pantry

Thanks to Mark I now have these! I am really excited about all these shelves in my laundry room. It now feels huge again. It was getting a little crowded with the little plastic shelves we had in there. Mark even went the extra mile and organized all his tools. He was super busy Saturday. Thank you Mark. I love you!

Together Again

Mark is now back and I am back to my normal self. Thanks to my cousin Alyse and her husband Bob. They were heaven sent. The came and watched the little monkeys on Thursday night and I went to Emily's fashion show that she had for her beauty school. I also went to dinner with Jeannie. Her husband was at the conference with Mark. I was actually happy when Ryan came in my room at 6:30 Friday morning. I was again tired by the time Mark got home at 7:30 that night.

And if you are wondering our new punishment for peeing on the carpet is having to wear a diaper all day. They are also responsible for cleaning up their mess.

I just took this cute picture of Andrew yesterday. I had to post it. I think he is so darling. My sad news. All my 0-3 month clothes are officially put away :( I wish they could stay that size for 6 months. I love newborns!

Trying to Survive

Just in case people are wondering how I am managing with out Mark. Today was a rough start:( Mark left on Sunday at noon and won't be home until Friday around 5 or 6, he has yet to give me the full details!
I thought this morning was going to be a good one since I had all my kids bathed last night. I got up at 6 and worked out on my treadmill. I came upstairs and packed Ethan's lunch. (Good thing I got that done early!) When Ryan woke up I quickly changed his diaper and got him dressed for the day. The same thing with Andrew. When Andrew was done eating I put him in his swing and then had family prayer with the boys. Sounding good so far. Just wait.
As soon as I sat down to eat my breakfast with the boys Andrew threw up all over himself and the swing. Yes there was a puddle of spit up in the swing when I got him out. So I quickly bathed him and changed his clothes. As I was washing him Ryan was screaming that he wanted an egg instead of Lucky Charms. I was a little busy at the time and couldn't get his request so he dumped all his Lucky Charms all over the floor. Yes Andrew was in his towel at the time. So I got that cleaned up and peeled him an egg.
Jake and Ethan were being so silly at breakfast they weren't eating. I was worried that Ethan wouldn't be ready for his bus on time. Jake finished so I sent him downstairs to get dressed. Ethan finished shortly after so I said why don't you try and get dressed faster than Jake. They both came running upstairs shortly after. Ethan still missing a shirt. I got Andrew dressed and then went down to check on them. Ethan then told me that Jake peed on the floor. When I asked why he did that he said "because Ethan peed on my bed!" Yes there was pee all over the floor, Jake's bed and box springs. I was down in their room trying to decide how to best handle this. And then Ethan, Jake and Ryan all started screaming (just for fun) hmmm, I was really overwhelmed. It was only 8:09 AM!
I called my mom and told her I needed someone to feel sorry for me. She let me relate all that had happened (through tears of course) and felt truly sorry for me. Then just before we hung up she said, "Be thankful you don't have cancer too" Thanks mom. Things really could be worse. I really am thankful for my boys. I am just still trying to find a good way to discipline them. If I ground them from TV then I won't get my nap in everyday ( I NEED that) There aren't any friends on our street so they don't really play with friends. I would love any suggestions! And I would Love for Mark to come back soon!

Top 25!

Last night Mark and I went to this Fancy smancy dinner for Utah's top 25 student run businesses. It was a lot of fun. Mark's Partner Cahlan is finishing up his master's degree and entered their company Sharp Media into this competition. Mark's company took 4th! Way to go guys. We got there at 6 for the mingle with appetizers. They were delicious! Then we sat down to dinner and the program. The program consisted of Utah's Governor Gary Herbert, Stephen Gibson a BYU professor and entrepreneur, and John Pestana and Josh James the founders of Omniture. They were all really good speakers. I learned a lot about entrepreneurship. It was nice to realize that there were other wives out there that have husbands working LONG hours to make their dreams come true and see that it can pay off in the end. Here is Mark and Me at the dinner.

Here we are with the award


Here is Mark with Dustin on the left and Cahlan on the right. Mark didn't really want me taking this picture because my camera was sooo slow and then he made this face during the picture. He wouldn't wait for me to take another one and wanted me to get one from one of the other wives but I haven't gotten one yet. So sorry Mark for the bad picture.

Here is everyone from Sharp Media left to right

Cahlan and Kim Sharp, Mark and JanaRae Hemingway and Dustin and Jeanie Christensen

PS. Thanks to Emily for doing my hair she got me so excited about the night. She gave me a crash course on what she had been learning in her etiquette class as well as a hand bag full of accessories to chose from to wear for the night.

