The (Cooler) Mitchells

Baptism

noreply@blogger.com (The Mitchells) — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 00:51:00 +0000

I'm not going to attempt back-tracking right now to catch up on everything that's happened this year. Maybe in about a month I'll have more time. Yeah. Right.

But, I must post about our wonderful day today so our family far away can see pictures because I know you're anxious to see them!

Today Cade turned eight! We spent last night cleaning the house and getting food ready for today. We woke up and had chocolate pancakes (prepared last night that we just popped in the toaster this morning), then got ready for Church and headed out. It was wonderful.

All the Mitchells came as well as my parents and grandparents, and one of our family friends (who is not a member and that was cool he could be there). We had a few other families stay after for the baptism as well. I was touched by their support and thought of Mosiah 18 in the Book of Mormon. Here, Alma is teaching the people at the waters of Mormon right before they are baptized. It says, starting in verse 8,

And it came to pass that he said unto them: Behold, here are the waters of Mormon (for thus were they called) and now, as ye are^adesirous to come into the ^bfold of God, and to be called his people, and are willing to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light;
9 Yea, and are ^awilling to mourn with those that ^bmourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as^cwitnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in...

Here was our son, about to enter into those waters of baptism that most of us had already entered. Usually when I think of this scripture, I think of helping people in dire circumstances. But this was a happy occasion to be celebrated and I loved that these people were there to "stand as witnesses of God" for Cade and to welcome him into this fold that we are a part of. They were there to show him that they knew he was doing what was right, and I am thankful for that.

Afterward, we came home, ate, and celebrated. It was a nice taste of what heaven might be like.

4 Generations of Members of the Church. How grateful I am that Elder Rowley and his companion knocked on my grandparent's door. Keep up the good work, missionaries!

Now he gets to be a cub scout!

A hand-carved Noah's Ark my grandparents brought back from their mission to Africa.

Amazing how technology has changed, isn't it?

Cade was surprised with his awesome new bedspread from Yia Yia

Thanksgiving Trip

noreply@blogger.com (The Mitchells) — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 03:43:00 +0000

We went to Destin, FL for our Thanksgiving trip this year with all the Mitchells. As always, it was a fabulous time.

We went to "Gulfarium" where we saw the animal life in the Gulf.

There was a 5K that a few of the brave ran. We even had some trophy winners for their age groups! Hooray Ryan and Lorrie!

I love this picture of Kirk jumping across the finish line.

Instead of having shirts made for this race, people donated old race shirts from other races. They told the spectators we could all pick out a shirt, too. Jana found this winner.

All the Mitchell runners:

And, of course, some fun on the beach:

And don't forget a hearty Thanksgiving meal.

Plus some naps.

Before the trip we had a little fun, too. We took some of the kids' friends with us to a local dairy farm for a "Homeschooler's Day" -

And we had a sad day saying goodbye to Elder Mauer. Our exchange student, Raya, has been taking the missionary discussions and we have all grown quite close with them. We were sad to see him go, but are glad for the memories we'll always cherish of bringing someone to the gospel. What an amazing experience.

WAY Overdue

noreply@blogger.com (The Mitchells) — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 03:32:00 +0000

A few months ago we did our family pictures and then my computer broke down. It was awful. I'm not exactly sure how it got fixed, but it works now and I'm finally catching up on some work. Here are a few of my favorite shots from a few months ago:

Cade had his own re-shoot later. He wasn't being cooperative this day. :) Thanks, Cindy for helping us out!

Growing

noreply@blogger.com (The Mitchells) — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 03:46:00 +0000

It has been FOREVER since I've had a night (or any time at all for that matter) to sit down and blog. A lot has happened with us lately. First thing is that I was able to go back to Utah for a quick weekend trip for my grandparents' 50th wedding anniversary. It was AWESOME! Sophia and I were the only ones to go back and can I just say how little stress I had? I remember the day I worried about flying with a baby. This time I was saying, "Wow - I am only flying with a baby!" Thanks, Mom for making it happen. I love you. :)

First we got to go wedding dress shopping with my soon-to-be sister-in-law, Jordyn. She and my brother will be getting married in January. We're so excited to welcome her into the family!

This is not the dress she chose. I won't post that one, yet.

My grandparents had no idea I was coming, so it was a pretty big surprise for them. I'm so grateful for everything they've done for me and my family and the example they are to me of service and true conversion to the gospel.

Sophia with my dad

Sophia and I with my grandparents

Our next bit of excitement was a field trip we took to a peanut farm with a few families in our ward that also homeschool. We learned so much! And then at the end they let everyone climb on a mountain of peanuts. The kids were still picking peanuts out of their shoes and clothes when we got home.

Then it was our annual trip to the pumpkin patch!

And the carving of the pumpkin! They all started out really excited, but then after a few scoops of goo they were done. That's why we only do one. Because when I say "we" I actually mean "I."

We had quite the Halloween this year. First was our ward's trunk-or-treat, then we went to our old ward's trunk-or-treat, and finally out trick-or-treating on Halloween night.

In our study of Greek mythology this year Ali decided she wanted to be Athena, goddess of war.

It was all I could do to get Eliza to put on a pair of wings. As you can see, she managed to escape the house without even wearing shoes. Good thing we're in Georgia where it was still relatively warm.

