LIfe seems to be flying by, but our family has been so busy it feels like a whilrwind! We have gone camping and jet skiing twice, made two different trips to my homeland (aka so. calif) and Disneyland and we survived a very fun Halloween. In the middle of it all Angela has gotten engaged to Stuart, and they will marry on December 27th. I'm honored to be making Angela's wedding dress and the girl's bridesmaids dresses! I am so very excited for Angela and Stuart, and happy to know they will be moving back to AZ just before they get married! Fun stuff, for sure. Also, Spencer received his mission call! He will be serving in the St. Louis, Missouri mission and reports to the MTC on February 4th. I am so excited for him, his mission is huge and it is a beautiful part of the country. I am so very proud of my kids, they are a joy in my life. They're good ones, all of them! Here are some pictures of the above events... and yes, those are my kids at grandma Call's house riding her broom. No, she wasn't home at the time... ssshhhh..

So, in July Austin and I took the littles to a train park and museum in Scottsdale. It is too hot for the out door parks right now, but the kids had begged and begged to go to the park for weeks. So, we decided to go in the afternoon and go to the train park. We went for a fun train ride and the kids had lots of fun. But it was really hot.
Honestly, I saw this fat lady sitting there in the picture and I started working out two days later. Really, true story.


This is just super cute.


The twins rarely want to dress alike anymore, and now that they are big enough to get their own clothes it's fine with me. BUT this day was different. They searched for matching shirts and shorts and walked around the house together showing everyone that they matched. So cute.


Aaron is by far more independent than Rachel or Benjamin. He loves to just go for it. He will lay down and fix his own pillow and cover himself with his own blanket without fuss. Rachel wants her "woobie flat on top of her" and Benjamin will fuss until his things are just right. Aaron climbed up this very tall playground and was happy to do it without help.


Benjamin is very cautious, though fun loving. He wanted to climb up, but was emotional and wanted Dad right close by just in case.


Here's the three inside one of the trains they have on display.


The next night Austin and I went to Beatlemania with Austin's brother, Brad and wife Maria.


Here's a picture of the fake beatles. It was a pretty good show, and lots of fun to get out with adult family!

Last week we heard from Luke, who let us know he has decided to go back to school and will be moving in with his dad! This is GREAT news and I am so happy for his good choice! He goes back to California tomorrow. Angela came home for a week before going back up to BYU for school and we were able to have a full family dinner on Sunday for the first time since Christmas! I was so excited I could hardly eat. After dinner we took some family pictures. Here's some of them.








That's about it for now but we're taking the littles on an overnight camp out tomorrow so I will have more pictures soon. The teenagers were invited but they would rather do teenager things...

Okey Dokey!! It's been forever since I have posted, but life has been INSANE busy! Here's a quick update with pictures of what we've been up to since I last posted...

First, Luke was told by the school to not come any more so, you guessed it, he stopped going. I do not know if he will go this coming school year or not, it is up to him. I can't force that kid or talk sense into him so it's up to him. Sounds lame? Maybe but until you've walked in my shoes don't go there. He's a great kid who is making poor choices.

Next, Spencer graduated from High School!!! It poured down rain on his graduation day but there was NOTHING that could get me to leave until the whole ceremony was over! I swear, I don't think I have ever screamed that loud for that long before! I am one proud mama! Here's a picture...




After that Rachel turned 4 years old! Yippee! here's a picture of her with her princess cake...




Now, here's some crazy news. I had found my birth mom 12 or so years ago. (not that I don't totally love my family but I needed to know where I came from and medical history, etc.) So after meeting her she had told me the name of my birth father. After 12 years of looking I found him! Living, of all places, in Orange, California. Geesh. So we made a trip out to Calif to meet him in person. He and his wife are very nice, good people. Another positive experience. Here's a picture of him with Austin, the kids and I.



Now, you probably notice Austin's beard... Well, through all of this we have been in a play! Austin, Robin, Rachel, Aaron, Benjamin and I were in 1856 The Musical and I was totally in charge of costumes for 200 people! What a job! Anyhow, we were able to perform here in Mesa and in Utah. It was so much fun, we learned so much, made so many great friends and had a blast! Rachel found a little boyfriend along the way, too. His name is Brad, he is the boy in several of the pictures below. While we were in Utah, we went to the Zoo, which is one of my all time favorite zoo's ever! You can get so close to the animals it is amazing! Here are some pictures from the zoo and from the play both back stage and on stage. One of the pictures is of my Mom, my Aunt Margaret and my cousin Sherrie! They came to see the play while we were in Utah. Fun times!



This is a great picture of Rachel and Brad. We were at the zoo.



See how close we are to the giraffe?



This is in the green room before a show. Below are more pictures from 1856.










