First Day of School, a little late I know.

Emma was really excited about going back to school this year. I can't believe she is in the 3rd grade. That is the grade that I really started to remember my school years and life. Her teacher's name is Mrs. Tracy Dean, and she is in room 12 at Zaharis Elementary School. She is looking forward to a great year, and has already had a great first quarter. Yeah Emma!


Bryant was so excited to start Kindergarten this year at Zaharis, he goes half day in the afternoon. The bus picks him up right in front our house and he rides the "big bus" home with Emma after school. His teacher's name is Mrs. Stephanie Moore in room 60. He only has 13 kids in his class and loves his teacher and friends in his class. He is going to be so ready to go to first grade, all day next year. Especially since he has been going half day since he was three for speech. I am sure it will still be an adjustment though.

Alyssa was really looking forward to another year in joy school. She has three of the same kids in her group again this year. Chelsea, Ryan, and Scott, and a new friend named Shayla. She loves going to her friends houses and having their moms teach them about different things from dinosaurs, to bugs. I am sure she will have a great year in joy school.

Bryant's Dog Sadie.

In March 2009 we had the privelge of dog sitting for someone in our ward. They were looking for a home for this sweet part black lab named Sadie. She was already trained and great with kids. One of the setbacks was that she was used to being in the house. We took her and she stayed in the backyard. She and Bryant became fast friends, they played fetch together and all kinds of games, he took really good care of her. Unfortunately, Sara and Alyssa were a bit afraid of her and refused to go out in the backyard, and I had just had a baby. So we decided that we could not keep her. We were so blessed to discover that Uncle Jared and Aunt Karen were looking for just such a sweet dog. They adopted her and we are lucky enough to get to visit Sadie when we stay at their home in Thatcher. This picture is one taken at their house, and Bryant loved his weekend with his Sadie Dog. Someday we hope to get a dog, for keeps when the little ones get a bit older. For now we will just keep visiting dear sweet Sadie!

Alyssa's Haircutting Tips!

A couple of weeks ago I was making Christmas cards at the kitchen table. I turned and looked at Alyssa. I thought my goodness she looks young today, and just couldn't get over it. Finally I studied her sweet face a little longer and exclaimed, "Alyssa did you cut your hair?" She as a matter a factly replied, "yes mom I did." I turned her head to discover her own lovely creation of a mullet. Oh, my goodness was it bad but she thought she did a great job so here are some of her haircutting tips for you to try in the comfort of your own home.

First find a pair of kid scissors, the exact ones that your mom used in her preschool lesson to talk about the no no's of scissor safety. Then proceed to cut your hair however you see fit. I chose a mullet cut myself, there is nothing more stylish.

Then of course put the hair in the trash so your mom doesn't notice it is there, until she is finally done making her Christmas cards. Oh and by the way isn't that where Aunt Paula puts the hair when she cuts it.

Have your mom finally notice your hair, and then have her try to cut it with adult scissors, only to find that they are too dull and she has to use the preschool safety scissors instead.

Have your mom cut off about 2 inches or more off your hair and take a picture of the sad pile of hair that she has cut off her beautiful little girl. Ahh so sad!!!!!!

Take a picture of the trim by mom, and go get it touched up by a real hairdresser.

Disclaimer: Alyssa does not claim to be a professional hairdresser and can not be held accountable for her tips presented here. For best results see a professional or Paula Neill.

The Unfortunate Udall Tradition.

We expected out fifth baby Kaelyn to hopfully be excempt from ear tube surgery. She has been a different baby in so many ways. Darker hair, well slightly darker, and more of it as well as green eyes and her temperment too. Alas she had her first ear infection at 3 weeks old, and they continued consistently every three weeks. Her pediatrician knew of our kids historys and decided to go for the tubes pretty young at 5 months. Dr. Mancuso was her ENT, he was amazing with her and Sara. So friendly with each one of them, and good about answering all of our questions. Kaelyn had her procedure done at Banner Desert Medical Center, we arrived at 5 a.m. for the pre surgery stuff, and she of course had to be fasting since midnight. I was really concerned about how she would react to that but she did surprisingly well.
She looked so adorable in her hospital gown that was way too big for her but she still looked adorable and loved smiling at all of the nurses and doctors as they came in.

