Christmas

We really did have a great Christmas. I have been getting asked, "how was YOUR Christmas?" from everyone so I thought I would let everyone know. We discovered that Johnjohn doesn't like to share any toys. The monkeys got all of their gifts together and Johnjohn did not want to share with Luke. Every time Luke would pick up a toy, Johnjohn would run over and grab it and say MINE. Or he would tell Luke to "share". I think Johnjohn understands others sharing with him, he just doesn't understand him sharing with others.

Ellie experience her first Christmas without toys. She wanted a digital camera and that was all she got. Later in the morning she realized adult presents aren't as much fun when there wasn't anything really to play with. Christmas went really well. There honestly wasn't a sad moment all day for us. I think we were sustained by the many prayers of others. I kept waiting for a hard moment, but there honestly wasn't one. I believe my children understand better than most about eternal families and that there dad is always with them. I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas.

THANK YOU DIAMOND!! These were the presents we got from Diamond. The kids love them so much! One person can never have too much BYU stuff. If you don't believe me, just look at all of Rob old clothes.

Christmas Letter

I wanted to share my Christmas letter with everyone. I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!

Hello Family and Friends,
I am not sure where to start my letter. Last December (right after most people go our Christmas card saying all is well) a week before Christmas Rob was diagnosed with Melanoma Cancer. By the time we found the cancer it was metastasized through his entire body. After 11 short weeks of fighting, Rob passed away on March 6, peacefully surrounded by his entire family. We cannot thank everyone enough who came and helped our family during Rob’s sickness and who is still continuing to help our family now. Our family has been blessed with seeing charity, the pure love of Christ, through the service of others. We miss Rob tremendously, but know we are an eternal family and will be together forever. We celebrate Christmas a little different than Christmas pasts. Now, when we heard songs of the birth of Christ we are comforted with Christ’s spirit. For without the birth of Christ, there would be no resurrection. We cannot wait till the day when we are all reunited together as a family.
We felt it hard but necessary to leave the northwest and move back to Utah. Being closure to family has been extremely helpful. We are back in American Fork, where Rob spent his high school years and all his siblings have grown up. We have always thought of ourselves as “Cavemen” (AF mascot), so how fitting that we actually are living here now. We have been welcomed and love into our new ward. We feel our family is exactly where the Lord wants us.
Robbie turned 12 this year! I can’t believe I have a Young Man now in my home. His biggest accomplishment this year was growing his hair out. We call him Sunshine from the movie Remember the Titans. He played flag football this year and loved it! He has many great friends that live close by to play with. Robbie and Jake are often off having “air soft gun” wars with the neighbor boys. Robbie is such a great help with the twins. He’ll tell me that he believes he loves the twins more than I do!
Jake is Jake, my tender heart boy. He also played flag football this fall. Whereas Robbie was more competitive, Jake actually smiles while he runs! He loved playing and never cared who won or loss. I can always count on Jake to help out around the house. I think Ellie and Robbie are on to that fact, and let Jake do most of the work. Jake misses all his friends in Washington, but is enjoying hanging out with Robbie and the “older boys”.
Ellie is turning eight this year and is going to be baptized right before Christmas. She can hardly wait, and has been counting down since September. Ellie enjoys being the only girl in the family. She loves having his cousins close to play with, but only last about 36 hours and then she needs her alone time. She loves to clean, on her time schedule, but does a great job. For Robbie’s birthday she cleaned his bedroom for him and even cleaned the closest out! Ellie misses having a friend right next door but really has no problem making new friends.
Johnjohn and Luke, or as I like to call them the monkeys are at such a fun age! They are now 2 years old and repeating EVERYTHING we say. Johnjohn’s favorite word is “stop it”. He is always yelling it at one of us. The kids love to tease him and have him yell stop it. I do not find this as fun! You can also hear him calling out for Whuke at times. Luke is just as happy and go lucky as ever. Nothing really bothers him. He doesn’t talk as much as Johnjohn, but Luke is much more physical. He loves jumping on the trampoline, his bed or anywhere. We were in church giving the monkeys Starburst to keep them quiet. Johnjohn likes to unwrap all of his candy first, then hold the candy in his hand and slowly eat them one by one. Luke on the other hand, unwraps and sticks them in his month as fast as he can unwrap. Luke had eaten all his candy, looks over at Johnjohn, and sees the candy in his hand. Luke quickly grabs the candy and shoves it in his mouth. Johnjohn starts screaming and Luke is smiling. This is just one example of life with twins and how enjoyable sacrament meeting is for our family.
My life has probably changed the most. Opportunities have come up for me to speak on overcoming trials and relying on the Lord. The highlight of this year was speaking at Mother’s Weekend at BYU-I. I love sharing my testimony with others and hope other’s can grow from our experience. I am speaking at a Best of EFY in February and also to various wards in the area. I am slowly working on a book, with most of it coming from my journal entries in Caringbridge. I am also learning how to “blog” and trying to keep everyone updated on our family blog: nwepps.blogspot.com.
Even with a difficult year, we’ve experience too many blessings not to find joy. We find peace in the Lord, Jesus Christ and know everyone can experience that same peace through Him. We love and thank everyone for their support and hope everyone can feel the Savior’s love at this time of year and always!

