So many things to be Thankful for

Yes this is the season that we all start thinking about all the things that we are thankful for. This year has been an interesting one in that we have heard a lot of doom and gloom. Everyone is worried about the Economy, how to raise our children in such a world, and so on. Today I have had a little time to put things in perspective. So bear with me because this post is more for my benefit.

Let me just start with the fact that Billy and I have always been very blessed, but looking back at the last year I think has been an eye opener for me.

1. Last year at this time Billy was drenched with tons of work. I can remember wondering if I would ever get a date night out of him. He was however bringing in quite a few nice paychecks that we had a lot of fun with.

2. Last year I knew we were suppose to have another baby, but had come to the conclusion that it would probably never happen because I wanted Billy to also know it, and he was just not feeling it.

3. Last year we had quite a few loved ones who were going through a really hard time. It is really hard to watch those you love struggling.

This year.....

1. Because of the economy Billy's work has changed a bit. Many of his clients are really struggling, so the Rowley's aren't having as much fun spending money. (Before I go on, just let me note that we are doing fine. I don't want anyone picking the Rowley family as a Christmas project or anything. Lol.) We are however spending a lot of time together as a family, and let me just say, this is soooooo much better than not ever getting to see Billy. Our kids are learning that they can't have everything that they want, and the thing is they are being so great about it. Sometimes I don't think we give our kids credit. I feel like we are becoming so close as a family. WHAT A BLESSING FOR US!!!!

2. Billy came to me in May and said, "Karen I really feel like we are suppose to have another baby", OK, where did that come from? In Billy's defense his biggest worry on having another baby was my health. So I went and saw my doctor in June and he said everything looked surprisingly good. It didn't take long because in August we found out we were expecting our 5th. I guess this little spirit is ready to come. In our home we have lots of discussions on whether we get to have a boy or a girl. We also have lots of options for what I would call interesting names.

3. We have seen our loved ones lives change dramatically for the good. We have become closer to family members and have really gotten to see the best in the ones we love. It is amazing to see in our own lives how trials bring us closer to our Heavenly Father. I have gained a stronger testimony of our Heavenly Father's plan, the power of forgiveness, and I have really come to know for myself how much he loves each and every one of us. Even more though is seeing my children's testimonies strengthened. They have prayed and have seen our Heavenly Fathers mercies. They have such simple faith and it just reminds me that I need to become more like them. I have seen them serving each other more, playing with each other more, and developing relationships with each other that will carry on forever.


These are just a few of the blessings the Rowley's have received this year. Aren't we so blessed!!!!!!

To top it off tonight Billy and I got the chance to go to the temple and go to a sealing. Our friends Fawn and Devon Mortensen just adopted their 4th little boy. Tonight they got to bring all their little boys to the temple, and have Jack sealed for Time And All Eternity to them. I remember about a year ago they thought they weren't going to get Jack. Tonight in the temple though, there was no question that he belongs in the Mortensen Family. Thanks Fawn and Devon for letting us be there for your special day!

Now that is true happiness!!!!!!

SURPRISE!!!!

I just had a friend get after me for never posting about our pregnancy news. So here it is......

SURPRISE!!! WE'RE HAVING A BABY!!!!

We are expecting our 5th, (as if everyone didn't already know), and yes we are only having 1. I have the pictures to prove it. I will have to blog though about the weird dreams of multiples that I have had, (not right now though cause I just don't want to. Hee Hee)

I am thankful for.....

No I haven't blogged for awhile, and yes it is because I am a loser. No really I lost my cord to get my pictures off my camera. So someday I will blog about Karynn's birthday (happy birthday forever ago Karynn), Halloween and all the fun happenings around the Rowley household that I have yet to blog about.

Today I think my blog needs no pics.

Let me just start with the fact that my first 3 kids were potty trained at around the age of 3 (give or take a month or two). So I thought I was amazing the day that Garrett decided that he was a big boy and was easily potty trained right before he turned 2. Yes, I did feel like mother of the year for quite awhile over that. Well now Garrett is 3 1/2 and still has accidents at night. We are not talking little accidents. We are talking flood the place. (See I told you we didn't need pictures on this blog).

To go on with this exciting blog, Wednesday night we forgot to put a pull up on Garrett. Thursday morning he woke up soaked. Aargh!!! I stripped the bed and went to go put the bedding into the washer, but forgot I had already been woman of the year and started a batch.

Yesterday was a busy day, so I forgot laundry and went on with the day. This morning I woke up and went to go start laundry yet again and opened the washroom door. After puking my guts out, and rewashing what was already in the washer, I was able to wash Wednesday nights bedding. Yea for me, I am accomplished.

Then Garrett woke up this morning, and yes he wore a pull up last night. I did warn though that he could flood the place. So he got up, changed his clothes and ate Lemon Cake for breakfast while I washed his bedding from last night. Now I feel very accomplished.

So on the the point of this tale..... I am thankful for mattress covers, and the fact that I don't believe in sleep overs with friends. Garrett you can wet your bed till your 12 and none of your friends will ever know. (So long as your brother and sisters keep it quiet, but we have alot of dirt on them to, so I think you're safe).

