Our Alli-gator is 5!

(Photograph courtesy of my sister in law, Anna)

Our sweet little Allison has been such a joy to us. I remember sitting up with her when she was just a couple of weeks old and had developed colic how lucky I was to have this sweet spirit in my home. Even though she was crying at me I remember being overcome with love for her. I also remember fondly the late nights we had together watching "Sweet Home Alabama." Every time I see that movie it still reminds me of the time we spent together all those sleepless nights. Once she got over colic, she has been nothing but smiles. She is able to see beauty and happiness and love in all of the most simple of things. She is so positive about life. She is daring and willing to try new things. She loves complimenting people and she is sincere about it. She is compassionate. She is surprisingly gentle with her little brother. Every time she holds him I can't believe how patient and loving and careful she is with him. She is our rough and tumble tom-boy (who can beat her older brother at sticks almost every time) and loves to play in the mud (much to the irritation of her mother). But she also loves to dress up and be a princess...it is a perfect balance. She is beautiful inside and out and we are so glad that she is part of our family.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALLISON!

Bragging Session...

So my anniversary was this last weekend and my husband has always been a romantic. He really should teach classes to other men on how to be romantic and how to treat your wife. Besides doing some other pretty amazing things, he texts me "Good morning..." every morning. He also writes me a "love e-mail" every morning as well. Every year on our anniversary he writes me a "love letter." One might think he would run out of things to say but he always seems to come up with different ways to say that he loves and appreciates me. Well, on our anniversary he bought me flowers. He also makes the ordinary "flower giving" a little more romantic as well. Here are some excerpts from "Love Letter #11" including his explanation of what his flowers mean this year.

Excerpts from Love Letter #11

"We have had 11 years together and each one (symbolized by the 11 individual flowers I have given you) has been different and beautiful in its own way."

The ladies in the Flower store said they thought it might look funny with 11 different flowers but when he told them what he was doing they said they would make it work. :) It turned out beautiful and it smelled fantastic!


"I am giving you one single red rose to symbolize the love, passion, desire and joy I plan to share with you over the next year."

"When I wake in the night, I reach to know you are still there. When I leave in the morning, I kiss you on the forehead whether you realize it or now. When I am away, I try to think of reasons to call you and excuses to get home to you sooner....everything we do together would not be worth doing without you. You are truly my better half."


Yeah, I know!!! And that is only a portion of his one page (typed) letter. He should totally be writing for Hallmark! :)

What's in a Name?

Several people have asked us how we finally arrived at Asher's name since it wasn't on our original list of names. So here is the story.

Chris originally liked the name Adam. I hated it. I originally liked the name Andrew. Chris hated it. We both kinda liked the name Aaron and so we thought that was the name we would end up with. Well, my friend Veronica mentioned the name Asher to us. We both liked the name but didn't really give it much thought at first. As it got closer to having the baby, I mentioned the name Asher to a couple of different people. One of them mentioned that Asher was one of the Twelve Tribes of Israel in the Bible. I was intrigued by that. But we still felt like Aaron was probably the name we were going to choose. Then the day Asher was born, Chris just said his name was Asher and that was that. Chris has always been the one to pick our kids names in the end. I always have a hard time deciding. When we got home from the hospital, I looked up the name Asher in the bible and it said that it meant "Happy." I knew at that moment that we had chosen the right name for our sweet little boy. :)

Eleven Years!

Wow! Another year has gone by...I can't believe it! I would have to say that this last year (and a half) has probably been the hardest and most emotional year so far in Chris and I's marriage! Ten years ago, if someone asked where we thought we'd be in 5 years or in 10 years we would have been very wrong. Sometimes it seems almost pointless to set goals or plans because they have changed so much from what we could have thought up.

• I did not plan on marrying someone like Chris. (sadly, my expectations were much lower)
• I did not plan on buying two houses in our first year of marriage...it was quite overwhelming!
• Chris did not plan on rupturing a disc in his back, having back surgery, giving up his dream job and going back to school.
• Chris did not plan on waiting to have kids.
• We did not plan on having a miscarriage.
• I DEFINITELY did not plan on having 4 c-sections!
• We did not plan on moving 10 times in 11 years.
• Chris never planned on moving to a big city, let alone "Sin City!"
• I never planned on moving back to Cedar City.
• We never planned on moving back to Cedar City just to have most of the reasons why we moved back, move away!

