The Cox Clan

Summer fun!

2011-07-30T15:17:00.000-07:00

I am what some would call a lame blogger. This is my attempt to share some of the happenings of our summer this far. It's been such a fast paced summer. I don't know why the summer months fly by so quickly, but they certainly do! This first pic is supposed to be later in the blog, but once the pics are downloaded you know how it goes. Anyways, this is a pic of the family at Hogle Zoo!

We started the summer off with t-ball. The boys improved so much from last year. Everyone wins in t-ball! You gotta love it!

Jake putting his wheels on running to 1st base!
Point, step, throw!
Josh getting ready to swing.

At the beginning of June we decided to have a little family fun time. My dear friend Amy helped us with the babes while we went to Trafalga the first day. It was fun to just spend some time with Josh & Jake. The boys especially liked Lazer tag. After Trafalga we got the babes and headed up to Salt Lake for the night. We went to Hogle Zoo the following day and we all had a grand time! Unfortunately the camera died after taking only a few pics at the zoo. :(
Ben & Josh on the 'Water Blaster' ride at Trafalga. We all got a little wet. :)
Miniature golfing with the kiddos.
Riding in the race cars.

Bekah playing in the fields behind our home. She's not so sure about the prickly grass.
Jake & Josh climbing trees and building forts.
Josh and Bekah swinging away. I just love these little people!
Jake & Kaden.
And last, but not least Josh & Jake took full advantage of the end of Spring and start of Summer. They pulled their bikes out and finally figured out how to ride them (with a little help from mom)! Josh smiling hard for the camera.
I know he (Jake) should be watching the road, but I had to capture this pic. He was so excited that I was taking pictures of them riding their bikes, he just cheesed it.

Kiddos Pics!

2011-03-28T09:52:00.000-07:00

Just had to share the kiddos pictures! I thought they turned out fabulous (my opinion may be slightly biased). :) These were taken for Kaden & Bekah's 1st birthday and for Jake & Josh's 6th. Love these kiddos soooo much!

Our little "Kader-tot". This little boy certainly has a character of his own. It's so fun to watch his personality take shape. He has an obsession with hair and is constantly after poor little Bekah's pony tails.
Yes, he loves to eat things!
What can I say ... isn't she adorable? Our little Bek's is such a happy little girl. She just knows how to brighten one's day. But of course she was a little pill for the photo shoot, and this was as good as it got. She is totally different than all our boys and it's so much fun just watching her.
I just really liked this one!
Jake is our ball of constant energy! He loves playing sports and anything that is active. He has an opinion about everything and isn't afraid to tell you so. I can hardly believe that these two boys are already 6! They amaze me with the things that they are learning in school. They are becoming quite the readers.
Josh is so chill with life. He just takes things as they come and has a large amount of patience for people and things around him. He is our crafty/artsy kid (no idea where that came from-but grateful for it nonetheless).

Our little Cox Clan. Left to right (top pic): Joshua, Kaden, Rebekah, & Jacob. These kiddos are what make our lives exciting & fun. Love them all soooo much!

Here's to 10 YeArS!!!

2011-02-10T19:53:00.000-08:00

Ten years ago today I married my best friend, the man I adore, cherish, and love with all my heart, my dear husband ... Ben. Life has many twists and turns that none of us can fully understand, but I know through these experiences we can be strengthened. We had planned to go to San Diego (where we got engaged) for our anniversary, but it has been temporarily postponed due to an unseen change in plans. On Sunday Ben had a sudden attack of illness. We thought if he got on antibiotics quickly he'd be better to make the trip ... come to find out he has pneumonia and we won't be going anywhere for a few weeks (except for us to visit him in the hospital). :(

Have you ever had something you were so looking forward too? Well, this was one of those trips for us and it felt like it all kind of came crashing down. The kiddos have been sick too, and well it's just been one of those crazy (what in the world) kind of weeks! Anyhow, this isn't to throw a pity party for myself, this is to say that life is absolutely wonderful! We will get through this. Despite trials our family is so blessed. I am blessed to be married and sealed to a man that loves me and truly loves our children. So grateful that relationships and families are eternal. Ben you are the most amazing man! Thanks for making the last 10 years of my life the absolute best ever. I love you!!

