Won't Wanna Miss This!...

 For the few of you that actually care that I blog...I Can't believe it's been a month since my last post.  But as you read below you will totally understand why I haven't had the time!  These picture are not in order but I'm too lazy to care:)

 Rachel opened her call here at our house!  PARAGUAY!! Super excited for her...we will miss her like crazy but know that she will be an AMAZING missionary!

LITTLE LEAGUE!!...Need I say more! 

 Aunt Tara helping Miles hit

 Morgon

Porter received his Arrow of Light!  And as Cubmaster I am super excited for the break that summer brings from scouts!

 Super proud of this boy!

 Love coming home to find this in my bed!  LOVE IT!!

 Maron, Porter, Morgon(sideways), Miles, and Amelia

Ciara invited the girls to go to a Tea Party out at Aunt Sylvias.  They had a BLAST!!

 Millie, Payton, Ciara, Eva

LOVE getting to spend time with this guy...which hasn't happened much over the past couple of months but that will be changing soon as the job he is working is coming to an end!

Ok so we have become really good friends with the AMAZING Burns Family.  Mike and Robyn, along with their 3 oldest kids, were baptized back in January.  At that time we didn't know them, but since then we have become inseparable.   They seriously have such an amazing story!  We will forever be grateful for their friendship!!

 Out fishing at the ranch!!

I Turned 34!!!

My awesome friend, Emma Williams, brought me this amazing birthday cake...and it was amazing!!! 

My hubby bought me these beautiful flowers from my sister Jami's new flower shop!  

Did I mention that we not only love fishing out at the ranch but we love Elder Johnson!  

 Miles and Johnson

 Maron with her future Husband...THE Elder Johnson!

 Porter Ran Track!

 Tristen Broke ALL FOUR FINGERS in his left hand!  Yep that's right folks...all four!!  He was goofing off in PE and did a flip on the high jump mats and came down on his hand wrong.  He ended up needing 2 pins in his pinky and they just reset the rest...warning...the following pics are kind gross!!

 Can you tell which hand is broke??

 After surgery...lets just say the pain meds were working GREAT!!!

We took him to get it casted last Wednesday and I had to grab a photo before he got his cast on!!!

Brandon got to go fishing at Lake Powell with my brothers.  Brandon caught the biggest fish of the weekend!  He was pretty proud.  They said it just wasnt the same without my brother Jake there and of course without my Dad!!

It's GaRdEn time again!!  I love working in the garden.  I'm not going to lie...it's just not the same without my Dad there, but I can promise you that we have felt him there with us!!

 Grandma Tenney with Taelee, Mallori, Maron, and Rudger

 

 They LOVE to help!!

 It was Mother's Day!  I personally think Mother's Day is completely overrated!!  It does make me reflect on what my mom has taught me and helps me remember why I am SO lucky and blessed to have the amazing mother I do!  Not sure how I would survive without her!!

 My beautiful flowers from Brandon.  There were 12 daisies and each one had a tag on it with my kids name on it!!  

And THAT is ALL that has been going on in our little corner of the universe!!!

A Belly Bra?...Say What???

So this blog might be a little TMI for some of you but I have to share the details to be able to remember why it was funny.  So I am one of those crazy moms that walks around in her G's.  (Now...you need to understand that I don't do that ALL the time, but I will walk around in them in the morning when I wake my kids up or at night after the kids are in bed.)  Well...a couple mornings ago I was sitting on the couch with Miles sitting there by me and he looks over and asks, 'Why are those by your arms?'  I didn't know what he was talking about so I asked him, 'what?'  And he points at my chest and says, 'Why are those by your arms?'(referring to my boobs).  (Now any woman knows that after having kids, and with age, gravity takes its toll and your uppers become your lowers!)  I seriously about died laughing.  Me being the blunt mother that I am explained to him that I didn't have my bra on so they weren't up where they were suppose to be!!

Fast forward 3 days.  Once again sitting in my G's on the couch with Miles.  He reaches over and slaps my stomach and says, 'Fat Belly!'...which I turn to him and slap it myself and say, 'fat belly!'.  He sits there for a second, looks up at me, and says, 'You need a Bra Belly!'.  I of course say, 'WHAT??'.  He smiles at me and says, 'you need one of those things that you wear up there (pointing to my chest) down here on your belly! Then it will suck it in and make it tight!!'.  