Nutcracker

Rob's family has a family tradition of going to the Nutcracker every year. Even a few of his cousins have danced for Ballet West in the Nutcracker. When I joined the family, it became Girl's Night Out. As the granddaughters have gotten older, they get to join us with this family tradition. While I was in Washington for Christmas, I would still follow this tradition, but with my friends. Christmas just isn't Christmas without going to the Nutcracker.

This was Kate's first time going to the Nutcracker. Kate has seen the Barbie Nutcracker about a million times. She kept turning to Erin and saying, in the real Nutcracker this happens. Erin would tell her, THIS is the real Nutcracker.

This is Ellie and her Aunt Caren. Ellie and Caren have a very close relationship. Caren is out here visiting from the DC area. When Caren would come visit us in Washington, we were the only people for her to see, Ellie would get Caren all to herself. While in Salt Lake, Caren has lots of family and friends to see and Ellie does not like sharing Caren. They are going to get a couple of sleepovers together.

Christmas Sunday

I tried to get a good picture of all the children in their Christmas clothes for church. Robbie is wearing one of Rob's ties that I had given Rob to wear on a Christmas Sunday a few years ago. Today was Robbie's first day of passing the sacrament. Grandma Adrienne, Aunt Caren and Aunt Erin came to watch. I think he was a little nervous, but you would of never known. He did a great job. The monkeys kept yelling, Robbie, and waving!

Ellie's Baptism and Robbie's Confernation

Ellie and her cousin Izzy were both baptized on Saturday by Andy (Izzy's dad). Ellie was able to wear the same baptism dress that I wore when I was baptized. The event was wonderful! I spoke on baptism and Jeni spoke on the Holy Ghost. Annie sang When I am Baptised for the girls. Many of our family and friends were able to attend and celebrate this special day with us. I know Rob was there with us. While Adrienne gave the opening prayer, I could feel Rob say in my mind and heart, don't be sad, this is a wonderful day. He was happy and wanted us all to be happy also. I could feel him so strong, that it was hard for me to gain my composure to give my talk. I was filled with joy and an outpouring of love from Rob.

Ellie had asked my dad to confirm her a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He also gave her the gift of the Holy Ghost. I was so thankful the weather was good for those who traveled. I was happy that Dee Dee flight was cancelled, both Ellie and Robbie loved having her there.

Yes, Robbie did get his hair cut. AJ ordained Robbie to the priesthood (I think that is how you say it). AJ was given the priesthood from Rob, so it was fitting that AJ could give it to Robbie. This to me was the most emotional part. I was in awe, as all of these wonderful priesthood holders surrounded Robbie. Robbie now gets to wear a tie to church. It's a family tradition that you don't wear a tie till you turn 12 and get the priesthood. AJ and Andy took Robbie shopping for his first ties. I actually know how to tie a tie, but it still takes us a couple of times to do it well!

