February

Easton had a photo shoot at my parents house.  If there was a dating app for babies - I'm pretty sure he'd win the the BEST profile picture.

 We went to Ashley's house one day to play in the snow.  There was SO MUCH SNOW!  It was a fun afternoon.  Luke had a little fever and chilled in the stroller for most of the day.  Poor kid.

The colder month's sure make the imaginations soar in the kids.  I love it.  I just want to nap more.

 Mr Luke & his food.  Peanut butter and apple slices is one of his absolute favorite snacks!

 My neighbor was doing some cleaning and had SO MANY GI Joe toys!  He knew that Caleb was into WW2 and asked if he would want them.  There was 3 boxes full of toys!  Casey & Caleb had a few days of fun going through it all.

 The day of love!  Also known as Valentine's day!  Luke & Alexa were pretty cute & VERY particular about their Valentine's for their preschool class.  Good thing they only had to make 12!!  Caleb's is great, "Love will kill you".  I let the 3 big kids really just go to town on it and didn't give them much direction.  I don't want to be 'that' mom who makes the elaborate Valentine's day box that doesn't fit through the doorway.  That mom is annoying.  And their boxes all turned out PERFECTLY!

Can you believe this hottie turned 60!!  She is good lookin, kind, smart, funny, a wonderful Grammy, a fantastic mama and I am so lucky to have her!

Most of us adults were able to get together and go to SLC to watch some Bulls & Broncs to celebrate my mom's birthday.  The cowboys were fantastic - but the lady in front of us was seriously the star of the show.  Jumping up & down, screaming, pulling her hair out, and dance moves for days.

 Another night in February, there was a storm coming into Salt Lake City.  Aunt Sandra (who lives in the area) didn't want to leave her cozy home to go & see Wicked so I bought her ticket from her.  I wish she would've went - but that just means we will all have to go again another time!  Finding a last minute sitter was quite a struggle, but I had to made it work!

I love this show so much!  Pure entertainment from curtain up to curtain down.  We met up with Amber & Chantel too!  Besides the show being a wonderful memory - I will never forget the smell that came out of our uber driver's butt.  And how I was choking on the smell & my mom kept asking what was the matter. HA!!!

 This gorgeous moth ended up on my porch in the middle of February!  I bet he was frozen there, but I wasn't about to touch him.

Happy Birthday Ladies!

These cuties decided that they wanted to get their ears pierced for their 8th birthday!  Here they are before....

They were cute waiting for their appointment.  They were cute picking out their earrings.  They were brave & were trying not to show how nervous they were.  Ears getting cleaned, ears being marked, piercing guns at the ready  -  they had on brave smiles.  BAM - tears started flowing.  They were okay by the time we left, and they were happy customers.  They had been warned that it might hurt, but I guess you never really can know what to expect until it happens!  

Look at those happy smiles in the after picture!

A few days later it was their actual birthday.

It is crazy to me how sometimes I can't tell them apart and at other times it couldn't be more obvious!  They both love to be in the kitchen and want to bake (my hips don't want them to bake at all!)  They are both great helpers when it comes to getting chores done or helping with Luke & Alexa.  They have started activity days at church and they LOVE it!  They wish they could go every single week.

Taylor.  Little Tay Tay.  She is so serious, yet can be the silliest person on the planet!  She can glare like crazy.  She can laugh even crazier.  Nothing is better than the sound of her sincere laugh.  Her sense of humor is spot on.  She is doing great in school and making all the right choices when it comes to friends.  She is brave girl!  She isn't afraid to try new things and if she fails, she is ready to try again.  She is a great reader and enjoys singing and playing the piano!

Rylee.   Rylee Roo.  This lady wants to be 30 - like yesterday!  She loves to snuggle and will climb up into Casey's lap any time she gets the chance.  She is also doing great in school and learning all about how true friends are hard to find, but they are out there.  She loves to be helpful.  She volunteered to help the handicapped students at school and ALWAYS wants to babysit any little person that she can.  She is a great artist and LOVES to sing!

 They were so upset on their birthday because there was a big snowstorm and their grandparents couldn't come celebrate with them.  A little video chatting and the smiles were back!

 They BEGGED for Cra-Z-Art crayons.  I knew what the verdict would be, but I guess some things you need to learn the hard way.  Taylor later learned that nothing can come close to good ol' Crayola!

 They LOVE their sleep masks!  And they came with some super fuzzy socks!

They wanted different things for their birthday dinners.  Taylor chose spaghetti (with the long noodles), garlic bread & applesauce.  Rylee chose popcorn shrimp, the rice that comes in the packet, and green salad with ranch dressing.

Happy birthday little ladies!!  I can't believe that you are 8.  May all your wishes come true!

January Outings

Casey & Shelby went to the Box Elder campground in Mantua one afternoon and ran into this group of guys who like to get together and dress WW2 style.  What a neat thing to see!

January is all about being cold, attempting to keep the kids mind engaged in something other than a screen, and keeping the cows in promontory fed & alive.  My kids needed to be a part of that!  Luke was in HEAVEN.  He has told me over & over that papa don's cows is his favorite place to be.  All the girls just loved petting the calf that was in the back of the trailer.

Caleb was super excited to go out and shoot papa Don's Ruger 22.  Now he wants one!

