The Beals Family

Isaac only for hie Great Grandma

2011-03-07T10:30:00.003-07:00

Here is a video of Isaac. He has changed so much since you last say him. Of course once we got done making the video he picked up his play phone and said Hi Grandma, over and over again.

Pictures for Grandma

2010-09-20T15:13:00.005-06:00

These are random picture of the past few months...start of kindergarten....start of preschool....camping....and some other stuff.....for my Grandma who asked for them last week.....and marie.

This Post is Dedicated to the one I LOVE!!

2010-05-31T18:42:00.003-06:00

Today I did a hard thing. Noah and I ran the Bolder Boulder.

Over ten years ago (almost 11) Noah and I met at BYU-Hawaii. Our first semester at college I had a Physical Fitness class that required me to work out 3 days a week. One of my friends, Noah Beals, volunteered to run with me in the mornings.

I have to admit that maybe about half the mornings one of us didn't show up. When we did we would run to the temple, and down to the beach, and run along the beach and back up to school. These early morning runs built our friendship. The second semester of school I missed the runs with Noah, and the time that we spent together as two good friends.

In January, in the middle of January this year I told Noah that I wanted to set a goal to run the Bolder Boulder this year. He told me, that while this would make the semester at school a little harder, he would do it. So we trained. Sometimes we didn't train so well, and come race time I had yet to run 6 miles in training.

So we woke up this morning, ready to have a nice quiet morning together without the kids. We made it to Boulder and to the hysteria of a race that is run by 54,000 (yes, fifty-four-thousand) people. It was SO MUCH FUN! There were bands for entertainment, some scary belly dancers that were not so entertaining, the Blues Brothers, and Elvis. As the miles went by, my sweet Noah who could have finished the race at least 15 minutes ahead of me stayed by my side as we ran all 6.2 miles and finished the race in 1 hour and 9 minutes.

Thanks babe for staying by my side and finishing what we started together 11 years ago.

I love you!

A LITTLE VACATION!

2010-04-16T19:36:00.004-06:00

Thanks to the city of Denver, Noah ended up having a 5 day weekend. Grams had the same days off. So we decided for a few of those days we would take a little overnight vacation to Glenwood Springs. It is a little city up in the mountains where there are hot springs where you can swim. It was nice to get away and a lot of fun to be together.

We also took a gondola up to the top of the mountain where there are activities and a cave that you can tour. Levi was a little intimidated by the cave. By the end he was doing all right, but would not tell you it was his favorite part of the vacation. Isaac liked walking through the tunnels. When you get through one of the caves, you come out to a fantastic view of Glenwood Springs and No Name. Yes, the city's real name is no name.

Poor Levi.

Before the hike into the cave. Grams made me promise her that there would be no crawling on he hands and knees.

Me and my baby!

Daddy and his princess. Levi rode with Grams and Yampa in the one ahead of us

Happy Birthday Levi!!

2010-04-16T19:18:00.004-06:00

I cannot believe that Levi is 5. I know everyone says that....but when I say it I absolutely mean it! I have a 5 year old and he is so adorable.

He has actually been talking for months about his "Mario Bowling Birthday." We ended up giving him almost exactly what he wanted. We ended up with a Luigi Bowling Party. I procrastinated too long, and could not get a Mario figure for the top of his cake. Finally after many phone calls I thought that I had found one. Noah's parents were by the particular Toys 'r Us, so they stopped to pick it up for me. However, the only thing that they had was Luigi. When I told Levi he said "Grams is the Hero of the Day!" SO Luigi it was.

We woke up and opened presents before Noah went to work. Ate McDonald's for lunch and headed to Mr. Biggs for pizza and bowling with some of his friends. The kids had a blast. We were a little worried because Levi is a bowling pro on the wii, and even with bumpers we knew he would not live up to his wii bowling scores. He ended up bowling 3 or 4 spares and finished with the highest score and was very happy. We had a wonderful time.

Best Friends!

2010-04-16T19:11:00.003-06:00

Levi and Ruby can be so cute together. It makes me so happy to be their mom when they have moments like these.

There was one Sunday where I left to go visiting teaching and came home to find this.

Ruby fell asleep hiding in her closet. So Levi got her blanket and covered her up. As if that wasn't cute enough, he got his blanket and "went to sleep" next to her. Of course after I got my camera and came back I discovered that he really wasn't asleep. He was just taking good care of his little sis.

Anniversary #6

2010-04-16T19:08:00.002-06:00

This year Noah and I celebrated our 6th anniversary. A lot has changed for us in the past 6 years. A lot is still the same also. I am so happy to be married to my best friend.

Sadly, the pictures of us without the little ones did not turn out, so here is one of us on our anniversary with our little princess of Rubia.

Leviisms and Rubyism

2010-03-05T16:03:00.003-07:00

I am interrupting the catching up of our posts to bring you the funnies of our children.

Yesterday Levi was in rare form. Here is a warning that the rest of this paragraph is a little graphic. We were having a nice dinner yesterday. Towards the end of dinner Levi decided to stuff all the rest of his mashed potatoes in his mouth at the same time. This resulted in gagging which resulted in throw up all over his plate. Noah (the best husband ever) went to get his plate and take it to the sink. When Noah took his plate Levi said, "WAIT! IT LOOKS LIKE PACMAN!"

Then later last night Grams and I took Levi and Ruby to see a play at one of the local high schools, that our friend directs. The play was Hello Dolly! For those of you who aren't familiar with the play, one of the lead characters is named Dolly Levi. Upon hearing her name in the play Levi was quite upset, and had the funniest face and folded his arms and pouted. How dare someone use his name without asking!

Ruby and Levi both love the son "I'll be there" by the Jackson 5. It is on a certain commercial on TV, which is where they learned it. May May downloaded it to her ipod, so the kids now listen to it more ofter. Today, I ran in a store and left Ruby in the car with Meghan. Ruby started asking for a song, and she finally figured out it was "I'll be there." What was Ruby saying? "I'll be Dave!" So the song now goes, "Just call my name, and I'll be Dave!"

Hope we made you laugh.

Happy New Year!

2010-02-19T14:29:00.002-07:00

We are excited to have a great year ahead of us. Our blog has suffered because of our business and craziness.

Noah is still in school. He should finish his graduate degree in December and then plans on doing a post-graduate degree that will take him another year. He is still working for the City of Denver as a neighborhood inspector.

Levi is enjoying preschool. He learns so fast and is so excited to be in school. He loves practicing writing letters and painting. His favorite thing to do is play in the gym at school. We can't believe that he will start kindergarten in the fall. He is learning the 4th article of faith right now.

Ruby is a little princess. She is very intelligent. She learns things when we teach them to Levi just by observing. She is also a comedian and is always making me laugh. She loves Disney princesses and Hello Kitty. She is also a little artist and likes to draw. She carries around a horse purse with a pen and paper in it, so she is always prepared if mom is making her do something boring.

Isaac is 9 months old. He is small for his age, which I don't mind at all. He has changed so much in the last 3 weeks. He is crawling on his hands and knees, waving, clapping, and pulling himself up onto furniture. He has his 4 front teeth and is finally sleeping through the night.

I am enjoying our little family. Noah and I set some goals for our family this year, that keep us busy. I am going to finish my last 17 credits of college and finally earn my degree. Noah and I are going to run a 10K race (6.2 miles) in May. After not wondering how we were going to find time to exercise, it has become an integrated part of our days.

So if our blog is sporadic and I post Christmas pictures at the end of February again next year, you will know why!

Happy Christmas!!!

2010-02-19T14:07:00.003-07:00

Christmas was great for us. It is fun to be around family and to be able to see the kids so happy.

We spent a lot of time baking for the holidays. We made cookies

And gingerbread houses!

On Christmas Eve, family came over and we had the usual Beals festivities. Part of the festivities include acting out a nativity. This is a picture of Ruby as Mary. Levi was Joseph and they were supposed to carry Ruby's baby around and ask everyone if there was room in their inn. They first went to Uncle Josh. Levi asked if there was room in the inn, and he said Noah. Ruby started crying, she was so sad. It was so cute, and of course Uncle Josh changed his mind and said that she could stay there.

Josh and Debby's little girl is 3 months in this picture, Isaac is 7 months. This is what you get when you have a 100 percentile baby next to a 3rd percentile baby! They will be such good friend when they get older.

We had a great Christmas day. On Christmas Morning we woke the kids up to open presents before Grams had to go to work (she is a nurse). Ruby woke up quickly, sat up, and started to cry because she didn't see her kitchen in her room. She just didn't understand that the present were downstairs. It was pretty cute.

O Christmas Tree!

2010-01-25T14:37:00.004-07:00

I love the smell of a fresh cut Christmas tree. I could skip the whole picking out the tree thing, since I am not a big fan of the cold....or keeping my baby warm from the cold. This year we did our tree in 2 parts. We went and got our tree on a Friday night and then had to wait to decorate it until the morning.

Levi was so strong holding up the tree! Isaac fell in love with the tree right away! He was actually really good about just looking. He did like pulling the ornaments that he could reach, but never opened any presents.After the tree was in the house we hung around just smelling the tree and being together as a family. It was good fun.

Then for some reason we started showing the kids how to go crossed eyes (look at your nose). Levi was pretty good at it.Ruby was hilarious. I laughed so hard I was crying and asked her to show me a lot for the next few days. This is what happens when you say, "Ruby, look at your nose."

NEW MOON!!

2010-01-25T14:27:00.003-07:00

I love when movies come out. Meghan, Ashley, and I went to the midnight showing of New Moon. You may recall from last year that we made matching shirts when we went to the midnight showing of Twilight. So this year, we made New Moon sweatpants.

We left at about 10 and were prepared to wait inside the theater for a few hours. Due to the huge turnout at the theater (10 midnight showings sold out) they had us all in a line outside! It wrapped clear around the building. So, there we were....freezing cold! So I took a trip to my can and to Ashley's car and found....2 blankets, a winter coat, a hat, and gloves on top of the coats that we were wearing, and the hat and gloves Ashley had. So we survived until they let us in around 11.

The movie was fine. Better than the first one. For us Twilight junkies it was a great night out. Since then, I took Noah to see it, and must say that I liked it a lot better the second time.

Cute Kids!

2010-01-25T14:10:00.003-07:00

My sister Marie took these pics of my kids in December when she was out to visit. These are my favorites. Super cute!

Isaac (7 months) is scooting around (hasn't figures out the hands and knees thing yet!) He chooses not to sit on his own. I am sure that he could if he tried, but he would rather be on his stomach so he can move. He has started eating baby food, although he goes through stages when he won't eat anything at all.

Ruby (2 years & 2 months) is our little princess, and she knows it. She is into everything girlie....necklaces, braclets, purses., and playing dress up. She is also our little artist and can keep herself entertained with a paper and pen for a long time. She is just getting into cartoons like her brother. Dora is her favorite. She wishes that she could go to school with her brother. I cannot believe how big she has gotten and how mature she is.

Levi is 4 1/2 and can't wait for his birthday so that he can turn 5! He does preschool with 10 other kids that go to our church and loves it. The are learning so much all the time. He catches on quickly and is good at memorizing. He has been working on his articles of faith and just said #3 all by himself last night. He is also our techno junkie. His 2 favorite things to do are play on the Nintendo and play computer games. He is a little heartbreaker. He has develped his first little crush, it is so cute!

GOBBLE GOBBLE!

2010-01-24T21:49:00.003-07:00

Thanksgiving came and went quickly at our house. We had a great dinner with Noah's parents, Aunt Meghan, Uncle Fizz and Mandy,and Great-Grandpa Neal. We ate turkey and played our traditional game of BINGO, complete with prizes and had a great time together as a family.

This year, for the first time since Levi was a baby we left the kids asleep at home (well, we took Isaac) and went out for black friday!!! It was so much fun. We hit 2 Walmarts, JC Penney, and Toys 'r Us and got home before the kids even woke up. It was fun to do something crazy together. And it was sucessful.

These are pictures of the kids with the turkey hats that my friend Carrie and I made with the preschool kids. They were pretty cute and perfect for the turkey day!!

