The Hinckley HotSpot

Taylor's Special Day

2011-09-04T09:48:00.004-06:00

I'm not sure how 8 years have come and gone since that first day that I became a mother and looked into that beautiful baby's little face. But somehow the years have gone by and yesterday Taylor was baptized! It was a really great day filled with family and friends. Taylor was so excited and prepared for this day. The Bishop joked that he'd never interviewed a kid that knew all the answers so well and said that Taylor probably could have been the one asking the questions...haha! Taylor told us that after he came up out of the water he counted to one mississippi because he knew that was how long he'd be the newest member of the church before someone else in the world would be baptized...haha what a goofy kid!! It was a really special day and we are so proud of our son! Love you Taylor!

Wow! Not sure if I remember how to do this!

2011-07-06T13:14:00.007-06:00

It's been so long since I've blogged that I can't remember how to do it! But since we moved, I had one of my sweet friends, tell me not so subtly, that i better do better at keeping my blog up to date. And since I love her so much....here we go Shanna ;)

We have settled into our new house and we are loving it. We are still getting to know the neighborhood but there are a lot of really great people here...we still miss all our old friends though. We went camping over the holiday weekend and had a great time! My kids think camping is just about the greatest thing ever. Here are some pictures:

2011-05-15T15:24:00.001-06:00

Adilyn Joy Hinckley

2010-12-30T14:08:00.001-07:00

What's it gonna be???

2010-07-12T09:30:00.004-06:00

Hinckley baby number four checked out healthy as can be and as cute as ever. We have held strong and have not found out the gender of our baby. But I'm dying to know what our little bundle is going to be. What do you think? Here's some pics of the latest ultrasound. Only four more months!

Please Indulge Me Once More...

2010-05-12T12:23:00.003-06:00

I know, I know, I am one of those annoying bloggers that only posts about how cute and amazing my kids are, and this time is no different....sorry. But Emma just got her first haircut!! Her hair was so long and thin and straggly so I decided it was time for a change, and I think it is adorable!!

Emma Singing

2010-04-19T21:01:00.004-06:00

We don't have much singing talent in our family, but I think we just found our jewel. American Idol, here we come.

Another one ready for kindergarten...and Kangaroo Zoo!!

2010-03-06T13:33:00.003-07:00

I thought I felt like I was getting old when my first born went off to kindergarten, but now my second child is going to head off to kindergarten in the fall. I just got Austin all registered for school last week! I can't believe he is really old enough to go to school. He had his well-check at the doctor and he is doing great. He is small...just like my other kids, but very healthy. I think he was in the 8th percentile for weight and 16th for height. The doctor always asks about how tall Ira and I are...i think they are afraid we don't feed them or something ;) Austin took all five shots like a champ!!! He held so still and did great. We just found out that Austin was accepted to a local charter school which was really exciting, but now we are trying to decide if it would be better to keep the boys at the same school or let Austin go to the charter school and hope that Taylor gets in later. We have heard some good things and bad things about charter schools, so if anyone has any information or opinions on charter schools please weigh in. We can use any help we can get!!

The other pictures on here are from Kangaroo Zoo. The kids had a blast and were able to use up some of their crazy amounts of energy. Emma really surprised us with her lack of fear and crazy climbing abilities. She was climbing up this 30 foot slide and going down by herself over and over and over. She loved it!!

Some pics from our winter fun

2010-02-11T20:13:00.003-07:00

A big week in the life of a two-year-old!

2010-01-02T10:50:00.003-07:00

This Christmas break has brought some big changes for little miss Emma. In one week she has successfully moved out of a crib and into a big girl bed and gotten potty-trained!! WOOHOO!!! We are so excited (mom especially) about the potty training!! YAY for Emma!!!

Christmas with the Hinckley's

2009-12-30T15:53:00.004-07:00

We had a great Christmas this year. It was our first year that we had Christmas at our own house. We had always been at my parent's or Ira's previous years. It was so fun to have Santa come to our home this year. The kids had a great time and they even heard Santa's sleigh bells while they were in their beds on Christmas Eve! Ira took off the whole week in between Christmas and New Years so we have been loving having some good family time! We went to the Children's Museum up in Salt Lake and the kids thought that was about the coolest place ever. We went sledding yesterday with Ira's family. Taylor was a total daredevil as expected and flew down the hillside. Austin and Emma loved it too, but they preferred having mom or dad ride with them. It really has been a fabulous holiday season and hope it was for all of you too!

Little Emma is so Big!!

2009-11-30T19:45:00.005-07:00

Wow!! Two years have gone by since little miss Emma joined our family. We are so grateful to have her feisty, stubborn, sweet, sassy, cute, funny, diva, personality in our family. She is 100% girl and so fun to be around. Happy Birthday Emma! We love you!!

