OK- I guess I should post Halloween pics since it is almost Thanksgiving!

Doesn't Ashlyn make the cutest black cat!

We had a Halloween party that was alot of fun. Power Ranger Rachel is here with all their friends. Alec & Garrett were picture poopers...they didn't want to get in.


We ate these great and scary foods... Black spaghetti and meatball eyes!


Mummy wrapped hot dogs!


This is Batman Alec & Spiderman Garrett ready to go trick-or-treating.

I did further decorating in my Family room. I really like how it is shaping up!

New Pics

Ashlyn

(almost 3mo.)

Garrett (3)

Alec (6)

Rachel (7)

Snow and Jack-o-lanterns

We woke-up yesterday to this scene! Yeah, snow on Oct 12th. Bet you all wished you lived here!

Alec lost another tooth...I told him we could paint his face orange and he could be a Jack-o-lantern for Halloween! He didn't like that idea.

Ashlyn had her 2 month appointment this last week and weighed in at 13lbs. She is growing too fast for me. I want her to stay small.

Garrett loves pre-school but has learned from his older brother to complain about going. The primary program is coming up and Alec and Rachel are memorizing their parts. Ashlyn started smiling it is so fun.

I am in the YW presidency and get to participate in some fun things...last night the General YW President Elaine Dalton came and spoke at a fireside for the Clearfield youth. It was incredible. She shared some fun experiences about when she was a youth and when she received her calling. She said she was pretty lonely as a youth and so she was a straight A student and memorized her patriarchal blessing. She shared with us that it said she would visit the nations of the earth and didn't realize what it meant until she met with President Monson and received this calling 6months ago.

I was given the counsel to memorize my patriarchal blessing when I was younger so that The Lord could bring things to my remembrance. It has been really fun to have The Spirit whisper to me the words of my blessing at times when the promises were being fulfilled. I would encourage all my nieces and nephews to do this. It also helps you to keep an eternal perspective and make good choices. If it talks about your future spouse, like mine does, it helps you know if you are dating the right people, etc.

President Dalton committed the youth to be 100% at...

1-Praying every day.

2-Reading the scriptures for 5 mins. every day.

3-Smiling every day.

It is a great challenge!

We haven't been able to get our pics taken because of illness and weather. So, when we do get them done I'll post them.

The best news of all is my niece Grace is cancer FREE!!!! We wanted to thank you for all your concern and prayers.


Enjoy these pics and have a great day!

Ashlyn's Blessing Day

Darren blessed Ashlyn today. He did an excellent job, it was a beautiful blessing. Ashlyn was a really good baby for Dad. We were blessed to have some of Grandpa Gary's good friends stand in as well as Uncle Mike and Uncle Doug. The spirit was very strong through out the meeting. Thank you Grandma Karin for sharing your testimony. It was nice to be with family and friends.

Thank you Grandma Zimmerman for another beautiful dress. And thanks Grandpa Z for sending it. My friend and neighbor, Diane made the bow and donated the beads for the bracelet. I have added a link to her website if anyone is interested. We love you all and missed those of you that could not come.

We are having pics taken this Tuesday, I'll post some as soon as I get the negatives.

Hand-me-down Room

This is the new room! The decorating is not down but aren't the colors great!?! You can see the difference in the tables from the pic of the kids below.

Fall update!

Ashlyn is now a month old. I can't believe it. It has gone by so fast. She has really gotten big! She's probably the size Garrett was when he was born (10 lbs.)! My favorite thing is that her cheeks are filling out! Aren't they cute?! I took this pic of her today.




I took this pic of all the kids for a birth announcement (which I haven't done yet!). I took it when Ashlyn was 1 week old. They are pretty darn cute if I do say so myself!


In August... Alec lost his first tooth (he is about to loose his 2nd) and turned 6. School started! Here are the pics from their 1st day. Alec - 1st grade, Rachel - 2nd grade, Garrett - Preschool.

We love school!

I have started creating a family room I can love. I call it my "hand me down" room because all the furniture I bought from friends and neighbors. Liberty and I painted the entertainment center, and tables. I painted, with the help of Liberty, Pam, Lacy, & Jenna (Jenna mostly held Ashlyn!) the walls. It looks fantastic! Dispite Darren's protests he loves it and even said we did a good job. I'll post a pic as soon as the wall hangings are up. We love you all!

Ashlyn Arrival

Ashlyn Nicole Carpenter! She joined us Sunday, Aug. 3rd @ 9:45am. She weighed 7lbs. 13oz. and was 3 weeks early. It was a long labor for Me and long recovery for Ashlyn. We are home and doing great now. Rachel is positively glowing about her baby sister. Alec is frustrated she sleeps so much because he wants to hold her more. Garrett is excited but unaffected so far by a baby. Dad is doing great! He is taking care of all of us and the house and making sure everyone has clean hands!

