Happy 2009!

As I sit here and reflect on the close of yet another year and look forward to the hope that next year brings I am extremely greatful to my Father in Heaven for all of the blessings he has given our family. 2008 started out with a big dissapointment when we found out that our home loan was denied and we were unable to purchase the house in Payette that we fell in love with. But the dissapointment didn't last too long because a few weeks later we discovered we were expecting another bundle of joy. We were shocked to learn that I had gone through my entire first trimester without any idea I was pregnant again. We were even more surprised eight weeks later to learn we were finally getting our girl. Little Sarah joined our family July 28, but even before she was born she had all the boys in our house wrapped around her little fingers. She is the sweetest baby. Time passes all too quickly because it seems like only yesterday we brought her home and yet she is already 5 months old.
We were able to take a few camping trips this summer with my mom and dad. I think Mike and the boys' favorite was our trip to Burgdorf. It was really peaceful to be up in the mountains, away from all of the hustle and bustle of everyday life.
As I think of all the possibilities that lay in store for this new year I am eternally greatful for the consistance the Savior brings into our home. The knowledge that come what may he is in charge. While I anticipate that we will experience our own struggles I know that with the Lords help we will make it though another year. We love you all and pray for the best the new year has to offer all. With all of our love.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!
THE PUTERBAUGHS

Merry Christmas 2008!

Erik had soooo much fun playing with his light saber. Porter, Caleb, and Joey each got one too. Erik and Peyton spent much of the day playing with each other with them, it really was fun to watch.

Even little Sarah made a haul. Both Jake and Joey got her CareBears and Caleb picked out the cutest dress for her. Mommy and Daddy got her, her first baby doll. It is fun to be shopping for a little girl.

Believe it or not this was the only thing Jacob wanted too. He loves his video games.

The only thing Joey wanted for Christmas was a Nintendo DS. He was soooo tickled.

Caleb was really surprised by his Air-rifle. He really feels grown up. He can't wait for his dad to take him out shooting.

This is what happens to the Christmas tree when you have 15 people gathered together in one house for the morning. We were so happy and lucky to have Lynn, Erin, Porter and Peyton home for Christmas. And since the cousins couldn't be seperated they all spent the night at Grandma's and Grandpa's house for Christmas Eve, (Mike and I stayed at home and came over when everyone else woke up). Actually, after getting to bed at 2:00am the phone rang at 3:30am and it was Caleb saying that he and Uncle Matthew were awake and wanted permission to get up everybody else. Since Grandma and Grandpa have a rule that no one is to be up before 5:00am I had to go over and make sure they got back in bed. By the time they get settled back down it was about 4:00am and Sarah was up and ready to eat. Usually she goes back to sleep after this early morning feeding but she must have known something was up because she was giggly and smily and wanted to play. So I got to stay up for the rest of the day. Needless to say by the time everybody settled in bed for that night I was exausted. All in all I think the boys and Sarah enjoyed their Christmas.

My Little Helper

Erik loves to help mommy. Sometimes his help isn't. Yesterday I was trying to take care of Sarah and I could hear something pouring in th kitchen. I turned around and he had the whole box of dishwasher detergent dumped in the dishwasher. He smiled and said, "I help." Fortunately I was able to scoop all of the soap out and put it in another container.

Our Week of Birthdays!

