boulant family

Sleepy Time

2012-01-11T13:07:00.001-08:00

You'd think from all these pictures that
these two cuties sleep all the time. Not
the case!! Since these two refuse to nap,
they tend to crash every couple of days...
trying to make up for lost time I guess!!

2012-01-11T12:51:00.000-08:00

Here's a few "action" shots of Caleb and his group
from their field trip! These boys were so fun and
SO full of energy! I loved their enthusiasm!!

2012-01-11T12:41:00.000-08:00

Aunbrey's 1st grade class and her SUPER cute and AMAZING
teacher! I am seriously so grateful for her!!
I got to go on the feild trip with Aubrey's
class:). It
was so much fun!

Here she is with the group of kids I got to keep
my eye on. They were all so cute and so excited
to be on their field trip!

2011-12-05T09:49:00.000-08:00

These are a few pics of the kiddos this fall!
Since I have flaked big time with my blog
I'm trying to play a little bit of
catch up!;) {Don't judge me about
Tess and all that gum! It was the ONLY
thing I could bribe her with to behave
in the store!}

2011-12-05T09:35:00.000-08:00

We had such a fun Halloween!
Aubrey & Caleb's school
had a lunch on the
lawn that families were invited to.
Then we went trick or treating down at
Town Square where we got to go on a
hay ride and load up on sweets!
Then we went around our neighborhood
trick or treating! I love Halloween and
have always loved to see kiddos dressed up!
So fun!!

2011-10-04T09:15:00.001-07:00

The kids all ready for church!
I seriously have to bribe Caleb to
wear his suit jacket:)! He'd be happy
to wear shorts and a t-shirt every day!

Loved how Aubrey's hair turned out!
Love her pose too:)!

2011-10-03T13:55:00.000-07:00

These last couple of weeks have been
brutal in the Boulant house!

2011-08-24T09:14:00.001-07:00

Tess found these old glasses!
She looked so hilarious! Here
she is taking care
of her baby doll!

Her first french braids!
Seriously, too much fun!

Aubrey had to wear her new shoes
all day long, even when it was
time to wear jammies!
She couldn't stop dancing around!

2011-08-20T17:59:00.001-07:00

I took the kiddos up to Fort Bragg to
camp with my parents and the
West family! My niece Courtney
had a soccer tournament and we
had a blast. Of course I got some
shots of the kiddos and the ocean,
but not one of Courtney's games!!
And I think I did pretty well without
Mike! A tire on the trailer blew
on the way to Cali & a super nice
man helped me back up the trailer...ok
not so much helped but backed up
my trailer! Jer was so nice and helped
me back it up once...now I know what I
need to practice on!
Here are the kids playing at the campsite!

There were the funnest tide pools to
look at too! So much fun!

Here we are loving Glass Beach!

Val showed us this awesome tree,
so we took advantage of
it and took some pictures!

And, um, it was FREEZING! I was freezing the
whole dang time! I need to invent a cordless
electric blanket! Seriously!

2011-08-15T17:59:00.001-07:00

Caleb turned 8 and chose to be baptized!
We are just so dang proud of this kid
and this good choice he's made!

Us!

The Wests'!

The Lymans!

{I love Maddie's little hip in the shot!}
Ali & Dan!

Caleb with Annette!

{So silly}
Mike's brother Matt & his family

My sisters & me with our parents!

Caleb with his amazing grandparents!

We had such a blast hanging out together!
We swam, shopped and had a the best
indoor soccer game ever!
{Even if we were all bruised &
limping afterwards!}

2011-08-02T11:00:00.001-07:00

I got the chance to spend a few days
with the the most awesome ladies I know!
We all flew into Sacramento and then
traveled up to Ashland to the
Shakespeare Festival!
A few shots of us on CSU campus &
in front of the library where
my Dad used to work! Such fun memories!
It was so fun to see our good friend
Jen too!!

{This shot was my first attempt EVER with
the timer! Haha! A little crooked!!}

Here a few shots of us in front of our hotel
and out to dinner!

Oregon is just so gorgeous! We found some spots
to take some pictures!
{I guess Val just couldn't help herself!
Being kid-free for a few days can do that
to ya!}

This was my FIRST time ever being away from my kids! 8 years!
It was hard but I thought I did a great job and Mike of course
was awesome having them on his own! One of the sweetest moments
of my life was seeing them in the airport running toward me!
{The people around us probably thought we were crazy!}

See ya!!

2011-07-15T09:08:00.000-07:00

We had some visitors last weekend!
Aubrey & Tessa liked Quin, just
a little bit!:)

This was taken the day we moved in!
The lovely chandelier just had to
go! And notice the blinds?! We
get to say "See ya" to them pretty
soon too! Yay

The boys installing the fan!
Crazy high ladder! And Mike
used it to paint those
walls too! Carrie and I
didn't have a heart
attack or anything!!

Our new ceiling fan!! Yay!
Notice the bottom 2 windows have
shutters?!! Looks amazing!
We're just waiting for the
others to come in!!

I love progress! I could care less if we're
still "progressing" until the day we move outta
here next year!

Happy 4th!

2011-07-05T23:03:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th of July!
We went camping over the weekend and then
came home Monday morning in time
to watch the fireworks {and get a
few home projects done!}
The kiddos having fun with sparklers waiting
for the fireworks to start!
{We did fireworks at home too, but I didn't
take any pictures!} And our neighbors are
crazy! They let off huge fireworks! So naturally
Caleb was like, "We're doin' that next year!";)

I love this one of Tess! I had to sneak it in!

These are some shots Mike took of the
kiddos playing at our camp site. So cute!!

The kids played in the creek a couple of times!
The water was freezing! We had a blast though!

Haha! We tried our hardest to get a good
shot of all of us together! Mike could
never make it back to us on time!

We had an awesome weekend...we're still recovering!
And, we're making HUGE progress with the house! Yay!

2011-06-30T11:39:00.001-07:00

Grandma and Grandpa came for a visit!!
I love this picture! Tessa had to
keep "tabs" on Grandpa the whole
time they were here.:)
I love my parents to death!
They're the best!

We couldn't miss the opening weekend of Cars 2!
The kids have been wanting to go to the Palms to watch
it since it had such fun displays up!

We had a picnic up at Mt. Charleston on Sunday afternoon.
It was so nice to get out of the heat and just relax!
Lukey is such a crack up!

We made it to Chuck E Cheese, a few lunches out and my
fave Cheesecake Factory {snickers this time!}. My parents
picked out some carpet for their new house too! We
are looking forward to visiting them! {They finished
their mission last week!}

2011-06-20T09:45:00.000-07:00

Happy Father's Day!!
I have an awesome Dad and husband!
My Dad has taught me so much! He really
has taught me what it means to have
your soul anchored in Christ.
Mike has been my rock. Through
health scares, bearing children,
moving to a big city all by ourselves....
Two amazing men that I am
so grateful for!
The kiddos made a "6 pack" for their daddy!:)

2011-06-13T20:25:00.001-07:00

We went camping last weekend! Our niece Courtney
had a soccer tournament in Southern
California so we met my awesome sister
Val and her family
there and had a blast!

