The Moore The Merrier!

Just because

2012-01-25T14:28:00.001-08:00

Don't forget to smile today! This sweet face always makes me smile!

Honor roll

2012-01-24T21:53:00.002-08:00

Our sweet Leecy T once again got straight A's and was on the honor roll! She is so dang smart! She gets a different set of spelling words then the other kid's in her class to challenge her more and she is spelling words like vegetarian, principal, amphibians and civilization. Pretty impressive for a 7 year old! We are so proud of all her hard work!

All done!

2012-01-24T21:53:00.001-08:00

This is what happens when mom doesn't realize I'm done with my dinner! I perform tricks! Tada!

Lennon's nursery graduation!

2012-01-08T13:55:00.001-08:00


My little boy graduated from nursery today and became a Sunbeam! How is it that my children seem to be growing at warp speed?! We hope he manages to keep his Houdini-esque skills to a minimum! :)
He is such a sweetie and we can't wait to watch him learn and grow as he learns more about his Savior this year in Sunbeams! We love you big guy!

Best Christmas presents ever!

2011-12-08T22:35:00.001-08:00

Even those it's blurry I had to post my favorite gifts under the tree this year! :) look at those faces! I love each and every one of them more then words could ever possibly describe! They make the holiday season so incredibly magical and I couldn't be more blessed!

....and I say hello!

2011-09-20T20:58:00.000-07:00

Hello, hello! I don't know why you say goodbye, I say hello! We have officially joined the ranks of soccer moms. We said goodbye to our Pacifica and bought this Kia Sedona. It provides us with some much needed room and we can actually fit our double stroller in it! Wahoo! We are excited!

You say goodbye.......

2011-09-20T20:50:00.001-07:00

Soccer!

2011-09-13T22:34:00.001-07:00

Mr. Lennon started soccer today! As we pulled into the parking lot he started cheering, he was so excited! He doesn't quite understand the whole team thing yet. He's more of an independent player at the moment. He really just loves that he gets to be out there kicking the ball around! I can't wait to watch him play more this season! He is such a cutie!

Happy Birthday Stephanie!!!

2011-08-28T21:51:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Stephanie! We all love you so much. Thank you so much for being a wonderful mother and fantastic wife. Our lives are so blessed to have you in them!!

Love,

Val, Aleece, Madelaine, Lennon, and Harrison

Pre-K

2011-08-12T18:14:00.000-07:00

Madelaine started Pre-K at her big sister's elementary school this week! She has been so excited to be able to go to the big kid's school, especially since several of her friends are old enough to start kindergarten this year. She has the awesome opportunity to be a part of something they call the Typical Peer program in this Pre-K. What this means is that there are several students with developmental disabilities that participate in this program and Lainey gets to be one of the students in there to help assist. She gets the chance to be a good example and role model to these other students, while also learning valuable information that will put her well ahead of other kids going into kindergarten next year. She had an awesome first day and she really likes her teachers. I think it will be a fantastic experience for her and we can't wait to watch her grow! She is such a cutie and am excited for her! c

2nd grade

2011-08-10T21:28:00.000-07:00

Aleece started 2nd grade this week! Where has the time gone? How am I old enough to have a 2nd grader?!

She is a pro when it comes to school now! She was so excited the whole week before! She even had her first day of school outfit picked out, with a special request that it be ironed so she could look perfect on her first day. She is such a sweetheart! The kids and I braved the mass chaos at the elementary school so that we could meet her teacher and walk her to class for her first day. Her teacher seems very nice and we are hoping she really challenges Aleece this year. Aleece has always been so smart and reads WAY beyond her age level. (She is currently working her way through Harry Potter!) So we are hoping that her teacher will continue to push her to new levels! Aleece has always done amazing in school, never bringing home a conduct grade other than E (excellent--the top level) and always getting straight A's. We are so proud of her and we are so excited to see what this 2nd grade year brings!

Holy Hot Batman!

2011-08-03T15:11:00.001-07:00

Need I say more?

My boys

2011-07-31T18:54:00.001-07:00

My sweet boys after their haircuts, taken by yours truly. Don't look too closely aunt Katchie! :)

Haircut #2

2011-07-31T18:53:00.001-07:00

Mr. Harrison post haircut

Haircut #1

2011-07-31T18:52:00.001-07:00

Mr. Lennon post hair cut

Pierced ears

2011-07-09T17:39:00.001-07:00

Lainey got her ears pierced this week! We had a deal with her that if she learned how to jump off the diving board by herself that we would let her get her ears pierced. She finally mustered up the courage, so we followed through on our end of the deal too. She looks so grown up with her cute little Hello Kitty earrings! She only cried silent years for about a minute after getting her ears pierced and then she was fine. And she is telling anyone and everyone about her newly pierced ears! It doesn't matter if she knows them or not. It's pretty funny! We are proud of her for facing her fears! She's growing up too darn fast!

Happy Independence Day!

2011-07-04T16:19:00.001-07:00

Let freedom ring!

Gardening

2011-07-03T18:22:00.001-07:00

The boys sure love their Grampy! They were helping him water the plants and literally would not let go of the hose. It was so sweet!

Moments like this....

2011-06-23T22:38:00.001-07:00

....here's another one of those moments that makes my heart smile!

If friends were flowers....

2011-06-23T17:25:00.001-07:00

...I'd pick you. I love moments like these!

Summer outing group

2011-05-29T15:45:00.001-07:00

We are part of a fun summer outing group with a bunch of our friends and this past week we got to go experience the Lichterman nature center. We went on some fun little mini hikes around the grounds and the kids enjoyed looking at the various wildlife they had! It was super hot and humid, but thankfully they had a few air conditioned buildings! And our timing was perfect! It started to rain just as we left!

Bon jovi

2011-05-19T18:34:00.001-07:00

A big thank you to my parents for watching the kiddos so we could rock out to Bon Jovi!

2 little monkeys...

2011-05-19T15:28:00.001-07:00

I left the room for a moment today to get something and when I returned I found this little monkey standing on the table. Guess he takes after his brother!

4 Reasons...

2011-05-08T20:02:00.000-07:00

These are the 4 cute reasons I get to celebrate today and I couldn't be more grateful! They make me smile everyday and I love them more than anything! They bring me so much joy and they make our house a home! I love every moment I am with them and am so thankful I was blessed to be their mommy!

And a special Mother's Day shout-out to my sweet mother for all that she does for me! It's because of her love and example that I am the mother I am! And a shout-out to my mother-in-law for raising a wonderful son that I get to share my sweet family with! Happy Mother's Day!!!! We love you!

New haircut

2011-05-06T19:33:00.001-07:00

Lainey got a new hair cut, thanks to her daddy cutting a nice chunk out of her hair! Let it be known I made it through four kids with no scissor/hair incidents! (love you sweetie!)

Ears

2011-05-05T19:28:00.001-07:00

Mr. Harris had tubes put in his ears today. He was a champ throughout the whole process! He was definitely mad when he came out of the anesthesia, but after a nice long nap he was back to his sweet self! You would never know that only 13 hours ago he was having that procedure done. We hope these tubes work as will for him as they did for Mr. Lennon! This picture is after our busy day today, post procedure! All smiles!

1st grade field day

2011-05-05T19:21:00.001-07:00

Leecy T had her field day today and I was lucky enough to get to help out. The kids had a blast, the weather was beautiful and as always it was fun to spend time with my sweet first born, who is growing up way to fast!

My son, the monkey

2011-04-30T08:15:00.001-07:00

Lennon loves to climb, and he would have gone higher if we let him!

Easter Sunday

2011-04-24T11:23:00.001-07:00

We are so thankful for our Savior Jesus Christ and His ultimate sacrifice so that we can enjoy these beautiful kids FOREVER! Happy Easter!

Pure "egg"citement!

2011-04-23T12:38:00.001-07:00

Happy Easter!

2011-04-23T10:26:00.001-07:00

We hope your Easter is filled with lots of fun, and of course, CANDY!

Stormy weather

2011-04-20T15:30:00.001-07:00

A HUGE storm hit last night. We had tornado sirens going off for about 3 hours and power was out for about half the night (we were some of the lucky ones! Aleece's school was without power til this afternoon! She still had school though.) This huge tree on the road behind our house was covering most of the street this morning! It's several feet in diameter and represents a very small portion of the devastation from last night's storm!

Brothers

2011-04-16T16:33:00.001-07:00

So sweet.

In full bloom

2011-04-15T07:06:00.001-07:00

Roses in granny and grampy's backyard. Aren't they gorgeous?!

Exhaustion

2011-04-14T16:41:00.001-07:00

Sooooooo tired.

There's no place like home!

2011-04-08T14:17:00.001-07:00

Click your heels together 3 times.....

