Clark Family Blog

05/13/2010-Costco and Memories of Shopping Trips gone Bad!

2011-01-12T14:38:00.000-08:00

So, I know a lot of women (well, most) that wait until their husbands get home to do their shopping. Or they do it on Saturdays. That's a great idea. Shopping alone is a joyous experience! However, I work Saturdays, and by the time Grant gets home I'm busy getting dinner ready, then getting the kids in bed. And once that happens, all I want to do is sit on the couch and watch TV. I have NO energy for shopping. I'm also not one who likes to sit around at home during the day. So a little trip to the store is like an adventure for us. There's usually some sort of bribe involved and the kids act pretty well. However, there have been many times when we have been out shopping and some kid has thrown a tantrum in the middle of the isle. I usually just walk away and let them scream all alone until they decide it's not worth it and come running to find me. There's been many times when I've left full shopping carts and grabbed a kid under each arm in football hold, kicking and screaming, while holding the hand of a third, ambulatory child.

The worst shopping trip to date was when Gunnar was just a baby. He was in his carseat on the handles of the cart. Abby was in the cart and Ashlin and Troy were sitting in the little attached car at the front of the cart. Ashlin and Troy started fighting about something and they were both crying (except Troy's cry is this piercing scream that can be heard throughout the entire store). Abby was complaining about not getting to "drive the car" and Gunnar all of a sudden woke up very hungry. He was screaming! I didn't have a bottle with me, and there was nowhere I could go to nurse, so I trudged along. I pulled Gunnar out of his carseat and carried him (still screaming) while pushing the cart. I had a hand full of coupons and they were about to expire, so I had to use them and was trying to figure out how much of which items I had to put in the cart. I finally got everything I needed and the kids continued screaming all through the check stand. The bagger usually ask if I need help to the car and I always say no. But this time the bagger said, "Do you need help to your car". And the check-out lady said, "Of course she does, just help her!" I let the bagger push the cart while I carried Gunnar. I got the kids in their seats, groceries in the car and then sat in the front seat nursing Gunnar. I was suppose to meet some friends at the park, so I called one of them up to say I wouldn't be there and I just started bawling. Believe it or not, I have gone shopping with all 4 kids again, but I made sure to feed Gunnar BEFORE starting, and I don't let the kids get their free cookie at the bakery until the end of the shopping! And I don't coupon anymore!

2nd worse trip was when we went to Ralph's to pick something up quickly. I never shop at Ralph's. It is never quick, and I knew that going in, but Ralph's was closer to where I was going then Vons. Gunnar was a little older and could sit up, so he was buckled into the handle bar seat. Ashlin and Troy were standing on either side of the cart, holding on (Abby was at school). The kids each had a bag of chips they were eating. I left the cart next to a display of wine and walked 3 feet away to the sandwiches. Ashlin stepped off the cart to come see what I was doing. Troy's weight tipped the whole cart over (Ralph's carts are a lot smaller than Vons', another reason I don't shop there) and he fell backwards into the display of wine. I tried to Pick the cart back up, but doing so was disrupting the display and bottles started crashing to the floor. Gunnar was tipped completely to his side being held in by the straps and Troy had a bleeding lip from the the cart wacking him in the face. I was holding on to the cart and trying to keep it from completely falling over and I yelled for help. Several people came running over. Troy and Gunnar had both dropped their chips in the middle of the pile and they were both crying because their chips were ruined. While pulling Troy and Gunnar back to safety, Ashlin stepped in the middle of the mess to retrive her brothers' fallen chips. She didn't notice the bottles that were now starting to come crashing down. She stood in the middle of it all while about 4 or 5 bottles of wine surrounded her, soaking her dress. Now she was crying from being wet. Once I got the kids calmed down and convinced them that they didn't need their chips, I left the mess for the staff to clean up. As we were walking around the store looking for popsicles for Troy's lip, an employee came and brought balloons and suckers for the kids. Seriously? Now you're trying to suck up so I don't sue you for the tiny/light carts and putting wine displays in the middle of nowhere? Anyway, then the check out took forever (another reason I don't shop there), and we were really late. Would have been faster to drive all the way to Vons. We don't go to Ralph's anymore, even with the balloons and suckers! (Okay maybe this one was the worst. Maybe I'll make it a tie.)

A similar thing happened at JoAnn's just a couple weeks later. Except this time Gunnar was in his carseat on top of the handle bars. When the cart came crashing down, Gunnar's car seat went flying. It rolled over about 3 times and landed 20 feet from the cart. Thankfully the handle bar was up and he wasn't harmed. He was just crying from fear. Everyone thought it was strange that I went straight to Troy to make sure he was alright and left the baby crying in the carseat. He had padding, Troy didn't. A nice lady got Gunnar out and held him for me. Another reason I went to Troy first. He wouldn't be happy with a stranger comforting him. That was my first time EVER in JoAnn's. I finally get up the nerve to do a crafty project, and disaster strikes. I made a vow to never do anything crafty again!

These are some pictures I took when I took the kids to Costco. Usually our shopping trips are uneventful except for the stares and accelades I get from fellow shoppers for having all these kids with me. Usually I get comments like, "Are they all yours?" or "Wow, you're brave!". To which I respond, "Or stupid!?!" Just trying to be funny! It doesn't seem that big of a deal to me, but when I see someone with 2 or 3 kids shopping I'm usually shocked and think, "Wow, I can't believe she can do that!" I forget what I must look like. So know I have pictures to remind me!

This is BEFORE we go into the store. By the time we leave the cart is completely over-flowing and both girls are walking and the boys have something they're carrying in their arms. How come I can come to the checkstand with my cart packed perfectly and when I'm done they're trying to put my stuff in a second cart? I thought they were professionals? I've yet to meet someone at Costco that can load my cart better then I! They always try to put the tp on the bottom. "No!" I say, "put it on last, trust me!" They try to argue with me, but I usually insist. A huge bag of tp can balance on the top of the cart waaay better then 20 different smaller items. And if it falls, it's just one thing to have to pick up. I've learned this from experience. And the Costco people aren't as helpful as the Von's baggers. They rarely want to help me to the car. "Sure, use 2 carts, that should be really easy for me to get 4 kids and 2 carts full of groceries to my car at the back of the parking lot all by myself!" PLEASE!

05/12/2010 Sue's Birthday Celebration

2011-01-12T14:34:00.000-08:00

Another Girl's Night Out to celebrate Sue's Birthday! This time at Los Gringos Locos! She Loooooved wearing the sombrero!

Stacy C., Stacy A., Rita, Shauna, Susan
Leslie, Sue, Katie

05/09/2010- More "All-About-Me" Pics

2011-01-12T13:02:00.000-08:00

Here's Gunnar's "Favorite Food" Picture for his book. I don't know that mashed peas is really his favorite food, but this was such a cute picture, I couldn't resist putting it in the book!

Apparently Abby and Ashlin think their beds are too big and they needed to squeeze in with Troy!

We did a little mini photo shoot taking turns with the kids for their "Mommy and Me" and "Daddy and Me" section of the book

We figured we could combine Troy's "Daddy and Me" and "Favorite Game" pictures in one!

Gunnar's putting up a pretty good defensive line!

I didn't put this in the book, I just thought it was a cute pic!

The kids with their teacher Miss JoAnn

05/05/2010-Dana Point

2011-01-12T12:23:00.000-08:00

My mom called me one afternoon to say that they had been using up my Grandma's time share days at Dana Point with Scot and Brittany. They couldn't stay any longer, leaving a whole empty room. So I packed up and headed down after picking up Abby from school. We went straight for the beach. It was a little chilly, but the kids had fun!

And this is what Ashlin looked like after totally wiping out!

Then we went swimming in the pool where we discovered tar all over our feet and shoes from the beach. After a fun swim, we went back to the apartment, cleaned up, and ate dinner. While I was preparing dinner, Brittany helped Abby with her Ocean's Diarama. It turned out great!

A more up close view! Thanks Aunt Brittany!

I put the kids to bed, then hung out with Scot and Brittany playing games. We went home the next morning. Short trip, but fun!

05/01/2010-Michellie's Birthday

2011-01-12T12:02:00.000-08:00

We celebrated Michelle's Birthday at Yang Chow's. A famous Chinese place in Pasadena (although the more famous one is in LA, but this one is close and much less crowded. But just as yummy!)

Red Velvet Cake!

Back: Katie, Lindsey, Felicia, me, Julie, Sue

Front: Shauna, Allison, Michelle, Donna

Random picture of Shauna and Allison. I'm sure there's some reason for taking this picture. Being silly, I guess!

04/30/2010- Train Trip

2011-01-12T11:18:00.000-08:00

It's our annual Train Trip with Parent-ed. My mom joined me again, along with Aunt Brittany!

Ashlin and Troy with their Metro Ticket

"Hold Hands". Man, trains are scary for parents. We took the Metro to Union Station.

Then we took the Subway to Downtown LA...

where we rode "Angels Flight" that had just recently re-opend after like 10 or 15 years.

It's amazing that we all made it in here.

We took a class picture at the top.

Then we went across the street to the farmer's market and then the Subway back to Olvera Street. We had lunch and then watched a little performance. I bribed Brittany in to asking this guy for his picture!

He was thrilled to oblige!

Then we had ice cream before heading back home. Um, does this sound a bit like our San Diego trip?

04/23/2010 Gunnar 9 Months

2011-01-12T11:13:00.000-08:00

He's got the crawling down now!

And a little more chub in the face! He's still a little guy, though! Thank goodness...my shoulders are still sore from carrying Troy, The Beast, around as a baby.

04/21/2010- Abby loses her first tooth!

2011-01-11T14:08:00.000-08:00

I can't believe we're entering the "tooth losing" stage of parenting!

(psst, don't tell Abby, but I helped her out a little bit the way my mom used to help us out as kids..."let me see that tooth"...pop)

Beautiful smile with or without a tooth!

April 2010 Spring Break in San Diego

2011-01-11T13:47:00.000-08:00

The Baseball team went to San Diego again during Spring Break. We went down and stayed at the hotel and went swimming in the pool. The next day I took advantage of the great work-out facilities at the hotel before heading to the first game. After the game we headed to the Bringhurst's who had recently moved to San Diego County. I decided I didn't want to drive all the way down to Bishop Amat and sit through a double headed, we decided to stay with them for the second half of the trip. They had just gotten a new refrigerator, and the kids had a blast playing in the box!

Abby, Ethan, Troy, Cohen, and Ashlin

The next morning I took Grant back to the Hotel to catch a ride with the team. Then I took the kids to the Mormon Batallion while I waited for Anjie to get done with her canning assignment.

The kids felt like real pioneers!

They just recently re-did the Batallion with a really fun, interactive tour. The kids were really good throughout the whole presentation and at the end they mined for gold. While waiting, we ran into the Rupp family from LaCrescenta! Such a small world!

When the Bringhursts showed up we went to a Mexican restaurant in Old Town SD for lunch. We ate lots of chips and salsa for about 15 minutes without anyone coming to take our order. We finally decided this was rediculous, so we got up and left and ordered some yummy street tacos while watching a show in the middle of the square. Grant got dropped off in Old Town after the game, and we headed down to LaJolla Cove.

We got Ice Cream and looked at the seals all along the beach. There were a ton of people up on the side walk just watching the seals below, and if anyone tried to walk down the stairs, then some animal rights lady would stop them. But Anjie was a hard ball and kept right on walking past her. She impressed us all with her "this was a children's beach before the seals kicked us out", Republican know-all. It was pretty funny! She threatened to call the cops on us, to which Anjie pointed out that we weren't breaking any laws. Slowly a whole bunch of people started coming down the stairs to the sand as well. It was pretty awesome to see the look on the ladies face as she faced defeat!

In front of the seals

Enjoying ice cream on a rock, overlooking the beach. It doesn't get better than this!

Then we found a little area of grass where the kids ran around a played. We even watched part of a wedding ceremony over looking the beach at sunset. So romantic. Then we headed home, put the kids to bed, and stayed up late talking. The next morning we went to church, had lunch, hung out some more, and then headed back home. Much more fun then the San Diego trips from previous years! Thanks Todd and Anjie!

