A Visit with Santa

The kids went to see Santa at the mall and tell him what they were wishing for this Christmas. Everyone was excited as we stood in the long line to get our turn with Santa. Even Sadie Jane was waving and blowing kisses, well that is until we plopped her down in Santa's lap. Sadie Jane wasn't so sure she liked sitting on Santa's lap. Santa was so sweet and listened patiently to the kids wishes. I love how each of our kids have a picture of them as a baby crying on Santa's lap! A right of passage,I guess.

Christmas 2008

Here is the official Christmas 2008 picture.

This year the kids were very cooperative and I just love how the picture turned out. In years past we haven't had such a good experience! Having 4 babies in 7 years is lots of fun but it doesn't always make for a good picture taking experience. We feel very blessed this Christmas to have wonderful, happy, healthy, and extremely lovable kids. It's so fun to see them grow and learn and so sad to know the time is passing too fast. Which brings to mind another thing I'm thankful for! Lots of pictures and home videos, so I will be able to look back and remember just how darling they were!

Family Reunion

I know I'm running behind on my post but I didn't want to let this great time slip by with out blogging about all the fun we had when Shaun's family came to visit. We loved seeing lots of new parts of Dallas that we hadn't visited before and most of all we loved just hanging out and letting the kids play and play. We are hoping it won't be long before they come back!!!

We took a trek over to Ft. Worth to visit the historic stockyards and enjoyed eating BBQ and having a rodeo clown make us a set of Texas longhorns.

Shaun, Shad, and Corie took a little ride on a mechanical bull after lunch. I'll have to say that Corie won the event. I always knew Corie was a cowgirl at heart!

I don't know who this guy is but it was really fun to see them saddle up a longhorn. They also have a cattle drive down the middle of the stock yard several times a day. We felt like we were back in the Wild West.

Dallas World Aquarium was great! You start at the top of the building in the tops of the tree of a rain forest with beautiful birds, monkeys, and sloths then slowly wind your way down into the deep ocean with all kinds of fish, sharks and even a manatee. We loved seeing the river otters swim super fast and the manatee cuddle with the man cleaning the glass on the tank.

Thanks to all the Warren's for a great family reunion! We can't wait to do it again! Love you!!

Election Day at the Warren's

I love voting! I can still remember the first time I voted. It wasn't a presidential election year and I didn't know much about the city or the candidates because I had just moved to Utah to go to BYU, BUT I did find a candidate who was running for city council that spoke about an issue that mattered to me. At BYU,parking is an never ending problem. On campus you have to park in very specific lots. That is to be expected. The irritating part for me was that the apartment complexes cram so many students into these units that it is very difficult to provide enough parking. And if by chance, you actually wanted to visit someone in another complex, you can not park in their parking lot. You have to park out on the street and "hike" to the apartment. In a Utah winter that is such a pain. Long story, shorter! I got towed from a friends lot late one night and when I went to the impound lot to get my car they informed me they only took cash. WHAT!!! It was very late (or extremely early depending on how you looked at it) and I didn't have a bank account in Utah thus a trip to an ATM would have been expensive to a college student, so my friend took me from 7-Eleven to 7-Eleven cashing checks until I had enough to get my car back. So when a fellow BYU student announced he was running for city council, and promised to change the way these towing companies took payment for impounded cars, I was very excited. He got close to winning and made the current council take notice of the problem. The city began requiring towing companies take a credit card payment. It was a great lesson for me how government can effect even the smallest issues.

Lily too has been bittin' by the voting bug. Her Kindergarten class had a little mock election for class president to get an idea of how the process works. Lily won the primary election along with 2 other classmates. She had to prepare answers for questions that "concerned" her classmates. Here are the too funny questions and her VERY serious answers.......

1. What rules will you make?

Lily answered, "That the teacher is in charge. Don't be mean."

2. When someone gets hurt how will you take care of them?

Lily answered, "I will help them up and help them get to the teacher and she will help them get to the nurse."

3. Will you let us eat snack and get drinks? Why or Why not?

Lily answered," YES! If you are good you can get snack, if you're not good, NO! It depends on your attitude." Yep, her exact words. I think she's heard that before.=)

4. Will you let us go to centers? Why or why not?

Lily answered, "If you do your work you can go to centers"

I had to go into Lily's class yesterday afternoon to talk to her teacher and Lily proudly told me she won the class election. She was walking a foot off the ground. Her teacher then told me about the class discussion that had happened earlier yesterday. Mrs. J was showing the kids pictures of the candidates and telling a little about their families, nothing political, and one of the kids spoke up and said, "My daddy said he is not voting for the baby killer." Mrs. J said she ended the discussion after that comment. Kids are great! I then quizzed Lily on what else was said and she said "the smartest boy in the class" said that guy will steal our money. Too funny what kids pick up out of things they hear. The PTA also held mock elections for president at the school and McCain won. Lily was wanting to see who won the real Presidential Election when she came home from school yesterday, and when I told her we wouldn't know til tomorrow morning she was disappointed, and then this morning when she asked who won and I told her, she fought off tears! I tried to explain that it was OK and that Obama would be a good president and nothing in her life will change. Then she said she was just mad that her guy didn't win. If Lily is anything, it is passionate!!!

This is a funny comic that a friend sent me. Seems to fit in my life at the moment. Kids, Halloween, and politics!!!

Happy Halloween!!

Happy Halloween!!
Wow! What a crazy fun day! Our week was full of Halloween activities and parties. Abby had an Achievement Days party, Spencer had a playgroup party, Abby and Lily had school parties, we had the ward trunk or treat, and to top it all off we had our good friends over to trick or treat with us, eat dinner, and hang out! Whew! I was very grateful our costumes held up, everyone stayed happy (well most of the time), and the weather was wonderful.