Field trip

2011-04-08T14:15:00.001-07:00

We had a great time at the children's museum for Aleece's school field trip today! This is the little group we were in charge of.

Maryrose is here!

2011-04-05T17:00:00.001-07:00

Fun on the carousel!

Carousel

2011-04-05T16:58:00.001-07:00

We love our aunt!

Fun with aunt Maryrose

2011-04-05T16:57:00.001-07:00

Enjoying some bbq with our awesome aunt!

Ready, set, jump!

2011-04-03T15:59:00.001-07:00

All 4 kiddos enjoying the beautiful weather and their time together!

Mid jump

2011-04-02T13:12:00.001-07:00

Loving the trampoline already!

Finished product!

2011-04-02T12:55:00.001-07:00

It's a beautiful day...

2011-04-02T12:31:00.001-07:00

Helping with yardwork!

Trampoline

2011-04-02T11:51:00.001-07:00

Helping daddy put together the new kids trampoline at granny and grampy's!

Night night

2011-03-28T21:01:00.001-07:00

Don't let the bed bugs bite! Sweet dreams my sweet boy!

Ice cream

2011-03-28T21:00:00.001-07:00

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!

Grizzlies vs Jazz

2011-03-22T10:28:00.001-07:00

Lennon's first professional basketball game! He loved it! Thanks Granny and Grampy!

Facing forward

2011-03-18T13:01:00.001-07:00

Mr. Harris is very happy he gets to sit in a big boy car seat now!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

2011-03-17T11:52:00.001-07:00

May the luck o' the Irish be with you!

Shooting hoops

2011-03-17T10:42:00.001-07:00

This is one of Lennon's very favorite things!

No more monkeys jumping on the bed!

2011-03-16T13:08:00.001-07:00

Look at what a big boy I am!

Pickles!

2011-03-12T16:22:00.001-08:00

Just like his momma!

Brothers

2011-03-12T16:21:00.001-08:00

Aren't they sweet?

111,111

2011-03-12T16:18:00.001-08:00

How often does that happen?

Lainey bug

2011-03-12T16:16:00.001-08:00

Sassy and silly Lainey on her bike.

My boys

2011-03-12T16:14:00.001-08:00

My sweet boys on their big rig they got for Christmas.

Leecy t riding her bike

2011-03-12T14:03:00.001-08:00

Aleece pretty much taught herself how to ride a bike! She didn't need much help and she has only taken a few tumbles! We are so proud of her!

A few fall memories.....

2011-01-14T07:52:00.002-08:00

Instead of completely overwhelming all of you with our mass quantities of pictures, I put together a few collages of some of our favorite autumn memories. Autumn in Memphis is absolutely beautiful, and by far my favorite season of the year! To view the images larger just click on the collage! :)

In October we were able to visit this fun place with lots of friends and wander around the grounds. These people here in town offer there yard (which is ginormous!) to the public and welcome people to come and wander and see all of there various paraphernalia. They have old train cars, beautiful foliage and other miscellaneous things! The kids had a blast searching for lady bugs, checking out (and pretending to drive) the train, and visiting with friends!

For one of our Family Home Evening's in October we took a trip with Granny and Grampy to a small local pumpkin patch where we let the kids each pick out a little mini pumpkin and to take some fun and festive pictures! The kids had fun and despite my foot being attacked by fire ants (I guess that's what I get for wearing sandals in late October!) we had a great time!

Our Halloween celebrations were plentiful this year with buckets full of candy! We were able to attend Granny and Grampy's trunk or treat as well as our own wards and we took the kids trick or treating as well. The girls, as usual, exerted their vivid imaginations and chose very unique costume ideas. :) Aleece opted to be Nessa Rose from Wicked. Nessa Rose is the Wicked Witch of the East prior to becoming wicked. The dress Aleece is wearing is her "party" dress from Wicked's ballroom scene. Madelaine chose to be Medusa this year. She became acquainted with this character after watching Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief and was adamant that this was who she wanted to be, as was Aleece. I made their costumes (don't look too close! :) ) and they turned out better than I anticipated, considering I had no patterns to follow! The girls (who happen to be sugar connoisseurs :) had a blast trick or treating and participating in all of the games and crafts!

The boys are still young enough that they will wear whatever I put them in! :) So Lennon went as Tin Man (we love the Wizard of Oz in our house!) and really caught on to the concept of Halloween this year! Once he realized if he said Trick or Treat, he would get candy, we went crazy racing from one place to another! Every time a piece of candy was placed in his bucket he would squeal and it literally made us laugh every single time. It's so fun to see the magic of these moments through your children's eyes! He also loved the games, especially bowling, which he is VERY passionate about! :) Harrison, who just happens to be the happiest baby EVER, went as a lobster and was good natured (as always) and let us carry him around in a big pot, just for a few photo ops!

We are so glad that Granny and Grampy now live in the same town so that we can celebrate so many fun events with them! The kids absolutely adore them and they sure do make everything more fun!

I still have probably a zillion more pictures to organize, but I am getting there slowly but surely. So forgive me for posting pictures 6 months past when they were taken but they are just too cute not to share and we have had many fun adventures over the past half year that we don't want to forget anytime soon! My resolution is off to a good start, now let's see if I can keep it up! :)

Resolution....

2011-01-07T22:29:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I've been a bit(a lot!) distant in the blogging world! But....my goal is to try and blog at least once a week this year! I felt like I got so far behind last year that it just got too intimidating! But my hope is to slowly incorporate photos from the past 6 months as well as filling ya'll in on our current endeavors! I'm excited to see what 2011 has to offer and to (try) and get back my blogging mojo! :)

"Houdini" turns 2!

2010-07-16T11:08:00.000-07:00

Our sweet baby boy turns 2 today! I guess we can't really call him our "baby" anymore, but he'll always be my baby boy! As I was sitting making his birthday poster last night, I was reflecting on the past year and I couldn't help but smile. He has changed so much. Here is just a snippet of that....

He no longer looks like a baby, he is definitely a big boy now!
He loves balls....footballs, baseballs, basketballs, soccer balls....it doesn't matter what kind. As long as he has something to throw or kick he is happy!
He loves shoes! He loves to try on any pair he sees lying around and it is pretty cute to watch him toddle around in shoes WAY too big for him!
He is the strong and silent type. He had tubes put in his ears in January and his hearing has definitely improved, along with his talking. He still doesn't say much, but he knows how to express what he wants and he is really coming along!
He LOVES music! Even though he may not sing the all of the actual words, he knows the tunes and sings them perfectly! I love to watch him dance (he still has his happy feet!).
He is an excellent brother, both big and little. His sisters love to play and tease with him and he loves the attention that they give him, and he is so tender and gentle with Harrison. I love to watch them interact.
He loves all things electronic. Remotes, cell phones, computers, etc, etc. And surprisingly he can get most of them to work already! He loves buttons and it so funny to see how drawn to these things he is! If you leave something lying around he gravitates to it instantly!
His nickname is Houdini. He is so sneaky and quiet that sometimes he manages to escape without being noticed! He snuck out of nursery 2 Sundays in a row. He was so mellow and mild until he hit about 18 months and since then he has been going, going, going all the time! He definitely keeps us on our toes!
We can't resist his sweet smile! He is such a sweet boy and I love that amidst how busy he is, that he will take the time to cuddle with me!
He gives some of the very best hugs!
He still loves his soft blankets, and we sometimes tease and call him Linus, from Charlie Brown. They are security blankets for sure and we are working on taking it less places, but it is a miracle worker once it is time for a nap or bedtime! So, Mom and Dad are clinging to it a little as well still! ;)
He is a climber. He loves to climb on anything and everything. And he doesn't have much fear.
He love bath time. He has always loved water and bath was one of his first words! The moment he hears the bath water he comes running!

Our sweet Mr. Lennon is such a good boy. We love him so much and are grateful every day that he is part of our family. We don't know what we would do without all of his busyness! I love watching him grow into such a fun little boy and I can't wait to see how he continues to blossom this year! We love you Mr. Lennon! Happy 2nd birthday baby boy!

SOCCER!

2010-07-14T17:02:00.000-07:00

Aleece participated in soccer again this spring and loved being able to kick around the ball on the soccer field with all of her friends! She took a much more laid back approach this season and just enjoyed being on the field! She ALWAYS had a smile on her face! She had such a great team and we are thankful to Coach Brandon for all of his time spent coaching the team! They all truly had a blast this year! (Despite how hot it got!!!) Go Bengals!

Leecy's Kindergarten Graduation!

