Birthday Hike

Josh planned the whole day on May 31, his 29th birthday. The highlight of everyone's day by far was the hike to "R" mountain. It took about 20 minutes to get there and about an hour to hike half way up and back.
Sidra had so much fun climbing on the rocks. She is quite the handful because she has no fear and thought she could do what brothers did.
The boys were amazing. I didn't hear a complaint once. This was the adventure that they had been waiting for. There were quite a few slippery spots so we trained the boys on how to just fall on their bums if they kept sliding. That seemed to make them feel more in control. I don't think that we have ever had so much fun together.
Yes, I am about 5 months pregnant, but that didn't stop this mama. It was so much fun. I just love hiking.
We only made it half way up. We would have kept going, but when some other hikers told us that they just had to steer away from a snake we decided to just have lunch and then head back down. Not only was this a great birthday for Josh, but we all had so much fun we didn't want the day to end. Joshua and Daddy we love you!

Our Rexburg Brick Home

This is the shed in our back yard that the children and I just love. It is just so cute and it matches the house.
In our back yard we have a nice deck. We can't wait to have dinners and picnics out here, when it stops raining. The whole back yard is fenced in so that I don't have to worry about the boys playing outside by themselves.
Here is our nice yard in front. The people before us kept the yard nice and easy to maintain.
Here is a picture straight on. We are just renting this house but it feels like our own. It is nice to have more privacy and no one below us.

Tribute to Brothers

A couple of weeks ago, glanced out the window and saw my boys in the tree. I quickly started thinking back to my childhood and how much fun it was to grow up with five brothers. Oh, the fun we had playing outside and even if they didn't want me around I would watch and just be amazed. I have some many memories of brothers and trees, here are just a few.
-Michael making the coolest airplanes and climbing to the top of the tree and flying them down.
-Joseph and his friends making the best fort in the whole world. It was so great I wanted to make it my dream house.
-Charles and Barry and I playing house in the tree house and having all the money(leaves) we could ever want.


What wonderful memories I have of my brothers. I just want all of them to know that I am so lucky to have five awesome brothers. I hope that my sons can grow up to be the fine men that you have all turned out to be. I love you.

Daddy wake up!

It was President's Day and Josh had a day off from school, so he slept in. The children and I were doing our routine morning thing when I realized that Elisha was missing and quiet. I don't know if you have a child like this, but missing and quiet to me is a warning signal that something terrible could be happening. Something such as writing on the wall, stuffing the toilet with toilet paper, washing the dishes and the floor and everything including himself, etc. So I started to run around the house looking for what could be disaster. I came to my room and all I saw was Josh asleep holding a balloon. I was about to go and ask the boys how dad got a balloon when I spotted a little head cuddled under the covers right next to dad looking up at the balloon. Elisha spotted me and said as he shrugged his shoulders "Daddy not wake up." This pictures show Camden and Elisha, I couldn't get the camera fast enough to get Elisha next to Dad.

If this would have been me there is no way I could have slept through all of this commotion. Way to sleep Josh!

Elisha's Birthday

These pictures aren't the best because they are from Joshua's cell phone, but at least we got some. Elisha just turned three. We played pin the tail on the horse and Elisha did the best, can you guess why?

Here is Elisha with the cake. We have decided in our family that we don't like frosting all that much. So I just make a delicious yellow cake from scratch and put a picture on the cake. When it is time to eat I have mashed up strawberries and the boys favorite part, whipped topping in the can.

Here is Elisha opening his presents. He got lots of clothes because he is growing so fast. He really liked the jacket that zips up like his big brothers.

Lincoln's Birthday

Abraham Lincoln became my hero years ago when I read a book about his life. He was just an ordinary man with extraordinary determination to do what was right. When Josh and I learned that we were having a boy we decided to name him Lincoln in honor of a great man. We hope that has he grows up he will desire to be determined to stand for the right now matter if he stands alone. We want him to persevere in the good times as well as the bad. We especially want him to be known as " Honest Linc". HAPPY BIRTHDAY LINCOLN, WE ARE GLAD TO HAVE YOU IN OUR FAMILY!

Here is Lincoln opening his presents. He got winter had and gloves and two cool jackets.
When asked what he really wanted for his birthday, Lincoln said a bow and arrow. It only took him about 15 minutes of practicing before he could suction cup the arrows to our front window. What a boy!

The Biggest Loser(Rexburg)

Yes, Sarah Jenks Holladay won the Biggest Loser here in Rexburg. Here is how it all came about.
One day when she saw herself in a picture, she couldn't believe that that was her. She was so disgusted that she decided to do something about it. She checked out a book from the library, "Body Fat Solutions", by Tom Venuto and read veraciously until the book was done. She set up a plan and started to see results right away, but she needed a support group to pressure her on. When she was running one day at BYUI she noticed a yellow paper on the ground and passed without picking it up. The next time around the paper had blown right into her lane and she would have stepped on it but decided to pick it up and throw it in the garbage. What was on the paper? It was a flyer to join the Biggest Loser contest here in Rexburg. She had found just what she needed. Before she even joined she lost 10 pounds. She tried so hard to keep committed but needed to have people to report to every week. When she weighed in on the first day sometime in October she knew that there was no turning back. If she gained weight during the week she had to pay a dollar a pound, no way! If she lost weight she got a raffle ticket per pound lost. The raffle ticket went for some prize that was given out every week. To say the least it was hard. She was educated each week about how much protein to eat, how much fiber, what to stay away from, etc. Her weight loss actually slowed down dramatically for awhile because she was eating too few calories at the advice of her personal trainer. Finally when she figured that out she started to lose weight again.

Well, the day of reckoning came on December 15. She was so nervous she couldn't hardly think straight. She new that she had worked hard, but anyone could win. The personal trainer decided to start at the third place winner which made things more suspenseful. When she got to the first place winner Sarah was sure she was going to pass out, thank goodness she was sitting down. And the winner is ....................... Sarah Holladay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She had done it! She had won! She not only won $446 in cash, but she won so much more. She won the confidence to set a goal and achieve it. She won the beauty that comes from taking care of the body that God had so graciously given her. She won the self control to turn to the Lord, not food when she was sad, or depressed or happy. She won the gift of self esteem. As Eleanor Roosevelt once said "You must do that which you think you cannot do."