Baptism Day

This is what we woke up to Saturday morning...SNOW!  I joked that it was neat our whole city was able to dress up for Liah's baptism :)   The kids couldn't wait to don their snow gear and create snow forts, snow men, snow angels, and snowballs.

Here Liah is on the steps of the Bountiful Tabernacle.  I just realized that so far, everyone in our family has been baptized in a tabernacle.  I was baptized in the Logan Tabernacle, and Bryan, Zerin, and Liah have all been baptized in the Bountiful Tabernacle.

This may be my favorite picture ever of my little girl.  Her Grandma Skelton made her baptism dress...she let Liah design it and pick out the fabric and she made it.  So special!  When I was little, my mom did something special for me that I have passed on to my kids.  Before my baptism, they drove me to the temple and gave me a Book of Mormon with my name on it and my dad's testimony in it.  That little Book of Mormon is one of my most prized treasures.  Bryan took her up to the Bountiful Temple to give her one with Bryan and my testimonies in it...it was a sweet moment for them.  I found a necklace of a Liahona that we gave her.  It was perfect for her :)

 Bryan let Liah pick out his tie...I thought it was cute she picked pink :)  Bryan was very self-conscious that he didn't have a suit on for the baptism, but I thought he still looked really nice.

Liah asked her cousins to sing "I'll Follow Him in Faith" for the program.  They did such a great job, there is just something about boys singing that warms my heart...even if they were all singing in different keys :)

Earlier in the week, Liah met with the Bishop.  That was such a sweet experience for her, and a bit of a turning point.  She seemed to grow up, and really grasp the gravity of the choice she was making after talking with him.  When she was Aeden's age, she told me she never wanted to be baptized.  We realized later it was because she was so scared of the water.  Fast forward to this week, and you would never know she ever felt that way.  She was SO excited!  Excited to be baptized, excited to be clean, excited to receive the Holy Ghost, excited to be the newest member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  The night before, I went up an hour after bedtime to find her reading her scriptures.  I cannot get over how far we have come over the last few months, and how much she has grown and changed.

So many people came to support her, I was a blubbering mess before it even started.  There were a few missing, but we know they were there in spirit.  Bryan's brothers Andy and Alex and their families were there  (we missed you Dal and Sar!), along with Marné and her significant other, Brian.  Both Grandma Hugie and Grandma Skelton came, along with my sister, Jenni, and my brother Cody and his family.  Cody and Cindy have been fostering two little boys (ages 3 & 4...Jonathan is also 4).  They got word this week that it's looking like an adoption will be likely.  Three little boys within 19 months of each other!  I am so excited!!!  I love my Aiden, Laken  and Jonathan  :)  Poor Laken got pretty scared by all of the people, so they ended up having to leave right after the baptism, but it meant so much to me that Cody was able to be there long enough to help confirm Liah.

Many of our neighbors came, including Stick and Melba Hill, Elaine Reed, Coleen and Ammon Jones, Scott Schulte, the Stirlings, and the Bowmans.  Her primary teachers, Tyler and Maddie Higginson, took off work so they could make it.  They actually moved away this week, so it meant a lot they would make that extra effort.  The primary presidency, the Bishop, and Brother Brand from the Bishopric were there.  One of her primary class friends, Alexa, and her dad also came.  To see so many people assembled together to support her really touched me.

Originally, Liah was going to be the only one baptized, but about 10 minutes before, another little girl showed up with her family.  I felt really bad that her name wasn't on the program, but it worked out great.  Her name was Arianna.  She has a palsy of some kind and had trouble walking, but her spirit was so intensely sweet and pure, I felt  very blessed we were able share the day with her.

Liah's Grandma Skelton was the pianist.  Our good friend, Ami Bowman, led the music.  Marné gave the opening prayer.  The cousins sang their song.  Jenni gave a wonderful talk, and Grandma Hugie said the closing prayer.

Liah asked her Uncle Cody and Uncle Alex to be witnesses.  I'm sure there were other angels standing in as witnesses as well.  It was a blessing to feel the Spirit so strongly.

