Our Fami-Lee

June 2011 featuring: Rain, Rain, More walks in the woods, S'mores, the Johnson Rockstar Reunion and Lindsay's beautiful wedding!

2011-08-27T15:20:00.000-07:00

April 2011 featuring walks in the woods, Uncle Simon's AWESOME visit, Mia starts fixing her OWN hair....and it looks actually really good!

2011-08-27T13:02:00.000-07:00

March 2011 in St George

2011-08-27T12:02:00.000-07:00

January 2011

2011-08-27T08:54:00.000-07:00

January was Luke's birthday month and when I asked him what kind of cake he wanted he said, "I want a strawberry cake with white frosting and raspberries!" So this is what he got! I swear I didn't make him a sissy cake. You can't turn down a request like that! PS it did taste quite scrumptious.

Thanksgiving Turkeys

2010-12-09T14:04:00.001-08:00

We enjoyed a LOVELY Thanksgiving this year thanks to my Parents again for all the help. We did the traditional meal and I'm getting hungry just thinking about it!

20lb Turkey basted in a butter/white wine sauce

Mashed potatoes- thanks Dad

Sausage stuffing- thanks Dad

Cranberry salad- thanks Dad

Fresh veggie tray- thanks Mom

Sweet potatoes- thanks Mom

Homemade rolls- thanks me (and Jenny Jarvis for the YUMMY recipe)

Fresh green beans- thanks me

Gramma Jarvis' lemon pie- thanks Mom

Dad's famous pumpkin pie- thanks Dad

WOW... I HARDLY DID ANYTHING!! We would've had a pretty pathetic dinner if my parents didn't come! I feel really dumb now. Well, I learned alot from those 2 cookers and maybe one day Mia will let me help her make an amazing Thanksgiving feast for her family and share the love. Te Amo Mama y Papa.

What a good big brother! Micah loves his animal books.

Here's my helper Jake shoveling snow into piles on the deck. Not sure if he removed any snow but it looks like he's having fun anyway!
Here's Mia making some sugar cookies that my Mom helped them make turkeys out of! (pictures to come) Notice the GAP in her mouth where her 2 front teeth used to be. The tooth fairy is a frequent visitor around our house these days.

Here's Luke with the cute stuff his Kindergarten class worked on in November. The Turkey was a project the teacher asked us to do at home and it was a blast!

Halloween 2010

2010-12-09T13:46:00.000-08:00

What a blast! I hate to say this but there was a time in my life when Halloween was my VERY LEAST favorite holiday. I HATED IT!!! I swore up and down that my family would NOT take part in this Pagan Sugarfest
.....and then
.
.
.
I had kids.

My whole outlook changed. I found myself looking at costumes and daydreaming about kind of facepaint I could put on my kids and buying wigs and candy and pretty soon I realized that Halloween is pretty friggin fun! My kids love it and I now look forward to it every year. I am SO grateful that we can enjoy the holiday at our annual church Halloween party instead of going door to door in the frigid Montana fall weather. Here are this years costumes (ALL purchased LAST YEAR at Target a couple days after Halloween for 75% off.)

Happy Big 1 Micah!

2010-08-15T21:07:00.000-07:00

1 year old. Can you believe it? 1 year old?? Isn't he still just a tiny newborn? Wasn't he just barely smiling and trying to crawl? I'm crying. How does that make you feel, Micah? You made your Mama cry!! I love my babies but boy they don't stay babies for very long. POOR!

My Family's BFF.....THE TRAMPOLINE!

2010-08-15T17:31:00.000-07:00

I love our trampoline more than I love our dog. The kids have so much fun and it still isn't old. If it's hot...the sprinkler-under-the-tramp saves a trip to the pool and the pictures are SOOO hilarious!

latest family pics

2010-05-21T21:18:00.000-07:00

Well, these aren't super great but we've decided that will never happen with 4 kids so we just take what we can get.

"Ok kids, I'm just gonna take a few pictures really quick so look nice, ok?" This is what I get to look at and laugh at every day...jealous? You can't really tell but Mia's wrists are pretty much backwards. I don't know what she's doing but it scares me!

"NO! Seriously..can't you just smile? Jake, get your finger outta your nose! Luke, quit saying "cheese" like the guy from Wallace & Grommit - it's getting annoying! Mia, you're gonna drop him..look out!!"

"Finally! Good thing we have a digital camera and can go through the 25 pics I just took to find 1 semi-decent one. 'K kids go tell Dad it's his turn to join us."

That's Luke's version of "Blue Steel" from Zoolander. He looks pretty good, I think!

February in St George = HEAVEN ON EARTH

2010-05-21T21:12:00.000-07:00

We decided to escape the awful gloom and snow and have a mini vacay down South. We got there just in time to share some birthday cake with Sayde Kay (I can't believe she's a teen!). The red rocks were so lovely and it was so warm we wished we had brought the shorts and flip-flops. I love the Lee's location...the cliffs behind there house are so fun to explore. These pics are crappy because I took them with my phone but this is our favorite hike to "Cave Town". St George, I love you.

Mini "Hole in the Rock"

I did not in any way tell the kids to pose like this...they just did when I counted to three...what NERDS! It reminded me of Rocky at the top of those stairs.

I love premade fondant!

2010-05-20T21:17:00.000-07:00

So here's the next cake adventure Britt and I embarked upon. Cecilee requested a bday cake for her husband's surprise party and we were more than excited to try! I think it turned out pretty good for our first 2 level cake. We spent way more on the tools and supplies but we look forward to making more in the future.

LUUUUUKE - - - I AM YOUR FFFAAAATTHHHEERR

2010-05-20T20:51:00.000-07:00

No surprise--Luke wanted a Star Wars party but that was too expensive so we went with a Space party with a couple of fun Star Wars thingys thrown in. My BFF Brittany helped me create this Solar System that was TOTALLY EDIBLE! We just let each kid pick a "planet" they wanted to eat and I fell in love with Fondant. So fun! Happy 5th, Lukie!!

