Thanks!!!

This is Karli, by the way. Just a few more short hours before I get to board a plane! Yay! So basically, before I leave, I just have to say I have the best, most talented aunts in the whole wide world!!! Because I'll be gone for my birthday on Sunday, they surprised me today with this gorgeous cake! Yes, they really made that themselves...fondant and everything. And as amazing as the outside is, the inside is even better! They used the chocolate cake recipe from NieNie's site. Absolutely Amazing!!!

my cake...

notice the resemblance to Bella's cake in New Moon...:)

That's all. :) I'm going to see if I can upload my pictures while I'm in Austria. We'll see. Tchus!

Where are we?

Hi all! Yes, we have moved from "the compound". We now live with our wonderful friends, the "Pinnteroas" (Pinnt/Figueroa) family. They have lovingly given us a couple of rooms for as long as we need them. It is wonderful here, and with their kids 20, 16, 15, and 13, our littles get a lot of attention. It is fun for us all. We are in the neighborhood kiddy-corner from Mt. View, so we are closer to everything we do, except family.
Loula and Matt welcomed Edson, #6 and their 1st son the weekend we moved out, so it was perfect timing. He is wonderful! Earlier that week, I helped Loula make 30 meals in a day to put in the freezer for the upcoming new-baby busy weeks to come, so again, perfect timing.
The rumor is true. (Not that one, I just have some weight to loose.) We do have a contract on our house. Nope, no exclamation marks or anything. Hopefully, all will go smoothly in the next few weeks and we will actually close as scheduled. I am aware that anything could happen in this market and economy, so we will just believe it when it happens.
And finally, Karli and Layton, along with some friends, are in a great musical this week at Legacy school in east Mesa. They will be performing Thoroughly Modern Millie, Monday through Friday. Tickets are still available for $12, so plan a date night and come on out. We are mostly happy and healthy, knock on wood, no complaints here. Now I just need to convince my sweet children... Have a wonderful day!

Pictures!

Karli's teaching me how to add pictures. Here's some from the things we've been doing the past 2 months...

These are the worlds funniest Mother's Day flowers. This was just the day after I got them and they really made us all laugh and laugh. The company felt so bad that they sent an amazing boquet of lilies that are still blooming as I type!

Here is Karli in all of her glory! Her choir did a great broadway review of CATS. I'm not sure if she liked the singing, dancing or doing the make up the best... It was so fun to watch.

Ta-da! Only a week after she learned to crawl and she is standing. This was a couple of weeks ago, so she's really good at it now.

I think her cousin is her friend for life for giving her this lollipop! It provided an hour of enjoyment and then I got to mop up a huge slobbery sticky mess.

This is the first time that Ron and his sisters had all been together with their cousins in 30 years. I love that family can get together and it's like they were never apart.

The Compound

Ok, so I told you this would be next and now I have other things to tell, so here goes... I grew up near Westwood. My family moved there from Washington state when I was 10 because my grandparents, aunts, uncles and most of my cousins were here. When I was in jr high, my family built a home only 1/2 a block away from the original one and that is where they still live, in the culdesac of Orange Street.
Last year, my parents decided to downsize from the 5500 square feet and bought the smaller older house next door. After a beautiful renovation/remodel, they moved in and my sister and her husband with their bouquet of 5 daughters returned from Pennsylvania and bought the Big House.
I know that sounds like a party, but it gets even better. My older brother with his family bought the house behind the pool and one of my younger brothers with his family live in the house behind the swing set. Block by block, all the fences between the yards have been taken down and the perimeter enclosed... yes, by white pickets:) That means lots of room to run and play!
At last count there were 9 adults, 15 children, 3 dogs, and 1 cat all calling this patch of heaven their home. They share a sandbox, climbing trees, 2 tree forts, a pool, a swing set and all the lawn equipment. There are lots of trees... pecan, peach, apricot, apple, orange, lemon, tangerine, persimmon, pomegranate, misc. shade, date, olive, and mulberry.
So the 8 of us have been blessed to live in the basement of the Big House since the end of January while we try to sell our home near Poston Jr High. We have loved playing in the irrigation, picking and eating mulberries, helping and living so near cousins and grandparents. This is an amazing time that our family will never forget.

