Marley and Addie's pictures from March

Here are the pictures that were taken of the two babies, Marley and Adelaide (Addie) when we were all in Utah on March 4. I tried to upload them to my walgreens account but couldn't get the upload to work. So for right now, here they are. They are adoreable. Some are duplicates in black and white, but oh well.

Potty Training Nevin and Liam Biam

We've all had it, and decided we have to get the 2 boys potty trained. Nevin was happy about it yesterday, but today he refuses to get out of my bed and put underwear on.

The 2 monkeys

Liam Biam

Nevin in his Spidermans

Aiden singing the Darth Vader song - funny

Aiden has learned how to sing the Darth Vader song,

and it is quite entertaining. He keeps looking at the wii game that he wants to be playing

You will need to pause the music at the end of this blog to hear well

Easter in the Torrential Rain

It poured on us all day. We actually had record rainfall. So easter egg hunting outside was out of the question. We decided to do it in the barn. It was dry in there, but still kind of damp and cold. Easter egg hunting didn't last long needless to say. It was warmer in the house.

Wayne, Sonya Bernal and Cheyanna Balmer. We invited some friends

over to spend Easter with us.

Matt, Penny, Addie and Nevin. Kids don't even like the real eggs anymore, they only like the candy. I loved boiled eggs, we used to hunt the eggs over and over.

Shawn and Savannah Balmer, Tommy (Emilie's friend), Emilie and Wayne

Addie and Wayne and her Easter goodies

Easter babies for little girls are so cute

Hiding eggs in the barn on the stairs (unfinished naturally)

Hiding eggs in the motorcycle

Hiding eggs everywhere

Hiding eggs around and under stuff

Hiding eggs by the chickens

Hiding eggs by Wayne's reloading stuff

Addie licking her plate - sort of

Addie after eating deviled eggs and potato salad

Stake Dinner made from "Year's Supply"

On Saturday our ward was asked to make the Stake Dinner our of Year's Supply items. We decided to make Navajo Tacos. It was quite and awesome undertaking and I am very glad and grateful that it is over. It was very hard, and our "reputation" was on the line. We were to feed between 275 and 300 people. I'm not sure how many were there, somewhere between 225 and 250 maybe. Anyway, we had lots of extra beans and lots of extra fry breads. We are so grateful to all the women who came and gave their time to help us. They chopped onions (and cried), chopped tomatoes, rolled out fry bread and fried it. Then they helped us serve it all. Everyone loved it. There were a few who wouldn't eat because they didn't like beans or a few other stupid excuses. I feel sorry for them. It was an really good tasing meal made totally out of items you should have in your years supply, can grow in a garden, and make from having farm animals. I am so grateful we had the opportunity to do it. We truly believe times are going to get really hard and we need to be able to eat the food we have stored. I am grateful to my parents and grandmas who taught me how to cook and taught me to make the best of what we had. I still remember me and Debbie making Date Bars one time with no dates. I don't remember how they tasted, but I'm sure we ate them. I remember one time trying to make something that needed brown sugar. We didn't have any. We went to Margie Linn and she didn't have any either. She told us that if we mixed molasses with sugar we could make it. We did that and it worked. We do that all the time now. Grandma Bennett taught me to make Bean and Bacon soup and Grandma Muder taught me to make homemade noodles. I am grateful for that good teachers I had.

The tables set up for the dinner (and Sister Diane Gough)

Michelle and some of the sisters rolling and cooking fry bread. The sisters are Dodie Putvin, Sharon Wilcox, Julie Graham, and Diana Anderson, who is about 6 months pregnant.

Ginger was our Bread maker. She was taking the pictures.

This is the beans. Wayne kept saying to make more. He said we would feel really stupid if we ran out of beans when they were so cheap. We have lots in our freezer now.

