"Do Not Fear"

During this election year and as we draw nearer to choosing our next President my mind has been caught up to much worry and fear! What lies ahead for not only us but more specifically our children? I love my children with all my heart, which I think is obvious as the majority of our blog consists of pictures of our children. For all of you that know me, you know that I tend to worry about EVERYTHING! So it is probably not hard to believe that my mind is troubled yet again. This time I think it is justifiably worried! The world continues to grow more and more wicked and Godless! I don't know how people make it through life without acknowledging their Creator! Nevertheless the world is filled with those who forget their God and try so incredibly hard to convince themselves that wickedness is happiness! Because of this I worry what lies ahead for my sweet children. What are they going to have to face and encounter? With these thoughts I remembered a talk given by Elder Boyd K. Packer in General Conference in 2004, entitled "Do Not Fear." Today I finally sat down to read this talk. I am so glad I did! It is wonderful and gives so much encouragement. For all of you with the same types of worry or even if you don't worry, read this talk! The link is below, you might have to copy and paste.

http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=f318118dd536c010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=54b88fbe352fe010VgnVCM100000176f620a____&hideNav=1

Slowly but Surely!

After five months of work here is our yard! I didn't realize what a process putting in a yard was! We were really making progress until about mid-July when our neighbors informed us our fence was 18 inches on their property and we needed to move it! My heart sank when we found that out! As if putting a yard in wasn't expensive enough we then had to pay to get our fence moved, which was no cheap expense! It's our fault. We should have done more research as to where our exact property lines were. That doesn't make it any less frustrating though! So we could have planted a while ago but we needed to get our fence moved and the sprinkler line that ran next to the fence needed to be moved as well! It took no time at all to get our sprinkler line moved but it took about a month to get the fence moved. To say the least it hasn't been a pleasant experience. You can see in the pictures holes in our fence. The fence guy moved the our fence posts and then we had a hard time getting a hold of him to finish putting the fence together. We got tired of waiting and wanted to get our seed down so Spencer and our brother-in-law Ben began to put the fence back together. In the pictures you will see holes in the fence because we didn't have a table saw to cut the other slats and place them in the fence and the front corner post needed a special cut so they couldn't put the fence back together there. However, they got the fence put back together enough that we could finally plant in our back yard! Happy Day! Labor Day the fence guy was able to make it out and finish putting our fence back together. The sad thing about that is that it was rainy and extremely muddy when he was putting the fence back together so our nicely graded front yard has foot prints and tracks ALL OVER! So now we get to re-grade our front yard before we can plant. We also need to have the curbing guy come and patch our curbing that we had to cut out so our fence could be moved! We should have waited to put our curbing in after the fence was moved! What were we thinking! I guess, we just like to do things multiple times! Our curbing guy is supposed to come this Saturday so hopefully we will be able to re-grade and plant by Monday! Cross your fingers!

We are getting green "peach fuzz" in our back and side yards! It's exciting to see our grass coming in! It will be even more exciting when we see that in our front yard!

In one of the pictures below, you will see a big pile of rock, cement, asphalt, re bar, and other fun treasures, which we found our yard. We are yet to get rid of it! That area next to our gravel where all the junk from our yard is, we are eventually going to pave and make a sport court!

Brithday/First Day of School!

Last Saturday, the 23rd was Bailey's 3rd birthday! I can't believe she is 3 already! Time flies! She is getting to be such a big girl and so independent. She constantly tells me she can do things on her own! I have been dreading potty training for months so between Bailey having no interest in it and me dreading it we just barely started potty training! She is a quick learner though! I kept praying she would take an interest in it and have some success and she has. We checked out "Potty Power" (a DVD) from the library and she was ready to go after watching that! I think she finally realized she wanted to be a big kid! Yea! She loves wearing her princess panties and I am not sure who is more excited when she goes potty on her potty chair, her or me! My prayers have been answered! Below are some pictures of Bailey's birthday party. I know the cake and cupcakes are a bit boring, but that is the extent of my creativity! I should enroll myself in a cake decorating class! Most of Bailey's cake is frosting! It kind of crumbled so I fixed it with frosting. I knew Bailey wouldn't mind because she couldn't care less about the cake all she wants is frosting!

Bailey and cousin Emma!
Today was the first day of preschool for Bailey! She has been wanting to go to school since last year so this was a very exciting day for us! She loved it!

