning from Sydnee as she has been in Ghana has helped my children see that there are many children in this world who need our love and compassion. We are all Heavenly Father's children and he loves each one of us. It doesn't matter what the color of skin we have, or our station in life, or the country we live in. We are ALL His children.

My brother is a PA and works in a low-income clinic in Washington. Last year after Christmas, he would ask his patients (he works with children) what they received for Christmas and most of them said they didn't get anything. A lot of his patients are immigrants here illegally and are too scared to even put their names on an Angel Tree. So this year, my sister-in-law organized an amazing Angel Tree for 10 families in the clinic. She asked all of the family to contribute and then she set up a tree in her church building. My children each donated some of their Christmas money. We talked about what the money was for and they each decided on their own that they wanted to do that. My sister-in-law told me that with my children's money, they were able to help a whole other family! It definitely made my kids feel good knowing they were able to do that for someone else.

We have had a very trying year, but have been so incredibly blessed. We have witnessed miracles in our own family. We are so grateful for those who have listened to the Spirit and acted on those promptings to help our family. There are some who don't even know they were answers to prayers. In the last 4 months, Paul graduated with is MBA, got a new, much better, job, we were able to find a nicer house to rent in our ward boundries when we found out the home we were renting was being forclosed on, and I started working part time from home. I'm going to write more about that later because it deserves it's own post!

I didn't mean for this blog entry to become my journal, but I'm so full of gratitude and love this season. I'm so grateful for my Lord Jesus Christ and the many gifts that He gave us. Merry Christmas everyone.

Our Casino Thanksgiving Dinner ...

2011-12-09T20:37:00.001-07:00

For Thanksgiving this year, my nephew, Josh, had a soccer tournament in St. George. My sister invited us to go down there with them for the holiday. We all rented a house together and had a great time in the warmer weather. We didn't really want to cook a big Thanksgiving meal because we had had Thanksgiving with our family the Sunday before Sydnee left for Africa. So we decided it would be fun to go to a buffet. Well, the lines at the buffet restaurants were like 2 hours long and we have a toddler so there is no way that was going to work. So we decided to take the 1/2 hour drive to Mesquite, Nevada and eat at one of the Casino buffets. Those are always delicious - right? It was fun to watch my kids' faces as they walked through the casino. They've never been to one before so they didn't really know what to expect. The only thing they kept saying was how bad it stunk (with all the cigarette smoke)!

We finally made it through the buffet line and started getting food. I think we must have found the one casino that didn't have a good buffet! It was actually quite gross! The kids had fun though because they had a seafood bar where they all tried crab legs, shrimp, and crawdads! Even though the food was gross, we all seemed to get full ( it could have been the 3 pieces of pumpkin pie that I ate!)

The rest of the weekend was a lot of fun. It was nice to have the house we rented because we just hung out together, playing games, going swimming, watching movies. Emma got to go with the 3 teenagers to the new twilight movie. She was so excited! (I made sure that Maddi had her walk out during the honeymoon scene!!!) Josh's team did awesome in their tournament - they won 3 out of 4 games!

Gracie and Eli loved all the crab legs and oyster shells. They kept them and now I get to see them in their rooms ...

Eli LOVES his cousins! They are so good with him and never act like he's bugging them! He got to sleep in the living room with the boys. We could hear them laughing for hours after we went to bed! Josh had his friend stay with us that helped coach Eli's soccer team this last summer. Eli was in heaven to have so much attention!

My studly husband and Brock!

Josh is so good with Eli!

It took Maddi all weekend, but Brock finally opened up to her towards the end :)

Behind the house was a pond full of ducks. The kids LOVED to go out and feed them and watch them. Brock was fascinated!

The kids spent most of the weekend trying to hunt lizards. They found quite a few. Gracie named her's Mitch! She has issues with naming animals after her cousins ...

Brock wouldn't hold still for the picture ...

Thank goodness Vaughn has an iPad! The kids spent hours playing on it together!

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving too!

My sister's children in Ghana need help ....

2011-12-06T19:29:00.000-07:00

The school that my sister is volunteering at in Ghana is very close to being shut down. Their only vehicle has broken down and the children don't have a way to get to school. Sydnee is asking anyone that can, to donate money to help them buy the school a new car. Every little bit helps.

click here to go to Sydnee's post about the car.

If you'd like to donate money click here.

My sister ... in Africa

2011-11-15T12:37:00.001-07:00

My sister, Sydnee, has had a dream for years to volunteer her time in Africa. She has an amazing talent with children. I've always been so jealous the way that even the smallest child just seems to cling to her! She truly has become my children's second mother. I think they would be fine if I left them with Syd for awhile! She loves them probably as much as I do!

Anyway, through a series of events, and Divine intervention and guidance, Sydnee was led to Accra, Ghana. She is going to be there for at least the next 3 months. For the first while, she is staying with a lady, Lydia, who has opened up her home to Sydnee. Lydia runs a school for orphans where Sydnee is teaching. One of the amazing things that Sydnee was able to do was take priceless lesson plans and teaching manuals with her to Ghana. A school in Provo donated them, but no one had a way of getting them there. It would have been really expensive to ship, so Sydnee was able to take half of them with her on the plane and another girl is going to be taking the other half. She said it will change the children's lives. They haven't had a good teaching manual or schedule, so when teachers come and go every few months, the children basically start over. She was very honored to be taking these with her! It left her with one bag to pack all of her things in - which is pretty funny if you know Syd! She loves clothes!

If you'd like to read about what she is doing, you can follow her on her blog at sydshelton.blogspot.com. I put a link in my sidebar also. She just posted some amazingly sweet photos of some the kids that she gets to work with!

You are so amazing, Sydnee! You have been such an inspiration to me and my family. My children adore you! Be safe and know that we pray for you EVERY prayer! Love you :)

Brock in his very favorite place with his "Ninny" (and her iPhone!) He can say her name, but he has yet to say Mommy for me! Shows you how much he loves his Aunt!

Grace Face is 10!

2011-11-14T20:53:00.000-07:00

We had such a fun birthday with Gracie this year! She has been wanting a bike for awhile now. Her last 3 bikes were hand-me-downs that all had problems within the first couple months of getting them. Paul and I really felt bad that she didn't have a decent bike. She picked out one that she liked - black with purple skulls! It says it's a boy's bike but Gracie doesn't like girlie things, so it's perfect for her. And really, how many boys that age would ride a purple bike?! So she got the bike! She had to go out and ride it right then - even though she'd just gotten out of the shower and had wet hair!

That afternoon, she had her school friends come over and we took them all to the ice skating rink. It was such a fun party! The highlight of the party was the cake! I had asked Paul's cousin's wife, Tiffany, to make it for her when I found out she enjoys making cakes. I really hate baking and my children usually have to suffer through a wal-mart cake! But not this year! Gracie loves shows like Cake Boss, so we knew she would love a custom cake. Tiffany did an AMAZING job!!! The girls had fun tasting the fondant! It was actually really sad to cut into it because it was so cute!

THE CAKE! Isn't it the cutest horse-crazy girl cake you've ever seen?!

Gracie and her friends (I'm one of her friends, right?!)

The girls dug right into the cake! It was delicious :)

They really were having a lot of fun - I just didn't get any smiles on camera. Note to self- do not take an expensive camera onto an ice skating rink when you haven't been on skates in 14 years ...

I attempted to ice skate with Emma and Eli! I hadn't been skating since high school. I was a little bit sore the next day ...

Emma was really good and stayed with Eli the whole time. This was only their 2nd time ever ice skating, but they all did pretty good!

This was the look on Gracie's face when Paul whispered in her ear,"I hope it's Justin Bieber!"

Happy Birthday, Gracie! We love you!!

Our Halloween!

2011-11-01T13:00:00.000-06:00

Cornbellys!

2011-10-28T13:06:00.000-06:00

The first of October, Paul's parents came down to visit - and they brought Joey! We had a fun weekend with them, and of course, the highlight for the kids was when we went to Cornbellys :) Here are some photos ...

Brock thinks that kissing good-bye means to put his hand on your mouth, not his own mouth! It's pretty cute! We have to kiss his hand when he goes to bed, too :)

Brock - 18 months with this little stinker bum that we all love so much!

2011-10-18T21:50:00.000-06:00

Emma and I decided to take Brock's 18 month photos the other day before it gets too cold. It was a beautiful evening and everything was perfect. Well, Brock had other ideas. He did not want to have his picture taken. Every time I'd lift my camera, he would growl at me or scream at me or turn around and run away. He wanted to get in the lake or play in the dirt or run on the dock. He was probably my most difficult subject! Finally when I was about to give up, Emma started playing a game with him about throwing a rock and then clapping. She did this for about 20 minutes and I got some shots of him smiling. He tries my patience over and over, but I'm so grateful to have him in our family. It's hard to remember a time when he wasn't a part of my family!

His favorite things right now are cars. He loves saying car, he loves the movie Cars, he loves Sydnee's new minicooper that he has to run up to and touch the wheel and say "car". He has a pair of Cars pajamas that he wants to always wear! He has a plate with 3 cars on it and he has to point out these cars every time he uses the plate to EVERY person in the family! When he rides in the front seat of my mom's truck, he can see out the window. He has to say "car" with every car we pass - it's pretty hilarious! For as wild as this boy is, he loves to watch movies. I think it must hypnotize him or something, because he can sit through an entire movie, sucking on his blanket, barely moving. So do I get the "worst mother of the year" award for letting my 18 month old baby watch movies?!

This was when I pushed him down because he wouldn't stop running away! Hehehe ( he's not really hurt - just mad!)

Shelton Family Picture Day ...

2011-10-09T15:48:00.000-06:00

My brother, Jared, and his family came to visit this summer from Washington. The rest of my family lives here in Utah, so we decided to attempt a family picture since we were all together. My sister, Sydnee, and I were the photographers, and my brother-in-law's mom came to snap the photos of the big group. Unfortunately, my brother's car broke down on his way home from a trip to Idaho. My Mom went to pick him and his kids up and didn't get back until it was almost dark. We had to quickly take the large group shots with the remaining light. The photos turned out pretty grainy because of the limited light which was disappointing ... oh well! Here are the photos from our eventful night. I have to say - my family is pretty amazing! I love them all so much and am so grateful to be a part of this family. We were able to get individual shots of each of the families, except for Sydnee. I'll have to get her photo next time!

Shawn's family

Erin and Vaughn's family

Jared and Rhonda's family

My amazing mom and dad!

My family ...

Random boy stuff ...

2011-10-08T14:22:00.001-06:00

Eli is suppose to wear glasses. But he hates them. He thinks his friends will make fun of him because he's the only kid in his class that wears glasses. But the poor kid gets headaches. He needs glasses to see up close, so any time he reads or plays video games, or watches tv, he really can't see all that well. We took him to the eye doctor a couple weeks ago and his eyes have gotten worse, so the doctor told Eli that he needs to wear his glasses all the time. So I let him pick out his own glasses this time - not just the cheapo metal frames that he used to wear. Here's a picture of the ones he chose - he looks pretty cool I'd say!

