Families are like fudge...mostly sweet with a few nuts!

Love

2011-06-02T11:03:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to take a little time to express my love for Lori in a public way. I feel like at times I do not express it enough and I just want the world to know that I love her. She is my best friend and I love being around her. I love you Lori! -Jared

I Survived

2011-04-25T23:31:00.000-07:00

Well I did it. I survived the winter months on the 6th floor at the children's hospital called Cardon Children's. My position was a temporary one. The floor is still currently open because the census is still up. We are short on staff because the travel nurses have left to explore other opportunities and others have been hired somewhere within banner as a full time employee. As for myself I am still plugging along on the 6th floor, applying for any pediatric aid position that comes available and interviewing away with the hopes that I am able to get on full time. The benefits would be fabulous to have, the pay is decent, the hours I can handle (7p - 7a). It still allows me to be apart of my kids extracurricular activities and help out at the insurance office and dabble in real estate here and there. And alas I finally got the call or should I say email (I know what a odd way to go about it) offering me a full time position. I will be staying on in the pediatric unit after all. Working with the kids has been at times a highlight and at others brought a little sadness. There are many sicknesses and sorrows in this world that cause people to do things you would never imagine. But thankfully there are more joys with this position than sorrows. So I live to work another day with these delightful children and teens. I hope that it continues to be a learning experience and a place that I enjoy spending my time.

Holy Shmoly

2011-04-14T21:46:00.001-07:00

It has been way to long since I have sat down and told you of the going ons at our house. We have been to the beach and back since my last post. The kids and I took a road trip to Idaho and Utah. Tre' started school at Newell Barney Junior High. He has really enjoyed being there and being a part of their sports program. He played on the 8th grade basketball team, 8th grade baseball team and is currently playing volleyball. He has made many new friends. Tucker and Tatum started school this year at Benjamin Franklin Charter school. It has been challenging for them but good. They aslo have made many friends. Tatum loves her teacher and Tucker has had two teachers this year. His first teacher is now on maternity leave because she had a baby. A funny thing, when Tucker found out who his teacher was going to be (her name is Mrs. Curtin) he said "I am going to have a curtin for a teacher, interesting"). He definitely is our comedian. He now has Mr. Baker and all of the kids asked the teacher if they were related to Tucker whom he had not yet met. He told them not that he knew of but he must be a cool kid if his last name was Baker. The school really has tested them. Tatum has struggled but has come so far as well. As for Jared and I, well if any one sees him tell him I said hello. We have been extremly busy, working, coaching, and church callings. I am currently working at Cardon Childrens hospital which I have enjoyed. I have really loved learning and being around the kids. What an eye opener it has been. My position is temporary and I am hoping I can get on full time. Only a few more weeks left of school for the kids. Then they will be home telling me they are bored. Our summer is a little busy for some of us. Our stake is doing a pioneer trek this year. They asked Jared and I to be a Ma and Pa. Tre is old enought to go as well. I am excited and aprehensive at the same time. I have been on one before and what a great experience it was. I hope that it can be the same. I was a big sister last time so not as much responsibilty as being a Ma. We also have our trip to the beach planned. woo hoo. It is a good thing because I need a little R & R.

The Count Down

2010-06-01T13:40:00.000-07:00

The count down has started. Well it started about a year ago but since time is coming up on us fast we are marking our calender. The Bakers are headed to the beach for a week. We went last year and oh what fun we had so we decided to go again this year. We purchased a pop up (borrowed one last year and got spoiled), making a list and checking it twice. Kids have a few more days left of school, then the packing begins. We leave the 20th and will be on the sunny beaches of Cali for a week. Oh how we are getting anxious. Vacations seem to take so long to get here ( why can't we vaction everyday?), oh because we have bills to pay. Oh well at least for one week we will bask in the sun and sand along with some good friends. Come on sunny beaches of Cali.

Tatum's Day

2010-04-29T21:55:00.000-07:00

My baby turned 8 on the 12th of April. I don't think she is a baby anymore. She was so excited because turning 8 meant that she would get baptized and get a set of scriptures. For her birthday I made cupcakes for her class and took them and spent a few hours with her at school. It was great being able to enjoy some time with her and join in on her birthday celebration at school. Her teacher does a great job making them feel special on that day. The get to sit at his desk all day, and sit in what they call the "hot seat" in front of the class so the class can sing happy birthday to them. He has a great version of a birthday song, it is very upbeat and the kids get to clap and tap on their desks to the beat as they sing. After they are done everyone in the class says what they like about the birthday person. After she got home from school we asked her what she wanted for her birthday dinner and for some odd reason she picked McDonald's. Of all the places to eat on your birthday and she picked Mickey D's. She did not get to get baptized on her birthday because our ward has the 4th Saturday of the month for baptisms at noon and how lucky we were that she was the only one in our ward getting baptized this month. On April 24th she was baptized and what a great day. We had many family members and friends attend. Grandma and Grandpa Bigler, Grandma and Grandpa Baker, Jessica, Nic, Taya and Camden, Kati, Boston and Kaitlyn, Cara, Justin, Ryken and Cy, Bo, Nicole, Chloe, Cordd, and Cashlyn, Deak, Emily and Kaed, Shane, Teresa, Austin, Cassidy, and Connor, the Harmon family, Sis. Rose and Brother Schneider were all in attendance. Her Grandma Bigler and Grandma Baker gave talks and did a fabulous job as usual. My good friend Teresa took pictures of Tatum later that day in her baptism dress. What a great support system we have. Thank you all for making Tatum's day a special one.

The Season has begun

2010-03-01T09:23:00.000-08:00

Well spring training games offically start today. Baseball plays a big role at our house as you probably can guess by the background change. Jared began his 4th year coaching Queen Creek High School's JV baseball team. Tre' and Tucker were signed up for Little League have had tryouts and been selected for teams. Jared received a phone call the day of drafts for Tre's age group after drafts had already been completed and they did not have a coach for his team (Tre). They asked if Jared would be able to do it. We really are not sure how we are going to squeeze in two baseball teams at the same time but wanted to make sure that Tre's team had a coach so after a few phone calls and alot of contemplation Jared accepted. It is going to be crazy at our house for a few months. But if you know us well, when is it not crazy. Hopefully we will all be able to keep our sanity and still like to be around each other when all of this is done. Let's play ball!

He's growin up

2010-02-25T12:14:00.000-08:00

I should have posted this sooner. My first born Tre' turned 13 this month. Wow how time just seems to fly. He seems more grown up everyday. He has recently started babysitting for some couples in the ward. He seems to be enjoying it. It has given him a chance to earn some money. Right now I think he is saving up to purchase an Itouch. He had an Ipod but seemed to have lost it at his dad's baseball practice. He has sprouted quite a bit this year. He now towers over me. But I remind him that I put him in this world and I can take him out. He just giggles. Tre' has such a great easy go lucky personality. It is so nice having a son that does not care about needing to look trendy. If it is cheap and it fits it works for him. We have definitely been blessed with this one. He is a great kid and for the most part does not give us a hard time except for the occasional smart elec teenager remarks. But I suppose that comes with the territory. Happy late birthday bud. Thanks for being a great kid.

Well.....

2009-12-30T15:57:00.000-08:00

We did it. We got through another December and Christmas. I hope every one's was as eventful and productive as ours. Well sort of, someone decided that they felt like they needed our truck more than we did on Christmas Eve, eve or Christmas morning which ever but luckily they were unsuccessful. Other than that dreary event our Christmas with our ducklings turned out quite well. It was nice to have it on Friday this year and make for a long weekend with the hubby and kids. I can not seem to get myself motivated since. My body feels as if though it should be on vacation. School starts Monday for the kids so I have decided to take a break with them and jump back to work on Monday. It has been quite nice except for the occasional bickering back and forth. The New Year is approaching. Maybe I can convince them to make a new year's resolution to not tease and argue. But probably not so much. What do you thing? Yeah, I know wishful thinking. I hope your new years brings many eventful happenings your way. The Baker clan.