04/02-04/2010- Parent-ed and Easter Morning

2011-01-11T13:27:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure if these pics will show up or not. Some of the files were corrupted when the computer crashed. In the thumbnail you can see the whole picture. Anyway, these are pictures of the kids at Parent-ed singing about a bunny!

And wagging it's tail

The kids are enjoying their chocolate bunnies from the Easter Bunny while watching General Conference!

04/01/2010 - Secret Leprecaun's Easter Surprise

2011-01-11T13:05:00.000-08:00

As I was feeding the kids breakfast on April Fools, I noticed some Easter Eggs on the tree outside our window. I asked Grant if he put them there. He hadn't, so I went outside to investigate. Abby and I found a cute Bingo game with a note from our Secret Leprecaun. There were also Easter eggs all over the front lawn.

Abby looking for our Secret Leprecaun

Go at it kids!

Such a fun start to our morning!

As we were finishing up, I noticed a coyote running down our street.

My cute little boy!

April- Home Town Fair

2011-01-11T12:59:00.000-08:00

So, there's this class at the YMCA called Cardio Funky Dance. I use to walk by it all the time and think, "man, I'd love to take that class, but I'd feel like a dork. Maybe I'd go if I had someone to go with me". So I never went. Then one day I'm talking to my friend, Lindsey, and she tells me she had gone to the class. I jumped on the opportunity right a way and joined her. It's seriously the funnest class! The teacher is Darcel. She used to be a dancer for the TV show Solid Gold. She's 60 years old but looks and acts like she's in her 30's. She's amazing. We start off with an aerobics style work out with lots of hip hop, tribal moves. She usually does some repetative dance combination that you can pick up pretty easily to get your heart rate up. Then she stops the music and teaches us a full routine, adding on each class. It's a lot of fun and I've loved being able to rekindle my love for dance. The YMCA asked our class to help represent them at the local town fair. I was so excited when I was called off of work that morning and able to participate (since I work just about every Saturday). Grant, the kids, and my parents all came to watch! Thankfully someone from the class had taken pictures.

Here we are doing our warm up.

Oh yeah, getting funky! We got some people from the crowd to join in!

Then we did our little Flamenco dance we had been learning.

So fun!

03/31/2010 Decorating Easter Eggs

2010-10-21T13:10:00.000-07:00

Every other Wednesday Abby's friend, Kaylin, comes over to our house for a play date. And on the opposite Wednesdays, Abby goes to Kaylin's. It's a pretty sweet deal! We decided to decorate Easter Eggs when Kaylin came over the Wednesday before Easter.

Everyone's excited and ready to go!

Dad's mixing the colors!

We got a cool spinner that splashes colors on the eggs.

Abby showing off her eggs

Kaylin showing off her eggs

Troy showing off his eggs!

And Ashlin showing off her eggs!

Dad made one, too!

And so did I!

So much fun!

Gunnar had fun sitting and watching!

Extreme close up. I guess someone got a hold of the camera!

03/28/10 Family Easter Egg Hunt

2010-10-21T12:05:00.000-07:00

After church the kids like to climb the trees while they wait for the "candy man" to get out. Brother Frost started this tradition when he was bishop. He keeps a large supply of candy bars in the back of his car and lets the kids each pick one. He lets them get more by playing a little game to earn it. A fun tradition! He does it every week except for Fast Sundays. I'm not super excited about all the candy, but it's a great way to brib the kids to sit quitely during Sacrament Meeting!

The Bayleses all got together the week before Easter for our monthly Family Home Evening. Since some people would be out of town on Easter we decided to celebrate it a month early.

Ashlin

Troy

Abby

Troy showing us his loot!

Some of the eggs had money in it from grandpa!

Gunnar just liked playing with the plastic egg!

03/26/10 My Early Mother's Day Gift

2010-10-21T11:49:00.000-07:00

I have always dreamed of having a garden with big, juicy, fresh tomatoes. Whenever we'd go visit my dad's family in Utah, they always seemed to have the yummiest tomatoes, and I thought they were so lucky because they lived in Utah and could have a garden. Um, hellooooo, I live in California, one of the biggest agricultural states in the world. Just because me mom never gardened, doesn't mean we can't do it here. I was so excited to finally own a home and figure out the whole gardening thing. Last spring we planted some cherry tomatoes on the side of our house. It was nice to have, but I wanted big tomatoes. So I went to the garden store. They were having a special on all the things you need to start a tomato garden. So I bought it all! I also grabbed some other vegetables to try out as well! It was sitting in the backyard for a couple of days until Grant was able to put in the labor and clear out a space for it.

Here's the before picture

The area cleared out of grass

The kids helped out, too!

We put down a frame and black weed tarp (which we later learned was a mistake and pulled it up)

And here's the finished product. Too bad the file got corrupted when my computer crashed. But you can see the gates that the tomato plants go in. We also planted spinach, mixed greens, green leaf lettuce, green onions, basil, baby carrots, oregano, bell peppers, jalapenos. Thanks Grant and kids for the best Mother's Day present, ever! Now lets see if we can keep it up! Grant and the kids are in charge of watering it, and I'm in charge of weeding it. We have already learned (10 months later) that some veggies didn't turn out or aren't worth the effort. We've removed all the lettuces and the carrots and have planted strawberries, snap peas, canteloupe, cucumbers. Still waiting for them to start producing. It's definitely a learning experience, but the one thing that works without fail are the tomatoes! So now I've just got to figure out a way to keep them coming all year round!

03/26/10 Goodbye Party for Stacy Charles

2010-10-21T11:39:00.000-07:00

One of the nurses I worked with (and delivered Gunnar), Stacy Charles, moved to San Diego. So we had a going away party for her at the Burbank Bar and Grill. I was so excited that I would be going somewhere that I would have to be carded for. Never been carded! Unfortunately, they didn't start carding until 9pm. I was pretty bummed. I even considered leaving and coming back. Oh well. It was a fun party anyway, and it was nice to be able to hang out with the girls at work for a bit. We were really sad to see Stacy leave. Now there won't be any more confusion at work. Since we were both Stacy C.s we would go by Charlie and Clark. She also oriented me when I first started working at GAMC.

Stacy with her favorite Doctor, Dr. Wu. (Thanks Dr. Wu for picking up the tab!)

Maria, Stacy, and Frances

Clark and Charlie

Princess Party 03/25/10

2010-06-15T21:45:00.000-07:00

Abby and Ashlin's dance teacher is so great! Her name is Susie Brown Norton. She was a team mate of mine and then dance teacher when she was 14 and I was 9, until I was 14. Anyway, I'm so glad the girls get to take dance from her. She's so much fun and has similar ideas to me as to how young girls should be dancing. She had a fun little Princess party for her beginning dancers!

They got to dress up and eat treats!

And, of course, dance!

My little princesses!

Sleeping like Sleeping Beauty

Even the older girls joined in the fun!

Leaping over Susie's legs

Favorite Foods 03/24/10

2010-06-15T21:13:00.000-07:00

In our Parent-ed class every year, I make the kids an "All-About-Me" Book. I have to collect pictures of the kids representing some of their favorite things for that year. Here they are showing me their favorite foods:

Troy-Blueberries and milk

Gunnar-Graduates banana puffs

Abby-celery with Peanut Butter

Ashlin-Tomatoes (I don't think this will ever change from year to year)

All gone!

Tulips and Troy 03/24/10

2010-06-15T20:58:00.000-07:00

The tulips were up at Descanso Gardens, and considering my pass was about to expire I had to take advantage of as many opportunities to see them as possible. Especially since I didn't make it in time to see them last year. So while Abby was at school and Ashlin at Joy Shool, I took the boys for a little Mother/Son field trip.

Definitely my favorite flower. They weren't all the way up yet, though. But we still enjoyed it!

I seriously love this kid. His first 9months of life were so difficult, but he has now become such a joy. Always so sweet and huge smiles. Plus, he reminds me of my Grandpa White (from whom he got his name...long story).

Maybe I should have just asked someone walking by to take my picture for me!

Gunnar at 8 months 03/23/10

2010-06-15T20:49:00.000-07:00

He's getting so close to crawling!

Mountview Retirement Home Performance 03/23/10

2010-06-15T20:36:00.000-07:00

The girls had their very first dance performance (with this company) at a local retirement home. We all met at the studio to practice and get ready for the performance.

The little beginning dancers did so well lining up against the wall while they waited their turn to practice.

Abby and Ashlin are both standing in the back by the American Flag.

Natalie B., Caroline, Brianna, Ashlin, Abby, Brooke, Jaiden, and Natalie S.

Grandma Bayles came to watch 6 of her granddaughters! Grandma and Grandpa Clark were also there with Aunt Marilyn and Uncle John Brennan. I guess I didn't get an opportunity to grab their picture. Grant got the time wrong and showed up as we were leaving. Everyone felt pretty bad about him missing, but there will be many many more performances to come!

Abby with her cute, supportive brother!

Soccer Banquet 03/18/10

2010-06-15T20:25:00.000-07:00

Grant and I got the opportunity to go out sans kids for the Soccer Banquet. Great date, we didn't even get to sit with each other. But I sat at a table facing him, so I got some great pics of him eating! It's always fun to celebrate a winning season!

Grant, Coach Kiel, Coach Cri, Mr. Coulter

Yum, Salsa!

Grant talking about the players!

Bjorn-booster club president

Saint Patty's Day 03/17/10

2010-06-15T19:41:00.000-07:00

For Saint Patrick's Day, our ward has a fun tradition of doing Secret Leprecauns. Here are some of the fun things we got from our Secret Leprecaun. (I'd tell you what we did for ours, but then it might give away the secret. But trust me, it was pretty creative!)

A bowl of green fruit, YES! and a pot of gold/carmel popcorn

Irish Spring soap

Crazy glasses! The kids loved it. One night the phone rang and the voice said, "Put on your Leprecaun glasses and look out the window, but don't come outside." We all ran for the window, put on the glasses, and watched as a figure came skipping down the sidewalk and up to our front porch and dropped off a package. Whoever it was was wearing a Leprecaun mask. I tried to snap a picture, but I wasn't fast enough. Pretty fun! We had lots of fun adventures dropping off our treats. The kids still need to practice their stealthness!

Story Time at the Library 03/09/10 & Dance Class 03/11/10

2010-06-15T16:08:00.000-07:00

The La Crescenta library finally reopened after a couple years of rebuilding. So Tuesdays we head over there for story time. The kids made these fun hats!

Matthew and Andrew were there, too

I guess Troy didn't want to do a joint cousins picture.

There he is!

Oh, I guess now it's a game!

Megan and Juliet came, too!

Some more pictures from Abby and Ashlin's Dance class

Jaiden, Breanne, Natalie, Ashlin, Abby, Natalie, Susie Brown Norton (Susie was one of my dance teachers growing up!)

Joy School at Descanso Gardens 03/03/10

2010-06-15T15:33:00.000-07:00

Our Descanso Gardens pass was coming close to expiring, and I wanted to make sure I didn't miss the tulips again this year, so I took Ashlin's Joy School class.

Troy, Ashlin and Cmi looking at the fish

Eleas joined us to keep Enzo under tabs

And Grant came too. It was nice to have some extra adults

Ashlin, Cami, and Lexi looking gorgeous!

Burial in Salt Lake 03/01/10

2010-06-06T21:03:00.001-07:00

The day after the funeral, Mom, Dad, Dave, and the boys headed to Utah with the casket. I had to work, so Gunnar and I caught a ride with Brock on Sunday. Dena, Scot, and Brittany also rode with us. We had a really great time talking and joking. It was very strange taking that drive without a bunch of kids...it went so fast. Gunnar just slept the whole time and nursed when we stopped. It was a really pleasant trip. When we got there we met up with the rest of the family at TGI Fridays (Becky's whole family also drove up). It was fun having the siblings all together in such a small setting/without 20 grandkids. David seemed to be doing fairly well, just a little manic from lack of sleeping and going 90 miles an hour with funeral arrangements. We were all just hoping to give him some support and help take his mind off things a little.

The kids: Becky, David, Me, Mom, Brock, Dena, Mike, Dad, Scot

Brock's in-laws have an apartment by the Salt Lake Temple that they let us stay in. The next morning we went to the JSMB for breakfast before heading to the cemetary.

