NEVERENDING FUN WITH THE FAMILY=EXHAUSTION

It is almost midnight, but I wanted to post a little bit.  Tomorrow I am flying to Texas for a week.  I am really excited, but very tired.  Once again, a very long week at work... then family fun for the whole weekend .  Of course everyone couldn't be here, but those who came, all seemed to have an enjoyable time!  Aleisa and her four youngest came Friday night and left Saturday afternoon.  Josh, Amanda and their four, Megan and her four,  Dan and Melanie and their one and Sherlene were all here  for the Easter Egg Hunt and dinner today.   The weather cooperated beautifully!!!!!  We also had Melanie and Dan's friends come last minute to hunt Easter Eggs, and we can't forget Chayton....:)  he was here, so we put together some eggs and a basket for him.   After Sac. meeting,  Megan chatted with Dorothy and Wade and invited them to dinner.  It was so much fun.  We had a really yummy meal, while basking in the warm sun!  I plan on having a wonderful week and hope you all do the same!   XOXOXO

Hey Y'all!

It's me!!  This week was uneventful...until today!! Yesterday (Saturday) I got off work at 5 and came home to see the family.  At midnight, Kiley called me to see if I could help her write her talk for church.  So I drove to Smithfield and I was their until 4 A.M. helping her write her talk (and talking quite a bit as well).  I then drove home and fell asleep at about 5:30.  I woke up with the kids to see what the Easter bunny had brought at 7:00 and then I got ready for church.  I drove into Logan to go to a farewell, then drove the Clarkston to hear Caleb speak (he did way good!), then drove to Smithfield to hear Kiley and her family speak in church, then drove home for the usual Easter festivities.  Then, about an hour ago, I got a call from one of the kids that I work with saying that Lee's had flooded and that he was on his way to help clean up.  So me and Daph got in the car and started driving towards Smithfield when he called me and said that they didn't need me because it was already almost cleaned up!  Later tonight I will be driving back to my apartment.  Thus far, today I have driven 149.6 miles!  But that's pretty much the only exciting day I've had this week!!
I love you guys and I'm real sad that I couldn't be there for the Easter egg hunt!! 

Love, Emmy:)

Happy Easter!

We had a pretty good week this week- back to school, work, and routine.  Monday and Tuesday were my first days home with the 3 little ones by myself.  It was kind of crazy, but we managed to make it through.  Tyler decided to take Wednesday and Thursday off work and then my mom came Thursday evening.  It's been really nice to have her here.  Everyone's adjusting well to having Ryder here and he gets lots of loves and kisses every hour of every day :)   We can't believe that he's already 2 weeks old!

 

We were sad not to be part of the Easter Egg Hunt at Grandma Faylene's, but we colored eggs and had our own little egg hunt yesterday which everyone enjoyed. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This morning before church we watched Faith in Christ and the Testaments.  It was a good way to start off Easter Day.  Tyler & Grandma Fillmore took the 4 oldest boys to church and I stayed home with Spider Ryder and enjoyed some quite time :) 



We hope everyone had an enjoyable Easter and took some time to remember the priceless gift that our Savior gave to us.  Happy Easter!

Happy Easter Everyone!
We had such a good spring break! I don't want it to end! Yesterday it was *77, today *73, absolutely beautiful!!
We did the spring cleaning, and all the check ups, but still had time to get in some fun things. We went and saw Oz, and we all thought it was pretty good, and wanted to come home and watch the Wizard of Oz, to find out we didn't own it.
Friday we went on a 4T Trail in Portland with some friends. It was amazing, and a lot of fun. If any of you feel adventurous when you come this is where we will take you. The 4 T's are train, trail, tram and trolley . we rode the max train to Portland zoo, then hiked through a forest for 4 miles up to OHSU the big Portland Hospital and rode the tram dddoooowwwwnnn, at first a little scary, then it became fun. Then we took the trolley into Portland and ended up at Voodo donuts. where we waited for 45 min. in line. we were exhausted when we got home but i really loved it, and i think the kids liked it! then we rode a really packed train back up by the zoo to head home. It took about 4 hrs. Yesterday we went to the Easter Egg hunt, and came home and loaded up the bikes for Champoeg. We realized since Grace, Cole, and Molly are taller than me, it is time for some new bikes, their little ones don't cut it anymore. Since Cole is either 5'8 or 5'9??, I traded him bikes, And found out he had been riding a really crappy bike for a long time, (like no brakes and bad steering) fun for me :) here are some pics of our adventures!

 the top of the hill we hiked where you can look out over Portland

 where we get on the tram

we saw a lot of weird  people so i think Portland is doing a good job at this!!!

the view from the top of the tram

I can't seem to download others so this is all for now!

