It's been over a month since my last post, where does the time go? We have been busy somewhat over here. Mark's sister got married in UT. Sept. 27. Her and Jason were married in Lindon at Marks grandparents house. Everything about it was beautiful. The people, weather, ambiance, scenery, everything! I would post pics, but I left my camera in Monticello on our way home, Whoops. Thanks Eric and Alena for letting us stay at your house!!

I just decided that I don't want to play catch-up because their is to many details and it makes me feel like I have been lazy and neglectful. Whatever!

Some of you may have heard about the Police officer that was killed in a car accident last Sat. morning. That is my cousin Shane Figueroa. My heart hurts for his wife and baby, for all our family really. Even when we were kids, he at 2yrs. my younger, I recognized how special he was. Quiet, respect full to everyone, and humble is how I will remember his character. At only 25 yr. old it just doesn't seem fair. We just have to trust the Lord and remember He has a plan for us all.

I am feeling better from being pregnant!! This feeling of not having to throw up every time I move, or smell something, headaches, sour stomach, nausea. You know, the works. Well it has dispersed much sooner than it did with Kaden. What a blessing!!! Mark has been working like crazy, it just makes me love him more!! I swear, I just fall more in love with my two boy's every day. Well, that's it for now.

YEAH, IT"S A BOY!!

Just what we wanted! Mark and I think Kaden is going to love having a little brother. He on the other hand wants nothing to do with a new sibling. Any time we ask him if he is excited or happy he says "NO", or just walks away. We thought if we took him to the ultrasound yesterday and he had a chance to be a part of what was happening and see the baby, he might get excited, or at least except it. Not the case. He was ok in the room besides tipping over the garbage can, and scooting the chair around the room making all kinds of ruckus. The only thing he said when he saw his new little brother was "look a snake" (referring to the baby's spine). We all had a good laugh at that one.

After Kaden woke up from his nap, he came into the kitchen where I was making lunch and pulled on my leg and said "I want to hold you" (aka, hold me). So, I stop what I was doing, and go sit in the chair to hold him. Then, Kaden climbs in to my lap with a pacifier in his mouth, he has NEVER taken a paci. Believe me, I have tried. He prefers his thumb!! He then tells me to rock and sing to him. Poor guy, I think he thinks he wont be my baby anymore. Maybe that's why he is so against another BABY living in our house!

WOW

OHH WOW, where do I even start. A lot has happened the past while, I am not going into detail because there is WAY too much! And I have been getting headaches lately when I am on the computer. The BIGGEST and best new thing that has happened is ......

YEP, I am PREGNANT!!

14 weeks right now, and sick as ever. I am not complaining, I am just happy to be pregnant, even with all that comes with it. (lets just hope it doesn't last till 32 weeks this time.)

So, just go over a few things quickly, Kaden has had to become an even bigger big boy now that "mom" just lays down all the time. He has mastered the potty, he washes his own hands, toys and any thing else I will let him get wet. He even try's to feed himself! I am not sure how ok am with that. Sometimes it turns out alright, and sometimes, NOT!! He finished both sessions of swim lessons, and did amazingly well!! He can jump in and swim back to the ledge by himself. GO KADEN!!

We had the Skousen family reunion, FUN! It took place in the white mountains this year, in the BEAUTIFUL Big Lake area. The weather... amazing! (if you like the rain). I feel bad I am not going to tell everything that happened, it will take too long, so enjoy the show! I do want to say I LOVE my family. I am so blessed to have such amazing parents who are still willing to just shake their head and sometimes even participate when we all get crazy! But they always seem to keep things in line. I always cherish the time I get to spend with my siblings, especially the ones that don't live close. I cant say enough good and uplifting things about my brothers and sisters. I love you all!! (sorry, some of the pics in the beginning are fuzzy, they get better though)

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Catch up!! (AGAIN)

Well, I guess it is time for me to sit down and get back on track. A lot has happened the past couple of weeks, we have been very busy. It all started two weeks ago when we were asked to speak in sacrament meeting. That very second Mark and I were asked, (which was right after Sunday school ended) the stress and panic of the situation hit a high! I tried to think of an excuse to say NO but I couldn't think quick enough before... "sure we would love to" came right out of MY mouth. All within that same second, I was thinking what the heck... did I just say that? To say the least, I was physically and mentally ill all last week! Well, we gave our talks yesterday and I survived. Don't worry about Mark he always does a great job, and never gets quite as nervous as I do. By the way, we spoke on how to recognize and understand the spirit. It went well, (or so people say).