The kids found a tree that was
perfect for climbing!

My niece Courtney and her Soccer team!

Tessa and her cousin Bryn!

Here's all the kiddos, except a sleeping Tess, and
Mike "helping" Lukey.:)

2011-06-07T14:39:00.001-07:00

We LOVE Caleb!

This was Caleb's Patriotic Program all the 2nd grade
classes did for Memorial Day. He had a speaking part,
which I didn't get a picture of because some
woman was in the way...but he did great!

Caleb and I on the bus for his field trip this year!

Caleb's a 3rd Grader!! So, so proud of this kid!
He's gotten straight A's all his 1st grade & now
throughout his 2nd grade too. He's received
the Citizenship Award every trimester through
1st and 2nd grades. What an awesome kid!
He's come such a long way from the boy who cried
and cried at preschool that we finally just
pulled him out. We LOVE Caleb!

2011-06-02T20:50:00.001-07:00

Here's Aubrey and her Kindergarten class!
33 kids! What the heck?! I don't know...
Anyway, she's enjoyed this class for
the last 3 months. I'm impressed with
her good attitude with moving schools.
She LOVED her kindergarten teacher
at the old school. When I told her
we'd be moving, she burst out in tears,
"Then I'll have to leave Miss
Fiscus!" It was really
hard for Aubrey to leave her.:)

Where is our little firecracker?!
She is so not comfortable with attention!
Can you tell?! It is so hard for her
to have people pay attention to her!
We are so proud of her for getting
up there and singing! Love her!

*She received her certificate of completion and she got
the Citizenship Award! So proud of her!!

"You have this game?"
"Yep, you've got this game?"
Just another afternoon chillin' in
the Boulant household!

Missy Miss found my lipstick!

2011-06-02T06:27:00.000-07:00

Some friends invited us to camp on their property
over the weekend! We had a blast but dang
we froze!! So we came home a day early.
But we had a great time roasting marshmallows
& starbursts. There were a couple of dogs there...
Aubrey spent the first couple of hours either
in the van or in the trailer. When she did come out
she clung on to either Mike or me for dear life!
Lukey LOVED the doggies!

On Memorial Day we took the kiddos to Valley Of Fire.
We have never been there before so we thought this
was a great time to go! The kids had a blast
climbing all over the rocks, finding lizards and thank
goodness we didn't find any snakes...

2011-05-19T19:25:00.001-07:00

Mike has made frames for me before, so when I found this
print of the Savior {love His eyes in this one}, Mike
took me down to pick out some molding. We just
spray painted it in flat paint and we love how it
turned out! The wall isn't quite finished
but it's a start!

My little girls love to get their nails painted!

This picture is so classic of Aubrey. She will play with
anything! Even the saw dust while her dad's sawing! Love her!

Apparently my hutch makes a perfect place to for Flyn, baby Flyn,
Rapunzel and baby Rapunzel to hang out! She loves Tangled, just
a teensy bit!

Look what happens when I "think" I lock the pantry!
And notice she's taken off her jeans? Her new trick!

Lukey watching the Nascar race with Mike. "Look Daddy!
The M&M car! I see it! The M&M car!" Yeah, the boys
love to watch races.:)

2011-05-15T15:40:00.000-07:00

{What's up with blogger lately? I've lost posts and sweet comments...strange!}
I need to make a book before anything else gets lost!:)

Our ward had the Father & Sons camp out this weekend.
The boys were stoked about going camping with
their dad! Lukey kept on
saying, "Boys only!".:) Here they are
in front of Mike's truck all ready to go!

Aubrey getting in & out of the truck...I think she was
a little disappointed to not be going! Poor thing!
We had a good time just us girls at home though! Plenty
of Barbie movies and treats!

Little Miss wanted to go too! She cried for her daddy for a
good 15 minutes after they left! She's a daddy's
girl for sure.

**Just a quick update on Miss Tess. She has a new splint. You can see the top of it in the picture of her. It comes up way past her wrist. I hate it. It's hard not to feel mean when I put it on her! She hates it but is such a good girl to wear it most of the time! She's still wearing her glove - we got a new one this week. She wore the other one right out! We have just a few more months before her surgery.:)**

2011-05-11T09:34:00.000-07:00

The kitchen before! Lovely, isn't it?! It's really small.
There's not much we can do about that, but
we did try to improve what we could!

The new granite! So nice and pretty!

I saw the idea of putting bead board on the face of
the cabinets online. We tried it and LOVED the
look! We primed and painted the cabinets with
a white laquer that turned out beautiful! We
picked out some new hardware and the cabinets are
just SO much cuter! I did away with the old
pantry door, which is in an older post!
Plus with the hardwood flooring, sink, faucet {that
I LOVE}, new microwave and
dishwasher, the kitchen is darling!

The kitchen after!

Caleb & Aubrey had a field day last Friday...here they are all ready for it! They are too cute!

2011-05-04T13:57:00.000-07:00

This is how the tile is supposed to look! Nice and clean!

This is how the tile looked in the entry and kitchen! Yuck!

Our homemade gates to keep the little guys from getting into
the rooms that Mike was working in! Ha! They both
could climb over, but at least it gave me
a head start to grab them before they made it!
Tess only escaped me once! And fell into the glue!
Oh boy was she not happy about that. She walked
into it, got stuck, got mad, wanted to throw a fit
but couldn't move so she just sat down and
kinda gave up! I couldn't rescue her leggings and
socks! lol!

You can kind of see the wonderful carpet and tile...disgusting!

This is the floor after! I couldn't get a bigger picture! I thought
the laundry room! But no, not quite finished in there!
The entry, no that shows my buffet...and I'm still waiting on
the hardware! The family room! Nope, that room is still waiting
for shutters, as is the kitchen! One day soon {8 weeks} the
shutters will be here and we'll be done with the inside of the house -
for the most part! Ha! I think by the time we move out next
May we MIGHT be done with the house! Improving the house
is the only thing that is keeping me sane though!
But I think these shots really show how pretty this wood is! The
two steps are from the entry into the front room.:)

This is further down from the steps in the front room.
The rug on the right is from
Mike's old shop...I LOVE it. So soft!

Taking up tile STINKS! Oh my, my, my....seriously the hardest thing EVER! My hand cramped up after a minute of hammering and that wasn't the hardest part! Scraping the glue off was torture!
***The bug guy came again and said there was NO activity around the house! Yeah! Good bye creepy scorpions!!

2011-04-24T16:27:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter!!
What amazing doctrine we have concerning the Atonement.
Elder Packer said,
"Truth proclaims there is a Mediator,
through Him mercy can be fully extended
to each of us without offending the eternal
law of justice. This truth is the very root of
of Christian doctrine. You may know much about
the gospel as is branches out from there, but
if you only know the branches and those branches do
not touch that root, if they have been cut free from
that truth, there will be no life nor substance nor
redemption in them."
Mike & I were asked to speak today in Sacrament Meeting.
Our records haven't been read in yet,
but welcome to the ward!;)
How can we not feel inadequate speaking of our Savior?
But we did our best and our testimonies grew
through our study & preparation.

