Ephraim...

A small sampling of the mischief our sweet little monster can get into in a single day.

The kid fights sleep with all he's got. I have never actually seen a person fall asleep standing up. He's extremely talented.

Yes...again with the jam. It's just so good you have to drink it.

From the books to the laundry soap to the dirty dishes in the sink to the brown sugar, he is never wanting for fun things to do!

The Happy Day At Last Has Come!

Felicity has been living with us for over two months now. She is a delight. All the kids love her. Marley and Aislyn especially love having an older sister. I love how she comes home and tells me of all her shenanigans and misadventures. Life is fun and entertaining. I mean life with Thomas is always entertaining but now doubly so!

Sunday was Felicity's 18th birthday. It was also the day she was finally able to be baptized! She has been coming without fail to every church function, even seminary for the past two and a half years. She and Marley looked through the hymnal for the perfect songs and chose the The Happy Day At Last Has Come as the opening hymn. The title fit perfectly but no one had ever really heard the song before and it was pretty funny hearing the whole congregation flounder through it.
It was such a special day. She was so beautiful and happy. It is wonderful to see a person recognize those things in life that will really bring happiness and hang on to them. She has persevered through trial, been patient, and exercised faith. I am so proud of her and so excited for what the future holds.

Marley's New Coat

I bought the fabric for this almost ten years ago. It is a heavy weight silk and I LOVE the color. It has been sitting in my fabric drawer just waiting for me to decide what to do with it. Marley needed a coat and we didn't have any extra cash laying around so inspiration struck and I decided to give it a shot. I had never before sewn anything so heavy and bulky. It's not perfect but I am pleasantly surprised at well it turned out.

On a side note....can you believe how grown up my little Marley Mae is getting? Her eleventh birthday is right around the corner. That doesn't make me old, does it?

"I Just Wanted to Look Like A Cat" and other achievements

Here we have Ephraim demonstrating how he has learned to get a stool and turn lights on and off. This new found skill of climbing has proven very beneficial for him when he is hungry...there is no food out of his reach.

Just yesterday he discovered the great joy of throwing rocks.

The great joy of eating dirt.

And yes this is really very easily explained....she just wanted to look like a cat today.

School time. Aislyn and Jairus still think sitting down with pencils and paper is super fun. If only Marley and Townsend felt the same way.

The story of us moving, somewhat condensed:

I realize that I haven't really talked much of the hows and whys of our putting the house on the market. I think I got a little tired of negative responses. Anyway we have been impressed for a couple of years now that we would move to Utah and that we should continue living and working hard here but be prepared. We just feel that now is the time to take this gigantic leap of faith. And believe me it is proving to be quite the test of faith, patience, hope and the like. As of yet we haven't had much interest in the house. But we do witness little miracles everyday. Thomas' work is going extremely well. Many opportunities on the horizon. I just have to believe that everything is working the way heavenly Father intends and I will just trust. I know that Utah is where I am supposed to raise my family so I will just be patient.

Where Have I Been?

It's been awhile, I know. I have been working my arse off painting and cleaning and organizing and decluttering my beautiful home. It goes on the market tomorrow!

We got ourselves a teenager!

Since Terrill moved out(we miss you Terrill) we had an empty room just sitting there waiting to be filled. Felicity was so kind as to fill the vacancy. She moved in over two weeks ago and turns out she's an excellent roomie. Here she is with Johanna. Thomas had left some of his work clothes in her closet and told her if she ever needed to borrow some to just help herself. How we love these girls!

It turns out...

he wasn't buckled into the high chair. (No that isn't blood)