I could probably list a hundred more things. But even though we didn't plan on having any of these things happen, we wouldn't have changed them for the world! We are so grateful that we have a Heavenly Father watching out for us and always doing whats best for us even if it is not according to our own plan! Everything turns out for the best! I truely believe that! And like President Monson says "Our future is only as bright as our faith!" I truely believe that as well! Happy Anniversary Chris! I am most thankful that Heavenly Father intervened on who I was going to marry! He made a PERFECT decision!

I LOVE YOU, CHIRS! HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

Teaching Self-Reliance

We are so grateful to Chris' grandpa for "making" us grow a garden this year. We hadn't planned on it because we thought we would be too busy but when his grandpa needed help with his we couldn't pass up the opportunity to serve and to teach our kids about hard work and self-reliance.

This summer the kids learned to hoe, rotter til (I am not sure if that is how you spell that), move sprinklers and are now learning to pick corn and potatoes...and what to do with it once we get it in the kitchen. Here are some pictures...

Heading in....

Austin hiding in the corn fields.

Abigail hiding in the corn fields.

Dad teaching them how to dig up potatoes.

The kids got right in there and started schuckin' the corn. They were actually really good at it too!



Here is some of the corn we canned. We also canned peaches. We also froze corn and peaches. And we still have a lot more to do...:)

Iron County Fair

We went to the Iron County Fair over Labor Day weekend. There was a parade, petting zoo, carnival, great food and lots of vendors. Abigail rode her first official amusement park ride and although she said that she loved it her face was very stoic on every ride. I couldn't get her to smile but when I asked her if she was having fun she would shake her head yes. Austin and Allison rode the Gravitron (ya know the one that you go inside of and it spins you around super fast) for the first time. Chris and I are too old to stomach that kind of a ride anymore so they went alone. They both thought it was great but another little boy threw up when they were on it. Yuck! They thought it was hilarious. :)

First Day of School!

This post is a little late but better late then never, right?


Austin was very nervous and hesitant to start second grade because he LOVED first grade soo much. He didn't think 2nd grade could compete. However, his first words home from school on the first day were "second grade rocks!" I was so glad.


Allison started preschool. We are doing a preschool co-op with some friends and cousins. She LOVES it!



Abigail is lonely now for the couple hours a day that both Austin and Allison are gone. Hopefully as Asher grows they will become as good a friends as she is with her two older siblings.

Our Little Dude

I am not sure how it started but Chris and Austin both call Asher their "little dude." So it has caught on with the rest of the family and Abigail and Allison also call him that. It is actually quite cute. He is three weeks today. He isn't quite back up to his birth weight yet but hopefully when I go in for yet, another weight check tomorrow he will be. Other then not gaining weight fast enough for the doctors he is doing very well. We are all enjoying him so much. The girls just love helping get diapers for him, holding him, kissing him (a little too much) and making sure he is staying warm with blankets. Here are some pics...

Asher's first bath at home...









Allison adoring Asher

Austin and Asher

Asher sucking his thumb...

Asher at 3 weeks...

Random cute pic of Abigail...

Zucchini

My mom gave me some Zucchini out of her garden last month and I made these awesome recipes with it. I figured that since these recipes were made with garden Zucchini they would fit perfectly with my goal of making at least one meal a month with only "Food Storage" ingredients. Both these recipes actually came from a website called Everyday Food Storage which I LOVE! She has some amazing recipes on using food storage. I was skeptical at first because I tend to like gourmet food but I have to admit so far she has pleasantly surprised me.


The Ultimate Zucchini Bread




1/4 cup butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup vegetable oil or 1/4 C. applesauce
1 cup light brown sugar
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Pinch nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg (1 T. dehydrated egg + 2 T. water)
1 1/2 cups shredded unpeeled zucchini
1/2 cup walnut pieces
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest (you don’t have to have this, but it does add a very nice flavor)


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8 x 4 x 2-inch loaf pan.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter, oil/applesauce, and sugar. Cream the mixture until smooth. In a separate bowl combine flour, spices, baking soda, baking powder, and salt and set aside. Add the egg to the creamed mixture and mix until incorporated. Add the flour mixture, about 1/2 cup at a time until all is incorporated, and the batter is smooth. Fold zucchini, and lemon zest into batter.
Pour batter into the prepared pan and sprinkle nuts on top (this toasts the nuts and creates a fabulous flavor and makes the bread look SO gourmet!). Bake for 55 to 60 minutes until golden brown or when skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.


