Texas, Camping, and Utah!

The past few weeks have been crazy for the Syphus family! The kids and I travelled to El Paso, Texas to see Chris one weekend. It was Emma's first time to take a long car trip and she did great! Kaylee and Crew enjoyed the dvd player... the whole way... (I have almost all the Dora and Diego movies we own memorized now!) We were able to see Chris on his 31st birthday! I can't believe that he's already that age! It seems like just yesterday I met him in his prime of 23 years! That just means that I am getting old too, but we wont go there!

(just look at how hot he still is!! Love you baby!)

The weekend was great, minus the stomach flu Crew and I got. It's hard being away from Chris, and the kids really miss their daddy. He was able to come home last weekend, but that was the first time he had been home for a whole month! We are going to need to do something about this!

The following weekend from our Texas trip the kids and I drove out to Whitney Pockets. It was our annual Syphus Family camping trip, and we weren't going to miss it! Again, Emma's first camping experience and she did marvelous! I really wish I had more pictures, but my camera battery died.

I hardly saw Kaylee and Crew because they were off playing on those giant boulders in the background. They loved seeing all their cousins and aunts and uncles. We were only able to manage the camping trip with the help of the family, and we are so thankful for them all!

(See that tall mountain behind the big boulders? Yeah, Jesse, Laura and I hiked that!)

After camping for two nights we headed back to St. George. We only planned to stay a night or two, but had so much fun we ended up staying 5! While in St. George we went ice skating, out to dinner a few times, worked out several times, and I even got away with Becca to see a movie! We met with Grandma and Grandpa Syphus which was really special, and of course spent lots of time with family!

Chris has such an amazing family, and I know we are so blessed to be a part of it. I really love them all!

Going Private!

Hey guys! I don't know if there are too many of you out there that read my blog, but after careful consideration, I have decided to go Private! If you want to still be in the know about our family, and fun things we do, just leave me a comment with your email address and I will send you an invite. Thanks!

Horses, Forts, and Valentines

The past few days have been loads of fun! My beautiful sister invited me and the kids to the Scottsdale Arabian Horse Show. Knowing how much my kids love horses, we couldn't pass that up! While we were there we enjoyed watching all the horses, crafts, ice cream, and family fun.

Kaylee and Crew got to paint a ceramic statue of a horse.

Kaylee took her time and made sure everything was done just right.Crew slathered on the paint because he just wanted to play with the horse as soon as possible. Crew's horse suffered a leg injury on the way home, but nothing a little glue couldn't fix! (thanks dad!)

One night I walked into Kaylee and Crew's room to find they had taken all of their blankets and hung them from the loft bed to make a fort. It was pretty sweet, but they had to come down so they could sleep (it's still a little chilly at night). I had some curtains that someone gave me awhile back and I had an idea....

Voila! Instant fort! Kaylee keeps it closed day and night. She loves it. Crew is a little jealous that his bed isn't so "fort-ish", so I have to think of something to go over his bed. I have some ideas... I'll post pics if it turns out.

Here is our little angel!

She's such a sweetie, and again, growing like a weed! She is starting to "coo and ahh " alot and it's just adorable! Crew tries to mimic her sounds all the time and says, "Mom, Emma just said 'Ahhh'!" Like I wasn't sitting right next to him and didn't hear her say it myself! So funny!

Oh, and not to brag, but my wonderful husband made me a delicious King Crab dinner for Valentines Day, and got me not one, but TWO dozen roses! Beautiful!!

Dog pile in the living room! Emma even got in on that action!

What are YOU doing??

We have been busy with life here.

Emma is growing at a rapid rate. I took her into the doctor at 7 weeks because I feared she might be getting a bad cold, only to find out that she is weighing in at a whopping 12 lbs. 9 oz! She's doing much better by the way. She loves to take baths and she always wakes up in the morning with a giggle and a smile. She's such a happy and content little girl. I think I am spoiling her cause I just love to hold and snuggle with her!

A few weeks ago we went to Scottsdale to the Train Park they have out there. It was really fun. The kids rode the carousel, and we all hopped on board the little train. Crew was in heaven! We also toured a train that President Roosevelt used to travel in. Pretty cool if you ask me! We want to do a train ride in Flagstaff one of these days and go to the Grand Canyon.

Just last week I threw a baby shower for one of my new friends in the ward, Kinslee. It was a surprise, so she had no idea when she walked in the door that everyone was there for her! It was a fun night, and I am happy to say she had her baby today and they are both doing great!

A few nights ago we went hiking as a family at the White Tank Mountains. Not too far from our house. It was a 2 mile hike, pretty easy, and there was a waterfall at the end! The kids had a great time. We are going to try and hike more of the trails they have at that park, see if we can hike them all!

Not the greatest picture of me, but I have to make one little comment. It has been 8 weeks since Emma was born, and I have officially worked off all my baby weight! Personal record! Now, I still have a goal to lose more weight, but I wanted to share how happy I am that I am on my way to a more healthy lifestyle! Love it!!

So Cute!

I know it's hard to believe....but yes, she really is that cute!

Back to Normal!!

I am loving that Kaylee is back in school, so I can get back on my normal schedule. Only problem is, Emma! She wasn't part of our "normal" schedule. We are having to re-write the book on "normalcy" here, and it's taking time.

For starters... laundry, laundry and more laundry! I didn't know adding one more tiny little human could add to the amount of time I spend huddled on the floor folding clothes. It's insane!

Then there are naps... or the lack of scheduled naps. We have yet to get Emma into the routine of naps, and Crew is on his way out of them! Mom could use a nap every once and awhile too you know!

Don't forget about exercising! Trying to get rid of the baby weight with three kids is almost impossible! (Almost). With Chris working out of town, I can't sneak off in the early morning for a stress free jog. I am forced to do workout videos in the living room and try really hard not to step on Crew who is also trying to do workout videos. Plus I have to stop frequently to calm Emma down if she's not having a good time watching.

Last thing I'll say is- dinner. It seems as soon as I have dinner hot and ready to go Emma pipes up and wants to be fed too. So everyone else eats a nice dinner while I feed her and then I get the cold leftovers. We are still working on the timing of this obviously.

Yup, we are far from a schedule around here, but everything feels good. I'm sure things will fall into place soon enough and we will be back to "normal."

Christmas Blessings

I know it's already in the new year and my Christmas post is late, but I just wanted to share some pictures.

We had a great Christmas this year. We had family over to our new house on Christmas Eve for a Mexican Fiesta... it just might become a new tradition! Santa made it to our house late in the evening and left the kids some fun new toys.




Kaylee got a new bike which she wasn't too sure about at first (she couldn't reach the ground), but she has learned to ride like a champ and she loves it.





Crew got a new race track set which is constantly going here, so we are pretty sure he likes it.





Emma got a new bunny toy and a soft cuddly blanket. I got a new glider/rocker, but I think Emma was my Christmas present! Chris got a new game for his XBox, and we haven't seen him since! (jk)



2009 was a great year for us. We had our struggles and trials, but we are so blessed to also have the good times. We have grown so much, and we are learning new things every day.



To ring in the New Year we invited Chris' family and my family to the blessings of Kaylee, Crew and Emma. Kaylee and Crew never received their baby blessings, but it's never too late! We did all of them on Jan. 3rd, and it was so wonderful. The children did great and you could feel the spirit so strongly. It was such a blessing to have so much love and support for our little family. Thank you to all who came, and those who couldn't... we really missed you, but felt you in our hearts.

We are looking forward to 2010. I know I have set alot of goals for this year, and I can't wait to see what I can accomplish.