Rylee

Drama should be her middle name. Oh but we love her like crazy!  She is such a little mommy. She mother's Tate and talks to him in a baby voice calling him sweetheart or honey.  She is picking up new phrases everyday. "I'm serious mom!" She calls me her princess and the pauper (her favorite Barbie movie) or sweetheart.  She says I am her best friend (it's a good thing we both get over things quickly).  She loves to sing at the top of her lungs and dance.  Rides her scooter like a pro.  Has her daddy wrapped around her finger. Only wants to wear dresses and changes at least 7 times a day!  I love when I've been in the other room and she hasn't seen me for five minutes.  She'll run in and yell, "Hi mom! I missed you!"  It's hilarious. She is hilarious, crazy, unnerving, sweet, loving and totally in her own world.  She is also sentimental, just like her mommy. Jody had to get a new car so that he would be able to drive in snow.  When his old car was picked up this morning she said, "They can't take daddy's car. I will never see it again.  I'm sad."  She doesn't roll with change the way her brothers do. But that's okay it's hard on me too.  I guess we are more alike than I realized!  There are times I don't know what to do with her and others I don't know what I'd do without her.

One.

On Sunday September 12th Tate turned one.  It wasn't a very exciting day.  Poor kid.  We don't do very much for first birthdays around here. After four kids you realize that they have NO IDEA what is going on!  So we sang happy birthday, ate cupcakes and Tate played with some new toys.  Later that night he told me that he had a wonderful birthday. 

That year went by way too fast. It was definitely my craziest, busiest year of life to date.  We had our fourth child.  Four kids from the age of 6 and under.  We moved out of our house and in with family and friends. Then in August we made a huge move to Colorado.  But it's been a really good year for us.

Back to Tate, Tato, Tatter bugs, Tatter Tot, Monkey.  We all have different names for him.  And we all love him like crazy! 

At one:

• takes four steps
• loves his binky
• usually very easygoing (unless he's teething)
• likes to snuggle
• says,"uh oh, mama, dada"
• teases (asks shy, peek-a-boo)
• takes two naps and goes to bed at 7
• loves his siblings
• enjoys the bath
• likes to eat cheese!
• very ticklish

We love Tate so much and are so very grateful to have him in our family.   

The Phillips!



She's here! I was dieing laughing at Izzy pushing the stroller.  First words out of Oliver's mouth, "Hello!" In a very British accent.




Garden of the Gods



LOVE him!





Total models. Right? Hah!



 



On the way out Oliver ran through a wedding just as they were exchanging rings.  Lindsey chased after him and I was dieing laughing!





This random storm trooper guy was up at the Garden of the Gods so of course the boys had to get a picture with him.


Lindsey, Oliver and Izzy flew in from London just over a week ago.  Cohen and I picked them up and then took them to Kasey's house and spent the weekend there.  It was a nice relaxing weekend.  The kids rode four wheelers, motorcycles and ran around the house while we relaxed.  Saturday we went to Target and then left all 10 kids with one babysitter and went out to dinner.  Sunday I started painting some of the kids faces. It was so much fun.  When they were all done I still wanted to paint so I talked Lindsey and Kasey into painting their faces as well.  In return I had to let Linds paint mine too.

My family and I came back to Colorado Springs Sunday evening and Thursday I met Kasey and Lindsey at the zoo.  Denver has a great zoo.  Lindsey and her kids came back with me and spent the weekend here.  We attempted to go shopping with five kids but gave up quickly.  We went to the park and the boy's schools Fall Festival on Friday.  Saturday I took pictures of Lindsey and her kids. I am so excited about how they turned out! Then we took them to Garden of the Gods.  After naps we went to our YMCA and went swimming. That night Jody watched all six kids so that Lindsey and I could go out the dinner.  We went to the Grande Luxe Cafe, a sister restaurant of Cheesecake Factory. It was just as good.  After dinner I dropped her off at the airport to pick up Alan. 

Lindsey and I have so much fun together. Lot's of silly moments which result in lots of laughter.  The highlight was rocking out in my minivan, every seat taken and the windows down.  Our kids can rock!

