Happy B-day Syd!!

Sydney turned 8 on Christmas Eve and will be baptized soon!! She is a silly girl, that likes to have fun!! She is sure growing up quickly, we love you Syd!!

My baby is growing up!!!

Not the best picture, but she got her hair curled for the 1st time for church yesterday!! I got a glimpse that she is growing way too fast, Slow down Ivy!!

Sledding minus the snow

Well before we could put the sleds away the kids were sledding around and around the house, having a great old time, who needs snow?

We took the kids to the snow the day after Christmas! It was 15 degrees, wow was it cold. We don't have great snow attire, just regular coats, descent gloves, hiking boots and regular pants. We have discovered a trick to help with keeping the snow out of the shoes and pants, a little white trash, but it works great. Rich duct tapes the kids pants to their shoes, and voila!! We had a great time and lasted almost an hour and then we were off to our favorite pizza place in Payson, The Pizza Factory, yum!

Ivy and her new obsession

Ivy has a new fav......dolls! Who would have thought at 11 months old to buy her a doll, well good thing her b-day is less than a month away! She will not let go of her sister's dolls that they got for Christmas, or she will let you know she is not happy! I could not make her let go of the doll to feed her the other morning, so we put the bib over the doll, which is as big as she is and fed her that way, whatever!!

It's official!!

Well we went to the Dr. today and we have determined a due date. I am 3 weeks farther along than we originally thought. It puts me at 11 weeks and 2 days.......this is going to be the worlds fastest pregnancy! So the official due date is July 9th. We got an ultrasound and got to hear the heartbeat, too. What an unexpected blessing!

My Parents

My parents are great! And they look great!

I am so glad they are mine. I am grateful for the relationships we have with them! I could't ask for better!

Family Pictures continued

I thought I got the one with mom and dad, oops......much better

Family Pictures

Well we did our annual Family Pictures, a little bit early this year, my parents are on top of things! I appreciate the diligence in them doing this. This year I don't think the guys gave them any grief. Maybe they understand how important it is to the wives also, not just Mom! Anyway, they turned out great, thanks Mom and Dad!! We love you!!

Carson, "Brave at the dentist"

• Carson so bravely and excitedly went to uncle Marks office to get 2 fillings.
  
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  He was excited about the "Pig" nose and smelling the bubble gum scent, I tried to talk them into giving me some too! Not a chance!!

Uncle Mark, hard at work.

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  It was all worth it!!! He got his prize, wasn't that the whole point in going, anyways?
  
  

Stubborn at 9 months

After 1 hour of standing up in her crib- not crying just standing, this is how she finally fell asleep. Looks comfy huh? Needless to say, we gat a 30 minute nap.

Boys Only

This was a boys only quad riding campout!! No girls allowed!! What a great time they had!!

Rich, Logan and Carson, Sean and his dad and Trevor, and Tracy and Hunter, went camping this past weekend, I hear there was fun times, rough terrain, and minor accidents. They were sure tired when they got home!

Carson has become a little obsessed with quads. Whenever Rich is home (which is not often these days, long shifts, overtime, you know.) and Carson starts to fall asleep at 5:00p.m., I start panicing so he'll ask him if he wants to see if the quads still work. So he takes him out and has him start them up, he is becoming quite the pro. It's so cute! I knew he liked them but when he started praying for them in his prayers at night, I knew he became obsessed, he says, "and please help the quads to work." I have to try so hard not to crack up laughin, and I don't have the heart to tell him that his Dad is just trying to keep him awake, and also that the Lord doesn't probably care if the quads actually work.

Well I finally got Rich to unload the camera from this summer........a man job in my book, I should have him teach me, but everyone needs to be needed, right? The boys, (Rich and Logan) went on a 50 mile hike with the scouts!! They love that kind of thing, hiking is one thing, but 50 miles sounds like torture to me!! They survived, and what an acomplishment.

We had our anual week long camping trip with family and great friends, real camping, none of this campground thing. We drive off road, about 23 miles to get to "our spot." Rich found the greatest place a few years ago, we usually don't see another person, it's great!! We take quads up, and it is our favorite thing to do with our kids. They love no chores, riding, and getting dirty, no baths, lots of snacking, great meals, and GREAT company! It's surprising, but they never get bored. They run and play all day. I love it because I sit around all day and rarely get up. Ivy did really well, she wasn't crawling yet, and was quite content sitting on my lap, or in her bumbo seat. She slept great, too! She has her dad's heart, and she loved rocking on the hammock with him. He is always so great with the kids...especially the babies.

Wouldn't that be the life, to have time to take an awesome bubble bath, and have no other care in the world? No, most of us are in the ratrace af life.......maybe there is something to say about taking time for yourself. How's 4 A.M??

C Can you believe I found matching dresses for these cute girls, This was Easter, (yes I am VERY behind on this). Children's place can be awesome!! My girl's NEVER want to match, but because Ivy was included, they were persuaded just for that day. SILLY GIRLS!!!!

Ivy Camiile Porter

Jan. 25, 2008

7#2 oz. 19 1/2 in.

This year has flown by already! The most eventful thing this year is welcoming Ivy Camille into the world. She has been a lot of work and even more fun!! After a few months of colic, diet adjusting for mom, and adjusting to having 5 kids, we are back in the swing of things and back in the fast pace of life.


Rich took the boys Turkey Hunting. Believe it or not Carson was really in to it and probably the quietest one!!

The kids started school Aug. 11. It's hard to believe it's already that time. We had a great summer. We had a week of camping with family and great friends and a lot of fun memories for all of us. Camping is a huge part of our life. The kids love it, Rich could probably be happy living in the woods, and I really love the slow pace (sitting on my rear) without the phone, errands, and enforcing chores.