We love all Lots!!! 

Durst Family!

It has been long enough that this could be pages long, but I promise to be more brief than that.  We've had lots happening since the end of Feb.  My parents came to visit which was WONDERFUL!  It was very fun to have one on one time with them.  We mostly relaxed, ate yummy food, helped them missionary shop, and played outside with the kids.  It was pretty cold and windy while they were here, then back to the 70s when they left:(  On Saturday Maddie had her honor choir clinic all day, then that night was her concert.  It was amazing!  Several hundred students from different jr. highs studied with professors all day, and the result was awesome.  I would have paid money to hear it.  We were so very proud and very happy that grandma and grandpa could be there.

 The next week was spring break.  Corey had the whole week off!  My brother Justin and his family came over and stayed three nights with us.  We had a great time. We spent Monday at Six Flags.  It was actually pretty cold to begin with, but then brightened up.  It kept the crowds down at least.  Everyone loved it, even the 20 month olds:)  We bought these capes for the kids, they are batman and superman.

 After they left, we still had a few days of our break, so we decided to go camping....Christensen style in our backyard.  We made it real by going to Bass Pro Shop and getting fishing gear.  We took the kids to our Lake Ray Hubbard.  No one caught anything, but it was so fun.  Sadly, we just erased all the pictures off of our nice camera (accidentally) which all turned out beautiful because it was at sunset. Here is one from my phone, so you get the idea.  After fishing, we set up the tent and had camping food for two days, cooked outside and everything.  It was extremely relaxing and so great to put Hazel in her crib for the night.  We realized there wasn't room for all of us anyway.  Time to buy a new tent!

Friday of that week, I flew to Idaho for a quick weekend to see my parents off on their mission.  They spoke in church and did an amazing job.  Thanks Mel and family, and Josh and family and Faylene for coming.  It was so fun to see you and made my parents happy that you came.  Many of my siblings came too, and it was great to be with them.  I got to meet my newly adopted nephew Grover.  He's a dream:)  I missed my kids and Corey though, it was so weird to be there without them.


While I was gone, Corey took Clara on a painting date to an art store here.  They took a class and had so much fun.  

 This is really hard to manipulate these pictures.  So I'll just leave the rest where they are.  Sorry it's so many, hope it's not too strange to post this many.  Most are self explanatory.  The whip cream in the mouths is from our camping breakfast.

The two little ones always hide their eyes when we stop the car so we can say, "Oh no!  I can't find Ephraim and Hazel!  Did we leave them at the store...."

Hope everyone has a wonderful Easter week.  We will miss being in Idaho for the egg hunt.  we love you all and will see you in the summer!

Spring Break:
Our kids are so excited about spring break this year! Tate and Lucy were out Thursday and the others on Friday. I have great plans for them! Mon. ortho appts. Tues. dentist appt. Wed. eye appt.s  Thur. back to the dentist! :) We are going to try and fit in a few fun things too. We might go on a hike and a few bike rides, and if they help with spring cleaning we will go see OZ. it is supposed to reach *70 by the end of the week, just in time for Easter.
My baby turned 9 on Friday, isn"t that crazy!! It was kind of a crazy day for her, we had 2 other birthday parties that weren't hers! But i think it was still a good day for her.
Scott Grace and Cole were able to go snowboarding Sat. they had a fun time. It was $10.00 LDS ski night. you have to take advantage of those even if it is 2 hrs. away!
We get a little homesick this time of year, so it is so good to read all your posts every week. Jen, you make me feel guilty! You just had a baby and write more than me. And oh my gosh he is such a cutie!!! We all love to look at the pics you post! You are amazing!
Yeah for Emmy!! it is good to hear about college life. And Meg, post pics of your construction phase as you get going. it will be fun to see the progress. It sounds like a lot of work. Aleisa, are you aware Cole and Caleb face time every day! It is pretty cute! They think they have to yell to hear so we are always telling them to be quiet! :) I can't believe how much Caleb has changed!
Mom, thank you for that post! Is is always a good reminder to remember our Savior, especially this time of year. I was trying really hard to remember Grandpa Dana, but I can't. it is sad, i guess i was to young. It also made me sad to think Lucy and Tate probably won't remember Dad. They were 4-5.  So it is always good to talk about memories with them. Like yesterday we bought those  knock off oreo like cookies, i said we had to get them because they reminded me of my Dad! We wish we could be there for the BIG Easter Egg hunt. It sounds like a lot of fun. Summer will be here before we know it! The kids are counting down. It is good to be off work for a week! Oh and we bought a new bed yesterday! Our old one is almost 19 years old! So now if anyone comes to stay (no air mattress) just a 19 year old bed.. i wonder which will be more comfortable! ")

We Love and Miss you All! Bridget

Spring Break

This past week was our Spring Break and like usual it went by way too fast!  I'm so glad Tyler had the week off so he could be here to help take care of me and the 3 little ones. 

