MERRY CHRISTMAS!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! This year has been a great one! Our kids are growing and healthy and happy. Who could ask for more! We've had a little scare with the river possibly flooding and a dam breaking but it seemed to all pass and not affect this area to much. Sadly 6 houses washed away a little further south of here in Beaver Dam. Our hearts sure go out to those people. How devestating to lose your home right before Christmas.

At my parents Christmas party this year.. guess who was Santa? My dad. So the kids got some cute pics.

Amelia loved Santa so much!! She was so happy! And not afraid at all!

When we were leaving I said, "Trev were you so excited to see Santa?" And he said, "yeah, and Santa is Grandpa!" He now believes he is the luckiest boy in the world!
Mina doesn't believe in Santa anymore and promptly asked him for a broken leg in a sarcastic tone. (she is still pretty mad about the whole Santa thing) But she was happy that it was grandpa and that made her smile in the end!

We love all our family and friends and we would like to tell you all we love you and wish you a very Merrry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

Trev's Birthday Party!

This is Trev and his Dad!! Trev is now 4 years old! Can you believe it? He is growing so fast. He is such a good boy!! We sure love our Trev.


Here are pictures of his party!........

The presents...

The cupcakes and gift bags....

We had a dragon themed party and of course I forgot to get a picture of the awesome dragon pinata we had. But Trev saved the head and I found him hiding in his room (while his party was still going) playing with it. He was embarrassed so he hid his face.

Opening his many presents...dragons, dinosaurs, books, cars...lots of fun stuff.

That's our big boy!!! Happy Birthday Trevor Wayne! Your the best!

Great Life!

Our 3 beautiful kids. Sorry if it seems like I'm bragging...but seriously. Look at them!!!! How lucky are we? Blonde, Red and Brunette Beauties.

Well....fire season is over and Ty took off two weeks for Elk season and his sister Kassie's mission farewell. (She went to Costa Rica) Now that Ty will be around more, I enrolled in Real Estate school so I could help us find a house and any other family members that need a good deal too. I like it so far. My grandpa and dad and uncles were all in real estate so I figure it runs in the family. Mina is doing good in school and we found out today at parent-teacher conference that she has straight A's. She is a wonderful girl. She is growing up into such a sweet young lady. She has been helping out more and more without me asking. Isn't it wonderful when kids do that. Trev is cracking me up lately...yesterday after church I asked him what he learned about in class and he groaned at me and so I said "did you learn about Jesus" and he very annoyingly answered "yes...., AGAIN". Then we both just started laughing so hard. So funny! Amelia, is the happiest little girl and if she ever gets in trouble (she likes to draw on walls and furniture with markers for instance) she just tilts her head and starts meowing and saying I'm a kitty. It's so hard to stay mad at her after that. Great husband, great kids, great life!!

Blog Smog!

I admire my sister in law Jamie because she has a great blog. She always has something new and funny or witty or sad and emotional but she takes you on a daily journey. I just can't think of things to write about that often. And then I forget my camera all the time and then I wish I had something witty to say and then I wonder if anyone even looks at my blog and then I just don't update. So sometimes I wonder if I need a subject blog. Like Julie and Julia the movie. I would love ideas and or suggestions please. I would love to update people on our life, I just don't know what they would like to know. Ty fights fires and I stay home with the kids...that makes for kind of boring writing on my end of things anyway. I also write poems I could write about. Ideas, ideas, please. I will atleast tell you what my day is like today so far. I will make an attempt at explaining what's in my head.

Today, we woke up got Mina off to school and Trev and Mimi and I watched Balto and we are all still in our jammies and we are about to watch the Rescuers Down Under. I am tired today, and this is what happens when I am tired. Ty has been gone a week and will be gone another week on a fire. He was also gone in Idaho for 2 and a half weeks and in Arizona for 3 weeks and has been gone alot. Needless to say, it has been a long summer and I really miss him. But we went to Oceanside a week and a half ago and had an awesome family break time. I think we will do that every summer in the middle of summer. We found a great little hotel walking distance from the beach and one of our favorite little harbor areas. We have such a great family and when we have to be apart so much, it can do one of two things. I have found for us that the distance makes us stronger. I have watched many other fire families struggle and even seperate or get divorced. Its all about how we choose to look at it.
I always tell the kids how hard there dad is working and that he misses us so much. We tell eachother how proud we are of eachother. I know that when he has to worry about us it affects his work and he needs to be focused mentally so I don't really tell about any problems that aren't necessary. It just makes us miss eachother so much and fall deeper in love. When he is gone we have incredible talks on the phone and have lots of realizations. What I try to avoid entirely is resentment about the time he spends away. Because that is the sliver I have seen fester and break apart relationships. He is always thinking of us and every thing he does he is doing for us, so I am very grateful. We want to celebrate our relationship more and more as time goes on. Ty and I are really wanting to try to get away for a long alone time somewhere tropical in the next year. So I am filling out our passports and starting the process. In November it will be 12 years we have been married. We have realized that we need to have more fun and create more memories besides Dad works alot and mom is grouchy cuz she needs a mommy break. lol. We are just getting older and life is too short not to enjoy it.
So everyone Enjoy!