So I tried to take some cute pictures of the
kids this morning before church!
This one turned out, but we're missing someone!

She just wanted to climb up and to look at Luke for a minute!

Apparently she needed a break and decided to
sprawl out on the floor!

Then she just went into this sort of trance!;) Haha!

These kiddos are so darling! Oh how I wish I had some
extra time to take a photography class so I could
capture all their cuteness!

I LOVE this of Lukey! You can't help but laugh when
you hear this little guy's belly laugh! Plus those chubby
little cheeks and dimples?!
A nurse asked me once if I just spent my time
kissing those cheeks!
And we sure do!!

Here are the kiddos enjoying their Easter loot! Growing up we
always did Easter Eggs and such the Saturday
before Easter Sunday. It's nice to have the separation
between the two!

2011-04-20T11:07:00.001-07:00

One of the walls of the "new" playroom. I found the letters at Hobby Lobby
for a whopping $.99 each, put on a little paint and used a little sand paper
and voila!! The frames were actually part of another project I did
a while ago, so they're recycled I guess into this new project!

This is my favorite! What would it be like to be waiting for
the Savior to visit, preparing your kids to see Him, and
to have him come and bless each of your children?
Amazing.

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2011-04-18T22:07:00.001-07:00

Mike & I got this hutch as a wedding present! Can you believe it?! I'm surprised it's still standing! But, I really wasn't loving the honey colored stain & old hardware any more. So...I didn't have enough on my plate so I took this baby on! It actually was a ton of fun.:)

Here's my revamped hutch!!

2011-04-18T15:13:00.000-07:00

The pantry door before. Yeah, I don't know...a faux chalkboard maybe? Why not just make it a cute chalkboard door? Again, I don't know...but with a little paint and vinyl, hopefully I improved it a bit!:)

The pantry door after!

2011-04-18T14:42:00.000-07:00

So....we moved! We're still in Vegas, just moved into another house.
Why?!
I don't know...or rather I didn't know.
All I know is I was prompted to move...to save money for
another house. {We have a house in California still}
We've been biding our time hoping the market would
flip us back on top of our loan!
Two houses?! That couldn't be right, but it was.
So we moved...with a lot of fits from our 3 year old...no a lot
of fits from me! I didn't want to move. I still don't want to be
in the new house.
But, I love when Joseph Smith said, "I knew it and I knew God knew it".
On a much smaller scale, that's how I felt and still feel about the move.
The new house {ahem, I am using the term "new" very loosely!!} anyway,
the "new" house is my worst nightmare!
It has not been taken care of and yeah, I found a scorpion...and 2 dead ones.
I seriously threw up, cried and had to take a walk around the block.
But we're making improvements and I see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Plus, and this is a HUGE plus, since we've moved,
the bank renegotiated our loan!!
We're in the crap house, {I'm not supposed to call it that anymore}
I mean, "new" house only until next summer! Then
we can sell our California house and buy one here!
Oh happy freaking day!!
Obedience.
That is what I believe this whole ordeal has been about. My obedience
to the Lord. I may not have obeyed with the most grace, but at least I was
willing. Miracles happen. Miracles are real.
I love the Gospel.

ps We have a TON of projects, improvements that I can't wait to post!!
Mike is a complete stud and really, a saint to put up with my fits
and my list of renovations! After the scorpion episode, I came back to
the house to find him on the phone with the exterminator...as he was
trying to leave the house to go out of town for work!! He is just
simply amazing!!

2011-04-18T14:11:00.000-07:00

Aubrey is our fashion designer! Haha!

Aubrey had an awards assembly at school and a multicultural dance too. Lukey is always so cute and making me laugh. Caleb was dancing too, but all I got of him was on the movie camera. They were both so super cute! Love it!!

Caleb playing his dad's Ipad!

Spending time in California and Utah with my sisters and their families! We had a blast!!

2011-02-23T11:04:00.000-08:00

This post reminds me so much of my Dad! Lately Aubrey has been telling us that she wants to be a librarian when she grows up! So cute! So she's been playing library just about every day! This is her most current library she set up the other night. Oh, and she always has her "assistant" in tow! Seriously, Tessa does whatever Aubrey wants her to do! Her favorite is to be her pet doggy! She'll even bark! Love these girls!

2011-02-21T10:29:00.000-08:00

Our Aubrey girl turned 6 last weekend! She woke up the morning of her birthday, not early at all!lol, and opened up her presents from me and Mike and her brothers and sister.

{Don't you love Lukey streaking by with just his undies on?! Haha!}

She invited friends from her primary class over to help us celebrate! The decorations were really darling and I'm kicking myself that I didn't get more pictures, but with 15 kiddos running around my house I just couldn't find a second to get any more taken! We had a pinata & played a bunch of games.
What's a party without cake & presents?!

Mike took some of the boys out in the back to play 3 flies up!

And of course we had to have a dance party!;) I don't know if you can tell from the pictures but there are 3 other kiddos with red hair! It is so cute to see so many red heads sitting in the CTR 5 class every week in primary!

We LOVE Aubrey so much and of course can't imagine life without her! She is such a sweetheart and I love her little sassy attitude...it matches her red hair just perfectly! I remember when I delivered her 6 years ago. It was such an easy pregnancy. She came 3 weeks early, from the first contraction at 6:30 on a Saturday morning until she came just before 8:00 that same morning it was super fast and hard just how I like it! She was my littlest baby at 5 lbs, 8 oz. {The other three were over 8 lbs!} I remember thinking she looked exactly how I envisioned her, pretty blue eyes and red hair. She was our sweetheart baby being born just 2 days before Valentines Day. The nurses of course made a huge fuss over her! I swear at every shift change she had a different bow in her hair! She loves her baby sister Tess so much! She reminds me of me and my sister Ali. I've always loved Ali & thought she was the cutest thing ever and I can see that Aubrey feels the that same way about Tess. I am just so incredibly blessed to have her in my life!

2011-02-11T14:29:00.000-08:00

Itty bitty braid for miss Tess! She wasn't in the "best" mood to take pictures today!lol!

Miss Tessa's palm and thumb don't need to be wrapped anymore! Yay! I am really just astounded at how fast and well they are healing! Her middle finger will need surgery to correct the curvature and then some skin grafting. The ring finger should be okay, but may need grafting as well. She hates the new medicine and wrapping, poor baby, so I'm hoping we can switch back to the old medicine soon! She is just an amazing little girl!

2011-02-09T10:54:00.001-08:00

Our "Valentinesque" front door!

Tessa's new trick! She'll say, "Na na na na na!" and then take off running! Too much fun.

Just thought these shots of the cutest girls ever were way fun!

Letting Tessa out of my site for 10 seconds...

"Not a lame barbie movie!" {etc, etc, etc...}
Caleb about 2 minutes after his anti barbie rant!

My kiddos this past week!

2011-02-02T11:56:00.001-08:00

Tessa being Tessa! Even though she's has a bandaged hand she's still our little mischief maker! This time she found my lipstick!

How we bathed missy before her hand was allowed to get wet.

My first day changing Tessa's bandage all by myself. Aubrey had to get her "nurse" on too!