The World according to Reagan

Funny story that happened this morning. I walked the kids to the bus and our next door neighbor Jaren who is in third grade runs up to Reagan. Here is the conversation....

Jaren: Reagan you are sitting by me on the bus today.

Reagan: Jaren I sat by you yesterday

Jaren: Sit by me today

Reagan: Jaren, we have to take turns so that everyone gets a chance to sit by me

Jaren: Oh, well can I sit by you tomorrow

Reagan: We will have to wait and see if it is your turn.

This is a perfect example of how Reagan sees her little self. Ofcourse everyone wants a turn to be a part of her magnificence. The thing that makes me laugh is people usually respond that way.

KIDS SAY THE DARNDEST THINGS

Well today I got a call from one of the members in the primary presidency in our ward. She wanted to talk to me about Dallin. "Okay this doesn't sound good". I just want to note that I realize that Dallin can be a bit energetic. (That is putting it mildly). Anyways thankfully that is not why she was calling. She wanted to tell me about a incident that happened at our ward's primary activity day last Saturday. Now I'm wondering if I should be really scared. He's probably telling all our family secrets. Well anyways here is the incident. There was about 10 kids sitting at a table with a few adults. One of the adults name is Valerie (this is the member of the presidency). Well Valerie decided to take a bite of one of her kids snack. Well they got all grossed out saying that she had cooties. She was like "Mom's don't have Cooties" Anyways Dallin pipes in "I'm pretty sure my mom has cooties, and so does my sister Reagan." Valerie then asks "Why do you say they have cooties?" Dallin replies, "Well one time I saw Reagan come out in just her shorts on, with no shirt, and I saw those cooties." He then proceeds "I'm not sure if Karynn has them or not, but I think my mom might have them too."

I love to hear the funny things kids think in their funny little brains.

Back To School

Well it seems crazy, but school is here. The kids were all ready to get back. I guess Billy and I are pretty boring. Karynn is starting 4th grade, Dallin 3rd, Reagan Kindergarten, and Garrett will be going to Preschool soon. This is a picture of the kids right before meet the teacher.

Karynn's teacher is Ms. Novotny. Karynn has loved the first couple days of school. She has informed me that Ms. Novotny is the coolest teacher ever. On the first day of school they had Messy Monday where they do science experiments. Karynn loved it. She was also excited that quite a few of her friends are in her class this year. GO KARYNN!!!!!!

Dallin's teacher is Mrs. Weinstein. He has really liked her so far. I wonder if bringing him to meet her with his Mohawk gave the wrong impression. Hee! Hee! Dallin is also excited that he tested into the ELP program. We hear they do some pretty cool stuff in there.

Reagan is a big bad Kindergartner now! She is soooooo excited to be in school with Karynn and Dallin. We were a bit worried about sending her all day with her having such a late birthday. We expected her to come home wasted. Boy were we wrong. She comes home jumping, chatty, and so excited. Her teacher is Ms. Moody. Ms. Moody was Dallin's 2nd grade teacher, and we love her. Reagan has also found a new best friend at school. The funny part is that Reagan is the shortest in the class and Addy is the tallest by far. She talks about her nonstop!

The first dy of school. The kids woke up so early. Billy woke up at 5:30 and Karynn was already dressed and ready! I guess maybe they were a bit excited. Garrett thought the whole morning that he was going to be able to go too. When the kids got on the bus, he cried and cried. He felt a bit shafted. He will start preschool in 2 weeks! He will love it!

Dallin's Baptism

Okay so I'm a little behind on my blog (Sounds about right). On July 12th Dallin was baptized. It was an awesome day. We had a lot of family and friends there to support him. We appreciate how everyone is so supportive of us. Billy did the baptizing, I did the confirmation (just kidding). No Billy did the confirmation as well. I sat on the bench and watched. We had a dinner afterwards. All in all it was a really great day. More than anything I just wanted to post the pictures. Oh but the cutest thing Dallin said to me afterwards was "Mom are all those big huge sins I had all washed away?" I was thinking "what did you do, kill someone?" Dallin's a pretty darn good kid. We love him and ton and are thankful for the decision that he made to be baptized. Congratulations Dallin!!!!!!!!!

Billy and Dallin in front of the font!

Dallin and Billy and Karen before the baptism!

Our family after the baptism.

We found Tucker

Well we found Tucker. Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!! He was playing at a neighbors house a couple of streets away. He is doing great, and the lock is back on the gate. My kids are so happy!

Tucker

Well today is a bummer day at the Rowley household. This morning we woke up and found that our 4 month old chocolate lab is missing. Karynn went outside to visit with our dogs like she does every morning and found our side gate open. (This is kind of weird considering Billy and I have to practically pry the thing open. How it got open we don't know). Anyways Tucker was gone but Kaido our yellow lab was still here. Billy and the kids went around the neighborhood asking if anyone had seen him. Signs are now put up everywhere, but so far no word. Hopefully he will come back soon, we've got some pretty sad kids, and one really sad yellow lab.