2010-07-14T16:54:00.000-07:00

Aleece graduated from Kindergarten in May! It's hard to believe it's already been a year since she began school! She grew leaps and bounds this year and made so many great memories and wonderful friends! She absolutely adored her teacher Mrs. Strock and she overcame many fears! She blew away all of the kindergarten teachers with her reading capabilities and was reading better than most of the 4th graders in the school! She got to read for the principal and she was regularly tested in the library on all of the books she was devouring! We are so proud of her and how hard she worked this past year! We hope she gets a teacher she loves just as much for first grade! Aleece participated in her kindergarten graduation, which for her was a huge step in the right direction! She has been so shy and we were a little worried that she wouldn't want to participate....but she did amazing and we think it is so awesome to watch her grow! The saying "it takes a village to raise a child" is so true! We do as much as we can as parents, but without the wonderful help of teachers and grandparents and so many others, our children wouldn't have the opportunity to do so many things in life! So here is a BIG thank you to all of you out there who are helping our children to learn and grow in so many ways! We love you Leecy T!

Lainey's preschool graduation

2010-07-14T16:48:00.000-07:00

Lainey graduated from her first year of preschool in May! She is still so tiny, probably a good 6 inches shorter or more than most of her preschool buddies, but she has such a big personality! She learned so much this year in preschool! She memorized scriptures, she learned lots of fun, new songs, she made some great friends, and she learned so much about all of the letters and their different sounds and all of the numbers, etc. She is such a smart girl and I love that once you get her talking, she will talk your ear off! :) She gets to attend the same preschool next year and we are so glad! She loves Ms. Tami and we love all that she is learning! Way to go Bugsy! We love you!

Getting caught up....

2010-07-14T16:46:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I am WAY behind on blogging. We have had a crazy, busy and fun summer already and life with 4 kiddos keeps us busy even when we think we have nothing going on! :) So here we go, hopefully I can get caught up!

Happy Birthday Leecy T!

2010-06-26T20:49:00.000-07:00

Happy, happy birthday Leecy T dear! Happy days will come to you all year! It's crazy to think you are already 6 years old!!!
I know I say it every year, but you don't realize how much your children have grown until you sit back and reflect on how much they've changed in the past year!
Aleece has grown leaps and bounds this past year, and if you'll indulge me for the time being, I'd like to take a minute to brag! :)
*Aleece attended and graduated kindergarten this year! She had such a great time and she surpassed all of her teacher's expectations! She can read on the same level as some 4th graders and we love to hear her read anything and everything!
*We can no longer spell anything out---she is way too smart for that! She catches us every time!
*The girl has a PHENOMENAL memory! She can recall events from years past! We don't know how she does it!
*She has learned to overcome some of her fears, especially her shyness. She is still shy, but nowhere near where she was this time last year.
*She lost her first tooth.
*She continues to be a sweet, sensitive spirit, who loves her family very much. She has an intuition about her (she has known when I've been pregnant, before I have!) and she has a strong testimony of the gospel.
*She wants to be a rock star/fashion diva when she grows up! She changes her clothes frequently throughout the day and most(all) days insists on wearing a dress or skirt and high heels. She is into ALL things girly!
*She is outgrowing her breathing health problems. We have made it over a year without having to check her into the hospital! Hallelujah! (knock on wood!) We were worried that school would exacerbate her problems, but it seemed to help!
*Her favorite color is purple and she still loves all animals(besides being a rock star she wants to be a veterinarian as well)! She also has a major sweet tooth just like her Daddy!
We are so very blessed to have Aleece as part of our family. She is a wonderful big sister and she has a great sense of humor. Our family wouldn't be complete without her in it. She brings us great joy everyday and we love watching her learn and grow! We can't wait to see what this next year brings! Happy birthday baby girl! We love you!!!

2 months already!

2010-05-06T22:18:00.001-07:00

Where does the time go? Our little guy is already 2 months old! He had his 2 month checkup today and he now weighs 10 lbs (25-50%) and is he just over 23 inches long (50%). He is growing and changing so quickly! He has learned to smile, which absolutely melts my heart every time! I love that he smiles with his whole face and you can even see it in his eyes! He has this sweet little voice and I love to have "conversations" with him! He brings such joy to our family and I LOVE watching my four children grow and interact with one another! They have such love for each other and each one of them has me wrapped around their little finger!

Oh so witty....

2010-04-22T15:30:00.000-07:00

Two different conversations I've had with Lainey over the past week....

Me: Lainey, don't stick your tongue out.
Lainey: I'm not sticking my tongue out Mom! My tongue is just dancing!

(detangling Lainey's hair after her shower)
Lainey: Ow!
Me: Serious?
Lainey: Do NOT call me that! My name is NOT Serious!!!

Needless to say, she can be quite sassy! :) But she is also a sweetheart, and without fail, she ALWAYS makes us laugh! One glance at her sweet smile and infectious giggle and you are wrapped around her little finger!!!

The many faces....

2010-04-15T19:34:00.000-07:00

Harrison has been growing so fast....he literally changes every day! He is getting so big and strong and these are just a tiny collection of some of my favorite photos of him! I hope you all enjoy looking at his sweet face as much as I do!!!

And then there were 6!

2010-04-14T20:37:00.000-07:00

Life has been a whirlwind since we became a family of 6! There is always something going on and we are still perfecting our routine! But life has been wonderful and we all absolutely adore little Harrison! I've been taking pictures regularly, but getting them posted is a whole other story! :)

Me, (obviously!) at the hospital where Harrison was born, approximately 2 hours before he entered our lives!

Our sweet new addition! Loving his curly hair!

And of course, there was nothing more beautiful than Harrison meeting his brother and sisters for the first time! They love him so very much and are such good helpers!

Harrison adds another little puzzle piece to our family and we love him more than words can say!!! He brings such joy to our life, as each of our children has done and continue to do, and we are so very grateful that Heavenly Father chose us to be his parents! Despite the lack of sleep (which is improving thank goodness!) we couldn't be happier!

Harrison Howey

2010-03-08T07:44:00.000-08:00

He is here!!! Harrison Howey Welch Moore arrived by c-section at 4:48 pm on Friday, March 5th. He weighed in at 8 lbs 7 oz and he is 20.5 inches long. He is absolutely beautiful and we are so glad he is here and part of our family! We love him so very much! I'll post more later about the labor and delivery, etc, but we wanted all of you to have the opportunity to see our sweet boy!

Changes...

2010-03-04T20:08:00.000-08:00

Tonight is my last night of being mother to only three children. Tomorrow we get to meet our sweet little man that we have anxiously been awaiting for the past 9 months. We are very excited for our little guy to arrive! We know he will fill another little piece of our family puzzle and we can't wait to see what he looks like, what his personality will be like........ This pregnancy passed so very quickly and it is crazy to think the time is already here. We know we love him already, more than he will ever know, and we know that he is meant to be a part of our family. We hope he is has enjoyed the relative quiet that he has been experiencing over the past nine months in utero because once he enters this world and our home, we know he won't be experiencing any of that any time soon! But noise usually means happiness in our house, whether it be singing, laughing, babbling, whatever!!! So our sweet boy, get some rest, because we know you are in for a wild ride with parents and 3 siblings who are more excited than you know!!!

What have we been up to?

2010-02-22T07:46:00.000-08:00

January and February seem to have pretty much flown by! We've managed to stay fairly busy and I thought I had better catch up completely before baby boy #4 arrives!

The Sunday after we arrived home from Christmas vacation, Madelaine graduated from nursery! She is officially a Sunbeam and has done great with the transition! Our ward held a little graduation ceremony and spotlighted each child. They introduced them to the rest of the primary by telling them their name, favorite color, favorite foods, favorite activities, favorite gospel story, etc, etc! It's always so fun to watch your children grow and move on to a new stage in life! Lainey loves singing time especially in primary and one of her first Sundays in primary, she was asked which song she wanted to sing. She responded to this question quite quickly by saying she wanted to sing "Mama Mia". The teachers all got a good laugh at that! You can't say she doesn't have great taste in music! :) Or that she isn't exposed to a great variety of music at home! We sure love her and she makes us laugh always! Congrats cute little Lainey bug!

On Friday, January 8th, Mr. Lennon went to the hospital to have tubes put in his ears. The poor little guy had had ear infections almost continuously since mid September. He had been on multiple antibiotics, but we just couldn't seem to kick them! So back in December we went to see an ENT and he informed us that tubes would help him a great deal. So the day of the surgery Mr. Lennon was pleasant as always, and really didn't know what was going on! But he was good with every dr., nurse, anasthesiologist, etc that came in to see him! The surgery itself only lasts about five minutes, but because you are required to hold completely still, anasthesia is used. So Lennon was gone from us for about 15 minutes. I will say it felt like a lot longer than that however!!! We missed our boy! When they brought him back to us he was just beginning to wake up from the anasthesia and wasn't very happy. You could tell he was in some pain and it just about broke our hearts! But I should also interject that Lennon is such a good boy and even not being happy, he is still pretty easy! We took him home shortly thereafter and our whole hospital stay was probably less than four hours total. The waiting at the beginning is what was the worst! Lennon rested on and off throughout the day and by the next day he was back to his happy self! We have since been back to the ENT and his tubes are doing well! We have noticed a huge improvement in his hearing and he is talking quite a bit more! It's nice to know that he won't have to suffer from all of those ear infections anymore!

