Happy Fall 2008!

One small step for Logan, One giant Leap for Samantha

Burying my brother in the leaves

Yee-Haw!

Smiling Samantha running hard and Luke on the sidelines. Poor little guy.

Hooray! Luke ventures into the leaves!

Is that a dance move, Logan?

Rebecca is wondering why I stuck her in this dirty pile of leaves. Especially in a white outfit.

Leaves are great for throwing too.

Check out the action in the swing of Samantha's long ponytail!

Samantha belly-flopping into the leaves.

Belly-flopping must be fun because she did it again. And Logan apparently liked it!

Careful, Samantha! Logan might land on you!

Ahh, the joys of a fall day and a fresh pile of leaves!
(And yes, I'm just enough of a dork to put every picture we took in this post! Ross did a great job catching the thrill of it all!)

Obviously, Fall fell here in Helena and we decided to take advantage of it! Ross raked up our back yard Friday night and the kids had the best time. Samantha and Logan ran and jumped and jumped and ran over and over! Ross had to re-rake the pile constantly. Luke has unfortunately been sick all week and didn't feel like doing much other than watching, but hopefully we won't get snowed on again before he feels well enough to play the next time we have to rake. We love all the seasons in our world and in our family. Fall is fabulous and our little children are at such a fun stage.

Here's a little video of the fun we had. Samantha is talking about all of us being on a swim team as she "swims" through the leaves.

Happy Birthday to Mom!

Today is my husband's Mom's Birthday! Happy Birthday Ruth Ann! We wish we didn't live so far away from you. When I told Logan today that it was your birthday, he said, "How are we going to get to California to celebrate with her?" It took a moment to convice him that unfortunately we couldn't drive right over. But we sure wish we could.

Here are some of the many things I love about my mother-in-law:

1. I never had a moment's worry that she wouldn't love and accept me with open arms into the family. I immediately felt loved.

2. She has an interesting history. I love hearing her talk about growing up in Payson, Utah. It was fun this summer when we celebrated my in-law's 50th wedding anniversary because Ross made a video for them from old pictures. It was fun to peek into her past and see her growing up. His folks also told us about their dating story and that was lots of fun to hear. She's also very active in the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers which I think is fascinating.

3. She made me a quilt (purple, of course) when I married Ross and has also made adorable blankets for my babies. She even took the time to make my Logan one when she and my my father-in-law were serving a mission!

4. And speaking of the that, another thing I love is that I can see her love for the gospel. My in-laws served on the Apache reservation for 18 months in what wasn't an easy but fulfilling mission for them. It was so great to hear about their experiences there. They have also served in the Los Angeles and now the Newport Beach temples. And I know she serves in many other ways too.

5. She has also been a wonderful mother who taught her children the gospel and a love for the Lord. I'm truly grateful that she raised Ross to love and be active in the church. His testimony is in part because of her.

6. She loves my kids! What more could a mom ask for than fun, loving grandparents. Despite the distance, I know she thinks of, misses, and loves our children to pieces.

Happy Birthday Mom!

My wonderful Mother, JeNae Tuck Lay is 61 today! She is so amazing and has always done so much for not only me and my siblings, but our families and tons of our extended family and just about everyone she comes in contact with. When I was little and would go to the grocery store with her there were times she'd stop and talk to someone, but when I asked her who it was, she just smiled and said something like, "I don't know. Just some nice person out shopping today." There's even been times when she's been a listening ear and a help to these strangers she meets. People seem to know what a good person she is.

She is a wonderful poet and has written about everything from Helaman's Stripling Warriors in the Book of Mormon to one she called "Ode to a Zit" (which is as fun as it sounds).

One of my regrets is not spending more time in the kitchen with her learning how to cook because she's wonderful at it. She gets many calls these days from me asking cooking questions that are almost embarrassingly simple, but she's patient with me anyway.

I'm so thankful for all the help she's given me each time I've had a baby. I could go on and on with details about how much she's saved me all four times, but I'd be here typing a while!
She's told me before that she never knew how to repay my Grandma Lay for all the things she did for her, but I've told her that she's doing that now by taking care of me and so many others. I hope I can do the same in the future.

