Don't we all have days like this?

Kailea told me, "Mom, I have a bad day today!"

Merry Christmas to all!

I have been informed quite a few times lately that my blog needs some updateing. I really have no good excuse for not posting... just been busy. And I usually forget to take my camera... so that means fewer posts. We are healthy and doing good though! We will be happy to have Stephen home again... hopefully before Christmas! That would be a super great Christmas gift. We love celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. We love having the scriptures and all the great books to read and learn from. For now, have a great day! And take time to enjoy this wonderful holiday season!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Treston as Darth Vador. The only reason he wanted to be Darth Vador was to get a light saber... but he still enjoys wearing the costume often. This is the first year that he has really looked forward to trick-or-treating... I am not much of a Halloween person, so I do not get them very excited about it. But, I am glad that he got everyone excited for me! He is getting so big! Just love him!
My cute Aiden as BatMan. Stephen splurged and got him the BatMan signal light. I thought it was pretty cool... it sends the BatMan sign so that Aiden can come save the day! He really enjoys seeing everyone else dressed up, he ended up with the least amount of candy! He just talks too much!!! Hmmm, wonder where he gets that from? :-)

Kailea as an Enchanted Princess! As she puts it... its pink... any questions? So pretty much you find a dress that is pink, and your set. She is pretty easy to please (for now!) I thought she turned out so cute. She sat real still so that I could put her makeup on. She tells me all the time she wants to wear makeup... and I usually let her. But this time she even got mascara!!! ooohhh!

The fun brothers getting ready to share their loot!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

YEAH - DAD IS HOME

Homecoming October 3, 2008

We are so blessed to welcome Stephen home safe and happy. What a wonderful day to remember always. Our family feels like it finally has the missing piece back... we love that daddy! Kailea has been in heaven, she is very attached to her daddy. Something that makes Stephen very happy, since last time he came home (she was 11 months old) she cried for 2 1/2 hours straight! Happy reunion this time. Treston and Aiden have completely loved having their awesome dad to wrestle and play with. They seem to laugh a lot more when dad is around.. he is one funny guy!

Stephen is on vacation right now... so we are just enjoying spending time together. I wanted to take a quick moment and post a picture. We feel so blessed to have our eternal family back together again! Have a wonderful day!

Never Finished Summer Posting

Ok, so the rest of my pictures from August are on my camera... but I am not able to load pictures to this computer from "my" camera. I can only load them unto our other computer; but the problem is that I can't get the other computer to "find the server"... so I am not sure I will ever get them on the blog page. On to other things....
The last few weeks of being home have flown by pretty fast. I have been trying to keep busy, so that my kids and I do not miss the dad too much! Doesn't really seem to work... but it does make me feel like I am doing something to combat the "missing dad!"
We are doing well in school. The boys had a hard time starting back up, but now they are enjoying learning again. The funnest part is playing tons of games together. We play subtraction and addition bingo, memory, sorry and puzzles almost every night. Fun times. Kailea has even found 3 matches all by herself in our Disney Memory game. She is getting so big! We signed up for Sunshine Generation (a performing group) for our extra curricular activity this semester. It is fun. They will have their first performance in December... too cute!
Today, we went for a bike ride. The weather was a bit breezy and just barely sprinkling... really nice. So as we are riding along, Aiden speeds up and then sits back and just enjoys the breeze and the rain - AND forgets to miss the fire hydrant! Ahhh! I watched as my baby flew over his handlebars and the fire hydrant. Thank goodness he is super tough! That kid scares me to death! He cried for a bit, mainly because he got scared... but other than that he was fine. He hopped back on his bike and finished our ride. Thank God for little boys, right?!
Even though I am SO tired, and wishing that Stephen would come home NOW! I still feel blessed to have such a good life, to have a beautiful place to live and to have family and friends that love me. I am blessed to have the opportunity to be home with my kids and be a "teacher" for a season. I know that this time will not last forever... but it sure is nice for now. I love playing with my kids and exploring and learning new things every day! We will continue to "Endure to the End"!

Today's comments...

After dinner, we all made it outside to enjoy the night air and play around in the sand box. We had fun building castles and stomping on them with the dragons. It started getting dark... so I said, "I think we better go in soon, it's getting a little too dark to see." Aiden and Treston both looked at me very seriously and said, "Well we can see in the dark, because we always eat our carrots!" I laughed so hard... they are too funny!

Colorado July 2008 Week 4

The last few weeks of July flew by really quickly. I know we were busy doing things, but I can't really remember when and what! I didn't take many pictures during this time. I do know that we were able to visit grandparents, spend time with cousins tubing down the river, a Farmington shopping trip with Tessa - TJ Max is totally awesome! I was able to help my mom with a few fun projects, we made a cute hotdog roasting pit in her yard. We enjoyed gardening and eating all the green beans! Yum! We enjoyed the opportunity to spend time with Cash; when he wasn't going on dates!!! :-) Loved the opportunity to play volleyball with Tessa and Eric and some friends from the ward. I LOVE volleyball!

