Kam's birthday and everything else...

I know the slide show is pretty long this time but we had a lot going on with Kamden's birthday. My little boy turned 4! I can't believe it. He is getting so big. He's wearing a 5T already...so tall and cute. He is the sweetest boy and a great brother. He sure loves his sisters, older and younger. For the first time we had a party for him. We had some friends and went to the Bounce House place. Had a fun cake and a great time. That was Thursday. Friday we went and got his birthday pictures taken. They turned out so cute and full of personality. I can't wait to get them back. Thanks Jen for coming with Kam and I. Thanks Papa for getting the pictures. We love and appreciate y'all so much! I can't remember much else of Friday but think we did something. Saturday, the real birthday, we went to Chuck E Cheese! We love Chuck E Cheese. It's like a little Vegas for kids. LOL. All the games, lights, food, and fun. Can't ever go wrong with Chuck E. After hours of fun there we then got to celebrate with family. Papa and Jen came over and we opened presents and went to Red Robin. We love that place. The waiters and waitresses sang to Kamden and embarrassed him. It was super cute. I then quickly made another cake and just drew Spongebob on it. Not a great picture but it was fast and easy. All in all Kamden had a fantastic 4th birthday. He got clothes, a VTech Cyberpocket with a couple of games, a picture of Christ, an awesome growth chart, and cars. It was fun to see him so excited for his birthday. He got to say the prayer in Primary on Sunday and did a great job. He loves Primary. We're trying to teach him some of the songs at home too. Now he's excited for Kira's birthday. We won't get to see her for her b-day but we're going to send her some things.

The kids are growing up and doing well. Kai is now 7 months and scooting around army man style. Too funny. She loves eating food now and babbles all the time. She is still a very good baby. Kaijsa and Kaitlyn are so good with the little ones. I'm so blessed to have them in our home. I may not say it enough but Girls I love you! Thank you for all you do. Now we can slow down a bit. Kira's will be 10 in February, just a couple of weeks actually, and then not another birthday till April. I can't believe it's almost Feb! wow the time is going by fast.

Life is moving along. Not much planned for a while so we'll see what happens. Still working on our goals which I try to keep up with on my Goal blog.

love you Kamden! Thank you for being such a fun boy! We love having you in our home and Family. You are such a strong sweet spirit. We look forward to many more years with you!

Kamden's Birthday Party

Today we took Kamden to the Bounce House in the Mall for his birthday party. It was during the same time as Playgroup so that all his friends could be there. Sometimes Saturdays just get too busy. But of course my camera battery died so there are no pictures of him playing with all his friends. I did get a couple of Kinsee before the battery started to flash and tell me it was dying. This is after we left the house, which was when I checked it and it looked full. I'm so unlucky at times. Anyways, the kids came and we had fun. They ran around and bounced and played. Parents got to sit and talk as well as play. The cake was enjoyed by all. There are bounce houses for all ages so even the adults got to play and have fun. Babies played on the floor, the little ones ran around crazy, the adults followed and enjoyed the time out. It's cheap and the pass lasts all day! It was so much fun! Kamden loved it. He got some great gifts from his friends, Thank You everyone! The weather is beautiful outside which is also enjoyable. He is such a big boy and such a joy to have around. I'm so glad we were all together for his birthday. We'll do a small family birthday on Saturday, his actual birthday. He misses Kira and hopes she'll call and he's been sick which is junky on a birthday but is loving it all anyways. It's funny how birthdays last all month for kids. I barely recognize the day of mine anymore. Oh to be young again.

Happy Birthday Kamden! We love you! You are such a wonderful brother and son. Here's to a wonderful year of discovery and growth...

Good times with family and Remembering Grandma Eoff

Here are some pics from the past week of some fun times we've had.

Kaijsa had a YM/YW stake activity that she enjoyed. I drove her and some friends up to the Parks Mall to go ice skating. They also played broom hockey which was fun to watch. The YM leader Brandon Bowers and his lovely wife Melissa also took some kids up. I got to chat with them when the weren't on the ice. Otherwise I had some time to read, not much but some. Thank you Kait for watching the all the little ones. In addition to our 3 she babysat Tim and Camille's 3. Way to go Kait! The kids had fun and Kait did a good job. I had fun with Kaijsa and her friends remembering my youth and the activities I had as a YW. Good times.

