Discovery Park

Yesterday morning we went to Discovery Park. There was a photographer there building her portfolio and she took pix of us and here they are...

If gas prices keep climbing...

Let's go Fly a Kite!

So... on Monday the temp was 110*, crazy hot and then out of nowhere these past few days have been awesome! Yesterday it was raining and I just LOVE the rain! And today it was just beautiful so we did this today...











And Jonas got off early this afternoon and since there was actually some wind in AZ we went and did this for our first time, it was awesome!...






I am loving the 3 day weekend so far!
On Saturday, my awesome sister Shannon watched the kids while Jonas and I went to see the new Narnia movie and it was really good!
And to think... I wanted to go to San Diego this weekend! San Diego is so over-rated (HA) ... and gas is SO OVER expensive!!!

At 2 months...

Kyla was 11 pounds

Maelie was 13 pounds

And Jaxon was 15 pounds!!!

Does that mean baby #4, if there is a baby #4, will be 17 pounds??? =)

Fun Stuff

Mercies of Motherhood

My sweet sister sent me this and I just had to share it - LOVE IT! :)

Surviving on the Mercies of Motherhood by Whitney Permann Saturday, May 10, 2008

People think I’m crazy when I tell them I love childbirth. It’s not that I like pain—I don’t. But there is just something about working really hard to get something really good. My husband and I have the routine down: we do whatever it takes to get through a contraction, then I slump back on the bed, as limp and peaceful as a noodle (as peaceful as a noodle can be) and rest before the next one hits. It’s hard work, but when the baby is finally born, the pain doesn’t matter anymore—and I experience joy beyond description. (Then I swear I’ll never do it again.)
It has recently occurred to me that childbirth can be one huge metaphor for motherhood. We “labor” day in and day out, moment by moment—scrubbing, brushing, wiping, flushing, buckling, holding, washing, folding—it’s a wonder more mothers don’t drop dead from pure exhaustion!
So here’s my theory: Heavenly Father knew how challenging motherhood would be for each of us—physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually. So He sends us “mother mercies.” You know the moments—the ones that sneak up on you and make you smile or laugh—or teary-eyed. It’s like the time I caught a whiff of my five-year-old and realized he’d put on his daddy’s deodorant that morning. Or when he used to pray nightly, “Please bless that morning will come in five minutes.” It’s the time I found a bar of soap in my bathroom with one (and only one) set of teeth marks in it. Or when my preschooler asked me, “Why did Jesus cover our bones with skin?”
Perhaps these little mercies are like the pauses between our contractions of motherhood—the moments that make us say, “Oh yeah. I really love this mothering stuff.”
Contraction: Baby spits up.
Mother Mercy: Three-year-old cries in alarm, “Mom! She’s spilling!”
Contraction: Five-year-old climbs on counter to find sweets.
Mother Mercy: He explains he was simply finding desert for “Family Home Ming-Ming.”
Contraction: Patting your squishy tummy left over from pregnancy.
Mother Mercy: Patting your baby’s squishy tummy that you got in return.
Contraction: Feeling overwhelmed and grumpy.
Mother Mercy: Oldest child says sweetly, “Mommy, if you say a prayer, Heavenly Father will help you feel better.”
Think about it—what an interesting phenomenon—in our very hardest moments of mothering, Heavenly Father sends us these little flashes of reprieve to help us keep going with a smile. True, we have diapers and back-talking and tantrums and spills, but we also get kisses and first steps and stick-figure drawings and hand-pulled bouquets.
Look for the Mother Mercies in your own life. I promise they will pop up everywhere—when your toddler trips the alarm at the library (like mine did) or when he pours pop down the bowling alley lane (yes, mine) or when you find your envious child stripped down to his nothings at the park, staring longingly through the fence into the city pool (Whose kid is that? Oh, it’s mine). The Mother Mercies are always there. Don’t miss them!
One Sunday while I was juggling my three little ones, an older sister in my ward leaned over and said, “This will all end someday, believe me.” To which I replied, “Oh don’t tell me that! I’m having so much fun.” Who knew that doing something so hard could bring me so much happiness? And just like the finale of childbirth, I’m hopeful that this mothering thing—this exhausting labor of love—will someday bring us joy we could never comprehend was possible.
Whitney Permann is originally from Idaho Falls, Idaho but currently lives in Spanish Fork, Utah with her husband Rock and their three children Braden, Gavin and Calyn. Some of her favorite things include reading, writing, singing, being a mom, Tide© laundry detergent, and homemade chicken noodle soup. She is also a member of Deseret Book’s newest recording group Mercy River, whose debut album released in April 2008. Visit www.MercyRiverMusic.com for more information.

Dance Pictures

Today I took the girls to get their dance pictures taken... I will post them when I get them, but here are some cute snapshots and videos. Kyla isn't in dance but she got a costume and so she got her pic taken with the girls. When they did their dance Kyla went and stood on a heart but she didn't dance. When we left she was so sad, "I wanna dance!" And Maelie is dancing in the videos, yeah!!! At her christmas show, she just stood there. Maybe she will dance at the June recital!