Jenn was buried in Salt Lake Cemetary. The same cemetary where most of the prophets of the church are buried. So many people came to the burial. There were a ton of Bayles and Young family members as well as a bunch of LaCrescenta Transplants. It felt like a LaCrescenta Reunion.

Sam Carson

The Pinkstons and Blacks

The Jensens and Robinsons

Dad getting ready to conduct

Look at all these people!

Blacks, Salos, Bayles, Youngs

The burial service was very nice. Leticia Strong played the Viola and another friend played the harp. David gave a beautiful dedicatory prayer. Afterwards we all went to a local church for a lunch provided by a local ward.

Aunt Linda and Jen and Bruce Cudney

Jaylene Lundt and her parents

Young family/friends?

The Robins Family

Pinkstons and Laurie Peterson

The musical talent: ? and Leticia

The spread

Young Family/friends?

More people I don't know

And more?

Hey, I know these guys! Peterson Cousins!

Youngs

Someone I don't know and Lindsey Jones

Robinsons came from Idaho and the Langes!

Jenn's Young women: Jennifer Momsen, Megan Salo, and Bree Matherly

Kathy, Janet, Mom

Mom, Linda, Millie

Mitch and Young cousins staying entertained

Laura and Kelli

Gunnar and Lucy

Brock and Dena left right after the burial to head back home. Dad and I left after lunch. Mom stayed with Dave and the boys in Utah for a few more days.

Jenn's Funeral 02/26/10

2010-06-06T20:25:00.000-07:00

A couple of days before Jenn's Funeral I got to participate with David, my mom, sisters and sister-in-law in dressing Jenn's body. It sounds like it would be a really weird task, but it was really neat. Jenn looked so beautiful and at such peace. We worked as a team putting on her burial clothing, which was surprisingly very difficult. I enjoyed spending time with my siblings and hearing some of the faith building experiences Dave and the boys have had since her death. For the funeral, we decided we would all wear purple. It is one of Jenn's favorite colors, but is also the color for GIST awareness. It was really neat seeing most of her family and close friends showing their love and support in purple! The young women of the LCII ward provided babysitting for the family so that we could enjoy the meeting. Here's our little family when we dropped the kids off at the nursery.

There was a viewing in the Relief Society room. A few minutes before the funeral we met for a family prayer.

Some aunts and uncles came all the way from Utah and Arizona.

We were expecting a lot of people at the service, but I spent so much time by the nursery and Relief Society room, that I didn't notice too big of a crowd. However, as we all filled into the chapel, I was SHOCKED to see how many people were there. The chapel was full, and the cultural hall was packed all the way back to the stage and people were even sitting on the stage. There were probably about 600 people there. The service was great. Such a wonderul tribute to her life. Dave and the boys sat on the stand so that they could look out at the audience during the service. I was grateful for the chance to sing with the other ladies just so I could look out at the audience, too.

Here's a copy of the program. If you click on the picture it should be large enough to read.

Here are the pallbearers taking the casket to the minivan that will drive the casket to Utah for the burial.

The sisters

There was a wonderful display of pictures and art work of Jenn's in the Multi-purpose room. We also had the video playing and the book of letters on display.

Todd and Michelle, two of David's best friends from High School were there! So great to have them!

The wonderful kitchen helpers!

We had a really nice family dinner where we all got to watch the video and eat together.

Gunnar 7month Pictures 02/23/10

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

Here's my baby at 7 months!

Ashlin's Birthday Party 02/20/10

2010-06-03T22:10:00.000-07:00

Saturday was the "friend party" for Ashlin. I woke up that morning feeling terrible. I felt really weak and was stuck in the bathroom most of the morning. The party wasn't until 2pm, so I tried to just rest in the morning. I sent Grant shopping for a couple of things, but most of the stuff was ready, just needed to be set up. About 12pm I decided I needed to get cleaning and setting up. I started on the dishes and nearly passed out. So I called my mom and practically bawling begged her to come set up for me. She had already planned on showing up early, so she was happy to come even earlier. Mikey was in town for Johnny's Eagle Court, so he came too. What a HUGE help. I'm so grateful to live near family. Ashlin got a hold of the camera and took some smashing pictures!

Trying to pretend like I feel great!

Mikey setting up the streamers and mom preparing the food.

Troy and Ashlin being "helpful"

We did most of the party in the back room. Mikey ran a rousing game of "Pin the Tail on the Donkey"

The kids built their own English Muffin pizzas and we ate outside

Aunt Becky made an AMAZING cake! Thanks Aunt Becky!

Troy couldn't wait to try some of the frosting!

Lexi, Abby, Cami, Annika, Eli

Michael and Lyla

Ashlin and Natalie

Katelyn

Jack (Ashlin says she's going to marry Jack!)

Ryan

Thanks Mikey for all your help! The kids had a blast!

Opening presents!

I left the room to go get something and came back and most of the presents were opened. I don't know who gave what, so Thank you! She got quite a stash!

Mom had to leave early, so we just left the house a mess for me to clean the next day. No biggie, it was over and everyone had fun and I didn't kiel over!

Later that night I pulled myself together enough to go to John Blood's Eagle court.

We are very proud of him! I'm glad at least ONE of our kids was looking at the camera for the picture!

Ashlin's Birthday (the day after) 02/18/10

2010-06-03T21:15:00.000-07:00

The next day we were all in a bit of a funk. I dropped Abby off at school and told her teacher what had happened just in case Abby brought it up. Then we went to Ashlin's 4 year old check-up at the doctor's office. The kid's doctor is so great. She could tell I wasn't doing well. She had an intern following her around. At the end of the check-up, she asked in intern to leave so that she could talk to me in private and find out what was wrong. I didn't think I was showing my sadness too much, but I guess losing a loved one is hard to hide. Ashlin passed her check-up with flying colors! Here she is in her cute little paper gown!

During the check-up Becky called to say the morgue was at the house to pick up the body. I told them not to wait for me since I'd be a while. We spent the next few hours just hanging out at David's house. The Relief Society came and helped clean up and get rid of a lot of the clutter that had accumulated while Jen was sick. Mitchell and Zach were performing in the talent show at school with Ashley and Bryan. So we went and watched that. It was really cute. Zach opted out of the performance. But Mitch, Ashley, and Bryan did great. Then we all went back to Dave's house and had sandwiches that the Relief Society had brought over. We eventually moved to Dena's house. Everyone just wanted to be together. Later that evening was Abby and Ashlin's first day of Dance class. They danced to "Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile". It was really cute!

After dance class we met up with Dad at the end of the CIF soccer game. Then we all met up at home to finally open Ashlin's Birthday presents.

Friday, at Parent-ed, Miss JoAnn and the class sang Happy Birthday to Ashlin!

Saying Good-bye To Jenn 02/17/10

2010-06-03T20:40:00.000-07:00

Ashlin turned 4 on Feb 17th. I know I'm writing this 6months after the fact, so details are pretty shady, I've completely drawn a blank on the day. I remember that night very clearly, but I don't really remember what happened during the day. I'm sure we made it very special for her, letting her pick the meals, going to joy school. We had a party planned for the following Saturday, so we kept it pretty chill. That night we ended up at a baseball potluck thing at the ballfield. We were getting in the car to go home and open presents when my phone rang. It was Dena, "Stacy, Jenn's dying!"

My Sister-in-law, Jennifer Young Bayles (married to my oldest brother, David), had been battling cancer (GIST) for over 7 years. Since she was diagnosed, she continued to amaze people with her positive attitude and her ability to serve in the church, school, and home. She was truly amazing. She never even acted like a cancer victim. She was always so strong. She had been on a medication that seemed to be doing the job of keeping the cancer away. About a year prior, her body became immune to the medicine and her condition started to worsen. She was in and out of the hospital and had started many different treatments to try to control the cancer. She started losing her hair, she started losing weight because of bowel obstructions and strict diets of only broths. It was obvious the end was near. She was doing well enough to visit her sister in Hawaii (right before they left, my dad announced to the family that he had leukemia). As that visit came to a close, she started to get really sick and wasn't able to hold anything down. When they returned to California, she was hospitalized for several weeks. It was at this time that we realized that Jenn wasn't going to make it much longer. It ached me to think that Jenn wouldn't be around anymore. She had been such an important part of my life. I lived with them for a few months in college. Jenn played a huge role in helping me decide to serve a mission. She was a great example to me of Christ-like love and service. I hated the fact that we would be having a funeral in her honor, and she wouldn't even be there to hear all the great things that people had to say about her. I thought about doing a "Celebration of Life" for her, but figured she wouldn't appreciate all the attention. So I decided to gather as many letters as possible from family and friends sharing memories and words of encouragment. With the help of my sisters (okay, let's get real, I thought of the idea, but Dena actually did all the work) we gathered 2 binders worth of letters. She had that binder in the hospital that she could read and letters were added daily. We started to put together a video of Jenn's life (again, I started the collection of pictures, but Dena and Dave Blood did all the work of putting it together). After a couple weeks in the hospital, they decided to let Jenn come home and Dave could administer most of her meds there. Her family was due to come visit her, so we presented the video to her so she could share it with her siblings and parents. I wanted Jenn to know how much we all loved her, but most importantly, I wanted the boys to have something they could refer back to to remember their mother.

While Jenn was home, David started going back to work. The sisters in the ward all signed up to "Jennsit". She had someone with her around the clock. Mostly just to sit and talk with her, help her take her meds, keep her company, be there when the boys came home, etc. Jenn was obviously loopy from the meds, but she was still fun to talk to. The binder turned out to be great for giving the sitters something to read to Jenn while they were there.

Well, on Wednesday, February 17th, when Dave got home from work, the sitter expressed to David that she thought Hospice needed to be called. Jenn had been unresponsive for the majority of the day and things weren't looking good. As soon as we got the call from Dena, we stopped by the house to see how we could help and to say goodbye to our sweet sister-in-law and aunt. I went in first while Grant waited in the car with the kids. Dave and my mom were there with Jenn (the boys had gone to Scouts). They were waiting for my dad to arrive so they could give Jenn a Priesthood blessing. When he realized Grant was in the car he invited the whole family to come in so Grant could assist with the blessing. I prepped the kids for what they would see. I tried to explain to them that Jenn wasn't doing well and she wouldn't look the same as they were used to. Ashlin and Troy decided they didn't want to see her, so we shuffled them into one of the back rooms without looking at the bed in the middle of the living room. Abby came in and was able to give Jenn and hug and say good-bye. My dad arrived shortly there after. David gave Jenn a beautiful blessing and asked Heavenly Father to take care of her and his family. We then sat and waited for her to pass. As badly as we wanted her to stay with us as long as possible, we hoped that this last stage of her life would be short and painfree. But she kept on breathing. Eventually the room was full of all of my siblings, except Scot and Mike who were in Utah, and several nieces and nephews. We all took turns saying good-bye and shared stories of Jenn. Around 8pm my sister-in-law, Mary, offered to take my kids to her house for a movie so Grant and I could stay at there (Ashlin was so excited to go to her cousins house, she was more than willing to wait until the morning to open presents!) As we sat there waiting, we thought of all the people that might want to come and express their love to Jenn. Phone calls were made, and slowly the room filled. I couldn't believe all the people that came. What a tribute it was to Jenn. I wanted the boys to remember this night (they eventually came home from scouts), and all the people that were there. So I started taking pictures. (And let me tell you, I wasn't the most popular girl in the room, taking pictures of everyone in the middle of them crying.)

I didn't get them all, buy I tried my best

Brock and Rich Rupp

Becky and my Gunnar

Mary, Leticia Strong, Jalene Lunt
Brenda Hansen, Gretchen Barnes, Jennifer Hughes

Jenn (in the bed), Mom, The Blood Family

Mary, Hospice nurse, Dave, Gretchen, Leticia, Jalene

Mary, Kathryn Rowley, Leticia

Matt Barnes saying good-bye

There's a better angle!

Me and Becky

Allyson Anderson, Annie Wright (hiding), Louise Rupp

We tried to accomodate with lots of chairs

Zach, back from scouts

Mitch sportin' the uniform-making his mom proud!

