Weekend fun

We had a fabulous Saturday night, we celebrated Natalie's 18th birthday!  She had a fun surprise B-day party at
"Jump On It Utah".  All of her friends came as well as all the family!

We bounced and jumped all night long and it was so much fun! 

Elizabeth had fun crawling around on the mats and eating cake.  She is getting so big and looks more grown up everyday!  I really wish she would stop growing!

It is really hard to get pics of the kids that aren't blurry.

Then we ended the weekend with a huge bday bash for Grandma Shields, Marcus, Natalie, Teresa & Jeffrey!  It was a delicious southern food dinner, and cupcakes for dessert! 

We also finally got some snow, but I didn't take any pictures of the white cold stuff. 

I love weekends!

Closet remodel

We love our charming neighborhood with tree lines streets, and older homes.  But having an older home means having small closets!  Our closet has bothered Danny for over a year, so this weekend we decided to remodel our closet. 

I forgot to take a picture of the closet before.

First we emptied everything out.  I sorted though everything and we have a huge box of shoes, clothes and other stuff to the D.I. 
I love getting rid of old stuff so- that part was fun!

Danny removed the bars and shelves and resdesigned the close so we have our own "walk in" closet.  It  turned out so great and really feels like a much bigger closet!

Now I can go shopping for some new clothes to fill the closet up!
Thanks Danny for being so handy- I love all your skills!

Here is a few cute pictures of Emily and her friends.  These girls are all different ages, from 8 to 4.  But they all play together so well and have tons of fun! 

We will miss Sophie so much, she is moving this week.  We are happy she will be home for the summer, we will miss our neighbors!

She's growing up too fast!

This is how Lizzie spends a lot her time now(only she's not always naked).  She crawls around the kitchen floor playing with tupperware, cups and dishes.  She thinks it's fun to explore in the kitchen while I am cooking etc..

On this night she was naked because she pooed in the bathtub.  I got her out and cleaned her off, and let her crawl around while I cleand the tub.

She always closes her eyes while getting her picture taken, the flash must be too bright for her eyes.

I asked Taylor to take a few pics of her crawling skills.  These were the pictures he got, not great pics, but at least we can see her in action. She scavengers around putting everything in her mouth, she eats dirt, lint, lego's old food, etc..

She is getting really fast at crawling, even on the hardwood floors.  She prefers carpet, because she slides all over on the hardwood. 

 Time to baby-proof the house, we've got a baby on the loose.

Tonight I am feeling extremely grateful for all of the blessings in my life.   One of Taylor's best buddies has been in the hospital for over 2 weeks.  He is so sick, and having a hard time.  We have been praying and fasting for him, and his family and hoping that he can come home soon. 

With this on my mind I can't help but feel overwhelmed with all the blessings my Heavenly Father has given me and my family.  I love my life right now. Even though the days are long and exhausting.  I truly love being a mother to my four cute kids. 

Sometimes I have to remind myself of this, when there is craziness going on all around me.  Today was one of those crazy moments.   I picked up the kids from school and brought them home.  I made them a snack, talked about our day.  Then all at once everyone needed my attention ASAP.  Lizzie was yelling for more food, Isaac was crying about his Lego's getting lost, Our neighbor Zach needed more milk, Emily needed help with her reading, Taylor was asking for graph paper, and how to find the area/perimeter of a rectangle AND my phone started ringing.  It all exploded! I had to take a deep breath, and tackle one issue at a time with patience. ( which is hard for me at times like this.) 

I am counting my blessings tonight.
I want to enjoy these days. I want to live in the moment and not let the daily mundane tasks get to me.  I hope to remember these times with four young kids with fondness.

I think I have the best job in the world!

Lizzie at 10 months

At 10 months old Lizzie is changing everyday!  She is still such a sweet, adorable girl and we all adore her!

• She has stranger anxiety now, and prefers to be with mom or dad.
• She cries when left with someone else, until she is distracted
• She has 2 bottom teeth.
• She loves her new doll, "Pinky", and gets so happy to have her.
• She can crawl everywhere now, and pull up in her crib. She crawls all around the house, exploring and finding things to put in her mouth.
• She loves to get attention from her older siblings.
• She likes to be outside, even in the cold weather.
• She loves food, and demands more food by yelling!
• She takes 2 naps a day, and gets cranky when she doesn't get a nap.
• She hates bottles now, she slaps them away with her hands, but she likes drinking from a sippy cup.
• She is still not a great sleeper at night, it's our goal for 2012 to get her to sleep through the night.

Eating with her is getting to be a danger area.  She is so messy, and loves to eat by herself with her hands.  It's always fun to watch, but hard to clean up. 
The other night she got her hands on a cookie and thought she was in heaven. She chowed it down, before I could take it away! 

It is really making me sad to see her act so grown up.

I prefer to feed her dinner when she's naked and then just throw her right in the bath. 

We sure love you Lizzie!  You are such a blessing in our family!

Lights at Temple Square

One night last week we went downtown to see the lights at Temple Square.  We went with our friends the Halls, and had a great night. 

The weather was really warm, so we just wore jackets instead of huge coats etc..  We parked at Danny's building and rode TRAX down to templ square.  All the kids love riding the train.



The kids had fun seeing the lights, and looking at the temple.  It seems like everytime we are with the Halls I run into my cousins.  Tonight was no different I saw two of my cousins and their families.  One lives in Denver, and the other in Phoenix.  It was a funny moment, but great to see family wherever we go!



Lizzie did great, she got tired at the end of the night. She looks so cute in the hat Katie made for her. 





More of Christmas Break

After Christmas we had another full week of fun.  We went skiing on Monday and had some friends over for games, had the extended Shields family party on Tuesday and kept on playing all week long.  The worst part about the Christmas break, was the lack of snow!  There is no snow, so we did no sledding, etc..
Danny had to work most of the week, but we managed to squeeze in a lot of good times even with him at work. 

Elizabeth has hair barely long enough for a tiny little ponytail on the side of her head!  It's the cutest thing! She doesn't like having her hair done,  but I let her play in the sink while I comb her hair  and she loves it. 

Later in the week we took down our Christmas tree  and decorations which is always really depressing!  Here's a few random pics. from the week.