Holly's Baptism Day

 Holly was Baptized today!!  No one can really prepare you for your first child getting baptized.  Chris and I thought we knew the routine and knew what to do, but come to find out we weren't entirely prepared. Today was a Stake Baptism day, however Holly turned out to be the only child getting baptized today-so that turned out really neat for her to have her own personalized baptism.  Being the only child getting baptized is very rare in Rexburg too.  We were told that this is the first time that has happened.  So-I was happy that Holly felt very special today.  Holly wasn't even nervous.  Chris on the other hand, was nervous!  Holly had to be "dunked" 3 times.  Chris messed up the 1st time,  Holly's big toe came up the 2nd time, and the 3rd was it.  Afterwards, Holly said "That was fun!" I think she was feeling really good!  Then Chris confirmed Holly.  We were able to hear some great remarks from our Bishop and he commented on his interview with Holly and how she is such a sweet little girl.  It was a great moment and of course I was crying.  We had some of the Jones Family there and our friends here in Rexburg.  I'm thankful for those who came and made it a special day for Holly. 

Holly and I went shopping Friday night together to get her Baptism dress.  It was a fun night out with my girl.

We're having a GIRL!!!

We found out today that we are having a GIRL. The due date is still July 8th, 2012.  I thought for sure I was having a boy.  My intuition was wrong-BTW first time for that.  I wasn't disappointed that we are having another girl, I was disappointed that I was wrong this time.  We had a boy name picked out, but Chris and I can't agree on a girl name.  Now we need to figure out bedroom situations for the girls.  Carson was hoping for a brother, but he's excited about another little sister and he doesn't have to share his room or toys.  But- Carson did say he would share his blankets with his baby sister anyway.  Carson has been very excited about this pregnancy-it's cute.  The Doctor told me that the baby is small for 21 weeks (in the 35%), which is fine, but normally my babies have been big.  So-maybe I'll get lucky with a smaller baby, it helps that I'm eating better this pregnancy.  We are excited to meet our baby girl in July. 

Montana trip

Since Chris and I both didn't have to work on Monday we decided to take a trip to Bozeman, MT to visit Jason and Nicole.  Montana is beautiful!  I love the surrounding mountains.  It snowed a couple inches-just enough to go sledding. The kids had so much fun sledding-we were out there for 2 hours.

 Carson kept going for 2 hours straight.

 Shelby liked eating the snow!  Don't worry it was clean!

 Holly and I went down together and went over a couple rocks and popped the tube.  OK-it was my first run down and I already feel fat being 20weeks pregnant.

Look at the hole in that tube!

After sledding we walked around on main street.  I loved the history of main street.  But we drove past a classic car junk yard.  Chris had to go.

 Carson went up to this Ford and knew what it was and that it's his Daddy's favorite car!

 Chris really liked this '42 Ford-since he's never seen one before (except in magazines). 

 Our family picture!  Shelby was sleeping or else that would have been perfect for Christmas pictures!!

Chris and Jason were enjoying themselves!  There was some jeep stuff too- which Jason liked.

Then on Mon. we took the kids to the Dinosaur park.  It was pretty cold, so we didn't stay that long.

 Shelby loved swinging.  Her hands were frozen, but she cried when I took her out because she wanted to keep swinging.

Jason was pushing the bigger kids on the tire swing.  They all got dizzy from it, but had lots of fun!!

Then we went and ate on main street.  After that it was time for us to head back home.  We hit a snow storm on our way home in Yellowstone and Island Park.  It was difficult to see anything with the snow blowing so hard, but we made it home safely.  We had a fun weekend and got to see where Nicole and Jason live and enjoy Montana in the winter.  I can't wait to go back in the Summer though.

Holly's 8th Birthday

I can't believe Holly is 8.  It's a very exciting age.  Holly's getting ready to get baptized soon.  So on her B-day I made her favorite food for dinner.  Which was: Salmon, mac n cheese, and asparagus.  Ok-the asparagus isn't one of her favorite foods, but I told her she needs to have a veggie with dinner.  Then we took Holly out for frozen yogurt.

I love this stinker face that Shelby is making.  She loves sweets. 

Then we let Holly open presents from mom and dad.

Holly got her very own scriptures with her name on them from us.  She was very excited because she has been wanting her own scriptures for a while. 

