11/9/08










































































































Crews blessing

Sorry these pictures are just random. Celeste took our family pictures. Didnt' they turn out cute? Today was Crews blessing. I really wanted it to be low key and not have anyone feel like they had to come. My parents, Greg and Jordan drove 9 hours from American Fork. And Brad and Carena surprised us from Denver Colorado. They drove 11 hours yesterday and had to leave a couple hours after church to be back for work on Monday. It was a great surprise. We didn't know they were coming until Travis saw Brad in the circle after the blessing was over. It was so cute to see them hug. We really feel blessed to have such wonderful support from family. Thanks everyone for coming.

Sunday Nov. 9th





















10/26/08

Two months old!


My little pumpkin! No thats not my long hair (I wish). Celeste came to help with Matthews party. Crew is now two months old. He is by far my easiest newborn. His first smile was at 3 weeks and he has been smiling since. We all love this little guy so much. He is just an easy going, happy baby. Infact, he is cooing on my lap as I am typing. What a sweet boy you are, little buddy!!








" Cool, what are these?" I love when they start to discover their hands.




Matthews 5th birthday

Michelle, how do I post his invitation? it is in collage form.









We went to Chili's Friday night with Mark and Celeste for Matthews birthday. Both Caden and Matthew were so excited to open up the count down to disneyland( We are going Nov. 13th and 14th for anyone who wants to join us.) We invited a few friends for a party on Sat. It was a fun weekend




10/12/08

Lake Powell pictures

Its hard to believe that this was Crew two days before we left for Lake Powell

"I don't need to be here, brother! Lets go to Lake Powell!"
Laurie made all the headbands that we are wearing. Thanks Laurie!
Travi riding the air chair


Sadie loved going off the big slide with Dad

I love this picture of the kids. They all jumped off the boat. Even Sadie did it.
It was fun hanging out with shell in the boat

10/6/08

It has been a busy, but great six weeks!!

We had visitors the first two weeks after Crew was born. Tamara came up the day Crew was born and took care of the other kids for us. She is always so good to drop everything and be there when you need her. Michelle and Cam came the next day and stayed for a few days. Michelle was so nice to bring me four meals to put in the freezer. The day they left, Leanne and Maryann came to visit. As soon as they got here Maryann mopped my kitchen floor and Leanne made dinner. Maryann also colored and cut my hair. I felt so spoiled and loved!! Next my Mom, Dad and Greggy came for a few days. That was so much fun because we didn't do a thing. We just hung out. Of course my Mom was constantly cleaning. She even cleaned my garbage cans. We laughed because my Mom took a picture of us all in the living room. Caden and Matthew were playing the gameboy, Greg was watching a DVD, I was on my phone, and my Dad was on the laptop. Thats how we visit now days. Before they left we took a hike in "our forest" behind our house. Marcus thinks we are rich because we have our own forest. It was fun to hang out with Greg. He is such a fun and funny kid. He had just got his wisdom teeth pulled and so we were making fun of him all weekend. Michelle and Ben came up next. She also brought dinner and some way cute shirts for me. She made a vinyl sign with the name of each member of the family. Thanks everyone for coming to visit. We felt really spoiled.
Our ward brought in some great dinners for a week too. Between all the meals, I didnt cook for a good two weeks. It was great.
So we had a quiet week of no visitors and then Crew got a temp of 102. This was five days before we were to leave for Lake Powell. I took him in to the doctor and they sent us right over to the hospital for test. His fever went right down, but they still wanted us there until they got the results from the tests. It was horrible to see how many times they tried just to draw blood. When they couldn't get it from his hand they tried his arm and then finally had to get it from his head. They also did a spinal tap, which I wasnt there for, but I could hear him screaming. And for the three days he had an IV in his arm. It was so sad to watch him go through it all. He really was a trooper though and didn't cry much other than when they were poking him. Anyway, he just picked up something viral, but because he was only 4 weeks its procedure to do all the blood work. We felt a little silly taking our little baby to lake powell, but really it was the best thing for him. His jaundice cleared right up. He is such a good baby anyway, but he hardly cried. He also had his first big smile there (I'm so excited I got a picture of it!) So we know that Lake Powell is Crew's favorite place to be.
First of all, thanks Chris and Laurie for an amazing vacation. They got the houseboat and Chris even brought his brand new boat for all of us to use. It was seriously a fun, relaxing trip. I highly recommend going to Lake Powell in Sept. The weather was amazing plus the water was so nice and warm. Our kids had the time of their lives. They literally played none stop all day long. Infact there were a few days when I hardly talked to Caden and Matthew because they were so busy. Sadie opened up to everyone even the dog, Hopper. It was fun to see her play with her cousins. We were all worried about the safety of all these kids but we decided it was probably one of the safer vacations with kids that we've been on. They all kept their life jackets on and just played on the beach. It's more stressful trying to keep track of the kids at disneyland. Travis brought a huge duffel bag of medical supplies thinking at least one kid was going to need stitches or break a bone or something. We didn't even get a bandaid out of it. Crew's jaundice even cleared all up. It was surprisingly nice and relaxing. It was fun to watch how the kids used their imagination while playing in the sand. It was a great time visiting and spending time with everyone. I love any vacation where we get to play in the sun and water. It was a perfect way to end the summer. Chris and Laurie, thanks so much for organizing and making this happen. Lets do it again next year!! I will post more pictures later.
The kids loved being in the water because it was so warm!! Sadie really loves her Grandpa and had so much fun playing with him.

These are all the grandkids minus 3 (Doug and Tami couldn't make it).


As you can see, even Crew had a great time. Cute Mares and Jayni

My cute Sadie. She was a happy girl at Lake Powell. She wants to go back to "pay powell"


Yes, that's Grandma wakeboarding!! She even skied. The kids love Uncle Greggy!! Caden, Matthew and Jemma spent all day digging this hole. They wanted the fish that they caught to have a home.

8/20/08

Crew Charles Reber




We named Crew after his great grandpa Charles Wilkes. Grandpa Wilkes has many wonderful qualities. But the quality I want Crew to know about his Grandpa is that he is one of the most Christ like person we know. He is so humble, kind, gentle, giving and forgiving, just to name a few. We love Grandpa Wilkes and are so happy to name our son after him. We just found out that the house we were looking at and really were excited about didn't work out for us. And on the way home from the hospital I was thinking about that and realized I didn't even care. Its just a house and I've got everything I've ever wanted with me and waiting for me at home. I just wanted to go home and be with my kids and husband. I am so grateful to know about the plan of salvation. To know that we have a loving Heavenly Father who knows and loves each of us, just like we know and love each of our own children. I love watching my kids gain testimonies of their own. I love teaching them the stories in the Book of Mormon and the primary songs. I am so grateful for my husband, he is so patient and forgiving. I love how the kids love and look up to their Dad. As I look at our new little baby who Heavenly Father has trusted Travis and I to raise and teach, I can't help but think about these things. I want to teach him all about his Father in Heaven who loves him and I'm sure perhaps will miss him too for a short while. I am so grateful for the plan of salvation and how Crew has just gone thru an important part of that plan, getting a body. We love him already so much and am so greatful Heavenly Father has trusted Travis and I to raise him.