And here is a random photo of our little Stinker-Bum, Brock. This is a classis look that he gives us all the time. This child has hit the toddler stages and has taken off. He is like a bowling ball in a china cabinet! We can't take him anywhere without someone commenting about how crazy our child is! Some days it's really hard, but I mostly just try to laugh it off, because, really what else am I suppose to do. My sister, Sydnee, has been babysitting him a lot for me while I've been training for work, so she's gotten an extra dose of Brockers! She told me that when he was born and in the NICU, she told him that he needed to be really strong-willed so that he would make it through and come home to us. So that is why he has such a strong personality - it's what kept him alive when he was struggling to stay on this earth when he was born. This thought is what keeps me going most days - like when it takes both Emma and I to strap him into a grocery cart while he is screaming at the top of his lungs and throwing himself around! Or when we try to put him in a highchair when we go out to eat - it's a sight to watch us :) It really is a good thing that I love this child with everything that I have!

Hanson Family Reunion

2011-10-02T23:03:00.001-06:00

I am SO behind on this blog! I'm sure I've lost most of you that once checked my blog on a regular basis. Please forgive me for not keeping up on it this summer :) Paul's family had a reunion in August and I don't want to miss posting these photos. His parent's rented a cabin in Palisades, which is really close to Jackson Hole. All 5 brothers with their families, and Mont and Diane were able to fit comfortably in the cabin. The kids had so much fun being with their cousins. We rode 4-wheelers, had a "silly" talent show, played games, watched old home movies, went to Jackson Hole, and ate A LOT of food! We are so thankful for our families. Our best friends are our brothers and sisters and our parents :)

Beware of the photo overload!

Todd & Ashley

Scott & Priscilla's family

My cute in-Laws- Mont & Diane

Ummm-not sure what this is all about!

The cabin had these huge bean bags that the kids loved to lay on!

Brock had so much fun running around free! He was pretty good with his cousin, Ava, but we had to watch him closely though to make sure he didn't hurt her or take whatever she had in her hands. He's just kind of a bully!

Gracie and Joey's talent - armpit toots!

Playing the Newlywed game for the 3 couples who were married last year - fun times!

Cole & Emma going up to ride the Alpine Slides

Paul & Eli

Steph & Gage

Scott & Priscilla

Greg and Stephanie's family

Joey, Gracie & Eli

Paul and me!

My favorite picture of them all - Marc and Eli. Eli follows Marc around whenever they're together. He just loves him :)

FOAM DAY!

2011-08-09T11:06:00.002-06:00

Lehi city has a day where the Firemen spray foam into a field and let the kids play in it. The kids really look forward to it each year! This year, my brother, Jared, and his family were in town from Washington, so we took his two oldest children, my mom and Sydnee with us. It was a hot day so the foam felt really good :) Nate absolutely loved it! Eli got a headache 10 seconds before it was time to go into the foam, so he sat in the shade and hung out with Grandma the whole time.

I think Syd had as much fun as Nate did!

Our 4th of July Weekend

2011-07-10T20:25:00.000-06:00

We went up to Idaho Falls for the 4th of July Weekend. It was a great time spending time with our families. We stayed with Paul's brother's family and the kids had a blast staying with their cousins. They have a fire pit in their backyard, so we made s'mores! It's just not summer until you've had a s'more!

Emma making her perfect s'more!

Joey and Gracie devouring their s'mores!

Eli roasting his marshmallow.

We spend a lot of time at Paul's parents house. I had to snap this photo because Grandpa and Brock were wearing matching shirts!

Brock fell off cement stairs and banged up his nose. He cried for a couple minutes, then walked right over to the same stairs and climbed back up. He fell 2 more times off those stairs while we were there. He really is relentless!

Marc & Des

Paul took all the kids for rides on the scooter. He tried taking me, but I freaked out after 1/2 a block. I don't know why I'm such a baby, but it really scared me! Maybe because he was going too fast trying to scare me . . .

Brock wanted to play basketball with the big boys. Paul finally had to just carry him around on the court. It was pretty funny to watch Paul play while carrying a baby. He's a good dad!

Gracie and Joey found Todd's old football jerseys! They thought they were pretty tough!

Emma didn't separate from her new phone for the whole weekend - even during the fireworks. Not sure how I'm feeling about her having her own phone. I get texts all day from her, even when we're in the same house!

All the Hanson grandkids (except Mikayla who was with her Dad) -Cole, Gage, Grace, Emma, Brock, Joey, Ava and Eli

My Daughters

2011-06-24T16:01:00.001-06:00

My girls were obsessed about some photos that I showed them by a photographer that I follow, JinkyArt Photography. So taking her photos as inspiration, we decided to have our own photoshoot with the horse they train with. I didn't want to spend a bunch of money on their outfits, so I actually went to Wal-mart for their clothes! Surprisingly, they turned out exactly what we needed. We were all very excited for the photoshoot. We needed one thing in order for the photos to turn out the way I had envisioned - the bright setting sun. The day we had planned was a perfect day. Then at 6:30pm, we started driving to Provo to the location of the shoot, and there were dark, ominous clouds right over Provo. There was lightening and rain. I told the girls to start praying for sun. I prayed myself. If we didn't have the sun, these photos would not be the way I wanted. When we reached the pasture, we looked up, and there was a break in the clouds, right where the sun was! The shoot took an hour and throughout the entire hour, the sun still shone bright. As soon as we were done, the black clouds moved back in. Heavenly Father does hear and answer our prayers - even for something as insignificant to Him as a photoshoot. But these photos were very important to us, and He knew that! I haven't posted the photos on my business website yet, but when I do, I will add a link from this page. There are more photos that I didn't post here that are just as beautiful. I am so proud of my daughters - they are both thrilled with these photos! Of course - so am I! :)

gracie girl . . .

2011-06-14T11:14:00.000-06:00

As women and mothers, we are so hard on ourselves. I find myself all the time saying that I'm too fat, or I'm too ugly, or I can't wear that because my stomach will stick out, or I hate my laugh, or my smile is too big, etc. etc. Unfortunately, I find myself saying these things about myself when my children are the room. So then I hate myself for that! I try so hard to not let my low self esteem rub off on my children. Emma doesn't seem to have any issues yet. When I tell her she looks pretty, she says thank you with a smile. She watches herself in the mirror and I can tell she is pleased with the way she looks. I hope that will last through her teen years because she is beautiful and I'm happy she sees that. But I have another daughter. Gracie. She is 9 years old. She is gorgeous. I've had strangers stop me in the store and tell me how pretty my daughter is. She has the funniest personality. She isn't girly at all, but she doesn't like being called a tomboy. When I tell Gracie she looks pretty, she says she's ugly. When I tell her what a beautiful smile she has, she says she hates her smile. She tells me that she is fat. She tells me that she isn't as pretty as the other girls in her class and at church. She thinks that she is weird looking. I know that this is my fault. I'm too vocal about my insecurities, but I never realized what effect this would have on my beautiful daughter. Here is a photo I took of Gracie the other day while we were sitting on the front step.

I love this daughter of mine for so many reasons. I'm trying hard each day for her to recognize all the wonderful things about her. She is shy and bossy, but she is loyal and honest. She loves sugar and is infatuated with animals. Her favorite time of the week is when she gets to ride horses. Her dream is to work in an animal shelter someday! She wants to save animals and cries when she sees any animal get hurt. I wouldn't be surprised if she became a vegetarian someday when she realizes where meat actually comes from! Gracie is beautiful in every way and I'm so proud that she is my daughter.

Weekend with Grandma & Grandpa & Cousins!

2011-06-14T10:02:00.000-06:00

Paul's parents came down to see us this past weekend and they brought Gage, Cole and Joey! My children were so excited to have them all here. On Saturday, our little town had it's parade. It's a fun parade because it's small and they throw LOTS of candy!

After the parade, we went to the Hogle Zoo. Don't know why, but it was so crowded! It took us 45 minutes just to park. But once inside, the kids had a blast of course!

Thanks, Grandma and Grandpa, for coming to visit. We had a good weekend!

My new camera!!!

2011-06-10T17:19:00.000-06:00

I finally saved enough money to buy my new camera!!!! I have been wanting and needing this camera for awhile now. My old camera was fine, but since I'm trying to do this professionally, then I needed a more professional camera. Well, I had most of it saved, but I didn't know when I would get the rest of the money. Then I received a call from my good friend and neighbor. She just found out that her and her husband were invited on a cruise the following week and needed a babysitter for her three children. It was 9 days with three extra kids under the age of 5! We all survived and learned many lessons along the way! Their kids are so sweet - it was Brock who was the biggest trouble maker. Now back to my original story - my friend paid me to babysit for the week and I finally had more than enough to buy my camera!!!! Each of my kids also earned some money for helping out, which made it all worth it for them!

The morning after I bought my camera, I was feeding Brock and decided to try out some of the settings. He usually looks away when I bring out my camera or tries to grab the camera. But for some reason, he started making the funniest faces for me! He is so dang cute that I forgive him for being such a pain while we were babysitting!

Here's a photo I took of myself in my (dirty) mirror of my gorgeous camera . . . awe - I'm in love ...

Another post about Eli!

2011-05-28T16:16:00.000-06:00

I took Eli's photos this last week for his 6th birthday. Click here to see more!

kindergarten graduation!

2011-05-26T16:32:00.000-06:00

I cried. I know can you believe it? My baby graduated from kindergarten. I'm so proud of him, but so sad. Next year he'll be in 1st grade. That means he'll be gone for 6 hours every weekday. Then he'll come home, have an hour of homework, an hour to play with friends, then dinner, scriptures, and bed. No time left for Mom ... sniff, sniff. I LOVE this kid. He loves me! He still lets me hold him and kiss him and tell him how special he is. My girls have outgrown that kind of affection from me. I now just get a pat on the back from Gracie. If I want a real hug from her, I have to force it out of her. Emma, well, let's just say she still wishes she was 2 years old. She'd probably let me still hold her and kiss her, but she's almost 12, so I don't!

Eli had a great time as a kindergartener. He made a best friend, Aiden (he's in the photo with Eli). His teacher's name was Mrs. Adzima. He learned so much and I couldn't be any proud of him. But ... I'm still sad.

BRING ON SUMMER!!!!

Eli is 6!

2011-05-24T15:15:00.000-06:00

For Eli's birthday, we started the day with our traditional breakfast party. Paul made cinnamon rolls (because let's be honest - I don't cook breakfast!) Then Eli opened his presents from us.

That night, Eli chose Chuck-A-Rama for dinner! We ate until we were stuffed and a fun time as a family. The next day, we invited my family to go bowling and have pizza. Every one came and Eli was thrilled!

