Our little girl...

This is a picture of one of the ultrasounds that I recieved on November 18.

I just love the profile pictures of babies. So here is our little girl!

Pedicures, Anyone?

Every once in awhile my sisters and I go and get a pedicure. When I saw this video I just had to laugh because it brings back good times...(remember to turn off the music first.)

The Pumpkin and Chili Festival

During the month of October I helped my Mom make ice cream at Schnepf Farms for their Pumpkin and Chili Festival. We had a lot of fun making the ice cream! Carrie Schnepf surprised us with complimentary tickets and wristbands and food vouchers to use at the Festival. So we took all the boys and made a day of it the first of November. Here are a few of the highlights.

Warning: There are alot of pictures!

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Here is Carson in the pumpkin field. Carrie let us take as many pumpkins as we wanted since it was the day after Halloween. So the boys picked out lots of pie pumpkins and that kept me busy for a whole day making the pumpkin puree.

Believe it or not, this is how Devin wanted to pose for a picture. He is actually really happy and thoroughly enjoyed himself.
Caleb and Carson in the middle of the pumpkin field.

The boys were begging to play mini golf. They thought that they were truly pros by the end. We lost a few golf balls, but luckily, we were able to find a few as well.

Here are a few pictures of the swing ride. The went on this ride for a few times.

Here is Caleb. It looks like his head is going to fall off!

And here is Calvin.

We also went to the rock climbing wall. My brother, Jared, was in charge of that ride. He worked at the Farm during the Festival.

Ashton loved to climb the wall!

Devin had to be big like all the other boys! He actually did pretty good.

The three older boys and Ben rode the roller coaster. It may be a little one, but that thing has a kick! Calvin and Carson are sitting in the front seat.

Here you can see Ben and Caleb in the back and then Calvin and Carson in the front.

I think that Calvin had his mouth open the whole time!

Devin rode next to me on the bumblebee ride. He loved every part of the day!

Ashton was mad in this picture because he wanted to ride the bee by himself and didn't want Ben sitting next to him.

Calvin thought that he was so big because he could ride the bee by himself.

The carosel was the first ride that the boys went on. They were all excited!

You can tell that Ashton just can't hold in the excitement! :)

Calvin was patiently saiting for the Carosel to start.

We were the only ones riding, which was fun.

I thought that it looks like Ben has a earring in this picture from the ring by the horses head.

I don't know, maybe it was just my imagination.

This is how Caleb rides the Carosel horse!

Look at those smiles!

Caleb and Carson had a blast!

We went on a train ride around the farm.

Here is a picture of Ben and Calvin with Caleb in the back.

Thanks Schnepf Family!

Pictures from Ashton's Birthday

Ashton had quite a birthday! Here are a few pictures from his big day!

All he wanted for his birthday was a laptop so that "he could study with Dad".

He was so excited when he opened his very own!

Every boy is so excited for the present opening no matter if it's their birthday or not!

Ashton couldn't come down from the stairs until all the presents were organized.

It's really hard to wait patiently, but he did it!

Word Travels Fast!

Well, the poll is officially over! 75% of you said I was having a girl and 25% said a boy. I really didn't have any thoughts either way. But today was the day of the ultrasound! And guess what everyone?! It's a .........girl! Can you believe it? Wow! I asked the lady if she was sure and she showed me how to tell. Amazing! Well, I will try to post ultrasound pictures when I get a chance, but life is busy, so hopefully it will be sooner than later.

Student of the Month

Calvin has a wonderful teacher, Ms. Lasse! She nominated him for Student of the Month for her class and he was honored in an assembly. He didn't know that was chosen and he didn't even see Ben and I walk in late to the assembly. So when they called his name I think he was pretty surprised. But Calvin's nature is to act "cool". So the whole time he stood there emotionless, but I knew that he was excited deep down inside. Everyone loves Calvin!

Above: He cracked a smile after it was all said and done. :)

This is what Ms. Lasse said about Calvin:

"I'm pleased to announce Calvin Richardson as my October Student of the Month. Calvin is an outstanding student and a great addition to our class. He's helpful, kind and considerate to both his peers and me. He's always eager to share his wonderful shell collection and willing to participate in all our class activities. Calvin is a super student and I'm extremely proud of him."

Happy Birthday Ashton!!

Today is Ashton's birthday! He is the big 5 today. He was so excited to have his birthday because he said that once he turns 5 years old, he will be bigger and smarter. I hope that his expectations are true for him. :) All he wanted for his birthday is a laptop. He sees Ben studying on his all the time and he said that he wanted to study too so he can be a scientist. That's what he says he's going to be when he goes to college. He is always conducting "experiments". So I found a laptop and he loves it. It's an educational one and doesn't really have any games. But he carries that thing around everywhere. When we walked the boys to school, he put the laptop in his backpack and rode his bike. Here are a few other things that you may or may not know about Ashton. He loves to go on bike rides. Everyday he asks Ben if they can go on a bike ride. He especially likes going on the hills in the golfcourse when it's getting dark and there aren't any golfers.
He loves practicing the drums that are on loan to us from my brother, John, while he is on his Mission. For his birthday dinner, the first thing that he said he wanted is a big turkey dinner, then he said macaroni and tomato and then finally he decided on a BBQ. Whew!