December pics

2010-01-15T20:25:00.001-08:00

Here's this year's tree. Isn't it lovely?? It's from Home Depot and a zillion needles would fall off if you looked at it wrong. I say next year we save our pennies for a fake one.

Mia's school did a Christmas Program and it was absolutely adorable. I was so glad the school was not afraid to sing actual "Christmas" songs! They did "Away in a Manger", "Santa Clause is Coming to Town", "Two Front Teeth", "The Snowflake Song", "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer", and a couple others. Mia was hilarious! She was the only kid who took a HUGE bow after each song. (all the kids were supposed to bow when they were done singing all their songs.) Oh no, not Mia...she's such a drama queen. :)

BABY MICAH'S HHHUUUUNNNNGGGGRRRRYYYYY. GIVE ME FOOD, MAMA!!

Lee FHE Round 2

2009-12-06T17:38:00.000-08:00

Here's another brilliant FHE courtesy of Jesse. He just comes up with the BEST IDEAS!! I was laughing so hard I could barely take the pictures. Let's just say this one involved our hilarious kids and the tri-fold mirror thingy in our bathroom. Take a look but be warned...you might want to pee first before you start laughing at these absolutely DISGUSTING pictures. Thanks Jesse!

Give Thanks for FAMILY

2009-12-06T17:20:00.000-08:00

We had 3 turkeys for Thanksgiving! Gramma, Grampa and the turkey we ate...Ha! My mom and dad were able to join us for a lovely Thanksgiving this year. Everything turned out so delicious and delightful. My Gramma Jarvis' lemon pie was a hit as always and the turkey was moist and soooo good. Can't wait to do it again next year.
My mom decorated a Gingerbread House with the kids and they were THRILLED! It was hard to keep Jake from eating the decorations but luckily we had enough.
Mom and Dad - thanks so much for all your help with the food and the non-stop tickling the kids to keep them busy while I rested. You are so awesome and I love you so much!!

Fairies are REAL!

2009-12-06T17:13:00.000-08:00

Mia lost her 2 bottom teeth!! After watching "Tinkerbell" with my kids and telling them there really aren't fairies like that I go and tell Mia that a "Toothfairy" will magically come to her room at night and take her tooth and leave a suprise in it's place. Poor kids don't know what to believe! She was thrilled to loose her teeth (both at school) and loved going to the Dollar Store to pick out a special suprise with her dollar bill. She picked a stupid recorder-flute thingy that literally BROKE on the way home!! Oh well, that's what you get at the dollar store and we taped it up.

Jesse and the Deer head

2009-12-06T17:08:00.000-08:00

Yep, I married a tough hunter man. Jesse killed his deer this year and brought home a ton of meat and a deer head that's still in my garage waiting to be taken to the taxidermist. The meat is great! I was a little scared about it at first but it's really not too bad. I love the feeling that we are one small step closer to becoming Self-Sufficient! Go Hunter Man!!

BOO! (only 3 months late)

2009-12-06T16:17:00.000-08:00

Here's the Halloween Post - typical Brooke...posting Halloween stuff in December.

Mia (no suprise) wanted to be Princess Aurora. She loved getting all dolled up and I think every other girl in our ward was a disney princess too so she definitly didn't get the "most original costume" award.

Luke was thrilledto be superman and still tells people that I spray-painted his hair black. He just kept looking in the mirror and giggling. He is so dang cute.

Spiderman (Jake) really got into his role and we couldn't get him to stop running around the house killing bad guys and posing in superhero positions. He did sit still long enough to let me paint his face (a Halloween miracle).

Micah was a little green froggie. I just love the cute, warm costumes stores have for babies now. Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy. He also had an adorable "I love my Mummy " onesie.

FUN FUN

Sweet Pickins

2009-10-18T20:10:00.000-07:00

I love the pumpkin patch. I don't know if it's just being out in the fall weather or what but the kids just have a blast every year and every year I get suckered into paying $5 a pop to walk around some peoples land with a make-shift petting zoo and hay bale racetracks. Oh well, it's worth it right?? Here are this years top pics.

Shooting lessons

2009-10-18T20:00:00.000-07:00

Don't worry...it's just a BeeBee gun. Jesse did get himself a couple of manly guns for his birthday. We have wanted him to start hunting for our family for a while now but finally have a house with a big freezer in it! I'm a little nervous to eat the meat but I'm sure it will be fine.

Baby Micah SMILES

2009-10-18T19:46:00.000-07:00

He is growing so fast...already 2 months old! I can't believe how sweet he is. He just smiles and coos at everything. I'm really enjoying these babies and am so blessed to have good-natured kids.

Mia's mutant hand

2009-10-18T19:26:00.000-07:00

The injuries continue at the Lee home. I went to pick up Mia from school to find her waiting outside with her teacher...UH OH...what did I do? Am I being arrested for some reason like Mia telling her teacher she has horrible parents?? I found out Mia was sitting on a table that collapsed on her hand and I needed to take her in for an Xray ASAP. Her hand was instantly swollen and black/blue. Luckily, no fracture...just a very sore, very sad little girl.

The Lee version of FHE

2009-09-20T17:48:00.001-07:00

Q - Well, what do you get when it's family night and your crazy husband get's ahold of some Scotch Tape?

A - You get a family with little piggie noses!! We laughed so hard we almost peed our pampers. Jesse is such a goofball I just love him. Here's the picture of the little piggie family...check out Jake...SO GROSS! I'm so glad he doesn't look like that in real life. I think Luke looks a little like Kevin Bacon! What do you think?

Jacob is 3 already!

2009-09-20T16:30:00.000-07:00

Can you even believe it?? I know. Me either. We had a fun playdate at the park the day before with his friends from Church. I made Funfetti cupcakes (Jake said he wanted a white cake) and brownies and ice cream for the grown-ups. This picture is with my friend Melodie who's birthday is the 15th. I can't think of anyone Jake would have rather shared his party with...he loves Melodie way more than me! It was a lovely day. On Wed. (his actual bday) we sang and opened presents after an AMAZING afternoon on the boat. We went to City Beach and had a great time in the sand.