I have a hard time believing that Eli is already 6. He is still my Baby Boy. I love him to death and can't get enough of him. He is so clever and quick with his responses and things that he says. He lost his first tooth last week! He was so excited! He wouldn't let Paul or I touch his loose tooth, but that night, he got in Gracie's bed and let her pull it out! They share a room and have a love/hate relationship! They can be the best of friends, but also the worst of enemies. Eli loves playing with her friends (because they are mostly boys!) but Gracie gets pretty jealous when he does.

Eli has 3 more days left of kindergarten. He started the year not even knowing his abc's, and is finishing the year being able to read. He is surprisingly good in math! He made friends with everyone in his class this year and his teacher told me he is a bit of the class clown (MY BOY???) I love that he isn't as shy as my girls and that he can make friends so easily. I LOVE YOU, ELI! Thanks for being my little angel : )

Happy Easter

2011-04-25T16:31:00.000-06:00

Spring Break in Instagram Photos

2011-04-22T23:17:00.000-06:00

If you don't have an iPhone then I'm sorry to say you are really missing out. The app, Instagram, is so much fun. You take a photo and put different filters on it, then you can send that photo instantly to Facebook, Twitter, email, whatever. The best part is the photos are square - how fun is that! So, over Spring Break, I only used my instgram to document our week. This is a little collage of the photos I took. Fun!!! Every day, the kids and I took one room and completely cleaned it (I told my kids that's why we have Spring Break!). We tried to do one fun thing each day after we cleaned - we went to lunch, we went swimming with some friends, we went to the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point with some more friends, we made a quick trip to Idaho, the kids played lots of games of charades (don't know why - they were just really into it this week!), surprisingly, there was little fighting between my children, Brock started taking his first steps, Brock is driving everyone crazy because he gets into EVERYTHING! {{It was a good week}} Our trip to Idaho was quick and we didn't get to see everyone we wanted to. We'll make it back up there soon - I promise :) Only five more weeks until Summer Break - hopefully the warm weather will be here by then or I'm moving south!

Brock's birthday photoshoot

2011-04-01T23:11:00.000-06:00

I've been imagining in my head what I wanted to do for Brock's 1st birthday photos for quite some time now. I knew that I wanted balloons and a vintage look to the photos. I imagined that Brock would laugh at the balloons and try to play with them. I envisioned him standing up and looking directly at me when I asked him too! In reality, I'm surprised these photos turned out as well as they did! He did not like the new shoes I bought him, he could have cared less about the balloons, he was hot, tired, hungry. Most of the time, he was whining! Eli kept accidently jumping into the frame, and Brock just kept trying to crawl to Paul! It was quite an event actually. I was exhausted after our hour and a half of working with him! But in the end, the photos turned out so adorable. Click here to see more from our photoshoot!

My Baby is One!

2011-03-29T15:30:00.000-06:00

My baby is one. Let me take a moment to cry about that. I can't believe that it's already been a year since we had our little miracle. He has quickly become the center of attention in our family. He is so loved and so spoiled! I think he believes Emma is one of his parents! He can say Dada, Mama, and Emma! There are times that he wants her when he gets hurt, instead of me. So sweet! He laughs at anything Gracie does and he absolutely idolizes Eli. I'm sure he thinks he is as big as Eli! In the morning, when Eli comes downstairs wrapped in his blankey, Brock crawls right up to him and puts his head in Eli's lap. Every morning. It is so precious! Eli calls him Buddy. We all talk baby talk to him still. I'm sure we will for a very long time, much longer than we should! Brock has 8 teeth already, and he loves food. He's almost weaned from the bottle! He only takes one a day now, right before bedtime. He cruises all over the places and can take up to 2 steps by himself before he falls. He's very proud of himself when he can walk from the coffee table to the couch! He gives me and my mom big, open mouth kisses, but everyone else that asks for a kiss, he just gives them his forehead! I'm not sure what we did before Brock came into our family!

For his birthday, we had my family come over for dinner and cake. (Disclaimer: I do not bake. I do not decorate cakes. I am the worst with frosting. My mom makes an incredibly delicious chocolate cake so this is the staple for any birthday! It's not pretty but it tastes like heaven!) We have a tradition in my family that when we sing Happy Birthday, we sing it opera style. Bad opera! We can't sing. It is awful! But we all end up laughing by the end of the song which is what the whole point is anyway, right? Anyway, when we sang our opera Happy Birthday to Brock, he looked so stunned. He didn't move. He had the same look on his face throughout the whole song! It was hilarious. Then he didn't know what to do with the cake. My mom finally picked it up and put some in his mouth. He decided he liked it, so he put his face in it! Here are some photos from his party.

My New Photography Website

2011-03-25T20:32:00.000-06:00

It's done ... I think! Well, almost! My new official website for my photography business.

www.meganhansonphotography.com.

Go check it out. I've been working very hard for the last few weeks trying to design everything and get it ready. It's still a work in progress and I'm sure I'll change my logo and colors from time to time until I'm completely satisfied! Let me know what you think!

By the way . . . who needs their family photos taken this Spring? Booking now!

Bishop Dad

2011-02-27T20:46:00.001-07:00

Last Sunday we had the amazing opportunity to be there while my dad was called as Bishop in his ward. Seeing the spirit that has come over my dad since being set apart has been so special to witness. He is such an amazing person and will be a very spiritual bishop for his ward. When he called to tell me, he started by saying that mom got a new calling. I asked what and he said, "Bishop's Wife!" After it took a second to realize what he meant, my response was, "Well that's no surprise. We all saw it coming!" He said, "Yeah everyone except me!"

It made the day even more special because my Aunt and Uncle drove my grandparents down from Idaho to be there for my dad. They drove through a horrible snowstorm and made it just in time! My Grandma didn't stop crying all through sacrament meeting. My brother and one of his daughters were also able to fly in from Washington. He had such a calming influence over my dad and helped him a lot the hours leading up to being sustained.

I love you, Dad! Thanks for being such an incredible father and example to me. My children's first reaction to them finding out that their grandpa was going to be bishop was, "WOW - BOTH our grandpas our bishops now!" What a legacy for my children to live up to. Two great grandpas in their lives and two incredible grandmas to help lead my children by example.

Here are some pictures from the dinner we had after church.

My birthday/Valentine's night with Paul

2011-02-13T22:40:00.000-07:00

With my birthday being two days after Valentine's Day, every year Paul tries to do something special for me to include both days. This year he took me to Thai Siam for dinner (YUMMY!) and then we went downtown to the Salt Lake Art Center. He knew I would enjoy it because they had an exhibit based around the pixel. It was really interesting to see different artists' interpretations of the theme. It was very interactive and we had a really good time together! My kids got to spend the night at Grandma and Grandpa's house so they were more than happy to see Paul and I go out! We ended the night with a cone of frozen custard at Coney's - probably the best "ice cream" I've ever had - even better than frozen yogurt (Brooke - when you come down next we're going there for sure!!!)

I'm so lucky to have such an amazing husband. He is always thinking of me and the kids. I've been working on a photo project of/for him that I'll post on here when its finished. Then everyone will understand why I am so in love with my husband!

Of course I had to bring my camera and take ridiculous photos of ourselves!

Maddi's last home game :(

2011-02-13T22:24:00.000-07:00

My niece, Madison, cheered at her last home game this last Friday, so we went to watch her. We didn't get a chance to go any other time this year. Having a baby really makes things like that difficult! She is such an amazing cheerleader and is so fun to watch.

Mitchell!

Eli!

Gracie Girl!

Brock - you can tell how much fun he is when we go places! He cannot keep still!!!

Maddi is the one doing the tumbling - she's freaking AWESOME!

She is so sweet with Brock - I love this photo!

Emma's photoshoot with Brock!

2011-02-08T10:49:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I forgot to post these photos earlier!

About 3 weeks ago (when Brock turned 10 months old) Emma wanted to take his photos. She had it all set up in his room right under his window so there would be good lighting. She captured some really cute photos of him. We didn't like the white walls (we have yet to paint the kids' rooms!). So I showed her how to add "wallpaper" in photoshop. I think she did a great job!

(I promise I do take photos of my other kids! Brock is just too hard to resist right now with those cute chubby cheeks and that adorable smile!)

2011-02-05T19:35:00.000-07:00

I finally bought my "dream" lens yesterday for my camera. It's the Nikon 50mm f1/4G for those of you who know about lenses. It lets in so much light and the aperture opens wide open to a 1.4. Which means that I don't have to use so much flash and I can get a beautiful blurry background (called bokeh)!!! It is BEAUTIFUL! I asked Paul if it is wrong to worship camera gear! Well, is it?!! I have been hired to be the photographer at 2 weddings in March so I'm trying to get ready by upgrading some of my gear. I'm very excited about getting to shoot at a wedding! To experience someone else's special day while behind the camera is going to be an amazing experience. I hope that I can do a good job for these couples! I get butterflies in my stomach just thinking about it! Of course I have to practice with my new lens so here are some photos of us goofing off tonight . . .

So - can you tell why I'm so in love with this lens? Don't you love Eli and Paul's matching shirts? They went to the BYU basketball game today and came home with matching shirts and matching haircuts! (Emma was out babysitting tonight so that's why she isn't in any of the photos)

Logo designs

2011-01-29T22:58:00.001-07:00

I've been working on my branding for my photography business and I need some opinions! I've designed 3 different logos - please help me choose! Leave me a comment and tell me if you like 1, 2, or 3. Thanks!!!

Bathing Boys!

2011-01-25T19:56:00.000-07:00

I decided to get some bathtime photos of Brock today and of course, Eli wanted to join in! Brock loves the bath! The large picture on the left is of Brock spitting at Eli. It's his new favorite noise to make. He thinks he's pretty funny when he does it, too! He has started to crawl on his tummy and is now getting anywhere he wants to go throughout the house! It's so cute but such a pain!!! Every time I turn my back, he's by the stairs, or by the shoe basket, or has something small in his mouth. Seriously - how do you keep a home baby proofed with 3 other children. It's a full time job!

Our Christmas . . .

2010-12-27T16:11:00.000-07:00

On Christmas Eve, we had all my family out to our house for dinner and swimming. Emma and I made homeade chicken noodle soup. Emma cut every single one of these noodles with a pizza cutter! She did such a good job! After dinner, we all went swimming in our neighborhood pool that was 95 degrees. It was a really foggy night which made it even more fun to swim in the fog!

Grandma and Grandpa bought my kids all Pillow Pets and Mitchell got a Snuggie! They were all very thrilled :)

Brock got clothes!

Maddi, Sydnee and Josh (and Lucy - in desperate need of a haircut!)

Christmas Morning

We got a Wii for Christmas this year! The kids were really excited. I know we're a little behind everyone else! We've had so much fun playing it together as a family!

Paul gave me this shirt for Christmas - we don't take ourselves too seriously around here! I love it! The kids thought it was hilarious : )

The day before Christmas Eve, Paul finally finished painting the basement! He knew the kids would be down there a lot playing the Wii with their friends, so he wanted it to look nice. He's such a good Dad! Love that man!