The kids have since discovered the joys of sliding down the stairs. I just need a good sleeping bag for them to use. Kam loves it. Kinsee follows him. Kait and Kaij have discovered that it's kind of hard on the bums to slide down the stairs. I think they are still bruised from this fun activity. I remember doing this as a kid too so couldn't make them stop. I just asked them to be careful and not break anything of theirs or mine.

Kaileigh is getting so big! She's sitting up better all the time, talking more and more, growling some when we upset her which is too funny, and army crawls or pushes herself around, usually in circles or backwards. She's a joy to have. I think she looks like my mom and hope she remains calm. She is almost 7 months old now, I can hardly believe it.

My days are busy getting ready for Kamden's 4th birthday this week. I'll post pics and what all transpired when it's over. Otherwise our days are the typical busy fun filled ones we all enjoy. Right?!

We also celebrated, I guess you could say that, my Mom's 2nd anniversary of her passing. I took the kids to the cemetery and let them all say Hi to her. Kamden wondered where she was and then we explained it to him. He remembers her which I'm glad for. Kinsee said Hi and they all said we love you GramE. We miss her every day. There isn't a day that goes by that we don't think of her. Love you Mom/GramE. I hope I'm making you proud and that you can see how wonderful the kids are. I'm truly blessed to have them in my life. Thank you for your wonderful example. I hope I can be like you some day. I'm working on it.

Second Blog

I have started another blog for my goals and the goals for the family. If you are interested in keeping tabs with me you can get there by clicking on the link Goals. It's under Friends and Family. Feel free to leave motivational comments to keep me going towards my goals!

New Year...New Moments

This is Kinsee Belle. We love our Kinsee Belle and her spunky, feisty, so not her mother (LOL) self. Today was her first day in Nursery all by herself. She's always had her Kamden with her but not anymore. I must admit I was a bit nervous because she always wants Kamden with her but she did fine. She went in without complaints and had a great time. I'm sure this will be good for her to break away a bit. We love ya Kinsee.

This is my baby boy growing up. He is now a Sunbeam and in Primary! He is super excited about it and so are we. He is so cute and has such a sweet spirit. His teacher is our neighbor which is nice because he knows her and isn't afraid of her. He has his first primary activity coming up and he wants to go to it NOW. I remember those days, ok not really but I'm sure I had them. He is the only one in his class which makes me a bit sad but hopefully with fasting and prayers a family or two will move into the ward with boys his age so he won't be alone for long. I can't believe he'll be 4 in just a couple of weeks. He's getting so big...tears and sniffles. Love Ya Kam! You're a terrific brother!

Kam and Kins...inseparable. So much character and personality. That's a nice way of saying sassy and trying right? hehe We love them and are proud of them. Kinsee is wanting to be potty trained but isn't being very successful at it so far. But I'm not going to stop her from being excited and wanting to try. She has cute panties that she loves to wear...now to just get her to go in the toilet instead of her pants, the floor, and anywhere else she may be at. I found her in an aisle at Target the other day hiding and squatting. She was going potty right there and just looked up at me like, "you found me, uh oh". Cleaned up and left is what we did. Oh well...in time.

This is my cute Kaileigh. She is such a doll. She is still the best baby ever. She is starting to sit up and is doing quite well at it. She'd rather stand then sit or crawl so I think she's going to go straight to walking. I think she looks like my Mom and Grandma and she has the most beautiful eyelashes. Kai is now 6 months and 27 1/2 inches long. She is only 15 1/2 lbs though so like the others she is tall and skinny. She loves food and is eating more. Love ya Kai!

Kaijsa got her hairs cut and colored the other day. I think it turned out so cute. I also think it makes her look a bit older, not sure I want that but oh well. It's a pretty Auburn color and a nice bob cut. Love ya Kaijsa! Thanks for all you do.
Kaitlyn is going to get her hair done but trying to decide on color and find the time. We love you too Kait and are glad you're home. Thanks for all your help as well!