Poor Lukey bonked his mouth! Complete mystery how he did it...poor kiddo!

Caleb & Mike on their hiking trip!

\

2011-01-30T20:11:00.000-08:00

It was pirate day at school a couple of weeks ago. The eye patches were the only the things the kiddos would wear! But they showed they're school spirit and we hear "Arr" all day long...even from Tessa!

2011-01-20T09:26:00.000-08:00

Just a few cute {and more importantly, easy!} things I did last week! The family rules is just the cutest! I mod podged it onto a sheet of metal. The idea is to put a magnet on whichever "rule" someone is following at any given time...fun, right? And the lantern I've had forever. I decided it needed a little representation of the Boulant name! Haha!

And I had to stick this picture in, even if it's a little grainy due to the sports mode my camera was in! I wanted to capture this quick so I didn't want to waste time changing the mode or whatever. She is such a cutie. She loves baby dolls and loves to put them her backpack. I overheard her saying "Shhh" as she was holding this doll the other day! Melted my heart!

2011-01-19T09:53:00.001-08:00

I want to put this on my blog because this experience really strengthened my testimony of relying on the Savior...meaning trusting Him, turning to prayer when I'm scared, having faith in priesthood blessings and how much I know I'm blessed to have my sisters, husband and parents.

Last Thursday I found a lump in one of my breasts. I went to my OB that day and they referred me to a radiologist to have a sonogram and biopsy. All I could think about was chemotherapy. I believe I was prompted by the Spirit to let my sisters and parents know what was going on. I didn't want to worry them but I needed their support. I felt their prayers & the prayers of their sweet children. I have an amazing husband who is worthy of the priesthood to give me a blessing. The next day I went in for the tests. I had my sonogram and not 5 minutes latert they told me it's benign! I didn't even need the biopsy! I didn't have to wait for days for the test results! I felt like I couldn't really breath for two days and I got my breath back! I know the faith of my family sped this process along and gave me the strength to put my trust in the Lord. I am so grateful for the Gospel, the Savior, my family and my testimony. "I believe in Christ, so come what may". This is how I can deal with life's challenges because I can simply rely on Him.
My sister Carrie & hubs Mike came down for the weekend to support me! Their 5 girls are darling! I can't believe I didn't get a picture of Carrie's baby Quincee...oh my goodness, such a chubby little cutie pie! We took them to some of our favorite places and we had a blast together!
We celebrated Mike's birthday on Sunday night!

We went up to Red Rock on Saturday...one of our favorite places!

Driving go karts! Caleb was beyond excited that he was tall enough to drive the bigger go karts all by himself!

Snow

2011-01-11T12:15:00.000-08:00

We made it up to the snow this past weekend and had an absolute blast! With 3 weeks of somebody being sick it was such a relief to have everyone feeling good and being able to spend time with each other outside of the house!

Tessa waves "bye bye" to her daddy every morning. She always does it with both hands, one hand lower than the other. We kinda caught it in this picture...so cute!

Just a few shots of us going down the hill. One of the amazing things I love about Mike is he manages to make all of our outings so much fun. He "surfed" down the hill, only eating it the first time, all the while entertaining us all! {It was everything in me not to pee my pants from laughing!} I have the best family!

Aubrey and her snowman! Haha! She's such a cutie!

Love this kid! This sums up what a great time we had!

2011-01-09T16:42:00.000-08:00

We are FINALLY all feeling better! No more sleepless nights! {knock on wood} Yay! So this is what the kids have been up to this last week!
Tessa girl loves her baby dolls! She's 2 weeks away from going to nursery. I just can't believe it. Where did my baby go?!

Having a snack the other day! Tessa has now officially graduated to the booster seat! {Only because she refuses to sit in the high chair!lol!}

Caleb's first piano lesson! I.LOVE.this! There is nothing better than listening to my child playing the piano!

2010-12-29T18:50:00.000-08:00

This project was super intimidating when I started but it was fun once I got started. I haven't sewn anything in a while. It felt so good to get back into it! And my sister Carrie was gracious enough to accept it as her birthday present!

Mike made this advent calender for my sister Val! Isn't it darling? Love it! I found a tall tree at hobby lobby that would be perfect for a second tree in the house. So Mike made me this one! So fun!

Calamity Christmas

2010-12-29T12:26:00.001-08:00

My sisters, Mom and Dad and Jen met up in St. George for Christmas this year. We have rented houses for vacations before and it's always been great...St. George house? Not so much! It was so much littler than what it was advertised and NASTY! Not the kind of nasty that can be cleaned, the kind that just needs things replaced! But what could we do, right? So we made the best of it...even if I only took my shoes off to sleep and shower! Seriously gross! Almost everyone got super sick and stayed sick the whole week, it rained most of the time, Lukey broke out in hives, Mike forgot our presents from Santa at home {But one of my sisters friends who was in Vegas watching the bowl game brought them to us! Such a sweetheart!}, and the excitement only got worse once we got home! Our mailbox got broken in to and our mail stolen! Caleb had an ER visit, Lukey keeps breaking out in hives, Tessa keeps me up all night coughing, poor girl, and Mike's truck got broken in to! Yeah, the ignition and lock on the driver side door is all busted from them trying to steal it and his computer is gone! Punks! You'd think we lived in the ghetto or something! And, we're in a rental since my van is getting fixed from the german shepherd incident, so we have one car for the past 2 days! Ugh! Our luck better be turning around fast! lol! We all need a vacation to make up for this disaster of one! But I got to spend time with my most favorite people in the world and I got to shop!
p.s. I tried to take Tessa with us to see Tangled...not a good idea!!

Tessa and her cousin Quincee with their Grandpa Great. We made a visit to my aunts to visit her and my Grandpa. He's 90 this year and not doing so well, so we all wanted to see him!

Christmas for 15 kiddos!

Opening presents!

We have a tradition where the kiddos all pick names to buy

Tessa girl on her new pony! I've been trying to teach her to say giddy-up!

We have a few family traditions. We always make sweetbread, the kiddos pick names to buy for each other as do the adults, we read the Christmas story on Christmas eve, sing and this year we talked more in detail about the nativity. It was so special and really helped my testimony to grow! Even if everything went wrong, the spirit of Christmas was with us!:)

Ali & Dan and 3 of our nieces, Alana, Courtney and Caitlyn came to my house after Saint George. We went to the park, shopped and made it down to the strip to ride the NY roller coaster, MGM lions, TI pirate show and the Bellagio water show! It was so fun to hang out...even though the kiddos got really sick that evening! Boo!

2010-12-17T10:25:00.000-08:00

This is such a fun season, as I know you all agree! This year it was my assignment, as being a part of the primary presidency in my ward, to get the children Christmas ornaments. I had these great ideas that were oh so fancy! But then I really thought about these kids. How simple and wonderful their testimonies are, so I came up with this "building block" idea. And I LOVE the theme this year! I Know, not I think or feel or believe or hope, but I Know My Savior Loves Me. I wish every kid on this planet would know this. This gospel concept is one of the first "building blocks" to a solid testimony! I asked Mike to cut some blocks for me. So after a little mod podge, stain, scrapbook paper, sanding, vinyl and drilling I was done making these! I hope the primary kiddos will like them!:)

Oh I am so not happy with our Christmas card this year! But our "photo" session just kept on getting pushed to the back burner and so this is the best I could do at such short notice! Blah! Lame....anyway on to happier things! This is a pretty decent picture of us using our tripod {again, I know, lame!} and the kiddos are darling with all their surprised expressions! Haha! We tried to do more things homemade this year and we've really had such a good time doing it...hey, I guess our lame Christmas card is semi homemade! Haha!