 

 Taylor and Jon left last Saturday night to go to CA for Spring Break and they got home yesterday morning.  It seems like they both grew several inches while they were gone!  They said they had a good time although they seemed really glad to be back and very excited to see and hold Ryder again.  We're definitely glad to have them back.  I think we kind of took for granted how much they help out with Max and Levi.  It was also almost too quiet without them here (even with Max and Levi being so noisy themselves!).  

The fence guy came and worked on our fence all day Monday and then finished everything up Tuesday morning.  It is soooooo nice to finally have it all done!!  Tyler re-built the rock wall that we had to take down to put the fence in and the boys are enjoying the extra space outside.  Now we need to start making some plans for landscaping our dirt/rock yard :)   We would like to plant some trees, put up a retaining wall, pour a basketball pad and put in a section of turf and a swingset/playhouse, but it all takes time and money, so we'll have to do it a little bit at a time as we can :)

Ryder had his first Dr. Appt. on Tuesday and his circumcision on Wednesday.  The Dr. said she had never seen such a strong/feisty baby before.  Glad to have that done and almost all the way healed. Now we're just waiting for his umbilical cord stub to fall off  and heal and then he can have his first real bath. 

I was taking some pictures and happened to catch one of him smiling :) 

 Tyler took the Yukon in on Thursday for an oil change and we found out that we needed new tires, new shocks, a new water pump, fuel injection service, brake fluid flush, and a few other things.  So much for a $40.00 oil change visit!!

New Tires

Max and Levi love their little brother soooo much!!  They are always giving him sweet little kisses and Levi loves to rub his face on Ryder's head.  Sometimes it gets to be a little too much and I have to tell them to back up and give the little guy some space :)



Levi and Max plugging their ears because Ryder's crying :)

I did something to my knee a couple weeks ago and about a week before that while we were cleaning out the garage Max or Levi dropped one of Tyler's weights on my foot- same leg.  Neither has healed yet, so I've kind of been limping around a little bit.  Tyler and I were talking about it one night while we were eating dinner and with those two injuries and still healing from having a baby, he jokingly said "Babe- you're falling apart."  Then Max asked "Mom, are you going to die?"  I answered "Someday, but hopefully not for a long time." He then asked if his daddy was going to die and I answered with the same response.  Max ducked his head under the table and both Tyler and I asked what he was doing.  I walked over to him and he was crying!  Little Max had realized that someday his mom and dad were going to die and it broke his little heart :(   Poor little guy!  I gave him a big hug and then I started crying because it was so so sad.  Tyler reminded Max about the Plan of Salvation and how we can all be together again after we die if we make good choices.  That seemed to bring him comfort.  I am so grateful to have the gospel as a big part of our life and that we can use these little experiences to teach our kids :)   

Only 2 more months until Summer Break!!  --And Levi and Max are already bundling up for Idaho!  :)

Hope everyone has a good week!

   

Construction time?

Hi family! We have been little busy bees around here this week! Joel had six days off which we love so very much! We got to go to Maizy’s talent show and watch her and Millie sing a duet of Taylor Swifts song “Mean”. It was so cute! Our builder came over and we talked digging. We want our old garage torn down so we can actually see the back yard but there is the problem of how much it costs to haul it all away. Ken came over at the end to pick up Sam and chatted with us a little. He came by the next day and told Joel we should use the cinderblocks for fill! Genius! (yes, I owe him! J) So we called Dan and he thought it was a great idea. Then we realized we needed both front steps gone so we could get the gas meter moved where the one is and get the other front steps poured the right direction. SO….Joel rented the jack hammer. I think that looks like my least favorite tool of all time! What a heck of a lot of work! We also had to clean out the entire garage including door and lights. It was all Joel’s stuff so Joel had to do most of the work on that one since he knew what he wanted and where. I HAD to go down to SLC to hang out with Megan A., Elisa, and Emily. We stayed in this really cool old building RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE of the city. It was awesome and cool until I tried to walk down the hall at night and I instantly remembered seeing the Shining in college and thought I was going to die of fright. Em came with me and we sang hymns and we walked out to the car to get treats and water. I felt really guilty the whole time because Joel was home jackhammering but Em had flown in so I couldn’t really just not go. Today Joel turned off the gas and moved the line outside so the gas company can move it in a few days when they come out. That means I get to sleep in the family room and feed the fire at night to keep the house warm. Fun times! Then we get to go to Mom’s for Easter! And Aleisa, “I’m in charge” J

Not fun!

