Crazy Little Ladies

First day of school 2011

2011-12-04T06:25:00.000-08:00

My second attempt was a success! Here are the rest of the girls on the first day of school. Riding the bus for the first time in our school career. Aubri starting kindergarten. It was an exciting day. Oh and dad trying to embarrass them with swim goggles.

2011-12-03T15:11:00.000-08:00

I sat down to do a "quick" post since I haven't done it in a long time. Of course it is never a quick thing for me. I had pictures of all my girls on the first day of school and Sam's picture is the only one who made it into the post! Seriously, what is wrong with me. Maybe once my family room is picked up I will attempt to post again. This picture makes me sad that it is her last year in Elementary school, and her last year of innocence; yet it is so fun to see her grow up.

2011-11-10T19:09:00.000-08:00

Lilly at her cardiologist appointment. She looks like the terminator or something bionic. She was very brave though. And good news, her holes are both smaller then before!

2011-07-26T06:39:00.000-07:00

Our cute friends, the Rowberry's, came to spend a couple days with us. It was so good to see them.

How cute with all these girls here they rehearsed a show for us. Sam played "A whole new world" and Kenzi and Grace sang. Kenzi and Grace also sang "When I am baptized for us and they promised they would sing that song again on their baptism day.

2011-07-26T06:33:00.000-07:00

We have this steep hill in our backyard that goes down to the basement, perfect for a slip n slide in the summer and probably perfect for sledding in the winter. These are some of our new friends, Pearl and Lucy. It was so fun.

Oooooops! Good job Sam, we give you a 10!

2011-07-26T06:25:00.000-07:00

Another trip to Utah. This time for Addie's baptism. It was so much fun, the cousins hadn't seen each other for a while and it was so good to see them all. They absolutely love each other, and are so cute all together. Thanks Addie for having a reason for us to all get together and thanks for the yummy food and swimming Todd and Darc. We love you guys!

2011-07-26T06:18:00.000-07:00

I couldn't help following these two around and trying to get some cute pictures of them. They are so cute!

2011-07-26T06:14:00.000-07:00

I really can't believe how grown up all these cousins are. It is crazy how fast this happens. They are so beautiful and handsome! We love you guys.

2011-07-26T06:10:00.000-07:00

A little swimming after the baptism.

New Lens

2011-06-28T21:40:00.000-07:00

So my cute daughter dropped my camera and my lens broke. Luckily it was only the lens and not the camera. I bought a new lens on amazon after a recommendation from Amber. I finally received the lens and had to play around with it so I could get used to it. These are just random pics of our garden and backyard. Hopefully it will give ya'll an idea of where we are. We are loving it but it has certainly taken some adjusting. I think the adjusting has come more from me than my girls. I was so worried about my girls and how they were going to handle this move, but I never thought about how I was going to handle it. If I didn't have my two sister-in-laws I would have gone crazy by now. Each day gets a little easier. I can't wait to see what grows in our garden though!

Saying Goodbye!

2011-06-28T20:56:00.000-07:00

Last day of school, and our last day in Cedar Hills. Sam asked me to come pick her up from school and bring my camera to take some pictures. I am so glad I got these pictures for her, but I could not hold it together. We both left the school crying. We walked outside and I saw so many people from our ward that I darted across the street and avoided everyone except Kim Cannon. Those who know me know that I absolutely hate goodbye;s and we have had a lot of them. I hope none is offended I just can't keep it together when I am saying goodbye. I want to tell people how much they mean to me but I can't speak because I am crying and it's not very cute! So if anyone is reading this from our neighborhood please know how much we love you guys. We have learned so much from that ward and have loved being your neighbor!

Summer Toes

2011-06-08T16:54:00.000-07:00

I saw the cutest picture of this family and their three girls toes. I had to copy it with my five girls toes, although I didn't get their toes all painted cute but it does show the colors they love to put on their own toes. I love dirty summer feet and legs with bruises everywhere.

Our neighbors did a great job on their backyard, it is so nice to finally have someone taking care of that yard, and they installed a trampoline which my girls use everyday. You can tell who rules the tramp when there are five kids on the sides watching while Hadley is in the middle jumping by herself.