Hope you all had a good Christmas! We sure did! I've felt so blessed this year with our new baby boy in our family. After our scare with him at birth, we have been more aware of our blessings of good health. We may have financial struggles and other trials in our life, but we have been so blessed with healthy, happy children! When times get tough, I have to remember to count my blessings and my children and husband are on the top of my list. We are a happy family! I just have to thank my Heavenly Father for my wonderful family and for blessing us. This is what I've always wanted my life to be like and I love being right in the middle of it!

Here's to an awesome 2011!

2010-12-23T16:28:00.002-07:00

Some of the gifts that I've made for people this year. I'll have to show the others after Christmas because those people actually look at my blog!!!

Shelton Christmas Party!

2010-12-22T17:18:00.000-07:00

We had an "ugly" sweater Christmas party this year with my family. We had so much fun! Everyone really got into it! We had 5 categories and an overall winner of the "ugliest outfit"! My kids were so excited to wear their ugly sweaters. As soon as we got home from church, they raced in and put them on. The party didn't start until 5 hours later! The overall winner was my brother, Shawn!

The Many Faces of Brock

2010-12-15T22:38:00.000-07:00

I've been so busy taking everyone else's photos that I've been forgetting to take candid shots of my own children! Here are a few of my Brocky Boo from this last month!

Brock LOVES to sleep! He sleeps all night and still takes 3 naps during the day. He loves blankets and has to pull his blanky up around his face to fall asleep! SO CUTE!

He LOVES the bathtub! He likes to lay down in the tub instead of sitting up because he likes to splash with his legs! He'll bring his legs all the way up to his face then smack them down in the water - over and over again! It's hilarious! It never gets old!

Awe - I love this boy!

Gracie's Birthday -- She's 9!

2010-11-14T20:58:00.001-07:00

For Gracie's birthday this year, we had a small family party. I've decided they can only have friends' parties every other year - it was getting to be too much work! My mom made her delicious chocolate cake and we sang happy birthday to her in our best opera voices (a tradition I started a couple years ago with my family!!)

Our friends, the Campbell's came to stay with us this weekend. So, the morning of Gracie's birthday, we had a little breakfast party! Paul made Gracie's favorite - breakfast cake- and she opened presents. Her favorite was the blanket with pictures of horses on it (of course!!!)

Gracie is really growing up! I know I say this with every birthday -- but how did she get to be 9 already???? This past year, she has become even more obsessed with horses, she is still taking riding lessons each week, she has many friends at school but really likes to play with her neighborhood friends best - especially her best friend, Samuel. I love that she gets along with both boys and girls. The other night we went with Samuel and his mom, and her other friend, Eden, and her mom, to watch their other friend perform in the Nutcracker. Before the ballet, we went to dinner at the Olive Garden. She was having so much fun! After we got home, she told me that it had been the best night of her life! Isn't that funny!

Happy Birthday, Baby Girl! I love you!

Emma and Eli

2010-11-06T23:39:00.001-06:00

New photos of Emma and Eli! To see more go to my Photography blog!

Gracie

2010-11-05T15:50:00.000-06:00

I took Gracie's photos today. To see more, go to my Photography blog!!

Halloween!

2010-11-01T16:18:00.001-06:00

We had a fun but cold Halloween this year! We carved pumpkins earlier in the week. For some reason, the kids were adament about carving their tiny pumpkins too! Emma is finally old enough to carve her own pumpkin this year so it wasn't quite as much work for Paul and I!

Eli showing his tiny pumpkin that Emma helped him carve!

The finished large pumpkins. Grandma and Grandpa Shelton grew them in their garden for my kids to have!

The BOYS!

On Halloween night, Emma wanted to go with her friends in our neighborhood but the rest of us wanted to spend it with my family. So we left Emma with her friends and we all went to my sister's house for dinner and trick or treating with cousins. Gracie and Eli were pirates, Brock was a skeleton and Emma was Minnie Mouse. Of course I forgot to get a picture of Emma before we left! But she looked adorable! The funniest thing of the night was when Eli went up to a house and they told him to take just one piece of candy, then he came running down their stairs towards Paul and in his most excited voice said, "They told me to only take one, but I took TWO! ha ha!!" He thought he was being so bad :)

Brock at Seven Months

2010-10-29T17:19:00.002-06:00

I can't resist kissing this Chubbers! Look at those fat rolls!

This last month, Brock learned how to sit up and he got his first two teeth. I finally got to take photos of him sitting up!!! Isn't he just the cutest baby you've ever seen?!

Madison's Senior Portraits

2010-10-04T13:01:00.003-06:00

My niece, Maddi, wanted me to take her Senior photos for her. I had so much fun taking her pictures! She is so photogenic and beautiful so she made it very easy! Here are my top 4 . . .

2010-09-26T20:14:00.002-06:00

I can't believe it's already been 6 months! Brock is such a joy in our family. He started really rolling over this past weekend. He goes from his back to his stomach and then gets stuck there sometimes and we have to go over and roll him back. Occasionally he'll figure out how to roll back! He's always smiling and loves to laugh. He constantly tries to talk but it mostly just sounds like grunting noises! He started eating rice cereal about a month ago and enjoys it.

He loves his brother and sisters more than anything. He loves when they give him attention. He's perfectly content to just lay on the floor and watch the kids play with their friends. He probably thinks he's one of the big kids too! No matter what Gracie does or says to him, he starts laughing! We are so lucky and blessed to have him in our family!

How did this happen?

2010-09-07T20:16:00.003-06:00

How did my baby girl get to be 11???!!!

With all the hoopla of getting everyone back into school, I neglected to post Emma's birthday. She turned 11 in August. I'm still in denial that I have an 11 year old! Really though, she is such a joy to have in our family. She's really grown up since I had Brock and has taken on a lot more responsibility around the house. She loves to bake, scrapbook, take photos, talk, talk, talk, be with her best friend, play with her cousins. She still loves Taylor Swift but isn't learning the guitar to become Taylor. She's taking guitar lessons because she wants to be the kind of mom who can play and sing with her children (isn't that sweet!). She doesn't really like school, but she's smart! She loves getting dressed up (sometimes trying on 4-5 outfits before deciding on one!) she loves painting her nails and wearing jewelry. In July, I took her on a photowalk with my photography club in Provo. She loved it! We walked around the city taking photos of whatever captured our eyes. She took some amazing photos! Her FAVORITE thing though is when I give her my full attention and let her talk my ear off! It doesn't happen as much as I'd like with 3 other children that need attention too, but I try to take time each day to let her talk to me about what's going on. I hope that we can keep that line of communication open when she becomes a teenager!

This year she didn't get to have a friend's party, so we just celebrated her birthday as a family. I had class that night, so we went to dinner at 4:00 (to Subway - her choice!). All she wanted was roller-blades. She really enjoys roller-blading around the neighborhood and has them on as soon as she gets home from school! With the birthday money that she received from Grandparents she bought a really cute chair for her room and curtains to match and things for her locker at school!

I couldn't pass on posting this picture of my boys. This was what they were doing the morning of Emma's birthday while she was opening her presents!

School has officially started!!!!!

2010-08-25T15:36:00.004-06:00

My girls went back to school last Wednesday. Emma is a big 6th grader and Gracie is in 3rd grade this year. Luckily, they both got the teachers they wanted! Which makes my life a lot easier :) Emma feels pretty special this year because the 6th graders get lockers! Their first week so far has gone great and I'm happy to have them back in school. I love what my friend, Susan, put on her blog - Happy Back to School to me! That's exactly how I feel too!! (Their matching outfits were not planned, but there's only so many combinations of clothes you can wear when you have to wear uniforms. Emma was NOT happy that Gracie walked downstairs in matching clothes!)

The world has officially sped up because there is no explanation of why my baby boy is a kindergartner this year! He started today and did great. He was definitely nervous and couldn't sleep last night. When I took him into his classroom, he wanted me to stay for a couple minutes, but as soon as the classroom filled up, he was fine with me leaving. He gave me a hug and a kiss and told me goodbye. Of course, my heart broke just a little knowing that he is now in school and he'll never be my "little" boy again :( He walked in the house after school with a huge smile on his face, told me they didn't learn the abc's but they did play a cookie game! Don't you just love kindergarten!!!

I had to take a picture of Eli and me because this is one of the last times that he'll let me hold him like he's still my baby! (yes I cut and died my hair! I couldn't stand the long hair any longer. I'm just a short haired girl!)

Now it's my turn for school. I start on Monday. I've been trying to finish my college degree for like 12 years now! This time, I'm going to hopefully finish. My kids aren't too excited about me being gone two nights a week, but hopefully they'll adjust. With Paul and I both in school and the three children, we're definitely going to have a busy life! I guess we're taking President Monson's words to heart about getting as much education as you can :)

Brock: 4 Months Already

2010-08-03T22:20:00.003-06:00

Be still my heart! My two adorable sons just loving to be together. Look at that look of pure joy on Brock's face!

I like this next picture because it shows how bad he hates his stomach. He won't even try to look to the side! And yes, that is a little birthmark on his arm - I really didn't want to photoshop it out since it's a part of who is right now. His doctor thinks it'll be gone by the time his three. Paul likes to call it his Mickey Mouse tattoo!

I can't believe that 4 months has passed since Brock was born. He is such a joy to have in our family. He already sleeps through the night (which is a HUGE blessing considering that our other three children have yet to sleep through the night!) He rarely cries, he's easily entertained, he loves giving us huge open mouth smiles, he loves being in his carseat, he entertains himself in his crib by talking to the bears that are on his crib bumper, he hates being on his stomach and will only let me hold him face to face right after he wakes up from a nap, he rolls from side to side, but has yet to roll all the way over (really he has no incentive since he hates being on his stomach!) We all have so much love for this little baby with his huge grin and big chunky legs!

Long Summer Days

2010-08-03T22:03:00.002-06:00

Just some fun photos of our summer days . . .

Brock enjoying a stroll in his stroller! Isn't he getting the most beautiful blue eyes!!!! (Don't mind the drooled on shirt!)

We don't spend us much time at the pool as the kids would like because I don't dare put Brock in the water and it's too hot outside to have him out for very long. Last summer we went swimming almost daily. But we have been able to find a few days this summer to take the kids swimming. They always love it when Paul swims with them because this is what he does . . .

Emma and her friend Hannah are at the age where they're too old to "play" but too young to keep themselves occupied by talking! So they are always asking me what they can do. Most days they bake something - which is always great! The other day I took them outside to practice some photography skills. This was a great shot of the girls just having fun!

I think this photo of Eli is hilarious! This is a classic Eli look when he doesn't get his way!

Hope you're all having a great summer. Only two more weeks until my kids are back in school - this time with Eli in kindergarten! AHHHHHH! I'm so not ready for my baby boy to be a big kindergartener!

Foam Day!

