Our Christmas pictures 2009

We were lucky enough to have a friend of ours take our family pictures this year. Her name is Trina Fowers and she is just starting up her own photography business so she needed some demo models for her http://rainydayphotographyllc.blogspot.com We happily accepted her invitation. These were all taken at the Grand View, ID Em-U-Zum. She gave us 81 pictures to choose from and WOW let me tell you I am having a hard time choosing which ones to use. Here are some of our favorites.

Finally getting around to Halloween

Here are some pictures that were taken at the elementary schools anual Halloween carnival. Lilly won the prize in her age group for most original costume and got a prize!We had such a great time playing games and being with friends. And then afterwards the local fire department hostes a free pizza party! So we invited a bunch of friends over to come and hang out after. We are loving living "in town". There are so many more people around then when we lived down the dirt road out of town.

Our "firecracker" baby girl Lilly

July 4th is or was Lilly's 1st birthday. We spent the evening at my parents home to celebrate because it is also my dads birthday. Since the day she was born my dad has been extremly excited that she was born on his birthday. Expecially since I have been told the story since I was little of how upset he was that my cousin was born on his birthday instead of me. I was born just two days later and he was crushed. So I figure all is right with the world now that I have given him a granddaughter to share his birthday with.



We had a blast (even though my mom was in France visiting her sister). She made sure we had plenty to eat with a HUGE 3 foot party sub. I don't think anyone really ate any of the salads we all brought. The kids got to do some fireworks with Uncle TJ and the rest of us played games inside.

Here are some pictures of the "birthday girl" and "birthday grandpa". She really liked her cupcake!

Summer Fun

I bought the girls this swimming pool to make the hot summer days more enjoyable. It only lasted a few days though due to the fact that we have a young lab pup that likes to chew EVERYTHING! Anyhow here are some fun pictures. I even got some fun ones of Lilly in her "birthday" swim suit. It was too cute I couldn't resist.

My 4th of July baby!

Lindsay's 5th birthday

AS usual birthdays around here include a group of about 30 people and lots of chaos. This one was no exception. I can't believe that Lindsay is 5 years old already. I can still remember the day she was born like it was yesterday. And here we are five years later and with three kids now. She is such a blessing to have in our family and sometimes a little to smart for her own good. It amazes me everyday at the things she is able to figure out and do on her own. Although being the oldest of three children I am sure that there are lots of things she was kind of forced to learn her being the oldest. And there will be many more things she will have to learn on her own for the same reason of just being the oldest child. I feel for her I really do since I too was the oldest child. I just wanted to post some pictures from the party so those of you who are not immediate family and weren't there can experience. We got her and Lexi a "chair-a-go-round" in other words a fancy name for a teeter totter that spins also. Unfortunately it didn't arrive until yesterday afternoon. So I put it together and had it almost done when they got back from grandma's house. They spent the rest of the night playing on it. It was a big hit!

I love my new bow!

I took some pictures of Lilly today that were so cute. Darrell decided she needed to try these new bows on I had bought. Anyhow she has never had anything clipped in her hair before and I was sure she would rip it right out and get mad, but she did they exact opposite. She was so excited that she got to wear a bow like her big sisters. She had the hugest smile on her face and you could tell she knew she was pretty. She never did take it out. My mom laughed when I sent them to her and said she couldn't believe it but you really could tell by the picture she was proud of her bow.

Almost eight months and crawling

Lilly being the fat baby she is has been on the verge of crawling for a few weeks now. She has mastered the bear stance, and the moving back onto her bottom, she can even move her feet all over the place. But she just couldn't figure out how to get those hands moving. So yesterday I got down on the floor with her and put her on all fours. I would gently nudge her knees forward one at a time with my knee and move her arm at the same time. Didn't quite understand the concept...so I thought. Well this afternoon she went to grandma Lemons while I went to drive for one of the bus drivers. And when I got home they were all excited to tell me how Lilly was crawling around while I was gone of course. I was so excited and yet a little bumbed that I spent all the effort teaching her, but missed the first go around. If I knew how to make a video and post it I would sorry. And I picture just doesn't capture this moment the way it should. Now hopefully this will make her older sisters more apt to pick up after themselves so the book eating baby doesn't destroy all their things. o likely, but I can dream.