Cade also wanted to be a Greek god, choosing Dionysis - god of wine. I'm not sure why he admired him so much, but he wasn't going to go as anything else.

Sophia got to wear whatever costume we had for her, so she was a ghost. The cutest ghost I ever saw. Did I mention she can walk? I always thought that when people said their baby could walk at 9 months old they really meant their baby could stumble around for a second at 9 months old. Nope. Turns out it can happen. So here is my 9 month old walking baby.

Tyler and I went as "American Gothic."

Did you know the man who modeled for this picture is actually the artists' dentist? And the woman is his sister? It's supposed to be a portrait of an old farmer and his spinster daughter. I always thought it was supposed to be his wife.

This was before actual trick-or-treating on Halloween. I love all the facial expressions in this picture. :)

Lastly, Tyler went hunting and got a deer! What?! So we should be set with meat this winter!

Oh, yeah. One more thing. I got a new calling in my ward as the new Young Women president. I'm feeling a little overwhelmed, a whole lot of humility, and realizing yet again what it really means to rely on the Lord. So far I'm really enjoying it and am excited about being there. If anybody has any advice, I'd love to hear it!

A Little Summer Fun and a New School Year

noreply@blogger.com (The Mitchells) — Sat, 11 Aug 2012 14:06:00 +0000

Is it malnutrition when your baby eats paper?

I haven't taken as many pictures as I would have liked this summer. I suppose that's due to keeping my hands so busy with holding a baby, running Eliza to the potty, putting sunscreen on someone, reading books, having "bread making classes" or getting ready for "hard core" school this year AND our foreign exchange student.

We had Samantha come stay with us for a few days while her parents and brother were all at Youth Conference. It was nice having some extra help around the house and the kids were thoroughly entertained. We also had another friend over from church & they all had a great time on our new tree swing Tyler hung in our perfect tree out front.

One Sunday I was getting dresses out of the closet for the girls and discovered that both Ali and Sophia have dresses that once were mine. Too bad I don't have one Eliza's size.

Serving as the counselor over activities in our Relief Society presidency, I get to plan activities that sometimes include our whole ward. Since we hadn't had a single ward activity since we moved in, we wanted to do something for Pioneer Day. It was simple, but I think we all had a good time. We used our building's projector and watched "Legacy" outside. Everyone brought movie snacks to share and we played Pioneer games until it got dark enough to watch. It was warm and humid (we're in Georgia, after all), but we got to experience our own kind of miracle. Every night that week around 8:00, a huge storm would roll through. It had been clear skies until about 7:00 when we started hearing thunder rumble in the distance and saw big, black clouds blowing right for us. I said a silent prayer that I would know what to do (move the activity inside or keep it outside) and that we could please, please, PLEASE keep it outside. All I needed was one more failed activity. We began the activity with an opening prayer which included pleading to hold off the rain. I thought of how our Savior was able to calm the seas and that the elements know Him. Surely He could command the clouds away for me. Miraculously, as we started the movie it was clear skies with a slight breeze to keep the bugs and too much heat away. I am grateful for a God who hears and answers me in seemingly small circumstances, but that are a big deal to me.

One of the fabulous youth in our ward that love helping with our kids.

Stick pull. Cade won, for sure. :)

Ali with some of her girls. I'm telling you, the youth in this ward is amazing.

Then there's Eliza. I think she's been ready for a while for potty training, but I wasn't ready to take on that challenge. Ali was a difficult one, despite what everyone told me about the ease of potty training girls. But one day we decided to just give it a try. That afternoon I put her in underwear and - I am not even kidding - in 2 HOURS she had it down. The next day she even had the poop thing mastered. She's maybe had 3 accidents total since we started this whole thing. She's amazing and I'm so grateful for that.

One night Eliza came out at 9:30 with a skirt on over her pajamas and trying to put on fairy wings. I sent her back to bed and when I checked on her before I went to bed, I found this:

I guess she just wanted to sleep like a fairy princess.

Finally, we decided to host a foreign exchange student this year. We have some friends who have done it and talked about the great experiences they've had, so after a lot of talking and thinking and praying we decided to try it. I think it will be a wonderful experience for our kids to learn about different cultures and people. So, we welcomed our new "daughter," Raya (rye-uh) on Tuesday. She is from Ukraine and will be here for the school year. She fits in with our family perfectly and we are looking forward to all the great experiences this will bring. She brought some traditional clothes for the kids, so we'll have some pictures up soon of that!

Eliza insisted on carrying this all through the parking lot.

Monday Raya starts at the local high school, which seems strange sending her off and keeping my own kids home to teach them, but it will be great. I'm looking forward to starting into our regular routine again.

Bittersweet

noreply@blogger.com (The Mitchells) — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 03:19:00 +0000

A few weeks ago the kids and I were able to have a last minute trip over to Charleston to visit with family. My Aunt Nicka has been fighting cancer for the last three years or so, and they recently put her on Hospice care. The next day they said she probably only had a few days left to live. Fortunately, that very week was a family reunion so she decided to go and see everyone one last time. My mom, uncle, aunt and grandparents were on the next flight out and called me to see how far we were from there. Luckily we were able to drive over and spend a couple of days there visiting and saying goodbye to Aunt Nicka.