Besides all that, Kaden is in a big boy bed now, and we decided to try what I though was going to be nearly impossible... POTTY TRAIN... all in the same week, I must be CRAZY!! Let me just say, I am amazed at my little man and the things he can accomplish!!

I will admit, the first week when we were at home, he was running around naked. (most of the time) But in one week, he only had 3 accidents, all on different days!! WOW! (I am sure that the frequently reminders, and reward with GUMMY WORMS and OTTER POPS had nothing to do with it... right!!) The next week, (which was this past week) was a little different. He got a stomach bug that was not very nice! So, he had a few more accidents, but he is back on track now and doing even better then before. Good job Kaden! Thank you for making it so easy!

MY BIG BOY!!

Oh, I forgot to mention, Kaden started swim lessons last week to. Poor kid, I think I may be overloading him.

For Memorial day we had a day full of riding, shooting and a fabulous BBQ in Maricopa with my fam. A good time was had by all!

Last weekend we got to go on a serious quad ride!! It has been a long time waiting for me. Box Canyon was beautiful, and our destination, the Coke Ovens. It wasn't easy getting there, we had to go threw a train tunnel and across the bridge then cross a raging river and everything. That was quite the sight. Most people would turn around when they saw the river, (in fact they did, we saw a few people, they dared not take on the obstacle) but oh no... not us. Mark, with some help of some friends decided to carry the quads and bikes across because the water was too deep to ride threw. It was so fun! About half way threw the ride Candee and I had to ride doubles (it was actually quite fun because she gets just as excited over all the bumps and whoops as I do) because one of the other quads Mark friend was riding broke. Or should I say... the tire broke. Really, it just flew off when he was turning. Don't worry, Phill Hurst was inspired to bring zip ties, and we all returned back in one piece.

This is the train tunnel we have to go threw, and then the bridge we have to cross. SCARY!
Coke OvensThe Power of Zip Ties

Another exciting thing that happened was Marks B-Day. Yep, on D-Day. He didn't want to do anything super special, actually he wanted to work... silly boy! So, we started off the day with a peanut butter ice cream cake and presents from Kaden and yours truly. He worked all day, then we got to go on a hot date all by our selves thanks to Grandma!!! I guess that was special because it doesn't happen very often. So, I got to make 2 fun cakes in one week, because we celebrated Marks dad AKA Papa's b-day earlier in the week. It was a good time.

So there we have it, the past two weeks in not so much detail, but you get the idea!

NICE weather!

I hope every one is having as much fun with this wild and crazy weather in May as we are! No seriously, it's 1:20pm and its 57 degrees outside. NICE!!

Snake Hunt

So, last week for FHE we went snake hunting with some friends in our ward. YES... snake hunting, the real deal. Lucky us, we still have the undeveloped desert down the street! We went riding that morning and found a big fat 4-5ft. snake, Mark wanted to keep it, but since it was a harmless snake I talked him into letting the poor thing go. Later that evening, Mark is telling his buddy what we found, and all of the sudden without hesitation we are snake hunting for FHE. Of course we have to go find that snake, rite? So, Mark packs a car battery in a pack so we can have a spot light, and I get to pack Kaden in. (Yes, we took Kaden.) Our friends, lucky them had all their kids in bed! Off we go hiking around, Tank (our dog) is with us too. About 45min into the hike/walk, we notice Tank rustling around in a bush and sure enough, we hear a rattle...enjoy!

(sorry the video is so choppy, we only had the phone)

THEN, This week for FHE... You know what they say... Taste like Chicken!!

The Boy and his Dog!!

I'm not sure how I feel about this. As Kaden is being so sweet sharing his popsicle with Tank, the only thing I can think of is... Dogs mouths are cleaner than ours right, or is that a farce. Oh wait I just saw him lick his you know what (the dog not Kaden)it can't be. Well I guess it never hurt me (because come to find out I shared my snacks with our pets as well when I was little.). So I am just wondering, should I be worried that Kaden willingly swaps slobber with one of his best friends?

