Grandpa and Grandma Edington's Family Blog

Cochise Stronghold and Kevin and Kim's Family Update

2010-11-22T04:44:00.003-07:00

Trying to update the blog. It has been a while since I posted pictures because the battery compartment on our camera busted so I couldn't take any pictures for a few months. Aaron (the two year old) accidentally dropped the camera from the shopping cart. I had taken the camera to Wal-mart to print pictures and he got his hands on it without me realizing it until he dropped it. Sad day! Anyhow, we saved money for a new camera and just bought a new one about one week ago. Now, you will all be burdened with picture overload as I feel I have to make up for the amount of pictures that I missed.

I will post some pictures of our visit to Cochise Stronghold. It is very close to my mom's house in Sunsites, 10 minutes maybe less. Yes, it is that close! We cleaned up the house on Saturday morning, and on the spur of the moment, we decided to pack a lunch and go for a hike! The area around the Stronghold is beautiful and there are breath-taking views of the Dragoon Mountains. It is a bird lover's paradise. All kinds of different species. We enjoyed viewing and listening to a woodpecker as we were eating our lunch. We saw several deer, which, of course, our young children thought were Santa's. We saw lots of deer tracks as well so the kids are sure now that Santa is checking up on them. We also were able to go on a trail and read the various historical data of the happenings in the area--the famous Indian chief Cochise. We went for a little hike up the mountains and our kids enjoyed climbing all over the different rock formations in the area. We found several small caves that the kids enjoyed exploring. It was a great place to visit and I highly recommend visiting it the next time you are in the area. At the stronghold, there is a nice campground, firepits, bathrooms, picnic tables, and of course different trails you can go on.

Elijah is cutting new teeth so he has been a little bit fussy, but that has not prevented him from being mischevious. He loves to play cars and throw balls. He has a good arm for a one year old. You can tell he has a lot of brothers that play with him. Eli will sit and play with cars for about 30 minutes before he goes off exploring somewhere else. He enjoys emptying my kitchen cupboards and stealing Aaron's toys and running away with them. Aaron is so soft hearted that he will not steal the toy back from him and just whines, "Mommy, Eli took my toy. Let's get him!" Aaron is such a sweet little 2 year old. He is pretty much completely potty trained now--does not have many accidents. This helps with our budget--not having to buy so many diapers. Aaron loves to read books and would probably sit and listen to stories all day. We can always find him with a book.

Benjamin is getting excited for his birthday! He knows it is getting close because we are starting to pull out Christmas decorations. Kevin's grandparents down the street put up a beautiful life-size Nativity every year. It was just set up this weekend. Benjamin says, "Mary and Joseph and baby Jesus are out now, that means it's my birthday!" He is counting down to the day he turns 5 and is old enough to go to school with the big kids. Benjamin does pre-school with mom and we have a friend come over once a week to play with him. He has had a lot of challenges due to his hearing. He developed auditory processing disorder because his ears did not hear well until he had the tubes placed in his ears and tonsils and adenoids taken out at age 3. Apparently, according to my doctor, children learn very important early vocabulary sounds and major communication skills just prior to turning 3. This is the time frame when the largest amount of social skills are developed. Benjamin missed out on that and is playing catch up. He still has difficulty hearing if there is a lot of background or loud noises. He has difficulty with large groups and learns best in small, individualized groups. His disorder is similar to autism and is many times misdiagnosed as autism, but we really feel the problem is an auditory processing problem. He still does not hear every sound in his right ear and is being re-tested in January for his hearing problems. Best treatment I am told is individual attention, or very small group. The doctor said the tubes tend to adjust the hearing over time so we will check that out. Here is a website with some general information about his disorder if you are interested. He brain and ears do not process information correctly. http://kidshealth.org/parent/medical/ears/central_auditory.html Benjamin also suffers from Tourette's Syndrome, as does Jacob. Benjamin has the type of Tourette's where he has tics, vocal sounds, throat clearing and will all of a sudden loudly say a word (not a swear word. He doesn't know any. It's usually poopy or you girl, which is funny if it's not your kid). The yelling out a word scenario most often happens when we are around a large crowd, like at church or in primary or at a school function. Not often. His behavior is different week to week and he has triggers that tend to make him be more effected. It's embarrassing, but understandable. I feel bad for him. I have to do a lot of explaining to people that don't understand sometimes, mainly in Primary. He does not really yell but rather speaks it louder than his normal voice, which is not that loud due to his hearing. If you sit near us, you will hear it occasionally. It mostly happens when Benjamin is out of his comfort zone--in large groups. Jacob only has the type of Tourette's that involves tics and a lot of throat clearing.