Some things about Emma at age two:

Her favorite phrase is No, No way!! to whatever we ask her to do.
When she wakes up in the morning she loves to just talk to herself in her crib.
She loves to read books and sing songs. One of her favorites is her potty book...although she not to keen on going on the potty (work in progress)
She loves to color and knows most of her colors.
She loves breakfast and makes her rounds eating off of everyone's breakfast.
She can identify about 10-15 letters and tell you some of their sounds.
She loves clothes and shoes and accessories.
She love puppies but is afraid of them if they run up to her!
She says please and thankyou and your welcome and excuse you and sorry, but not always in the right context.
She is talking like crazy and says some funny things like one time when she told Taylor that he was rude.
She has to have a million hugs and kisses from everyone in the family before she goes to bed at night and the hugs and kisses have to be given when she is tucked into bed or she thinks they don't count.
She is full of attitude, cuteness, cuddliness, and we love her to pieces!!

Flag Football Season

2009-10-25T15:09:00.002-06:00

2009-10-25T14:48:00.004-06:00

Again, we finish another flag football season. This year was Taylor's 2nd year and we could see lots of improvement. Taylor played really hard and was really good at pulling flags on defense. He even had a couple long runs (one only yards short of a TD). We are really proud of him for working so hard this year.

Austin's Summer of Soccer

2009-09-17T21:26:00.005-06:00

Well, we were really excited to start Austin in his first competitive sport this summer...good old soccer. He was so excited to start the season, he would talk about it all the time and practice in the house and in the yard. However, once we go him out in the field on game day, something would click, and he just didn't want to be out there. We got him to play a few minutes and he enjoyed being goalie, as long as Dad was right there behind him. I think he learned a lot, and there are still a few more games, so we'll see what happens.

Middle Child Syndrome...

2009-08-22T23:09:00.004-06:00

I have always worried about the whole "middle child" thing. I've never wanted Austin to feel neglected or anything because he is the middle child, although assuming we have more kids, he won't always be. But I just realized I just posted one post about Taylor and one about Emma, so being the fair mom that I am, I figured I better post one about Austin. But WARNING...the pictures following are kind of gross!!! The other day I accidentally ran over Austin's toe with the shopping cart. OOOPPS!! He insists on climbing all over the cart...so it was bound to happen one of these days. Needless to say, we make quite the scene in Walmart. Anyway, thanks to that little accident, Austin is now in the process of losing a toenail and Ira thought it would be cool to take some pics....don't look if you think you'll be grossed out!!

Watch out...little diva is here!

2009-08-22T22:43:00.007-06:00

So it's been a new experience for me being the mother of a little girl. It is crazy to me just how much being "girly" comes naturally. Emma has only brothers and yet she is ALL girl. Here is a picture of Emma modeling her little tutu I made her. She loves to twirl around in it. The next pictures of Emma wearing these little boots she found the other day at Old Navy. She is obsessed with shoes. She saw them and insisted that I put them on her. Once they were on her feet she just grinned and grinned. And let me tell you, when I took them off of her to put them back she threw a pretty good little tantrum. She could get a little expensive!!! She loves to shop and she's not even two! But look how cute the boots are....at least she has good taste ;

He's all grown up!!

2009-08-22T22:12:00.003-06:00

So i always forget that the pictures are going to go up in the opposite order so they are always backwards from what i wanted...but oh well! Taylor turned 6 on Wednesday. I can hardly believe it...where did the time go? And even more than that, when did I possibly get old enough to have a six-year-old child?!?! The day after Taylor turned 6, he had his first day of first grade!! It is so weird to have him gone all day. I get him up and get him ready and then i don't see him until almost 4:00! But he is loving it already and doing so well. He is such a good boy and we love having him in our family. On Saturday we had a party for him with all his friends. It went really well except for the small fit Taylor threw when he was the first one to get out when we played "Hot Kryptonite" (our version of hot potato). He's still working on the being a good sport thing :) Gotta have a little drama right?!?! Oh yeah, my neighbor went to lunch with her little boy on the first day of school and she sent me a picture of Taylor having his first school lunch. I was so nervous that he would trip and spill his lunch everywhere and then be starving all day...but he did just perfectly!

Horseback Riding

2009-08-11T20:06:00.002-06:00

A friend of ours took Tay, Austin, Emma and Daddy to a ranch to go horseback riding. The kids had a blast, and I couldn't believe how well they did riding by themselves.

Summer time....

2009-08-03T20:38:00.005-06:00

So after I published my last post I decided I would add a few pictures from the summer. So things are out of order...but oh well...here they are!