Elder Carringer...the MTC's newest missionary

Sorry I don't have any pictures of this trip for you yet, we left the camera at home. So the pictures we do have of our adventures taking Bo to the MTC are on my parents camera and they now that they are "empty nesters" have decided to take so time to themselves and visit southern Utah.

This was only a two day trip and very fast one with three samll children and one I will not repeat for a while at least since on of them is still breastfeeding. We drove down to SLC and took my dad and the kids to the visitors center on temple square. The girls were in amazement over the organ in the tabernacle I think the most out of anything. There was a man playing it quite loadly and it was really interesting to listen to. We also had the opportunity to see the Joseph Smith movie, which has only been around for a few years since the last time I was there it was still Legacy. My dad although he won't admit it was crying towards the end. I think we are breaking him down, at least I hope we are. We were lucky enough to stay the night with Darrell's Aunt and Uncle in Sandy. They made it such a more enjoyable experience then staying at some hotel. Plus they have to adorable boys our girls ages.

And then the next morning we were able to take our time and then meet up with my brother, his wife, my parents, and Bo a little bit before we took him to the MTC. And our cousin Bryan who lives in Provo was able to come and see him off too. I have to tell you that since our girls are only 5,3, and 7 months old they don't really get the whole concept of going away for a long time aka mission. So we have been relating Bo's leaving to them like when the hired help go back home to Mexico to visit their families. The one they have both know Emilio has been on the farm for years and does go back to Mexico for long periods of time. So when we tried to tell them Uncle Bo was going to Ohio for long time they were like "ok, bye Bo". But then I had the though tto tell them Bo was going to "Mexico" that is when they finally understood. Poor Lindsay was crying when when we got back in the car to head for home. I know the girls along with Darrell and myself are so proud of Bo for his decision to go on a mission but we also feel sadness because we have gotton the opportunity my other two siblings haven't of spending a lot of time with him in our home. In the last few weeks he had before he left he came to stay with us for a while just because he no longer had obligations of work or school. It was so great and we both got to develope such a closeness with him. I know he will be such a wonderful misionary because of his willness to serve and his compassion he has for others. Love you tons and tons Bo!!!

Those who follow the Lemon Blog

I just thought I should tell everyone who follows our family blog that I have changed the security settings so you are able to add us to your blogging list now. It took me a while I know. Now hopefully you won't have to jump through all the hoops to view our blog. Hope to hear from all of you soon!

New Dining set

Most of you haven't had the opportunity to visit our home. For those of you that have you know of our collection of hammy down furniture. When we first married we lived in Darrell's grandparents home because they were on a mission at the time. Well we lived there almost a year before they came home. But along with it we also had a six week old too, and so there went all our savings. Needless to say we didn't have anything in the way of furniture except for a bed at the time. For some reason though, be it the kind hearts of our friends (older ones mostly) we quickly accumulated everything we needed to survive in a home of our own.

Now our dining room table and chairs were given to us be Darrell's cousin who at the time had just moved back from Alabama and was expecting her third child. They needed new, so we got their old. The table was in fairly good condition, but the chairs made to for the most part. Anyhow the last few months these poor chairs have been quickly giving way to the "pressure", and a few are literally on their last legs. Here are a few to show you just how sad these chairs really are.


So we decided that it was time to get a new set. The original plan was to wait until we got our tax return and pay for it all at once. So I found the set I wanted and we waited. For two months I would periodically look back at the set I wanted on the website. Then I heard that RC Willey was having a huge sale and to my utter delight the set I had been eying for months was $250 OFF!!!!!!! And so I just couldn't pass it up. So here we are and I couldn't be more delighted.

Finally got my CDL!

So this past Monday I went to Homedale and took my final driving test to get my CDL. It was fairly easy since I have spent so much time studying for it. I am glad it all payed off and it is finally over. So now I am official and can drive the school bus. I guess now I have to start some of the projects that got pushed back so I could finish this one. Oh well onto another day!