They look like sisters in this pic, don't you think?

Maelie (and Kyla) dancing! :)

this is cute - you can see Kailin and Maelie jumping up after their flash trick!

Maelie, Kyla, and cousins Kailin and Anna!

aren't they CUTE??!

Cute sisters ready to go!

Dancing with their umbrellas - Anna, Kailin, Mia, and Maelie

HUGS!! Maelie and Kailin

Well, I think the videos are too big to upload! I will try it another way...

And yeah for David Archuleta!

Anniversary roses from my sweetie

Rogers Baby

Jaxon is what my fam calls a "Rogers baby". He is soo big!!! Maelie and Kyla were both good sized but Jaxon is definitely a Rogers baby! Today he had his 2 month check and he is 15 pounds 1 ounce! That's in the 97th percentile! Woah boy! His height is 24 inches (80%) and his head 16 (65%) Such a growing boy!!! He had to get tons of shots and it was so sad! Poor kid! He is doing well now tho! On an exciting note... we just reserved our moving company! Budget is loading, driving, and unloading! Sweet! Now if we can just secure that assistantship and a place to live!

My sweet angel of a mother!

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers and all the women out there! I love my mom to Pluto's moon and back! Does Pluto have a moon? My mom is beautiful, inside and out! She has been such an angel and such an example to me throughout my life. We almost lost her several times and it has made me all the more grateful for her presence! She has a strong testimony of the gospel and has always taught me to do what's right by example. She is so loving and humble. She raised 7 awesome children and did it wonderfully! Recently when she watched Maelie and Kyla while we were in the hospital having Jaxon, she asked me, "How do you do this?" And I told her, "Mom, you did it!" And she raised 7 of them all the way into adulthood and the last has just entered the temple and is preparing to serve a mission! She is amazing and I love her very much! She always made sure we felt good about ourselves. She understood my need to go out and get a new outfit and she put us first, always worrying about herself later. She has many talents, beside being loving and caring and selfless. She is an amazing seamstress. She made my wedding dress that I love! She has sewed millions of dance costumes throughout the years. And on the side (what side?) she is always making things for her children and grandchildren. She has a beautiful garden and is so good at that hobby of hers. I am so happy to be the daughter of Karen Kay Lamb Rogers! I love you forever, Mom.

fun in the sun

For playgroup on Tuesday we went to a new outdoor mall. It was very cool and a lot of fun! Here are 2 videos, one of Kyla playing in the water (orange swim suit), and the other is Maelie dancing... there are lots of fun stores right around the kids play place like the Disney Store, the pet store, and DQ!

Happy 5th Anniversary to us!

WARNING: This post is for my own reminiscing and entertainment, I won’t feel bad if you don’t read the whole thing or any part of it for that matter…

