Moving into our new home

This was a hard time for me. We were living in an RV in Wendell at the beginning of January, so it was very cold. I had just had a baby, and we were all sick. Whitney had a really high fever Lance had a cough that rattled his whole body and I had mastitis. I didn't know why it was taking so long for our house to close. We were supposed to close in November and here I was still waiting in January. I could not handle it anymore so I packed up the kids and went to mom's house. I stayed for a week and a half. During that time my wonderful husband worked at the police office all night and would go work on the house during the day when he should have been sleeping. I also know that one of the days all of my sisters and sister in laws came and worked on it. Even my Leejean who was at the end of her own pregnancy. I know there were people that came and helped that I don't even know who they are so if you were one of them, thank you soooo much. I love you all. I am so blessed to have so many people that love me and my family. Life is good!!!! These are pictures from when we finally closed on our home and could go in and get it ready to move in. Berny and Dad are laying the carpet in this picture.
Kathy Jones, bless her heart, came from Richfield to help me clean my home so that we could be ready to move in. She got on her hands and knees and scrubbed the entire floor in my kitchen. Whitney helped. :)

Once the improvements had all been done it was time to unpack

Stephanie and the boys came over to the house to help me unpack. As you can see from the way my poor kid looks it was a crazy day.

Whitney found one of my old tiaras from when I was in high school and she loved it she wore it all day. It is amazing what you find when you are unpacking.

Now she is just being silly!!!
Stephanie and Jared.

Ellis Christmas Party 2009

Berny Lance Marquez

Here are our three babies born this year.

Lance (Mine), Jared (Steph's), Tristen (Aki's)

Lance got this new hat from David and JulianneAfter spending Christmas Eve in Richfield we went to Jerome Christmas Day for the Ellis party. It was very fun, we had a gift exchange and mom did a Nativity with all the grandkids.

Christmas Eve 2009

Papa Marquez ,Whitney, and Berny Lance
Berny Lance Marquez

Daddy, Whitney, and Lance

Whitney and Titan. He kept trying to take the hat off of her head.
She said "No Titan, Time Out!!!!"

Whitney is opening up her new bike.

So just to recap Lance was born on the 21st of December. So on the 24th, Christmas Eve, lets just say I didn't quite feel like myself. But we decided that we would go and stay with Bernave and Debbie that night. Thank Goodness we did because I sat down in their recliner when we got there and did not get up until we left the next day. I had this big plan that I would help Whitney put out cookies and everything, and put some special Santa gifts under the tree. Ya, that didn't happen. Whitney open up her gift from Santa when we moved into our new home in January. But she did get a tricycle from Grandma Debbie and Papa Marquez, and a cute pink hat with princesses on it.

Winter Fun!

These pictures were taken when we were still living in Wendell, in Stephanie and Larry's RV. We were still waiting for our house to close. I this was a fun day because Larry and Berny both had the day off and it snowed. So they took the kids out and had a snowball fight. I think it ended up being a fight against Larry and Berny in the end. It was actually really funny because Berny sent Joshua to throw a big gob of snow at Larry and they both got Larry really good. So Larry got a big shovel full of snow to throw at Berny and Joshua. But they moved......

and it ended up hitting Joseph right in the face. HAHAHAHA!! He was not happy!!

Here is Berny and Whitney! He got Whitney to throw snow at me. It was pretty cute cause she thought she was really getting me.

Joshua and Whitney. Whitney's snow suit was too small but we made it work.

haha moments!

So here is a funny story! Yesterday I went with Leejean to her sister in law Bree's house to learn how to coupon shop, which I am still trying to learn how to do. When we got to Bree's house her daughter, who was probably about 4 years old, met us at the door. She recognized Leejean and her kids but she was confused when she saw me and mine. She first asked what Whitney's name was and and then Lance. But she just looked at me puzzlingly. Then she asked me "where is your mommy?" I told her that I was Whitney and Lance's mommy. Her eye brows turned down in question when she said "no, you are too small." :)HAHAHA!!! Even after I told her that, she still called Whitney my sister and Lance my brother the whole time we were there. I hope that this keeps up for when Whitney is a teenager. I don't think I will mind looking like her sister !!

