Ukrainian Miracle.

I wanted to post about something that is really important to me, my neighbors. Yes you heard right folks. I have the most amazing neighbors, they are some of the happiest, most Christlike people I know. They have suffered a lot of tragedy, that could make those who have walked in the same shoes angry and bitter, however they have used those experiences to grow and become better people who are filled with compassion and love.

This past year they hosted 3 orphaned siblings from Ukraine. The children, 1 girl and 2 boys came and stayed with the Ceran family for 6 weeks at the end of the year in 2010. They are wanting to adopt these 3 beautiful children and were expecting to have 6-12 months to raise the funds necessary, but have recently found out that the children could be ready to come in March.

Their son Caleb has drawn an exquisite picture of President Thomas S. Monson and has been raising funds by selling prints of it. They are also having a huge garage sale on February 12 at the Rockwell Charter school in the Ranches to raise funds.

They have a website that tells about some of the Ceran families experiences and what brought them to the desire to adopt. They are such a wonderful family and the girls absolutely love them. Corrine who is the mom, often has the girls over to visit and play. Instead of calling her Corrine, my girls have dubbed her as Ceran. Whenever they see her, they scream out Ceran! Ceran! and they are always greeted with a hug and kind smile and genuine interest.

Very often we hear about things like this and we think to ourselves "I wish there was some way I could help." Turn your thoughts into action and you can help save these children and give them a home where they are loved and cared for and can have the opportunity for a bright and happy future.

Here is a link that will take you to their website, where you can get background information on the Ceran family, (they have been in the newspaper multiple times) find out about Christina, Sasha and Eddy, and find out how you can help.

http://www.ukrainianmiracle.com/

Yesterday the girls and I were sorting through some of our old things that we could donate to the garage sale and I found a pair of pant that are 3-6 month size that both of my girls wore as babies and we had Emma try them on and they still fit!

Birthday Hilarity

One of my most favorite things about Birthdays is the interview videos that come along with them. The girls answers never fail to amaze me. They are quick witted and such beautiful girls. My little Miss Ruby is 5 and Emma is 3. Sometimes they make me laugh, roll my eyes, and most of the time fill my heart with immeasurable joy. I really like it when they share their insights on how mommies are the most important people or when they are mommies they will have or do certain things. It is also pretty comical when I tease Jed or call him some random name they Ruby will usually pipe up, and say "Is that how you talk to your husband? Daddy is a sweet handsome guy. You need to apologize to him." My girls are amazing and some of the shiniest little people I know.

Back at 9

Eli is now nine months! It is amazing how quickly 9 month of life goes as opposed to the 9 months you wait to meet these little angels.

Eli is trying to crawl. For the past two months he has been getting up on his hands and knees and rocking back and forth and at this point he is sliding one knee and gets one arm up and then falls. He has a lot of weight to learn to manage and I am sure he will get it soon.

These are his stats:

Weight: 23 lb. 5 0z
height 28 in.
head: 45 cm.

He loves anything we give him food wise, I am hoping he is spared the picky genetics that were so lovingly passed down from me. When we give him finger foods he can get it into his hand but usually has a rough time getting to his mouth.

He is such a delightful baby, usually when we are at church I rarely get to hold him because I have a few young women who flock me and ask if they can hold him, and I always welcome the help as there have been a few times that Jed has been home sick, or times that he is passing the Sacrament( which sometimes the short amount of time it takes seems like an eternity with my 3 adorable children.) Then Jed takes him for Sunday School and then I always have people who are so willing to hold him while I lead the music in Primary. I am very blessed.

I am looking forward to warmer days that allow me to take the boy outside to play.

So much to catch up on, hopefully I will follow through. The girls birthday videos will for sure make the cut. They are pretty classic. It is good to be back in business.

Thanksgiving Blessings

We hosted Jed's side of the family this year at our home. It was a great experience, I can't take any credit for it's success other than providing a semi-clean house. The happenings truly felt like a family on taking and each person contributed and helped all along the way to make the transition so smooth.


I love the tradition with the kernels of corn and I really feel like I have been more grateful this year than I have been in my entire life. I'm 25, I suppose it's a little late in coming; but I will run with it. I bought a box of tissues especially for myself. This was my 3 thankfuls:

1) Dr. R and Dr. N for helping my son live a normal and full life. We got really great news back on Wednesday that means his 2 weeks of treatment did exactly what it was supposed to. His smile is back and we have so much hope.

2) My mom and dad. As far as their children go, I don't think they have ever asked what was in it for them. With every year that passes, I find more and more that I want to be like them.

3) Experience. Even when it is painful and causes us to worry and sorrow it can be for our good.When we come out on the other side we can see that it has the power to make us stronger and better for going through it.

I got some amazing(at least I think so) shots of my kids this morning before I sent them downstairs to watch the parade so I could peel 17 pounds of potatoes in peace. :) I love and cherish these little faces and personalities. They truly are one of my greatest blessings. Jed would have been involved in said photo shoot but he was out participating in the Turkey bowl. He is a blessing too.

