Isabella is 4!!

Yesterday was Isabella's birthday, and I had every intention of putting her on here yesterday, but I have lost my adapter to put pictures on my computer, so I will have to add pictures later. I am going to borrow an idea from a friend (thanks Viki) and give 4 reasons that I love and appreciate Izzy.

1. Isabella approaches everything in life like a cheerleader. She is a little dingy(no offense to those cheerleaders), but she just loves everyone and everything. Everything is "her favorite", and everyone is her "best friend."

2. Isabella is very appreciative of things that she gets. She always says thank you. Usually followed by "I love it."

3. I love Isabella, because she has helped to heal my heart just a little.

4. I love Isabella, because she gives the best hugs, and is always ready to say "I love you".

We had a little family party for her last night - she had a princess cake, and got training wheels, a horn for her bike, some tinkerbell toys, a backpack, and a purse and a dolly from her grandma.
My present for her birthday, was that she came to me and said "I am too big to wear Pull-Ups." She went to bed in big girl underpants, and woke up dry. Whoo, hoo!

Merry Christmas from the Weinands!

We are sending cards out this year, but they don't seem to be in a big hurry to get done. Hopefully everyone is healthy, happy, and doing good things. We are doing our usual, busy, busy, busy. All of us are healthy, and hopefully are doing a few good things. Here's hoping everyone has a great Christmas.

Letter to EmmaLee

My dearest little girl,

Tomorrow you would be eight. As I envision what might have been, I see us excitedly getting ready for your big day. Your grandmas are here, and your beautiful white dress is all ready and waiting. You are beautiful and full of fun, a joy to all who know you. We are all happy and enjoying our time together.

Instead, today, I got the chance to attend someone else's baptism, and I couldn't go. I was filled with sadness as I knew that this is just one more thing that I don't get to do with you. Everywhere I look, I seem to see children that would be your age, and wonder what you would be like; what you are like now. Are you happy, do you see your grandpas, and do they take care of you or is it the other way around? Did you get to know your sisters before they were born, or is that just one more thing that we won't get to do on this side? Do you get to look in on us from time to time - do you think of me? And one more thing, why doesn't heaven have facebook? ;)

We have tried every year to make your birthday a celebration of you. We do something fun as a family, and remember the fun things we did with you for the short time you were with us. Tomorrow is Sunday, so this year it is going to be a quiet day doing our usual Sunday things. I am eternally grateful for the gospel, because of it, I still have you, no matter what. I just wish, well, I wish a lot of things that aren't to be at this time. Just know that I think of you so often, my beautiful girl. I am trying to teach your sisters about you, so that they will know you like I know you when we are all together again. I love you so much, and miss all the things that we should be doing together. My one wish for you this year is that you are happy, as you always were.

Love, Mom

Pictures with Izzy

Izzy was a good sport and let Mom pretend to be a photographer. She was so cooperative and had a great big smile despite the cold wind.

Rachel, however, was not as tolerant.

She was much better with Izzy to keep her warm, so we moved into the house.

Lovin' this baby face..

My little Rachel is such a funny girl. She is always making faces, she has such a cute smile, but prefers to show me her monster face. She is very expressive, so it is easy to see what kind of mood she is in.

Holding everyone a little closer..

I didn't have a picture or anything to blog with today, but I needed somewhere to write what I was thinking. Today I learned that a Dr. that I worked with, and who took care of my children, lost her husband in an accident. I am heartsick for this sweet woman, she has three small children, all of whom have lost their daddy too. I have spent the afternoon thinking about my life, the experiences that I have had, and selfishly wondering if I have it worse or better. Five (yes, five) years ago when my little Em left us, I had a hard time thinking that happiness was any part of the future. As time has gone on, some days I have felt guilty that I was happy without her being here. Today I am just glad that I have what I have, that I have the opportunity to see my little one again, and I am eternally thankful for my best friend who is still by my side. So for tonight, I will hold them all a little closer, for an instant longer, and thank my Father in Heaven for the blessings that I hold dear. Thanks to for all the friends that have helped me come leaps and bounds from where I was five years ago.

This weeks happenings...

This week brought our first snow storm. I am not ready for all this snow this early. I miss not having a few weeks of the pretty fall colors. Many trees here in Gillette just fell over from the weight of the snow. We have worked hard to keep all our animals warm and cozy with the winter weather. All I can say is thank heavens for hairy cows who like the cold - they are easy to take care of. Our chickens have started laying eggs again - one gives us a double yolker every other day. (even a triple yolker once) I also talked Izzy into taking a nap on Friday, she thinks that she

doesn't have to anymore. Rachel got up to come tell me Izzy was sleeping with her toys - can you find her in this picture. Even right next to her, it was kind of hard to see her. Reminded me of that scene in ET. We haven't really done anything too exciting - just trying to keep warm. Chad has the flu this weekend - got the shot on Thursday and was sick on Friday, so we are hoping to keep it just to him, and that he will get well soon. Have a good weekend everyone!

Still Here..

Well, once again I have neglected my blog far longer than was ever intended. This summer just flew by, and left me in the dust wondering where the time went. We accomplished a lot this summer - namely, Brian finished his Master's Degree. He has received his diploma, so I guess it is official. We added a few more animals to our menagerie, and are loving every minute of it. We hatched some chicks from our incubator (twice)

and one of our peacock hens hatched a few of her own eggs. We also got two miniature cows to eat down our weeds and in turn we will eat them eventually. :)

We went to a few family reunions and had some friends stop to visit us on the way through. We spent a few days on the boat, and wish as always that there were a few more days to boat.