Matthew is now 7 years old and will be baptized next year in October. He wants to be baptized on Halloween because he thinks it would be cool to get the real Holy Ghost on a day meant for scaring people about other types of ghosts. It is perfect that Matthew's birthday is around Halloween (October 30th. So is Kyra's.) Matthew loves candy so this works out great for him. We go to the school carnival every year--haunted mule rides, games, jumping castles, bbq, cotton candy, popcorn, caramel apples, and lots of fun! Here is a list of what our kids were for Halloween--Andrew (scary guy. He helps out with the haunted mule ride and had a scary mask and had to wear black. Jacob--Two face from Batman. Half of his body is a normal suit, the other side of the suit is part leopard, jaguar, cheetah, zebra and tiger. I had to make his outfit. Matthew was a ninja and bought his outfit at a yard sale across the street for 10 cents. His was my favorite costume because it was cheap and I did not have to make it. :) Benjamin was the character Hiccup, a dragon trainer from the movie "How to Train Your Dragon." Benjamin and Aaron were Benjamin's dragons from the movie. Aaron was Night Fury and Elijah was Terrible Terror. On Halloween eve as we were getting children dressed, Andrew was running away from Jacob who was chasing him and went into his bedroom and slammed the door. Aaron was standing right there and had his hand in the door. His poor fingers got smashed and crushed very hard. He broke one of his fingers and majorly bruised two other fingers. His fingers looked horrible! Andrew felt absolutely horrible and said, "I don't deserve to go to the Halloween Carnival." It was an accident. He was punishing himself more than I could ever punish him. Needless to say, he does not slam the door anymore. We all did go to the Halloween Carnival still. We just got there a little later than we would have liked. Aaron had to be super glued back together and was sore for quite a while, but I have to say his fingers look so good now. One of his fingernails fell off and is now growing back. This was not our first broken finger experience. Matthew broke his finger the second week of October. We went to Phoenix and he was playing air hockey against his brother and his dad. He moved his hand off of the hockey puck and it got slammed so hard that it broke his finger. His fingernail is very black and will probably fall off soon as the new fingernail begins to come in. Life is exciting with 6 little boys!

Jacob is 8 years old. He was baptized on his birthday, the 4th of July. Jacob is full of energy, excitement, and has a curious nature. He is very intelligent and listens to every single word you say and follows it to the tee. He does a lot of play on words. He has memorized the Preamble of the Constitution of the United States and the Declaration of Independence. Jacob has a soft heart for animals. I think he likes animals more than humans, especially lizards, frogs, toads, chickens, and other creepy crawly creatures. Jacob became a cub scout in July. He has earned his bobcat badge and is almost finished with his wolf badge. We recently went to the International Wildlife Museum in Tucson for a cub scout expo. There are all sorts of different "stuffed" dead animals to observe in the museum. Our kids love it. They call it the dead animal museum. Admission was free on cub scout expo day for any cub scout and his family if they came in their uniform. There were lots of exhibits and there were different stations you could go to in order to pass off a scout requirement. We had a great time!

Andrew is 11 years old now. He is almost finished with his Faith in God award. He recently entered regular boy scouts in September. Before becoming a boy scout, Andrew did earn his Webelos badge, Compass Point with each point earned, religious knot, all 20 activity badges, and his Arrow of Light, the highest award you can receive in cub scouts and transfers to your boy scout uniform. We are so proud of him! He is a great example to his brothers! Andrew is involved in school sports. He finished cross country at the end of September. I was impressed with his endurance of a long run. He enjoyed running 5 miles. Personally, I don't. Currently, Andrew is playing basketball for Pomerene School. He LOVES it! Andrew has loved all sports ever since he was a baby--basketball, football, baseball, you name it--he loves it! Andrew's team has won about 8 games and lost only two--one loss was to St. David and the other to Naco (they have tall players in Naco).

Kevin and I stay busy chasing boys! Kevin travels throughout southern Arizona to client's homes to ensure the clients are receiving proper care. He can be found in Benson about three days a week, Wilcox about once a week, Pearce/Sunsites/Elfrida twice a month, Safford/Thatcher twice a month, Bisbee and Sierra Vista quarterly, and meetings in Phoenix quarterly. He stays busy with work and he teaches the 11 year olds in Sunday School/Primary. I appreciate everything he does for our family. He works so hard for our family and we are lucky to have him in our lives. I could not raise these boys without him! I stay busy teaching piano lessons, cleaning and re-cleaning the house, doing loads of laundry and piles of dishes, chasing children, teaching pre-school, teaching little boys to use the potty, changing diapers, playing with kids, cooking meals, baking cookies, picking up children from activities and taking children to doctor appointments. I'm wore out just writing down what I do on a daily basis. I have the best calling in our church--playing the piano for the children to learn and sing songs. Love it!

I get to speak in my Mom's branch in Sunsites at church in January. Since Dad is a high councilman, it is his turn to speak there in January. When he speaks in church there, he is asked to bring someone to speak with him. Mom has done her share of talks there and she is the secretary for the Stake Relief Society--so that makes her unavailable sometimes. Anyhow, dad thought it would be neat to have me speak in Sunsites with him since Mom is in that branch and I know some of the people and many of them know of me. I actually don't mind speaking in church. I am looking forward to it. I think I like it because that means I don't have to wrestle my boys during church (yes, this week felt like wrestling). Kevin will be in charge while I talk, and hopefully my mom and Kevin's mom and/or Tamra (if they are available) can help him out. Kevin's dad asked Kevin to sing a solo when we go to Sunsites. He loves to sing and has a gorgeous voice. He is also looking forward to that. Kevin would rather sing than give a talk any day.