WICKED WAS AWESOME!!!

2010-01-24T16:08:00.003-07:00

Noah and I don't go out alone very much because the time he has free from school and homework we like to spend with the kids. In November Noah and I went together to see it. Noah loved it! I have to say that I even liked it better the second time.

I LOVE TO SEE THE TEMPLE!!

2010-01-24T15:47:00.003-07:00

This year for the stake primary activity (all the children in our congregation between 3 and 12) went to the LDS Temple that is about 20 minutes from our house. They talked to the kids about when the temple was built all the children saved their pennies to buy benches that were put on the grounds of the temple.

They also talked about the designs that are on the outside of the temple rest on each other, because to return to our Heavenly Father we must learn line upon line and precept on precept. Levi has a great time.

Hannah Beals

2009-11-04T12:57:00.004-07:00

Noah's brother Josh and his wife Debby just had a baby girl. Well she is 6 weeks old, but with all the stuffy noses around we haven't been able to see her that much.

This past Sunday we finally made it to their house as a family. It was so fun to see Ruby with her. She has asked to see Baby Hannah almost every day for weeks! She is such a sweet baby with the cutest cheeks and thighs!

Happy Spooky Halloween!!!

2009-11-03T15:50:00.005-07:00

We had a great Halloween this year! It was so fun to have 2 kids excited for all the festivities. A few months ago I started asking Levi what he wanted to be for Halloween. After her saw some kids dressed up as crayons in a magazine he decided that he wanted to be a crayon for Halloween. So we had the 3 cutest crayons you have ever seen! I made the costumes (copying the idea in the magazine) and they turned out great. my cute little angel red crayon!

Sweet little pink crayon!

Silly big boy blue crayon!

Cutest box of crayons in the world!
This picture is at our ward trunk or treat. My kids loved doing the cake walk. This is Levi helping Ruby (it was so cute!) Eventually she did it by herself and they both won several times.

The other Halloween tradition we have in our family is making homemade donuts. I tried every year for the past 5 years, always coming out with dense greasy donuts. This year however, they were yumm-o!! I think they even all got eaten! Aren't they pretty.

Ruby What?

2009-11-03T13:33:00.002-07:00

A few months ago Noah's mom taught Ruby her full name. The conversation would go something like this.

Grams: What's your name?
Ruby: Ruby
Grams: Ruby what?
Ruby: Ruby Alice Beals

This was so cute. And she would be so proud of herself. Then a few weeks ago Levi gave everyone a new name (all new names are in a different post). The name he chose for Ruby was Ruby Poo. This name is also very sweet when her brother calls her it. Now the conversation goes like this.

Mommy: What's your name?
Ruby: Ruby
Mommy: Ruby what?
Ruby: Ruby Poop

Not so sweet. But very funny.

Let it Snow! Let it Snow! In October!

2009-10-29T20:10:00.005-06:00

It is 2 days before Halloween and we have 2 feet of snow. It is crazy! Levi loves the snow. I bet he was outside for 4 hours today.

When we woke up to now on Wednesday morning Levi and Grams put some bowls outside to catch some snow. So they were briefly outside in their BARE feet. When I noticed I had the following conversation with him.

Mommy: Levi did you go outside in your BARE feet?
LEVI: No mommy, I didn't go out in my BEAR feet I went out in my LEVI feet!

Later in the day daddy and Aunt Meghan built a huge slide down the deck. Hopefully I can get the video to load. HOORAY it worked!!!

Reflection

2009-10-29T20:06:00.002-06:00

Isaac: Look there is a little boy in the TV, who is he?

Mommy: That's you!

Isaac: I think I will give him some kisses!

Mommy: Me too!

Pumpkin Carving!

2009-10-29T19:48:00.004-06:00

We love Halloween. We love candy, and dressing up the kids, and the fall leaves, and carving pumpkins! 6 years ago this past weekend Noah proposed to me while we were carving pumpkins with his family, so pumpkin carving always brings back special memories.

Of course we want picking the pumpkins to a family event, however this year Ruby and Isaac looked like this as we took our trip into Walmart to pick our pumpkins.

We did manage to find 3 pretty good pumpkins for the kids to carve. They were so excited when we got home that they could barely eat their dinner!!

Getting ready to start....finally! He was a good sport. This was also the first year that Levi dared to touch the gooey squishy pumpkins guts! He did a great job cleaning out his pumpkin. Then he drew pictures of faces all over it and showed me which one we should cut out. It turned out really cute.Ruby being like her big brother, even though she didn't have a clue what we were going to do. She loves drawing, so he loved being allowed to draw with a marker on something beside paper!Isaac chillin' with the pumpkins. He was promptly removed as soon as the knifes appeared!Isaac had his first adventure in a high chair. I have been feeding him in his bouncy chair because it takes up to much less space, but thought he would enjoy being up where everyone could see him. He loved it, and even touched a few pumpkin guts!We turned out with three great pumpkins!!

Isaac Eats!!

2009-10-16T15:47:00.003-06:00

Ruby's Birthday! #2!

2009-10-16T15:43:00.003-06:00

Fall Fun!

2009-10-16T15:39:00.003-06:00

Birthday for Daddy and Mommy

2009-10-16T15:30:00.004-06:00

Since I last posted Noah and I have both celebrated our birthdays. Noah turned 28 and I turned 29. For Noah's birthday the two of us went golfing and then to dinner with the kids. For my birthday I got my hair done and then we went to Chilies. Noah's pictures seem to be missing, but here are a few from mine.

Cake! Cake! Cake!

2009-10-16T15:15:00.003-06:00

My sister-in-law Meghan and I always talk about having a cake business one day. Our friend Natalie taught us how to make fondant a while ago and we made this....

Then for Ruby's birthday I found a picture online and copied it to make this.....

Fancy, huh? I was amazed that they turned out so well. We did ruin one batch of fondant, but all and all it was a good experience. It takes a lot of time, and builds muscles, and makes a big mess. But it is well worth it.

Soccer

2009-10-16T13:26:00.002-06:00

We signed Levi up to play outdoor soccer this fall. He loved playing indoor soccer this past winter. He has matured a lot since then, and soccer is a lot more enjoyable. By coincidence he has the same coach, who he enjoys, and who has learned to handle all of his energy. So he has practice once a week and games every Saturday for the rest of the month. He is fun to watch and is a great little soccer player like his mom and dad were a long time ago. He has made friends with the kids on his team.

Isaac and Ruby also come to watch soccer. Ruby can frequently be heard yelling, "Go Levi, go!" or "No hands!" She is a great cheerleader. She also enjoys coming to soccer because she gets entertained with candy, mommy's phone, and playing games on mommy's ipod.

Mommy and daddy love watching him play and being together as a family.

Preschool Started!

2009-10-14T21:53:00.004-06:00

Preschool started! I had been planning on doing a mom run preschool for some time. My friend Carrie and I were just going to do it with our 2 kids and then 1 their of Levi's friends.

The week that we were set to start some other moms approached Carrie and now we are happily in a preschool with 11 kids and team teach every 4 weeks. It has worked out great. Levi absolutely loves it. He is learning letters and letter sounds and having a ton of fun.

This is a picture from his first day of school.

On a funny side note. Before we started school I asked Levi what we do in school and he said that you paint and play toys. I don't think that he is disappointed that preschool has more to it, and because we have preschool at the church we don't paint. So this is after I busted out the finger paints for a pre-preschool paint session at home. He was sooooooooooo happy!

Levi's Names

2009-10-14T21:47:00.002-06:00

I was not there when this happened, but Levi had given everyone in the house new names.

Bampa: Worker
Grams: Juice Box Babysitter
Noah: Wire
Chrissy: Fat
Meghan: Firk
Levi: Stupendable
Ruby: Ruby Poo
Isaac: Rock and Roll

He has also invented a interesting way to stretch this week that resembles a fish out of water. I will see if I can get the video on the blog. What a funny kid.

Vacation Part 2

2009-09-09T15:20:00.004-06:00

These are the rest of the pics from vacation. This is Naomi my best friend from Hawaii (other than Noah). She happened to be in town so we met up at Burger King and let our kids play while we caught up. It was so great to see them. The last time that we saw them was at our wedding. From 2 college frehman roller blading to the beach into 2 married women with 6 kids. WOW! Time flies!

One of our favorite things we did on vacation was go boating with our good friends Erin and Chad and Erins family. It was a blast! Levi loved riding on the boat, but was a little scared of the water. He did ride on the tube for a bit. Noah road on the tube a lot and was very burned and sore the next day. I rode on the tube for a while. Ruby loved the boat and Erin's mom. She fell asleep in the early afternoon so she didn't tube. We had a great time. I tried to upload a video of Noah on the tube with his legs flying in the air, but I cannot get it to work. At one point I think that I was crying because I was laughing so hard watching him.

This is Isaac with his best friend Logan. They are a few weeks apart. Erin (Logan's mom) and I joke that they just didn't want to be seperated so Isaac came 2 weeks late and Logan came 2 week early. Erin definately got the better end of that deal.

We also got to spend some time with my cousin Lisa and her boys. She has a FABULOUS garden. We picked these carrots for the boys to eat. They were so huge we had to dig them out of the ground. Danen and Levi definately got their days worth of Vitamin A.

Ruby was not a huge fan of sleeping in a strange place. But since we were in Utah for quite some time I decided to be and ogre and make her learn how to fall asleep so I didn't have to go to sleep with her every night. I think it was the second night when I did this and I walked in to find Levi wide awake hugging Ruby to sleep in his bed. Every night I would go to our room to find them like this, it was a mommy's dream come true. So sweet!

Isaac meeting his Great Grandma Lyon!! He was such a good boy and let her hold him without wiggling!

Levi, Danene, LaLa, Hannah, and Ruby playing at the splash park!

' Ruby "taking care of" baby Max.

YaYa had a big jetted tub. Levi LOVED to taked his bath every night in her big tub with super big bubbles!

Levi at the dinosaur museum! It was awesome!

With the very scary shark at the dinosaur museum!

Isaac be abslutely adorable cuddling with dad in the swing at Grandpa Lyon's house.

Vacation part 1

2009-08-22T10:53:00.004-06:00

We had a wonderful time on our vacation at the beginning of the month. Noah helped us drive to Utah and then had to fly back to work for a week. Then he flew back and spent a week there with us. It was so nice to have so much time and to see friends that we haven't seen in a while. Here are a few highlights.

One day we went to Lagoon. I remember going to Lagoon when I was little and was so excited to take Levi and Ruby. I knew it would be a long and hot day. Marie and her friend Ryan came with us also. Levi had the time of his life. He wasn't scared of anything. He was even mad that he couldn't go on the big roller coasters. Ruby on the other hand was a lot more scared than I thought she would be. She screamed the first 10 seconds of her first ride. She did manage to enjoy the carousel, the haunted house, and this spinning octopus ride (an adult ride that she did with Noah.). However she did not like the boats (although she did give them a second try), or the log flume.

Levi is always so friendly wherever he goes. He call every kid he sees his friend. At Lagoon he was standing in line to ride on some car. The cars fit 2 people, but the other times Levi rode them he went all alone. This time he was standing in line next to a kid that was a little smaller than him. They started saying, "Goodbye red car," or "Goodbye blue car" as they would go by. When it came Levi's turn he got in his car and then turned and asked the other little boy if he wanted to ride with him. The other boys parents said it was all right, and they had a great ride together. I am so glad it is easy for Levi to make friends and to talk to everyone around him.

After wee picked Noah we went straight to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House. It was amazing and beautiful. Levi and Ruby were so excited to be able to go inside the temple. They kept saying "Jesus" and pointing the artwork on the walls. Levi was once again the highlight of the temple. The baptismal font is a circle on the backs of oxen, and then there are stairs that lead into it in the shape of a rectangle. As we stood at the top of the stairs with Levi he said, "Look, its a key hole." What an amazing observation he made that clued the rest of us into another symbolism that we can connect with the temple. When we do work in the temple we are the key to those who cannot do the work for themselves.