DeCeMbEr ReCaP

2011-01-05T19:55:00.000-08:00

December was a month of fun for our family. I just LOVE the Holiday season. We got dumped on a week or so before Christmas so we decided to make a snow day out of it. Isn't our snowman lovely? I'm pretty sure I haven't ever built a snowman this big! We had much fun.

I wanted to get our family in the right 'Spirit' for Christmas so on the 1st of December we headed up to Salt Lake City and attended the Festival of Trees and then went to Temple Square. Yes, it was cold but it was well worth it! The Festival of Trees was a first for all of us. If you've never been I highly suggest going. It was absolutely fascinating, not to mention fun for the kids. It was fun to walk around and just enjoy the sheer talent of so many people. And Temple Square was just beautiful. All of it was AMAZING!!!
This lady did oragami. She could make just about anything and we were all transfixed with her talent. Josh & Jake were thrilled with her dragon making abilities.

Temple Square
My dear husband celebrated his 33rd Birthday on the 20th of December. I was able to pull myself out of bed early enough to decorate the kitchen with colorful pictures and banners that Josh, Jake, & I had colored for him. But, the day wasn't too exciting for him because the children's choir, C-Minor (that I play the piano for) had a concert that evening. :( I tried to make it special for him by making a delicious dinner (chicken parmesan with homemade marinara and noodles), but it was rushed and didn't turn out just as I had imagined. BUT, everyone helped me out at the concert by singing Happy Birthday to him. Yes, he was embarrassed, but it was fun.

We decided to get a real tree for our basement this year. The kids had a great time hanging up the ornaments and decorations wherever they wanted them to go. I am a little OCD so I ended up moving things around just a little bit. :) The babes had fun with the tree too. They enjoyed the colorful lights and Kaden, our little mischievous one, would just rip the ornaments off the tree. Good times.

Santa Claus had no trouble finding our house. Josh and Jake tried hard to be extra good (and were pretty successful in their efforts). Both kept asking Santa, the 3 different times they saw him, to bring them skateboards. Our children can't even ride bikes yet, so I figured the skateboard thing probably wasn't a good idea. Santa was smart and ended up bringing them scooters (which they were super excited about). They also got a Wii, some serious extensions to their train track, and some pillow pets.

Jake & Josh riding their scooters around in our basement.

Bekah & Kaden mostly just roamed around during the Christmas festivities. They weren't too thrilled about opening presents but they did get excited for some of their gifts. Bekah loved her pretend jewelry box and Kaden loved his little tool bench.

Kader found the M&M's in someone's stocking. Watch out! He's a sly one.
Bekah loved her pink pants that her cousin Kayson gave her.
Our boys are all about Dragons these days.
The babes were more interested in the treats from the stockings.

Santa set up an extension to the train track we already had around our Christmas tree. That Santa's quite an engineer!

Ben & I had a great Christmas too! Ben never ceases to amaze me with his sheer talent of selecting clothes for me. He's really getting good at this shopping stuff. :) He was excited about getting a new watch and dress shoes as well.

Christmas was wonderful! We had fun just being together as a family, hanging out with family, and most of all reflecting on the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. How thankful I am for His humble birth and His life. Hope that your Christmas season was filled with lots of love and laughter!

Free Christmas Cards!!!