Sorry this is so long but I felt the need to update. I will add some pictures in a different post. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Kevin and Kim's Las Vegas Trip

2010-06-21T16:48:00.006-07:00

At The Tank at The Golden Nugget

At the top of the Stratosphere

At the top of the Eiffel Tower at Paris Hotel

At a waterfall at the Flamingo Hotel

At the doors of the Las Vegas Temple

So, here are some pictures from our Las Vegas Trip. We had so much fun together! I added more pictures to my facebook so you can check those out if you want. On the way up, we stopped for a bathroom break at the Hoover Dam and took a few pictures. Kevin and I were able to go to the Phantom of the Opera on Monday (our anniversary) which was fabulous. The one in Vegas has a lot of special effects. We also went to a show called Human Nature, courtesy of a time share presentation. Human Nature includes 4 Australian men who sing Motown songs, some of which were a cappella. There were fabulous! We also had a free buffet, courtesy of a time share presentation. We stayed at four different hotels, yes I said 4. Kevin is a hotel hopper. He likes to check out as many hotels as possible (I would never do that with children--not moving their stuff more than once). The first hotel we stayed at was The Flamingo, right on the strip in Las Vegas. Excellent location--middle of the strip right across from Caesar's Palace. Nice room. Had a lazy river and a small water slide, also flamingo wildlife habitat--quite beautiful actually. Outdoors there was a little garden area that was fun to walk around. The second hotel we stayed at was the Stratosphere. It is the hotel that looks like the space needle. I think this was the best deal overall. It is a good location, just a few blocks from the strip. Large pool and jacuzzi, Nice rooms, cheap price--It was $30 a night. The third hotel we stayed at was the Golden Nugget in downtown Las Vegas. It is off of Fremont Street, older hotel, but still quite swanky. The pool at the Golden Nugget has a Shark Tank. The water slide goes right through the tank which is filled with fish and small sharks. It was awesome! Our children now think we are cool for the time being. It was quite powerful, actually. Kevin's glasses fell off as he came out of the water slide from the force (He had those eyeglass holders on). He had to snorkel around to try and find them. Luckily, he found them. This hotel had a nice large jacuzzi, and the pool stayed open until 2 a.m. The other hotels we stayed at the pools closed at 6 p.m. I guess they want you to go out and gamble. The fourth and final hotel we stayed at was the Hard Rock Hotel. We were actually upgraded to a suite, which was very, very swanky. It was black and silver colors with red accents. There were two bathrooms, a living room with large, flat screen t.v. and awesome stereo system and a silver couch, a bedroom area with a large flat screen t.v., and a bathroom with a jacuzzi tub. All throughout this suite, were items that if you even picked up an item, it was charged to your hotel bill. Water bottles were $4.50, candy bars $5, Alcohol $50-$100, Intimacy kits $25 (yes, I said intimacy kits). It was all weighted. Of course, we didn't dare touch any of it. We could never stay at this kind of place with our kids--they would touch everything. This hotel had three sandy beach pools, a lazy river and water slide, and three jacuzzis. The light fixtures were cymbals, music note carpet, records and rock star memorabilia throughout the hotel. They even had leather elevators. It was pretty sharp! We enjoyed every moment together and created lasting memories! It was a nice, relaxing break and I think, well deserved after 14 years. We had an absolute blast!

The food was incredible. We only ate one meal a day--we saved up for the buffet. After the buffet, we were stuffed for a while. Best buffet we went to was Planet Hollywood Spice Market Buffet. It had cuisine from around the world. You wouldn't believe that the item we kept going back for was their fresh fruit--no joke. They had the freshest watermelon and honeydew we have ever tasted. They also had this incredible fruit dip that was made with cream cheese, honey and apricots. I am going to have to figure out how to make it. I learned that I make food way too boring, and am going to experiment more when I cook. I have so many recipes to figure out. The Spice Market buffet also served custard, rather than ice cream. Fabulous! We also went to some cheaper buffets, some of which were actually comparative in food quality to the Spice Market Planet Hollywood. The station buffets--Main Street Station and Boulder Station--had excellent food and excellent prices. It was $8 each. We usually had 2 for 1 at most of the buffets, so it was really cheap, which we love! Excellent Chicken Broccoli Salad at Boulder Station. Yum! Makes me hungry just talking about it. We went to Pink's Hot Dogs, which is specialty hot dogs. We had a Vegas Dog and a Showgirl dog. The Vegas dog had chili, onions, guacamole, jalpenos, tomatoes. The Showgirl had tomatoes, onions, relish, and sauerkraut. There were delicious. I brought home the menu so I can experiment with hot dog toppings. We also went to a sandwich shop called Capriotti's. I had a turkey, stuffing, mayo and cranberry sauce sandwich--called a Bobbie. Kevin had something with a lot of sandwich meat on it, but it was also very good. I don't remember his as much, but mine was fabulous! We actually did not spend very much money because pretty much everything we went to was 2 for 1. We caught a meal deal at midnight--for a quick snack--that was a burger and fries for $2. Kevin and I split that because we were still quite full from the buffet, just wanted a snack. That was cheap!