Such a bad blogger...

2009-08-03T20:22:00.002-06:00

Really...where does the time go? I can't believe I haven't blogged in over 2 months!! I know everyone has been desperately waiting for an update from the Hinckley family, right!?!?! So the summer has been kind of a crazy one for us. I know there is no hope of me getting caught up on everything we have done so I'm going to have to settle for an abbreviated version.
Here are some of the main events:

The boys had swimming lessons (they passed with flying colors!)
Emma started nursery (she hates it!! We are still working on that...)
Ira turned 30!!! I threw a big surprise party for him...he had no idea!!
Spent a week in Pagosa Springs, Colorado for the Hinckley family reunion
I went to girls camp for a week
Ira took the kids horseback riding. Emma loved it and giggled the whole time...she still does when she watches it on film!)
Taylor played on a t-ball team
Austin took a reading class
We had our entry way and kitchen tiled
Ira's brother Stu got married
Ira and I celebrated our 7 year anniversary!!
Sent my little brother, Brian,off on his mission to New Zealand
Went to Youth Conference
Took the boys to Raging Waters (Taylor went on everything he could. He had people cheering for him at the bottom of this one ride because they couldn't believe a kid his age was brave enough to go on it!)
Beyond these things...we spent lots of time outside playing, and swimming in the pool! We have had a really great and really exhausting summer! I can't believe school is starting up in two and a half weeks. Taylor will be in first grade! It will be so crazy for him to be gone all day! Austin is also starting preschool this year and will go three days a week. Emma is still our little princess and she rules the family...she is getting more and more personality everday!

Austin's birthday, St. George and more!

2009-05-27T21:45:00.005-06:00

We took our annual trip down to St. George this last weekend for Memorial Day. It just so happend to fall over Austin's birthday so we got to celebrate it down there! We had such a good time...the kids love St. George...we went swimming and the kids had a blast jumping off the rocks!

We went on this really cool hike in Snow Canyon where you could hike up and see pioneer names that had been written on the rock walls with axle grease.

The boys never cease to amaze us with their fearless attitudes and excitement for life. They scaled up this mountainsides like they were nothing.

We also checked out the sand dunes at Snow Canyon. We tried out our skills catching air as we ran and jumped off the lip of the dunes!

The manly men!

Me trying to be cool

The way too cool goggle brothers!

We went and toured the tabernacle. This is a picture of Emma trying to get back inside after I spent the whole time outside with her because she wouldn't be quiet inside while they were giving the tour!

Ohhh..she's just sooooo cute!

Awww!

Emma loved the sand!

All the boys thinking they are pretty tough stuff

4 generations of women

Nothing better than the friendship of sisters!

OOHH...it was just so romantic!

2009-05-27T21:35:00.001-06:00

The fam, just finishing our run down the sand hill. You can see how excited Emma was...hair flowing in the wind.

All of us doing a huge jump off the sand dune...ok, it wasn't that huge.

Emma relaxing in the pool, she has so much of Heidi's personality.

Brian and Austin unwrapping their birthday gifts. What fun it is to share a birthday with your uncle.

Emma smelling the flowers...so cute!!!

Emma's Big Break!

2009-04-30T15:16:00.004-06:00

Emma's career is really taking off! She had her first modeling gig. We all knew she was cute, and now everyone can see her! Click on the link below to check her out! And if any of you are looking for cute hair things for your little girls, this is the place to get them! They have some of the cutest bows and flowers I have seen anywhere!

Emma's Modeling
Emma's Modeling 2

Hawaii Trip

2009-04-11T13:03:00.002-06:00

HAWAII.....

2009-03-30T14:20:00.002-06:00

WOW!! We had such an amazing trip! We spent nine days in a condo in Oaho with our good friends Brad and Elizabeth. The weather was amazing and it was a great break from the cold Utah winter. It was kind of a rude awakening stepping off the plane at 6:30 in the morning into 26 degree weather. At least I had my kids to come home too so it made it worth it. I think we did just about everything you can do in Hawaii...we were busy the whole nine days.
Some of the things that we did are:
Snorkeling at Hanauma Bay
Polynesian Cultural Center
Cliff Jumping
Pearl Harbor
Flea Market
Surfing/Body Boarding
Laying on the Beach
Lots and lots of eating
Hiking/waterfall jumping
Trips to the beautiful North Shore
Visiting BYU Hawaii
Laie Temple
Whale Watching on a Catamaran

Oahu is just so beautiful. I just couldn't get enough of it. It was so diverse too. From jungly mountains to hot sandy beaches. We had a great time. We had great company, good food, lots of laughs, lots of adventures, and lots of good times. I could not have asked for a better vacation. Thanks, babe, for the amazing trip!!