Austin looks like Jesus...




This super cute picture of Aaron was taken on July 4th. We went to a BBQ/cast party with the 1856 gang. Most of the kids went swimming in the pool, but Aaron - who refused a bathing suit - found the water weenie and went to town. He had so much fun we bought one the next day. They have been having a blast in the water all the time now! These next pictures are of some random lady who gave her kids sparklers in their cul-de-sac late at night on the 4th. I don't know who would break the law and get her kids involved, but it looks like they had some firework fun! Really, I do miss the old days when we could light fireworks in the street and watch the neighbors do the same. Then there are the kids with bottle rockets and those who throw fire crackers. Those guys were cool, too. I wish my kids could have those memories as well. HECK! LOOK! They can! minus the neighbors... and until the FD come to tell us to quit. Hee hee.







This last picture is one we took in Salt Lake at the theatre. They had a professional photo thing between the shows on Saturday. We told Robin to meet us there but she didn't come (says she didn't know...) anyhow we took pics and this one came out pretty cute.

Ok, so I'm not a fan of dumb people. The principal at the local high school is a dumb person. He is so set on winning plaques for his wall that the "average" student falls through the cracks. Aside from that, the school gets a new football field and track every summer. That's where their money goes, instead of on programs for kids who need it or could use a little encouragement. They lost the FFA program 2 years ago because the Ringmaster wanted to spend the money on football. Yes, I said football. So I have issues with him... BUT... today has to be the best example of his dumbness.

So, yesterday I called Luke when he was at school. I figured his phone would go to VM and I'd leave a message. He picked up the phone, he was in class. His teacher didn't accept that it was his mom and he was worried it was an emergency. She didn't let him explain and sent him to the office. He asked if he could turn in his homework before he left and she said no. So Luke sat in the office yesterday durring that class. This morning the VP called to tell me the principal wanted to pull Luke out of the class for the day as punishment for using his phone in class. I told him I was the one who called, the teacher didn't let him explain, Luke already spent class time in the office the day before and Luke wasn't allowed to turn in his homework. I said they can't pull him out of class, he will fall further behind. I told them to keep him afterschool or punish him durring study hall but pulling him out of class would not be educationally beneficial for him, or any student. The VP (further known as the puppet) said no, the principal (aka ringmaster) said to pull him out of class so THEY CAN TALK TO HIM ABOUT WHY HE IS FALLING BEHIND! I am so shocked that an educational establishment is so backwards that they can't see their job is to TEACH the kids, not pull them out of class when they fall behind.

Now, I'm not saying it was OK for Luke to use his phone in school. I'm saying he was already punished for that yesterday. Then I talked to him about it yesterday afterschool. I told him to keep it off and I will leave a message when I need him to call me back. I swear, if he was the school quarterback they would buy him a phone and let him use it whenever he wanted at school.

Ok, I'm off my soapbox.

Seems as soon as something eventful happens something else happens before I get a chance to sit here and write about it! Sorry, but I'll have to pick and choose a few things with time available and just hit some highlights for awhile as life is strangly more hectic than usual these days.

So, our house is still for sale. Currently it's a mess so I'm hoping no one will want to see it until I can catch up. That's a joke because I probably won't catch up until someone calls to see it... it's a vicious cycle. We're still waiting to hear from the bank on the house we bid on, but that's starting to not look so good so we're going out tomorrow to see what else is out there. Who knows what we'll find but it is fun to look anyway.

We auditioned for the play "1856 The Musical" last Saturday. Austin, Robin, Rachel, Aaron, Benjamin and I did anyway. Robin tried out for the lead teen girl role and Rachel auditioned for the youngest child in the lead family. Austin, the twins and I are happy to be in the ensemble cast. Hee hee. Should be fun, something to do together and you can't get more wholesome than this so we'll all stay out of trouble. I'll add pictures for your viewing pleasure.

I'm busy as a bee making some red sequined mini corsets for Rachel's dance class costumes. Their show is in April and their costume came back SO plain I couldn't stand it. I decided to talk to the teacher and dance studio owner and VOLUNTEERED (yes, I'm so stupid) to make one for each girl in the classes costume. There are 10 girls. I'm almost half way done. I'll share pictures of the girls in costume when it's all done so you can see how much cuter they are with some bling.

Oh geeze, I've been attacked by screaming, hanging savages and have to end. Enjoy the pictures!

