A lot to say about this little ones decision to become baptized a member of the gospel. She has such a testimony about Jesus and the Church, she is just too sweet. She loves to share her testimony in sacrament on Sundays, and people will always tell me how much they enjoyed her testimony.
She was baptized on February 3rd at 10 a.m. by her dad and confirmed by him as well. We had quite a few family members that came to wish her well and support her. They all came to our house later for a luncheon and a birthday celebration for her, Adam, and Uncle David. Lots of excitement, but fun for her. She got to see her favorite cousin Maddie, and the two of them just played and played.

We are forever grateful for the family that came, and missed the ones who could not come.

How did my  baby girl become big enough to be baptized? It seems like yesterday we were doing this with Grant, and that still blows my mind. I remember when they were little, and our days were play-doh, painting, reading books, and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. When moms, grandparents, and random people in the store tell me to "enjoy this time, it goes by fast," how right they were. It seemed at the time to just drag by, but now it seems to be slipping by. I think school has a lot to do with it! Before you know it, it's summer, and then fall and school starts again, therefore, making my kids grow up! Can't believe it!

I love her baptism dress. I picked it up from Deseret Book and it was just the right price. I had been looking online for a bit, and could not find anything I really liked (and it also had to fit Audrey's criteria of not being itchy), so I was happy when I found this.

 These sweet girls are all part of Activity Days, and they came to Audrey's baptism. So sweet. Audrey has been waiting very patiently to be able to go to Activity Days. These girls were so welcoming  and kind.

 Audrey's friend Hadley came to see her be baptized. Such sweet friends. They have known each other since preschool.

Mrs. Wells  was there playing the piano for us. She is a special lady to our family. She taught my Grant and Audrey music for a bit, and was so patient and kind to us during the whole process. 

How I love this sweet family of mine!

Soccer Family

We are officially a soccer family with Audrey starting soccer this April. She has never played before, but she loves to run, so we thought this would be a good fit for her. She is on a team with 4 other girls who have played before and are pretty good, but she is improving every time she plays. She had a block while she was acting as goalie, and it was fun to watch. We tell her to kick the ball hard, and she will say, "I don't want to hurt anyone." Still need to work on kicking. The other girls are really supportive and patient with her. It will be an interesting season. James signed on as their coach, and another mom is also a coach.

It also throws quite a wrench into our Wednesdays. We already have the paper route that we get ready for every Wednesday right after school. Audrey is in charge of rolling the papers, and I help her. Grant is the one who delivers the papers with James after James is done with work. Once we are done rolling, Audrey does her homework, and has some playtime. Scouts is at 4:00 which is wonderful and Sister Jolley is super with him. He goes there and then Audrey has dance at 4:30. On my way to get Grant at 5, I grab some dinner and pick him up at Sister Jolley's. We go home and eat, and then James picks Audrey up at dance and brings her to a meeting spot by our house. I bring Grant and we switch kids. Audrey needs to eat and change into soccer clothes, and has to be at the soccer field at 6:30. Adam and I watch Audrey play and James and Grant join us when they are done with the route. It is a pretty crazy day. And this past week went even more crazy, when we discovered that Audrey had soccer pictures and had to be at the field at 5:30. We made it at 6:00 after we called and told them, that not only are we crazy busy, be we completely forgot! All was well though, and she got her pictures taken. It was also extremely cold, and Adam was getting over strep throat. We left a little early that night. Hopefully, we will get the hang of these Wacky Wednesdays? I don't know though. We are all pretty exhausted by the end of Wednesday.

Happy 10th Birthday Grant!

Over the weekend we celebrated this guy:

He got sung to in church on Sunday. I love how joyful he looks here. His Sunday School teacher pulled a funny face and he thought that was funny. He wore this crown for the rest of the day. Then Betsy got it and took it outside. Oh well. He had fun wearing it for the time he had it!

Who it just seems like this was him yesterday:



He got a brand new bed for his room. His other one was hand-me-down from Grandma Jane and was kind of old and really hammered. We gave Adam the same bed for his birthday, and put Grant's in his room the night before so he could wake up in his new bed on his birthday.

He wanted a chocolate cars cake, and we came up with this:

I love the look of the cars on top. And Grant is loving cars right now, so this added to his collection.


For dinner, he asked for chicken enchiladas. This is the one meal I make that everyone will eat, and no one complains. James, Adam, everyone eats them and they all thank me and talk about how good they are. There is not another meal that comes close. Grant ate his and had leftovers the next day.


We went to the Lego store recently and Audrey bought herself a Lego hospital with the money she earned from the paper route. Grant was there too, and wanted something so he found the perfect thing:

And he put it together himself!