My mom with the kids when we got there.

My great-grandad, my grandpa and my Sophia

This was Sophia's first trip to the beach. She LOVED it.

My grandpa taking Cade and Ali out in the ocean. It felt like bathwater it was so warm.

Eliza even got a little nap. We did have an umbrella over her, but the wind was so strong it actually blew it away. If you look closely you can see the sand piling up on her face and towel.

The kids and I with Aunt Nicka (my grandpa's sister). The kids really love her. We were able to go stay with her last year for a couple days.

I'm so grateful for my knowledge of the plan of Salvation Heavenly Father has for us. I know who I am, where I came from and where I'm going after this life. When I told the kids what was happening to her, they said how much they didn't want her to die and why did Heavenly Father want her back right now? I said, "Well, I guess she did everything she was sent her to do." As we said our goodbyes, Cade wanted to ask Aunt Nicka if she did everything she was supposed to. It touched me. She said, teary eyed, "I did all I can. Sometimes we do things we wish we didn't, and sometimes we wish we did more, but I guess I've done everything I can do." I'm grateful for her example of kindness and generosity that she's always shown to me.

The most tender moment for me was watching my great grandad share a moment with her. She reached up and said, "Daddy, everything I am is because of you." He said, "That is the highest compliment I could ever receive." I'm glad I was there to capture that moment.

She ended up going back home to Greensboro, NC to say goodbye to more family and passed away July 17. It was bittersweet getting to see her and so many others including my mom, grandparents, uncle and aunt. Thanks to my sweet hubby for sending us over there. I'll never forget it.

Summer So Far

noreply@blogger.com (The Mitchells) — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 02:37:00 +0000

In May I ran the Mud Run with a few ladies from my ward. It was much better than last year. I got to know them a little more, plus I wasn't 6 weeks pregnant.

We took out the old, uncared-for trees in the backyard to make room for our new garden.

Then Eliza stood in an ant bed and her feet were attacked.

We went to Grandma & Grandpa Mitchells for some work and some play.

Cade was invited to a birthday party at the skating rink and he surprised me by wanting to go and actually having a really great time!

I got sick of seeing this every time I opened the linen closet. Here's the result when you try and teach your children to put things back that they get out.

So I reorganized it. Much better.

I bought the baskets at Dollar Tree, printed out some labels and attached them with clothespins. Everything is rolled instead of folded. It fits better and the kids can actually do this.

We went to Grandma's Camp!

We did "bleach painting" on our shirts,

made paracord bracelets,

and even had a little dance party.

Eliza was trying her best to keep up with everyone. She loves to dance.

We ended that week at the lake.

And when we came home, Sophia could suddenly sit up all by herself. She can also get on her knees and has 2 teeth. All before 6 months old. Why is my baby so eager not to be my baby?

The newest update to the house is our tree swing out front. The one we pictured since the first day we saw that tree. It's so picturesque and the kids absolutely love it.

Whew.

Milestones

noreply@blogger.com (The Mitchells) — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 02:59:00 +0000

It seems like it's been a while since I've updated. Have I mentioned having 4 kids is a little busy? They are all growing so fast I feel like I can't keep up.

First, we took Sophia to get her ears pierced. We've done it with all our girls and we've heard all the passionate speeches about how wrong that is. Everyone has their own opinion on it. We did it. What's done is done.

Our newest little angel is also rolling over. She's quite fast and squirms and scoots all over the floor. She is beautiful and happy all the time. Everywhere we go, people say, "She is so pretty. People say that, but she really is a beautiful baby!" Thanks. I think so!

Cade had a birthday. How is it possible he is seven already? Next year he'll be getting baptized and that freaks me out a little. I do not feel old enough to have a child that old.

For his birthday we went to the zoo so he could spend the day with animals. He loves nothing more than animals and I am convinced he will grow up to be a zookeeper, a vet, or go in to some other animal-related field for his occupation.

Cade with a lemur stuffed animal he got for his birthday. It is currently his favorite animal.

Watching the monkey.

Ali, cute as ever. She has shown an interest in wanting to learn to read, so we've been working on that. Most days she just wants to play with Eliza or hold Sophia and that's ok, too. She has me fix her hair 12 times a day in different styles depending on who she's pretending to be for that moment.

Eliza's passion is art.

We can't leave any kind of marking tool out or she picks it up and colors on anything that is near. This includes walls, furniture, her skin and/or her baby sister.

She is very detail oriented. She points out to me what she is drawing when she draws people - including eyes, nose, mouth, tongue, ears and cheeks. And they must be happy.

I was so proud of Cade - while he is still fearfully shy, he did the rock climbing wall at the zoo. Yay!

Then, that next Saturday morning we had a kid born!

This was going to be the kid that our kids raised and then hopefully sold to earn some of their own money and learn responsibility and all that. His mama's name is Starlight and they quickly agreed on naming him Midnight since he was black.

Unfortunately, he only lived a few days. We're not sure what happened, but they went out one morning to feed the animals and found him in the little shelter. They were sad, but thankfully not devastated.

One last picture of how I've been finding Cade lately when I check on him before I go to bed.