Here’s our story (at least my side of it):
Growing up my dream was to go to BYU and meet my dream man and then live in Utah for the rest of forever… well, don’t tell anyone, but I didn’t get accepted to BYU and I was devastated! My good friend Emily Adamson dragged me with her to a very cold place called Rexburg. I planned to go there for a year, just for fun, to try something out and to be on my own. I remember when my parents and little brother Trevon dropped me off there at apartment #303 at Carriage House Apartments and I was feeling a little like, “Don’t leave me here, this is like the smallest town EVER and where are the mountains?!?!” I was thinking there would be mountains like there are in Provo and I was disappointed. Anyway, that first year was a BLAST!!! Of course there was homesickness and all that, but I LOVED it there! I was soooo cold, but the snow was soooo beautiful! I loved walking home from class and watching it fall, it was amazing! BYU-Idaho is such a cool place! I recommend it to anyone and everyone! I can’t believe all the fond memories I have there. Anyway, when spring came, it was beautiful! At about the same time I had a crush and he is partly to blame for me coming back Fall semester. No it wasn’t Jonas, he was on the south side of the world at this point. But I did know Jonas’ sister, she was in my ward and she never told me about him, I have no idea why not... ANYWAY, I loved BYU-I, the weather was awesome, I had a crush, and I was only one semester away from my associate’s degree. So… I changed my mind and I went home for the summer and then came back for “one more semester.” I took mission prep since I would be turning 21 that December and planned to get my associates and then go back home after the semester. Well, the first weekend back, Saturday September 7, 2002 Emily and I went to an event on campus in the Eliza R. Snow building. It was a Canadian magician that I know nothing about because we never got in. It was sold out and we decided to wait in the stand by line. We were talking to this nice older couple in line behind us until a friend of theirs came up and gave them tickets and then they left. Well, behind them was the hottest guy I ever saw!!! HAHA!!! Well, I think that now but at the time I thought, “he’s a really cute nice guy, but I’m sure he’s after Emily.” We talked until we realized we weren’t going to get a ticket and so we invited him and his friend over to play games in our apartment lounge that night. I remember thinking it’s so cool how he asks everyone questions to get to know us all. Random thought, I guess but I was impressed by him. Well, life was a little complicated for me at that time. My mom was going through her 2nd round of cancer and there were some other things going on that made me feel like maybe I needed to go home. Also, the crush I came back to school for was dating my room mate (don’t worry I don’t blame you if you read this, no hard feelings =) And I started to like his room mate and anyway, life was confusing. So I didn’t really think about Jonas that much. I liked him, but like I said, I thought he liked Emily and life was confusing. Well, we invited him to play sardines and Rambo with us the week after our first meeting. We invited tons of people and it was a lot of fun. I remember sitting by him to eat ice cream that night and thinking he was really cool and fun. A few weeks later he dropped by our apartment. I was trying on my dress for the preference dance that I had asked my crush’s room mate too (confusing, sorry) And after I changed back into my regular clothes I came out to the front room and saw him talking to my room mate Leslie. I didn’t know at the time that he had asked for me at the door so I just started talking to them, feeling pleasantly surprised to see him. We started talking about President Hinckley coming to dedicate the Hinckley building and how we need to go get tickets and so we went together. We found computers on campus and were online trying to get tickets, the computers were way backed up because all of Rexburg was trying to get tickets. We never did get tickets but we were cracking up together that night, laughing over who knows what! I was having so much fun with him! Well, that Friday morning, he called me and asked me out for that night, our first date and actually his first date after his mission. It was October 11th, 2002 and it was honestly the best first date I have EVER had! First we went to Broulim’s to get some hot dogs and marshmallows and then we met up with our group at his sister Buzzy’s apartment (yes, the sister who never told me about him) Even the simple thing as the grocery store was so much fun with him. We drove out to a ranch and went horseback riding, roasted hotdogs, and flew kites. Then we went back to Buzzy’s place and played spoons, spaz uno, watched Mike’s New Car, carved pumpkins, made smores on the element, and played Super Frog. It was way fun and I barely got home at curfew, yes there is curfew at BYU-I. The next night we went to a concert on campus and watched a movie with friends. It was that night that I was surprised that he didn’t like PG-13 movies either, not very common. So, I was really really getting interested in him! The week after that we both went to preference with someone else. I felt bad because I wanted to be with Jonas and I was even looking for him all night but never saw him. Emily saw him 3 times!! Well, here is where it gets a little fuzzy because after that we were always together, we hung out all the time and dated and had lots of fun together. There was this one day that we went to the gardens at BYU-I and woah! I remember it had been cold and then the sun came out and it was warm and beautiful. We took a walk to the gardens and we both felt the strangest like peace or something. Anyway, it was a cool day, hard to explain. I must have been a little funny when I got home because I remember my room mate Kristen saying, “You were just with Jonas weren’t you?” It was then that I started wondering about what I was going to do next semester, I can’t go home to AZ or go on a mission and leave this guy here, but if there’s nothing there for him, then I need to go home. I remember vaguely telling him I was confused about what I wanted to do next semester. One day, he put his head phones on me and played the song “Ain’t no mountain high enough” meaning if I did decided to go to AZ, he would chase me there. I decided to stay yet another semester at BYU-I and I remember I didn’t want him to know that I had signed up for the class eternal marriage for the next semester. It wasn’t a huge deal because a lot of people take that class whether they’re getting married or not, but I was still embarrassed. Mission prep one semester and marriage prep the next? But he did end up taking eternal marriage with me! The week after that I went home for thanksgiving. Before I left, Jonas gave me his head phones and played me the song, “I love you always forever…” But he didn’t say it, we had breakfast together and then he walked me to the bus that would take me to the airport. I told him I’d call him maybe on Sunday or something… HA! We talked on the phone every single day for like 2-3 hours of those long long LONG 8 days! And like on the 4th day he told me he loved me and he wanted to marry me. Oh and also back home in Arizona, my crush from high school got home from his mission. He picked me up at the airport and we went to a YSA activity together and he wanted to hang out more but we didn’t, I wasn’t really into it. We talked on Sunday night, the weekend I was home and I told him about Jonas. Anyway, when I got back to Rexburg we were pretty much engaged but not officially. At Christmas break, we drove up to his family’s (in Cardston, Alberta, Canada) for the first week and Christmas and then we drove down to my family’s (in Gilbert, AZ) for the 2nd week and new year’s. He proposed on New Year’s Eve in front of the Mesa temple at midnight. That was when we first kissed and it was both of our first kiss. It was a dream of mine to only kiss the man I was going to marry. And so then we were engaged for winter semester and we got married on May 10th, 2003! When I first got “dragged” up to Rexburg I never thought I would fall in love with the place and leave there with a husband, a bachelor’s degree, and 2 daughters!!! So, that is how it all began. I am forever grateful for Emily, my unnamed crush, and Rexburg’s beautiful springtime!
Jonas, you are the most amazing man I have ever known and I feel so entirely blessed that I was led to someone so completely perfect for me. I have so much fun with you and I am so happy to be with you. I look forward to forever with you. I love you!