Here is another one. I have been trying my hardest to keep Whitney from laying on top of Lance or getting to close to his face. The other day I was in the kitchen and I heard Whitney screaming "Mommy help, help". When I got to the living room I saw Whitney bowing over Lance, trying to stand up from laying on top of him, but unable to do so. She was stuck because Lance had two hand clenched deep in her hair and he was not letting go. The funny thing is that as Whitney was screaming "help, help, mommy" Lance was grinning from ear to ear and looking at me with sheer triumph! And it begins :)

One last one! The other night we had to put Whitney on time out. Berny was sitting in the living room with Whitney and I was in the kitchen. From the kitchen I heard Whitney in a very quite and mild voice say, "I cared (scared)". Well she is not supposed to talk on time out so I ignored her. She proceeded to say it three more times, each time getting a little louder and more worried. I figured if she was really scared Berny would take care of it because he was sitting in there with her. Well the Fourth time she screamed bloody murder, and we both rushed over to her to see what she was scared of. We didn't see anything, until we looked down. There on the ground was a moth on his last leg, just flapping his wings like crazy. Whitney had seen the moth walking toward her and voiced that she was "cared". When no one came to her rescue and the moth was still headed in her direction she got louder and louder. But those crazy fast flapping wings, in the end, were too much for her to handle, and she flipped. But being the good girl that she is, she did not get off of time out, even when the moth was right by her feet.

Whitty Whitney Moment.

So I am in a play this summer. Yahoo!! We are doing Fiddeler on the Roof. it is so much fun. We practice every Tuesday, Thurday, and Saturday. But since Berny is working so much, bless his heart :), I have to take the kids with me to play practice. It is not too bad though. Whitney absolutly loves it!! She thinks that she is the star. She likes to go up on the stage and sing at the top of her lungs, dance, or both. She was doing just that yesterday on the other side of the stage from me when she stopped suddenly and had a surprised, and kind of worried, look on her face. She ran to the middle of the stage toward me and yelled, "mommy I tooted." Thanks for sharing Whitney. Everyone else there thought it was pretty funny.

Zeke Ellis Stanger

The Stanger Family

Our family has just been blessed to have a miracle. Zeke Ellis Stanger was able to be born into our family Friday the 26th of March, he was 4 pound 15 0unces. Zeke was a trisomie 18 baby. Which means the 18th chromosome was mutated. His mother and father,Kip and Leejean, found this out when they went in to get an ultrasound at about 4 or 5 months. They chose to keep the baby and let him develop as much as he could. They prayed that he would be able to live long enough to be born and receive a body, even though he had many development problems. His brain was not developing, his intestines were on the outside, he had a hole in his heart, and many other deformities that would have prevented him from living.
On Leejean's last appointment before Zeke's birth she was told that he was head down. Which gave Leejean some great relief. She had been praying that he would be able to go head down. Because movement was so hard for him it was not certain that he would. Right before he was born he miraculously turned breech, and was born that way. Zeke lived for only a moment.
That was long enough for him to wink at his dad before his spirit left his body. He was able to tell his dad that he was here and the he lived!!!
Later the doctor told Leejean that if he had not turned breech he probably would not have lived, as long as he did, because it would have been to much trauma to his head. Zeke was and obedient and loving little boy.
Even though moving was so hard for him he obeyed his mother and and moved down so that she would not worry and have peace of mind. Then so that he could live and receive his body, he painfully moved back.
There is no dought in my mind that the Lord had special work for him to do and could not spare him for any longer than he did.These things were said at the funeral: Zeke was a warrior in heaven and did not need to prove himself hear on this earth. He fought to live and his birthday was a celebration. Maddie, the youngest daughter of Kip and Leejean, said it the best when she told her mommy, "Jesus died. Zeke died. Zeke said help help. Jesus came and got Zeke." Maddie is 2 years old.
The way to describe Zeke's existence in in 3 Nephi 17:16, "The eye hath not seen, neither hath the ear heard, before, so great and marvelous things." It can not be spoken what great things that Zeke did in the preexistence that makes him eligible for exaltation, it can't be written. But he has more work to do. HAPPY BIRTHDAY ZEKE! He even had a birhtday cake at the funeral:)

The Viewing

Grave Side Service
Here we got all the little boys born this year together and their mommies.

Dad, Mom, and Zeke

Tristen, Lance, Jared, and Zeke. One day they will all play together, and they will all be great missionaries.