2009-03-30T14:05:00.001-06:00

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2009-03-30T13:45:00.000-06:00

2009-03-30T13:15:00.000-06:00

Brotherly Love...

2009-03-04T14:13:00.002-07:00

So, probably one of the craziest, most stressful times of my life was the first couple of months after Austin was born. Don't get me wrong, we were thrilled to have a new little boy join our family, but the circumstances were a little rough for me. Taylor was only 21 months old, and he was a tornado child. By that I mean he would walk through a room and by the time he left the room it was basically destroyed. He was just a very busy little boy and extremely curious. Austin, as a newborn, was EXTREMELY fussy. He seemed to cry pretty much all day. And if I was lucky enough to get him to sleep I couldn't put him in his bed because he would wake up instantly. So I basically had to chase a 21 month old around the house all day while holding either a screaming baby or a sleeping baby who I was trying desperately not to wake up. Beyond that, my wonderful hubby was working long hours and Saturdays, going to Graduate school, and serving as Young Men's President. Needless to say, life was a little hectic and exhausting. At times I felt like life would never be "normal" again. Now, although I wouldn't call life "normal", I have come to appreciate and LOVE that my boys are so close in age. As hard as it was I would NEVER change it!! They have a built in best friend. Not to say things are perfect...they definitely do their share of fighting, but they also have so much fun together. The other day I was doing dishes, and I walked out to the living room to see what the boys were up to. What I found was a "fort" that they had built. The fort consisted of blankets laying all over the couch with a big one draped across their heads;) I asked them what they were doing. They peeked their heads out and responded that Taylor was just reading a book to Austin. It just kind of melted my heart to see the two of them cuddled up in their fort reading books together. I love my cute boys!

2009-03-04T14:01:00.000-07:00

Funny Stuff....

2009-02-13T09:00:00.002-07:00

So we decided to take the kids rollerskating after Taylor had been dying to try it. We started our with the kids on skates, but at 5 minutes and about 50 falls onto the rear-end and a few tears we decided to trade in the skates for scooters. The scooters definitely went a lot better! Then the DJ announced that it was time for races. He called out for all the kids 10 and under who were on scooters to go out. Austin saw all the kids line up and decided he had to be part of that(Taylor was taking a potty break). He was by far the smallest one out there. I think that rest of them were like 8-10 years olds. Austin is 3:). Needless, to say I don't think he really knew what he had signed up for. Things started out okay, but they quickly went downhill. He was lucky he didn't get plowed. By the end he was crying and saying it was too hard, but we sure got a kick out of the whole thing!!

Austin's scooter race

2009-02-12T22:34:00.004-07:00

For your viewing pleasure...

2009-01-14T18:54:00.002-07:00

Christmas fun with the Hinckley's

2009-01-02T18:01:00.002-07:00

Christmas has already come and gone...I can hardly believe it. We had a great time and hope that everyone reading this did as well. We spent Christmas up at Ira's parent's house this year. It was a FULL house. 8 of the 10 kids were came for Christmas and it is pretty evident that it was pretty tight quarters from one of the below pictures. We had quite an adventurous Christmas Eve. Taylor was just recovering from being sick, and so of course Emma caught it on Christmas Eve. She was coughing and running a fever all night and hardly slept at all. Taylor and Austin were sleeping in the basement and woke up terrified that there were ghosts or something like that. Basically the night consisted of absolutely NO sleep for Ira or me. Needless to say, Christmas morning was a little bit of a blur. The kids had a blast and could hardly get their presents open quickly enough. We did have to cut the trip a little short because after two nights with no sleep, we couldn't take it any more. We headed home a night early so that Emma could sleep in her own bed. It took a couple of days to recover from our "vacation", but it was fun and won't soon be forgotten!

2009-01-02T17:53:00.000-07:00

2009-01-02T17:43:00.000-07:00

My Baby is One!!

2008-12-02T15:37:00.002-07:00

I can hardly believe that our little Emma has already been in our family for a full year! On the one hand, I feel like it was just yesterday that I was pregnant with her, and on the other, I can hardly remember life without her. She is such a joy to have in our family, and it is so nice to add a little femininity to the house. I don't feel quite so outnumbered anymore!! We had a really fun birthday for her. We woke her up for church by singing happy birthday to her, and then let her open a couple of presents. Later that night we had a party for her. Taylor and Austing successfull took over and opened all her presents for her. She didn't seem to mind. She just played with the balloons and wrapping paper. The highlight of Emma's night was the birthday cake. Most babies are a little tentative about their first cake, but not Emman she dug right in. She was shoveling fistfuls into her mouth. At one point she went face first into the cake! She loved it. It was so funny to watch. You'd think with her gigantc appetite that she'd be a little bigger, but she continues to sit at the 1 percentile!! We love our little Emma so much and are so glad to have her in our family. Happy Birthday Baby!!