We had a celebration at our home afterwards for Ellie, Izzy and Robbie. I thought it would be fun to have cotton candy for all the kids (and adults). We always had a standard joke in our family about cotton candy. Rob hated it! Anytime we were somewhere where they sold it, there would be a fight because I would want to buy it and he didn't want me to. So when daddy would break down and get some cotton candy, my kids knew it was a special day. I can't think of a more special day than this one.

I had to put this picture of Grandma Sheri with Johnjohn. Johnjohn rarely does this for anyone. He ran up and asked Sheri, where's doggie (meaning Grace their dog)? Sheri has been an amazing help to our family. We figured that we have seen her every month this year and we don't even live in the same state! She has put my family first this year and you can tell by how much we love and appreciate her with Johnjohn's hug!

Watch Out for These Girls...

First let me say, sorry for the quality of the picture. I forgot my camera and only had my phone. What did we do before camera phones? This is Erin and I last night at the Ring Christmas Bells, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir's Christmas program. We went with Andy, Jeni, Adrienne and Cathy. Our seats were in bottom far corner, where all the VIP's come into the Conference Center. So the place is filling up and we look over and see President Monson coming through the door. Erin said we walked over by the ropes to see him, but I think it was more like ran. We were hoping to shake his hand as he walked by. The security guard was not too thrilled with two people, rushing towards the Prophet. He jumped right in front of us and stood face to face with us. Seriously, do Erin and I look like dangerous people? Andy thinks so, but still, we were just so excited to be so close to the Prophet! Granted he couldn't see us because of the body guard (right in front of us), but it was still exciting. When President Monson entered the room, the room went completely silent and everyone rose to their feet. Instantly, 21,000 people were quiet. It was an amazing experience. The show was great! I loved seeing and hearing the Choir in person sing Hallelujah from the Messiah. That is one of mine and Rob's favorite Christmas songs! The entire program was beautiful!

The Best Company in the World

Rob worked for Diamond Wireless. I cannot say enough about how wonderful this company has been to our family. They have already done so much for us while Rob was sick and just after he passed away. They tell me they can never repay us for all he did for them. I have always felt they have gone beyond what any company could do. Today, Jackson Cannon and Jeff Nielson showed up at my house with arms full of gifts for us. They funny thing was these two boys are die hard Utah fans and they had all these BYU gifts. Jackson said there might be some barf on some of the gifts, because it made him so sick to be in the bookstore. (FYI Jackson graduated from BYU) He said that he almost lost it when the BYU fight song started playing over the speakers...Rise and shout! It meant a lot to me that Diamond would go out of there way to make sure we had a good Christmas. This is the week Rob got sick last year. The 14th has been hanging over my head. The generosity and love of others for us has been amazing. I thank everyone for their prayers this week and always. I can be strong because of the support and love of others. Thank you to Diamond Wireless and to all who continue to pray for our family!

Caroling

Tonight our family was greeted with carolers. We had Sunday dinner at our home in celebration of Robbie's birthday. Robbie picked the menu, flank steak and twice baked potatoes. I surprised him with crab legs, which he was nice enough to share with us. All the family was sitting around talking when one of the kids yelled, Mom we have carolers! I know it's fun to have people come to your home and carol, but tonight it was exactly what our family needed. I expected to see one of my friends and their family to be standing there with treats, singing. When I looked out the door, there were several families there, too many to count. I looked around trying to see faces I knew from the ward and I couldn't place any faces (not a big surprise if I didn't recognize someone from the ward). While these wonderful people sang, I could feel their love for us. All these people took time to come to our home and help us feel the spirit of Christmas. When they were done, they gave us a huge basket filled with movies, treats, toys, a ginger bread house kit and supplies for sugar cookies! I was so amazed by their kindness and love. It was honestly something truly special for our family!