When the brothers and the bishop got up with Bryan to confirm her, I had such peace wash over me.  All of the craziness that had led up to that moment temporarily dissipated.  The knowledge that came in that moment provided clarity that I had up to that point lacked:  that Heavenly Father deeply loves and personally knows this little girl, that He will be there for me and Bryan as we do our best to help raise her, that she has an important work to accomplish, that nothing will be able to keep her from accomplishing that mission if she chooses to live close to the Spirit, and, that one of those missions is to teach me.

Liah's Baptism...

This'll leave you in stitches!

Do you know how difficult it is to have your camera on hand with 5 anklebiters? Thus, no pictures :)

In our town, they have spring clean up, where you get to haul your unwanted junk to your curb, and the city picks it up for you...but before that can happen all the metal junkies, and junk junkies pilfer and wade through your piles to make sure there is nothing worth salvaging first. So, we were hauling, and cleaning and doing more yard stuff today, and trying to keep said people from hauling off our WANTED merchandise...one of my favorite tasks, to be sure. By about 6:00, we were all pretty tired, so we began the clean up process.

Aeden and Liah decided to supervise our activities from the top of the truck. I was none to happy about their choice of venue, but as I opened my mouth to express my frustration, I hear Liah scream, and then she starts cry-screaming, "I'm gonna freak out! I'm gonna freak out!" So, I braced for it, and walked over to find she had done a nice little number on the top of her foot, with, of all the things, the windshield wiper (don't ask me how...I still can't figure it out). It was pretty nasty, so Bryan took her along with Zerin for some emotional support to the First Med place. We are pretty much on a first name basis now with all their staff.

I got the little boys dinner, but all I could think about is my sweet little girl freaking out when she found out she needed a shot.

Well, cutting to the chase a bit, I couldn't stand the wait, so I called my mom-in-law to come sit with the boys and I took off to be with Liah along with Bryan. I got there right as they were giving her the shots. Horrors. They gave her more than twice as much as they give a child her age, because she just wasn't numbing up. Turns out, numbing medication doesn't seem to work on her very well. She still felt a lot of the stitches, it was awful.

Thinking back to the other two times she has gotten stitches, I could just die...I can't even imagine the awfulness she has had to endure because I have been so clueless. I will never forget the look in her eyes tonight when we were going through this, never. But she was so tough...as much as it hurt, she held very still while the doctor and nurses did what they needed to do. Not to put her in the same category of Joseph Smith, but I couldn't help but think that was a tiny tiny taste of what Lucy Mack went through when Joseph had his surgery at such a tender age.

Adrenaline usually carries me through things like this, but I had to sit down after it was over for a minute because I got dizzy, and I'm not like that! I was really glad Bryan was there. She ended up with 8 stitches, a 10 day supply of antibiotics, and a Hannah Montana binder for her baseball cards courtesy of her sweet Daddy.

Liah's Little Surgery

We went in this morning to PCMC to get Liah's 2nd set of tubes. The first time she got them, it was because she was constantly sick with ear infections. They helped so much, but after a couple years, the tubes fell out, and it appears the problems came back. This time we found out there was a problem because she failed her hearing test at school. So after following up with the district audiologist, and a Pediatric ENT, we found out she needed another set of tubes to get the fluid off her ears to improve her hearing.

The doctor told us there was a TON of fluid on her right ear, and said she should notice a difference right away in her hearing. That makes me SO happy. On the way home when I told her that, she said 'Now I can hear when the substitute tells me how to do my homework.' I asked her if she could hear her teacher when she explained things. 'Sometimes, but most times, I just guess.' Doesn't that just break your heart???

So she's doing great...she was a little pukey for a while, but she's doing a lot better and should be back to school tomorrow. YAY!!!

We bought her some new jammies and a hoodie for today's event, and Zerin let her borrow his ninja turtle slippers for today. What a great brother he is...he even woke up by 6am so he could hug her and say goodbye before we left. Love that boy :) She and I played Family Yahtzee while we waited in the waiting room and watched playhouse disney
This is Liah in her cute hospital issued ensemble

She thought it was pretty cool that she was in Bed 6 in the recovery room since she is 6!