I decided I'm too young for the gray hairs that are showing up so I decided that when Kaijsa got her hair done I would get mine done too. Our friend Joel came over one night and did both our hairs. Mine is layered and has honey colored highlights. I love it. He did an amazing job. Thank you Joel!

Hope everyone is enjoying the New Year so far. Larry's been pretty sick and we've been trying to figure out why. Well we've discovered that somehow he's gotten a tape-worm type thing going on. He's now on some meds to help him and we're hoping for a significant improvement soon. He's lost quite a bit of weight with what's been going on so hopefully now he can get back some of those lbs that he wants back. We love you Larry Dean and hope you can feel better soon.

Decade in Review

If I looked right I think this is my 200th post. In honor of this instead of writing 200 things about myself, I did 100 on my 100th post, I'm going to talk about the last 10 years. I have a few minutes to think and hopefully I can remember what the last 10 years have been like. If you know me then you'll know my memory isn't the greatest, but I do want to go through the last decade.

10 years ago takes me back to the year 2000. The Millenium was getting ready to be ushered in and I was being an Intern at Walt Disney World. I worked in a gift shop at the WDW Resort of All Star Movies. I loved the shop and the people I worked with. I had good roommates and a very fun time working for WDW. I miss working there. I loved being able to go to the Parks whenever I wanted to and the discounts were awesome! My internship ended in January just before school started back up.

I then went to BYU-Provo. For those of you who really know me BYU-Provo was the LAST place I wanted to go to school. I tried avoiding it but in the end couldn't. I went to Ricks, BYU-Hawaii and then ended up finishing in Provo. The rest of 2000 was spent in school and working for Castle Rock Financial Services. This was a great job and I loved the people I worked with. I turned 25 which was very hard for me but had a good year. I remained single and didn't date but focused on school and work. I was a Returned Missionary and needed to finish school.

2001 found me Finally graduating from College and working 2 jobs. I quit both jobs and started working for the SinoLind Foundation. I moved to Ogden and lived in the Dorms at Weber University. I taught US culture to 20 + Chinese English Teachers who were hear to learn about the American way of life. It was a hard job but a wonderful opportunity.

2002 began. I sent the Chinese Teachers home and in February followed them to China. I got there in time for the Chinese New Year and loved it. Shanghai was very different but exciting. I stayed with a few of the Teachers and they showed me around different villages of China. I then was able to take my very first, and only, Train ride up to the country village I would be teaching at. I moved into a dorm/apartment in Shangdong Providence in the city of Zibo. I had quite a few students and learned to live in China. This was a hard time for me but a very memorable one. I cherish the time I spent in China because it taught me about me and them. Even though it was hard it was a good experience. The food was ok in some places, not so much in others. I was able to bring home some good memories and fun souveniers. I stayed there till May then came home. My parents had moved to TX by then so I moved to TX too. My sister and I took a road trip from UT, I had left my car there with my brother and his family, and drove to TX together. We stopped in Roswell NM along the way to see the Aliens and had a good time. We arrived in TX and I eventually got a job with a Radiology Company. This was a huge blessing in disguise. I met some great people and enjoyed my job. Through this job I met Pepper who felt that it was now time for me to settle down and get married.

2003 began with me signing up with an LDS On-line dating agency. Through LDS Singles I met Larry Dean Saling Jr. We started chatting in February, met in March when he had a quick layover in the Dallas Airport, met again a couple of weeks later in Roswell NM, where we got engaged in the Carlsbad Caverns. We then met again in April, he flew me to UT to meet his girls and family, where he proposed officially with the ring. I quit my job in TX, moved to UT at the end of April and we eloped in May. Larry and I got married on May 8th 2003. We honeymooned in Las Vegas (travelling the World Vegas Style) and then moved into our home in Ferron, UT. The girls, Kaijsa-Kaitlyn-Kira and I got along quite well. By September, Labor Day to be exact, we moved to TX where we've been ever since. A whirl wind romance, marriage and new life.

2004 Larry got hurt and we've been trying to get him better ever since. He has his good days and bad days but don't we all. I began working again for the Radiology Company I was with before my marriage and Larry had several surgeries and recouped.

2005 we moved to Mansfield TX and managed Storage facilities and discovered we were going to have our fist child. His 1 and only boy!

