We Got A Trampoline

Thank you Santa for bringing us a trampoline! Mom lobbied hard for this trampoline. I wanted something fun for the kids in the back yard because they usually want to play out front. I am fine with the older kids being out front, but I need something to keep the younger boys happy out back. The trampoline also makes the kids pretty popular on the street as all of their friends want to come over and jump on it.

Christmas Day

The decent downstairs to see what Santa brought.

 Grandma Honnie gave these two very happy boys skateboards.

 This little guy got the tool bench he has been asking for, for at least 6 months.

 Ash with all his loot.

Coach happy with his haul.

 TLex loves his keys and his toy plane

 This guy is happy with his bike shoes.

 Someone couldn't wait to try out his new tools in the yard.

 Dad took this gem of a picture on my new camera.

 The rest of the day was spent enjoying each others company. 

Rollerblading with mom.

 Wrestling with dad.

And don't forget the Christmas nap.

Christmas Eve

Moving away from family and the traditions we have always had was hard. When we realized how sad and lonely we would be our first Christmas Eve in California we came up with a plan to fill the void. We took off for DisneyLand. It was such a success we made it our new tradition.
Disneyland year two. We are so spoiled!

 The house after the big man made his visit.

 Mazie guarding the Christmas loot. GOOD DOG!

 Santa had some of the cookies and milk we left for him.

Christmas Eve's Eve

We celebrate Christmas Eve's Eve around these parts. This is the night we have our fancy dinner and discuss Christ's birth and the true meaning of Christmas. This year we invited the missionaries to join us. We love having the missionaries in our home.

Look who is 40!

This guy!

Dad decided he wanted to spend his BIG 40 with his family at the happiest place on earth. We his family happily obliged. We had two fun field days at Disneyland hanging out with our favorite man of the house.

40 things I love about Nate

1. Number one has to be his patience. If he weren't patient we definitely would not be married today. Thanks babes for hanging on for 4 years of being jerked around by yours truly.

2. He is the best kisser, but you will just have to take my word for that.

3. He loves his boys with all of his heart.

4. He is the wrestling champ supreme. Wait one day your boys will take you down, but for now at age 40 you are the champ.

5. He works hard for our family.

6. He has the best looking lawn in the whole neighborhood. He learned how to care for his lawn by his grandpa and you better believe his boys are going to learn from him.

7. He has mad landscaping skills. 

8. He has an adventurous soul. Without this love I would have never gone to France, England, Italy, and Hawaii. 

9. His laugh

10. His smile

11. I love the look he makes when concentrating hard.

12. I love the safety and security he gives our family.

13. He honors the priesthood and is teaching our boys to do the same.

14. He looks handsome in a suit.

15. I love and hate that he is a prankster and is teaching our sons to be as well.

16. He loves taking his family on adventures. California is ours to explore and he is making the most of our time living here.

17. His gentle touch.

18. He doesn't swear. My sensitive soul couldn't take someone who did.

19. He doesn't yell. He has never raised his voice at me.

20. He is a momma's boy.

21. He is the best pancake maker.

22. He makes the best homemade rolls.

23. He is the cookie baker in our family.

24. He loves to cuddle.

25. He loves a clean house.

26. He can paint a whole house without my help whatsoever.

27. He is determined.

28. He knows how to do the boys hair well, something I struggle at.

29. He loves looking at house plans. Seriously he does this almost daily.

30. He sees house plans in 3D, I only see them as lines on a paper.

31. He loves sitting on the front porch watching to sun set with me.

32. He is a good friend.

33. He is smart. He laughs at me because he retained everything he has ever learned whereas I learned the info spit it out for a test and quickly forgot it.

34. He is good at helping the children at homework.

35. He encourages me and helps me to be my best self, he does the same for our boys.

36. He has always treated me as a queen.

37. He loves chocolate.

38. He has mad ironing skills. Comes in handy when you have 4 boys to iron Sunday clothes for.

39. He has a quit but strong testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

40. He is mine to love for all eternity!

We Have Got A Toddler In the House

TLex started walking at 9 months. Seriously!?!?! It isn't fair that my baby is growing up way too fast. Why can't I just keep him as a baby for ever? Oh because I would miss precious moments like this. Love him and love watching him go through each mile stone.

