Sleepless nights and Cuddling Cuties

All of a sudden Cayden will not go to sleep until like 11:30. I put him to bed at 8:30 and we will think that he is asleep and then like an hour later he will come out and say he's not tired. We keep putting him in his bed and he will just keep coming out. I have no idea what to do. A couple nights ago me and Chuck were watching a movie and we thought Cayden was asleep and at like 10:30 he came down like this. All dressed up in his suit. It was so cute I had to take a picture. He keeps saying he is scared, but we say prayers, we give blessings, we lay with him, we do everything we can think of and he still wont go to sleep. I really don't know what to do. Does any one have any suggestions?I came downstairs yesterday and Cayden and Emma were watching TV like this. It was so cute they were cuddling on the couch. They really get a long very well. Cayden is so protective of Emma and she just idolizes him. Of coarse they fight sometimes, but most of the time they play so well together. I am so grateful that they love each other so much.

Kagaroo Zoo

This post is about 2 weeks late, but better late than never. Cayden's birthday was on a Tuesday and his party wasn't until Saturday so we took him to Kangaroo Zoo for a little birthday fun. The kids love it there and always have so much fun. Chuck and I love it too, and I think it is so great that they let the parents play on the toys with the kids. We had a blast. I love spending time with my family and being able to just have fun and laugh and not worry about all the stuff I have to do. I love being with my kids, they are so fun and energetic and have the cutest personalities. Daddy Cayden and Emma

Mommy Cayden and Emma

Cayden and Emma, she is so funny, whenever we tell her to smile pretty she turns her head like this.

I thought this was a cute picture of Emma

Cayden's favorite is the huge slide.

Party Time!!!

Cayden had his birthday party on Saturday. I turned out really well. We were suppposed to have it at the park. We had an obsicle coarse and a scavenger hunt all set up, but when we got there it was way to windy. I knew the kids would be misserable in the wind so we hurried and called everyone like 10 minutes before it was supposed to start and told them to come to our house instead. Becca and Ron hurried and set up a new obsticle course in the back yard, and Chuck wrote new clues to the scavenger hunt. We were so late getting started cause we had to set everything up at my house, but once I settled down and wasn't stressed cause things weren't going acording to plan, it actually turned out really well. The kids got there and got their faces painted like their favorite Transformer. then they had an abstacle course in the back yard, Autobots vs. Deceptacons. Then we had the search for the all spark cube. I painted a box to look like the all spark cube and put their party favors in it. They had clues to help them find it. We had pizza and cake. Then did the pinata, and opened presents. I think all the kids really had a lot of fun. Cayden was thrilled with the party and had so much fun. Thank you to all of you who were so supportive and came to the party. We love you all. From left Corbin, Cade, Emma, Brock, Hallie, Cort, Cayden, Colton, Livi, Taytin, and Riley, Ben is up above
Eating Pizza

All the Girls, Hallie, Savanah, Livi, and Riley is up above. I swear Cayden gets along better with girls than he does with boys.

He was so cute, everytime he would open a present he would go give them a big hug and say thank you.

Cayden and Autie Becca

I know I look retarded but it is the only shot that has the cake I made in it. The frosting turned out pink instead of red but it was OK.

I love Cake!

My little Birthday boy

Cayden and Uncle Steve, he's single ladies.

Cayden and Mommy

Cayden and Emma

We are so dumb, we forgot to give Cayden our present at his party, we had him all ready for bed and remembered that we hadn't given it to him, so we brought it up to his room and gave it to him that night. He loved it. His bike got stolen last summer, so he was so excited to get a new one.

Haircuts, Gangsters, and Police!!!