Just some treats we want to pass out to neighbors, primary teachers & school teachers! I made up some homemade hot chocolate {& added marshmallows!}, cinnamon honey butter, a candle and a cake in a jar. So fun! Mike & I both have some other homemade gifts but I'll have to wait to post these until after Christmas as they are gifts for some of my sisters and we don't want to spoil the surprise! Oh & Mike's project is AMAZING!

My family's traditional yummy, amazing sweetbread! But I didn't get a picture of it before I wrapped it up! Darn! But here's one all pretty and ready to be delivered!

I swear my kids have been sick ever since Thanksgiving! We've had numerous sleepless nights! And Aubrey had a rough night and is not so sure she can go to school today...so sad that she'll miss her caroling! Tessa thought she needed to lay by her to keep her company.:)

Year In Review {short & sweet}

2010-12-13T10:25:00.000-08:00

Another year ends and my gratitude for these 4 little angels is overwhelming! By pure miracle I was able to carry and deliver all of them. I know I am blessed because I met a wonderful Man and we chose to be sealed in the Temple thus bringing children into this world under covenant with the Lord. My testimony of this has grown this year through the resolutions of my health issues. My heart is full of gratitude for The Savior, Church Leaders, Family and Friends! May everyone's Christmas season be full of the Spirit!

piggy buns

2010-12-08T13:44:00.001-08:00

Missy's first piggie buns! {piggies that are tucked into little buns:)} Sometimes I just have to walk away from her...her cuteness is just too much!
**Update on Tessa! She says Mama and Dddd {we think it's dad!}. She loves to click and trill her tongue. She cries every time her daddy leaves the house. She is little miss social. She warms up to anybody {except Santa!} quickly and will let anybody pick her up. She loves to give kisses and "loves"{cheek to cheek}. She has 14 teeth! She's cutting her bottom K nines {I don't know how that's spelled:)} right now...that's a ton of fun! Love this little girl!

All tuckered out! Yesterday these two cuties conked out at the same time, just at different places! lol! I can't get the photo of Tessa to flip! It's fine in Picassa but it turned when I uploaded onto blogger...lame! Anyway, you can still see all her super cuteness!

Retraction

2010-12-08T13:09:00.000-08:00

Caleb has informed me that I did not post the picture of him by his beloved "24 car" aka Jeff Gordon.:) So here it is!

My cuties!

2010-12-06T13:34:00.000-08:00

Miss Tess is such a loving little sweetheart. She always gives loves and kisses! She growing so fast! I feel like I'm losing my baby!;)

Aubrey's kindergarten class put on the cutest program for the parents. Here she is as a pilgrim. She was so shy getting up there, she couldn't even get herself to smile at me. She did really well though! She did all her lines at the right time and sang all the songs! Way too cute!

Poor Caleb slipped off his skateboard in the back yard and hit his face on the patio! This is kid is tough, he hardly cried at all!

I love this kid. He is so funny and enthusiastic about everything! He makes me forget to take things so seriously and enjoy the little things!

A braid I did the other day that I thought turned out cute!

Nascar

2010-12-05T10:39:00.001-08:00

We took the the kiddos down to the Strip for the Nascar parade. Caleb's and Mike biggie was of course Jeff Gordon, and Lukey wanted to see his fave, the M&M car! Lol! We got to see them pass and then drove down the Hard Rock to see their cars, but we never did get to meet the drivers, but it was fun all the same!

2010-12-02T19:31:00.001-08:00

Mike's brother Matt and his family came to our house for a few days over Thanksgiving break. We took them to Cafe Rio, to our favorite park, and The Bass Pro Shop, where a "real" mermaid was swimming in the fish tank. Aubrey and her cousin Jocelin were beside themselves. They turned to me and said, "I knew mermaids were real!". They squealed and laughed and couldn't wait to go tell their daddy's what they saw! I wish I would have gotten a picture of it!

We had the Sorenson family {We just call them our in-laws! Karina Sorenson is my sister Carrie's husbands Mike sister!} spend a few nights with us too! Here's Tessa with little Cambree! So cute! It's a bit blurry but both of these little girls are movers! Tessa just loved her. She wanted to kiss her and hug her...so cute!

Aviation Nation

2010-11-15T14:56:00.000-08:00

We went to Aviation Nation at Nellis Air Force Base on Saturday. The Air Force put on a huge air show to honor veterans. It was so fun and the weather was fantastic!
We had to go through the security check at the race track and then we caught a bus over to the base. Tessa did not like the bus! Then we caught the wrong bus back! Oh that took us an extra hour at least to get back to our van! But all in all we had a great time!
On the bus trip over to the base.

There were so many bounce houses. The kiddos had a ball! Tessa loved to walk around around and point at all of them! And yes, she had to bring her blanket along, lol! I really need to make her a little blanket for trips like this! Mike put her in a bounce house, but all she did was sit there. Silly girl!

We didn't get Tessa in this last shot! So sad...she was fast asleep in the stroller.
It was such a fun experience. Caleb has always told us he wants to be a cop or a soldier, so it was especially fun for him!

2010-11-15T10:38:00.001-08:00

I know, I know Halloween is over...but I got these pictures from Jen {our family photographer, lol} and needed to add them to the blog so I can include them in my book. So bear with me, please!

Caleb as a spooky skeleton. He told us, "My mask is pretty freaky. I'll be careful not to scare the little kids." lol!

Caleb & Aubrey with their cousins Dallin & Jared.

Lukey bear with his dimples is just so adorable!

Aubrey girl was the prettiest witch!

Tessa, our little pumpkin!

2010-11-12T12:35:00.001-08:00

We visited my family in California last year for Halloween and had a blast! So...we decided to go again this year! We left after Caleb & Aubrey got out of school. We were right out of Yuba City around midnight, lots of farm land mind you, I was just shutting my eyes when BAM! All the kiddos woke up with a start and I asked Mike what he hit! He said he thought it was a German Shepard. Now I hate dogs. I hate everything about them. But I'm not heartless! So, yeah, I just bursted out crying. It was so horrible. Well, we felt something dragging and pulled over. I was so afraid we just had a horrible mess on our hands. Um...we discovered we had another kind of mess on our hands.

What a wonderful way to start our vacation, right?!
We did have such a good time, shopping, IKEA, trunk or treat...the kids had a ball, I had a blast seeing my sisters and good friend Jen! Made me SO homesick!

I don't know who this little Alice In Wonderland is but all the kids were playing a game and she ended up on the same number Aubrey was...I just thought how cute they were!

Tessa was a little obsessed with her Aunt Val and Uncle Jerry. Oh she'd throw quite the fit if one of them wasn't holding her!