Bah Hum Bug

2009-11-20T08:32:00.000-08:00

I am listening to Christmas music and changing my back ground hoping it will help me get in the holiday mood. Every year if seems to get worse. This is my favorite time of year and every year it gets to be less and less. I asked my family if we could just skip over the holidays. I think that a lot of it is, is that only two months out of the year my kids think that it is the only time to be thankful and be kind. They have been ornery this year. Jared has been playing Christmas music because there is only one scrooge in our house and that is him. Kids are older, what to you do for them for Christmas, they do not need anything. This weather does not help either. I am not a cold weather fan, but I feel as if I am going to get in the holiday spirit this year I need it. I thought about putting up my Christmas decorations earlier but can't seem to talk myself into it. It seems as this time of the year comes and goes to fast and people do not savor the moment. It is more and more about what you give as presents not what about this time stands for the birth of our Savior. What a wonderful event. Hopefully something will bite me and quick so I can enjoy the season.

More update

2009-10-21T09:14:00.000-07:00

The kids started school in August. They usually start in July but we decided to pull them from their public school and put them in a charter school. It is a little trek for them to school everyday. If they ride the bus which they sometimes do to school but ride everyday home from school, it is about an hour ride for them. But they have been good sports. They were not too excited at first to venture a new school and have a limited ward robe to school. But I think they warmed up to the idea after a while. There were some friends that were going to embark on this new adventure as well so they jumped in with both feet. They all have great teachers and seem to be doing well. It is a struggle every night to get Tatum to do her homework. It takes between 2 to 4 hours every night because of the constant battle. If any one has any ideas on how to get her to just "do it" it would be greatly appreciated. We tried the marble jar (she got marbles if she did it when asked once and when it was full she would get to go shopping) that did not work. She just refuses to do it. They are getting to learn Spanish at this school. Tatum thinks it is funny to ask me things and me not be able to understand what she is saying. I did take a picture the first day of school but unfortunately I am a little like the commercial where the pictures stay on the camera for ever. I will have to get it on my lap top so I can post it. More to come.

Lions and Tigers and Bears OH MY!

2009-10-19T09:02:00.000-07:00

Well maybe not lions and tigers. I am sooo behind. It is already October and I have posted since? ? ? ? That is sad I do not know. We have had so much fun that I need to update it all. After we spent a week at the beach and then went to Heber for the Fourth of July, the kids and I drove to Las Vegas to fly to Idaho with Kelly and her kids. Kelly's family owns a cabin not too far outside of West Yellowstone and they were gracious enough to invite us to come and stay with them. The kids and I were there for 2 weeks and Jared, Curt & Coleen, Bo & Nicole and their kids, & Mickey joined us later in the week and were able to stay for just over a week. We enjoyed ourselves so much. We took many rides on the quads, floated down the river, visited Yellowstone where we saw many buffalo, deer, elk and yes a black bear. Kelly and I drove to Bozeman, MT to pick the rest of the crew up from the airport (which ended up not happening because their plane made an emergency landing in Idaho Falls, ID) but I enjoyed the drive. What beautiful country. We visited waterfalls, parts of Montana. We saw a comedy play. Jared fished from the river and we were able to enjoy the fish that he caught. What a way to spend the summer. Thanks to Mickey and Kelly and their family for their hospitality and the opportunity to visit such a beautiful place.

Bitter Sweet

2009-07-08T09:00:00.001-07:00

After our great vacation at the beach we had to brave the real world for a few days, then off to Heber. We left on Friday afternoon, traffic was not too bad. We fixed and ate dinner with my folks, Jess and Nic, Kati and Boston. We then enjoyed a game of Texas Hold'em. We used m & m's. I think Boston ate them faster than he lost them in the game. He said he did not want them all to be lost in the game and not get any to eat. Sometimes I wonder who is the kid when he is around. On Saturday we went to the annual Bowers flag raising ceremony and breakfast. The Bowers is my mom's side and we celebrate our freedom, my grandfather's birth because he was born on the 4th of July, and the service he gave to his country. We then headed back to my mom's and later to the Heber parade. I do not think I have seen more people at our boring little parade. We headed back to my mom's and had lunch and just hung out until it was time to head back over to the Bower reunion. Jared and I and the kids along with my dad and a few others headed over to my uncle's where we eat dinner and my mom and Ginger stayed back waiting on some brownies to get done. While we were waiting I received a phone call from my mom. My beloved dog Jasmine who has been with us since 3 months after Jared and I got married and who I has been through a little, she has had a few litters, a mother not only to her puppies but to my babies, lost her hearing, her teeth, and an eye, a great friend and dog had passed. What a bitter sweet time. We knew she was getting close, she was having a hard time getting around. We will miss her dearly. We went back to my moms and prepared her for our kids to see then went back for dinner and fireworks. We then came back and had a sweet buriel for her at the base of the mountain at my mom and dads. What an appropriate place for her to go. She loved the mountains. Good bye my sweet pup.

Oh my goodness, the best vacation ever

2009-06-30T22:44:00.000-07:00

So, I have always said that I needed a vacation away from a vacation. For the past few years our vacations have consisted of DISNEYLAND!!! in October which we love and some camping in July. Well this year we were invited by some friends to go camping. Yes you read right camping. But not jusy any kind of camping, camping on the BEACH for a whole week. Our friends made reservations in January because the camp ground fills fast. Then the count down began. It did not really start to hit us until June. We were scheduled to leave June 20 and come home June 27. Thanks to a great father-in-law he allowed us to borrow his truck because some friends offered to let us borrow their pop up trailer. We packed up Friday June 19 and headed out the next morning. We did not know what to really expect, infact we pretty much chalked it up to this probably being our only time going not really thinking we were going to enjoy it as much as our friends hyped it up for us. We arrived around 4 on Saturday and set up camp. Then just lounged. Sunday we walked along the beach and visited the pier because it being Sunday we would not let the kids get in the water. Then Monday came along and let the fun begin. We were camping at Doheny Beach which is in Dana Point, CA and drove to Laguna Beach to play in the water. The beach we were camping at was just too rocky but Laguna was a 15 min. drive from camp. The kids had so much fun Tatum did not want to leave when it was time to pack up and head back to camp. Tuesday we almost the same routine but this time we drove to Newport Beach. We saw the beautiful Newport Temple. Unfortunately we did not know there was a temple there so I missed the photo op (we were following some one else because we did not know how to get there so we could not stop). Wednesday we drove to down to San Diego to visit Sea World and of course Tatum did not want to leave there either. She asked if we could go back on Thursday but we comprimised by spending the day at Laguna Beach, we spent Friday at Laguna as well. What a relaxing and enjoyable vacation. I think Tre' became a fish because he lived in the water. Unfortunately I fried on Monday so I had to keep my self covered up the rest of the week so it would not get worse and I do not like cold water so I only completely ventured in once. Put my feet in another day and said no thanks. But I just could sit and read a book and enjoy my kids all day any day. They made new friends and blast. We had the best time it was so depressing to pack up and leave, but we are counting the days until next year. I think we are hooked and this may be something we do often. Thanks Leech's for inviting us. Until next year.

It's over!! Almost.