Death by Chocolate Zucchini Cake


one 8 inch pan, if you want it for a 9×13 just double the recipe
1/2 C. Brown Sugar
1/4 C. White Sugar
1/4 C. Butter
1/4 C. Oil (or Applesauce)
2 Eggs (if you’re doubling the recipe use 3 eggs)- 2 T. dehydrated eggs + 1/4 C. Water
1 t. Vanilla
1/4 C. Buttermilk-3/4 T. Dry powdered milk + 1/4 C. Water + 1/4 T. lemon juice or white vinegar, let stand for 5 minutes before adding to the recipe
1 1/4 C. Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 t. allspice
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. salt
2 t. baking soda
3 T. cocoa
2 C. Zucchini, grated
1/2 C. Chocolate Chips
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 325. Cream brown sugar, white sugar, butter and oil together in large bowl. Add eggs vanilla and buttermilk and stir well to mix. In a separate bowl mix remaining dry ingredients together and add to mixture.
Fold in grated zucchini. Pour into greased, floured 8 inch round cake pan or 8×8 pan. Sprinkle the top of cake with chocolate chips and bake at 325 for 30-35 minutes or until inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Mothers Are Amazing

You think you have a good grasp on what is important until you have experiences that jog your memory again. I have never blogged, but the birth of our fourth child and the blessing of bringing your wife home when you weren't sure you would be able to can really put things into perspective. The deliveries of our children have always been hard on Jennifer so I am really nervous about how things will go and if she will hemorrhage again after delivery. We have been discussing whether we were done having children after this boy or not and yes, we are done. If we decide we need more, we can always adopt. On Monday morning, things were going smoothly, we arrived and Jennifer received her epidural and then she crashed. Her blood pressure dropped to 53/35. If you know much about blood pressure, you know that is not good. She must have had a bad reaction to the epidural "cocktail" introduced into her system. The staff worked frantically to get her blood pressure back up and then decided they had better just get her into the operating room. I usually wait for them to come get me for about five to ten minutes at the most. I actually got to stay with her through the entire process when Abigail was born. After being alone in the room for about 20 minutes, I was pretty frantic. I started going through all of the worst case scenarios and even thought about what I would tell our children. It was the longest 20 minutes of my life. I was eventually called back where I learned she had crashed twice more before they were able to stabilize her. The baby was born very quickly once the process started and I was with our boy after that. As I went with the nursing staff to clean and monitor our son, his name became clear in my mind. Even that morning both Jennifer and I believed his name would be Aaron.

His name is Asher Robert DeMille.

Monday turned out to be a very long and stressful day of stabilizing Jennifer but it prepared us for making Tuesday one of the best days of our lives. I have a wonderful wife and another beautiful son. We were then able to watch our older children meet him in turn. Seeing how excited they were to see him made all of the fear and drama of the previous day fade a little.

Another chapter in our lives has begun and as I watch Jennifer struggle through surgery recovery and the first agonizing days of nursing with a smile on her face, I am only reminded how lucky I am that she lets me be a part of her life. We feel very blessed this week. We are now a family of 6.
Mother and baby are doing very well. In fact, Jennifer did not hemorrhage and this may end up being her best recovery ever.

Here are some pictures of our week bringing Asher Robert DeMille home.


Beautiful Jennifer before the drama.

Mother and Baby.

Daddy's Littlest Boy.



I think he likes her. :)



Allie and Abbie with Asher.



Abbie loves her new brother (at least for today).



Our proud big brother.



All our babies hands.

Finally together.

His highness' first clothing experience.

Boys can only wear blue, right?

Ok, I am ready to go home!!

One more week...