Walking wasn't something I encouraged. With the other kids I would walk them around the house while they held on to my fingers. Probably because they didn't start walking until closer to 12 months. Not TLex he was determined to be up with the BIG boys. He first started walking around the furniture, then standing up in the middle of the room by himself. When he started walking on his own he didn't want anyones help. He would push you away and try to walk on his own. My little baby is so big!

Happy 3rd Birthday!

My babies are growing up waaay too fast. 

Little B is way into Batman so the theme for his birthday is Batman of course. 

Yummy Batman cake made by dad.

 Batman decorations

 And the best gift of all a Batman cape and mask. 

This three year old is ready to take on all the bad guys.

He even has a trusty side-kick and a cool new ride to do so.

 We were glad Grandma Honnie was here to celebrate with us.

Actually, Grandma Honnie flew in to town and I put her straight to work helping me make B's fabulous Batman Cape. We burnt the midnight oil and you can see the results were totally worth it. Even B's favorite stuffed animal Ooo whoo aa ha got a cape.

What I love about you B
1. You are always busy and have always have been since the day you learned to inch your way around the room using your back and neck.
2. You always have a running commentary going. Either you are following me around the house talking up a storm or playing on your own talking to yourself.
3. You play well with your brothers.
4. You love to dress up. I love to find you dressed up as a different character. You are even VERY picky about the outfits you wear.
5. You love being loved by mom and dad. you are always up for a cuddle
6. You have to watch 5 Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed on Youtube before you go to bed.

We love you B and are so glad you are part of our family!

Visiting our happy place with Grandma Honnie

We loved showing Grandma Honnie our happy place.

Ash loved taking her on all of his favorite rides. Mom liked getting a break from the coasters.

 Classic Splash Mountain picture!

 Classic baby crying with Santa picture.

Good times! Thanks for coming and playing with us Grandma Honnie! We love you!

Thanksgiving visitors

Grandma Honnie came to town for her Thanksgiving break. We love our Grandma Honnie!

 We were also thankful the my cousin Wes and his family could join us for Thanksgiving. Just check out their festive Thanksgiving outfits. The best part is they went to the wrong street and rang the wrong doorbell. Lol! Whoever answered the door wasn't as impressed with their surprise visitors as I was when they finally arrived at my house.

Last year cousin Leslie and her family joined us for Thanksgiving and within nine months they moved back to Utah from California. This year Cousin Wes joins us and announces they will be moving back to Utah within 9 months. The moral of the story family is, if you want to move back to Utah you had better join the Francis family for Thanksgiving.

Death Valley

Dad had to go to Death Valley again for work. This time it was on a weekend so we tagged along. While dad worked we played. I never in my wildest dream would have imagined visiting Death Valley and actually enjoying it. Seriously, who wants to go to a place that is so hot, so desolate, so ugly, and boring. I was absolutely wrong! Well not about the desolate part. Death Valley was amazing! We loved the sand dunes, Painted Canyon, the Devils Garden, the Salt Flats, Ryan's Camp and so much more. 

The kids playing at the sand dunes. By far the best sand we have ever played in.

 Visiting a ghost town. Poor little B when I told the boys we were visiting a ghost town he had envisioned a town full of ghost. Not an abandoned town. He was so disappointed that there were no ghosts. Thankfully, some artist felt the same disappointment my Little B had felt and created the ghost sculpture pictured below. Two year old melt down adverted.

 The Devils Garden

The Badwater Salt Flats. Are the lowest point in North America at 282 feet below Sea Level

The 20 Mule Team Canyons pictured behind B are the canyons dad spends most of his time in Death Valley searching for open mine adits.

Dad taking us hiking through the 20 Mule Team Canyons.

Visiting Ryan's Camp. This is the old mine camp for the Borax company. It is nearly 100 years old and preserved very nicely. Currently there is a young family that lives there to protect and restore this historical beauty. Since I am married to the Land Man in charge of Ryan's Camp we got to spend an afternoon stepping back in time enjoying mining history.

Ash with a mine cart behind him

 Coach playing on the swings at the old mine camp school

Thanks for letting us tag along dad! We are looking forward to our next trip to Death Valley with you.