~~Treehouse Museum~~

The kids and I were invited by our ward friends to the Treehouse Museum in Ogden! Wow,...what a great place. I was so impressed by the different rooms and all the fun things the kids could play with. The staff even gathered up toys that were "germified" and sanitized them. I thought that was so cool! We will definitely have to go back there!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

~~Temple Tuesdays~~

This past fall, we started a new family tradition...."TEMPLE TUESDAYS." We've been going to the temple every Tuesday and we spend time on the temple grounds walking around and spending time as a family. It has been such a treasure. Ethan and Nyah now ask if they can go to the temple all the time. I am so grateful that they already have a love for the temple. It makes it that much more real to them when we discuss it as a family. It has been interesting to see, however, that Satan finds a way to make it hard to get there! I am not kidding! Marty and I have had more "disagreements" on Tuesday's in particular then ever! Isn't that something. It just goes to show you that it is the right thing for us to be going. We've gone to the SLC, Bountiful, and Ogden temples. The kids really love the Ogden temple! Nyah calls Angel Moroni--"Angel Mormon-I." It is so cute!

~~Summer 2009 Catch-UP~~

Ambria, Ira, Addison, Candice and Asher

Our sister-in-law, Candice married Ira this last July and we hosted thier reception dinner in our backyard! They now live in Kansas where Ira is stationed in the Army! It was a great day!



My sisters and I had fun this last summer canning and freezing food! We canned salsa, peaches, and froze corn this year! I love my sisters and this just gave us another reason to hang out!!


Marty and I celebrated our 9th Anniversary this August! For my gift, Marty moved our very heavy piano from Dad's house into our new home. He had my dad and his buddies from work help him move it and I came home to the surprise! I love having my piano again! Later, he bought me a beautiful framed photograph of the Salt Lake Temple! (Richard Webb is the artist ---in case you are wondering..)


We celebrated Marty's MOM's birthday this past Septemeber and enjoyed having everyone from the family come! We actually have the space now to host gatherings! We love you, MOM!

~~the LAW of THREES~~

Have you ever noticed that "BAD" things happen in threes? Whether this is the case for you all or not ,...it seems to be the rule that we Schroaders live by. Luckily, it doesn't happen super often,...but this time is was pretty crazy!

Marty's car bit the DUST! We are still debating whether to fix it or not! For now,. my awesome sister and brother-in-law are allowing us to borrow their 3rd vehicle!

Then,...I hit a deer in broad daylight on a residential street! I was a 1/2 mile from my house and the twins were in the van. The twins and I were just fine and were able to drive home without any problems. Insurance is great,....but deductibles not so much. Can you believe it will cost the insurance company almost $2000 to repair the damage?!!!

And our third mishap.....our FURNACE stopped working! We had no heat for 2 days! We were blessed that it was fall and my sister had two lovely space heaters that worked perfectly! We found out that the ignitor was cracked and needed to be replaced. $180 later and we have heat!

Although I wish these things had never happened, it makes me that much more grateful for what we do have! We have Our family, our health, our faith, our home, our friends, and financial stability in this crazy time. Tonight we are going to attend a fund raiser for a family who is fighting to keep their Cherokee son whom they've adopted. The birth mother decided, after all things were final in the courts, to fight for rights again. She registered with the tribe and they have been in court ever since. It breaks my heart to think of what this family is going through. Many of you know that our sweet twins were Cherokee decent and we had to also get permission from the tribes. Thankfully, we were given full permission and were sealed in the temple when the twins were 11 months! This gift is so much more important than a running furnace or car....that is for sure!

LOVE TO YOU ALL~~

~~Murphy's LAW~~

So the definition of Murphy's Law basically states that....Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong! I would like to give you my version of this interesting force of nature!

MurPhY's LAw FoR MoMmiEs!

(according to this mother of toddler twins)

1~~As soon as you mop the floor,.....your sweet toddlers find a way to destroy its beauty in less than five seconds! (smushed banana in the grout is my favorite!)
2~~Mommy finally finds a quiet moment to SIT down and inevitably one of her children NEEDS something at that exact moment!!! (just so you know...no milkies=CRISIS!)

3~~After sharing your bed with your husband and toddler for TWO WEEKS (no sleep for the momma!), you resort to "tough love" and the screaming that goes along with it and finally she is able to sleep in her bed peacefully! But wouldn't you know,....her brother has decided that his bed is apparently NOT good enough and you have a 3rd person in your bed once again!
4~~You go to the grocery store with a long list, fill your basket, and go through the checkout and come to realize (with two toddlers in tow, who just decided that they HATE sitting in grocery carts) that you don't have your credit card in your wallet! Of course not! It is on the floor, in the family room, where your sweet little girl left it after rummaging through your wallet!
5~~You get some extra money, (ooohhh,...all the fun things you could do with it) and your car DIES!
6~~You decide to actually get dressed up and not be a "dead mommy" just in time for your sweet little one to wipe his messy hands all over the front of you! (or even better, your shoulder becomes their official tissue!)
7~~You spend a good amount of time cutting coupons, researching the store ads, and planning your shopping strategy (taking your children in and out of multiple stores) and come home with nothing but a chocolate bar (sanity) because all those crazy ladies bought everything off the shelves at 6 am that morning!
AnD my FaVoRitE:
8~~Just when your little ones are finally down for their long nap (after enduring the long morning filled with tantrums, toy wars, food fights, etc.,..etc.) you find yourself terribly missing them and waiting anxiously for them to wake up. Where is the sanity in that?! :)

I love being a mommy!

PiCTurES!

My friend, Natalie took these AMAZING pictures of Ethan and Nyah for their 2nd birthday. I wanted to capture them in this fun stage and do it more candidly. I just loved how she captured their personalities. Is it okay to be totally obsessed, crazy in-love with your own children?!!! Ummmm...I say YES!



Thanks Natalie for doing such a wonderful job! We will cherish these always!

The Twins are TWO!

Okay,...so this post is super delayed but I am determined to celebrate the twins turning TWO! We can't believe that TWO years ago we were blessed with our spicy little Nyah and our sweet little Ethan! WOW-----I just get emotional thinking about it!

Ethan and Nyah are so amazing and I can't imagine my life without them! They bring so much joy,...(even with the lack of sleep, I still suffer from) and we marvel everyday at how much they are learning. It is a true gift --being their parents!

Ethan and Nyah turned 2 on JUNE 14, 2009. We celebrated ELMO and ZOE style amongst family and friends! It was a great day! Here are a few pics for ya'll to enjoy! (Thanks Aunt Machelle for all your creative help with the cakes!)