Wallises do Disney!!

We had so much fun at our recent Disneyland trip!! We went with my parents and sisters Hailey, Bizzy, and Alivia, and my sister Emily and her family, and us!! We all went in on a house! We all loved it! It was so much better than a hotel!! We made so many wonderful memories, we had a blast on the rides, seeing the kids light up with the magic and wonder all around them, and even spent our last day at the Huntington Beach! We did our 7 day trip including tickets, gas, and food, for under $3000!!!  I can't believe it! It was such a good deal! (It helped that gas prices have been low) I'm very thankful we were able to go and take all 5 boys! They were the best little travelers and cute as ever!! Here loads of pics! 

Saying goodbye to Grandma Page

Our dear grandma Rose passed away on Feb 12, 2016. She was surrounded by her family and I was thankful to have been able to say my goodbyes to her the day before.  Her Parkinson's disease had crippled her body and made it difficult for her to eat or drink. It was sad to see her begin "the dying process" as the Dr. refered to it. She tried so hard to live and stay with us. But I feel it was a tender mercy for her that she didn't have to suffer in that state for too long. I am so glad that we had her over for Thanksgiving! She LOVED it! She wanted to stay and stay and pretty much did! I made her lots of cranberry icee drinks and she even got a few tastes of Thanksgiving dinner. Aunt Becky and my mom spent a lot of time tenderly caring for her. She is blessed to have such loving daughters. 

My boys will miss visiting her, they were always so sweet to hug her and tell her they loved her. She always knew their names, and couldn't believe I have 5 boys!! 

Grandma raised seven children and even got her college degree in Elementary education! She worked in accounting for many years and was a smart, well read, sophisticated lady. She loved to garden and canned a lot of her produce. She sewed, she loved Classic movies, genealogy, going to the temple, gummie bears and red licorice, pears, and hated raspberries, because she had to pick them for a job once and ate so many she made herself sick.  Our Grandma was pretty too! Even in death she is radiant. I bet grandpa couldn't wait to have his sweetheart back in his arms again this Valentine's Day! I loved getting the opportunity to dress her in her ceremonial clothing and paint her little toenails, and watch her daughters fix her hair and apply her makeup, and fuss over her. She would have loved it! Maybe she was there with us? It was heart warming to say another sweet farewell. Her funeral is tomorrow and I have been extra emotional about this evening. I've spent the day putting together photographs to be displayed on a digital frame, and I love seeing and relishing in the fond memories I have of her. I love you grandma! Thank you for being the best grandma!! You've been a great example to me, you've always been there for me too, it will feel strange not to have you near... Thank you for the wonderful memories! Till we meet again!! I love you, 

Jennifer (or as grandma would call me,"Jenna-foe")

Celebrating Tommy's 6th!

I sure love this sweet little boy of mine! Happy as ever, contagious smile, tons of energy, dramatic, funny, silly, a good friend, "the best passer on his basketball team", and the sweetest big brother and little brother---our right in the middle boy!!

Tommy is so much fun and loved by everyone who knows him! He planned out his own party this year and it was so cute! He wanted a pajama, Lego, Star Wars, popcorn party!! So we did it! I'm glad we did too! What a success!! 

Happy 6th Birthday Tommy boy!! 

We love you to the moon and back!! 💕❤️💕

Family update of 2015

It's been quite awhile I know, I guess that's what happens s when you have 5 boys running around the house! Which I LOVE!!  I love being a mom of boys! Since I last wrote in April last year, we have completed the building of our new home in Hyde Park,

 Calvin turned 10,

And is playing the cello in orchestra 

 Ben turned 8, 

And he is rocking it in basketball and school! 

I turned 35, 

Oh baby! 35!!!

Henry and Charlie turned 2,

And are quite the little ness makers! 

Sometimes even double trouble who need time outs! ;) But they're so cute!! I let them get away with everything because of their cuteness!!! I can't help it!! 

 and Jeff turned 37!!!! 

We hosted an extended family Thanksgiving dinner (even grandma Rose came!)

 we hosted a family Christmas party, we ventured in the woods with a permit and went up Strawberry Canyon where we chopped down a 16 foot tall Christmas tree! 

And we hosted a New Years party in Mantua! We have had a fun and busy year!! 

 

Henry got stitches

And so did Jeff

You have to look closely, his hairy eyebrows cover them up!

Charlie had surgery on his toe, 

And Charlie and Henry had hydrosil surgery (like a hernia, but not as bad...fluid instead of intestines) 

They did so great! They thought the gowns were awesome! 