Did we gamble you ask? Well, this is what we did. Many hotels offered a certain amount of money in free slot play. So, we would only play the money given to us by the casino and then cash out when it came ahead. We did not spend any of our money. It is sad to see how many people become trapped at the slots trying to make some easy cash. There is no easy way to make cash, it's hard work! Anyhow, we actually came ahead. Since we were using free slot money, I think we made about $25 in cash and spent none of our own. We did a lot of swimming and sight seeing. Kevin and I enjoyed walking around all the shops and hotels. Most of the hotels in Vegas are themed. We took a picture with one million dollars. The picture was free and how often do you get to take a picture with one million dollars? So, we did not even spend money on pictures--most hotels offer to take a fancy picture for you for about $16--this one was free and they took two pictures and printed them for us! We went to Circus Circus Adventuredome and rode the rides there, went up the Eiffel Tower, up the Stratosphere tower--the one that looks like the Space Needle, but most importantly we ended our trip going to the Las Vegas Temple, which is quite beautiful on the inside. We liked how the women's and men's bathrooms had an exit that led right to the chapel. The endowment room was also where the veil was and the celestial room connected right to that--very organized layout! The celestial room was beautiful--all white with some green plants and a large picture of the Second Coming of the Savior! It was a wonderful time and we appreciate all of you who helped watch our children so that we could spend some quality time together. I have realized that I am so grateful that Kevin and I are sealed together forever because forever is really not long enough! We enjoy spending time together and I am so grateful to my husband for being such a phenomenal man!

Tombstone Desperadoes

2010-05-10T10:06:00.004-07:00

Matthew posing at the wild west town.

This is Andrew at the tombstones of Tom and Frank McLaury and Billy Clanton. Tom McLaury was shot by Doc Holliday.

We went to Tombstone on Saturday, May 8th. Andrew was doing a school report on Doc Holliday so we decided to research it a little more. We had a great time! Kevin took Andrew to the O.K. Corral while mom and the youngest 5 went to the petting zoo and wild west town--a little more their speed. We also saw a rodeo show. Jacob liked that they had used rescued animals. One of the horses had gasoline poured on him by his owner and had burn scars near its tail. Our family had the flu this past week. We thought we might have been finished with it as no one had thrown up for two days in a row, but Jacob threw up in Primary. Kevin took him home and also had a case of the flu. Poor guys! So far, the flu has taken 5 of the 8 of us. Andrew, Matthew, and mom have not yet had the flu.

Congratulations to Jason and Kelly! We look forward to meeting little Ezra--so happy for you! Happy 60th to dad today!
I had more pictures but I was having problems downloading them. Will try to add more pictures another day.

We caught these desperadoes in Tombstone and locked them in jail.

They were a wild and crazy bunch!

Random Poond Pictures--Labor Day Weekend

2009-10-09T13:30:00.021-07:00

Random pictures from down by Grandma and Grandpa's ponds. I have lots more, but didn't want to overload the system. Enjoy! I don't know how to put more pictures next to each other. Sorry!

Grandma fishing!

Sleeping baby!

3 troublemakers--just kidding, actually I'm not!

Fisherman Andrew!

Kevin, the professional fisherman!

Carol helping Payton!

Parker and Aaron!

Luke and Aubrey's fish with Tamra holding it for them!

Jacob and his friend Wormy!

Aaron is a cute fisherman!

Aaron ready to go fishing!

Kevin with another fish!

Grandma Buck and Brigham!

Shane and Tyson!

Kevin and Tyson showing off another fish!

Benjamin wandering around the ponds!

Andrew's 10th birthday and his monkey bar injury under his lip, actually it went through his lip.

Pictures from Elijah's Blessing Day

2009-10-09T12:56:00.010-07:00

Our sweet baby Elijah!
Such a cutie!

Funny little laugh that we actually caught on camera!

Mom and her precious little boy!

Father and son!

The Whole Family--some happy, some not!

So, I have been meaning to post these pictures of Elijah's blessing ever since I took them, but I am way too slow. Well, better late, than never. I wanted to make sure Jason and Kelly got to see some pictures since they were unable to attend. These are all from September 6, 2009. They are only pictures of my kids and us. Oh wait, I do have some from when we went down to the ponds on September 5th and 7th, so if I can find them too, I will put them on here. These are not "official" beautiful family pictures, just a quick let's get a picture that actually contains all of our children and us. Benjamin is always grumpy in pictures--love 3 year old stubbornness and independence. Jacob is always trying to pose or act silly. I will add the pond pictures in another post.

The 6 Edington Boys!! ( mini-Kevin's)

2009-07-19T17:25:00.003-07:00

I decided to resend this picture of all 6 of the boys because when I looked at the blog, Elijah was covered by the sidebar. So, these are all 6 of them together, and it is pretty much impossible to get them all smiling at the same time. Benjamin was angry here because he was playing with cars at the time, and he did not want to stop and take the picture. Three year olds are pretty stubborn--at least ours is lately. We, at least, have them all facing the same direction. We were having a little pajama party on this night. It was stormy outside so we all needed cozy pajamas! Well, there you have it, here are the 6 Edington boys--future priesthood holders, missionaries, husbands, and fathers. Watch out world, here they come! We need all the help and support we can get raising these boys so please, feel free to help out at anytime!!