2010-07-24T18:45:00.002-06:00

In Utah, the 24th of July is Pioneer Day. So to celebrate, the firemen in Lehi spray a park full of foam and let the kids jump, play, slip, slide, throw foam, etc. etc.!!! The kids had SO much fun. It was probably 100 degrees outside so I was SO hot! Don't know what foam has to do with the pioneers though . . . I guess it's just about having fun and celebrating!

2010-07-22T16:29:00.003-06:00

When we decided to name Brock, I had one condition - he never gets called Brocky. I think it sounds way to babyish and I didn't want anyone getting used to calling him Brocky and then he get called that forever. But why is it that one syllable names get nicknames that are LONGER than their name? So, we don't just call him Brocky - his nickname is BROCKY BOO! I know - it's horrible but we can't stop calling him that. It's adorable to watch Eli give Brock a kiss and say "I love you, Brocky Boo!" Let's just hope as he grows up that we can stop calling him Brocky Boo!!!!!!

Ziggy and Gracie

2010-07-19T20:51:00.002-06:00

While at riding lessons this last Friday, Gracie was jumping her pony and fell off. She's never fallen off before, so she was pretty startled. It's a little pony, so the fall didn't hurt except that she landed right on the tip of her fingers and bent back a few fingernails. She was NOT happy. She came over and sat by me and I told her she had to get back in the saddle before her lesson was over. She didn't want to, so I walked back with her to Ziggy. This was her pony feeling pretty bad that he made her fall . . .

He kept nudging her as if telling her that he was sorry!

After talking to her pony for a few minutes, she got back on and rode him before she left. I was proud of her for getting back on. Hopefully that'll be the worse injury she gets for awhile!

ELI

2010-07-19T20:47:00.001-06:00

We redid Eli's picture this weekend. I think this one turned out MUCH better! Isn't he the cutest boy you've ever seen? I just LOVE this kid!!!

My Beautiful Children!

2010-07-16T22:27:00.002-06:00

I finally finished the photos of my children to hang on our wall. So I thought I would share the final products on my blog! I've already posted this picture of Emma, but I wanted her included in the group! Eli's picture isn't perfect so I'm going to have to retake it again on a day when the sun isn't shining so brightly!

2010-07-12T14:13:00.002-06:00

My Grandparents both turned 85 this year, so we decided to celebrate by having a big party for them at my Uncle's house. We had so much fun and thanks to my Aunt and Uncle, the kids had a blast! They got to ride in the boat, go for a little hike on my Uncle's island, ride the mule, have water fights, and eat lots and lots of s'mores! This was the first time we had all been together since my grandparents' 80th birthday, so we tried to get some pictures. Sometimes too many cameras make for not great pictures because everyone's looking at different cameras! But we got some good ones and my sister and I were able to take our family photos while we were there. Happy birthday Grandpa and Grandma--I love you! (and I will be sending you all these pictures plus all the others I took!)

The Shelton Family

My brother Shawn and his children, Kylie and Caleb

The Mordecai Clan

My little family

Gracie Girl

2010-07-02T20:35:00.002-06:00

It's time for new pictures of my kids, so I decided to take pictures of them doing things they love. I followed Gracie around at her riding lessons today and got some really cute photos of her.

This last one is the one she chose to be hung on the wall. Isn't she just the most beautiful girl? (I'm not biased or anything!!!)

2010-06-25T23:41:00.003-06:00

Isn't this such a cute picture of Emma? She has been taking guitar for almost a year now and she has a talent for it. I love listening to her play. She recently memorized a Taylor Swift song and she'll sing and play it for us! I'm so happy that we are able to give her lessons and that she is following her dreams!

Swimming in the Lake

2010-06-25T23:31:00.002-06:00

Gracie

Gracie with her friend, Samuel

Eli and his friend, Amelia

Emma!

The kids decided that they wanted to swim in the lake with their friends the other day. Up until now I've always told them no because the lake is dirty and there are always boats by the docks. But all the older kids in the neighborhood were there, so of course the younger kids wanted to join them! So I finally said yes. But poor Eli-I wouldn't let him in because he can't swim yet. He just sat and watched while everyone else swam. They all froze while in the lake and then warmed up in the hot springs creek by our house!

Brock's Blessing

2010-06-14T13:22:00.002-06:00

Yesterday we had the priveledge of blessing Brock. Paul did an amazing job giving the blessing. I was so proud of him and blessed to have the priesthood in our home. Paul's family all came down from Idaho to be here for us. We had a fun weekend with them! We had a brunch after Sacrament meeting for our families. I can't talk about a baby blessing without bearing my testimony here! I know without a doubt that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is true. I know only true joy comes from following the commandments and living worthily. I love our church! My family is sealed together forever through priesthood power in the temple and I know that we will be together in the afterlife. I have felt the atoning power of Jesus Christ in my life and can never deny it. It is an amazing thing to have my husband give our children priesthood blessings and see miracles happen through our faith. I know how blessed we are to have the gospel in our lives and I am grateful for it daily.

Paul, Me and our sweet, sweet boy, Brock

Paul's parents, my Mom (my Dad had to be in his own ward right after the blessing), and

Emma with Brock

Of course the weather was not nice enough to be outside like I planned, so we piled everyone into our house!

Sydnee and Wazy, Maddi and Brock, and Vaughn and Erin

Thanks for coming everyone! We love our families so much and know how lucky we are to have such close and supportive families.

Our week with Cole

2010-06-11T18:54:00.003-06:00

This past week, our nephew Cole, came and stayed with us and Gracie stayed with their family. We had a lot of fun together. Most days we invited Mitch (my other nephew) over also. Poor Emma only has boy cousins her age! On Tuesday the kids really wanted to go to Temple Square. Luckily it was good weather, so we spent all afternoon there. The rest of the week we went swimming every day, the kids stayed up until midnight every night talking and watching movies, and they played outside on the days that the sun was actually shining. I think they all made good memories together!

They have a new exhibit at the Visitor's Center of a cutout replica of the temple. The kids were really excited to see it and be able to know what the inside of the temple looks like. Unfortunately there were a lot of people there and we didn't get enough time to look at it. It was still really interesting though.

Thanks for hanging out with us, Cole and Mitch!

Scott & Priscilla

2010-06-09T23:41:00.003-06:00

Paul's brother, Scott, was married last Saturday. We are really excited for him and his new wife. They are a great couple! Welcome to the family, Priscilla and Mikayla! The Hanson sister-in-laws have doubled in size in just one month and we've gained a new neice/cousin! It's been great getting to know our new "sisters"!

Scott and Priscilla's wedding kiss!

Priscilla's adorable daughter was the flower girl

Gracie and Joey

The newlyweds, Todd and Ashley, with Cole, Eli, Joey and Grace

Joey and Eli

So Sweet!

2010-06-02T18:28:00.001-06:00

Isn't this the cutest picture?!!! Brock is finally learning how to smile and he LOVES Emma. I did a scrapbook page of the two of them (check it out on my scrapbook blog!) She is so great with Brock. She babysits whenever I need her to (actually she begs me to leave so she can babysit!) At first we were so nervous watching her carry him around, but she is doing such a good job. In her journal at school, they had to write about what they want to be when they grow up, and Emma wrote, "I want to be just like my mom. She says being a mom is hard sometimes, but I still want to do it!" Isn't that sweet! She'll make a GREAT mom.

I have an addiction and it's taking over my life . . .

2010-05-24T16:07:00.003-06:00

It's true. I am an addict. I can't think, sleep or eat because all I want to do is scrapbook. No joke. This is serious. My house is a mess, the kids aren't fed, the laundry is piling up because my computer is calling my name! I started digital scrapbooking a few months ago and now I can't stop. I LOVE it. I love searching through sites and learning new techniques and ideas. I started a blog just for my scrapbook pages. The link is on my sidebar. I've finished my 2009 scrapbook and am now starting 2010 and Brock's baby book. I'll post them as I go. I've even taught Emma a few tricks and she's starting her own scrapbook! I'll post some of her pages too if she'll let me - she's good! So check out my new blog and please leave me comments - a blogger can't blog without comments!

Welcome to Our Family, Brock!

2010-05-16T22:17:00.002-06:00

I don't know if I'll ever get these printed and mailed out, so here is the birth announcement I made for Brock.

Todd and Ashley's Wedding

2010-05-14T09:03:00.006-06:00

I wanted to post some photos of Paul's brother's wedding, but I forgot to take my camera! My sister-in-law finally posted some on her blog so I totally stole her pictures! (Hope you don't mind Steph!!!)

Anyway, just wanted to welcome Ashley into the family. It was a beautiful wedding and we're all really happy for Todd and Ashley. Though they seem so young (as young as Paul and I when we got married!) they have found their soulmates in eachother. It's been really fun watching them fall in love - it has reminded me what it was like when Paul and I met and all those crazy emotions in the beginning. I have to say that I like the way things are now much better, but sometimes I do miss that feeling of ALWAYS having to be together and only having eachother to look after! Congratulations Todd and Ashley. We love you both and are very happy for you!

The Hanson Family - it has changed so much in just one year!

Joey, Emma and Gracie. Joey made a beautiful flower girl!

Cousins and silly faces! Eli was the ring bearer - that was interesting! Paul had to walk down the aisle with him because he was too shy to do it himself!

Paul and me waiting for the wedding to start.

Happy Mother's Day!

2010-05-10T12:29:00.000-06:00

I LOVE being their mother!

A Day Out with Eli

2010-05-10T12:16:00.002-06:00

It was our city's day at the REAL Salt Lake game this last Saturday, so any of the kids who play soccer got to walk onto the field with the players and mascot before the game started. Eli was very excited about this! Erin and Vaughn have season tickets (of course!) so they let Paul and I use them so we could take Eli. It was a great day - perfect weather! I think that Eli's favorite part was the booths and games set up outside the stadium before the game started! He won a ball and a megaphone which he played with during the entire game. It was fun to watch him walk on the field as he skipped and hopped!

(He's in there somewhere!)

HOPE OF AMERICA!

2010-05-10T12:01:00.005-06:00

This last week, Emma had the opportunity of singing at the Hope of America program. The 5th graders worked on their songs all Semester. It was at the Marriot Center at BYU and there were 4,000 students that made up the flag. The music was wonderful - very patriotic. The only weird thing was the 45 minute pre-show were Spanish dancers and then in between every song the kids sang, the same dancers performed more Spanish dances. During one performance, they had a group of little kids dressed in ponchos and sombreros and suitcases (no joke) walk onto the floor to the song "We're Coming to America." I'm not sure who okayed this, but what a wasted opportunity to show true patriotism. At least the parts that Emma was in were very beautiful!

