HAPPY MOTHERS DAY MOM!!

Here are some snapshots of the rugrats who can't wait to see you!!

At the zoo

             Hiking Around Stansbury Island

          Easter Sunday / Norah's Birthday

Hiking around that rock you see off of I-80 on your way to Tooele

           Just the girls being silly!

Jack at Scouts - He just received his Bobcat and they made him kiss me!

             Hangin' around the house!

Jack made these "ski's" and they had a blast playing with them.

Playing with Moon Dough! (Flour with baby oil - its AWESOME)

She was put to bed for a nap, we came in to check on her and this is what we found.  Asleep on the
changing table.

WE ARE EXCITED TO SEE YOU!!

WE LOVE YOU!!

This is a very late post!  But it can't go by without saying - Jack turned 8 years old!  Oh, how we love this kid! He keeps us on our toes and entertains us daily.  We are blessed to have him in our lives.  We love you Jack!

8 Reasons Why We Love Jack!
1.  His contagious smile, that he is always so quick to give.
2. His Big Brother Protection. He is fiercely protective of his two sisters.  No One is allowed to hurt them, but him!
3.  His passion for football.  Whatever it is that he chooses to do, I love that he gives every ounce of his soul to it.
4.  Loyal.  Once a friend, always a friend.  Willing to forgive and forget and move on.
5.  Independance.  He asserts his opinion and moves forward with what he believes is the best way.
6.  Creativity.  This kid can spend hours on a single lego creation.  It is amazing the things he can create.
7.  He loves his mom and dad.  We love him so much and it is wonderful that that love is reciprocated.  He returns hugs and kisses, and endlessly endures being embarrassed by us.
8.  Problem Solver.  If he is told no, discovers it broken, or no one knows how to complete it.  This boy will find a way to get a yes, fix it, and complete it himself.  Every day he amazes me with the ability to do this.
Happy Birthday Jack, We love you!!! 

I just love my children.  They fight, they scream and yell, they drive me crazy.  BUT, they are extremely compassionate.  They love each other.  They may fight over a toy or game, but they honestly care about each others welfare. 
The other day, Audrey fell and scraped her knee.  She got one of those big rug burns that turns into a thick scab a couple of days later.  Today, she wore tights with her dress.  I offered to put a bandaid over the sore, but she refused.  I should have known better.  Tonight as we were getting into pajamas the tight got stuck on her knee.  The wound had oozed throughout the day, then dried.  In effect glueing itself onto the scab of her knee.  I tried soaking it, I tried picking it off piece by piece using vaseline and q-tips.  To no avail, it was not coming.  At first she was just moaning a bit, but the first time a bit of the scab ripped away from her knee she started into the high-pitched shriek.  She had every right too, the stupid thing hurt.  I continued to try it gently, but it just kept ripping.  After what seemed like forever.  I finally separted the tights from her leg. Having ripped about half of the orignal "glued" part off.  Poor thing, I really felt bad for her. 
I started bandaging up the new wound, and helping her into her pajamas, when I noticed Jack. 
He was so upset about her going through that pain, he thought of a way to help her.  He had decided she needed to be taken care of through the night.  He went downstairs, brought up a sleeping bag and laid it out on the floor next to his bed.  He then went into her room, got her blanket, doll, horse, and pillow to made her bed comfortable.  Then he wrote her a note: "I am sorry about your scab, sleep here." which he placed on her pillow.  Once Audrey was ready for bed, I brought her into Jacks room and tucked her in.  Jack then read her a bedtime story, wished her goodnight and they both went to sleep.
How proud I am that my children can do this.  What a great example he is.  I am so thankful for both (all three) of them.  My sweet little Unsworth clan!

(I have pictures, but I can't get them to upload, rrrrrgh!)

A Moment to Become a Memory!

Happy New Year!  from the point of writing this we have been in the year 2012 for about 20 minutes.  But that is not the reason for my post.  My camera is broken and I haven't been able to get any pictures this holiday season.  But hopefully my words can create a mental picture just as good. 
My parents have been here visiting for the holiday.  We have had a lot of fun, laughing and playing and talking.  Norah started calling Grandpa "Daddy."  It was so sweet to see her reach for them and choose them over a parent.  She has not done that yet, and its always a milestone when they get there.  (FYI, my parents live in Roswell, NM and Chris's live in England, so the babies have to relearn these relationship each time.) 
Well, this evening I was putting around, cleaning up the house and getting ready for church tomorrow.  The kids were bathed and ready for bed.  When I rounded the corner and saw this picture; On the love seat, Chris cuddling with Norah reading her an animal book and making roaring sounds at every picture.  On the chair was Grandpa with Jack cuddled into him listening attentively to a book about football.  And on the couch Audrey was cuddled into Grandma's arm listening to a princess story.
It was a beautiful sight!  Some of the most important people in my life, cuddling together, and loving each others presence.  I am so grateful they are in my life, and I thank my Heavenly Father for the wonderful blessing of Eternal Marriage and Eternal Families.  Tonight, there was a touch of heaven right here in my home, and I loved every minute of it.  My parents will be heading home in about 5 hours from now, and I think it was the most wonderful way to spend the evening.

Audrey Turns 5!!