Liah after surgery downing a popcicle...it didn't stay down too long unfortunately :)

What are we raising here???

Okay, so it's been pretty hot here, so when Bryan caught all three of the kids wearing these hats, it was a bit strange to begin with. I just have no words...

Thank goodness for talented friends!!!

My friend Courtney took these cute pics of the kids. Asher was in kind of a crusty mood all night, and the other 3 were bouncing off the walls, but she still managed to get some darling shots! I still have more to get from her, but I couldn't wait to share these! I can't believe after 18 months, I am finally going to have a good pic of all four of my kids!!!! :)

Another Liah story

Liah is my wanderer. She is a free spirit by nature and tends to do whatever the moment moves her to do without a lot of forethought. If she wants to feel the wind whip her hair, she'll head on an around the block bike ride...no helmet...in her pajamas (without telling me). If she wants to go see Grandma, nothing will stand in her way, unless Grandma's asleep and the door is locked.

On average lately, we have had at least one major scare a week when it has come to her and thinking she's been abducted or something. Major scare is constituted by Bryan breaking into a run to look for her and Mom imagining talking to the police describing her little 5 year old and hoping she can remember what she was wearing that day. There are about 5 homes she frequents, and she tends to be fearful outside of her comfort zone which is the square block our house sits on, so that helps narrow our search area.

She is very stealth-like too. One minute she can be talking to you, the next minute, you don't even notice she has left the room. She uses this tactic in sacrament meeting too when the meeting is getting too long for her little attention span and/or bladder to handle.

We have tried to learn from each episode and to issue consequences accordingly. One time, we found her asleep in Aeden's closet...no idea why after searching for close to 20 minutes. So then we learned from that experience to check all the closets before we freak out. She didn't get in trouble for that one...she's really cute when she's sleeping.

Another time, we found her at the very top of Grandma's treehouse with a bunch of teenagers who I am sure she was trying to impress not only with her monkey-like skills at getting up so high, but also her in-depth knowledge of 6 episodes of Hannah Montana. Bryan actually went and looked for her at Grandma's, but she wasn't ready to leave when he came calling for her, so when he called, she stayed quiet and just didn't answer. If you have seen the treehouse, you'll understand why he didn't see her when he looked up. So now he makes it a point to climb part way to make sure to see her. This one scared us, and Bryan's Mom, pretty bad (Alex and Danelle were even around so they were driving around looking for her too), so we came down hard on her. I made her stay in her room the ENTIRE day (I brought her breakfast and lunch in her room, and escorted her to her bathroom breaks). It was torture (for me probably more than her)...but I did it! I really thought it would never happen again since it was such a miserable experience for her. Naivity, gotta love it ;)

Yesterday, Drez, this cute little boy that's her age, called to her over the fence to come look at his chickens. She dutifully obeyed. Then they of course HAD to play. By the time I realized she wasn't where I had left her, Bryan, Zerin and I fanned out to check all of the "normal" places. Zerin came up with the idea to go to "chicken boy's" house (that's what they call this little boy in a rather endearing way, though I'm not sure he enjoys it). He found her, and ran home to tell us she was on her way. Bryan and I spent the next 2 minutes plotting our punishment. She showed up, wondering what all the fuss was about, and simply explained in her eye-bulging, hand gesturing teenager sort of way that it would have been rude to not go see Drez's chickens. Bryan spent a good 15 seconds reaming her with verbal force, and then retreated to the kitchen with me to laugh out of sight and earshot from her. He then assured me he had let her have it good so further punishments would not be necessary :)

I am coming to realize, that yes, my 5 year old IS smarter than me, and if this were a game of Survivor, I would not outlast, outwit, or outplay her. I imagine where we will be with her in ten years with my current strategies, and I shudder. So I'm trying a new approach. Just not quite sure what that approach is yet, but I'll let you know :)

What happens when Mom and Dad are a bit off their game:

