The Past Year Or So

What can I say...life has been busy. Though, with three beautiful little girls to have and hold plus a little boy on the way, I have to say it is a WONDERFUL life.
So what all has happened since the last time I blogged. Lets see... Bethany has had not 1 but 2 birthdays, she is now 5 years old and loving pre-k with Mrs. Winton and Ms. Lupita. She LOVES to read and continues to read very well for her age. She is now reading chapter books like the Magic Tree House series.(in AR she reads anything up to and including 4)She is looking forward to swimming lessons this summer. Claira is 3 1/2. She is just plain wonderful, happiness exudes from every pore of that child. Everyone notices her exuberant, friendly spirit. She has learned her letters and sounds but hasn't figured out reading yet. She is quite bright though and is looking forward to pre-k next year. Oh and I forgot to mention she is now a "Sunbeam" in church primary. Now for my little Elliana. She is 1 1/2 years old, still quite bald and silent, but she is possibly the cutest thing you have ever experienced. She has a joyous spirit like Claira and a contemplative quietness like Bethany. She LOVES to snuggle more than Bethany and Claira at this age did put together. She is shy but happy and though she has been communicative for a long time now she has only just started to use words. At church she enjoys nursery with the other little ones. She is very well behaved if only for the fact that one of her very favorite things to do is sit in little chairs, just sit nice and quiet. Ellie also loves having books read to her. Her favorite is The Pudgy Bunny. Jared, the love of my life continues to amaze me. He is still a talented, caring high school science teacher. He is in the elder's quorem presidency at church and he is trying to finish up his masters this semester. Me, I stay home with the girls. I was VERY sick for my first trimester, but have since had a wonderful practically pain free pregnancy. A vast, vast improvement from my pregnancy with Ellie. I'm enjoying my calling as primary president at church. I love the sweet little kids I get to work with every week. And that is us in a nutshell. The highlight of the past year was probably our big trip to California. We were able to go with a close family friend, Alan Roes. Aside from their Dad and maybe their Mom(but the competition is TIGHT)Alan is the girls' favorite person. We also took Dar, one of Jared's past students to help with the kids. We did Sea World, the san diego zoo, Disneyland, California Adventures, universal studios and the beach. It has always been a dream of mine to take my little family to Disneyland and this past year my dream came true. It was AMAZING. We had such a great time! But along with those big family moments there are also the little moments you want to treasure forever. I have kept a small record of some of those events that have made us smile over the year.
- Jared had just finished pouring me some orange juice. He asked Claira if she could please bring it in to me. She took the cup and while walking over to me started drinking it. When she looked up, she saw that I was watching her drink my orange juice and that she had been caught. To excuse herself from this little act of thievery she said,"There were bugs in it, so I drank it because I like bugs."
-Bethany was eating eggs for breakfast when she sneezed. I asked her if she was OK because her sneeze sounded funny. She looked at me and replied, "I needed to keep my mouth closed so I didn't "bless you" these out"
-I was watching a very touching video clip with Claira snuggled up next to me. I cried through the whole thing. Claira must not have noticed because when the video was over she said in a very confused voice, "I'm all wet. Why am I all wet? Mom, you're all wet, why are you all wet?" She was very concerned but I was too busy laughing to explain.
-Jared has a dunce cap to use as decor for his book presentations. Bethany found it and put it on. When Jared saw her, Bethany asked him if she looked pretty. He said," yes, but I don't want you to play with it. You don't want to wear that anyway. Do you know what dunce means?" Bethay shook her head no and this conversation ensued...
Jared:it means stupid
Bethany:what does stupid mean
Jared:not so smart
Bethany:ohhhh, so you are stupid
Jared:why do you think I'm stupid?
Bethany:because you don't know how to make noodle soup.(top ramen)
end conversation (because Bethany's parents are trying to control their laughter so they can explain more seriously that we don't call people stupid)
Bethany has watched and helped me make noodle soup many many times(it being her favorite meal) She knows the steps boil water, cook noodles, turn off heat, stir in seasonings. One day she observed Jared making noodle soup. He put the seasonings in at the SAME time as the noodles. This, she knew, was NOT correct and has ever since believed that Dad is an inferior cook, at least as far as noodle soup was concerned. :)
-Claira,"DAD, DAD COME HERE, I need to show you this little thing!" pointing at the little thing on her plate she asks,"do you see the little thing?" Jared sees the little thing and thinking he was going to need to convince her this was a crumb and not a bug he picked it up. Claira says calmly now,"thats a little boogger, don't eat it."
-Driving along in the car on one of our many road trips we were playing the letter game. We had gotten all the way to Z. Claira says "Z says zzzzz" Jared responded,"zzzz like zzzzzebra" Claira says," and like B" Jared and I look at eachother ????? Claira, perhaps noticing our confusion explains," Bees also say zzzzz."
There you have it, just a few snippits into our wondeful life. And though we are busy and the kids can be difficult and life can be stressful, they fill it with overriding joy and overwhelming happiness. We love them so much and I for one feel so blessed to have this wonderful, amazing family. I'm also terribly excited(and nervous) to add this little guy to the mix.

