Halloween 2009

I know that it's been 2 months since my last post - sorry! We had a GREAT Halloween at L & J's house in Salem. All the cousins went Trick-or-treating together for the first time EVER! Afterwards, Drew and I snuggled on the BIG Love Sac. Drew is almost 9 months and we have just hit the "get-into-absolutely-everything" phase! So fun, but a bit exhausting!

These are the "triplets": Alice (5 months), Drew (8 months) and Ruthie (2 months). Amazing how these babies' mothers all have the same parents, because they don't look a thing alike! But, they sure like each other!

Andrew was a jailbird and I was a 50s girl. Not easy to explain to my kids what exactly a 50s girl is, but they just liked that I dressed up!

We got them to stop long enough to snap this picture: Monkey (John), Luke Skywalker (Clark), Bat (Jack), Rock Star (Faith), Cheerleader (Abbie), Alien (BJ) and Frog (Drew).

Now that Halloween is over, I am getting SO excited for Thanksgiving, where we can show our gratitude to our Savior, Jesus Christ and all that He has given us. We get to host this year, so pictures will follow!

THEN...on to CHRISTMAS! It's the most wonderful time of the year!

John Turns 4!

For John's Birthday, we celebrated with his Hawkins cousins. The kids played outside in the sprinklers, and we just had a great time!

We visited with Grandma Ottley, and happened to catch her on a REALLY great day. She was smiling, laughing and singing along with the children. Grandma is the center of our world and we just love her so much. This "Tender Mercy" came for Grandpa, as we visited on his 87th birthday.

She went back to her "unhealthy" self the next morning. Faith played Lightly Row for Grandma and Grandma sang right along!

Andrew and I went to Logan two weekends ago to visit our cousins and do a little SHOOTING! What? I had never shot a gun in my life, and until about 3 months ago, had NO desire to do so. But, we felt like we needed a little bit of training, JUST IN CASE, and I have to admit...it was fun!

What are we up to?

Some of EVERYTHING! Daddy found this toad and he quickly became John's best friend! I was amazed at John's courage to just pick him up! We were telling Faith that if she kissed the toad, it would turn into a handsome prince. But, before John could hear that we were JUST KIDDING...he kissed the toad! YUCK!

Grant with my sweet sister, Joanna. These two have a very special bond - they adore each other! Jo loves to hear Grant laugh, and Grant thinks JO (and Laren) are hilarious!

This is my sweet neice, Jane. We were trying to take a picture of her with her new baby sister, but without success. I honestly think this was the cutest picture of them all - Jane could not be more beautiful, but she certainly did not want her picture taken! We love you Janie!

Ok,,,what have we been doing so far this summer? A whole lot of THIS! Cousin Camps every Thursday, reading, jumping on the trampoline, riding bikes, scooters, skateboards, and so much more! Now that the rain has stopped, we will enjoy the summer even more. Mommy's new pasttime...the GYM! And the kids love it too!

BJ's party!

This is Drew (18 pounds) with his newborn cousin, Alice Malee. I'm so glad we captured this while they were asleep. Aren't they adorable? What makes my babies grow so big? I think I will take the credit in THICK, NUTRITIOUS Mommy milk. Thank you, thank you very much.

Darling neice, Amelia, with her "curlies" and ketchup face. Isn't she a crackup?

The "triplets" (my John, BJ - birthday boy, and Jane) all born 2 months apart from each other. This potato sack race was the funniest one. Within 4 feet, Jane fell and started to cry. One more jump beyond Jane, BJ tripped, fell and started to cry. John happened to be ahead of them, so he just continued on and finished the race. The other two DID finish with the help of the magic jumping parents!

My sisters and I. Thanks, Mom, for capturing this picture! Love you sisters! I really love living close and buzzing down for a quick birthday party - we have never been able to do this, and now I"m trying to take advantage of every chance I have to be with family!

Family Fun!

Part of the fun we had in Logan (sorry, these posts are out of order) was riding Aunt Connie's BIG motorcycle. Thank you, Connie, for loving our kids enough to take them. You made their week!

Clark just hanging out in the tree!

Here is the FAMOUS "A" at Utah State, that has turned many a commoner into an official TRUE AGGIE. The kids were in SUPER goof mode, but were really good sports as we drove them around campus, reminiscing about our life there 13 years ago. We even got a chance to peek into Trailer #65 at USU MObile Home Park where we first lived. Same green carpet, same trellis border that we put in and the same cozy feel - we loved that trailer so much!

Oh, and we had to remember what it felt like to kiss on the "A". ARE YOU A TRUE AGGIE?

Here's the Latest!