BYU vs. Air Force

The game wasn't too good oh but the company was! Alex flew in from Provo, and Kasey, Matt and their kids drove down from Fort Collins.  We all had our BYU memorabilia on except Matt. He's a rebel. Ammon was so excited to get a BYU t-shirt. He kissed it and yelled thank you Alex when she gave it to him.   Kaden and Ammon especially thought they were cool kids. They sat and watched the game like the picture above almost the entire time.  They were also pretty impressed that their Uncle Mitch was playing on the team.  Anytime they saw the number 38 they'd yell out, "There he is! I saw his foot."  After the game Ammon and Cohen were actually nervous to talk to Mitch and they've been around him a million times!  He had suddenly switched to celebrity status.  It was pretty cute.  Even just yesterday Cohen said, "I can't believe Uncle Mitch is famous."

It's so nice being in Colorado and getting to go to the games again. We will drive up to Fort Collins in November for that game as well.  In a few weeks we head to Snowbird for a week and my sister Lindsey is going to be here tomorrow! 

Back to the house situation. From the moment we started signing papers and really processing it I felt sick to my stomach. I'm not sure why.  Everything seemed perfect with the price, location and house but it just didn't feel right.  So we let the house go. As you all know its a buyer's market right now and there are a lot of good deals out there.  We've only been here two weeks and there are a lot of locations to check out. So we will take our time (a few more months) and find the deal that feels right.  We've heard that the winter time is the best time to buy a home because the builders will throw in a lot of extras to get homes sold.

It is so beautiful here.  Everyday I drive the kids to school and we see from 2 to 12 prairie dogs on the side of the road.  Bunnies run through the yard and the mountains right behind us are amazing.  The weather has been perfect (though that will change).  It's been a good fresh start for us.  We spend a few evenings a week at the local Y where Jody and I work out and then take the kids swimming.  He's got me running with him.  I don't love it but I'm pushing through. I know it's the best exercise for me.

I've still got more catching up:

Cohen's 5th birthday

Tate's first birthday

Time in McKinleyville and the lake (boys necklaces)

Summer of Pink Eye

Life

More to come.

Decisions

So we haven't even been here two weeks and we are already considering buying a home.  Are we house hungry or what?  Our first weekend here we got sucked in by all of the model homes and looking at home prices.  After seeing so many amazing deals we decided building would be the best because we get to choose what model, colors, counter tops, cabinets, fixtures, etc. that we want in the home and it will be brand new. Builder's are throwing lots of incentives to buyers right now. If we want something by the time our lease is up on our rental we've got to get going with the process now.

The point here is that tonight we signed a contract and dropped a check down and we have to let them know by this weekend if we are going to get the house. WHAT? I had a minor heart attack just typing that.  The deal is that this house is 3400 square feet.  The basement has nine foot ceilings and it will be finished adding a 5th bedroom to the already 4 bedroom home. By the way the 4 bedrooms are all upstairs. The home will have a living room, family room, and dining room and granite counter tops plus upgraded cabinets.  This will all sit on a 1/4 acre lot. Not bad.  So why the hang up? Well we've only been here almost two weeks. Don't have all the money yet for a down payment (we will though), and um not sure what else. I guess it's just all really sudden. What would you do? Oh and do you want to know the purchase price? Let's just say in the upper two hundreds. Crazy right?  If you want to see the floor plan and picture check it out here. Ours will have a three car garage, and wood, not stucco (it was a premium).  Kasey and Alex will be here this weekend so you can imagine where I'll be taking them.  Advice?

Yes, I'm Alive!

My goodness it's been a long time! So much has changed since I last posted. Which is why I haven't posted for nearly two months.  This picture has nothing to do with post. I haven't uploaded new pictures for a while. This is just one I love of these two guys who happen to look so much a like!

So for the big news? We moved to Colorado Springs, Colorado two weeks ago.  Jody was offered a transfer within his company and we took it!  Why Colorado? Well my sister Kasey and brother in law Matt moved to Fort Collins in July.  So now we are only two hours away from them. Though we love many things about California we were ready for a change of lifestyle.  We wanted a better quality of life.  Homes are much cheaper in Colorado. Which means we can get more home for our money and can still be comfortable financially.  Jody is loving the area he works in and really likes his boss.  The kids are adjusting well and enjoying school.  It's so nice to have them in a school where the programs aren't cut out for budgets. They get gym, art, music and computer class every week! 

I have much to catch up on and promise I will be back on a more regular basis now!