grapefruit

My husband is a bit of a Grinch when it comes to Christmas. No one would ever guess this because He is so happy all season long. But around our house the holiday season is better known as grapefruit season and that puts a smile on Jared's face. My husband LOVES grapefruit. He has been known to eat ten large grapefruit in a sitting. Normally he has to restrain himself to just a few(3 or 4). I also love grapefruit and Jared constantly points out what an act of love it is when he shares his grapefruit with me. We should have guessed but we didn't expect that our 2 and 3 year old would be equally obsessed with the fruit. Now Jared has to share his precious grapefruit with our daughters. He was doing this this evening. Bethany was sitting on his lap. One bite for him one for her one for him one for her. Jared decided to squeeze in an extra bite for him. "Daddy, why do you get 2 bites and I get 1. You get 1 bite I get 1 bite." Nothing gets past that little one she is sooo cute!

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Kids play with the weirdest things

I let the girls keep playing while I was taking a shower today. When i was finished getting ready I walked into the kitchen and noticed something strange about the dishwasher. Kids play with the darnedest things.

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I'm a little bit big enough

I love being a mom. My girls are an absolute delight. They say and do the funniest things sometimes. Here are a few recent ones from Bethany that made us smile.

Bethany has gotten very adept at using our motorola droid phones. she has now started to download apps to our phones without permission. you can't do that we said. she said "yes. I can, I'm a little bit big enough to do that."

The other day jared was showing me his power point presentation for his relationship workshop. Bethany was on my lap not wanting to be left out. Jared and I were talking about the slides when Bethany cut in "s" "e" "x", that spells sex. You shouldn't have to be that careful around you're 3 year old

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Lets play catch up

Welcome back blogger world. WOW has it been awhile!!! I now have 3 amazingly beautiful daughters and life is WONDERFUL! I'm sure none of you will be surprised that I've had my hands full. So lets play a little catch up. Starting with the most impressive update first.





Ellianna "Elly" Afton Kempton was born the day after big sister Claira's birthday (thanks for waiting Elliana)on July 10th. She was 6lbs 12oz, my biggest baby yet. And boy was she beautiful. My favorite doctor Dr. Evans was able to deliver her. She also delivered Claira. This was pretty neat because she was not my primary doctor for this pregnancy due to her being on maternity leave.

My mom was able to come out for a week or so prior to the big day. We had lots of fun, but as I look back at these pictures all I remember is how TIRED I was.

the aquarium



The swimming pool


the 4th of July


The pond


The Botanical Gardens







The Zoo (me taking a rest at the elephant enclosure and trying to get some comfort from the other elephants there)




A very small celebration with Grandma on Claira's birthday. She LOVES her new doll that cries like a real baby. Grandma couldn't resist getting Bethany one too and ended up get Claira an additional birthday present.

