The Fantastic Five

White Christmas 2010

2010-12-26T18:37:00.000-08:00

We had a great Christmas. Lots of parties. We received some lovely gifts and had the chance to relax and be together. We have had a crazy year and needed some time out, especially Rick who has had a lot going on. Last Christmas we got a dusting of snow and we were thrilled about it. This year we got an even bigger treat when we got about 2 inches of snow on Christmas Eve! It was not a ton but it was enough to go sledding and make the world a winter wonderland. This was what our yard looked like Christmas Eve.

The kids had to wait a while for us to get out of bed Christmas morning as Simon and Rachel had a restless night and we were up late finishing the wrapping etc. As you can see they were anxious to open presents.

Ammon with his Pokemon Wii game. They combined his two loves!

Ricky with his Sonic Wii game and controller. He had a great day playing video games with Ammon and Bridgette

Bridgette on her skateboard?? This was the one request I was confused by, she wanted a skateboard so Santa granted her request. We shall see how this turns out.

Simon with his Thomas the tank engine set, he loves it and will not be separated from his trains now.

Rachel with her little activity centre. She was busy getting into everyone elses toys on Christmas day.

I made homemade eggnog and Rick was trying to polish it off. This is a joke by the way, he just wanted to illustrate how good it was. I made it for a party we had gone to the night before and everyone was loving it. It really is a once a year treat as the calories are off the charts.

Christmas morning videos for the grandparents. The last video was taken after I set up the nativity sets and Simon was playing with them, it was so cute.

Surprise!

2010-11-04T09:29:00.000-07:00

So about two weeks ago we get this phone call from Rick's parents saying they were on their way to see us. We were in shock but so excited. We had not seen Rick's Dad in three years or his Mum since she came to help after Simon was born. We decided not tell the kids and let the Grandparents surprise them. It took them a couple of days to get here from Utah so I was dying to tell the kids but I held it in. Rick on the other hand was relishing it all and even had them outside writing notes to Grandma and Grandpa on the driveway saying it was to imagine what they would say to their grandparents if they could see them today! The kids still didn't catch on. It was a sweet moment when they saw their grandparents and even Simon seemed to know he was supposed to love these people instantly. Rachel needed to some warming up though.

We headed to Nauvoo the next day and spent the night there and the day after seeing the sights. We had a wonderful time, we love Nauvoo Illinios, it is an LDS church history site and it has a very special feeling I can't quite explain but I think it has a lot to do with the temple.

Grandma and Grandpa stayed on another night but we had to get back to St Louis. It was a quick trip but I am grateful for those few days and what it meant to our children.

Our children have only seen my parents a few times in their life, Bridgette has only met them once and of course Simon and Rachel have not met them yet so it makes me very happy to have seen them with their Utah grandparents. I have come to realize how important it is for children to have people in their lives besides their parents who adore them or who at least take an interest in them.

Here are some pictures of the Nauvoo trip. If you ever come this way we would be happy to show you this wonderful place.

Tots, trees and toes!

2010-10-20T10:09:00.000-07:00

Our Ricky has been battling with an infected ingrown toenail. Last week he had it taken care of at the podiatrist and is much happier. We have to soak it day and night which is a little challenging before seminary but it's looking good. The bandage came off after one day but he had to soak it to get it off. We thought it looked like a clown nose.

2010

2008

The tree I see from our kitchen window is a real treat each fall. It has grown a bit in a couple of years

A video for the Grandparents of the babies.

By the way it takes a long time to download a video to blogger. I unloaded the dishwasher, folded and changed a load of laundry and picked up the living room which is in the process of being trashed again by Simon! All while the video downloaded.

Highland Games

2010-10-06T12:27:00.000-07:00

St Louis Scottish Games. We all loved it. In fact we keep talking about it. Rick and I love the bagpipes and there was plenty of that going on the whole day.

One field was devoted to the pipers and drummers and they played the whole day. It was amazing.