2009-05-18T14:37:00.000-07:00

Well I did it. I finally finished. I have been struggling along since January and finally finished a major accomplishment. What is it you all may be asking. Well, my EMT class. I passed my practical skills tests last week and my written final this morning. It was a tough fight for me. I was so busy during these last few months I did not know if I was going to be able to wrap my head around the 1300 page book and the many emergency medical services concepts, but I did it. What a relief. Now all I have to do is pass my National Registry Exam and I will be a certified EMT. What joy I will have on that day. I will keep you all posted. To my kids and husband, thanks for all your patience and help these last few months. I could not have done it with out you guys. Tre', thanks for being my babysitter, and Tucker and Tatum thanks for being great kids while I was away. Jared, thanks for taking over dinners, homework with the kids, housework and putting the kids to bed. I do not know how I would of gotten it done with out you. Tre' and Tatum thanks for being my patients while I practiced. I love all of you rascals.

My new love

2009-04-29T10:32:00.000-07:00

My new love. I decided to go with the new Sony a350. I hope it is everything I hoped for. I am enjoying it so far. But am still a little concerned. I know the favorites are Cannon or Nikon. So hopefully I will continue to stay happy with it. It does what I need it to do so I can not complain. Now I just need to learn how to utilize all the features on it so I can use it to its full potential. I will be taking some classes starting mid May so I hope to be learning loads. If not, at least I can take pictures of my kids. I sure did miss not having one. Going with out sure makes you greatful for what you have.

Boo Hoo

2009-04-23T13:12:00.000-07:00

So something quite unfortunate has happened at my house. Someone so humbly decided they needed a few things more than we did. Thursday April 10 ,2009 we arrived home from one of our many ball games and amongst the caos of unloading children, school bags and baseball equipment we forgot to lock the doors on my van. The next day Friday April 11, 2009 Jared decided he was going to drive my van to work and I had the day off and a dr.'s appointment so I would take his car.
I went about my day and Jared his. Later that day Jared received a call from a good friend and baseball coach, he was short some players and wanted to know if Tre' could come play with the Jr.'s that night. We said "but of course." Later that night we headed to the ball field and sat in the afull wind. Towards the end of the game I got tired of listening to Tatum whining about being cold so I took her and Tucker to the car to get warm. Tucker had been sitting in the car most of the evening. I glanced over my shoulder and noticed that the car tv was missing on the head rest so I looked behind me to see if the other one was there, nope. I asked Tucker if he had moved them so he could watch a movie. He said no, I told him it was ok if he did and was adimit about not touching it. Then it hit me. My pride and joy (my Sony DSLR camera) was not there either. I asked Tucker to look behind the back seat to see if I left it in the very back of the van (knowing I did not but hoping that I was loosing my mind and forgot that I did). To no avail it was not there. I started rummaging for Tre's PSP and nope it was gone too. Soooo the bandit made off good. They took both dvd monitors, my beautiful camera with zoom lens and bag, and Tre's PSP. How sad I am that my lovely camera is gone. To the person that took my camera, I would be indeed grateful if it showed up one day on my door step.

Farewell my love.

I need to replace it badly. Any suggetions on what to go with?

Daddy/Daughter Fun

2009-04-09T14:19:00.000-07:00

Tatum has been attending girl scouts. An orginization in Queen Creek put on a Daddy-Daughter Sock Hop for all girl scout troops in that area. She was so excited to attend this function but her dad on the other hand was not quite as thrilled. Of course we had a ball game before the dance so we attended that first and then went home to get her all dolled up to go out with her dad. Once they arrived her Dad loosened up a little and ending up having a great time. Thanks babe, Tatum really enjoyed spending time with her dad. Here are a few pictures. And no it was not a sock ho. I guess you have to pay the club member price to get the entire heading to show.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

2009-03-18T12:05:00.000-07:00

Little League has started at our house. Opening day ceremonies were Saturday. I do not know how I lucked out and only had one game out of three kids that day. We started our morning by being at the field at 7:45 for Tucker's team pictures at 8:10, worked our way over to the football field for the teams parade which started at 9. We were able to go home and grab a bite to eat and then made our way back to the field at 12 for Tatum's pictures at 12:20 and a game at 1 for Tucker and Tre's team pictures at 1:40. Then off I went to try to get a little nap before...........my clinicals yeah. I spent 11 hours at the Chandler Regional Hospital from 7pm to 6am. What fun it was. I was able to witness some interesting patients, from possible OD's, pleural effusia, dimensia, NG tubes, A-Fib, a finger being taken almost completely off only hanging on buy a small piece of flesh, broken bones, sutures and some sweet families looking after their loved ones.

Holy Cow am I Slacking......

2009-02-20T13:39:00.000-08:00

Some would call it slacking. Some just plain crazy. Some just plain busy. Call it what ever tickles your fancy. We have been doing baseball tourney's to basketball games to going round in circles. Well that's what it feels like at times. I can not believe it has already been a month since my last post. So much has been going on in the Baker household. But as my family say's when is there not anything going on at my house. In the past month Jared and I have celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary. I can not believe it has been that long already. But then again it feels like we have been together for a lifetime. Jared took me out to dinner at a Brazilian restaurant. It was really good. It was a little pricey, but all you can eat. They give you a round stick that can stand on it's own that is painted red, yellow, and green. You start out with a salad/pasta bar and with the stick on red. Then when you are ready to eat the meat you turn it to green and the meat just keeps coming. There is 16 different types of meat that they cook and it is put on long skewers and they come to your table and slice meat off of it. You definitely need to go with a big appetite. Later this month on the 17th we celebrated Tre's 12th birthday. Yep my man is now 12. We are so proud of him. He is such a great kid and always sticks to what he believes in and never lets anyone make decisions for him. He will be ordained a deacon on Sunday. He is really excited to be able to participate in passing the sacrament and attending young men activities. We have recently started little league at our house. Can we add anymore to our schedule? If anyone has any ideas let me know. I have been going to EMT school twice a week. Let me tell you it sure has been a rough go for me. I have to figure it out or it is not going to look to good come grade time. Anyhow's hopefully I can keep up with this blog better. Time will only tell.

Catch up from last weekend to this weekend

2009-01-18T12:35:00.000-08:00

So, we have had a busy week. Tucker is playing on the YMCA basketball team and has practice twice a week and a game on Saturday's. On Saturday the 10 it was picture day so I snuck a few pictures of him while the photographer was getting his.

His picture time was at 9:10 and game time was at 10. He is was battleing a pretty bad jammed thumb and managed to get it good during the game so I scooped him up and we headed to Tre's games. He had a double header at 9 and 11:30. His team did pretty well for playing in their first tournament together. Unfortunately they did not win. But I did grab a few pics of Tre' in action. They also had one game on Sunday at 9.

After the game on Sunday we headed to lunch with Jared's parents and brother and sister because his parents were here visiting for the weekend. While we were at dinner his aunt that was visiting from Ohio called his mom and asked if any of her kids were planning on stopping by great grandma and grandpa's because she would like to see us. So after lunch we headed over there to visit. There were a lot of leaves in the back yard and the boys decided to rake them up for the grandparents. Great Grandpa Baker has a horse that has not been ridden in a long time that I have been working with so I decided since we were there I would go out and check on her. When I walked out this is what I found.

Where is Tre'?

If you look real close you can see his hands and feet. The kids burried him in all of the leaves.