I guess I will finish this post with another Levi moment from vacation. One thing we did while Noah was in Colorado was visit a lot of my friends. My friend Cami took us to a little beach in her neighborhood. Levi was so excited. He was so excited that before we could review the rules he was already in the water clear to his chin, and standing on his tippy toes and couldn't move anywhere. So I took a deep breath and went in the water in all of my clothes to get him. The rest of the time he was well behaved and stayed closer to the shore. Ruby usually doesn't like the water. This beach completely changed her! She loved going in the water with Cami's little boy Micah and copying everything that he did. She loved playing in the sand, and drinking the water-YUCK! It was a blast. Thanks Cami for a great day!

Isaac 3 Month Pictures

2009-08-19T16:26:00.007-06:00

My sister took these amazing pictures of Isaac while we were in Utah. He is already 3 months old and holding up his head, and smiling, and laughing a little. There were so many cute ones! Thanks Aunt Janette!

Harry Potter and my favorite Harry Potter Fan!

2009-07-18T15:15:00.004-06:00

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (#6) came to theaters this week. Noah loves Harry Potter. He loves the books. He loves the movies. Now that we have 3 kids he wants to dress them up like Ron, Hermione, and Harry for Halloween. So we have been looking forward to the release of this movie for some time.

Thanks to Ga and Bampa (Noah's parents) Noah and I were able to act like we were young and free and go see the midnight showing. We went complete with matching T-shirts and Isaac. It was a great date and a great movie! The back of our matching T-shirts that I made. Isaac's matches too, but you can't see it. Driving to the show, and the Hogwarts emblem on the front of our T Shirts. I love this picture because of Noah's big grin, and then Isaac's face that seems to say, "What in the world am I doing here?"

Is that a Unicorn or a Princess?

2009-07-18T15:09:00.003-06:00

Bugs love Ruby. I haven't been able to keep the mosquitoes off of her this summer. She had one mosquito bite right in the middle of her forehead. For 3 or 4 days I just left it. She would itch it and then it would bleed. Then, while it was forming a scab, her hair would get in the way and I would pull the hair away only to have the scab come off with the hair.

After this happening several time I put a band aid on it. This only lasted a few hours until Ruby realized the band aid was there. So my next solution.....Unicorn Ruby. I put her little bands in a pony tail on the front of her hair. She sported her unicorn horn for a few days, and now her scab is healing just fine.

Fun Summer Craft

2009-07-18T15:04:00.003-06:00

We did a craft this week from the Family Fun Magazine (which is fabulous and totally worth the money-put out by Disney).

To make you bubble blower, you cut the bottom off of an empty water bottle and then use a rubber band to secure a washcloth or piece of towel. Then you dip the end in dish soap and gentle blow to create bubble snakes.

As an adult I could get the bubbles all the way to the ground. Levi could get a pretty good chain, and Ruby couldn't do it at all (but loved popping them). So it may be good for older kids. But we had fun on an otherwise boring afternoon.

Fun in the Sun!

2009-07-18T14:49:00.003-06:00

One of Levi's favorite things to do is push his trucks up and down the sidewalk. Just as I am typing this he is begging for me to come in the front yard so that he can do it. This day Ruby and him thought of a new game. Ruby showed her muscles! She even pushed Levi up the driveway.Colorado weather is beautiful! There are usually over 300 sunny days here a year. June this year had very few sunny days. Now that the sun has arrived we have enjoyed playing with our friends outside. Levi and Ruby have had a good time in the swimming pool in the backyard. We have also had some fun with the kids that live next door (Norah and Teagun). Here are the four of them eating Popsicles on the deck. Levi and Norah swinging on the swing. They have the most interesting conversations. Candid of my beautiful Ruby after playing in the pool. Last Friday we also went the zoo with Norah and Teagun. It was a little hot, but most of the animals were out playing. My kids really enjoy the zoo. Usually their favorites are the Sea Lions, Baby Giraffe's (there are 3), Elephants, Penguins, and Monkeys. This trip we saw the Sea Lion show and found some drums that we have never played on before. I was a little apprehensive about taking all 3 of my kids without Noah, but they did awesome. I carried Isaac most of the time and then he rode around in the stroller (see picture below). The kids were so tired by the end. Ruby and Isaac fell asleep in the car, but surprisingly Levi stayed awake the whole ride home.

Isaacs Blessing

2009-07-06T12:54:00.003-06:00

Yesterday Isaac was blessed at our church. Noah did a wonderful job. The priesthood holders who blessed her were: Daddy Noah, Bampa, Uncle Tim, Uncle Josh, Great Uncle Ray, Bishop Last, and Aaron Speirs (a great family friend). It was a beautiful blessing. I was playing the piano for the meeting that day so I was free from paying attention to Levi and Ruby and got to just listen. It was fabulous.

He was blessed with a sense of humor, and the ability to achieve his education. Also we was blessed to be a missionary always and to bear his testimony of the restored gospel to many people. We are so happy that he is a part of our family.

Happy 4th of July!

2009-07-06T12:48:00.004-06:00

We had a pretty calm 4th of July this year. Noah and Grams and Bampa all worked, so the kids and I were home alone during the day. We got a lot of laundry and cleaning done as well as preparing for Isaac's blessing.

For fireworks we took our yearly trip up to Georgetown, CO, which is a little town in the mountains where the fireworks roll down the canyon. We had a good time with our family and our friends.

The kids all loved the fireworks! Levi kept shouting, "This one is for Levi" and occasionally claiming them for other people. Ruby followed his lead, except she was stuck saying, "This one is for Bampa." Isaac watched for a little while and then was a little fussy so Noah had to stand up and rock him (thanks honey!).

The fourth of July is one of my favorite holidays. I love having a day devoted to feeling proud of our country and paying respect for the armed forces. We are so lucky to live somewhere that God prepared for the restoration of the gospel and where we are free to practice our religion. God Bless America.

6 Weeks and smiling!

2009-07-06T12:45:00.004-06:00

Isaac is actually 7 weeks old today. But last week he was 6 weeks old, and here are pictures from last week!On Wednesday Aunt Debby and Presten came over to play. We went swimming in the backyard and then made a fort in Levi's room. It was so much fun!I remember Janette and I making our hair stick up in the tub with shampoo all time. Ruby thought that she was pretty hot stuff. It was pretty cute.
And one last cute picture of my Levi!

Mountain Adventures!

2009-06-28T21:26:00.004-06:00

Last Saturday we didn't have anything that needed to be done. It was amazing. So we decided to take the kids hiking in the mountains. It was a beautiful day. Levi had been asking for some time to go in the mountains. He wanted to go to Star Mountain like Dora the Explorer. We took him to snowy mountain, so that is where we went. This is how Levi, Isaac and I got up the mountain. It was a little breezy which felt good for the mountain climbers, but it was a little chilly for Isaac who was covered with a blanket.

This is how Ruby made it up the mountain. Noah carried her most of of the way.

The place that we went to is called St. Mary's Glacier, so names because there is snow all year found. There were people up there with skis and snow boards and sleds.

Levi had a good time throwing rocks into the lake.

Short sleeves and shorts and snow. It was a little chilly at the top. I think that the wind up there keeps the snow there, because when it blows it is chilly!

Levi and snow, he wanted to throw snowballs.

A look from the glacier back onto the lake. And a good picture of Levi's toy binoculars that he took with him. He brought his whole explorer backpack and carrier his own water in it. He is a super mountain climber. He tells me how proud I am of him for climbing the mountain.

When we were almost back the car, Ruby finally got down and hiked on her own. She loved when daddy helped her jump off the rocks!

When I was little I would always dream about being in the mountains with my own little family, so this was so jun for me. I had such a great time. I love living by the mountains and don't think that I appreciate just how close we are often enough!

Angel Bee!

2009-06-27T16:14:00.005-06:00

Ruby acting like a bee at the butterfuly pavilion with Aunt Leslie. One problem....she can't fly!

Good times, good laugh!

My Fearless Little Swimmer!

2009-06-26T16:15:00.003-06:00

Levi is fearless in most aspects of his life. No guts no glory...right?

I would like to start this experience out by saying I almost didn't post about it, because it makes me feel like I am a bad mother, but decided to because there have been so many times in Levi's life where he was in danger, because he is so adventurous, and he has been protected by his Heavenly Father.

On Monday we went swimming with a bunch of friends from our ward at an apartment complex at a pool with no lifeguard. Levi was so excited to go. I was a little nervous. I knew that I could handle getting in the pool with Levi and Ruby if Isaac was asleep. At the pool however Ruby was scared and Isaac was mostly awake.

Once at the pool, I slapped Levi's Thomas the Tank Engine water wings on him and let him loose in the pool. This was the first time Levi had been in a pool without Noah or I. He was so happy. He splashed around and played with all his little friends in the pool. He was so content with out me.

The kids had some balls and fish that they were playing with in the water. About an hour after we got there Levi notices a little fish toy on the bottom of the pool 3-4 feet deep. He decided that he wanted to play with it. He went to the side of the pool and ripped off his water wings, and proceeded to try and get the toy. Of course, he cannot swim and started to panic. Thankfully, my friend Jessica was in the pool with her little boy, and was able to pull him out of the pool quickly.

Needless to say, Levi was really scared and crying. So I hugged him and after he calmed down a little he told me that he had ripped his wings off to get the toy. I was very appreciative that he can communicate well enough to let me know what happened. I think that because I was able to understand what happened we were able to talk about it a lot better and help[ him understand a better way to get a toy off the bottom of the pool.

If you ask Levi about it now he tells you one of two things. Either "I had to get rescued" or "I sank". If I remember right, he told Noah that his "legs wouldn't work fast enough.

Thanks to Jessica for saving my little angel.

Visit from Aunt Leslie (LaLa)!!

2009-06-21T21:43:00.006-06:00

Aunt Leslie came to visit last week. We had so much fun. I think that Ruby and Levi just liked getting out of the house after being pretty couped up for a month. We got out of the house every day.

On Tuesday we were walking to the park that is up the street from the house. I was holding hands with Levi and Ruby and LaLa was holding Isaac. We got to the park and Levi went running off to play, so of course Ruby wanted to run after him. Ruby took 2 steps and tripped over her shoes and fell flat on her face. She hit the ground pretty hard, I could here the thump. So she looked pretty beat up for the rest of the week.The amazing thing in this picture is that Ruby layed down on LaLa's lap and let her brush her hair. She still cries when I do her hair every morning. After this episode I am convinced it is more out of habit than actually not liking it.

We also figured out how to do some fun stuff on my camera, so we got some pretty fun pictures!

One day we went to a neighborhood park in Englewood where they have a little train that you can ride. It was a blast! And of course the kids loved that train!

Olive fingers!

Another day we went to the Butterfly Pavilion, where they have a whole room full of butterflies. We saw all different kids of butterflies and bugs. Ruby petted a starfish and a sting ray.

More parks...lots of fun...and a rare picture of me.

Levi built a fort, and my dear sweet LaLa was the only one that was nice enough to call in and play with him.

Isaac is 1 Month Old!

2009-06-21T21:14:00.006-06:00

Isaac is already one month old! I can hardly believe it. He has outgrown most of his newborn clothes. He is so long and skinny (go figure!) He is very alert and is sleeping well most nights.

This is how we get around with 3 kids. Thank goodness for baby carriers!

Levi loves hugging his little brother.

More Pictures of Issac's Birth

2009-06-21T18:51:00.006-06:00

Here are more pictures from the hospital that Noah's mom took.

With big sister!
With big brother!

With Mommy!

A few minutes old.Ruby and Levi with Isaac for the first time!

Getting weighed. Only about 10 minutes old!Mommy Daddy and Isaac!

Random Pictures

2009-06-21T18:40:00.004-06:00

I found these pictures while I was getting pictures of Isaac from Noah's parents camera. Just thought they were worth sharing.Levi and Ruby playing together on the hammock in the backyard. Ruby is even drinking from Levi's sippy cup!

Noah's brother got a new puppy right before Isaac was born. He is a great dane that has spots like a dalmation. He is gorgeous and Levi loves him!! His name is Rorshack (that is probably spelled wrong!) after the guy that invented the ink blot tests.