2006 Kamden was born and we moved into our house in Cedar Hill, TX. Can't remember too much else happening that year. Kaijsa moved in with us and we love her!

2007 Kinsee Belle was born and I began working from home for another Radiology Company. This was/is a huge blessing because in 2007-2008 my mom would get sick and need my love and support.

2008 My mom passed away. I miss her and love her very much. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think of her and wish she was here. So much she is missing with my kids and family. Kaitlyn moved in with us and we love her too!

2009 Kaileigh was born into our family. She is such a joy. We are still living in Cedar Hill, TX and loving having all the kids in our home. Kira comes to visit as often as she can and love and miss her tons.

Now it's 2010 and I'm wondering where the time has gone. Larry and I have had about 60 years of marriage in the 6 years we've been together. We've laughed, loved, screamed and cried. We've had good days, weeks, months, years and bad days, weeks, months and years. Kira is still the only daughter not with us full time and we miss her but see her a couple of times a year. Kaijsa and Kaitlyn are huge helpers and wonderful daughters. I'm so blessed to have them in my life. Kam, Kinsee Belle, and Kai are fireballs. We love the "babies" as we call them and can't imagine our home or lives without them. Larry's health continues to be up and down and I'm still able to work from home. I'm so blessed to have the job and family that I have. My dad and sister live close by and I'm so glad they do. I love you Papa and Jennie! Thank you for all you do. The kids are being homeschooled now and we're living our days. We are setting goals and working on achieving them. I can't thank my Father in Heaven enough for all he's given me and for all he continues to give me.

Here's to another 10 years!

Happy New Year!

I didn't take too many pictures for New Years. We shot off some fireworks, played games, had friends over and stayed up late snacking on fun food. Kaijsa and her friends had a good time. Kam and Kinsee Belle loved it! They all had fun shooting off fireworks and ringing in the New Year. The little ones almost made it to midnight but not quite. I wanted Kaijsa and her friends to have some fun without the little ones tagging along. I worked so I actually stayed up till midnight this year. Larry spent some time with friends but made it home in time to kiss and say Happy New Year. I'm still working on goals but as you've read further down in posts we do have some family ones set up. Now for my own. I'll do that in a separate post. Happy New Year to everyone!

Saling Family Christmas

So even though the weeks leading up to Christmas were rough with naughty kids Santa did stop by. We made him our homemade oreos and left out a glass of milk. He loved them. He left everyone something besides coal and everyone was pleased. We had a good, yet very early, Christmas. I woke everyone up around 5:30 or 6am to see if Santa had come. I love getting up early to look at what has been received and given. I always enjoy the stockings especially. Some of my favorite Christmas memories are of my brother waking me up super early to go see what was in our stockings and then waking Jennie up to look as well. Drew got up, then he would get me up and then we'd get Jennie up. So much fun! We'd play with our stocking gifts in his big closet, get caught by dad and then sent back to bed till 7am. I remember getting up about every hour of the night and going downstairs to see if Santa had come yet. I love those memories. I want my kids to have similar stories. We missed Kaitlyn and Kira but had a good time with the rest of our family. We had a good dinner at Papa's house with good friends. I always look forward to Christmas but am glad when it's over too. I even got some letters sent out. If you didn't get one it's because I don't have your address and you need to send it my way! Now for another year of saving up and buying bargains for next Christmas. I gather things all year to help Santa so it's not so overwhelming. Here's to another year gone and another one ahead.

Goal #1 & 2 for the New Year

For Family Home Evening this week we planned our first goal for the New Year. We picked out what we wanted to do for our family vacation this year and how to achieve it. The spot is the Nick Hotel in Orlando Florida. We have envelopes for Gas, Food (including character breakfast) and the hotel suite. We have to have the suite for our family because there are so many of us. I called the hotel and got prices on the room, I'm basing gas on what it costs us to get to UT usually, and food is based on what we normally spend for a week. The stay would be for 7 nights because that gave us the best rate and discount. So...here is our goal and the estimated cost.

The 2nd goal is to give the kids allowances this year per month. If they do what we ask they are going to get a little bit (based on age) for an allowance. If they go above and beyond what we ask and do stuff on their own then we could give them a little extra. They are to pay tithing and then donate to the family vacation goal. After that they can save up for a souvenir or other item they may want.