2010-12-10T20:17:00.000-08:00

I heard through my cousin's wife about this deal that is currently going on with Shutterfly. Shutterfly is offering to give you 50 free Christmas cards just by blogging about how wonderful their products are. I, personally, have yet to use Shutterfly, but everything I've seen produced by them is absolutely amazing! My friend has used them for personal photo books and each book she has made through them have turned out fabulous. She's been so impressed with the quality she completes photo books each year for her 3 children. Every book is beautifully unique. She's shown me that Shutterfly offers so much variety. And she's actually told me that it makes scrapbooking enjoyable rather than tedious (which it sometimes is). Any size blog can participate in this offer. They offer you the best quality and there are multiple options to choose from. My friend told me that they get your products to you in a very timely manner as well. I look forward to using Shutterfly and hope if you haven't yet, you can too. If you don't want to miss out on this offer get your order in by Dec. 14th! The following are links to view some of their cards:

· Christmas photo cards http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-photo-cards
· Holiday cards http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/holiday-cards
· Birth announcements http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/birth-announcements

If you're interested in this deal and getting 50 free cards let me know and I'll pass on this information to you. Also, if you'd like a Christmas card, send your address my way. Happy Holidays!

Happy Day of Birth and Thanks!

2010-12-07T20:00:00.000-08:00

I have no idea where this last year has gone, but it has gone by in a hurry. Rebekah and Kaden turned 1 on Thanksgiving Day. It was a Happy BirthThanksgiving Day for us! They are both doing so well and have been pretty healthy babies so far. Both are close to walking. Kaden will take steps on his own and probably goes 3 or 4 steps before crashing down. Bekah is content to just stand in place or walk behind her walker. They are so much fun and we've been blessed so much! When Ben & I were first married we wondered if we'd ever even be able to have children and now looking at our beautiful family, it's completely overwhelming to me the amount of love I feel from my Heavenly Father. He has blessed us with four beautiful miracles! Thanksgiving day was indeed a day of thanks.

Bekah loved her little 'Lady'.
Kaden & Bekah love to play with my cell phone so we decided to get them their own. Kaden saying "hello" on his phone.

We celebrated Thanksgiving with The Ericksen side of the family. It was fabulous just being with family and eating waaaaaay past when your stomach's content. :) Thanks mom and dad for the wonderful food. It was all delish!

The day following Thanksgiving we had a little birthday celebration with the other two sides of the family. We had cake and ice cream and serenaded our little ones. There was a joint effort in making Bekah & Kaden's birthday cake. I woke up early Friday morning to hit some of the sales (my first time doing this), so Ben made the cake and when I got home I decorated it. It turned out really good and tasted great too! By the way, black Friday wasn't too bad. I had imagined it being really horrible, and I actually had an enjoyable time. Thanks to my sister-in-laws Kim and Tina.

The joint effort birthday cake. Our babes really love dogs so we decided to do a puppy cake.
Posing with the cake. If I look a little exhausted it's because I was! Definitely not used to waking up at 3:40 in the AM.

Ben & I with our adorable little one year olds! Happy Birthday Kaden & Rebekah!

All said, the Thanksgiving holiday was simply marvelous!

Halloween Festivities!

2010-11-12T13:27:00.000-08:00

Hope you all had a wonderful Halloween. We sure did! Halloween season wouldn't be complete for our family if we didn't attend Grandma & Grandpa Ericksen's annual Halloween Party. Each year we have dinner, oodles of treats, & carve pumpkins. We were thinking that maybe this year Josh & Jake would be a little more help with carving pumpkins, but as you can see by the look on Jake's face they weren't too into it. Ben of course was threatening to wipe pumpkin guts on Jake if he wouldn't clean the seeds out! :)

Grandpa Jim helping Josh clean his pumpkin out. Josh wasn't quite sure what to do with his hands once they were covered in goop.
The Halloween gang. What a group!
The final result of everyone's pumpkin carving talent. Ben & I did the pumpkins on the front row furthest left (the scarecrow & monster). It was fun, but man it sure takes some time.
Fairview Elementary holds a parade every Halloween. The kiddos walk up and down main street collecting candy from the various businesses and people. Josh & Jake were able to be in the parade this year. Ben was able to come during his lunch break to watch the boys parade up main street too. We had the Star Wars theme going on this year for our family. Josh (darth vader), Jake (Storm trooper), Rebekah (Princess Leia), & Kaden (Luke Skywalker). Ben & I at the parade with Bek's & Kaden.
Darth Vader approaching.
And Storm trooper Jake.
The dark side.
The good side.
A fabulous Halloween!