Matt and Gunnar (why is everyone holding my baby? oh yeah, so I could take the pictures)

Jim and Sue Matherly

Michelle Brock (Dave's listening intently to the Hospice nurse-she must have thought we were crazy)

Melissa and Molly Wilson looking at the binder Dena made

Melanie Stott, Kathryn, Jalene, Karen Wolf, Debbie Scott

Me and Suzette (Look, I'm holding my own baby! He's just sleeping by the way!)

After awhile everyone started leaving. Mitch and Zach went to bed to get sleep for school the next day. Me, my mom, Dena, Becky, Gretchen, Leticia, and Jalene were determined to be there by her side until she took her last breath. I secretly had been hoping that Jenn would wait until after midnight for Ashlin's sake. I was grateful that she did. Finally at about 1am Dave suggested we leave. He said the Hospice nurse said that sometimes patients can be in this state for days. He was planning on carrying her back into their bed and going to sleep himself. So we said our final goodbyes and left. It was rough sleeping that night. I was very jumpy waiting for the call. At 5am the phone rang. I jumped up to answer it. It was work, "Stacy, can you come in to work today?" "Um, NO. Sorry, I can't." hang up. Finally at 7 am I got the call that Jenn had passed away. Dave and the boys had woken up and did their normal routine. Dave picked up the phone to call a friend that hadn't been called the night before. She said she was coming right over. Dave walked into the room, told Jenn the friend was coming, and then Jenn took her last breath.

Soccer Pacific League Championship 02/12/10

2010-06-03T18:58:00.000-07:00

The CV boy's soccer program is fairly new to the school. I think it started sometime when I was in High School (so about 15 or so years ago). It has always been pretty bad. They weren't expecting much when they asked Grant to coach. They knew he didn't play soccer, but they wanted someone to come in and whip the program into shape. They'd had some pretty bad coaches in the past and they just wanted someone they could rely on. So Grant agreed. His first season was rough. At the end of the season they fired the head coach, and Grant had to run the summer program all by himself while they looked for a new head coach (they kept offering the position to Grant, but he politely turned it down-wouldn't be fair to the kids). He did an amazing job getting kids to even show up to tryouts (there were like 50 kids there-way more than expected), running the 6 week program, and then making the final cuts. Luckily they hired Kiel McClung right near the end of the summer. Kiel was amazing! Just what the kids needed. He is knowledgable at soccer, the kids look up to him, he doesn't cuss, and he shares the same views with Grant on how a team should be run and how kids should behave. They were a great duo! Grant's JV team did much better than last year, but the Varsity team won the Pacific League Championship! First time in CVHS history! This was a very proud moment for all! We all took turns taking pictures with the plaque!

YAY!!

CV, We're #1!

The Sophomores

The Freshman

The Juniors

The Coaches (and Timmy). Grant doesn't usually coach the Varsity games, but his JV season was already over, and Cri had come down with a really bad stomach bug and couldn't make it (we missed you Cri!)

I guess I forgot to take one of the Seniors. Well, congrats team!

Ashlin's 4year and Gunnar's 6month Pictures 02/12/10

2010-06-03T14:29:00.000-07:00

Dropping Abby off is always such a big production! Everyone needs to give hugs goodbye. One day the assistant principal saw me loading all my kids back in the car and insisted that I use the drop off lane. So we gave it a try. Abby had to jump out of the car and run into class. Ashlin and Troy both cried (or rather, sreamed) for like 10 minutes after because they didn't get to give Abby a hug. When I picked Abby up she had a sad face. When I asked why she said, "Because I didn't get to give you a hug before school." That was the last time we did that!

After drop off, we ran home and bathed Ashlin and Gunnar to get them ready for their photo shoot! Becky came so she could finally get Emma's one year photo done (only 2 months late, but who's counting!?!) We promised the kids they could ride the carausel if they were good.

Andrew

Troy refused to get on a horse, but loved the ride!

Smashing!

Then we played in the kids area for a little bit!

And here are the results!

La Crescenta Mud Slides 02/07/10

2010-06-03T14:10:00.000-07:00

So, the mudslides we'd all been waiting for finally hit. Since the fires last Aug/Sept, the city has been putting up K-railes (sp?) in anticipation of mud slides. We got a really heavy rain storm and there was a minor flash flood down the middle of LaCrescenta Ave. But then nothing happened. Several weeks later, the rain hit again...hard. It rained and rained and rained, and the mud came falling down the mountains. On one Saturday, we got an email Stake wide to come and help President Woodhouse clean out the mud from his front yard. Apparently he was completely caved in. Well, within about an hour over 100 members of the stake showed up with shovels. The rain kept coming, and the next week even more homes were covered in mud. Governor Schwartzenager came to check out the damage. A member of our stake, Greg Brown, was part of the greeting committee. It came up that the Mormon's had helped dig out the Woodhouses and a large number of neighboring homes. The Govanator said something to the effect of, "Can they come do it again here?". Greg said, "Of course!", and the next day (Sunday) they announced in Sacrament meeting that helpers were needed. They canceled the rest of the meetings for the day so that as many people as possible could go dig. Here are the pictures from this historic event!

Everyone was instructed to meet at the Big Lots parking lot for instruction and to get their "Mormon Helping Hands" vests. This is Greg Brown giving instruction. They had to have the vests on to get past the blockade. I'm not sure on the numbers, but a couple hundred people showed up. Eventually they had to send everyone home because someone started worrying about liability issues. Such a bummer, we can't just go and help these days. Anyway, it was a great experience. Several members were spotted at OSH buying supplies to help dig. It might have been Sunday, but the Ox was in the meyer I guess!

Some members brought their personal machinery

Many homes were completely demolished. This car belongs to the home on the left.

That's Grant, in his Borax steel toed boots, isn't he cute?

That's a swimming pool filled with mud-CRAZY!

Grant's Birthday 1/30/10

2010-06-03T13:54:00.000-07:00

The worst part about blogging so far behind, is that you can't remember all the details. Grant turned 32 on Jan 3oth. We opened presents, but I can't remember what we gave him.

The kids got a hold of the camera.

We went out to dinner at an Argentine restaurant called 1810 in Pasadena. I walked in, looked at the menu and thought "he'll get the milenesa or the gnochi". Grant stewed over the menu for like 10 minutes. I told him he could order my meal too. After much deliberation, he ordered the gnochi for me, and milenesa for him. Shocker! And an empanada for an appetizer. It was really yummy. We went and saw the movie Sherlock Holmes (I think) after. It was fun. Gunnar joined us and was really good throughout the date.

The New Me - 2010!

2010-05-30T17:20:00.000-07:00

I know my last post was Christmas, but I have a good excuse this time, I promise. A lot has happened in the last 5 months, and I would have LOVED to blog about it, but our computer crashed and for about a months time, we were missing 3 months worth of pictures. We had been backing up our pictures on an external hard drive, but I hadn't backed it up since the middle of December. (When we bought the EHD, I had a feeling the computer was on the verge of crashing. But when the computer continued to go strong for another year, i guess I got complacent and forgot to back up my new pictures). Anyway, I had reconnected with an old friend on Facebook (gotta love Facebook), who heard about my computer and volunteered to recover the lost pictures. My heart felt gratitude to Tara Henderson Schuler for recovering all of those important files. Most pictures weren't that important, just the yearly traditions of decorating Easter eggs and Birthday parties, but I was most sad about the pictures from my sister-in-law's funeral. I mean, it's not everyday that someone so important to you passes away. I was pretty bummed that I hadn't backed those pictures up. But they're back!! Thank you Tara! Some of the pictures were ruined, but most are back. I plan to eventually blog all the events of the past 5 months, but here's a summary of the important stuff:

My sweet daughter #2, Ashlin, turned 4 years old. The next day my eldest brother, David, lost his wife, Jenn, to cancer after 7 years of fighting. A couple days later Ashlin had her first friend's party (for which I was flat on the couch with the flu), and my nephew, Johnny, received his Eagle Scout. The next few weeks consisted of funeral arrangements and traveling to Utah for the burial. Then it was back to the real world, trying to help my brother and his two sons, 9 and 11, adjust to life without their wife and mother. Gunnar started crawling, Grant got poison oak, then shingles, then the flu. And last week he had his gallbladder removed. He finished his Soccer season with the JV team exceeding expectations and the Varsity team winning the Pacific League Championship for the first time in CVHS history. Then Baseball season where he helped lead the JV team to a third consecutive Championship. We planted a garden, I renewed my love and talent for dance at a class at the YMCA and in the middle of all this, started a weight loss frenzy. From the end of January to today, I have lost 40 pounds. It's a little embarrassing that I actually weighed 40 pounds more than I do now, but I did, and more importantly, I got rid of it!

What led me to this sudden need to lose weight? Well, it was a whole lot of things: the clothes fitting too tight and refusing to buy new ones since we didn't have the money, or the pains in my elbows and shoulders after a work-out consisting of push-ups and weight baring exercises, or the embarrassment when running in to old High School classmates, the thought of meeting my brother's professional dancer of a girlfriend and claiming to have been a dancer myself when I knew I didn't look like one. But I think what set me over the edge, was when I received a coupon (around the 20th of January) for a scale from Costco. I bought it, set it up in my bathroom, stepped on it, and had to face reality. I honestly wasn't surprised at what it said. I think I had a good guess what I weighed, but having the actual data in front of me prohibited me from denying reality any longer. That night I made a goal to lose 20 pounds by the end of April. I met that goal by the end of March, and have doubled it my the end of May. I'm in the best shape since High School. This week I pulled out all my clothes B.C. (before children). I went on a shopping spree, and the best part, it was entirely free! I pulled out all the clothes in my closet that were too big and stored them away (hopefully never to be pulled out again). I'm eating right, exercising 5x/week (running up to 5 miles on the treadmill, dancing, yoga, step aerobics), and I'm loving it! As much as I hate to post these pictures side by side, here are some before and after pics:

These pictures were taken a couple of weeks into the diet, so I had already lost about 5 pounds

This picture was taken May 19th while waiting for Grant to go back to surgery. Sorry, no full body shots yet.

How have I done it? Well, I don't believe in dieting. I've just been making sure the calories that I put in my body are less than I expend. I've been trying to eat lots of fruits and veggies and lean meats and find things that are lower in calories that I also enjoy eating. I eat a high protein breakfast (eggs and salsa or oatmeal), have small and nutritious snacks throughout the day, make lunch for myself BEFORE feeding the kids (basically trying to never be too hungry), and I track all of my calories on this amazing website: www.thedailyplate.com It's free and has a huge database of foods. I still eat treats, I just wait until it's the very last cookie on the plate, or right as I'm leaving the activity to eat it (that way I only eat 1 instead of 10). Grant got started on a "diet" as well, but then he had a gallbladder attack, sending us to the emergency room and flipping our lives upside down, so he kinda lost focus on that. But he doesn't need it as bad as I did. Stay tuned, in 2 more months I plan to be another 20 pounds lighter! Bring on the swimsuits! (well, I'm not THAT confident, yet!)

Parent-ed & Gunnar 6 months 01/23/10

2010-02-09T17:12:00.000-08:00

Here are some cute pictures of the kids dressing up and singing at Parent-ed

We were only able to get half of this picture recovered after "the crash", but Ashlin still looks cute!

And here are some pictures of Gunnar at 6Months

All these pictures have worn him out I guess!

Uncle Chuck's 60th Birthday Party 01/16/10

2010-02-09T16:38:00.000-08:00

My mother's older brother turned 60 last summer. He has 6 kids and they're scattered all over the US. Since they weren't able to get together on his actual birthday, they picked a 3-day weekend in January to all meet up in California at my parent's house. I had to work that day, but thankfully got off an hour early to join in the festivities. I've been really blessed to have great relationships with my cousins on both my mom's and dad's side of the family. This family is really special to me because we all grew up together and they are so much fun! We had dinner and socialized while we waited for the guest of honor (who was 90 minutes late-it was a surprise and I guess the importance of his presence wasn't conveyed very well!). After he arrived, the kids did a couple skits reminiscing on their childhood.

Here they are reenacting one of many long car rides. The kids played themselves, and had 2 grandkids play Chuck and Linda.

Here they lined up 6 of the grandkids to make it look like when their parents were younger and reenacted the time when my uncle left all the kids at Magic Mountain, putting Jennifer (child #4 but most responsible) in charge! That's Troy on the end, wanting to get in on the action!