Our Tree Sold!!!

For Robbie's birthday we went out to dinner and to the Festival of Trees. I had to put this picture up of Robbie, because first he is so cute! And second soon his hair won't be so long. He'll still have that long "look" but honestly it's longer than mine!

We found out that our tree sold for $850! They had actually started the bidding at $5oo. We were very happy that it sold. Our biggest fear was getting there and not having our tree bought. We were happy to help raise money for the Children's Hospital.

This is a great picture of Rob's mom and siblings; Jimmy, Andy, Adrienne, AJ and Erin. I don't know why Andy looks so unhappy. It was a little emotional seeing Rob's tree and all the other trees dedicated to others. It's a wonderful way to start the Christmas season!

My baby is 12!

I can't believe I have a 12 year old! I remember taking a giant leap of faith when we chose to have Robbie while still in school. We had felt it was important not to put off starting our family. I remember trying to figure out my class schedule for school and baby sitters for Robbie. And yet, those years of being poor college students with a child are some of our best memories. I am so thankful to Erin and Tiffany for watching Robbie all the time while I was in classes. I could of never graduated without their help. I never regretted starting my family early. Right after Rob passed away, I was even more grateful for having my children as soon as I did. All my kids had more time with their dad!

Robbie was the first Grandchild and Great Grandchild on Rob's side of the family. We would all sit around in a circle and just watch him! He had more attention than any one child should ever have! I can't believe how much Johnjohn looks like Robbie.

Robbie is going to kill me for putting these photos on! Him and Jake love my big bath tub and taking bubble baths. They don't take their baths together, but I had Jake jump in so I could get these pictures.

Robbie was trying to look like a model in this photo. He really is a great son! He helps me all the time. He has a lot on his shoulders and he is standing up to the challenge. I am honored to have him as my son. Happy Birthday Cakes!

A quick story about Robbie. The other night I got McDonald's for the kids. I get home and Robbie doesn't have any Honey Mustard for his chicken nuggets. He asked if I would go back and get him some sauce? Now most mothers would say no, but I am a person who made Rob go back to places on many occasions to get something that was forgotten. I understood where Robbie was coming from. I went all the way back to McDs and got the honey mustard. Robbie starts to eat and the twins want someone to play the Wii. Jake wanted to eat, so Robbie went to entertain them for a little while. He comes back to the nuggets and Luke had dumped water all over his food. I was like are you kidding me? I spent so much time getting that food and now it's ruin? About two minutes later, Robbie came over and gave me $20. He said, he's the money for the food I didn't eat. I said Robbie don't worry about it, it was an accident. I am not mad at you. I just couldn't believe after all that driving, you didn't even get to eat your nuggets. We had a good laugh. He really is a great kid!

Festival of Trees

Yesterday, Adrienne, Jeni and I got the privilege of decorating a tree for the Festival of Trees in honor of Rob. Erin was actually the mastermind behind this and did all the ground work for us. We missed having her there helping us, but know she needs to be on bed rest! I was shocked with how emotional it was to decorate our tree. We had asked the kids how we should decorate it, and they said daddy loved Christmas, so decorate it like Christmas. We found out a week before Christmas last year that Rob had cancer. So I think I will always associate Christmas with the biggest change in our lives. This was a great way for us to do something wonderful for Rob and the Children's Hospital.

Our cousin Mandy and Aunt Betsy made the tree skirt. You really need to see the tree in person!

Aunt Cathy watched the twins for us while we were there. She brought them to see the tree. Not the best place for the monkeys to run around.

Here is what we put on the tree...I thank everyone who donated time and money for Rob's tree. We could not have done it with every one's help!

Many Thanks

We had a wonderful time at my parent's house up in McCall, ID. I did get to eat the famous "Griffith" stuffing. Thanksgiving is not Thanksgiving without my dad's stuffing. This is a picture of Johnjohn and my niece Ava. Ava did a wonderful job of sharing her toys with the monkeys.