The next 2 pictures are of Levi, Ruby, and Presten playing dress up. They love playing dress up on Sundays. Aren't they cute!

Santa brought Levi straw glasses in his stockings. Of course all of us had to try them out. We can be a little silly.

Why are you pouting?

2009-06-15T13:45:00.004-06:00

What could possibly make my sweet little princess go from this...

to this?

The answer: OREOS! Ruby loves Oreos. On Saturday night Noah was eating oreos and she came down, didn't ask for any, just started sticking her lip out. Of course after mommy got the camera she got her Oreo and quickly turned into the little girl that we love!

Coupon Nerd

2009-06-15T13:41:00.003-06:00

I was so excited when I got home from the store today, I have to be a coupon nerd and post my stash for the day (super nerdy!). I got all off these groceries (over $60 regular price) for $24.00! Hooray for sales and coupons!

Boys will be Boys!

2009-06-15T13:32:00.003-06:00

Last week I finally had to go grocery shopping. I left all three kids with daddy at home (which was absolutely heavenly!) I came home and when I pulled in the driveway Yampa was on the roof cleaning out the gutters. Levi came running up and said that he had been on the roof. He had been on the roof and loved it, daddy even took pictures of the happy boy! He got on the roof after I got home, and I couldn't handle it. I was so scared that something would happen, so his second trip on the roof was very short! (the roof really isn't that tall, and he was probably fine...but boys will be boys and love things that scare their mommies!)

On a much sweeter note, last week we got our baby swing working. Levi and Ruby get so happy when Isaac swings in it. Last week I put him in it and went to make my bed. When I came back this is what I saw...my sweet Levi laying on his bed, peeking through the bars watching Isaac, and Isaac asleep in is swing, hugging a little cow that Levi had put there while I was gone. What cute boys!

The Tale of Ruby and the Makeup!

2009-06-15T13:21:00.004-06:00

Ruby is a girlie girl and watched everything that mommy does. Lately I have spent a lot of time nursing, which means I cannot follow around my curious little princess. She loves the freedom and has learned to get into many things. Last week I was downstairs nursing Isaac on the couch. Ruby was being awfully quiet so I asked Levi to go and see what she was doing. Levi got up the stairs and yelled, "Mommy your makeup!" I hurried upstairs and this is what I found. It was all over her face and arms and hands and legs. She immediately got a tubby. After her tubby, there was still 18 hour lipstick stuck on her cheek. It didn't come off for 2 days. If anyone needs a good long-lasting lipstick, I have one for you! Lesson to mommy: Ruby likes makeup and can now open or unscrew all the lids so put it up where she can't reach it! Lesson learned!

Look at all the mascara on her hands!

It was all over our sheets. And of course it stained them!

Isaac is 2 weeks old!!

2009-06-02T22:25:00.005-06:00

We can hardly believe we have had our adorable little angel for 2 weeks already! Everyone is doing great. Isaac went for his 2 week doctors visit today. He is now 8 pounds 1 ounce and is 21 1/4 inches long. We have gotten a few smiles and a few noises that sounded like a little laugh.

Baby Toes!

He is so happy and has such a good disposition!

He also has a great set of lungs!

Levi and Ruby

2009-06-02T22:06:00.003-06:00

Ruby is a smart girl. She knows that when we put Levi in time out that he has done something wrong. Ruby also watches everything that Levi does. Ruby also knows what the word no means (and uses is often when she doesn't want something.

Soo..lately she has been picking up some of her brothers bad habits. She has been hitting and biting. So we have been putting her in short timeouts...usually for a minute. Lately, her sweet brother has been coming to her rescue. Even when she bites him and has to go to time out. When we say, "Come on Ruby, lets go to time out." Levi's immediate response is, "Mommy (or daddy), no, Ruby is okay." What a sweet brother.

2009-05-24T18:47:00.009-06:00

So it took me a few more days than I thought to actually get pictures of Isaac off of the camera. I am still collecting pictures from the grandmas who have some excellent ones of him only a few minutes old. We are home and settled!

I want to write about Isaac's delivery for those people who care. We are so blessed to have now had 3 completely healthy babies brought into our family. This is our 4th doctor and our3rd hospital. Isaac was born at Exempla St. Joseph's Hospital in Denver. It is close to downtown on Franklin and 18th. The doctor who delivered him was a resident whose name was Dr. DeSosa, and he was supervised by Dr. Jody Gibson.

On Monday, May 18, 2009 I was 41 weeks pregnant, so I was getting induced. We woke up at about 6:30 am and headed out the door for the hospital at 7:45. Usually Ruby and Levi sleep until 8 or so, but Ruby woke up the same time we did, and so spent the morning watching us get ready. YaYa (my mom) flew in that morning and was able to meet us at the hospital. Grams (Noah's mom) also came to the hospital, and Meghan (Noah's sister) came, but had to go to work before the baby was born.

They started the Pitocin at 9:45 and we had hardly any progress until after 3:00pm. I had an epidural, but from the time that my right leg went numb, I knew there was a problem. I felt some pressure on my back and so I called the nurse to come and check me. I was only dilated to an 8 but he was right there waiting to come out. My biggest fears were faced, when I realized that this baby was coming out and there was not going to be the pain relief that I expected. After only about 4 pushes baby Isaac came into our family at 4:16pm. He was beautiful and perfect!

I had a dear, sweet, friend who called to check on me almost every other day the last few weeks, and she watched Levi and Ruby until Grams could go pick them up to come meet their new brother.

There are 2 memories of my recovery time in the hospital that I will never forget. On Tuesday Noah brought Levi and Ruby to the hospital to see Isaac and me. They stayed for about an hour, and then Noah took them on an outing to play and to get him an outfit to go home in. They had been gone about 20 minutes when there was a call from Noah's cell phone. He said that Levi was sad and that he wanted to talk to me. Levi is usually so wild and living in the moment. He got on the phone and was crying. I asked him what was the matter and he said that he just missed me. It was so sweet.

The next morning I was getting ready to come home. I had been at the hospital by myself all night, and Noah called me in the morning. I finished talking to my hubby and he put Ruby on the phone I started to talk and then all of a sudden she said, "Mommy" in an excited but a questioning voice at the same time.

It is funny how we live day to day with our children and still need moments that let us know that we are important to them, and that they love us so much.

And finally here are the pictures of our sweet angel.

Proud daddy just a few minutes after Isaac was born!

Levi and Ruby meeting Isaac for the first time.

I made shirts for the kids to give them when they got to the hospital. Levi was pretty excited to meet his new brother and to be the big brother of 2.Here is the the big brother x2, big sister, and baby brother.

Isaac all bundled up and ready to come home!
Sweet big sister! Best older brother ever!

It is so nice to have a baby in the spring. The day we came home from the hospital it was 85 degrees and cloudy outside. So after being tuck inside for two days Issac and I sat outside and watched Yampa and Levi plant grass in the front yard.

This is my favorite picture of my little angel so far. He is so sweet and precious!

We have our precious new baby boy!

2009-05-19T10:34:00.002-06:00

Isaac Keaton Beals was born yesterday at 4:16 pm after a nice 41 week stay in mommy's belly! He weighed 7 pounds and 11 ounces and is 20 inches long. Mommy and baby are both great! More pictures will come tomorrow once we are home!

copycat....not so bad!

2009-05-11T12:23:00.007-06:00

No baby yet. I am due tomorrow and we are ready for him to come. I also have a Dr. appointment if I have not had the baby yet, so hopefully he will schedule something for me if I haven't had it by then.

In the mean time I have done a ton of sewing in the past two months. The biggest project I did was for my friend Kate. She found some bedding that she loved online that was incredibly expensive, so she found some similar fabric that she liked and we copied it. I think that it turned out gorgeous!

Here is the original:
And here is the copy..minus the designer room decor of course. Congratulations Kate on your new baby girl!

Then of course there was our little new baby boy that needed bedding. I didn't
know what to do until I got a Pottery Barn kids catalog in the mail. They had the cutest Dr. Seuss bedding (in a designer room of course) and I loved it.
When Levi was born I made him a red bumper and crib skirt. So I went and spent a little money to get the sheet (I tried to find fabric to make the sheet, but turns out they don't make a lot of Dr. Seuss stuff, and it is expensive. And then made his blanket, which I love. What do you think? I think that George/Thomas/Wow Wow Wubsy will like it too!!

Ready for a baby!?!

2009-04-22T11:19:00.003-06:00

I keep getting asked if I am ready for our baby to come. In a lot of ways the answer is no. Our child does not have a name or anything close to a name. We do not have his bed ready, right now our room will not even fit the crib in it! I haven't packed a bag for the hospital, or got Levi and Ruby a little present for while I am at the hospital. So physically we are not "ready" for him to come.

With so many people asking me about it I have been thinking at how grateful I am for the ways that we are ready. Or I guess the things that have happened over the last few months that will make my life a lot easier when he get here. I was so worried that the baby would be to much for me to handle, and instead I feel that Levi and Ruby will be so excited that he has come to our family and be anxious to help take care of him.

In the last month Ruby has become a lot more independent. She is still a mommy's girl of course, but has learned to play on her own or with Levi. She also has this obsession for reading books. She would let me read books to her all day long. So this is something that I can do with her while I nurse the baby.
She has also transitioned out of her crib very easily and is actually sleeping much better in her big girl bed. She has also decided that she does not want to sit in a hghchair anymore. This has actually been a blessing because she is eating better, I suppose because she feels like a big girl. Last week we also went cold turkey and got rid of her bottle (baba) which was essential for nap time and bed time. She is so big!!

Levi is so excited for his baby brother. His new bed has done wonders in helping him to grow up. He has learned how to make his bed all by himself, which is a dream. He has also night potty trained himself in one night. We forgot to put a diaper on him the first night in his new bed, and ever since then we have had no accidents at all Hooray!!

So we are ready to love this baby. We hope that he will come to our family really soon (or at least mommy does, 20 more days seems a little long to me).

Children's Museum

2009-04-19T17:04:00.003-06:00

A few weeks ago my friend Jessica and I took the kids on an outing to free day at the Denver Children's Museum. It was a crazy mad house of parents and kids. It was so fun for them though, I would pay money to take them back on a less crowded day so they could really do everything.There are 5 or 6 different sections. here is Ruby pushing a grocery cart in the shopping section. They can shop for groceries and then put them through a check out line. And cook food at a restaurant. Levi and Ruby both loved pushing around the carts. Jessica took Ruby to dance so that I could help Levi paint a picture. I don't know if he has ever painted before, but he loved it. He painted with a brush, and with his fingers and made a few hand prints. And he only got a little spot on his new shirt!There was a section that was especially for toddlers. Ruby kept going to different places and saying cheese!
"Cheese!!"They had this adorable boat and fishing pole with magnetic fish that you could catch. Levi waited in line forever for hi turn. When he got in the boat Ruby joined him. They look so big in that little boat!

The Candy Thief

2009-04-19T16:57:00.004-06:00

My little Ruby is a candy thief! Daddy gets special candy for Easter. He loved Reeces Peanut Butter Eggs and Cadbury Creme Eggs. So the Easter bunny brings him his own. Well we had them in a basket in our room. Noah had gone to a meeting for church and Levi was playing on the computer. I laid down on the bed to rest while Ruby was playing on the floor. I turned over to check on her, and this is what I saw. OOOOOOH!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! "Oh, mommy isn't mad. She thinks this is funny!"

"I think that I will share some with brother too. Daddy will think it is funny. Sorry Daddy, but it was really good!!"

Easter a week later

2009-04-19T15:49:00.005-06:00

We had a wonderful Easter. Levi had fun learning about the Easter story both in church and in family home evening for the past few weeks. Although his understanding is very basic he knows that Jesus said a prayer to Heavenly Father and then he died on the cross for 3 days and then was alive again. I think that is pretty good for a 4 year old.