Troy loved meeting and hanging out with so many 2nd cousins

No party/reunion is complete with out some group photos!

Uncle Chuck with all his kids, in-laws, and grandkids

Lining the grandkids up by age (Bryan's kids might be older, but they're shorter)

Janessa, Jennifer, & Jocelyn
Dennis, Bryan, Mark, and Uncle Chuck

It was so much fun having them all together. My Uncle Chuck is a bit of a free spirit, but he is one of the funnest, kindest people you'll ever meet. Happy Old Man-ness, Uncle Chuck!

The Push-Up 01/11/10

2010-02-09T16:24:00.000-08:00

I'm telling you, Gunnar is so stinkin' cute. As he approached 6 months old, he was starting to figure out how to move a little. In an attempt to crawl, he would push himself up into a perfect plank position. It was quite amazing, and we actually captured it on camera!

Gettin' warmed up for his workout!

A little laughing distraction, and then...

VOILA! Macho man!

Abby and Ashlin wanted a part of the action!

After we took down the Christmas tree, we set up the keyboard so that Abby could start practicing every morning. We made a deal that she could take private piano lessons if she could prove to me that she would be dedicated to practicing every morning. She gets up every morning at 6:45 am to practice.

Cori's Wedding 12/29/09

2010-02-09T16:20:00.001-08:00

Our year ended with the wedding of my cousin, Cori. They got married in the Mesa Temple. We wanted to spend as much time with Bryan and Nanny before the wedding, since I had to get back right after the wedding for work. So, we left on the 27th for Arizona. We took my brother, Mikey, with us. It was a fun drive. We got there pretty late, so we just went straight to bed. The next day was Grant and my 7th wedding anniversary. We headed to my Uncle's house to help set up for the wedding. We helped decorate the house and run errands for my aunt, meanwhile enjoying the company of my extended family. That night all the family arrived, and we all went to dinner at a local restaurant. Then we took the kids to the hotel and put them to bed. Grant stayed with them while Mikey and I went back to Matt's house to help Cori's siblings write a skit for the wedding luncheon. We were up until 1:00am, but we had a blast hanging out and laughing.

The day of the wedding was absolutely beautiful. They had had reports of rain, so a lot of the wedding plans will filled with trying to figure out what to do in case it rained. Cori looked amazing in her dress, and the sealing was perfect.

Matt and Lynette and family

After the traditional pictures in front of the temple, we headed to the local church building for a yummy luncheon. The siblings did great on their skit, and Edi sang "I Love to See the Temple". The reception was a blast with yummy food and fun dancing. Right before the reception started, we got a couple of rain drops. We moved the cake under the patio, but it never got bad enough to detour us from having a great time! The next morning we hung out with some of the family members that were still in town. We went to a park and then had lunch together at In-N-Out. Then we hit the road. We got home, put the kids to bed, unpacked, and got ready to go back to work.

Christmas Day 12/25/09

2010-02-09T16:04:00.000-08:00

Christmas morning the kids actually slept until 7am. Grant and I were awake before they were. When they finally woke up they spent quite a while on their stockings. Troy just held on to his stocking until we forced him to sit down and open it!

The girls loved everything in their stocking. Why do we even bother with anything else?

Troy LOVED the truck daddy got for him!

Opening more presents!

The kids loved all their presents.

A little while into the morning, my parents and Mikey showed up with presents. They gave the girls huge make-up cases, clothes for Gunnar, and a Nerf gun for Troy. They gave me a leaf blower and Grant a sewing machine! Just what we wanted! Before they left I had them take a picture of the family in our jammies!

After cleaning up we went up to my parent's for breakfast and to play with all the cousins. It was a fun day! That night we went to see the Christmas lights in Pasadena.

Christmas Eve 2009

2010-01-19T16:30:00.000-08:00

Luckily I have the type of job that I can pick whenever I want to work. So I picked up a lot of shifts during the break! So I worked the day before Christmas Eve and then the day after Christmas since we then had to leave to got to Arizona for my Cousin's wedding.

Christmas Eve festivities started with a trip to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion to see a free Christmas concert that they put on there. They've been doing it for years and was a family tradition when I was a kid. The kids loved it and Troy kept clapping and singing.

We tried to get a family picture in front of the beautiful Christmas Trees, but Ashlin wasn't cooperating very well.

Abby was more than willing to have HER picture taken!

Abby and Grandma Bayles

After the Music Center, we rushed home to get ready for Dinner. We had about 30+ family members there. 5/7 kids and families were there as well as John and Gracie Peterson and family. Stephanie had a fun time playing with Gunnar and putting flowers on his head!

The kids all dressed up as animals for the nativity scene

Ashlin the giraffe

Andrew and Troy were cows.

Jacob and Ashley played Joseph and Mary

Daniel rode the horse, and Gunnar was Jesus

Abby was an angel and she recruited Grant to help her fly!

Lizzie was also and angel. And here's Daniel sitting on Natalie-a very reverent rendition of the first Christmas as I'm sure you can imagine!

The whole gang! Stephanie is holding up Emma. Brian was both a wise man and a shepherd. And Stephan was the narrator.

After the nativity, the kids do a little talent show. Most of them played piano or sang. My kids wanted to participate, so they tried to sing a couple of Christmas songs.

Here's Troy singing who knows what?!

The girls sang "Jingle Bells"

We left my parent's house and went home to get ready for Santa. We gave the kids their jammies (which this year were actually robs-they were too cute to resist). We set cookies and milk out for Santa, and Abby wanted to get some carrots for the reindeer. She went in the kitchen, pulled out a bag of mini carrots, opened the front door, and threw the whole bag on the lawn.

Here are our Christmas Decorations before Santa arrived!

Ashlin in her robe. The kids actually went to bed pretty easily, but it was really late because of all the festivities. Only about 10 minutes after they went to bed, Santa arrived. Grant let him in through the front door since our chimney hasn't been cleaned in who knows how long! We went and grabbed the kids. A couple of them were already asleep. So we woke them up and they watched him put presents under the tree through the hole in the door where the door knob is supposed to be.

Apparently Santa heard us behind the door and insisted we come out and say, "hi". Each of the kids got to sit on his lap and hold sleigh bells. Also, he gave them each an ornament.

Santa's little helper!

Troy was a little hesitant at first, but then he noticed a strange familiarity in the voice and warmed up pretty quick!

Big hugs for Santa! These kids won't have a hard time believing in Santa!

After Santa left, we finished putting out any additional presents and then went to bed.

The hose AFTER Santa came!

Gunnar Clause at 5 Months 12/23/09

2010-01-19T16:07:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures of Gunnar at 5months. He is so much fun!
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My Mother-In-Law made this wood sleigh, and her sister, Marilyn suggested I put the baby in it and take pictures. So, I found this cute Santa suit and gave it a whirl.

My Cute Kids 12/20/09

2010-01-19T15:52:00.000-08:00

Here are some cute pictures of my kids. These batting gloves that Grant bought for Troy are priceless.

Gunnar's a good little thumbsucker. He's so cute in his little hoodie towel!

Mike, Scot, and Brittany arrived from Utah for the holidays, so we all met at my parent's house for Family Home Evening.

We had Mikey for Christmas this year, so I took a picture with him and the kids and put it on a mug. On the other side of the mug it said, "World's Greatest Uncle". This is the picture we used.

After FHE we went caroling to the neighbors' homes. It was fun.

Kindergarten Christmas Party 12/18/09

2010-01-19T15:46:00.000-08:00

The last day of school before the Christmas break, Abby's class had a party. I got a babysitter for the boys and took Ashlin to the party.

They had pizza and all sorts of snacks.

The kids prepared some songs to sing for the parents. Complete with bells for "Jingle Bells"

Christmas Craft

2010-01-19T15:24:00.000-08:00

Our friends, the Campbells, had given us a bunch of their daughters toys and a really nice vanity for the girls. Among the toys was a Christmas craft. Since we didn't have a lot of money to buy presents for all of our friends and family, I thought the kids could make this crafts and we could give them away. We spent several days putting the plastic pieces on the pegs just right, and them melting them together with an iron. The slightest movement knocked half the pieces off it's pegs. So, we had to be very careful until they got ironed together. Then I strung thread through them and wrapped 'em up. I actually did most of them, but the kids each made a few.

I was really impressed with Troy. He would work very carefully to line them up just right. He never followed any pattern, but when he was down he would say it looked like a train, or a reindeer, or a car.

Here are the finished products. Troy's are the far left: 2 cars, a boat, and some random stuff. Just below that is the heart Ashlin made (green in the middle-we ran out of white), and the broken pieces from another heart she made (I didn't iron it very well, I guess). And the top right is what Abby made-hexagon, multi-colored star, and snowflake in the square.

So proud!

Troy showing off his creations

Close up of the details

I just about had a panic attack as Troy would crawl all over the table with all the stuff out. Or worse, he was sitting on one of my knees working on his project while I was working on mine and trying to iron. Then Ashlin comes over and tries to help Troy sip some of her red Gatorade. Of course it spills all down his front and down my leg. I had a few screaming fits- all in the spirit of Christmas!

I was a little worried that they wouldn't want to give them away after all the work they put into them. However, they were really excited to give them to their friends and cousins!

Cookie Making at Joy School 12/16/09

2010-01-19T15:17:00.000-08:00

Grant didn't like the store bought icing I had used on the last cookies I made, so I thought I'd try out a recipe on my joy school class. And, since the letter of the day was "I", then making cookies and icing them was a perfect activity! Each kid got the chance to cut the cookies out, we read stories as they baked, and they iced them. I gave each of them their own bowl of icing and they picked the color they wanted. I figured they would do more eating then icing, so we avoided any cross-contamination!

I love Lexi's little mustache!

Enzo got one, too!

Cami figured it out-the more icing on the cookie, the more you get to eat!

Ward Christmas Party 12/12/09

2010-01-19T15:03:00.000-08:00

Since Gunnar was the youngest baby in the ward, the activities committee asked him to play Jesus and Grant & I to play Joseph and Mary in the live nativity. It was hard not to laugh as I covered Gunnar with my shawl, walked on stage, and then uncovered him when the time was right. But it went really nicely.

Gunnar was, of course, a perfect angel.

Do you think they had wrist watches during Christ's time?

Ashlin, Troy, and the rest of the nursery were sheep

There's the top of Abby's head. She was an angel.

After the nativity scene, Santa came!

Ashlin telling santa she wanted make-up. What?! she already wrote a letter to Santa saying she wanted a scooter, and he had already made it.

Abby also asked for Make-up, and Santa was working on that as well!

Apparently, Troy got back his fear of Santa. And the line was too long to care about coaxing him or Gunnar to take a pic. Especially since we've already got one.

Christmas at Parent-ed 12/11/09

2010-01-19T13:28:00.000-08:00

On Thursdays, I take the kids to the Library for story time before picking Abby up from school. They sing songs, read stories, and then do a craft. This week they made crowns. Troy just wanted to cut paper, so I made one for Gunnar. Of course, once Gunnar had it on, then Troy wanted to wear it. It was so small on him, but it stayed on!

We had our last Parent-ed class before the winter break. Here are the masks Ashlin and Troy made for the craft

Pretty scary, huh?! Troy let me wear his

I don't know WHY Ashlin didn't want to take a picture with me?!

We had a big pot luck dinner, sang Christmas songs, and then Santa came! He let each of the kids sit on his lap, and gave them a Christmas book.

Ashlin and Troy with Ms JoAnne during circle time.

Ashlin and Santa

Troy and Santa

Gunnar and Santa!

I guess the kids are getting a little more comfortable with santa. (And this one was really nice and fun with the kids! Thanks Mr. Gantus!)

Football Banquet 12/08/09

2010-01-19T13:21:00.000-08:00

Thankfully, the football banquet was pretty low key! They held it in the school cafeteria, had desserts instead of dinner, and held it with JUST the JV team. I remember when my brothers played football, the banquets went on forever and ever. This one started at 7pm and ended at about 8:15. The varsity coach spoke briefly, and then Grant took over. Each of the players were divided up amongst the coaches. They spoke about each player for a couple of minutes, watched a video of the year, and then had cake!

