Bad, Bad, Bad about blogging....

Okay, I know that it has been months since I have blogged. Been busy here in So. Cali. Between being at home with the kids by myself majority of the time and my calling in church and supporting Ben and this new adventure with Outdoor Outlet.
To start off we are doing really well here. We started going back to church. I am in RS and Ben is the Teacher's Teacher. Funny stuff! And Ben and I are making it our goal to get sealed to each other and our beautiful children by next summer. We will see how it goes...
Cash started preschool. It is 5 days a week for 3 1/2 hours. He LOVES it! He wants to go every day. He can now write his name. He is doing well and he loves his primary teacher. He is getting super big.
For Gabby, well, she is a SPITFIRE! Man, she is handful and a LOT of work. Patient is what she is teaching me. We started potty training her back in September and she is doing good. She loves her nursery teacher. She calls her a "Peacher" and Connie (teacher) loves it. She has grown up so much. We just found out that her tubes in her ears fell out and she already has a ear infection. And, of course, she won't take her antibiotic. Doctor and ourselves are hoping we don't have to repeat ear surgery again.
We have had a lot happen since we moved here. My father had to have a quad bypass done back in June. No, he did not have heart attack. He went to have a check up and found out he was living on borrowed time. Then over the 4th of July my very dearest and most precious friend past away. My grandmother, who I had the great opportunity to get to know and take care of her while she fought her lung cancer. She finally, lost the fight to her cancer after 4 1/2 yrs. I will miss her truly.
Then in August I got a scary call and rushed back to St. George because 3 out of the 4 bypasses my father got failed. We found out that they could not do anything more for him. So we pray every day to keep him with us.
As for my mom, she just had a PET scan and she is clean and cancer free still. Yay!!!!! Although, she has a hard time keeping her white blood cell count up. She has to get transfusion every once in a while.
We did have the opportunity to go to Disneyland with my family. We had a blast. My kids are lame and don't like the big rides. Cash hates all the big rides. Thunder Mtn., Space Mtn., Splash Mtn., even the Matterhorn. He is so lame. Gabby enjoyed the Matterhorn.
For Halloween we enjoyed it with my cousin and her kids. We went to our ward's Halloween party. Which, Gabby, won the most unique costume. Funny stuff. Then the next day we went to Disneyland with them. We had a ball. We really enjoyed the time with them.
So as you can tell we are still alive and well. We are getting use to California. It was really hard for me at first. I am doing better and I love my ward. I love all the ladies that I have come to know. I will cherish them always. We do go to the beach at least once or twice a month. It is about a half hour to hour away. The kids love it. They are not afraid of the water. We try to find clams every time to go. The kids love to watch them.
We are getting for the holidays. Hopefully we will go to St. George for a week to enjoy it with our family. I will do my best to at least blog once or twice a month.
Until next time... Have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!!! (Enjoy the pics.)

Cash & Gabby on Halloween!

Nanna & Papa with kids during a visit!

Many of the beach visits!

4th of July fireworks and Gma's funeral.

Gabby sporting a smile for the camera.

Cash, Nat, Tdog, Squid and Gabby for pictures.

Papa being goofy!

Cash's 4th bday @ Pirate Pizza.

Swimmin' during a huge rain storm!

Long time coming....

New house outside. We have lemon tree, orange tree, and magnolias.

Living room is big enough for our computer!

Papa and Gabby Easter.

