Channing is 6!!!

Channing turned six on April 23, 2017. She was really excited about her big day and had been talking about it for weeks. The Friday before her birthday, we celebrated at school with her. I was the mystery reader in her class and then we had lunch together. We brought her classmates donuts and they were pretty excited!

After school I let her take a friend for a little outing. Thankfully she has many friends to choose from, but her best friend Avery from her kindergarten class is who she chose to come with.

They went to get pedicures together! 

They chose matching blue toenail polish!

After pedicures, we went out to Tutti Frutti for icecream!! They literally giggled for like 3 hours straight! I have never met two girls who giggled so much!! They had a fun time together, but literally her stomach hurt afterward from all the laughing!

On her actual birthday, since it was Sunday, we settled for the packaged donuts and a cinnamon roll!

She woke up early and took the liberty of declaring that she could sleep in bed with mom and dad because it was her birthday. Typically we don't have our kids in bed with us, but we made an exception for her special day. 

She started the morning off with breakfast and then glow in the dark balloons!

We went to church and then afterward my brother Chris came over for a BBQ and celebrated with us!

Channing opened presents and was excited about what she got. She got a jewlery box from Aunt Daphne, a Willa American girl doll from Grandma, a jewlery making kit from Oma, Elena dress up things from us, a purse and diary from Uncle Chris and Aunt Chira, and many more things, but what she was super excited about was her necklaces that Avery's mom makes and Avery got for her!

She chose a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. Her cousin Charlotte was all ready to help with the action!

I love this picture as I think it portrays her well. She is silly but loved the day being all about her.

All day she would say things like... "it's my birthday so you can't take your first bite of breakfast before me", or "I get to go first because it's my birthday." We love our little birthday diva, but man did she live it up!! She his a very creative, artistic child. She loves to draw and color and paint. She also absolutely LOVES makeup, fashion, and jewelry. I don't know where she got that from, because it certainly wasn't me! She is getting better and better at reading and is still pretty shy at school. At home, she never stops singing and talking. I guess it's good that she feels comfortable here! She does hate to throw anything away! I find stashes of her tags from clothes, or box wrappers, or any paper someone has given her. She hates to throw them away. She is very loving and always wants to cuddle or give hugs. She hates when we don't say goodbye before we leave anywhere. We do love our orange headed Channing and she does keep us on our toes!

Flag Football!

Cavin decided to take the Spring season off of soccer and try flag football. He played with an organization called UPWARD and his team was the Colts. He really enjoyed learning a new sport and did fairly well. He was the quarterback on and off for many games, and has a great arm. He really tries hard and I am grateful for that.

Fun action shot!!

Here was his team this year. They won about half their games. He really looked forward to practice.

End of season huddle. They played hard and I am proud of their hard work!

Easter 2017

I love Easter season. I love the spring, and the colors that come with it. I love the meaning behind Easter and the focus on the Savior. I love the traditions, and I just love this holiday! We celebrated several times for a couple weeks an enjoyed thinking about the reason for the Easter season. 

The weekend before Easter we did the traditional Easter Egg dying!! My kids still really enjoy this!

On Good Friday the kids had no school. That means we got to play with the cousins at Grandma and Grandpa's house! We had an Easter egg hunt, played games, went on an adventure to the park, and then decorated cupcakes!

Channing and Charlotte were getting better at learning to pump themselves on the swing. Then they decided going sideways would be more fun! We had a nice time with the cousins!

On Saturday we went to Cavin's football game which he did awesome at. He scored a touchdown and played hard! Then I went to a baptism, haircut, and then in the evening we went with 5 other families to Deer Park and had dinner, an Easter Egg Hunt, and played Kickball!

Our kickball team won and Cavin, Ragnar, Ella, and I all scored. We had a great time, and I was super impressed with Ella and Cavin's effort!

Easter morning the kids came down to search for their Easter baskets and look for more eggs!

This being the third Easter egg hunt, Deacon was getting the hang of it!

Ella was excited about her basket!

Deacon got his beloved ball that hes been eyeing at the store!

Channing only cared about her lip gloss! Haha such a girlie girl!

And Cavin was content as always.

We spent the morning with my brother, Chris, attending his ward. He was called into the Inverness Ward bishopric and received the High Priesthood, so we were there with my parents for his setting apart. 

Channing's dress was adorable! She loved it!

All the cute cousins together again! They looked dashing in all of their Easter apparel! I am grateful we live close to my brother and we got to spend Easter with him. I do love Easter. I know that my Savior lives and that he rose again. I am so grateful for the sacrifice that he made for me. I am grateful for the knowledge that I will be with Him again and that because of Him I can be with my family forever. Such a wonderful blessing!

Cavin's 9th Birthday!

On April 12, 2017 Cavin turned 9 years old! He was excited about his big day! He woke up and we started partying early! Ragnar had to work that evening, so we opened presents in the morning!

We started with our usual birthday donut!!

Then he got to dive into his presents!

He got many things, but was most excited about his Ninjago legos and ....

 His fidget spinner. 

He then went to school for the day. The school put his name on the billboard for his birthday. It's kinda hard to see!

Deacon and I went to lunch with Cavin and brought his class donuts! Deacon is peeking through the middle of us ;)

After school we went to chick fil a and then the real fun began!! His father surprised him with a suite at the Rockets game!! He was super excited! He loves basketball!

They made him a special sign for the suite!

My parents, Natalie, and Chris' family were able to join us and it made it a blast having them!

Cavin loves to hang out with Caden and Coleton!

Deacon loves the games! He cheers so loud I think he might lose his voice everytime!

Dad sneaked in a cookie cake for us to celebrate with!

Cavin even got a visit from the Rockets Power Dancers. He was slightly terrified when they came in! Haha! I'm afraid in a few years that will change!

Deacon enjoyed popcorn with Grandpa!

All the cousins together!

I'm so grateful for my family and that they could take the time to come! The Rockets won and we had a great time!

He has wonderful supportive Grandparents. 

I am thankful for his awesome father for making this party happen. It was one to remember and I feel so grateful he made it happen!

We are also so grateful that Cavin is part of our family. He is a gentle giant. He is kind and soft spoken. He is often looking out for others and wants to make sure everyone is happy. He loves math and numbers and I can ask him almost any math question at the table and he will figure it out for me! He loves sports. Especially soccer, football, and basketball. He really likes to know the time and always has a clock nearby. He likes legos, games, the wii, the ipad, drawing, and is a really good kid who tries his best to make the right choices. We love him!!