A View From the Kitchen Window

One of the things I love about my new house is the views! We purposely put in large windows so we could have views. I especially love being able to look out the kitchen window while doing the dishes at night and see the glow of the Temple. It is quite mesmerizing. As I was looking out the window Saturday afternoon/evening, I was awestruck at the view of the clouds on the mountains. Everything looked so fresh and clean from the rain of the day. I had to take a moment to walk out onto the patio to take a picture. The picture doesn't do justice of the actual view but I thought I'd share it anyway.

Happy Birthday Grandma Nanna!

On Friday my Grandma Nanna celebrated her 85th Birthday. Way to go Grandma! We had a family luncheon on Saturday at the Copper Mill to celebrate. It was good food and a fun time was had by all.

On Friday night the girls and I made Grandma Nanna my famous baked spaghetti. This is one of Nanna's favorites. Hannah and Ashley each made her a birthday card. It kept them occupied for nearly an hour!

While at the Copper Mill we took the opportunity to take a 4-generation picture. I put a copy of it below. There's my Grandma, my mom, me, and my three girls. A picture I will always treasure!

Happy Birthday Grandma....we love you!

Farewell to the Llamas and a few other things

Tonight we bid farewell to the llamas. They were loaded in the trailer and sent back to Nibley. Are we sad, you ask? Heavens no! It's probably in the llamas best interest to be taken back to Nibley before Dave decides to use them for target practice.

The llamas were brought to Mendon in July. We do not have a fence around our pasture so a two strand electric fence was put up. It doesn't take much to keep llamas penned up but once they find out they can get out, it's over.

We have had on and offs with them getting out since July. However, the last couple of weeks have been TERRIBLE. One llama in particular figured out how to get out on a daily basis. He has been out every day this week and twice on Tuesday.

As Dave was driving to the new elementary school in Mendon today, he turned the corner to come past our house and there it was over at the neighbors and this time he brought a buddy! Dave had had it! He made a phone call to his brother and over came the trailer and off to Nibley they went.

Let's just say I'm sure before they come back a different fence will be erected.

Here's a few other fun things that happened while playing outside tonight:

Here's a hello from Nicole. When she sees you she will wave in your direction to say "Hi".

Hannah and Ashley had a fun time playing with Bridger and Sam (cousins) on the golf cart while Nate and Dave loaded the llamas and pulled out some fence posts.

and finally, Nicole enjoyed her first Oreo cookie!

It's Never A Good Sign When You Hear.....

"Shell....I could use some help in here!"

Let me take you back to the beginning of our Sunday....

Our church begins at 9 a.m. so Sunday mornings are a bit hectic. Three girls need dressed, hair done, and fed, Dave and I need to be ready, the diaper bag needs to be packed and so does the church bag for Ashley and Hannah. It's never a good sign as you're feeding Nicole her cereal and fruit, Hannah and Ashley are at the table eating their muffin and what walks past the dining room window......a llama! Great! Not only are we pressed for time to get out the door and head for church but now we have to sidetrack and put the llama back in the pasture.

Last Monday Nicole decided that crawling was for the birds so she is now a walker. You can see her progress daily with her walking. She rarely crawls. Walking seems to be much more fun! So sacrament meeting was quite a challenge today. Nicole did not want to be held. She wanted to be down trying her new found skill. We hadn't even been passed the sacrament when down she went and bonked her head. Out the side door went Dave as to not make too much of a scene in our direction.

Next came Sunday school. Yes, Sunday school with a very active baby that is exhausted because it's past nap time. Even before Sunday School started we were already exhausted. I think Dave was even starting to break a sweat. The Sunday School class is our ward is always jam packed so there isn't enough room to put her down and let her roam. We looked at each other and said, "We're out of here. This is going to be a nightmare!"

Dave volunteered to go home with Nicole so she could nap and one of us could return to church and hopefully get something out of a lesson. I asked Dave to make sure he woke Nicole up at noon so I could feed her lunch and have her back on schedule so that ALL of us could have a Sunday nap. He agreed and I was off to finish church.

Church is now over and Hannah, Ashley, and myself have pulled into the garage and we're unloading from the car when Dave appears in the door and this is where I hear, "Shell, I could use some help in here!" I look up and catch a glimpse that Dave is holding Nicole under her arms and away from his body. I can also hear Nicole crying. I think to myself that Nicole has either had a blow out diaper or she has thrown up.