In January we were treated with a visit from Granny and Grampy! We cherish every moment we get to spend with them! The two weeks prior to their coming, I probably heard the phrase "I want my granny and grampy!" about 20 times a day! :) The trip was kind of spur of the moment and we were ecstatic to find out they were coming! They were able to spend the weekend with us and we did all kinds of fun activities! We went out to eat, we went to the zoo, we played on the Wii, and spent some always wonderful quality time together!
The kids love to go with Granny and Grampy to the zoo! This time we went and saw the new Yellowstone exhibit, which is strikingly similar to the real Old Faithful lodge! The animals were all very active and the weather was beautiful the day we went! We got to have a little picnic while we were there as well! And we got some great pictures! I had to teach in Relief Society the weekend my parents were here and so my mom got to listen to me teach. It's always nice to have a super supportive face out in the class! :) We loved every second Granny and Grampy were here and we absolutely cannot wait until we get to see them again!!!!

At the new Yellowstone exhibit!

Some of the fun animals we saw that day!

Memories! :)

Granny and Grampy also bought the kids some new Valentines outfits and the kids looked absolutely adorable in them! They got LOTS of use out of these cute oufits and we couldn't resist taking some pictures of them!

Valentines Day was lots of fun, as usual! It fell on a Sunday this year and so we attended our Stake Conference in the morning. When we returned home we made some delicious bright pink, chocolate chip, heart shaped pancakes! Mmmmm....they were so good! Thanks Granny and Grampy for sending the mix! ABC Find Out Me also ended up finding the kids and bringing them their Valentines gifts! Aleece and Madelaine each recieved backpacks (Leecy's had the Eiffel Tower on it----she loves Paris and insists that someday she is going to live there!) with coloring books, crayons, chapstick, and candy inside. Mr. Lennon recieved a fun little easel where on one side you can color with water and the other side has stamps that you can press into this really cool gel material! Totally mess free and the kids don't seem to tire of it!
I was also spoiled this Valentines Day and my sweet hubby gave me some beautiful blue green pearl earrings (also from the kids) and a new makeup case (which I was in desperate need of!) I gave him a new shirt and the first two seasons of 30 Rock. For dinner we decided to splurge and we enjoyed a delicious meal of crab legs and asparagus! Yummy! It was soooo good! And we love that the kids love it too! They do have great taste! :)

In other news that has occurred over the past two months......

Aleece has been doing AMAZING in school! Just in the past couple of weeks she has been taking several tests in the library on books she has read and has scored perfectly every time. She has also had the opportunity to read to the principal (the only one in her class) and her teacher informed me that she is working at about a fourth grade level! It is amazing to listen to her read! We were at the store the other day and she picked up an Alice In Wonderland book to look through, and it wasn't a kids book, and she just plowed through it! She didn't need any help other than on the word "guffah" and honestly who really uses that word anyways! :) We are so very proud of her and how hard she works and that she is doing so well!
I have had several doctors appointments for our coming addition and he is growing very well! As of two weeks ago, when I had my last ultrasound, he was measuring at about 6 lbs 5 oz, which is a little ahead of schedule! So it looks like we will have a pretty good size baby on our hands! His heart rate is good and he looks perfect! We are anxious to meet him and if he decides not to make his appearance on his own, then we will welcome him on Friday, March 5th by c-section. We can't wait!
Val is officially on his very last credit of his master's degree! Wahoo! He has applied for graduation and will be doing so on May 22nd! We are thrilled that he has done so well and that this journey for him is just about over!

That is only a glimpse as to what we've been up to, but hopefully it just about brings me current on this blog! I still claim major pregnant brain, so I know I've forgotten many things, but this will hopefully let ya'll see a little of what has been going on in our lives! We are continually trying to better ourselves and to spend as much time with one another as possible! We love our little family and are always trying to find joy in our journey!!!

Christmas in February???

2010-02-13T13:12:00.000-08:00

Life has been crazy lately and I have definitely been neglecting the blog! I figured if I didn't get this done now, it would never get done, especially since our newest little man will be joining us in less than 3 weeks!!! So, I apologize for my lateness, but now you all get to enjoy a little Christmas in February! (Just in time for Valentines Day!) :)

Santa was very good to the kids this year and it was fun to watch all of their reactions and to see all of the smiles as they opened each gift! Lennon got lots of cars and balls----what can we say, he is boy through and through!!! Lainey, while her favorite color is pink and she loves to dress up, has a fascination with helicopters, and insists that she and her Grampy are going to ride in one someday! So she got a fun little helicopter that she can fly around, as well as dolls, books and movies! Aleece was ecstatic when she opened her Nintendo DS. Santa wasn't really aware until about a week or two before Christmas that this was such a huge desire for her, but he pulled through! Her reaction was priceless!

We tried to spread things out a little and opened family Christmas presents a little later in the day. Lennon opened up a ball from his Uncle Channy and Aunt Jessica and his reaction made us all laugh. As you can see in the pictures, it's not your typical ball, it is made of rubbery type material and hass little pieces all over it. He went to grab it out of the box and instantly pulled his hand back! It took him a while to warm up to it, but once he did he loved it! All of the kids recieved new homemade blankets from Grandma and Poomp, which they loved! They were also spoiled with some new outfits, dress-up clothes, games, dolls and stuffed animals! A big thank you to everyone!

I wanted to make sure and get some pics of the kids in their Christmas outfits and the weather was absolutely beautiful while we were there. I feel like these pictures really capture their personalities! Mind you, Val was juggling in the backround, but whatever it takes to get them to smile, right?

I absolutely love this next picture of the kids! They are our pride and joy and we love them SO much!!!

We got to take some big group family pictures of all of us extended family while we were in Yuma and I brought along my camera to take a few "behind the scenes" pictures!

The day we left from Yuma the kids and I experienced our very first earthquake. (Val had already been in one years ago) It was a 5.9 on the Richter scale and scared me to death. I was upstairs finishing getting everything together when I felt something underneath me, and I didn't think it was the garage door opening. I asked if anybody else noticed it, only to hear something crash in the next room and then have the whole house start shaking. Needless to say, I couldn't stop shaking for quite some time. It is definitely something I hope to never have to go through again!!!

We left Yuma late on Dec. 30th and so we got to spend New Year's Eve on the Amtrak train, in San Antonio, TX. We did get to get off of the train for a little while, to get something to eat and go listen to some music, but it was so cold and windy and crowded that we ended up watching fireworks from the train! We enjoyed some sparkling apple juice and rang in the New Year looking our best as you can see from the above photo's. :)

When we arrived home late on January 1st the kids were thrilled to find out that Santa had left a few bigger items at our home! Aleece go another new Zhu Zhu pet, Lainey got a Tinkerbell village and Lennon got a ride on pony that you hook up to the tv.

My favorite reaction when we came back however was that of my sweet husband. Santa left his present at our home too and Val was beyond happy when he opened it! He got Beatles Rockband, which he has wanted since the moment he first heard about it, and Santa was very happy to oblige, especially considering how very hard he worked this last fall semester on his thesis! He deserved something fun!

We had a wonderful holiday season and were sad to see it end. Our world seems a much happier place during the holiday's and we can only hope that we can try and spread that joy throughout the year to others, so that we can keep that feeling all year long!!!

I believe this catches us up.....at least until January! :) But hopefully I'm on a roll now!

Christmas morning 2009--stockings!

2010-01-13T16:15:00.000-08:00

On Christmas morning, growing up, we always had to wait for Mom and Dad to give the go ahead before coming down/up the stairs to get our Christmas stockings! So we have lots of pictures of us as kids with the wonderful look of anticipation and pure happiness on Christmas morning, and we love being able to capture those same expressions in our own children!

The kids loved opening all of their stocking stuffers from Santa! It was lots of fun to hear their reactions and to enjoy their giddiness!

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care....

2010-01-13T16:10:00.000-08:00

Another fun tradition we have is hanging up our stockings by the fireplace each year. My parents took pictures of us doing this every year and it has been fun to carry this tradition on!

