Official Announcement!

Since I haven't really shared this blog with people other than my closest friends and relatives, most of you already know....I'm pregnant for the FIRST time ever! I can't even begin to explain how excited we are. AND it's not just one, but TWO! Despite my certainty that they were fraternal twins (since two of my sisters have fraternal twins), two doctors have now told me that they will be identical twins...another surprise! Derek said he thinks it happened this way so there would be no doubt in our minds that this is definitly a miracle from Heavenly Father! For answers to the common FAQ: No, we weren't taking any fertility meds(which would have made them fraternal twins), Yes, we're a little scared to have 6 kids 6 years and younger, and Yes, we are SO VERY BLESSED!! This is me taking one of my many naps (on the time-out pillow) with all of the kids coming over to join me!! :)

Joseph's Quote

First of all, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JOSEPH!! He's now 6. Big Boy! As some of you know, a big part of the reason we named Joseph his name was after Joseph Smith, the first prophet of our church. Ever since then Joseph has had this GREAT love for anything that has to do with Joseph Smith. On Sundays because we only watch church stuff, his big request is to watch anything about Joseph Smith, documentaries, movies or whatever. So, yesterday I was watching a new DVD by Rob Gardner (excellent) about Joseph Smith. At first the kids thought the person narrating the music was Joseph Smith and I explained to them that Joseph Smith was in heaven with Grandpa and Jesus. So as we were watching Joseph turned to me and said, "I can't wait to see Joseph Smith and tell him that we have the same name!" :)

Charlie's Quote

Derek took the kids to the High School to run around on the field a little. When I picked them up they were talking about the two dogs they met while they were there. All of them are a little scared of dogs, except for Josh. Charlie was quiet for a long time and then said, "I want to get a baby dog so he won't have teeth." :)

Emma's Quote

The other day we were dropping off kids for school and it was quite a windy day. Well, since Emma is the only one not going to school right now, she gets frustrated sometimes with the quick "pick ups" and "drop offs" without actually going somewhere. So despite gas prices, many times when she asks we will go for a longer drive which is something she thoroughly enjoys. We had the radio playing and Emma announced, "Look Mama! The trees are dancing!!" (to the wind) :) She cracks me up! Along with her love for going for drives, she's extatic whenever we go on the freeway. Can you imagine me in the doctor's office trying to bribe my children to be good and saying, "Emma, if you can be calm, we can go on the freeway today." My friend Cortney thinks she will be a good skydiver in the future. One more thing along those lines, when we went to Chuck E. Cheese's for Joseph's birthday, Derek had Emma on his lap playing a car game. Emma insisted she drive the entire time, and instead of trying to avoid the other cars, her goal was to knock all of them OFF the road! I can't wait for her to start practicing for her driver's license!

Kids in a Box

I thought this picture was pretty funny. So now I'm taking suggestions on where I should send our kids. Obviously to Arizona to visit all the grandparents and cousins, but where to after that? Maybe up to Utah and then to Disneyland. I know!! I can send them to CHINA to visit Cheryl and Erik when they get there!!!!! I am still amazed at the fact that they are going!! Crazy or Adventurous, you vote!! I already told Cheryl which one I'm voting for. :)

Happy Easter!

Hey everyone, I'm back! It's been crazy busy, but I really want to keep this up and running for family and Grandmas!!:)

We've had a busy 2 months. Easter was a lot of fun!! Here is a picture of our kids after the Easter Egg Hunt we had at Ann & Dave's. It took quite some time to get all the kids in the picture, but I think it was well worth it. Young Women's is keeping me busy--in fact we have New Beginnings next week. I'm really excited because one of my counselors had the idea of introducing the values by having a woman from the scriptures who displayed that value, introduce it!! I love the idea!! For example: Eve tells about the value CHOICE & ACCOUNTABILITY and Abish tells about the value FAITH. Anyway, we're gonna have the girls dress up and do it. YEAH!! Okay, can you tell I'm getting into this a little too much! :)

President Hinckley

Last night Derek was talking to his brother (Daniel) and as they were talking Daniel got the news that President Hinckley had passed away. Shortly after that Chip called in on the other line to tell us the news. We are going to miss him so much! He's a truly great man. I can't help but be happy for him despite our loss. He is able to be with his sweet wife. We are so thankful for all that he has given us, for his devout service to God. What a great example to strive to follow. I have been greatly influenced by his wife's book, "Letters". It is SUCH a treat if you have extra time. Her outlook on life was so different compared to any other I've known. She is another example I would like to be follow--an incredible mother! Sometimes we feel so far away out here, but it was so nice to hear from everyone so quickly when such important news was happening. We told our kids this morning and will have an Family Home Evening about it tonight. They love him so much and get so excited when he talks in Conference. In fact Emma pronounces our last name "Hinckins" because she mixes it up with President Hinckley's name too. We just recently got cable for the first time and LOVE the fact that BYU TV is one of the channels. Joseph always asks if he can watch "BU" channel because I'll probably say yes. It's so nice to have the option to watch church programs ALL the time. I also love the BYU radio option on the internet!! If you don't know about it, you can go to the BYU TV area and click on BYU Radio. It's wonderful!! There is an instrumental option and a normal option. Our kids sometimes will recognize a song and say "I know that song!!!" It's really helped keep the Spirit in our home. A couple of weeks ago I got called as the Young Women's President. I was this in our El Mirage ward also. I think I'm getting another chance to do it right! The girls in our ward are AMAZING!! I've been the counselor for about 6 months and I think they get tired of me always telling them how great they are!! I am just so amazed at how unified they are, so loving and kind to each other and everyone in our ward. They have great attitudes toward life and it is so renewing and refreshing to be around them. We love you guys!!! Have a great week!