They let me take the balloons home to the kids! They loved 'em!

Grant's going to eat the whole cake by himself!

Christmas Cookies 12/6/09

2010-01-19T13:07:00.000-08:00

As we were unpacking Christmas decorations, Abby found the cookie cutters and said she wanted to make cookies for her friend/neighbor, Jack. So, for a Sunday evening activity we practiced our cookie making skills.

A little flour on the cheek!

The girls did pretty good cutting them out!

Troy just liked playing in the soapy water

I look pretty relaxed, huh? Cookies make big messes, but I don't have to be too creative. I can handle that!

And back to the sink!

My little showman! And yes, that is chocolate on her lip!

Pictures with Santa & Montrose Christmas Parade 12/5/09

2010-01-19T12:50:00.000-08:00

We took the kids to the mall to have their picture taken with Santa. Abby was the only one that walked up to him w/o a problem. The only way we could get Troy to be in the picture was if we let him sit on Abby's lap. And the only way Ashlin would be in the picture was if we let her hold Gunnar. So here it is! I can't say I blame the kids, this Santa was young, ethnic, and had NO expression. Plus he was wearing a fake beard. He was kind of creepy. I guess that explains why there was no line on a Saturday afternoon!

Later that night was the Annual Montrose Christmas Parade! I marched in it when I was a kid, so it's a lot of fun to take our kids now! It's so fun to see our little community come together for this fun event! Before the parade we went to part of Grant's soccer game in La Canada. Then I brought the kids home, parked the car and loaded them up in the stroller. Troy was fast asleep, and didn't even budge when I put him in the stroller. We walked to Landry's where our friends, The Roberts, were saving us seats! It's about a 10-15 minute walk up a fairly steep hill. He slept the entire ride!

We're lucky he didn't whack his head on a tree, or something, the way he was lying in the stroller!

The Jahnke's sit in front of The Paper Rabbit every year. Here's Danny holding Gunnar and his son Parker (born just a few weeks before Gunnar!).

Cute little Santas!

After the soccer game, Grant hurried home and ran up to meet us just as the parade was starting!

Troy finally woke up!

The football boosters game the kids these fun glasses that light up! The kids loved wearing them!

Troy loved the fire engines and horses, the girls loved the dance groups and seeing some of their friends marching.

I think that's a million dollar bill that Abby is holding. Some sort of advertisement that was passed out!

A little ways in to the parade I noticed Troy was poopy. Grant agreed to change him. So I told Troy to go to dad to have his diaper changed. Just as Troy started walking over to Grant, Grant and I bent down to look for the diapers in the stroller. When we stood up again, Troy was gone. A family sitting behind us said they thought he headed East. So Grant and I started walking East, Grant on the sidewalk, and me in the street among the crowd. After a few hundred feet I figured I better make sure we were headed the right direction and that the other kids were being watched. So I went back and asked this nice family that was sitting with us to watch the girls and Gunnar. The mom verified Troy's name and what he was wearing and she and a friend went West while her husband stayed with the kids. I asked the family again which way Troy had gone, and they said they were certain they saw him go East. So I started going back that direction and met up with Grant and Troy half way down the block. Grant said he had made it to Rocky Cola (for those of you not familiar with the area, we were sitting near the corner of Ocean View Blvd. and Rocky Cola is located an entire city block away at the corner of the street). He was in the arms of a man who said that Troy "just had that look". So thankfully he had picked him up before he continued on his travels (poopy diaper and all!). As soon as I found them, I rushed back to our seats to let the others know Troy was okay while Grant took Troy to the bathroom. When I got back, and told them he was okay, one of our new friends just started bawling. It was so sweet of her to be so concerned for a complete stranger. I was definitely nervous about finding Troy, but as I was searching I kept praying for his safety and knew that we would find him. I know that the Lord was watching over my boy and sent angels, like that man who picked him up, to keep him safe.

After the parade a girl from our ward walked home with us to babysit the kids while we went to the ward Elder's Quorum party. It was a crazy night!

Thanksgiving Holiday 11/27-11/29

2010-01-19T11:53:00.000-08:00

The Friday after Thanksgiving we took the kids the The Aquarium of the Pacific.

It looks like a plant, but it's really a fish! Wooooooow! Ooooooooh! Aaaaaah!

Here is Ashlin petting a shark!

And Troy checking out the birds!

Saturday I was called off work because it was so slow, so we took advantage of the Black Saturday sales and got most of our Christmas shopping done! We realized that we had thrown away our tree last year because Troy toppled it over and broke it. So we took a trip to Costco and bought a very fancy tree for way more money then we could afford. But, it's over with now and we hope the tree will last us for many, many, many Christmases. On Sunday we decorated for Christmas. We put the tree up in the morning and did the rest of the decorations after church.

Troy wanted to attach the top of the tree!

The kids decorated the bottom of the tree with non-breakable ornaments, and Grant put the glass ones on top! Gunnar had the honor of topping in the tree with the star!

Well, with a little help from Dad, anyway!

My twinners! Don't they look dashing in blue?! It brings out their beautiful, blue eyes!

Gunnar 4 months and Thanksgiving Day

2009-12-08T13:21:00.000-08:00

Here's Gunnar at 4 months! Isn't he precious?

This is a great dimple shot! Every time you look at this kid, he gives you a huge smile like that!

And here's Troy practicing some Yoga, I guess?!

Grant and Abby had school off Wed-Sun of Thanksgiving. I worked Wednesday. On Thanksgiving day Grant got up early and played some football. He took a huge dive right at the end of the game and scrapped up his leg pretty bad. He was pretty sore the rest of the day. We went up to my mom's house and the kids and boys played some soccer while the women prepared the meal. Every year my mom just cuts up the Turkey before dinner. This year she purchased and fancy turkey and ham that some bakery made. It looked like a "real" Thanksgiving meal!

There's the turkey and ham-mainly decoration. The sliced up turkey is in front. The Clark family got to eat right away since I had to go in to work at 2pm. I had wanted to work Thanksgiving Day since it's time and a half, but I guess everyone else did too. So I worked out a deal with a co-worker and I came in so she could leave early and go to dinner. It was a fun day!

Abby's Last Soccer Game 11-21-09

2009-11-23T17:21:00.000-08:00

Yay! I get to wear a button with this little cutie on it!

The official team picture. Leah and asst coach, Brian, couldn't be there.

Abby has really enjoyed playing soccer. She finally scored a goal in 2 of the last games! That was really exciting. Back at the beginning of the season, AYSO gave us a schedule of games. So when I turned in my work schedule, I made sure not to work her last game. Well, about 2 weeks ago, AYSO gave each team the option of playing one more game. I, of course, voted for no game since I had to work. However, everyone else wanted to play. So I went to work that morning and informed the charge nurse that I would really, really, really appreciate taking a long lunch to go to Abby's game. Things were really busy, and I thought there was no way I would be able to make it. People were walking in like crazy and delivering shortly after. I had just done a c-section and was in the recovery room with my patient. It was 11:00 (the game started at 11:30). After hearing about all the chaos going on on the unit, I started to get a little bit weepy, figuring there was no way I was going to be able to go. Then, at 11:15, a nurse walked in and said, "give me report and get out of here." I jumped up and gave her a huge hug. When I went out to the unit, the board was nearly empty. Apparently some patients had gone home all of a sudden, and the new deliveries had been moved to couple care. So I made it to Abby's game in the middle of the 1st quarter!

Abby did great! What a difference from her first game!

Ashlin saw me with the camera, and had to get in front of it!

Troy's a natural quarterback. He is constantly throwing that football!

The Lovely Lady Bugs, cheering for the Mighty Tigers!

After the game we drove down the street for the team party

What a cute cake!

Then they passed out trophies

First of many, I am sure!
Team picture

Spencer and Brian (coaches)
Noah(mascot), Delacey, Tatiana, Katrina, Nicole, Abby, Madeline, Emma, Leah, Lauren

What a star!

I told all the girls to run give the coach a big group hug:

Abby was the only one that listened! =-)

After helping Grant load up all the kids, I got in the car and called work. They said the triage had exploded and they needed me back. It was absolutely perfect. I wanted those 2 hours off to be there for Abby, but I needed to work. It was truly a miracle!

Gunnar's First Solids 11-20-09

2009-11-23T07:49:00.001-08:00

After we got home from our crazy walk around town, the phone kept ringing. I would answer it only to find a dial tone. After a while, I stopped answering it. I noticed that it would happen every half hour, ring three times, and then stop. About a minute later, it would ring again, three times, then stop. It kept doing this all night. Grant was gone to a CIF Football game, and I was getting a little freaked out. I called up my parents and they came over after seeing a movie. Dad was going to answer the phone with an intimidating voice and scare off however was calling. Of course, by the time they got here, the calling stopped. We figure it must have been some glitch in an automated telemarketing system. It was pretty creepy, though. (The phone did ring once while my parents were here. It was one of Grant's friends calling from Argentina. That was pretty funny!) And I was glad my parents had come over so they could help me take a picture of Gunnar's first solids.

I LOVE this shot! It's perfect!

I decided to start Gunnar on solids a little before his 4 month mark. I've worked a couple of shifts now, and he refuses to take the bottle. It's been nice, because it forces Grant to have to bring him to me so I can feed him. However, it's so sad, and Grant can't always come right when Gunnar is hungry. So I thought I could train him to eat rice cereal and get a little bit of something in his belly. He ate a little bit of it, but most of it was spit out.

Turkey Shirts 11-20-09

2009-11-23T07:32:00.000-08:00

2 weeks ago the kids made Turkey shirts in their parent-ed class. They were made by painting their arms brown for the body, then painting their hands different colors for the feathers. Then, we added a little beak, woddle, feet, and voila...a turkey! Ashlin and Troy did a great job sitting there while the teacher painted. Gunnar was a little more difficult, but they turned out cute. Since Abby was in Kindergarten, we each had a part in her shirt. Ashlin was the body and the red and green feathers. Troy was the orange feathers, Gunnar the blue, and I was the yellow. Anyway, on Friday, everyone wore them to class.

Monique wrote the names for me. She accidentally spelled Gunnar's name with an E, so she cut out a piece of her daughter's shirt and sewed it over the mistake. Pretty sweet!

"How do I sore like an eagle, when I'm surrounded by Turkeys?" Grandpa White

Miss Jo Ann's class

After class I had to drop my van off at the shop. So I loaded the kids in the stroller and walked from Honolulu and La Crescenta Ave. down to Fremont Elementary. We got there in plenty of time, so we sat waiting for Abby to get out. Ashlin and Troy had a fun time running around on the grass.

Luckily I had water and almonds to keep them occupied!

After picking up Abby, we walked back up to Broadview. Our street is on the same line as the school, but it is on the other side of Verdugo. It's a crazy busy street and they only have cross walks with flashing yellow lights, and no crossing guard. I've crossed it before, and the cars didn't stop for us, so I refused to do it again with all the kids. So we had to walk back up the hill to Broadview where the next light is at.

Ashlin wanted to carry the backpack, and Troy insisted on walking. However, Troy kept stopping to pick up pinecones and we weren't getting very far. So Abby and Ashlin held either hand to help focus him. Unfortunately, that didn't last very long and I had to force him back in the stroller.

Don't we live in a beautiful town?

When we got up to Broadview, Abby said she was hungry and asked if we could stop at a restaurant. So we stopped at Pasta Preziosa, on the corner of Ocean View and Broadview. Grant was able to join us for like 20 minutes, before he had to head back to school and then leave for the CIF football game. We had a nice lunch and then headed home. From the time we left the mechanics, to the time we got home, it was 2 hours. It was a fun trip!

Here are some more pics Ashlin took!

I love her use of dimension and angles!

CVHS JV Football

2009-11-19T12:23:00.000-08:00

Grant's Football team did really well this year! Despite the fact that it was his first year coaching, they had a winning season! They were undefeated in League with 2 games left. Burroughs was also undefeated, so this game was for the championship. Both my parents and Grant's came to support on this big night. Unfortunately we got slaughtered. I feel bad that they only game our parents saw was a loss. But Linda took a cute picture of our family afterwards.

This is what I look like at every game. I bring all four kids and lug them around in the stroller.

We took another so that Gunnar could be seen!