At one point, my friend Cecilee needed help unloading her car so I told Jake to sit by Micah since I couldn't watch him out in the water. As I was walking back to our spot I saw Jake pick up a handful of sand and throw it on Micah who was sleeping peacefully in his carseat. WHAT A TURD!!! Seriously, what kid does crap like that!! I was soooooooooooo mad but had to snap a pic before I counted to 1,000 and said some choice words to calm down. As you can see, he's got sand on his eyelids, in his ears and everywhere in between...oh it was such a mess. Here's the evidence.

The week of OWIES....oh, poor.

2009-09-20T16:14:00.000-07:00

Dr. Gedlaman had a busy week because of the Lee Gang! First, Jacob slipped off the steps going from one platform to another at the park last Tues. He was super tough about banging his chin and splitting it open...I almost freaked out but stayed calm because HE was so calm. I took him right in to our family doc who's office is also an Urgent Care center. The nurse was sooo great and just squirted the anesthetic on his chin while listening to Jake babble on about dragons and Dora and his dog, Dude. Apparantely the stuff worked because Jacob FELL ASLEEP!!! She then began injecting the anesthetic and then Dr. G came in to stitch him up. HE SLEPT THROUGH THE WHOLE THING! So cool.

A couple of days later was Micah's appt to get...um...circumsised. Just saying that word hurts me to think about. His anesthetic wore off sooner than hoped and he was in quite a bit of pain until about 8pm that night. It was soooo sad not being able to console him! He didn't even want to nurse and the only position he could tolerate was flat on his back. Poor baby.

Mia, Mia, Mia. We took the kids to the High School track to ride bikes (Luke is riding a 2 wheel so we wanted him to be able to just ride around and around.) Anyway, the football field was roped off for painting and Mia thought she would cut across the corner of the field to get to Jesse who was on the other side of the track. The rope just happened to be at neck height for Mia on her bike and WHAM---she rode right into the rope and clotheslined herself. She was freaking out holding her neck when Jesse and I saw why...she had the sickest rope burn. It had rubbed all the skin off the front of her neck. OUCH! We went home right away while Mia was asking if she needed stitches too...thank goodness no. She wore a gauze bandage all week and the skin is finally healing. This picture is more than a week after it happened...thank heavens our bodies make new skin!!

Gotta love Grammas!

2009-09-03T19:24:00.000-07:00

My mom is so hilarious. Whenever she visits she brings goodies and toys just like any respectable Gramma would right? Here are her latest additions to our toy chest...actually they broke a few days after she brought them but that's ok, we have enough toys in our house anyway. They were sure fun while they lasted. I LOVE YOU, MAMA!! And the kids kinda like you too.

Mia's First Day

2009-09-03T19:13:00.000-07:00

Well, my baby girl's not a baby anymore. I registered her for school with intentions of putting her in kindergarten (she would have been the oldest in her class but I thought she would benefit from the social aspect of "K"). Anyway, I met with one of the K teachers and she reviewed the End of the Year Assesment and Mia was well above that level. So I registered her for first grade and she is LOVING it. I feel silly for keeping her home last year. I think it was selfish of me...not wanting to let her go and being sad not to have that time with her. She comes home and tells me how much she loves school. Her teacher is really sweet and I can tell it's going to be great. I'm tearing up just typing this!!

Somebody's Gettin Married!

2009-09-03T18:49:00.000-07:00

Congratulations Gramma Barb and Grampa Lincoln! They got married August 8th in the Mt. Timpanogos temple and it was an amazing ceremony. ALL of Jesse's siblings were there and it so awesome to see his family and extended family as well. Quite the family reunion!

For those of you who aren't aware...I am a complete MORON. I did not take ANY pics of the wedding, in fact, the only time my camera came out of it's case was the morning we left when the Lee's got together at Ezra's house for family pics. I took quite a few but am only posting a couple.

The twins Jesse and Deseree'...Deseree', I think you are one of the most beautiful things on the planet.

This pic was really difficult for me to post because I was overdue and feeling like complete CRAP...and looking like complete CRAP! EEEWW I get grossed out just looking at my swollen self...do I even have eyes? Oh well, a small price to pay to bring a sweet baby into the world!

STUD!

No wonder their kids are so dang good lookin!
Twins & SpousesHandsome Lee boys!

Micah Jarvis Lee

2009-09-03T08:40:00.000-07:00

He's finally here...ok he was here 3 weeks ago but give me a break will ya??

Here's the story because, let's face it, we all love labor & delivery stories. Skip ahead to the next paragraph if you don't. My water started leaking at 12am on the 11th and I went to the hospital at 5 or 6am for a non-stress test. I wasn't having strong or regular contractions, I was just leaking (felt like peeing a little) so she sent me home and asked that I come in later that afternoon and maybe she could break my water to get things going. I went in at 3pm and she said the babies head was too high so she recommended I get labor going with Petosin because apparantley the risk of infection is greater 18 hours or more after your water breaks. I got started on Petosin at 6pm and finally started feeling good contractions. I had the nurse check me at 12am on the 12th because I thought I was in pretty good labor...nope, I was at a 2. GGGRRRRR. That's when I asked for an Epidural---HEAVEN! Both Jesse and I slept till 6ish in the am and I was ready to push. ONE push and he practically fell out! I guess I'm a little stretched down there?? Who knew? 7lbs 13oz and 20 1/2" long and hungry as can be. My milk came in the next morning because he was eating NON STOP! Talk about soreness.

So there it is. Micah's been such a good eater and sleeper (and pooper). He is an AMAZING baby and we feel so blessed to have 4 healthy, beautiful kids. Being a mother is very stressful at times but I can't help but feel so grateful for the priviledge of raising a family with Jesse. It's SOOOO worth it!!