I seriously have not stopped laughing over it!!  Little does he know those are called girdles or spanx !!  You gotta love little kids!!  

I LOVE this Stinking Boy!!!(and he looked about this confused while asking me the questions)

Martineau Highlights...

 Here are some of the Highlights around the Martineau Funny Farm lately...

#1 - WE LOVE RACHEL!!  Rachel Hunt has been working for me being our little nanny while she waits to leave on her mission.  She has been the best thing for us since Maryssa moved away from us last year.  She is SO good with our kids and is seriously my life saver!!!  We are gonna miss her like crazy when she leaves us but we know she is gonna be one amazing missionary!!  I have more adorable pics of her and my girls that I will post later!

 #2 - Tristen got some scouting awards and the kids had an orchestra concert but he was the only one I got a picture of!!

 Tristen is very good at the Bass and music just comes to him.  I think he has memorized every song he has every learned!!

 #3 - Porter turned 11!!  I can hardly believe that my 1st born is already 11.  It seems like yesterday they laid him on my belly for the 1st time!!  Porter is such a good kid with a tender heart which makes him very loving and accepting of others!!  We are so grateful Heavenly Father sent him to us!! 

 #4 - Zach got a 'Most Improved' award at school.  We are proud of Zachy and the hard worker he is!!

 #5 - We love our MISSIONARIES!!!  I have always had a special place in my heart for missionaries.  I remember being a little girl about 7 or 8 years old and actually getting to go stay the night at the sister missionaries apartment.  That of course would never happen now, but I remember the impact it had on me then.  I also learned to love missionaries as I watched my brothers serve their missions and love the people they served.  Plus I have 8 future missionaries that I hope will be well taken care of by the people they serve.  It is interesting how we hit it off with some missionaries like we've known them forever and not with others.  Some missionaries can't handle our family and our craziness.  But lately we have had some amazing missionaries!! I am grateful for the example they set for my kids.  We will forever remember Elder Feldman and Elder Johnson.  We had to say goodbye to Elder Feldman, but hope to keep Elder Johnson for a bit longer!!

 Elder Feldman, Macky, and Elder Johnson

 The night we said goodbye to Elder Feldman

 Our little Maron is in LOVE with Elder Johnson.  She was lying in bed with me one morning and was looking at mine and Brandon's wedding pictures hanging on the wall and said 'I'm gonna get married in the temple!' and I asked, 'oh yeah...to who??' and Maron replied, 'ELDER JOHNSON!'  It made me laugh.  Then Amelia was talking to Elder Johnson tonight and Maron yelled at her and said,'STOP TALKING TO MY BOYFRIEND!!'.  It cracks me up!!  We sure will miss him when he leaves!

 Elder Johnson proposing to Maron with an Angry Bird ring!! ( I Love Macky's expression!!)

LIFE...and Do you think she is LoVeD???

SO it's been basically a month since I last blogged....but I can promise you that it hasn't been due to a lack of things to blog about.  Life has been crazy!!  Brandon is still slaving away at the Twin Arrows Casino(hopefully he will be done in the next couple of weeks), we are trying to decide what to do with our lives once he is done with the job, I surprised Brandon with an overnighter in Flagstaff for his birthday, Porter turned 11(I will post pictures later), I've had lots of photo shoots, and the kids are still as crazy as ever!!  We are grateful for the many blessing that Heavenly Father blesses us with daily!!

Thought I should share these photos...

 I wonder if there is another little girl that is SO loved in this world??!!  She seriously has everyone of us wrapped around her little finger!  Gotta Love her!!

 

 Porter and Maron

Miles and Maron

Sisterly LOVE...

 How does one sister help the other sister get on the trampoline??  

Took these pics a while back and forgot to post em.  I took these from the family room window... they had no idea I was even watching them.  These two seriously warm my heart and make life worth living!! 

 #1 - Mallori helps Maron take off her socks and shoes so she can get on the trampoline.

