I've been tagged...what luck!!!????

I have been tagged, and as I've seen other people who have been tagged...I kept hoping that somehow I could avoid the whole mess. As luck would have it...or should I say...since my obnoxious sister :) tagged me, then I will play along!

I am supposed to write 6 interesting things about myself. Hmmmm....I guess this is where I should end my tagging blog! OK, OK...I will try to come up with something!

1. When I was in High School (16 yrs old), I was an exchange student to Germany. An exchange student came to live at our home for a time, then we switched placed, and I went to live with her. While I was there, I got to go across the Berlin Wall and spend some time in East Germany just 6 months before the wall came down. My friend and I tried to bring a Book of Mormon in, but they confiscated it before we went across - hey, maybe the soldiers who took it read it! Just a side note - the entire time I was there (5 weeks), my exchange students parents were on vacation - so it was just us two girls - much to my moms horror when she found out!

2. We have two 4-wheelers at our house. We often get the question from husbands "how did you talk your wife into letting you get those?" If truth be told, it was me who did the talking! Many times I have loaded up the machines and the trailer (without Ira), and taken the kids to the mountains. LOVE IT!

3. There was a time in our marriage that we didn't know if we would ever have the priviledge of being parents - now look at us...baby #4 is 1/2 way here! So never say never!

4. I used to be fairly fluent in American Sign Language. Time does change things, and now I just like to think that I know ASL. Someday I would like to pick that up again!

5. Ira lived in an igloo in Alaska for quite a while. OK..OK. I know this isn't about me, but Ira and I are one, right? Besides, this is a family blog! His grandparents built an igloo lodge in Alaska (no, it wasn't made out of snow and ice).

6. Brayden, Emilie and Jarin have been to Disneyland/world many times (OK, Jarin only twice - 1x when I was pregnant with him, and the other when he was a few months old - so I don't know that either one counts for him). GrEaTeSt place on earth!!! Jarin tells people that he is Donald Duck, he talks about Disneyland almost everyday. We have successfully brainwashed the youngest Crawford to love Disneyland also.

WHATS THAT?

So I've had some comments about baby's "boy parts" being obvious. I don't think that what your seeing are his "parts", just something else (maybe umbilical chord?), that just happens to be in a great spot to blackmail the poor kid in the future! We have a different picture of that part of him, and it's a little more in porportion to the rest of him! (Just thought I could clear that up for any of you confused souls. lol

boy or girl???

IT'S A...

BOY!!

Ira and I both had suspicious that this baby was going to be a girl, but were we ever wrong! The technician asked if we wanted to know the gender. Having had 2 previous boys, it wasn't hard to recognize that this baby was also a boy, even before she had a chance to tell us! We were both a bit surprised, but certainly not disappointed. The only disappointment is that we had a couple of girls names we liked, but not a single boys name. So...if anyone has any ideas for us, PLEASE DO SHARE!

Our baby was being shy, and hiding his face for the camera, so unfortunantly we have no profile picture, but some really cute legs. (He has his daddy's legs! j/k)

I Love You Grandma

Emilie with Grandma on Mothers Day

My sweet Grandma Wright passed away on Saturday. She had been in so much pain for so long, that we had prayed that this day would come for her sake, so she could leave her pain-filled body, and go to a much happier place. However, when it finally happened, all I could think is that I wished I could tell her one more time how much I love her. So I suppose in a way, this is my one more time. On Saturday, a couple hours before her passing, I got to sit with her for a while and hold her hand, and tell her how much I loved her. I am so grateful for that last precious few minutes. I could write a novel about the great person she was, and the wonderful influence she has been on me, but I will just leave this with how much I love my Grandma, and how I am so grateful for the knowledge I have that I will see her again after this life, and I can again hold her hand and tell her that I love her.

About our Family

Thanks to my good friend Amber, who held my hand as I made baby steps through this whole process of blogging - I finally have my first real posting! (if you want to congratulate me, gift cards will do!). I still have a lot of learning to do, but that will come with time...so be patient with me.

Brayden is our 11 year old who is trying to teach his parents how to raise kids every day of his life. We are slow learners, but we are working so hard to learn. He is so much like his dad with so many of the same interests and personality traits. He is a great help to us, and has really grown up a lot this year. He loves the arts (which he gets from his mom). He plays piano, clogs on an all-boys team, which took first in Nationals last year, and loves to draw.

Emilie is 7 years old, and asks everyday when she gets to be baptised. September seems like an eternity to her when she is so excited. She is in 1st grade, and loves it. She is our social bug, and a day she can't play with a friend is a terrible day. She is more like her mom than I like to admit - in other words, she has her ideas, and doesn't like being told anything different (i.e. STUBBORN). She played soccer and t-ball last year and loved the sports. She adores her little brother, and is a great big sister.

Jarin is 2 1/2. He is the twinkle in all of our eyes. He pretty much gets whatever he wants, whenever he wants. (A habit we are realizing needs to be changed). He tends to be shy in public, but has a marvelous sense of humor at home. He is a great little "helper". His favorite thing to say is, "I do it mom!"

Un-named baby #4 is due in July. This one came as a bit of a surprise to us, and a miracle to our family. Of course all of our children have come to us in what we consider miraculous ways. We get to have an ultra sound soon, and look forward to finding out if we are searching for boy or girl names. Jarin will really have a shock come July, when he's not the only twinkle in all of our eyes.

Ira and Nicky - what can I say about us? We work all day, go crazy all night, and try to get a few minutes of sleep in-between. Yet somehow, we manage to still be happy. Ira is the love of my life, and we have had some wonderful times together. We are each others best friends, and only wish we could spend more time together. Thank heaven for eternity. We love to travel together, and with our kids. We love going 4-wheeling, camping, and being with extended family (just to name a few).