He also knows all about the Easter Bunny! He was excited for the Easter Bunny to come. And the Easter Bunny had fun picking toys for Levi and Ruby. He was amazed at how many of the same things that they liked. The Easter bunny left his usual trail from the bedrooms to the giant Easter Bunny in the middle of the floor. There was so much candy we could not believe it! the Easter bunny filled the baskets with kites, and coloring books, and crayons, and glow sticks. It was such a fun morning. We also had dinner with most of Noah's family and Ashley. This is Noah and Levi making the giant Easter Bunny on the floor in the living room (wearing matching clothes...so cute!)The night before Easter dyed Easter Eggs for the Easter Bunny to hide. This may have been Ruby's favorite part of Easter. Josh, Debby, and Presten came over and the cousins had a blast playing together. Ruby and her eggs, which of course turned her whole hand blue! Leaving baskets out for the Easter Bunny. This is what it looked like before the kids saw what the Easter Bunny did! Levi has never been a morning person. Some of my favorite pictures are of us trying to wake him up for a morning holiday like Easter. He is not usually a happy bunny! Ruby followed the candy down the stairs and sat at the bottom. She started gathering her own little pile of candy. Then Levi walked over and ate a piece. Then she knew it was all right to eat it and started chowing down. Levi ate to much candy and threw up for the second of his four Easters.

Levi finding all the eggs. He was a good egg hunter!

This year, even with all the baby preparations going on, I decided that my little princess Ruby needed an Easter dress. So I sewed her one, finishing it on Saturday night about 11. The little stinker really wouldn't let me take her picture. So hopefully you get an idea of how absolutely adorable she looked. Easter should have also been Ruby's first Sunday in the nursery. But due to an ear infection that was diagnosed on Saturday we kept her with us for an extra week.Our family Easter picture had to be inside because of the weather.

Princess in her dress with her Easter basket.

Our beautiful princes and handsome prince!

American Idol

2009-04-19T15:35:00.005-06:00

I love American Idol. Okay I never miss American Idol. On the rare chance I do I will watch it online. This season has a lot of talent. I have been voting for a bunch of people. Now that it is getting down to the end, I decided that I should narrow down my voting so that my favorites do not get the big boot.

I have decided that all my votes will go to....

Allison and Kris. If I had to pick one favorite I would absolutely hands down pick Kris. I have even liked two of his songs enough that I have got them on itunes and listen to them all the time. I don't think that Allison had gotten enough credit. They are usually pretty critical of her. I think that she is awesome. The only things that I don't like is that she is young, and I wouldn't want the industry to ruin how sweet she seems.

I was disappointed that they kept Matt around with the judges veto this week. I don't think that Simon really wanted to save him. Now people will vote for him this week, because he would have been kicked off and he will be safe and two other contestants who are just as talented will get the boot.

Levi's Birthday Party!

2009-04-04T11:16:00.003-06:00

The Saturday after Levi's birthday we had an awesome soccer party! It was a blast, thank you to all Levi's friends who came. We invited 10 friend sand we had a really good turn out. Here is the guest list: Aunts and Uncles, Grams, Jonah, Isabella, and Presten Beals (cousins), Piper Matthews, Nora, Katie Zirker, Jack Peterson, and Kyle Fergusen.

The night before the party grams and I made the best soccer cake I have ever seen. I was so glad that it turned out so well. Levi loved it!On party day we spent the morning cleaning and decorating. Levi and Ruby had their own idea of decorating and put streamers all over the floor...what cuties!

And then daddy had a little tickle fight with them. I just love this picture!
Before party time Levi went to get a handsome haircut! Doesn't he look so handsome! He definitely looks like a big 4 year old!

Then all the friends and some parents came. We had a really fun party. When everyone was coming we played duck duck goose. We also played hot potato with a foam soccer ball.Grams sent all the kids on a crazy treasure hunt for a little treat. This is the kids all climbing up the bunk bed. They also went in the back yard, to the mail box, and we found out that you can fit a lot of kids and 2 adults in a bathroom. The kids had so much fun.

Then Levi blew out his candles and we are the awesome soccer cake!For the end of the part we had Levi's parachute out in the living room. It was a huge hit with the kids. There was so much screaming we had ringing in our ears. First we bounced some balloons on it, then...they took turns sitting on it and we spun them in circles, then....

It was mass chaos with all the kids running underneath and getting trapped.

Levi's Birthday!!!

2009-04-04T10:53:00.006-06:00

I can hardly believe that my little boy turned 4 last week. We really isn't so little, I think that he has grown 3 inches in the last few months. I bought him some pants back in November that were a little large on him, and now they are barely long enough. He is still FULL of life and laughs, and growing all the time. He has learned how to spell and write his name, and whenever he sees a letter from his name on TV or on a store he points it out. He is so smart and always wants to learn.

Right now I play the piano in the primary at church. It is so fun to watch Levi with his class and how good he is. He learns the song, which we sing at home. One of the songs is about building an eternal family. Last Sunday we got home from church and he went to use the potty and we could here him singing it through the door. We love him so much and are so glad that he is part of our family. Happy Birthday Sweet Levi!!!!

For Levi's birthday we got him a bunk bed. He loves it and sleeps better than he slept in his toddler bed (YEAH!!). He picked out his own bedding which is Mickey Mouse sheets and a soccer comforter. Both things that he loves. Here are a few pictures of his present.Ruby loves the bunk bed to. She loves when we let her on the top!
I think that one of Levi and Ruby's favorite things is every night Noah reads them books before bed on the top bunk! It actually makes Ruby excited for night nights!I went in to take a picture of Levi the first night he was sleeping in his bed. He was not asleep yet, so I tried to get him to pose for a sleeping picture. He was just so happy that he couldn't wipe the smile off of his face!At first we were going to move Ruby from the crib to the toddler bed and just leave one of the bunk beds empty until Ruby got a little bigger. When we got the bed up, we changed our minds and decided to just stick her in it right away, which will give them more room to play once we move the crib in our room for the baby. She looks so tiny in the bed, but is sleeping well. Last night she even got out of bed and walked in our room on her own to get hugs. It was so nice not to roll out of bed in the middle of the night to go get her. I love this picture because he baby doll looks like a really, kind of creepy baby. Hooray for the bunk bed!When Noah got home from work we headed out for Levi to spend his birthday money from Great Grandma Lyon at the big red store. When he got the money in the morning he knew that he wanted to buy a new Choo Choo train. He had so much fun that day, he didn't have the energy to stay awake in the car. As you can see he held onto his money tightly. Of course he popped right up when we told him we were there.For Levi's birthday he got to pick where to go for dinner. We were expecting another fun filled night at Chuck E. Cheese, but instead we enjoyed a yummy dinner and Chilis. I don't know where Levi got his affection for Chili's. One day we were driving down the road, and he said,

"Look mom, its Chilis!" And ever since then he get excited when he gets to eat his corn dog and play the games on his menu. Thanks Levi for a yummy dinner. This is a rare family picture of us after we ate.After dinner we were going to go to Cold Stone to get some birthday ice cream. I didn't make a cake on his actual birthday because he had one at our family birthday party on Sunday and would have one at his party on Saturday. After dinner all Levi wanted to do was go home and play with his trains. So we just went home, and thanks to Levi's favorite baker Little Debbie we put some candles in a double stacked brownie and sang happy birthday! What a great day!

A Busy Fun Day!!

2009-03-11T11:02:00.003-06:00

Last week we had a really fun day. The weather here was absolutely gorgeous! My friend Carrie called and asked if I wanted to ride the train with her downtown and then stop and have lunch somewhere. She has 2 kids, piper and Ian who are the same ages as my kids. Levi and piper are so cute together. Once when we were at the park they sat on the hill together and held hands and pretended that there were snakes and dinosaurs. Pretty hilarious. So we went on the train and walked downtown for a while. This picture is a bull that is at the sixteenth street mall. While we were walking they were also chasing swiper the fox from Dora the Explorer, he was on top of building, and in bushes. It was funny. We had a wonderful lunch at Chili's (which is levi's favorite) and then rode the train back home. It was a really fun morning for the kids and for mommy.
Then after we went home and had naps Aunt Meghan came over to watch the kids so that mommy and daddy could go and see the Phantom of the Opera. With our crazy lives, I had to bring Noah a change of clothes, and picked him up from class at 7:30, ate a romantic dinner of McDonalds chicken nuggets and chocolate shakes in the car, to make the curtain call at 8:00, whew!! The show was wonderful and amazing. And Meghan had a blast with the kids at the mall. On a side note, I am very sorry that this picture does not show my belly....be assured that it is big, I have outgrown a pair of maternity pants that I wore to the end with both Levi and Ruby.

Levi's Birthday Party

2009-03-07T18:00:00.002-07:00

Levi decided that he wanted a soccer party this year. Hope that everyone can make it! Just let me know you are coming so that we have enough food!

70 degrees in february!

2009-02-25T13:53:00.009-07:00

I am in an extra good mood because of our beautiful weather. I wish that winter was always like this. I hate the cold and snow. So the kids and I have taken advantage of the past few days, and our camera, which has been acting up as of late is also working. That is amazing!

A few times during the off season, they have a free day at the Denver Zoo. There are usually a million people there. So it just so happened that one of our beautiful days was free day at the zoo. So I was planning on taking the kids, and then Ashley called and came with us. It was so warm and beautiful.
This is Ruby playing in a covered wagon that they had at the zoo. We tried to get both of the kids at the same time, but they were just having too much fun!

Ruby and Ashie!

The lounging polar bear!

Levi looking at the giraffes. They had a baby giraffe there that was only 9 days old. And in case you were wondering how tall a 9 day old giraffe is, they are about 6 foot 2 inches.

Today Levi asked if we could have a picnic. We got a blanket from his room, and the little cooler that Yampa takes to work with his lunch. He wanted a pop and pickles for his lunch (mommy added peanut butter and jelly and chips, and a treat). So we packed up the stroller and had a great time at the park and got Ruby extra tired for her nap.

Noah the Movie Star!!!

2009-02-24T11:57:00.003-07:00

Noah works as an inspector for Denver. In a staff meeting sometime last fall they asked if anyone would be willing to appear in a commercial, and Noah said, ok. So this commercial is on Denver Channel 8. But you can watch it by clicking on this link, it should automatically appear in about 15 seconds.

http://denver.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?publish_id=788

The video is about 4 minutes long and Noah is towards the end.

The End of Soccer

2009-02-24T11:50:00.002-07:00

Levi's soccer ended last Saturday. It was so fun to watch him play, and make new friends. It is an activity that we will miss every Monday and Saturday. Unfortunately, due to my current state we have decided to not have him play in the spring. He is already asking if we are going to soccer today, so I am sure that soccer will make a come back in the fall! Here are his team pictures and his trophy!

We are totally in the awkward smile stage!

Soccer Time!

2009-01-26T21:44:00.003-07:00

We decided to get Levi playing indoor soccer since he is not in preschool this year. He is on a team with 9 little 3 and 4 year old boys. They practice 1 day a week and then have games on Saturdays. It has been so good for his social and listening skills. It is so fun to watch and he seems to really love it. Here are some picture from his first game.Ruby is a good little cheerleader. She attends every practice and game and loves it. She says "ball" and claps.During the first game Levi had a really hard time understanding that only 4 friends could be on the court at one. He acted very mature once we were able to explain to him about taking turns, and now he talks about playing soccer and passing the ball to his friends. He also has gotten good at dribbling. He seems to prefer it to kicking the ball really hard. It didn't take him very long to understand the rules, he doesn't even touch the ball with his hands anymore.
He has scored 3 goals at both of his games. Whenever anyone scores he raises his hands in the air and yells, "GOAT!" He of course thinks that he is saying goal. He is good about cheering for both teams. This past week one of the members of the opposing team started copying him, and would cheer whenever there was a goal. After every goal in his first game he would run into the net, it was so funny. At his second game he would pick up the ball and throw it to the ref-what a helpful boy!

Happy Anniversary!

2009-01-26T14:35:00.005-07:00

My Noah has brought sexy back!! On January 2nd, we celebrated our 5 year anniversary. I cannot believe how time has flown. He is such a wonderful husband and has worked so hard for our family. Sometimes working long, long, hours so that I can be home with our kids. I love you honey!