Safford

So a couple of weekends ago I got to go to Safford with Matt and Candee while Mark was at father and sons... without his son. (We decided the kids need to be out of diapers before they can go.) I got to visit my best friend Maranda and be there for her son Dyllans' 4th birthday party. Thanks Randa it was a blast! And while we were there, Candee's mom took some super cute pictures of Kaden and the kids while we were there. Thanks Sherry!!

The kids collecting eggs to eat for breakfast.

Here are some of my favorites!

What a STUD!

Sherry did a great job of capturing Kaden being himself!

Quiet whisperings

Last night we had the opportunity to go to the temple/ visitor center and see the Reflections of Christ collection, beautiful photography of scenes in Christs life. It is interesting to see the kids go into the visitor center and automatically they have a certain reverence about them. Especially when they are at the feet of the Cristi's. They definitely were not perfect, but there was a change. The photography was beautiful, and the spirit was definitely there. If you haven't seen the pics. here is the link to the reflections web site http://www.reflectionsofchrist.org/, its way better in person.

I wish I had my camera because the reflection pool outside had the fountains going which I haven't seen on since I was a kid. Anyways, I love the feeling and sense of peace we carry with us every time we leave the temple. I am so grateful we have one so close. I am really excited for the temple in Gilbert to be built! I wonder what it will look like?

When we got home Kaden was being rarely quiet, and he was eating his dinner without any fuss, and being ohhhh so sweet. After I gave him a bath I was putting his diaper and jammies on when he became intensly quiet and his eyes started to go side to side, and he started moving his head like he was trying to see something behind him. Here is how our conversation went...
Me: Kaden what do you hear?
Kaden: No response
Me: Kaden what do you hear, is it a cricket? (thinking he heard something outside because the tv was not on)
Kaden: No
Me: Is it a bird?
Kaden: No
Me: Is it a friend?
Kaden: No
Me: Is it an angel?
Kaden:No, its Jesus Mom!!
Wow, that blew me away. I'll admit... I was a little stunned. After that feeling quickly passed, I just laughed and asked what He said. Kaden did not answer me. I do wonder what our precious sweet little children still hear and see?

My silly boy!

Superstition Farm!

On Tues. for our Achievement Day's activitie we took the girls (and our kids) to the Superstition Farm for a tour of the place. It was totally fun and the girls said they loved it, and I think all the younger kids (Kaden, Emma, Noah, and Neela) seemed to have a super fun time as well. They usually only do tours on Sat. but they made a special exception for us! They started us off with a little lecture about how they started the farm, and of coarse the cow's, how much they eat, what they eat, showed us some of their medicine, the different kinds of milk, blah blah blah. It was cute though because there was some interesting chickens and a dog just roaming around where we were, the kids loved that. Then it was off the petting zoo.

Kaden feeding the goats.

The bunny Peanut.

Loverboy the horse

This is one of the chickens that was roaming around. His name is Einstein, isn't he cute.The donkey from Shrek. Or, that's what I told Kaden anyways. Then they took us on a hay ride around the farm. There is a mister under those shade things that make it 15-20 degrees cooler than it is outside.

This is my fav. cow. She is a jersey cow, we learned that they make a more creamy milk. Good for ice cream, Yummy!

After that they had a milk bar where there was all different kinds of milk you can taste. I had pistachio. It was delicious!

By the way, did you know that their cows, (I don't know if it's all cows) produce 15gal. of milk a day. Wow mama, poor cows, talk about sore, and tender breast!

One week catch up.

I was trying to remember what we did last week because I didn't post anything. I started to get bummed thinking we were boring because I couldn't think of anything. Then I looked at my camera and decided we did a few fun things, so here they are. Probably boring for you, but hey, this blog really is for me to keep note anyways!
FHE at the park. Mark on the long board, I was rollerblading, and Kaden on his trike (some of the time).

We took the kids to the mall to play on the water pad. They totally loved it, except the wind was blowing so they were shivering and had purple lips the whole time.

On Friday Candee and I took the kids to an open gym at Arizona Olympians. Can I just tell you that Kaden LOVED every second of it!! I will have to say, sO dId I. It is really just for the kids to play, and practice if you have them in gymnastics, but I couldn't help it. I kept finding myself in the foam pit a few times, and running and leaping across the spring floor and the tumbling tramp. Shaking my booty to the beat of the music they had playing, (I hope no one saw) Ohhhh FUN!!! We will definitely be going back there. Too bad I didn't get very many pics. I was to busy enjoying myself.