30 years and a Vacuum

I got a lot of things for my Birthday.
First: I have been wanting a light-weight easy vacuum that I can use on hard wood floors. I LOVE the Miele vacuums but just didn't want to spend $500 on a vacuum! I did a lot of research and found a very comparable Eureka Electrolux. Very, very cool, light weight and good :). Second: A non-clogged kitchen sink!!! Thank you baby! I lived with a completely clogged kitchen sink and dishwasher for a week and was done! Washing dishes in the backyard with the hose? My dishwasher overflowing! Yeah. So, after hiring a plumber and my husband saying, "NO WAY" to $190 to snake a sink, he rented one himself for $18 and even though it was harder than he thought, cleared out our lines :) (he also fixed the clogged toilet and bathroom sink in the same week! Go Aaron! Our fix-it man :) He looks happy eh?! Third: Nana, Popop and Auntie Rachael came to visit. People I love, that love my babies, play with them, and put them to sleep. They even watched the kiddos so Aaron and I could go play on a day date! Thank you! We love you and thanks for coming!So precious

Hooray for Auntie Rae!

Fourth: A fixed swamp cooler by the hottest fixin' man ever!(it comes in 3's right?)

Fifth: A Party for ME! My bestest friend Shiray threw me an awesome BBQ birthday party. She had center pieces and a banner for me! It was such a fun party too. Thank you Shiray! You seriously are the best!

Races for the big kids.Here come the little ones... Go Mac!Then the Grandmas?Are those two just the cutest ever or what?!! Yup, they were runnin'! The little kids did boys against girls for tug of war.
Then it was the adults turn.

The Grandpas

Grama Annie lovin' Halle

What a great day. Even though I was having some problems about turning 30, it turned out to be just fine. I figure that know I can shock people by telling them my age, how many kids I have and how long I've been married. I am thankful and proud of all of it! I could truly never ask for more!

Happy 6 months Halle!

You have never met a happier, sweeter, kinder little baby. She loves everyone and smiles at anyone. She talks, coos, squeals and sings all the time. She has a calm spirit about her. Don't forget, she is a Cothran so when that wild bunch of kids come running by or Mac spits water she laughs and squeals like it is the funniest comedy ever. She is starting to sit up a little and inches forward on her tummy like a worm. She sleeps through the night and then some and only fusses when she is hungry or tired. I cannot believe she is already 6 months old! Halle Grace we'll eat you up we love you so! Happy half a year baby.

Oh, I just love flowers! (and eating them?)

Our happy 4th of July baby

Some kids just come that way...

I thought it might be good to document a day in the life of Marrick. I only documented an hour and this is what I captured:

(This kid just came this way)

doin' the skateboard dance (with goggles)

Some kids just come that way and some pictures just speak for themselves.

Once upon a time...

Once upon a time there was a family. The mommy did not like pets, the daddy thought it would be fun to have one, but the oldest girl begged and begged for one. So, the mommy decided a cute little 'lion face' bunny would be perfect.The oldest girl named him Pongo because he looks like a dalmatian.
Pongo was very sweet. He loved to hop in the grass and stays near his family. The nice neighbor man even made him a castle to stay in! (thanks Joel:) And he pooped and pooped and had the greatest time.

Even the littlest boy loved to play with him! (scary)

Then one day the daddy (who thought it was so funny) came home with a very scared dog. (yes, a dog!) The children cheered and gave their daddy kiss after kiss! The mommy rolled her eyes and said that he better be potty trained!

The littlest princess said, "what in the world is that?" and the family named him Zorro because he looked like a fox.

The family played and played with him and the mommy approved because he was 11 months old, FREE, fixed, shots current and has never pottied in the house. Everyone cheered and lived Happily ever after!

LOST

LOST Today we lost Marrick.

Scary lost.

Aaron came home from work and said, "where's Marrick?" Marrick usually is the first to run and greet his Daddy. I had stepped across the street for a few minutes, left him reading a story on the couch, came home, heard him and then fed the baby.

