We are a Happy Family!

Yesterday our little Adam was born. It was a little scary for about 10 minutes because he cord was wrapped around his neck twice pretty tightly and he was facing the wrong way so he needed to be rotated, but after putting me flat on my back and wearing an oxygen mask, things stayed stable long enough for Adam to make his way into this world without a c-section. He is 7 lbs 7 oz and 19 inches long. He doesn't have as much hair as eiher one of his siblings, but he has some and it's lookin' blonde.


Our first family picture as a family of 5.












Little Adam right after being born.

The proud Papa- the nurse in labor and delivery really liked Austin and made the comment that he must take really good care of me. :)












Brielle coming to visit her new brother. I'm really glad they lifted the restrictions on visitors a few days before I had the baby. I really wanted my kiddos to come and see their brother in the hospital. Brielle absolutely LOVES him. She calls him her baby and today is loving calling him by his name. When Austin said "let go visit mommy and Adam in the hospital", he said she's never cooperated to get ready so well.





This is what JJ does pretty much the whole time they come to visit. He doesn't really care about the baby and has only really noticed him once or twice.






I've known two of my nurses before coming here so that's been fun. Austin was even related to one nurse who helped delivery Adam. And then when we came down to mother/baby, my nurse was a friend I grew up with! It's been fun! Everything is going well and we're excited to have this little guy in our family.

Thanksgiving Break

Well, this year Thanksgiving week actually felt like a break for us. Austin didn't have to go to work the day after for the first time in 5 years. It was fun to hang out and do fun stuff as a family. I begged Austin to put up the Christmas lights 2 weeks ago (while it was still warm) so it felt like Christmas earlier here. (The intent was to not turn them on until after Thanksgiving, but seriously, who can resist?) After a fun visit with Austin's parents, we were just sitting here the day before Thanksgiving and decided to put up the tree too. Brielle been begging us to put up the Christmas tree- especially when she'd see one put up so she was super excited.

This picture is really funny. Can you tell she's freaking out because JJ is undecorating all of her hard work?



Bet you didn't realize so many ornaments could fit on one branch, huh?

Thanksgiving was fun- we spent it with both families. Lots of good food, and even better company.

The day after Thanksgiving, Austin's family was all going to see the lights up at Temple Square and invited us along. It was really fun! We'd talked about going up before the baby comes next week and were trying to decide on a time- this was perfect! For being opening night, it was not as bad as we expected either.

Saturday, of course, was a fine day since BYU actually managed to not give the game away entirely and pulled out a win during over time.

November So Far

The closer we get to having this baby (16 days!!!), the more I've been thinking a lot about how grateful I am for my little family. We're lucky to have these kids sealed to us.
When we ask Brielle what she wants for Christmas, all she says is a baby brother. I'm sad she can't come to the hospital to visit us. She's so excited to help with the new baby and talks about holding him and taking care of him all the time. She is such a big helper. She loves making dinner with me every night and is such a good big sister to Jonathan. Whenever he cries, especially when she isn't the cause of it, she jumps in and tries to make him happy. This morning when she woke up and came in where Jonathan and I were getting ready for church, he just ran up and hugged her. She's usually very patient with him and always tells me that they love each other. I love how she always wants to tag along with me. When I'm getting ready for the day, she stands by my side and hands me my make-up, deodorant, bobby-pins, whatever I need. I love her spit-fire attitude she gets though too.
Jonathan is my cuddly little guy. He's always liked to just sit on my lap. He gives a lot of hugs, even after a diaper change I get a hug! He's a smart little dude too and will sit and figure things out for a long time. He is also very patient with his sister. She calls him "Eric" quite frequently and makes him dance with her. He's usually pretty happy to oblige. We like to call him our little vacuum because he always goes around the table about 10 minutes after every meal and finishes off anything anyone (cough*cough*Brielle) has left. He doesn't talk a lot of understandable words, but he's getting better and is good at letting us know what he wants and needs by showing, pointing, and acting. He's his daddy's little shadow and usually is found following Austin around or is in Austin's arms. It's really cute!

Austin is the greatest thing ever. I couldn't forget him. I'm so grateful for what a great dad and husband he is. It's been great having him home. Our marriage has never been so good and the kids have really bonded with him too. He's really jumped into this stay-at-home-dad thing and it's been great having the extra help this semester. He's better at taking care of this house than I am so I have a lot to live up to once my semester ends. He's such a hard worker and does so well in school. Austin really is my best friend and has made me a much better person. I am really blessed to be sealed to him for eternity.

Double Double Toil and Trouble

Yep, I'm finally blogging Halloween. We had a lot of fun with Halloween this year. Brielle was prepped for it all night and couldn't wait to go trick-or-treating. In case you can't tell, Jonathan is a pumpkin and Brielle is Snow White.










