Happy 8th Birthday Tan-Tan!

Today my little man is turning 8 years old! I can't believe how fast time has flown by. Tanner will always hold a special place in our hearts because he fulfilled our dream of becoming parents. Eight years ago today, he put smiles on our faces and they have been there ever since. It was one of the best days of our lives. After two miscarriages, he truly was a gift from our Heavenly Father.

Tanner is such a loving kid. We couldn't have asked for a better brother for Troy and Carter. He is so kind to them (most of the time) and is always looking out for them. He is such a tender heart. It seems like he always knows just what to do or say to make your day! We love him more than anything!

I can't believe that he will be getting baptized this Saturday. I am very excited for him. He has been looking forward to this day for a long time. He also is very excited to be in Cub Scouts and will start this week.

We love you Nanny!

Tribute to my sweet grandma!

This morning, my sweet grandma left this earth to return to our Father in Heaven. I know that she was welcomed with open arms by my Papa and my aunt Lisa. She will be missed dearly. I Love You Grandma!

BEVERLY HASLAM LAVIN

LOVING MOTHER AND GRANDMOTHER

Our much loved mother, grandmother and great grandmother, passed away peacefully April 3, 2009 at the home of her daughter after a prolonged illness.

She was born January 17, 1928 to Lorene and William A. Haslam. Married her high school sweetheart, Kenneth Lavin in the Salt Lake LDS temple on May 27, 1949. They spent 55 happy years together until the time of his death in 2004. They were the proud parents of four children. Bev was a faithful member of the LDS church, who held many callings in her ward including Relief Society President. She also served for many years, with her husband, in the branch presidency of the Doxey Hatch Convalescent Center.

Bev loved life and will always be remembered for her kind and gentle nature and her appreciation for all of God’s creations. She was the tireless caregiver for her daughter and husband for many years, always putting their needs before her own. Many were the appreciative recipients of her kind acts of love and compassion. Bev’s greatest joy was spending time with her family on camping trips, vacations to Disneyland and the annual family Christmas Party at her house. Her house was a showplace that was always immaculate. She had a special talent for decorating and making her home cozy and inviting.

Bev had a beautiful alto voice which was recognized at the age of four when she began singing on the radio. Her passion was to someday sing with the Tabernacle Choir but circumstances did not permit her dream to be realized. She sang in the Winder 10th ward choir for many years. She had the ability to play the piano by ear and could sit down and play any tune by request.

She will be greatly missed by all who loved her dearly.

Beverly is survived by sons Bob (Jo) Lavin, Randy (Leslie) Lavin, and daughter Suzanne (Tom) Hofhine, 11 grandchildren and 17 great grandchildren and her precious Yorkie Day-zee. She was preceded in death by her parents, husband, daughter Lisa, brother Myron, and triplet granddaughters.

The family expresses a special heartfelt appreciation to all who cared for mom in her last days including her loving daughter Suzanne and the compassionate Hospice caregivers, Dina, Mike and Rebecca of Rocky Mountain Health Care who ensured her best possible quality of life.

Funeral services will be held Tuesday, April 7, 2009.

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Dear Clint~

Thank you so much for being such an incredible husband. You have been so good to me: always there when I need you the most. Thanks for making this pregnancy good for me. You always seem to know just what to do whether it be cook dinner, watch the kiddos, clean the house, let me take a nap, rent a chick flick for me or just let me vent to you. I really appreciate it! THANKS THANKS THANKS

Thank you for being an incredible father to our three boys! You are such a fun dad to them always playing games and making them laugh. I am so glad that they have a great example like you to look up to and to follow after. Thanks for always being their teacher and giving them the knowledge of right and wrong. They love you like crazy. I am so excited to have our little girl and to be able to watch the Daddy/Daughter connection that you will have. I already know that she is going to adore you.

Your mom needs a big pat on the back for teaching you to be a gentleman, a loving husband, a caring daddy, a great caretaker, and have a giving heart. She has done a great job raising you:)

You are an amazing person and I am so lucky to be able to spend the rest of eternity with you. Happy 32nd Birthday!

I love you
Shari

Happy Birthday to our Best Friend!

We love you!

The Party Zone!

Today, we had Tanner and Troy's friend birthday party! The boys chose a Sports Party. I let them each invite 4 of their friends and of course their cousins. With Clint there and my two little nieces to help out, the party turned out better than I expected.

We played some balloons games!

We played some obstacle games!
We ate pizza, drank Kool-aid and had Popsicles.

The Winning Team
Carter, Tanner and Will

Boys, Boys, Boys!

The two birthday boys opening their gifts.


It was fun to see all of these little boys get so excited watching Tanner and Troy open their gifts. My kids were pretty lucky, they got some cool gifts!

Baby Shower!

Last Thursday night, Hilarie with the help from my mom and sister-in-laws threw me a baby shower. And once again these girls went way overboard! I didn't get all that many pictures of the night, but I did get some.

We had the most yummy food! Chicken salad sandwiches (to die for), homemade oreos, veggies and of course a chocolate fountain with lots of goodies to dip in.

Hil working hard in the kitchen getting everything ready.

Adri, me, Audrey, Kingston and Heather

Ariane and Brandi

After all the cute clothes that I got, my little girl is going to be one of the best dressed kids in this neighbor! I can't wait till she is here and can start wearing all of these darling outfits. How much fun it was to get girlie things for a change. I am so thankful for my family and friends who came and for all of the wonderful stuff. THANKS THANKS THANKS

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today is my sweet mom's birthday. She is one the few angels left on this earth. She is one of the most giving people I know. She would gladly give you the shirt off of her own back, if that meant that you were more comfortable. I have a lot to learn from her. She is one of the best friends!