Last Day for Aubri

2011-06-08T16:37:00.000-07:00

Aubri is officially a kindergartner. I can't believe it, but she is so excited and definitely ready for it. Thanks Mrs. Whiting. We are sad to leave Learning Dynamics Preschool, they have such a great program, I'm not sure what I'm going to do with my last two littlies.

School performances!

2011-06-08T16:34:00.000-07:00

Kenzi has absolutely loved going to Mountainville Academy. This is her last school performance. She looks so cute! I am going to miss those uniforms, it is so easy getting dressed in the morning!

Piano Recital

2011-06-08T16:29:00.000-07:00

Sam and Kenzi started taking piano lessons in January and they are doing great. They love their lessons which makes me absolutely love their teacher. She motivates them with a point system and then the girls can use their points to buy something from her treasures. I love that the motivation comes from the teacher and not the nagging from me to practice. We will miss their teacher very much.

Stop Growing!

2011-06-08T16:14:00.000-07:00

I am really freaking out lately that my last baby is growing way too fast. I am mourning the fact that I am closing this chapter in my life. I don't feel old enough to not be having kids anymore, although some days I feel like I can't even handle the five I have. I guess what I'm really feeling is I don't want another baby, I just don't want Lilly to grow up.

Potty Training? or talking on the cell?

2011-06-08T16:02:00.001-07:00

I had this great idea to get Hadley potty trained before we moved into our new house so the accidents wouldn't be on our new carpet. She is so funny, I don't think I have had such a hard time potty training with any of my other girls. She totally knows how to do it but just doesn't want to wear the panties? Is that crazy or what? I even took her to the store to pick out her own panties and still she likes the diaper. I think her little life has been turned upside down with this move. I can't wait until she feels settled again.

As school winds down

2011-05-19T19:46:00.000-07:00

Kenzi and Aubri's choir performance. Seriously, don't they look adorable in those white robes. The choir sounded amazing too, I could listen to them all night. Another group I am sad to be leaving. Hopefully we will find a good choir in Boise!

Apparently I wasn't aware that you should bring flowers for your cute performers. Their cute friend Halle shared a flower with Kenzi and Aubri though. So sweet!

Sams final soccer game with Orange Crush. She has loved this team, she had a great coach and made so many good friends on this team. She is sad to leave.

The first signs of Spring

2011-05-18T07:26:00.000-07:00

Jared turned the sprinklers on for the first time this spring and the kids couldn't resist running through them. I couldn't get my camera quick enough, with baby in tow, to capture the action, darn. Notice it isn't even sunny and they are all wearing jackets! So funny they had to get wet even though they were freezing! Oh we need summer!

Epcot

2011-05-12T09:09:00.000-07:00

The rest of the family left early Wednesday morning, our flight didn't leave until that evening so we spent a few hours at Epcot before heading to the airport. It was basically a feeding frenzy. We had to taste a little bit from each country. Yum. I love Epcot, but not sure the kids loved it as much as Jared and I did.

She just couldn't hold on any longer, look at the sweat, it was so hot and humid and the snacks in hand.

Magical Kingdom

2011-05-12T09:03:00.000-07:00

Yeah, Magical Kingdom with the fam! Aren't those the cutest shirts. A lady in Boise makes these shirts with any design you want on them. They are so cute, I have a link to her website under friends and family. We had so much fun! There is something magical about Disneyland, I love it! It will be so sad when we don't have little ones who are giddy for that magic, so for now we are going to eat it all up.

Pirates Night

2011-05-03T08:28:00.000-07:00

Look at my handsome nephews. I was lucky enough to sit next to them for all the dinners. It was pirates night because the last Pirates of the Caribbean came out that night and they played the movie on the top deck under the stars. We didn't stay up for it but the kids did and said it was awesome!

The dinners were so yummy, and the kids loved ordering anything they wanted and as many desserts as they wanted, a kids dream.

Castaway Cay

2011-05-03T06:49:00.000-07:00

This is Disney's private island. It is so fun, they have a water slide, all you can eat buffett (with ice cream) and the kids were able to swim with sting rays and snorkel around them. It was great!

