Brianna is 3

We celebrated Brianna's birthday this year on a whim. I was not sure if we would have a new baby or not so when we knew that we would not have him yet we planned a quick party. We had friends over for pizza and cupcakes. I can not believe that she is 3 and what a "squirrel" she is. She keeps me on my toes and I can not wait to see what her teenage years will hold. She is bright, and very witty. She says the darndest things and makes us laugh all the time. She is the biggest tease just like her daddy and thinks every bit of it is funny. Brianna we love you soo much and are so glad that you are in our Family.

Baby Mason is Finally here!!

After many long awaited months our little brother is here. The kids cannot kiss, hug, hold and smother him enough. It is a good thing that he sleeps through most of it. He is very loved and we could not be more blessed to have him in our home. Thanksgiving night we went to the hospital, we were induced and now I am so thankful that is the way that it happened. After two and half short hours Mason was born. Things happened so fast that I could not have been luckier, the epidural set in and 10 minutes later he was born, had I known it was going to go that fast I would not have gotten it....Yeah right I am a woos and still would have gotten it. They were getting ready to take me for a C-section because every time I had a contraction his heart rate would drop really low....too low for comfort. Weeks earlier both Brian and I had impressions that he might have the cord wrapped around his neck and we needed to just roll with the punches when it happened. (The Lord really prepares you if you are willing to listen.) With all that said we knew not where his cord was wrapped or pinched but that it was not something to wait on. I delivered him 10 minutes after my epidural was placed and my body had relaxed and it was huge blessing it all went so fast. They quickly unraveled his necklace from his neck and checked him out. All was good and baby was fine. We were told that as low as he was we would have had him weeks earlier but because he was so wrapped up in the cord he could not descend. I can not forget to mention that I had the most amazing nurses that night too. We count our many blessings that he is here and healthy. We now have two Thanksgiving babies and four amazing spirits to raise in our home. We are so blessed and our lives are rich and complete.

I can not begin to thank my mom too....not many people have a mom who will come for a week and a half to cook and clean and chase your kids so you can lay on the couch and hold your baby. I am truly blessed and cherish that time with my new babies...THANKS MOM, I LOVE YOU!!!

Birthday Wishes

I really had hoped to have a baby for my birthday but even though it did not happen, it was a great one. On Sunday I had my choice of a Pumpkin Pie Blizzard Cake which was absolutely delightful and then on my birthday Brian and I enjoyed a night out with some of our friends. Dinner was delicious and the complany was even better. The next day some of my friends gave me a baby shower and it was like my birthday just hung over for a day or so. I was truly showered with gifts and love and it was overwhelming. Thanks to all those that came and especially to those that helped to put it on.

Blowin out my pretend candles

Here are just some of the desserts that they made, they made like 6 diffferent cupcakes,

It was beautiful.

Is October eally over already???

Halloween was so much fun this year with the kids, they really caught the whole idea and it made it so much fun to do it with them.

We always go to a Halloween breakfast with the witches and this year it was the highlight of our holiday!! They were so interactive with the kids and the kids could not get enough of them either. Brianna would follow them everywhere and the other two were just fascinated.

They all wanted to be apart of choosing their costumes, so they all picked what they were going to dress up as.

New Dresser for Baby Mason

We are indeed trying to get ready now for our new little addition since his arrival is less than 2 months away. Brian just finished the new dresser. He did such a good job and we spent a couple of nights as a family all working on it together. The kids were so happy that they got to help.

The kids helping to s and the old wood and paint.

Before...

And After....I love it!!!

I took a picture of the top because he used a special epoxy and paint finish

The picture does not do it justice, you will just have to come see it for

yourself.

Someone Is Getting Older?? Or just wiser??

Brian had a birthday!!! I need to take a moment to let him know how grateful I am for him. He is my rock. He is the one who makes me laugh, and he holds me when I just need to cry. We have been through so much together. I am so grateful for his strength in the gospel and his earnest and great efforts in making all his weaknesses become strengths through the Lord. He honors his priesthood and serves the Lord constantly by serving those around him. He is a great Dad and shows our kids how to pray, enjoy life and love others. He is so amazing I don't know what I would do without him. I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with him and know that we will continue our great journey on the other side too. Brian I love you through our good and bad times and know that whatever we face we will face together!! Happy Birthday!!

We celebrated Brian's bday with our good friends, Akemi has a birthday the day after Brian's. This year Brian wanted to share a cake but had specific instructions of the color and flavors. It is a good thing Akemi was easy going about it. Then the next day we went to Lake Powell with the Reynolds to celebrate their bdays on the lake. It was our last visit to the lake this year and it was soooo fun. It was a really relaxing day and great to spend it with such good friends. Brian wanted to "ride the bull" or be whipped on the tube for his present and Chad did a great job, Brian was sore the next day and finally had to let go and went flying off because he held on for so long. Thanks guys for a great day!!!

Brian & Akemi's pink and blue cake...mmmm!!!!

Tysen wanted to ride the "bull" with Brian until he realized what that really meant.

