Pictures

I'm so proud of my baby sister and niece for the awesome pictures that they take. It really does take a good eye to make a good photographer, and they both seem to have it. Knowing how hard it is to capture a whole family looking good in just one picture, it's amazing the amount of options I always have when looking through all the pictures. Now, granted, my children are the best looking kids on the planet, but still! Just kidding! Anyway... just wanted to give them a shout out. If you're ever in need of a photographer, they are ready to be booked!

This is Calli's facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=100001571180751&sk=photos

This is Kalee's facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=100002278688694&sk=photos

And here are some of my favorites of Calli's:































and some of Kalees:


















Just so you all know, I didn't ask Kalee to take those pics of me, she asked me to pose for her cause she's never done female senior pics or anything and wanted a sample. :) Anyway- y'all should look them up next time you need a shoot done!

Take Care!

Thankful

I usually write a post on April 14th about my brother, Carl Scott. This year I just mourned in my own little world. I took flowers out to the cemetery and cried like usual. Every time I went to get back into my car, the flowers would get blown over by the wind. McKie was in the car, and kept asking to get out. I kept saying no. Finally, when I realized that I couldn't keep getting out and picking the flowers back up, because it was doing no good... I asked McKie to get out with me and help me find some rocks to hold the vase up. Holding his little hand, we walked across the cattle guard to the outer area of the cemetery. As I went to pick up a larger rock, he said, "Mommy, be careful and make sure that there's nothing under that rock that will hurt you!" What a sweet little man. He was worried about me, and could tell that I was sad anyway. As we took our rocks back across the cattle guard and placed them around the vase, he said, "Mommy, I know why you're sad. Cause your brother died, huh? And you miss him?" I wasn't sure how to respond to that. How to tell him that he actually died before I was born, so that I never knew him. Then I thought, what am I talking about? Of course I have met him. He has watched over me my whole life! I knew him before I came to this earth, and I know that he was my best friend. So I told McKie that I did miss him, but that he was in heaven with Heavenly Father and Jesus. He smiled and gave me a hug. Then he asked a few questions about other headstones around of other family members.

On the way home, I thought a lot about Carl Scott, and how all three of my babies remind me of him in some way. When I was pregnant with McKie, our first ultrasound showed that he had some type of heart defect. While the tech was looking at his heart for so long, I started getting scared, knowing that Carl Scott was missing a chamber of his heart. So I started panicking. She brought the head honcho in to take a look and they told us that we would need to return in a month, to see if the problem might resolve itself. I was a mess for the next 24 hours, and after seeing our doctor, and him reassuring me that he knew all would be ok, I started feeling better. And, a month later, his heart was perfectly fine, other than a small murmur that has never bothered him. Carl Scott was watching over me, every time I'd start to worry I'd feel a peace, and I know it was the spirit letting me know everything would be ok.

When trying to think of what to name Brensyn, Jaran and I couldn't decide on a name. I loved the name Brennen after one of my most beloved cousins, and Jaran liked Bryson. So we decided, the night before he was born, to name him Brensyn. The one thing that we never had to think about was his middle name, Carl. The morning of his blessing, dressing him in that little white suit, I remember thinking how much he looked like my brother... the little flat chin, the tiny nose, and the little short stubby fingers. How proud I was to have a little man that would always remind me of my brother I'd lost. Baby blessings are so emotional anyway, but when Jaran gave Brensyn his name, Brensyn Carl Baker, I felt a special feeling, and I knew that my brother was there with me, Steph, Cam, Kade, Calli, my Mom and my Dad... and we were a family... all there... together. I know that Brens and his uncle have a special relationship. When Ansleigh was about a week old, Jaran and I had a meeting for McKie at his new preschool, and we asked Jaran's brother and his wife to watch Brensyn. While we were gone, Brensyn decided to wander off, sneaking out the door when someone's back was turned. When we got back and went searching for him, instead of freaking out and crying and screaming, I was calm. I kept my wits, and we searched for him. Finally Kendra came running down the road carrying him. He was 18 months old, and had walked clear down the road and around the corner to someone's house, went into their back yard, and started playing with their dogs. The owners saw him, gave him a Popsicle and kept him safe until we found him. Had he crossed to the other side of the road they lived on, or fallen in the ditch, or went into the swimming pool next door, found some dogs that weren't so nice... so many things could have gone wrong, but they didn't. His uncle was watching over him.

Ansleigh is our third. Carl Scott was the third. She is such a cuddle bug, and she knows when I need a hug. Sometimes when I'm having a hard day, all I have to see is her beautiful smiling face, and everything is ok. She's my shopping buddy, and she loves when mommy does her hair. We could sit for hours braiding and curling her hair. She loves singing Taylor Swift songs with her Mommy and getting dresses on to play. When she wakes up in the morning, I'm the first one she comes to. She crawls into bed with me, and we have our morning snuggle. She watches over me and always tries to make me happy. She is my little tangible spirit. Between the two of them, I'm taken care of physically and spiritually when I need someone to uplift me.

I'm so thankful for my three beautiful babies. I'm so blessed to be able to have children, and to have such and easy time with it. When I see others I know struggling to have children, or knowing that they can't, and finding other ways to become parents, it makes me that much more grateful. Jaran and I are truly blessed in our lives. Sometimes the kids are a challenge, and sometimes we think we need a break. But all we need to do is remember how blessed we are to have these little spirits to take care of, and that they are ours, and all is well with the world.

Forgive me for my ramblings. I can't seem to stop my incisions from giving me fits tonight, and trying to sleep isn't really going well for me, so I thought I needed to write some stuff down. I didn't think it would be to this extent. Goodnight all... and remember how blessed we all are! Take Care!