This was part of the games, the log toss, it has a more technical name but I don't have time to search for that right now. Look close and you can see the log in midair.

Re-enacting a black knight fight.

The parade of clans with a military parade as well. Some of the veterans were very elderly so there was a little difficulty with the turns! They were proud scots!

The english car club trotted out the MGB's. My Dad passed on his love of these gorgeous cars to me.

Release the hounds.There were scottish terriors there as well.

I wish we had taken more pics. There were birds, sheep, dancing, and most importantly cornish pasties and sausage rolls, fabulous. It reminded me of Australia and made me think of my family and our scottish heritage, is that why the bagpipes sounded so good to me? Whatever you did this past weekend was not as wonderful as what we did. Okay, maybe you had a great weekend too but I had to show you what we did (Besides listen to an excellent General Conference of course). Here are some videos we took if you need some bagpipe therapy.

Tenacious

2010-07-28T14:03:00.000-07:00

Forged in the fires of Anne's belly, tested in the hospital rooms of St Louis and St Charles comes a new breed of warrior. Small, wiry(?) stubborn, tenacious even. He will test even the most hardened parent. Parents who have survived the great sorceress Bridgette, or the relentless warriors, Ricky and Ammon, who have survived many imaginary battles (and a few real ones). Who is this conqueror? It is Simon. His name strikes fear into the hearts of all men but most especially his siblings. His Mother may even cry "Uncle!" His own Father, a hardened warrior himself has even been known to cry out for mercy in his presence. His Mother at this moment is weak with relief as this ball of fury rests after a mighty battle that included dogs, a dentist's waiting room, a recently immunized sister, sand box fights, Buzz Light-year and Rex.

Pray for this Mother!

19 pounds 9 ounces!

2010-07-28T13:45:00.000-07:00

Please excuse my family's kitchen but they were heading out the door for church without cleaning up. Also they put me in a bumpo on a kitchen counter which is very irresponsible even though they say they only do it when they are working at the kitchen counter. I wouldn't say anything to my Mummy about it though as she may blow up. Anyhow just wanted to let you all know that I am so big and chunky I make the other babies all wish they were me. Yes, I am 19 pounds and 9 ounces and only 5 months old, I am also 28 inches long which puts me at the 100% percentile. I am such a high achiever! Now I must get some rest after fussing all day over my shots. I am not amused.

P.S. My mother seems to be in a "Devil may care" attitude today. You were warned.

5 kids

2010-07-25T13:30:00.001-07:00

This photo blew me away, all of these children are mine! How did this happen? I looked at them all and think they are beautiful and can't imagine life without them (I can imagine more sleep perhaps).

Simon is Two!

2010-07-23T11:42:00.000-07:00

So here is the birthday boy. The tricycle picture was taken about a week ago. His gift was discovered in the basement as it was not hidden from view by his brothers. Ricky and Ammon sometimes forget that Simon is very curious and manages to get into everything. He still had a bit of bruising from his fall down the basement stairs on July third, ouch, it was a very painful as those stairs are very unforgiving.

So his birthday is not even over yet but since both Rachel and Simon are sleeping right now I had to post what I had from this morning. The duel naptime rarely occurs so I feel like I could take on the world right now or at least download a few more videos!

This is a video of Simon in front of his gifts this morning trying to figure out how to hold up two fingers. Very cute!

For the Grandparents

2010-06-18T13:22:00.001-07:00

So I am not the greatest photographer but these are a few photos I took about a month ago.

Eye Candy

2010-06-18T13:13:00.000-07:00

Rick started his PhD the other day and needed a photo for school. I love looking at this handsome man. How did I get so lucky!

Who invented Bad Luck?

2010-04-19T12:44:00.000-07:00

Ricky and Simon meditating on the back steps

The day started out well. I was showered and dressed by 6:30 am and had studied for my upcoming Sunday School lesson next Sunday. I was on roll, which hasn't happened much these past 2 & 1/2 years.

