Teething

Aurora is teething.  I keep checking her gums to see if a tooth has popped through, but no luck yet!  The poor girl has not been herself the past couple of days.  She loves chewing on stuff, I am sure if helps her gums!

It is Great to be Eight (almost)

 Amy also took some pictures of Wilson for his upcoming baptism!  Wilson will be eight in February, and so he has chosen to be baptized.  His baptism will be on March 2.  He lost a tooth 15 minutes before we went to get his pictures taken...he is missing a lot of teeth right now! I can't believe he is almost eight.   

 I remember explaining to Wilson that the Holmes' would come home from their mission the July after he got baptized (it is not easy trying to explain to a five year old how long three years is!)  I can't believe those three years have past.

 Wilson is so excited for his baptism.  It has been great to focus our FHE's on preparing him for baptism.  He is working on memorizing The Articles of Faith, and has started attending Cub Scouts (a couple of weeks early).

Wilson was excited to get his first suit, so he could be like his dad and wear it to church!  We are grateful that Aunt Becky could take in the pants, so that they don't fall off of him (my boys are so skinny!)

Wilson is gaining a testimony of the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ...there is nothing more important that Ken and I need to be teaching him right now.... I am so grateful for my own testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and there is nothing better than to watch Wilson gain his own!

Aurora is 6 months

Amy took some pictures of Aurora.  These are a few she sent me, I can't wait to get them all! Aurora is such a pleasure.  Time is flying by way too fast, I can't believe she is already 6 months old!

Happy Birthday

Great picture of the princess and her adoring daddy!

Ken turned 41, and Aurora 6 months old!  We went to Sushi Monster with Eric & Heidi, and Bart & Shell to celebrate!  Aurora was her usual happy content self:)  The boys got to hang out with their cousins...a big thanks to Evan for watching all the kids!

Sick, Sick, Sick

 We have been so healthy this winter....that is until 5:15 pm last night.  Josef came to me and said his stomach hurt...then he threw up, about 45 minutes later Holden did the same, and about two hours after that I got it too!  We had a very busy night all three of us!  So far Ken (he is not 100%), Wilson, and Aurora have not had it, and I really hope they don't get it!  Needless to say today has been full of laundry, washing hands, and trying to keep these two little guys hydrated.  I am glad they both finally crashed, hopefully they will wake up feeling much better! I HATE WHEN MY KIDS ARE SICK!!!!!

Our SuperStar

 This picture reminds me of a picture I have of Wilson (it is somewhere...I need to find it!)  He is sitting up in a Ute's shirt.....if I find it I will post it too!

I can't get enough of my sweet little girl (if you look at our blog that should be no surprise!)  I love this stage, she can sit up by herself, and is really starting to play!

After I posted this post, I went to check on her....she must have tired herself out...all that playing!

Holden's Talk

Holden gave a wonderful talk today in Primary.  He did such a great job.  This video is the story of our life here in the Portlock Home....complete silence is almost impossible!
Just in case you can't hear or understand what he is saying this is the text of his talk....

My life is a gift; my life has a plan.

My life has a purpose; in heav’n it began.

My choice was to come to this lovely home on earth

And seek for God’s light to direct me from birth.

(words to “I Will Follow God’s Plan,” Children’s Songbook, 164–65)

  These words teach us that we lived with Heavenly Father before we came to earth. We are His children. Heavenly Father asked His Son, Jesus Christ, to create the earth. The earth was prepared so we could come and receive a body. We were also given agency, and we chose to come to earth and learn to follow Heavenly Father’s plan.

Heavenly Father loves us. He has given us His word—the scriptures—so we can learn about His plan. If we follow His plan, we will be happy on earth and return to live with Him someday.



Terra Nova Gallery

 We went to see Brittany's paintings at the Terra Nova in Provo.  She was doing a demonstration, and she was nice enough to let Wilson paint.  He painted the beginnings of some trees.  It was fun to watch him paint, and it was great to see Brittany and David.  Brittany's painting are beautiful, there was one that reminded me of the the beautiful mountains in Farmington at dusk!

Brittany giving Wilson some tips!

Wilson proud of his contribution!

More Snow Day FUN:)

The boys finally ventured out into the snow this afternoon, there is SO MUCH SNOW!  It is pretty cold too, so I don't think they will last very long...but we will see!

Josef was just banging at the door crying.  His glove got, "stuck in the SNOW!"  I was surprised all he wanted was another glove, and out he went!