Ruby Loves Her Daddy

2009-01-26T14:10:00.002-07:00

Well, I used to be able to say that Ruby was a mommy's girl. She does love her mommy, but lately she has taken a real liking to her daddy. Almost every morning she wakes up asking for him. When I hear his car pull up when he gets home from work, and tell her daddy is here, she goes running to find him. She absolutely adores her daddy!

Pictue Catch up!

2009-01-26T13:58:00.005-07:00

Levi and Ruby loved playing in our backyard. They are very brave about the cold (and mom is not). This is them riding their bikes on our deck. Ruby even loved for Levi to push her around fast. This is us going shopping for our Christmas tree. This year we went with Yampa and cousin Ashley. It was soooooooooooo cold (again, I am a cold whimp!). There was snow in the tree lot at the home depot, so after I removed myself inside with Ruby, Ashley, Yampa, and Noah had a snowball fight! RUBY LOVES CHRISTMAS TREES! It is one of her first words. Everytime that she would see a tree with lights, she woudl say. "Christmas Tree!"
Every year we try to make a gingerbread house. Here we are with our creation from this year. Levi loved putting all the candy on. He patiently waited until after Christmas to try and eat it, at which point he discovered it was disgusting. So grams put it out on the deck, and we watched the squirrels have a treat!This is our cute little snowflake on Christmas Eve. We had a great night with all of Noah's family.
This is the happy four of us on Christmas morning! Merry Christmas!

Ultrasounds pics!

2009-01-26T12:00:00.005-07:00

Here are a few ultrasound pics for those of you who would like to see them! Isn't he cute!

I know someone who was there

2009-01-21T15:12:00.002-07:00

I just wanted to say a few things about the inauguration.

What an amazing day! I am so grateful that I was able to be home yesterday and watch the inauguration. What an amazing day for our country.

Even if you are not an Obama fan I think that yesterday was a pivotal day for all of us that are fortunate enough to live in this country. With all the gloomy things that have gone on with the stock market and the economy the last year, our weakness has been world news. Yesterday, for the first time in a long time I had rock solid American pride. Obama's speech was inspiring and reminded us all that because we live here we have a responsibility to live up to the ideals that our country was built upon, not only so that we leave our freedoms here for our children, but because we must show the world that America is still a land of optimism and dreams.

I am not saying that Obama will bed able to change everything overnight, but I believe that his youth and his ability to lead can help us to get out of this slump that our contry has been in by our own hard work.

God bless America! I am proud to be an American!

The end of a fun week and biting

2009-01-19T00:15:00.003-07:00

A few funny notes to wrap up the week.

Levi has decided that the name of our new baby will be.....George! George will probably not be his name, but it is a good name for now. Levi is well aware that I carry a baby in my belly and saw my growing belly (which has grown out most of my clothes) and said, "Is that your baby." Ruby will also point to my mid section and say baby, but mostly this is just a mimic of Levi.

When I was a baby I used to bite my older sister Janette a lot. She was barely a year older than me, and being small herself was told not to bite the baby. One day she had enough and bit me back, and my mom smiled.

Well my little Ruby this week decided to take after her mom. Ruby got a ride on toy for Christmas similar to one that Levi has. Levi's is now an outside toy, so he loves playing with Ruby's. He was sitting on it on Sat. When Ruby wanted to play with it. After I asked him to get off several times she was tierd of waiting and bent over and bit him on the leg. Levi of course started screaming and said the she bit him. I gave him a hug and smiled at the same time that she finally fought back all his loving torture. (He does love her, see the previous post). And Noah and I both smiled.

Trying to catch up!

2009-01-16T14:18:00.001-07:00

Since I am so far behind, I thought that I would post a cute story about Christmas. Levi was so excited for Christmas. He asked Santa for 3 things: a Spiderman Bicycle, some Thomas trains, and race cars.

He went to bed Christmas night, and we woke him up about 8 on Christmas morning. We expected him to be so excited for his presents. Santa left his bike unwrapped with all his presents around it, and left Ruby's dollhouse with all her presents around it. Levi walked down the stairs and the first think that he said was, "Look, Santa came for Ruby!"

At that moments I was so proud of him. I knew how much he loved and thought about his little sister. It is my best Christmas memory from this year.

The kids had a great Christmas and played with their toys all day long.

We are having a baby boy.

2009-01-14T15:02:00.002-07:00

My camera is not working, so I have not posted for a while. But for those of you who don't text or facebook we wanted to share our good news...we are having a beautiful little boy.

Moving.

2008-12-14T13:12:00.002-07:00

We have sucessfully moved out of our house. We ended up being there almost exactly a year. What a blessing it was to find buyers so fast!!

Moving day was incredible. About a dozen guys from our ward showed up to help. I left to go drop my kids off at my friend Mandy's house so that moving would go a little faster. By the time I got back the truck was loaded and my cute little house was empty. The ward then went with Noah to the storage unit and unloaded the truck. We loved our ward in Roxborough and the many friendships that we made there. We are so sad to leave.

Noah's family came a little later and helped load up the furniture that was going to Noah's parents house. And did one last good will run. By 3:30 the house was empty, and clean, and we pulled out of the garage for the last time.

Leaving our house was a really hard decision for us. We loved the house, the yard, the beautiful area, the church. At the same time we are so excited for Noah to be able to go to school full time. We are also so blessed that Noah's job with the City and County of Denver is being so understanding and flexible with his schedule so that he can work full time also.

Noah's parents have also been so wonderful in welcoming us into their home, again. They have made countless sacrifices to make us comfortable and keep us close to our kids.

Ruby is to young to understand what is happening, but Levi has been a trooper for the whole thing. At first he thought that he was getting another room at Gram;s house and that Ruby was getting another room. Then he thought that he and Ruby were sharing a room, but that he was keeping his room at his house. Then on moving day he understood, and just kept saying that Levi's house was really sad. Ironically I am grateful that we bought our van a couple of months ago. It was hard for Levi to say goodbye to the cruiser, and it was hard for him to say goodbye to the house. It has been a good lesson for him about changes coming in our lives.

Heavenly Father's hand has been watching over us these past few months while we have made these big decisions. Our testimonies have been strengthened and our little family has grown closer together.

2008-12-04T09:14:00.005-07:00

A lot has happened to the beals clan in the last month. We are a bit crazy as usual. So here is the update.

In preparation for Noah starting school we put our house on the market the last week of October. In this crazy market, our beautitul house sold in 2 weeks. So we have been making preparations for the move back into Noah's parents house this weekend. Closing is on Monday,, and we just feel so blessed that we were able to sell our house so quickly.

In case you have been living in a hole, there is a movie called Twilight that came out earlier this month. The sister-in-laws and Ashley and I went out at midnight to see it. Ashley and Meghan and I even made matching shirts. I have to say that I really enjoyed the movie. The only thing I was disappointed in was the sparkling. I am excited for the next movie, which should have a much larger budget.

In November we had a short visit from my mom and my oldest (and wisest) sister Janette and my nephew Max. Aside from a bloody nose and some throw up we had a delightful weekend. On Sunday we made an early Thanksgiving dinner, which was so nice for me. Ashley was also with us for the weekend before she went home to suprise her mom for Thanksgiving.

Levi and Ruby loved having baby max here. Ruby is into calling almost everything with a face baby. This was the first time that they had met him. He is so cut and happy!

Noah is pretty serious about caring his first turkey. Actually he is just posing for the picture. What would Thanksgiving be without olives on someones fingers. Levi loves olives. I always get nervous when we eats a lot of them because of an unpleasant experience that happend with Levi, olives, and a Mexican retaurant.Our Thanksgiving feast. Yummy Yummy!

On Sunday night we played a mad game of Monopoly, accomplishing something not many people who play Monopoly do....we played until the very end. Janette ended with all the porperty and money. This picture in to prove her victory for years to come!

Thanksgiving day for us was fun. Levi was so excited to Santa during the Macy's parade. He also got excited for a few of the balloons. We had dinner around 2 and then had a fun day playing games with the family.

Well that is the highlights. We are packing for the next few days an moving on Saturday. We love you all and hope that you are having a very Happy Christmas.

Our little Teddy Graham

2008-11-09T12:38:00.003-07:00

I have been meaning to put this on our blog for a long time and finally got around to scanning it in. when I had this ultrasound I was 9 weeks. The Nurse Practitioner doing the ultrasound said, "I got a great picture of your little Teddy Graham. And she did, and it looks exactly like a teddy graham or a gummy bear. So there he/she is. We should have our 20 week ultra sound a few days before Christmas and will have more pictures then.

More Imagination

2008-11-09T12:34:00.002-07:00

Levi's little imagination has just exploded in the last few weeks! Besides his imaginary friends we have had all of his favorite trains following our car when we drive places. He will even tell us which ones are there. Usually it is Thomas, Gordon, James, and Skarloney(?).

Yesterday we drove Noah to work at the book store, and all of a sudden Levi said, "Mom look out for the Giant!." Then today on the way to church we had the trains following us, and Levi insisted that Noah swerve to avoid the Corn Dog, and then the Hamburger in the middle of the road. He is so hilarious and gives us a good laugh on the long roads that lead away from our little neighborhood.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

2008-11-04T08:17:00.006-07:00

We had an absolutely fabulous halloween this year!!! Halloween is always an exciting time of year for us, because that is when we got engaged. Noah hid my ring inside the pumpkin that I was carving. So we love carving pumpkins. This year, I thought that Levi would be into the whole ordeal, and he loved it, but he thought that the pumpkin guts were really gross!! Here is a picture of the 4 of us on pumkin carving night at Noah's parents house. A side note about Ruby's outfit. She hates wearing socks. She pulls them off. Then when I notice and say, "Ruby where are your socks" she laughs at me, and then I tickle her feet. So this day I put her in tights and she tried to pull them off all day long!!

At the beginning of September I started asking Levi what he wanted to be for Halloween. I really wanted him to be a pirate...but this year, he knew what was going on and had an opinion. He wanted to be Mario. Which turned out to be a relatively easy costume to make, and he looked so adorable!

Ruby, on the otherhand was a victim of the hand-me-downs. We had so much going on the past few months that I just never got around to making her the elephant costume that Levi wanted her to have. So the night of my niece Bella's dress up Halloween party, I dug through the baby clothes and found Eyeore. She looked pretty cute, and brother loved it!

Here is Levi sitting with our pumpkins before he went trick-or-treating. We were lucky this year to have daddy home for Halloween. It has been a few years since he didn't have to worry about school or working that night. So he and Levi waited rather anxiously to see other trick or treaters on our road. Noah took both the kids around the block, and then Levi said that he was done. Ashley and two of her friends also came, she had a killer costume. We love having her around!

Noah is always creative with his pumpkins. The year we got engaged he carved an engagement ring, last year I think that it was Harry Potter, and this year he decided to carve our fetus in his pumkin.

And finally, Levi and I made Halloween decorations one day, exactly like his cousin Hannah's he was so excited, and was sad when mommy had to take them down.

VISITORS!

2008-10-28T14:12:00.010-06:00

A few weekends ago we had visitors again, which we love. Uncle Steven, Aunt Marie, Aunt Leslie, and Marie'a Boyfriend Matt all came to stay over their fall break from school. We had a good time going to Red Rocks, Chuck E. Cheese, and the zoo. They were also a big help when I got a call from the Real Estate photographer saying he wanted to take pictures of our house.

There are some great pictures that demonstrate the personalities of our children also. Enjoy!I like these two pictures of Ruby because you can see her little teeth. She has her 4 front teeth, and then two molars on the top. So she is eating almost anything!The first night that everyone was here Ashley came over. Matt made us dinner (what a treat for me) and Leslie and Ashley made Ruby and I a birthday cake since they missed our birthdays only by a few weeks.

This is the crew at Red Rocks. For those of you who haven't made it there with us yet, it is an incredible ampitheater that is built into the rocks. The Beatles, Rolling Stones, and the Fray have all performed there. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir is on the schedule for next summer!