I walk in the house to see that Dave has Nicole standing in the kitchen sink. As I get closer I can see that we're dealing with a messy diaper or so I thought. As I start from her feet and move up I see that her socks are covered in poop......the front of her legs are covered in poop......Dave is removing her dress, which is covered in poop.....there is poop on her arms......there is poop on her forehead......oh my goodness where is the diaper! I look at Dave with a puzzling look. He looks back and says, "She took off her diaper. I would suggest you not go in the room and see the mess."

Nicole is passed off to me, Hannah and Ashley are now running around the house yelling that Nicole has pooped in her bed and it's disgusting, and Dave has gone to start the bath water. As I'm trying to clean her up with baby wipes, I can tell by the way it is not wiping off easily that this has been going on for awhile in her bed. The only thing to do is put her in the tub.

Hannah and Ashley are still running around yelling because Nicole has pooped in her bed and it STINKS!!!

I finally did take a stop in the bedroom to see the damage. The bed is COVERED and I mean COVERED. At least she was nice enough to keep everything in the bed. She didn't get walls, carpet or dresser. Thank goodness for a small miracle!

Once Nicole was bathed and dressed we pulled parts of the bed outside for a wash down. All I can say is DISGUSTING! However, I can handle cleaning this up much better than throw up. but it was still NASTY!

What do you do? You laugh. We have gotten quite a laugh out of this. In fact, I got the giggles in the kitchen when Dave told me she pulled her diaper off in bed. As we've thought about it through the day, we've laughed more. This is something I could see Ashley doing....she's a little more mischevious...but Nicole.....she's only 11 months old. Never would I have thought she'd pull off the diaper.

I did say to Dave that he didn't need to do anything this drastic next time if he didn't want to babysit. I'm not sure if he should be left in charge!

Good times at the Welker house!!!!

Here's the conversation between Ashley and Hannah on the way home from Grandma Peterson's tonight:

Ashley: Look! There's a skibster!

Hannah: It's a ski-d-ster

Ashley: That's what I said....a ski-b-ster.

Hannah: No, a ski-D-ster

Ashley: I know! A SKI-B-STER!

At this point for the second time today, I started laughing......

Have a good week everyone!!!

Happy Birthday Dave!!

Today is Dave's 34th (Did I say that?) birthday. He spent the day in training but we did get to have lunch together...minus kids. After work, I picked up the girls and we went shopping for some gifts. What an adventure it is shopping by yourself with three girls!



For the present Ashley gave Dave I need to give a little background. Right after we moved to Mendon, Dave borrowed a skidster tractor from one of his friends and used it to move dirt around the house and level it out. The day the skidster went back Ashley was very upset. She told Dave for his birthday she was going to buy him his very own "skibster". Off to CAL Ranch we went today and Ashley was able to buy Dave his very own "skibster". He can't haul too much dirt with it but he sure can have fun driving it around on the carpet! She is so proud of herself that she was able to purchase a "skibster" for her Dad.



Hannah picked a nerf air gun for Dave. Him being a police officer and such he loves his guns! When Hannah found the gun in the toy isle she knew right then that this is what she wanted to get for Dad.



We took Dave to dinner at Copper Mill where we had yummy food for dinner and the famous Turtle cake for dessert. Once we got home, the skidster and gun were unpackaged and the girls enjoyed playing with Dad's presents. Overall I think it was a fun day. I hope Dave enjoyed it.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAVE/DAD!! WE LOVE YOU!!!

A Little Family Fun

On Sunday while I was cooking dinner, Dave loaded all of the girls in the golf cart and went for a ride. They found a tree swing in a large tree across the rail road tracks. The girls have been begging to go back so tonight for family night we loaded in the golf cart and headed over. A good time was had by all accept Nicole wasn't too sure.

Things started on an up note......

And quickly went down........

Church Callings

Well, the spell of no chuch callings has ended. I was called and set apart today for my church callings. I will be serving on the Enrichment Night Committee and once a month in Nursery. I think I can handle these callings. I have never served on the Enrichment Night Committee so I'm hoping it is nothing too big. With Enrichment Night only held quarterly, I'm hoping it's not too bad.

I think I can also handle once a month in Nursery. Ashley should think this will be pretty cool. When they asked me to take this calling they said that there were only two people that were "full-time" in the nursery. The Nursery Leader and the Nursery Coordinator. These are the only two that have to be in nursery every week. Other than that they have others come in once a month to help. We, meaning Nicole and I, struggle each Sunday to make it through Sunday school and Relief Society so she will probably love being in Nursery with me and playing with the toys.

Dave has not received any callings yet. I'm sure his time is coming but he'll enjoy being "jobless" for the time being.

Have a good week everyone!