Introducing. . . . . .Elijah Collin Edington

2009-07-19T16:04:00.014-07:00

So, sorry everyone that it has taken me one whole week to add some pictures of our new baby. This post is also heavy on the pictures so sorry about that. I am not good at how to add them in a better fashion. I'll work on it. As you can imagine, we have been very busy taking care of children. So. . .this is Elijah Collin Edington. He was born on Saturday, July 11, 2009 in Tucson, AZ at University Medical Center. He weighed 7 pounds 11 ounces at birth, and was 21 inches long. The pediatrician at UMC determined that Elijah was probably about 40 and possibly 41 weeks gestationally. I was supposedly 39 weeks when I was induced, but that was just an estimate since I got pregnant while I was nursing Aaron. Anyhow, we are both extremely healthy and incredibly happy! (However, today Andrew and Matthew have been sick. They both have been vomitting today--no fun! So sad!) We decided on the name Elijah because at this point we have been blessed beyond measure with little boys and we are so grateful for the prophet Elijah restoring the sealing keys to the prophet Joseph Smith so that we can be united as a family eternally. The kids call him Baby Elijah or Baby Eli. The middle name Collin is after his wonderful great grandmother, Colleen Edington. If we had a girl, we were always going to name her after Grandma. We don't make girls, so we went with the male form of Colleen which is Collin. If Grandma can't get into heaven, they aren't taking anyone! Grandma is a saint, in our humble opinion.
I went to UMC to be induced on Saturday, July 11. They started me on the Pitocin at 9 a.m. I didn't really make much progress until 2 p.m. I went into the hospital dilated to a 2 and completely effaced. At 2 p.m., I was the same. Kevin happened to say something to the effect of, "Man, we are going to be here all night." I was just about in tears, but still trying to hold it together. I felt bad for not going fast enough, and then my husband felt bad and realized how sensitive I was so it might be a good idea not to say much. The longest I have ever been in the hospital in labor was 7 hours with Jacob. Andrew was 6 1/2 hours, Matthew less than an hour, Benjamin 5 hours, and Aaron 6 hours. Well, at 2:15 p.m., the doctor broke my water and that pretty much took care of everything. I went from a 2 to practically everything. Elijah was born 1 hour and about 45 minutes after my water broke, and I only had to push for 5 minutes. So, it worked out well once my water broke. Don't think Kevin wasn't supportive, he was extremely supportive and I am thankful that he was there to help me out, entertain me, and make me laugh through it all. However, I was a little sensitive at the time--Pitocin contractions are a killer! Frankly, we live in a house of boys so emotions don't run very high in our house, but he is reminded to be sensitive and thoughtful by his wife, whose emotions due run high sometimes. I am so grateful for such a wonderful husband that has helped me bring 6 little boys into this world, and I hope they become just like him!
Elijah is a really good baby--he nurses well now (he had some latch on issues the first two days which are now resolved). He has been sleeping well the last three nights, which helps mom and dad a lot--he has been falling asleep for the night at about 11 p.m. and then waking at 3 a.m. and then waking again around 6;30 a.m. Here are some pictures of the boys with Elijah.

So, the boys love Elijah!! The newest fight in our home is who's turn it is to hold the baby. Aaron pretty much tries to either kiss or headbutt the baby. His eyes actually have not been poked out too many times. the pictures of the baby really don't do him justice. He is beautiful, but I am biased. But, ask Grandma and Grandpa, oh wait, they are probably biased too! Who does the baby look like you ask? Well, everyone of our boys--we make the same model, however, he is the spitting image of Andrew as a baby. It is almost freaky how much he reminds us of Andrew. It's like they are twins 9 1/2 years apart. Elijah currently weighs 6 pounds 11 ounces. He lost a full pound within two days of leaving the hospital, due to his latch on issues. He is now gaining weight, and before long he will be chunky, I am sure. We feel we are pretty much done having children at this point. We feel complete and at peace with our family size. We had to buy a new vehicle to fit all of us in the car at the same time. Any more children and we will have to add jump seats in the suburban and the bedrooms will start to feel crowded. Yes, we have a car full of children--it is wonderful! So, Jason and Kelly we are turning our "blessings of fertility and fruitfulness" (for lack of a better term) over to you and hope you will be as blessed as we have been. If God needs to close one womb in order to open up another, I am all for Him closing mine and opening Kelly's. If it works this way, that would work great! So, please accept this "gift" that we are passing on to you. It can't hurt. I have been praying to Heavenly Father and I think this is a good idea. I just hope He feels the same way and that is what would be best for you! I know I have crazy ideas, but wouldn't that still be wonderful!! The only issue with our blessing of having children is that we make the same model. So, if you want all boys, there you go. The world needs more Edingtons! We have been so blessed by our Heavenly Father, and it is nice to see how His plan for us having children has worked out. We see now that everything happened the best way possible for us! We love all of you and hope you enjoy all the pictures!