Then Simon awoke as I was making school lunches for the eldest three. Rick found him with his head on the stairs crying. He has not been feeling good for a few weeks and the last few nights he has been coughing constantly and then screaming in pain. I knew I would be heading to the doctor as soon as I saw his sad face. Rick and the kids left for the day and I began cleaning up, dressing Simon and doing as much as I could while Rachel slept. Within an hour I had Simon and Rachel on my lap screaming, Rachel screaming because she wanted to nurse but was being interrupted by her very irrate brother who wanted Mum's full attention.

The phone rang, it was Ricky calling from school because he was feeling very ill, probably from his allergies flaring up along with half the population of Missouri this week! I had to tell him it would be a while and that I would pick him up on the way to the doctors. By 11:45am I had dragged the babies in and out of the middle school and had big brother in tow and was headed to the Dr. The Dr found Simon had a raging double ear infection and after numerous trips to the ER and Dr this past year determined Simon has Asthma. I just wanted a night of sleep so I agreed to all of the interventions and drove to Walgreens to pick up all the items necessary to help Simon.

Now this day may sound pretty good to some of you so far, some of you would say it sounds terrible, for me its about normal, maybe a little worse. I have to say these past 15 years have been great but also exhausting, today I was trying to "bear my journeyings without murmuring". I was thinking all of this as I loading up the van when my very wise eldest son said "Mum who invented the concept of Bad Luck?" (I was wondering if he thought we were having a little at that moment) I told him I didn't know but I said there is probably no such thing although sometimes it feels like it. But I told him that if today we are having it I would rather have bad luck than some of the trials others have. Real trials like living in Haiti, having cancer, losing a child, having the love of your life leave you, losing all you had to a corrupt banker. I could go on. So today is great, today is just a little bad luck. I am blessed and I hope if you are going through a real trial you will get through it without bad luck to boot, hopefully some good luck will come your way. Here are some fists of fury to help you out.

The Little Lady

2010-04-19T12:30:00.000-07:00

These photos were taken a couple of weeks ago so I need to add more but in order to satisfy the crazed mobs calling for photos here are a few I had downloaded already. Matilda or Rachel (we can't decide on what to call her) is a joy, we just love her and are so glad there was intervention (divine or not)to get her here. So much has happened since she arrived in mid February I should have been more diligent in recording it all but I hope to be a better blogger from here on out.

White Christmas

2009-12-28T12:56:00.000-08:00

Our real Christmas tree, a little unruly but that suits our home.

For the first time since we were married it snowed on Christmas Day where we were living. It was not a huge amount but we loved it.

Our four beautiful children. Simon is one, Bridgette nine, (little!) Ammon twelve and

Ricky fourteen.

Here is a little video for the grandparents. Simon was wondering why him playing with his new toy was big deal but he had such a cute look on his face, I could not resist.

Rick's Birthday present

2009-12-28T12:46:00.000-08:00

Rick's back was a little stiff on his birthday. I had to laugh when I walked in on this scene and had to shoot this video unbeknown to Rick. The kids treated him to quite a lengthy massage. I think Simon was a little put out about not being the center of attention.

Proof I am my Father's son!

2009-09-10T19:27:00.000-07:00

Simon has been very comfortable on the stairs these past few weeks as he has been going up and down them for several months. He has been worrying me about being too casual on them. I should have put the gates back up but alas I ignored these feelings and on 9/9/09 he fell from the top stair landing spread eagle on the wood floors at the bottom. He broke both bones in the lower left arm. They are "green stick breaks" so they should heal up quickly. His cast is from shoulder to hand but he seems happier with the cast on as he can move around without worrying about hurting his arm again. Here are a couple of pictures. The boy in the one picture is a friend across the street who broke his arm a couple of weeks ago. Simon has a partner in crime!