In anticipation for the Lego hospital, (Audrey was letting it be known throughout the whole house) Grant mentioned he wanted a clock tower Lego building. We looked on Amazon, and they have one that is discontinued, but you can get it for $649. Ummmm.... no. So we looked a bit more and found a tiny miniblock set of Big Ben with clock stickers he can put on. It came the day before his birthday, and James helped him put it together. At least, that is how it began.  Then James became so intrigued with it, he ended up staying up till midnight a few night later finishing it! He really enjoyed it, and Grant likes playing with it. So funny!

All in all, he had a great birthday! I loved the 10 pancakes, even though, it made me a little sad that he is now in the double digits, and my baby is not such a baby anymore. He is a big kid, who loves to be creative, is super smart, loves to cuddle close, and say sweet things at bedtime. He doesn't sing often, but when he does, my heart is happy. He loves A Childs Prayer as his favorite primary song, and loves to wear statement T-shirts that say things like "Believe Me, I'm Awesome." He has no filter when he says something, so what he says is exactly how he feels. He loves to swim, read books about dogs, loves timers and clocks, and follow the lines on his Road Atlas. He is best friends with his sister, and the two of them love to watch movies, play the wii, and play outside. He gives us lots of hugs, and we just adore him. Happy Birthday, sweet boy! How we love you!!!

Its the Little Things

I love these creative little things my kids do around the house to remind me that they are just little. My Grant loves to make clocks and post them all over the house. He particularly loves roman numerals and will make several and put them up just about anywhere. This big one in our entry way is the biggest he has ever attempted. I love the yard stick as the minute hand and the homemade hour hand. He had to stand like this for minutes on end while the clock changed minute after minute. This one loves time.

 These two have so much fun together. It goes without saying (but I will say it anyway) that I don't know what they would do without each other. They play in a similar way. Adam seems to enjoy the same toys Audrey does and will sit and play with her. And Audrey is patient and kind and will help him and teach him. Lucky mom right here.

 Our Betsy. She will turn 1 on February 4th. She just got a haircut here so she looks a little bit different. I love her short ears. She looks great all fluffy, so it will be a bit before she looks that way again. I am just always amazed at how different of a dog she looks just after having a haircut.

Happy Birthday to Our Audrey!

Eight years ago on January 10, 2010, I had a sweet baby girl named Audrey who loved to snuggle with me. Fast forward 8 years, and this sweet girl still loves a good cuddle. This mom is so lucky. She is such a sweetheart! We adore this little girl who helps with her brothers, shows kindness and caring towards others, has a tender heart, and loves to sing and dance and use her creative imagination. Yes, this little one had a great day!

First off, her dad signed up to be WatchDog at school, and was she ever excited!

 She shared cupcakes with her friends at school, and seemed to really enjoy Dad's company.

 Fun to have pictures playing and having fun at recess!

Dad also got to eat lunch with Audrey! So fun for him, and for Audrey too!

 The opening of the gifts after her dance class. She was super excited to receive this Shopkins mansion.

 And then to get more Shopkins to go with it.

 She also received some adult-sized scriptures, and her baptism dress.

 Adam likes to get in on the fun!

 Her princess Barbie cake that didn't quite turn out for her mom to make, but the bakery at Wal-Mart did a fantastic job.

I love the anticipation of blowing out the candles.

 Cute smile from Adam! I just love these kids!

 All of them loved her new Shopkins house so much, they played with this for days afterward.

And kudos to this awesome dad who put it together for them.

How I love this 8-year-old of mine. Happy Birthday sweet girl!  I hope you enjoyed your day!

A lot has happened in the month since Christmas. We had our first ever family New Year's Party. This has been the first year, that our kids have really cared to ring in the New Year. This little girl was pretty excited! And insisted on staying up until midnight. And she did just that. We always kid her that she is our little night owl, and she did not disappoint. She rang in 2018 with her dad who is also quite the night owl, while mom and Grant slept.

Yes, we did, and I have no regrets. I simply get to a point where I have to get some sleep and this was one of them. Just could not do it!

We had a good time with everyone though!

We played games.

 We looked at funny videos on YouTube of puppies. Mostly pugs dressed up in funny costumes. How we miss our Cooper.

I adore their Happy New Year hats and they did too for about 2 seconds.

At midnight, I am told, sparkling cider was opened and Happy New Year was shouted, and streamers were thrown.

Then all was quiet around 12:20.

January 2nd found us like this, most of the day. Kids back to school and the joys of our morning routine.

Surgery for this momma on January 4th. Here is a pic feeling pretty good with Grant and Betsy the day before.

 Still trying to get this big brother to like his little brother more. Even just a little bit would be helpful. Sometimes special needs are the beast.

A yummy salad I made to hopefully help me eat better throughout the new year. Avocado caprese salad. It was a winner.