Rigdon's Baptism

Rigdon was baptized this weekend into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. For any of you who may not know it is the church that was restored to the earth in its fulness by Joseph Smith after being taken off the earth proceeding the death of Christ and all of his apostles. You can find answers to any questions you may have at lds.org. Rangi and I belong to this church and Rigdon has now made the decision to join. Our family is so blessed to have the gospel. We have so much happiness and freedom because of the way we live our lives which is because of the knowledge we have gained by being members of this church. 

Good Luck

Mommy's good luck charm...
Green eggs and ham and green applesauce and green milk...
Very tall leprechauns... all things sure to bring you lots of GOOD LUCK! 

Never...

Never thought I would have a pretty good day when my 2 year old would wear her pajamas all day for no apparent reason. I don't know why she is still in her P.J.'s with no cute bow in her hair and it's not even bothering me.  

Amazing (the sequel)

Amazing is the only word to describe my thoughts...it is amazing to me to be in such a great stake, it is amazing that Heavenly Father loves me so much that I am constantly surrounded by amazing people; my girls are taking a great dance class for free done by a girl in our stake, I had the opportunity to start an aerobics class for free by another girl in our stake; but probably what is more amazing is that I am a P.E. major and am so out of shape! By far the most amazing thing was watching all these wonderful women exercise while their new babies were in carseats, strollers, toddling around, or in their arms while their older children played on the sidelines. I was taken back by the moment as I realized we were all there because our bodies have been sacrificed for our babies, and each one of us is doing the best we can to raise righteous children. (Even if we are all fat.)  

Amazed

I am amazed that I am the mother of four children!!! I am amazed at how well Rigdon understands the scriptures; every time we ask him what is happening he gives us a play by play... it is awesome! I am amazed at how girls are so aware at such a young age, example, Livi knows where her stuff is as well as other members in the family's stuff. She knows what to do when I have had it, like help Caroline eat her dinner and even says, "I told you two more bites now go eat your last bite." She could run the house if I needed her to. I am amazed at how Caroline can be the cutest thing on the planet and yet try my patience more than any THING on the planet. I am amazed at how fast little Jillian is growing up. Lastly I am amazed at how wonderful Rangi is everyday. 

Snow Cal

Here we are in beautiful snowy California! So we missed our annual trip to Utah for New Year's (sob, sob) and it happened to be one of the most awesome snow years ever. We were really missing the snow so we decided to check out our local mountains on a drive one afternoon. Completely unequipped we found an awesome spot close to home, in flip flops Rangi helped the kids load the top of our car with snow to take home and get their mittens on to make a snow man. The snow made it home with the kids worrying about it on every turn down the mtn. and they made a decent snow man that lasted a couple days. Now to the point... the following day off from school we decided to go back up with ALL the gear, sleds, boots, snowboards, etc. We were greeted by a full on blizzard, 

You can see that Caroline is not a fan of blizzards or even cold for that matter and was much happier in the warmth of the van. Oh yeah we were also greeted by the CHP who said we needed chains to go higher up the mountain and when we told him we didn't have any he said "you always need to be prepared." Oh yeah right buddy I LIVE in SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, when do you ever need chains!

Free Advertising!

So for those of you that read my sad story about restaurants, Rangi and I have found a new place that is pretty good. It is called Dickey's Barbeque, they have free giant pickles and free ice-cream, (sounds like a place for pregnant women); but they also have really good pulled pork sandwiches and bbq sauce. Our kids like it because they can have ice-cream if they eat their food, and they like the food so it's a good combo. Anyway if everyone who reads my blog starts going then maybe it will stay in business...unless only 3 people read my blog.

Valentines Day

This year our Valentines date had three instead of two, and I couldn't be more in love with both of my dates...Rangi and Jillian.

Rigdon is Eight!

I honestly cannot believe that my baby Rigdon is 8!  For his birthday I made cookies shaped like the #8 to take to school to share with his class. 
Then after school it was off to Jumping Jacks for his birthday party; because 8 is such a special age in our family we wanted this birthday to be extra special too. 
The kids had a ton of fun jumping to their hearts content and being as crazy as they wanted to be. Rigdon was so excited because every kid he invited came to his party. 
Then we all moved to the party room for pizza, presents and pie. Rigdon was stoked about the birthday throne and chose to sit there the whole time, rather than at the tables with his friends!
Rigdon made a request for lemon pie for his birthday, instead of cake, and then Rangi was stoked! All in all it was a fun and crazy day.  Rigdon is such a good kid, he tries so hard to please Rangi and I, and he is naturally a great brother. There is never a time when he doesn't come home from school with a treat to share with his sisters. I took the baby to school the other day and Rigdon's class was on their way to lunch; when all the kids came over to see her, Rigdon said, "Isn't she cute?" I love the way he loves and protects his sisters; one of my own heartbreaks has been that he doesn't have a brother, but when I watch him with his sisters I feel so blessed to have him... for them. That is just an illustration of why Rigdon is so important to our family. We love you Rigdon! Happy 8th Birthday! 

Kiss of Death...

On Valentines Day Rangi and I were headed to our favorite restaurant, Sicily, when we got there it was GONE!!! No warning, no signs, nothing, just dark and no remains to even show for. We were heartbroken!!! Sounds extreme but this is the 3rd restaurant in Rancho that we LOVE, to go out of business. First Pat and Oscar's then Pei Wei and now this!!! It is hard to find a restaurant that has good food AND is kid friendly. We have decided that if we really like a place then that is the kiss of death, so don't tell us about your favorite places... unless you want them gone! 

Love is...

7 pounds and 11 ounces
sisters

so sweet and perfect
JILLIAN

Happy Valentines Day! We are so happy to be loving our new baby, Jillian Virginia, born on January 17, 2009.

Showered with love

My friends threw me a shower the day after my bed rest officially ended... I'll probably still be pregnant on my due date because of all the hype. Anyway it was perfect, and I felt so loved to have people share in my excitement. I am so blessed and grateful for all of my friends and my mom.