Sheep Stations and Swimming

2009-07-17T11:12:00.000-07:00

Our little Bridgette swam very well the other night in the swim meet. This video is for the enjoyment of Grandparents mostly. Bridgette is the swimmer closest to the camera. She did win the heat and ended up with two firsts and two seconds for the meet. Please excuse the over enthusiastic Mother cheering on her daughter, she sounds as if sheep stations were on the line! So many other great and wonderful things have happened these past few weeks but I am afraid I am too far behind so I will just start from now.

Garden adventure.

2009-06-08T08:15:00.000-07:00

I had been waiting for a perfect day to take the kids to the Missouri Botanical Gardens and that day was Thursday. It was 72 degrees (about 25 for my down under friends) and no rain in the forecast. The Gardens are expansive and very beautiful. This photo reminded me of a scene from the Fellowship of the Ring, perhaps a little less grand!

Here we are approaching the Japanese gardens, apparently the largest in North America. The kids are fascinated with all things Japanese and Chinese so they loved the walk through here.

We had fun feeding giant goldfish, I think that is what they are called. These fish would hold their enormous mouths out of the water to catch the pellets of feed. A little unsettling.

A rare reflective moment. I think they were just tired but it makes me feel better to write reflective.

Bridgette was excited when we ran into some friends. Ryan is always fun to hang out with.

The Children's garden was wonderful. Ammon was impressing the ladies with his musical talents

The Chapman's were also visiting the gardens. Kim tried to give me some relief but Simon is a Momma's boy.

Everyone, put your hands together for.....

2009-06-08T07:57:00.000-07:00

Our Simon constantly amazing us with his little milestones, babies are awesome!

Lots on my Mind!

2009-05-20T09:03:00.000-07:00

My Dad had open heart surgery last week, he is doing OK and will be home soon. Of course he is on the other side of the world which means all I can do is wish him well but he is always in our prayers. My good sister Jodi has been taking care of things for him and Mum, not an easy task. Love you Jodi! We are also keeping my Grandad in our prayers, he is very close to passing from this world and we are hoping his last few days are as peaceful as possible. He has had a good long life.
Simon has been sick with a cold that became an ear infection and then a double ear infection as he didn't respond to the antibiotics. I have had just a few minutes here and there to do all the things I need to get done before Simon has to be held again. The one great thing is that he loves to be outside. I put him in the wagon and we go out into the backyard and he watches me garden. So even though the house is not the cleanest right now my yard is looking better than ever. Plus he loves the stroller so I have been walking everyday just to give us both a little peace and quiet. I had forgotten how the days run together with a baby and that a lot of it is done sleep deprived but I love it. I wish I had been as understanding with the older three, oh well, hopefully they are not too damaged! Here's hoping this new antibiotic does the trick and life can return to whatever normal is, at least before the neighborhood pool opens this weekend.
Bring on Summer. We can't wait for water guns, barbeques, swim team, movies, campouts, sleeping in and most importantly no homework!

Good bye Luna

2009-05-06T19:46:00.001-07:00

We said good bye to our little Luna today. A nice family who live on a 200 acre farm here in Missouri were looking for a new dog as their rat terrior passed away recently. Luna took to them right away. We had been looking for a nice family who would like to adopt her and couldn't believe how lucky we were to find such a great situation for Luna.
It turns out Simon has some respiratory issues from the ventilator in the NICU, he will grow out of it eventually but they recommend not having pets until he is older. Luna has not been keen on Simon and she had snapped at him a few times now that he is crawling.
I never knew how hard it would be to say good bye to a pet. We have had Luna since she was a puppy and the house really does feel empty without her. The children are very sad, we all sat in the living room and cried together after Mike the farmer drove away with Luna. She was sitting excitedly on the front seat of his truck, happy to go for a ride. I hope she knows we love her. I think she will be happy, running around a farm with the 2 other dogs that live there and all the other animals. We are going to go visit her in the Summer.
I admit I have grumbled about the barking, the shedding, the need for a dog sitter etc but I am really going to miss her, after all she has been my little companion these past few years and I took her for granted. Thanks for the walks and the friendship Luna. Are there dogs in Heaven? I hope so!