We ended our weekend at grandma and grandpa's and headed home because the work and school week was approaching. We have such busy weeks that I wanted the kids to get some sleep. We attend our basketball practices and our baseball practices, girl scouts, hip hop dance class and probably a few other things in between. Bo and Nicole were headed up north on Friday so they asked if they could take the kids. I picked Cordd and Chloe up from the baby sitter on Friday and brought them to my house and packed Tucker and Tatum because they are the only ones that were going to go. Tre' was invited to his friend Clayton's birthday party on Friday and stayed the night. While Cordd was at my house he decided he wanted to hold our snake. Go figure, he is deathly afraid of a fly, but this his how he feels about our snake.

Later that night our friends Jackie and Jeremy came out to stay with us and hang out. We have not seen them in what feels like forever. Their daughter Jada decided it would be fun to climb in the dog's kenel. I was not fast enough to get a picture of her completely in the kenel. She was all the way in and tried to close the door. We miss the little moments at our house because ours grown. But it is sure fun to borrow everyone else's little ones for a while.

On Saturday we went to some friend's house and watched the UFC fights. It was a few couples from the ward. It was great fun and we came a way with a little blackmail from everyone. We finished our weekend by attending a meeting with Tre' at church. He will be 12 next month and will become a deacon. He is growing way to fast. It was such a great feeling to be there with him and feel the spirit. He will be a great example for his friends and brother and sister. He is already a great example to his brother and sister and such a great kid. I thank my stars everyday that he has his head on straight. I pray that it will stay that way.

Crap!

2009-01-09T13:01:00.000-08:00

Well I started a post a few nights ago or maybe it was a week ago. Anywho, I have not yet finished it because I have lots of pictures to add and lots to catch upon. Well, my laptop decided to take a crap and everything I own is on it. This happened to me once before, you would have tought I would have learned to back everthing up the first time, but nope I did not. So now I have to wait for someone to fix it, if it can be fixed. If not then I have to figure out how to get all my good stuff off, ie: lots and lots of pics., tax files, Itunes music and many other valuable items. Hope a good fairy comes down and takes care of it so it is up and running soon. I will be so sad to loose my pics.

Whew

2008-12-29T12:35:00.000-08:00

I can not believe Christmas has already come and gone. Where does the time go? Since my last post we have had lots of fun. My mom wanted to start a new tradition and she decided to buy some gingerbread house molds and make gingerbread kits for each family to have one to put together. A few of us were able to get together at Jessica's to put them together and my mom was able to be there.

Later that week we had our annual visit from our favorite Santa Claus.

On December 20 we attended the annual Baker party. It was Jared's uncle Randy and aunt Patsy's turn. They did a great job as usual. We got together and had dinner. After dinner we went on a hay ride and went Christmas caroling.

We are all waiting for the ride to start.

Here we goooooo.........

(K, so I got my laptop back. I wanted to add more but I am so behind that I am just going to post this as is.)

From Christmas programs at school to Christmas parties up North!

2008-12-15T12:18:00.000-08:00

If we get any busier I will not know what to do. Tucker had his school Christmas program on Dec. 3. The music teacher did a really good job. There were a lot of 3rd graders to teach those songs to.

Then on Friday we headed up the mountain for the annual Hatch Christmas party. Jared's mom is a Hatch.We stayed at my mom's in Heber on Friday and on Saturday we helped her assemble some of her many Christmas light decorations she puts up in her yard. While we were doing this Tatum climbed on a two step stool and it colapsed a little on her and she fell off and hit her arm on the ground. She cried for a while and Jared and I consoled her but that did not seem to help much. She said "my arm hurts". I proceeded to grab her arm and bend it back and forth and told her that it was fine it was not broken so to stop crying. We packed up and headed to Jared's moms house and then to the light parade in Holbrook.

We then headed to Jared's aunts house to have hot cocoa and donuts and exchanges gifts again.

Tatum seems to be feeling fine.

We ended our party and went back to Grandma Baker's house to sleep.Tatum woke up the next morning still complaining about her arm and saying that it pops when she moves it. Well we finally decided maybe we should take her in to have it looked at. I headed up to the Show Low ER, which might I add the staff was great. The doctor had x-rays taken and low and behold they came back showing she broke her arm just above the elbow. Woops! We are lucky I did not mess it up more by moving all around. So Tatum's arm was splinted and we head back home. On Wednesday she had a hard cast put on. She told Jared and I, "next time you should listen to me. I told you it was broken". We attended her Christmas program that Wednesday evening Dec. 10. Once again the music teacher did a great job teaching all of those 1st graders many different Christmas songs. I have not put the pictures on the computer yet for that one. Tre' is playing on yet another club baseball team so we have been spending our nights taking him to practice, Tucker to basketball practice, dance and scouts, and Tatum to girl scouts. Will we ever slow down. Probably not in the near future. Jared was just called as the Exec. Ward Sec. As for me, I am just trying to keep up.

Past due Thanksgiving Update

2008-12-12T17:36:00.000-08:00

I am a little behind. We have been so busy that every time I sit to post, I have to get up and leave again. We had a great Thanksgiving. The kids enjoyed being able to hang out with their cousins.

Tucker, Kylie & Cordd

Chloe,Tatum & Kassie

Deak decided to test out his modeling abilities.

We also had our 2nd annual Baker brunch. My mother-in-law would like to make this a tradition so hopefully we will be able to keep it going for many years to come. Jared's entire family came out to our house and we had breakfast around 11 then Grandma Baker read a Christmas story

and then we exchanged gifts.

It is always nice for the holidays to come around because that is when we all take a break to spend some time together.

Black Friday

2008-11-28T12:53:00.000-08:00

Before Shopping

Well, I did it. I got up this morning yet again for another year of after Thanksgiving shopping. I really was not in the mood to do it this year. But I figured if I wanted to save some money I probably should. My first stop was Wal-Mart and they were all out of what I needed. I looked around and thought, "I am going to just go home there are too many people". But needless to say I did not. Next I headed to Sears and they only had one thing I was looking for. Then I headed to Target. I was able to pick up what I need there except for one thing. My oldest would like the new Guitar Hero World Tour game but they were all out, so I decided he really does not need it anyway. We already have one Guitar Hero. The line to check out wrapped around the whole store. I think I waited about 20-30 min. not too bad it seemed to go fast, the crazy things we do to save money. Then off to Old Navy. On my way I new I would be passing another Wal-Mart so I decided to stop and give it one more try to see if they had what I needed. And YES they did, except I forgto a couple things so I guess that means they were not really important and did not need them anyway. Then off to Old Navy again. I was looking for some fleece jackets. Last year I was able to pick some nice ones up, you think I could do it again this year. Not so much. I found a few but not what I was really looking for and they were more than what I wanted to pay but needed them so got them anyway. Then off to Big 5. Found three things I needed there but I had to head to another Big 5 because I needed two of something and the first one only had one. Once there I was off to Fiesta Mall and Sears again. Yeah, I found what I did not find at the first Sears. Picked up a couple of extra things and wished that finished me up but I am just not sure what to get my oldest this year. He does not need a whole lot and I am tired of buying things that only get used for a few weeks then tossed aside. I think that he may just find some money under the tree and he can go buy himself some clothes. For those of you that are crazy enough as I am to brave the crazy crowds I hope you were just as successesful as I was. Now I just have to talk myself into putting up my tree and lights. I am quite the Scrooge this year. I just can not seem to get in the spirit. Hope that will change soon. Christmas has always been my favorite holiday because I get to spend it with my family. Hope the spirit bug bites me soon because I need it this year.