2008-12-02T12:13:00.001-07:00

2008-12-02T12:03:00.001-07:00

Vampires, and spidermans, and bunnies, oh my!

2008-11-03T19:26:00.001-07:00

Halloween was a lot of fun. Taylor loved being able to dress up and parade around school in his costume. All the kids at the bus stop thought he was pretty scary. Austin, being the candy loving child that he is, thought Halloween was the greatest day of the year. And little miss Emma really didn't seem too phased by seeing all the kids dressed up in weird costumes, she just kind of went along for the ride!

2008-11-03T19:19:00.000-07:00

Football Fun!

2008-11-03T19:11:00.003-07:00

Taylor just finished his first season of flag football, and Ira just completed his first season of "head coaching". Yes, that's right...Ira coached Taylor's team wrapping up the season with a 3-5-1 record. 3 wins, 5 losses, and one tie. But really it's hard to keep track when kids are running the wrong way and scoring touchdowns for the opposing team. It was so fun though. Taylor loved it and you could tell that by the end of the seaon he was really starting to understand the game. You can see by the pictures that Taylor was a little at a disadvantage being that he was a good head shorter than the next smallest kid, but he loved it anyway. And interestingly enough, he was tougher than most of the big kids. They big ones seemed to be the ones crying every time they got hit. Taylor was the youngest one on the team so I guess it makes sense that he was the smallest! Anyway, it was a lot of fun and definitely kept us laughing at the things that would happen. One time Ira called for one of his players to come in and rotate another kid out, and he looked around for him and found the kid climbing a tree on the other side of the fence...I love the competitive spirit!

2008-11-03T18:59:00.003-07:00

A Flash of the Past...

2008-10-13T15:54:00.002-06:00

On Saturday I got the chance to see all five of my sophomore year roomies from Ricks College. What a blast we had! Some of us hadn't seen eachother in 6 years!! Makes me feel a little old just thinking it's been that long. It's amazing how it can be so long, but you get together and it's like we hardly skipped a beat...it seems like just yesterday. We had such a good time humiliating ourselves by watching embarassing home videos that can never be seen by anyone else, and looking back at pictures from our time together! The first couple of pictures are from back in the day and the next few are from Saturday. You can see that we haven't changed too much! Thanks Averi and Michelle for letting me snag your pictures! I love you girls and you all look fabuulous!!! Can't wait for the next get together...let's not wait 6 years this time!

2008-10-13T15:52:00.000-06:00

2008-10-13T15:51:00.000-06:00

And by the way,...

2008-08-26T14:43:00.002-06:00

I thought I'd mentioned that little miss Emma is crawling now. She started crawling about a month and a half ago and is now pulling herself up on everything! She thinks she's all grown up. She'll be walking before we know it!

WOW!! What a Day!!

2008-08-26T14:27:00.002-06:00

I can hardly believe it...yesterday my little boy, my first-born child started school! It was such a crazy emotionally charged day. I was so excited and thrilled for him, but I found myself having to fight back tears at the thought of my baby leaving me. Not only did he go to his first day of kindergarten, but he rode the bus to school. This was no easy thing for me. To watch him get on the bus and hope that he made it to school safely and then pray that he got on the RIGHT bus on the way home from school left me feeling a little uneasy! After I put him on the bus I followed behind in my car so that I could see him go into the school. Then after school I got in my car and drove to the school, watched him to make sure he got on the right bus, and then raced home so that I would be there waiting at the bus stop when he got off the bus. NO LAUGHING...it was my first time! Taylor absolutely loved it. As usual he had no fear or anxiety. He's an old pro at everything he does. He's such a good boy and so smart. I am a pround mommy and I love him to pieces!

First Day of School!

2008-08-26T14:07:00.002-06:00

Family Pictures

2008-07-20T21:29:00.000-06:00

On Saturday we underwent the task of family pictures. I've been wanting to have them done forever, but with three little kids it seemed a little daunting. The boys typically refuse to even look at me when I pull out the camera, so let's just say that I was more than pleasantly surprised when the boys cooperated for two hours of picture taking!!! They went so well, and we are so happy with the turn-out. I know I'm probably biased, but I'm pretty sure each of my kids could be child models!! Maybe, I'll see if I can make some money off of them:) We had my college roommate do our pictures and she was fantastic. She is so creative and patient...very good combination for little kids. If anyone needs a great photographer let me know and I'll refer you over!!