Family Firsts

2010-10-24T13:38:00.000-07:00

I'll be the first to admit that I am an extremely lame blogger. But, I felt I needed to post some of our families happenings over the last few months. Josh & Jake started Kindergarten the end of August. It's hard to believe that I already have children old enough to be going to school. Where did those years go?

Josh posing for the first day of school.
Jake smiling for the camera.
Their first bus ride home. I can't believe that they're big enough to be riding a bus. Our babies are growing up soooo fast too. In about a month they'll be celebrating their first birthday. CRAZY!!! Just thought I'd share some cute little candid pictures of the baby tweeners.

Our beautiful Bekah Lynn.
Rub a dub dub it's Kaden & Bekah in the tub!

And our adorable Kaden Roy.

Summertime Fun Continued...

2010-09-12T15:29:00.000-07:00

I'm playing catch up, but I hope you enjoy the pictures anyway. I missed putting these pictures in when I was originally loading the photos, and darn it that you can't put them in the order after the fact. Anyhow, just keep reading to find out more. This first picture is of Amy with the babes at Steins. Aren't those babes adorable!

Me & Jess swimming.
We visited Ben in the hospital when we went to Steins. I wished he would have been able to come with us for he was missed! I was happy we were able to stop by and visit him for awhile. Honestly, those 2 weeks he is in the hospital are always the longest for me. It truly makes me appreciate him and all he does to help out when he's home.

Back to the 24th of July ... My husband's band 'Upside' performed at the local car show. They did great! From left to right Dax Higgins, Ben (my hubbie), Kenny Cox (in the very back with the drums), and Spencer Cox. It's so much fun to watch my husband doing something that he loves and something that he's so good at.

My husband wasn't the only one having fun at the car show, Josh & Jake kept themselves entertained with the rock wall. Josh working his way to the top!

Jake just getting started. I wish you could see a close up of his hat. The hat has these fire flames on it with a car (thanks to the car show giveaways). Jake was so excited to get a prize and wouldn't take the hat off for days.
Near the beginning of the month of August my cousin Trevor and his now wife, Amanda, were married in the Salt Lake Temple. Ben was in the hospital during this time so I recruited my trusty baby-sitter/friend, Amy, to help out. We headed up to Park City and stayed a few nights (thanks to Uncle Russ). I didn't get a lot of pictures because most often my hands were full with babies, but I did get Josh & Jake in the hot tub (which they considered to be their own personal pool).
Taking advantage of the last few weeks of summer we decided to pack up, head down to Manti, & go swimming.
Me with my boys, and my sister Alyson's kids. From left to right: Vance, Josh, Emily, Me, Jake, & Jared. Good times! My sister Jessica was there too, but she was the photographer.

Lamb Day!

2010-08-22T15:57:00.000-07:00

This entry is officially late in coming, but better late then never huh?! Anyhow, Lamb Day is one of my favorite July holidays and well we wouldn't miss it for the world (just ask my husband). Me and my sisters at the Lamb Day parade (from left to right: Me, Alyson, Jessica, & Amanda). My sisters are all so cute and pregnant!

The men chilling before the parade. Brandon, Ben (holding Bekah), Coby, & Nate (with Emily) out front. They looked pumped for the upcoming activities.
Jake & Josh with their favorite baby-sitter ever... Amy Bangerter! Amy is an attendant to Miss Fairview and just adorable with our kids.
My sisters, Amanda & Jessica, talked me into playing Lamb Day volleyball. It really didn't take that much convincing because I love volleyball! Jessica couldn't play, but her husband Coby did, along with me, my sister Amanda, and her husband Brandon. Ben was signed up to play too, but ended up opting out because we had no one to watch the kiddos.