My mom and I took the kids on a field trip to Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado. It is about 15 minutes outside Mancos.

My mom and kids at Mesa Verde
So... Kailea was not enjoying picture time!
Aiden using the grinding stones.
Treston using the grinding stones.
Cliff Palace at Mesa Verde.

If you have never been, you should go at least once. It is really amazing how and why these rock cliff palaces were built. I have never been to the entire park... I think it would take at least 3 days to explore it all! We had fun though, and the kids did enjoy getting to see the rock houses.

On July 28th we traveled up to Ridgeway (right by Ouray, CO) and enjoyed a Stewart Family Reunion. We camped out for three nights and had a blast seeing everyone. We enjoyed some fun crafts, a little river hike (in which we had fun getting drenched!), a talent show, too much super yummy food, jet ski rides, and ofcourse dominoes! The kids had a great time, playing up a storm. A special thanks to Tali and Jordin for taking care of all the younger kids, so that us olders could get a break! You are awesome! I am so glad that we could be there this summer to see so many great smiling faces!

Colorado July 2008 Week 2

On Tuesday, July 8th my sister's, kids, and my mom all travelled to Albuquerque, NM to attend an adult volleyball camp at UNM. We all camped at Starr and Eddys home. Thanks! The camp started on the 8th and went to the 10th; every evening from 6:00 pm till 9:30 pm. My mom was so wonderful to come along and volunteer ;-) to watch my kiddos. Super thanks mom!

So it was Tessa, Starr, Amber and I - all us sisters getting to spend 3 hours a night learning and practicing volleyball. It was so much fun. We were able to practice every aspect of volleyball and also tried to learn knew things! I enjoyed spending the time with my sisters! I love you girls.

While we were in NM, we dediced to go to the Zoo. Always a fun family outing... love those cool animals! Here are all our kids... (the only one missing was my brother Talon and his kids)

From L to R: Davin, Dalyce, Treston, Aiden, Brayden, Dash, Kailea, Chloe and Caleb

The week continued with more fun sister outings. We left back to Colorado on July 11th. July 12th, Tessa, Starr and myself entered a trail run. There were two options, the completely kill yourself hill or the feel good about yourself trail. I had already chosen to do the completely kill yourself hill. Tessa also chose that hill. Starr was the smart one of the bunch, she stuck to the 4.5 mile feel good about yourself trail... and kicked butt! I am so proud of her for sticking with it... and kicking our butts! Way to go Starr! Tessa and I did the 1,500 foot elevation gain 7.5 mile trail run. It was super fun! I now know that I love trail runs... they are much better than just running on the pavement for miles at a time. The large climb to the top of the hill was a bit hard for me - I am no longer used to the elevation! Yikes, I got pretty dizzy. But, with a little break and water - I was on my way. The downhill was also extremely steep, but it was fun! (I do have a picture of the three of us getting ready for our run... will post as soon as I get it from my sister!)

Colorado July 2008 Ross Family Reunion

The fun of a Ross Family Reunion all starts with these two wonderful people... my Grandpa Jon and Grandma George. (pictured here with my sis Starr's baby Chloe! too cute) These are my dad's parents. I just love them too pieces. They are so fun to talk to, and worked so hard on making a great family reunion.
I have no idea how many came... but, there were quite a few. Ofcourse as I look back, I wish I would have gotten more pics. Saturday started with breakfast at 8:00 am til 9:30 am. After that was the Independence Day Celebration Kid Parade. I made a submarine for the boys to march in... it was fun! Duck tape can be used for almost anything!

Treston and Aiden waiting for the parade to start.

The submarine says, "USS LaJolla and Defending Our Freedom."

The parade was fun, but Treston and Aiden were ready to get the boat off... duct tape is also heavy when used in large quantaties! :-) Who knew?

Then came the fun times of carnival booths. The kids were able to shave balloons, face painting, shoot at water ducks, purchase goodies at the nearby grocer, pet goats, ride ponies and a few other super cool things. Our booth idea came from my super fun sister Starr. We had everyone trace their hands and then write a message on them. Then Starr crafted a cute, and very sentimental, hand bouquet. It was beautiful. There were so many hands! And the little tiny baby hands were so precious!

Kailea enjoying the Face Painting booth

Afterwards, my Aunt Barb put together an arm wrestling competition. It was so fun to watch all the girls "try" to get down to business. All us mom's ended up getting beat by my cousin Tambre (she has been lifting weights!) Way to go Tambre! I will be practicing for next time! :-) Thanks Aunt Barb for getting that together!