Look at these cutie patuties! The three musketeers, Charolette, Hadley, and Miri. I can't wait to move to Eagle and have play dates with them.

Whats a family vacation without a little sports! Their favorite, sand football!

A little sand castle making!

Princess Power

2011-05-02T14:52:00.000-07:00

This was so cool! My sweet sister made each of the girls an autograph book for our trip. They are so cute I need to take pictures of the books. So the great thing about the cruise is they have character appearances all the time and this was so cool because they had six of the best princesses all at once, which you never get at the parks. So we waited in line and the girls got all of their autographs and these cute pictures with them. It was great! It also saved us a lot of time when we were at Disney World because we didn't have to wait in line there. With five girls we are the princess paparazzi! We aren't the crazy rude paparazzi though. I know you all know the kind of crazy moms who shove their kids at the front of the line to get their picture with the characters. We're not like that !

Cinderella even took time to come say hi to Lilly!
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2011-05-02T14:40:00.000-07:00

As soon as we got on the ship we had to hit the pool. It was so crowded, but the kids didn't mind one bit it was still fun. The ship has an aquaduct which is a big water slide on the top deck of the ship that we had to try. Unfortunately we don't have any pictures of it, we didn't get as much pictures as I wanted because Jared and I always had a baby in our arms with Hadley who is 2 1/2 and Lilly who is thirteen weeks. We also had to make a few ice cream stops while swimming!

Disney Cruise on the Disney Dream Ship

2011-05-02T14:34:00.000-07:00

Yeah! The day has finally arrived. This is us getting on the ship, which was quite the process, thank goodness for Grandma and Grandpa to help with the chaos. The kids were going crazy when we first saw the ship as we were pulling up in the car, it is huge!

Sea World

2011-05-01T16:07:00.000-07:00

This was the beginning of our Disneyworld/Disney cruise trip with the Smith's. We had a great time. Our family flew out a couple days earlier then everybody else because it was our spring break. We went to Sea World one day and Disney's Hollywood Studios the other day. The kids had a blast! These are pictures of the girls feeding the dolphins at Sea World.

The kids were excited to fly again! Mom and Dad were a little anxious as to how Lilly was going to do! But she and Hadley did amazing, we couldn't have asked for an easier flight. Yeah!!!

2009-08-10T21:23:00.000-07:00

Amber had a fantastic idea to do a photo shoot with our girls, so we set up a little tea party and went to town. Aubri and Kenzie were more interested in the electric cars that Halle had so I decided to shoot a few pics of Hadley since she's still stationary and I wouldn't have to fight with her.

2009-05-20T14:21:00.000-07:00

This weekend was Samantha and McKenzie's dance recital. We got to dress up and take our nieces, Avory and Addie as well. It was so fun, they did an excellent job. I wasn't sure if Kenzie was going to do it. She was crying and very scared for the first dance at the dress rehearsal, but her teacher grabbed her and made her do it. She loved it after the first dance. I can't believe I was putting make up on my girls thought, they looked way too old. Good Job Girlies!

2009-05-20T11:04:00.000-07:00

Sewing has become my new passion lately. I found these adorable patterns at Sandihenderson.com and bought a bunch of them. My mom also bought a pattern from pink fig which is so cute and she let me borrow it. This is one of my favorite outfits that I made for McKenzie. I was working on a cute dress for Aubri when my machine busted. I am having major withdrawals from my sewing this week. Hopefully they will get it fixed and I can keep going. When I do get my machine back I need to post a picture of it. It was my grandmas and it is ancient, yet works like a charm still. Happy sewing!

2009-05-20T10:43:00.000-07:00

So after Disneyland we drove to St. George and stayed a couple of nights. We went to Zions National Park. It was so much fun. I can't believe we have lived in Utah for three years and we haven't done that yet. We did about three hikes and then it became very cold and we were not prepared for cold with our kids. But we are planning on trying it again sometime. Amber and Chase were spending the week in St. George so we spent half the day Saturday with them, just swimming and relaxing, it was a great Spring Break!