Amanda smacking the ball! I must say, I was impressed with the leverage she got being pregnant and all.
Getting ready to pass the ball, I think I even got that one up to the setter. :) It was so very HOT and bright the day we played it was almost unbearable.
We survived the heat, the sun, and our team "Bump Ewe" ended up winning the tournament! Our team (me, Amanda, Brandon, & Coby) with our prized possessions (gatorade). You gotta love Lamb Days!

Summertime Fun!

2010-08-09T19:45:00.000-07:00

So I can't post everything that has happened this summer in one fell swoop, so I've decided to post a few things at a time. Rebekah smiling for the camera and enjoying her first parade on the 4th of July. Honestly, our little girl is pretty much always happy.

Kaden just chilling with Great Grandma Phyllis. Ready to catch some candy!
We had a swimming day at my sister Alyson's house. Jake & Josh had a blast. Jake was a little hesitant to go down the slide all by himself, but didn't have a problem shooting the water cannon's at his brother, cousins, & uncle who went down.
Josh going full steam ahead!
The swimming gang (from top to bottom): Vance, Emily, Jared, Uncle Brandon, Josh, & Jake. I think my brother-in-law had more fun on the slide then the kids did.

Summer Project

2010-07-31T21:36:00.000-07:00

Just thought I'd share what my husband has been up to this Summer. Whoever says that teachers don't work during the summer obviously doesn't know my husband. Ben was determined to learn how to frame and sheetrock our basement and here are some of the pictures of our basement getting finished. Sorry, these pictures aren't in the order I intended, but you get the idea. Ben didn't do the finish work (mudding/taping & painting) but I'm proud to say that he did everything else to get it ready!

Painting stage (near completion)...

I love the blue wall.

Mudding a taping stage...

And sheet rocking. With the help of our family members we were able to get a lot knocked out in just a day. Ben (red shirt) getting things into place. Just a side note: No one (except Ben's dad) had ever sheet rocked previous to coming to our home. Ben learned the night before our big sheet rocking party how to do it and then showed everyone else the day of.
Ben & brother-in-law Casey with their skrew drivers (now that's a deadly force). Who knew I married such a handy man? Honestly, I'm so proud of my husband and his hard work getting this done.

Family Firsts

2010-06-08T20:31:00.000-07:00

We've had a lot happen over the last month that I just wanted to share. WARNING: Lots of pictures are to follow!! We had a family reunion the end of May down in St. George with the Cox Family. It was a lot of fun! The following picture is of the whole Cox Family.

We haven't had a couple picture taken for awhile, so we decided to pose for the camera. I sure love this handsome hunk of a husband!

Joshua and Jacob are in their first year of tee-ball. They are having a great time and I must admit it is thoroughly entertaining to watch.

Jacob hitting off the tee. From the looks of this picture I think he actually connected with the ball.
Joshua working on his throwing technique during a game. Can't you just see him thinking point, step, throw? He actually looks like he could be on the Karate Kid or something!
Who needs a bumbo when you have laundry baskets? Kaden has the sweetest little smile.
First cereal feeding. Ok, so the first time wasn't so great. More food ended up on their faces and clothes then in their mouths, but they're slowly getting the hang of it.

Bekah has enough hair in the back to put it in a pony tail. I decided to try a curler too and well isn't she just adorable?! She is such a happy baby and just a delight to have in our house.

Joshua and Jacob graduated from pre-school in May. I can hardly believe that they'll be going to Kindergarten in the Fall. What some sharp looking little men we've been blessed with.

They both passed pre-school with flying colors! On the evaluation sheet their teacher filled out they both completed everything required for entry into Kindergarten with one small exception for Joshua ... skipping. The kid can't skip, but he sure can gallop. Hope you find the following clip as funny as I did!

Cutting Teeth!

