Our Forever Family

Things have NOT slowed down since Boston has been born.  I knew that would happen but it has made these last 2 weeks go by so fast!  Here are some things we have been busy doing… Lots of snuggles Jason made french toast for breakfast when Boston was 5 days old.  He had had enough cereal! I organized the boys room so I could take a picture of David’s hard work!  I cannot express enough how much time and effort this took David to get it all done!!  Letter and $1 from Jenna’s pen pal Grandpa McGary. Finished painting the other curtain for Boston’s room. More snuggles. Alyssa’s last gymnastics meet, before State, in West Jordan. Her coach and team mates all competing at level 2.  Morgan (5), Sophie (5), Alyssa (7), Kate (5), Sarah (6), Claire (7) Jenna having fun pushing Boston at Jason’s football game.  Her favorite thing to do when we go out. Grandpa and Grandma Lee drove up from St. George to visit for a day and a half to see Boston! At Boston’s 2 week appointment

What a wonderful couple of days I have had to spend with our newest baby in the hospital!!  I am remembering the things I love about newborns. Their smell, soft soft skin, fuzzy soft hair, perfectly tiny person, trying to figure out who he looks like, the color of his eyes, the soft cries, and even changing that cute, little bum!  I went in to the doctor on Wednesday the 15th, 1 day after I was due, for a checkup. I was still dilated to a 3.5 like the week before. The doctor stripped my membranes. I really did not want to be induced as I was the last 3 pregnancies. I wanted to remember what it felt like to start labor on my own. I walked around the park that night while the kids played. I had light contractions all night. I packed my hospital bag and the girls were so excited!  They wanted to help me pack. I went to bed at a normal time that night and woke up in the middle of the night about 3 am to a painful contraction. I checked the time and fell back to sleep to be awakened again

We finally did it!  We are in debt with a car again but we are SAFE!  This was such a hard decision for me.  Especially since our van was paid for but it kept having more and more problems and the costs to fix them were adding up.  It didn’t make sense to dump thousands of dollars into the minivan when we weren’t going to keep it much longer anyway.  I have LOVED having a minivan up until this point.  It was the perfect family vehicle for our family when we bought it 7 years ago.  I loved the automatic sliding doors, easy to park, fitted 8 people, etc.  But after moving onto the hill, I was worried if I would make it up this winter.  We put on over 110,000 miles ourselves on it and traded it in with over 142,000 miles.  And the fact that I drove 1.5 summers with this thing WITHOUT air conditioning (a full summer prego), yah I would say I deserve to drive down the freeway with the windows rolled UP!  Goodbye Honda Odyssey!  You were good to us but I won’t miss you! Hello Yukon XL!

I LOVE having a house completely finished!  Finally!!  It has been 8 years since we have lived in a house that has every room completely done!  It took a long time (1.5 months) and a LOT of late nights to get 2 bedrooms and a craft/playroom done.  But it is all worth it because they turned out beautiful!  Still working on the decorating but it is coming along.  Here is a cute desk David built Melanie before the painter came.  She can do homework here, makeup in a couple more years and her hair.  I got ready in my room when I was a teenager because I shared a bathroom with 4 other people.  I knew with Melanie sharing a small bathroom with the boys she would need her own spot soon.  Luckily the wall had this perfect nook for a desk!  The zebra chair was a lucky find on KSL!  I love her tufted headboard that looks more like a teenager’s room too.  This is the perfect room for her to grow into!

Jason has had another fun year of football.  The season is almost over with one more game before playoffs starts.  He was especially excited about this game at the end because they won in over time!  He loves the game and has so much passion for it.  David is telling me he is going to coach next year which would be great!

This beautiful family were sealed in the SLC Temple on October 3rd.  It was a beautiful day!  Congratulations Tony, Megan and Rocky!!