Catching up with the Rowleys

Okay so I am finally starting my blog thanks to KaraLyn for pushing me to do this. This might be the only journal I ever keep. (I think the last time I wrote in my journal was before I ever had children which is quite sad considering Karynn will be 10 in October.) So I quess I will start by catching people up with our family.

Billy (my wonderful quirky husband) is keeping really busy with his work. He started his own Electrical Engineering business 3 years ago. If anyone needs Electrical plans you now know who to call. I really don't understand exactly what he does, but I know he works very hard for our family and loves what he does. He has often told me that his work is an out for him. If you were at our house today, you might understand. When we moved into our house a year and half ago we converted our 3rd car garage into his office which helps him get away from the chaos in the house. What is funny though is the chaos tends to follow him out the door and into the office. It is quite often that I can't find a child and they are out visiting Billy in the office. Many a conference call has been interrupted with HI DADDY! We love that Billy gets to work from home. It has allowed our family to have a lot of time together.

Now for me. I am having a lot of fun just being a mom. I have 4 great kids that keep me busy and make me laugh a lot. I love doing things in our house to make it ours. Right now we are in the middle of some remodeling work on it. I don't know that we will really ever be finished with our house because I really like to change things up a lot. I have also lately really enjoyed baking. Billy bought me a bosch mixer a few weeks ago and I have had so much fun making fresh bread, rolls, and lots of goodies. Billy says that this new addition to my arsenal is going to cause him to die an early death from all the goodies. My favorite is the wheat blender pancakes with buttermilk syrup. Yum!!! The syrup takes about 50 lbs. of butter, but I figure it's okay because I am actually using the wheat now that we have been storing since the first year of our marriage.

Karynn is 9 now and will be going into 4th grade. That is so weird! I still keep thinking that I just graduated from highschool. This summer she has kept herself busy with the swimming pool. (She is seriously half fish). She has had the opportunity this summer to spend a lot of time with her cousins from Snowflake. She has got to stay there and have them come and stay with us as well. She loves activity days, and is taking piano lessons. She also just started taking violin lessons as well. I would say her favorite passtime though is reading. She loves books. All books. I hope that she continues with that love. Karynn is starting to help babysit. She helps me a lot when I am having crazy days. I can send her off with the 2 littlest ones and she will play and read to them, feed them and I can get the things done around the house that I need to. She is a great help.

Dallin has just turned 8! He was baptized last Saturday! What a special day for him. I am so proud of him for making the choice to be baptized. Dallin is such a happy kid. He is one that truly loves life and loves everyone. This summer he has learned to do back flips off the diving board and is quite coordinated. Dallin also is taking piano lessons. He also loves to play card games. Everyday he begs for people to play 3 to 13 with him. (That is one of the funnest card games ever). Dallin is excited to go to 3rd grade and be back with all of his friends at school.

Reagan is 5! Most people that meet Reagan think she is much younger. This might be that she is about a head shorter than anyone in her primary class. Don't let her size fool you. Reagan is a ball of fire. For the most part she determines the mood of our house. We like to call her Jackie and Heidi, because she reminds us of Dr. Jeckle and Mr. Hyde. For the most part she is Dr. Jeckle, but every once in a while Hyde rears her ugly head. We love all her personalities. She is such fun to have in our family. She wakes up in the morning singing and is usually doing the same when she goes to bed. Reagan is starting Kindergarten in the fall and is so excited. She wants to be a big kid like Karynn and Dallin. She is really excited to eat lunch in the cafeteria and ride the bus. I am excited because her teacher is going to be Miss Moody. Miss Moody was Dallin's 2nd grade teacher and I love her. Reagan is a lucky girl. We love her a ton.

Garrett is our blue eyed charmer. He is 3 now. He loves nursery and calls his teachers Mr. Shelley and Mr. Blair. By the way their names are Sister Shelley and Sister Blair. Garrett LOVES swimming. He is an awesome swimmer. He loves to race from end to end. This used to be a problem because he wouldn't come up for air, but now we are good. He loves to jump off the diving board and tries to dive like the other kids, which ends as a belly flop. He loves it. Garrett is an easy keeper. If you have food and water for him he's good. He loves people, which can be kind of scary. The other day we went to the movies as a family. Before the movie started I decided to take the girls to the bathroom so we wouldn't have any untimely interuptions. Billy thought that I had taken Garrett with me as well. Unbeknownst to me Garrett had followed us out. When I got back into the theatre I asked where Garrett was. We were in a panic. I had been gone in the bathroom for a good 15 minutes. We found Garrett at the front counter with the workers coloring. When my heart stopped racing and I had Garrett in my arms I asked if he had been upset at all. NOPE, he just wanted to color. We need to work on stranger danger with that kid.

Well that is our family. I hope that caught everyone up a little on what is going on in our fam.

Okay I wanted to put a picture of each of my kids in here but I can't quite figure out how to paste inbetween paragraphs. So all you bloggers explain to me how to do that.