The kids are now back in school and doing well so far. (Their first day of school pictures are updated on the blog too.) Chad is in Junior High now and has suprised his Mom on his organizational skills, and hasn't gotten lost once. Abby and Kaleb moved up a year in school too, Abby is now a 6th grader and loves being the big kid on campus for one more year. Kaleb is in 3rd grade and is enjoying it. He is reading at a 5th grade level, so is a challenge to his teacher to keep busy. Izzy started Preschool for her speech and loves every minute of it. Rachel is Mom's big helper and is sure that she should be going some place too. Brian and I are just the same - just trying to keep up with the kids and have a few minutes for us too. Brian is excited to start teaching his night woods class this week, and I am signed up to take a photography class next month, so we are still learning and doing too. Hope everyone is well and happy. Hope you enjoy looking at the pictures.

Hello again..

We seem to have lost track of time over the last months and things have just gotten away from us. The blog unfortunately took a back seat as time has just sped by. We have been busy getting

school done - both Brian and the kids. Brian will be done with his master's degree this month and we are all so proud of him and excited to have all his attention again. We have added a few more to our animal family, and have plans for a few more in the near future.

Izzy holding our new baby chicks - they are her babies.Brian has adopted a few peacocks that live with the chickens.

The kids are growing by leaps and bounds, I now have a son who is taller than me. I know, not all that difficult, but he is only 13. We will have a kid in junior high also - terrifying to me. I am just glad Brian will be there to help if needed. We have celebrated a few birthdays and holidays - still seeing that we love each other each and every day. We hope to hear from all our friends sometime soon, and will have to see who we can see this summer with our travels. Abby went out and attempted some photography so that we could share a few of our doings with you.

Rachel feeding our pygmy goats - Daisy and Duke.

We love our life on the "farm" and would love to share it will all who want to visit us - you are always welcome.

A Mom and Dad Vacation

Last week, Brian and I had the opportunity to go to Las Vegas and meet our friends from college for a little R&R. We had such a great time. My mom and grandma came and watched our kids for us, and kept watch over the homefront. While we were in Vegas, we stayed with my sister and used her car for the constant driving that seems to be part of the life in Vegas. We had great fun going to the Tournament of Kings in the Excalibur - sadly, our king did not win, but it was not for lack of cheering from our section. We did lots of shopping, or should I say looking? Brian and I had a caricature drawn of us - we decided that we make pretty cute cartoons. We enjoyed all the food experiences that you can get in a large city - Connie introduced us to sushi. I actually liked what I had, to my great surprise. We always have to eat at In-N-Out burger, and we also got to frequent a little bakery called the Cupcakery. The cupcakes were great, and it was fun to see all the different kinds that were available. Of course as things go, we missed the one year anniversary by one day, so the day after we left was free cupcake day. To top off our stay, we were able to do an early morning session at the temple before we left. It was nice to feel the peace at the temple, and get renewed to go home.

Thanks to everyone who made the trip so fun. Thanks a ton to my mom and grandma who had the lions share of the work to do for the trip - my kids love them and love to spend time with them. Thanks to Karen and Cordell for inviting us - do it again next year? Thanks to Connie for giving us a place to stay, a car to drive, and fun hours of Wii. Thanks too to Brian for being a great sport and taking time off to have fun.

Our 14th Anniversary

Yesterday was our 14th anniversary. Somedays it is hard to imagine that we have stuck together this long, and others seem like we have just always been together. I have to give Brian credit, as he stuck with me through the thick and thin - I think that we have had a lot of both in our married lives. Brian is my best friend and I love him so much. I love that he is such a great dad, and he tries hard to keep us all happy. He is very thoughtful and is always mindful of me and what he thinks I might want or need. You're the best Brian! For our anniversary, we went out to dinner at Applebee's and on our regular date night tour through Walmart. Brian also got me flowers - a bouquet of my favorites , daisies.

Get On the BandWagon

Hi all,
I felt like all who read my blog probably would be interested in something that I found out about today. Congress is passing a bill that will prohibit any selling of goods for kids 12 and under that have not been thoroughly tested by the FDA for lead. That means no more little craft store goodies such as cute barrettes, no more DI purchases, in fact, DI will probably be put out of business. No more garage sales, etc. Please go to this site to let your representatives know that this is not what you want. http://capwiz.com/americanapparel/issues/alert/?alertid=12274476 This was not really advertised that this was happening and the bill passed with little to no naysayers. They are calling the day this goes into effect National Bankruptcy Day. I know most of you take advantage of the great deals you can find here and there at garage sales, and I even like to have the occasional garage sale to pass the deals along. That will no longer be allowed - so where will all our junk go? Straight to the dump - What happened to going green? Hope this enlightens a few of you.

A Sigh of Relief

I have to admit that I am glad that Christmas is over. I feel as if I held my breath for the last month, hoping that maybe I would get all my projects done, dealing with new projects that popped up, and trying to keep a good attitude through it all. Well, the projects all got done, and I know I could have had a little better attitude, but despite it all, December has come to an end. I am thankful for all those that sent Christmas cards out - I love seeing how your families are growing and hearing what everyone is up to. Thanks also for the little notes of encouragement from those that know what a hard month December is for me. I made it through another season without Em and some years are better than others. The highlight of our Christmas, was that we decided to get our negatives printed onto discs at Walgreens. It was an expensive gift to ourselves but more than worth it. We found we had more pics of EmmaLee than we knew and have had so much fun looking at all the pics of our trips and adventures with our family. The favorite gift was Brian's digital frame that we have loaded with a ton of pictures and we all enjoy watching them flip through.

As it is time again to make a goal for the new year, I have decided that my goals for this year are that I am going to try to be nicer to my husband, and that I am going to try to finish all my un-finished projects. I am hoping that I will be able to accomplish both, and do so without too much struggle. I hope that all of your goals will be met this year too. Happy New Year to all! I am attaching a "the way we were" photo that we had fun looking at.