The kids also made sure to lay out cookies and milk for Santa before they headed to bed.....where visions of sugar plums danced in their heads. :)

The Nativity Story 2009

2010-01-13T16:01:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve is always full of fun traditions and we love being able to share them with our children! This is the first Christmas Eve the kids were able to spend with their cousins and it was fun to watch them interact. We read the Christmas story out of Luke in the Bible and attempted to dress the kids up in nativity wear....but.....most of them weren't really thrilled with that idea and the costumes didn't last long! Preston and Lainey bug were Joseph and Mary and Reuhl and Lennon were angels. Aleece still gets nervous "performing" in front of people and Hayden fell asleep. So....we didn't get too many pictures of this particular tradition, but it was fun nonetheless! :)
We also got to hear Grandma Moore read us all a very touching story about her father on Christmas!

Christmas Eve Jammies

2010-01-09T22:25:00.001-08:00

In our family it is tradition to open one gift on Christmas Eve, and that gift is always jammies! It's a fun tradition and I look forward to it every year! This year I was so excited to find matching pajamas for Val and the kids! Val and Lennon got Grinch pajamas and Leecy and Lainey got Cindy Lou Who pajamas! They were a big hit and they all looked so cute!!! Val gave me some super comfy pajamas that are really cute as well! There was a little drama involved, when he realized he had left my wrapped pajamas back home in Memphis, but his last minute purchase was a good one!

Yuma or bust!!!

2010-01-09T22:19:00.001-08:00

We left for Yuma on the 3:10 am train out of Little Rock, Arkansas on December 20th. There is a movie called 3:10 to Yuma, so we thought this was pretty funny! :) We were on the train for 48 straight hours and are glad it went so smoothly! The kids were really well behaved and it was nice to be able to get up and walk around (even though my feet still ended up swollen!) and to have Val's help with the kids while we were traveling! He is such a good Dad! The chairs were really comfy and we met some very nice and some very interesting characters aboard the train! It was fun to see all the scenery and it was nice to not have to worry about any other drivers or the weather! The kids seemed to enjoy it, although I will admit that we were all happy to reach our destination! :)

sidenote: I am aware I look a little crazy in the above picture, but I was taking the picture and this was the best I could do!!!

Family Christmas Presents

2010-01-09T21:51:00.001-08:00

Before we headed to Yuma for Christmas vacation we decided to open family Christmas presents at home! We were spoiled way too much and there was just WAY too much to take on the train!

We received so many nice things! My parents let us open our gift a little early and we were thrilled to receive a Wii and Wii Fit! What an awesome gift! The kids were as excited as we were! We love to play as a family and we are hoping it will be a good way for us to get and stay in shape! It's definitely been used daily!!!

The kids received the impossible to find Zhu Zhu pets from their Granny and Grampy as well! They were so excited to open them and they are still a big hit! They love to play with them and I love the giggles that ensue every time they get played with! Even Lennon thinks they are awesome!! We know a lot of time and energy was put into finding these gifts as well! It is very much appreciated!!!

Aleece received a really fun butterfly home from Patty and Eric, where she can send away for real caterpillars and watch them turn into butterflies! She was so excited! She loves ALL animals! Madelaine received a really fun play-doh cooking set from Patty and Eric and she was so happy! Who doesn't love play-doh? And Lennon received a soft new green blanket and super fun old school Little People Farm set! The blanket has already been used innumerable times and he loves the farm set!

Katchie and Jeff gave Aleece a Barbie on a bike, where Barbie's legs actually move! Barbies have definitely come a long way's over the years! And Madelaine got a whole set of Littlest Pet Shop animals! The girls had to open them immediately! They have already taken up residence in the girls doll house! And Mr. Lennon received some new clothes, which he looks very handsome in!

MaryRose bought the girls some awesome Camelbak water bottles! She and Katchie have used them for years and the girls were ALWAYS trying to drink out of them! Aleece got a purple one and Madelaine got a pink one! They also had to use these immediately! And they came in super handy on our train ride and vacation! We love anything spill-proof!

Thank you all so much for all of our wonderful gifts! You all made our Christmas so very special! We love you all so much and are so grateful for your thoughtfulness and kindness to us always! THANK YOU!!!!!

Walnut Grove Ward Christmas party 2009

2010-01-09T21:43:00.000-08:00

We had our ward Christmas party back in December and it was fun, as always, to get together with our ward family and celebrate the season. We enjoyed lots of goodies, special musical numbers (Val and I performed) and a visit from Santa Claus. Other than one incident with some incredibly HOT hot chocolate (hence why Aleece is wearing my jacket in the pictures) we had a really good time! It's always fun to get together and visit with our ward members! Plus we had somewhat of a Christmas miracle with ALL three kids smiling and looking at the camera! Amazing! :)

The Shephards Watched Their Flocks By Night......

2009-12-17T15:05:00.001-08:00

Lainey got to participate in the nativity program for her preschool as a shephard this year! They practiced so hard and the kids did such a great job telling the story of Jesus' birth! Lainey was the cutest little shephard and it was almost like playing a game of "Where's Lainey", because she is a good 6 inches to a foot shorter than most of the other kids!

our cute little shephard!

Daddy, Lennon and Leecy watching the nativity!

singing the songs for the nativity, "Joy to the World" and "Away in a Manger"

All done! We are so proud of you little Lainey bug and love to watch you grow, learn and develop! We love you Bugsy!

That time of year...

2009-12-09T12:27:00.000-08:00

I have our family Christmas cards all ready to go! If you want one please email me your address or leave your address as a comment!!! (Don't worry immediate family, I do know where YOU live!) :)

Family picture

2009-12-06T19:59:00.000-08:00

While we were up at the cabin for Thanksgiving we decided to attempt a family picture! We have several capable photographers, and even better, lots of people to keep the kids laughing and smiling! I will say taking family photos with three kids is a little challenging.....someone is usually not looking at the camera, or making a silly face, or one of us has their eyes closed! Fortunately we came away with this one and I was pretty pleased! It's always nice to have a current family photo! I sure do love my sweet family!

our family!

adorable Mr. Lennon!

cute little Lainey bug!

sweet Leecy T!

me and my sweetie!

Thanksgiving Extravaganza 2009!!!!

2009-11-30T20:04:00.000-08:00

I love Thanksgiving! I love that you get to be with your family and celebrate all of the wonderful privileges and blessings we have in our lives! I have SO much to be thankful for and am grateful for the opportunity we have to celebrate that once a year!

We had an absolutely amazing Thanksgiving weekend in Newton, Iowa! Where, you ask? Well, it's south of Des Moines and pretty much in the middle of nowhere but my parents somehow managed to find this cabin out there and determined it would be the perfect place to celebrate Thanksgiving as a family! Perfect is an understatement! This cabin (more like a lodge) was beautiful! It had 2 kitchens, 2 dining areas, slept up to 22, had a bowling alley, movie room, game room, and more! It has a little lake out back to go canoeing in, a fire pit where we cooked hobo dinners and was the PERFECT getaway! We had fun from the moment we arrived until the moment we left, and the time was way too short! I know we all could have spent a lot longer there! It was so nice to be with family and to visit and hang out and enjoy one another's company! The weather was beautiful, the food was delicious and I know I'm not the only one hoping we can do it again sometime! :) A BIG thank you to my awesome parents for treating us all to this vacation and for once again, proving what incredible, selfless people they are.

We took lots of pictures and I think we got some great shots of everyone! The kids absolutely adore their Granny and Grampy and aunts and uncles and they never wanted to go to bed! :) They loved staying up late and playing games on the Wii, watching movies, going on walks, bowling, teasing, running around, etc, etc, etc! They couldn't get enough of how much fun they were having! They loved spending time with everyone and the trip home was full of questions as to why we had to leave and when we get to see everyone again! (Val and I were asking ourselves those very same questions!)

We all enjoyed a little rest and relaxation as well as testing out our bowling skills, making and devouring delicious meals, getting our hair cut (Thank you Katch!!), and more!

It was truly an awesome Thanksgiving and it made me realize that much more how truly blessed I am. I am so thankful for my amazing family, my wonderful husband, my beautiful children and for all that I have in my life. I love my life and am grateful to my Father in Heaven for blessing me so abundantly!!! I hope you all had as incredible a Thanksgiving as we did!

the girls coloring in one of the dining rooms...

the boys testing out the bowling alley....

Mr. Lennon checking out the cabin!

Granny and Lainey bug on our first night there...

Katchie helping make the best apple pie EVER!

MaryRose whipping up some delicious pumpkin pie...

Grampy and Lennon still checking out the cabin (and loving it!)

MaryRose and Leecy T

some of our yummy pies....

a belly shot of me at about 26 weeks

making turkeys out of apples and candy! The kids love this tradition!

the girls rockin out to some music...

sweet Leecy T

Leecy T and MaryRose

Granny and Lainey bug

Katchie and Granny setting the tables for Thanksgiving dinner...

the boys watching Thanksgiving day football...

