CAMI'S GLAMOUR SHOTS

Just kidding, I would never pay money for glamour shots. But, Cami had her pictures done recently. I had Mia and Dallin done at 4 months so I did Cami too. Okay, it was more like 5 months. I'm a slacker. Any way, these are the ones I got copies of. Angel and Darin, Joseph and Lacey, and any Engstroms who want some.....tell me which one(s) you want and I'll send them on. There were alot of really cute ones but I coukldn't get them all. Pictures are pricey, people.

Choice #1

Choice #2

Choice #3

I think I'll put a slideshow of the rest up later.

Update on the Kiddies

Mia and I went to the Biltmore house with 2 of my sisters and some of their friends. It was really great. I went when I was about 14 but since that was 17 years ago it was like I had never been. It was a sweet deal. Since I can't afford such luxuries, I drove them all and they paid for my ticket and Mia was free! Mia loved every minute of it.

Mia and me in front of the big lion outside the front doors of the house.....all decked out in Christmas!
We got the audio tour. At each room they had an informational blip about it. You had to punch in the number on your headset. Mia punched in the numbers by herself and even paid quite good attention to what was being said. AND, as a side note. Our primary program was today. There are 13 kids in Mia's class and she and 2 others were the only ones in their class that could recite their parts from memory. She spoke clearly and loudly, but not too loud. Ben and I were so proud of her.
Dallin had his 3rd birthday yesterday. It was pretty exciting. His favorite present was his pirate set. What little boy doesn't like swords and hooks? Ben had to pry them out of his hands so we could go into church today. Needless to say, he was not too fond of cooperating in nursery today. I need to start praying for the Sunbeam teacher now! On a side note again, during the program today, when the children would sing the songs, Dallin had to stand in the aisle next to our bench and sing along. We have been listening to them in the car for a while. Dallin loves music!
Dallin has been a little run down lately. His love affair with his blankets has grown even stronger.

His blanket collection has grown to include this very old, very ugly brown one that Ben had when he was little. It is soft though.

Cami our little sweet bug has been through lots too. She has been trying rice cereal. As far as we can tell, the only thing she likes about it is it's mess factor. She isn't real crazy about actually eating it.

Cami bug is also sick right now. She has had a cough for a little while but when I heard her start weezing I called the doctor. She has bronchiolitis. So, now she is on steroids and breathing treatments several times a day. We try to keep her occupied with toys but she sure hates the breathing treatments. I don't blame her.

She is so huge. She has gotten off her apnea monitor......just in time to get sick.

I had to throw in this blurry one because it was cute. She is such a good baby. Even though she is coughing so hard she can't breathe and then she pukes.

Mommy Comparison

Now here is a picture of me (Diane) when I was a little kid in germany. I am obviously older than my kids in the below pictures because I can walk. But, you get the gist. I don't have any pictures of Ben around that age. And even if I did, we don't have a scanner. We scanned these from some slides my parents had at their house. I mean, my parents had the slides at their house and we scanned them at their house on their scanner. There you go.

Kid Comparison

This is for Angel. She wanted to see Mia at Cami's age to compare them. I don't know if I got Mia and Dallin at exactly Cami's same age but they're pretty close.

Mia
Dallin

Cami

HALLOWEEN

Seeing as I have not posted in forever, I now have about a bazillion pictures to post. BUT, seeing as I have not posted in forever, I thought I better not post them all at once. I thought I'd give a few at a time, so why not start with Halloween.

Mia lookin cute as Minnie Mouse
Dallin as Spiderman.....he didn't like the mask so he went without it.

Cami as a chili pepper

Dallin hard at work

Mia in action

Mia was as happy as can be. She was a real trooper that night. She just had to keep up with her 10 and 13 year old cousins who ran up every drive way. And most of them were up hill. She never lagged behind. I was amazed at her stamina.

Notice the wilted jack-o-lantern to the right (must be the humidity). So we decided Cami would make a good substitution!

This is how the night wound up for Dallin. I made Ben wake him up and brush his teeth. No need to encourage the cavities to form.

Coming to Terms

So, I've come to terms with Obama winning the presidency. I have no doubts that he will win. I mean, isn't it so cool to jump on the bandwagon of having an inexperienced person, with purple lips, who keeps the company of convicted felons and terrorists as friends as our next president? The reason I am finding myself so easily coming to terms with this is that I have a firm belief that before the Savior can come again, we have to have some horrible leaders. Leaders worse than we can imagine. And hey, it might as well start with Obama.

