The day finally arrived! Brooklyn woke up first to the sounds of santa's sleigh at a sweet 5:30 in the am! Sooo, we stalled her for a bit by letting her play bowling, (her favorite Wii game). Luckily that worked for about an hour before the rest of the clan woke up! They never thought the day would come! After presents were opened we packed the car and headed for Nana and Papa's house in California! The kids were so excited! It was a busy day!
Gramma Debbie and Papa were able to stop by for a quick visit on their way back to Utah from Bryon's Dad's 80th birthday in L.A. Of course they came bearing loads of gifts! The kids had so much fun seeing them again and it was a preview of what was to come on Christmas day for Madison! She had no idea she could rip the presents open!
The kids are officially on vacation and we had to come up with some classic activities! I know everyone remembers the graham cracker versions of these yummy houses! I tried to tell my kids that gingerbread really isn't very tasty...(my opinion)but they wanted to see for themselves, so the day before I bought some ginger snaps...yeah, long story short, everyone was down with using graham crackers instead of the gingerbread! Mom was happy because it's a whole lot less work! Merry Christmas!
What you didn't see on your christmas cards this year! With the addition of each child it get's harder and harder for everyone to look at the camera! This year it was our Boston that told us he couldn't smile with his eyes open, because the lights hurt his eyes! So as you can see when one is looking or in some cases when 3 are looking one is a little distracted! Anyway it was a bunch of fun taking these pictures this year! We hope you all have a great holiday season!
The kids had so much fun last weekend with the rain! It started to rain on Friday and the kids had a blast playing in it! They were shocked that we didn't have any umbrellas and really wanted me to go buy some. Even though it was still in the 70's we went and got the kids hot cocoa from Starbucks and then stopped off at the dollar tree for some quality umbrellas after school! So as soon as we got home the kids ran down to the little park down the street and had a bunch of fun splashing in the rain! It was a nice little break to all of our sunny days!
We had a bunch of fun making ginger bread men...okay sugar cookie men today! As you can see, they look absolutely delicious! Paris' friend Maddy was over having fun too!
Halloween is always a blast with kids! We had school functions, church functions, and then of course the real deal! They had plenty of practice before performing for the neighbors. Everyone decided on one costume except Paris. She found our costume bin and wanted to be raggedy ann, a witch, and The Little Mermaid, so of course she had to be all 3! We had enough functions to be all! When my kids saw Paris as Raggedy Ann they all said look it's "Jo-Jo"! (for those of you without little kids, Jo-Jo is a little circus clown on the disney channel) I'm getting so old. I had to explain who Raggedy Ann was! Madison stayed home with mom this year and passed out candy while dad took the kids out. Everytime someone knocked or rang our bell, she would make this excited sound and point to the door! When we opened the door, she was always surprised at who was staring back!
Paris' class got to go to a pumpkin patch for a field trip and Madison got to tag along too! Unfortunately, it was in the upper 90's during this trip so we stuck to the animals and then flocked to the shade! This was our first year without even carving a pumpkin! I have to say these new fake pumpkins are awesome! No mess!
Our annual Halloween party was a success! We had so much fun! I was lucky enough to have my sister Shavonne in town to help out with all the little details! It's always tons of work, but so worth it! We decided not to do a murder mystery party this year and opted for a costume party! As you can see everyone participated and we gave away some sweet prizes for the winners! Bet ya can't wait to see what happens next year!
This is the result of being home on a Sunday afternoon ignoring the 4 wheelers flying up and down the street! This is what happens when you add a 10 year old little boy + a 4 wheeler + 50 year old uncle racing him in a residential neighborhood! The little boy turned out to be ok, but he was really lucky!
The new school year has began! We have 3 of our 4 now in school! Another year older...
I walked into the bathroom and noticed that Madison had just learned to climb up into the sink! Of course while holding my sunglasses! How she managed I'm a little unsure, but they seem to remain in one piece! Within a minute or so big sister Paris joined the picture party! Madison is just learning that you're supposed to smile for the camera! We had fun.
Boston turns 6! He was so excited to find out how much he'd grown overnight! He wanted spaghetti for dinner, his favorite. When it came time for presents he was really hoping for a CD player. Every night his sisters get to go to sleep blasting the childrens primary CD, it really makes Boston mad and all he's wanted since they got that CD was for his own CD to blast right back. Well we were crazy and made his wish come true. We endured about 15 minutes of the Primary chorus VS Baby Einstein Lullabye's before we had to put a volume cap on both!
Paris turned 4 on June 18th! She was able to invite her friends over for a pool party! After swimming she got to open all her presents and then finished the evening with having a friend spend the night! They were so excited! They stayed up late and watched Ratatouille, ate popcorn, and finally fell asleep! Brooklyn and Boston enjoyed the party too!
Aunt Sky was here for EFY, so while she was here we decided to put the kids in the backyard before it got too hot and take some cute pictures! They did good!
We had a surprise party for Phil after work on his birthday, June 1st. He actually didn't even have a clue! I went through the rigorous task of finding 30 gifts to wrap and keep hidden during the weeks prior! When the day finally came, he and the kids had a blast ripping through them!
Graduation Time! Brooklyn received several awards this year for outstanding achievements and Boston just began to like Kindergarten. It all goes by too fast!
On Memorial Day we decided to take a tour of what's around us and found this little park called Rawhide! It was soo hot outside, but was really quaint and cute! They had the whole wild west theme to the extreme! It was a day of memories! Brooklyn lost a tooth on mainstreet while eating rock candy, Boston got to take center stage in the town magic show, the kids got to pan for gold, pet the animals, ride the donkeys, and take a ride on a stagecoach! Next time we'll bring lot's of sunscreen!
Boston, being the only boy, has the right to pull a few pranks on his unsuspecting sisters. Since he's so outnumbered, he only has the evening hours while they're out to try! He was so cute, I caught him in the girls room after they were asleep. I thought he was trying to wake them up, so of course I had to go and investigate. He told me that he got some ants at school and he wanted Brooklyn and Paris to "freak out" when they wake up! So of course I let the madness continue and just took pictures. When the girls woke up the next morning, it wasn't quite the reaction he was expecting...they wanted to know why Boston's plastic ants were all over their room and not his!
This year Shavonne and Greg decided to bless their daughter Haven in Arizona on my birthday! So we decided to have one big party with Madison turning 1 on April 13th and then my birthday on April 15th! My friend Elena flew up from San Diego and my parents were able to come down from California! It was so much fun to hang out with everyone!
We decided to have a rare photo op with these two cousins! This was the weekend of Haven's blessing! Nana sent the girls these outfits for easter! We tried to make Madison happy, but she just rubbed off on little Haven!
As you can see Paris slept in her ballerina outfit! The Easter bunny left a trail in the morning down the stairs and into the front room! The hunt was on! The kids were so excited! It was a good Easter for everyone!
We had to take one of this mess! Who ever said not to give kids chocolate...must have had an experience like this one! She had a lot of fun...but not as much as mom when I had to clean it all up!
A few other stay at home mom's and I decided we should take the kids to play at Makutu's Island. We had a lot of fun! I strapped Madison to the front pack and went everywhere the kids did! It's amazing what a work out I got! I was so sore...yeah okay maybe I am a little out of shape! The kids had a blast, we'll have to send the dad's out with them next! It's right next to IKEA!
I decided to give Madison a bath in the sink and she loved it! I decided to take some modeling pics before she became too shy! Isn't she cute?!