Ramblings

Conference Sunday Tressie scooted for the first time, and then enough to blacken the pj'd toes of one foot, and wear a hole right through the other. The gummy bears on Jace and Luke's conference bingo boards were great incentive!

Easter Sunday, as I baked the egg and sausage breakfast casserole and helped ready the kitchen to feed 20, (Porters, Porters and Wests) , Karli announced that Tressie had cut her first tooth. Disbelieving, I felt for myself and then burst into tears. Unexpected, at least this soon. After all, she is the baby.

Attending Primary with my boys was a huge eyeopener! They can really be stinkers, in school too, apparently. What to do? Ron is a genius. He gently pointed out that the 2 in the middle don't have a schedule like the older ones did or the younger ones do. Hmmm... Boys who are acting out need more attention.

Nikki's ipod was heaven sent. Picture this: Ron and I and the 2 little ones at the Franklin spring sing, standing room only. A 2nd grade solo: the prince, a 5th grade trumpet accompaniment, no problem. We heard and saw it all thanks to an hour and a 1/2 of Disney Shorts and old Mickey and Donald cartoons. Not a peep out of Troy for the entire concert and he didn't even have his magic tall brother with him. First time. Now to get all the shows copied to MY ipod!

New calling for me: Nursery Leader. Yeah!

Tonight during family prayer, Tressie caught sight of the cool orange toggle on the knee of Ron's shorts. Again, the proper incentive. Hand up, knee up, very deliberate, she did it, crawled, and I got to see. I didn't even cry. I grabbed and "videoed", actually digitally recorded, after the prayer, so Karli could see too, when we pick her up from the all state choir concert in Tucson tomorrow. I miss her. She is having a wonderful time out of the nest. She will want to go again, I am sure. This is great practice for Austria. Now to figure out how to make a countdown for her trip...

Next post: The Compound

Justifications...or excuses...

Ok. This is Karli. Now I feel like I have to justify myself. I really do know how to do laundry...somewhat. I know how to sort stuff and how much detergent to use and where the fabric softener goes, which buttons to press, what settings to turn the knobs to...all that stuff. Or at least I did at MY house. Since Mom's a little slow with the whole blogging thing (she's determined to get better..last night was lesson #1: how to customize the background. hopefully tonight will be lesson #2: how to post pictures) a lot of you don't know that we've temporarily moved into my aunt, Louisa Porter's house. Well, she has 2 washers and dryers and 3 of them were full of clothes. The buttons and knobs are foreign to me...no little green Sharpie marker dots to tell me what settings to use. Note: I never opened the machines to tell which was which and I didn't read anything on the settings so I'm not completely stupid. I just chose to not put as much effort into exploring the machines as I could have. I admit it! I was being totally lazy because getting my laundry dry means folding laundy and I HATE FOLDING LAUNDRY! Most of the time I just end up laying on the floor next to the pile and falling asleep. It's just one of those things that takes forever and just happens to be a little bit necessary. Personally, I don't think I'll care that much when I'm in college and have no room for a dresser and am forced to hang everything in a tiny closet. I'll live.
But just for the record...I'm not retarded.
haha! she called me an "adorable child" thanks mom.

Karli, Karli, Karli...

Ok, so when I have time to blog, I never can remember how to get into this site. I guess it's not something my brain has thought important enough to remember, like for instance when it's time to buy ice cream. But, suddenly, when serious things happen, it's like the adrenalin kicks in and I suddenly feel the NEED to blog and the password is in front of my eyes...
I love when i read adorable child conversations in the blogging world. Well, I finally have one of my own to share...