It seems a little surreal that this is most possibly the last week of my last pregnancy. In someways it seems actually exciting to think no more stretch marks, no more extremely uncomfortable sleepless nights, no more heartburn, no more swollen ankles, no more painful siatic nerves, no more backaches, etc, etc, etc. But also kind of sad...no more feeling a little baby inside you, hearing the first sounds of life through a doppler. I don't know if there is another sound like it. I have never been one to love being pregnant but I do love having babies. I love being a mom. I love to watch my children as they reach all the different milestones and try to figure out how the world works. It gives me goosebumps to sit and watch them tinker with different things and figure them out.

Soon my family of 5 will be a family of 6. It seems pretty perfect to me. I can't wait until we see our newest and probably last addition. Hopefully, with this being my last, time will slow down and I can really enjoy every moment of him growing up. I can hope, right?

I will post pictures of the new baby as soon as possible.

More Summer Fun!

NEWCASTLE
Allison and Abigail feeding the goats with Aunt Katey...

Austin learning how to ride the BIG 4-wheeler...

Allison learning to ride the "Little" 4-wheeler...

May the Force Be With You...Hey Mindy, I thought of you when I saw these pics...maybe it is not just a boy thing after all...Allie looks like a natural :)

Day at the Park

Look at my little Allie...she is such a dare devil...

John, Keith and Anne Marie

Stair Sliding

I was cleaning up our little toddler bed one day because Abigail and Allison are now sharing a bunk bed...I thought it would make a great "sled" to use on the stairs for the kids. It was! Even Chris tried it but he was too fast for the camera.

Blender Wheat Pancakes

I have decided to try something new. (I don't know what I am thinking starting a new goal right before my life gets turned upside down again...maybe it is due to the nesting stage...:) ) Some of you know that I try at least one new recipe every week. I love doing this because I figure if I have to cook everyday I might as well try and make it interesting for myself. I have been doing this now for the last couple of years and have learned so much about cooking. My kids have also become less picky because they are so used to trying new things. They even eat peppers, onions, all kinds of veggies...all the anti-kid food. (You can see the recipes my family likes the best here.)


Anyway, so I have been really obsessed with trying to get my year supply of food. I still have a long way to go but I decided that I was going to try at least one new recipe a month using just my long term food storage (wheat, rice, oats, powdered milk, etc.). I have over 1800lbs of wheat...AND NO WHEAT GRINDER! I know, kind of dumb...but I will get the grinder eventually. :) So I have heard of Blender Wheat Pancakes where you don't need a grinder, you just need a blender. I decided that would be the best recipe to try first.


Blender Wheat Pancakes (sorry no picture, I forgot to take one)

1 Cup Milk (translation for powdered milk is 3 T. Milk and 1 C. Water)1 Cup Wheat Kernels, whole & uncooked
2 Eggs (2 T. powdered eggs 1/4 C. Water) (I found my powdered eggs in the new preparedness section of Walmart in most Utah locations)
2 tsp Baking Powder
1-1/2 tsp Salt
2 Tbs. Oil
2 Tbs. Honey or Sugar


Put milk and wheat kernels in blender.Blend on highest speed for 4 or 5 minutes or until batter is smooth. Add eggs, oil, baking powder, salt and honey or sugar to above batter. Blend on low. Pour out batter into pancakes from the actual blender jar (only one thing to wash!) onto a hot greased or Pam prepared griddle or large frying pan.



VERDICT:
My family actually loved these pancakes. I doubled the batch for my family and it made about 14. The texture of the pancakes was dense and very cake like. The flavor wasn't very "wheaty" tasting and we actually ate less then usual because they were so filling. This recipe may actually replace our normal pancake recipe.

Kolob Reservior Camping Trip

I am not sure what I was thinking going camping at 38 weeks pregnant but I did. It was very exhausting but the kids had a blast, the food was great, the scenery was beautiful so who could ask for anything more. Here are the pics from the trip...

We brought so much stuff that our kids were literally packed into the van...



Beautiful Sunset!


The kids playing and getting DIRTY!!!

Fishing...

We took this picture of Chris because it looks like he is...well, use your imagination...:)

The kids were catching craw fish... but not many fish. :(




Worn out after being in the sun all day...

The best part of camping is the food....we love Dutch Oven!

Family and Friends!

Mesmerized by the campfire!