Friday, May 18, 2012

Happy Anniversary Sweetheart!

Kevin and I made it through our first year as a married couple...well, we will on Sunday that is....and just barely...


Photo taken at Saint George Temple Grounds May 2011
It has been one of the hardest, most difficult years of my life and at the same time one of the best... I married a wonderful man who loves and supports me, a man who loves his children, a man who honors his Priesthood, and in turn honors me. 


On our elopement day... May 20, 2011
We felt so impressed that we should get married and so we did. At first, all things were going as planned and I moved to Hurricane, Utah and set up house. Then later last summer in the process of moving my kids to Hurricane we found it not to their liking and our plans for a happy family life with seven kiddaboos in the house obliterated with their move back to Bakersfield. It was never in my plans to be without my children... This new life, mothering from afar, has been frustrating, heartbreaking, and often depressing for me. Some days I struggle to keep my composure and function like I should, other days I am okay... It has been an adjustment for Nicholle, Emma, and Micah as well... The most important thing is that they are healthy and happy, and that we get to see each other as often as possible... During this difficult time Kevin has always had my back. He is supportive of my many trips to Bakersfield and doesn't complain that I hoard as much money as I can to make these trips possible. I know it is hard on him while I am away and he never complains... (At least not to me...).


Going to a show - May 2011
After my kids moved back to Bakersfield, and Kevin's kids had moved up to Northern Utah we found ourselves following them north. Kevin took a supervisory QA position at CSB Nutrition and I looked for work for several months...until I found my current job at Visi as a distributor support representative. We lived with my Mom and Dwight until early March when Kevin's kids came to live with us full time. We then moved to a little basement apartment in Eagle Mountain. So, over the past year we have moved three separate times... We have had months where we have had all seven children in our home, months where we have not had any of them, and currently all four of Kevin's. Kevin is a great father! He is always trying to connect with his kids and enjoy the little moments he has with them. This is something I really admire about my husband. He has this innate ability to live in the moment. 


The whole gang - May 2011
Life as a step mother is hard! I often joke with Lizzy, when I am frustrated with one of the boys, that I shouldn't be allowed to be a step-mother and that she should turn me in the the fairy-god mothers association... (She hasn't so far...) Kevin and his kids are amazing. They put up with my moodiness, and my missing my kids... Maybe someday I will not feel so inadequate helping Kevin raise his four awesome little monkeys... 


Eli turned 4 February 26th!
Working two jobs, I am not home very much. Thus, Kevin puts up with my demands for an organized house. He makes dinner most nights and changes the laundry... He is even getting good at keeping the household chores done in my absence and I couldn't ask for anything more! I really do appreciate all that he does to make my life better.


Fox Hollow Elementary -  Funky Hat Day - Spring 2012


So, even though this past year has gone in a direction I never intended, I am glad I found this wonderful man and that we have each other. Maybe, now that the first year is over, things will get easier... I love you Kevin...Happy Anniversary Handsome!


Easter 2012

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

It's the end of the YEAR as we know it...

REM's song "It's the end of the world as we know it," goes through my head this time of year...


Yes, it is the end of another school year...


Nicholle is finishing her Freshman year...
Emma is graduating from Middle School...and heading to High School...
Micah is heading into Middle School with the coming year...
Elizabeth will be one of the oldest kids next year as a sixth grader...
Kyler will be one of the bigger kids next year...
(Eli and Aiden have a couple more years to go before we lament the end of another school year for them...)


I feel like I have missed so much,when it comes to Nicholle, Emma, and Micah, this year living in Utah... I am so glad they are happy living in Bakersfield, but my heart aches each time I miss one of their activities (Who am I kidding, it aches every hour of everyday...).


With summer coming, it is almost as if the normal everyday routine goes out the window and all we are left with is utter chaos... At least that is my fear... Thus, the edited song running through my head.


I am looking forward to some extra long visits to California... and the warm summer sunshine...

Friday, January 20, 2012

My Lucky Husband...


First of all, Kevin is lucky to have me as his wife... (I am really the lucky one...)

No really, Kevin is ultra lucky! He wins free tickets to the Tuachan theater, he wins free stuff on the radio, tickets to Dixie State football games, four tickets to Lagoon, he has even one a free vacation (I did not benefit from this one...), the most amazing thing he has won were free hearing aides for his father!