I stole these next pictures from Facebook as well

Isn't this a great picture of Grant? What a hottie!

We played Arcadia last, and we dominated! At the end of the game, he got a bucket full of ice water dumped on him!

Good Season, Coach Clark! It was fun, but we're glad you're back home! Now I know what they mean when they say "Football Widow". I felt like a single mother these past 2 months. Football takes WAY more time then soccer!

My Cute Kids Nov 09

2009-11-19T12:12:00.000-08:00

We finally got Abby's School picture this week! It was taken Sept 18th

Yes, those are fake Tatoos on her arms. Placed there at Jabe and Lucy's birthday party the Saturday before the picture.
Back row: Christopher, Nathan, Jinje, Katie, Carly, Abby, Mrs. Abboud
Middle row: Kyra, Harutyan, Mason, John, Manue, Jack
Front row: Sora, Nicholas, Sydney, Ella, Hyk, Laurie, Matthew, Darron

My kids love snuggling together in the big read chair and watching TV

They also love getting their picture taken!

I put Gunnar in Abby's Dora chair while working on the computer last night. I thought he looked so cute in it. He stayed there pretty well, although I couldn't leave him alone since Troy kept trying to pick him up!

Of course, the older siblings wanted to be in the picture too!

The Crazy Hat 11/11/09

2009-11-19T07:24:00.000-08:00

The kids LOVE reading, especially when Grandpa reads!

Grant was home for Veterans day. I went to my Chiropractor appointment, and when I got back, this is how Gunnar was dressed. He said Troy picked out the hat! I died laughing when I saw it!

Thanks, Ashlin, for the great camera work!

Couldn't you just eat this kid up!?!

More Friends 11/3-4/09

2009-11-18T21:31:00.001-08:00

On Tuesday's, Abby has a music class at my BFF's house (aka Chloe Ross). While she's in her class, we hang out on the front lawn with Leah's mom and brother, Grant. Apparently Grant had just gotten a buzz cut like Troy's, and they were both wearing BYU shirts. So, of course we had to take a picture of the twinners! It wasn't so easy to get them to pose for the picture!

Ashlin tried helping out a little!

On Wednesdays, Ashlin is in a joy school with Cami B. and two friends from our ward, Enzo P. and Lexi C. We had it at our house this time, and the kids had a blast with the dress ups!

I thought this was the cutest picture!

I love how the girls are looking at Troy. I turned on some Princess music, and all the kids were spinning around, including Troy!

Some day, when Troy and Lexi are teenagers, I'll show them this picture. So cute how Troy has his arm on Lexi's back! Oh and Enzo is in the corner playing with the train. Pretty obvious who has older sisters and who doesn't!

Halloween 10/30/09

2009-11-06T07:41:00.001-08:00

Since Halloween was on a Saturday, we got to celebrate it for 2 whole days! Friday was CRAZY! Dad had to leave early for school, so I had to get all the kids ready by myself. Luckily their costumes were pretty simple.

Ashlin was Alexa from Barbie and the Diamond Castle

Cowboy Troy

Ariel Abby

Festive Gunnar

Lookin' Good!

The whole crew!

We hurried over to Abby's school. My mom met us there so she could see the kids in their costumes before heading to the other two Elementary Schools for their costume parades. Abby's school starts at 8am, but the parade wasn't until 8:30am. So we staked out our spot and waited for Abby.

Abby sitting patiently with her Kindergarten class. The redheaded boy is Jack. We just discovered that he lives 2 houses down for us.

The parade started off with the principal and office staff, then went by grade. The adults/teachers from each grade had a theme.

The Principal and staff were joggers.

Troy was having a blast watching!

Of course the Kindergarten classes were last, since they are the cutest!

Mrs. Abboud's class gathered for a class picture.

Troy ran up to join Abby and give her a hug and kiss.

Everyday when we drop Abby off at Kindergarten, Ashlin and Troy give her the biggest hugs and stand there waving at her as she goes inside.

Troy and Mrs. Abboud are twinners! (The Kindergarten teachers all dressed as cowgirls)

After the parade, we raced over to Parent-ed to participate in the parade there. The kids loved wearing their costumes and marching around the classroom.

Group picture with Miss Joanne

Later that day we went to daddy's football game, and the kids wore their costumes. All the parents had a blast playing with them. Some parents even had special treats that they brought for the kids. At one point I turned to talk to a parent, and when I turned back around, Troy was gone. Apparently there was an opening to the field that I didn't know about, and Troy had run onto it in the middle of the game. One of the parents got a picture of Grant carrying Troy off the field.

I don't know why these pictures are so small. I copied them off of Facebook.

Here's another one she took of Troy with chocolate all over his face!

We left the game early and headed over to the LaCrescenta Ward's Trunk-or-Treat. (We were in Utah during our ward's)

The girls had a great time seeing all their friends!

Grandpa took Gunnar around during the costume parade!

Trunk or Treating. My kids move pretty slow, and by the time they got to some of the cars, they were all out of candy. Apparently some of the older kids had already been by several times. I'm not so sure that was such a bad thing. They had fun anyway, and I'm glad they didn't get that much candy!

Someone made their trunk like a haunted house. You had to climb through it to get the candy. There wasn't anymore candy, but they climbed in it anyway!

The next day (Halloween), I had to work. It was my first shift back after Gunnar was born. I was a little out of it, but it went well. The biggest problem was that Gunnar wouldn't take the bottle. So, lucky for me, Grant brought the kids to me twice so that I could feed him! It was so great seeing all of them, I missed them so much! While I was working, Grant took Abby to her soccer game, and then my mom picked up the girls to take them Trick-or-Treating with the cousins. When I got home from work, we all went Trick-or-Treating around the block. Then, we came home and had some "healthy" food before putting the kids to bed. Apparently all the kids ate that day was donuts and candy. Gotta love when daddy babysits!

Here's what happens when DAD gets them ready for Halloween:

Troy gets a rockin' mustache! (Using mom's make-up)

He absolutely LOVED wearing his costume, I was really surprised!

Ready for some more Halloween fun!

After the kids went to bed, we watched TV and greeted the 10 Trick-or-Treaters that came to our door. Grant put up some pretty fun decorations at that door. Too bad I didn't take a picture. =-(

Gunnars' Friends 10/29/09

2009-11-06T07:33:00.001-08:00

Shortly after I found out I was pregnant, I found out my dear friend from High School was pregnant. Then, a couple weeks later, two of my other close friends told me they were expecting as well. We were all friends in the La Crescenta Ward together, and now Megan and I have moved to neighboring wards. We threw a shower for Gina after her baby was born and all 4 babies were there. They were all born within 2 months of each other.

Emma and Gunnar are ready!

Gunnar's got his pick of girlfriends!

Avery, Emma, Juliet, and Gunnar

I had wanted to take a picture of the mom's seperately so you could try to guess which baby belonged to which mommy. However, we were all to busy holding our babies, that we couldn't put them down long enough to take a picture. So, if you know us, try to guess who's is who's before you look at the next picture.

In order from youngest to oldest (or tallest to shortest?)
Megan & Juliet, Gina & Avery, Stacy & Gunnar, Michelle & Emma

We're sad that Gunnar's BFF and rival for the female attention wasn't there. Gretchen had to work, so she couldn't come with Griffin, who was born in April. Parker was also born this summer. I'm so glad that Gunnar already has a lot of friends to play with when he gets older!

Gunnar's First Hair Cut 10/27/09

2009-11-06T07:19:00.000-08:00

See that mohawk? Yeah, that's the perfect target for a sweet 2 year old big brother to pull and torment little Gunnar. Plus, it's not the cutest of dos. We shaved Abby's hair at 9 months, and didn't regret it for a second. Ashlin and Troy both had pretty full heads of hair, so it grew in nicely. Not only is Gunnar pretty thin up top, but the hair pulling really was getting out of control. So off it came!

So trusting and patient.

Oooh, he's feeling the buzz!

My blue eyed boys! They're twinners!

Time to rinse off the tiny little pile of hair!

I have a picture of each of my babies taking a shower with daddy. Is that strange? At least it's PG.

As a follow up note, Troy still tried pulling at Gunnar's head and when he got no hair, he pinched his scalp. However, a couple days later, the pulling stopped. I call that a successful operation! Now he just torments Gunnar by sitting on him or playing "catch" with him. Sigh

Utah Trip Day 4 10/24/09

2009-11-05T19:36:00.001-08:00

Saturday morning we got up and joined Dena's Family at the BYU Homecoming Parade. We had a great time yelling for the Law School, the Nursing school, and all the other crazies.

We were most excited about seeing Uncle Mikey, who was dancing with the BYU Ballroom Team. Unfortunately, by the time they got to us, they were so far behind that they all just ran right past us. Mikey did take a second to come give the kids a hug.

Too bad my camera was spazing out and this was the only picture I got of him. Not even worthy of posting, but I did any way!

This "Fuel Efficient" float was my favorite!

After the parade we picked up Mikey and we all went to the park and then to Fuddruckers. Then the Bloods dropped us off at the hotel before they headed to Salt Lake to visit some of Dave's family. The kids and I rested in the hotel room watching shows. My parents got back from Blanding shortly after, and we loaded up the car. Then they headed off to the game and I watched it from the hotel room. We got smoked, and by Half Time the kids were restless. So we walked over to Pizza Factory for dinner. By the third quarter, my parents had had enough, and they all left the game. My mom watched the kids for me while I went out to dinner with my dad and brothers. It was nice to spend time with them without the kids.

The next morning we woke up nice and early, pulled the kids out of bed and headed home. The ride home didn't go as smoothly as the kids were really tired from a crazy week and waking up early that morning. Plus, my mom was with us, which meant I had to ride in the back with the kids. Every time they yelled, it was right in my ear. It was rough, but we made it home. Gunnar was an angel, of course. Grant came home early from school to meet us and help us unload. It was great to be back home!

Utah trip Day 3 10/23/09

2009-11-05T19:19:00.000-08:00

The morning started with my cousin's funeral. We had to get there early to practice the song that the cousins all sang together. While we were practicing, Grant showed up. Thanks, Scotty Freak, for picking him up from the airport! The kids were so excited to see him, as was I. Especially because we had 2 poopy diapers within 20 minutes of his arrival! I let him do the honors! Then we all joined together for a family prayer and closing of the casket. Then the funeral began. His sisters gave the eulogy, both parents spoke, and 2 of their bishops along with 3 beautiful musical numbers. It was an absolutely wonderful tribute to his life. He was such a great kid, and the common theme in everyone's talks was his ability to comfort everyone that came to visit and comfort him. He had a hard lot in life, but he never complained and understood Heavenly Father's plan. We all will miss Chad, and I can't imagine the heartache his family will feel with out him. However, Chad is happy, without pain, and with our Grandpa, and most importantly, with our Father in Heaven.

The family congregating outside, after the funeral.

I had to laugh at the Relief Society ladies standing behind the food, at ready to serve! Thanks ladies!

We had a lovely lunch and then grabbed as many cousins as we could to take a cousin picture. My grandma has a posterity of well over 100, and all but 13 of us were there. And yes, I know all of their names. I am very close to all of my family.

There's my grandma in the middle-red sweater, white hair

I love all my cousins. We miss you Chad

After the funeral, a lot of people left for Blanding for the burial. It is about a 5 hour drive, so we decided not to put the kids through that. Especially since my parents were planning on driving there, sleeping, and then heading straight back to Provo after the burial. Grant & I took the kids back to the hotel so he could take a nap and the kids could rest. Thanks to Royal for giving the girls a ride, since we didn't have enough room for the whole family in my little brother's Nissan Sentra. After a short nap (Grant fell asleep pretty quickly, he had to get up at 4am to catch his flight), my brother, Scot, helped transport us up to the Wilkinson Center where we met Dena and Becky and families for dinner. Scotty Freak picked Grant up from there and took him back to the airport. The kids and I stuck around with Dena while they bought their traditional BYU apparel. Since it was Gunnar's 3 month birthday, I had to take some pics .

Gunnar with cousin, Johnny.

What cuties! My parent's oldest and youngest grandchildren!

Scot then dropped us off at the Smith Field House where we met Katie and Kevin for the Girl's Volleyball game. Kevin's sister plays for the team. She did really well, although we lost the match.