FiRSt dAy of ScHooL

The girls had their first day of school this week. WOW my baby is going to pre-school. She was so excited and was all set with a new haircut and back-pack taboot. Her first words to Brian on the phone to tell him about her day was, " Dad it was so fun, it was awesome!" She kept saying how awesome it was and even though she is the youngest the teacher said she is the most obedient. MaKenna had her first day of 1st grade and was so excited she did not have to have a nap anymore. However when she got home all she could say to me is, "Mom I am so exhausted, it was such a long day with 3 recesses" I told her she will get used to it and I think that mom is going to need some time to adjust too. I cried down the school hall after dropping her off, knowing she is gone all day...it is weird for me and I miss her a lot. Hunter has his first day next week but he got to go and meet his teacher and see his class, he can hardly wait. So for the day he went and helped Dad in the shop and Brian said it was amazing how well he picked up on the instructions he was given. I can't believe how much our little family is grown.

So excited for preschool!!

Look at that cute cheese-ball

MaKenna all ready for a full day of school.

Daddy and Brianna

Hunter hard at work, Dad says he can't wait until he is older when he can really put him to work, lol.

So Brave???

This past week we went to Idaho Falls to visit my sister and her family. They just moved and we wanted to check out their new "pad" I traveled all by myself with the 3 kids and pregnant. Yes it was brave, however I was so pleasantly suprised in how well my children traveled. They are such great travelers and at the end of a 7 hour trip I thought they would all be screaming but they were not. Thanks kids!! While we were there we did lots of fun and adventurous things. We went and fed the ducks on the snake river. Then we went to the local dairy and enjoyed an ice cream cone but did not enjoy the smell. Well at least my pregnant nose did not appreciate it. The kids loved the farm animals and baby calves that licked their legs and were so adorable. Then we went to the Tautphas Zoo and Park. This park is great it covers, 10 blocks and has a small carnival, zoo and pavillions and play grounds everywhere. Then we ended our hot day with a water fight at home. Then we got all dried up and went to a great little pizza buffet. It was so cheap and you got to choose pastas, pizzas and dessert. YUMMY!!! Everyone was satisfied. Then on Saturday night Linds and I went on a little drive we ended up driving past this enormous house and could help ourselves....there were no signs to Keep Out so we Entered. This house had at least 10 rooms and a bathroom connected to each room. It was a great and fun evening in an abandoned house. When we finally returned home to Ben we had some enormous smores. They were so yummy and so filling. Then we made the long trek home on Monday. We really had a great time there and we so grateful for the Smarts hospitality. Your home is so beautiful and so much fun to visit. I think we made Brian a little jealous of our visit and he wants to come soon too.

Kenna feeding the Ducks

Brianna and Ellie feeding the ducks

enjoying an ice cream at the dairy

The Tiger at the Zoo

Waiting for the animal show at the zoo

Sitting on the front porch

The water fight

The enormous house we ventured into

Huge S'more

Enjoying our s'mores...yumm-o!!

It's A........?????

Well we went to the ultrasound today and all is well and we are having another, BOY!!!! We are excited and ready for number four. We will now start the battle of figuring out a name. The kids are excited and got there wish, they all hoped for a brother. MaKenna went with us to the ultrasound and once she found out the gender she couldn't stand it. She was ready to shout it out the world.
And so are we here comes Clark Baby Boy #4!!!!

A New Niece

My sister had her baby today. She weighed 8 Lbs 1 oz and 19 inches long. Might I say a chunky monkey but a cute one! She is the largest baby in the family but will still be adored. My sis went all natural which is hard for me to even think about doing, GIVE ME THE DRUGS DOC!!! However she did great and we have a cute new addition to our family...WELCOME BABY ARIANNA!!!!! We can't wait to meet you and kiss all over you!

Motherhood: An Eternal Partnership with God

How many times since I have had children and especially since I have been pregnant this last time, I have seemed to lost the vision of what I am doing. Our children are so important and they need us as their mothers to love them unconditionally, even if the house is a mess or they can't seem to stop fighting. The work we have been sent here to do in behalf of our Father in Heaven is a priority and in partnership with Him NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE. I hope this is a good reminder for you as it was for me that we all need to remember our own worth and all else will fall into place.

Lake Powell....for reals this time!

Down here in Southern Utah we just can't get enough of all the water activities. There are so many lakes so close to us...who could resist anyhow? Well I guess we can't and we love to spend time as a family and even better if friends join us. We went camping at Lake Powell for the weekend. We packed all our equipment on the boat and went and found ourselves a little cove beach. It was great weather too. I even attempted wake boarding at 4 months pregnant and I did get up, i just could not figure out how to turn the board after that. lol Well maybe I will figure it out next time. MaKenna could not get enough of the tube, we had to make them get off too. And Hunter, he was just content hanging out. We swam a lot to keep cool and just explored. Brian even solemn skied for the first time and he did great too. Let's not forget Brianna, she loved the tube and the rides on the boatie too. Thanks Reynolds for a great weekend together!!