Thanks mom, for being an great example for me and my family to look up to and to follow. I know the last few months with grandma haven't been the easiest for you. However, I do know that you have many people in Heaven looking down at you with huge smiles on their faces, So proud of what you are doing with our dear grandma. We all appreciate the things you do for her, including all of the little things. You are definitely earning yourself some bonus points.

I hope that you had a great birthday! WE LOVE YOU!

Happy Birthdays!

This past week we celebrated my birthday and Troy's. It was a week long celebration!

TUESDAY: Lunch with some good friends from our old neighborhood. Kay, Angela, my mom and myself all have birthdays in March.

THURSDAY: Troy got to celebrate his birthday at preschool! He was the special helper all day long. I made a poster all about Troy.



That night Good 'Ole Hilarie got all the neighborhood girls and my sister-in-laws together for dinner and a movie. I think only me and Amelia were in the theater that night though, no one else laughed but us (thanks Amelia for the laughs). Thanks Hil for planning it! You are the best!


FRIDAY: My sweet mom watched the boys for us, so Clint could take me to dinner!


SATURDAY: My Birthday! Clint surprised me with plans for the day. He took me to breakfast then we went shopping. That's right Clint went shopping! He bought me some shoes and some clothes, then we ended up at Carter's looking for baby clothes. I told Clint that we couldn't leave the store until he picked out a outfit for the baby. Deep down I know he loved it:) Oh Yeah, Clint got us a new camera for mine and his birthday. I LOVE it! Thanks hun for the whole weekend. I was spoiled. I Love you!

Tanner had a soccer game that afternoon and then we ended up at the park.

That night my family all went up to Litza's for dinner. My mother-in-law and her hubby came along with us. I have never seen a restaurant so excited to see anyone leave before. It was a rough night for all the kiddos. We went back to my parent's house for dessert.


SUNDAY: Troy's Birthday! The balloon fairy came again! Troy was so excited to wake up to a room full of balloons.


My parents had everyone over for breakfast. We had all of Troy's favorites: Bacon, Sausage, Waffles, Omelets and juice. Thanks Mom and Dad! He got so many great gifts from everyone. THANKS! I told him I would make his favorite dinner that night, but he insisted on Panda Express, so that's what he got.


I love you Troy Troy! You have the brightest little smile that makes your eyes sparkle. You are such a sweet boy always thinking of others. We don't know what we would do without you. Thanks for being our buddy. Happy 5th Birthday!

Troy

Some of the things that Troy usually says in his prayers:

"Please bless the dads and the kids at the dump, that they can get a house and everything."
(Apparently only men and children are homeless)

"Please bless grandpa's rhino and the four-wheelers."

"Please bless that the baby will be nice to mama. Please bless that the baby will stop pinching mama's bum."
(Every once in a while the my siatic nerve gets pinched and shoots pains down my one leg. Troy thinks it is the baby pinching my bum.)

Troy~Mommy loves the sweet prayers that you say and look forward to them everyday! Thanks for helping Carter to say his. Your are a great big brother to him. I Love You Buddy!

Carter

I always think that I will remember cute things that my kiddos say, but rarely do. Lately I have been writing them down.

Here are some of Carter's latest sayings:

Mom: "Carter, you are a smarty pants!"
Carter: "No I'm not."
Mom: "Mommy thinks you are."
Carter: "Carter thinks I'm Carter!"


"Mommies have dirl (girl) babies and Daddys have boy babies"


Troy: "Carter, do you want me to help you with that?" (Turning on the TV with the remote)
Carter: "No, I'm fine."
Troy: "You know how to do it?" (Acting shocked)
Carter: "Yeah. I can do it. Troy, I can also color."
Troy: "You can!" (Acting totally shocked)
Carter: "Yep"
Troy: "Good job Carter!"

If Carter is wearing a long sleeve shirt and I go to put a coat on him, he will hurry and pull away from me and say "Do you want me to have the best popcorn?" (what that means I will never know) I will respond with "yes" and then he will say "Then I have to do this." (He will then pull his sleeves down and hold them while I put on his coat.)

Mom: "Carter, Avery is coming over to play."
Carter: "Is she the little girl that has a bum bum on her pee pee?"
Mom: "WHAT?"

(It took me forever to figure out what he was talking about. The last time Kelly and Avery were over, Kel took her to the potty and I guess Carter had followed her in there and watched. Since we only have boy babies in this family, that is all he has seen. So when he saw Avery he didn't know what to think. Things are going to change when his sister arrives.)

I love little kids and all the funny things they say!

Valentines Weekend!

My Valentines weekend started out on Friday afternoon with my four favorite Valentines surprising me with flowers! I got a dozen red roses and a dozen white tulips. So pretty! Later on, Tanner (my tender heart) got all dressed up and took a single red rose and a card over to my mom. My mom's eyes filled up with tears. Tanner is such a sweetheart and is going to make the BEST husband someday. He is always doing little things like this on his own.

That evening we got to babysit my sweet little nephew, Bentley. He was so much fun. Tanner got to be the big helper that evening and feed him his bottle while Troy and Carter helped me feed him his cereal. We love you Bentley!



Saturday morning, Clint surprised us with breakfast in bed. Quite the surprise, he is usually the one who sleeps in. Thanks hun! My sweet mother-in-law watched the kids for us that afternoon while we went out to dinner. Outback=Yummy!

The rest of the evening we delivered all of our Valentines and then watched my cute kids excitedly run to the door to get theirs. They once again were spoiled by my parents and my brother and sister-in-laws and their cousins! Thanks Guys!

Clint did our Valentines shopping for the boys and got them their own pair of Four-wheeling pants! They are the cutest things ever.


All in all we had a great weekend!
Happy Valentines Day!