Bringing Baby Winston Home

I spent two nights in the hospital with baby Winston. And although it was nice to have so much time alone with Winston, I was a bit antsy to get home to the rest of my boys. I really don't like to be apart from them for too long. Mom Fillmore, Amy, Brandi, and Becky all helped out at the house while I was at the hospital.

Winston was a complete angel in the hospital. He picked up on nursing pretty quick. 

Sterling came to pick me up with the two big boys, Sterling Henry and Dellin. Sterling always dresses the new baby to take him home. He has picked out the going home outfit with our last two. I love watching him do this.

The boys loved being a part of it too!

Cutest daddy ever.

One last picture all bundled up with his name sign.

We usually take a picture outside the house with the baby and Sterling, but we got home at about 11:00pm and it just didn't happen this time. This little Winston boy was the first to come home to our new house. So hopefully that will out-way the lack of picture.

Nascar

The boys love Nascar, just like their daddy. Sterling has been to a few races, but this was the first race for our two big boys, Sterling and Dellin. They went down with our friend Matt and Jack. To say they loved it would be an understatement.

Before the race started and the boys were going nuts just looking at all the cool cars.

They had really great seats close down to the track. The boys loved the noise and all the excitement going on around them. It about blew their minds with the race started.

If you don't pass our on the way home with your earplugs on, then you probably didn't have as much fun as Dellin did.

I love that Sterling loves to take the boys to do fun things. I hope these boys know just how good they've got it!

BYU FOOTBALL WITH UNCLE PARLEY

 We were really excited when BYU announced that they'd be playing their season opener in Charlotteville, VA, just two hours from our house. Sterling decided right away that he'd go and take the boys. We all wanted to go, but knew it would be a long day with all the boys. So we decided to send the two older boys Sterling Henry, and Dellin, and leave the Gouverneur and Israel home with me. Sterling's older brother Parley decided to come out and join them. He stayed for the weekend. It was a lot of fun.

The boys left early in the morning to give them enough time. Gouverneur cried at the door for a good 20 minutes after they left, poor baby. 

They stopped in the Shenandoah on the way down. Here's Parley with the boys.

Sterling and Parley are practically twins, so this picture makes me laugh.

 All seated and ready for the game to start with uncle Parley. It was super hot, but the boys were pumped.

 A HUGE storm blew in and there ended up being a 2-hour time delay. The boys waiting it out.

Even with the time delay, the boys had a great time. This was their first of many BYU football games.

Gouverneur was really sad not to go. It's a good thing we're moving to Utah and can hopefully get him to a game in Provo this season. I'd like to go myself. I haven't been to a game in years. Raising boys sure is fun!

Father's Day 2013

We sure love our daddy around here. Father's Day is about one of our favorite days, because we get to celebrate him all day long.

We wanted to make him breakfast in bed, but he got up early to smoke some ribs for dinner. So the boys had breakfast with dad on the patio while he smoked the ribs.

The boys after church with dad. What a handsome bunch of boys.

After church we had our Father's Day dinner. Sterling smoked the ribs and I made mac n' cheese, baked beans, fruit salad, and summer squash. All the delicious flavors of BBQ in one meal.

After dinner, we gave dad our gift. It was a photo book with pictures of all the fun things he did with the boys over the last year. The boys helped me pick out the pictures.

The rest of the day was spent playing rugby with dad. This might have been his favorite part of the day. It's pretty cute to watch these boys play together.

Right before bed, the boys did a bit of wrestling. 

The next morning, the boys all ended up in our bed, by their dad. I think it's safe to say that all of our boys are daddy's boys. I sure love these boys.

I'm so grateful to be married to such a great husband and father. He is such a great example to our boys. He is hard-working, faithful, funny, and the list goes on and on. I hope they all grow up to be just like him. 

GARDEN TIME

 I dream of the day when I can have a huge garden. My mom has one that runs her life, and I can't wait till that's me. Gardening is therapeutic and really fun. I loved watching all my things grow last year. We didn't get much in the way of tomatoes or squash, but we got lots of pepper and herbs. We are trying tomatoes, pepper, and herbs again this year. We are also trying corn and pumpkins. Go big or go home right?!?

I started my seeds about 2 weeks later than I'd hoped this year, but it shouldn't be a problem. This part is always my favorite. After about three days, plants start popping up like crazy. The boys absolutely love it. I do too.

 The boys got to plant corn with their dad on Saturday. These boys are pretty into whatever their dad wants to do and I love it. It's hard to know who enjoyed this more.

 Here are the tomatoes, peppers, and herb in their pots. They start growing really fast at this point and it's fun to watch.

I'm hoping to be eating a whole lot of tomatoes in August, carving pumpkins in October, and having corn coming out our ears by the fall. Either way, it's fun to watch things grow.

Sourdough and Jerky

The boys have been making some fun and yummy projects around here. Sterling sent off for a sourdough start a few weeks ago. He started he with the boys. Here they are with our start. 