I know it has been forever since I blogged. It has been very crazy for us. We finally got a place in California. Ben and I got moved in on Monday. I have been unpacking since. But we are here and now we are waiting for our little ones to join us. They will be here on Monday evening. They have been with Grandma & Grandpa Syphus. Nana and Papa picked them up today. They are taking them to the Breast Cancer walk up in S.L.C.. I am so very sad I can not be there. It was a very inspirational experience last year.
I will get everyone up to speed since the last blog. Ben had been commuting every weekend. It sucked for him so bad. And for me it was not fun at times. Gabby had to have surgery back in March. She had her tonsils, adenoids removed and ear tubes. It was a very long two days. She of course would NOT take her meds right. So she had to stay over night. It was hard for her. She didn't eat for days. And her breath was horrid. We called it Dragon Breath. It was deadly.
Gabby had her 2nd Birthday! It was very quiet. She got a few things but she wasn't feeling that well. She had her surgery 4 days prior. It is so crazy that my baby is now 2. Since her surgery she has become a talker. She is insane. Chatter this and that. She got new glasses, too. She is our little taz!
We did Easter with Nana & Papa with Grandma Great and the Strong's. It was fun and quiet. I was glad to have one last Easter with Grandma. The kids had a good time coloring eggs and finding them. They got bunk beds for Easter. They are so excited to have them. We still have to put that together.
We had our 7 year itch back in April. We didn't do anything. Ben was here in Cali and I was in St. George. It sucked but we have made it. 7 years. I love my husband and even though we have our moments (ALOT!) I still couldn't imagine a life with anyone else. He is a good man and has provided for us. I love you, Benni!
It will soon be my 30th! Yes, I said it, 3-0! Blah! GGAAA! What the!!!!! I am getting OLD!
Life is going crazy and this new adventure is going to be interesting. I don't know what to think. I am so very tired. Packing and unpacking in a week is kicking my arce!
I promise to keep up on the blog. But that's it for now, enjoy some pics.

Gabby and Cash Easter clothes and basket on their heads. Their way of saying "NO!"

nana and Cash coloring eggs.

Mommy and Aunt Whit so tired coloring eggs with kids.

Cash with Grandma Great's lipstick on his cheeks. Did it himself.

New Adventure...

I know it has been awhile but we have been busy and making some decisions that are scary and sad. Ben, has taken a job in Pasadena, California. He will be opening and running a new OUTDOOR OUTLET. To all of you who don't know what Outdoor Outlet is; it is the company that his dad use to own here in St. George. It is a retail store that carries outdoor gear. From tents to shoes to clothes to climbing gear and so forth. So we are really excited because it has Ben's dream to run and own OUTDOOR OUTLET. So on that note it will be a good thing.
But the sad note we will be leaving and moving to California. Yes, scary of the unknown but scarier that it is California. Ben will be starting Monday and commuting back and forth until we know what to do with our house and we find a place there in California. So me and the kids will be here for a month or two. I am sad because I do NOT want to leave my support system of my family. Especially, my mom. She has been my crouch for so long. It will be very hard for me but I think we will be okay. But as soon as we settle in I hope all of you will come and visit us. Please pray for us that it will turn out good and we can make it down there. I love you all and the support you have given our family. Until next time... (I will write more when I can write without crying my eyes out.)

Happy New Year!

Well, we did NOT do anything for the New Year. We were in bed at 10:30. I know LAME! But hey, we were dealing with sick kids and sick parents. We just went over to Grandma Greats for a bit. My sister and her family came for the weekend so we hung out with them. Not real exciting. Gabby just barely got better 2 days ago. So not real much has happened with us. Just excited that a New Year has begun. I hope and pray that good things will come our way this year. Since last year was one of the worst years we could have had. I hope all of you had a good New Year and hope that all of you will have good things come your way.
Ben and I's main goal this year is to start going to church and become active. Now, let me tell you people not to push Benni or say anything to him. He has been hinting alot lately going back to church. So I think he is ready but HE has to do it on his own terms. Also, we would like to loose weight, but who doesn't.
All in all we just want to not have hardships as we did this last year. We would like to breath and not feel stressed out.
So with that little entry, HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Getting ready for Christmas and what was to follow it...

Smiling big for Chirstmas!

Okay, so this year has been really hard for my husband and I to get into the spirit of the season. But bless my sons heart he wasn't about to let that happen. When we finally got our tree up he always wanted to to turn the lights on. But we didn't get our Christmas lights up outside until a week before Christmas. Cash would ask why we didn't have our lights up like everyone else. It finally got to me and I did them. Almost killing myself in the process.

Trav makes a cute Santa. Yevette and her smile!

Big boys in little coats. Go Benni, Gary and Trav.