In the past two weeks we have had the honor of attending two Jazz games... Once because of my brother...Thanks Don! At the game last week Kevin even caught one of the t-shirts that were tossed into the stands! The second set of tickets he won by registering for them on an app on my iPhone!



So last night we got to attend the Jazz vs. Mavs game at the Energy Solutions Arena!!! Go Jazz! The Jazz lost 94-91...

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Going to the Zoo...



A family membership to the zoo is relatively inexpensive when you have seven children... So...We spend a lot of time at Utah's Hogle Zoo when we have all the kids together. We have a ton of fun there too...

Kevin and Aiden had fun going down the Elephant slide together... Aiden is such a happy baby. He is always content to hang out with his brothers and sisters. As long as he has been fed and changed he smiles and his laughter is contagious!

Aiden started crawling last week and is starting to pull himself up to furniture. I don't think he will be content to crawl for long. He has a whole mouth full of teeth... He loves to eat...
Nicholle helped Eli on the playground equipment. Being a teenager at the playground is not always fun... You can tell by the look on her face she was extremely thrilled to be there...

Nicholle is loving High School. She is attending Stockdale High School. I guess I am getting old....(Shhh, she is 15 and a freshmen...)... Cole is easy going and always good for lots of hugs and kisses... she is often quiet and reflective... she is an avid reader and is working on writing a novel...


Micah and Liz like the giant metal Elephant sculpture. It is an interactive exhibit that spays water, plays music, and makes elephant sounds. Micah and Liz are inseparable when we get together.

Micah started several instruments this fall. He plays guitar, base guitar, and piano. We were out at my aunts and someone was playing Christmas carols on the piano...to my surprise it was Micah! I was amazed at how well he was playing in only a couple of months... I miss so much being in Utah without my little man...

Eli finally learned to use the potty on his own, without help, and almost without reminders... He loves Back Yard Agains (Not sure how is it really spelled) and whines until we give in and let him watch it most days... He is so much like his Dad it is a little scary. The other day Kevin was changing the channels with the remote and football came on and Eli said... Yeah! He wanted to watch the ball game...here we go!!!
Micah, Liz, Kyler, and Eli posed for pictures in the huge egg on the play ground...

Liz is our video game player... She loves Mario and Luigi, Pokemon, and anything electronic... You can find her searching her favorite artists on YouTube and posting her favorite videos on Facebook.
This shot gives a good perspective of the younger kids heights..
Micah is 11...
Liz is 10... (10 1/2 months younger than Micah)...
Kyler is 7...
and Eli is 3 (almost 4)..


Kyler and Liz are attending Fox Hollow Elementry. They seem to really enjoy their new school.

Kyler loves rough housing with the boys. We often have to remind them to settle down because they gets so loud and animated together. Kyler has such a sweet tender spirit. He is always happy! No matter what...even when he says, "this is taking forever" he is happy...
Micah is laying in a giant spider web... About 25 feet away is a large metal sculpture of a black widow spider. Every time we come to the playground Kevin thinks it is hilarious to try to get me to go near it... I love this picture of Micah! It shows his mischievous side...he is growing up so quickly, soon he'll be a man... Sometimes I wish we could freeze time and hold them close forever...
This picture just cracks me up. Nicholle has always been so creative and funny. You can really see that here...the pose was totally impromptu and her idea. I love that girl!

Emma is the only one not photographed... She avoids the camera whenever I am the one taking the photos... She is growing into a beautiful, poised, intelligent young woman. Before I know it she will be a classy college graduate attending grad school... I know without a doubt that special girl will reach all of her educational goals and teach me many valuable lessons along the way...

These moments...I treasure... I hope you all enjoyed an update on all the kiddaboos...

Life Has its Ups and Downs...



To say the past year has been eventful is an understatement...

Kevin and I got married...
I graduated with my Bachelor's degree...
I moved to Southern Utah...
I brought my teenage children to Utah thinking they would adjust to the move smoothly...(wrong)...
I started a fantastic new job....
Kevin's kids moved to Northern Utah....
My kids moved back to Southern California...
Kevin took a job promotion to Lindon, Utah...
I quit my fantastic job to move with him...and moved in with my parents (sorry Mom we'll be out soon)... 
We enjoyed Thanksgiving with all seven kids...
We survived Christmas with all seven kids...(thank you to all who helped make this happen)...
Started a new job (not so fantastic) waiting tables...(looking for another fantastic job)...