We've made lots of batches of pancakes with it and one batch of bread. The pancakes are out of this world. The bread needs a bit of tweaking, but the taste was still delicious. Sourdough pancakes are our new Sunday dinner. Easy and delicious!

Sterling has been dying to smoke some jerky with the boys. They finally went to work and made a couple of batches. The boys were thrilled to be part of it. Sterling is always so good to let them help with the whole process. He loves working with his boys.

After Sterling smoked it, he put it in the oven to finish drying out. Here's Little Man helping his dad.

The boys and their jerky. 

Our house has smelled like jerkey for two weeks. Not to mention the fact that someone packed it as a snack for church. The boys sat on the bench chomping away. Yes, we are that family.

Here's Sterling with his second batch. He did almost three times as much, since the boys pounded the first batch in just a few days. 

 I love that Sterling loves to do projects. I love even more that he lets the boys help so much. They love it and always have such a great time. I love my man and my little men.

OUR DADDY TURNED 35.

Our dad had his birthday on Saturday. He spent the whole day in the car, driving us home from Florida. We had the official celebration a couple of day later.

The boys and I picked out a sweet pair of Nascar tire cufflinks. They were a hit. The boys also make some little cards and things for him. 

He grilled us up some yummy steaks for his birthday dinner. They were delicious. Our dad is the grillmaster!

I snapped this picture of the boys that night with their dad. Here they are reading scriptures with dad. The boys like to pile on top of him. He is so great at teaching the gospel. I'm so grateful for such a faithful, fun, amazing father for our boys. We're all lucky!

Happy Birthday, Love! 35 has never looked better!

Wrestle Fest

I have to admit that having a house full of boys can be pretty rowdy at times. Ok so it's pretty rowdy all the time and I love it. This winter had been pretty cold, so we have spent a lot of time indoors. Staying active hasn't always been easy. One thing that the boys can always count on is Wrestle Fest. This happens most nights, but especially on Sundays.

New to Wrestle Fest, is arm wrestling. I grew up with my brothers arm wrestling all the time. (They still do when we get together.) So it's only natural to have my boys wanting to arm wrestle too. This was their first real arm wrestling match. So intense.

Here are a few action shots from Sunday night Wrestle Fest.

I love how even little Gouverneur wants in on it. It's just a matter of time till Israel will be joining in.

I really do love my life!

HALLOWEEN 2012

We had a great Halloween this year. My boys are still at an age where I have some say as to what they are going to be. I really wanted them to be super heroes. I sewed up the capes one weekend when Sterling was out of town and the rest was super easy. I would have made something for Israel but I wasn't convinced that he'd even be here for Halloween. He would've made a really cute super baby.

Sterling took the two big boys to our ward Trunk or Treat. They loved it! They got lots of candy and toys and had a great time. Here they are. Batman (Dellin) thought the whole thing was hilarious.

Gouverneur got to go trick or treating with the big boys on Halloween night. He loved every second of it and got the hang of it fast. Batman once again was a character for the pictures. Sterling Henry was dead set on being Robin even though that cape is a big smaller. Gouverneur made a darling Clark Kent.

Ready to go with dad.

The boys were really only gone for 20 minutes or so and loved it. They each got more candy than they ever could've imagined. Here they are eating away.

Like I said, I totally can't believe I don't have a single picture of Israel dressed up as something. Next year I'll make it up to him.

Lego Time

Our dad is a serious Lego fanatic. He has all his sets from his childhood with all the instructions saved and packed away nicely in our basement. He has been waiting for the day when his boys were old enough for big boy Legos. Little Man got his first real set for his birthday and has been waiting to put it together with his dad. Dellin was happy to sit and watch.

Sterling walked him through step-by-set and let him find all the pieces. It was darling to sit and watch. 

 Here are the happy boys with the finished helicopter. I'm not sure who loved it more but something tells me that these boys are going to be doing a lot more of this.

I love my boy world!

Smores

We had a family BBQ over the weekend and followed it up with smores. Not sure why it took us all summer to do smores in the backyard, but we might be doing it every weekend from now on. The boys loved it and it was a lot of fun.

Little Man and dad roasting the mellows.

Dellin was our official mellow man. He consumed most of the bag, but who could say no to that face. 

We strapped Gouverneur in the highchair since he has not learned fire safety yet. He was happy as long as we kept the graham crackers coming. 

The big boys with dad. Sterling Henry's face is so darling in this picture. 

Time to chow.

 Leaning over their plates so they could contain the mess.

Dellin was real serious about the whole thing.

Case in point. This picture made the whole night worth it. Darling boys. 

We invited Ellie and Kendall over from next door. They are our darling neighbor girls. They could fit into our family nicely. We love these girls.

Smores were a hit. The boys had a blast. Mom and Dad are still fun. It was a great time for everyone.