MaryRose and Brent

Patty, Leecy and Lainey

Katchie, Leecy and Lainey

Patty and Katchie

me and my dad!

Trey and Mom

Brent and Leecy

Lainey bug and MaryRose

Patty and Eric

Val and I

Lennon and Trey

Jeff and Lainey bug

Sisters!!!

Steph, Mary Rose, Trey, Patty and Katchie

Mom and her girls!

the belly again....

me and my sweet boy on Thanksgiving

cutting the turkey--Grampy and Trey

cool chandelier in one of the dining rooms

eating the yummy food

Cheers!

Playing up on the balcony

beautiful sunset

Grampy matching his Wii character :)

gathered around the campfire

mommy and Mr. Lennon

Katchie and Lennon

mommy and Leecy T

MaryRose and Brent

Katchie and Jeff

Daddy and Lennon

Grampy and Granny

Leecy T LOVING cooking smores over the fire! :)

me and my sweetie

Eric and Patty

cute little Lainey bug being silly

mommy and Lainey bug

Brent, Lainey, Leecy, MaryRose and Grampy--canoeing in the beautiful weather

Leecy T and MaryRose canoeing

Brent and Lainey canoeing

my awesome parents

the back of our cabin

my parents canoeing

Leecy T playing the Wii--she was really good!

the girls boxing on the Wii

Lainey bug boxing! :)

the kids running around upstairs

Leecy playing

Grampy and Lainey

what a cutie!

me and my beautiful mom

Leecy getting her first set of highlights from her Aunt Katchie

Lennon and Grampy

Tag you're it!

2009-11-23T07:59:00.000-08:00

Thanks Kara!

1.What were you doing ten years ago?
Attending Utah State University on a music scholarship. Still doing the marching band thing, playing (too much! :) ) and probably freezing my buns off since I was attending school in the beautiful Utah mountains! If you are wanting details, I honestly can't remember at the moment! Pregnant brain!

2. What are five things on your to-do list?
1. Packing for our upcoming travels.
2. Decorate for Christmas
3. Finish up the little Christmas shopping I have to do.
4. Clean, clean, clean.
5. Make sure everything is ready for when this baby boy comes!

3. What are some snacks you enjoy?
Hmmmm...lets, see, I'm pregnant, so that pretty much keeps this list wide open! I'm not too picky. But this fall some of my faves have been honeycrisp apples (with or without caramel--they are divine) and anything with pumpkin!

4. What are the places you have lived?
Findlay, OH; Hilton Head Island, SC; London, England; Kingwood, TX; Provo, Logan, Pleasant View, Salt Lake City, Roy and Clearfield, UT; Marshall, MN; Memphis, TN

5. What are five things you would do if you became a billionaire:
1. Make sure we were COMPLETELY debt free
2. Ensure that I had enough set away to prepare for my children's futures (college education, weddings, missions, etc)
3. Pick a place where we could settle for good and build our dream home
4. Start up a record label and put my husbands music out there for the world to hear.
5. Pay it forward.....to family, friends and others in need.
6. I know it said only 5, but we would pay our tithing too! :)

I tag Patty, Katchie, MaryRose, Natalie, Jodi and literally anyone else who looks at this! :)

St. Louis weekend trip!

2009-11-16T19:56:00.000-08:00

Back in September we had the awesome opportunity to meet up with Granny and Grampy in St. Louis for a quick weekend get together! So much happened between August and October, that it was really nice to have this fun weekend together, without having to worry about anything else!!! We did so many fun things while we were up there! We stayed in a really nice hotel, with super comfy beds, we went swimming, we went sightseeing, we had good food and we had GREAT company!

Leecy enjoying the hot tub!

Grampy and Lennon chillin in the hot tub!

Lainey bug sitting in the hot tub.

The Arch in St. Louis (Gateway to America)

Grampy and Leecy T at the Arch

Granny and Lennon at the arch

Daddy and Lainey at the arch

Mr. Lennon enjoying his freedom

me at the Arch

Val and I at the arch (about 16 weeks pregnant I think)

Grampy and Lainey bug--love their faces in this one!

the Arch

Aleece pointing out where we live on the huge map in the Arch

Lainey by where we live on the huge map

our little family in one of the tram cars that takes you up to the top of the Arch.

Notice the double rainbow! It was beautiful!

our family at the Arch with a beautiful rainbow!

Sweet Leecy T

Leecy and Granny at the Arch

Grampy, Leecy and Lainey

the Arch with one of the rainbows

Granny, Grampy and the kids throwing food to the swarming fish!

feeding the fish

Daddy and Lennon at the old Union Station in St. Louis

Sisters! enjoying a quick ride at the old Union Station

Mr. Lennon enthralled by the truck ride at the old Union Station

the kiddos and Daddy....there wasn't a chance we were going to get them all looking at the same time! :)

feeding the fish again!

Thanks Granny and Grampy for an AMAZING weekend! We had such a wonderful time and can't wait to do it all again!

She's 3!

2009-11-08T21:23:00.000-08:00

My sweet little Lainey bug turned 3 last week! It's crazy to think how quickly time passes! She is still tiny as ever, but as we all know, great things come in tiny packages! She is so smart, just like her big sister. As busy as she is, she is quite observant and I love to hear the things she picks up on! She has the most infectious laugh and I love that she can find just about anything funny! She can always put a smile on your face, no matter your mood! She is into everything girly and that involves a lot of lip gloss and shoes these days! She has this sweet little voice and I love to hear her sing, which she does often! Madelaine has been attending preschool this year, and it has been so fun to see her grow and develop and learn new things! She has come such a long way in just the few months she has been attending. She loves all of her new friends and talks about them often! She loves her sister and brother so much and it is a lot of fun to watch her interact with them. She wants to be just like Leecy T! We love her so much and are so very grateful to have her in our little family! She always makes our hearts smile! :)

We celebrated her birthday by doing all kinds of fun things and it was definitely a jam packed day! We were lucky enough to have Granny and Grampy here for her birthday--they haven't missed a grandkids birthday yet--how cool is that?! We went to eat lunch with Aleece at school, we went to the carousel, we opened presents, had cake and went to Chucke Cheese!

Mommy and her sweet little Lainey bug!

Always happy!

What a sweet face!

She had a Mad Hatter Tea Party for her birthday party (pics to follow soon!) and this was her Cheshire Cat poster I made.

By her many presents.

All dolled up! Probably one of my favorite pics of her!

At lunch with Grany, Grampy, Leecy, Lennon and Lainey.

Grampy and Lennon enjoying the carousel!

Granny and Bugsy riding the dragon!

Leecy and Lainey with her present from Aunt Katchie and Uncle Jeff-a Disney princess deluxe tea cart! Thanks you guys! She loves it!

Sweet Leecy T!

Lainey and her cool tea cart!

Granny and Lainey with her new Belle doll!

Lainey in her stylish, new jacket!

Opening presents.

Tinkerbell!

After opening her present from Leecy, getting a big hug! Leecy T, with help from her Granny, picked out a very special present for her sister! It was so sweet!

Another big hug! I love these moments!

A new Barbie cruise ship!

What a sweetheart!

Always the silly girl!

A new princess baby doll from Aunt Patty and Uncle Eric! Thank you you guys! She carried it around the whole night!

My adorable children! All looking at the camera!

The kiddos with Granny and Grampy! We implented Dad as the official "get the kids to smile" person! It worked!

At Chucke Cheese in their new princess carriage ride! Such sweet sisters!

Lennon in the monster truck ride! He loved this ride!

Lainey on the Kentucky Derby horse! She thought this was pretty awesome!

Lainey in the monster truck! She also thought this one was sweet!

Aleece LOVED this roller coaster ride and probably rode it 8 or 9 times! It was so fun to watch her!

Mr. Lennon with Granny and Grampy!

Bugsy and Daddy!

The roller coaster ride again!

Being silly at Chucke Cheese

Trying to sneak a picture in before eating...

Cake time! (Homemade sugar cookie cake! It tasted better than it looked) :)

Blowing out the candles!

Lainey and Grampy!

Our sweet birthday girl!

Lainey and Daddy!

A big thank you to everyone for making her 3rd birthday such a special one! Thank you for all of the gifts and the phone calls! And a huge thank you to Granny and Grampy for all they did to make her day so amazing! I know she won't soon forget! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

I can't believe my baby girl is 3! I am excited to see how she will grow and develop over the next year! We love you so much Madelaine! Happy 3rd birthday sweetheart!

Halloween 2009

2009-11-04T17:04:00.001-08:00

What do these 3 have in common?