2008-07-20T21:25:00.000-06:00

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Almost 7 months old!

2008-06-25T13:14:00.000-06:00

Our little Emma is already almost 7 months old! I can't believe how fast time is going. She is so sweet and we just love her so much. She is such a momma's girl, and she just melts my heart when she reaches her arms out to me because she wants me to hold her. She is starting to do this little dancing thing where she bounces her little body all over when I'm holding her. It's really cute. Her brothers adore her, and think she is the cutest baby in the whole world. In fact they have affectionately given her the nickname "cute face". I thought I'd put a couple of pictures of her in her bumbo baby seat,that her grandma gave her, so everyone could see how stinkin cute she is!! Personally, I don't think they get much cuter than this!!

Our trip to the zoo!

2008-06-25T13:06:00.001-06:00

A couple of weeks ago Ira took a Friday off and we decided to take a trip to the zoo. The weather was gorgeous and we had so much fun. We went to this really cool bird show where giant eagles and all sorts of other birds would literally swoop right past our heads. The boys also thought riding on the carousel and eating ice cream cones was pretty fun. There was also this white alligator (there are only 10 in the world and they are all brothers), and the boys and I were standing looking at it and it slowly lifted it's eyes out of the water and stared straight at us. Then it got out of the water and started making it's way toward us. Taylor was sure it was after us. He kept backing further and further away even though there was a glass wall in between us and the alligator. It was pretty funny. Here are some pictures!

2008-06-25T12:56:00.000-06:00

I'll miss you Erik ~ your friend Ira

2008-06-11T22:29:00.000-06:00

Erik, it was an amazing 28 years of life you lived. I never thought you would leave this earth this way or this early...but the Lord needed you more than we did. I am so grateful to have been your friend. I remember the first day we met at Ricks College. I think I said, "What's up" as we passed in the dorm hallway. Later you told me that you thought I was a tough, punk kid because I had a black eye from playing basketball. The rest is history and our friendship will forever be engraved in my heart. I'll never forget the late nights of chillin in our apartment listening to 311 and Third Eye Blind and talking about life. I’ll never forget your good example and positive influence on everyone around you. You were always addictive to hang out with and to talk to. I loved your love and passion for life and your hilarious, sarcastic view of everything. You will never be forgotten, your example and name will forever be spoken of with honor and admiration. You will be part of the FLB’s forever and we will always sense your absence. ~your bud, Ira

2008-06-11T22:26:00.001-06:00

We'll Miss you Erik

2008-06-11T13:31:00.000-06:00

One of Ira's best friends passed away last night. Erik Rudy was one of Ira's closest friends from back in the pre-mission wild days of Ricks College. Erik battled leukemia for the last year and a half, and thanks to a transplant by his sister, he was able to have almost a year of remission before the cancer returned. Erik was such an amazing person, with so much love and concern for those around him. He is an awesome father of two beautiful little boys: Mason and Milo. Emily, his wife, has such an amazing spirit, the strength that she has had through all of this leaves me completely marveling and wondering how one person can have so much inner strength. For those of us who had the privilege of knowing Erik during this earth life have truly been blessed by knowing him. The things that Erik and Emily have taught us through their trial has been priceless, and we thank them for letting us learn and grow from watching their examples. We know that we will see him again, and that his sweet wife and boys will be together forever someday. Emily, Mason, and Milo we love you and pray for you that you will have the strength to get through this. Erik we will miss you, but we'll see you again someday.

With all our love,
Ira, Heidi, Taylor, Austin, and Emma

2008-06-11T13:19:00.000-06:00

St. George Continued...

2008-06-03T21:44:00.001-06:00

Our "Work" Vacation

2008-06-03T21:28:00.000-06:00

We went down to St.George a couple of weeks ago for a little work vacation. My grandparents needed some work done that they weren't able to do themselves such as doing an apoxy floor in the garage, tearing out some bushes, painting a wall, planting some bushes, and laying red rock in the flower beds. We got up really early every morning and got the work done before it got too hot. Then by lunchtime it was play time. And we had a blast. We went swimming every day. Taylor and Austin had such a good time. They were little swimming maniacs...jumping off the cliffs like they were nothing. We went to the St. George temple, went to a really cool ice cream shop, visited Brigham Young's winter house, went shopping, went hiking. We just had a great time. We were all really sad when it was time to go home!!

I was tagged!!

2008-05-21T19:05:00.000-06:00

So yeah, I got tagged. It's been a week or longer since I got tagged, but I'm finally getting around to it. All I can say is at least I'm doing it...I was always the one who broke the chain letter in Elementary school!