Because we had to be at the hospital so early Kaelyn ended up taking a nap. Thank goodness daddy was there to put her to sleep without nursing. They both took about a 30 minute nap, while I read a book. It was some nice quite time.

Dr. Mancuso came in right before the surgery and I got a picture of Kaelyn and him together, he is pretty goofy sometime. Then we had to say goodbye to our sweet Kaelyn for a little while. The surgery only takes about 10 minutes but to me that is a lifetime when your kid is under anthesia, and they are away from you.

She did great and afterwards the nurses came and got us and she was able to eat some breakfast. I was surprised to see her so awake, and happy. We fed her and then brought her home for a long nap. And thankfully after 3 months with tubes we are happy to report no ear infections! Yeah!

Love hate relationships, quite a few at our house.

Siblings always have such love hate relationships, one minute they completely adore each other and play together great and then all of a sudden the strongly dislike each other. I love this photo because Alyssa and Bryant are actually in a I love you moment. It is just so sweet to watch them play together, and get ideas as to what to do next. They are 19 months apart and some moments are hard because of that and some are more joyful. Hopfully eventually they will get past the hate part of their relationship and just enjoy each others love and company. Part of me can't wait till then, but most of me says I can cause I will miss these days.

Sara's First Haircut!

Sara had reached the ripe young age of 2, the age in which all of my "bald" babies finally get their first haircut. It is always a tear jerker for me cutting off some of that baby hair that has been on their heads since they were born. But in the end their hair always looks so much better, but they do look older.


Sara did really well holding still for her Aunt Paula as she cut her hair, I think she was just thinking this is weird I thought we weren't supposed to cut our hair with scissors.

As always, Paula did a great job and Sara looks absolutely adorable with her little bob cut. She always says she has pretty hair now. Can't believe another first haircut is over and done with.

The Defrosting of the Mammoth Freezer!

One of my summer goals was to clean and organize my garage. I was excited to get some neat, beautiful, functional adjustable shelves that we put together and filled in no time. Unfortunately one of the things we had to do was to move our old, ancient freezer out of the garage and melt all of the ice and throw out the disgusting food. Yes, it was gross. We all made bets as to how long it would take in the summer heat. Emma stood and watched it for a long time and wanted to play with the "snow" as she called it. For her safety and good health I said absolutely not it was dirty ice, and boy was it nasty. We had bets going from 3 hours to 2 days for the ice to melt. It took about a day and a half to melt all of the ice. After which I had to remove all the moldy, smelly food from it. I can't believe I am posting this, just more proof that I need to get more on top of things and use what I have. I guess this post will help me do a little better at that.

As you can see there was so much ice in the freezer it was almost filled completely. After the melting took place I cleaned the freezer and we donated it to SRP for $30. At least it did some good while we had it. Maybe I will post an after picture of our clean and organized garage.

Our camping trip!

The kids were so excited to go camping this year, they had so much fun the previous year. We were lucky to have daddy come for the whole trip this year. He worked so hard to get the vending route done so he could have a long weekend. The kids were so good on the way up. Emma and Bryant rode with Grandma and Grandpa Baker, so we just had the three younger girls in the car. The drive took longer than normal because of some heavy rain, car trouble, and bathroom breaks but we did make it to Los Burros campground eventually.

Alyssa in her booster seat on our car trip to the campground. After arriving we proceeded to set up camp while putting up the posts for the awning my dad cut his head open with a post pounder. He and my mom ended up driving to Show Low to get his head fixed and examined. While they were gone, the rest of us figured that they would be gone for quite a few hours and wanted to get camp set up before it started getting dark. We set up the other tents and proceeded to start setting up my mom and dad's tent, it didn't have any instructions and it took a lot of debating how the poles went together and where they went. Finally after an hour we figured it out. We tried several different things and it ended up taking about five of us to put it up.


Shortly after, my dad got back from the hospital with his cut glued together and no head damage reported from a cat scan. He was surprised that we figured the troublesome tent out on our own.

Dad with his hospital paperwork and bloody work gloves (just like O.J. Simpson's). Kaelyn love being outside on the campout, she would just sit in her bumbo seat, our walker, and even play on a blanket. She did so well, I think she enjoyed the change of scenery, and the fresh cool air.

