Scarlett's 7th Birthday Party! Hooray for Hollywood!

We celebrated Scarlett's 7th birthday Hollywood style! Stars, boas, glitter and glam!
The kids got to walk the red carpet when they arrived. We filmed them and they watched themselves later while they ate cake!
Scarlett was so excited for Daddy to be the "door man" and welcome our guests at the red carpet.


We did nails, had a fashion show, and opened presents.
All the girls had a chance for a photo shoot in front of the stars and in the cardboard cutout. Grandpa Betts looked the best =)
There was even gold glitter on the cake.
Everyone participated in our fashion show, even Asher.



Happy Birthday sweetheart!!!

Car for Sale!

We are trying to sell our 2005 Chrysler Pacifica. It has all wheel drive and less than 55,000 miles. It's in excellent condition inside and out. Power door/windows, CD deck, alum./alloy wheels, lots of leg room and trunk space, and great gas mileage. We LOVE this car but it only seats 5 and we are a family of 6. Kyle has a company truck right now so we really don't need it. Call Kyle's cell number if you are interested. Pass the word along!! 801-920-2811

South Ogden Days 5K First Place!!

So I the girls and I ran in the South Ogden Days Fun Runs last Thursday. The kids had a 'K" and the adults a 5K. It ended up being in the mid-90's that day (just in time for the races!). I ran with Avanlee and Scarlett ran ahead during the kids' race. I am so proud of them! They both did such a great job and ran almost the whole time. Scarlett always does well in athletic things and she didn't let us down. I think it did a lot for Avanlee's confidence to do so well. She would run awhile, stop, then sprint ahead so fast it would be hard for me to catch up. All in all she did great and has talked about how fast she was for days now.

I was excited for the 5K since I've been training for the 1/2 marathon. I don't have mych time to train (or much time for anything for that matter) but I wanted to see how I could do. I'd only ever run one other 5K and that was with Scarlett earlier in the year... little did we know that she was recovering from mono at the time, poor thing. Anyway, my goal was to place in my age group...


Here's Scarlett after her race.

And Avanlee.

Kyle in his Australian wallaby hat.

And finally her I am after the 5K with Asher and my 1st place medal!! (Juiet was in the stroller with Kyle. I got these pics from a neighbor's blog since I can't get my camera to upload to my PC!) I took 1st in my age group (25-29) and I was the 6th woman in overall. Not bad for my 1st competitive try. I ran 22:04. The course was pretty hard with two super steep hills. Needless to say I was super excited! Big thank you to Lara for being so excited with/for me!!!

Pics of Juliet's Blessing Day

We blessed Juliet Sophia on Dec. 6th and I'm proud of myself for getting these pics up the same month!

Here are my babies. I'm amazed by them and learn from them everyday. Sweet cousins. They may look a little bewildered, but it was either that or the pic of them looking terrified... or the one where they clearly think Im crazy. I chose bewildered.

Proud Grandma wouldn't give either of them up. Very sweet.

Grandma pulling Scarlett's 1st loose tooth. It was not at all what Scarlett expected, but she was pleased in the end.

Here's our pretty girl all smiles. Love the tongue.

I think she looks like a doll in this one.

Proud Momma. I'm so grateful for my family. I feel blessed beyond measure.

New Pics of Juliet - 2 Months

Here are the latest pictures of the baby. This first one is when she was only a few weeks old on the quilt my Mom made for her. The rest are of her at 2 months. Sorry about all the pics that look alike. I couldn't help myself... she's too adorable! Enjoy!