2010-04-21T20:45:00.005-06:00

I opened my door this afternoon and there was a big box on my doorstep. I knew I hadn't ordered anything, so I didn't know what it was. I brought it inside and opened it up. It was a Baby Shower in a box! My wonderful friend, Susan, from Idaho Falls had "thrown" me a shower with a group of my friends from IF. I was so overwhelmed. I'm not the best friend when it comes to long distances, but these women are so wonderful! They still love me even though I moved away! Susan - you are amazing. I cannot believe the work you put into all of this. I'm overloading this post with photos so that you can all see what a great shower you gave me!

Susan included decorations, a cake mix, frosting, treats for my kids, and even a baby shower game!

Here are the "guests"! She taped their faces to supermodel bodies. I was laughing hysterically, but it also made me cry because I miss them so much!

Susan, Terri, Margaret, and Myrna

Camy, Janae, and Susan (she makes a great Sandra Bullock - don't you think?!)

Sandi, Viki, and Linda (love the bikini!)

Brock slept through his baby shower!

The treats she made for each of the kids. They were so thrilled!

Susan - I totally made the cake and decorated it with the decorations you sent! It was yummy. (Just don't look at the crappy frosting job - I never said I do cakes!)

Here are all the wonderful presents they sent. I cannot believe you all did this! I'm still just so overwhelmed.

The kids played the game she sent. We're pretty sure that's a tootsie roll, but they had to smell it just in case!

I love you, Susan. And I love all of my good friends in Idaho Falls. Thank you so much for thinking of me. I miss you all so much!

SOCCER!!!

2010-04-20T21:11:00.002-06:00

Eli's first soccer game was this last Saturday. He's played Itty Bitty Ball, but never a "real" game. He was so excited! Lots of family came to watch him and he showed off - just a bit! He actually was a pretty good little player. He turned the ball around quite a few times, but then the coach's son would always take the ball from him and take it down the field. He was disappointed he didn't score, but we all thought he did great! And of course the orange slices are always a treat after playing a long game of soccer!!!

Brock almost 2 weeks old

2010-04-09T14:35:00.005-06:00

I wanted to get some photos of Brock while he was in the "sleepy" infant stage. Unfortunately, he kept waking up! So here are the best of the photos I took. They're pretty raw because I haven't photoshopped them yet. My photoshop is on my other computer that's broken right now. I'll do more with the them once I get it fixed!

My Day Yesterday

2010-04-01T14:42:00.002-06:00

I have an internal alarm clock at 7:00am. Whether I get up at that time is a different story, but I always wake up at that time. So when I got a phone call at 9:00am yesterday morning, I thought it must be 6:00 because I was still sleeping. But no, it was 9:00am. It was Brock's nurse telling us to bring his carseat today because there's a good chance he'll get to go home! Paul and I both jump out of bed and try to hurry through our morning. I was suppose to be in Provo at 10:30 to rent a breastpump. So the plan was I would go get the breastpump and sit through the video I had to watch before they'd let me have it, then Paul and the kids would meet me at the hospital at 11:00. So, I get all the way to Provo, in the snow (of all days!) and Paul calls me to tell me I have both sets of keys. ARG! So I go get the breastpump, take the 1/2 hour drive back home to pick everyone up. By this time I was frantic. I just wanted to get to the hospital and bring Brock HOME! When I get home, Paul and the kids are just sitting down to lunch. Okay - good idea. Let's eat a little before we go so the kids aren't cranky. But then, wait, it's been two hours since I've pumped. Another ARG! So I have to lock myself in my bedroom and pump for 20 minutes. STRESS! So we finally get back on the road when I get a phone call from my mom saying "where are you, you're little boy is all ready to go home!" We're still half an hour away - we're coming! I quickly call my sister, Erin, to see if she'll sit with my kids at the hospital because who knows how long the discharge papers will take. She drops everything she was doing and meets us up there. Finally, we're at the hospital. It's about 1:30 by this time. I haven't even showered!!! When we walk into the NICU, Brock has all his wires and tubes out and he's ready to go home. His nurse tells us to start getting him dressed! We only had a few papers to sign and within 20 minutes, he's in his carseat ready to go home! Our other kids were in the family waiting room down the hall, so we brought him there first so they could finally see him. What joy and happiness we all felt at that moment. We loaded everyone up in the van and away we went. HOME - FINALLY. Our family finally feels complete with little Brock with us. He did great last night and he's just sleeping away today. The kids are big helpers (a little too much!) and I'm afraid he's going to be smothered by all of our kisses! Our prayers have been answered through amazing medical personnel and our supportive families and friends. Thank you to everyone for your support and love for us during this awful time. What a trial. We couldn't believe it had really only been 3 days, it felt more like 3 weeks. We're so lucky that he was able to get better so quickly. I'm sure I will be overloading our blog with baby pictures for the next little while, but that's what new mothers do!

Pictures . . .finally!

2010-04-01T13:22:00.007-06:00

When they took Brock from us right after he was born, I didn't get to see him for a couple hours. Paul went with the doctors and watched over him as they worked on him. I called my Dad and he rushed over to help Paul give Brock a blessing. What a comfort to know that I could call my dad in the early morning hours and he would be there for us. When I finally got to see my little boy, this is what he looked like. A picture is a thousand words, and this is why it was so hard for me.

When they had to transport him to the other hospital, it took a team of LifeFlight paramedics to get him from the machines at the hospital to the portable machines about an hour. They brought him into my room to let me say goodbye and to tell us what to expect. This is Brock right before they took him.

By the time Brock was in the other hospital, Paul's parents had made their way from Idaho. It was such a comfort for Paul to have his parents by his side as he went to see Brock. I'm sure this was so hard for him to leave me in one hospital and be with his son in another hospital. But I really wanted him with Brock. Here is a picture of Brock with the ventilator.

The next day, I finally get to hold my son!

I don't think there are words that can describe how we are feeling in this picture.

Paul holding Brock for the first time.

My mom holding Brock for the first time.

Sydnee holding Brock after spending 4 hours in the NICU with him waiting for me to get there. Our families were such a support to us these last few days. Knowing that we could ask anything of them and they were right there for us. Both my sisters spent hours with Brock knowing that I didn't like him being alone. I wasn't able to get a picture of Erin with him because we weren't really ever there at the same time. She'd go up and be with him and then once I got there, she'd go take care of her own kids. Paul and I are both so lucky to have such supporting families.

His first bath which he absolutely hated.

His last day in the NICU! No more IV's poking him in the head and arms!

Brock's nurse, Catharine, while he was in the NICU. She was AMAZING! She'd call me each morning to let me know how he was doing and she always kept us really informed on his care and condition. It takes a special person to be able to work in the NICU.

When we found out he was being discharged, I called Erin to see if she could sit with my kids at the hospital while we went through the paperwork. She dropped everything she was doing and made the 1/2 hour drive to be with them. We finally got him out of the NICU and the other kids were able to really see him for the first time. Their faces were of pure love and awe of their new baby brother. It was a priceless moment. They had made this sign for him on the whiteboard before we left!

Quick update

2010-03-30T20:10:00.000-06:00

I'm exhausted tonight with swollen ankles and sore from the huge breastpump they have me using every 2 hours. So needless to say, I'm going to make this a quick entry!

Brock is doing amazing! His infection is gone and should only have to take antibiotics for one more day. They were able to turn off his IVs and the heating lamps. He drank his bottles really well and I was able to breastfeed for the first time without any problems! Not my favorite thing to do but I'm willing to do whatever I can if it helps my sweet little boy. He had his eyes open for a long time and focused on Paul and I for the first time. What a sweet moment that was. My other kids are doing well. We've spent the evening with them at home tonight which I think we all needed. Eli had a major meltdown last might, crying that he missed Brock. He keeps patting my still fat tummy saying that Brock's still in there because I'm still fat! I'm sure this is so hard for him to understand.

Brock's doctor hopes he'll get to come home Thursday if he continues to do this well. So please keep praying for him because I know it is helping. I have felt the comfort of the Spirit many times throughout the last couple days and know that Brock has been in His hands being comforted and loved. We're so lucky to have the gospel in our lives.

Two steps forward, one step back

2010-03-29T21:17:00.000-06:00

I finally got to hold my precious boy in my arms today. I didn't make it up to the hospital until about 3:30 this afternoon because I had to wait to be discharged and wait for Paul to come get me. I was so anxious to get there I think I got mad at Paul for everything he was doing because I had to take my frustration out somehow! Hopefully he will forgive me! Anyway as soon as I stepped into the NICU I started crying and ran straight to Brock's side. My sisters were there with him and had been for awhile. I was so happy he wasn't alone. His nurse talked to us about how he was doing and then put him my arms and let me feed him a bottle. I can't even describe the joy and love I felt at that moment. Every mother (and some extra special aunts) will understand the feeling. He took the bottle really well but then his pulse went way down. His nurse said that he'll need to learn to eat and breathe at the same time. We waited for his pulse to go back up and then tried again. He did much better the second time. His nurse told us to come back later and we could help give him his first bath. They felt that he was steady enough that he could finally handle a bath. So we came back and helped give him a sponge bath. He did not like it vhe grunted and squirmed and cried the whole time. We quickly finished and got him back on some clean blankets and hooked back up to his machines. The bath really stressed him out. We weren't able to hold him and feed him again like we planned because the nurse was pretty concerned about how lethargic he was and how hard he was working to breathe. She said that it wasn't bad enough to put the ventilator back in but that she would stay right by him all night to make sure he was okay. They really thought he was stable enough to handle a bath but we jumped the gun on it I guess vwe had to leave because I was in so much pain and needed my medication. Hopefully he'll sleep well tonight and regain his strength. So two steps forward, one step back.

Update

2010-03-29T11:21:00.000-06:00

Just wanted to let everyone know that Brock is doing great. They were able to take him off the ventilator and he's breathing really well on his own. He had another round of antibiotics this morning so of within 24 hours his numbers are good then he should be able to come home. Paul is with him right now. He got to change his diaper and is going to try to feed him a bottle. He said after his bottle he opened his eyes and is happy and doing the newborn smile! Paul's parents are with him too. My mom and sisters will be with him this afternoon. We're so lucky to have such an amazing supportive family. Both Paul and I have been able to lean on them through all of this. I don't know what we would do without them.

I'm being discharged this afternoon. I'm so anxious to be with Brock. Everyone keeps sending me pictures of him and I just start to cry because I want to hold him and kiss him so badly it actually hurts! I'm sure my kids feel the same way. They aren't allowed on the NICU floor. They bought him a little stuffed animal to put in his bed so he knows they're there and love him. I hope that made them feel like they're a part of what's going on too.

I've been able to post photos of him on facebook but for some reason I can't post photos here from my phone :(. Thank you everyone for your prayers and sweet comments. It really helps knowing so many of you care and are thinking and praying for us.