After shopping

A lot to be thankful for

2008-11-23T20:15:00.000-08:00

So I am a big after Thanksgiving shopper freak. Every year I get up about 3 and go out to wait in line and fight the crazy people and crowds. This year I am bummed because I just can not get int to the mood for it. I look forward to it every year at this time and just have not brought myself to get excited. It is the one and only day that Jared knows I am going to go spend money and lots of it and he does not complain to me about how much and my Christmas shopping is done by then. For one the sales just do not seem like they are going to be as good this year from what I can see on the online ads. And for two my kids are getting older and I do not know what to get for them. They do not need anything and I am tired of spending money on things they think they want and only use for a couple of days after Christmas and then they sit and collect dust. I asked them if we could skip the gift part of Christmas this year but that did not go over so good with them. Maybe once I see the actual ad from the newspaper on Thursday I will get in the mood, we will have to see. I am however excited to celebrate Thanksgiving and give thanks for the many blessings that have been given to me and my family. I am thankful for our good health, for the our business that we have that provides for us and that we are able to make ends meet to keep our home provide for the thinks we need. I am thankful for my extended family and the time we get to spend with them and the memories we get to make with them and for the love they have for us. I am thankful for my kids and the laughs the give me everyday. Jessica was doing my hair again (thanks Jess) and I had her cut Tucker's hair and she asked him if he had any girlfriends, he said no, she said right answer and he responded with "it must be love Tucker season because alot of girls like me". Where do kids come up with these things. I am thankful for my husband and all of the help he is and the love he shows for me. He has taken over the laundry the last few weeks and it has been heaven. There are many more thanks but I think I will stop with those few. Oh wait I am thankful I only have to work one day this week. Whoohoo. I get Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday off for the holiday and took Tuesday off so I can go to a CPR class because I am trying to get into EMT school. I hope every has a good Turkey day and may you all be as blessed as we are.

Trunk or Treat 2008

2008-10-25T20:53:00.000-07:00

Tonight our ward had our Trunk or Treat. It is such a great tradition, you know your kids will be safe doing trick or treating. Some of the couples in our ward dressed up and some of them were quite creative and others not quite as much. One couple came dressed as an outlet and the other a plug. Jared's parents, brother Bo and his kids and his brother Deak came and my sister Jessica and her daughter came to hang out with us also. We went and had chili and enjoyed each others company before the kids did their trunk or treating. I was able to snap a few pictures before we left. Tatum decided to be Giselle from Enchanted, Tucker is a skeleton pirate from Pirates of the Caribbean, and Tre' well lets just say I talked Tre' into being a whoopie cusion and we put a fart machine in his pocket it was a hit with the crowd. The kids got their buckets filled with candy and we are good, do not think we will have to do any trick or treating on Friday. But I am sure the kids will still want to dress up so we will probably have to hit a few neighbors. Here they are in their costumes........

Ryken as Eyore

Tucker as a Pirate of the Carribean Skeleton

Tre' as the infamous whoopie cushion

Tatum as Giselle

Shout out to the Hubby

2008-10-18T20:50:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to give a shout out to my amazing husband. It is his birthday and as he says he is 28 today. (Even though we all know better) Jared I just wanted to tell want a great husband and father you are. You have always worked hard to provide for us. You are the crutch I need at times to lean on when things are rough. I hope you know how much I Love You. Happy Birthday babe, to another year.

Disneyland Trip 2008

2008-10-02T19:39:00.000-07:00

Well we made it back. Of course we were sad to leave. It seems like it takes so long for the time to come and then it goes by so fast. Needless to say we enjoyed yet again another trip to the "Happiest Place on Earth" as I like to refer to it as. We started out our trip by visiting the beach on Sunday. I do not know who had more fun, Jared or the kids. I am not one that likes to be in cold water so I did not venture in. Besides who would have taken all the pictures if I did. Jared said the waves kicked his tail. Before we left I asked Tucker if a pair of swim shorts I found fit him and he said yes. Well they did not and his shorts kept falling off sharing his backside with us. Tatum enjoyed collecting shells and well Grandpa started a new style by sporting kelp around his neck. After all of the fun at the beach we went had had lunch at a placed call Portillo's. Jared and I ate there a couple of years ago while on our anniversary trip and we enjoyed it so we decided to take the family. We then went back to the Motel and cleaned up and went to Downtown Disney District and enjoyed looking at all of the shops and eating carmel kettle corn. On Monday we visited California Adventures. We were a little disappointed because the Aladdin play was not going due to refurbishment to the theatre but we enjoyed the rest of the park. One of our all time favorite rides is the Hollywood Tower of Terror. We actually talked grandma and grandpa into trying it out this year and it was one of their favorite rides. Soaring over California is also a favorite ride of ours. We like to smell the orange blossoms and see all of the different areas of California. We then went to Disneyland after California Adventures closed because it closes 2 hours earlier than Disneyland. We road a few rides then went and rested to hit Disneyland again on Tuesday. What fun we had. We took a few pictures with some of the characters then hit the rides. At lunch time we all met up at the Country Bear restaurant which is tradition for the Baker family to eat at then split up again to hit more rides. We rode Splash Mountain to cool us off. It was close to 100 degrees that day so it was refreshing to get wet. This was the first year Tatum was tall enough for all the rides so she got to experience some new rides. On Wednesday we hit Knotts Berry Farm. We like to hit that park this time of year as well. There is very few people there so we can ride the roller coaster rides several times before even having to get off. Funnel cakes is also a favorite there so we had to hit them up before we left. The park closed at 5:30 because of Knotts Scarry Farm going on this time of year so we left the park and headed home. We were all sad to have vacation ending. We are going to head up the mountain on Friday afternoon to go camping with Jared's parents. It will be cold so hopefulle we stay warm. I will have to update you on that when we get back. I took so many pictures of our trip in Cali that I figured that a slide show would work best. Hope you enjoy. Maybe some of you can join us next year. We go every year at this time. Till next time.

On our way to DISNEYLAND!!!!!

2008-09-27T14:10:00.000-07:00

Well it is Saturday, September 27, 2008 at 2:15 and we are on our way to Disneyland. I took pictures of how we look as we are traveling to Cali but I guess I left my connector for my camer to my computer at home. I am bummed, oh well I will have to add those photos when we return with all of the others that will follow. What a great time we will have. I will keep you posted.

Much needed update.

2008-08-31T23:03:00.001-07:00

It has been a while since I posted. The Baker household never seems to slow down. The kids have been in school six weeks now and fall break is approaching for us. We are on the count down because we will be visiting Disneyland during break. We can not wait to visit the happiest place on earth. We try to visit once a year. I can never get enough of it. After the kids had been in school for a couple of weeks I decided to go back to work and see if I could do something useful with my time. I am working for the Coolidge school district as the health clerk. I cover 4 different schools every week and take care of all paperwork for the nurse's. It definitely was a change at our household to have me have a real 8-5 job. I am used to working but setting my own hours not having someone else set them for me. Hopefully business will pick up and I can go back to helping out in the office. I enjoyed that the most, but since the market is slow I needed to do something productive with my free time. The kids are doing great in school. Tre' is playing for the school baseball team for the 6th graders and is doing well. He and another kid happen to be the only two that have ever played baseball so it has been tough to watch but he is being a great leader and helping the other players learn. Tucker and Tatum have been doing hip-hop dance. I can not wait until they actually learn something. They are still doing the basics, when they finally put something together maybe they won't look so crazy at home. Jared is still working away with Allstate and working hard on our property management co. we are doing. Fall ball will be starting up for him so things are going to start getting a little more hectic splitting our time between all the activites, but I do know that we would not know how to function otherwise. I finally got my life license so I can write life insurance now and Jared and I are working on our securities licenses. I started working with a financial company on the side and am amazed at what we have to offer to help families become financially independent. I am excited more and more everytime I learn more about it. Jared and I went to Palm Springs for a buisness meeting for my fianancial company. The resort was so nice. I want to vacation like this more often.

