I know, I know.....

I feel so guilty! I struggle to keep up, and this blog gets forgotten....

Updates?  Mario found a job in September...he likes it and they like him.  It works out good.
Sophia (or Sophie as she calls herself this year) is wrapping up the volleyball season....first year of a BRAND NEW HIGH SCHOOL!  and they're going to state championships in volleyball next weekend!!  I'm so proud of her...she's grown by leaps and bounds.

Alanna is working away at spanish, and piano.  All the kids have been sick with colds this week (thank heaven not swine flu) and have been home from school, so we have some catching up to do.

Isabelle is so funny! She "designed" a cat costume for Halloween and it was really well thought out. She is taking piano also and loves it.

Elizabeth...the perpetual princess.  She is fun....growing so much and becoming such a good reader....she's a sweet little thing.

Gabby....loves to help me cook and read.  She asked me to sing the angel song from Christmas this afternoon as we were preparing for naps...I finally figured out she meant "Angels We Have Heard On High".   I've only sung it 7 times since then....and pulled out a Christmas CD so she could listen to it there. She asked me what "forgive" meant the other day...she's just three, and I was surprised.

Sammie...she's is a little spitfire.  But a good-natured one. The other day I was cooking and started tapping my forehead, saying "thinking, thinking" and she said, "I know, Mom!" and I said 'You do?' and she said "yep, Van Gogh".....then she laughed and said "I'm so funny." You gotta love that.

I've had some new opportunities come my way recently...I'm still designing and selling my products online, and recently began contributing to an online magazine.  You can see my latest article HERE. It's a fun area that I'm enjoying exploring.

I wish I could say that I'll get better at updating, but really, I'm sure it won't be long before I'm lost again, trying to keep my head above water. But I can say I'll try :)

Fasten your seatbelt...it's gonna be a long ride....

Ok, first of all, I have to offer a disclaimer.....this is going to be long, and it's not going to be chronological....the photos are not going to be retouched (cause if I take time to retouch, or put them in order, I'll never get this posted and I need it to get it off my back.) So basically, you take my post, like you have to take me right now...AS-IS, with no warranty, implied or otherwise.

This first pic is of my kiddos. We were in St. George (more on that later) and my friend and fellow designer, Alisha of One Memory At A Time, took some AWESOME pictures of our family...they turned out fantastic! THANK YOU, Alisha!!! It was not easy to find a field of wildflowers on the only weekend in spring break history that St. George saw snow (I don't really know if it's the ONLY one), but she did.

This is the same kiddos running through the field....they had a really great time!


This is a layout of the devil dog (Van Gogh)...he was a major deterrent to the success of our garden this year. Happily, he's in obedience classes now, and we're seeing SOME progress.


Sammie, helping herself (a regular thing). She's going to be two in September. She loves, LOVES to sing...her favorites are I am a Child of God, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and Jesus Loves Me...she can sing them beginning to end, and it's fun to hear her little lisp.


Here's Isa...on Easter. She's lost both of her front teeth since then, so she looks a little different. Haven't gotten a pic of that yet...but I should. Maybe tomorrow..it's a BIG picture taking day for me, so hopefully I'll get that one in. She's fun and STILL my best worker. She's funny and most of the time a real JOY to be around.


We celebrated Samuel Owen's Birthday this year with a Birthday Party. The kids and I made cupcakes and talked about him...wondering what he'd look like, how old he'd be, etc. It was a nice way to remember him.


This is from our visit to St. George. Our very first FAMILY VACATION. WOW. It was fun...stressful, but fun. Of course, you know me...all about the scenery, but I thought this one was particularly amazing.


Gabby on Memorial Day. Loved the angle on this one...too bad she always has a runny nose...poor kid. She's graduated into DEFINITE 3 year old antics, but she's still so much fun and one of my best buds.


Visiting the Cemetary....


Ellie and Dad preparing the garden. We actually increased our garden size this year...we're 4x as big as we were last year...unfortunately the dog ate our first 2 attempts, so we got stuff in late and we'll see how it goes...next year we'll do better (we've finally put up fencing around it, LOL.


Alanna was in a big Spanish Immersion Dance Festival the end of May...Isn't she pretty? She did a GREAT job dancing and it was fun to watch her....unfortunately I didn't get a good pic of her dancing...Mario got stuck at work, and so I had two little ones on my lap while I was trying to take pictures.


A reminder each evening of the presence of a higher being. I am SO grateful for the beginnings and the endings. Sometimes they really keep me going.


Gabby and Ellie celebrated their 3rd and 6th birthdays. They went to dinner with mom and dad and had cupcakes with the cousins the following Sunday.


Sometimes I can be grateful that they don't look like me.


Mario and I celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary in April. He took me to the Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Point, where we walked around and took pictures...lots of fun!


Part of our stay in St. George was spent in Zion's National Park...the first time there for all of us. We hiked the Pa'rus Trail...the only one that allows strollers and dogs. The kids had a wonderful time, and I was just grateful that I wasn't the one ready to turn back first.


Van Gogh made a friend on the Pa'rus Trail...Dakota. Van Gogh is the one sporting a bandana.


Again at Zions....Aren't they cute?


This is Mel and Ellie....Mel's fam and ours went to the park while they were here in May. I know Mel is really hard on her "suitability" as a mom....but I have to say...How many moms would do this???? Certainly not me..so KUDOS to MEL!


I don't think I really need to explain this....those of you who know her, won't need any explanation.


The girls on easter....where is Sophia? She's pulling a "don't take MY picture".


Some kids play Legos, some kids play sports. My kids play Statue of Liberty, LOL....they all took turns this day dressing up as Lady Liberty. So funny.


Van Gogh is no longer this little puppy. He's 50 lbs at last check and a LUG...but a lovable one.