At one point we couldn't find all the little ones. They were all down in my dad's office and Luke was entertaining them by playing the drums. He did a pretty great job!

My sister Kathy is a wonderful aunt. She brought over crafts for her and Ellie to do. They made turkey place settings for everyone.

Yes, Robbie did get to sit at the "adult" table this year. He wasn't as happy about it as one would think, because Jake and Ellie got to sit with us all also (Josh and Liz were in Logan). Robbie actually woke up sick the morning of Thanksgiving, throwing up and all. After a good long nap, he felt better and we allowed him to come join the family. He was not going to miss out on his first Thanksgiving as an "adult". Thank goodness no one else got sick!

Kids Table

Almost every year (weather pending) we go to my parents house for Thanksgiving. My kids love sitting at the "children's table" as you can tell from the picture above. This morning I was telling the kids, tomorrow we leave for Grandma and Grandpa's house! Now for those who take things way too seriously, you may not want to continue the story. Our family is continuing laughing and making light of certain situations. So no lie this morning when I told the kids we were leading to the Grandparents, Robbie said, "Yes, I finally get to sit at the adult table!" I started laughing so hard. Robbie was dead serious. He looked at me and said, "there's room for me now, right?" I don't know why this strikes me as so funny, but Robbie was looking at the positive side of things. He knew that there was an opening at the adult table and he was going to "call it" before anyone else did. At times like this, meaning the Holidays, we are going need to make sure to have fun and look at all of our blessings in our lives. Yes Robbie, you do get to sit at the adult table this year!

I heart Edward...and Rob

Last night, Annie, Jeni, Sarah, me, Erin and Cathy all went to the midnight movie of Twilight. You would think Christmas had come early! The hardest part was having to stay up that late, considering I go to bed about 9:30. The movie was fun and entertaining. Not the best movie in the world, but hey if you're a Twilight fan you should be able to enjoy the movie. It was great having all us moms (except Sarah) drool over Edward. Besides being totally controlling and a little creepy (sneaking into Bella's room to watch her sleep), Edward is almost the perfect man/ vampire. I couldn't help but think about my Edward moments with Rob. Rob spoiled me rotten, watched me sleep (when I would go to bed sooo early), and took care of my every need. I had found an old post from our Cannon Family Website talking about the similarities of Rob and Edward. It was title "Rob's Edward Moment". Interesting enough the post was made November 11, 2007. Here is what I wrote and then what Rob responded with....

In our soccer game Saturday night, a girl and I were up against the wall. We got tangled up and she fell to the grown. Now I have been known to push, ect...but honestly I didn't mean to hurt her. She jumped up at yelled "she through me down." Her husband (I did not know who he was at the time) got in my face and started yelling at me. All of the sudden Rob came from no where and got right between the guy and me. Rob had actually came from off the bench, which you are not allowed to do in any sport. He got tossed from the game for leaving the bench and the other guy and I both got blue cards. I felt so horrible! And it was actually really scary! My friend who was watching the game came up to me after the game and said that was an Edward moment. I didn't understand what she meant at first. Then she explained, the way Rob ran over to protect me, was one of the most romantic thing she had ever seen! She wanted to stand up and start clapping. What I did was really stupid, but it made me realize that I do have my own Edward!!

Rob's response...
FIRST AND FOREMOST, I HATE EDWARD. I would have let the Soccer guy pummel Patti if I had known it meant being compared to a fantasy Vampire/Werewolf guy named Edward.