I'm hoping this will teach them and all of us really to save up for things, pay tithing and work hard on goals that we set. The blessings will come and we'll all enjoy the outcome more. I think if we all save up for the trip or gift then it will mean more and be more exciting. To see our hard work pays off in a fun and exciting trip for the family this summer. To save up for a souvenir is also fun. I hope this works and we can meet our goal. A family of 8 on vacation isn't cheap but the kids also see that and will hopefully appreciate it more. The girls are already trying to figure out how to earn the money so we can go. I'm excited too. It's our first time trying this but it sounds like a good idea and one I hope to continue. Obviously not every year can be a big ticket item but this year can be. It's Kaijsa's last summer as a kid really. She graduates next year and will be off on her own and to college so we'll try to make this summer special for her.

Here's to goal setting and making trips and dreams come true.

P.S. if you're family and want to chip in on our dream vacation feel free to send us donations. :) That will show us that paying our tithing and doing what's right also gives us blessings.

Christmas Eve Fun

These are the pictures of the kids on Christmas Eve. We had snow on Christmas Eve which was the first time in TX since 1927! It was amazing and lasted through Christmas Day. The snow wasn't sticky so no snowmen could be made but they had fun throwing it at each other and just playing in it. Living in TX we don't really have snow clothes so we did what we could. Socks for mittens worked quite well. It was so pretty to watch fall and so much fun to watch them all play in it. Larry even went out and played with them in the snow. I was working so I just ran out to take some pictures.

That's it for the updates today. I'll do Christmas Day and the rest of vacation time on another day. I'm also still thinking of my New Years post and Resolutions. Hope you enjoyed what I'm sharing so far.

Kaitlyn spends Christmas in UT

This is Larry saying bye to Kait at the airport. She spent Christmas and New Years in UT with Kira and her other family. She had a good time and Santa was very good to her. She is home now and we are so glad. We all missed her, especially the little ones. Now it will be back to the grind of school and life. We're glad you had fun Kait but we're really glad to have you back home! Love you.

Christmas Lights

These pictures are of us the Sunday before Kaitlyn left for UT. We also went out that night to Interlochen to look at lights. It's an area of Arlington TX that has over 200 homes lit up. It was so much fun to look at. I love going to look at lights during the Christmas season. Some of the homes were so amazing.

Trying to Catch Up

I am sorry to all those who follow my blog. I was/am having camera difficulties. I am a very non-electronic person. I finally figured out a different way to download the pictures off my camera and will catch y'all up on the holidays. I will go into more detail as the days go on but here is a brief synopsis. Christmas came and went with me working. We ate lots with Papa and Jennie. Had fun and enjoyed the snow we received on Christmas Eve. It was the first time since 1927 for Texas to get snow on Christmas Eve. We loved it! The kids had fun playing in it and it was so pretty. We received many gifts from Santa and loved ones. Thank you Grandparents, family and friends for all the gifts you blessed our lives with. We appreciate the thoughtfulness. We've enjoyed time being together and this Christmas Season. If you didn't get our letter and would like one please leave your address and I will send you a Saling Family Letter. New Years also came and went. Kaijsa had a few friends over and I worked some more. The little ones tried to stay up and we had good food and fireworks. It was fun. Now it's time for another year and more goals to be made and most likely not reached. hehe. We hope y'all had a wonderful holiday season. We hope y'all have a wonderful new year.

Like I said, I'll go through the pictures and put some together for one and all to see. I will also think of my New Year's Resolutions. I may even reminisce (no idea how to spell that word) about the last 10 years of my life. We'll see.

Right now the little ones are sick and I'm filling them full of meds in hopes of them feeling better. We're getting ready for Church to be at 9am with Kamden moving to Primary! Kinsee Belle will be in Nursery all by herself. Hmmm wonder how that will go since she has to always be with Kamden. This time next year Kai will be starting Nursery which is crazy to think about. Let's hope as we get another year older this year we'll get another year wiser and more patient. Do you think I just cursed myself saying that? Oh well...

Love to y'all! I'll write more and post more soon...promise.