Happy Halloween!

I took the boys to Gardner Village on the 15 when Ethan didn't have any school. These are the costumes they decided to wear that day. Yesterday at school Ethan was a vampire and last night night at the ward party Jake was batman. Here they are by witch number 1. Ethan is Anakin Skywalker, Jake is a ninja, Ryan a scarecrow and Andrew a little pumpkin thing.
Here they are in this cute little buggy but I didn't capture the buggy that well just the boys.

The boys were scared of this witch I couldn't get them any closer.

Jake the ninja

Ryan the scarecrow

Andrew in the pumpkin outfit. He wasn't very happy that I woke him up and then put him on some cold pumpkins. I still think the picture is cute.

Look What the kid brought in....

I grew up in a home of mostly girls (one brother 7 years younger than me) I never knew boys were so fascinated by creepy crawly things. Now of course after having 4 (5 if you count Mark) boys of my own I am well aware of how exciting bugs, trucks, motorcycles, dirt, and almost everything that I avoided as a little girl are. So Ethan was so excited about this HUGE spider. He even had to call Mark at work to let him know he had a surprise for him. He kept telling me "Dad is going to to love this." Mark wanted it outside. I said there is no way he is going to let it out so let him keep it in until he goes to bed. Well I went to take a 30 min nap and during that time Ethan and Jake let the huge spider out and smashed it all over their dresser. I bet they thought it was soooo cool when the huge sack on its back exploded. Mark wasn't very happy that he was the one cleaning it up since I was asleep. Anyway here are some pictures of the lovely spider before it was smashed. Good Find Ethan!

New York Part 3

Just a warning there are a lot of pictures in this post but I am finally finishing my New York trip blog! :)

On Monday Mark went fishing with the the three boys and Grandpa. Every time our boys would talk to their grandpa on the phone they would say they wanted to go fishing. So they went. Mark said Ryan just played on the grass the whole time at the first spot and he slept in the car at the second spot. So there are no pictures of Ryan on the fishing trip. Here is Jake with one of the fish that he caught
Here is Ethan (and Grandpa) I'm not really sure why Grandpa's head got cut off in the picture :(

Mark with his fish. He said that fishing on church property was his favorite part of being in New York. Thank you Mike.

Side note. I went shopping with Lee Ann and then took the longest nap in the afternoon. I had a lovely day as well :)

Here we are at the Peter Whitmer Farm. This is the same spot where President Kimball stood when he dedicated this building. Pretty Neat!

Here we are at the Hill Cumorah visitor's Center.


We also blessed Andrew in New York at the mission President's home. We did this on Sunday between conference sessions

Here's Andrew with his grandparents. Lee Ann was so cute to show him to all of the missionaries and tell them that he was her birthday present. (Andrew was born on her birthday)

Here's me and Mark what a cute couple if I do say so myself.

Here is Andrew in the and you can see the entire blessing outfit. Each of my boys have worn this (including Mark) I bought the hat when Ethan was born. The top was Mark's I made the pants when Ryan was born (first winter blessing) I have bought each boy their own shoes. Andrew's shoes were bought in New York with the help of Janni and Lee Ann. They were perfect! It is such a sweet day when I get to put my kids in this little outfit.

I think this is my favorite picture that I took of Andrew in his blessing outfit.

I think it is so sweet.

Here is Janni with Andrew.

We had such a nice time in New York it was so great to Be with Mike and Lee Ann. We were supposed to fly back on Wednesday afternoon. We had such a nice morning playing out in the back yard and packing everything up. It was nice to not be rushed. We got to the airport and our flight was cancelled! UGH The lady then acted like it was our fault that we were flying with 5 people ( I guess it was since we're the ones who have had these kids) But she said well its really hard to get 5 tickets all on the same plane (YUP that's why we booked out flight a while ago!) Anyway she said the only time she could get us out was the next morning at 6 AM! YIKES Four kids under the age of 6 getting to the airport by 4:30 not really my idea of a good way to start off our day. But we did it. Oh and did I mention she couldn't get our seats together. And the only thing she did for us was bump us up to first class on the short flight to Atlanta. So we made it home and I think my kids would just start crying if the other kid looked at him. Mark and I were SO tired and I just kept thinking that my kids would work it out. Thanks to a great friend Melissa I didn't have to cook dinner that night. It was so nice. THANK YOU! Any how did we spend our last day in New York. We went right to the sacred grove. It was nice since I hadn't been there since I was 15. It was so special to have Mike tell us all the neat things he had learned from the care taker and then share his testimony with us. I am grateful we had that opportunity. Thanks again Mike and Lee Ann we love you and appreciate all the sacrifices you are making.