10 years later

It's one of those things you'll never forget. Like when you first heard JFK was shot, or that the space shuttle The Challenger had blown up. I was pregnant with Kaleb & Noe and Len & I were living with my dad and step-mom. My step-mom came and woke us up and told us we needed to go and watch the news. We started watching right before the second tower fell. I immediately started crying and I remember my dad told me that I couldn't cry since I was pregnant, he didn't want the babies to feel my stress. I couldn't NOT cry! America is my home and the country that I love. She stands for such beautiful things. I could not understand why anyone would want to hurt her! I do worry about the state of the world and the future. Are we really going to all be better off if China becomes the next super power?

If you haven't seen this commercial, you must check it out: (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-QUmj7CScU), but have a tissue ready. God Bless America!

Canada chose well!

The top 3 female dancers were all spectacular, but I must admit that Jordan Clark was my favorite. This is really shallow, but I think she is the prettiest so I enjoyed watching her dance the most. My favorite male dancer was Christian Millette. I loved watching him in all of the couple's routines, but I am not a huge ballroom fan, so I didn't care for any of his solos. I definitely think Canada chose the best dancer!

Corn in Cumberland

My favorite ward activity each year is our corn roast out at the Historical Cumberland Museum.

There are so many cute buildings I want to capture with my cute kids, but this year they just wanted to play. My big belly gave in to their demands and off they went. They love playing on the old-fashioned toys on the school playground and seeing all the animals. I think there are bunnies, sheep, goats, cows, ducks, pigs, peacocks, and horses- whew!

What to do when you feel like a beached whale...

...put your feet up and get pampered! My sweet friends, Airi, Angelique, Annick, Jackie, Laura, Lianne, Marsha, Mary, Rhonda, and Sonia gave me a gift certificate for a mani-pedi for my birthday. Since I could no longer reach my toes, I felt it was time to redeem it!


It had been well over a year since my last manicure- and that was a 10 minute one during my layover in the Toronto airport. I think the last pedicure I got was for my 20th birthday! Thanks so much everyone! My feet are SO soft now. (Notice my fingers are too fat for my wedding ring to fit, sigh.)

Since it had been 6 months since my last cut and color, I decided it was time to get that done too. I do feel better about myself having my toes, fingers, and hair done, but unfortunately I still feel like a beached whale- ha ha!

True Beauty

For attractive lips, speak words of kindness.
For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people.
For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry.
For beautiful hair, let a child run his or her fingers through it once a day.
For poise, walk with the knowledge you'll never walk alone.

People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed; Never throw out anybody.
Remember, If you ever need a helping hand, you'll find one at the end of your arm.
As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, the other for helping others.

The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears,

the figure that she carries, or the way she combs her hair.
The beauty of a woman must be seen from in her eyes,

because that is the doorway to her heart, the place where love resides.
The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mole,

but true beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul.

It is the caring that she lovingly gives, the passion that she shows,

and the beauty of a woman with passing years only grows!

-Sam Levenson

ABC...XYZ

I saw this on my friend, Chris' blog and thought I'd try!

{a} age :: 36.
{b} bed size :: King.
{c} chore you hate :: Mopping the floors, the kids keep them CONSTANTLY dirty!
{d} dogs :: Do Webkinz count? We visit real ones at Gramma and Grampa's.
{e} essential start to your day :: My morning meditation- read scriptures, say prayers, write in journal. After the baby is born, I can't wait to add exercise to the list.
{f} favorite color :: Yellow.
{g} gold or silver :: Both.
{h} height :: 5'11".
{i} instruments you play :: My kids' toy xylophone- ha ha!
{j} job title :: Wife, Mom, Homemaker, Life Artist.
{k} kids :: Almost 5.
{l} live :: In Canada's capital.
{m} maiden name :: Pittl.
{n} nicknames :: Now- Woman, Love, Mommy, Jen. As a kid- Jenny Penny, Susie Buttons, TW (Tiny Wench), Sissy.
{o} overnight hospital stays :: For all 3 of my c-sections, and for the month Noe was hospitalized.
{p} pet peeve :: Mean people.
{q} quote :: 1- Choose thy Love; Love thy Choice. 2- Children need the Most love when they are the Least lovable.
{r} righty or lefty :: Righty.
{s} siblings :: 2 brothers, 2 sisters. 3 step-brothers, 1 step-sister. 4 brothers-in-law, 7 sisters-in-law.
{t} time you wake up :: The alarm goes off at 6:00, but I am usually awake before 5:30.
{u} university attended :: Brigham Young University (Bring 'em young- ha ha!)
{v} vegetables you dislike :: Bitter lettuces.
{w} what makes you run late :: Getting my kids ready.
{x} x-rays you’ve had :: Toe, elbow, teeth, chest (for immigration purposes).
{y} yummy food :: Filet mignon, cheesecake.
{z} zoo animal favorite :: Koalas.

Please let me know if you do this on your blog!

Tales of a 4th Grade Nothing

Was my favorite book when I was a fourth grader.


What I can't believe now is that my babies are big fourth graders themselves!

My handsome and caring Kaleb.

My sassy and sweet Noe.

I think their backpacks weighed as much as they do will all of their school supplies inside!

*They had a great first day and are excited for this new year. They have a new teacher, and since there is only one French and one English class for the Grade 4's, not only are they in the same class, but so are all of their friends. Yeehaw! Let's go fourth grade!

**They will turn 10 this school year, so we'll have a few tween years, then teen years, then they'll be off to University (sigh). We've heard that the conversations parents want to have with their children 5 years from now, they should actually be having NOW! So we've been talking about the serious stuff- drugs, morality, violence, etc.