"Contained"! This little missy is the busiest little one I've had! Um...by far! She's up on the table, pulling things out off the pantry shelves, getting the pots & pans out of the cupboard, pushing buttons on the printer and my favorite...dancing around with our underwear that she pulled out of our dressers! So I'm constantly thinking about things for her to play instead of all the aforementioned!;) Lukey always has to get in on it too!

2010-11-11T09:30:00.000-08:00

My helpers!! The other day the kiddos decided to help me out with my "to do" list!

2010-11-08T09:52:00.001-08:00

Aubrey & Caleb had a Halloween costume parade at school. It was so fun to see all the kids dressed up! Vegas has the best weather for Halloween!

That's Lukey over on the slide! So dang cute. We had a great Halloween this year!

2010-10-27T12:02:00.001-07:00

Our neighborhood puts on an October Harvest Celebration and this year we were able to go. Hands down the best carnival for kiddos. There were so many games and balloons and foot races and goodies for the kids. They had a ball and the weather was beautiful.

We walked across the new bridge down at Hoover Dam. It was really neat to see the dam from the other side. There were so many people there it made it kinda hard to stop and take pictures. But we managed to get a few!

Miss Tess was the ONLY kiddo who would sit long enough for me to take their picture and she's still moving enough to make the pictures blurry!! lol! I'm gonna have to come up with some sort of bribe for the next party they have so I can get some good shots of them all dressed up! Our ward had trunk or treat the other night. To say the kids were excited would be a huge understatement!

2010-10-26T11:38:00.000-07:00

Here's just a few little things I've been doing lately...;)

A yummy caramel sauce I made for the teachers/helpers in Primary. So good!!

Revamped some candles!

Tutus made!! And a witches' hat!

We are SO ready for Halloween!!

2010-10-18T13:29:00.000-07:00

Caleb had an assignment from school to make a haunted house. I admit I completely forgot about it until last night! Sunday night no less, so we scrounged up things we had around the house and thankfully Caleb was happy with it! Aubrey had to make a witch face and Luke a mummy face! Such funny kiddos!

I love making candies and goodies! This is my first batch of divinity this year. Yum! Tessa is the only kiddo who likes it!

2010-10-15T10:35:00.000-07:00

The little guys just chillin' the other day. Luke thought he needed to go through the Halloween costume bin and try everything on! lol! Here he is as a soccer player!

The other day it was "crazy hair day" at school. So here are Caleb and Aubrey showing their school spirit. Caleb has a green C on his head...that's all he would let me do!

We had the chance to go visit my sister in SLC. She had beautiful baby girl Quincee and we got to go to her blessing. My other sisters and Mom and Dad were there too! Sweet Quincee had her daddy, 3 uncles, a grandpa and a grandpa great participate in the blessing. It was a tremendous experience to be able to witness the power that circle held. My family is the best!
Here's a few shots of some of my nieces. Aren't they just darling? And Tessa was all tuckered out after we had family photos taken. Most of my pictures are stuck on my camera! They won't upload to my computer...I'm still trying to figure that one out!

The reason we all got together! She is just precious! I wanted to eat her up!

2010-10-05T13:08:00.001-07:00

We went down to Newport Beach last weekend and I swear we brought half the beach back with us! It was so nice out and we had a blast playing in the sand and water. Tessa was terrified if she went near the water or the sand! So she chilled on the beach towels the whole time. Made my job a lot easier! lol! I just wish we lived even closer to the ocean. We actually saw a few dolphins, right off shore. They were jumping and playing so close to us! It was so fun to see! I got some good shots of them on the camcorder. If I can figure out how to put a video on here I'll post it.;)

The kiddos did so great in the car! It was a ton of driving for one day!

2010-09-20T13:10:00.000-07:00

We try to keep our Monday mornings happy around here, so extra cute hair helps!

And make sure we get a nap in too!!

2010-09-17T09:36:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago Val and Ali came for a visit! {I don't know how Ali avoided all the pictures!} But we visited the Shark Reef down the strip and had a great time! My sisters are the best, Annette and Carrie too! By far the little manta rays that you could touch were my favorite part!

Yeah, that's right. That's poop! And oh if you'd seen Tessa covered in it! {I really didn't think it would be all that sanitary to pause and take a picture of her!} What a fun way to start the day!! lol!

Breaking in the new couch Boulant style! What a fun daddy the kiddos have!!

2010-09-10T09:05:00.001-07:00

Aubrey got some new skates! I think she likes them!

Tessa girl likes them too!

2010-09-03T13:10:00.000-07:00

Today was the first day I got to take Caleb and Aubrey to school! So, we made these teacher's gifts to bring with us today. I didn't get any shots of Caleb with his present because he had a few tears this morning! Poor kiddo. I didn't want to prolong the process of going to school for him so we skipped his photo-op! But I finally got to meet their teachers and get a better feel of how it is for them at school. That always makes me feel so much better about sending them!

2010-09-01T08:02:00.000-07:00

Caleb and Aubrey had their first day of school! No tears, just a little complaining from Caleb about having to wear "church clothes" to school! Aubrey was ready to go a good hour before her kindergarten started. She was just so excited to go!

We baked a big cookie for them to have after they got home on their first day. It seems this year is going to be so great for them! We're in a brand new school this year with a terrific principle and the assistant principle we love from Caleb's old school! And, we are on a 9 month schedule which we love so much more than the 12 month!
I haven't got a chance to meet their teachers since I had my hysterectomy on Friday. Mike & and my mom have reassured me that both teachers are great. I am so grateful that the surgery is over and done with and already I am feeling pretty good and am itching to get in their classrooms to help out!

The kiddos playing outside yesterday after school enjoying our amazing weather! 90 degrees never felt so good!!

2010-08-24T14:57:00.000-07:00

Our last horah! before school starts! We had a great time, tons of fun running after a running Tess who was sure the whole camp site was hers for the taking. Plus, we lost Luke for a few minutes, but other than that it was a success! Did I mention I drove the 3 hours all by myself, with the trailer, unloaded and unhitched the trailer all by myself? Seriously, I was really proud of myself. I have the best memories camping as a kid, with the "group" and it's just so fun to see my kiddos making those same kind of memories!

2010-08-13T14:08:00.001-07:00

Missy miss Tess is a busy little thing! She is into every.single.drawer she can get her little fingers on! But today one of the bathroom drawers bit back! So sad!

She didn't even cry that hard! Once she got her hands on her bottle the tears stopped! Such a cutie!

2010-08-12T10:20:00.001-07:00

Mike runs on it. I walk on it. Lukey bear creates "dinosaur island" on it!

2010-08-09T13:11:00.001-07:00

We spent this last weekend with my sister and her girls at a cabin in Panguich Utah. We had a blast! Our husbands' spent most 3 days hiking in Zions. Somehow I didn't get one shot of Tess! But we did have a great time, with a trip to the ER to boot!;)

2010-07-26T10:00:00.001-07:00

We celebrated Caleb's birthday by going camping this last weekend! We had a ton of fun! It was just too short!

The kiddos having fun at a splash park in St. George. It was way fun to see the kids having so much fun, but it was dang hot! We're talking 110!! 105 is my limit! lol!

