Christmas 2009

Isabella's haul
Cecilia and her DS lite
Francesca and the DS lite
Mattea and the Happy Family doll house
Luke and all his stuff
Our trip to see Santa at the mall.

Christmas was wonderful this year. We had fun going caroling and had many friends send cards and treats and express their love for us. We hope the rest of you enjoyed this wonderful season. It is such a wonderful time of year and hopefully it refuels us to start another year. As for the gifts the kids got.... Santa spoiled us yet again. There are now 3 DS lites in the house, Trio blocks, a Bionicle, a Happy Family house, sparkle shoes...no partridge in a pear tree though. Maybe next year...

Francesca the gymnastics queen!

Video shot by Cecilia Wahl

Luke's Christmas program

Every year the kindergarten class gets to perform a Christmas program. This year Luke was in it and did a great job! He was one of the toy soldiers at the Christmas toy store and the "N" in the song about Santa. He also in the front row and wore his suit and everything! The first video is the Santa song and second is of the kids saying who they want to give a Christmas present to. His sign says Mattea. I thought that so sweet! The 3rd is the soldiers walking around the Christmas tree. What a great job they did!

Proud mama!

So who is a proud mama? All of our kids..ok, except Mattea, but she is not in school...got straight A's. For a woman that didn't really try to hard in school...I LOVE IT!! I am so proud of our kids! Their teachers said such wonderful things about them and it just makes me think that we are doing some things right! I love them all so much and hope they continue to value not only education but the blessing that the Lord has given them. I love you kids!

Luke Joseph Wahl...Age 6

I knew I was going in to labor the morning of the 4th, but I went to my doctor and she said I wasn't...I told her I would see her that night. Sure enough...7:58p...Luke Joseph Wahl was born very quickly and very dramatically. We had gotten to the hospital only 20 minutes before he was born and having not had a "natural" childbirth before I was sure I couldn't have him without and least some sort of drug...but that was not in his plans. He came home to 3 dotting sisters and now has a buddy in his little sister. He loves his buddies Tyler, Christopher and Zach. We are so blessed to have this sweet boy.

Halloween, Crazy Hair Day and Frankie's 8th b-day

Mattea's pumpkin
Cecilia's pumpkin
Frankie's pumpkin...notice all the bumps and the uniqueness
Luke got his at the pumpkin patch
The school had crazy hair day and this is the result... (Below) Frankie's 8th birthday with all her friends. We took glow sticks and cut them open and had glow stuff all over the floor! The theme was a haunted birthday. She loves having her birthday around Halloween!

New Job

Well I guess that I can officially blog about this now. Louie is going to have a new job in a few weeks. He applied at Smith's in Mesquite and was accepted to be the 2nd man meatcutter. In other words he is the Assistant Meat Manager. We are very happy about this and it is going to be a great decision for our family. We have been praying for this opportunity for a little while. He will be back in the union and this will help get him a better pension when he does retire. He was with the union when he worked in Las Vegas at Food 4 Less and that is the same union there at Smith's. It is a little bit of a drive but not bad traffic. We are very happy and hope for the best!

Francesca is 8!

Another year and now Francesca is 8! Yes, I still remember the day she was born. We went to Elissa's house and I was laboring there for a little while and then we went to the hospital. She gave us a scare a few times during the labor, but as everyone ( including the doctor) were paying attention to events on the TV...this was right after Sept. 11, and then for some reason there was a major story happening that day to do with that.....she came into the world at 8 lbs. 9 oz. She has a very wonderful personality and is very smart! She loves to do gymnastics and is very loving. She is affectionate, but has a feisty side to. We are so happy she is a part of our family.

I've got my eyes on you......

Cecilia now is the second child of ours to need glasses. She has different prescriptions in her eyes but she was thrilled to pick out these glasses. "They match my outfit!" Which if you know Cecilia is very important! She looks so cute and she loves that she can see clearer. Bella got glasses too when she was in the 4th grade. So maybe 4th grade is cursed for our kids! Either way they will look fabulous!

Tent Village

During conference the kids decided to make a tent village. I used to love doing this myself. They make them more elaborate then I used to. They have rooms and other homes and all sorts of things. It's fun to see. I hope we have enough blankets!

Frankie's Lost Tooth-The Movie

Weekend.

This weekend was great for the whole family...even thought we weren't all together. Louie took 4 out the 5 kids camping and I stayed home with Bella. Well, we stayed home for a day or so and then headed to St. George for a little R&R. Louie went with our friends the Shyfaces' and the Baileys to a great place past Cedar City. They kept telling me what a great time they had and their friend Markus invented a new version of a game that is in between tag and Hide and Seek called Michael Jackson. Apparently he was "Michael Jackson" and would kidnap a kid and then the other would come and find them?....I know, sound very weird.... but they said they had to keep running away from Michael Jackson....Bella and had a great time enjoying a great hotel and going shopping. Well, I enjoyed the shopping and Bella was sweet and indulged me.Anyway we are happy to be back together and be safe and sound.

First Day of School!

Here is Luke and his teacher Mrs. Hardy
The kindergarten playground
Luke getting on the bus.
Luke and Mattea sitting out waiting for the bus to come.
Luke and his first day of school clothes.
Our 2nd grader and her lovely outfit.
Cecilia and her blue attitude! 4ht grade here she comes!
Isabella allowing me one picture of her on the first day of 7th grade.

The first day of school has now begun! Isabella is now in the 7th grade, Cecilia is in 4th, Frankie is in 2nd, and Luke has now begun kindergarten! They all are really excited andeverything went ok until we got to the school grounds to see Luke off and then here came the tears! Not from him...from ME!!! It is so great to see them excel and be anxious for their education. I can't wait to see what happens this year!