Aeden & Asher taking Shadeau for a ride in their "boat."
Aeden & Liah teaching Asher to snort over breakfast.
Good times :)

Liah's 5th Birthday Party

It's hard to believe that my only daughter turned 5 yesterday. She asked for a scrapbooking birthday party, so scrapbook we did :) It was a cyclone of stickers, scraps, and scissors...but a lot of fun. Later, after we opened presents, there was a knock at the door. We opened it to find Princess Alyssa! She came in

and gave Liah a gift (a watch) and talked to the kids. The little girls were all a little shy at first, mostly because they couldn't believe that a real princess would come to see them. But after about 5 minutes, they peppered her with questions. Some of their questions were:

• Do princesses live in houses or castles?


• Do princesses have phones?


• Do you drive a car or a carriage?


• Do you know Giselle (from Enchanted)? Can she come with you next time?


• Are all of your friends princesses?

When she left, they all scuttered to the front door to see her leave. I think they half expected her to drive away in a horse drawn carriage or get sparkled away by a fairy godmother...my list of resources fell short on that one :)

Later that evening, we had Barbie cake and ice cream. I had sworn I would never give Liah a Barbie, mostly because I've been hardpressed to find one modestly dressed. But, I found a cheap ballerina one...so I added sleeves to appease my conscience :) I was proud of myself because Bryan couldn't tell that I had made any changes...I think he was just being nice because I can TOTALLY tell.

Earlier in the week, Bryan came home sporting Liah's gift...100% his idea. I had to smile, because in a month of Sundays I never would have come up with it, but it was the most perfect gift for her ever...a karoeke machine with a Hannah Montana cd. She LOVED it! Actually, all the kids loved it. She let them each have turns to jam with her.

Watch out Greg, Peter, Bobby, Marsha, Jan and Cindy....here come the Skeltons :)

A trip to the I Am A Child Of God exhibit at the Church Museum

Today for preschool, we went downtown to the Church I am a Child of God exhibit they have in the Church museum. It is so cute their...I wish my playroom at my new house could look like that :) I am in a rush, so the pics are out of order...oh well :) The big hit was playing doctor. All of the girls...and Aeden loved that part. Aeden in fact played doctor with the little stethescope in his hears pretty much the entire time. Afterwords, we went to the Brigham Young park on the corner of state and north temple. It is so pretty there...I wish my veggie garden could look like that :) Sorry about the sun, but I loved this first pic of Liah.

Afternoons with Grandpa

My two oldest kids got a precious opportunity over the past couple of days....they each got to spend some one-on-one time with their Grandpa!

Zerin's turn was yesterday. He disappeared with Grandpa into his workshop for a few hours. They made Zerin a new walking stick, organized some things, puttered, and just were :). Zerin was all smiles when he came home, and it was all I could do to keep the walking stick out of his bed and not in his desk at school. He told me it is now one of his most prized possessions (his words) because his grandpa made it for him. I think his afternoon with Grandpa actually provided some inspiration. He now wants to enter the Reflections contest. This year, the theme is "Wow." He wants to take pictures of Grandpa's inventions, and then write about how his Grandpa makes him go, "wow" because he is such a terrific inventor. He adores his grandpa so much, and I cannot tell you how grateful I am he got the opportunity to be with him.

Liah's turn was today. She could hardly contain her excitement and wait until after preschool when it was time to go. She hurried home, got changed, snarfed her lunch, and piled herself and her backpack in the van (consequently, last night, she packed half of her clothes so she would have stuff to wear in case she got dirty working with grandpa ---hahaha!). Liah's not one to talk much about things, but when I would ask her what they did, I got her 15 year old, "Well," and then she listed off all their projects :) She cracks me up! Here she is scrubbing old popcicle sticks with Grandpa. When she was finished, she neatly stacked the sticks, hung the brush where it went, and reported for duty for her next task. I was impressed how quickly Grandpa trained her :) He found her a pretty box to put her treasures in, and Grandma wrote her name on it for her...Liah was afraid Zerin would think it was his...mind you it had flowers all over it :) She was so happy to be big, and to have Grandpa all to herself, it was a special time for her. She talked about it all the way home. Then she told me she was going to save all of her pennies and buy Grandpa a dog so the dog could take Grandpa on walks (not the other way around mind you). I told her dogs were a lot of work, and Grandpa wouldn't want to get another dog right now, and she just matter-of-factly replied that she would buy a cage with the dog so that Grandpa could put it away when he was too tired to go on walks. Life is just so simple when you are 4 :)