Caleb turned 7!! He wouldn't pause from opening presents to let me take a picture! He was very excited! He told us, "One more year to go before I can get baptized!". What a sweetheart he is!

2010-07-22T13:30:00.001-07:00

The other day Mike was running errands in the evening, and Lukey, all ready for bed, was determined to "scare" his daddy when he got home! He put this box by the front door and climbed right in! This kid is just hilarious!

Miss Aubrey lost her 1st tooth! Right in the middle of Target! To say she was excited would be an understatement!

Guess where we're headed this weekend?! Cross your fingers that Tessa girl does alright! She's a busy little thing, emptying any drawer she can reach in seconds! This will be her very first camping trip!

2010-07-21T19:44:00.000-07:00

Our sweet baby Tessa Jane turned 1!!

She is pure joy and brings such happiness into our household! She's a true Boulant baby with 8 teeth, crawled at 4 months, walking by 10 months! The only exception is she's the only kiddo who got her daddy's beautiful brown eyes!

2010-07-13T09:48:00.000-07:00

I came up with a new idea with some braids. I thought it turned out pretty cute! {Notice the new rug! Mike made us a new one last night to replace the ruined one. We're getting the house back to normal, one step at a time! lol!}

2010-07-12T20:41:00.001-07:00

Oh! Our downstairs flooded!! This is our front room and bedroom for the next week and a half until the new carpet comes! It's a good thing I'm not uptight at all, have a totally laid back personality and doesn't freak out when things aren't organized!! Pray for me, please!! lol!

I found these little cuties reading books today! Aubrey had pushed the side table, between our couches, to the wall and made a little "hideout". Tessa thought it was great! Lukey found his way in too!

We went up to a friend's cabin last weekend...tons of fun. Aubrey HAD to wear her swim suit cover up the.whole.day.! She's too fun. I love the picture of Tessa! Anything that's remotely soft, even her brother's hat, she has to hug up to her face! **Missy has 8, yes, that's 8 teeth now, walks around everywhere and is quite the chatterbox! She's still my shadow and puts her arms up when she wants me to hold her! Melts my heart!!

Miss Aubrey has her very first loose tooth! Here she is showing it off! And yeah, she's wearing last years Halloween witch costume!;)

2010-07-06T09:29:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th of July!

We went to a swim park on Saturday, too much fun! The kids loved the kids pool and Caleb loved the water slide!

Miss Tessa was so cute the other day pushing her baby in the stroller! She's just grown up so fast! I can't believe she'll be 1 in a couple of weeks!

A few shot of the kiddos while we were shopping the other day!

2010-06-30T15:24:00.001-07:00

My cousin got married over this past weekend and we got to go! We also had a great visit with my Mom's dad, my kids' Grandpa Great. Now, Tessa is a super momma's girl right now. She freaks when anyone gets her that she doesn't know. Mike put her right on Grandpa Great's lap and she was as content as could be! {I think they were friends in the pre-existence!lol!} We also had the chance to visit my Grandmother's grave as well. It's always been such a big deal for my Grandma and Mom to share our geneology with us, it has been so special to be able to pass that on to my kiddos! I'm so grateful for the Gospel. I have answers for my kids that bring them comfort about death. We were also able to get the rest of Mike's parents' temple work done! To be a part of those sacred ordiances and to be able to have my testimony strengthened was such a huge blessing! So, so incredibly special!

Little missy has long enough hair for a pony! Oh so cute! She's just way too much fun!

I took the kiddos over to the Bass Pro shop here in town. They have a huge aquarium and games for the kids to play. It's always a ton of fun to go down there, especially when it's so stinkin hot outside!

We went to a park near our house a couple of weeks ago! It wasn't so hot so we had a great time! Only the little guys would cooperate about the picture taking!

Caleb had a "mulicultral" night at school, so we went over to see his classroom and learn all about Africa! So fun!

2010-06-07T10:33:00.000-07:00

We went up to the mountains the other day since it was 800 degrees in Vegas! We had a great time!

Just a few shots of Tess! I couldn't believe she wanted to sit on all those rocks! And miraculously she didn't try to eat any! Plus, she only went through 2 outfits! lol! **A fun update on our little missy! She has 5 teeth, dances when she hears any music {even the organ in Sacrament Meeting, lol!} She's taking steps all over the place! 8 in a row is her record!**

Caleb had to make a robot for a school project. He was so excited when we came up with the idea of making it look like R2D2! Mike took apart a toy phone and stuck it inside so the button on the outside would work it and light up! Caleb is too fun, he's still young enough that he's thrilled about all of our ideas! {Notice Tessa trying to climb up the step? Haha!}

Memorial Day

2010-06-01T09:31:00.000-07:00

We had such a great Memorial Day! The kiddos ran through the sprinklers here at the house. We are lucky enough to live on the edge of town so we can sit on our back wall and watch the fireworks! It's always so fun just to spend time with each other!

We went hiking up in Red Rock. It's such a great place for the kids to run around and explore!

We headed to down to the strip to check out the dolphin exhibit! It was just fantastic to see all the animals! The kiddos were besides themselves. There was a black panther, named "Bo", that Lukey LOVED. He was so dark and always in the shadows so I couldn't get a good shot of him! But Lukey just kept on going back to see him! So fun!!

2010-05-25T20:48:00.000-07:00

So, so fun to see the kiddos just run around and have a great time!! Vegas can be a tough place to live, but quite honestly we have THE best parks here!

The kiddos at lunch today! They really behave, most the time, when we get the chance to go out with Mike! Poor Caleb doesn't get to come much since he's in school!!:(

2010-05-25T09:53:00.000-07:00

Oh man! I've been cutting my boys' hair since Caleb was a baby, no mistakes, no slip ups, until the other morning! I had the guard off the clippers from finishing Caleb's. Well, poor Lukey got 2 swipes before I noticed just how short I was cutting his poor hair! It's a good thing his hair is so light and grows so fast!!

Aubrey & Luke LOVE playing in the water - oh how I wish for a big pool!;)

Our carrots are beginning to grow! Yay!!

Here's the kiddos riding this little carousel while we were shopping the other day. Caleb was such a good sport to ride it too!

2010-05-18T12:22:00.000-07:00

Such warm weather we're having! I bought this bucket a few weeks ago to hold the outdoor trucks and pails and such. But it's just so nice outside I thought I'd fill it with water so Aubrey & Luke could fill their pails. Before I knew it, they were both inside of it! I guess it's time for me to get the pool out! I went out to fill the tub up and looked behind me and I saw my little shadow!;)

She's content, for now, to just look outside at her brothers and sister! She thinks they're hilarious! She laughs at the sight of Luke, of course he's completely oblivious to it!

Such a doll I've got! She loves this wagon! She's actually kissing it in the picture where she's leaning on it! She's getting such good balance and will take a step between two things without needing to hold on to anything! She just cut her 5th tooth, so for the moment, she is our happy, darling cutie pie!!

2010-05-18T10:25:00.000-07:00

I came out of my room the other day and found Luke waiting for me by the t.v. He was all ready to play! "Me & you play wii?" Haha! What a cutie!

