I have to be one of the luckiest girls in the world! Its hard to put into words right now what I am feeling other than I am blessed. Blessed with family, a husband who I adore and who loves me unconditionally and accepts me even with my many faults. Three beautiful and healthy busy boys, as well as my extended family that are such a support. I am also very grateful for friends. How truly blessed I am to have such amazing women in my life who have the same beliefs that I do and who I can call with any problem (I seriously mean ANY problem!). Its funny how the lord blesses each one of us in different ways. These past six months have been a real challenge for me! As I look back on them I realize what a blessing those trials have been, and the strength that they have given me! I have just grazed the surface of my feelings, but I am really struggling to find words to help me express myself. But here is a public Thank you to all those influential people in my life who drive me to become a better person!

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and everything else that came in December!

I apologize in advance for the length of this post and the plethora of pictures. But these are a few of the highlights from our crazy December!! For New Years we headed up to our cabin in Huntsville, and after getting through a bizarre stomach bug that hit or entire family except for my brother-in-law Tom we had a great week. The kids love to be pulled behind the four wheelers on the sleds. Its the cheap form of sledding cause there are no hills you have to walk back up and you can adjust the speed of your driver anytime! Most of us had a great time in the snow and luckily there was enough up there to have the road packed down which makes the trails on the four wheeler endless! This is Shelly and she decided to not participate in the snow man building which eventually led to her being white washed in her not so great snow clothes. She was a good enough sport to give us a little pose at the end of it though! The Terry fam with our Snowman family!



The entire fam after completing our snowmen.





Tater- love those blue eyes! (or eye in this case!)

How many Stuart's does it take to build a snow man??

Carter trying to find Grandma in the goggles!!

Jer created a jump for the kids, this was the first and I think only successful pass over the jump!

Jer is really just a kid at heart! I think he loves this more than the kids do!

Cole loves to drive the four wheelers! It makes my Dad so nervous, but Jer thinks its awesome! I don't have a choice- its in their blood!

This is nothing but trouble right here!! Carter, Tate and Jensen waiting to get a ride!

Merry Christmas!!! We had a fabulous Christmas and our boys are old enough to understand it, so it made it really fun this year! Carter would have been fine with just his treats ( his trucks and his horse helped), but his brothers were very helpful in making sure that he opened all of his gifts!

Carter trying to figure out what the string was doing on the ball!

Fat and Happy!

Carter finally getting the whole rip it open idea!

Tate and his "cheesy" smile!! Gotta love it!

Carter would have been perfectly happy to just have candy for Christmas!!

Cole is really a sweetheart. He was excited to have a new bike, but more excited about his new animals books. He is becoming a good little reader and is more willing to read if its something that he likes!



Tate had a preschool program on December 17th. He is the most shy out of all my boys so I was shocked when he was dancing and singing at the top of his lungs! He enjoyed every minute of it! He had a small part and even told a joke "What do you get when you cross a snowman and a shark"? "Frostbite"!

For Family Home evening one Monday in December, we went with some friends to the Temple to see the lights. We had a great time, unfortunately we stopped at the reflecting pool first so most of the kids were wet for the rest of the trip! But we still had a blast, its always fun an overwhelming to see how many lights they have on the trees!

This is the Whole group!

All the kids, it was hard enough to get them to stop long enough to take a picture. It was even harder to have them stand still and smile!Our little fam!!!

The boys! These are some of Cole's best friends! We don't get to have as many play days because of school, but they make the most of it when they get together!

What... a tooth!!!

Cole lost his first TOOTH!!!! I can't believe we are already starting (Does it really start this young? Or am I really that old?) Crazy... I don't know what the rates are for tooth fairies, but ours only pays a buck and is at a fixed rate for the next thirty years!!! (I figure by the time they loose all of their teeth they have made a good twenty bucks at least!) He has another one that is sure to follow soon so well really be singing "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth"!

Thanksgiving Fun!!!

What a wonderful time of year. I think that Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. There are no hot parades, no cold candy hunting, and no gift giving. Just good time spent with family and lots of great food! We spent the majority of the time up at my families cabin in huntsville, but came down and did the big turkey carving with Jers fam. We didn't get to play our annual football game, but with the way the weather is going, we may be able to play that on Christmas!
Here are some pictures of the fun! No snow but it was still cold, the kids spent all day being pulled on the sled behind the four wheeler!

Carter....love the chub!

Jackson was the designated driver!

Denis and Menis! You never know what these two will do next!

Happy Halloween

We had a great Halloweeen this year! Its fun to have kids who understand trick-or-treating, rather than just hating being in the cold and not understanding whats going on. Between Jers mom and my Mom the kids had so much fun going on scavenger hunts, carving pumpkins, and playing Halloween games, that trick-or-treating was just the icing on the cake! Jer and I had a Halloween Party as well. It was a lot of fun and its always a blast to see what everyone comes up with as costumes. We are never disappointed that's for sure! Jer and I have yet to win the costume contest, but look out next year cause I'm in charge of our costumes! Thanks Jamie for another great Party!
Lindsay only made first attendant, but that didn't bother her because she loved her dress!

Bobbing for apples, Kirk soaked the floor.

Brett giving a little "Ca Ca" after retrieving his! Unfortunately he had to take off his pooh costume.. yes he was pooh for Halloween.

Robin smashing the donuts in our faces rather than eating hers. She knew she didn't have a chance to win so she resorts to "cheap" play

Brett eating his donut off the floor. just obeying the rules of "don't use your hands"!

Jer, Kyle, and "Eight ball" Alley eating their donuts.

The Whole Group!

All I have to say is Jer got the costumes this year and I get to pick next year. (The big hair is suppose to be electricity!)

Ninja Cole

"The Three Ninjas"

The carved pumpkins!

Ninja Tate

Ninja Carter ( The only picture with his hat on cause he hated it!)

Bunny Blasting!

Last weekend Jer and Jeff took the boys down to Tooele to go shooting. Jer was a little nervous that shooting rabbits would be a bit much for the boys, but they loved it. They keep asking when they get to go next and when we get to eat rabbit! Jeff and the boys with a rabbit.

Tate found a clay pigeon while four wheeling.

Tate learning how to shoot the hand gun!

The men in my life! What more could a boy ask for than guns, four wheelers, dirt and a dead rabbit!

Pumpkin Hunt!

Carter enjoying the tractor ride.

After the Pick!

Carter trying to lift the pumpkin, there are not many things that weigh more than him, but this apparently did!

Coles pick!

Tates perfect pick!

For Family home evening we decided to try a new pumpkin patch up in Syracuse. Although the drive was an absolute nightmare, the pumpkins and the tractor ride were worth the headache! It was freezing and we had to rush the pumpkin picking to beat the rain, but the kids lived it! Thanks Uncle Tommy, looks like we have a new Halloween tradition!