Spring break with the super fun Auntie Jodi

2009-04-06T09:26:00.000-07:00

My sister Jodi came to visit for ten days. We had seen her just last year so it was a real treat to have family visit from Australia again. Jodi had come to the states for the wedding of a good friend and made time for us afterward. It was by chance that her trip coincided with the kids spring break, we had a lot of fun together and the children are really missing their Auntie Jodi as am I! St Louis has so many great things to do. This is the City Museum although Jodi couldn't figure out why it was called that since it was mainly an incredible playground for children built from recycled materials. We had a blast! Jodi says the burger was representative of her time in America and that she is going home to be a vegetarian, or something along those lines!

If you look closely you can see people crawling through the wire cage bridge suspended high above the ground, Rick and the kids went through, Jodi and I were happy to just observe that activity.

You do not want to mess with these three, no really you don't, they do mean business!!

Ammon is probably about to intervene in this apparent moment of Ricky forgetting about girl cooties!

Okay we are officially exhausted!

Simon is never ready to quit playing.

Auntie Jodi sees her first American snow, it was only a dusting but she thought it was cool nonetheless.

Go Bridgette, gotta love those bumpers.Bowling was great. Auntie Jodi had a rough start when she tried to bowl the ball backwards and injure bystanders, we had a good laugh at her expense but she made us all look bad by the end when she gave us a good thrashing on the scoreboard.

Ammon is a serious bowler. The pins run for cover when they see him coming.

What is this? The professional league? Please stop making the rest of us look bad.

Ricky resting from his intense bowling strategy of using a precise ping pong method with the help of the bumpers to get a respectable score and even a strike!

The St Louis Zoo

The kids loved the hippos as the fish in their enclosure were biting the poop off the hippos bottoms. Unfortunately the photos we took of this practice didn't work out, please contain your disappointment. We are so classy!

Auntie Jodi loves the zoo, the weather was perfect. It reminds her so much of our home!

"A Midsummer Night's Dream"

2009-04-05T17:16:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine named Erin decided she wanted to put on a play so her children would enjoy learning Shakespeare. She found an adaptation of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" for children ( no running naked through forests etc). What was meant to be a small production became, well, a big production. I volunteered to do the costumes and though there were some late nights it turned out to be a lot of fun. Our friend Erin directed and the children went to rehearsals for about six weeks at her home, she has a large home so it was also the venue for the play. Bridgette was a fairy and Queen of the Amazons (how fitting!!). All the children had a wonderful time and Bridgette can't wait to do another play.I have included some great shots of Bridgette. By the way these photos were taken by the same great couple that took our family photos in the fall, Becca and Ben Munson.

Ricky, man of a million faces.

2009-04-05T17:01:00.000-07:00

Ricky is the man of a million faces. He is a great big brother to Simon. These potatoes were huge and we just had to get a picture. He always makes us laugh with his funny sayings and goofy looks. His latest saying is "my word" in front of everything, e.g: "My word, you look smashing in that outfit!"

Ammon the Artist

2009-04-05T16:48:00.000-07:00

I wanted to show everyone what a good little artist Ammon is becoming. He found the picture of the crab claw and then drew his mechanical impression. Ammon tells us he wants to go to art school as soon as he can.

Watching Simon

2009-03-11T10:40:00.000-07:00

Simon woke up from a longer than normal map this morning (we have had some long nights lately with his teething) and after nursing he wanted me to do the routine "sit and hang out with Mum". He doesn't like me to put him somewhere while I continue on with my cleaning etc for about 30 minutes after he wakes up.
I love to look at him.
I love to watch him examine a toy and study his fingers. I love his cheeks and the dimple on his right cheek. I love his reddish hair and his big blue eyes. He has a smile that makes all the problems in the world just disappear. I may spend a little too much time looking at him but I have a thirteen year old, I know how quickly it passes. The three loads of laundry will have to wait a few more minutes.
I often think of what life was like for our great great grandmothers, did they have time to sit and watch their babies? Perhaps they watched them as they dipped candles, made bread, churned butter, wrung out wet clothes. Perhaps they watched them while they were sleeping and they were mending clothes by lamp light.
Time to fold clothes while I watch Simon.