My first attempt doing a mod podge sign. There are a few flaws, but you live and learn, right? Memorial day is coming up quick and I thought I could keep it up through July 4th as well.;)

A little treat jar I made for my visiting teacher - I've had to hide it from Lukey. M&M's are his fav!!

My sister Val made me a few magnets when I just had Caleb and Aubrey, so I thought I'd update a bit! They're different than the older guys', but thanks Val for the fun idea!

2010-05-13T20:50:00.000-07:00

ALL my kiddos have been sick for the past week or so! It has just kinda sucked me into my own little world down here in Vegas, oh but we are on the mend!;) We've been planting our pumpkin patch, running through sprinklers...I just need to get on here and post!

I'm horribly late, but I hope everyone had an amazing day on Sunday! I LOVE mother's day. Mike has the kiddos all write me love notes and I get one from him as well.;) When I was a little girl I never believed my Mom when she'd tell me the best present I could get her was a homemade one - oh how I was wrong - they are the best ones!! I was asked to speak in Sacrament Meeting and I just learned so much! Here's a quote by Sheri Dew that summed up my talk.
"We just can't let the Lord down. And if the day comes when we are the only women on earth who find nobility and divinity in motherhood, so be it. For mother is the word that will define a righteous woman made perfect in the highest degree of the celestial kingdom, a woman who has qualified for eternal increase in posterity, wisdom, joy, and influences."

2010-04-27T21:39:00.000-07:00

Watching these two play the wii is just hilarious! What kiddos aren't, right? Every time Aubrey serves, while playing tennis, she does a pirouette! Oh so funny!

Aubrey was an ANGEL the other day and let me nap while the little guys were asleep! Go ahead sweetheart, take all the photos you want if you'll give me 45 minutes of rest! Love her!!

Notice her "artwork" she added to the fireplace? lol!! Love that she paused Scooby Doo so she could take a picture of it!!
Yay! Our backyard is done!! Okay, it's the size of a shoebox, but come on, we're in Vegas. No more stinkin' rocks!! The patio was a bit extended and the rest of it, oh yes, were rocks! So, we're happy!!

2010-04-22T13:56:00.000-07:00

I woke up this morning with my stomach in knots. Today I had an appointment with my OBGYN and even if I already knew what he'd say...I just couldn't help feel a bit overwhelmed I guess. I've had Endometriosis for years. My uterus and fallopian tubes have always been severely damaged, thus I was told bearing children would probably be difficult, or impossible. I've always felt the Spirit impressions of having these kiddos quick and close together. I've always expected miscarriages, that just never came. I expected years of trying to have just one, but I got 4. They really are my walking miracles. But, after having Tessa last summer my body just couldn't take it anymore. It's a painful disease, surgeries help, but the tissue will always grow back, until I don't have a uterus anymore. A couple of weeks ago I had another surgery, this time losing one of my ovaries. My Doctor told Mike while I was in recovery that my uterus looked bad, to put it mildly, and he thought that was the real source of the pain. (I'm grateful for this Doctor. He tells me how it is. Doesn't sugar coat anything - that's one of the reasons Mike is so good for me too!)
So this morning, I knew what was coming. The Doctor told me this disease, and having these kiddos has just done me in. So, I can't have any more kiddos and I'll lose my uterus near the end of the year or so. The last blessing I received from Mike, on the morning of my surgery, he said that Heavenly Father is pleased with the way I am living my life. That's all I'm really concerned about, that I'm choosing good things and that Heavenly Father is proud of me. I am so grateful that I have these beautiful kids, a wonderful Doctor who is able to help me, a husband who is worthy of holding and using the Priesthood and the best family in the world. And this might sound cheesy but I am grateful for my blog. I have reconnected with so many amazing women through it. I love seeing all the pictures of your lives and children and being able to "chat" with you.
I apologize for this lengthy post and no cute pictures of my kiddos, but I guess I'm just wearing my heart on my sleeve today. Hope everyone is doing wonderfully today!

2010-04-19T12:32:00.000-07:00

Easter was a bit topsy turvy here at the Boulant house! So, better late than never, the kiddos wore their Easter outfits to Church yesterday! I LOVE dressing kiddos, to school, to church, to swim, 4th of July, ok, ESPECIALLY the 4th of July...I don't care where to, I LOVE it! It's like vacuuming the house - it seriously brings peace to my heart! *We all have our own little quirks, don't we?!*

Aubrey had to have a bank too, & I'm using the term "bank" loosely. She could care less about filling it with money, she just stores her treasures in it, American Girl accessories, beads, lip gloss, gum, etc...;)

2010-04-16T21:50:00.001-07:00

I never should have browsed the double joggers at REI!!

Love it!! Anyway...;)

My mom came down this past week to ~~save~~ help me! Love, love, love my Mom.

Tessa looks so thrilled to take these pictures! lol! She cut her 4th tooth today, that might have had something to do with it!

2010-04-04T22:13:00.001-07:00

Hope everyone had a fantastic Easter! Oh and Conference was just amazing! We had such a good time this weekend!
The kiddos showing off their easter baskets! They found the eggs WAY to fast for me to get any sort of decent picture and when I asked them to stop and pose for a picture they looked at me like I was CRAZY!! So, here's some pics of the "after party"!;)

The Easter Bunny left some wooden cars for the kiddos so they painted them between Conference sessions today! And, Caleb loves to earn money, not only the daddy dollars, but the real stuff too! So we needed a place for him to keep the money he's accumulated from helping out his daddy in the backyard, his PRIZED silver dollars he got from the tooth fairy and his PRIZED 50 cent piece he got from the Easter Bunny. So we dug around my craft table and found an old can of Tess' formula & we've got a piggy bank - best of all Caleb loves it!!

While we were craftin', we found a little bug under the table! She actually did really well with the sweetart bunnies she found! lol!!

Oh, Mr. Caleb is so cute! He's got a cough tonight - which for him is a big deal! He had pyloric stenosis as an infant and acid reflux to boot! His pediatrician told us he has a super sensitive gag reflex, so...any little tickle in his throat ends up with him throwing up! Poor kiddo! Such a sweetheart for trying to smile!;)

2010-04-01T09:39:00.001-07:00

Back in the day when it was just me & Mike (and a Caleb in the belly) I loved dressing up my dining room table with linens. Since, I've moved on to the more sophisticated plastic table cloths to protect my table from paint, glitter, pens - aka Aubrey! So...I just hot glued a couple of place mats and stuffed em and voila - a pair of cutesy pillows! Oh, how I LOVE my glue gun!!

Helps that I've got such a little cutie to model! She's been playing with the Pringles lid all morning. So funny how we dream up all the fun toys to get the kiddos, dedicate a whole room in the house for their toys but they always seem to be just as happy with a plastic lid! lol!!

Notice little miss has the whole 3 teeth thing going on? Mike's been calling her 3 teeth-e-o!;) But, the other top tooth is starting to break through! And thank goodness for that, we all know what a treat it is to have a teething baby in the house! But really, she actually has been doing really well with teething, just a bit of a sore bum!
In other news, look what I found in the blinds!! Sick!