Then Holly had her B-day party on Sat. Feb. 11th-she wanted a Wizard of Waverly Place party.  So-we made wizard hats, played games, did magic tricks for her friends, made edible wands, and drank some potions that made us do something silly.  Of course the girls ate lots of sugar.  It was a fun wizard party.

 I did wizard hat cupcakes instead of a cake.

 All the girls posing with their wizard hats.

 Grandpa Jones doing a magic trick.

                                           Opening presents. 

It was a fun week for Holly.  Now we need to prepare for her Baptism day.

Carson's 5th Birthday

Today is Carson's Birthday.  He was so excited about his birthday that he couldn't sleep the night before.  He came in my room and stood on my side of the bed at 11:30 PM telling me he can't sleep.  Then this morning he was running around the house and got dressed all on his own.  After he was dressed he told me he was going outside to see if anyone was here for his party.  I told him his party was at 1PM and no one will be here at 9:30 AM.  He couldn't sit still!  He also has a hard time realizing that he is 5 now.  I guess that could be confusing when for an entire year he told people he was 4 and now he has to tell people he's 5.  But he said he is a big boy now.  Carson had a Monster Jam party-we prepared for it this entire week and he told me exactly what he wanted at his party and what kind of cake.  I even made him pass out his own invitations.  Here's some pictures of the party today.

 Here's the Grave Digger Cake that I made.  It was lots of fun making-so much better than buying a cake and cheaper too.

 First the kids started off with designing their own monster truck.

 Then we did races in the Monster trucks that Chris and I made.  They had an obstacle course where they raced each other.

 Then they did Freestyle racing where they just got to beat up the track and destroy stuff.  Then we stacked up the boxes and the kids crashed through the boxes while in the monster trucks. 

 Singing and cake

 Presents next.  All the kids wanted to help with that!  Some of the kids wanted to bring Carson's presents home with them.

Carson with all his stuff he got.  He looks pretty worn out from all the excitement in this picture! 

Then Chris took Carson for a cruise in the Duster and they went all over town, but Carson slept!  Then after dinner we took Carson out for ice cream.  It's a tradition of ours that on the kids birthday we take them out for ice cream.  Instead of DQ like we usually do, we went to KiwiLoco and got frozen yogurts instead.  Carson didn't mind either way-he still got his chocolate "ice cream" and got it all over his face too.  So much excitement for one day-but I know he had a great birthday and can now tell everyone he's 5.  Happy Birthday Carson!! We love you Carsonboy!!!!

My Birthday

It was nice that we all had the day off.  We went ice fishing with my family.  Nicole and Jason were here and it was a beautiful sunny day.  Yeah it was cold, but it was a nice day. 

 My Dad caught most of the fish, but had more fun making the holes with the auger.

 Carson caught a pretty big fish on his pole. 

 Here I am basking in the sun!  And I actually did get sunburned.

Here's a picture of Chris and Jason with the kids watching the planes take off nearby.  That was pretty neat to watch the planes flying so close. 

After ice fishing we watched the Rose Parade and ate lunch. Then later we went to Olive Garden in Idaho Falls with my parents.  Then it was too late to go out shopping, so we did that the next weekend.  Chris always tries to make my birthday a big deal for me.  He's so sweet about that.  I went shopping at Kohl's and got some clothes that I can wear for awhile during the pregnancy.  We had a fun couple weekends.   

December pictures

Chris and I take pictures with our phones a lot and post stuff on facebook, but then I forget to post them on my blog. So here are a few pictures.

 Here is a picture of Holly's Christmas program that she had at school.  I wasn't working that day so I was so excited that I could go to it.  Carson wanted to sit in the front row and Shelby was dancing and clapping during the performance. 

 We went to the store and got the car cart.  This is Shelby's first time sitting in the car cart.  I think she likes it.  She was screaming and laughing with her brother because she was so excited. 

 Putting the 45 Dodge truck away for the winter, but Chris is planning on working on it up at the college.  The kids helped us push it back under the barn. 

Here is a picture of Shelby's first steps!!  She decided to start walking on Wed. Dec. 21st when our good friend Andrew Plummer was over visiting.  She just got up and started walking.  We were all so surprised and started cheering and clapping.  She was very proud of herself.  Chris had his phone on him and started taking pictures and video.  Now she is starting to walk more, but still crawls too.