Six Years and Counting!

Six years ago today, Spence and I were married in the Mesa, Arizona Temple! Time has gone by so quickly! I am a little biased but I think I married the greatest most patient man ever! His mom referred to him as Spencer Wonderful and I couldn't agree more!

Aleknagik Island, Alaska

Here are some pictures from the fishing trip Spencer was lucky enough to go on. I think I mentioned this before, but my mom took my brothers and Spencer to Alaska to go fishing. Spencer had a great, great time! They all flew into Anchorage and then took a plane to a little Island named Aleknagik, Island. It is a private Island exclusively for fishing excursions. They were there for a full week and went fishing all day everyday. They caught various fish, but the only kind they were allowed to bring home was Salmon! It is delicious!

I think Spencer got a little spoiled on this trip because he was fed incredible breakfasts and dinners every day. Breakfasts included things like Sour-dough blueberry pancakes and biscuits and gravy and dinners included things like prime rib, stake, and of course fish.

Spencer said the Island was absolutely beautiful and from the pictures it sure looks like it!

Here is a picture of my mom in action!

Update!

All last week Spencer was in Alaska fishing with my mom and my brothers! He was gone for 8 days! To say the least we were very excited to have him back home! We sure missed him! I will post pics of his trip soon. He brought back quite a bit of Salmon and that's what we had for dinner last Sunday! It was delicious! I didn't think I really liked Salmon, but it sure was good!

Yesterday was an exciting day in little SWBy's life! He started to crawl. I had a feeling this was coming because he has been up on his hands and knees trying to move for about a month now. Of course when I pulled out the video camera he wouldn't crawl, he just cried and fell on his face! I need to buy a baby gate so he doesn't go tumbling down our stairs! He is such a sweet little baby! Bailey loves her little brother and loves to play with him. Sometimes, as I think all older siblings do, she smothers him a bit too much. She is so cute with her little brother and enjoys sharing her toys with him, so long as the sharing is on her terms!



A few weekends ago my "older sister" Cindy, her mom, and her little girl Bailee came for a visit! It was fun to see them and of course we took advantage of the situation and had Cindy color and cut my hair and cut Bailey's hair. (Cindy's Bailee is holding my Bailey while she gets her hair cut!) My Bailey sure likes and enjoys Cindy's Bailee. Can anyone guess where Spencer and I got the name Bailey?

This is so funny! Bailey's new thing is "fixing" her toy car! She found this plastic wrench and turned her car over so she could "repair" it properly!
Bailey loves to sit and be with Spence! She often will play mother to him and have her arm around him.

Newport Vacation!

Much to our dismay we are back from our vacation! We had such a fun time! We have been going to Newport for one week every year since I have been in the family and it is a week that we all look forward to! Bailey absolutely loved the beach! She played all day every day on the beach and never took a rest. The girl was so worn out from playing on the beach and lack of sleep! She got to share a room with her cousins, which I think was just as exciting as the beach! She got pummeled by waves a couple of times, but that didn't bother her one bit! She got right back up and was ready to keep playing! Her Aunt Lanae took her for walks on the beach to find sea shells, which she really enjoyed. On one of those walks they found a crab and much to my suprise Bailey thought it was kinda cool. She didn't want to touch it, but she sure liked to look!



The last day we were in Newport, the girls all went to get pedicures and the little girls just got their nails painted. This is the color Bailey chose! Bright green! She went right for this color and then wouldn't change her mind. I kept trying to talk her into pink or red, but she had her little heart and mind set on bright green! She got floweres put on her big toes, but they got a little smudged because she had a hard time sitting still!

For some reason Spencer is always able to get our children to fall asleep with him. I must be too anxious all the time because I can't ever get them to fall asleep unless I am bouncing them! I just thought that was such a cute picture of SWBy and Spence.

Above is a picture of SWBy with Grandpa and Grandma Crabtree. Friday after our Newport vacation we drove down to Escondido to see my family before driving back to Utah! Lucky for us they babysat Bailey and SWBy so Spence and I could go see "The Dark Knight!" We loved the movie!

We had such a fun week! Above is a picture of SWBy with his cousin Emma! She is such a nice cousin, always wanting to hold SWBy. Below is a picture of Bailey with her cousin Eliza! Bailey sure enjoyed seeing her cousins and loved spending the week with them!