My brother Vance, the only boy

Well, it's my brother Vance's birthday. If my math is correct he is 47 years old. As a kid we thought only old people got to be 47. I still think of him as a little kid, but he's gone much beyond the little boy I remember. I still remember when he was born. Back then you had to wait until the baby got here to find out if it was a girl or a boy. Mom and dad had been through four pregnancies and had 5 girls. I think dad was a little mortified to think that he, coming from a family of 7 boys, couldn't manage to have a boy. I remember when we were told he was a boy, and how excited everyone was. Of course, he got dad's name. We always used to joke that they tried for one more boy and after Nellie was born decided it was time to quit. Actually mom was never able to get pregnant again after that, and so I would like to think that they loved us kids so much that they were more than willing to have a few more, boys or girls not being a consideration. Anyway, to make a long story short, we all loved Vance. He was spoiled by all of us. He got to do all the special boy things with dad, not to say that us girls didn't learn how to do all of them before Vance got big enough. Now that I look back on it, I don't think dad ever cared that we were girls. He just expected us kids to do whatever he asked. And we usually did. Our parents taught all of us kids how to work, there usually wasn't much differentiation between girls work and boys work. Vance did get to take out more garbages and bring in more wood, and I'm sure he got to milk the cow a time or two. He had a motorcycle, although he did have to get a running start down a hill to get it started. He learned how to shoot guns, that really none of us girls ever did. Maybe because all of us older girls had unknown major eye problems. Vance played sports some, but never really liked them much I don't think. He was pretty little when he was born. I don't remember that he had to stay in the hospital, but maybe. He fell off the wagon wheel couch when he was about 6 months old and broke his upper arm. He got to spend the night in the hospital, because they didn't want to cast it. When mom got back to the hospital the next morning, he was still crying. They already had the cast put on and they send him home that day. Vance was always a good kid. He and some of his "not mentioned" friends did have a little of a wild streak in their later teenage years, but they were all good kids and survived just fine. We always though we kept some of that stuff from our mom, but I don't think we did. She never let on that she knew, but I think she did, and had faith that he would be fine. I really respect Vance as an adult. He always seemed like my little brother until he became my bishop, and then he was an equal and not a "little" anything. I am so grateful that he is my brother, and I love him dearly. I'm glad he chose to come and be in our family.

Vance in May or Jun of 2009. He was so tired. He was being a bishop, doing a handcart trek, working every day and helping us to take car of our sick dad. This is one of my very favorite pictures of Vance. He was tired, but never beaten. He was always there.

Vance riding on a bouncy horse. I still remembe that horse

Vance and Nellie at Dan and Donna's wedding.

Vance and Brecks. He was the bishop by now

Vance in an old walker. I remembe them well, they actually fold up flat

Vance with his cast on. There aren't many pictures of the cast.

Vance at the Provo Temple when he ws in the MTC

What a handsome missionary

Vance rototilling the garden. I was gone when he was a teenager, and never realized about his asthma. I remember him having it, but never how bad. He still suffers from it, but it never stops him from working outside and doing what he needs to do.

Vance at Dan and Donna's wedding. If I recall they were a little stressed over his hair. Dad always kept him buzzed off. He had these nasty cowlicks. A funny thing though, is that he passed those cowlicks onto all of his kids. What a trait to pass down.

Vance & Michelle, Tell, Nicky and Chelan in about 2006

The Muders - this was taken when Nicky graduated from High School

Vance and Michelle on their wedding day. I was living in Alaska at the time and missed his wedding. I'll always regret that. Who would have thought that anyone (Michelle) could have gotten him into a white tuxedo like that.

Vance and Michelle doing dad's nails. Even when he was sick, he like to look good. This reminds me of when Jesus was washing his disciples feet. That was a special time for me when we got to spend dad's last weeks with him, taking care of him, and serving him as he served us.

I'm sure this was someone's idea of a cruel joke. Not really, but you have to admit the hairdos are a little bit much. Us kids hated having our hair done, and so Mom and Marie decided to give us "pixie" cuts. They used to tell us we were so cute. Holy Cow. What a thing to tell a kid when we had no idea of how horritle it really was. Vance was lucky because he was a boy, and Nellie was lucky because she wasn't born yet. Nellie never had to endure our stress.

Dad and Vance and Kimberly

Vance in the rocking chair with a 'seatbelt" and Kimberly

Vance's hair wasn't much better than the "dos" that us girls got

Vance got to ride on a bear. Us girls were jealous, and Vance cried. Go figure

All of us kids with mom. We didn't have many pictures with all of us together.

Vance, it seems to me, was always in a plaid shirt of some sort.

Conol and Kael in Little League

Conol and Kael are in Little League this year. It's a macho thing for Rich I think. He went out and bought them bats and balls and gloves and pants and a bag to carry it all in. We have been doing practices for a month now. I use that term loosely, because it has been raining alot and so the practices were under playground covers. Oh well. They picked up their shits and caps last night. Kael has his first game tonight. Us ladies have relief society, so we will have to forego his first game, but I guess there are plenty more. Wayne has a missionary meeting, but he will probably be done early, so he can go to most of it. I can't believe they are big enough to play little league. It seems like they were just babies. Of course, sometimes they still are.

Conol and Kael being silly

Conol and Kael acting like friends