2009-05-20T09:49:00.000-07:00

So I am still learning how to blog in order, this is way out of order. The girls favorite part of disneyland was going to see the princesses and then afterward getting their faces painted. Aren't they adorable! Sam was a little too old for all the glam.

2009-05-20T08:27:00.000-07:00

After two days at Disneyland we decided to try a day at the beach. Unfortunately is was not warm enough, so we just walked out on the boardwalk and took a few pics. I was really hoping for some warm beach time, oh well, so we left the beach and went back to Disneyland for one more day. I think the girls were more excited about that anyway.

2009-05-20T06:19:00.000-07:00

Grandpa and Grandma decided to fly down and spend a day with us at Disneyland. That was so much fun! We felt so spoiled, one adult per kid, it doesn't get much better then that. Not to mention how spoiled our kids felt. Thanks again grandpa and grandma!

2009-05-20T06:08:00.000-07:00

So we decided, last minute of course, to take the girls to Disneyland for spring break. Jared drove the kids down and left Friday and I flew down with Hadley on Saturday. After church on Sunday we drove to the Newport Beach Temple and just walked around the grounds. It was a gorgeous day!

2009-01-06T10:51:00.000-08:00

We love Halloween! If you can't tell Samantha is a half boy-half girl. That is the exact costume that I was at her age. Of course my mom made the costume. My mom has always loved halloween, maybe that is where I get it. She also made McKenzie's witch costume. I made Aubri's fairy costume for McKenzie last year, (lovin the hand me downs) I am definitely not a seamstress but I love making costumes. I borrowed a costume from a friend for Hadley but she is wearing her brace so it doesn't fit, plus it was freezing outside and I just wanted her bundled up. I am not sure why I don't even have a picture of her, that is awful.

2009-01-03T19:55:00.000-08:00

Carving pumpkins two days before Halloween. Life is much more difficult with a new baby, especially one that is grumpy at night, so mom didn't participate much in the festivities. Cute pumpkins girls!

2009-01-03T19:15:00.000-08:00

This was such a fun weekend. Our friends Eric and Shari Gordon invited us on a little get away to Ogden. At first we were wondering how much fun there was to have in Ogden, but we had a great time. We got there Friday afternoon so the kids could swim in the hotel pool which they loved. Saturday morning we went to the Tree House Museum. It was so fun, the kids were little artists, played school, dressed up in mediaeval clothing, put on a play for us, and Jared and Eric played a little chess. I would recommend this museum to anyone, the kids had a blast. Afterwards we went to the Pizza Factory and ate some yummy food. There is also this whole sports center next door that would be so fun for adults to go to for a weekend getaway. They had rock climbing, a flowrider, and a skydiving simulator. Some day when Jared's knee and ankle are better we are going to have a little adult fun.

2009-01-03T18:26:00.000-08:00

This was my first adventure out with the new baby and all the kids without Jared. I just wanted to celebrate Halloween a little. I love Halloween. I also hadn't seen Natalie's baby yet and she hadn't seen mine. So we decided on a Saturday, of all days, to meet at Gardner Village to see the witches festival, as you can see in the background. Sam and Aubri took a couple of rides on the ponies (McKenzie didn't want to), made witches hats and Aubri wanted her face painted. The babies did great and slept the whole time until it was time for them to get in the car and drive home of course. It was so great to see Nat and her kids and of course baby Paige.

2009-01-03T18:21:00.000-08:00

I couldn't resist posting this picture. She is finally home and obviously not very photogenic. We will have to change that real quick, because mom got a new camera and loves to use it. Hopefully the desire to take lots of pictures will continue. What a cutie patutie!

2009-01-03T18:11:00.000-08:00

This is our sweet little Hadley Ruth. She was born September 30 in the morning. I would like to say that is why I haven't blogged, but it isn't, I am just very slow. We are so grateful to have her here with us finally. The labor and delivery was pretty miserable. When they finally gave me the epidural and the patosin I went from about a 2 to delivered in 45 minutes with the epidural only working on half of my body, ouch! But it is all over, hurray!

gymnastics

2008-06-01T18:11:00.000-07:00

Sam has been taking gymnastics for the last couple of years and she loves it. This is the first time she has been able to perform in front of a real audience. They were asked to perform for the half time of the BYU vs. U of U meet. She had so much. We got lucky with one action shot of her warming up in line. Her aunt Chelsie was nice enough to come and do her hair for the big event, isn't it cute! Good job Sammers!

