I didn't think this would ever happen!!!!!

Our Sweet, Smart, Strong Willed, Determined, Head Strong, little girl Sophie is such a joy to us... We love her dearly, but she has about given us a run for our money! :) There are times when her determination, strong will and stubbornness give me so much comfort...for example, this little girl of ours can't be bribed, she can't be talked into things that she doesn't want to be talked into, she doesn't care what's the "cool" thing to do, or "if everyone else is doing it"...These can be great characteristics when she's a teenager. If we can just get her to WANT to Choose the Right, She'll be OK!!!!

But as for getting potty trained it's a whole other story... Ummmm where to start? Well last April I did a post on "Potty Training!!!" (here's the link)

http://legrandbecslittlelaings.blogspot.com/2008/04/potty-training.html Sophie has been capable of being potty trained for along time....but she didn't want to. I didn't want to push it when I was pregnant with Kolby or right after he was born, cause I've heard that they'll just revert back to having accidents...We didn't want to create to many things to get used to all at the same time.... So right after she turned 3 we tried....and we failed miserably....I guess the fact that she got a bladder infection didn't help at all...since then she has outright refused to go "potty" on the toilet or to wear her panties. She even said she didn't want the Sleeping Beauty Dress and Shoes we had bought and was happy when we went to return them to the store together. I realized that if you have to you actually can hold them on the toilet, but you can't make them release it. So we decided to take a break for a while. I felt defeated...I know it shouldn't be a battle to see who is going to win...Sophie or Mom and Dad...but I still felt like I just lost!!! Sad, Sad, Sad!!!

I didn't think this little break would last very long since she is totally capable...I didn't bring it up very often, I've had to pretend that it's not a big deal, but the break just kept getting longer and longer....when I would leave her at a friends house or with a babysitter I would tell her to keep her diaper dry, or don't go Blah(That's what she called it if she was stinky) until Mommy gets home. and she always did it.

Well LeGrand and I decided we needed to try again....after 1 accident and 2 days our little Sophie is Potty Trained!!! Sophie has amazing bladder control, even though it was a challenge and it was the reason it took 2 days to potty train her....she can hold it forever!! Seriously for like 8-12 hours! It worried us, cause it can't be healthy to do hold it for that long, but anyways she's potty trained now!! Yeah!!! A week later she's still doing great! She doesn't ever wear diapers, she's always dry in the morning, she does it all by herself and never even forgets to wash her hands!! We are so proud of you Sophie!! We didn't think it would ever happen, but oh we are so glad it did!! YEEAAAAHHHH!!!! Sophie loved picking out a Littlest Pet Shop and put her glittery stickers on her potty chart. As soon as she decided that this is what she wanted to do, she was practically potty trained!!! Thanks Grandparents and LeGrand for talking to her and being excited with her on the phone when she went!!!! Sophie we are so proud of you!!

Jen's Birthday, Twilight and Strep

So Friday was a day we had all been waiting for....It was Jen's Birthday!!! Yeahhhh!!!! Jen I love you!! You are one of my favorite people!! We couldn't have picked a better activity to do to celebrate Jen's Birthday than go to Twilight, since Jen is one of the biggest Twilight fans I know(Brandi, Candace you girls are right up there with her...) I think Jen had read all the Twilight books at least 6 times each...So of course we all bought tickets a month early so we could be sure to get in.... We went out to dinner at 5:00 at Red Robin (soooo Yummy!!) Thanks for sharing your pictures with me Candace!! You are the best! So here is a picture of most of us...Cari and Monica had already left to wait in line for us...almost 3 hours early..:) Here's Penny(Jen's Mom) and Jen!!! Happy Birthday Jen!! Julie, Candace, Jen and Me of course!
After we ate Candace and I ran through the mall to find some games to play while we waited for the movie to start...We ended coming back with Apples to Apples and a bowling ball set... we thought it would be fun to bowl while we wait, but there wasn't enough room..sad;) but Apples to Apples is always fun!! ***Sad note***Friday I woke up with a huge headache....but I wasn't going to let a headache stop me....the problem was that it kept getting worse and worse...by the time we were sitting waiting for the movie to start I hurt all over, my head was spinning and I felt week, feverish and my throat started hurting...I was trying to be tough but I guess I'm pretty wimpy cause everyone could tell I wasn't my usual talkative self...I've never been at the Theater this early and waited this long, being sick probably made it feel longer, but I'm glad I was with these girls!! I'm grateful for good friends. It was fun to be there with everyone, the movie was disappointing...I'm not totally sure if it's because I was sick and felt miserable the whole movie, or if it was really that bad...everyone we went with thought it was pretty bad, that it was low budget and way to corny...

LeGrand hasn't read the books, but he wants to go see it. We are going with Kathryn and Nathan Stitt on Friday night!! I'm excited to see it again now that I'm feeling better, when I know what to expect, I hope I can try to watch it not with a critical eye, but just go to enjoy it....I still think the book blows the movie out of the water..but what do you expect...it's TWILIGHT!!