So on Monday I was upstairs for like 10 minutes researching new preschool's and I come downstairs and there is hair all over my kitchen floor. I look over and Cayden has scizors and is cutting Emma's hair. I am so sad, she has already been a little follicly challenged. her hair is so thin and has taken forever to grow. He cut most of it off of the top of her head. If you can see in the picture it sticks straight up and it is so short. And he cut half of her bangs off. So it looks like she has a total mullet in the back. I am taking her to get it cut today. I am so sad I am going to have to cut most of it off in the back so it doesn't look so funny, and I will have to cut all of her bangs short. I just can't believe he did this. I had told him that morning that his hair was getting long and we needed to go get a haircut, so when I asked him why he was cutting Emma's hair he said "Mom Emma's hair is longer than mine, she really needed a haircut." How mommy felt when she saw Emma's hair

Emma put on her little hoodie the other night and would not take it off her head. She even slept with it on. She kept looking up at us and crossing her arms. It was so funny, she looked like a little gangster

Last time we were at my moms house Emma was playing in Bens room and came out with this police costume on. She looked so cute. She would not take it off all night, she must have thought she was pretty cute cause she kept doing the funniest things all night long, and she would scream if we tried to take it off of her. You can't see in the picture but she has no pants on under the shirt, she looked so cute.

Happy Birthday Katie and Jessica

Cayden's cousins Katie and Jessica are turning three today. I remember when Amy was due on like April 30 I said be sure you don't have them on April 15 cause that is Cayden's birthday. Sure enough on Caydens first birthday we got a call that Amy had had the twins. I swear the three of them were best friends before this life, cause they have this bond that I have never seen in kids so young. It doesn't matter how much time goes by between visits, it is like they are best buds. Cayden loves to play with them, and frequently talks about how he wants to go to Disneyland with them. I think he really likes them cause they think everything he does is cool, and he loves the attention. He just loves to be worshiped. Katie and Jessica are two of my favorite little girls. I love them so much. I am so grateful for them in my life, and I am so grateful that they came to Mike and Amy. I love you girls, Happy Birthday.

Happy Birthday Cayden!

Today is Cayden's forth birthday. I can not believe that he is four, it seems like yesterday I was holding him in my arms. He is turning into such a charming, hansome and fun little boy. He looks just like his daddy. I love to spend time with him. He really is one of my favorite people. If I had a choice to take him on a date with just us or go out with friends, I really would rater be with him. I love the times that we get together to talk and play. He will always be my little buddy. I am so proud of who he is becoming. Here are 15 of my favortie things about Cayden

1. I love that he loves Jesus, and that when he gets scared at night or has a bad dream he comes to our room and asks for a blessing and that we will pray for angels to be with him. He has so much faith and love for our Heavenly Father and Savior.

2. He is so sweet to Emma (most of the time) he misses her when he is away from her. While we were at Lagoon, he said "Dad, I want to go home now, I miss my Emma"

3. He is very sensitive and loving. He can always tell if I am sad or stressed and he will give me a big hug and tell me he loves me.

4. He wants to be just like his dad when he grows up. He seriously idolizes Chuck, dad is his very favorite person to be with. He always wants to help him with any projects he is doing, he will copy everything chuck does.

5. He is obsessed with Transformers. That is what he wants to play 80% of the time.

6. He has a little bit of a raspy voice and I love to listen to him talk. Sometimes I have to smile even if he is whining cause he sounds so dang cute.

7. He wants to be a daddy, an astronaut, a docter like uncle Mike, a teacher, and a scientist like dad when he grows up. He is very confident that he can do all of these things.

8. He is a thrill seeker. He loves boating, jet skiing, four wheeling, hiking, climbing, jumping off of things, and riding the dirt bike. He says he wants his own dirt bike and that he wants to ride Motor cross when he turns five. (mommy doesn't think so)

9. I love to listen to him pray, he always says thank you for his teddy and his toys. It may seem simple but it makes me think how often do I really think about the small things I have that make my life more conveniant and comfortable. Hearing him express gratitude for the small things makes me realize how much I have and how blessed we are.

10. He loves all of his auntie's and uncles. He would rather play with them than any of his friends. He loves it when Auntie Becca and Rachael or Uncle Steve come over and babysit, and he loves to play with Ben. I am so grateful that he really loves his family. Family is so important to chuck and I and we really want that to be a priority to our children.