2010-06-02T20:31:00.000-07:00

Ok so I am a super lame blogger, but honestly finding time for me to sit down and blog is a really difficult thing! I just had to write before I forget to and share our family's biggest news ... Kaden has 2 different teeth breaking through and Bekah has one on the way as well! I've been wondering the last couple of days what in the world happened to my happy little babies, well teething explains it all.

I love these little babes!

April Activities

2010-05-01T07:32:00.000-07:00

My husband with his rock band 'Upside'. They preformed at the local high school Inaugural Ball. They had a lot of fun, the kids loved it, and well... it was great! Other band members include (starting from the left): Dax Higgins (lead guitar and fellow H.S. teacher), Ben (lead vocalist and guitar player), Spencer Cox (bass guitar, Ben's brother), and in the back Kenny Cox (drummer, Ben's cousin). They've only been at this since January, but the are pretty official. They have their own sound and light systems (fog machine included) :).

As you can see, the high school kids loved it!
I would like to introduce the newest member to the Cox Family... our little lambio Junior (Josh and Jake came up with the name).
When we first got the lamb I was terrified that it was going to die. That first night I fed it with a baby bottle to try and get it to drink. Now, you can't even tell that it was a frail little lamb to begin with.
Josh and Jake feeding Junior. Yes, I love the snowy weather in April (that was complete sarcasm)! The warm weather is not coming fast enough for us or for our lamb.
In the middle of the month Josh, Jake, and I went camping out on the West Desert with my sister Amanda and her family, and my mom and dad. Ben, my terriffic husband, offered to stay home with the babies. We had a great time searching for fools gold, arrowheads, looking at indian writings, catching horny toads, and playing in the sand.
Me, Jake, Josh, Brooklyn, Amanda, and Brandon hunting for fools gold.
As soon as we loaded up to come home we looked back to find Jake and Josh fast asleep. All the fun had completely worn them out.
Our family had a great easter. Kaden loves the little bunny that the easter bunny brought him. I think more than anything he just loves to eat it.
Two happy little babes.
Amanda's daughter Brooklyn (center of pic) celebrated her first birthday. It was a princess party and everyone was supposed to dress up. My sister Jessica convinced me to dress up in my old prom dress. So, I slipped right into my dress (it didn't quite fit as well I remember it fitting) and put on my Miss Lamb Day crown and off we went. It was a fun party and Brooklyn was so cute about the whole thing.
Grandma and Grandpa Ericksen have an annual easter egg hunt at their house. The kids loved it and had a great time despite the weather being a bit chilly. In this picture there are 3 sets of twins!
Josh & Jake dumping out the contents of their easter eggs.
Hunting for eggs.

Celebrating Milestones

2010-03-28T17:31:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe that our babies are already 4 months old! How quickly the time passes. I just wanted to recap what's happened in our family over the last month. Rebekah now weighs 13 lbs. 13 oz. and Kaden weighs 14 lbs. 11 oz. So there's only about a pound difference in weight, but Kaden has Rebekah by about a 2 inches in height, he is such a long boy.

Our beautiful babes!

Joshua is quite the creative child. I have no idea where he gets it from, but I'm grateful that he feels so inspired to try new things. With Spring here, he decided to go outside, find a couple of sticks, and make himself a bow and arrow. In this picture he is painting his bow.

Jacob is our little ball of constant energy. He loves to do anything that is highly active. The following picture shows off his athletic talent with basketball. Yes, I know, he has some great form!

Kaden is the abdominal master! He loves to crunch himself up and raise his head off the bouncer, couch, or whatever he may be propped up against.

Rebekah doing what she does best, showing off her beautiful smile. She smiles at everyone and anything that she thinks is looking in her direction. You may even find her smiling at the air. She is such a happy and content baby.

Four wonderful miracles.

Great Grandma and Grandpa Smith posing for the camera with the kiddos.

We celebrated my Grandpa Smith's 80th birthday on March 20th. It was such a nice tribute to a wonderful father, grandfather, and great-grandfather. Happy Birthday Grandpa Smith!!