The EXTREMELY eventful Saturday (in a good way)!

2009-06-22T20:10:00.000-07:00

Well, the kids and I started out this particular Saturday by getting ready to join Jesse's cousin Jezelle at Whitefish Lake for her daughter's 1st birthday party. So fun! It was our first time at the water this year and it was amazing. The kids had a blast (even though the water was FFFRRREEZZING). Thanks to the Gerbers for the fun afternoon!

Little did the kids know that Jesse was setting up the TRAMPOLINE that Momma Lee had sent us money for as the kids' birthday presents. Thank you SOO much!! I've been wanting to get the kids a trampoline forever but just couldn't justify the cost when it's just a "want" not a "need". What an amazing gift!

As if that weren't enough...Jesse had also bought our family the most adorable Golden Retriever puppy on the face of the planet. Yes, we got a dog. So after jumping on the new trampoline for a while, Jesse showed the kids our newest addition...I'm suprised their little brains didn't explode! I'm sure if I'd said something like, "Hey, Ice Cream Sundaes for dinner!" we would have had some sort of spontaneous combustion.

The kids absolutely adore our new puppy, "Dude" and the trampoline only goes a couple of hours a day without being used. I LOVE SUMMER!

Every home needs a fire pit.

2009-06-14T20:42:00.000-07:00

I'm now a firm believer that every home needs an outdoor fire pit or ring. When we moved into our rental and I saw the fire pit I didn't think we'd use it at all but we are building fires at least twice a week! I constantly have the ingredients for S'Mores and have the fridge stocked with hot dogs. It is so much fun to just sit out by the fire together! It's like camping all the time. Our clothes and hair smell like campfire smoke and stink up the whole house but who cares...that's what summer is for right??
I'm throwing in some random summer pics of the kids and Jesse just having fun outside... priceless.

We moved again....yes I said again.

2009-06-14T15:26:00.001-07:00

Over the winter Jesse built another home to sell and we moved into it around March. We lived in it about a month before it SOLD!!! We have been so VERY blessed with Jesse's work. Needless to say, we found a rental and moved out of the new house into a not-so-new house. The cool thing is this rental is on a few acres with fruit trees, horses, creek frontage and it's amazingly close to town. In fact it takes me all of 2 minutes to get to our church building. It has been the FUNNEST house ever for the kids this summer.
I'm posting some pics I took this Spring as everything was blossoming. I have realized that I love taking care of plants! I didn't know that about myself until we moved here but I'm almost obsessed with watering and checking on my "babies" everyday. Heavenly Father's creations are amazing.

I might be a Trekie.

2009-06-14T15:05:00.000-07:00

After the fun party for Mia with my parents we all went to Idaho Falls to meet my Brothers and Sister-in -Law to visit and watch the Star Trek movie. I was a little annoyed because I thought it was a pretty long drive just to watch a stupid movie. My mind changed as soon as the movie started. It was AWESOME! I'm so glad we went and I really enjoyed the time with Brandon, Barrett and Michelle.

Of course, Mia had to bring some cupcakes to share with her favorite Aunt and Uncles. (Congrats by the way to Barrett and Michelle who are expecting their first baby in December!!!)
Thanks for the amazing day and thanks mom & dad for letting us stink up your house.

Mia is 6 years old! That makes me REALLY REALLY old!

2009-06-14T14:48:00.000-07:00

Mia's birthday was super exciting this year because Mia was sooooo ready to turn 6. She had been counting down the days for quite a while and had no reservations telling everyone around her that she would be 6 in __ days. She also was quite specific about the gifts she wanted so that took out the guesswork for me and my mom!

My mom and dad came up the weekend before her actual birthday and we opened some gifts and shared some yummy ice cream cake. I can't believe she is growing up so fast...here come the tears..again.

Who knew I married MacGyver?

2009-02-02T17:15:00.000-08:00

Honestly, I did have the biggest crush on MacGyver when I was little. Who didn't? I think it was the mullet that did me in.

Question: What happens when you marry a genius and big sports fan who desperately wants to watch the super bowl but you don't have an antenna to hook up to your TV so you don't even get the BASIC TV channels?

Answer: He goes into the garage and finds some simple scraps of household junk and makes one himself and proceeds for the next hour to try to get a crystal clear picture by fastening the cable to the cord of our mini-blinds. Maybe he can figure out how to rig free cable next? Duh, doesn't everyone do stuff like this??? At least I know that Ashley can relate...Ezra probably does stuff like this all the time! Those Lee boys are loco.

Happy Birthday, Luke---the BIG 4 year old!

2009-02-02T17:01:00.000-08:00

Yep, there's another man around the house. In fact, right now, he's in the garage helping Dad build a computer desk. I always envisioned our kids working with and learning from Jesse so it's very very fun for me to see how our kids idolize their Dad. Luke is always saying stuff like, "When I'm a man, I'm going to have whiskers just like Dad." (good luck with that one, Luke...I mean have you seen that kid's hair color? he'll be lucky if he can grow peach fuzz.) and stuff like, "When I'm a man, I'm going to be one of Dad's work friends."

The night of Luke's big party (so big that we invited my parents and the girl that lives across the street.....and that's all) we had quite a bit of DRAMA! My parents just happened to be visiting us from Butte for the big day and as we were finishing up with the pinata we got a call from our bishop saying one of our really good friends in the ward was in the hospital and we needed to go right away. I was so GRATEFUL that my parents were there. I felt so comfortable leaving the kids and rushing out the door knowing that they would have an awesome birthday party and eat plenty of sugar. (what are grandmas for?)

So, we missed Luke's party but my Mom is soooo great and took some sweet pics...thanks for everything Mom. I love you more than you can every know!

Guess whose coming to dinner??