We partied on into the night with yummy food, music and dance. It is so wonderful having such a large family... and hey! actually getting to see them all. I had a great time chattin' it up with everyone! Thank you Grandma and Grandpa Ross for such a wonderful celebration of our Ross Family! We love you tons!

Colorado July 2008 Week 1

Aiden on our Vallecito Creek hike.

Mom and Kailea on the Vallecito Creek hike.

Dalyce and Kailea Sue - Campin' Girls
Aiden, Davin and Treston - Super Dirty Campin' Boys
Dash - Campin' Baby

The first week of July, my kiddos and I went on a camping trip with my awesome sis, Tessa and her fun family! I just love them tons! We had so much fun. We camped up at Vallecito Lake. Vallecito Lake is where we spent almost every summer, working and playing with my dad. It holds many, many memories. It was so great to take my kids there for some memories of there own.

We took a couple hikes, one up to Lookout Point and the other up the Vallecito Creek trail. Both were beautiful. The kids also had fun fishing... however, the fishing was a bit different. I had purchased two poles for Treston and Aiden. They come with casting coins. So they practiced with those for a bit, and then they were gone. So we had a great idea to tie sticks on the end of the line... so now they were fishing for "fish sticks"! They thought it was so much fun. They never actually fished for real fish... the "fish sticks" were good enough for them!

On July 3rd, my kids and I attended a sort-of seminary reunion. I was able to get together with some of my friends from my ward in Bayfield way back in the day... (only a decade ago!). It was a blast seeing everyone's cute kids and also seeing those that are still strong in the church. What a wonderful blessing to have good friends! Thanks for the great night!

Our small Ignacio High - Bayfield Ward Seminary
Kailea Sue just loved this kitten. She played with it all night!

On July 4th, we had a fun get together with my mom's family. We had a barbeque at my mom's house and I was the cook! Go me! The chicken turned out pretty darn good! It was fun to have my Grandma Stewart and Aunt Tiny there. Also, so good to see Tiffany and her family. Good food, good company, followed by a volleyball game - who can beat that?

Colorado June 2008

We left Las Vegas, Nevada on June 10, and the kids and I drove across to Ignacio, Colorado. That was an interesting drive... a 8-9 hour trip easily turns into 12-13 hours when traveling alone. The kids actually did pretty good... except Kailea, she was DONE 2 hours in. We were in trouble. So I pulled over in Flagstaff and went to the super Wal-Mart... found a smokin' deal on a portable DVD player ($50!) and let them each pick a $5 movie. I just love Wal-Mart! It saved the trip. She still cried a bit, but for the most part she was interested in the movies.
For the first two weeks, my sister Tessa and I were able to attend a 3's Queen of Court volleyball tournament. The first week, we were sure we should not be there... we totally needed some extreme training. We did not give up though... we stuck with it and by the second week we did ok. No matter what... It was a blast. I had tons of fun to throwing my body to the ground to get THAT ball! I LOVE volleyball!
For the next couple weeks, we spent time on the farm with my mom; chillin' with Tessa and kids and playing at the park. And I took the kids horseback riding a couple times. All in all a great beginning to our stay in Colorado. (I am terrible about actually taking pictures, so they are kinda speratic!)

Colorado June 2008 Pictures

Kailea and her baby doll!

Treston and Aiden loving playing with paintball guns with their Uncle Cash.
Treston the sharp shooter!
Aiden just loved shooting the trees and making them all colored!
We ran around a bit too much.. Aiden fell asleep with his gum hanging out of his mouth.
Treston fell asleep perched like a frog on a log. It was too cute.

Las Vegas June 2008

We started off on June 4th crossing the big Pacific Ocean. The kids did great and we made it to Las Vegas, Nevada with no real stories to tell. We were able to spend a week with Stephen's family, before heading onto Colorado. We had a complete blast... so many cousins and super fun activities planned for us. The kids just loved spending time with their cousins, and I had a great time actually getting to know Stephen's family. It was a good experience for me. We were even able to have a "Girls Night Out". We went and had a great dinner at the Cheese Cake Factory! So yummy. I had such a sugar high from the cheese cake - but I would do it again! We laughed every time our waiter came to take our order... because his name was "Bif". Poor guy! Thank you to everyone that took time out of their busy lives to come and see us. We love you all!

Las Vegas June 2008 Pictures

Kailea Sue and her cute cousin Kaitlyn.
Aiden and Carter - he tells me they are friends AND cousins!
My niece Becca and I
The Stephen and Scott gang. From L to R: Kailea, Aiden, Treston, Emma, David and Christopher. They had fun running around and being cool cousins!
Treston's first time off the big diving board!

