THE COUNT DOWN IS OVER

CONGRATULATIONS CORY!!!! On July 6th Cory Graduated from the Police Academy. We are so proud of him. He has been talking about doing this for a really long time so I am glad that we finally made it happen. He worked really hard. He was up at about six every day to go to work. Worked until three or four. Came home change and went to the Academy until nine or ten at night. Then he would go for six to eight hours on Saturday. Being exhausted doesn't quite explain the last year. He almost dropped out when Reggie was born but with a lot of help from his class he got caught up and made it through. I am really glad that he decided to continue. He graduated in the top five of the class. Now his next goal is to continue his schooling and get a Bachelor Degree in Criminal Justice. First thing first we got to make it official and get a job. I don't have any doubts he'll get one and that he will be a GREAT cop. We are applying all over but it is a long process so I'll keep you informed. Or keep us informed if you hear of anyone hiring.


Oh yea this is my husband!!



He had a lot of family support. Thanks to all our loving families.

This is his Graduating class. Cory's on the back row second from the right. Not the best picture sorry not the best camera.

This is when they handed him his Diploma. Can you tell he was excited? He was beaming ear to ear all night. The guy on the left is Captain DeMille Cory always spoke highly of him.

WATCH OUT!!!!

Cory and I took the boys shooting for their first time the other day. So when I say WATCH OUT I mean WATCH OUT!!! I know this is a thing that people have all kinds of strong opinions on but, this is ours. Cory has been going to the police academy for the last year and they talked about kids and guns. Their advice is that "Curiosity kills the kid so kill the curiosity". If you teach your kids gun safety at a young age then they won't be so curious. We did a little object lesson and went over all the safety rules five thousand times and kept a close eye on them. I feel like it was a good thing. With Cory trying to be a cop we have had guns around a lot and will probably in the future. So if we teach them and give them a chance to shoot them when it is appropriate then I pray we can avoid any horrible accidents. Ok so that is that take it for what it is worth. It was fun we'll do it again soon.


SAFETY FIRST:)


Ashton getting his first instructions. They both were more comfortable with the 22. They were nervous about the kick from the glocks.

Ty's first shots. CONCENTRATE.

Ashton got pretty good by himself.

This was Reggie's first experience crawling around in the car. We will wait a few years yet for his turn on the gun.

Look at this expert.

Look at this not so expert.

Fun Faces

I was just looking through some pictures and liked these pictures they make me laugh so I thought that I would share:p


Cheesy Princess

I was trying to get a cute picture of Reggie and I but he just was not cooperating. He looks more annoyed than anything. He is very stubborn ( he gets that from his father).

I always have to get a pouty face picture of all my kids because it is Cory's favorite. He will torment, tease, make faces at, scare or what ever he can think of to get them to do it. I do have to say Reggie makes the best one he holds it for a while before he cries. I know I am going to give in a lot with him.

I think he is bored. Do think he bored? I think he is bored. Thanks Ashton for the photography.

I know, I know they are pink glasses. He borrowed them from Jordyn and thought they were so fun.

I think Ashton is trying to catch a fly. Once again Reggie isn't having it and I totally didn't mean to chop Ty off it looks like he is the only one with the cute smile. My BAD!

Belated Ty and Ashton's Birthday

Ashton's Birthday was in March and he turned seven. This year was the first time he wanted to do an actual party with friends at the house. It was fun and hectic to have ten little boys running around. We had cupcakes and icecream, played pin the tale on the donkey, an animal game, popped open a pinata, and opened presents. Ashton loves friends, he is very social. Anywhere he goes he makes friends. I think having all his friends there at once to celebrate him made him feel pretty cool. Plus he liked being in charge (oldest child sindrum).

Ty's five year old birthday was kind of a crazy day. We didn't get to do what we had originally planned things had to chance last minute so Uncle Joe and his family took him to Mcdonalds for lunch and helped mom and dad by taking him to the store to pick out a new Wii game. Then we went to G-pa and G-ma's for some cake. I only got two pictures of the day. Both have his cousins in it who made the day more fun for him. I am glad for the simple mind of children sometimes. I don't think he felt slided he had a fun day and with his new game he was thrilled he played it everyday for months. Though the day didn't turned out as planned I hope he knows how special he is to us. He is my silly child he makes me crazy and laugh all the time. He is happy when he is doing good, likes to be a good helper, looks up to and wants to do everything Ashton does, likes to do crafts, play games, and anything that makes him laugh. We love him very much and hope he looks back on the day as a good day.

Christmas in July

Ok since Reggie was born life has been one crazy thing after another and I was just looking at a disc of pictures that I haven't developed or even looked at really and I saw these Christmas pictures. So since this Blog is really my only was of doing a journal right now in my life I wanted to post them. Maybe when I get this all into a book I can put them in the right order.