After Red Rocks we had about a half an hour before we needed to meet Noah for dinner. So we made a quick stop at the temple. I love these two pictures because they show my kids personalities. The one above is typical Ruby. She loves her mommy to hold her and give her kisses (definately a girl). Below is Levi, who had run away from his mom to put his hands into the fountain at the temple (which was promptly stopped after the picture) and then placing his handprints on the cement (he is all boy!). I love them both so much!

Following Red Rocks and dinner we had an adventure at Chuck E. Cheese. Marie wanted to take Levi to play games...and he loves Chuck E. Cheese. So we were having a nice time and were down to our last few tokens. Levi decided that he wanted to play ski ball. Last time we were at Chuck E. Cheese Noah taught him how to walk up the ramp and place the ball in the hole that he wanted. So he played ski ball the way his daddy taught him. All of a sudden there were sirens going off. Levi had gotten some magical, high score, and won the jackpot of 250 tickets. Above is Uncle Steve nicely organizing the tickets.

Here is Levi using the ticket counter. He had 349 tickets in all. And of course all he wanted at the ticket counter was a 10 ticker sucker.

The next day was free day at the zoo. It was so fun, and so crowded. I think that my favorite part was the hippos. There was one that was up out of the water and yawned so that we could see its huge mouth. We also got to see it walk back into the water. Too bad I had no camera for them. Ruby LOVED the zoo. She pointed at all the animals and would woof like a dog at them. It was pretty cute! Of course a trip to the zoo wouldn't be complete without dippin' dots.

This is the morning that they had to leave. As you can see in the picture, Ruby is a big morning person. She waked up almost every morning with a smile on her face, and Levi has a hard time waking up.Thanks for coming guys! We had a blast!

Levi's Imaginary "GUYS"

2008-10-28T14:07:00.002-06:00

Levi has some imaginary friends. He calls them "The Guys!"

When we lived with Noah's parents the guys were always on the ceiling. We would be eating dinner and he would tell us that the guys were up there. Well when we bought our house the guys must have stayed at grams house.

They used to make apperances every so often at our house, but for the past week or so, they have been a big part of Levi's imaginary play time. Last week when we were out running some errands, we walked in a store and Levi said, "Come on guys, get in the cart." The guys accompanied us on all of our errands that day. Levi was very careful to tell them to buckle their seat belts each time that we got in the car.

Today the guys joined us for lunch. They sat at the counter and ate grapes, because they do not like noodles with peas.

CONGRATULATIONS MEGHAN AND GABE!!

2008-10-24T13:51:00.004-06:00

Noah's only sister was married on October 11th!! It was a beautiful and perfect day! The church was beautiful, Meghan looked absoluteley gorgeous. They wrote a little something to say to each other and it was some of the sweetest things that I have ever heard. We are so happy for the two of them and can't wait to go to Nauvoo in a year. Thanks guys for letting us be part of your special day.

It was an especially fun weekend for us because we had some family friends from Utah stay with us. Bill, Bethy, Gage, and Emma came in on Thursday night and stayed until Monday. It was fun to watch Levi and Gage play. Bethy even helped me get rollers into Ruby's hair.

Another memorable time from the wedding was the dancing. I love dancing with Noah. There was a nice swing dancing tempo song on, and somehow neither one of were supervising our children, so I thought we could dance. I followed Noah out onto the dancefloor when suddenly he starts crazy dancing like I have never seen him crazy dance before. I can't describe it, but it was crazy enough that somewhere in the middle of his dance solo his tie was thrown off. Thanks honey for making me laught...extra hard! Needless to say when he started busting a move, I retreated from the dancefloor and laughed with everyone else from the sidelines.

This is Meghan and Ruby at the reception. You can see the beautiful canopy that was draped to cover the cultural hall ceiling. Everything was gorgeous!Meghan with her 5 brothers: Tim, Chris, Josh, Noah, and Nathaniel. Noah and his big brother Chris. Chris still lives in Chicago Heights where Noah grew up, so we don't get to see them very often. Aren't they cute? Levi was a ring bearer at the wedding. He did such a great job. I was a little nervous, because he was kind of a pill during rehersal, but he did absolutely perfect for the big event. His cousin, Isabella was a flower girl and they walked down the isle together. Doesn't he look dashing in his tuxedo? Ruby also got a new dres for the big event!

This is Levi with his cousin Olivia, who lives in Chicago. She is about a year younger than Levi, but they had a blast playing together for the weekend. This is a picture of the two of them sitting at Gram piano and drinking their pop.

Olivia has a brand new baby sister, sofia (congrats Chris and Meghan). Levi had seen pictures of baby sofia from when grams and yampa went to Chicago to visit her when she was born. He was SOOOOOOOOOO excited to see her. He talked about her all day long. Ruby was also in love with her. She would stare at her, and want to touch her.

Ruby's 1st Birthday!!

2008-10-22T16:02:00.006-06:00

My sweet little Ruby turned 1, and I can hardly believe it!!!

A funny thing happened when Levi and I took her to her Dr. Appointment. I was trying to get the kids ready to go. When Levi asked where we were going I toldhim we had to take Ruby to the doctor. He responded by telling me that she wasn't sick. So I explained that because Ruby had a birthday, we needed to take her in for a check up. Well, when we got to the doctor, Levi walked up to the receiptionist and told her that Ruby was here for the ketchup! It was hillarious. The doctor's appointment went just fine. Ruby is tall and skinny according to the growth charts...once again, go figure!

We had a very fun polka dot birthday for her to celebrate. Thanks to everyone who made the day special for her, and her mommy. We had a contest to see who would wear the most polka dots, and I had dots candy in a vase for everyone to guess how many there were. Here are pics from the party.

Here is the BIRTHDAY GIRL!!! She got a new polka dot out fit. Grams brought some dot stickers just in case anyone forgot their polka dot attire!And the winner is....May May. She wore the mose polka dots to the party, so she got the polka dot princess crown. Grams and Yampa in their polka dots.

Levi doesn't own any polka dots (neither does his dad) so he decked his leg out in polka dot stickers, which were not pleasant for him to take off later.My polka dot decorations. I thought that they were pretty cool.Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday dear Ruby! Happy Birthday to you!Here is the beginning of the cake eating. She was actually pretty dainty for the whole thing. In this picture she is picking the polka dots off the cake and eating them.Then I cut up the cake, so that she would pick it up. She then crossed her little legs to the side and started eating.

Here is the extent of her messiness, and brother getting in on the action. What a little princess!!

As if our lives couldn't get more exciting!!!

2008-10-04T12:16:00.004-06:00

Noah took this picture of the kids at his moms last Sunday. Levi loves to put all the balls in the wagon and pull it around the yard. He also loves to give Ruby rides in the wagon!

Isn't she gorgous!!! I just adore my little princess!!! She is so beautiful and full of life, and getting bigger and smarter all the time, and will be one in less than a week. She hates when I put her hair in pigtails, so I have only been doing that on Sundays lately.

This past Thursday I celebrated my 28th birthday...man am I old! However I am not as old as Noah's brother Josh who turned 30 this year, or as my sister Janette who will turn 30 next year (sorry guys!) It was a pretty normal day. Noah's mom came over and took us to Sonic to get a Cream Slush (yummy yummy!) and then Noah and I had dinner at Chilies and went to a movie. Oh I also made myself some yummy hommade salsa from our garden!

Noah took the day off from work yesterday and on Monday so that we could work on our house. We painted the kitchen (well actually Noah painted it and I played with the children. We also got rid of the vertical blinds and put up some curtains, and a new light fixture and it looks beautiful. We are planning to officially have it on the market in the next few weeks. So if anyone has decided that they miss us too much, and want to move to Colorado, we have an excellent house waiting for you to buy!

I hope that everyone in Utah is enjoying watching General Conference on public TV or listening to it on the radio. We don't get KBYU at our house, and our internet was out this morning so, I watched the veggietales instead of listening to conference. I am quite jealous!

So for the really exciting news. Ruby is going to be a big sister, and Levi is going to be a big brother, again! We are pretty excited about it. It seems like when our lives decide to be exciting that they decide to be really exciting. We will be adding o ur new little baby in May right in the middle of Noah's finals! When we told Levi that we were going to get a new baby he said that he wanted to keep Baby Ruby. So sweet.

The day after I told Noah he sent me a beautiful boquet of Chocolate colvered strawberries...which were soo yummy!

This is the cake we took over to Noah's mom when we told her we were having a baby. I got a little sick last weekend and wouldn't take any medicine (No advil when you are pregnant and no Tylonel when you are nursing). We knew that she thought it was insane that I wouldn't take anything, so we decided that it was time to spill the beans!

Our Exciting Week

2008-09-23T15:49:00.004-06:00

We have had quite the exciting week. We have had a lot of stuff going on lately, it seems that our lives are usually that way. But extra busy as of late made for an exciting week. Here are the highlights only!

On Thursday we finally turned in Noah's grad school application. Hooray. It was quite a lot more work that applying for an undergraduate degree. He had to do an application, request 4 letters of recommendation, transcripts, answer a list of questions, write a statement of purpose, and put together a portfolio of his related work and writings. When it was all done it looked so nice. He walked it up to the school which is only 4 blocks from work and handed it in. Whew...big check off of our list.

Then on Sat. we bought a minivan! We have been looking in to buying a car for quite some time, knowing that the cruiser doesn't have enough room for any more passengers than the 4 of us. After looking at our many options we decided that between the fuel economy and the space, that it was a good choice for us. It even has flex fuel, which is better for the environment. Here is a picture of what it looks like-except ours is red. Actual pictures will come soon!

So yesterday Noah installed a new garage door, so that I will actually park our van in the garage. He has become quite handy. It even has a key pad and sensors.

Then, when we got the mail we were pleasantly suprised that Noah recieved his acceptance letter to graduate school!!! That took less than a week!! He will start his Masters of Urban Planning degree on January 20th! He hopes to graduate with a dual Masters in Urban and Regional Planning and Urban Design. Noah going back to school is going to mean a lot of change for our family...again. Noah will be quitting his second job, and we will probably be moving out of our house to make school more affordable. I feel so blessed that Noah works so hard so that I can stay home with Levi and Ruby. He is doing everything that he can so that in the future I can be at home and I love him so much for it. GO CU BUFFALOS!!!

The Prophet Said to Plant a Garden!

2008-08-28T14:48:00.004-06:00

"The prophet said to plant a garden so that's what we'll do

For God has given rich brown soil, the rain and sunshine too.
And if we plant the seed just right and tend them carefully,
Before we know good things will grow to feed our family."

"We plant the seeds to fill our needs, then plant a few to spare,
And show we love our neighbors with the harvest that we share.
Oh won't you plant a garden too, and share the many joys
A garden brings in health and love to happy girls and boys. "

(LDS Children's Songbook p237)

We have had a blast with our garden this year. I am sure there will be more pictures before the summer is over. So far we have peas, carrots, cherry tomatoes, basil, mint, and sunflowers. We have tons of big tomatoes that we are waiting to turn red. And we have softball sized watermelon, so hopfully those will grow well also.

ADVENTURES IN POTTY TRAINING!!!!

2008-08-25T22:07:00.005-06:00

WOW! The house is so quiet when I am the only one awake! I have a lot that I should be doing, but I thought instead I could update our adventures in potty training....here we go again! This is a warning that this post contains information from the trenches of motherhood, and if you have no interest in potty training, you should move on without reading this. I decided to write this mostly so that when Levi is older, I can embarrass him with it.

Last December Levi was getting upset when he would go #2 in his diaper, so we got him some underwear. That didn't last too long. Then, in March had a serious attempt at it, which was working until mom was sick in bed for a week. Since that time he wears underwear occasionally. We had a pretty busy last few months of company, so I wasn't going to push it on him then, but now that the company is gone, we are potty training for the last time.

Levi's problem is not that he is scared of the toilet. When he sits on the toilet he empties his bladder just fine. The problem is that he is so focused when he is playing he will not leave his toys for the three minutes to use the restroom. So after many failed attempts we have resorted to the sticker chart. Now, you can call it a reward system, but lets face it. I am bribing my child to be potty trained. I tell him I will give him a sticker (2 stickers for #2) and then when his chart fills up he gets a toy. I have also been a really over excited mom when he goes potty in the toilet so that he knows how happy it makes me. After a week, he has earned a new train (Gordon). And we are working on chart #2 that has twice the number of spaces. This is a picture of him at target when he bought his train with his chart. He was too excited to take time to get a good picture.