The Frenzy

A quick note on how things are going...
I've decided that four children isn't all that much harder than three. It's just that now there really AREN'T enough hours in the day. From sun up to sun down there is someone or something that needs attention and getting ANYTHING done takes that much longer. It's amazing how many ways your heart can be stretched and tugged and wrapped around so many things and so many people. The human heart is capable of so much love and we can grow with each person we come to truly know, love and care for. I've learned so much as a mother. I've learned more compassion, more patience and more names of My Little Ponys than I ever would have had I not had my children now. I have been forced to be more organized (though it may not always appear that way) and more disciplined than my nature would have allowed otherwise. If I thought I knew how to multi-task before, it's nothing in comparision to juggling four children, caring for a house, participating in church, volunteering at the school, being there for a husband and being inolved in the community. I've learned the importance of a kind word, a hug, a laugh and a smile whether it be from me, between my little ones, from my husband or a friend. I understand now why moms are often teary eyed over the silliest things. Or why women fall in love over a baby's smell. I'm in awe of the power of a mother's influence on and connection with the members of her family. Even more so by the growth I've received back from this experience...this choice. I don't think I could be learning or growing more as a person doing anything else. I won't lie...it's crazy around here a lot of the time. Especially right now with the baby being so little and having so many others need me. But I don't think I'd have it any other way. I love seeing my hard work and efforts at caring for them and teaching them pay off. And it seems that my experiences as a mother are starting to toughen my soft spots and soften my tough ones all at the same time. I appreciate those around me to a greater degree. I judge less. I love more. I appreciate my parents and siblings more and feel the distnace from them even more potently.
Enough of my rambling... I just want to say that I'm loving my life. I thank God for all I have. I thank God for the love and goodness I see and feel in the world and pray for strength to always see His love through whatever I have to bare.

I'll try to post pictures soon. Avanlee turned 4 yesterday. Scarlett has been playing basketball (Jr. Jazz). Juliet is getting so BIG! And Asher is as handsome and funny as ever. Things are hectic as usual (well more than usual) so I'll get to it when I get to it. By the way, our stake volleyball team (well basically the 7th ward's team which I crashed) took 2nd place in the regional tournament on Saturday. Thanks to all the girls who played and thanks to Scott for saving us by bring us pizzas! We played almost 6 hours of volleyball that day... out of 7 girls one was pregnant, 2 of us are nursing and no one thought to bring anything for lunch. Though, truth be told, after a few short breaks in the beginning of the day we ended up playing for 4 hours straight and didn't have time anyway. We scarfed pizza in the one minute before we had to start playing the #1 team. It was a blast and every muscle in my body hurts. Still.

Welcoming Juliet (without an epidural!?!)

Juliet Sophia Kluge joined us Sept. 28th at 4:29 pm. She was 7'14" and 20.5 in. She has a big dimple in her right cheek. At first she looked strawberry blond, but it lightens a little everyday...

On the morning of the 28th, my water was leaking and we headed over to the hospital after an exam. My water decided to REALLY break while I was standing in the lobby. We knew the pad my OBGYN had given me wasn't cutting it when the girl behind the desk called someone to see if my room was ready then turned to me and said, "We'd rather you kept that to yourself. Let's get you in a room." ...

They started me on petocin to get my contractions going around noon. Thanks to a somewhat morbid medical curiosity, I had wondered during this pregnancy (and the last) how far I could get before getting an epidural. By 2:30 I had gone from 4 to 6 cm and they increased the petocin. At that point the nurse informed me that the anesthesiologist had to do a C-section at 4:00 and that I'd have to decide before that point. As I got to 8 cm, things were getting really intense. The nurse called my OB to let her know my status. When she got back I decided I couldn't do it any more. I asked for the epidural. I looked at the clock as I did so... it said 4:08. I was too late...

Trying not to panic, I realized that I'd have to do it, willing or not. I had the most wonderful nurse. She helped me focus and breathe. Within a few very short minutes (10 0r 15) I went from 8 to 10 cm. My nurse fought with her voice activated call system (it wasn't cooperating) to call for setup and the doctor. I began to worry because I KNEW it was going to be close. To my relief (and everyone else's) my doctor rushed into the room just it time (she ran a light to get there). I was afraid to push at first becuase I knew it would hurt, then I realized that once she was out I wouldn['t have any more contractions! One long, not so quiet push later and voila!!! Out came our beautiful baby girl. She came down and out so fast that she bruised her WHOLE little face. She was pretty swollen and it took her a long time to open her eyes.

Here's her hungry face...

The kids love her so much. They want to hold her all the time.

Avanlee was amazed the first time she saw Juliet open her eyes...

Asher acted so grown up at the hospital!

I pretty much have the best family ever.

We brought her home on the 30th. She looks so tiny on our bed!

Her bruising gets better everyday and she has the cutest face especially when she opens her eyes, which still isn't often. We're so excited and feel so blessed to have Juliet in our family. We're grateful that she is healthy and whole and that we're healthy enough to take care of her and our other children. It's the sweetest thing in the world to see Kyle hold and love her. I love my family and can't wait to get to know Juliet better as she grows and learns!