Too Cute?

Look at this cute kid. How fun is it when these little guys start learning new stuff! Just had to post it for the grandparnets to see how stinkin' cute this kid is!

What a great Mother's Day gift!

We're almost there! Well it looks like we are getting the house. YAY!!!
(10535 Humboldt Peak Way)

We received the word that the letter from the first bank has arrived!!
So now we only need the 2nd bank's approval which should come asap hopefully no later than Monday. So we still need your prayers -especially to sell/rent our place.

We know that it is because you all are praying for us AND because the Lord is merciful that any of this is even possible.

We feel so blessed to have such great family and friends praying for us. It certainly makes all the difference.

So here are some more pics of the house. Not too much will change. We want to plant a bigger garden, paint the kids rooms and do some other stuff but that's just to make it our own. Even if we did nothing it would still be a great house.

As soon as we are settled or before August, whichever comes first, we will have a BBQ for all our freinds and family to come see it.

Again we love you all and we are so grateful to each of you for your support throughout this transition.

House Update

Many of you have asked about the house so I thought that I'd update everyone.
Well the wait continues we are now in week 12 or 13- it's started to meld into one long ordeal- and we continue to wait. We are specifically waiting for the official approval letter from the seller's bank- so now you know what to pray for.
As we wait our house is still not sold BUT we have prospective renters.
We just ask for everyone's continued prayers. Our family needs the space and we need to return to normal soon. The waiting to know our fate is quite tiresome. We will just turn it over to the Lord and wait.
I know that this is for a "wise purpose" BUT it is still hard. It will make us appreciate the house even more when it is all said & done. Thankfully we have great friends and family to support us through this tumultuous time.

New Blog

Hey everybody. Well I finally started my recipe/food blog. I pay homage to my husband because he enjoys eating the food as much as I enjoy making it.

I guess that I will use it as an online backup for all those awesome recipes that I have that I'd die if I lost. If anyone wants me to post some of their recipes so that cyberspace can keep track of them for you just let me know.

Here is the address: www.howtokeepyourman.blogspot.com

Family Fun

We have some great friends who invited us to go horseback riding last weekend and we took them up on their offer. What a blast!
Christi got a chance to put her cowgirl hat that Grandma got her to some good use. And James was quite the little horseman.
It is a wonderful thing to see the world from the back of such a beautiful animal. I think that we miss something in not being able to have these opportunities more frequently. Being one with nature and animals is something that I wish that I could more fully give my kids. They love being able to dig in the dirt, play with a dog or ride a horse. How much nicer it would be if we could have these experiences all the time I think it brings us much closer together.
Anyway....Enjoy the pics!

New Look

So I decided to change the look of my blog. We will see how long this lasts.
I love chocolate- in case the background doesn't give that away.
Chocolate helps me to get through whatever, plus since I LOVE Dark chocolate it's a great fat so eat up!
Hope you all are still praying for us and our house situation. We may have some good news soon- we hope. We feel that there is no better way to learn patience than having kids and trying to sell and buy a house. Chaos must be God's theory to order because even with all the hectic schedules and what not things seem to be slowly falling into place.
I will post more later.

EXHAUSTED

O.K. in case you don't know....Motherhood is exhausting!!!!
Yesterday my dear friend Julie and I took our combined 6 kids - Michael was at school- to the museum. It was fun for the kids but the constant counting of 4 little bodies- luckily 2 are still immobile without mom- was a little wearing on this mom. I felt like a nap was most necessary but not to come to pass, unfortunately.
Instead I got home reserved our campsite for our Labor Day camp out, nursed the baby, started dinner, nursed, fed the family before Ryan had to leave, nursed, got the kids ready for bed and started the 2 hour ordeal of bedtime, nursed, did some dishes, nursed and then by 10pm Ryan finally was able to come home.
See exhausting, huh? ( Maybe I over exaggerate the nursing but aren't you just tired thinking about this? God bless women who have twins, or any numbner of kids from 1 to ___ .)
I wouldn't choose to be exhausted any other way though. Thankfully my kids try to help me not be too exhausted and sleep well once they fall asleep.

Good luck to all the moms out there. May this weekend bring a well deserved nap :)

I Love a Good Book

My sis-in-law, Cara, gave me this book for Christmas and I blew through it in less than a week, which is amazing considering having 4 kids and reading all the other stuff that I am at the same time. I had read the original fairytale by the Grimm brothers and although it's a little dark it was a great tale. I am totally ready to read more by Shannon Hale now. She transformed the original into something even better than I could've imagined- which is very hard to do with a classic story. I recommend The Goose Girl for anyone who likes a good clean fantasy with romance and adventure.

So thanks Cara for a great read!