2009-01-20T12:17:00.000-08:00

Well, we've got Baby Lee #4 baking in the oven! Our family is so thrilled...especially Mia and Luke. They are already asking if they can sing songs to the baby in my tummy. It is making me a little nervous because Mia is sure asking a lot of questions about how the baby gets in there and where it comes out. ANY SUGGESTIONS?? The last time she asked me I told her "Well, honey, I just push the baby out!" I'm not quite ready to explain any details...or maybe I should to make sure she doesn't try any hanky-panky until she's married! HA! I'm 11 weeks along and had an ultrasound today. My doctor seems really nice and I get to deliver in the BRAND NEW hospital in Whitefish. Yippee! Here are a couple of little funny looking ultrasound pics...sorry they look so weird. I will post more as the baby develops. YEAH BABIES!!!!!

Future Rockstar

2009-01-11T17:54:00.001-08:00

Careful when this dude hits the slopes...he's his Daddy's boy!

Oh, the weather outside is frightful...and that's pretty much it.

2009-01-11T17:38:00.000-08:00

OK, OK, the weather isn't that bad anymore but the last two weeks, I've seen more snow than I ever have in my LIFE! That's not saying much since I was raised in the desert of El Paso but let's just say that I've never seen a snow storm like this in all my 10 years in Montana. It snowed and snowed and snowed some more. The plows didn't even try to keep up...they just waited until the weekend was over and we had a clear day. The pictures I'm posting don't do it justice...you just had to see it. We had over 2 feet in one storm, then the next week had another 2 feet in just a couple of days. It was hard when the kids asked me if they could play outside and I had to say no because the snow was too deep. They would have been up to their necks in it! I'm not even exaggerating! Jesse and I did take advantage of the amazing snow by taking a date night up to Big Mtn for night skiing...sweeet.
This pic was taken on my walk one day after the plows had finally come through. It was actually pretty outside and it was sooooo great to get some fresh air.

This is Jacob standing by our back door. This is no optical illusion...the snow is piled up against the back door and is as tall as Jake's shoulders! Good thing we don't use that door. Also, we have a deck off our back door that's at least 2 feet off the ground and the snow is 2 feet tall on top of that.

This is the tunnel I created while I was shoveling my front walkway and steps. Let's just say my back got an awesome workout baby!

Here is the snow piling up higher than our front deck. If you didn't know anything about our house you would just think we had a front porch that was level with the ground.

Here is the snow touching the bottom of our Remax sign...crazy, huh?

I left my heart in St George

2009-01-11T16:06:00.000-08:00

As many of you know, we went to St George to visit the Lee's for the Christmas Holiday. IT WAS AMAZING!! Rozannah, Chris and Lorenzo were visiting and it was great to see them and crazy to see how big Lorenzo has become. He talks so well! It snowed the first couple of days we were there and there was a lovely snowfall on Christmas Eve...it was magical. (actually, I wasn't too excited about the snow as you can see in the previous post.)

The only bad thing about the holiday was the fact that I only took about 4 pictures. WHAT AN IDIOT!! I'm so upset with myself. Rozannah, will you email any that you took? The pics I took are of us and the kids hiking around the gorgeous red rocks in my in-laws backyard.

Christmas eve was spent playing games and reading the Christmas Story from the scriptures. Christmas day was so much fun for everyone. We had a delicious turkey dinner with all the yummy trimmings and of course some of Dona's scruptious pies. Thanks to the Lee's for always making us so comfortable and being sooo much fun!! We love you guys!

H-E-double hockey sticks Froze Over

2008-12-14T17:32:00.000-08:00

Oh yeah, I'm good at keeping my blog clean...if only I could control my language around the children. Like when I've found that Luke has had yet another bout of diarreah or that Mia has used her play make-up to paint Jacob's face and there isn't one inch of flesh color showing or Jacob throws random things in the garbage because it's fun (cereal bowls/spoons, toys, bills etc.)

Anyway, enough about that. The REAL reason I'm posting right now is that I'm very upset. It is about -30 degrees outside and I'm really wondering what I was thinking leaving the nice warm desert for the winter in MT. I hope Jesse knows how much I love him to sacrifice like this! -30??? What the CRAP???

Whew, I feel better now...thanks for letting me vent. Needless to say, I can't wait to go to St George and soak it all in! Who knows, maybe we'll stay down there FOR-E-VER. (say "forever" like on the movie Sandlot...go ahead...you know you want to.)

Oh how easily entertained.

2008-12-14T17:09:00.000-08:00

I just love Jacob. I just love my washing machine. I just love watching Jacob watching my washing machine. Can't you feel the stinkin love? I also love his double cowlicks staring me in the face watching him watching me! Is anyone confused after all that?

I heart Turkey Day

2008-12-08T10:00:00.000-08:00

Here are some of the pics from Butte Thanksgiving with my parents. We knew we wouldn't see them at Christmas this year so my parents gave us a few really nice gifts.

Mia got an awesome baby-doll with a swing and backpack
Luke got a Woody doll that he's been wanting forever and a Nerf Gun (which Jesse really likes)
Jacob got a playhut schoolbus that is sooo much fun
and Jesse and I got an indoor grill / griddle that we've already used 3 times! I love it..thanks Mom & Dad!

I did a dry salt brine turkey as seen in Martha and it was DELICIOUS!! The stuffing in the bird was way too salty (only because I didn't read the directions to rinse the turkey after salting it) so we mainly ate the baked stuffing. My Mom made her famous lemon pie and my Dad made some perfect pumpkin pies too. Needless to say, we all ate very well through the weekend.
(I tried uploading pics but they wouldn't go thru...will try again later!)

Trunk-or-Treat...smell my exhaust fumes?

2008-11-10T09:17:00.000-08:00

We had a blast at our ward Halloween thingy. It was rainy and chilly but the kids were dressed warmly enough and we moved inside pretty quickly. There was a little carnival going on in the Church with some cute games and MORE candy. My favorite part was the Cake-walk...mmmm. I held all my kids' hands and walked around until I almost puked and finally won a delicious cupcake. (They were not even close to being cute like Rozannah's and Deseree's!) The kids had a great time but it was a little difficult trying to feed them dinner after that. The party started at 5:30 so next year we'll have to remember to feed them something somewhat nutricious before letting them binge on tootsie rolls and candy corn.