Journal entry from earlier this afternoon

2010-03-28T21:26:00.000-06:00

In the hospital, alone. No baby here to hold and kiss. This is so much harder than anyone can explain. Having my baby boy taken out of my arms after only getting to hold him for a few seconds. Then I finally get to see him through a window as they wheel me to my room. The nurse paused for just a second for me to peer in at him. He was strapped, needled, a tube going down his throat and tubes taped to his nose. Cords were coming off him all over his body. I immediately start to cry. He's so little to already be feeling such pain. Is it my fault that he has respiratory problems? Should I have tried to keep him in me a little longer? At this point they think it's the a lack of development in his lungs from being born early. 37 weeks isn't early for my babies. I keep saying that in my head, I keep hearing them say "premature". They took us to my room and Paul and I try to eat a little breakfast. Paul and my Dad had already been able to be with Brock and give him a blessing. What a comfort the priesthood is. Finally after an agonizing 2 hours they come and get us to see Brock. When we got into the nursery I don't know what to do. I want to rip all the cords off of him and tell them all that he is fine. I have healthy babies. The other parents in there give us apologetic looks while they get to watch their newborns first bath. That's suppose to be us with our newborn. Instead we have to sit there and try to find a spot on his body that we can touch so he knows his mommy and daddy are there. The respiratory dr starts telling us the bad news. He doesn't have underdeveloped lungs, he has an infection inhis lungs. It's not my fault, I'm told. There is nothing that could be done. He got the infection while in the womb. It wouldn't have mattered how far along he was, he would have been born with the infection. They tell us that he has to be transported to another hospital to be put on a ventilator. Half an hour away. I have to stay here without him. I look at Paul for support and realize he's barely keeping it together. We stayed with him for about an hour rubbing his hand while he curls his little perfect fingers around my finger. We both broke down when we got back to our room. My mom shows up with the other kids so they can see him before being transported vwe watched through the window as the lifeflight team get him in a portable incubator. It takes about an hour. The other kids are brave and excited to see their new baby brother. But the stress got to little Gracie and she threw up. It was too much for her to handle. Eli just kept saying he wants to hold Brock. And Emma says she knew something was wrong when she woke up at 5:30 that morning. But they're all optimistic and we tell them he's going to be okay. It's just differentthen we planned. No pictures of the tearful new parents holding the baby; no pictures of the proud brother and sisters meeting their brother for the first time. And now Brock has been gone for hours and everyone is splitting their time between hospitals and helping with the other kids. I've been here alone for hours listening to other families cheer and laugh and babies crying while their mommies get to hold them. I'm comforted in knowing that he's doing great on the ventilator but he'll be in the nicu for 4-7 days. I just pray over and over that he'll be okay. I hate not being with him.

Baby Brock

2010-03-28T21:13:00.000-06:00

We had our baby at 5:28 this morning. It was a long labor and difficult delivery. Just when we thought the worst was over and finally got to see our baby, they rushed him away. He wasn't breathing right. They thought he just needed some air pushed into his lungs but that didn't work. So they thought his lungs weren't completely developed and just needed sufecant. But that didn't work. They figured out that he has an infection in his lungs that he somehow got while in the womb. They said he was fine breathing oxygen in but couldn't exhale the carbon dioxide. Every breath he takes, he has to grunt it out. They had to transport him to a hospital half an hour away and put him on a ventilator. His doctor there called and said he's doing good and will need to stay for 4-7 days. This is really hard being stuck in one hospital while he is in another. I only got to hold him for mere seconds and Paul didn't get to hold him at all. I'll post pictures and more information later. All I have with me here is my phone and I can't figure out how to post photos from it.

Brock David, 7 lbs 3 oz and 20 inches long. He's beautiful and even a little chubby for being born at 37 weeks. Please keep him in your prayers.

It's been awhile . . .

2010-02-18T13:05:00.002-07:00

So I haven't posted anything in over 2 months. I didn't get our Christmas photos on here or any winter photos. I've been a little busy sitting on the couch doing nothing but growing this baby inside me! I really haven't had any motivation to do much of anything. And then our computer broke. Probably just the cord, but it's a fairly new cord and they cost $100 and just out of principle I'm not going to run out and buy a new one. So all of my photos are on that computer. Paul brought back to life our old computer from 8 years ago just so we could have access to the internet and the girls could do their school work. Unfortunately it kicks us off every few minutes for some random reason!

So just a quick update on what we've been up to: We had a great Christmas that we spent here in Utah with my family. My brothers and sisters surprised us Christmas Eve with a new baby stroller and swing! I couldn't stop crying because it was so thoughtful and unexpected. Instead of exchanging gifts with eachother this year, they all still put together their money for us. You should NEVER surprise a pregnant woman - these emotions have a mind of their own! We then spent New Years with Paul's family and our friends in Idaho. It was good to see everyone even if it was a quick trip. I think it snowed 200 feet while we were there, though! The kids loved all the snow and had fun while Jarom took them on the sled behind his 4-wheeler.

This last month has gone by slow. I have 2 months left in my pregnancy and I can't really do anything or else I start having contractions. So Paul gets to do the grocery shopping on top of everything else now too! Good thing I married such an understanding man, because he happily does what needs to be done without complaining. The most I do these days is pick the kids up from school and sometimes that seems like too much! Two more months and this will all just be a memory and we'll have our little boy to hold in our arms and shower with kisses. We're all so excited for the baby! We're in the process of finishing our basement so that we have more room once the baby is here. It should be done by the time the baby comes. The girls are excited to move their room to the "big" room downstairs and have their own bathroom. Wish I could post some photos but oh well!

Eli started preschool this month which he is LOVING! It's more of a playgroup with some other women in my neighborhood, but it's getting him use to going without me since he'll be in kindergarten this Fall. Hopefully I haven't babied him too much that he'll have a problem going! Paul has decided to get his MBA which starts this May. I'm excited for him because he's been wanting to do it for awhile now but just hasn't had the opportunity. It's a 15 month program so we'll have to get used to him doing homework again! Both Emma and Gracie are doing well. Emma is really excelling in guitar and her teacher tells me how proud she is of Emma and it really shows that she enjoys it and she's a natural. Gracie is still riding horses! She loves every minute of it. She's starting to jump a bit and go around barrels which she is really proud of!

So that's enough of my rambling! I'll try to post more often, but I'm not going to make any promises!

Gracie's Baptism

2009-12-15T20:32:00.004-07:00

Gracie was baptized on December 5th. It was a wonderful day full of family and friends. Paul's family braved the winter storm and drove down and back the same day. His Grandma and aunts came also, and it was really nice to see everyone and their support of Gracie. We missed my brother and his family and my grandparents, but the rest of my family were there. Our best friends, the Campbells, came and spent the weekend with us which really made Gracie happy! Gracie looked beautiful in her new dress and Paul did a great job in his confirmation blessing for her. It's definitely a proud moment to see my husband being able to baptize and confirm one of our children. We are so proud of Gracie for making the decision to be baptized. She was ready for it and has the beginnings of a strong testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We love you Gracie!

Our beautiful daughter!

We needed a sisters' photo after a disastrous photoshoot the previous Sunday at my parents' house! I have the two most amazing, wonderful, and beautiful sisters! (Remember that I'm almost 6 months preggos in these photos -- I feel so fat!)

The Name Game

2009-12-02T17:08:00.003-07:00

Now that we know we're having a boy, we cannot agree on a name. So far we like William or Jonah, but we have issues with both. A guy Paul works with was like, "So if you name him William, then you're going to have a Will and Grace!" Should that matter because it kind of does to me. I don't want people making that connection the rest of their lives. So I want everyone that reads my blog to leave a comment and tell us what you think we should name him. You don't have to choose between William or Jonah - those are just the preliminary ideas! Remember the rest of our kids names - we don't like made up names and we pretty much stick with solid "normal" names! And those of my friends who are obsessed with patterns (you know who you are!) I have been through every G name and don't like any of them. Because I know you will try to find a G name since our kids' names go E G E . . .!!! Come on - help us out!!!!

BOY OR GIRL???

2009-11-24T10:32:00.003-07:00

We had our ultrasound today! We let the kids stay home from school so they could be there to see it. Everyone was pretty excited and anxious. The general consensus is we all want a boy -- that'll make 2 girls and 2 boys which for some reason the kids like that idea. Paul and I just want Eli to have a brother! So . . . IT'S A BOY!!!!!! I think this was the first ultrasound that I actually cried tears of joy! We didn't find out the sex of our first two which was really fun. I wasn't sure I wanted to know this time, but my kids were way too excited. There was no way they could wait another 20 weeks! Everything looks good. The baby is healthy and growing strong and so beautiful! The only thing they picked up on is that I have an anterior placenta which means I'm carrying everything right out front so I have to be really protective of my baby bump.

Any boy clothes and baby supplies sent our way would be very much appreciated!

Gracie's 8!

2009-11-17T14:00:00.005-07:00

For Gracie's 8th birthday dinner, she wanted to go to the place with "unlimited deserts!" After thinking awhile what that meant, I realized she wanted Chuck-a-Rama! She invited all of our family in Utah to come. The kids all had a great time eating a tiny bit of food and about 10 deserts each!

The kids' table!

The adult table!

Maddi and Gracie

The morning of her birthday, she opened her presents. She wasn't too thrilled because she didn't get any toys from us. She got a set of scriptures and her baptism dress and shoes. Her and Emma are so different - Emma would have been thrilled to get a pretty dress and would have insisted she put it on right then to model it. But Gracie just said thanks, took it to her room and she hasn't even tried it on yet! After she got home from school and got all her birthday cards (with money) from her Grandparents, then she was excited to go spend her money on toys!

Gracie had a birthday party with 5 of her new friends from school. She was so excited to have her friends over. They played outside for awhile, then had cake and ice cream, opened presents, then went swimming.

Gracie's baptism is December 5th for anyone who would like to come and share this with her. She's been preparing all year for her baptism - all their primary lessons revolve around the Holy Ghost and Baptism and most of our Family Home Evenings this year have been getting her reading to make this decision. We're very proud of her for deciding to be baptized. I'll post the baptism photos after the event.

Digital Scrapbooking World!

2009-11-11T09:51:00.003-07:00

For awhile now I've been wanting to learn how to digital scrapbook. Just the idea of being able to make beautiful scrapbook pages without the mess of cutting, glueing, etc. really appeals to me. I bought Photoshop Elements awhile ago but never sat down to really use it other than correct my photos, but yesterday I finally did my first scrapbook pages. I'm going to make a 2009 scrapbook, so these photos were from January. Let me know what you think! (Remember this was my first try!)

And all you digital scrapbookers out there, please send me any hints, suggestions, fav websites, etc. my way!

Our Halloween 2009

2009-11-09T13:04:00.003-07:00

The kids had a good Halloween (I hope). With me being so sick, we didn't do as much as I usually do this time of year, but I think everyone still had fun! Emma dressed as her idol- Taylor Swift. Gracie was a vampire (a very beautiful one I might add!) And Eli was a pirate. He wanted to be a vampire too but we were too late looking for costumes. So he wore vampire teeth and a pirate costume and said he was a "vampirate"! The girls' school had a carnival on Friday, so along with 1000 other people, we went to the carnival! It was crowded and hot, but they had fun anyway! We spent Halloween night at the Mordecai's while Vaughn and Paul took the kids Trick or Treating. They didn't get as much candy as I would have liked, but they were pleased! There just wasn't enough for Paul and I to steal from!!!