Gettin' ready

We are back from vacation and are gettin' ready for school to start. I can't believe that the summer is over already! The kids had a great time in Utah and the family reunion was so much fun. We got to see both sides of my family. For those of you that don't know my complicated family...my parents are divorced and I have 4 younger sibling from my dad and step mom. I am my mom's only child so yes I was raised that way..explains a lot huh?...Anyway we were able to see my little brother and his wonderful family and my little sister and her wonderful family. We also went to the zoo with my other little brother and the next day the elephant that was prego had her 250 lb. baby! We also got to see the baby giraffe...Mattea threw up twice while we were there... and the vacation is complete! We have loads of pics that we will post soon. But to quote the immortal Dorothy...There's no place like home!

Quiet

The last few years my mom has taken the 3 older kids up to spend a week with her in Utah.This year she took 4 and also our dog. Mattea is left at home. We have so much QUIET!!! Mattea can be ..well, Mattea, but it has been very peaceful here. I don't think that we could handle this for very long...a few months maybe... Just kidding. I am glad that the kids can go and visit and we can have this time with Mattea. We sure love them all and now I have lots of time to ponder that love...ahh...

Happy Birthday Isabella!

Two a.m. on Monday July 28th 1997, water breaks and by 5 we are on the way to the hospital. We get a flat tire, the power at the hospital goes out and grandma shows up! At 5:12p. Isabella Arsenia comes into this world! She wasn't breathing and was very purple, but then she came around and boy has she made up for not crying right at birth. We love her so much and she makes us very proud. We are glad she chose our home to come to and are grateful for her . She is now 12 and will begin a new chapter of her life, but I still look at her and remember that sweet baby that was in my arms.

Sick

The last month Louie has been having what we thought was a sinus infection.Yesterday he went to work and became really dizzy ( he has been feeling dizziness on and off also for the last month)and so we went to the doctor and they gave him stronger antibiotics that hopefully are going to take care of the now ear infection. We are hoping that it will start working soon! Poor guy has been feeling bad for a month now and will feel somewhat good and then get dizzy and also have a semi-constant loud screaming sound in his left ear. There might be some other diagnosis if the antibiotics don't work but we are praying that they will and he can get over this soon. He is now officially old. After the doctor yesterday we went and got him a pill box. It has the 7 days of the week/ morning and night pills slots. He has his antibiotics, another pill for blood pressure and another pill to take. Then if he keeps getting dizzy, he can take a anti dizzy pill...but then it can make him sleepy. Oh the joys of life!

Harry Potter Movie

Great way to be a critic right here on a blog. We went and saw the movie today....and well...I guess it was good? It was great to see it, but for all those that are fans of the books...it was disappointing. They added things that were not ever in the books....some things are not explained. I feel bad. She writes these wonderful books. We read these wonderful books and are so excited when they are made into movies.We expect to see what we have read about over and over on the movie screen..just as we have read it EVERY part that we have read about. We want what we have read. That is the problem. We should just stay there in the book and use our imaginations. The best part of the day was the family time. Cecilia took her new wand and wore her robe. Tonight we got a cake from the bakery with a Harry Potter picture on it. So, if you are a fan of the books- be ready for some changes. I f you just watch the movies...enjoy-but, pick up the book!

Magic Time

Every year there is a summer reading program for the libraries in Clark County and this great magician named Tony Daniels comes and puts on a great magic show. This year 3 out 5 kids of our kids were chosen to help with the show. Frankie helped him perform the hanger linked together trick. Mattea was able to throw "candy" into the air and make real candy appear in a bag and Cecilia got to levitate. It was such a blast and the all the kids love going every year. He is really great and is so great with the many heckling kids that can"t just go along for the ride of magic. Check out his website
themagicoftonydaniels.com. We loved to see our kids up there and believe me they are not shy. All three of them got lots of laughs from the audience. We can't wait for next year.

Hoopla

(So yes I am going to blog about this.)I believe that my first cassette ever that was just mine was Thriller. I loved that tape and would listen to it over and over again. When my cousins' and I would play house, we always fought over who was married to Michael Jackson. Some one on the Today show said that we should remember the good things about him and how everyone just keeps bringing up his mistakes.Well, the one thing that I like to remember him for is his music.If nothing else he was definitely talented in that way.I always thought it was so great when my cousin David would do the Moonwalk and he and my other cousins would break dance. They are only 6 or 7 years older then me but it was so great for me to have that in common. We all loved Michael Jackson. So whatever else he did or did not do, that's the memory I have of him.

Isabella graduates 6th grade

Bella receiving one of her awards.(she is on the far left)
Here is Bella and her friend Shannon
Bella and her friend Jenni...of course!Jenni and Bella again at the bottom.

Here are some pictures of the lovely Bella and her graduation from 6th grade...*tear*. We can't believe that this is our BABY!!!! Anyway she did so well this year and we are so proud of her. She received many awards. It was great to also see her up there with so many of her best friends.

Luke graduates!!! (preschool)

Daddy and the boy
Ms. Mary Jean and Ms. Ann Marie and Luke
Look at that diploma!
The girls and Luke
He was so proud and excited...our sweet angel boy....

Having fun at 31!

This year for my 31st b-day I decided what better place to celebrate then at 31 flavors...actually they have 32, but I only had 31...something to look forward to next year. The BR was great in Mesquite and they have 1 scoop Tuesdays from 5-8p. It was so fun and goony...but hey at 31 I can be that way.