Here is our sweetest little cowgirl (she called herself a "princess cowgirl" because the hat has a little tiara on it). Thanks to my Mom and Sister-in-law for finding Mia's cute outfit at Goodwill...so awesome.

I bought this costume for Jake last year after Halloween on clearance and it was a great deal but it BARELY fit his chubby butt. It's sized 18-24 months and he's barely 2 but it was sooooo hard to zip this thing. Also, note his amazing yellow face make-up...yeah, it was quite a work-out to put even that much on his face because he is just so stubborn! No thanks to me for passing on that lovely personality trait.

Obviously, Luke was a little better about holding still for the face-painting. I'm really not a fan of Halloween...I don't really see the point and I don't like my kids having all that candy around the house that I eat for them. (I'm a really nice mommie to help them, eh?) BUT--as I was painting Luke's face I started getting really excited and already trying to think of a stupid costume for next year. What happened to me?? Did I catch the Halloween spirit if there is such a thing?

The three amigos...hey that gives me an idea for next year!! Having 3 kids is soo fun.

I just had to throw this picture in with the rest because of Jesse's amazing whiskers. He quit his pilot job so he could build full-time and I made him grow out his facial hair. The kids thought it was so cool and when Luke asked, "Dad, where's your costume?" Jesse responded, "I've been growing it out for a week!" Funny, huh. Good wolf-man costume, Jesse.

Zippety-Ay and Hidey-Ho I hate that song!!

2008-10-18T11:42:00.000-07:00

Jesse and Deseree' have had a birthday, shout, "Hooray!". Being in primary, it's only natural that I constantly have those cheesy birthday songs in my head all week, every week. Oh well, I guess there are worse songs out there.

Poor Jesse...we didn't throw him a party or anything! I made a yummy dinner and then we had Brownies & Ice Cream (per Jesse's request) and then watched a movie. I know...we are party animals! Well, I will say this...we didn't finish the movie until 11:30 which is the latest we've stayed up in a looonnngg time. We are so old.

Anyway, HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESSE. I love you more than ever, times infinity, plus one.

When Life hands you Rain...go get wet.

2008-10-18T11:31:00.000-07:00

I just had to let the kids go splash around this afternoon in the gloomy weather...we just HAD to get out of the house! My mom bought them some amazingly adorable rainboots and let us have one of their umbrellas so we took advantage. The kids had a blast and then we came back in the warm house and had hot cocoa... um, yeah, I'll do anything to have an excuse to make hot cocoa. I think I drink that more than water in the winter. Hmmm, maybe that's why I just can't seem to shed these last 30 lbs. NO-DOIY. Thanks, Mom, for the raingear!! We love it!

SOLD- to the lady in the second row...

2008-10-16T19:50:00.000-07:00

Yes, our lovely house has sold. A very sweet young family is buying it and I think it will be just perfect for them. We are closing at the end of the month and already put an offer in for another building lot in C. Falls. Luckily, we will not be moving wards and will be renting a home close to where we are building our next home to sell. We realize the market is slow right now but people are still buying homes here in the valley for now. The next house we do will be smaller so it can stay in a more reasonable price range...Jesse has the plans going and it's going to be a cool house...actually, all the homes Jesse designs are cool. It must be nice to be so talented! Anyway, it's onward and upward for us---another move closer to having our OWN HOUSE someday---oh, someday.

Pumpkin Patch Perfection

2008-10-16T19:38:00.000-07:00

As is our annual tradition, the kids and I visited our favorite pumpkin patch to enjoy the fall fun and pick some lovely pumpkins. This place is sooo cool. They have a small petting zoo with some sweet farm animals and some fun stuff set up for kids of all ages. They have racetracks with big trikes and tire swings made to look like horses. They also have a little concession stand with the loveliest homemade treats. Then they take the kids for a ride on the "train" which is a line of wooden carts pulled by a tractor out to the patch to pick their pumpkins. All in all, it is a very fun afternoon!

My BABY Jacob is 2 Years Old!! Yo Soy Muy Triste.

2008-10-16T18:56:00.001-07:00

Well, I suppose since Jake's birthday was in September I should post some pics of him through the years...maybe because I'm feeling old and can't believe he's growing up so fast and also because he's just so dang cute.

Huckleberry Pie and I shut my mouth!

2008-09-14T18:53:00.000-07:00

Oh, how I love Montana. Barrett and Michelle (my brother and his cute wife) were up visiting this weekend and we decided to go on a little hike on Big Mountain. We had heard that the huckleberry harvest on the mountain this year was especially plentiful so we stowed away some Ziplocs just in case we came upon some.

Well, it was a lovely day to be on the mountain. It was a tiny bit depressing as well because the foliage around here has already began it's change into fall colors. On the bright side we did find a little meadow with some delicious berries just begging to be picked. We almost filled a gallon Ziploc and enjoyed some amazing huckleberry pancakes this morning before Church....mmmmmm mmmmm goooooood.

Lewis, Clark and Sacagawea trying to find our house in the beautiful Flathead Valley.

Below is a closer look at one of nature's candies and some fall colors.

A River Runs Through It

2008-08-25T08:13:00.000-07:00

My mama came to visit and there's nothing she loves more than playing in rocks and trying to find cool stuff. (My grampa, her dad, knew everything about rocks and obviously the zeal for that passes through genes.) So here we are playing at the North Fork of the Flathead River on a beautiful Montana day! I LOVE THIS PLACE!!!