How To Play This Game of Tag: Post these rules on your blog. List: 3 joys, 3 fears, 3goals, 3 current obsessions/collections, 3 random surprising facts about yourself. Tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog!

-3 Joys`

1. My amazing husband
2. My beautiful children: Taylor, Austin, and Emma
3. Being able to stay at home and raise my little ones!

-3 fears-
1. Not to sound morbid, but my biggest fear is my husband dying. I just love the guy so dang much, I can't imagine being able to live without him
2. Sleeping alone at night...I guess I'm scared of the dark! Needless to say, I don't do very well when Ira is out of town.
3. Really, really deep water. I like the ocean, but if I get out too far and it gets so deep that it's black, that kind of freaks me out.

-3 Goals-
1. To get my Master's Degree after my kids are grown.
2. To serve a Humanitarian Aid mission with my hubby.
3. To race in a triathlon

-3 Obsessions-
1. Reality T.V. Sad but true...American Idol, Amazing Race...I just can't get enough of it.
2. My treadmill. It's kind of a love/hate thing, but I can't seem to go a day without it.
3. Clothes shopping. For myself, my kids, and my hubby. I just love it!

-3 random surprising facts-
1. I'm a better rock climber than my husband! It's true...just ask him, he'll admit it!
2. I'm a roller coaster enthusiast! The bigger the better.
3. I eat way too much candy for a grown adult.

I tag Tracie, Jess, Elizabeth, Averi, Emily R

Fun times with the Fam

2008-05-07T19:13:00.000-06:00

So we've been loving the gorgeous weather we've had the last couple of days and we've been taking advantage of every minute of it. On Monday we decided to go to Thanksgiving Point for Family Home Evening and walk through the gardens and get some ice cream. The boys think the waterfall is really cool and they always like picking which path we will walk on. Here are some fun pictures we took while we were there. It was the tulip festival and there were so many beautful flowers! I think the kids are pretty dang cute too!

Thanksgiving Point Pictures

2008-05-07T19:08:00.001-06:00

More Thanksgiving Point Pictures

2008-05-07T18:42:00.000-06:00

Graduations in our family

2008-05-05T21:32:00.001-06:00

We had two graduations in our family this month. Taylor graduated from pre-school and Ira graduated with his MBA from Weber St. -Hurray!!!

Graduation Pictures

2008-05-05T21:14:00.000-06:00

Our little Emma is so big and so cute!!

2008-05-05T21:07:00.000-06:00

Kangaroo Zoo

2008-04-27T18:23:00.000-06:00

Here is a video of the boys at Kangaroo Zoo. It is this huge place with blow-up slides. The boys had an absolute blast.

The Perfect Cast

2008-04-27T17:37:00.000-06:00

This guy was fishing next to us. He could really get it out there.

Steelhead Fishing in Canada

2008-04-27T17:11:00.000-06:00

Well, I had a great time early this month when my dad and I took a long roadtrip up to Vancouver, BC, Canada to try out some steelhead fishing. Spencer was traveling to Vancouver for business, so thought we would take advantage of the situation to try out Canada's world-renowned fishing for steelheads. The trip started out perfect as Dad and I drove 16 hours to pick up Spencer from the Vancouver airport and then headed east to a town called Chilliwack (and no, its not pronounced "Chilli-wack", its "Chilla-wack") We got made fun of by our waitress one night at our restaurant. Anyway, the trip was fun, but the fishing was horrible. We were hoping to time the steelhead run just right, but we were a little late. There were a few in the river...we saw some roll and Dad broke his line on one, but it wasn't near our expectations. Oh well, it was worth the trip.

Easter, cute kids, and bath time fun!

2008-04-01T16:57:00.000-06:00

So, I thought I'd just throw in a few random pictures because I thought they were cute. I never really did an Easter post, so I included a few pictures from Easter morning. The boys had a ball searching around the house for their easter eggs. They both got new puzzles and a movie along with lots of treats. And considering we have church at 8:30 in the morning, I'd say mom and dad get props for pulling off an Easter egg hunt and getting the kids ready for church and there on time!! The others pictures are just from random days that I thought were kind of fun. Taylor and Austin love bath time, and love having mom do crazy hair-dos for them. And despite how it looks, I swear I really do feed Taylor! The last couple of pictures are just because Emma is so cute! I thought her little flip-flops were so cute, I had to take a pictures of her feet. I must admit little girls are definitey fun when it comes to dressing them up.