Aubrey's dance

2009-06-27T09:51:00.003-07:00

Here is Aubrey's dance she did on the last day for the parents. She had a great time at dance camp!!!!

2009-05-29T15:54:00.002-07:00

Mom and I are having a great time in Alpine. Believe it or not we are getting a lot of work done for school next year. Having the internet has been a great help.

We took Grandma Barney out last night and got some great pictures. Hope you enjoy.

Thank you!!!

2009-05-10T19:17:00.004-07:00

Just wanted to say HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY and HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!!! Thank you all for sharing it with us and Thank you Luke and Tamra for a wonderful meal. It was a great Mother's day!!!!

Alpine's Great

2009-05-09T22:47:00.000-07:00

Mom and I spent some time at Alpine this week. Everything looked great. We are looking forward to seeing you for the family reunion.

Love Grandma and Grandpa

Pictures of the zoo trip

2009-03-18T08:46:00.008-07:00

We had a blast at the zoo with everyone. We really missed Jason and Kelly and wished that they were there. It was kind of a spare of the moment thing that we all ended up going. ENjoy!!!

Sharing is Caring...

2009-02-25T22:36:00.000-07:00

I have debated sharing this. Mostly because I don't want to be a crying wack-a-doo for the rest of my life, but life is about sharing the journey right? We aren't supposed to go it alone, we need each other. That is what life is all about. I have been listening to a few talks by Elder Holland over and over and over and they have really helped me during the last few months and especially last week. He says that God wants us to be strong as well as good. We can't control everything and those moments are for our growth. I know God wants me to be strong.

Last Monday night I found out I was pregnant. Tuesday morning it was confirmed again. I got my doctors appointment set for Friday after work and I had lost the baby by Thursday. Luckily my mom came up Thursday night. Jason had gone hunting Thursday morning. The doctor sent me to the hospital to get blood work done and to make sure it wasn't ectopic. I ended up getting sonograms and poked and prodded only to be told what I already knew. I had lost the baby very early on. As heart breaking and horrible this has been I am very lucky. I am very blessed that I lost it so early. I can't imagine loosing a baby further along. I don't know how I would handle that. I am also blessed because now it appears that there is a possibility of me actually getting pregnant, and as much as I had hoped it would stick I do know the Lord is looking out for me and eventually I am going to be blessed. Jason came home from his hunt early, Friday night late, I am very blessed to have such a loving and supportive husband.

Jason gave me a blessing last night. I was told I would have a family soon, that the Lord wants me to be strong and that I need to focus on my blessings. I had already restarted a gratitude journal, I was already on the right track. The key is going to be staying positive and hopeful while I wait. I am not sure how my family is coming but I am glad they are.

Rather than retreat and try to pretend this painful event didn't happen I come to you asking for your help. Please remember us in your prayers. We appreciate them and feel them help us. Also, my family is going to have a special fast for us on Sunday, if you would like to join us I would be very grateful. I am sorry I haven't been answering my phone much lately, I am getting better. It's just been hard to talk to people. I hope you will forgive me. :)

Thank you all for your love and support it means so very much. I love you all!

"Hope is critical to both faith and charity. When disobedience, disappointment, and procrastination erode faith, hope is there to uphold our faith. When frustration and impatience challenge charity, hope braces our resolve and urges us to care for our fellowmen even without expectation of reward. The brighter our hope, the greater our faith. The stronger our hope, the purer our charity."
--Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "The Infinite Power of Hope", Ensign, Nov 2008, 21–24

THE EVANS SNOW DAY!!!

2009-02-10T11:44:00.004-07:00

We woke up too Snow!!!!Aubrey was so excited she wanted to build a snowman. Here it is shw named it Sally the Snowman. It was lots of fun, COLD but fun!!!

It's all about the good times!!!

2009-01-20T10:15:00.002-07:00

Having fun with puppet shows!!! Aubrey loves the FHE Box and can't wait to choose something to talk about on Monday nights. I think it is now her favorite day of the week
She had a blast coloring!!!
Emily getting into the action she is all over the place now!!!
She crawls about 2 steps then gives up and will army crawl. She is so funny and guess what still no teeth good for me!!! Not so good for her. She has eating with her gums down pretty good though.

It's official!!!

2009-01-20T09:47:00.003-07:00

Well It's official Luke got his first Subbing job today in Safford. It's High School English. He is excited and nervous but is glad that soon he can say the hard part is over with. Thank you everyone that has helped him along the way with encouragement prayers or whatever it might have been.
Before he left he said " I am a WORKING MAN!!! It was cute and funny. He is such a stud!!!
Aubrey and her lovely poses. She is definitely not afraid of the camera. She felt so pretty that day.
Ok so I got these awesome parents and grandma that gave Luke and I this awesome birthday present that makes awesome stuff. I LOVE MY PRESSURE COOKER!!!! Carol came over and helped me with my beans so so I could get familiar with it, thanks by the way. Anyways my first project was my beans. Only one didn't seal out of 18 pints and 7 quarts. I was exctied, ok maybe a lot excited and soaked up to many beans so we put some in the crock pot. I guess I know for next time. This week I am making chicken all by myself we shall see how it all turns out. THANKS AGAIN!!!!
MY BEANS, Well the start of them anyways. I feel like a real home maker now. I am working on my food starage YEAH FOR ME!!!!