I have learned through this whole campaign that money can buy alot of things. Alot of good things like chocolate, plane tickets to see family members and even adopted babies. Money can also buy alot of bad things. Like illegal drugs, child pornography, land from a convicted slum lord and wouldn't you know, even Obama as President.

In an article brought to my attention yesterday, the author said that in about 6 months to a year our country is going to have a tsunami size case of buyers remorse. Amen to that.

My friend made a post on her blog recently and I say amen to that too. Here it is:

Barrack Obama has said "The first thing I will do as president is sign the Freedom of Choice Act." Really? The First Thing? Our Country is in economic turmoil and in the middle of a war and the First Thing you will do is sign an act that eliminates state laws that limit abortion and invalidate any pro-life laws passed since Roe v. Wade? The first thing you will do is allow abortion-on-demand for all 9 months of pregnancy? Repeal the partial birth abortion ban! And even better, let's remove the ban allowing the Government to help pay for it. That is an awesome solution. Our country is in debt beyond any one's reasonable comprehension and The First thing you'll do is use government funds to kill a baby? And to make it quicker, smoother, and less trouble for everyone, no pre-abortion education or waiting period required! What other political issue results in the murder of 1.2 million American children each year? Oh. None.

Brilliant!

And Ben wanted me to add in a few of his thoughts. Like, how Obama wants to turn us into a socialist country. And how spreading the wealth is an asinine idea. And how giving people who don't pay federal taxes a big old refund so they can go out and buy a big flat screen T.V. or something else that is not a necessity. Yeah, cause that will help them out a ton.

a little update

Mia turned 5 on Friday. She got Candyland, the BEE movie and some little pet shops. I have been reminded how much I like playing Candyland as we have played it a few times since she got it. We had a party for her since she has never had one. But, in great parent fashion, we forgot to take pictures because we were too busy dealing with the 8 five year old girls that were there. It was fun. Mia liked it. Through it all I learned that I don't want her to have a party every year.

When Ben's parents came last weekend we went to Calaway Gardens. Even though nothing was in bloom it was still really pretty and peaceful. I want to go back in the spring when all the azaleas are in bloom. This was the only picture I had with all of us in it. Ben was taking the picture. I think they were looking at a worm......gross!
We also went to the aquarium. Grandpa had never been. This is Mia up close and personal with a jellyfish and Dallin in the background.
Our CRAZY kids.......WE love them!
We blessed Cami last month. It was a great day and she did really well.

Yogurt Anyone?

Dallin really, really, really likes yogurt.

CAMI BUG

Hey everybody, I'm Cami. I'm a bug. I must be because I always hear my mom call me......cute bug, fussy bug, sweet bug, hungry bug, stinky bug, sleepy bug, chubby bug, grumpy bug and love bug.

I am 3 months old now and I greet my mommy every morning with a huge smile. It helps her deal with being so tired. I am awake alot of the day now and I eat a ton. I've gotta keep these chubby cheeks going.
I still have my apnea/heart monitor but I am hoping to ditch it in the next 6 weeks or so. I am a very happy baby and I am growing up so fast. Everybody loves me.

Our Latest Happenings

This is Mia before school on Friday.......she survived her first week of school and LOVED it!

Ben worked from home on Friday and after I got Mia off to school I went back to bed and Cami was being fussy but didn't want to be fed so I decided to snuggle with her and we both went back to sleep. Notice the mascara on my wall compliments of Dallin. Don't be jealous of my pink grandma housecoat. Thanks for the picture Ben!
Mia needs a family picture for her "family wall" at school and this was our attempt. The lighting was horrible and our building is being remodeled so the wall looks trashy. We may have to try again.
This is for Angel anf Darin......Elder Carlson says "congratulations!"
Cami looked so cute for church today
Mia LOVES to hold her baby sister
A little smile

Dallin's favorite way to sleep these days......yes, cotton balls and crackers are on the floor
Dallin did not want the slice of watermelon I cut for him......he demanded the quarter of it still on the cutting board

We made french bread pizzas.....I love how Mia's has neat little piles of toppings

Daddy and Cami just chillin'
Dallin LOVES corn on the cob
I catch Cami holding her toe like this all the time
taking a cat nap

Tonight I made cupcakes after dinner. I was feeding Cami and was just finishing when Mia asked me to frost one for her. I told her to wait a minute while I burped the baby. So, she went in and did it herself. I was looking at the computer when Mia brought it to my attentioon that Cami had frosting on her forehead......from Mia's cupcake of course. So I liked it off. Uh.....that was barf from where Cami was rubbing her head on the burp cloth. THANKS MIA!! When am I gonna learn my lesson?