Abby was having a blast!

Troy sat so well most of the game. He just loves anything that has to do with balls. We sat in the second row, so we were really close to the action! Thanks, Carpenters, for the great tickets! After the game, Katie and Kevin helped chauffeur the kids back to the hotel.

Here's Chad's Obituary:

Chad Pinkston

1/26/90 – 10/18/09.

Chad Pinkston, 19, passed away quietly early Sunday morning, at home with his family, after courageously battling cancer for three years.

Chad graduated in 2008 from Pleasant Grove High School. He excelled in academics, played the cello, and was in A Cappella Choir. He was honored by Utah Valley Magazine in 2008 as one of the “14 High School Students Who Could Change the World.” He had a quick wit and a sharp intellect. He was accepted to BYU and received a scholarship from both BYU and the American Cancer Society. Chad was an Eagle Scout and a member of the Order of the Arrow, and he was a faithful member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He loved learning and was a voracious reader. He enjoyed Church history, camping, hiking, snowboarding, and spending time in the mountains. Chad showed us how to live; it was a privilege having him in our home. More than anything else, Chad loved being with his family and once said his favorite sound was the laughter at family gatherings. Chad was a wonderful young man.

When Chad was 16, he was diagnosed with Ewing’s Sarcoma. Chad was optimistic, faithful, and fearless in his battle. We thank Dr. Richard Lemons and the nursing staff at Primary Children’s Medical Center, as well as at Critical Care and Community Nursing Services. He could not have received better care.

We are grateful that he is now with his grandpa, Grant A. Bayles. He is survived by his parents, David and Katherine Pinkston; brothers and sisters, Sydney, Allyson, Kyle, Scott, and Brigham; grandparents, Alan and Patricia Pinkston and Helen Bayles; and wonderful aunts, uncles, and cousins.

Funeral services: Friday, October 23, 2009, 11:00 a.m., Manila Stake Center, 980 East 850 North, American Fork (next to Mt. Timpanogos Temple). Viewings: Thursday, October 22, 2009, 6 – 8 p.m., Olpin Family Mortuary, 494 South 300 East, Pleasant Grove, and at the church on Friday from 9:00 to 10:30 a.m. prior to the services. Interment will be in the Blanding City Cemetery.

Rather than flowers, please consider donating to the Missionary Fund of the LDS Church. Chad always wanted to serve a mission. Thank you for your prayers and concerns in Chad’s behalf. Each and every prayer has been answered.

Utah Trip Days 1&2 10/21-22/09

2009-11-05T19:09:00.000-08:00

Well, on Sunday morning, October 18th, my cousin, Chad, passed away. He was 19 years old and had been battling Ewing's Sarcoma/Cancer for 3 years. In June, he was placed on Hospice and told there was nothing more the doctors could do. They had expected him to last only another week, but he proved how strong he was and waited almost 4 more months. When we heard about his condition in June, Grant and I discussed our expectations for the funeral. We both decided that we wanted to be there and we would do what ever it took to make it. So the few days after we heard the news, we spent getting ready for the trip to Utah. My dad's aunt (same side of the family) also passed away about an hour after Chad. So the two families were able to coordinate funeral plans. Clarka's viewing would be Wed. night and funeral Thursday morning and burial that night. Chad's viewing would be Thursday night, Funeral Fri Morning and burial in Blanding Saturday morning. I was fine with taking Abby out of school and being there for all of it, but Grant had a Football game Thursday night and a Masters class Saturday Morning. So, we bought a plane ticket for Grant, and arranged for me and the kids to drive up with my dad early Wednesday morning.

My dad came to my house a little before 6am to pick us up. Grant was able to help feed and dress all the kids and see us off. The trip was actually pretty pleasant. Troy screamed a little bit at the beginning because he was so tired, but the girls had a great time coloring and watching movies. Gunnar slept the whole time and ever time we would stop, I would wake him up and nurse until it was time to leave again. We got to Provo just in time for my parents to go to Clarka's viewing. (My mom had flown up the day before to help my aunt with funeral arrangements and take care of the other 5 kids.) I stayed at the hotel and got the kids ready for Mikey's Mr. BYU competition. There's never a good time for a funeral, but we were glad that it happened during the same weekend as Mikey's competition. Although it was all a big joke, Mikey had put in a lot of time and was really excited about it. So, we were glad that we could be there for it. They did a lot of funny little dances, fitness round, poise round, talent, and Q&A. Mikey did great! He was very funny and did a great Jive dance for his talent. He didn't win, but we thought he was the best! After Mr. BYU, we went to eat with Mike, Scot, and Brittany. Then off to bed.

The next morning we went to Aunt Clarka's funeral. It was very nice and it was good to see all of my Peterson cousins. She was a great, great-aunt, and I will miss her a lot. After the funeral we had a nice time eating at the lovely reception the Relief Society prepared.

Then we headed to the BYU to tour campus, a tradition in the Bayles family. We went to the Cougar eat and got their famous brownies. While we were there, we noticed a poster with Mikey on it. And just a few posters away had a girl from the LaCrescenta Ward. Her name is Mariah, and she grew up with Mikey. So I had to take a picture of the 2 of them!

Mikey's on the far left

Why did I take a close up of Mariah's picture and not of Mikey's? Maybe because we have the flyer? Anyway, Mariah is the blonde with curly hair.

Here are the kids enjoying their brownies!

And playing under the table!

After finishing our brownies, we went to the bookstore and Grandpa bought sweatshirts for all the kids and their own mini Books of Mormon - case and all! Then we looked at dad's picture on the wall in the law building (along with my brother's, brother-in-law's, and uncles!) Then we took a ride up the canyon to see the fallen leaves. Then to Chad's viewing. The Pinkston family seemed to be doing really well. I lost it once I saw Chad's little siblings. But they all seemed very stoic. I guess they had spent the last few days mourning, and were ready to greet friends and family. After the viewing we went home and went to bed. It was a very long, but very special day.

Carmel Apples 10/18/09

2009-11-05T16:59:00.000-08:00

I'm trying real hard to be festive for each holiday. We put up the Halloween decorations and when I found a kit for making Caramel apples, I bought it. I even made a dinner in the pumpkin with the kids pumpkins from the farm. (Never got around to carving them, but a last minute trip to Utah kind of thwarted those plans). The kids did really well dipping the caramel and adding yummy toppings mostly by themselves!

Oldest first

Then Ashlin

And Troy wasn't waiting for help, he dove right in!

I even got to make one! Thanks, Ashlin, for capturing the moment. (Some times it seems like I wasn't present during these activities, because I'm the one taking the pics!)

The finished products. That's mine on the tray. Half nuts/half oreos.

BYU vs. SDSU 10/17/09

2009-11-05T16:21:00.000-08:00

Here's a random picture of Ashlin holding Gunnar!

Earlier this week I realized that BYU was Playing SDSU in San Diego. So we decided to make a family outing of it! When Grant got done with Football practice, we loaded up the car and headed down. We stopped in Oceanside at a food court to meet our friends, Todd and Anjie Bringhurst. We had a nice lunch with them, their boys, and their cousins. Then we continued on down to the stadium. My parents also got tickets, so we met them there.

The Clark family in Cougar gear!

It's a good thing Ashlin brought her coloring book, it helped entertain Grandpa!

Our seats were right in the middle of the sun. Luckily, the seats behind us were shaded by the stadium and no one was sitting in them. What could have been a miserable game was really quite pleasant. As the sun went down, the people sitting right in front of us eventually got the sun blazing on them, but we just missed it!

This is the same stadium where the Chargers play.

Troy did pretty well considering the game was right during his nap time. He loves holding Gunnar!

After the game we got the kids dressed in their jammies and then stopped at Taco Bell for dinner to go. The kids ate and eventually fell asleep. We made it back in under 2 hours. We had a pleasant drive listening to the Angels game. Oh, and BYU won!

Underwood Family Farms 10/09/09

2009-11-05T15:25:00.000-08:00

Ashlin and Troy's Parent-ed class took a trip to the Underwood Family Farms. I was a little worried about getting back in time to pick Abby up. So when the teacher sent Abby home from school on Thursday for a runny nose, I thought it best to keep her home the next day so she could "get better". So she got to come with us and we stayed as long as we wanted.

We went on a tractor ride to see all the vegetables.

Then the kids got to pick their own sugar pumpkin.

Gunnar was having a blast!

My little sunflowers

Ashlin felt like the other flower was too high for her, so she took a picture in the smaller one!

Then we went through the corn maze with Justin and his mommy, Kathryn. It was hard, but we made it to the middle hey stack!

Victorious: Abby, Ashlin, Justin, and Troy

Best Buddies! 10/05/09

2009-11-05T08:54:00.000-08:00

For some reason Abby's soccer practice got changed from Tuesday to Monday. And it just so happened to be at the exact same time and place as Brooke's practice. So after having a great time playing together and dumping that nasty red sand in each other's hair, I invited them all over for dinner. We had a yummy meal and then I gave all 5 kids a bath while Gina nursed her baby. They had so much fun together. I felt bad that they were at my house during "get ready for bed" time, so I got them all ready so they just needed to drive home. The kids felt like it was a slumber party.

Abby, Ashlin and Troy are so lucky to have such good friends in Brooke and Cami!

Gunnar's Blessing 09-27-09

2009-11-05T08:16:00.000-08:00

My little guy received a name and a blessing in church. Here he is in the special outfit that Troy wore as well. The white blanket in the back was given to me by my friend, Christy. She got it on a study abroad in Jerusalem. All 4 kids have been wrapped in it when they were blessed.

So handsome

Some of the priesthood had to leave immediately after the blessing due to illness and church responsibilities, so we were able to snag a picture of them all before the blessing.

Gr.Clark, Un. Brock, Dad, Gunnar, Un. D. Blood, Un. D. Bayles, Gr. Bayles

Dad and Grandpas

The family that came to support (and stuck around for the pics!) My Grandma White and Uncle Keith came as well.

The whole gang

Our cute little, big family!

3 Generations. Great Gr. White, Gr. Bayles, Mom, Gunnar

Loving parents!

Gr & Gr Clark

Our good friends, the Bringhursts, drove all the way up from Oceanside just in time to hear us all bear our testimony AFTER the blessing! Sorry Todd, maybe next time we'll FINALLY get you in the circle! We're just so glad they came. Since everyone was local, we just had the Bringhursts over for dinner and fun times letting the kids play. I'm really glad they could make, it made it really special.

A Fun Saturday 09-26-09

2009-11-05T07:35:00.000-08:00

We had a fun Saturday that started with Abby's soccer game. Grandma & Grandpa Clark were able to make it. We had the snack, so we brought the cooler and Troy loved riding on it!

Something upset Abby, but I forgot what.

After the game we stopped by Verdugo Hills Hospital to check out the safety fair. They had the Sky 2 Helicopter there. Troy loved it! And the girls got to climb in and take a peek.

These cars were torn in half by the "jaws of life"

Later that night Linda, Gunnar, and I went to the Relief Society broadcast preceded by a yummy dinner and food storage sampling. YUM!

Gunnar @ 2 months

2009-11-04T20:23:00.000-08:00

I ordered the typical hospital photos, and I guess they came with a free 8x10 when the baby was 6 weeks. After many scheduling issues, they guy finally made it to my house to take Gunnar's picture. It was quite and adventure. He set up this whole studio right in my living. And of course the other kids wanted to be in on the action. The photographer wouldn't ever touch Gunnar other than positioning his head and arms. So I had to hold him in place and hold Troy back at the same time. By the end, Troy was screaming and wanting to touch everything. So I knelt down, held Gunnar, and pinned Troy to the ground with my leg. Lots of fun! Next time we'll stick with Kiddie Kandids.

But he sure looks cute! A few weeks later and lady came to show me the pics. I told her I ONLY wanted the free 8x10. Of course, I got weaseled into buying 2 other poses. Something about the photoshopping that was done would apply to the free one. Gunnar had had a ton of baby acne, but not in these lovelies!

This one hangs on our wall, the other 2 are for the grandmas!

And here's Gunnar on his 2 month birthday. He weighed in at 14 lbs and 24 inches!

We love him for all his imperfections...baby acne and all!