Soccer Mom

These are my new awesome white soccer shoes. Rob said I needed to be a really great player if I wanted to wear white shoes. I am by no means a great player, or even good, buts it's all about the outfit! Rob and I played "highly competitive" coed soccer together for almost two years. For those of you who don't know Rob, for him to play any coed sport was amazing, but we had some good friends (Ross's) who swore by it. Rob figured if Josh would play coed soccer than he could play it too. It as great every Saturday night we would have a set date night together on the field. Soon our ward put a team together and every game was a blast, unless there were fights (no never). When Rob got sick, I still continued to play. Our team dedicated one of their sessions to Rob and our team name became Robstrong. I remember leaving the hospital in my soccer clothes and going to games. One would think it would have been hard to play without Rob and at first it was for me. But then, as I played, for one hour I could forget all that was going on in my life. As I stepped onto the field I would just run and play and feel like my life was normal for a few brief moments. As silly as it sounds, Rob and I will always have soccer. I continued to play with my ward until I moved to Utah. With some help from my family, we have put together another Robstrong team here. Now, Andy, Jeni, Rod, Jimmy, Linzi and I play together. Our first game was on Saturday and it felt wonderful to be out on the field again. I know Rob is saying to Andy,I told you it's a lot of fun and it looks a lot harder than you thought! I will always miss my team back in Washington. We have some great memories!

More than a Pie Made By ME!!

This is a picture of the first and only pie I have ever made. It's a coconut cream pie. Rob and I would always get coconut cream pie to eat when we went to the Temple (and Chili's). The reason I put this pie up was not to show off my mad baking skills (ha ha), but because we made these pies as an Enrichment Activity. This was the first time I felt comfortable with all the sister's in my ward. I knew people's names and their personalities. Better yet, they are getting to know me and my lack of quietness, I guess. I had such a great time, learning how to make a pie from total scratch (I know Sheri will be so proud of me). The the best part of the night was being around such wonderful people and feeling loved and known. I know there are people out there who can't stand Enrichment activities, but for me, these activities have helped me make friends and not be so lonely. Thank you to all who are welcoming into your lives and friendships. You have no idea how much it means to me!

The Sevens Tag

I got this email actually from my dad. I did see on Tiffany's blog that she had people do their seven in the comments, so if you'll like it would be fun to read. It's a great way to see another side of me!

Patti's list of “THE SEVENs TAG”
Seven t.v. shows I watch...
1-The Herd -I get to listen to this in the car and it's on ESPN-U which means I never miss a minute!
2-30 Rock-one of most under-rated sitcoms out there
3-The Office-classic
4-Pushing Daises-The other most under-rated shows. It's on Wednesday's night, everyone should watch it!
5-Chuck-Thank you JD for getting me hooked on this
6-Seinfeld-I can never get enough of them!
7-BYU/BYU-I Devotionals-I know it may seem nerdy to some, but I learn so much from them.

Seven things I did yesterday...(Monday)
1-Worked out-Did lots of lunges. I am not as sore as last week:)
2-Laundry, Laundry, Laundry- I try not to do any on the weekends, which makes for a busy Monday and usually the boys in dirty jeans!
3-Nap-It wasn't as long as I wanted it because the kids got home from their "short" day at school. They scared the crap out of me! It was a deep nap in the sheets and all.
4-Read-I started to read the Hour Game, which turns out to be a serial murder mystery. I wish I could put it down, but now I want to know who the killer is. I could not go to sleep last night, scary!
5-Family Home Evening-We waited till the monkeys went to bed. I quizzed the kids this morning and the remembered most of the lesson (with hints).
6-Steam cleaned the family room carpet-Does anyone know how to get red Gatorade out of carpet? My efforts were in vain.
7-Watched the end of MNF (Monday Night Football)-Honestly I could call plays better than the 49ers.

Seven things I am looking forward to...
1-Resurrection-Can't wait to see Rob healthy.
2-Nap-This is one thing I can't give up. PS don't call me between 2-4
3-Twilight Movie-We are all going to the midnight movie!!!!!!!!
4-Better economy-I accidentally opened up my statement and saw how much money I lost.
5-Co-ed soccer game-we finally are starting up a team here! Our first game is Saturday
6-My book to be finished-it's a slow long process.
7-Ellie's Baptism-I will get to see a lot of my family

Seven things on my wish list...
1-To speak at Women's Conference
2-My kids to not fight
3-Second Coming to happen NOW
4-My basement finished
5-No snow this year, but on Christmas morning
6-A fountain drink machine in my home
7-My kids to understand and love the gospel