1. They all have an affinity for capes.

2. They all have favorite colors

Wicked Witch of the West/Elphaba---green

Wicked Witch of the East/Nessa Rose---ruby red (with sparkles of course)

Superman/Clark Kent---red and blue

3. They all enjoy flying....whether it be on a broomstick or by their own superhuman capability!

4. They are the cutest kids EVER!

Per tradition, I made the girls costumes again this year and was quite pleased with how they turned out! They got to wear them several times each, so it was well worth the time spent on them!

Trick or Treating!

2009-11-04T14:40:00.000-08:00

We had so much fun trick or treating with the kids this year! It was fun to see that Aleece has finally gotten the whole routine down and she was so excited to go from house to house! Lainey is starting to get the hang of it and would say "trick or treat" in her sweet little voice! Mr. Lennon REALLY enjoyed the fruits of his labor! He has a sweet tooth just like his big sisters and Daddy! :)

Lennon and Grampy. It was fun to have my parents in town for Halloween! We carry on all the fun traditions we did when I was a kid (chili and doughnuts...mmmmm!) and I remember vividly my Dad taking us trick or treating, so it was really fun to have him come along with us!

Our first stop.

Daddy being silly as usual!

What a beautiful Wicked Witch of the West!

A little chilly, but still a fun night!

Daddy and Lainey. She's lucky to still be so small! She didn't have to do much walking!

Mmmmmmmmm....candy!

Yummy!

Enjoying some kisses.

Chocolate!!!

Hmmm...what have I got?

Cutest Wicked Witch of the East ever!

Sweetest Wicked Witch of the West ever!

Most adorable, candy covered Superman ever!

Still checking out the goods!

We hope everyone had a very happy and safe Halloween! Ours was a blast and we can't wait till next year!

Delta Fair 2009

2009-10-13T10:26:00.000-07:00

We went to the Delta Fair for the first time last year and couldn't wait to go again when it rolled into town this September. There is just something about the whole fair atmosphere....the smells, the sights, the rides, the food.....that makes you want to come back again and again. The kids loved the kiddie rides and I loved watching their sweet faces take everything in! I also thoroughly enjoyed the yummy funnel cake that my sweet husband allowed us to splurge on!

Lainey, Lennon and Daddy trapped in Davy Jones Locker! :)

Mr. Lennon and Daddy

Lainey being silly (as usual!)

Leecy T and Daddy watching the monkey show.

The crazy, acrobatic monkeys!

Me and my sweet boy!

These little guys were adorable! Baby pigs are the cutest!

Leecy T and Lainey bug LOVING the petting zoo!

Lainey's approach with the animals--give 'em a BIG hug!

Leecy's approach was a little more gentle!

She seriously thought every single one was her instant friend! It was too cute!

Leecy feeding the alpaca!

Riding the dragon ride with Dad!

This is Val's "I can handle any adult ride, but put me in a spinning dragon and I think I'm going to vomit" look! :) Better him than me!

The crocodile ride! Such cute sisters!

What a sweet face!

All smiles! (Despite the ear infections we found out they had later that week!)

The love of my life!

How did we get so lucky?!

Riding the BIG slide! All by herself! She is so grown up!!!

We'll see you again next year Delta Fair!

Golden Birthday!

2009-10-08T16:28:00.000-07:00

So, I am WAY behind when it comes to blogging! September was a LONG month, but we survived it! Hallelujah!!!
My "golden" birthday was on the 29th of August and it was incredible! About 2 days before my birthday, one of my good friends called to see if I wouldn't mind watching her kids for a short time, because her and her husband's church meeting's overlapped. Of course I said yes, because I think her children are wonderful and I headed over later that evening. What I was not expecting was for my younger sister Katchie to open the door! What an awesome surprise! I, of course, started crying, and didn't realize for quite some time that a whole room of my friends was also there waiting to surprise me! We had delicious food and great company! They spoiled me and sent me home with gifts, which I greatly appreciated! It's so nice to have such good friends!
I was beyond ecstatic to have Katchie there! I don't get to see my sisters nearly often enough anymore and I treasure any moment I get to spend with them! The next day we got to hang out, go shopping and visit! All things I love to do! Little did I know that there would be another surprise! Val went to go the store to pick up a few things, only to return with my youngest sister MaryRose! How cool is that? I was not expecting that at all and was truly spoiled to have them visit for my birthday! For my birthday, we went to CiCi's for lunch---a family favorite from when we lived in Texas. Fond memories from our childhood! Then we all headed to the zoo, which was a blast! I love the zoo and it was fun to have all of us together! We got some great pictures! See for yourself! :)

What cute little bees!

Feeding the birds.... (they freaked Katch out a bit!) :)

Sweet Leecy T--future veterinarian

Me, Val, Lainey, Lennon and MaryRose

Mr. Lennon loved the birds!

Me and Leecy

Katchie and Lainey bug

I love when he does this! :)

MaryRose, Lennon, Lainey, Val, Katchie and Leecy

Me and my sweet kids

My cute family!

Sisters (notice the arm out Patty--you were here in spirit!)

We enjoyed a nice dinner at home and I was spoiled with far too many gifts! I received several books I was wanting (all of which have been read now--and they were all great!), some cute new maternity clothes, gift cards---which allowed me to get several things I really needed! Thank you to my sweet parents and in-laws, siblings and husband and children! I am so very blessed to have such an amazing family and friends!

MaryRose had to leave the day after my birthday and Katchie the day after that. Our time was short, but so well enjoyed! We need to do it more often! We wish Patty could have joined us, but she was definitely in our thoughts!

As a side note, apparently I was the only one who wasn't aware of all of the secret planning going on! Even my bishop knew ahead of time! Thanks for all of the surprises and for being so wonderful everyone! You made my day incredibly special and I am forever grateful for all that you do!

Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails

2009-10-04T17:00:00.000-07:00

It's a boy! We couldn't be happier to add another sweet boy to our family!

I wish I could say the girls reaction was a good one when they first found out. They were sure this baby was a girl! However there were a few tears shed. Luckily their tears didn't last long and they are 100% on board with bringing a baby brother home in a few months! :) We are excited for Lennon to have a little brother to love (beat up on?) :) We have so enjoyed watching the girls develop their relationship and they are the best of friends. We hope the boys will have that same bond! We love our children so very much and can't wait for our family to become a family of 6!

What do you think???

2009-09-24T20:36:00.000-07:00

We find out a week from today if our little peanut is a boy or girl! We can't wait! Leecy and Lainey are sure it's a girl, and I keep flip-flopping! So.......guesses? What is the consensus?

Grandpa Henderson's Funeral

2009-09-19T19:21:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in the previous post, Grandpa's funeral was beautiful and the graveside services were lovely. These are a few of the pictures that I was able to take during the graveside services, and I thought they captured well the emotions of the day. I'm grateful for the knowledge we have of eternal families and of the afterlife. It makes losing someone you love a little easier when you know you will get to see them again. We love and miss you Grandpa! Rest in peace.

On the road again.....and again....and again.....

2009-09-16T19:40:00.000-07:00

*WARNING* After rereading this, it comes across as being a little longer than expected. Proceed with caution! :)