I can't get over how happy I am that these two got a chance to be with him today. I was blessed with two wonderful grandpas, and I know the deep impact they had on my life. So even though my kids didn't get the opportunity to know my father, I am sooooo glad they are so close to Bryan's dad. I just feel grateful grateful grateful!

3 Funny Stories...

Funny Story #1: Every night, the kids all jump on Daddy's lap for a bedtime story or two. Now that Zerin can read, somehow, everyone ended up on his lap this time for "Go Dog, Go." Bryan's lap was good with the break :) Funny Story #2: We went to the dentist last week, and discovered that not only are Zerin's bottom 2 teeth loose, but one of his permanant teeth is already coming in behind one of the baby teeth. The dentist tells Zerin that he has 2 weeks to get that baby tooth out, or else he'll have to pull it. So last night, Zerin was eating his "sugar daddy head" (not really sure why he calls it that, but he does), when all of the sudden...out pops one of his bottom 2 teeth! He was so excited, he could hardly stand it. The funny part of this story? It wasn't the tooth that is going to have to get pulled :)

Funny Story #3: (as told by Bryan) Liah was outside in her barefeet walking around in the backyard and stepped on a sticker (pokie thing). She was brave and dug it out herself. She didn't, however, want to put on shoes. So, she compromised with herself, and wore one shoe around for the rest of the afternoon.

Oh What Do You Do In the Summertime?

Pick Giant Weeds
Have a baby feeding party
Make a bed in the bathtub at midnight
Look cute in new school clothes.

Liah the Brownie Slasher

For about the last 3 years, Bryan and I have a standing date pretty much every night about 9 pm. He makes brownies (GF baby...all the way!) and we have ice cream (or when I was trying to lose weight, frozen yogurt). Now the brownies usually get done around 8:30, then they have to cool, then we put the chocolate pudding on, then that has to set up for a few minutes, so we unknowingly created a 10 minute window of opportunity.

In the last year or so, we started noticing these double slash marks in the brownies....not big chunks gone, nothing like that. Just two parallel lines in the pudding, every single time. The children were all asleep, so it couldn't have been them. Had someone broken into our home, realized the only thing of value was brownies, only to find they were gluten free, so they slashed them sheerly out of spite? Could it have something to do with Area 51...a lazy crop circle perhaps??? Was there some serial treat thief warning us of things to come??? It was a baffling mystery for months.

Then one highly ordinary evening, during the time in question, I ventured back into the kitchen for a drink. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw of flash of something tearing around the corner. "What the...?" I thought! I stealthfully slipped around the corner to find all the children sound asleep. Yet, upon further inspection, my 2nd oldest though obviously in deep slumber had apparently been interrupted during her mission, as a nice chocolate ring surrounded her mouth. She didn't move, so if the evidence didn't suggest otherwise, I would have sworn she was asleep.

When I asked about it the next morning (to all the kids, not just her), a look of surprise casted over her face, and she said, "How did you know about that?!"

Mystery solved :)

Meet the Fam...

Meet Zerin

Age: 6 going on 35

Favorite Activity: Going on long bike rides with Daddy

Favorite Foods: Pizza, Top Ramen, Tacos, McDonalds hamburgers with nothing but the patty and bun

Biggest Fear: Eating a Vegetable

Biggest Accomplishment: Making it to the top of Grandma and Grandpa's treehouse by myself

Biggest Quirk: I have to smell everything. The fork, the monkeybars, the shoes...everything.

Biggest Talent: Climbing!

Favorite Subject in School: Math (it's easy), and Reading. I love to read.