Jacob and Joey each celebrated a birthday this week. Jacob's was Tuesday and Joey's was Saturday. As you can see in the pictures Jake had a red dinosaur cake and Joey had a Lightening McQueen cake. The pictures make them look better than they really were but they were cute. Jacob celebrated by having cake and presents at Grandma and Grandpa Gurney's house on Tuesday but because of testing at the school this week he could not take in his treats until Friday. So Friday afternoon I had to hurry and make strawberry cupcakes with red frosting and take them out to the school by 2:30. I did not get started on the cupcakes until noon but I did make it in time.(Thank heavens) Jake also got an unfortunate lesson about disappointment this week. He has two really good friends at school and we had told him that he could invite them over on Friday. Unfortunately neither one of them could come and it just broke his heart. I really felt kind of sorry for him, but he still had fun eating pizza and watching Space Chimps with his brothers before going to the ward Christmas party.
Joey spent his birthday just running around wound up! We had Mike's cousin Dustin, his wife Teri, and their two kids came over and spent most of the day with us. Grandma and Grandpa Gurney came over with Aunt Shelly and Uncle Matt for dinner and cake. Joey had told Grandma months ago that all he wanted for his birthday was moon sand. So he was so excited when she came through for him.
I don't know if you can see it in the picture but two of Joey's candles look like antennae. I had bought a whole new package of candles on Tuesday to use for the boys' birthdays but come Saturday they had all disappeared but three. So, I had to search for two more candles at the last minute. I finally found a really really old package of sparkler candles I had bought when Caleb was about 3 or 4 in the very back of the drawer. Needless to say they were a little bent and broke up. Well when we lit them the wax caught fire and started drip onto the cake not to mention the three inches of flame shoot up from them. I got to laughing so hard I couldn't even sing Happy Birthday. Mom and Shelly just about split a gut too because Joey was having a hard time blowing them out. It was a rather humorous affair all the way around.
Tomorrow is my mom's birthday and since she has to spend the evening driving the Jr. High girls basket ball team we celebrated today. I made her dinner and cake and then left them to eat it because I had to go to the church for choir practice. After dinner we all sat down and watched the First Presidencies Christmas Devotional. All in all it was a really nice evening.

Only 1 in Diapers!!!!

Well I would say I now officially have all four boys potty trained. Erik has been almost a whole week without an accident. He even goes in and uses the potty by himself. He really thinks he is big stuff. He was definitely the easiest of my children to get to this point. Boy is it nice to only have the baby in diapers.

Sarah is getting so big. She will be four months old on Friday. She has discovered her fingers and loves to chew on them. It probably won't be long until she gets some teeth, she has turned into a real drool monster.

The two big boys are home from school this week. We had parent teacher conferences on Monday. Both of the boys' teachers said they are perfectionists which slows them down in their work. But they are both doing really, really well and are in the top reading groups in their classes. Caleb is doing well in math he just needs to develop confidence in his ability. Jacob just has to remember to turn in his homework.

We hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Potty Training

Why is it that kids always want to start off on a new adventure at the most inconvenient times? I have been busy getting ready for the family portrait fundraiser at our school last night and tonight. So when Erik got up yesterday and refused to put a diaper on because he wanted to wear underwear my first thought was "This is last thing I need today!" Bless his little heart though, he only had a couple of accidents all day long, even with all of my running around. So I guess we are officially out of diapers. YEAH!!!!! It is so cute when he goes to the toilet and then flushes, he sticks both hands in the air and yell "yesss!" He is so pleased with his accomplishment.

November 9, 2008

Hello! We have not fallen off the face of the earth. I just haven't been able to slow down long enough to even catch my breath for the last couple of weeks. The last part of October almost every spare minute we had was spent hunting but to no avail although Dad and Matt did see a bear which was pretty cool. We had fun celebrating Erik's 2nd birthday just before Halloween. Oh boy did Aunt Shelly get him the perfect gift. He loves dinosaurs and toys that move. So a dinosaur that growls and walks was a huge hit. He has really just grown up in leaps and bounds.

We are finally done with soccer and football. Caleb and Jacob both ended their seasons undefeated. Poor Joey was on a team of all first time players. That made for some very interesting games. The coach felt pretty good about a game if it ended with all of the kids headed in the right direction on the field. Other than the fact that by the end of the season it was really cold the boys had a really good fall sports season and they can't wait until next year.

I can't leave out our little Sarah. She is definitely the one in charge at our house. I can hardly believe how big she is getting. She smiles and giggles. Daddy doesn't think it is very fair that she will talk and coo at everyone but him. But he definitely gets the biggest smiles. Well that's all from the Puterbaughs for now. Have a great week.