He barely has room in his bed to sleep because it is full of stuffed animals and piles of books. He reads out loud to his animals before he goes to bed. Usually they are informational books about animals. If he's read some during the day and doesn't want to start over, he'll give them a summary of what they missed.

Today we had a neighbor stop by and introduce herself (to apologize for her dog trying to get in our yard the other day). She came right as we were cleaning up dinner and as we stood there talking, the kids came out. I watched her eyes get big and then she counted, "One, two, three, four?! Wow - you all must not have figured out what causes that!" By the tone in her voice, it seemed like she was only half-joking. After a little bit she told me about a church down the street that does a bible study class in the morning and how I should do that because then I could "dump my kids" for a while. Something inside me wanted to turn around and shut the door in her face. Instead, I just said, "I actually like my kids. We like being together. In fact, I homeschool and we enjoy it." She was floored and continued to insult me (I don't think on purpose, she just obviously didn't know how anyone could enjoy having so many children) until she finally left. She only has one child (who is now 24) and is going through a divorce.

It was a great opportunity for me to realize how lucky I am. I have four wonderful, beautiful children. I love them and know how blessed I am that we have been able to have so many little miracles come into our lives. How sad it is to think that so many see children as a burden to be endured until they are finally grown and gone. I didn't say it was easy or always a joy. We have our rough days. A lot of them. But, all in all, I like being a mother. In fact, I love it. And I love my kids. All four of them and wouldn't want it any other way.

Road Trip

noreply@blogger.com (The Mitchells) — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 03:22:00 +0000

For the last year or so I've been setting some of my photography money to the side to save up for a new camera. When Sophia was born, I called one of my best friends to tell her about everything and we started talking photography as we often do since she is the one who really made me believe I could pursue it. When I told her I thought I had saved up enough money for my new camera, she was so excited for me.

Then she called me again a week later to ask me what I thought about the Canon 5d Mark II. She and her husband are Nikon folks so I thought it odd she would know about Canon cameras. I asked their opinion and she said, "If we were Canon people, we'd buy it." I told her I would have to look at it and see if that's what I would upgrade to. Then she told me, "Well, look at it and then call me back and tell me if you like it. Because we're going to buy it for you if you do." Long story short - they had been setting money aside as long as I had to buy a camera for me. Just because. They are the most Christlike people I've ever met.

So now I have this incredible camera and lots of money that I was ready to spend. I could have bought another lens or something, but I thought it would be even better to take a road trip out to see them and to personally thank them. The timing worked out perfectly (we have no goats to milk right now and Tyler had a few days off work), so we went.

On the way out we stopped in St. Louis to see the Gateway Arch and the Museum of Westward Expansion that tells a lot about the Lewis and Clark Expedition. We got to go up in the Arch (630 feet in the air - yikes!) and bought some penny candies in the little Mercantile they had there. Then we drove another 3 hours to Nauvoo, IL and stayed the night. That morning we walked around Nauvoo and learned some Church history. The last time I was there I was only 12 and the temple wasn't there. It is so beautiful!

We had the place pretty much to ourselves, so it was nice having personalized tours of things. We didn't see everything, but hit the highlights we were pretty sure the kids would enjoy, including the blacksmith's shop where we all got a "Prairie Diamond."

For those who don't know, it's a horseshoe nail.

After seeing a few more things, we headed off to Omaha, Nebraska. We got there Friday night and stayed up until about 1 in the morning talking. Saturday and Sunday we hung out and watched General Conference (which was AMAZING by the way!). After the last session on Sunday, we went to the Winter Quarters Temple. The lighting was beautiful, so we took full advantage of that.

(Eliza and Emma helping clean up dinner.)

We talked about going to the Omaha Zoo the next morning for a couple hours before we headed out to Ohio, but when we realized that we wouldn't reach our destination until about 3:00am, we decided to just start driving by about 9 the next morning. Sad to leave, we said our good-byes.

And then 20 minutes down the road, we called them and asked if we could come back. Our van just stopped. We had it towed, and then towed again to the dealership. So, we got to see the Zoo after all! It was amazing! Any zoo after that cannot measure up. Oh, and did I mention it was my birthday?

So we had a huge, delicious Cheesecake Factory cheesecake, slept at their house for one extra night and miraculously our van was fixed and ready to go by 3:00 Tuesday afternoon. Our stop in Ohio had been cancelled since Tyler had to be back for work by Wednesday night. We hit the road again and were fine... until about 1:00 Wednesday morning. The belt came off our alternator and through all kinds of craziness, we couldn't get back on the road until 4:00. Around 8:00 we stopped for breakfast only to stop again an hour later because Eliza was puking in the back. Oh, the joys. We finally made it home just in time for Tyler to shower and head off to work.

So, it was a wonderful vacation. Other than the whole going home part. Thank you, Johnsons for a wonderful time. It was so great to see you again and we miss you already!

Happy Birthday, Eliza!

noreply@blogger.com (The Mitchells) — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 02:47:00 +0000

One of the first things I woke up to was Ali coming in my room and whispering, "Mom! I looked at Eliza and her legs are even longer today than they were yesterday when she was only one!" The kids were also convinced that she would start talking in complete sentences today. They kept testing her all day with new words to try like, "hyena," "blueberry" and "diaper." They were pretty sure she could say a lot more words today than yesterday. I agree; she's been getting better about talking, but only to the trained ear.