What my mom likes best about me: Zerin can pretty much sit down and tell you, in order, every story in the Book of Mormon, all the characters, which are good guys, which are bad guys, and the morals of the stories. It is pretty incredible.

Meet Liah

Age: 4

Favorite Activity: Shopping for and trying on shoes

Favorite Foods: Broccoli, Pizza, Broccoli, and um, everything.

Biggest Fear: Alligators, and being alone

Biggest Accomplishment: Learning to ride a 2 wheeler. I am really good, my dad said so.

Biggest Quirk: I have to have pretties...especially when I am sad. Whether it's a blanket, a pillowcase, a ribbon...gotta have a pretty.

Biggest Talent: I am really good on my bike, and dancing, and making up songs

Favorite Thing to do when I'm home: I love to draw and make pictures. I make beautiful things.

What my mom likes best about me: Liah is so kind and selfless (most of the time hahaha). She worked so hard the other day earning money with her dad, and when she found out Zerin was a little short for something he wanted to buy, without a thought she handed over her hard earned cash.

Meet Aeden

Age: 2

Favorite Activity: Doing happy dance, riding bikes, jumping on the tramp, and swimming

Favorite Food: I devour pretty much everything.

Biggest Fear: Being thrown, going too high, or anything that seems scary

Biggest Accomplishment: I am 2...everything is an accomplishment.

Biggest Quirk: I cannot pass up an opportunity to cheese for the camera. Doesn't matter if I am supposed to be in the picture or not, I physically cannot restrain myself.

Biggest Talent: I make people happy.

Favorite thing to do when I'm home: I like Mommy and Daddy to read me books.

What my mom likes best about me: Aeden is our comic relief. Doesn't matter how on edge or stressed someone is, he comes up with some wacky thing and has that person laughing within seconds.

Meet Asher

Age: 7 months

Favorite Activity: Bathtime!!!

Favorite Foods: Peaches and Sweet Potatoes

Biggest Fear: Being alone

Biggest Accomplishment: I can do pushups! Not girl pushups either.

Biggest Quirk: I suck my pointer finger.

Biggest Talent: I am the world's best snuggler

Favorite thing to do when I'm home: Play with my brothers and sister with their toys.

What my mom likes best about me: Asher makes everyone he's around happy. Doesn't matter where we go, I always have a crowd around me vying for his attention.

Parades and Reunions...

We got to the Church for the Primary Parade and they asked Bryan to lead the pack. Liah and Zerin were right there at the front next to their dad...so proud! This was only Liah's 2nd official real road bike ride. Whatta girl. Bryan was beaming...like father like son :) Bryan's Dad in the Bountiful Parade with Andy and Bryan.

Some of the older kids flew ahead in front of cars and across streets against professional advice, but luckily guardian angels were on their toes that day :) Aeden didn't want to miss a thing, and even though he was going about a yard an hour, he just kept plugging along...

...until he saw THIS!

Then the older kids all came back and it was time for popcicles...good times.

Then a little later we made our way to Wanship for our Annual Hugie Family Reunion. My dad comes from a family of 9 kids, so even though not everyone can come, it's always a huge group. One of the highlights is the raffle. Everybody brings good, random or crappy things and they raffle them off. Zerin is INTO the raffle. In fact, he has been looking forward to this reunion, asking about it every morning when he wakes up just so he could be on his game for it. When the giant tub of cheeto balls was up for grabs, I've never seen him so attentive...carefully studying the numbers on his tickets...hilarious :) This year's winnings for our family include a fan necklace for Liah, Phase 10 for Zerin, and a broken electronic poker game for Aeden. Some of the kids even ventured over to feed the one-eyed horse. I was more than relieved Aeden didn't lose a hand since all the grass he was giving the horse was stuck tight in his fist :) Liah became best friends with her new cousin, Hailey (black dress) and her cousin Jade (pink dress). They followed each other everywhere. When it was time to eat and we called them to dinner, they looked at each other and said...

"We can't! We're FRIENDS!" Okay then...I can't exactly argue with that now can I :)