Needless to say we had to return to the real world and back to the grind. And our crazy kids.

Tatum and Tucker were playing today in Tatum's room and look at the outcome.

Jared went to the diamondback game on Saturday and it was give away day. They gave out Eric Burns, D-back hats. Tucker decided he needed to try it on for size.

That will have to do it for this post. I keep having to redo it because it keeps disappearing.

Our last fun before school started

2008-07-27T21:03:00.000-07:00

In the past Jared's extended family has had their reunion up in the McNary area and gone camping and the last few years it has been put on hold because the family is getting so big. They resumed the tradition this year and we were so glad they did. We camp at a place called Los Burros. It is one of our favorite camp grounds. The kids spent the week of July 9 through the 16th up with their grandparents before Jared and I took the journey. We met Jared's parents and the boys at the campground Wednesday night and on the way there this is what we spotted......

and this......

We like to scout for elk while we are there. We arrived at the campground and unloaded the truck and had some dinner then I headed to Heber to pick up Tatum. She had stayed with my mom for the week. Tatum and I stayed in Heber for the night then headed back to the campground. The whole family would not be arriving until Friday but Jared's uncle Randy's kids were there and we had a good time visiting with them and the kids enjoyed doing some crafts.

One of Jared's cousins boy kept wanting me to take his picture. You just can't resist a cute dirty face.

Tatum, Chloe, and Cordd were enjoying the outdoors. I just could not resist getting pictures of them.

Tatum, Chloe and Emma (Jared's counsins little girl) were collecting flowers and these were the beautiful arrangements they came up with.

Nicole decided to show us her more natural side.
On Saturday some of the boys and Nicole decided to have a wiffle ball game. Here is the excitement of that game.

It was so beautiful outdoors. Everything was green and I happened to catch a shot of this butterfly.

The campground has a an old barn that used to be available for people when they brought their horses up. I decided to utilize it a little and here are a couple of shots I took of Tatum. I could not tear the boys away from their fun long enough to get them up there.

We had so much fun, the kids did not want to come home for school. We did not want to come home either. The weather was fantastic. Needless to stay we packed up and headed home so the kids could attend school. Here they are on their first day of school.

My little Model

2008-07-25T22:36:00.001-07:00

Cool Weather and a little Family Fun

2008-07-11T12:45:00.000-07:00

We decided to head up north for the 4th of July weekend. My family always has the Bowers reunion that weekend to honor my grandfather's birthday and celebrate our freedom. We have not been to Jared's folks house to spend a few days for a year so we decided we would spend some time there. His parents now live in Woodruff and by boys love it there. There are some boys there that are around their age so they have someone to hang out with and the town is so small that they can roam where ever. The shoot their BB guns, ride quads, three wheelers, and a small motorcycle if that is how you want to refer to it. They can swim in the river too so when we are there we don't see them much. The weather was great. We started our trek on Thursday around 10 and unfortunately the truck ran warm so we decided to take it easy because we did not want to over heat. It took us 4 hours to get to Heber when it usual takes about 2 1/2. We stopped at the bottom of the rim and took a hike to let the truck cool down a little and put my camera to use.

Tre' and Tucker decided to climb this really big tree.

Almost got it!!

We made it!!!

My Father-in-Law has 3 acres of vacant land in Woodruff that has old cars on it and it has an old bus. I decided I wanted to take pictures of the kids on the bus for fun.

On Friday the 4th we attended a town breakfast in Woodruff and they had races for the kids. Tre', Tucker, and Tatum decided they wanted to give it a go.

Later that day Tre' was riding the Smith boys mini cycle. They are the bishop's boys the same age as Tre' and Tucker. Can you say "Fat man on a little bike?"

On Saturday we headed over to my mom and dads for the family reunion (dinner and fireworks). While we were waiting for the fire works to start the Baker boys do what they like to do best. Play catch. Cordd who is my nephew decided he wanted to play as well. Well lets just say he was not sure if he wanted to wear the glove on his hand or head.

After the fireworks we threw my dad a little surprise 50th birthday party. It was fun, nothing fancy just enough to let him know we appreciate him. Boston decided to give dad his own birthday present. Take a look.

It is great to live in a country where we can enjoy our families and be silly at times.

What has been going on at the Baker household

2008-06-27T08:57:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since my last post. We have been quite busy here in the Baker house. We helped Kati get ready for her wedding. She was married June 14th. It is always nice to attend a Temple wedding. It makes me reflect back on my sealing and how I felt when I was there and the advice that was given to us by the gentleman that performed it. It also makes me think of the future and the things I would like to adjust to improve my family. I was so proud of Kati and her new spouse Boston. They looked so happy and you could see in his eyes that he truly loved her. The kids and I spent the week of the 9-14th in Heber. The weather was fantastic, I was not quite ready to come home to the heat again. When we arrived home we helped Tre' get ready for All-Star tryouts. I was not able to attend but his dad said he did well and congrats to him he made the team. His first game is Saturday, we are excited to watch him play. Tucker and Tatum started a Hip Hop class when we got back. Tucker enjoyed his first class. Tatum was not so sure but lightened up by the next class. It is quite comical to watch their facial expressions while they are learning their moves. We also attended Ryken's birthday party. He is Jared's sisters little boy. Thanks Cara, Justin, and Ryken. The kids had a blast. I might have to invest in one of those blow up water slides now.

Happy Birthday Ryken!!

Happy Birthday Azure

2008-06-09T23:47:00.000-07:00

June 9 was my sister Azure's birthday she would have been 25. She was killed in a car accident on October 13, 2007. I just wanted to express my love for her and wish her a happy birthday. We were able to celebrate it for her with family. She was a great person. She always had a smile on her face and my kids sure loved her. I know that our Heavenly Father had a plan for her and she is fulfilling that plan. How greatful I am for the Atonement and the knowledge that I have that I will see her again someday and that she is doing a great and wonderful work with our Father in Heaven. I love you Azure. Not a day goes by that I do not think of you and your beautiful smile. Eric has your smile and what a great joy it is to see it.It is an honor to have a choice spirit for a sister. Happy birthday sis.

Tatum's Gradutation

2008-05-28T22:18:00.000-07:00

Today was Tatum's Kindergarten graduation. The teachers did so well organizing this event. All of the kids wore a little graduation hat made out of felt. Lifetouch photography provided all students with a little graduation certificate and photo in a little diploma type book. All students received their "diploma" and then they sang a cute song about first grade to the tune of "New York, New York." It was so cute I wanted to add the words.

First Grade, First Grade
(Sing to the tune of “New York, New York”)

Start spreading the news.
We're leaving today.
We want to be a part of it,
First Grade, First Grade.

We're ready to go.
We've worked very hard.
We want to be a part of it,
First Grade, First Grade.

We know our ABCs and 123s so well.
We've worked at sounding out words
And stories to tell.

Just ask us to rhyme.
We'll say "tens" and "pens".
We've learned to share and get along
With all our friends.

So now we've made it here,
We'll make it anywhere.
We're on our way
First Grade, First Grade.

Also are a few pictures of Tatum at graduation. I am a little partial, she was the prettiest one there.