4th of July!

So our 4th of July pictures are a little delayed! My mom got Bailey this cute outfit a while ago and it just barely fit her. Perfect for the 4th. We had a fun 4th. Spencer's oldest sister came for a visit so we went up to Perry to celebrate with them. We BBQed and then watched fireworks put on by neighbors. At first Bailey was a little scared, but not for long! After she got over the loud noises she really liked to watch the fireworks! I think SWBy enjoyed watching them as well!

Tomorrow we leave for Newport for a week of FUN with Spencer's family! Hope you all have a great week!

Little Spence!

I took these pictures today and I thought they were so cute! Little Spence is such a happy baby! He is such a joy and a blessing! These pictures show his typical mood! He never really fusses or gets mad, except for when he has to ride for long periods of time in his car seat!

Arizona/Houston

Spencer, his dad and brothers at Minute Maid Park to see the Astro's!


Unlce Ev, Spence, and Bailey!



Last week Bailey, little SWB, and I took a little vacation to Arizona and Spencer went to Houston with his dad and brothers. My mom flew into SLC and drove with us to Arizona. It was a really nice week. On the way to Arizona we stopped in St. George to see my Grandma Crabtree and I missed a great photo opp because I left the camera with Spencer to take to Houston. It was so nice to visit and catch up with my Grandma. Last Friday my mom took Bailey to see High School Musical at Gammage and the poor girl was so tired that she asked to leave shortly after intermission. By Friday Bailey was so exhausted from a full week of visiting, playing, and a lot of nights where we missed our bedtime that I think for once going to bed sounded so good to her! It was so nice to see family and friends and catch up with them. So thank you everyone for making time to spend with us.





Spencer was lucky enough to join his dad and brothers for a baseball trip to Houston. The purpose of the trip was to visit stadiums and catch a few baseball games. His dad and brothers started in Chicago to see a Cubbies game at Wrigley Field. The Cubs are Spencer's favorite team and due to work Spencer couldn't go to Chicago. Had Spencer not been there before he would have been really, really disappointed to miss that part of the trip, instead he was just disappointed to miss that part of the trip. Spencer was able to meet them in Houston to see Minute Maid Park and go to a couple Astro games. They had a fun time and Spencer really enjoyed himself. Spencer's dad and brothers brought Spencer a lot of Cubbies souvenirs. He is now equipped with four foam fingers, a Cubbies duffle bag, a Cubbies blanket, souvenir cups, and Cubbies flip flops! They also brought all the grand kids Cubbies shirts. Spencer has Bailey trained to yell "Go Cubs" and that is exactley what she said when she received her shirt! Thank you grandpa, Uncle Ev, and Uncle BJ!

Last Saturday Spence flew into AZ with his dad and brothers and met up with Bailey, little SWB, and I. That night we got together with Spencer's family for a BBQ and swimming. Bailey is a little fish. She sure didn't want to get out of the pool. After she put floaties on she thought she was invincible. She tried to jump into the deep end after we took the floaties off!

Almost ready for grass!

After months of prep work, our backyard was ready to be trenched and Wednesday we got it trenched! Tuesday we bought all of our sprinkler supplies and this Saturday we get to start puting our sprinklers in! We are so excited! We are that much closer to having a yard and grass! Eventually we would like to be in our yard without getting dusty, dirty, or muddy! Bailey especially would like that. We have found some priceless treasures in our yard, such as rebar, asphalt, lots of garbage, large chunks of concrete, and many, many rocks!

Our weather has been really nice lately so we like to get out for family walks in the evenings. This is a picture of little SWB after one of our walks!
Lately if Bailey is tired she will go upstairs and put herself to bed. This is an example. Saturday morning we did lots of running around and by the afternoon she was exhausted!

So the other day I was running on our treadmill and after I was done running I heard Bailey saying, "Mom, I am ready to get out!" I couldn't figure out where she was. I was hoping she was on the potty as we have been trying to encourage her to go potty in the toilet, but she wasn't on the potty. So I said, "Bailey you are ready to get of where?" To which she replied, "I'm ready to get out of Spency's bed." The funny girl had climbed into her brother's bed and couldn't get herself out!
I just thought this picture was priceless. It might be a little more if they weren't in their pajamas, but nonetheless this was such a cute photo opp!