These pictures scream personality to me. If I were to post the 5 pictures I got of each of them, you would easily to see the personality that fills these little bodies. I think I am going to have to print a montage of each of them.

It was wonderful to have GG Romig with us. She astounds me, she is so spry from recently recovering from her broken hip and for being almost 91. She is amazing. I got some sweet shots of her with Emma and Eli. She was singing to them, it was a moment I will not soon forget. She also brought her sucker tree. All of the grandkids loved it and on of my favorite sounds was Brody walking around all afternoon asking for a sucker.


One other highlight I feel is important to mention is that in my duties as host, I failed to procure a salt shaker. It was comical/embarrasing to see my 2 pound can of salt being passed around the table and watching salt being very carefully dispensed so no one ended up with a cup of salt on their potatoes.

T and Chase were the last ones here and we invited them to stay and play a game with us. I was so happy they stayed, we have a truly wonderful time and it was so fun to see the girls have so much fun with "Melissa" and Ashlyn. Seeing my girls make those sorts of memories with their cousins evokes so many memories from my own childhood. I love it.

Beauty all around

With all that has been going on, I realized this morning that Bustaloo is 7 months old and continues to be that sweet boy that entered our lives in April. He is starting to do baby push ups and is rolling (slowly) around the floor. It is fun to see since the girls rolled from their tummies to their backs and were content. We truly are so blessed to have him in our home.


The girls have given us some very amusing moments that I would be most sad if I forgot. Each one has a little bit of preface, so bear with me.

- We were learning Latter Day Prophets in Primary and I asked the children if they knew of any other presidents of the church other than Thomas S. Monson, and Gordon B. Hinckley. Some kids were able to name some, and then when I called on Ruby she said in a fog horn voice "George Washington."


Emma and I were looking through some photography shots of peoples favorite four legged friends on www.thepioneerwoman.com and she would tell me what each picture was of. We came upon some dear in a graveyard and I asked her what those were and she said "Oh, it's a Bambi." I told her she melted my heart and she said "It's ok mom."


Ruby gave FHE on Captain Moroni (her choice) a few weeks ago and as we were reviewing the story about the title of liberty, she said "I want to go to his land and marry him. I love him." I told her that he was in Heaven and that he was already married, she said "To who? What's her name?" I said that the scriptures don't tell us but I was sure that she was a beautiful righteous woman." (Maybe my mom was visiting that day and told her that but I can't remember.) Anyway on Halloween I was doing her hair for church and she looks in the mirror and says "I'm a beautiful righteous woman, why can't I marry Captain Moroni.?"

At the end of what felt like to me a completely exhausting day, Ruby came up to me as I was putting dishes away and she told me "Mom, you are so beautiful everyday and you make the most delicious dinners." Those small words meant more to me than she could have possibly have known that day.

These little faces melt my heart. We truly can find beauty in the simplest places. So grateful for the beauty I experience daily.

Dr. visits

Eli had his 6 month checkup on the 19th. (We are a little behind...again.) He is looking good, Dr. R is a good sounding board for me and takes time to listen to all of my concerns, no matter how legit they are.

As for his stats they are as follows.

Weight: 20 lbs. 4 oz. 90th percentile
Height: 27 1/8 in. 75th percentile
Head: Can't remember but is average-ish.

We love the little squish.

Eli had an EEG this morning, due to some things that we have been seeing, I get worried but am trying to just focus on the now until we know more, and if it is anything at all to be worried about. I think no matter what stage you are at, you are constantly worry about them in one way or another.

Eli loves to jump and bounce and does little baby push up's which will help his hands. He has been working to get his top teeth in for a couple weeks now and is constantly chewing on his thumb. I think they are getting close to coming through and Tylenol is the boys new friend.

As for Halloween I will state here and now that I am quite possibly the worst mama. We were in such a rush that we didn't take any pictures. I am going to pull a costume recreation, if for nothing more than documentation. Can't believe that November is here and looking forward to all of the holiday excitement.

Halloween cousin party

My Mom, Erin and Meg came to our house yesterday, for a little Halloween get together. My mom and Erin did the planning, and we had a great time. The girls made witch puppets. Each were unique and cute.


They played a dice game called Spooky eyes. It was funny to see the 3 younger ones "roll" the dice(shake it and then lay it down on the side they wanted up) and get matches. Ruby asked why she didn't have as many matches as the other girls.

My mom cut out Halloween masks for each of the girls and Delphia picked who would get what. They were so funny with them on and I think it turned out to be the highlight of the party. Ruby and Chloe are werewolves, Delphia a vampire and Emma was Frankenstein.






They each made a ghosts, marshmallows dipped in white chocolate with milk chocolate eyes. They had fun playing together in the basement and being together. It was a fun afternoon and I really enjoyed some adult conversation.



I love the Holidays!