Amelia is 8 and got baptized!!

Amelia was baptized on March 30, 2013. It was such a special day for her. Both sets of grandparents were able to come into town for her special day. Mom said the opening prayer then we sang When I was Baptized. Grandma Payne gave a talk on baptism and Papa gave a talk on the Holy Ghost. Then She was baptized and Grandpa Payne and Chris were the witnesses. Then sang I am A Child of God and Nana gave the closing prayer. After we had cupcakes and candy for desert. We had a lot of people from our ward come and celebrate the special day with Amelia.

Moving to Chicago

So on November 5 2012 we packed up our stuff into suitcases and moved to Chicago. I didn't get pictures of our actual trip, I don't know if I was still in denial that we were moving or if it was soooo crazy I didn't have time to pick up a camera, either way it was a crazy day. So we packed up 7 HUGE suitcases, a baby bed, a pack and play, a dog kennel, 4 carry on back packs and 4 children all in our tiny rental car to head to the airport. We were pretty much a 3 ring circus but we made it through. The kids did great on the flight until the last 20 minutes Charlotte screamed the entire time. Justin tried to calm her but all she wanted was her mom. Well I couldn't hold her because I was holding the baby and so there was no other choice then to let her scream! We finally landed and she wouldn't stay in her seat probably because we told her she had to but the flight attendant came up to Justin and told him he was being unsafe with her. I think at the time he would have thrown her out the window if he could have. Lucky we didn't get thrown off the plane!! :)
We then gathered all our stuff and made out way to the rental car place, got in our cars and drove to our apartment that was to be our home for almost 5 months!! It wasn't a bad apartment the only thing that made it hard was that I had to drive the kids to and from school everyday. It was 30 minutes one way!! Having Ezra in Kindergarten that meant I was making the trip 6 times a day!! Lucky for me the little girls didn't mind the car. Charlotte watched tv and Violet napped.

Violet's Blessing Day

 This was Violets blessing day. She was blessed on October, 12 2012 in the Rose Canyon 5th ward with Mark Chalk as Bishop. It was such a special day. Both sets of grandparents were able to to be there. Casey and Kristy and their kids came from Pocatello and lot of family and friends from around the area. Violet looked so beautiful in her white dress and Justin gave her such a beautiful blessing.

Where to Begin?

So I have wanted to start blogging more if for nothing else but our own family records of what has been going on. So here is my attempt to do that!
We have had a lot go on the last few year and a half. In January of 2012 Justin started traveling to Chicago for work and then he would work from home when he wasn't traveling. We also found out on January 3 that I was excepting another baby! Life couldn't get any crazier or could it?!? Amelia was in 1st grade at Butterfield Canyon with Mrs. Greyer as her teacher. We just loved her and Amelia had a ton of friends in her class. Ezra was still in preschool with ms. Kim and he was even starting to enjoy going to school which was a miracle! Charlotte and I loved having our time together just the two of us!

In July we decided to put our house on the market in Herriman and make the big move to Chicago. I thought we would have it on the market for a few months before it sold so we had time. Boy was I wrong. It was on the market for 4 days and we had 6 offers all above asking price!!! We were shocked!  So we sold our house but didn't have to be out until September 24.

On September 4 2012 our sweet little Violet Nicole was born. She was born at 8:15am and weighed 6 pounds 13ounces. She had dark black hair and was perfect. We were instantly in love with this little girl.

This is me the morning that I gave birth. I was so nervous but ready to have this baby!

 Momma's first time holding baby Violet!

 Nana first time holding baby

 Grandma Payne's first time holding baby

 Big sister and Big Brother holding baby girl for the first time.

Violet in her going home outfit.

Our last night in our house in Herriman.

So 3 weeks after giving birth we had our house packed up and we moved to an apartment in Sandy. It was a 3 bedroom apartment on the third floor!! It was a little tricky because I wasn't able to lift more then 10 pounds because of the c-section but we survived.

 This is our last day in our house. We had the kids sit on the stairs for one last picture. They didn't really seem to care that we weren't going to live in that house anymore but it was really hard for Justin and I. We created alot of memories in that house.

Year in Review

Ok so i suck at blogging. But I also suck at scrape booking so I thought I better start being good at one so my kids can have some kind of memories to look back on. So here we go. This year has been a good one for us. We have all been pretty healthy and happy for the most part except for a few bouts with strep and colds. Here is what the kids have been up to this year.

Amelia is in First grade and loves it. She absolutely loves her teacher she is such a good teacher she would be hard not to love. She has been taking dance this year and really likes it. It's different then the other dances she has taken because this year she is doing ballet, jazz and tumbling which she loves. She also got the on time award for school which was awesome for both of us so we went out for ice cream. If you know the Payne family you would know this is a HUGE accomplishment for all of us! But most of all she is a really good big sister and we are so proud of her and love her tons and tons!!

Ezra is in preschool and also loves his teacher. He also likes to make up stories about her spanking all the kids and kicking them in the stomach. Now if you new miss Kim you know these are only stories because she is soooo sweet she would never hurt a child. But I think he thinks it's funny! He is always keeping us laughing with his little cute comments. Just tonight he was telling Justin that if he finds something at night he should be able to put it in his pocket and keep it. His logic is pretty funny and it's really hard to get mad at him. His new latest venture is he is taking b-boy dance class. He has only been once but really liked it. At the beginning of class he was kind of crying so when he was done and loved it I asked him why he cried and he said well some of it was kind of boring so I guess it bored him to tears! He is our sweet little boy and loves to give hugs and kisses and tells me I'm beautiful even when I just wake up! I just love that kid!!

Charlotte is growing and getting bigger every single day. She has finally started walking and thinks she's hot stuff. She of course wants to walk wherever she goes and thinks no rules should apply to her, just like her big sister! She is talking up a storm and repeats a lot of what we say. She is also discovering new things like her eyelashes. I have never had a kid so fascinated with her eye lashes. She pulls on them and then covers her mouth to laugh. It's pretty dang cute. She is also a major mamas girl which is okay by me because i get lots of hugs and kisses throughout the day. She is so much fun to have in our family we would be lost without her cute little personality and light that she brings to our little family! We are all pretty crazy about her!!

Halloween

This year for halloween the kids wanted to dress up like Mario Bros charaters. They love to play this game and watch the old school movies and so these costumes were perfect. Amelia was princess Peach, Ezra was mario and Charlotte was a Kupa Trupa aka Turtle.

Ezra Turns 4

I can't believe that my little boy is 4 already. How fast time does fly. He had a super fun birthday party at boondocks and had all his really special friends there. They made his party just perfect. He still talks about his party and wants to go there again. We love our sweet gentle little boy and are so glad that he is part of our family. We love you!!