Flashback Friday - Grandma Maxfield

Tucker's paternal Grandma Maxfield passed away on July 6th, only 9 months after the death of her husband. They were married in 1941, so for 67 years!

They had ten (yes TEN!) children all with "N" names: Nelden, Neal (Tucker's Dad), Nadine, Nita, Norman, Nila, Nanette, Natalie, Ned, Nalin.

Grandma and Grandpa Maxfield are remarkable people. They are the epitome of dedication to their family, the church and being stalwart children of God. They have somewhere around 60 grandchildren and I believe more than that of great-grandchildren. It is a phenomenal posterity!


Grandma and Grandpa Maxfield's lives revolved around their family, music and candy (their business). I don't there has ever been a single family gathering they have missed (weddings, mission farewells/homecomings, baby blessings, etc for ALL the 60+grandchildren!). My children have been able to spend some time with them on our trips to UT and I'm so grateful my children have their examples to look to for faith and strength (although they probably won't have 10 children!). We will miss you, Grandma Maxfield, and look forward to the day we meet again!

Paxton is 2!

My cute little nephew Paxton turned two on July 5th! Doesn't seem possible! He is such a spunky, passionate, ball-throwing, curly-headed BOY....and has NO trouble keeping his manhood in the midst of so many girl cousins/sister. I made him a baseball cake and we had a intimate little gathering in celebration!





Then we hung out in Lindy's backyard for a bit afterward and Peyton was able to feed Paxton a hose full of water over and over again. Luckily, he did it right back to her (which she loves).

See? This kid is never happier than with a hose in her hand!

Practicing a little baseball

And more hose action!

Happy Birthday Packy-Wacky!!!

One Year Since the Thurstons Were in Town!

We had a fun two-day visit from the Thurstons last weekend. I can't believe it's been a year since they moved and, although we've been able to see them in Manti, we were so happy to have them on our turf again! They visited Legoland for a few days before coming up here, and then were able to see lots of friends from church at the Lorang's Annual 4th of July Party, and also at church. We felt a bit stingy with them here wanting them all to ourselves, but it really was a fun reunion of sorts.

Tucker and Dane had fun doing whatever guys do (practicing martial arts moves, talking about and watching movies, etc) and Beth and I did lots of talking, laughing and even some therapy sessions.....that is, between 7 kids needing lots of attention! It was absolutely wonderful.


This was a great familiar site. Almost made my heart hurt a little. How many years did I glance over at these four kids watching movies together on our couch?

And our two year olds...Peyton and Luke were either in diapers or naked the whole time.

At the Lorangs Party, we saw lots of friends. My camera died after just a couple shots. Here is Jamee Gibbs, Julie Valdez, Beth, and Tracey & Bruce Bufkin

Jordyn and Lindsay before church

We made some yummy marinade with Tequila.......but who could resist a posed shot?

Cute Jacob and Lexi - friends since babies. This was the first trip I heard myself yelling down the hall "Lexi, we don't kiss boys at this age!" Uh-0h.....
See? Practicing martial arts.

Peyton LOVED baby Clayton (8 months old). She is so obsessed with babies. Jordyn is great with them too and recently asked me why I won't have another baby!

Our 7 kids

My Third Dancer

Last week....Peyton had her very first dance class! After years of watching sisters go off to dance, she was absolutely THRILLED that it was her turn!

This week....mommy forgot. (Poor, poor third child!)

Worth a Thousand Words

Ahhh....what would I do without this kid??

Flashback Friday - Judy

Tucker's Aunt Linda recently email us this really cute picture of Tucker's parents! It was taken in 1972 and his mom was about 5 months pregnant with him. They were around the ages of 25 (Judy) and 27 (Neal).

I've never met Judy. She died of complications with Leukemia when Tucker was 13 years old. Just as he started his Freshman year of High School and about one month before he turned 14. Tucker is the oldest of five kids, so she obviously left a lot behind. I have known Tucker for about 10 years now and I ponder this part of his "story" continually. I think of it from a mother's perspective and how it would feel to leave my children so young. I think of it from a husband's perspective and how helpless and lonely he must have felt. I think of it from a child's perspective and how lost and sad the children must have felt. I think of it from a sibling perspective, and how hard it would be to lose a sister. And the list goes on and on. I just simply cannot imagine it.

Tucker's family talks about Judy a lot. There are several stories that live on. From her journals, other's memories of her and these stories, I feel as though I know her a little. She was energetic, fun, optimistic, little and everyone who knew her loved her. So often, I wonder what she would think of me, or how she would be with our kids and even how Tucker's life would be different had she lived. Maybe he and I would have never crossed paths? So much would be different.

What I do know is that I have the most wonderful mother-in-law there could ever be in Jeannine. For the past 19 years, she has continued the big job of raising Judy's children in her absence. She is one of the strongest women I have ever met. Someday, I look forward to meeting my other mother-in-law Judy! She'll be able to tell me about Tucker's first 13 years of life....and I'll be able to tell her about the rest.

Thanks Tiff!

We had a great time with Tiffany, Eliza and Solomon (not to forget her little puppy Beau too)! I am so grateful to have such a brave friend (ha ha). It was so fun to have five days together. We stayed up too late, we hung out at home a lot, and we ate a lot. With 5 kids ages 7, 5, 3, 2 and 5-months, it was often easier to just let them play out back than try to go anywhere!