And last but not least, my rock star husband. For some time Ben and his brother Spencer have talked about putting a band together and well it has finally happened. They don't have a name yet, but they've started practicing and needless to say, they are pretty good!

Big Helpers, Builders, and Beautiful Pictures!

2010-02-25T22:35:00.000-08:00

Ok, so you can call me a terrible mom if you want, but I don't always feed my babies right when they cry. I had made bottles for the feeding, but was trying to get a batch of laundry into the dryer before starting. Kaden was crying and apparently I wasn't coming quick enough for Jake. While I was loading the dryer Jake decided he'd help poor little Kaden out. Jake proceeded to pick up the bottle and start feeding Kaden. Josh decided he wanted to join in on the fun too and he fed Rebekah! They almost made it through the entire feeding and I was able to get some laundry done while they fed. What some BIG HELPERS we have!

The other day Josh picked up his pencil, sharpened it, stuck it behind his ear, and said, "Mom, I'm Bob the Builder!". I guess Bob the Builder has a pencil tucked behind his ear (I wouldn't know, but I trust Josh). Jake joined in on the Bob the Builder nonsense and I of course had to take a picture!

It dawned on me after the blessing day that we didn't actually get close up pictures of the babies in their blessing outfits, so Ben & I decided to take some photos ourselves. I thought the pictures turned out pretty good for not being professional photographers. Man, it's tough getting all kids to look in the same direction at the same time and get them to smile too (the following picture was as close as we got)!

Our adorable chubby little Kaden and ...

Our beautiful Rebekah.

Making Memories

2010-02-21T20:03:00.000-08:00

Fun times in the snow. Ok, so Rebekah, Kaden, & I were only outside for a short amount of time, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to get them dressed in their adorable Minnie and Tigger snow outfits! Jake and Josh were of course willing to cooperate for the picture. It was kind of difficult to actually get a picture because our dog wanted to jump up on the kids (including the babies), however we managed to get the dog distracted long enough to snap a few pictures.

Happy Birthday to our big 5 year olds, Josh & Jake! This was their first cousin/friend party. It was so much fun to see all these little 4 ,5, & 6 year olds in action. It never ceases to amaze me exactly how much energy children have. The party was a success!

Josh & Jake cheesing for the camera along with Batman. For their friend party we played pin the Batman symbol on Batman. The game was a hit with the kids. As you can see some of them actually came close to the mark!

Jacob, Batman, Aunt Emilee, & Joshua smiling hard for the camera (Ok, so maybe Josh isn't really smiling, but it's the best picture I got). Aunt Emilee was kind enough to make the cool Batman cake for their 5th birthday. Thanks Em! Needless to say, the boys loved the cake.

Grandma and Grandpa Cox gave the children matching outfits for Christmas so of course I couldn't pass up the opportunity to snap a shot. Jacob, Joshua, Rebekah, & Kaden, our four beautiful miracles!

Blessing Day - February 7th, 2010. These cakes were made by my sisters friend for Rebekah and Kaden's big day. I thought they turned out so cute!

Ben, Roy Ellefsen, and Kaden Roy Cox (Yes, Kaden is named after this great teacher that both Ben and I admire. He's also named after his great great grandfather.)

Four generation picture. Great Grandma Verla Smith, Me, Grandma Brenda Aagard, Rebekah, & Kaden.

I cannot believe how quickly the time passes! Ben & I celebrated our 9 year anniversary earlier this month, Josh and Jake are already 5, and our babies are now nearly 3 months old. Life doesn't slow down for anyone I suppose, but truly I am grateful for each and every day that I have to spend with our adorable children and my wonderful husband. Life couldn't be better for our family.

Twice the blessings twice the joy!