And then it was Sat. Jared was working up in Abq. He couldn't leave his booth at the mall without getting fined. His brother was dropping his sister off hours away in the mountains for camp. This is the day Elliana decided to join us. I was nervous he wasn't going to make it. Not really worried just nervous. It was certainly a relief when he finally got there.

nervous smile
Elly came into the world that Saturday evening with a nick name(Elly) and a middle name(Afton, after Jared's grandmother). Her full name, Elliana, wasn't decided until the following morning. The name came from a little ways down the list of E names we had considered. I always thought the name was just beautiful but I couldn't see myself having a little Elliana for a daughter, that is until I held her in my arms and called her Elliana for the first time. It just fit. The name means daughter of God, and she is just that, a beautiful daughter of our Heavenly Father.

I am so blessed to have these wonderful girls. They amaze me daily. From Bethany telling us its ok we can just fix the clock with duct tape to Claira desperately running through the house so she can wave and say "I love you" to the garbage man as he dumps our trash to little Elliana and her very first smile. I love my life. And I am so incredibly grateful to be married to my very best friend. He is amazing with the girls, he is talented and intelligent and I just love to listen to him and be with him. We will be married for 5 years next year the 15th of March.

We share our anniversary with an incredible couple. They raised my best friend growing up Lisa and lived right across the street from us. Theirs, more than any marriage I observed during my youth, served as an inspiring example of love and commitment. They seemed to me to be best friends not just mother and father of their children. Unfortunately, this year Terry Carlton passed away. My heart breaks for his family he was greatly loved, but especially for Rosalie and the loss of her best friend. I can't even imagine.

My sister and I were fortunate enough to go to his funeral where we grew up in southern california. I hope making the trip helped them know how much we love them and care about them and how positive an influence they have been on our lives.

While we were in ca we were able to visit with my grandparents before they left on a trip out east.


To reward our five kids who made the long carride over with us we spent a few days at the beach. They loved it.





We had a good time and are looking forward to my dad coming to visit in a few weeks. Well actually he is going to Colorado springs and we will all meet there it should be a good time!!!

More updates to come.(hopefully)

My beautiful daughter Claira decided to wake up quite early this morning (4:30-5:00ish). Not wanting to deal with it we just brought her to bed with us so we could get some more sleep. She was doing pretty well just laying there. I was about to fall back asleep when she says, "MOO, MOO". I turn over to look at her and she says, "I'm a Tow". With a big smile and a kiss, "Yes my Claira you're my baby cow". She snuggled up and went to sleep.

I was recounting this story to Jared when he got home from work. Bethany overheard and not wanting to be outdone by her sister jumped on Jared's lap and said, "I'm a cow." Jared and I kept talking when Bethany bursts out with, "Milk comes out of the cow's bottom." Ohhh Bethany you never cease to make me smile.

Gila Valley Temple Trip

Bethany loves to see the temple. She gets so excited when we go. Every time someone mentions the temple in one of their talks she looks at me and says, "He's talking about the temple!" She really likes to point out the angel Moroni on top and tell us how he's blowing his horn. When we heard the gila valley temple was having their open house, we knew we just had to go. Bethany was just ecstatic to find out she was going to get to see INSIDE.

We had so much fun and the temple was beautiful. We had to wait in line as our tour group waited for our turn and Bethany could hardly contain herself. Claira was getting into it too, staring up at the temple pointing, "temple, temple". When Bethany first walked in her eyes were huge. She just scoured the room, nothing went unnoticed. She and Claira enjoyed all the paintings of Jesus and the stunning chandeliers. As we walked out of the most beautiful room in the temple Jared asked Bethany,"Wasn't that a pretty room." Bethany answered, "No, Daddy. That was a gorgeous room."

Needless to say, she loved the trip. Unfortunately, we were asked to leave our cameras for the tour. I left mine in the car and didn't get it back out when we were finished to take pictures. I'm just horrible at picture taking.