Snowy Days

2008-06-01T17:59:00.000-07:00

Aubriana

McKenzie

Samantha

This has been a record year for the amount of snow and cold weather we have had here in Utah, I don't know if that is fact but it sure has felt like it. I swear cold weather follows us. We were living in Boston when they had their record year of snow as well. At least the kids love it. There is a fun sledding hill right next to our house and the girls had a blast!

2008-06-01T17:51:00.000-07:00

Okay so I am still learning how to Blog, and how to make this post in the order that I want them so just bare with me. Here are the rest of the cruis pics and the introduction to this post is down below. Hahahaha, I have to laugh otherwise I get frustrated and stop blogging.

cruisin

2008-06-01T17:36:00.000-07:00

In January Jared and I went on a cruise with some of our friends, Chase and Amber Purles; Jim and Sara Rowberry; Mike and Shelly Livingston; and Tom and Krista Lewis and her parents. It was so much fun. The guys entered a dodge ball tournament on the ship and killed the royal carribean employee team, who claimed they had never lost a game in seven years. Yeah, thats right our guys killed them. Our favorite island was St. Johns where we went to Turtle Bay and the guys played a little ball. They are always looking for a ball. It was so fun and relaxing.

2008-02-04T11:42:00.000-08:00

For Christmas this year Grandpa and Grandma Smith gave all the grandkids, and of course the parents, a Disney Cruise Vacation. We left on December 1 and spent four days at sea with all the princesses and disney characters you could imagine. Then we spent three days at Disney World. The kids, and parents, had a blast especially because they were able to experience this trip with their best friends/cousins. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!

These are some pics on the ship

This is Kenzi during the emergency 'test' drill, do you think this life jacket would save her?

2008-02-04T09:18:00.000-08:00

2008-02-03T19:19:00.000-08:00

Halloween 2007. Aubri and Samantha had home made costumes from Grandma Darla. Sam was Dorothy and Aubri was a very cute clown. I couldn't let Kenzi be the only one to not have a home made costume so I made her a butterfly(fairy).

2008-02-03T19:12:00.000-08:00

Christmas morning! How exciting, I think Santa got stuck at our house; wayyyyyyy too many presents. Santa should have counted before christmas eve!

2008-02-03T18:40:00.000-08:00

This is a picture of my high school reunion in 2006. No, I am not trying to back-blog I am just experimenting and trying to remember how this works, but it is still a cute picture.

2007-07-08T20:57:00.000-07:00

In May we had our Burtenshaw/Jensen reunion in St. George. This is a picture of us infront of the temple. I was amazed at how neat the visitor center was there. If you ever get a chance to go visit you should, your kids would love it as well.

2007-07-08T20:48:00.000-07:00

June 8th and 9th
Girls trip to a "Time out for Women" is Pocatello. The first speaker on the program was Jane Clayson-Johnson, who used to be the anchor on Good Morning America. She was in my ward in Boston. She had just had her first baby girl Ella and I had just had Kenzi so we would sit in the back of Relief Society together rocking our babies. So we got a picture with her. We had a great time!

2007-07-08T18:52:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of our family on the pioneer trek. We had the best kids. They wanted to be first the entire time, and that is practically what we did. The second day we climbed 4000 feet, which is the equivelant of climbing Mt. Timpanogos. It was an amazing experience, very hard, but amazing. We all gained a new respect for the pioneers. The second picture is in front of "Faith Hill" which was the womens pull. They took the men away from us and the women pulled by themselves. Again, the girls in our family wanted to be the first ones up the hill and wanted to get as far as possible before the men could come back, and we did. Here are the kids that were in our family Ashlynn Clegg, Hilary Larsen, Ksusha MacPherson, , Sarah Mortensen, Madison Price, Caleb Carpenter, Daniel Johnson, Michael Juelch, and Eric Schloer.