We are definitely carrying on the Edington name!

2009-01-15T12:00:00.002-07:00

So, if you haven't heard yet, Kevin and I are expecting boy #6! I should be more creative about announcing this, but I am too busy chasing little children. Isn't that wonderful?! I went to my first obstetrician appointment yesterday. I thought I was maybe 9-10 weeks pregnant. Of course, I was just speculating about how far along I was since I was nursing Aaron at the time and did not get my period back. I am 14 weeks pregnant--just starting my 4th month. The baby is due on July 16, 2009. Since I was farther along, we were able to figure out the sex of the baby. The doctor and I both knew almost instantaneously that it was a boy. It was pretty obvious!! I would scan in the pictures, but I haven't found where I put them yet. I'm a little disorganized lately! It's been kind of crazy at our house. The flu that went around took 5 weeks to make its way through each and every member of our family, and of course, mom got it last. I don't know if I was so extremely tired just from nursing AND being pregnant, or if I was just exhausted from chasing 5 little boys around and doing all the work involved when everyone gets sick and then getting sick myself--you know quadruple the laundry, dishes that pile up, toys strewn throughout the house. Anyway, I am finally STARTING to get caught up. I have 3 clean rooms right now, and am gradually working on the rest. Sadly, I just weaned Aaron last week. I feel a little guilty about that, but I really needed to be able to have more energy to take care of the rest of the family. It helps to just be pregnant, and not nursing too! It's only been about 4 days since I stopped nursing Aaron, but I already feel like I have more energy. I was also getting really moody (due to the hormone overload and extreme exhaustion), and I was trying to limit my contact with people so I wouldn't annoy anyone. So, poor Kevin has been very, very patient and extremely helpful lately (Thanks, Kevin).

Anyhow, yes we are very excited to have six little boys! We have been so blessed! My patriarchal blessing actually says that I would be surrounded and blessed by the strength of the priesthood in my home. Well, I can see how that blessing will come true. I feel so much joy and also so much exhaustion!! We will be great at scouts, the priesthood, and missionaries. We will have (10 years of scouting X 6 boys) 60 years worth of scouting (of course, the boys will overlap most of it). We will have (2 years X 6 boys) 12 years of missions. We will have (8 years X 6 boys) 48 years worth of Aaronic priesthood holders (overlapping). We enjoy our boys so much, and look forward to the times we will have in the future with them. It will surely be an adventure!! Looking back, we are so grateful to be so blessed by a loving Heavenly Father. I still remember the pain I felt many years ago when we were unable to have children for 3 years, but to look at how everything worked out now, my prayers have been more than just answered. Our blessings are overflowing!! As painful as those years of not having children were, it was all so worthwhile and we have been blessed beyond measure. Heavenly Father truly does know what is best for us, and he will bless us with what we desire if we are faithful and endure!

Pictures!!!

2008-12-19T14:28:00.003-07:00

Emily Is army crawling everywhere and getting lost. I left for a few minutes and when I got back I couldn't find her she was behind the chair sucking on a marker. She is going to be good at hide and seek.

The girls hanging out together!!!

Aubrey is such a big helper she went and got a diaper and a wipe and changed Emily. It was so cute I had to take a picture. Emily was just sitting there smiling:)

SEE YOU ALL AT CHRISTMAS!!!!

For Kelsi...

2008-12-17T21:07:00.003-07:00

Jason told me that Kelsi was very impressed that we actually had enough show to make a snow man so we thought we would give it a go between storms. They say we could get up to ten more inches tonight. Why do we live here?

Here she is in all of her snowy glory. It's a she because of the pink scarf and leafy hair...

Wow!

2008-12-01T21:39:00.002-07:00

Wow! It has been a while since I looked at the blog. How fun it was to see the wonderful pictures and read what is happening in everyone's lives. Thanks for posting for the family to see. This is a wonderful way to share with everyone the good and bad happenings in your lives. Dad and I are sure proud of all of the wonderful things you are all doing with your families. We are grateful to the Lord for faithful sons, daughters, grandsons and granddaughters. We pray daily that each of you will have the desire to do those things that will bring us back as a family to live with Heavenly Father. Keep on working for exaltation and supporting each other in your efforts to do better each day. Dad and I love you all very much. Loads of love. MOM

Aaron is crawling!