On Saturday morning I felt worse than I EVER remember feeling...my throat was closed up and hurt unbearably, so I did what I haven't done in years and years(at least for myself, and having babies doesn't count) I went to the Doctor, I found out I have STREP....I've been in bed for days... LeGrand had been amazing... and I'm starting to finally feel better!! Yeahhhh!!!!

How many people can you fit in one house, and still Love each other when the visit is over?

Yeah, you can say we had a house full...and it was sooo much fun!! We were so excited when we heard that Chelsea was getting married in Utah so that we could get to see Ammon and Kirsten and their family, then we were even more excited to find out that Mom and Dad,Whitney and
Sammy, Stew and Emily, Bridger and Angeli were all going to be able to come and visit too!!! We had so much fun, but it's always fun when we are together!! We started out running with Halloween which was a blast...(See our Halloween Football Theme Post)

Playing at the Park

It's one of our favorite things to do as a family, Dad, LeGrand and Ammon had a blast playing football. The kiddos had fun just being with cousins, playing on the playground and riding bikes at the skate park, having a pizza party, and then we finished off our outing with some fun games of Volley-ten-soc-pong-ball!!!! If you don't know how to play this game you are missing out!! Ok, hardly any of you would know how to play it since our family made it up years ago...but you play it with one of those BIG tennis balls, on a tennis court, and it's a mixture of Volleyball, Tennis, Soccer, Ping Pong...(hence the name) It's a blast....Mom was soooo cute, she took all the kids and played with them so Kirsten and I could play too... Thanks mom, you are always soooo thoughtful!!!

Mom, Dad, Whitney and Sammy had to leave to go back home right after church on Sunday...sad...but at least we had a ton of fun together and got some cute pictures before they left!!

We drove up to Salt Lake for Chelsea's wedding reception...It was Beautiful!!! It was held in the Joseph Smith Memorial building and the walls were windows and we were overlooking the Salt Lake Temple!! You can't go wrong when that's your back drop!! OK, fun story....as we were walking in to the reception we saw Elder Jeffrey R. Holland.... how cool is that, Kirsten you were very sweet to pull out your camera and get a few pictures...

The Trolley

We were so excited to take Ammon and Kirsten to one of our favorite places to go out and eat!!! "The Trolley". This seriously is such a fun place to go to, and the food is sooooo yummy!!! This is the only place that LeGrand orders a salad....the "Art City Special" is the salad below. SOOOOOOOOOO Good!!! Ummmm just looking at this picture makes my mouth water!!! We probably had too much fun but that's ok, right?!?!

"Timeless Treasures"

When Stew and Emily got here it was a blast too!!! Emily didn't want to ruin our cute Christmas present that they are giving to our family, but it would have been kind of hard to hide! Emily has a business "Timeless Treasures" and she is amazing at making things like this...I'm so excited...She is going to make us one for Christmas with 4 plates connected with Brayden, Adelyn, Sophie and Kolby's hand prints on it!!! Emily, Thank you for sharing your talents with us!! You make it look soooo easy!!! This will really be a Timeless Treasure for us!! The kiddos had fun watching and getting their impression's done!! You should check out her website
http://timelesstreasuresbyemily.com/home. Thanks again sooo much Emily!!! It was fun to see you creating incredible masterpieces!!

Cousin's Pajama Party

All the kiddos got along together soooo well, it was fun to just watch them have fun together, even if it meant messes and stepping over cute kiddos while you are trying to make breakfast!!

The Girls(all but Karli and Angeli)

The Boys(Except Kolby)

Grandma Larsen

We were able to have some really fun visits with Grandma while everyone was here! Grandma Thank you for welcoming all of us into your home and feeding us and watching the BYU Football games with us!!! You are the best!!! Here are some fun pictures we took...What a good sport Grandma...especially for our silly picture!!!

The Ohio Rasmussen Crew with Grandma

The Lovely Laing Crew with Grandma

The Sparks Rasmussen Crew with Grandma

Grandma and her 3 favorite Grandchildren...Just kidding!!;)

All I can say is that we make 3 dang cute Couples!!! Too Cute!!!

The Williams Crew

We couldn't have a trip here in Utah and not get together with the Williams Crew!!! Meridee and Lind opened up their home to all of us...it was fun and crazy...check it out!!!

I was shocked when our crazy idea to get a picture of all the cousins actually turned out pretty good....can you believe all these kiddos?!?! I guess we are doing our share of multiplying and replenishing the earth, huh!! Yup 17 kid and Brayden (7) is the oldest!!! Crazy!!!!

Now here's a picture of the Big Cousins!! Ohhh I love these guys!!

We had soooo much fun with you all here!! We miss you like crazy and want you to come back soon!!;) We'll have to talk another sibling into getting married soon so that we can play!!! We love you guys so much. Thanks for staying with us and for the fun times!!! We love you all....