Reading between the lines you can see that we have had a very long year...We are truly grateful to have each other. We miss our children desperately and hope everything will work itself out so that everyone is healthy and happy. Here are some recent photos... enjoy!
This picture was taken in September... Liz (10), Kyler (7), Kevin (Younger than me...), Aiden (6 months), Eli (3).

Emma, Eli, Nicholle, Micah, Me, Aiden, Liz, Kyler, and Kevin at Temple Square

Nicholle and Emma (Yes they are going to kill me...)

Kevin, Nicholle, Liz, and Eli rocked it at Rika and John's over Thanksgiving...



Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Seussical

Nicholle and Emma participated in Seussical Too at the end of the school year at Freedom Middle School in Bakersfield, CA and Elizabeth had the opportunity to do Seussical Jr. at the Hurricane Community Center this summer! Nicholle and Emma were cast as Thing 1 and Thing 2 and Lizzy was a Who-Girl! They all did a fabulous job and had a great time being involved with such a fun production. The sad thing is that they did not get to see the others performance. Oh well...that is what pictures are for...So fun!

Thing 1 (Nicholle) and Thing 2 (Emma)

Kevin and his Who-daughter Liz and Jojo and the Cat

Liz on stage during the performance...

Nicholle and Emma on stage during the performance!

Meeting the Farnsworth's








Kelly, Kevin, Ruth, Dean, Nate, Richard, and Ty


What can I say...I married a wonderful man and his family is nothing short of amazing! We traveled down to Chino Valley, AZ with Kyler and Eli on the Fourth of July. Along the way we stopped at Navajo Bridge and crossed over on foot. It was in the low 100's...no big deal.. 

We arrived at Ty and Wendy's house on Monday afternoon and were met by Ruth and Richard (Kevin's parents) who were there holding down the fort while Ty, Wendy and their five kids finished up their vacation to San Diego (to return on Tuesday). So Monday evening we tromped off to Prescott to see the fireworks. When I say tromped I mean we hiked... the city had the park blocked off so that we had to hike into it and it must have been at least a mile walk if not farther. (I forgot to take pictures...sorry). On Tuesday I got to meet Ty, Wendy, Katie, Sarah, Brandon, Tyanne, and Dylan. On Wednesday I got to meet Dean, Amanda, Wyatt and Jared who were also spending time in San Diego on vacation from Montana. On Thursday Kevin's brother Nate and his wife Carrie and their three children Kolob, Manti, and Bridget drove up from Tucson. On Friday, I got to meet Kelly and his daughter Carson sans Taani and the other two children (not sure of their names yet) who had another obligation in Mesa to fulfill. Sadly, I was unable to meet Spencer (the last brother) because of his work obligations (Cough...). Needless to say, I got to meet four of Kevin's five brothers and eleven of the thirteen nieces and nephews (total Farnsworth grandchildren including our 7 is 20). It was amazing and they all treated me as if I have always been a member of the family and I loved every minute we spent together! The only thing missing were our other children (Nicholle, Emma and Micah were in California with their father and Aiden being so young stayed behind with Lizzy who was involved with a community production back in Hurricane, UT).

There was lots of adventure during our trip... On Friday we all trekked into Prescott to go to Barry Goldwater Lake for a picnic and found out that we couldn't BBQ because of a fire ban. So we drove caravan style (the blind leading the blind) back towards Chino Valley and stopped at another park only to find the ban was firmly in place there as well. Finally, (I say finally loosely) we ended up at a pavilion at a part only a couple of miles from Ty and Wendy's place...we unloaded all the supplied, started the coals, kids were playing happy to be freed from the cars, and what do you imagine happened? A huge thunderstorm rolled in and the rain began to pour. At first we all huddled under the pavilion, but then the water began to come in sideways and lightning began to crackle in the sky...Needless to say we did not stay at the park very long. Everyone scrambled to the cars and hurried to pack up all the BBQ supplies and took off for home. The BBQ was supposed to be a lunch and ended up being a dinner. Everyone was drenched but safe and we now have some fun memories. 
Navajo Bridge
Kolob, Manti, Sarah, Kyler, Tyanne, Carson, Brandon, Dylan, Katie, Jared, Eli, and Bridget (Wyatt was not feeling well)

Wyatt, Jared, Kolob, Manti, Kyler, Tyanne, Sarah, Eli, Katie, Dylan and Wendy