Sooooo......it's been forever since I blogged and life has been crazy to say the least. Drama, sickness, more drama, more sickness, etc. etc! Shortly after posting my last blog, the kiddos and I headed out to my Grandpa's funeral. It was a last minute decision that proved to be very expensive! We headed up to Ames, Iowa to pick up my dad and the kids were very well behaved, thank goodness! With 12 hours of driving by myself I was a little worried. We picked up my Dad about 9:30 pm and got back into the car to drive another 5 hours to Marshall, MN to pick up my Mom. She had been working on getting the house (which finally sold! Hooray!) packed up and emptied out with the movers. We arrived there at about 3 am (thank goodness for my Dad driving! There is no way I would have been able to stay awake!) and got a couple of hours of sleep before we woke up, helped finish up some of the last minute stuff with the house and headed out again! We made it to Gillette, Wyoming and spent the night there, again getting only a few hours of sleep. We woke up to find that one of the tires was flat, so my Dad left to get it patched, which we assumed would work. Obviously we assumed wrong, because only 2 hours into our days drive, in Casper, WY, we discovered the tire was flat again. Well, we replaced two of the tires, and added some much not desired time onto our journey. We loaded back into the car AGAIN, and headed out, thinking we could make it to my grandpa's viewing by the skin of our nose! Wrong again. In Rawlins, again just another two hours later, a woman pulled up along side us to inform us that our car was smoking pretty badly. We stopped at a gas station and a nice gentlemen took a look at the car for us and informed us it looked like our oil pan had exploded. Great. I also got a phone call within minutes of this happening, from my dear husband, to inform me that my father in law had been diagnosed with prostate cancer. So pretty much I was an emotional wreck at this point and we hadn't even reached our destination. So we took the car to the only place that could get us in quickly, a local dealership. They couldn't figure out what the problem was with car. They knew it wasn't the oil pan but couldn't immediately determine what the problem was. Well, a while later (not nearly as quickly as hoped) we learned that our car needed a new transfer case (which has to do with the transmission). Obviously not cheap. Not even close to cheap. About an arm and a leg past being pricey, if you ask me! So we were stranded in Rawlins and we were obviously not going to make it to the viewing. Our only condolence was that Patty and Eric were also making this trek from MN and were able to meet up with us. Obviously there were way too many of us to fit into their car, but they stayed and helped watch the kids, while us three adults cried like little babies. We decided we had to make a plan and figure out what we needed to do versus just stand there in the car dealership parking lot and fortunately we were able to get THE ONLY rental vehicle in town. The only one. It was run down, beat up and not very clean, but it did get us to our destination of Ogden, UT. We stayed at Katchie and Jeff's and were able to get a couple of hours of sleep in before getting up to attend to funeral stuff. I went and met with a lovely women my cousins arranged to have me play the flute with, seeing as my regular piano accompanist and love of my life, couldn't attend the funeral with us. Lucky for me, one of my best friends from high school moved to Utah last year and I was able to borrow her flute. Oh yeah, did I forget to mention that I also forgot my flute. Yeah. Anyways. I was able to practice the music (which I had never seen before that day!) with her a couple of times before heading back to Katchie's to get ready for the funeral. We arrived at the funeral home to attend the short viewing before the funeral and luckily were some of the first ones there. I was able to see my Grandpa for the last time and truly say goodbye to an amazing man. It was difficult doing so, but I am so grateful to know that he is happy and pain free now. The family prayer was given by my Dad, and it was beautiful. The funeral itself was very nice and I was able to play the piece "Joseph Smith's First Prayer" (requested by my Grandpa) without any tears(at least while I was playing). Grandpa was always one of my biggest fans and I was grateful to be able to give him one final tribute. My mom gave a lovely closing prayer and the graveside services were very peaceful. The military gave him a 21 gun salute (proper military burial) and they had an incredible trumpet player play a few pieces that I know we could all hear Grandpa singing along to in our heads! We placed flowers on his casket, which was beautiful, and then attended a luncheon in Grandpa's honor. We were able to celebrate his life and the wonderful man that he was. It was nice to be able to reminisce with family and to be there together, even if only for a short time.
Later that evening our immediate family got together to celebrate my brother in law, Eric's, birthday. We ate pizza, visited and had a fun time just hanging out. On Sunday we got back in the car to make our long return journey home. We first drove to Salt Lake City to pick up another rental van, because we were returning the one to Rawlins, and the car was not done yet because it was Labor Day weekend. In Rawlins, we dropped off the one rental car, dropped my car keys off at the hospital for a local bishop who was kind enough to take our car to another car repair shop, and decided we were way past exhausted and we weren't going to be able to drive any further. We stayed in a hotel there and had a nice breakfast at the adjoining diner the next morning before hitting the road again. We were able to make it all the way to Ames, IA and checked into a hotel there to get a few hours of shuteye. Tuesday morning, my parents headed back up to Marshall to sign some papers for the house, and the kids and I headed home in my parents Durango, which they have been kind enough to let us borrow. It took us another 12 hours to get home and we were exhausted by the time we walked through the door. It was nice to be able to sleep in our own beds after the drama of the week prior and we were anxious to get the chance to recuperate. Like that was going to happen!
Is anyone still reading this?!?!?
I managed to catch a cold amongst all of our travels and was pretty sick by the time we got home. The kids had had coughs before we left, but had miraculously recovered by the time we got back. Or so I thought. Really their coughs were just in hiding. This past weekend they came out of hiding in full force and ran rampant through our household, bringing along fevers and more yucky germs! We have had a good 5 days of lounging around, taking medicine, taking temperatures, and trying to get better. As of tonight we are officially fever free and I am thrilled! I'm not sure how much more of all this I could take! Aleece had to miss three days of school, but she is all set to return tomorrow and is very excited. We are still battling some runny noses, but we know we are going to win this battle in the end and are anxious to see it come to a close!
Sorry for this being more of a novel than a blog post! I will post pictures in a different post, so stay tuned!

RIP Grandpa

2009-08-28T17:41:00.000-07:00

Our amazing Grandpa Henderson passed away today after defying all odds and surviving long past any time frame any doctor gave him. He was a father, grandfather, painter, craftsman, musician and so much more. He was probably one of my greatest fans in the music world and it didn't matter what I played for him. As long as it was music he loved it. I have a beautiful hope chest that he and my dad made together, to remind me of his beautiful wood work and love of all crafts. He loved to tell jokes and make people laugh and he was a wonderful grandfather. I remember many vacations, and trips that he and grandma accompanied us on and have so many wonderful memories. I'm grateful to have been able to see him one more time over the summer and to be able to have him spend some more time with the kids. I'm grateful he no longer has to suffer in this life and that has been able to return to Heavenly Father. I'm grateful for the joyous reunion I know he is currently having with those who already departed from this life. This reunion was a long time coming for him. I know he is helping watch over the sweet spirit that is set to join our little family in a few months and I know he is happy. Without a shadow of a doubt I know that he is happy. We love you Grandpa! Rest in peace.

1923-2009

Mr. Men and Little Miss

2009-08-19T18:20:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure why I haven't posted about this before, because I am thrilled about it....Lainey has been officially potty trained for at least a month now! We are so very proud of her! It is nice to only have one in diapers (at least for the next 6 months!) There was a small amount of bribery involved, though not much, and once she was ready it happened very quickly! Now if she could only reach the light switch by herself! :)

Lainey has always been more outgoing than Aleece. She hasn't seemed to suffer from the shyness that Leecy T has dealt (and continues to deal with!) and is very open about talking about anything and everything! If you listen for two minutes, she would keep talking to you for thirty, given the chance! She is our Little Miss Chatterbox! Since Aleece has started school she is also turning out to be a great little helper like her big sister! She especially likes to help Mommy in the kitchen! So I guess she has a little bit of miss helpful in her too!

Mr. Lennon has learned to giggle and it is so funny! He giggles in his car seat, in his high chair, in the bathtub, at his sisters, really at just about anything! He loves to tease (especially his sisters) and he seems to be growing up more and more each day! He no longer just walks, he is usually running and he has learned how to climb onto his sisters' beds and just about anything else he can! They have a Mr. Funny and Mr. Tickle (who loves to make people laugh), but Lennon may have to be the poster child for Mr. Giggles! :) (I'll try to capture it on video! You can't help but join in with him!)

Aleece continues to do amazingly well in kindergarten! She loves school and that makes us very happy! She is adjusting very well and I am so glad she is making so many new friends, learning new things and continuing to amaze us with her quick wit!

It's crazy to think of how quickly life is changing and I'm determined not to let it pass us by! We are enjoying every moment and living life to its fullest!

a little Moore.....

2009-08-17T17:16:00.000-07:00

Val made up this witty little poem (along with a power point presentation!) and sent it to all of our family members, but for those of you who don't know what's going on, enjoy!

We know there have been a lot of questions about Stephanie Moore
“Is she a little feistier now?” and “Haven’t we seen this before?”

Have no fear now, all is well, her throat’s a little parched
And her belly’s gonna swelly now until the beginning of March

And at this time we’re pretty sure her feet will be in stirrups
We’ll have another joyful day – our eyes are gonna tear up

For we’ll no longer have three kids – we’ll welcome number four
So on March 6th will you help us welcome a brand new Baby Moore?!?

Leecy T's 1st day of Kindergarten!

2009-08-15T19:31:00.000-07:00

Aleece is now an official kindergartner! She attended her first day of kindergarten this past week and she did awesome! Thanks to a friend of mine, I was able to drop off Lainey and Lennon to be babysat, so that I could focus 100% on Leecy T. We walked into school, found her classroom, met her teacher, deposited her zillion supplies that are required, and Aleece got right to work! Her teacher seems very nice and there were no tears, no long goodbye's....it was as though she suddenly grew up over night! She has always been shy, so I have to admit to feeling a little worried about her first day, but she is already a pro! When we picked her up after school, she had a big smile on her face and told us that she had a great day! She got to go on a "bear hunt" all over the school, she got to color and cut out a project, she got to eat her lunch in the cafeteria, she had recess, she made new friends..... I am so incredibly proud of her! She can't wait to go back and learn more and I am excited to see what she learns every day! We love you Leecy T!
`

ready to head to her first day of kindergarten!

such a sweet girl!

A KINDERGARTNER!!!!

already hard at work!!!