2008-11-29T21:54:00.004-07:00

It's official !! Aaron is crawling. He has been scooting forward and backwards for the past couple of weeks, and rolling around everywhere. He has been on the verge all week--almost taking off crawling. Well, today at my mom's house, he actually crawled. Yes, he was using his hands and his knees--no army crawling. We have several witnesses. Since he figured that out at my mom's today, he has gotten more confident and is now crawling all over the place. If I was smart enough to add some video, I would show some clips because it is oh, so cute! I love watching him move around. However, nothing is safe now. We are watching out for very small toys on the floor. The older boys have been warned to make sure all toys get put away so that Aaron will not choke! I'm not so worried about things that are edible--like crumbs. I know maybe I should be because eating food off the floor is just gross. I vacuum often and mop my floor, but remember Aaron is our 5th son. We have a lot of boys eating a lot of food. I pick up the messes as soon as I can, but sometimes that is not soon enough.So, here is Aaron crawling around. Watch out, here comes trouble. Now, he can chase his brothers a little easier and follow me all around the house. He is such a joy in our lives and we are so grateful he is a part of our family. Look at that smile and pretty blue eyes! Yes, Grandma and Grandpa I will bring him over tomorrow so you can watch him crawl. We were at my mom's house today fixing her computer for her so we did not get home until about 8 p.m. You can watch him tomorrow. He is so precious!! We had to take pictures in between him sitting up to dance/bounce to the music Kevin had playing in the background.

Hello!!!

2008-11-18T19:40:00.002-07:00

Well as some of you allready know Luke got laid off from work along with 400 hundred other people. We are doing ok and looking at all the positives from this situation. The first thing Luke said was now I can watch the suns games. He is so funny. Hopefully we can find a job with better hours anyway. We have faith that every thing will be fine we will pay our tithing and pray and the lord will provide. We are so bless to be able to stay at grandma's right now and have family that loves us and is there for us. Many of the others that got laid off have rent and morgages due soon. So we are very lucky. We will keep moving forward.

New Kittens

2008-11-10T21:29:00.002-07:00

Aaron is so cute with these kittens. They love to climb on him. He doesn't seem to mind.

Jacob is so good with the kittens. They adore him. He is our animal lover. Jacob used to wake up every morning (he's our early riser), and ask, "Can I play video games?" Now, he wakes up saying, "Can I get the kittens out and play with them?" Much better, I think.

So, these are our new kittens. We got them from the Trepanier's. They found 6 kittens abandoned near a water heater. When their kids came for piano, they asked us if we wanted some kittens. I told them, "We might. Let me call my husband and ask him." I knew what the kids answer would be. You see, about two weeks ago, the boys left the back door open ALL night long. Thank goodness it wasn't as cold then as it is now. I usually check all the doors before I go to bed, but I was exhausted that night. I went straight to bed. The next day, Kevin put out some mice traps and we caught three mice! I would much rather have cats than mice. I don't know why those tiny little animals terrify me, but they do. Jacob loves them. We have to not let Jacob know when we catch a mouse because he always wants to keep it. They are going to be outdoor cats. We may bring them in every now and then. I don't know. So far, I actually like the cats. They are now 8 weeks old. We got them when they were 6 weeks old. I am mildly allergic to the cats, I think Benjamin is too. The cat hair stings my eyes so I have been taking some medicine every now and then when it bothers me, but not too bad so far. I am trying to have the kids keep the cats on the linoleum so the cat hair will not affect Benjamin and I so much. We love the cats. I never thought I would be a cat owner, but I like cats more than mice. Kevin actually likes them a lot. He lets them climb all over him. I don't. Who would have thought Kevin would like cats someday? Enjoy the pictures!

Kevin and Kim's Family Halloween

2008-11-10T21:16:00.002-07:00

So, this is Kimberly. I am totally new to this. Amy showed me how to add comments and pictures when she came to Pomerene last weekend. I don't know if this will work or not. Anyhow, these are pictures of our boys dressed in their various costumes. Andrew was Abraham Lincoln. Jacob was Darth Vader. Matthew was a Skeleton. Benjamin was Old McDonald. He has a belt around him that has stuffed farm animals on it. He is sitting on a tractor. Aaron was Old McDonald's cow. We thought they looked cute. Wait, I can't use the word cute--they are boys! They looked cool!! We went to the Pomerene Halloween Carnival--Grandma and Grandpa Edington were there, which was fun. They helped run the boys around. My mom also came. I need all the help I can get. The carnival was on Matthew's birthday, which was nice because I did not have to create a birthday dinner. We ate hamburgers and hot dogs at the school. We let Matthew open presents at 7 a.m. on his birthday so he could play with his presents all day and not drive me crazy asking me, "When can I open my presents?". On Halloween night, we went to City of Benson Parks and Recreation. Yes, Benson actually has a Parks and Recreation division now. It is wonderful! Anyhow, the city had free games, candy, cookies, punch, and they showed the movie Halloweentown. Then, we went to the Benson High School Football game. Mom and Dad were there, and we had a nice time. Benson won 45-0. I am going to add another post with pictures of our new kittens.

Halloween fun

2008-11-06T09:10:00.005-07:00

We had a great Halloween this year. Here are some pictures highlighting the events.

The pumpkin we carved.

All lite up in the dark.

They had some little goats at the carnival for the kids to pet.

Shaylee went as Mulan.

Courtney was a pumpkin.

Kelsi went as a cowgirl.

Each year at the school they have a Halloween parade. All the kids dress in their costumes and walk around the block while several parents, grandparents and others stand around and watch. It is kind of fun to see all the different costumes. There were several Hannah Montanas, princesses and super heroes.