Before Trick or Treating, I took the kids outside to get some pictures. The weather was so beautiful I couldn't resist!
We spent Halloween day at Cornbelly's. It's a Halloween carnival type place at Thanksgiving Point. Luckily the weather was really nice, so we all had a good time.

Of course we carved pumpkins the week of Halloween also. I have to include those photos!

Some Dreams Do Come True . . .

2009-10-29T14:09:00.002-06:00

After taking many gymnastics, dance, soccer, and cheer classes, Gracie decided none of them were for her. She's been telling me for years that all she wants to do is ride horses. Now, I think most little girls have this dream, so I just kept shuffling it aside with the "when are we going to Disneyland again" and "how come other families get to that" (whatever "that" may be at the moment!) After debating all summer what lessons she wanted to take in the Fall , she still just kept saying she didn't want to do anything but ride horses. So, I decided to actually find out how expensive riding lessons are. Everyone within 15 miles of us were very pricey - one place even being $85 for 1/2 hour group lesson! We just don't have that kind of money so I thought her dream was not going to happen. Then I found a girl in Provo who was offering private lessons for an hour for a much more reasonable cost. I decided to check it out. Provo is 1/2 hour drive from us, so I wasn't too thrilled about that - but we all do things for our children that we may not want to!

I didn't tell Gracie where we were going, so for days she'd been trying to guess. When we pulled up to the pasture with horses, she was so excited. She thought it was only going to be for one day though! So when she found out that she was going to get to ride horses once a week, she was ecstatic!

Her teacher's name is Breanna. She's this adorable 16 year old girl that rides in rodeos and has 2 horses and the cutest little pony named Ziggy. She loves Gracie and is so good with her. She's teaching her all about how to take care of a horse along with how to ride. She told me Gracie is her only student who really knows how to clean out the horses hooves! Gracie just beams every Friday when she goes to her lesson.

Of course now she's asking for her own pony!
These pictures are of Gracie riding Ziggy. Some weeks she rides the other horse, Comanche. She's doing really well learning how to handle a horse on her own. This week she's going for her first trail ride! She hasn't stopped talking about that all week!

Itty Bitty Football

2009-10-29T13:55:00.002-06:00

Eli just finished a month of playing Itty Bitty Football. It's all 3 and 4 year olds learning the rules and having fun playing flag football. He finally wasn't the shortest kid there! He was very aggressive and made a few "touchdowns" and captured some flags. Some of the boys would cry if their flags were pulled off, but thankfully my son understood it was part of the game. He'd just shake his head and say "Oh darn!" I think his favorite part of playing was the pretzel that I would buy him from the cafeteria when his games were over!! Here are a few photos from one of his "games"!

This next picture is so funny. When told he was on defense, this is how he would stand! Nobody's getting past this bulldog!

Maternity Clothes . . .Please!

2009-09-24T20:07:00.002-06:00

So, I totally thought we were done having kids after Eli, so I gave all my maternity clothes away the week after I had him. I also gave all our baby stuff to my neighbor who had twins a year after I had Eli. So we have nothing - no crib, no onesies, no changing table, etc. etc. etc.

So this is a plea for help. If any of you out there that read my blog (and are about the same size as me!) have maternity clothes that you are done with and trying to find a home for, please send them my way! Same with baby items!!!

(FYI: Yes this was a planned pregnancy. The planning part was the surprise!)

BIG NEWS ALERT

2009-09-22T16:16:00.003-06:00

I think most of you already know, but I need to make the official announcement . . .

We're going to have another baby!!!!

I'm due April 15th, so I'm about 11 weeks right now. Unfortunately, I have really hard pregnancies and this one has been the worst so far. Thankfully I have a full support system with my Mom and Sisters close by. Paul is amazing and never complains that he has to do all the cleaning, laundry, cooking, etc. Our other children are trying so hard to be helpful, but kids are kids and they fight more than they actually help! Hopefully none of them will remember this difficult time!

I'm always so amazed of the love that Heavenly Father has for his children. To be able to assist him in this miracle is indescribable as most mothers know. It is a very spiritual time for me to have such a new spirit to carry and care for. I'm thankful that we have been blessed with being able to get pregnant so easily and so far, all of our children have been perfectly healthy.

Emma is 10 Years Old!

2009-09-22T16:03:00.002-06:00

On August 26, Emma turned 10. I cannot believe that she is already 10. She thinks she's pretty old now that she's in the "two digits"! The only thing she wanted for her birthday was a guitar and guitar lessons. So we found a great teacher close by and she picked out a very pretty guitar. Her dream is to be Taylor Swift (that is totally going to embarrass her that I wrote that but I want her to always remember her goals!) She's been taking lessons for 3 weeks now and I have to say that I'm very impressed. She definitely has a musical talent and wished we could have started her sooner. I tried teaching her piano when she was 4 or 5, but she didn't like it then. I had to wait until she wanted it. So now I'm teaching her piano again and she's learning very quickly. I'm so proud of her to be able to set these goals and follow through.

She invited four of her girlfriends to her birthday party. We went to a Skating Rink/Arcade/Bouncing toy place! The girls had a lot of fun - so much fun that we were almost 2 hours late bringing them home!!! My sister Sydnee came to help Paul with the kids since I've been so sick. It was nice to be able to sit and observe and not worry where all the kids were all the time! Thanks Syd!!

We love you, Emma! Stop growing up so fast please . . .

Lagoon!!!

2009-09-22T13:52:00.003-06:00

In July, we went to Lagoon. I think we picked the hottest day of the year! We all had a lot of fun though. Emma was old enough to ride all the rides, and Gracie could ride most of them. This was the first year they both rode the Colossus! Is it bad that I forced them to ride it? They were both so scared that I threatened that we would go home right then if they didn't at least try it! Like I always say -- Mom is always right! because they both loved the ride and rode it two more times before we left! Eli loved all the kiddie rides. I think we all agreed that our favorite ride was the Tidal Wave. It was such a nice time to just be together enjoying the summer!

Random Summertime Fun!

2009-09-20T13:56:00.003-06:00

Throughout this summer, we didn't go on any amazing trips or doing anything out of the ordinary. We had a nice summer, going to the library, swimming almost daily, going on picnics to the park, riding bikes, hiking, and just hanging out with friends and family. My brother, Shawn, was able to have his kids here this summer, so we went and picked them up a few times a week so they weren't home alone too much. My kids loved having cousins with us all the time! We really enjoyed getting to know Kylie and Caleb and they quickly became part of our family. Most of the photos I took this summer are on my phone instead of my nice, expensive dSLR camera (go figure!) but here are a few photos I managed to take on my camera from our summer:

Erin and I took the kids hiking . . .

All the kids love playing down by the lake in the sand or on the docks.

Gracie, Caleb, Mitchell, Eli, Emma and Kylie (above).

The Cambells came and stayed with us a couple times this summer. We loved having them here and miss them so much!

Addisen did not like me taking her picture!

The kids loving playing in the sand by the lake by our house. They spent an entire afternoon down there one day building sand castles.

Bailey, Emma and Gracie playing in the creek.

Our 4th of July

2009-09-20T13:33:00.004-06:00

For the 4th of July this summer, we went to Idaho Falls to spend time with our family and friends. We of course had to hit up the 4th of July staples, the parade and fireworks at the river! We went to the parade with our best friends, the Campbells, and my sister-in-law, Stephanie and her daughter Joey. As always, the highlight of the parade were the "low-riders" driving their haudralic, pimped-out cars in the beginning of the parade!

Joey, Gracie, Eli, Emma and Bailey

BFFs -Jarom and Paul (why do guys always have to make faces at the camera?!!)

After the parade, we went to a picnic at Paul's Aunt and Uncle's house, the Chaffins. The kids had so much fun seeing their cousins that they hadn't seen in a long time. The picnic got a little crazy when Paul and his brothers started a water fight with all the kids! The kids loved every minute of it and were able to get the men pretty wet!

Gracie sitting in the hammock, trying not to get wet!

Diane, LaMont, Grandma Searle and Kathy -- the safe zone!

I think this picture of Eli is hilarious. I took right when he was getting hit with the wet ball. He loved the water fight and was right in the middle of it the whole time!

All the Searle cousins waiting for Aunt Peggy to fill up water balloons for them!

Scott carrying Cole over to the swimming pool to dunk him!

Eli's Summer . . .

2009-09-20T13:14:00.002-06:00

Eli had a pretty traumatic summer, health wise! He has had eczema since birth, but because of all the swimming we did this summer, his skin got really bad. I called him my "leopard boy" because of all the itchy patches on his body. He was a pretty good sport about it and rarely complained. Towards the end of the summer, after a couple doctor appointments, we finally found a cream that is helping him immensely. This is what his skin looked like all summer:

Then in July while jumping on the trampoline at my parents' house, Eli fell right into one of the springs and cracked his head open. Paul and I weren't there at the time, but my parents and sister, Sydnee were there to help him. We met Sydnee and the kids at the Instacare and sure enough, he had to have 3 little stitches. We've been pretty lucky with our kids. This is the first child to have stitches. We've never had any broken bones or sprained wrists, etc.

This last month, Eli asked if he could go to the eye doctor like the girls get to. So I decided to "humor" him and take him to get his eyes checked. He was so cute answering the questions of "what do you see in this picture". He has this habit of shaking his head when he answers questions that he thinks are obvious. I'm sure he was thinking "why does this lady not know that's a picture of an apple?!" So every picture he was shown, he'd shake his head and give the "obvious" answer. Unfortunately, he wasn't always right, and sure enough needed glasses. His eyes aren't that bad yet, but the doctor wanted him to get used to wearing glasses before he went to school. He rarely wears his glasses because he's farsighted and doesn't feel the need to see close up yet. I'm sure next year in kindergarten he'll feel different when he's learning how to read!

Emma's Dance Recital

2009-09-20T13:06:00.002-06:00

This post is really late, but I wanted to make sure it was included! Emma took a jazz dance class last year. She really enjoyed learning the fast moves and dancing to her favorite music. Their Spring Dance Recital was in May. They danced to a High School Musical 3 song, Now or Never. Emma did a great job and loved her costumes (she even got to be Troy's number, 14!!!!).

Locks of Love

2009-06-09T14:36:00.002-06:00

After way too much swimming this summer, Gracie decided it was time to finally cut her hair. She has been growing it out since birth, with only a trim now and then. She was so sick of me ripping through her hair each morning, that this is what she did . . .

They all made a really big deal out of it at the salon so she would know how great it was for her to donate her hair.

A very nice 18 inch donation to Locks of Love! Way to go, Grace!!!!

The finished haircut. Doesn't she look so cute?!!!