Another thing we heard is if you want your teenagers to be successful in high school, you must focus on the ABC's- Athletics, Band, and Cheerleading. I whole-heartedly agree with that, and I hope our kids have a plethura of extracurricular activities to choose from when they are in high school.

Leonard's dad taught his boys "the natural sequence of events" to use during the years they left their parents home until they established their own homes, which Len followed. We altered it a bit for the next generation and have been "High-Fiving" our kids with it now. We call it the "High-Five to Happiness and Success." 1- University, 2- Mission, 3- Marriage, 4- Career, 5- Children. Of course, some of these things will overlap, but some things should definitely be pre-requisites to others! We just want our children to follow their dreams and soar!

Last Summer Hurrah

Our last day of summer vacation fell on Labor Day, so Len had the day off of work too. We originally wanted to go back to Peche Lake one last time, but the weather was too cool and we wanted to get all the back-to-school prep done early so the kids could get to bed on time. So instead, we headed to McDonald's. We all got ice cream cones, then we let the kids climb and slide in the playplace for an hour. (Len brought his laptop and I brought my book- the time passed quickly for all of us!)






My camera battery died, so I didn't get any shots of them in the playplace, but they all had such a fun time. Who knew McDonald's would be such a hit? Well, I loved it as a kid too.

*Leonard gave all 4 of the children beautiful Father's blessings. He also gave me (& baby-to-be) one too. I am so grateful for a husband that holds the Priesthood worthily and loves his family so much!

The Saga introduced to the next Generation

This summer we watched the Star Wars saga with our kids for the first time. We couldn't decide if we should watch them how they were released 4-3 or chronologically 1-6. We decided that when Luke finds out Darth Vader is his father, it must be a surprise for the audience! But you can't end on the saddest movie #3. So we did both. We watched the original Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi. Next we watched the new episodes 1-3, then watched the "remakes" of episodes 4-6 again. We watched one movie each weekend and it lasted all summer. The kids loved it (and the frozen fruit smoothies that accompanied each screening night).

The kids decided we should all dress up like the characters for Halloween some year. They also decided who each of us will be: Len= Darth Vader, Jen= Queen Amidala, Kaleb= Luke Skywalker, Noe= Princess Leia, Gavin= Han Solo, Teague= Chewbacca, and baby boy= Yoda. We'll have to see if we can do this sometime.

The kids also found this fun Weird Al song on YouTube. Enjoy! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEcjgJSqSRU)

A Lifetime!

Spider-sniffing was the night we met,
A cold, dark night I'll never forget.
Although you probably don't remember my name,
That's alright--I'm still fair game!
Just want you to know I think you're great,
Thanks for being my Buddy Ball date.


As the above poem says Leonard and I met while Spider-sniffing back on the first Sunday of September in 1993. The very first weekend of our freshman year at BYU. A long story short, my roommates and I went on the hike to meet cute boys, and we did! A month later my dorms hosted a dance where you set your roommates up on a blind date. My roomies remembered I thought Len was cute from the hike, so they asked him to go with me. We both were interested in other people by then, but luckily he said yes! Soon after we were dating exclusively... After we had been serious for a while, one day we talked about our meeting at only 18 and that some day when we were 36 we'd have known each other for as long as we didn't. That seemed FOREVER away and we would be so OLD then!


Here it is today, the 18th anniversary of our first meeting. And let me tell you, it didn't take forever to get here, more like a BLINK. And another thing, I may be a little thicker around the middle and Len may be a little thinner on top, but we are NOT old!

This picture was from the first time Len came home with me to Vegas (for Leslie and Gina's baptisms). Here we are with our first 4 kids (my siblings). It must have been a premonition that we would have a large family of our own someday...

We are so happy for the 4 kiddos that really are ours (and the 5th is on the way!)

*We have had lots of adventures together- lived in 4 countries, visited another 20 or so, swam in oceans, swam with dolphins, climbed mountains, ridden elephants- and I can truly say that our home and family life have been our greatest adventure! I look forward to the next 36 years honey!!

Mr. Conductor

All of these boys have loved (or still love) to play with all of their trains and tracks, etc. Gramma got them these cute hats and bandanas so I had to sneak a quick photo op!

More Stressed than Relieved

Yesterday I met with by baby doc for my routine check-up and to schedule the birthday. Well, when the doc came in he told me he had already scheduled it for October 28th. I was a little surprised because with my previous 2 I gave the doc input as to the date, etc. I told him I thought that sounded like a great birthday, but that I was a little concerned as well. It is exactly one week before my ultrasound due date, but it is 3 days after my last period due date. I have never carried a pregnancy past 37 weeks and I am nervous I will go into labor before that. Of course, I want the baby to be fully "baked" and not have to go to the NICU, but my track record should be taken into account. With my last pregnancy I had the whole polyhydramnios/amnioreduction scare and was on medication my last month to stop my contractions. My doc in Taiwan was so happy I made it to 37 weeks that she didn't want to push her luck and Teague was born perfectly healthy. My new doc said that yes, I probably wouldn't make it to the scheduled date, but we'll just play it by ear. Play it by ear? I wish I didn't have to have a c-section, but that is one of the benefits- you don't have to play it by ear, you can schedule it for a time when baby is healthy enough, but before mommy goes into labor! My uterus is still growing rapidly and I go for my 5th ultrasound in 2 weeks to check my fluid levels again. I really don't want to go into labor before the scheduled date, but I'm most upset because my parents from Vegas are flying in to take care of our other 4 children while I'm in the hospital and I have no idea when to tell them to come! Doc and I have more to discuss in 2 weeks for sure!