School Is Almost out :(

2008-05-22T11:09:00.000-07:00

Well school is almost out for the summer. I am sure the kids are looking forward to it, however I am not. I am not ready to hear the "mom I am bored" line just yet. I am hoping that they will get to go spend some time up north with the grandparents. Tre' has been itching to go see them and be able to roam the mountains at Grandma & Grandpa Biglers's and the river at Grandma & Grandpa Baker's. Before they get to fill my house with noise and laughter all day for 7 weeks we are going to make a trip to the Grand Canyon. Tre' has a scout camp there and he can not stay over night if his dad does not go so needless to say Jared, Tre' and I will be spending Memorial Day weekend there trying to stay warm. We have looked at the forecast for the weekend and it is supposed to be in the mid 50's during the day and the mid to high 20's and night with a chance of snow. And if any of you know me very well you all know how much I hate be cold and am not a big fan of the wet cold snow. Tucker and Tatum will be spending the weekend with their Baker grandparents, they have cousins in town and wanted to be able to play with them. Tatum will be graduating from Kindergarten on the 28th of May and her school had a photographer come and take pictures of them in a cap and gown. They turned out so cute that of course I had to buy them. I also put her hair in buns on Sunday and the only way I could get her to let me leave them in is if I took pictures of her and took her mind off of her not "liking buns in my hair mom." They turned out cute as well so I just have to post them. I hope you all have a safe and good and warm Memorial weekend.

Women's Conference

2008-05-07T14:36:00.000-07:00

Wow what a way to get invigorated and receive a boost. The conference was great. I attended 3 classes on Thursday and Friday. There was a humanitarian project on Thursday evening that we all participated. What great members we have. We filled 20,000 hygiene kits. There was also baby kits, and school bags put together. One of the volunteers told us that in some countries children could not go to school unless they had their own paper and pencils. There was a little boy that had one piece of paper and every day would write notes on it then go home and carefully erase it so he could use it again the next day. How blessed we are to live in the United States. There was a concert after the project and it was great! On Friday our closing speaker was Pres. Monson. He has always been my favorite. What a wonderful man he is and what great advice he gave us. Thanks Mom, Deni, and Jessica for going with me. I think I might have to make this a yearly thing. I felt so ready to take on the world when it was over. Mom and Jess, thanks for making the drive with me, it made it go by a lot faster. Till next year girls!!

Excited and a little sadness

2008-04-25T00:02:00.000-07:00

I am up quite late tonight. I asked my mom and sisters if they would go to the BYU Women's Conference with me on May 1 & 2 and they said yes, except Kati she can not take off of work since she will be getting married soon and needs the time for her honeymoon. I think honeymoon's are over rated anyway. Just kidding Kati. I am so excited to go to the conference. I am not looking forward to the drive but it will be good to spend time with my sisters. When Azure passed away we decided to take a girls trip every year and we decided this would be a great way to start. There are so many classes being offered it is hard to narrow it down but I think I have most of them picked out. I am really looking forward to be fueled with spiritual enrichment. At the same time the last couple of days have been a little hard. Azure's little boy Eric turns one on Saturday and it makes me sad to know she will not be there in body to celebrate it with him. Being a mom I can not imagine not being able to share all of my kids birthdays with them. I know she will be there in spirit but at times I am filled with deep sadness because it is not the same. I am so grateful for the Atonement and the teachings and blessings of the gospel. I can not imagine not being a member and losing a loved one and not knowing that someday we will all be together again. That is what gets me through sometimes on days when her passing hits me and I remember I will not be able to see her or talk to her physically. I know that Brian and his new spouse Ginger will make it a special day for him. Happy Birthday Eric. I wish I could be there to celebrate with but your cousins have baseball games. When you get older you will have to have them take you out and play catch. I love you little guy.

My baby is growing up :)

2008-04-21T14:53:00.000-07:00

I have been trying to get this posted for over a week now. My laptop has not wanted to cooperate and it has been a little crazzzy at our house. April 12th was Tatum's 6th birthday. She was so afraid that she was not going to get to celebrate it that she asked me for a month straight everyday if we could have a party that day. Her birthday was on a Saturday this year and needless to say we were spending the day yet again at the ball field. Tucker had a game at 8:30 and Tatum had a game at 2:30 and I arranged for her to have snack that day so she could take birthday cup cakes and share with her team mates and Tre' had a game at 2:45. We had a great surprise, Tatum had asked her Grandma's and Grandpa's to come down to celebrate with her which her Grandma and Grandpa Baker came the week before and Grandpa Bigler told us he had to work and would not make it so we planned on just Grandma Bigler coming and they both showed up at Tatum's game. She was so excited that her Grandpa was able to make it too. We finished games around 5 went home and changed to head to Jungle Jim's (Jeepers Creepers) as we refer to it to have some fun. I am not sure who had more fun, the kids or the adults. We have always enjoyed going there because of the bumper cars. We had not been there since August of '05' until now. The younger kids enjoyed riding the rides while the older kids and the adults which I would refer to as older kids as well played games. Kati and Boston showed their kid side and joined Tatum on a ride. Later we got a group together and took on the bumper cars. We then all joined for dinner at Texas Roadhouse which Tatum picked because she wanted to sit on the saddle for her birthday. Thanks family for coming and making Tatum's day a good one for her. Happy 6th Birthday Tatum.

Plumbers Crack

2008-03-31T21:06:00.000-07:00

I just had to add this tonight. My poor daughter does not really have a backside. Most of her pants or shorts she wears shows a little somethin' if you know what I mean. We have to have her wear granny undies so everything is covered. Well today I had some hip hugger type undies on her and every time she bent over you would get a little flash. The neighbor noticed and said "say no to crack". Later that evening her dad was in the kitchen and had a little crack going on and she told him, "dad you have a but crack like mine". I had to turn a way and laugh because she thinks we are laughing at her if we giggle at things she says. Poor girl will always have to deal with a little plumber's crack thanks to her dad.

The Season has Begun

2008-03-30T18:28:00.000-07:00

Sat. March 29 at 9:30 a.m. the games began. We will know be spending a lot of time at the ballfields watching games and not just practices. Tatum had her first t-ball game. She was so excited. All morning while I was getting her hair fixed and her uniform on she insisted that we were taking too long and she probably missed everything because she could not wait to go, then we could not get her to take her uniform off until it was bedtime. It is always fun to watch the young ones playing t-ball. Ben, Jessica and Taya showed up a little after 10 so that they could take in some t-ball as well. We all then came home to my house, had lunch and waited for the time to leave for Tre' and Tucker's game. Tre' played at 3:45 and they lost 5-2. The team had a few errors but all in all they played well for their first game. We faced a tough pitcher. Tucker's game started at 5:30. His game is a little more difficult to watch. His age group is the in between coach pitch and actually being able to hit off kids pitching too you. At first there were several strike outs until the kids figured out that if they just stood there they would get a walk because the kids just do not pitch strikes well enough yet. As the season progresses hopefully they will figure it out. We have many more games to attend. If anyone would like to join us and cheer the kids on let us know and we will let you know when the upcoming games are.

Check out my Slide Show!

2008-03-27T12:11:00.001-07:00

ZOO

2008-03-23T21:34:00.000-07:00

Jared and I took the kids to the zoo on the 15th of March and decided to buy a zoo pass since the price of one day admission is almost the same price. The kids are on spring break so I asked Jessica if she and Taya wanted to go with us the following Friday. Ben and Kati found out we were going to go and wanted to come hang out with us and the Thursday before Dad called and said that he and mom were going to come down and bring Eric and Tyler and Kali (Brian's new wife's kids, he recently married Ginger LeBaron). We had alot of fun spending the day together. The weather was good and the zoo well lets just say it was a zoo literally. There were a lot of people there. We went and watched the Orangutangs, they are really fun to watch the baby is so cute. The kids like going to harmony farm and brushing the goats hair. Kati's fiance Boston joined us that day too. We found a slide that was in the shape of a cactus and Boston decided to go down it. Half way down we heard him yell "I am stuck." He managed to get himself unstuck and went on to tell us that that felt like he was going through the birth canal. I do not know how he remembers what that was like. He is quite the comic sometimes. We then took the kids to the sting ray exhibit and the kids were able to touch the sting ray's. All in all we had a good time. We now need to talk Grandma and Grandpa into to going to the "Happiest Place on Earth" (Disneyland). We will have to see.

