Septmeber Snippits

OK, so catching up isn't so hard if I don't write much, so here is a flash of September:
Our baby is learning to hold up her head!
Telling her story...Adoration from the oldest brother

Adoration of the big brother; he just can't get close enough!She loves Pat-a-cake w/ big brother.

What tires out these kids so???
So much fun w/ great friends! See all those muscles?!
My little man is off to his own school (well, playschool) and he LOVES having something to call his own.
All clean...and serious.
Fuzzy wuzzy
Starting to smile!! And don't miss that belly!
Her little hands clasped together... I just can't get enough! Our little SQUISH.
We were STOKED (get it?)to have lors and janell there to break in the fire pit Marco built for us!
Another generation goes by.
With a face like that I HAD to post him! Glad to have Cubs and the whole crew here!
We were SO lucky to have Aunt and Uncles come for a visit! Thanks for making the long trek down this way!
Our Sunday afternoon on Temple Square.

My big girl! Growing into such a fine young lady!
Tender kisses.

Temple Square w/ the Fluckigers was a memorable time (especially when one little monkey took a dive into the reflecting pool!! Yea, really! Thus the naked boy in the pictures)Ahhhh.... Forever. What a beautiful plan our God has for us!

We LOVE when our cousins come!!!
Trafalga brought the kids MANY hours of fun!

Oh, How Time Flies!

Can you believe that it was really back on the first day of August that I posted last? Where have the months gone to??? And we all know that the two months coming up will pass quicker than them all w/ all the hustle and bustle and family fun. Before I can blink I will be the proud grandmother that is wishing my sweet children would post pictures of their little ones.
Well, that may be a bit dramatic, but here you go mom and dad (and any other distant loved ones), here are our little treasures. Sorry for the delay.
August in review:
This little outfit is from her Grandma whose name she bears. She must have gotten the furrow in her brow from that same Grandma, as well.
You gotta LOVE the fun kids find!
I know, huh?! Too sweet.
Preschool began for this one! He was stoked!
These two are SMITTEN!
Grandma taught him that all you need to be in the army of Helaman is a bandana and some serious faith. That has brought many moments of teaching and fun and ...exhaustion!
We enjoyed a backyard campout for the August meteor shower. We roasted dogs and marshmallows, sang camp songs and watched the stars. But not before we snuck in a bath for the little one. Everyone just adores her!




Look at that pouty lip!! I love it! They LOVE their bath time!
I laid her on the bed while I was changing another bottom and when I looked over to see her, what a sweet little sight cuddled up to Mr. Bear.

Stay tuned for September (and October too!)

Victoria Jane

A perfect day for our perfect little angel.

Notable Quotables

It is Sunday morning and I am two days from being due with my fourth child. Arianna says: Why do you have bags under your eyes?
I try to explain how hard it is to sleep at night and that I am RATHER swollen all over and then I ask her if she thinks I ought to do something about it.
A: yea, I saw a commercial for some stuff...and the first 100 callers get a free gift if they call right now.
I just had to laugh. I LOVE infomercials, don't you?!

I am not going to go into the conversational details of this one, but Enzo continues to be confused about the difference between burping and passing gas. He often asks me which one comes out of your mouth. Just sitting down to write that brings a flood of hillarious conversations to mind that we have had with him about the subject...I will spare you the details, but you can probably imagine well enough for yourself. I sure hope he gets those cleared up in his mind before too long!

Last night before bed Enzo rounded up a few stuffed animals for bed. Massimo had to follow suit, as usual. I was in the animal bin asking him what animals he would like. He alread had a bear and a dog but now he wanted a chickie (because his brother had one) and a cat. None of that is humorous, what is so 'notable' is his speech impediment. Neither of my other kids have had such trouble with pronounciation so I am just loving this! He said he needed a 'titty-tat' and a 'dickie'. Anyone else find that as funny as I did?? That is what he needed to rest at night.

And on a not-so-humurous note I read an article about the atonement that explained repentance in such a visual way that I had to record it somewhere, so here it is:

Why is it necessary for us to suffer on the way to repentance for serious transgressions? We tend to think of the results of repentance as simply cleansing us from sin, but that is an incomplete view of the matter. A person who sins is like a tree that bends easily in the wind. On a windy and rainy day, the tree bends so deeply against the ground that the leaves become soiled with mud, like sin. If we focus only on cleaning the leaves, the weakness in the tree that allowed it to bend and soil its leaves may remain. Similarly, a person who is merely sorry to be soiled by sin will sin again in the next high wind. The susceptiblility to repetition continues until the tree has been strengthened. When a person has gone through the process that results in what the scriptures call 'a broken heart and a contrite spirit,' the Savior does more than cleanse that person from sin. He gives him or her new strength. That strengthening is essential.... To enter His presence we must be more than clean. We must also be changed from a morally weak person who has sinned into a strong person with the spiritual stature to dwell in the presence of God. Forsaking involves a fundamental change in the individual.

-Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Twelve

Livin' the Life

Since warm weather won't come here, we travelled south to Las Vegas to find IT. Our brother-in-law hooked us up with an awesome vacation home down there w/ a pool and putting green which was just what the doctor ordered for ALL of us! What a blast!
The kids jumped into the pool about 8pm when we first got there Thursday night
and they hardly got out until Saturday was all but gone.
They tired themselves out so much that getting them to sleep was the easy part!
If they weren't swimming
they were likely playing basketball or golf, Massimo especially liked the golf!
He got pretty good at it by the end too!

My kids loved having time to play with their cousins! They would yell, "Celebration!" as they jumped into the water time and time again.
They were having a BALL!
After baths everyone wound down playing games and watching the Jazz ALMOST win.

Thanks Gina and Brad for making that happen and for feeding us so well! We never wanted for anything! So I guess if you do it right, what happens in Vegas DOESN'T have to stay in Vegas. Ahhhh. Life is good.