Casey's dad, Brad, retired from UDOT.  

We celebrated with a family dinner out to Maddox!

Did you know that on Martin Luther King, Jr day that admission is free to the Dinosaur Park?  It was empty too!  Wonder why?  Brrrrrrr

Casey & I made a spur of the moment decision to go see Three Days Grace & Disturbed as an early Valentine's Day date.  It was amazing.  Dylan was going too, so we bummed a ride in his sweet civic.  I was also lucky enough to go bowling with Jordon before the concert! It was a fun day!  Oh, and David Draiman touched my hand.  Just sayin.  My 18 year old self was FREAKING OUT!

 See Dylan?  He had a sweet seat!!  But, no lead singer touched him.  Boom.

January Randoms

Taylor got a science kit for Christmas.  She wants to do a science experiment Every. Single. Day.  I couldn't pick a favorite out of these pictures.  Such anticipation and shock and awe.

 Caleb was ordained as a Deacon!  The church changed the age of kids entering into the Young Men & Young Women's programs.  They get to start the year that they turn 12 instead of waiting until their 12th birthday.  Where Caleb's birthday falls in December, he just turned around and grew up!  Youngest Deacon ever!  He can barely reach to get the sacrament trays and I really hope there isn't a giant spill one day.  After passing the water he said to me, "Now my wrist kind of hurts."

 Caleb was interested in paratroopers for a while and made himself a backpack full of supplies.  Then he dressed up his little brother as well.  It was pretty cute.

 Luke & Lex had such a fun field trip!  We went to Papa Murphy's and they learned about how to build a pizza and then they got to make their own.  It was so cute watching them and they were so excited to go home & bake their lunch.

The kids got out all of their stuffed animals one Saturday morning and Caleb got them ready for battle!!

Getting ready for the winter dance recital!  This little girl LOVES this stuff.

I signed the girls up for ballet this time instead of jazz.  I think that they learned quite a bit and enjoyed it too!

Grandma Mona came through with their recital flowers again.  They love that!  Grammy & Papa Done came to watch them dance too.

I love the snow.  I despise getting everyone into their snow gear though.  Even after I say, "Go potty before we get ready!!' Someone has to go 10 minutes into playing.

These beauties took the polish off of my toenails one day.  They were so excited!

 I love clearance.  These girls had been practically begging for earmuffs.  It just so happened that they were only $1.99/pair at Children's Place one day.  Wish granted ladies!  Purrrrrrrrr......

December Randoms

Since we have been living in a bit of a constructions zone lately, we have had boxes everywhere.  And my kids hoard boxes & big chunks of styrofoam.  Normal, right?  One evening I could NOT find Luke!  I searched everywhere upstairs, ran downstairs and looked everywhere, was headed back up to check outside and tried to kick this box out of the way - well it was heavier than I thought it would be.  Found him!

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 Snow! Snow! Snow!!

 Entertaining themselves with window markers one morning.  What am I going to do when they are in school all week?  Honestly....I'm excited to get some napping in. 

It's official.  I'm #38andaverage.  Balloons & flowers from Casey!  So pretty!

 Caleb got a USA quarter map from Grammy & Papa Don for his birthday.  He had a good time finding quarters for the slots!  He just needs a handful more.

Luke has been really enjoying the learning part of preschool.  (Alexa loves the social part)  He is a PRO at writing his name on EVERYTHING.  He wrote his name on this one day and brought it to me & said, "Will you write mom now and make a heart?"  Cutest.  Moment.  Ever.

Eva the Diva had a fun birthday party filled with minute to win it games.  She invited my crew & a bunch of her friends.  It was a good time!!  She is such a fun little girl.  I love how she just radiates happiness.

We rang in the new year with soda in plastic goblets & pizza.  Is there any other way when you have little people?  Casey had to wake up for work the next morning at 3:30, so the kids and I made it to midnight, then went to bed.  Bring it on 2019!

Christmas Break Get Away

A tradition that HAS to stick around is our little overnight trip to SLC.  It's funny the things that stick in our minds.  Rylee asked on our way down if we were going to go to Chili's and drink out of the fancy cups.  I didn't know that Chili's even had fancy cups.  But - when they brought her drink out it was just what she was expecting.  There is a little swerve right where her hands are in this picture.

 After dinner there was a light flurry of snow while we were looking at the candy windows at Macys.

 We met Shelby, Malissa, Shayden and MaKayla this year and they went to dinner and temple square with us.  These 3 sure love each other.  Luke always tells me that he wants MaKayla to come over and have 12 sleeps at our house.

 These ladies got new swimsuits for this trip.  They just seem to keep growing!!

 The Freeze 5!  They all sure love to swim.

 Even when they decided on their own that they were done, they still had to be touching the water.

 I was lucky enough to still be able to get a discount at Crystal Inn.  Sharing a room would be rough!  We were able to get a decent deal on adjoining rooms.  I think that the kids love it as much as Casey & I do.

 Before we checked out the next day we went swimming again.  It was nice because we had the pool all to ourselves!!

 Caleb & Casey went outside the night before and rolled in the snow and then jumped into the pool.  Taylor got brave enough to try it before we left.  Crazy people.  I would NEVER!!