Engagement/Family Pictures

Rachel & Spencer

My beautiful engagement ring

Our family of EIGHT!

Rachel and kids

Spence and kids

Rachel & Spencer

♥ I love this man ♥

Kesley

Ashley

Dallin

Max

Hallie

Audrey

I said YES!!!!!!!!!

On Wednesday night..... Spencer propsed! He had a beautiful dinner planned at his house complete with red rose petals on the table, chilled wine, beautiful flowers and candles, he put so much thought and effort into planning the whole thing. It was SO romantic...


Then he dropped to one knee and with both of us crying, asked me to marry him. A long stem red rose had the most beautiful engagement ring tied to it.... I was SO overwhelmed with emotion. It was an amazing moment!


So we are getting married on April 20th! I know, that's really soon! It will just be a small ceremony and lunch here in Utah, then we are taking off to Cancun for our honeymoon and getting married again on the beach for fun! We are SO excited!


This is my best friend. I am so excited to become his wife and spend the rest of our lives together. He is so kind and thoughful... he reminds me of my dad. I am VERY lucky and feel so blessed we found each other!

Quick update...

Life is pretty busy, so here's the quick list of what we've been up to since the Holidays...

• New year's came.... I love the fresh start o a brand new year. It feels like a clean slate to work on. And the anticipation of what may come in the whole next year is always kind of exciting.
• Hallie turned FIVE and all of a sudden seems so grown up. For her birthday she wanted to go to Training Table, so Spence and I took all 6 kids to dinner and then had treats and opened presents afterwards at his house. My computer crashed and I lost the few photos I remembered to take...very sad about that...
• Audrey is finally staying in her bed when I put her in it at night. We went through a phase of her coming out at least a dozen times every night. It was rediculous. She's at last learning that bed time means TIME to stay in BED!
• We took the four older kids to see Avitar on the I-Max on MLK day...it's such a fabulous movie and they all enjoyed the experience. I love days off of work.
• Kesley was grounded the whole month of January. Is that reallya punishment for her or more for me!!!! but she was pretty complient and hopefully is learning her lesson!
• Dallin's birthday is in 2 days... he will turn TEN. He's getting a Nintendo DS and I seriously think he might self combust when he opens it. Very excited to give it to him.
• This weekend is Valentines and I get to spend it with Spencer... I can hardly wait! AND it's a holiday weekend with President's day. YAY!!! Love, love, love time off work (it's SO extremely stressful right now!!!)

More updates soon....

Holidays 2009

Happy Birthday Audrey

Sweet little Audrey turned 3 today... she was sick for part of the day, but wanted McDonalds for dinner. I think she ate 3 fries and 1 bite of chicken nuggets. I wish I coud have forseen that, I would have suggested something a little better! Anyway, she opened her presents and was SO excited about her pink princess dress-up set... it's similar to a white dress up set Hallie got for her birthday last January (Audrey always wants to wear it). Now she has her own and she's so happy! I can't believe my baby is now 3 years old...

I am thankful for...

1. My children (even when they are naughty and I think I can't do this another second). I sincerely love them and love being their mom.
2. Spencer... where have you been my whole life? You are so good to me and I am amazed daily that you are a part of my life. You make me so happy. Thank you... I love you.
3. Our health. We are so blessed to be healthy and strong. I am very grateful.
4. My job. Even when I can't hardly stand it. I am very thankful to be employed, work with people I enjoy, and have health insurance.
5. This country... it isn't perfect, but we are so blessed to have the freedom of making our own choices. And I am thankful to those who continue to fight and are willing to die for that right.
6. My family & friends. After all I have been through over the past year (and more), I am so appreciative of the love and support I have received.
7. Opportunities. Sometimes the greatest blessings come when we least expect them and in the most unusual ways. I am learning to always be open to change and never let opportunities pass me by...
8. Time. Each day is a gift and I am learning to appreciate the expereinces and memories each day brings.
9. Simple things. It doesn't take much for me to be happy and content. I am grateful for the small things in my life that make the journey so much sweeter. And for those in my life that do small things that let me know they care and love me.
10. The Lord. He has blessed me with the above and in so many additional ways...

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Riding in the car...

This morning as I was driving to work with Miss Hallie and Miss Audrey, there was a commerical on the radio about the dangers of secondhand smoke. Hallie asked me what "hand-smoke" was, so I explained the danger of breathing the air around someone who is smoking. I told her about getting the smoke in your lungs and that is isn't good for your body. She thought about that for a minute and then told me "we shouldn't eat marshmallows anymore either". What????? "Yeah, they get smoke in them when we roast them in the campfire, so they aren't good for our bodies." LOL... after I quit laughing, we talked about how marshmallows are ok... and hotdogs too. I love how little kids think... so cute.

Happy Halloween!!!

Hallie as Batgirl & Audrey as Tinkerbelle... at their pre-school costume parade.

My cute girls.


All ready for trick or treating.

Audrey was SO tired... she was not happy about posing for pictures.

Hallie loved her costume... she came up with it herself out of the blue. I didn't even know she knew who batgirl was...

Scary Skeleton Dallin. He was so excited about painting his face... turned out pretty cool!

Quick visit to grandma's.

Pirate Spencer =)

Gypsy Pirate Rachel (love the tattoo Spence drew on me)

Ready to storm the neighborhood...

Sorting and eating the candy

Dallin and Max spent over an hour going through their candy... picking & exchanging it.