Glacier National Park

2008-08-25T07:57:00.000-07:00

Well, now that I've started blogging, you might be annoyed because I will probably be posting pics of Glacier NP every year. I look back at the pics I took last year and the year before and they all look the same...it's hilarious! But every year when we visit, it takes my breath away and before I know it, I'm snapping like 300 pictures in a day. I honestly have never seen it so GREEN there the whole time we've lived here. I guess that's one benefit of all the clouds and rain. Also, the longer we live here and the older my kids get, the more we get out and hike around in the park instead of just taking pics from the passenger seat.

This is my sister-in law, Michelle that I was hiding behind because that is a Momma goat looking for her baby and I was scared of those horns!! Sorry, Michelle, nothing personal.

Dino-RRific

2008-08-25T07:21:00.000-07:00

The kiddos and I went to visit my brother Brandon in Vernal, UT last week with my parents and it was SOOOOO fun! Vernal is known for its Dinosaur and Fossil rich area and they have a huge museum that we visited that we loved as much as the kids.

We also visited Brandon's daughter, Raegan, at the park for a while. The kids loved playing with their cousin and it was so nice to be together as a family...it's been a LONG time since I had seen Brandon and even longer since I had seen sweet Raegan! As you will tell from the pictures, she is DEFINITELY Brandon's flesh and blood.

El Presidente? Creo que NO!!

2008-08-25T07:15:00.000-07:00

Well, our poor Bishop has finally gone nuts because I was called to be Primary President in our ward...OH, THE POOR CHILDREN! I've called counselors who are amazing and we've been in for a few weeks and it's going to be fine. I've always loved primary and I'm excited to keep learning.

"Memories, all alone in the Moonlight..."

2008-07-22T19:41:00.000-07:00

Roni had this tag on her blog andit sounds fun so please play along if you want to. I actually just copied and pasted the instructions from her page...(don't turn me into the feds, Roni) I'm excited to hear the memories that you all have of me.

1. As a comment on my blog, leave a memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments. If you want to leave a memory about Jesse, that's fine too!

"V" for Victory!

2008-07-22T19:16:00.000-07:00

Cute pic of Mia at the park this week...future cheerleader? Not if Jesse has anything to do with it.

The Transformation from HUG to TEARS

2008-07-22T19:00:00.000-07:00

What started out as, "Hey Luke, give Jake a hug and I'll take your picture!"

Slowly turned...

Into somethin' like...

A WWF Wrestling move in 0.8 seconds...right about the time Jake starts crying. Brotherly love? Maybe in a year or two.

Poor, uncoordinated Luke

2008-07-22T18:56:00.000-07:00

Even though his bike has training wheels he still manages to tip it over somehow and get these nice scrapes all over his sweet face...pobrecito!! His owies are finally healed and he tipped his bike today again and got a big scrape right in the middle of his forehead. I don't think he can make it one day without some kind of bruise or bump on his face that screams, "Hey everyone, I beat my children!"

Inside our home...its for sale if you're interested!!

2008-07-22T18:45:00.001-07:00

Laundry room and guest bath

Kitchen and Kid's room

Master bath area and shower (I did all the tile!!)

Happy Snow Day

2008-06-10T18:28:00.000-07:00

You might say to yourself, "That Brooke is so bad at blogging that she is posting Christmas pictures in June! What a silly goose." Well, the last part is absolutely true but these pictures were taken on June 10th. The only word I kept thinking of all day as I was watching the snow fall was WRONG. It's just wrong. Montana is such a beautiful and weird place and this snow is just so very wrong. Our public pool was supposed to open on Monday but needless to say, we stayed indoors in the cold, yucky weather. GGGRRRRR.

Our House---in the middle of Our Street

2008-06-10T18:07:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted any pics of the house we built and I have yet to make my house presentable enough to take pics of it now that we MOVED IN! These are some pics of the house about a month ago and some photos of the surrounding views. I absolutely love this home. Jesse is so amazing to be able to draw this project and do so much of the work himself. It was a stressful 4 months but it's been neat to see it come together. Don't go falling in love with it, we are going to sell it as soon as it is ready to show. (For some reason I'm having the hardest time putting things away...I'm not dragging my feet or anything!)

Mia is a Preschool Graduate...what a smartiepants.

2008-06-10T17:58:00.000-07:00

There was a time when I would have scoffed and rolled my eyes if someone mentioned a Preschool or Kindergarten, etc. graduation ceremony. I mean seriously, how bored do those mom's have to be that spend time / money on that stuff right? WRONG! I even made the little hats myself (they didn't stay on at all). Our little group of preschoolers was so cute singing the songs and even saying the Pledge of Allegance. I got it all on video and I've already watched it a couple of times! Can you say NERDY MOM?

Feliz Cumpleanos, Mia!

2008-06-10T17:50:00.000-07:00

As of May 25th Mia is 5 years old. Hard to believe I'm that old...oops, I mean hard to believe Mia's that old. She had a good time at her little shin-dig in our apt. My parents were in town from Butte and we had a few kids from church there too. I made her a little caterpillar out of cupcakes and we had a butterfly pinata. (Actually the same as Rachel's daughter's birthday pinata...too cute!) She scored some sweet stuff and I didn't get any good pics but I'll post more when my Mom emails some of hers to me. Here, Mia is squeezing the guts out of her friend Gracie.

5K All the Way!

2008-06-10T16:15:00.000-07:00

I actually ran the entire race!! OK OK so what if I finished just before the ladies pushing their kids in jogging strollers?? Who are you to judge me? Kidding...it was really fun but definitely left room for improvement. I'm gearing up for the next one.

Move On Back!!

2008-05-10T07:47:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's true, I have become a school bus driver. It's ok if you are laughing really hard right now...I laugh about it all the time - probably 5 times a day. My BFF Cecilee has been driving a bus for a couple of years and I decided it could really be a great way to earn a little extra dinero.

So here's the scoop-

* I drive a 2005 bus---cd player, lots of cool buttons to push, hydraulic instead of air brakes

* The owner lets me park the bus at my house!

* I take the kids with me and they provided the carseats.