We did manage to go to the coast on Monday. Once we got there, it was actually freezing! So we ate at Splash (of course) and the kids played on the beach for about two hours....and by then we were ready to leave. Not the most ideal beach day, but we still had a good time!

We also were able to celebrate Tiff's birthday while she was here! I made her a hibiscus flower cake, had several small presents that the kids helped open, and we were even able to get away for a quick dinner with only baby Solomon in tow, thanks to the help of Lindy and Tucker each having some of the other kids!

Tiff made it home safely today and I'm so relieved. It's a long drive (I'd be the first to know doing it a few times each year!)....and I'm so glad she did it because it was just what I needed! The kids made some fun memories! Jordyn is SO good with Solomon, Lexi is so good with Eliza, and Peyton & Eliza.....well, they're either REALLY good or REALLY bad together. The fun of a 2 and 3 year old!

Lexi, Eliza and Jordyn in a candy shop

Baby Solomon's first feel of sand!

Eliza, Me, Tiff and Solomon


Lexi, Me and Jordyn (we left Peyton with Lindy)


Jordyn and Eliza making sand castles


Happy Birthday Tiff!!


This pic makes me laugh. I had the really dumb idea to make a "34" with our fingers. Not only does it look like we're throwing gang signs, but it says "43" instead! lol

Most of the gang


Mommy Tiffany with her two cuties

Paxton, Peyton, Lexi, Eliza, Jordyn and Lyric! Our house was crazy and fun!

Look Who's Visiting!

I (subconsciously) convinced my dear friend Tiffany to throw her two kids (Eliza 3 and Solomon 5 months....oh, AND her dog Beau!) in the car to drive 12 hours to visit us!! No wonder we are such good friends....we both do insane things like that!

So far, we've hung out at home lots, swam at my parents' pool and gone to church. It's been a combination of loud, chaotic and wonderful! Tiff and I laugh that we are thirty-something moms instead of college kids laying around in Hawaii. How did that happen?

Tiff, thanks for being such a spontaneous, bold and semi-crazy friend! *wink, wink*

Check out the variety of skin tones!!

Awww, what a sweet boy!

Eliza LOVED my dad. My favorite part of the day was her quote "Mike! You have a SPIDER on your arm!!" (his scorpio tattoo)

Peyton LOVES baby Solomon

Lexi and Eliza are a sweet little duo

And Tiff wants to take Jordyn (or "Jodi" according to Eliza) home with her because she is such a HUGE helper!

A "relaxing" family dinner ;-)

The "thirty-something" Moms! ha ha

Just Like a Child

Our kids really like it when we have Family Home Evening. Sadly, I have not been very consistent at it lately. Usually, if I'm teaching them a lesson, it is a very short and sweet experience because their attention spans aren't terribly long. We do a song, a prayer a little lesson (on anything in the world ranging from spiritual, to manners to a family issue we may be having). Then a treat.

Last week, I decided to ask Jordyn if she would prepare a musical number for our Family Home Evening that night. Usually, we pick a song from church (either a hymn they know or a primary song) and sing it together. But I asked her if she would prepare something to present to us by herself. I was curious what she would do with the challenge, and she seemed excited by it. First she asked me if she could sing a High School Musical song, but I asked her if she could keep it a little more on the spiritual side that night. So she skipped off to her room.

I have to say how impressed I was with what she came up with! She took the tune of the primary song "My Daddy is my Favorite Pal" and wrote her own words. (No edits)

Chose the Right

I herd this speicil mesige
It stands for chose the right.
I herd about it in my prars.
And I know it helps me too.
And soon or later Jesus will come
bake (back) to Earth someday.
We never know wen just close your eyes
and then he'll come again.

Isn't that great? I was very impressed with her sweet little testimony. Thanks Jo-Jo! I love you!

Baby Maren!

I just received this photo - its from about two months ago or so. My dear friend Shana, with her husband Derek and sweet baby girl Maren, stopped by our house on their way back home from visiting family. It was so fun to see Shana and Derek as parents......and Maren is one of the cutest babies I've seen!

Peyton has always been obsessed with babies, so she loved baby Maren.


As a side note: If Shana and Derek need help with names for their future children, they might want to consider Tucker's other siblings' names (Lyndsy and Spencer) since they've already got two of his siblings' names in their family (Derek and Maren). ha ha

Lest You Are Deceived...

Just in case any of my friends/family who read my blog (...or even my own future-self) thinks I am accomplishing super-human feats with all of our "events" lately.....let it be known that this is the reality and how my entire house looks!




And now that we are on no schedule with no-school/work.....I am back on the computer more than I should be (thus the million blog posts), it's 3:22 and I haven't showered and have INTENDED to work out all day long (hasn't happened yet).


HSM is on the T.V.....

And these cute girls are wandering around the house....entertaining each other!

Summer vacation is here!

My Snuggle-bug

So often my posts are about events. Places we go, things we do. But usually the most precious things in life are the most simple.

One of my most favorite things to do in the entire world is to snuggle with Peyton. She is my most snuggly kid for sure. She knows that she is my "snuggle bug" or my "cuddle bug" and will gladly snuggle with me for 20 minutes if our morning allows. I love it!

I asked Tucker to snap some pics of us in a snuggle session so I can capture this memory. It is etched strongly in my mind, but sadly probably not in her young mind. I want her to have a visual reminder of how much her mommy loves her. These pictures almost make me cry because it feels like it's slipping through my fingers so quickly...with all three of my princesses!