 

We visited Temple Square

Got our Christmas cards out in the nick of time

Hosted a cookie exchange and hot cocoa party, and so many more things!  It's been a great year!! Hello 2016!!! 

The boys all say that this year is going to be EPIC!!! So excited to write more about it!!! :)) 

We sold our house!!

Its been a few months now since we bought a piece of property, listed our home, sold our home, moved into a rental, designed a new home, began construction on the new home, and now are about midway through the build! I guess I've just been too busy to blog about it all. However, I do want to say something about it. :)  The entire process has been a pretty neat experience for us. While a big part of me wants to keep it all to ourselves so we don't seem braggy or spoiled, another part of me feels like sharing our blessings and our story is ok, and I in hope that it will inspire and encourage others!! So, here it is...

First a little background about us...

Jeff and I have always enjoyed going for leisurely Sunday drives after church with the kids. We often visit our parents, picnic at a park, or have a fun family game night or cookout with friends. We also like to dream about living here or there, or look at beautiful pieces of property and homes for sale. We have renovated two homes together, and built another. We knew we would build again if things worked out in our favor, and this time we wanted to do more ourselves. 

So, back in Sept of 2014 we were out on one of these drives...when we happened upon a pretty little lot in Hyde Park. We both instantly fell in love with it!! We immediately called the listing agent to find out if it was something we could afford. She was really nice, she told us the asking price, which gave us hope, and then kind-of-sort-of mentioned that the seller was eager and would likely negotiate!! She encouraged us to submit an offer. Oooh!! This was exactly what we were hoping for!! 

Over the next few days, we prayed about how we felt and what our next steps should be. We felt sooo good about it. We felt like it was such a blessing!! We couldn't pass it up!!  After another week of preparation, we made arrangements with the agent to submit an offer, then quickly got our house in order for an appraisal. We were going to use our home equity to get a loan for the property. It's kind of risky adding a loan to our current budget, but we felt like we could do it, at least until we got our house sold. Our aim was for 6 months...we knew we wanted top dollar, and sometimes it takes a few months (4-6 average) to get it. In the back of our minds, we felt like if we didn't sell our home, we could sell the property... so we moved forward...

When the appraisal came back it was way low...like 40,000 lower than we expected!! We were very disappointed! Luckily we had enough equity to make up for most of the difference, and with some talking with supervisors and managers at the bank, the loan squeaked through by a couple thousand dollars! Whew!! Our offer was accepted! We went to work big time on stream-lining our home. The idea of showing it and having pictures of it listed online was stressing me out, it's never clean with our family of 7!! So the more we could pack up and put in a storage unit the better! We officially listed our home around November 5th. We had many showings, and 28 days later it was under contract!! We couldn't believe it!! This was another great blessing to us! I don't know if I could make it another month with a perfectly tidy house!! It's so overrated and not any fun!! ;) 

Then began the hunt for a rental home and an architect, and possibly a builder/ general contractor. We had quite a few options, but ended up choosing a home just a couple blocks from my mom! :) The kids are able to stay in their same school, and can walk home. Another blessing!  Plus it's fun being able to ride bikes over to Grammy's house! :) 

Looking at house plans and making decisions about what we wanted has happily worked out for Jeff and I. We are blessed to be on the same page about most things. We want to be practical, and up-to-date, and we want things done with quality. Not too fancy, but with "good bones". Something we can grow in, grow old in, and something that we could sell and make a good profit on if we needed to. 

Well, this home, on this beautiful lot has quickly turned into our dream home! We met with a general contractor who is a childhood friend of Jeff's, and decided to hire him. We designed a really cool house with his architect, and although many things are the same as everybody else's, it has some unique characteristics that we love!! One of those being a 20 ft wall of windows in the great room, a walk-in pantry/office off the kitchen, and a one-of-a-kind vaulted ceiling with a hip, which Jeff designed himself-- with the ok of a truss expert! :) 

So fun, right?!! :) 

I'll post more pics and progress as we go! 

Benny my little Athlete

I just realized I haven't written about this Benny boy of mine in a while. He is currently taking lessons at Altius Gymnastics. And to say he loves it is really an understatement! He is on the competitive level 4 team. Which is pretty amazing for not having any previous experience. He is the youngest on the team by three years the next oldest is 10, then 13. Ben has shown such skill with gymnastics. His greatest asset is his amazing strength. He isn't a light weight...he's weighed more than Calvin for a year or two now. He's a solid kid, but so strong he can easily lift his body and perform the routines. And he is competitive! He works extremely hard and is very dedicated to improving and perfecting his skills. It's been great to watch him. He is looking forward to his first competition January 17th! :)

Way to go Benny!!