1ST GRADERS CELEBRATING...

President's Day!  The Ephraim Elementary 1st graders celebrated Presidents Day by preparing a Patriotic program.  It was absolutely darling...Cody did great on his memorized part and singing the songs!  We were sure proud!  He also was able to write a short story about both of his great grandfathers being in the Korean War and his uncle Apollo in the Army, stationed at Ansbach, Germany.  We have rich patriotic heritage!

PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!

  GOOD OLD ABE, HONEST ABE!

WHAT'S MORE AMERICAN?

The day after their program the 1st grade performed a few songs for the School Board.  Students who read 100 books wore their medals.  I was pretty proud of Cody for meeting his goal!

WASHINGTON

YOUR A GRAND OLD FLAG

VALENTINES...

...MY BOYS!!

For Valentines I wanted to give them something kind of unique.  Cody & Kaden are anxiously awaiting their baby sister, asking everyday when she is coming.  Kaden is going through a mean little stage:  hits, yells, talks-back, bites...I have felt like I have been on my wits end with him and have been searching for help!!  I have even prayed to Heavenly Father pleading for some inspiration on how to deal with his temper tantrums.  Haha, a CAT kept coming to mind--AND I HATE CATS & ALLERGIC!!

But--you know what they say, when you feel inspired you shouldn't turn it down.  So I posted on facebook that I was wanting to get my boys a cat.  I did not want a kitten to try and "train" to stick around.  Literally 5 minutes later, I had a response from Andrea Traina who said they had a house/outdoor wonderful cat who was so sweet with kids AND a mouse hunter.  We chatted and I felt really good about it.  So the night before Valentines she brought "Moon-Star" to the boys,  They were SO EXCITED!! Kaden instantly would whisper to her, "come here moon-star."  YAY--so far so good!!  They spent about a half hour just petting her and talking to her by the front door.  Andrea gave me her medical/dental record which was pretty impressive...up to date in shots and spayed.  

The boys were in heaven but it didn't take long for Kaden to get a little "rough" when mauling her to death.  She meowed pretty loud and Kaden said, "Moonstar growls like the RAH-RAH-RAH....COUGARS!"  Haha...the FUNNIEST thing ever!!  She is a HUGE cat and must have reminded him of COSMO the BYU COUGAR!  

That night Cody made his Valentines Box--Football!  He did most of it himself and came up with the idea...he even wrote the yard line numbers!  

Spencer was on a business trip for Nutri-Mulch on Valentines Day (he is employed just PRN for weekend road shows and expo's as a Sales Rep.).  My Valentines Date were with these two cute boys.  We ate out at Los Amigos after the Snow College Basketball game where my Extreme Team performed their Lyrical routine...best date ever!

GENDER REVEAL PARTY...

BOY OR GIRL??

We have been really anxious to know what gender our sweet baby is.  We LOVE these little boys of ours--we would LOVE another boy or LOVE a little girl.

 

So, as soon as I turned 16 weeks we headed in for an early gender scan.  Spencer and I went to West Jordan Hospital and awaited anxiously.  At the beginning of my pregnancy I thought GIRL because of how much sicker I have been than with my boys...but you know what they say, each pregnancy is so different.  The day of the ultrasound I started thinking more towards BOY.

 

The night before our appointment Cody helped me decorate the house and get all ready for our party...IT WAS SO CUTE!!  From BLUE & PINK streamers, mints, banners, balloons, punch, paperwear, etc the anxiousness grew and it started to seem more real that a baby was coming!

 

Well, after about 5 minutes (which actually felt like forever)...the ultrasound tech got a shot.  I remember saying out loud, "it's a boy huh?"  she said...hmmmm not so sure about that.  My heart was racing to just know.  Another good look and the tech said, "There SHE is, a little girl!"  Spencer immediately shouted, "YES! Oh my heck!"  His face I will never forget...he had the BIGGEST smile and slowly tears starting to fall down his face.  It was one of the most tender moments I had ever experienced.  He will be a great dad to this little girl--he already has her wrapped around his finger!  I was absolutely in shock and SO EXCITED all at the same time.  A little GIRL will be so fun!! 

 

After the appointment I did something I had never done before...went shopping for my own little lady!!  ...And the next several days after that, let's just say I spent a wad in a half!

We got home and I hurried and whipped up two cakes both with PINK food coloring.  I then frosted one cake blue and one cake pink...that way Cody and Kaden each could cut into one, and by the color of food coloring is what determined BOY or GIRL!!

 

Before cutting into the cakes began we had everyone write down if they thought boy or girl with a due date and a weight...Almost everyone wrote down GIRL :)

 

AND HERE'S HOW IT WENT...

 

IT'S PINK!!

And Spencer got crying again...ha!  The boys are so excited and you can just imagine how I feel!  Life is soooo good!!  We are truly blessed!  This little girl will be one LOVED little lady, and will have the two best older brothers to watch after her and protect her!

 

 



AND THEY ARE OFF...

TO GERMANY!

My sister Ashley's husband Apollo (my kids call him la-pollo) is a police officer in the US ARMY!

They received orders that they would be transferred to-- 

Ansbach, Germany.

We were fortunate to have Ashley spend the holidays with us. Apollo came later in January and stayed a few weeks.  So here are some fun things we did during their visit:

 These cute boys LOVED having sleepovers with aunt ASH

Dad knew EXACTLY what he wanted ASH to remember....COUGAR HUNTING!

Kaden was mesmerized!

 After a rough snowmobile ride, FREEZING COLD, a a long hike (only Ash knows what words were flying out of my mouth)...we were able to see the dang thing!  HAHA

 Enjoying our FAVORITE (started from Ash & Apollo's wedding)...LIME RICKY'S!!

ASHLEY AND HER PARTY'S WERE SOMETHING ELSE...

ALABAMA FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP!!

Ashley made the cutest banner, and decorated so dang cute!

The food table was AMAZING!

 Wearing the right party attire!

 Hot wings were a hit!

 Cody and Grandma Barton couldn't get enough!

 AND "BAMA" WON!! ROLL~TIDE

Ashley knew right what to get Cody before she left....a money box!  He is so proud of his earnings and is saving every last penny to buy a ticket to Germany!!  He cried when they left :(

FARWELL ASH & APOLLO

This was such a bitter sweet time...all of my sisters and my parents were able to meet all together for dinner at our favorite spot, THE OUTBACK!  The wait was like 2 hours so we kept on eye out for a booth at the bar, and all 6 of us scrunched into a booth space!  The waiter was getting a kick out of us.  We laughed, we cried, and laughed some more.  Ash then said her goodbye's to my dad, and us girls headed to SLC for a girls night!!  We managed to find our hotel in the fog (and survived mom punching her brakes).  We did pedicures, ate some more, enjoyed are vending machine drinks with the yummy hotel ice, and broke out the ROCK OF AGES movie.  Being pregnant, I crashed out early on.  But it was a lot of fun!!  The next morning we woke up extra early and met up with Apollo at the airport.  They are seriously meant for eachother...he brings out the best in her, and she does the same for him.  They were so cute to eachother and I had such peace that they will be ok as long as they have eachother.  "Do all things with Love!"  The goodbye's were hard...

 LOVE YA APOLLO & ASH!