Our 3rd blessing!

Amelia

Amelia is our 3rd child and our princess baby! She is a girlie girl and lately loves flowers in her hair, dresses or swimsuits and nail polish. She also loves shoes!! Our other kids won't wear shoes no matter what. But Amelia loves shoes and the fancier the better. Pink or Highheels.
She has a tender heart and loves babies and barbies. She kisses them constantly and says "dey so coot" They so cute for translation.
She loves her swimsuits she has 5 and will let me know which one she wants to wear that day. Or she'll take me to her closet and point to the dress. She already has an opinion on what she wants to wear.
She is the mellowest child so far...she is a trooper on hikes or shopping or any other adventure. She doesn't complain and she just smiles and has fun. She is very positive and complimentary with her limited vocabulary and always says please, thank you, your welcome and sorry.
She is always doing very feminine hand gestures and it cracks me up. Especially the way she brushes her hair out of her face. So girlie!!
She is definitely a daddy's girl and she loves her siblings too. As girlie as she is she can wrestle with Trevor and hold her own. But when she does get hurt she'll say "Trebor hug me" or "Trebor kiss it better"...which he does. She is the only one who can get Trevor out of a grumpy mood. I think her and Trev were best of friends in heaven and she wanted to come down here to play with him as soon as she could. That's why we love our little surprise baby Amelia so much!

Our second born!

TREVOR

Trevor is our second born and he is the sweetest manly boy you'll ever meet. He loves his dad and sisters so much. Oh and his mom too. And he tells us all that daily. He also tells me daily that I'm his best friend. And when he does it he will gently put his hand on my shoulder. He is so cute.
Trevor is especially close with his sister Amelia. They are best friends and he watches out for her and when she won't play with him he gets really sad. And then Amelia hugs him and then he'll say "Mom I so happy now"!!
Trevor likes to get people laughing. Until I was his teacher in the sunbeams I didn't realize how much but I found out quickly that he likes to be the class clown. He loves making people smile and laugh and has such a good heart! He doesn't like people to be upset or sad and he always cheers us up.
Trevor loves to ride his bike outside. He is very athletic and loves to be going all the time. And when he is tired, he is tired. And then he is all about laying down and watching a movie while he twirls his hair and sucks his thumb. He has to have his down movie time. And he will let us know when this time is.
When he goes to gramma and grampa Nelsons house this is his favorite place to be. In their bed relaxing watching cartoons. He loves going to gramma and grampa's house. Here he is with his cousins showing them how to live life in the Trevy way.
Here is an older picture of Trevor cracking us all up. He is Harry Potter in this picture. He also likes to put q-tips in his ears and be shrek. He is the light of our lives. His sweet sweet spirit is a reminder of how many prayers it took to get him here. We love our Trevy boy.

Let me tell you about our first born.

MINA

These are our 3 beautiful children...Mina 9 Trevor 3 and Amelia 2. I am going to tell you a little more about Mina right now.

She can be very girlie but she is not afraid to get dirty either. She is quite adventurous.
Mina loves to strike a pose. She just got her ears pierced and she likes doing her make up and changing clothes a bunch of times a day...
Mina has a beautiful smile!
Mina loves taking pictures of flowers like this picture she took when we went camping. She has loved flowers her whole life. She also collects rocks and she has found some incredible ones.
Mina also loves to paint and be creative...she is very confident in her taste and style.
Mina has an awesome sense of humor. It's witty and sarcastic and she can hold her own even with adults. She cracks me up.
Mina prefers to sleep in.
Mina is a wonderful older sister and she helps me so much with the other two kids when her dad is gone. This was on a hike we did up at zion. Mina is quite the hiker and very athletic.
She wants to be a singer and actress someday. She likes becoming characters and diving right in. She is quite theatrical and a little dramatic at times. Her and her friends lured a bunch of neighborhood kids into the bathroom and she jumped out of the shower like this. Some parents told me their kids had nightmares. She was maybe a little too good.
This was Mina right after she got her ears pierced. She is one tough cookie. She didn't cry. We love her so much. She was our first and only baby for a long time and we don't know what we would ever do without her.

Trev did it!!!!