Easter Pageant

2008-03-19T16:05:00.000-07:00

It is a tradition that started with my Grandma Bowers to have fried chicken and potato salad on Easter. It is a tradition that started with my mom to have fried chicken and potato salad at the Easter pageant, so I decided to see if I could get the family together for the pageant and have fried chicken and potato salad. It went over well. I invited my parents and siblings and their significant other if they had one and their children and my in-laws (Jared's family). We had a good turn out. There was about 20 of us there with plenty of food to go around. Thanks mom for helping me fry the chicken and get the potato salad done. Dad arrived at the temple at about 5:30 to save us all a seat on the lawn (seats fill up fast). Thanks Dad. The rest of us showed up around 7:30. The pageant was good as usual. I have seen it many times but this time it seemed different, and I probably came away with a lot more. I love this time of year, baseball season, spring, Easter and family. Thanks to all who took time out of their busy schedules to spend the evening with us.

It is a zoo at our house.

2008-03-09T14:52:00.000-07:00

Well baseball has officially begun at our house. Jared's J.V. baseball team has played a few games already and that is going well for them. I believe they only have 1 loss and 3 wins. Baseball for the kids started on monday. Tre' is playing on the Majors this year, Tucker will be playing on the AAA team and Tatum is playing T-ball, and what would you know all of their practices are on the same days same time and different places in the Queen Creek area. They are all a couple miles a part from each other. Tatum had her first practice on Thursday and she was so much fun to watch, she really enjoyed it. I asked her if we could hang up cheer and play sports and she told me "I have not tried make-up cheer yet". She wants to be on a cheer or dance team where she can wear makeup. As for me I am just trying to keep my sanity in all of this. I will post pictures as soon as I get them. They are fun!

Family day out on the quads

2008-02-04T21:21:00.001-08:00

We planned a day out on our quads with my siblings. My sister Jessica and her husband Nic and daughter Taya, brother Ben, sister Kati and fiance' Boston, and us. We had four quads out there and had so much fun. We had lunch and got a little dirty (we found some mud puddles and I happened to find the only cow pie). We have to get together and do this again. It was such a beautiful day out and we just relaxed enjoyed each others company and enjoyed the jetted sound from the tail pipes. Vroom, Vroooom.

Ben testing out the 300

Jessica thought she would pose for us

Tucker taking a turn

Jared out for a ride

Tatum waiting for a ride

While we were out on the quads Tre' had his first accident. He was going up a steep hill and did not quite make it and started to roll backwards and ended up flipping the quad one and a half times. He was pretty shaken up and quite bruised but it was a good thing we make him wear a helmet. Here are some pictures of what happened to his pants.

What is left of Tre' 's pants after his tumble

Tre' 's pants after his little accident

A few of our many extra-curricular activities.

2008-02-04T20:07:00.001-08:00

I have been wanting to post these for awhile now. These are part of our many extra-curricular activities, Tre' and Tucker playing basketball and Tatum at state cheer competition.

Waiting to compete at state cheer competition

The awards at state cheer competition

Loves her trophy

Tatum and her state cheer trophy

My turn to shoot

Makin' a shot

Umm, where do you think you are going?

Tucker making sure that a girl does not get by him

Practicing shots before the game

Tre' lining up to get a rebound after the free throw shot

Tre' waiting for a rebound

Tre' fighting for a rebound

New Year

2008-01-06T20:33:00.000-08:00

Wow another year has come and gone. I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a safe and happy new year. We had a good Christmas and a nice quiet evening for the new year at the Baker household. The kids go back to school on the 7th of January. They are not looking forward to it. I am so I can get a few things done. It has been quite hectic trying to get our business set up for the new year. I did not realize how much work there was into being your own boss. It does have its perks though. Jared and I are excited to see what the new year will bring. Jared starts baseball with Queen Creek high in February and the boys will start little league around the same time. Our house never stands still. Tatum thinks she will be joining the T-ball team this year. Sometimes there are not enough of me. I will have to hit the books now that the kids will be back in school so that I can get my insurance license to help out while Jared will be coaching. It has been nice being at home but back to the grind stone. I will keep you posted on how the licensing situation is going.

My First Blog

2007-12-14T16:51:00.000-08:00

Well, here I am writing my first blog. I'm glad Lori sat down and set up the site with the help and direction of Cara. Maybe this will get me to write a little more. I've wondered about blogging for a long time and I will use this site to explore if I have any desire to write.
Since opening the Allstate office in August I have had a lot more time to breathe. Working doing property management for Brewer Caldwell was a blessing and a curse. I'll be eternally grateful for the opportunity that they afforded me to learn real estate and to get to the place that I am in my life now. I couldn't have done it without that opportunity. On the other hand, I dumped way too much of myself into a business that was not mine. I was really dedicated to the business and no matter how much I put into it, I wasn't going anywhere. It took me a while to figure it out, but this opportunity to put energy into my own business selling insurance is another great chapter in my life. It is definitely a different pace and it doesn't hurt that my office is less than a mile away. I was just telling Lori how "awful" my commute was today. I did learn pretty quickly that I enjoyed property management a lot more than I thought and so a friend, Emet Soqui, and I are doing a little property management on the side.
I also have the opportunity to coach the JV Baseball team for Queen Creek High School. This upcoming season will be my second season coaching. We were 19-3 last season and had a great group of kids (including the one that got kicked off for failing a drug test and the one I lost because he got suspended for fighting). They really were all great kids and they were successful in spite of the coaching. Believe it or not they are actually paying me for coaching which makes it all the more unbelievable. It is a large commitment in terms of time, but I am grateful that I am in a position to be able to do it. It is a dream come true.
Lori and I, Lori especially, are also busy raising the kids. It is amazing how fast they grow. I love them with everything I have and I am constantly reminded how lucky I am to have wonderful children and a loving wife. They are all great students and strive hard to do well in everything they do. I have seen first hand how they try to set good examples for their friends and they are a huge help to me to keep me doing the things that I should. The boys are currently playing basketball. Tomorrow is their second game. Last week they both did very well. Bubba scored at least eight baskets. It was incredible how well he played. Tre' also played well in his game, but running full court caught up with him pretty fast. I'm sure he would have rather been playing baseball. He is quite the baseball player. Tatum is doing cheer and loves it. We really don't know how to react to it, but we think she will grow out of it. Once she can play volleyball and softball the pom poms will be thrown away. We'll keep our fingers crossed anyway. She is such a girly-girl. I really thought she would be a tomboy, but she is not at all.

2007-12-09T22:31:00.000-08:00

2007-12-06T14:39:00.000-08:00

Jared and I were married on Feb. 9, 1996. How time flies. We have 3 children - Tre (10), Tucker (8), and last but not least Tatum (5). She keeps us all on our toes. We live and work in the Johnson Ranch area. We own an Allstate insurance office and do Real Estate. I am also a sucker for network marketing. I enjoy having lots of projects going on. I am currently selling Scentsy wickless candles. I am also a certified Travel Agent. If anyone wants to travel let me know. We like our little home a lot. The kids enjoy being here. Tatum started school this year and what a journey that has been. She loves it. The boys are busy with school, sports, and scouts. Tatum took up a cheer dance class this year. She just performed in a cheer competition and received a trophy and ribbon which she carried around all day. It is such a joy to watch them grow and learn. Drop us a line some time.