All of the cousins had a great time together, Kaiden, Bryant and Alyssa helped to roll a huge log to the fire pit so we could roast marshmellows at night. Of course we got quite a few pictures of the kids together playing, they could be as loud as they wanted and run around too, and no one cared it was so nice. Just wish I had that much energy.

One of the kids favorite activities was for the kids to ride their big wheels down Wayne's trailer ramp, they would do it over and over again. The hardest parts were waiting their turn, and watching out for Raegan and Sara who wanted walk up and down the ramp. Bryant loved riding his hot wheels bike that he claimed was the fastest bike in the world, just because it was a hot wheels bike.

On Friday around lunch time Paula and Evan came to the campground right in the middle of a huge rain and hail storm. The rain was coming down hard and after a while it started to hail. It was freezing and we all just sat under the tarps and hoped our bedding was still dry, and that the storm would pass. Aunt Paula and Uncle Evan helped to keep the kids warm and love the extra cuddle time before the kids jumped down and ran around again. Thankfully the rain past , and we were able to let the kids run around and blow bubbles in the grass and not get too wet and muddy. Also we were blessed that our bedding was still dry, and that we didn't have too much of a mess on our hands.

One of our biggest problems at the campground was the enormous amout of flies. A group had been there a few days before with horses and instead of cleaning up after them they left the mess for the flies to enjoy. We asked Paula and Evan to bring some fly paper or something to take care of the flies and mentioned how the problem was caused. Amid some confusion they thought we had horses that were attracting flies. They bought some fly repellent for the horses and when they arrived they were wondering where the horses were. It was so funny!

Where are the horses? We don't see they anywhere?

That night we made smores, yummy that is one of my favorite parts of camping. I enjoyed a few glorified smores (roasted marshmellows, graham crackers and chocolate and a peanut butter cup inside) so delicious. The kids had fun roasting the marshmellows and Alyssa enjoyed just the chocolate bars. Dad had us take a picture of him enjoying a smore so that he could debut in one of his own family movies.

During the day we worked on baby shower invites with Karen, coloring stuff, scrapbooking, and went hiking. Of course we played a few board games and horse shoes as well.

We also enjoyed a ton of yummy breakfasts and dinners. And of course a ton of cookies, brownies and junk food.

One of everyones favorite activities was to watch Doug shoot off his rockets that he brought. We did several launches both days. Sadly we lost the best rocket which was claimed by a tall pine tree. My dad even made a rocking rocket video the kids all loved it.

Emma waiting for the countdown to launch.

Doug, Preparing the launch pad.

Once the campout was over we were all looking forward to going home and getting a shower. The only bad part was leaving all that nice cool air behind. Our whole family can't wait to go camping next year!

Pictureless Post

I don't know exactly what to blog about. And I don't know how long I will be able to type considering my five year old son is throwing a fit and it is almost time to start dinner but I guess I will just type until it is time to log out. I guess I am just feeling very grateful for all of the blessings in my life, (despite the fighting in the background). I am grateful most of all for my Heavenly Father and Savior who have stuck by me no matter what has happened in my life. I am thankful for my husband, who loves me and our kids, and that I am blessed to have him by my side each day. I have seen and heard of others who are not as lucky especially with some horrible tragedies that have happened to my friends and family lately and they have really caused me to be even more grateful for the companion that Doug is in my life. I am grateful for the blessing and trials that motherhood is. I love each one of my kids so much and enjoy seeing each one of them grow on a daily basis. I feel so blessed to be able to stay home with them and watch each and every thing they do. Just to watch them discover something new, sing a song, or read them a story is priceless. I love to be able to share the gospel with each of them, and hope that they will be able to feel it's light in their lives as I have in mine. I am grateful for a home to live in, food to eat and electricity as well as running water. These things may seem basic to some, but yet I am still thankful for them. They truly make life so much more comfortable and give us time to do more important things with our families. I am grateful for my dad and mom, and my three sisters who bring me so much support and strength each day. For the service they render and the kind words and love they share. I am grateful for my testimony, and the temple and the strength and power they give me. I guess writing this post was more so just for me to let out some emotion. This probably should have gone into my journal verses our family blog but my heart is so full and at peace I just wanted to share it with others and remember it as I look back. Hopefully it will not bore you all to tears. Hopefully I will be able to strive each day to find something new and unexpected to be grateful for, and continue to find the little things.