So, this morning the kids and I were going about our normal business of breakfast, dressing, etc when I got a phone call. It was a realestate agent who had a client who wants to see our house this afternoon. Total and instant panic attack hit me as I spent yesterday making valentines with the littles - which invlolved felt, googlie eyes and glue. Glue that was still on the kitchen counter and felt bits that were still all over the floor, etc. Since we had so much fun doing that, other things didn't get done so I was WAY behind. I made a mad dash to clean like a maniac and decided (after conversation with Austin who gave me better perspective on the matter) that I would dedicate one hour to cleaning up and that's it. You see, I grew up in a house that was never clean enough (though it was spotless) and had the example of my mom, who is an amazing mom, who cleans everything and anything in her path. I will never measure up to that but, I guess because it's how I was brought up it's, in my mind, the standard to reach for. Funny, I know but we all have hang ups LOL. So, as I was cleaing the glue off the countertops I remembered way, w a y, back when my brother, his then girlfriend (now wife) and I had a garage sale. His girlfriend and I had a fun time chatting and such outside with the stuff, making fun of the people who offered us .05 for something we paid $50 for. What a joke. Anyhow, my brother kept dissapearing and when we asked him what's up he told us it was hard to watch people go through his things, even if he was willing to part with them. Although I understood what he was saying then, I don't think I grasped the feeling until today when people I don't know are going to go through my house when I'm not here. AARRGGG! I'm ok with it, I want to sell the house but it is awkward to say the least. So the kids are back from school and sitters, the house is clean enough and we have an hour to kill before we need to leave. I'm hoping I can keep the littles in a bubble until then so they don't drag every toy in the house all over the place. For those of you who know my littles that is a joke as they are into everything, all the time, no matter what. They won't stay in a bubble. :) But I love them and their curious ways.

So, like always we've been very, very busy! We put out house up for sale, which means TONS of work to do. There is way too much to keep clean and I'm freaking out but it's ok. Spencer had his wisdom teeth taken out last week (thus the swollen face picture) and we gutted the upstairs bathroom. Our two helpers were nice enough to make sure we were doing a great job by playing in the new vanity cabinet. Ben and Aaron are drinking out of sippy or straw cups now instead of bottles and life, in general, is crazy. Jamie performed in the super bowl half time show (she wasn't directly on tv) she was one of Tom Petty's fans out there with flash lights. The lady who used to clean my house moved back to Mexico so I hired one of her relatives to do a "deep clean" on my house. Two days after working hard she still missed things I had on a list for her so more on my plate to do. We hope to hear today if our offer was accepted on another home. Talk about anxious! Here are some pictures to share.

The brothers with their straw cups. So exciteing!


This was too cute not to share. Benjamin and Casey were watching TV together.


Aaron and Benjamin were great project overseers! Yes, 2 months later Ben is still wearing his Disney hat on a regular basis... We got out money's worth out of it!


Spencer and his swollen face. It was worse but at least I got a picture of some swelling.


House for sale!

Today we went shopping for a few things, and to return some other things we didn't need. The boys picked out some new shirts with their favorite guys on them. Some with Lightening McQueen and other Cars characters and some with Buzz and Woody. When we got home Benjamin insisted on wearing all of his new shirts right away at once. I tried to explain that he would be more comfortable with one, maybe two at a time but he wouldn't have it. So here he is, sweating it out in SEVEN shirts. (five new, two he already had on) Funny kid.

This past weekend we were very busy! We chenged our usual schedule a bit because Austin was running the PF Chang's marathon on Sunday. We had a nice date night on Friday, eating out and going shopping for some fun things for the office and then the Disney store for the littles. It was fun. Saturday Austin took Rachel to the marathon expo where they had fun entering contests and gearing up for the race. Sunday Austin left early and we stayed home until it was closer to finish time I was able to bake some super yummy cookies and some pumpkin muffins. Yum! Spencer, Robin, Rachel, Aaron, Benjamin and I went to the finish line area (after a long walk from the parking lot, weaving 2 strollers through LOTS of people). It was impossible to get all of our gear to the actual finish line so Spencer and Robin were nice enough to hang out with the littles while I crowded in as close to the finish line as I could get. Austin came through, I was able to get a video of him actually crossing the finish line and some still pictures just after. Two day's later he is still really sore but I'm impressed he did it. Running/walking/jogging that far is a pretty big dea. We came home after and just hung around the house watching Highlander (the current TV show on DVD). It was a nice weekend!

I woke up this morning and was going about my usual tasks. When I got to the sink I looked out the window and this huge bird was sitting on our pool gate. At first glance I though it was an owl, but quickly noticed it wasn't, but it is still huge. He stayed there for about an hour, sitting still and checking out things in the yard. I think he was really hungry and contemplating feasting on one of our little dogs. I got a picture, though it's blury but you can still get the gist. I learned online (now I didn't spend a ton of time on this but was curious enough to look) that he is a sharp-shinned hawk down here for the winter. Pretty bird, nice to see unusual nature in the back yard. Makes life interesting.