 Josef fell over trying to get into "the maze entrance" that his brothers had made!

Snow Day!

 At 6 AM this morning, the phone rang....Davis School District cancelling school...SNOW DAY!  Ken was already out shoveling the snow.  It took him 90 minutes to get home from work last night, and 60 minutes this morning...the trip is usually about 20 minutes.  We have between 1 and 2 feet of snow!  The boys were so excited when I told them it was a snow day!

Cheerio Time!

This morning I decided to try cheerios with Aurora.  She has been great putting things in her mouth, so why not try something that will taste good!  It is going to take a little effort, but she is on her way to feeding herself:)

So Many New Tricks!

Aurora has gotten really good at focusing on something she wants, and then somehow getting the object! She is one determined little girl:)

Aurora can sit up unassisted for about one minute, she can roll from her tummy to her back, she can scoot on her back, she can also put her toutie in her mouth!

Aurora

Aurora is getting so BIG!  She loves to sit up (this isn't a good picture of her sitting up, because really she is just leaning her:), and always tries to chew on her feet!  She also loved chewing on her tulle tutu!

GeoTrax

Josef got a GeoTrax Batman train to go with the Geotrax the boys already have.  I can't count the amount of times I help them build it, and pick it up in a week!  This time we tried to use all of the pieces, and we did!  It kept the four boys entertained, and even kept Aurora entertained for a little while!

He is a SUNBEAM

I can't believe that Josef is a Sunbeam today!  He is so excited to go to Primary like his big brothers.  Josef has grown up so much.  He loves to pray, and thinks every meal and family prayer is his turn.  He ALWAYS prays for the missionaries (and informs anyone that didn't pray for them in their prayer!)  He prays that they will, "be safe, and have fun teaching the Gospel."  He is very mischievous,  and is often found to be the mastermind of many mishaps! He won't go to sleep at night until I have tickled his face, and can be very kind and loving.  He looks up to his brothers, and misses them when they are at school. We are blessed to have Josef in our family!

The boys got some advice from Lincoln & Jefferson!

Allison & Parker

It was great to meet baby Parker this morning!  It is amazing how little a four day old baby is...and really Parker isn't small, he started out over 9 lbs, and 22 inches long!  Allison is doing great too.  We are so excited to have another addition to our extended family.  Aurora is a lucky girl to have James and Parker...she is going to have to know how to play with boys, because there are not any girls insight!

The Great Outdoors

 We enjoyed all that the great outdoors has to offer today at Scheels:)  The boys loved getting close to all of the wild animals!  Wilson is a little ham...he was really afraid of all of those skunks!

 This one is for our coyote hunter Bart, and his little hunter Stoney!

Diet Coke

These pictures are for my Aunt Becky, and Erin.... she hasn't tasted it yet (just because Erin is in Detroit, and I haven't let Becky give her any yet:), but she is already drawn to it!

This afternoon, I was eating lunch with Aurora.  I went to put some clothes in the dryer, and came back to this!  Aurora had swatted my FULL can of diet coke.  I guess that beautiful silver can was just too much for her to resist!  The diet coke had leaked on to my clean floor...I had just finished steaming it!

I can't believe how big she is getting!

Future Photographers

Josef took this picture of Aurora...I can't count the amount of pictures that the boys take of Aurora...

 Holden took these pictures of Aurora today at lunch. I am not sure how he got these effects, but he did.  I even asked him how he did it, and he had no clue...I guess it just comes natural to him.

 Holden LOVES Aurora....I mean he is really obsessed with her.  Last night we were reading scriptures, and he was sitting with me and Aurora.  After he finished his verse, he just stared at her.  I asked him to follow along in the scriptures while others were reading and he said, "mom she is too beautiful to look at the scriptures!"

Aurora loves her tongue!

Happy 2013

 We went over to Eric and Heidi's for New Year's Eve.  Bart & Shell (Stone & Taft), and Ben & Becky came over too!  We had a delicious dinner, and the kids had a great time doing all of the activities Auntie and Annalise had planned!

 Heidi and Annalise had decorated so cute!

What a fun group...it took a lot of pictures to get one that didn't have someone moving:)  Wilson and Holden stayed for a sleepover, and they made it all the way to midnight!  Ken and I took Aurora and Josef home with us.  Josef got to have a sleepover with mom and dad - he slept on the floor by our bed, and Aurora slept in her comfy bed.

What a fun way to end a great year!