Home Again

It is so good to be home, in my bed and enjoying the pleasures of my own home... but, I must say I will miss the fun times I have had this summer! It was a summer to remember, I was able to hang out with my family and get to know Stephen's family so much better. A true blessing to be able to work and play alongside your family! And now I know why I love to work so much... it was bred into me!
So many fun times to post about... but I do not have any pictures as of yet. My camera was full; so my sister transferred the pictures to her computer so that I could take more. Pictures are in route, so I will update as soon as I get them.
We are on the final stretch of Stephen's deployment; we are making it! Somedays the flood gates open up, but my faith in Jesus Christ continues to pull me through. I sure love the man that married me almost 7 years ago... and thankfully he fully loves me too! I am blessed! I love my kiddos... I love the flavor they give each day.
Well tata for now! Pictures and updates coming soon! We start our little home school semester tomorrow.. so I must get busy!

Pictures...hopefully more to come.

For Stephen

10 REASONS YOUR THE BEST DAD

1. You love to wrestle with us.

2. You do cool things with us, like shoot off rockets.

3. You embrace the opportunity to have exchange students live with us.

Go Flat Stanley!

4. You teach us how to play your favorite games.

We like to take over the world with you in Empire Earth. Thanks Dad!

5. You give us lots of hugs and kisses.

6. You read books to us.

7. You have a testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

8. You teach us to work and have fun playing with us.

9. You get lots of yummy shiny packages from the store for us.

10. You show us cool tricks to do on the trampoline.

MOST OF ALL ... WE LOVE YOU SO VERY MUCH!

HAPPY FATHERS DAY!

Flashback Friday - A little early!

Kailea "Camping Fun"

October 2007

Hawaii

Flashback Friday will resume in August when I return from the states!

Countdown is here...

Well, one countdown has come to an end. We are leaving for Grandma's tomorrow. We are excited that we have almost made it 10 weeks. Some days, it seems like it is taking forever... other days I look back and think - wow! it has already been 9 weeks?! One thing is for sure! I miss my awesome husband.. and the kids miss their way cool dad.
I will be posting while on the road... so check back in a week or so.
Enjoy your day!

Cool Plane Toys

A couple of weeks ago, I started preparing for the lengthy plane ride. You know the one with only one of me and three kiddos! It is a bit scary. But our recent finds on Ebay have eased the worry. We found some neat Game Boy Colors (from the 90's - oh yeah) and the boys just love them. They however are a bit dark... so we searched and found these really neat lights.

They are called the blob light. We ordered them and are so excited that they came in today!! Yippee! I love finding good deals on cool stuff!

Flashback Friday

Dad and Treston
"Funny Faces"
December 2005

Hawaii

Aiden's New, New Haircut

Ok, I sure love my Aiden. We had a great day last Friday. We went to get some shopping done, had the boys hair cut, and went bowling. It was a fun outing. Then on Sunday, I found lots of little clumps of hair all over my bathroom, along with Stephen's mustache trimmer. I thought that was odd; and went to search for the culprit.
I found Aiden with a bunch of nicks and chops in his "new" cute haircut. They had left some of the curls on top for him... so he looked very handsome. But, as you can see... he is now sporting another "new" haircut. His nickname.. "buzz head".

Activity Days Party

I just wanted to share a fun night. I just finished my last Activity Days night, until August. We planned a big Scripture Queens party. The girls had a great time. We played a life-size board game - questions about the Book of Mormon and Articles of Faith. Then, they all made their own tiara's. They turned out pretty cute. After that, they were able to have some fun pampering. They took turns with the foot bath, pedicures and manicures. We ended the night with some yummy food. All the mom's came to help pamper their daughters.. it was super fun. Ofcourse Aiden did get really upset that he wasn't able to have a foot bath too. So I promised I would give him one today. Kailea even got her toenails painted! I will miss the opportunity to work with these cute girls for a couple of months.. but I will be ready to go again when I return from the states.

My personality

I think most of this is spot on. The funny and sometimes hard thing is that most of my ward still doesn't get me... so I seem bossy, innapropriate and loud to them. I never thought I was that hard to get to know.. but maybe I am. :-)

You Are An ENFJ

The Giver You strive to maintain harmony in relationships, and usually succeed. Articulate and enthusiastic, you are good at making personal connections. Sometimes you idealize relationships too much - and end up being let down. You find the most energy and comfort in social situations ... where you shine. In love, you are very protective and supporting. However, you do need to "feel special" - and it's quite easy for you to get jealous. At work, you are a natural leader. You can help people discover their greatest potential. You would make a good writer, human resources director, or psychologist. How you see yourself: Trusting, idealistic, and expressive When other people don't get you, they see you as: Bossy, inappropriate, and loud

What's Your Personality Type?

Flashback Friday

"SANTA'S COMING"

Treston Christmas 2004

Colorado

Fun Crafts

I love seeing a fun craft that I actually have all the things on hand for... the kids saw these on Barney this morning. They thought they were super cute. So we gathered the things together and made a cute flock of birds. Enjoy!

All you need is: lunch bags, cupcake liners, construction paper and glue. Have fun!