I am very grateful to my Heavenly Father for blessing me with a mother who loves unconditionally, is a great example of service, and one of my very best friends.
I love you, Mom!

The Man Tag

A. The rules are posted at the beginning.
B. Each Person answers questions about their sweethearts
C. At the End of the post, the person then tags people and posts their names; then goes to their blog and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged.

My college roommate and good friend Misty tagged me weeks ago, so finally, here are my answers about my wonderful Cute Boy Ross.


What is your husbands name? Ross James Wilkins


How long have you guys been married? 8 years


How long did you date? 5 months dating, 5 loooong months engaged



How old is he? 31 on January 8th (Hooray! We'll be the same age again for 4 months! That makes me feel less like the older woman.)


Who eats more sweets? Hmm. Probably me. I love a little something sweet after every meal. I can eat a whole cake snitching one forkful at a time. I especially love chocolate on hand all the time too.


Who said I love you first? Ross did on November 5, 1999. I got laid off from my job, so after he showed up at my door with an iris to make me feel better (Hence, my love for irises now), he invited me to an old mission companion's wedding in Salt Lake the next day. He went to the wedding. I talked to my aunt who works at the Salt Lake Temple and then we spent the rest of the day walking around the Joseph Smith Memorial Building being schmoopy and kissing. And the poor guy, even after all that, when he told me he loved me that night on my doorstep, I didn't say anything back!

Who is taller? Ross

Who can sing the best? I think we're about the same. Neither of us have horrible voices, but not all that great either. We squawk our way through songs we sing with or for our kids, but we can manage to blend in with the congregation at church and sound okay.


Who is smarter? Ross can handle the math, science, and computer stuff and he is great at history. I love English and literature and history. When the kids get past the easy stuff in math there is no way I'll be able to help them with their homework!

Who does the laundry? Mostly me. Unfortunately, I am the world's worst about folding the laundry and putting it away! Ross is frequently helping me with that.


Who pays the bills? Ross pays all our bills. For years now we've both been meaning to involve me more in the process, but it hasn't happened yet.



Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Me


Who mows the lawn? Ross. Maybe I should try it someday, but Ross loves, like his father before him, to tinker around in his yard.



Who cooks dinner? I cook, but I've been awful about it lately!

Who drives? Ross has driven pretty much our whole marriage. I got in a car accident when we'd been married about two months. My airbag deployed and everything! (Not as fun as it sounds.) I rear-ended a truck that had to stop because someone cut them off. Not a scratch on their truck, but my car was totaled. I didn't want to drive if I could help it for a while after that, but one time when I told Ross I wanted to we were both surprised to find out how much it freaked him out not to have control of the car!


Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? I actually think we're pretty even on this one.

Who kissed who first? Ross kissed me October 3, 1999 by leaning into the pantry in my apartment and planting one on me while my roommates were around the corner watching television! When he went home for Christmas his whole family grilled him about this girl he was dating back in Provo. Someone asked when and where we kissed the first time and when Ross told them his sister-in-law thought he said in the panty instead of the pantry, so he got a lot of flack for that even after he tried to correct her. How embarrassing...

Who asked who out first? Ross asked me out when we officially had a date. We'd already been thrown together a lot because we met through my cousin Michelle and his mission buddy Brian. All of the awkward first date questions had been asked because Michelle and Brian were dating and I was always with Michelle and he was roommates with Brian. They'd go out together and we'd both tag along. But officially he called me on Labor day, September 6, 1999, from work to ask me to go to dinner with him. We'd actually already spent all morning together at Onion Days in Payson, Utah because he asked Brian to go and Brian asked Michelle to go and I went with Michelle. We doubled with Michelle and Brian to Los Hermanos that night. Our first official alone date was September 17th. We went mini-golfing and to TGIFriday's where he made me sit facing the television so he'd be sure to talk to me and not watch the football game on it!

Who wears the pants? We're fairly equal on this. Thank goodness!

So there you have it folks! I tag Wendy and Celeste (when you feel better after having the baby, of course!) And anyone else who reads this and wants to do it, too. Just tell me so I can come read yours!

Luke Blaine is 2!