He was gone. Just gone. Oh my gosh, he was gone!

The horror, the feeling of loosing a child was overwhelming. We searched EVERYWHERE in the house. We searched the yard. We started to search the neighborhood. We started to get frantic. 10 then 20 minutes go by. By this time there are at least 20 people helping us look. Aaron is screaming his name and ready to bust into suspicious neighbor homes, I am crying hysterically wandering in circles. We check the house over and over again. We yell his name. Aaron says, you have to make the call. I call 9-1-1. It rang 4 times! I am hysterical. What will I do without my Marrick! Is he hurt? Did someone take him? I knew he wasn't hiding. He isn't the hiding sort of kid. He likes to be seen and heard. He never goes further than my cousins house and my friends house. We have checked EVERYWHERE! A fire truck, ambulance and police car pull up in front of our house. (nothing like getting the neighbors to come out of hiding!) He is wearing a pair of blue shorts and no shirt. They tell me that they are going to search the house first just to make sure he's not in there and then they will start to spread out from there. They look in cupboards, in the drier, under dirty clothes, under beads, then a wonderful, amazing, God-sent paramedic looks under the comforter of our made-up bed. There is Marrick, sleeping under the covers, laying in a lot of sweat. They yell to me that they have found him. It has been 40 minutes. I run upstairs, grab that boy, sob, and sob and sob. I hug the paramedic and run past all the men in my house saying, "where is my husband? He needs to see him!" Aaron is walking up the street about a half a block away. He sees that I have him and drops to a squat in the middle of the road and cries. Ammon says, "I've never seen Daddy cry before."

Oh, thank you!

Life is so precious. All that matters are the ones we love. Things just don't have a place in our hearts. Only people do. Heavenly Father gave us one another to love, cherish and cling to. "The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away." I am so thankful that I have been GIVEN so much in my life. Today I hold my children tighter, my husband closer and my family members fonder. There is life beyond this. If not I would fill the pain I felt today for eternity. We have a Father in Heaven that loves us and hears our prayers.

I love you sweet Marrick. Please stay with Mommy Forever.

Halle Grace is 5 Months old!

oh, the sweetest thing!She is full of giggles and laughs, smiles at strangers, talks and coos ALL the time, is starting to scoot on her tummy, pushes up with her arms, sleeps with her arms over her head, has the cutest little tuft of hair in the front of her head that only goes to one side, goes to sleep with a binky and blanky just over her chin and her baby seahorse playing, brings the sweetest spirit into our home. Oh Halle, you are the SWEETEST thing!

Toa Boy

Ammon Toa is quite the boy. He is strikingly handsome with those killer blue-green eyes and sweet smile, he loves to be like his Dad and his sister Alana. He loves to ride his bike, scooter and skateboard (thanks to our awesome neighbors that are moving and left him with their scooter and skateboard!) He likes to be liked and likes to be the funny one. We just love this guy! Playing ball with dad. Look at that focusDad says, "nice follow through son."
King for a day:

Ammon had a spotlight day at his preschool a few weeks ago. He has been asking all year when his turn was! He was soooo Excited!!! He got to take his spotlight poster in and a treat to share. It just so happened to be the mother's day lesson at school and I was supposed to be there anyways. Perfect. The letter of the day was short I. All we could think of was India, Iguana, Igloo, Inside, Infant, Insect. This is him 'telling' about all of the pictures on his poster. Then Ammon had his preschool graduation a week later. Yeah for Ammon! Happy Graduation! It is so funny to see all of these 5 year-old's in grad outfits.The whole fam. Ammon's teacher (the high school students are one on one or one to two with each child). I love this preschool!

Ammon looks very proud to even have Grama Annie there.

We let Alana skip out of school for a few hours to be with her bro. We just love this boy. He is always concerned and aware of what he is wearing, how cool he is and how funny he can be. He is starting to realize he can get away with things and gets in some good 'ol boy trouble more often than he should. He loves to hang out with sister Lana and be a 'big kid.' We love you Toa boy! Here comes Kindergarten! (summer first, please!)