11. He will always share. He really is not a selfish child at all. On Christmas we told him to choose 2 toys that he wanted to take to the homeless shelter to give to kids that didn't have any toys. I thought he would pick toys that he didn't like anymore, but he came back with two of his favorite toys. I told him he didn't have to give his favorite away, and he said that he had lots of toys, and he wanted to give something to the kids that they would really like, cause they don't have any toys for Christmas. I was so touched at how giving he was.

12. He has a ton of energy, he can never sit still. Sometimes this is a challenge for me, like when we are trying to have FHE, or scriptures and prayer. But he puts that energy into everything that he does. He just has so much fun with life, and is so happy all the time.

13. He will play pony's and dolls with Emma. He is such a boy and always wants Emma to play transformers or wrestling with him, but when she gets tired of it and asks him to play pony's with her he always will so that she gets a turn with what she wants to do.

14. He loves dress ups. We are regularly dressed as a pirate or spiderman when we go to the store. His new thing is wearing his suit. He will get his lunch pail (or breifcase), and tell me he is going to a meeting (chuck is always going to church meetings in his suit.)

15. He has such a strong spirit. Sometimes I think he should have been my parent cause he is way stonger than I am. The times that I have been priveledged to feel who he really is, and who he was before this life I am overwhelmed with his strength.

Cayden We love you so much. We are so grateful to have you in our family. Happy Birthday buddy.

Theres only one LAGOON!!!

We took Cayden to Lagoon on Saturday for his birthday. We left Emma with Grandma and it was so fun to have a whole day with just us and Cayden. He had so much fun. It was one of the best days we have had in a long time. We first took him on all the old kids rides and he was having fun but wasn't laughing or anything, so we tried some of the new kids rides that we thought would be a little bit to big for him, and he loved them. His favorite was the Dragon Drop. It is a mini version of the Rocket. It takes you up about 25 feet and then drops you. I thought he would be terrified, but he begged us to do it so we let him, and he loved it. He was laughing so hard every time it dropped. I don't think he had ever experianced that feeling in the pit of your stomach when you loose gravity like that. He also loved the new Odysey ride where water shoots at you and you have to move your fish up and down to dodge the water. They have a new rollar coaster called Wicked (it is so fun) he was beggin us to go on it. We had to take him to the front of the line so the people could tell him he was to little cause he wouldn't listen to us. Me and chuck took turns going on it and it was definately in my top five favorite rollar coasters. Anyway we had so much fun and I loved having time with him to just have fun and laugh and do whatever he wanted to do. All of us on the boat, which he hated, he said it was like Nephi's ship when the storms come.

Mom and Cayden

Dad and Cayden

I took this mid fall on the dinosaur drop, I was scared I was going to drop my camera

Dino Drop

Bumper cars

Mini Swings

Puff ride, this was his second favorite ride. He called it the Puff the magic dragon ride, I kept trying to tell him that Puff was the rollar coaster, but he wouldn't listen to me.

Happy Birthday Heather!!!

Heather is my sister in law, and I love her so much. Heather is so kind, loving and loyal. She has always been a great friend to me, even when I have been having a really hard time and haven't been the best friend back. She is always calling to check up on me and the kids, and always takes an interest in our lives. She is such a great mom, and is so patient and loving w/her family. Heather I love you so much and I am so grateful for you in my life. Us sisters need to stick together :)