 #2 - Mallori down on all fours

 #3 - Maron preparing to stand on her sister's back

 #4 - Almost there

 #5 - So Close

#6 - You sacrifice your face on your sister's behalf!

Can It Be???

 Can it be true that my little girl is 2 years old??  Where has the time gone.  I have asked that question before but for some reason this one is hitting harder than others.  I know she is my last and its been bitter sweet taking down the crib, moving her out of our room(well some nights anyway:), starting the potty training process, etc.  She has been the joy of our lives and it's interesting to see her have Brandon eating out of her hand.  She knows she is his Princess!!  I didn't think I would like doing the girl thing much, since pink, purple and girlish things are not my forte, but having two girls at the end that are as girlie as they come has been beyond FUN!!

Happy Birthday Maron Kay!!  We love you SO much!!

 Her favorite thing is to get into her sister Eva's makeup!

 Look at all those presents!

 BFF's...Graci, Maron, and Taelee

 She was so fun to watch open gifts!!  She loved everything!

Blowing out her candles

Eating cake and ice cream!

Here are a few things we love about Maron...

1.  She LOVES to give kisses...lots of them, especially when she is lying next to you either right before bed or when she wakes up in the morning!

2.  She is very smart!...she has been speaking in full sentences for a long time now and can follow 3 step directions with no problems!

3.  She loves her Daddy...Brandon used to get mad at me for letting our boys sleep by me, but now she is in between us almost EVERY night!!

4.  She loves her PaPa's.  Her and my Dad had a special connection, and even though she was only 18 months old when he passed she still knows who he is and asks about him.  She also loves my Father-in-law, even though while he is here she doesn't want much to do with him, as soon as he leaves she wants him!!

5.  She LOVES her baby dolls.  I love watching her mother them.  There is no doubt she will be an amazing mom some day!!

Adjustments...

I know that life is ALWAYS full of adjustments!  Can you imagine how boring life would be if we didn't have adjustments, challenges, and trials??  I know that I don't have any more adjustments in life than anyone else, but over the past few months I feel like I've had my share.  

It has been an adjustment losing my Dad.  I miss him.  I miss being able to just pick up the phone and get his Fatherly advice that I need SO much!  It's hard to believe it's been just shy of 6 months since he has been gone.  It seems like it has gone fast, yet it seems as if I haven't heard his voice, squeezed his neck, or gotten in one of our father/daughter disputes in eons.  I often find myself asking myself, 'how would Dad handle this?' or 'what would Dad say about this?'  I am grateful for the Tender Mercies where I have felt him and known he was near since his passing!

It has been an adjustment getting use to a new Mom.  I have often felt the easier part was losing my Dad.  Adjusting to a Mother who is just not the same without my Dad here, not that I blame her at all, has been the harder part.  I miss the Mom I use to be able to talk to for hours, get her advice, and rely on so much for extra help in so many ways.  I love her and pray that she can work through her grieving process sooner than later and that I can know how to help her.  

It has been an adjustment having Brandon working full time again.  He started a new job back in September.  Don't get me wrong...we have been extremely blessed getting this job with Caffall Tile, but it would be different if it was a job that allowed him to only be gone 10 hours a day, but that is not the case.  Since the job is in Flagstaff, the nights that he does come home he leaves at 3:30am and gets home around 7:00pm.  So YES it has been a massive Adjustment to be, what I feel, a single mom of 12.  I've learned that I take him for granted on so many levels!  Things like taking the seats in and out of the big van, building a fire, making dinner, helping bathe kids, dealing with our mobile home park, changing out light bulbs, gathering us together for family prayer, and just being here to kiss me goodnight.   One of the biggest adjustments of having him gone is him not being here to watch the kids while I get my exercise, which I long for!!! Never thought I would miss running so much:) Exercising on the eliptical just doesn't do the trick when I can still hear the kids fighting!!:)

AND until these Adjustments stop coming I guess I will just continue to put on my big girl panties and enjoy the ride.   Through all of life's Adjustments I am so grateful I have loving Heavenly Father who never fails to pull me through each hard moment.