Emmy brought a cold home to us last weekend and I am miserable! The boys kept trying to have me let them stay home from school on Thurs and Fri and I thought they were playing up their sickness cause their dad was here. Then, yesterday, I got it. NOW I understand and feel bad that I made them go to school! And that's about the extent of my news. Nothing very exciting this week. On Thurs Ken and I went on a date to look for a new table. Found one I absolutely love that would match my kitchen AND family room perfectly. It would, that is, if I could make myself come up with the 2500 for it and 9 chairs. I know that is not a lot for a table but more than I'm accustomed to paying for things lately.
So excited to come to Mom's house this week. We will be coming Friday after school and maybe leaving a bit early on Saturday so we can color eggs here with the missing children on Saturday (Em and Daph are working so they won't be coming with).
Also, please note: I made my daughter write this week. :)
And Mom, beautiful post. It made me cry.
Love you all!

Its me!!

Hey guys! I was informed that I HAD to post on the blog! I really haven't been up to anything...I went to St. George for spring break 2 weeks ago and it was so warm! When I got back, I got to hang out with my family and I watched Megan's kids for her one night...so fun!!  When I was there, my friend Kiley came to hang out with me.  After Meg got home, we sat and talked for several hours (as per usual) and afterwords, Kiley told me that it made her really sad to see that I was so tight with my aunt because she doesn't ever just talk to her family, and she even said that some of them hate her...made me really sad, and I also feel quite blessed to be so close to all of my extended family:)
I've been going to so many farewells lately!  I went to one today of one of my really close guy friends and it was crazy that he's so mature, because he was never like that in high school!  The last of my guy friends leave on April 13th, and that is not okay with me!!
School is quite boring...but I am doing a persuasive speech on eating locally grown/raised foods in my English class, which is turning out quite well I think! Walking to school has been interesting this week, because one day it will be warm enough that I don't have to wear a coat and then the next day it snows like crazy!! Oh, Utah!
Welp, I think that's about it!!  Love you all!

Emmy

Eastertime means.....

Easter is a wonderful time......we have the the reminder of the ultimate sacrifice of our savior...the atonement, the crucifixion,  and the Resurrection , with all of the priceless blessings that brings.   I have been reading all of the Easter messages in the newest Ensign.  They are really so very good.  Easter for me always brings a little sadness as well.....Easter Sunday 1977 was the last time I saw my Dad....I will never forget him standing in the garage waving goodbye as we drove away....something he usually didn't do...and, he was alone, usually Mother would have been right there waving.  I made a little mental note at the time of feeling that it was a little unusual.  Then, two days later when I heard of his heart attack then his death,  I had the distinct feeling that he knew that would be the last time he would see us.    Oh how I love my Dad!  I remember going in the morning he passed away to tell all of you that Grandpa had died.....Aleisa's first words were...."I am so glad we just had our lesson on the Resurrection so I know we will see him again".  That from a six year old !   :)  I wish you all could have grown up with your Grandpa and Grandma Dana....They were such very dear and wonderful people!  

Then, even though we celebrated Easter a couple of weeks before your Dad passed away, it was still Eastertime.....and of course all of the messaages from Easter make us think of that time as well.   Enough of sadness!

This will be a really busy week at work.  Not only do we have Easter, but Spring Fair!  That will make my week go by really fast.....then fun times wth those of you who are able to come for the Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday, and Dinner on Easter Sunday.  And, once the weekend is over, I get another week long vacation....this time to Texas! Oh, I could really get used to this!  :)

I love you all so very much!  Have a good week and a wonderful Easter...and don't forget to think of the Savior along with all the bunnies, chicks and candy! 