We started off the celebration with presents first thing this morning. That's how we always do it - who wants to wait?! I found this old play high chair at an antique shop at Christmas and wanted to fix it up for Eliza then, but I really couldn't add one more thing to my plate. I went back to see if they still had it and they did! So it went from this:

To this:

I am very happy with it and hope it lasts a while. It's big enough that by the end of today Eliza was climbing up and sitting in it herself.

Then it was a breakfast of waffles with whipped cream and sprinkles, complete with a candle and a little "Happy Birthday" song. She got to go on a date with Daddy while the other children stayed and did all kinds of artwork birthday presents for her. One of the pictures included Eliza sitting on a throne holding a golden cup with everyone else bowing to her, because she was the princess today. Lunch was her favorite food - "Tillas!" (tortillas), then birthday cake and another song. We watched the video of the day she was born, played, read and napped. By dinner, she wanted the candle back in her cake, we sang to her again, she was finally able to blow out the candle herself and we had another slice of cake. Rather than eat it, though, she just wanted the candle back in her cake so we could sing to her again. She was a little upset that we were done with that for the day. All in all, a great day. The kids were nice to her all day (mostly) and even let her have the coveted middle seat at the bar. I'm so lucky to have the kids I have.

When I think back about Eliza coming into our family, I'm so happy. I had two miscarriages before finally being able to have her and realize what a blessing it is to have as many children as I do, but especially for Eliza. She brings me so much happiness and I thank my Heavenly Father for sending her to me.

Blessing Day

noreply@blogger.com (The Mitchells) — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 03:33:00 +0000

We had Sophia's blessing this past Sunday. With all our family, we took up most of the chapel in our tiny trailer of a ward building. We had quite a houseful afterward, too.

She wore the same dress I was blessed in.

Plus, we had a combination birthday party for Eliza & Samantha since we were all together anyway.

Just had to share this picture.

It was a great day. Thanks to everyone!

Happy Valentine's Day

noreply@blogger.com (The Mitchells) — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 02:57:00 +0000

Happy Valentine's Day!

Just a little house update

noreply@blogger.com (The Mitchells) — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 03:07:00 +0000

Just a little update....
http://youtu.be/_Bl1hL85liw

and if you don't remember what it looked like before....
http://youtu.be/lflGYZKKClQ

Taking A Breath

noreply@blogger.com (The Mitchells) — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 20:42:00 +0000

While the older children are entertained for a moment & I have one hand free for typing, I thought I'd post a few pictures.

These were taken with my fantastic new camera - thank you Jay and Sherrie. You are the best friends a gal could ask for. More to come on that later when I have two hands.

New Baby & New Crib

noreply@blogger.com (The Mitchells) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 00:44:00 +0000

IT'S A GIRL!!!

I went in for my c-section early January 2. Things didn't go quite as smoothly as they usually do, but in the end it all worked out. My spinal block didn't block, so as they were scrubbing me preparing for surgery I realized I had an itch on my foot and was wondering about asking someone to scratch it for me when I remembered that I shouldn't be having an itch on my foot. I tried wiggling my toes and they wiggled. I said, "I can feel what you're doing. And I can move my feet." Everyone just stopped and after some testing they concluded that, yes, I could still feel and move my feet. So, back to my room to wait another hour so they can try again. The second time worked like a charm and a few short minutes later we got to meet our little girl.

****WARNING**** Some of the following pictures might be a little graphic of the c-section delivery.

Look at all that hair!!

Anastasia Sophia

January 2, 2012 10:32 am

8 lbs. 21 inches

Exactly a week before she was born, though, we were able to move in to our fabulous new house with the amazing help of some pretty WONDERFUL people. The day after Christmas Tyler's entire family plus a good friend of ours and HIS brothers, dad, and father-in-law helped finish packing our house, loading everything on a truck, unloading everything off the truck and setting up furniture. I am so blessed to be loved by so many people.

There are some "after" pictures coming, I promise. Thank you so much to everyone who has helped us get so much done in so little time! We are so grateful!

Pigs, Paint and Pretty Cabinets

noreply@blogger.com (The Mitchells) — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 03:40:00 +0000

In the brief moments before I go pass out in bed from exhaustion, I wanted to post some more updates!

First, the day has finally come to take our pig to the slaughter. For the last two weeks he's been escaping from his pen, ever on the search for more food. We decided it was time. Originally we were planning on having a gigantic Christmas party where we roasted him out on a spit and had everyone we know come and share in the feast, but apparently we forgot how much we have going on right now and decided it would be best for everyone's sanity if we just took him in somewhere and then picked him up ready for the freezer.

So, here's a before shot of the day we got him:

Tyler and Mario. Their family wanted to go in on it with us to get the "farm" experience since their yard is too small. :)

Shortly after this day Cade decided he was a vegetarian. He did not want to eventually eat this cute little guy.

And then that cute little guy got really big and loud and stinky in 6 months.

It took just under an hour to get him into the trailer. We thought he would be easily coaxed in with a bucket of food...

Then he got smart.