Everything

Ok so if you didn't know I love Michael Buble'

(Yes, Ryan knows) I think that he has a great voice & his music makes me smile. I have been a fan since college but I didn't get to go to his concert until 2006. He is a great entertainer! If you ever get the chance to go to his concert DO IT!! Enjoy the song, I do.

To be or not to be

So I am contemplating starting a recipe blog. I guess that this way if I ever lost a recipe in hard copy the internet would always have it for me. I guess that it will probably happen BUT I have to figure out a name.
* Mama's kitchen
* Recipes worth stealing
*Yummy in My Tummy
* How to keep your man
I don't know. Maybe you all have suggestions. Suggest away:)

What Perfection

How sweet is this?

Wouldn't it be nice to be this comfortable all the time?

I just couldn't resist taking this picture.

My Grandfather

Last Thursday my grandfather, John Mayhoffer, suddenly passed away. It is still sinking in but the event has reminded me of the scripture speaking of "the tender mercies of the Lord".

Although my grandfather passed away without a long illness he was sick and would've gotten much worse. How grateful I am that he was able to still be himself- for the most part- until the end.

Newest pics

So here we are the mom and kids. You have no idea what it took to take this picture. Blood, sweat and of course tears and lots of them. James' expression says it all. (James, "If I have to take one more stinkin' picture you will regret it!)

Thankfully Aunt Jeane was there to ride herd on the kids. No way could I have done this alone. I may be crazy BUT I'm not insane.

Here is a cute one of the kiddos. Hard to believe that there are 4 of them now. And poor Christi with all those boys! She'll get over it though, especially when she gets spoiled by mom- & dad too.

Michael is doing great. Boy does that kid love to read- thank goodness for libraries.

Christi is a great big sister and helps tons.

James is such a pleasant guy and makes us smile all the time.

And William is just fun to top it all off. He is a great baby and we love him- even James does.

William is Growing Up

Aw! Look how cute this kid is. Hard to believe that he is already 2 months old. We are pretty certain that he has blue eyes-score! Blue eyes and dark skin. How irresitable is that?

Here is another picture of William in a cute hat- he already looks so different.

One nice thing about babies- among many others- they love to cuddle and take naps with dad!

Now this is the Life.....

It's good to know that someone liked dinner!

First Videos

So here is William. What a cute kid, eh? He makes us smile and if he survives James' acts of love/hate he will be great to have around for a long time....

So William can't be the only one with a video on the blog. We're trying to avoid sibling rivalry, Right? James doesn't talk alot (Christi and Michael make up for that) so bye bye is about as good as it gets right now.

PRAY, PRAY, PRAY.....we need it.

Ok here it is.... the reason for the need to PRAY! We are trying to purchase a new home and this is the one we are trying to get. (We are also trying to sell ours- so if you know someone who wants a townhome let them know about ours.) It will be a while before we know whether or not our offer is accepted by the bank BUT we are hopeful. The house has four bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms and is on nearly a quarter of an acre- unheard of in Colorado.

We are facing so much change- new baby, new house (hopefully), new school for Michael- it can be overwhelming. We just have to get something bigger 6 people in 1400 square feet just isn't that easy plus the kids (& mom ) really need a yard.

So just keep us in your prayers. I am sure that to quote a song "... I'll get by with a little help from my friends..."

I'll post more pics of the house and the kiddos soon.

Sad Day

This evening I found out of the loss of Pres. Gordon B. Hinkley. It is a sad time for those left behind but what joy he and his wife, Marjorie, must be experiencing.
What a great teaching time to present to my children the way the church works. I guess that Family Home Evening is planned for tomorrow.

More Pics of the Baby

Well here is another picture of William and one with his Aunt Jeane.

I also thought that I'd make some of you feel better about how you look after delivery. Scary, huh? Just thought that it would make you all smile.

Having four is exhausting! Just getting used to the new routine with four is going to take some time. I seem to always be late- I hate being late.
Hopefully we will get to take William to get some real portraits soon but with the dreaded flu here in CO, I am anxious about taking him anywhere. I hope to have more up soon but enjoy these for now.

Tax Deduction arrival

Well, 2008 is here and our family is complete. On Friday Dec 28th I went into labor and on Dec 29th at 8:11 am William Stewart Norris was born. He was 7 lbs. 4 oz. and 20 inches long.

William waited just long enough for Christmas to come and go, for Grandma Baron to arrive and for the last necessary errands to be run. It was actually quite good timing and we can now claim him on our 2007 taxes too- BONUS. We were also lucky to have some family still here from Utah for Christmas to share our new little one with.

It's kind of weird to think that this is our last baby. Sad but good. I cried a bit after the delivery because it just hit me that I won't have this experience ever again. I hope that I have enjoyed the experiences of having been bleesed with these kids and that I won't have any regrets of not doing everything that I want to do with them.

We are so richly blessed and we know it. We are so happy to share this little one with you all. I will post more pictures soon. Enjoy these until then.