Ashton showing off his gift from Santa at the family Christmas party. That is not me next to him sorry that I am so vain that I had to point that out.

My little handsome devil Ty finagling with Santa for a cool gift

Sorry I couldn't figure out how to flip the picture. This is Jordyn's first Princess outfit and she wouldn't take it off the whole night. Ever since she has liked Princesses.

We wanted Reggie to be home from the hospital so bad by Christmas and we got our wish. He had only been out of the hospital a week. He was too excited to see Santa so we SPRANG him for the party!

This is Reggie on his first Christmas. He was still adjusting to being home with the family. But, as strange as it may seem I think it did him good. He wasn't sure about the noisy siblings but he seemed at peace being with us.

It has been our tradition the last few Christmases that while I get together the Christmas Eve Dinner or TREATS Cory and the kids build a gingerbread house. It is a tradition that Cory thinks is fun even if it doesn't look like it.

Jordyn wasn't too sure if she like the present that Ty gave her.

The boys got some paper jams and Ty was happy to show his off.

Ashton Jamming on his paper jam. Ty didn't have his out of the box yet so he is doing his air guitar impression.

Jordyn thinks she is a ROCKER:)




It was a very wonderful Christmas! Cory and I got our number one wish to have our Son home. And through generosity of family and friends we didn't need for anything.

A Blessed Day At Last!!!!

March 27, 2011 Reggie Was Finally Blessed:) It seemed like this day took forever to get here but, through much trial and tribulation it DID! He looked very handsome in his little satin tux, he was quiet through the blessing, and he didn't wiggle away. Which at six months old I was a little nervous about. He is doing SOOOO good. Cory with the Lord's help I am sure did a wonderful job. I was filled with an overwhelming amount of emotion seeing my husband and my family encircle my little boy. It was a very emotional day for all of us. I feel very humbled that the Lord has entrusted this special spirit to me to raise. I hope that I can make him proud and that even in times when Reggie is getting into eggs, or baby powder, or throwing temper tantrums I will always remember how glad that I am that he came into our lives to stay. I love him very much. Reggie with Grandpa and Grandma Slade Reggie with Grandpa and Grandma Russell

The man of the day with Great Grandpa Collins. He is my mother's father my last living grand parent at the young age of 91.

Sorry I didn't know how to flip the picture but it was too cute. This is Reggies cousin Ella. She wouldn't eat the yummy food but, she did like this treat:)

I know I know there isn't a picture of us with him or with his family in the craziness of the day I didn't get any. These pictures were taken by my sis-in-law. So I am glad I got these.

Officially HOME!!!!!!!!

My sweet baby boy finally was able to come home on December 3, 2010. He was at Primary Childrens one day shy of two months. We are thrilled beyond words to have him home getting to know his family. I love this smile:) He did come home with one tube still in his stomach to feed him but, he is so wonderful he didn't use it once. He has been able to take everything by mouth. It is a special diet but he will probably have that his whole life. That is the easy part. One month after he came home he was able to get that tube out. The Doctors said the hole in his stomach would leak for a few days and would heal within two weeks most likely. If it didn't it would have to be closed by surgery. It leaked when the tube was removed but not a bit after that. It closed almost immediately. Just another miracle of many we have received.

As you can see he is just as beautiful as my three other kids. I may be a little bias but I don't think so:)

I thought this is so cute. It was him showing his "gun show"

I don't know for sure but I think he is giving us a krusty for taking a picture of his tube. I wanted it for memory sake.

He has been home a month and a half now and is thriving. He is eating great, tube free, and is now off all his meds other than vitamins and special fats and formula. He smiles all the time, is cuing, starting to grab the toys on his mobiles, kicking, gets excited, laughs, and poops alot (you know all the normal three month old things). Now brace yourself I am going to get cheesy. We have been so very blessed since this little guy has come into our lives. I personally have learn huge lessons. I have learned how much my Heavenly Father loves me and my family, and how much others love me. I have gained leaps and bounds in my testimony. About the comfort of the Holy Ghost, about Faith, the strength of the Priesthood, service, PRAYER, and about the gospel as a whole. I know that Reggie had Angels looking out for him. We had so many doctors say that they were surprised at how well he has done. We had our bad days but overall his body mended and healed so wonderfully. Before we knew what was wrong with Reggie we were scared and Cory gave him a blessing and in that blessing it said that he would grow and develope to be a normal little boy. That gave me comfort through this process. I had Faith in that. I knew that he would be ok even though I wasn't sure what road we would have to take to get there. I have had huge blessings, seen amazing miracles, felt a great deal of love, and have a beautiful baby boy. So i think even though the last few months have been the some of the hardest of my life they have been some of the most rewarding.