EJ Walks

Thats right ladies and gentlemen Eliza is officially a biped. She has been for a couple of weeks now. She tried to walk on Nov 13 and mastered it by Nov 21.

what have we been up to

Riley discovered the photo booth on the computer. He will spend hours play with the pictures. He sets up the shot, take the picture and if it is not to his liking he will do it again. He will spend hours taking pics with the old ditigal camera that we gave him also. Its fun to see some of the pics he takes.

Craig and I finally received church callings. Craig is the Young Men's Adviser and I am the 1st counselor in the Primary. Craig has a good bunch of boys to work with. Boys will be boys but they are very polite respectful and willing to help with anything. To beat it all I think they all want to be at church.

I have never worked in the Primary but am excited to do so. The kids don't know what to think of me, however. The Primary Pres. is sweet and soft spoken so when I use my stern Mommy voice the kids look at me with surprise. Like I told Criag, I say please only once. I am so glad I became a mom before I was called to work in the Primary. After Riley and Eliza the primary children don't scare me anymore. Don't get me wrong, the kids are great, just a little rowdy. I am going to try to work on my Mommy voice an make it sound not so mean.

And about the house. Hopefully we will sign the papers on Friday. Debt here we come.

WVa

Went to West Virginia for my Great Grandma's funeral. The only grandparent I had the pleasure to know. I have come to the conclusion that funerals are long and I don' want one. A grave side service is enough for me. Of course by that time I'll be dead and really won't care. Funerals are for the living anyways. I got to see my family. I hand't seen them in 2yrs. It was so nice to be around them again. Nana would have liked that. I miss them already.

Cousins: Wesley, Hailey, Jacklyn, Riley, Abby, Isabella and Eliza

The Fam: Julian, Nikki, Amber, Nina, John, Della, and John

My not so little, little Brother Julian. (13yrs.)

Trouble comes in threes.

(they are all close in age with Riley being the oldest)

"Are you joking?"


King of the Mountain!!
Never thought I could love a car so much.
What were we thinking?!
It was worth it!

We went on a little vacation this past weekend to Pocatello. It was fun to get away from Rexburg, and responsibility. We swam in the Hotel pool, went off roading (yikes) and walked through a small zoo.

Riley really liked the pool. "Shwim" "Shwim" every five minutes. He only liked to play on the stairs, or riding on mine or Craig's back. Oh, and splashing Eliza.

I thought that the driving trails in Pocatello would be like in Rexburg. Nice and flat. Boy was I wrong. Pocatello is at the foot of the Rockies, there is not flat land. I thought this little trip would be ok to do on Sunday not stressful, just a nice car drive. The trails was in Blackrock and Chinese Mountain WMA. (Mountain wasn't enough of a warninig of what was to come.) The farther we went the steeper the trail become until I thought the Isuzu was going to flip backwards or on its side. Of course it didn't but it sure felt like it. There wasn't even trees to block the view of how steep we were just miles and miles of sagebrush. There were screaming, crying and nauseous tummies. That was just me. Everyone else was laughing. Craig laughed because it was fun and he was nervous, Riley laughed because Craig laughed and Eliza laughed because Riley laughed. I was the only one having a anxiety attack. By the time we reach the ridge line, I was physically spent. (I also hiked up one of the hills and record Craig driving. Eliza was on my back in a hiking pack. Riley was smart he didn't want to walk he wanted to ride.) I was beautiful once we reached the top. I have never seen Idaho so green. The rest of the off-roading trip was fun once I relaxed a bit. The trail was steep but part of my fear was having the kids in the car and "what if" something happened. I've heard it said that God protects Fools Children and the United States. We had all three in our corner. Heavenly Father sure knows that I was praying the whole time.

Monday we went t the zoo. Riley wasn't very interested in some of the exhibits because the animals were asleep. He really liked the petting zoo. He loved feeding the goats, donkey's and cows. He spent 20mins there. It was a wonderful vacation. I never want to take a vacation that will take away time I spend with my family or stress me out so bad that it is not fun. Any vacation that is full of distracting noises, flashing lights or pulls a family in too many directions is damaging to the family is in direct contrast to what Heavenly Father wants for my family.

I have no idea how to put a movie from Picasa on the blog. When I learn you'll see what we saw.

Eliza is 10 months! She has grown twice as fast as Riley did. Not crawling yet but sure is trying. She can now push herself backwards. Riley is now trying to use the potty. He does well getting to the potty with no accidents. The boy has a memory like a steel trap. He listens to the primary CD during the day and at night. He begins to sings the songs from memory in no time. His favs are Follow the Prophet, Listen Listen, I know my Father lives, I Hope They Call Me on a Missison (which he began singing during Sacrament Meeting) and of course Pop Corn Popping. He says his own prayers that I can never understand.

Craig works, comes home and works some more. He is just about finished with his little red scooter. He is receiving a calling soon... We'll see on Sunday what it is. He bought more three more fish and a little frog which I found dead today. Poor little thing. We didn't get to name him. He is now receiving more responsibility at work by helping with closing the store.

I am giving a talk Sunday. It has been three years since my last talk. I was pregnant with Riley and had just moved to Rexburg. It would be poetic if we moved out of Rexburg after my talk. I don't mind staying in Rexburg a little longer. It's a wonderful family community. Where else in the country do are there public meetings on how to combat pornography and people actually attend. Where else gets regular visits from prophets, and apostles. Having the temple 2 mins away isn't bad either. I not saying I want to live here forever, but if the Lord wants us here longer that's alright by me.

I'm babbling aren't I. I have become embarrassed about writing on the blog. That and I have less time to do write now. Riley thinks he must be on the computer all the time. He can turn on the computer, get on the Internet and find PBS kids home page by himself. Then he'll sit and play for an hour. He learned just by watching me. He is one smart kid.

Up date

Eliza and Riley are doing well part from a cold. Eliza figured out how to clap her hands. She also actually plays with toys, something Riley rarely ever did. He still doesn't play with toys much. Riley loves the ipod and playing PBSkids games on line. He knows how to get on the computer and find his games. He also likes to play the games on lds.org. They both get excited when I turn on signing time. Craig and I are doing well. We went to Jackson Wy, a couple of weeks ago. I thought my head was going to explode as we travel through the Teton pass. That's one impressive mountain. Other then that we haven't did too much but watch movies. We miss family and hope some day we can move closer to both sides. I didn't have much desire to move close to family until Craig's graduation. Seeing both parents reminded me how nice it is to have family close. Some day we'll be close.

Eight months old!
Modling the new cloth diapers.
Hold Me! Hold Me!

more boxes and also some bucket hats

boxes

We have a lot of fun with old diaper boxes. Daddy had the idea to tie a power cord to the box. We then made a two seater so sister can ride with big brother.

Kids

Eliza is now 6 months and 15lb. She is sitting up by herself and beginning to eat solid foods. Riley likes to help feed her. Sometimes she eats better for him then for me. Right now she prefers veggies to fruit. Riley is about 23lbs. He seems to think he must have his fingers pointing or making signs in pictures.