So he was going #1 on the toilet rather well, but just wasn't attempting the #2's. I was pretty sick of cleaning up the #2 when they fell out of his underwear onto the floor so once I had Levi do all of the dirty work. We go in the bathroom, he takes off his underwear, which spills all the little pebbles onto the floor. Then he empties the rest of the pebbles into the toilet, which gets more pebbles on the floor. Then, he takes toilet paper and picks up all the pebbles he has put on the floor and puts them in the toilet. So he has now learned that Levi puts his own pebbles into the toilet, whether he does it the easy was or the hard way.

As for mom and dad, potty training has given us lessons in sanitation, insanity, patience, patience, patience, and patience. He is doing such a great job and we are so proud of him for being diligent and loving his sticker chart!

Happy Birthday Daddy and other randomness!

2008-08-15T17:26:00.005-06:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO A WONDERFUL DADDY!!
Yesterday was Noah's birthday. He took the day of work and slept in. We got up and took the kids to Grams house and then Noah and I went to lunch and went....golfing! It was nice to be together with no kids for 7 hours. We can't even remember the last time that we spent that much time together. Our golf games were less than average, we lost about 20 balls (oops), but we had a blast being together. After golf we got a Buzz Lightyear cake from the DQ and had cake with the kids and Noah's parents. The kids both fell asleep in the car on the way home so we put them in bed and cuddled and watched the Olympics. Then today he got to take Levi to see Star Wars Clone Wars, which was fun for the two of them.

Noah works so hard so that I can stay home with the kids. We miss seeing him, and love him so much. He is a great dad. Thanks for everything that you do honey, I love you!

We have had a great month, and it is hard to believe that it is only half over. Chances are the rest of the month will seem pretty boring. In other news. I got another calling (assignment) at church. I am teaching Relief Society (the women's organization) once a month. I have never taught adults in church since my mission, so I am pretty excited for that. I am teaching on the fourth Sunday, which are lessons from recent talks give by the Prophet and Apostles, so that is special to be able to study what they have said and share it with others. My first lesson is a week from Sunday.

Daddy also gave Ruby a whole oreo cooking. Actually I think that Ruby ripped it out of his hands. After a while, she had to be naked in her high chair because she was such a mess, and we didn't have the heart to take it away from her because it was making her so happy. We got the first peas from our garen and they were soooooo yummy.

I also found the most beautiful dishwasher that I have ever seen!

Grandpa Lyon, Grandma Inna, and LaLa

2008-08-15T17:16:00.004-06:00

The day that ReeRee left, Grandpa Lyon, Grandma Inna, and Aunt Leslie (aka LaLa) came to visit. We had such a great time. We went to the Red Rocks Ampitheater, and to a Colorado Rockies game (Major League Baseball). We also had fun just staying home and playing. We also celebrated Grandma Inna's birthday before they left on Sunday. LaLa stayed a few extra days so we took the kids to the park, and watched the Olympics. Here is Grandpa with Ruby shortly after arriving at our house. It was fun to show our cute house to my daddy. Ruby loves eating...I mean reading books!This is Granpa helping Ruby walk a little. Ruby is now walking along our furniture. She has made a lot of milestones since we last saw my dad in March.Here is Grandma Inna holding Ruby after a long day. She didn't quite make it through the whole baseball game.

This is LaLa and Ruby playing in the river at the park. Ruby is such a water baby. She loves to splash!This is Levi showing his superman muscles after doing some super cool tricks on the playground at the park.This is one of my absolute favorite pictures of Levi ever. He is wrapped in a towel after playing in the water at the park. He is so adorable.

Thanks for coming Grandpa, Grandma and LaLa. We had a blast. And thanks for our goodies we love them! We miss you already!

Visit from Ree Ree

2008-08-15T17:06:00.005-06:00

We are so lucky to have had so many visitors the past month. They are all now gone, and lofe is getting back to normal (aside from the piles of laundry that I will attempt to conquer tomorrow!!! Shortly after Erin left my sister Marie (Aunt Ree Ree to my kids) came to visit for a few days. We had a lot of fun. We went to the zoo, and the park, and sewed pajamas and skirts. It was a blast. Levi loved seeing her and playing with her. Here are a few pics.

We went to the Cheyenne mountain zoo in Colorado Springs. It is smaller than the Denver Zoo, but it was the perfect size for Levi and it is on the side of a mountain. It was beautiful. You can buy giraffe crackers and the giraffes come right up to you to eat them. Levi was a little scared, but here is a picture of Ruby, she did just fine. I even got to pet the giraffe's nose!These are at the community park. We had fun playing on the slide. Levi brough his Donald Duck to the park, for some reason he was extra attached to it that day. He wouldn't go down the slide with Donald Duck, he would throw Donald down first and then go after him.Ree Ree could always make Ruby happy by playing with her LeapFrog table. It is a toy that Ruby didn't show much interest in before ReeRee came, and doesn't show interest for after ReeRee left.

Thank you for coming to visit us ReeRee! We miss you already and love you to pieces!

Hello Baby Max!

2008-08-04T09:13:00.002-06:00

Congratulations to Janette and Nate who had their first baby boy on July 11 th!His name is Maxwell Pez Childs. He is named Pez becuase his dad has an insane collection of Pez dispensers. Here are a feww pictures from their blog. Love you guys!

They also have 2 adorable girls, Hannah (3) and Julia (1.5). Three kids younger than Levi! Janette is an awesome mom. We are so sad that we can't be there to hold him.

Goodbye Hobbs! We miss you!

2008-08-04T08:55:00.002-06:00

On July 25, Noah's dog Hobbs was put to sleep. I am doing this from memory, so my apologies if I get anything wrong. When Noah was about 13(?) he got Hobbs for Christmas. Well, I think that he got a video camera, which broke, and so they returned it and then he used that money to buy Hobbs. He was named Hobbs after the comic strip Calvin and Hobbs (hence the comic strip). Although Hobbs has lived with Noah's parents for the last 9 years while Noah has been at school and on a LDS mission, Hobbs has always had a special love for Noah. When we moved in with Noah's parent in May of 2007, Grams and Yampa said that Levi brought new life to Hobbs. Levi LOVED him playing with Hobbs. He would step on him all the time, and every night Levi would feed Hobbs his cheese, which was how he took his medicine. The week that Hobbs went to Heaven Noah's parent and sister slept on the couch by HObbs because he wouldn't move. Then the next night Noah and Levi went to say good-bye to Hobbs. They were able to take him for one last walk and when they told Levi to say good-bye to Hobbs Levi said, "bye Hobbs" with a smile. I don't know that Levi realizes what death is, but he is still telling us a few weeks later that Hobbs died. So goodbye Hobbs we sure love you!

The End of July

2008-07-30T21:26:00.007-06:00

I have to say, that it is much different being away from Utah for the 24th of July. No fireworks. No day off work. No barbaque. However, for the 24th of July I did get a visit from my friend Erin from Utah. I was sooooooooooo happy and excited for her to come for 3 days. Mostly we just hung out with my kids, but it was so nice to be together again. We are so much alike. We LOVE LOVE LOVE American Idol, and doing homaking kinds of stuff, and hiking. Thanks for sending her Chad, I definately owe you one. Here are pictures of the highlights.

These two pictures are of a hike we went on the St. Mary's glacier (and I stole them from Erin's blog-thanks!). It was one of the highlights of my summer because I love to hike, and I love beautiful places. It was about a mile hike, which was half up rocks, and half along a river with a bunch of waterfalls. I had Ruby in the baby carrier and Erin carried a bag with water and lunch. Levi walked the entire way, and loved it. Except for the chipmunks (which he calls Chip and Dales). He was scared of them and had to be held whenever one was remotely close to him. It was absolutely breathtaking. Worth the trip. It is a year-round glacier with a freezing cold lake at the bottom. The picture above was taken by some older women who walked by us and saw us with the kids and said "good for you guys" and asked if they could take our picture. The picture below is one of the waterfalls you pass on the way up.

While we were at home we started working on a 1000 piece puzzle, which we finished on Erin's last day here. This is a picture of Levi being "helpful" while Erin was working.

When I was in Utah in April Erin and I talked about making aprons when she came to visit. So we did. Here they are, they turned out pretty cute.We also had a camplfire in Noah's parents' backyard and roasted hotdogs and such things. Erin and I also made our first attempt at making potatoe salad, which was pretty tasty. Ruby loved watching the fire.

Aside from my fun with Erin, this month has brought a lot of growth in our little Ruby. She is so adorable and is getting so big fast. This month she got her first tooth (and second), has learned how to crawl on her hands and knees (instead of her army crawl), takes a tubby with no tubby seat, sleeps through the night (Hooray!!), and pulls herself up to standing on furniture. I can't believe that my little girl is getting so big. It is hard to imagine life without her. Levi still adores her. On Friday she followed him outside and he picked her up and put her on his train, and started pushing her around on our deck. Noah and I were up stairs and just heard all this laughing. We came down just in time to see her tumble off the train. But they are best friends.

The 4th of July!

2008-07-09T11:36:00.002-06:00

This was Ruby's first 4th of July and cousin Ashley was here. Noah had to work during the day, but made it to the fireworks. We had a barbaque at Grams house and then went to Georgetown for fireworks. Georgetown is a little town up in the mountains, and the sound of the fireworks is amazing when it rolls down the canyons in the mountains. It is so majestic and beautiful. I love the fourth of July. I am so grateful to live in this country where we are so abundantly blessed.

Cousin Ashley

2008-07-09T11:20:00.006-06:00

My Cousin Ashley Depew came to visit us this last week. She loves to take pictures of everything, so I got some amazing pictures. She is the sweetest girl ever. She is actually coming to college out here in the fall and we are so excited to see her more often. We had fun while she was here playing with the kids.

There is this amazing park in Highlands Ranch (a little town just East of us). Levi loves to go and play there, so we took Ashley to play one morning. The weather was beautiful, in the eighties.

This is Ruby in the man made creek. She loves to sit in it and slpash around.

Ruby and Ashley in the Creek!

This is Ashley and Levi running through the fountain. Levi was being a little timid, and just running around the edge of the fountain, so Ashley started running through with him. The water is freezing cold!!

Here is mommy and Ruby at the other fountain at the park.

This is LEvi climbing on the jungle gym. He loves doing this, and does really well. He is always the smallest kid that climbs to the top. Honestly, when he does this it scares me to death!

It is actually pretty tall. Levi is the highest one, towards the top!

That same say we went to the temple to the Denver Temple to take some pictures. The flowers there were gorgeous, and there were lots of butterflies and giant bees. The temple is closed for maintenance right now, so we had the grounds to ourselves. It was very peaceful.

SO Beautiful!!

Also so BEAUTIFUL!

My kidlets and me!

Ashley and my kidlets.

Ruby and her Cheetos!

Another park, and Levi using his muscles!

Our Beautiful Home

2008-07-09T11:15:00.003-06:00

I thought that I would post these pics (taken by my cousin Ashley) of our Hiking trip to Roxborough State Park. These pics are taken about 2 miles from our house. We truly like in a beautiful place, right at the foot of the mountains. So if you like hiking and come to visit, we will probably take you there.

THE ROCKIES

2008-07-09T10:13:00.002-06:00

On June 30 we went to a Colorado Rockies Baseball game. It was so fun. Our relator gave us tickets for 4, so the four of us and Grams went. We had a good time cheering on our Rockies (who lost after having a 8-3 lead-pathetic). That is one fabulous thing about living in Denver, there are a lot of sports. Once when the Rockies scored a home run, it was too loud for Levi and he covered his ears. He was being so funny that all the people around us were watchihng him and laughing. He is so full of life! Oh, and as you can see in the pictures, Ruby couldn't go to the baseball game without her Cheetos!!