WAHOO!

I got into nursing school! It's such a relief! For those of you who don't know... here in Powell at Northwest they only accepted 24 people into the RN program this year, and I was blessed to be one of those 24 people! It's been a long road getting here, and I'm so excited to get started! I went and signed up for classes today, and it was all nursing classes! No more classes that I don't need like history or anything! :)

I have to apologize for not ever posting on here. I don't know why I don't ever, but I'm going to do better, at least until nursing school starts up in the fall. I have a ton of pictures and stuff to update on, but I don't have them all on here to do it. I just wanted to share the good news and I will work on getting some more posts up soon! Take Care!

Things

Well, we had a great sale this weekend and got rid of a bunch of stuff. If you know me, you know I tend to hang on to things long after I should... so I was pretty proud when I purged the closet and drawers. Even now, cleaning up last night, I found some more stuff I'm going to take and donate to the rescue mission. Yay me!

I mostly just wanted to post some random things. Today while taking McKie to soccer practice... one of the kids asked... mom is this the speed limits? They are all obsessed with that, always asking, mom are we going the speed limits? It's hilarious!

McKie and Brensyn have been engrossed with hungting for toads in the field next to the house. They find a few every day, put them in the lizard cage and then we make them let them go the next day. Erik was awesome yesterday and took them out to the sandhills and they caught a Lizard. Kies has spent all of his free time playing in there and learning new things. Such as, if he touches it's head, it opens its mouth like a lion... and that it will purr if you touch it just right... and that it's a girl one minute and a boy the next. Super cute!

We will be going to Utah on Wednesday, and it's going to be the best weekend ever! Buddy, Jaran's little brother, is returning from his mission to Nicaragua on Thursday night. We are all so excited to see him! It's going to be great. It's going to be hard to program the kids to stop saying "bless Buddy and Zak on their missions" in their prayers... like it took a while to add the Zak onto it after almost two years of only Buddy. But they're getting really happy to see him.

Alrighty folks. I'm done for now. Need to clean up lunch and get Ans down for her nap and the boys settled for quiet time. And try to make Kies stop the creepy noise he's making that he said his lizard just made... for reals it's creeping me out! Take Care!

Ames Camp 2010

For a little background, I have been a huge fan of camping since I was a little girl... in fact I can't remember a summer, well one when Jaran and I were sealed, that I have missed an Ames camp. When I was younger we would go for two weeks every summer. We went one year on the big horns, but for the most part, we have been loyal to the Beartooths, and the Sunlight Basin. I love it so much that I talked Jaran into naming his business Sunlight Homes. It has nothing to do with the actual light of the sun, but for the beautiful place I love. In 1988 the fires of Yellowstone did a number to the region, but the places that were once charred blackness are now green and growing. It's a beautiful place. We were lucky to get a great camper for super cheap and fix it up (see previous post) and we had a great time up there! We went up on Saturday afternoon, only to find that we hadn't put the kids' clothes basket into our camper, and realized we'd have to make a trip down the mountain in the morning to get them... but here are some pics to demonstrate how great it is up there!



So the first morning we woke up and made breakfast, the works, pancakes, hashbrowns, eggs, bacon and didn't end up eating until around lunch time. Then Jaran went down the mountain with Ryan and Rozman to get the kids clothes, ice, a different bed for Cam cause the one in the trailer they were using was super uncomfortable and a few other miscellaneous items. We pretty much wasted time around the fire, the kids went and caught crawdads by the lake, and we enjoyed the peace and quiet. When Jaran and the boys got back, we started the secret agent hunt for the kids provided by Steph. Right before that, Brensyn got a mosquito bit above his eye... this was the result:


It only got worse, but those pics will come later. So the hunt was on, and the kids had a blast! They got 4 clues taking them to different places and they were awarded a bag of goodies, also provided by Steph! It was great!





Calli and Matt came up on Suday afternoon and stayed until late Monday morning. It was Matt's birthday on Monday, so Brensyn made him a card with his one good eye.... poor baby... looked worse the second day!



We did a lot of s'mores by the fire, the kids got dirty, and had a blast.
Ryan and Rozman cut down a couple trees so we got some great wood for the fire, and a play zone for the kids.



Monday we had our white elephant game and also did an auction of items to raise some money for John and Amee's gravesite to engrave and try and get a permanent vase beside them. Ryan served as auctioneer and did a great job! There were some great things!

Camp of 1977

Aunt Deana laughing at camp of 1977

"A great item here, let's start at $5 do I hear $5?"

We won this gem
My cousin Lance brought his kids with him and their mom, Laura, was joining them later in the week, so when Kealey wanted her hair to look like Cam's, this is what happened:

We took some group pics before Steph left on Monday evening, and had a lot of fun.

Ans and Me

The cousins

The girls and Aunt Deana

Us

Cam and her girls
Shanda hasn't been to many Ames camps and decided to come with my Aunt Deana, her GMA. So she came, had a blast, and I hope will keep coming. We had some fun, and she loved fishing, even though she fell in the water and ran head first into a tree!





And now for a few of the reasons we go to the Lily Lake campground

1. The Lake itself

2. The Crawdad fishing

3. The super awesome Outhouse

4. Because you can look like this

5. And then look like this all in the same day without anyone caring

6. This is the view you get all the time

And 7. You get to spend time with your family getting bug bites,
cutting down trees, being pinched by crawdads and getting back and them by eating them, have a wonderful time fishing, falling in rivers, running into trees, winning prizes, smell campfire all day long, and not have to worry about showering and putting on makeup and doing your hair. We had a blast, and we all made great memories! That's all for now folks. Take Care!