and six is bliss!

How can I resist this guy??

Baby stats:
5 months(21 weeks) gestation
Due date: June 2, 2009
Gender: it's a GIRL!!

A look at the bump

Home Update

interior picture of our future living room!

Here are some updated photos of our house. I don't think we will put the plush white carpet in the living room now, but other then that it is the same. You can't see much in the picture but the dining room is to the left and the kitchen & family room to the right. This whole process has been enlightening. I think you learn a lot about yourself when you build a home. I've always thought I was a fairly laid back person but have come to realize how particular and finicky I can be--Shane says 'hard to please.' I think I am extra cautious about getting it done right the first time so that there are no regrets in the end. Shane finally let me take over this baby, and has been very pleased with the outcome so far. He is certainly not laid back when it comes to his job, so he understands me well!

The builders have been great to work with, you just have to stay on top of them to get things exacty the way you want. They added 3 ft. to the dining room, beefed up the circular entrance a bit, moved a hall a few ft. over so we could add 2 full sets of cabinets to the kitchen, added on to our masterbedroom closet, took out the arches in the patio outside, added a full deck upstairs, and 2 windows. They are going to use ironrod staircase(pictured above). They have made these changes at no extra cost. We are really happy with their quality (2x6 construction, quality insulation, and build good resale homes) and would recommend them to anyone.

A brand new year

2008 was filled with many highs and lows--from politics to the ecomomy, and from a historic year for the Church to the Presidential elections, I believe it was definately a year for the record books. As we reflect on the last year, there have been a lot of changes in our lives... a move to a state we never thought in our wildest dreams we'd live in, Shane's new job that he loves doing every day, having a third child turning one, building our 'dream' home, and more. Words cannot express are gratitude for all of these blessings.
So far...we have tried to stay on track with everything by doing the simple yet important things like daily family prayer & scripture study. This is the glue that holds us together. Yet we feel that there is more to be done in 2009. So we each made resolutions for the year ahead. To help us not forget our new commitements, we did some fun activities New Year's Eve. Shane wrote his goals down in his planner(and a few times on paper), I beaded a bracelet with a charm, and the boys each made a fun and simple scrapbook page to remember.

The kids outside enjoying our (nearly) 70 degree weather!
Finding joy in the journey
Though we have been blessed inmeasurably this year, I know that life is a series of ups and downs and there are difficult times ahead. I don't know what they are or when they will come. I don't look forward to them. But I do know that they eventually come when we least expect it. How we respond can have a huge impact on our lives. I know that through our trials we can gain wisdom and faith if we turn to the Lord. So this year one of our goals as a family is to become better prepared both spiritually and temporaly.

Braden and Kyle's goals for the year
Our neighbors across the street have nine children! They invited us over for more goodies and fireworks to end the night. The kids had a ball. They could not keep their eyes open past 11pm, so we put them to bed and brought in the new year alone together. xoxoxo! I love you honey, go get em' this year!