We also painted and carved pumpkins. We bought finger paints for the kids to use, and it didn't stick well either. I have tried several different types of paint and I can't get any of them to stick to the pumpkins. Help please?
As expected, Jonathan didn't last very long and eventually ended up trying to eat the paint...surprise surprise.








Austin's pumpkin.

Goblin Valley

This last week we went on a family vacation down to Goblin Valley. I've been wanting Austin to experience this place since we first got married and finally it all worked out. When I tried to explain to him what it is and what we do there, all I could really say was "Well, it's just a bunch of rocks and we climb on them." He wasn't overly enthusiastic from my description but he really enjoyed it (much to my relief!). Even on the way home he told me it's somewhere he'd want to go again.

On the way down, the family had to stop in Green River for some of their famous melons. On the main road, they had this giant melon made out of wood sitting on the side of the road. My brother wanted a picture next to it so Austin decided he might as well take the opportunity as well.

We camp outside of the park next to these giant hills of dirt that the kids loved to climb. Seriously, who needs toys when there's something like that to play on?

Brielle had a lot of fun making up her own games. She has a great imagination. This is her drawing in the dirt with a stick. She'd say she was doing homework or something (not my idea of fun).

This is our family in front of Goblin Valley (I think it's officially called Valley of the Goblins??) from the parking lot pavilion.

Jonathan wasn't so much into climbing as he was in just running around. At one point Austin was trying to push rocks over or pick them up so JJ started mimicking him. He then decided to further demonstrate his manhood by carrying this rock around for probably 15 minutes. Every now and then he'd throw it down to show it who the boss is and then he'd pick up again and keep going.

He just looked so small and cute. So I took a picture.

Jonathan and his cousin Kelsey

Brielle and her two cousins, Will and Braden, in a cave they climbed up to.









On the second day we hiked across the valley and up the mountain to overlook the valley. It was really pretty and somewhat of a challenge to get up there. This is a picture of my sister Kaylee with some of the grandkids when we took a break at the top to have snacks and water.

Every night the kids were asking to go to bed because they were all so tired. When it came close to nap time it was pretty obvious too. Little J didn't even last until the top of the mountain before he zonked out. Thankfully, my sister had a hiking backpack that we were able to pass around and use for the 3 youngest kiddos.





Pretty much the entire trip, Brielle took quite the liking to my brother, Derek. She would start screaming his name if he got out of her sight and usually they were walking around hand in hand. It was really cute. He was a champ to be her best buddy the whole time.

Yesterday, Austin and I were putting the tent away and Austin was shaking all the dirt out by turning it on an angle. I was behind and saw something white hanging on the bottom of our tent. It dropped and I was shocked to see it was a scorpion. This was the first time I've ever seen one while it most likely made Austin feel more at home.

Before we headed out, we went and hiked Little Wild Horse Canyon. It's part of the San Rafael Swell and is like a miniature version of the narrows in Zions National Park. It was really pretty. This is our family after we hit one of the first breaks in the narrow part.

Austin carrying JJ on his shoulders through the canyon. At one point on the way back down we had to pass a big group. It was the only time I felt claustrophobic. Why? Because I had to get my 7 month pregnant stomach past a guy who had a baby in a hiking back pack. It took about 5 tries, but we eventually were able to pass one another. Awkward? Yes, very.

Brielle in a tunnel from a falling rock.











Brielle was a champ. I made her walk and she did pretty well. This was one of the tricky parts and she did a really good job...with me lifting her up and around the corners.

So I figured Brielle would destroy a pair of pants on this trip so we took one that fit her kinda funny and we didn't care too much about. Yeah, these are her pants by the end of the trip. Needless to say, we just threw the pants away.

We had a really good time and it was great to get away on a vacation. Brielle was crying on the way home because she had to sleep in her bed, in our house, instead of in a sleeping bag in our tent. However, she was happy to have a bath and fell asleep in less than 5 minutes from sitting on her bed. Thanks for setting this all up Mom and Dad and everyone for helping my kiddos (and me!) on all the hikes. It was really fun!

First Day in Nursery

JJ had his first day in nursery today. He's kind of a funny kid, and likes to do things by himself most of the time. Trying to get him to interact with the kids wasn't entirely successful, but I think he will be just happy in there for the next couple of years.

One fun aspect is that Brielle will remain in nursery for the rest of this year, which allows them to spend a little more time together before she goes off to Primary in January.

This picture shows Brielle standing next to the nursery leader during singing time, and JJ, not sure of what's going on, standing close to me with the camera. I wanted to get a shot of his face, but as soon as he saw me with the camera, his whole focus was on trying to get it out of my hands.

Happy Birthday Jason!

Jenna's younger brother, Jason, is serving a full-time mission in Buenos Aires Argentina. He has been down there for just under a year, and we are very proud of him, and the hard work that he has put into serving the Lord. We love you, Jason!