Last Saturday, Dad Croshaw came up and he, with Andrew, worked to fix the fountain! I am pleased to say, after much ado, that it is working and wonderful! It creates a nice, gentle stream sound and it's going to be lovely.

Also on Saturday, Grant celebrated his 9th birthday. Here are the darling kids - they love Grant! We bought him trick candles, but they "tricked" me and didn't relight. Oh well!

On Memorial Day, we drove to Logan to visit the gravesite of Cristin, Andrew's sister, who passed away in 1990. We had such a great time reuniting with so many Croshaw cousins. There were probably 50 of us there, and as we stood in a circle and sang, there was a very sweet Spirit.

When we lived away from Utah, we started a tradition of letting a yellow balloon "go" up into the sky in memory of Cristin. After hearing much about "No, I want to let it go", "No, I do"...we got four balloons, and each child let them go in his/her own style! We loved that trip.

Here's a cute picture of Drew! The weirdest thing happened this past week. Drew's naturally-occuring mowhawk DISAPPEARED! His hair just laid down and he honestly looked like a different baby! We love him either way and he is just a DELIGHT in our family! He'll talk and talk to me, while I hold him. He can make many different shapes with his mouth, and has recently discovered the art of pulling mommy's hair! It's a milestone...it hurts, but I'm thrilled!

Drew-bug is 3 months old!

I took this picture yesterday while Mimi and Papa were here. He was looking out the back door and the lighting was so perfect! I just love those little lips and kiss them at least 50 times a day! Ooh...we love this boy!

Funny Face

I took these pictures to send to my cute Auntie Gaye, who gave this outfit to Drew. It's a 6-12 month outfit, and Drew will be just 3 months this week! We put him on the scale with Grant, and with Grant weighing in at 70 pounds, Drew weighs 15 pounds! And we love every ounce of him!

Somber Boy

Many people tell us that Drew looks just like his brother, Grant. Grant was a very serious baby and it took the Circus to make him smile.

Although these pictures show the serious side of Drew, he has really started to smile and even "talk" lately. I could listen to him talk all day. If I put him in the bend of my elbow with him looking up at me, he'll talk and talk - music to Mommy's ears.

Here's a cute one of his smile.

He is just so angelic - we can't count our blessings fast enough!

Children's Museum with the cousins!

On Monday, we ventured up to the Gateway to spend the day at the Children's Museum. After having visited the world-renowned Indianapolis Children's Museum and the Port Discovery in Baltimore, our expectations were pretty high! But, I can happily say that we were pleased with what we found!

"The Garden" was the kids' favorite spot. Even the big kiddos loved putting balls in the tubes and watching where they went!

Sweet little Drew has had an episode of Eczema lately and we can't figure out how to treat it. Any suggestions? We're trying Vaseline, Neutrogena lotion and even diaper creme.

Here they are! Mia, Christian, Clark, Grant, John, Abbie, BJ, Jack, Faith and Jane. All 10 cousins together in one place! We love living close!

Happy Easter!

On Sunday evening, we went to Mimi and Papa's house for a wonderful Easter Dinner, complete with 11 kids and 10 adults! Mimi asked the big kids to hide the eggs for the little kids...then, of course, they got to "search" for their own loot.

John is so happy because I'm positive he's never eaten as much candy as he did on Sunday!

I'm glad that Mindy grabbed my camera, so that I could participate with my kiddos in the HUNT! Clark was so sweet at our Neighborhood Egg Hunt in the dark. Each child was supposed to go out and find 12 eggs, but he came back with only 2! You'd think a 5-year old would be in tears about that, but not Clark! He just said "Just got two, Mom!" and went about his business. When I gave him one out of JOhn's basket, he was thrilled and said "THANKS, MOM!" He has such a soft heart and is always trying to help others be happy.

So, I wanted to make sure that he got his share at this hunt, as a reward for his sweetness.

I can't remember what Grant was laughing at, but Mindy can always make him laugh, and HARD! He's not pretending... he really is in STITCHES about something!

Happy Birthday, Faith!

Mimi came to help with Faith's Dress-up party last WEdnesday afternoon. The kids were out early from school because it was the start of Spring Break.

Faith determined all the activities: Pin the tail on the Pony (drawn by herself); Horse, Horse, Pony (aka Duck Duck Goose), Who stole the cookies? and of course PINK cupcakes! Have you read the book called "Pinkalicious" about a girl who eats too many pink cupcakes? It's darling and could very well happen to my little Faith!

Mommy quickly wrote out this poster so that the girls could decorate it at the beginning of the party. Now, Mommy DOES know how to spell Birthday, there was just a lot going on! Oops!

Clark thought he was SO funny to jump into the pictures, that he got us all laughing! Life with brothers - faith is so lucky!