"Little" brother Bo goes to the temple

So those of you who know my family know my youngest brother Bo(he is 12 years younger). He was able last night to go to the temple for the first time to recieve his endowments so he could go on a mission. We are so proud of him words can not describe. It was such a wonderful opportunity to be there with him in the temple. I still as I write this can't believe Darrell and I even made it there after everything that went on last night. So let me take you back...

We were suppose to leave our house at 4:30pm yesterday to make it to the 6:30pm session. Which would have been a peice of cake if obsticles wouldn't have been in our way...LITERALLY! So I called Darrell at 4:15 leaving him the message of "we have to leave in 15 min WHERE ARE YOU!" He zooms in a few min later. Runs into the shower and gets dressed. We finally make it out to the car a bit later than expected but not bad. Drop the oldest kid off at the in-laws and head out. Well things are going fine until we are about 5 miles into Simco Rd and come accross a blockade of sorts. There is an ESI(you know the radioactive waste trucks)truck and traailer stuck in the snow drift off the side of the road. They have two wrecker trucks out there totally blocking traffic trying to pull it all out. THIRTY MINUTES we sat there waiting!!! BY this time the only thing I could think of was to have Darrell say prayer asking for us to make it to this special event. Like I said 30 min later we were finally off. I called my mother in law and asked her to contact the temple and see if they could locate my mother since she was in there and wasn't answering her phone. She finally called me back as we were getting onto the freeway and I told her to let them know that we WERE coming and would barely make the session. Darrell at "lightning" speed gets us there with only minutes to spare and we through the car keys at his sister who is waiting at the front entrance to take the other two kids who are still in the car. And we "run" inside, throw on our other clothes, and make it to the door just as everyone is getting ready to start. What an evening. I am so thankful for everything and everyone that made this such a memorable experience.

New haircut

Now that I am 30 I decided it was time for a new do. This last pregnancy I was so ill that I didn't make it to get my hair trimmed for a whole year! And so by the time I got around to doing something with it my baby is now 6 months old! So I made the decision to go with a new style on the longer side since I already had grown my hair long. By the pictures I don't know how well you can see the change in style.

Here is the before:

She cut 3-4 in off of the length, but gave me tons of layers and a style that would suit my pony tail needs. I can wear it straight or curled too. I have never had straight hair ever in my life so it is going to take some getting used to. Anyhow here is my after photo:

The BUS

So yesterday I spent all morning with my "bus trainer" or so I call her. We had to drive all the to the other side of the school district to meet with the school's mechanic. And when I say all the way I mean 45 min away from where I live. Yeah I live on the opposite end. Anyhow so there I was at 10 am having a _____ time crawling under the bus and looking under the hood at the various parts I have to identify for my final driving test. Yeah me. I am so ready to be done with this whole training thing. I personally think it is rediculous they make you drive 40 hours with an instructor before they let you transport children. I am 30 yrs old! I feel like I am in drvers training all over again like when I was 15 and got my license. But I guess you have to jump through the hoops to get what you want. So I took pictures of the various parts so I could refer back to them and study for my skills test. I will spare you with them though they are pretty boring. Anyhow I am almost done and I can't wait for it to all be over. Now I am just waiting on the school district to schedule my driving test, hopefully for next week. I could do it on my own but then I would have to pay to rent a bus just to take the stupid driving test. This way the school district pays for the fuel and everything except the testers fee of course. Anyhow wish me luck!

Homemade curlers

I got this idea off a blog I found through a friends blog. These are homemade curlers that are so easy to make. Expecially for those little girls who have heads to sensitive for regular sponge curlers.

You basically just make a tube out of a 4*9 in peice of scrap material sewing up one end. Then stuff it half way with stuffing and sewdown the middle holding the stuffing in. At the other end close it up and sew a button hole. At the stuffed end hand stitch a button. Then you just wrap the hair around it like you would any other curler and "button" it.



And when they wake up in the morning after a good nights rest(which they did) they will have beautiful loose curls. If you want more light curls I am guessing make the tubes smaller around. I am going to try some 3 in tubes next because the Lexi's hair turned out to be just a wave since she has much shorter hair.


No compaints though at least Lexi wore them all night. That is more than I can say for our attempts with her and the sponge ones!