A beginning, for which I'm continually thankful.


Sophia went to Prom in May, and although the wedding has been cancelled, she got some good pics out of it.



WOW! Thanks for hanging in here this long.

Me? I'm still selling my Digital scrapbooking products and keeping the homefires burning. Well, ok, they burn out every once in a while, but I'm doing better most of the time.
One last note. Anybody know of a good job anywhere? Mario was "let go" on Tuesday rather suddenly. We're lookin' if anybody knows of anything.

LOVE you all!

Time to update again, I know....can't seem to keep up, but I'm hoping that some recent changes will make a difference. This is Alanna....Mario chose flowers for each of the girls for Valentine's day, telling them qualities of the flowers that reminded him of them (thanks to an AWESOME idea from the Achievement Days Leaders in our ward.) Alanna received the Hawaiian Hibiscus...she's exotic, unique flower, whose red petals symbolize courage to the country of Malaysia where it reins as the national flower. Alanna is a little mama to the younger girls....I appreciate all her help when things are crazy!


Isa was given Plumeria, a fragrant and beautiful flower....it escapes me at the moment why Mario chose that particular one for her.....She's doing really well in school, and other than the occasional whiny spell, is a real fun girl to have around.


Mario chose the Orchid for Ellie, because he said the flower reminded him of a princess...and that's what Ellie is. She's growing alot right now. We've had some teaching opportunities lately, and hope the lessons are embedding themselves in her heart and mind. She's a sweet girl.

Gabby...my fearless girl. She received a Day Lily for VTDay, but I thought this photo of her doing the bunny hop was so funny, I decided to include it instead. She's been obsessed with bearing her testimony lately, and the two "in church" attempts have failed miserably. She's been practicing at night with Ellie, while they're supposed to be sleeping, and said to me the other night when I was tucking her in, "Mom, I'm ready to bear my testimony." I said, "ok, let me hear it!" and she did! It was 5 or 6 sentences long, and very impressive for a kid of 2 1/2. It will be interesting to see what lies ahead for her!


Mario gave Sophia an Amaryllis because the bloom easily and boldly. That definitely describes Sophia. She's been working out with the track team, working towards getting her driving permit, and preparing to turn in an application for her first real job! It's CRAZY having a 16 year old. She's a good girl and has been an amazing help during this nutso time.


Then there's Sammie Joy. Sunshine in it's purest form. I can't keep her in the house...she slips out every chance she gets. Her vocabulary is pretty impressive...her most used expressions lately are "no," "it's mine," "pen da dough" (open the door) which she screams whenever she wants anything from the door to a bag opened. She says her prayers now, which is a fun thing...and is doing some of her business on the potty. What a girl!


Van Gogh is big, he's huge, he's chewing on everything! He's done pretty well at learning not to jump on people, at least until they talk to him, and then he considers them free game. We weighed him the other day and he was just shy of 30 lbs. We got him 7 weeks ago at 5 lbs...AMAZING!



This is Mario rocking Van Gogh to sleep. Unfortunately, recently, they've hit a speed bump in their relationship. Van Gogh had been naughty and had been disciplined, and when Mario went to pick him up to take him to his kennel for the night, Van Gogh snapped at his face. Mario was pretty mad. I don't know if they'll recover, but I hope so, cause I'm tired of being the go between for them.

Me? Well, I came to a hard decision this past week, and decided to close 2 of my stores down, and remain exclusively at GoDigitalScrapbooking. It will mean 1/3 of the time spent advertising, and 1/3 of the stress. I'm kinda looking forward to that. Now that I've actually made the decision, I'm wondering why I didn't come to it earlier. The picture of Gabby is made with my most recent release, My Heart Sings, which was used this week for the 4th and Final round in the Supreme Team contest. Mario, Van Gogh and Sophia's pictures are made with Lil' Dreamer, which I think has been my highest grossing kit so far. Anyway, I love designing. I love having things come together, and seeing what people can do with them. And the money doesn't hurt either.

I'm kinda a hermit right now...probably the anxiety stuff, but I sure appreciate all those who keep up with us through this blog, and bless us with their love, friendship and support! You are loved and THANK YOU for being YOU!

Way too long.....

I can't believe it's been since the middle of December that I posted! My other blog gets plenty of posts (although not as many as it should probably).

So much news! Mario finally got his boy! Before you say anything about "we thought Jenn wouldn't be able to stop" check out the pic of said bouncing baby boy.....



He is adorable, energetic and definitely TROUBLE!! We're having fun with him, though. He's pretty darn lovable.




This picture is why we will NOT be trying for a boy after 6 girls...can you IMAGINE???? Those girls would have him in dressups all the time!




We've celebrated many events in the last couple of months! Alanna turned 8 years old....she asked for her own quad and bag...



She was also baptized...it was a crazy day...Alanna's baptism in the morning, and her cousin Kobe's baptism at noon. Crazy Day, indeed!



Sophia turned 16, SIXTEEN! Do you believe it? She's going on her first "DATE" this weekend....should be interesting....I can't be old enough to have a 16 year old, can I?



Gabby learned to make faces and tells me "mom, go get the camera, I'm going to do something funny!"



Isa turned 7 years old last week. She asked for a journal and some books...pretty easy to please if you ask me!



The first day back to school after getting the dog, Sammie got into Alanna's paints (that were supposed to have been confiscated for being left around the house....I very nearly went to pieces!



I've also been conducting scientific experiments....like, if I only sweep ONCE a day, how much garbage will accumulate??? It's not pretty....



Through it all I'm reminded that the sun still rises (photo SOOC). How can anyone doubt the presence of a higher being? I don't know. It seems like my lowest days have been followed by the most glorious sunrises. A reminder of the promise that He is there and He is with me.

Well, this is my long overdue update. I may actually get around to doing again sometime.