Seven favorite foods
1-Pepsi-I know it's not a food, but I have had a 32 oz drink for many of meals
2-Cafe Rio-One would think I was sick of it, but surprisingly I'm not
3-A Good Steak-It can be at home or in a nice restaurant
4-Crab-need I say anything more?
5-Thanksgiving dinner-I know I'm bratty but only made by one of my family members. It's all about the stuffing!
6-Pei Wei/PF Changs-honey crispy shrimp, Mongolian beef, and lettuce wraps
7-Tortilla soup from Fred Meyers-Hey I found out here the Smith's carries the same brand, YEA!

Two little monkeys jumping on the bed....

Almost every morning I can hear jumping coming from the Monkey's room. They jump and jump in their crib to let me know they are awake. At least once a week, I will come in to find the Monkeys have taken off all of their clothes, including their onesies and diapers. Luckily this day Luke had yet to get his diaper off, but I was not as lucky with Johnjohn. Trust me, I am happy that they aren't climbing out of their cribs yet. I am also happy that these diapers are just "wet" ones!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow, NOT!

So yesterday was our first real snow storm. The first thing my kids said when they woke up and saw the snow was, "is school cancelled?" Now if we were back in Washington, school would have been cancelled the night before because it "might" snow tomorrow. If you don't believe me, remember the year we didn't get out of school till the end of June because of "snow" days. But here in Utah three inches is not a big deal. The monkeys were all excited to see "noow" outside. I informed them that snow is to be looked at and not touched! I am not sure how I am going to survive winters with snow. I do not like it one bit!! It is pretty in the mountains and on Christmas morning, but it is not fun to drive in or cleaning up all the wet spots tracked into my house. I was/still hoping it would be an easy winter with little snow. I guess I should have made myself more clear to Heavenly Father when I agreed to move here, snow in mountains only! We will see how long I can hold the monkeys off from playing in it. I know I am not a nice mother!

Halloween 2008

Chief Pucca Shells.

He would not let go of the pumpkin.
Johnjohn loved trick or treating!
He would run to all the houses,
well as fast as he could run.
He liked going to the houses, when we went
to the trunk or treat, he did not like it at all.

Trying to get all these kids to sit
still for a picture is impossible!

Johnjohn (cowboy), Ellie (Cavewoman),
Luke (indian),
Meg (witch), Kate (tinkerbell)

Erin had a great time putting the makeup on the kids.

Robbie looks a little too good!

Scary, as Johnjohn would say.

Brotherly Love

This picture was taken December 1994. There's Rob, me, JD and Tasha. The funny thing is when this picture was taken none of us were even engaged yet! Who knew 14 years later there would be 10 kids between us and many more wonderful memories. JD got to stay at our house last night, he was in town for a meeting at BYU. We stayed up till midnight talking about everything. He had been there for me in so many ways through out my life. JD has in many ways made me the person I am today. Following in his footsteps hasn't always been easy. I see this as a blessings, because I tried my hardest to be like him. I know in some areas I will always fall short. Lately, he has believed in me and helped me accomplish some of my dreams! I am so thankful to have such a wonderful family, I would truly be loss without them.

Halloween 2000

I have been going through olds photos and scanning them onto my computer. I found another Past Halloween Picture. You cannot tell by the photo but I am 7 months pregnant with Ellie!

Halloween Party 2008

Me dressed up as Sarah Palin.
The kids and their pumpkins.
Clockwise: Robbie, Johnjohn, Luke, Jake
Boston Ross, Kennedy Ross, and Ellie.

Officer AJ
There really isn't any more
that can be said...
I think this is his LDSingle picture.

Every year we have a big Halloween Party. All the kids dress up and some of the adults. It's a great tradition, and one Rob and I did in Washington. Here are all of the cousins. What a great family!

Jimmy and Lindzi

Nutcracker and Sugar Plum Fairy

Hot Rod or Super Rod

Chief Pucca Shells

Andy loves to dress up!