We tried tying things around him, we tried wrapping him in a tarp, we tried bribing him with carrots and apples. The only thing that eventually worked was trapping him in a cow panel (fencing) and scooting him to the trailer and chasing him in. If only someone was there to video it all.

So, we're all pretty happy now. And we'll have some awesome ham for Christmas dinner.

Now, more house updates. As of now, all of the rooms except the kids' bathroom are painted. We still have some work to do in there, so I've moved on to painting door frames. I attempted the base boards for about a minute and a half and decided my 36 week pregnant body can't handle that.

On Monday we got our kitchen cabinets in and it's looking great! We still have the crown molding to go on the top and the countertops to come in hopefully next week sometime, but I'm THRILLED with how it's coming along!

Here are a few shots of the living room:

I'm doing a board and batten look on the bottom half, so that's why it doesn't look finished yet. We'll hopefully be starting on the floor tomorrow!

PAINT!

noreply@blogger.com (The Mitchells) — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 02:19:00 +0000

Finally! We've been able to start painting the house. I say "finally" like we've been waiting an eternity. It's only been 3 weeks I think since we bought it, but I haven't been able to help at all and finally have a chance to get to work on something in the house.

First I took the kids to pick out colors for their rooms. Of course, the girls got pink. Chantilly Lace to be exact. Cade picked green. Since he is color deficient (color blind - he sees colors differently than the rest of us), I let him pick out every single green sample card he liked, then I narrowed it down to the top 4 I'd be OK with, then let him pick out the final color. He went with Safari Green. Mainly because he knew with a name like that, it must be perfect for an animal-themed room.

My AWESOME grandma flew out for two days to help me get started.

She did all the trim to save me from having to bend over and climb so much. She also kept me company, helped round up children and babysat while Tyler and I ran to Lowe's and Home Depot several times without having to load up the van full of children.

I just love Eliza's picture smile. :)

We wrote their names on the floor so that one day far, far, far into the future if carpet needs to be ripped out and replaced, we can see them and smile.

This is how the kids looked most of the week. Actually, she looks pretty good in this picture. Their faces were covered in a combination of dirt, juice and other sticky messes that I'm unsure of how they came about. Not to mention snot (and dirt) running out of noses, plus a nice scrape on the face from one tumble too many down the oh-so-awesome concrete ramp we have out the front door.

So thank you, Mems for coming out and helping SO MUCH. Love you!

Remember that black entryway? And the nice '70s wood paneling? Here we are all primered and ready for paint! Isn't it amazing?! Actually, I do have all this painted now, but I haven't taken my camera back up to the house for some pictures. Soon, I promise.

So, for two days I had some help painting from my grandma and was able to get the kids' rooms done. Then, the last 4 days I've been able to do the master bedroom and bathroom, the hallway, the kitchen and dining room and the living room. I'm pretty thrilled considering I'm 7 and a half months pregnant.

OH! I almost forgot. In all the excitement, Cade has been working on a few of his loose teeth and we finally got one out! Thank goodness for Aunt Lorrie the dental hygienist who enjoys doing that kind of thing.

New House Update

noreply@blogger.com (The Mitchells) — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 19:47:00 +0000

I know you're all dying to know how the house is coming along. We were able to close 2 weeks earlier than expected and so work has begun!

We are so blessed to have such awesome friends and family who have come up to help a ton. I kind of feel useless because I can't do anything right now in the house, but we should be painting sometime this week, and then I can actually contribute something.

Here are some shots of the house after demolition and before primer.

Standing at the front door looking in. Where the paneling is is where the kitchen is.

Standing by the fireplace looking back at the front door.

One of the bedrooms

Master bedroom looking in from hallway

Standing in master bedroom, looking at bathroom, closet, door to hallway

Looking back down the hallway

A few trees down in the backyard just around the house. We have to clear out a bunch to get gutters up.

A few more trees down. :)

Kids entertaining themselves in the front yard. They don't usually play on the dumpster.

Now for some after shots:

The same red bedroom pictured above, only this time with Kilz from ceiling to floor.

Master bedroom

Master room again looking at closet and door to hall

Looking down the hall to the bedrooms. What a difference it makes to get rid of all that red!

I know Tyler appreciates me posting this, but I just want to say how lucky I am to have such a hard-working husband. After using the paint sprayer it looked like he was wearing white mascara. Not to mention all the paint everywhere else.

But, seriously, he has been stopping at the house every night until 10 or 11 to work on it and all day both Saturdays since we bought it. I can't believe how much work is done. Thank you so much to everyone who has come to help. Especially my father-in-law who has been driving up and staying in his camper to help my wonderful husband get our house ready for us. I really married into a fantastic family!

More to come soon!

Halloween

noreply@blogger.com (The Mitchells) — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 19:15:00 +0000

Here's a quick run-down of our Halloween festivities.

First, we picked out a pumpkin and did some school-related activities with it. Then it was time to carve. All the kids picked their own tool to help them get the goo out.

Including ladles

and a garlic press.

Ali has always enjoyed this part. She just digs right in there while Cade asks, "Is there any way I can help do that without getting dirty?" He has issues with texture. Sorry, bud. Sometimes we just have to get down and dirty.