Karli: hey mom, are my clothes dry, yet?
Me: not yet, but you could go put them in the dryers...
Karli: um...ok

30 minutes later I notice that the dryers are not running.

Me: Karli, did you put your clothes in the dryers?
Karli: (running to the laundry room) Um... no...which ones are the dryers?

OK, seriously, I promise her gpa is above a 4.0 and she is always really naturally good at everything, but wow! this left me speechless. could I really have neglected this simple lesson? I guess we really have alot of work to do before she thinks she is ready to leave for college. Yikes. These are even the basic washer loads in the top and dryers in the front. Wow.

If I knew how to post a photo, I would. I guess you'll just have to drive past our house to see the giant POD. We told a couple of people, yesterday, that we have decided to sell our home in hopes of getting a bigger one. We are going to store a ton of our stuff, because while a baby bed in the family room works for us, prospective buyers may not catch the vision. It's pretty adventurous and that makes a few of us nervous, but we decided to just go for it. So, if any of you are looking for a great 4/2.5, 2100 sq.ft home that is walking distance to wonderful k-12 and churches, look no further! I already asked our neighbors if we could rent rooms from them, but they were not thrilled with the idea... Cross your fingers for us!

Amazing! This is Jen and I actually learned how to post on my blog before the year ended...barely! We have had a wonderful holiday season. While I got the house lights up at a respectable time, near Thanksgiving, I didn't get the tree up until December 18th. Not at all respectable. I realize now that even real trees must be up and decorated before the school concert season, or there just is not time. The problem I ran into is a 2 year old who loves to explore and examine EVERYTHING! I think I must be a real wimp, because I didn't hear anyone else having the same problem... I ended up putting it all away on the 29th. It just makes life easier. Besides, I have all my helpers home to ,well, help:)
I have to tell you all how much I love our new family pictures. They were super long overdue, and Jana did an amazing job! You can all find her at forgetmenotbyjana.com. WOW! I just sat and cried as I looked at them the first time. Ron found a site online that puts photos on canvas and made one 18"x40" for above our fireplace. It is amazing.
December is major birthday season for us. Troy turned 2 on the 13th. We ate at Mc D's and let him play in the thing for the first time ever. I know, I think it's gross, too, but we bathed him in hand sanitizer afterwards. Ron turned 41 on the 22nd. Karli is so disappointed that her parents are getting sooooo old. We all went to Chuck E Cheese to play games. You are right. We are easily entertained and don't get out much. Ron loves angelfood cake, so his candles couldn't be bunched up in the middle. Only my cake set off the smoke detector this year. Luke's birthday came on the 27th. He turned 8, so he got to be baptized on that day, too. By then we were all caked out, so he was fine to not have one. We played all day, saw all the grandparents, and had fun.
The highlight of the season for me is hearing from so many loved ones who are far and near. Thank you for the cards, notes, photos. Karli has written one for me to send, so that is next on my list... oh, after a phone call I almost forgot. Have a very happy new year!

November was a good month. I guess it's already half-way through December. This picture is from Mom's birthday on the 19th. Luke decorated the cake and decided it would be easier to light the candles if they were all close together. Introducing...

FLAMING CAKE OF DEATH!!!

...muah-ha-ha-ha-ha...

Good job, Luke. :) and then 2 days later my mom and me and Kaylani and a bunch of girlies from our ward went to Twilight. I know a lot of people didn't think it was that great, but I knew what to expect and loved it. I saw it 3 times in the first week, which is a lot, but no where close to how many times some people saw it. Haha :)
I finally asked someone to Winter Formal. His name's Nathan Holt. I've known him since I was 10 from doing gymnstics with him and his younger sisters. I'm glad I can go with him so it won't get awkward or anything. It's ridiculous how much effort some girls put into this thing.

Anyways, tomorrow is Troy's 2-yr-old birthday, and family pictures!!! and the ward party.

Happy Holidays!