3 1/2 RADS

I apologize to mother for not writing last week. We had dan's dad and brothers in town and at our house 24/7 so it was really cramped and really loud.
This week we bought 4 movies. Dan thinks he wants to blow all our tax returns on movies, and he's doing a great job! :) We got Life of Pi, Born Legacy, The Hobbit, and Les Mis. Ok ok, I'm glad he got them! :) We were going to go to Red Robin on Saturday to celebrate seeing our firs Robin's this week (and first day of spring) but then dan got the movies so we had cereal for dinner each night! Which I like!
Stori and I got to hang out with Jack and Avery Mon-Thurs and we had a lot of fun! Stori enjoyed playing with her cousins, and I think they had fun playing hide n seek, scavenger hunts, and forts for watching movies. We took a walk one day and almost froze froze froze!  the next day I took stori to the park with just a light jacket and she played for 3 hours. But then the next day-snow. Sun, snow, sun,snow....this spring season is sticking to tradition.
Stori got a black eye at mom's house yesterday-she cried randomly the rest of the day saying "Eye owwwie!" Broke my little heart.
We are probably going to Disneyland in April and I am getting sooooo anxious/excited. Just trying to work schedules out with dan's family and our friends that are going that will be moving away from us forever. :(
Dan is really really really pushing for us to move. I called on a few places this week, but nothing jumped out at us. We are even considering moving to Chris's little house in lewisville....lot's of things to think about. We figured out we spend more than $350 a month on gas just in the car dan drives. Bleh.
Anyway, we are really excited for Easter-I nominated mom to be in charge this year! :) But we will bring anything, make anything, be anywhere, etc. just let us know!
{for any pictures, i put them on my blog-they aren't that exciting, but dan already moved them to our hard drive}.

Easter?

Hi everyone! I'm sure no one will check this until tomorrow but for some reason my email isn't remembering any of my contacts so my mass email I was attempting didn't work so I'm posting my comments here! :) Easter is a week away. I know, whoa! So anyway--wondering if we are having an Easter egg hunt, is anyone in charge yet ;) ( I know that inside joke is several years old but it still makes me smile!), is anyone coming, what do we bring? We're coming to visit next Saturday either way ( I mean, if that's okay, Mama). These are just some questions I have.

You're about to forget the whole thing...

all at once, one day--it's Spring! Admit it--you guys all sing it this time of year, too! :) So happy for the wind and rain. Really. Beats the heck out of wind and snow for this time of year (oh, p.s.: take a look at Caleb's or my facebook pages and see what our tramp looks like. Found it a little over towards Newton Dam. Luckily it's fixable--it's our new one!) I say it every time but really, not a lot going on this week. Ken worked midnights and we tried to stay quiet. Emmy found a new loving home for Domino (I think it was hardest on me and the two little boys), I participated in our ward's first funeral since I was put in nearly a year ago, Emmy spent the second half of her Spring Break here, and...and...I MET BRANDON MULL! All of the district librarians were in a tizzy about the fact that he was in the valley and doing a signing at Hastings. I didn't have the heart to tell them that he was in the valley because of the Wellsville schools. He was a fun speaker and the kids really liked him. He signed some posters for me to put up in the library and then he signed the only two books I had not let the kids check out (because I was going to have them signed).  That's about it. I am off to bed. Oh, by the way Jen and Ty: nice work and congrats! He is simply adorable and I can't wait to kiss those little cheeks! Love you all!

Finally here!!!

We really enjoyed having Grandma here this past week and getting to show her all the cool things about Lake Havasu :)  I'm sure she was glad to get back home today after being around our crazy bunch of boys all week! 

We were getting a little worried that Spider Ryder wasn't going to come while Grandma was still here, but I had an appt. on Thursday and my Dr. said she didn't have a problem breaking my water since I was past my due date.  So Friday afternoon we went into the hospital.  I actually started having some contractions before the Dr. came, so I'm pretty sure we would have been going in that day anyway.  Dr. broke my water at about 6:15 p.m. and I told the nurse I wanted an epidural.  As the contractions got more and more intense and closer and closer together we found out that the anesthesiologist was in a case and they didn't know when he would be done- so no epidural for me :(   After about an hour and 1/2 of labor and 3 or 4 pushes our BIG...... no, make that HUGE!! boy was finally here!  I couldn't believe it when they said he weighed 9 lbs. 12 oz.!  We are so glad to finally have him here and that Grandma and the older boys were able to meet him before they all had to leave! 

I know most of you have seen all of these photos, but we wanted to post them again for those that haven't :)

The 2 little boys weren't allowed in the L&D unit because of RSV and Flu season,
but the older 2 got to come in and meet their new little brother before they headed to CA for Spring Break.
LOVE this picture of Grandma and Ryder- so cute!  :)

I somehow managed to squeeze him into the little newborn outfit I packed to take him home in. 

Levi held his hand the whole way home :)

Ahhhh....finally home!

Lots of loves!

Little Spider Ryder is definitely loved by his older brothers!  Max has asked to hold him about a dozen times since we got home from the hospital today :)    Everyone's doing great and glad to be home!