Unfortunately I didn't take a single picture of the finished pumpkin. What kind of crazy mom am I? One that is pregnant and missing some brain cells I guess.

Then it was time to dress up and go trick or treating. We had a little lion, an Indian (with real feathers from our turkey) and a princess.

She LOVED wearing the hood on this costume. That made me happy. :)

Yes, Mom. This was my Halloween costume from about 20 years ago. Don't look closely at it, because it's pretty worn in some places, but Ali was thrilled to wear it!

Can you see the eyelashes on this girl? I know I'm a little biased, but I think we have a future knock-out for a daughter.

Here's Cade displaying his awesome bow and arrow skills. Without the arrow. Because I told him that was not a good idea. He is good at shooting them, though.

I didn't get any pictures of all the cousins together because my battery on my camera died right after I took the kids' pictures. And my back-up was dead, too. Again, I'll blame it on pregnancy.

Halves

noreply@blogger.com (The Mitchells) — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 03:31:00 +0000

Did you know that right now, my children are all half of each other's ages? How cool is that?! And it will never happen again!

6...........................3.......................1.5

Our soon to be new house!

noreply@blogger.com (The Mitchells) — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 02:27:00 +0000

So - here it is! Any volunteers to come help us make this liveable? :-)

Ever Feel Busy?

noreply@blogger.com (The Mitchells) — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 02:13:00 +0000

But feel like nothing has really happened? Yeah, that's been about the last month. We've had plenty happen, maybe I'm just too tired by the end of the day to post pictures about it. But, here we are again - mostly for family so they can see our family's goings-on.

First, we had a wounded goat. We're not sure how it happened, but it did and good thing Dr. Tyler and his trusty assistant Collin were there to patch up a cut on her leg.

Then, we started school. Eliza is getting quite efficient at coloring and will be all set for Nursery on Sunday (she's 18 months already?!). Now, hopefully we can get her to keep it on the paper.

My dad was able to fly in for a quick weekend visit while he was on some business and the kids loved making up their own verses to silly songs.

Then the lady we were borrowing goats from wanted them back. We've had them since May and learned a lot. Everyone had gotten pretty attached to those gals, so we were sad to see them go.

But then, good news. The next day the lady called us back and offered Lola to us to keep (the white one that looks like a camel without a hump). She is our main milker (gives us up to a gallon a day), so we were quite thrilled!

Just a few weeks ago we got to play in the snow. Yes. The snow. In Georgia.

In our house, actually. For school we were learning about polar bears and I remembered that I had saved some snow from December when we had that strange stuff falling down here. I figured that it was the perfect day to pull that out. The kids LOVED it. They gathered all their arctic and polar animals and played in the snow with them until it all melted. Which actually took a lot longer than I expected. About 3 and a half hours, actually. Their hands were quite cold when they were done, but they were happy. And so was I.

These next pictures are the kids with their breakfast. I have to brag on them a little. Every morning they come in at exactly 6:50 and catch me reading my book. So they bring in their own, we read until about 7:30, then get up, dressed, make beds and then they make breakfast while I get my makeup and hair done. Usually they are very nice and tidy about breakfast, but on this particular morning I don't know what happened. I couldn't quite capture the chaos that was the table, but here they are with their bowls.

Everyone's bowls were full to the brim and there was cereal all over the table. It was great. I love these kids.

And, last but not least I'm sure my family would like to see my growing belly, so here it is. This was at 23 weeks (last week).

Big as it may be, I think this is the smallest pregnancy I've had. I started showing QUICKLY. Like, no one was surprised when we announced I was pregnant. No joke, most people said, "Yeah, I figured." But then 2 weeks ago at church someone asked how far along I was and she said, "Oh! You're so small!" That's when I realized that I have never EVER heard those words during any of my pregnancies. Everything is still going well and I'm feeling great. I'm getting growing and stretching pains now that baby is growing faster and it's getting uncomfortable to bend over to get things, but otherwise I can't complain.

So, to wrap it all up, here's Eliza to say:

Well, nothing I guess. She's too pooped.

Utah. The Rest of It.

noreply@blogger.com (The Mitchells) — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 02:39:00 +0000

Ok, I think I'm ready to finish my story.

We were able to fly out thanks to my grandma. She wanted to put together a family reunion and wanted EVERYONE there. Since Tyler just graduated and we had $100 to our name (but no debt!), there was no way we could afford to come out otherwise. So, thanks Grandma!

We mostly stayed with my dad, but spent the first weekend with my mom. We took the kids to Kangaroo Zoo:

Then went to a breakfast/parade the next morning.

My mom bought all the girls matching dresses.

This was during the parade. I love that my kids love each other so much. :)

Then we headed back to my dad's house. My awesome sister stayed the night pretty much wherever I was so we could have lots of late night chats. Thanks, Micah for letting me steal her!

The kids wanted to build bird nests. And then put birds in them. These 3 are complete with a chicken, a robin and a sparrow. They stayed for a day, then apparently flew off to find food or something.

We went to the local aquarium and had lots of fun looking into giant crystal balls.

I think this was actually jelly fish.

Then Papa got to share his love of music with the kids. Cade especially loved it. He would be the first one up every morning and the two of them would sing, "I Wish I Was A Fuzzy, Wuzzy Bear..." and make up their own lyrics as well. It's a song my grandpa used to sing with us and I'm glad my kids get to experience it as well.