* It takes me about 1.5 hours in the morning and afternoon so 3 hours total daily...that's it!

* I drive a route to the new high school and the kids are super nice...they actually say, "Thank You" but it's too bad because I can't scream, "NO YELLING ON THE BUS"!

The Dreaded "Echo Tag" echo tag echo tag

2008-05-05T19:59:00.000-07:00

Thanks a lot Rozannah for my very first tag...I'm not sure if I hate you for it or not.

Here goes:

3 joys

1. My lovely children and strapping husband...lots of laughs out of this crazy bunch!
2. Springtime is bringing back a HUGE appreciation for the beauty of this world. After a long Montana winter, it's so very nice to see all the lovelies around us.
3. My extended family and friends. It's fun and exciting to have so many cousins, sisters, grandparents etc to share life with.

3 fears

1. I hope this doesn't freak anyone out but I've always had a very deep fear of being assaulted (in the yucky way). I almost typed the "R" word but figured this is a family website so keep it clean! I know...sorry if that's really innapropriate. Jesse always tells me not to worry because he knows I would fight back and he would feel sorry for the poor sucker who ever tried!
2. Lately, as I've been working more with Jesse, I've realized that heights and I aren't good friends any more! I had to mask some terribly high windows in our house on a 15' section of scaffolding and it really terrified me!! I'm not the kid I used to be!
3. I'm very afraid of anything bad happening to my kids or husband. I hear of kidnappings or accidents and it breaks my heart to put myself in the parent's place.

3 goals

1. Get my butt in shape. Seriously, I enrolled in a "Bikini Boot-camp" with Olivia to help this goal along. 5:30am 3 days a week...yeah, they don't call it boot-camp for nuthin.
2. Take better / more photos. I was so great about snapping 20 shots a day of Mia but as I've become busier I've stopped taking so many of the boys and Mia as she gets older...bad mom!! I also really want to learn everything about taking photos and utilizing my sweet camera and all the nice features instead of shooting on "auto" all the time.
3. Start my own personal prayer/ scripture study schedule. We read and pray as a family in the evening but I know I would do so much better if I made time to do it on my own as well.

3 current obsessions / collections

1. Trying to get tan- looking skin without laying out all day! I've been trying the Jergens "Natural Glow" for a while without noticing much except the gross smell! Why is it so hard to use sunless tanning products! I don't want cancer but with my freckled skin I really have to be careful but I refuse to look pasty any longer!!! Any suggestions?
2. Working out with my best workout-buddy Olivia. I absolutely love this girl! She's Jesse's first cousin and let's just sum up her looks in a short story... she got asked by a little girl if she was Barbie. Hello!?! She is super fit and cute and such a great motivation for me to get my jiggles into high gear.
3. Uh--Blogging--need I say more?

3 random / surprising facts

1. I absolutely love yard work! I look forward to mowing my lawn and can't wait to start a garden this year...my first one!( except for the garden we shared with Gramma Barb) Bring on the weeds.
2. My name was on some bank no-no list for 5 years because I overdrew my account while at BYU by $11.80...no joke. I couldn't even get my own checking account for 5 years...how annoying! I'm such a criminal.
3. I am a closet sci-fi reader. My dad has a huge collection and lends me books from time to time and I love them! I really get into them and can't put the dumb books down once I start. What a geek.

Jacob Palo Lee

2008-04-20T17:20:00.000-07:00

Jacob, Jacob, Jacob....what can we say. He is such a ball of fire! He has kept me on the move as soon as he started scooting around. He is a happy, good boy but sometimes I want to pull my hair out trying to keep up with him. I took many things for granted with Mia and Luke and Jake is taking advantage of many bad habits I've made. For example, I can under no circumstances leave the dishwasher door unlocked...if I ever do, he will spread the joy of dirty dishes all over the house. Jacob is the first baby that ever dumped out garbages or played in the toilet a FEW times a day. (Mia and Luke now shut the bathroom door when they are done.) He is so very smart as well as active. He mimics almost everything the big kids do...songs, letters, dancing etc. It's fun to see him learning new words constantly and being able to tell me (or yell at me) what he wants. WHEW! It's good exercise.

Luke Johnson Lee

2008-04-20T17:10:00.001-07:00

Here is our Luke. He is always just 2 steps behind Mia in everything and sometimes even ahead. He loves pretending with his dinosaurs and cars. He is obsessed with any sort of Pixar characters (Nemo, Lightening McQueen, Buzz Lightyear etc.) and so it's been super easy finding gifts for him! He is definitely our most sensitive child and loves to hug on everyone. Luke is growing up so quickly and everyday finding something he learned to do by himself...even things he shouldn't do by himself! He is constantly coming out of his room dressed for the day with his pants and shirt backwards and forgetting his "undies". Hey, at least he tries!

Mia Zoe

2008-04-20T14:37:00.000-07:00

This is our 4 year old Mia who tells everyone she's almost 5. She's way too big for her britches. Her favorite things to do are 1. Dress up 2. Help me with the boys by being as bossy as I am. 3. Coloring and Drawing (she is sooo artistic!) 4. Making up songs and singing them in an "opera" style that is completely hilarious. 5. Dress up 6. Dress up some more. Mia's birthday is May 25th and I'm planning a cute little garden party for her. I hope the weather cooperates! I'll be sure to post pics after the party.

Welcome to the 90's Mr. Banks!

2008-04-19T09:56:00.000-07:00

Well, I guess I'll go ahead and join the Human Race and start-a-bloggin'. I've been hesitant because it seems I'm always on the tail end of the "latest thing" and I don't enjoy feeling like I'm being trendy just for trendiness' sake. I can't resist any longer for the simple reason that this is the best way to keep the people I love up to date on the happenings of my family without spending hours on the computer! Heck, maybe I'll even go out and get the I-pod I've been wanting for YEARS now...and maybe I should stop wearing my favorite tie-dye parachute pants. No, I think I'll keep the pants...they match my hot pink reebok high tops really well.