Ben and I had the opportunity to go up to Cedar to have a little Christmas/Benni b-day bash with our friends. We had a great time (as always). We want our friends there know that we really appreciate them and love them with all our hearts. Gary and Linda, Trav and Yevette are two of the greatest couples we know. They bring so much to our lives and we cherish them.

That following morning Ben and I went to go pick up his boss's tractor from Trav's house. What a adventure that was. It wouldn't start so they had to pull it with the digger. Funny cause Ben got stopped half way up. Those two men are children at heart!Ben and the tractor event. Fun stuff!

So as the season neared us I did not go shopping until a week before Christmas. I did it all in a couple hours. I know I am so lame for waiting but that is how it worked out this year. My dad helped me get it all together for Cash and thank goodness Kandiss helped me out with Gabby. She got the cutest water baby and sent it here a week before Christmas.
Now, as for Christmas Eve, we went to Ben's family for a couple hours and then headed over to Grandma Greats. We decided as a family that we would stay the night and open presents with Grandma. It was kind of a long night. First off, Grandma would not go to sleep and needed to go to the bathroom every half hour but didn't do anything. And for all of you that know, it got harder and harder to lift her. Plus, she was not very nice. She was really agitated. Finally, she got to sleep around 11:30. We had to do Santa and so forth. We finally got to bed around 12:30 and then my son was having nightmares all night. And it was really freaking cold at my Grandma's. So the kids woke up around 6:30 and we did presents. Cash wanted to open everything all at once. It was funny cause he wasn't into Santa this year. Acutually, Santa freaked him out when he say him. So he kept saying "Ask Nana and Papa to buy it," with everything he wanted. Gotta love it.

So we got ready and went to Ben's family for breakfast and then headed back to Grandma's. We spent the afternoon there. Kids dd not get a nap at all. So by the time we left around 6pm on Christmas the kids were exhausted. Cash was acting sick. But we finally got home and settled in. Cash was up all night coughing. So I thought he was sick. I was wrong!

Which brings us to Puke Feast 2009! Gabby woke up around 6am and started vomiting every 20 minutes. It sucked. I felt so bad for her. She finally started to vomit blood. So I took her in around 3pm because she got so lethargic and not really responding well. The doctor she had the flu but she was vomiting blood. He sent me home with phenagran suppositories and to give her a tsp. of Gatorade every 10 minutes. If she can't keep that down to take her to the hospital to get hydrated. Well, we didn't go to the hospital. Just a really long night once again. So the next day we did the same of more puke. She started to slow down with the puking and we thought we were over the worst. Then around 6 that night Cash started puking. It was SOOOOOOOOO much fun!Sick kids. Felt so bad!

They are on a slow mend but Cash might have the chicken pox. We will find out tomorrow. But it was funny to see all the towels and laundry we had to do and the little beds we made for the kids in the living room.All the laundry and the sickies!

All in all, besides Puke Feast, it was a good Christmas. I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and I hope it was as wonderful as ours. (PS We did video of our Christmas so I will get pics up later of the kids and new toys.)Linda Lou and Benni. Happy 32 BDAY!

Last, but not least, I want to tell my husband a HAPPY BIRTHDAY, today! I want him to know that I love him so very much and I appreciate that he works really hard for our little family. Times have been tough for us but he is our rock and our provider. So with that "HAPPY 32 BIRTHDAY, BIG DADDY!"

Thanksgiving and more...

Gabby saying, "CHEESE" as we get ready to leave for SLC.

It has been a while since I last blogged. Just been real busy and getting ready for Thanksgiving. But we went up S.L.C. for Thanksgiving. We had dinner with the Millgate's this year. We had it at my sister's ward house in Stansbury. It was a good time. It was mostly my dad's brothers and sisters. While, we were there we had news reporters show up because there was a press conference for the guy that got stuck in the Nutty Putty Caves. His family was in my sister's stake. So we got talking to Max Roth with Fox 13 News and he wanted to do a segment on people who had been in the caves. So my dad, Jeff (brother-n-law), and myself all have been in them. So we got interviewed. And on Thanksgiving evening we were on the news on Fox 13. Crazy to see myself on TV. It is sad to know that someone died in that cave. The whole thing is scary and very sad.Family pictures.