Let me tell you about my sweet Trevor! He is a homebody and loves helping his mom and dad and making sure Amelia is ok. He loves it when I pick up Mina from school and loves cuddling with mom or dad. He is an absolute optimist. He is very positive about life in general except for one thing that is. You see he has a "going potty phobia". Somehow he just got himself psyched out and couldn't ever go on the potty. He is 3 and a half and has never gone pee on the potty until today!!! He has held it for a record 7 hours until he was almost sick. He cries and says I can't do it over and over. It's been so exhausting. But today we stuck it out for about 7 hours again and he did it.!!! His face lit up and he smiled so big and you could tell he realized so much in that instant. It changed the way he viewed life I think. We made a huge fuss and he is so proud of himself. He has been walking around like the big man on campus. Good job Trev!!!

Still Potty training...yes you heard me.

Why is potty training so hard with my little ones. I remember Mina being a breeze. She got it in one day. Eventually this will work but wow is it taking forever. Wish me luck.

Potty Training!!!

Ok...so I've kind of had it with the parents that are like...oh it was so easy. It is not easy ok. Especially when your doing more than one at a time. I'm waiting for Trev to "get it" and meanwhile I think hey wait a minute I might be missing Amelia's "get it" window. So I'm doing both to see who "gets it" first. lol! Well that answer is...Neither. But I'll just keep trying til something happens.

So here they are in front of the tv cuz I couldn't get them to stay in the bathroom for very long. And with a cartoon on they will sit on those things for hours. Good idea right? No, not really when they get up after sitting there for an hour and pee on the floor right next to it. Ugh. Eventually this has to work. Right?

More birthday's! What a weekend!

I would first like to say that today is my moms birthday! Happy birthday Grandma!!! We love you!!

I really wish I was a better picture taker. Ty and I both just completely forget when it comes to the camera and when we finally remember we take one picture of everyone that's there at the moment and then the camera gets put down and that's it. If we remember at all. So of course I have no picture of my birthday. lol! I'm pretty sure some of the Archers(cousins)do tho.
So on the 26th, my birthday, this is what I did... Ty watched the kids while I went to the gym then had breakfast waiting when i returned home. Then we all got ready and he took me to lunch then shopping with the whole family. I got a new swimsuit and a few other things. Then my cousins had a movie marathon night planned so they also made it a birthday party for me. Britney made homemade pizza and cake and they sang and I blew out the candles. I haven't done that in years. It was so fun and awesome!!! Thank you everyone for a great birthday and the texts and facebook messages. It was one of the best birthdays I have ever had.
Now on the 27th we had more family gatherings with Matt & Heather Nelson stopping by and it was Mathew Jrs birthday. So we had more gatherings at a cupcake joint and then Jumping jacks! So much fun! Then my parents babysat while Ty and I went to AVATAR! What a great movie! But my brother in law Jake was right...if you've seen Dances with Wolves and Fern Gully then you've seen AVATAR. Lol! But it was still cool but we did get a little motion sick from the 3D.
Now Sunday the 28th, Amelia's birthday. We went to church and then came home and got ready for the party. All the cousins and family came over and we had a great time catching up and having hotdogs and cake! Thank you everyone for coming! It was a great time and Amelia had a blast! Love to you all! Here are some of the pictures I got from the party!
The birthday girl Amelia!!!!

Heather and Jake helping her with her new toys!

Dad helping her with her new trike!

Although she loved all her gifts she really loved her new trike!!!

Mom, Dad, Matt and John!

Bailey, Jake and Samantha!

Bailey and Sam!

Trevor slept through the whole party!

Ian and Mathew!

Amelia and Mina!

This was a few days before but I thought it was so cute you all had to see it. Our sweet dog named Monkee!!!

Birthday week!!!

My extended family has tons of birthdays this time of year. But in our family alone there is one crazy week of birthdays. Mina is the 23rd mine the 26th and Amelia's is the 28th. Poor Ty he has alot of presents to buy. Anyways, We celebrated Mina's at a bowling alley this year. It is an old one that's been around since the 50's but that's what makes it awesome. Happy Birthday Mina! 9 years old.


This is Mina with her fancy hair after aunt Lacey braided it wet and we left it overnight!

Alot of friends bowling!

Daddy helping the girls figure it out.

Signing the pin they gave her for having her party there. That was a cool bonus!

Trev and Monkee were enjoying the party too!

Everyone say cheese! Mina opening her presents!

This was a great birthday! (Above) crimped hair. (Below) braided hair. She preferred braided but I couldn't duplicate the braids so we improvised and crimped.

My beautiful 9 year old girl!

Tired for church!

Ready to go...dodging the camera!

Awww! Daddy and Monkee almost 2 years old.