2009-12-07T13:11:00.000-08:00

Yes, I know it's taken me long enough to get these pictures posted. We were blessed with two beautiful healthy babies on November 25, 2009. Rebekah Lynn Cox was born at 9:06 a.m. weighing in at 5 lbs. 7 0z. & 17 inches long and Kaden Roy Cox was born at 9:08 a.m. weighing

6 lbs. 10 oz. and 19 inches long. Everything went well and we are so happy to finally have these cute little bundles of joy in our home. It's so amazing the feeling their mere presence brings to our home. We are so fortunate and blessed to have 4 beautiful children!

Delivery Day - 11/25/09

Ben holding Rebekah and me holding Kaden

Yes, I am a little dazed in case you couldn't tell!

Mom & Rebekah

Doubly blessed!

Rebekah & Kaden Cox

Ben, the proud papa! Fortunately we only had to stay in the hospital for 2 days and then we were able to come home.

Lost Boy, Crib Bedding, & BIG MAMA (viewer discretion advised)

2009-11-19T07:50:00.000-08:00

Last week I went in to check on the boys before heading off to bed and to my utter astonishment one little boy was not to be found. I looked under his covers, in the other bed, under their desk, but could find him no where! I was so scared and didn't know what to do when I suddenly noticed his blanket tucked in a cubby hole off to the side of the bed. After further investigation I found our little boy huddled in the cubby hole underneath his blanket sound asleep. I cannot believe he held that position for such a long time and was relieved to find him! Our silly little Jacob.

Back in September my sister Amanda decided to undertake crib bedding for our nursery. I told her I wouldn't be of much help because ... well I'm just not that talented when it comes to sewing or crafts. However, with her telling me and my other sister Jessica what to do we were able to get quite a bit done. Little did I know at the time how much work was left and exactly how amazingly talented my little sis was. She ended up taking the rest of the bedding home and finished it along with making a curtain for the nursery as well. Amanda got all the creative genes in our family and she absolutely amazes me! I just had to show off the bedding because I think it is so adorable (the pictures really don't do it justice)! Thanks so much Amanda & Jessica!

Ok, so I've had many people ask me how big I am so we decided to take a few pictures before this pregnancy comes to an end. And just for your information ... NO! I am not a big fan of picture taking when pregnant. Josh and Jake couldn't have been cuter giving their little sister & brother kisses though! We are scheduled for delivery on November 25th and I can hardly believe that we have less than one week left before I get to meet these little ones. I am so excited!

Happy Halloween!!!

2009-10-31T14:15:00.000-07:00

We bought the boys their Halloween costumes a little early this year

and they have just been waiting to be able to get their costumes on.

Our little superheroes, Jake (Spiderman) & Josh (Ironman)

posing for the camera before heading off to pre-school.

Annual Halloween party at Grandma and Grandpa Ericksen's house!

The boys, their cousins, and some crazy uncles and an aunt got dressed up in their

costumes for the festivities.

Back row: Ben, Kaleb, Gavin, Dakota, Adam, & Spencer. Front row: Whitney, Jake, Cambree, Emma Kate, & Josh.

Jake and Josh scooping out the pumpkin goop!

Pumpkin carving success!!

Nursery Paint Job

2009-10-18T20:07:00.000-07:00

We are in the process of getting the nursery ready for our upcoming arrivals and decided to repaint (I really shouldn't say "we" because Ben has done all the work - what a great husband!). We're not decorating with traditional colors, but with some very unique colors instead (pumpkin orange & mustard yellow). We'll see how it turns out and I'll update as we go along.

Ben busy at work painting the first coat and Jake smiling for the camera!

Roughing It!

2009-10-18T11:05:00.000-07:00

Our boys have been wanting to go camping for a while now, but somehow it got cold quicker than expected! So, we did things a little differently ... we had a home camp out. Ben set up our tent in the front room for the boys and they roughed it through the night. Needless to say Josh & Jake were thrilled and had a great time (even though it wasn't outdoors).

Ben, Jake, & Josh cheesing for the camera.

2009-10-18T10:49:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I am completely new to this blogging business but I thought I'd give it a try! I love staying updated with family and friends and figure this is a good way to do it. I hope you enjoy.