On Friday morning our family got up and went and did some family pictures. It was hazy that day. So everyone who knows when it is hazy in Salt Lake, means COLD! We were out by Great Salt Lake and my daughter and the other kids were whining about being cold. It was a good time but stressful. When you have that many people it is hard. Then Benni flew home that afternoon and I was left alone with kids. Fun for me! No, it wasn't bad because my family helps me a ton.

Whitney, Kandiss and I. The 3 sisters.

Kandiss getting eyelash extensions.

On Saturday, my dad, Kandiss, and Jeff got ready to got to the Holy War game. My brother-n-law is a huge BYU fan and the rest of us are born and raised Ute fans. So it is rather interesting to have a game of both teams.

Talmage decked out for the game. We took it off after Jeff left! :)

So my mom, Whitney, and myself had all the kids. 5 kids under 6. Um, not fun at times. We took them to the Living Aquarium and lunch. They loved it. Especially, my kids. Cash loves fish. And Gabby loved the octopus. It was active that day. So we watched it for a while. Then that evening I had a chance to go out with my friend Jes. We had a really good time. It makes me really glad that I am not single. Man, how lame people are when they get drunk. We sat back and laughed at how many people act like idiots.

Gabby and Nataly on the frog.
Nataly, Gabby, Squid, and Cash
Cash loving the fish.

Sunday we returned home. Thank goodness my sister who drove because I was so tired cause I only got 3 hours of sleep from getting home late and kids waking up early. We had an awesome time. I want to say one thing that I am grateful for, and that is my children. They are my blessing and answer to my prayers during this hard time. I truly love being a mom. So I am thankful this year for them and the sweet smiles they give me every morning.

With that I want to tell everyone Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Halloween '09!

Our Halloween was not all that exciting. Cash was a skeleton and Gabby was a fairy. Her favorite green shoes matched. It was so cute. She liked to steal Cash's mask and go and scare everyone with her cute growl. We did go to Tuachan to the Farmers Market during the day and walked around for a bit and Gabby went on the train. She cried for a minute and fell backwards. It was so funny. Cash didn't go on it. He was to much of a wimp to do it. Then Cash went down the big blow up slide. Of course, not by himself because when he got to the top he started cry. So this guy that was at the top took him and his kid down. So Cash was a serious pain in the butt. So we decided to go home and take naps before we went and spent most of the evening with Ben's family.

Cash as a skeleton.

Gabby the fairy and her green shoes!

Gabby and her scariness!

Cash and Gabby having fun in their costumes.

When we got to the family's, there was some serious food. Wendy made two kinds of soup, pigs in a blanket, rolls shaped as a finger, and a cake like a spider and some serious trick or treat candy. So we chowed some food and took our kids trick or treating. It was such a nice evening. Warm! Wendy came with us to show us where to go and not to go. It was fun to watch Cash get all excited. Gabby just liked to copy him. Maddie and Dave caught up with us. We had a pretty good time.

Cash, Mommy, and Gabby enjoying the market.

Then we went back to Wendy's and just hung out with the family. All in all it was good time. It is getting me excited for Thanksgiving. It is my most favorite holiday and I get to go up S.L.C. for the first time in 6 years. So I am really excited.Cash, daddy, and Gabby at the market.

We are all doing well. I just took Gabby to her 18 month check up. Good news! She is back on the charts. She is in the 3 percentile in her height and weight. It is funny because she is barely over 20 lbs. By only a half a pound. She is doing well and is a serious trouble maker. She is into climbing every thing. She some how is on my table or counters. It is crazy how fast she gets in trouble.
Cash is doing well also. He is really into Dora and Diego right now. Those shows make me NUTS! But he is such a grown up. He makes comments that only grown ups say. It is funny! So we have to watch what we say.

Gabby and Cash trick or treating.

Happy Halloween to everyone!