Spencer and his friend Garette
both dressed up as pirates. It was
so funny to see them give their best
pirate faces. My friend Angie and I
teased that they looked like a East
Coast and a West Coast Pirate.

Cousin' lovin'

Last weekend Nanna, Poppa, Aunt Lis, Uncle Eliseo and sweet baby Maya surprised us with a weekend trip down to visit. We had fun seeing our darling little "chunky monkey" army crawling all around. Maya and Sadie Jane have already become BFF's!!

My sister's keeper

I just love when my kids enjoy each other! Sadie Jane and Spencer are beginning to learn how to play together now that Abby and Lily have gone back to school, and there are no big sisters to keep the peace. Spencer and Sadie Jane's play time doesn't always go so smoothly. The big brother in Spencer just can't help the teasing and chasing, and the little sister in Sadie Jane just can't help the squealing and crying.

That is why I ran for the camera when I found them sitting on the stairs so sweetly. They really are a perfect pair. Sadie Jane loves to be read to and Spencer loves to read, but the debate is still on as to who gets to hold the book!!!!!

Our little pumpkins!

So here is a confession that won't win me the mom of the year award. I really hate carving pumpkins with young kids! I don't like the mess or that I have to help everyone with everything. Carving pumpkins doesn't seem like a family activity, it just seems like everyone is waiting for Mom or Dad to "fix" their pumpkin. I'm sure when the kids are a little older we will enjoy seeing their creativity but for now that's why we bought stick ins to decorate our pumpkins. This year we upgraded from our old wooden pieces to new Mr. Potato Head sets. Our little pumpkins loved them and were able to do most of the decorating themselves. It was a great FAMILY ACTIVITY!

Abby's Baptism

I wanted to share these pictures of Abby's baptism. Abby was baptised in Arkansas (while we were visiting her Nanna and Poppa) this summer by her Dad. It was a very special day and we were so proud of her and love that she is trying to do what is right. Abby's Great-grandfather was there and participated in her confirmation. Time has gone so fast. It seems that Shaun and I were just bringing Abby home from the hospital and asking, "So what do we do now?"

Hey good lookin'

The first day of school pictures are always fun. The girls were very excited see their new school and meet their new teachers. Abby is in 3rd grade this year and Lily's in Kindergarten. Kindergarten is a full day in Texas (opposed to the 1/2 day kindergarten program in Utah) and I wondered how Lily would do, but she has done great. She even has engry to burn when she gets home. I've been really happy with the school here. The schools are beautiful and have lots of extras. For example, the 4th graders broadcast a short news report from the Library, to all the classrooms, every morning, which the teachers receive on their laptops and project onto a screen for the kids to see. Lily loves the sign off of "Have a great wolf day!" (then a nice long wolf howl =) I'm hoping with 4 kids we will get our money's worth because property taxes are unbelievable here. The girls have made friends and love their teachers. I signed up for the PTA and I'm in charge of the Holiday Store. I had never heard of this position before but it is a very common PTA activity here. Holiday store runs the first week of December to let the kids Christmas shop for their parents. I'll let you know how that goes. It's bitter sweet to see my kids grow up and go to school. I miss them as babies but really enjoy the young women they are becoming.

Home Sweet Home

Here is a picture of the new Warren Family home. We bought a house is Sachse, TX which is a small suburb about 30 mins north of Dallas. We are almost unpacked (thanks to a lot of help from Nanna & Poppa) and we are all finding things we like about the house (we really miss our old house and all the neighbors we left in Utah, so we will try to focus on the positive :) I love the bigger kitchen and that the elementary is so close the kids can walk to and from school (a true blessing because school starts at 7:30!!!!!) Shaun loves the small yard and decreased mowing time. The picture is deceiving because the backyard is so small he can hardly turn his push mower around! Abby and Lily love the neighborhood pool. Spencer loves his new friends Garrett and Kade. Sadie can't tell us what she loves yet, but I would guess she would say that she loves the door knobs in our new house. Let me explain. We have lever handles and she can open all doors including the pantry, the bathrooms, and the doors to the garage and patio. She is like a little tornado moving from one room to another letting herself in or out and leaving only destruction in her wake! I've never had a child be able to open doors at 16 months and it is definitely adding to the chaos of a busy house. All in all, we know the most important thing about a house is that it holds our young family close and safe, and gives us a place to love and teach them. We are truely blessed by our Heavenly Father to have each other.

Moving to the Big D!

Well it all began back in December 2007 when Shaun applied for a position with the FDIC (a bank examiner position, the same work he did for the State of Utah, the only difference is the FDIC is the federal level) and after many months of doing the hurry up and wait game we found out that we had 2 months to sell our house and move to Dallas. Shaun began work on July 7th and lucky for us the FDIC provided a moving company. We can't imagine how we would have lived through the move without the help of movers!!!
The kids really loved the big truck that came to take our things to Dallas, and Grandma and Grandpa were great to keep the kids busy and out from under foot while we loaded everything up.
There where many "pull your hair out" moments and we got lots of "your out of your mind" looks as we took 2 different flights with enough luggage to last us until we bought a house, with our 4 kids under the age of 8, BUT we love our family and we made lots of fun memories!

Here we go!!!

Ok, I'm really excited!! I've wanted to start a blog for so long and I'm biting the bullet even though I don't really have much extra time. I can't wait to share all of our crazy fun life. So here's to my first post! Hopefully the first of many!!