He loves to try to sound out words and spell them. He can already read a few books! He really, really loves the stories that his Dad tells to him at night. What can I say, Ben has a gift with telling stories. He also likes to study with Ben. He likes "reading" over textbooks. Especially the ones with no pictures he says. He was my fastest labor by far. He was born within 30 minutes of me walking into the hospital. He loves to take care of his little brother, Devin. Sometimes he may get a little rough, but he has good intentions. He always knows when I need a hug (even if I didn't know that I needed one!).

We are glad that Ashton is a part of our family!

We all love him and wish him the best during this next year!

My Savings...

For those of you who really know me, know that I love getting good deals! Especially living on a medical school budget. Well, I started using coupons again, and I mean really using them and I just wanted to share the super deals that I got! This is really exciting, so watch out! :) I went to Frys both times. One time yesterday (and saw a bunch of ladies from the ward) and then again with my mom today (and she got some super deals as well!

I spent $13.58 on the above picture.

I even bought mascara! I saved $77.18! $32 of that was in coupons!
This picture was yesterday. This was everything that I bought except the cilantro and serranos that I already put away (Ben made some excellent salsa by the way, he tried something new and it is delicious!) So I spent $3.96 and saved $58.22! $27 of that was coupons! Anyway, I was just so excited that I just had to share.
So my total spending was $17.54 and I saved $135.40! Yea!!!

Happy Halloween!

Our Ward had a Trunk or Treat. We had chili and hot dogs, carnival games and then the famous trunk or treat. The boys loved it!

Carson was Captain America, Ashton was Batman and Calvin was a Dragon.

Here are my pirates: Caleb and Devin. They are trying real hard to look tough!

Ben wore his dirt bike clothes. The boots are really made for walking so he was pretty sore after the night was over. I told him that it doesn't count as a costume if you wear it other times during the year. I was just happy that he dressed up at all. I'm usually the only one who wears the costume.

Here they are ready for the big night ahead of them...

And here am I. I was the cow. It was kind of awkward when little kids would come up to me and start milking me. :) The utters were just at their eye level, so what can I say!?

10 Year High School Reunion

Last month Queen Creek High School Class of '98 celebrated our 10 year Reunion.

It was alot of fun to see many of the people that we graduated with. There were about 80 people that graduated in our class and about 25 people showed up to the Reunion. We all ate at a resturant in Chandler and had fun talking. I am the one in the pink shirt. This is a picture of members of our class that were there. I was the one with the most kids (big surprise!!:) with 5 kids and 1 on the way. You should have heard the poeple gasp when they found out. It was really funny. Who would have known 10 years ago?

I'm not good at taking pictures, but I did manage to get Traci Hawley Fernandez to stop and smile with me. We'll just have to wait and see what the next ten years bring. (And you better be there Sally! ;)

Our Picnic in the Wash

Last month, we took the boys on another picnic in the Queen Creek wash. They love going there! We made our lunch and then they did some exploring and shot the BB gun.

Calvin loves to go around and "collect" things.
Devin thought he was so big shooting the gun.

So did Ashton...

There were alot of bees high in the trees. They didn't bother us at all, but I was having fun taking pictures of them. Weird, I know. But I have some really good close ups of them. The bushes they were in were beautiful as well. The detail in the flowers were amazing.

Just another doctor's appointment

Well, I just went to the doctor today and everything went great. I guess that I'm kind of weird... It's just that I'm in denial about being pregnant. I almost dismiss it, like I'm really not pregnant. It's not until I'm this far along that I actually convince myself that it's all true. And I'm really excited! I told you that I'm weird. What makes it even stranger is that this is that 4th time that I've been to the doctor and I've already had one ultrasound. So anyway, back to the appointment. The baby's heartbeat was strong and they found it very easily. Which is always comforting. When the doctor came in, she asked if I have been nauseated or thrown up at all. I told her that I haven't and that I've felt great. She was just concerned because during all of these weeks, I've lost some weight. I assured her that I've been eating. (And anyone who knows me can attest to that!) So anyway, I guess that I have to concentrate on gaining some weight. (I've never been told that. But I think that I can handle that assignment.) The only thing that I can think of is that I've been going on alot of walks lately. So maybe that is what's going on. She measured the baby's position and it's right on track. I get another ultrasound in 4 weeks and we are really excited! I will let you all know how that goes. So until then...

Birthday Pictures

Here are a few pictures of a little birthday party we had for Devin at my parent's house. I know it's about a month late, but that's how things go...

The first couple pictures were taken in the evening.

The boys loved helping me put candy on the cake. The cupcakes are always a big hit!
Since Devin and I share a birthday, he had the cake and I had a pie that my brother, Jared, made. It was really tastey!
As you can tell, Devin loved the cupcake!
Some presents that family and friends generously gave him! He was so excited!
All of the kids played with the geo tracks that he got. I don't know who was the most excited!

These next few pictures were taken in the morning... I think that he is waiting for the song to end.
Here are the boys singing "Happy Birthday" to Devin.

Some of the boys got together and put a present together for Devin. Here are some of the pennies and a bottle of bubbles that Devin was so proud about.



I just wanted to tell Melissa and Deanna thanks for taking me out to lunch on my birthday. It was such a treat and I had a great time! And thanks to Mom for coming over and watching the boys so I could go out. (Ben had finals that day.) And thanks for cleaning my carpets while I was out! The carpet looks beautiful! I have the best friends and family! Love you!