Barber Garrett

Garrett cut his hair with scissors and then cut Alec's while he was sleeping.

About time for a new post!

I planned to update this at least once a month but that obviously hasn't happened. Where to begin...

Rachel had her 7th birthday in March. She graduated from 1st grade with Mrs. Downs and is excited to start 2nd grade with Mrs. Stretch. She is busy trying to "get" money. She doesn't want to work for it, she just wants to sell things (toys she doesn't want anymore, her art work, lemonade) to get it or for it to be given to her. She asked me the other day if there was another way to get money besides work. I told her the only way to earn money in this life is to work for it. She didn't like that very much. She just wants us to buy things for her wherever we go because she says she is only happy if people buy things for her. I told her she was going to have a pretty miserable life. She keeps us on our toes that's for sure. She is counting down the days til her baby sister is born (so am I). Rachel insisted we choose a name for the baby several months ago so she could call her by her name when she talked to her. We have chosen Ashlyn. Rachel approved so we are keeping it. Rachel and I have put up the crib and got out the baby clothes in preparation.

Alec is excited to be 6 next month. He tells me all the time he just wants to have his birthday now! He is disappointed he didn't loose any teeth in Kindergarten like Rachel did. But he graduated from Kindergarten with Ms. Shurtliff who is now Mrs. Lund. He was so ready to be out of school that he doesn't talk much about 1st grade. He loves summer vacation. Sleeping in is his favorite part. He is my best sleeper and doesn't like being woken up, he is much happier if he is able to wake-up on his own. Alec loves riding his bike, playing in the water, and playing with his friends. Alec is just as excited for Ashlyn to come. He loves holding babies.

Garrett is 3, not sure that needs more explanation!!! If you don't know about 3 year old boys let me give you my best example...Garrett came crying into my room telling me that Alec had bitten him on the bottom. He pulls his pants down to show me the bite marks...sure enough he had really good bite marks on his little cheek. So, I called Alec up to my room and asked why he had bitten Garrett. Alec's response was "He was sitting on my face!" I let it go at that. I figured Garrett got what he deserved. Garrett is constantly into things and stirring things up. Not a dull moment with him around. However, I am proud to say he is now toilet trained!!! I will not have two in diapers with this new baby!!!!!

We had our 1st real family vacation this summer. We went to Yellowstone for a week in June. We had a fantastic time. We spent most of the time in the car driving around the park. We saw...more buffalo then we would have cared to see in our entire lives, some chipmunks, a couple coyotes, quite a few antelope, some elk (one really beautiful big buck up close), one black bear, a mama grizzly and her cub, bald eagles, and a bighorn sheep. We just couldn't find any moose. Apparently we didn't go to the right place for them.
The whole trip would have been perfect except for some hard news we got while there...my 5 year old niece, Grace (my sister Melissa's youngest) was diagnosed with cancer. For those of you that know her you can get updates on her at their family blog... http:/rmcluff.blogspot.com
The kids and I flew to Denver a couple days after we got back from Yellowstone to go to my family reunion. However, I left the kids with my parents there in Denver to enjoy the reunion and I flew to Austin the next morning to be with Melissa and help with Grace and her chemo. I don't know how much help I have been but I am glad I came and grateful my parents were willing to watch the kids while I am here. I leave Monday for Denver and fly home with the kids on Tuesday.
Darren has been busy working and wondering why he has to work while we fly around and play. He's a great Dad and husband...obviously very supportive! But we will be home to celebrate his birthday with him so hopefully we can make it up to him.

Probably won't update until Ashlyn arrives!

Reaction!

Well everyone is thrilled we are having a girl. No one more than Rachel! She can't contain herself. She is planning where the baby will sleep in her room and telling me all about how she is going to take care of her 24/7. Including diaper changes and rocking the baby in her rocker. I asked her how she was going to feed her and her reply was "If she is hungry I'll bring her to you and you can feed her then when she's done I'll come and get her back from you." We'll see how long that lasts. Hopefully not too long. She loved her brothers and wanted to hold them constantly when they came. I finally had to say "No!" when they were bigger than her. She is definitely my daughter. Garrett has her personality too. I hope this one is more like Alec. We need balance. Darren is all grins and giggles since seeing the ultrasound. I guess reality hit. As much as he worries about newborns he is really excited. It's fun to finally know it is a girl, now I can start shopping:)

15 week ultrasound

It's a Girl!!