Joyful July, well for the most part!

There were a few unjoyful things that happened in July like our cars kept breaking down and our air conditioner went out but at least we had a place to stay. My mom and dad were so helpful in letting us stay at there place until we solved the problem, and of course my loving dad helped us out with our cars. One of the many fun things we did while we were at their place was have a costume parade. Paula had bought a ton of cute costumes online after halloween last year and the kids decided to try them all on and parade around. They had a blast. So here are the pictures, some of they are really cute!

Bryant the turtle, he is getting way to old to do things like this but you have to admit he makes a good turtle!

Sara and her lion costume. Love the face of I can't believe you are making me do this. Believe it or not she brought me the costumes on her own people.

Kaelyn the chicken, she looks like she is either going to lay an egg or fly away!

Kaelyn and Grandpa, maybe we will have her be a pumpkin for halloween she is soooo adorable!Uh oh! Kaelyn has been eaten by a shark, she was definately a little small for this animal costume but we thought we would try it anyways.

Alyssa as an Elephant, she wanted to be realistic and get on all fours for the picture, good thing she is a kid and can do that so easily.

Another one of the great joyful things that happened in July was that my mom, and sisters Karen and Emily and I were lucky enough to go to ASU Gammage and see WICKED! I was excited about this because I love the arts and haven't been able to go to a musical or performance for a long time. I had been told some of the plot of the musical and heard some of the music before but did not expect it to be so wonderful. My dad dropped us off so we didnt' have to worry about parking and we really enjoyed the show. Thanks mom and dad! It was a great evening, now I need the soundtrack!








In the middle of July we were lucky enough to have a couple of the Wilhelm cousins come and stay with us for a few days. It was so nice because they were a big help with all the kids, we did a few fun activities, and they all played together so nicely. One of the days they were here was Family Home Evening night and so everyone got to help make the treat. We tried a new recipie which turned out yummy! I was a brownie recipie with mini m&m's in it and then coconut frosting like on german chocolate cake topped with more mini m&m's. Oh, it was divine!

Everyone got a turn to add a few ingredients and to mix it, the process seemed to take forever but the kids loved helping out with the cooking.

All of the kids with the finished product. I should have taken just a picture of the dessert, but then everyone would want some, including myself. We had a great lesson about prayer and of course enjoyed our treats!

After dinner we decided to start Kaelyn on Oatmeal, She had been looking at our dinner plates with longing eyes for a few weeks now. I as the mother was just being lazy, and wanted to wait as long as possible to add one more thing to do in my busy schedule.
We had quite a crew there for the rite of passage to human food, other than breast milk. Lori, Bryant, Alyssa, Sara, Emma and Tara were all there to cheer Kaelyn on as she ate "baby food because she was a baby" as Tara would say!

She was a little hesitant to open her mouth at first, and seemed a little concerned about the whole process. Probably because every person was watching her and talking to her at the same time. Oh such are the woes of being the fifth child and having two cousins, and two parents present.

Kaelyn's messy oatmeal face after enjoying her first taste of solids. Doesn't she just look so proud of herself!

Of course we had to go swimming while our cousins were here in Uncle Wayne's pool. As
usual we all had a great time and the kids got all nice and worn out. As the summer has worn on all of my kids have gotten more comfortable with the water, especially Sara and Alyssa who both swim with floaties on now. Sara still likes to be held but she is doing great for only being two.

Sara having a relaxing time on the raft. Ahh, to just float around in the water and not have to watch five kids while swimming. Sounds great to me, well is will happen someday.

Lori, Emma and Tara, the three fish that swam all over the pool, jumped in off the diving board and had races across the pool.

My brave little Alyssa fish even jumped off the diving board a few times.
Wow talk about no fear!

Sweet Kaelyn! What a small baby on a huge raft, she was so adorable just chillin' and blowing bubbles with her constant waterfall of drool.

We feel so lucky to be able to spend so much time in the water. Thanks Uncle Wayne and Aunt Maren!