We were going to miss my niece's birthday, so we did a little pre-party party at Jungle Jim's. It's a great place my sister and I always went to when we were little. It hasn't changed a bit. They have little rides for the kids like a carousel, bumper cars and roller coaster. The roller coaster is my favorite. :)

Here are the yungin's enjoying their cupcakes.

And then, of course was the big reunion. I haven't seen some of my cousins for at least 10 years, so it was great to get together again.

My grandma is very patriotic. Very. Her entire house is red, white and blue. Inside and out. So Eliza's cute outfit for pictures was this little beauty:

And she's all wet from running on a homemade slip-n-slide.

We had cupcakes in celebration of everyone's birthdays that we all miss every year.

Who knew the icing would stain your teeth?

My cousin, Rachel showing off her beautiful smile.

And Grandma, who made all of it possible. She had a blue cupcake.

And here's the whole group together!

Thank you everyone for a fantastic time! Especially Grandma for getting us out there!

Utah Trip (part 1)

noreply@blogger.com (The Mitchells) — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 02:48:00 +0000

We were able to go to Utah last month and I'm just now getting around to writing about it. Who knew life was so busy with 3.5 kids? Whew! We did a lot, and I'm not going to bore you with a million details. I'm mainly breaking up the posting of our vacation because it's late and I'm too tired to post all the pictures.

So, for now here's our first day there. The kids and I flew out a week before Tyler. We were SO SO SO lucky enough to meet up with some of the best friends I've ever have. They were in Utah to photograph a wedding and their last day there was my first day there. OK, so I begged them to stay until I got there so I could see them. And they are so crazy awesome that they obliged. Thank you so much - I love you!

We just met up for dinner at the local Chuck-A-Rama.

Sherrie and I have both had another baby girl since the last time we saw each other, so this was their first meeting.

All our kids together.

Ethan and Ali. He was totally willing to hold her hand as we tried to get them to reenact this shot,

but Ali was a little shy. Look how tiny they were! They don't remember how much they liked each other. Oh, well.

Anyway, it was a fabulous meeting and I can't wait to do it again. Only maybe next time, Eliza won't have a blow-out diaper all over her clothes and mine. That part was not so fabulous. Memorable, but not fabulous. We stayed out in the parking lot talking until probably almost 9:00, not getting the kids in bed until after 10:00. Salt Lake time. That's after midnight our time. Thankfully, no one was super-super cranky and it was well worth the craziness.

Now I've got to get to bed. More to come on our trip. Soon, hopefully.

Graduation Congratulations

noreply@blogger.com (The Mitchells) — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 02:19:00 +0000

This is the Brown School of Radiology Class of 2011. Only 7 students accepted into this program this year, and all of them graduated. Most importantly, Tyler graduated. (He's the 2nd from the left)

Two years ago I read this scripture when he was accepted into the program because I thought it applied to us at the time:

"And it came to pass that they journeyed many days in the wilderness, and they fasted much and ^aprayed much that the Lord would grant unto them a portion of his Spirit to go with them, and abide with them... And it came to pass that the Lord did ^avisit them with his ^bSpirit, and said unto them: Be ^ccomforted. And they were comforted." -Alma 17:9-10

But now reading it over again, I realize how much more it applies to us. The past two years have certainly felt like passing through the wilderness. I spent most of the first year pregnant with two small children at home to take care of while Tyler was gone on average 14 hours a day. Most weeks the kids would only see him 3 days of that week because he was gone before they got up and home after they went to bed. I went by myself to a lot of things.

Then the second year he was able to start working at the hospital doing x-rays, but working later hours. Again, he was gone an average of 14-16 hours a day. Add that up. He was literally only home to sleep. Now I'm dealing with two young children and a newborn. Mostly by myself.

Yet, somehow, the burden was not too heavy. Tyler was able to do well through school and keep his grades up. I was able to quickly adapt to 3 kids (much faster than I did to 2). Many, many nights I felt the Lord did visit me with his Spirit and said to me, "Be comforted." And I was.

We made a lot of lifestyle changes that we would not have otherwise made that have brought us so much joy and a deeper understanding of this life. I am thankful for the lessons I have learned, for the strong woman I've discovered myself to be and the opportunities that have presented themselves for us. I am thankful for the unending help I have received - both the seen and the unseen.

Thank you all for your support, your prayers, your fasting, your faith, your inviting us to dinner (Johnsons especially- so the kids and I didn't have to eat alone every night. Gosh, I miss you all), your love and encouragement, your financial help (so we were able to make it through debt free), your phone calls, your babysitting, and for letting me use your shower (and curling my hair), Cari, because our power went out the day of graduation. We owe you all so much and hope that somehow we can repay you all for all your kindness.

Now, for some pictures. I sadly discovered when I pulled out my camera to start clicking away that I had no memory card. I took it out after my last photo session and forgot to replace it, so all I have are these pics from my mother-in-law's blackberry. If any of you who were there have some others, I'd love to have them, please. :)

Tyler and his dad

Tyler, Kirk and some of the kids

Eliza grabbed for his boutonniere right as she took the picture.

Can you tell Cade's excited?