Two years later and he's more adorable every day!!! On Sunday, we celebrated Luke's 2nd birthday. It was tons of fun. Grandma and Grandpa Lay, Uncle Ryan and his family, and Uncle Ken and his family all came over for a little party. Luke was cute through the whole thing.
Opening presents with Daddy. Ross had to stick each present out of sight behind him after Luke opened it so that he'd move on to the next one.

What a handsome boy!

His candle didn't light very well and was basically out by the time we finished singing "Happy Birthday", but we cheered like he'd blown it out himself anyway.
This is the Thomas the Train present he got. He was SO excited about it he escaped from his chair after we sang to him and wouldn't even come back to have his cake and ice cream. He was jumping up and down and hardly able to contain himself while Uncle Ken opened it for him. In this picture we were in the process of trying to coax him into his pajamas, but he just kept playing. It's been his favorite toy the past few days and the train comes in the car with him, to the dinner table, and if we'd let him, he would take it to bed. He loves trains and my favorite thing (that sadly he's starting to outgrow) is when he tells us that a train says, "Chuppa Chup. Hoo. Hoo."

Luke was excited about his Sesame Street birthday sign too. Thanks Aunt Kathy!
This is Luke yesterday when we finally got him to sit down and enjoy some of his birthday cake. Isn't his grin great?

First Day of First Grade!

Our Samantha Anne started first grade today at Smith School. She was excited finally, because last week she'd told me she would be sick on the first day. But last night we went to meet her teacher and drop off her school supplies. Samantha was glad to see that a little girl named Carlin from her kindergarten class was assigned to the desk sitting next to her and she met a little boy named Reilly that she kept talking about.
It took a little effort to get her up this morning though. I went into her room and told her to wake up because it was the first day of school. She mumbled into her pillow, "It is?" Then she looked at her clock and said, "Seven minutes?" And I replied, "Uh, yes, it's 7:05." So I kept talking to her and rubbing her back and asking if she wanted waffles (Only the toaster kind. I'm not that domestic!) or cereal for breakfast. Finally she declared, "Mom! I'm tired! Can I just have seven more minutes?" I just started to laugh and said okay. She made me turn off her light and I went back to my room to keep getting myself ready. It makes me worry about how bad she'll be about getting up when she's a teenager if this is already how she's acting! Thankfully, a few minutes later I heard someone coming downstairs, and though I expected Logan, it was Samantha who was very proud of herself for getting up after seven minutes.
She got ready and Ross gave her a back to school blessing and then she and I were off! (At least we were off to the front porch to take pictures.) Then we were finally off to school. I took her right to her classroom this morning and her friend Carlin was already there. Samantha's teacher has been at Smith School for at least 20 years because my sister Wendy had her for a kindergarten teacher. It was funny because Wendy told me she remembered Mrs. Dundas with dark hair cut in a bob and that's still how it is!
I picked Samantha up after school and got a report that the morning was an adjustment, but she had a GREAT afternoon. That was good to hear. I'm so thankful there's so many people aware of her at the school and so willing to keep her safe and help her to have good experiences and learning opportunities. It makes me feel blessed.


Samantha and Carlin

Buzz Boys

I've been meaning to post forever and have tons of summer fun stuff to put up, but never seem to get it done. So for the moment here's some pics of my boys. My parents' new house is going to be in the Parade of Homes here in Helena and I went out there Monday night to help them get ready. I left Ross with the four kids and it was a nice little break. I didn't get back until about 11:00 PM. I crept into the kids' dark rooms and kissed them, but it wasn't until the next morning when Luke got up that I noticed anything. I had fallen asleep nursing Rebecca on the living room couch early Tuesday morning and Lukey came out of his room about 6:45. Bleary eyed, I saw him across the room. I made him come closer and I realized that Ross had buzzed the boys hair while I was gone! He hadn't mentioned that the night before! They've needed shorter hair cuts all summer, but with family pictures being taken at both of our family reunions, I didn't want it too short, and definitely not buzzed. We've just had them trimmed around their ears a bit for months. Well, family pictures are over now, so I guess Ross had no qualms about buzzing away! They both still look cute and I guess I don't need to worry about combing their hair for a little while...