Oh, my girl is so big.  What is it with this age?  They seem to go from a little kid to a big kid overnight.  This is a girl that knows what she wants and she is not going to let anyone or anything stop her.  She is so passionate about all that she does.  If she likes it, she LOVES it; If she dislikes it, she HATES it!! She is a precious, and important part of our family.  I am grateful for her, and all that she teaches me.
5 (of the many) things I love about Audrey:

#1  She is quickly figuring out this language thing all children have to do.  She talks very maturely, but she still holds on to a few words and phrases that I love to hear her say.

• JUGGLE for the word guzzle
• Mom, can I have a sip of your Coke, I promise I won't take a juggle.
• TAKE CARE for the word neosporin
• I just hurt my knee, can you put on some take care before the bandaid?
• NO for the word nose
• Norah just hit me in my no!

#2  She is my best friend.  She is Chris' best friend.  She is Jacks best friend, and she is Norah's best friend.  She loves to be with her family.

#3 Her enthusiasm for learning.  She practicing her reading and letters all day everyday.  Her constant requests for "Teach me, Mom,"  "Help me read this, Mom," do my heart so good.

#4 She loves to help.  Whether it be cooking, cleaning, picking up, changing Norah, you name it.  She wants to help and loves the praise she gets for doing so.

#5  She is my pretty, princess, tomboy.  As long as she is wearing a pink skirt, nails painted, hair done, and sparkly lipstick on, she will climb anything, ride anything, swing, jump, crawl and dig in anything her brother does.  I love it!!

We try to do a "friend" party only on certain birthdays and #5 is the first one.  So it is a pretty big deal.  My friend Kim Ekins owns a bounce house rental business.  Chris did some service for her and her husband a few months back, and as a thank you she wanted to let us have the use of a bounce house.   We decided Audrey's birthday would be the perfect time to use it.  We invited all of her friends, both old and young.  They all came and bounced their hearts out.  It was a lot of fun, although as a parent, I did not forsee all the accidents that happened.  But we didn't kill anyone, and only maimed a few! 

Even Norah, after being hesitant at first got in there and bounced around.

I also planned this balloon activity.  Where everyone gets a balloon tied to each ankle, and they try to pop everyone else's without getting their own popped.  The last balloon standing wins.  It was really fun!

In the evening, we had a cousins party!!  It was also a ton of fun.  This is Gabriella Bethel, Audrey, and Simon Fox.

This is Calvin Fox, isn't he cute!!  His birthday is September 14th, so we decided to combine the family party to include him, for turning 2 years old!!

Here is Calvin blowing out his candles!

And Audrey blowing out hers!

My mom gave her so many cute clothes.  The two big ones were this red dress and the pink one.  She also included skirts, shirts, petticoats, and leggings!  Thanks Grandma!!

Jack was so excited to give this fairy leotard to her.  He was very proud, and wanted her try it on straight away!

Yellowstone Aug 2011

We were able to take a wonderful family camping trip to Yellowstone. It was so great to be up in the mountains, see all the wildlife, and just be together. We all had a great time. It was so fun to be snuggled in the tent together. Norah would stand up from her port-a-crib and just smile at the whole family sleeping around her. Jack and Audrey enjoyed discovering and exploring all around our campsite. We were worried that Norah would take off, but she was content to swim in the dirt of our campsite.

The pictures below are kind of backward and out of order, but the idea is still there. Beware, there is a lot of them.

Tucked in the van, ready to head back home after 4 days of camping.

Family shot, on the Indian Paint Pots trail.

Jack and I, what a cute kid. He was so adventurous on the trails, I was lucky to make him stop for this.

Me and Audrey, I believe we are overlooking the Yellowstone Falls.

Jack at the Yellowstone Falls.

My family!! Couldn't resist this shot!!

This was so cool, the color of the water behind the kids actually tells the temperature of it. It was fascinating to walk through this valley and see all these streams of different colors of green, yellow, orange, and a dark, rusty orange. It was beautiful.
One of the many fountains we saw.

We stopped off at Whiskey flats one day for lunch, and the kids enjoyed playing!!

We drove through Hayden Valley, because Chris HAD to see Buffalo while in Yellowstone, and we were told this is the best place for it. Boy were we right, We saw Buffalo up close and personal. This particular buffalo, was right next to our car, so close Chris could have pet it from an open window. We saw large herds everywhere. They really are magnificent creatures.

One afternoon we stopped at a small swimming hole, of the river and had a good swim. The water was a nice temperature, not too hot, or too cold. Chris and Jack loved it the most. Jack got tired first of the two. Audrey struggled, but at least she got in and tried it. Norah clung to me, and stayed calm if I had both arms wrapped tight around her, but if I let go - so did she. It was a nice way to cool off.

This picture was taken next to a pool on the Fire Hole Loop. It was amazing to feel the heat come off of these things. The colors were amazing.

Another lunch stop. Another chance to explore. Can you see how far Jack is off the ground?

Waiting to see Old Faithful!

Family Shot at Kepler Cascades.

Isa Lake! We all just loved the lillypads and enjoyed climbing around the small lake.
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Jack and Audrey looking at animal skins. Jack was so intrigued by their claws, that the Ranger let him come behind the counter and look at longer and bigger claws from other animals.

Some dirty fun, in our campsite!