Conference

I just want to take a minute to say how grateful I am for a later day prophet. I was overcome with the spirit when we sustained Pres Monson, I am so grateful that we have a living prophet on the earth today and I am so grateful that I have had a witness that he truly is the Lord's servant. After Pres. Monson spoke on Sunday Morning I turned to Chuck and said "He is different, you can tell that the mantle has fallen on him." I think it was elder Holland who echoed my thoughts when he said that we have all been eyewitnesses to the settling of the sacred mantle of Prophet on Pres. Monson's shoulders. That was such a beautiful statement that so eloquently stated what I had been feeling. I am recording the following for journaling reasons, you are welcome to read it but it will be long winded so don't feel like you have to read it all. I had a couple of favorite talks, that have really provided some answers for me in some things I have been praying about. I loved Elder Rasband, of the seventy, his talk was on Saturday morning. He talked about how we are given special experiances to strengthen our own testimonies. and that through these experiances we will have an icrease in faith, and that the Lord will reveal himself to us in our trials. I have really found that to be true, I felt an increas of gratitude for my trials, because they have helped me to know my Father in Heaven better. I loved Elder Scott's talk on Saturday Afternoon about overcoming abuse. I also really liked Elder Christofferson's talk on Sunday Morning about spiritual rebirth I have been pondering a lot lately about sanctification and purifying myself of all ungodliness, this talk helped me understand a few key thing that now seem a lot clearer to me. I loved Sister Tanner's talk on Delighting in the things of the Lord. It's funny but I read that scripture in Nephi about a month ago and ever since then I have been thinking about that, her talk was so beautiful. Of coarse I loved hearing Pres. Monson speak and feel the spirit of his message, and of who he is. I think my favorite talk was Elder Bednar on Sunday Afternoon. He talked about meaningful prayers. A meaningful prayer will not just be to plead and ask but to perform and do. If we truly do have faith that God answers our prayers it will lead us to action. I have a specific thing in my life taht I have really been praying for, it has been a huge trial for me and I realized while listening to this talk that My faith needs to inpire me to action. There are things that I can do to help the Lord answer my pleadings. I think I have been just sitting around waiting for him to fix it, when really there are things that are required of me to have this blessing in my life. He also taught that we need to perservere through the trial of our faith. Remember Faith preceded the miracle. This particular thing that I have been praying for is something that I have been promised in a blessing, so I know it is the lords will that I recieve it. I just realized that things don't always come when we want them to. That we need to keep having faith, and acting upon that faith, even when we don't see imediate relief. It will come, but sometimes only after the trial of that faith. I can really see that this is the process I have been going through. I feel so uplifted and posotive about the future. I feel grateful to my Heavenly Father for his tender mercies, and the answers that I have recieved in Conference, through his apostles on the earth today. I hope everyone else enjoyed conference and felt the spirit that I did.

Arizona or Bust!!!

We just went on the funnest girls trip ever. My sisters, my mom and me went to Arizona. The weather was so wonderful and we got to see a lot of friends and family that we haven't seen in a long time. We had so much fun, we decided to make this a yearly tradition. We stayed with my moms cousin Holly who is the sweetest lady ever. She was so nice to let us stay there. We went to see uncle Jack and Aunt Marie, and had a reuinion with all the Fuller girls. They had the coolest boutiques there and we did some great shopping. We lived in Arizona when I was in Preschool - 2nd grade, so we got to go see our old house and our old clubhouse and take a stroll down memory lane. It was the most fun I've had in a long time. Thanks to my wonderful husband for watching the kids all weekend so that I could go. He is so good to me. Our flight was overbooked on the way home and all of us got bumped so we had to stay an extra day (darn) and we all got roundtrip tickets to anywhere in the US so our next trip will be next spring to New York to see Wicked, and our airfare will be free, yey! I had so much fun with my sisters and my mom. We all have very busy lives so even though we see each other quite a bit, we don't get a lot of quality time to sit and talk and laugh and just hang out. I really enjoyed being with them, they are my best friends and I love them so much. Becca and I on the plane

At the Mesa Temple, isn't Laura's belly so cute.

All of us, at our old clubhouse where we used to live

Me and Laura, we used to take swimming lessons in this pool

Me and my beautiful sisters

Isn't my mom beautiful. I swear she looks like she could be my sister. She is such a great example to me.

Totally staged but cute picture we took to give to our dad.

Our old house. It looked so much smaller than I remember it.

Me and Laura used to climb in this tree, Laura insisted we take a picture in it. I was so proud of her climbing up into it when she is like 8 months pregnant.

Us and the Fullers. they are some of our oldest friends. We haven't seen them in like 10 years, but they were our best friends growing up. It was so good to see them. It felt like no time had passed at all, it was so easy to talk to them. They are all doing so well. Pictured in oldest to youngest Left to Right Susan, Bonnie, Charmaine, Chantal (not pictured she was in San Diego), Me, Jenny, Laura, Becca, Clarissa, and Rachael. They really are such great friends.