Daddy and his boys

2008-03-30T18:58:00.000-06:00

It is so fun to be a Dad. I never thought life could bring me such enjoyment and love. When I'm home, I have two little monkeys hanging off of me where ever I go...and I love it!!! Taylor and Austin are so fun and are always looking for the next game to play. Little Emma will soon have her time to play with Daddy. Right now, she just spends a lot of time with her Mommy (of course). Saturday mornings are my favorite. Heidi and I try to sleep in as long as we can (8:00 is about average), then the boys come running in and jump in bed for a while. Taylor typically goes right for the cartoons, "Higgley Town Heroes" and "My Friends Tigger and Pooh" etc. Austin likes to cuddle for a few minutes. Then the hunger pains kick in and Austin needs to have his cereal. The rest of the morning consists of goofin off and playing games. --Good times.

Kindergarten, Here we come!!

2008-03-24T14:28:00.000-06:00

Well, we have arrived! We are about to embark on the exciting world of Public School! Last week Taylor had his kindergarten check-up and shots. We were expecting a bit of drama with the shots, but Taylor kept assuring us that he would be brave and that he had to do it to be able to go to kindergarten! Nice getting pep talks from your four year-old, right. As it turned out, Taylor did absolutely fantastic. He got to do some eye tests and hearing tests, which he passed with flying colors. Then came the shots....5 separate shots! I was such a proud mamma, he took the shots like a man! The last shot brought some tears to his eyes, and after finishing he said that he didn't want any more shots because he didn't like them! I really couldn't believe how brave he was. After we got home I asked how he could be so brave and not even cry and he looked at me with big eyes, and said..."Mom....I'm Batman!" DUH, how could I not have figured that out!

Family Music

2008-03-16T09:47:00.000-06:00

Our kids have begun to love music and have chosen there favorite songs on the radio. Each time their song comes on they yell, "hey, this is my song!!" (Emma's song was picked by Austin)

Austin’s song – “Apologize”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rOcnlPc4Hg

Emma’s song – “Shadow of the Day”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_eEE12R8Gw

Taylor’s song – “Hey There Delilah”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbJtYqBYCV8

Our Princess Emma

2008-03-16T09:37:00.000-06:00

Emma is our youngest, and our little princess. She is loved and adored by everyone, of course. Her brothers just love her so much and are so gentle with her. Emma is very vocal and is learning how to make sweet squealing sounds when she gets excited. Everything morning when we go in to wake her up, she gets so excited to see her mommy and daddy. She kicks her little chubby legs super fast and smiles from ear to ear. She is definitely a gift sent from heaven.

The Aus-erati

2008-03-16T09:30:00.000-06:00

Austin is our second child, and what a lovable kid!! We have many names for Austin such as Aus-erati, The Austinator, Auzzi, Austintacious, and few others. He is so fun to hang out with and just loves to be around people. Whereever the action is, there Austin will be. Austin's latest obsession is Scooby Doo. We have bought a few Scooby Doo movies for him and he literally watches them every day and carries the DVD around with him when he is not watching them. It is even to the point where he is sleeping with the DVD and when he wakes up, the first thing is looks for is the Scooby Doo DVD. What a kid!!

Our big Tay-Man

2008-03-16T09:12:00.000-06:00

Taylor is our oldest child and is truely the leader of the house. Austin just adores hims and imitates everything that he does. Taylor is such an intelligent boy and is getting ready to start kindergarten this year. One day, when Heidi was taking Taylor to get registered for kindergarten, Taylor piped up and said, "Mom, I'm not ready for kindergarten, I don't know math yet." Heidi then asked Taylor, "Ok, so if you have 3 of something and then you get 1 more, how many do you have?" Taylor thought for a second, then answered - 4. "You see," said Heidi, "you do know math." Then Taylor replied, "ok, I'm ready for kindergarten." He is such a crack up all the time. What a great boy!!!

emma's blessing

2008-03-13T21:04:00.001-06:00

Kids say the darndest things!

2008-03-04T20:24:00.000-07:00

So my grandma was telling me how important it is to write down some of the funny things that my kids say because I'll never be able to remember them. I figured my blog was as good a place as any. So here is Taylor's latest....really I wouldn't mind forgetting this...but here it is.

We were watching T.V. the other day and this commercial comes on that completely absorbed Taylor. After it was done he turns to me with bright excited eyes and says, "Mom, you just need rapid loss it will help you lose the extra pounds!!!" I said to him "What do you mean, you think I need to lose weight?" And he said, "You just need to get rid of your fatness!!"

So needless to say, this is one of those things that I would love to forget, but I probably never will!

Welcome to our blog

2008-03-01T20:38:00.000-07:00

Our sweet little Emma has been such a joy to have in our family. Her brothers Taylor and Austin have absolutely adored her. They are really great big brothers and have been really helpful. They love to try to make her smile and talk!