Giggle Baby

2009-02-16T12:48:00.000-08:00

Here is a fun video of Simon enjoying the wrestling match between Bridgette and our dog Luna.

Simon Bob smelly pants.

2009-02-08T16:55:00.000-08:00

Here's our Simon at almost six months. He is really impressed, as we are writing this he is letting one rip! These two photos are pretty close to Christmas and hopefully make up for us forgetting to take pictures of him then.

We didn't shoot this video so you could see Simon cry, mainly for the big pouty lip. Once you press play you have to look quick to see the pouty lip.

Christmas 2008

2009-02-08T16:20:00.000-08:00

Christmas morning 2008 was a little more subdued, due to some of us being sick. So sick, we omitted getting a picture of Simon's first Christmas. They all had a good time and got something that they wanted. We stuck with our annual tradition of breakfast for dinner.

These are some of the characters at the St. Charles Historic Christmas parade.

Santa and Mrs Claus had a cushy ride.

Our annual trip to a tree farm is always a favorite adventure

We all have to agree on a tree. Compromises usually have to made though!!

The weather was great for December, there were a lot of people there. We had a wonderful day.

November, month of the Bridgette!

2008-12-07T18:52:00.000-08:00

Bridgette was baptized November 30th. She was very excited and loved wearing her pretty white dress. It was a very special evening and we all felt the touched by the spirit. Rick baptized her and then confirmed her a member of the church.

Bridgette in her school program. She got a dancing part which she relished. She wore a boa around her waist unbeknown to us until they were up on stage. Is this girl ours?
She is a diva!!

Bridgette's 8th birthday party. She had a Fancy Nancy party and all the girls had a ball.

Our elementary school has pioneer days and everyone can dress up. Bridgette loved the bonnet and pinafore I made for her.

I thought a picture of something other than Bridgette for the month of November might be a good thing. A lovely tree in our neighbor's yard. Autumn colors were especially beautiful this year.

Halloween

2008-12-07T18:20:00.000-08:00

Some of our very creative friends at the church Halloween party.

Rick was an Aussie yobo at the party and had fun with our biker friends.

Bridgette and Simon were the only children to dress up in the our home this year. Ammon has never liked Halloween and Ricky felt like 13 was a little too old to be trick or treating.

Rick and the kids carved up some very cool pumpkins.

Eckerts

2008-12-07T17:40:00.000-08:00

Well this blog is going well! Here's hoping we will get with it eventually.

We went to Eckerts farm in Illinios near the end of October. We rode the ferry across the Missouri River and the kids loved that. We picked out a few pumpkins and had fun being out in the country.

2008-10-29T14:31:00.000-07:00

These are just a few of the photographs that were taken. I had trouble loading more than three photos at a time, hence all the different posts in one day. One of you blog experts will have to clue me in on how to do this.

We had a wonderful time doing this "shoot" and it was done for almost nothing. We are blessed to know such kind people!

2008-10-29T14:23:00.000-07:00

2008-10-29T13:58:00.001-07:00

Fall photos

2008-10-29T13:47:00.000-07:00

More Fall photos

2008-10-29T13:16:00.000-07:00

This is a little hard to get used to doing but I am going to try and add more photos from the other day

2008-10-29T12:27:00.000-07:00

Okay, so this is our blog! Since we have family and friends across the globe we thought this was the best way to keep everyone up to date with our life. We just had portraits taken by some friends from church who are photographers and thought this would be the excuse we needed to begin a blog. We hope you enjoy the photos. Ricky is 13 now, Ammon is 11, Bridgette is almost 8 and Simon is 3 months old.