Wall Family

Weekend fun

2012-01-22T21:17:00.002-07:00

We had a fabulous Saturday night, we celebrated Natalie's 18th birthday! She had a fun surprise B-day party at
"Jump On It Utah". All of her friends came as well as all the family!

We bounced and jumped all night long and it was so much fun!

Elizabeth had fun crawling around on the mats and eating cake. She is getting so big and looks more grown up everyday! I really wish she would stop growing!

It is really hard to get pics of the kids that aren't blurry.

Then we ended the weekend with a huge bday bash for Grandma Shields, Marcus, Natalie, Teresa & Jeffrey! It was a delicious southern food dinner, and cupcakes for dessert!

We also finally got some snow, but I didn't take any pictures of the white cold stuff.

I love weekends!

Closet remodel

2012-01-22T20:55:00.001-07:00

We love our charming neighborhood with tree lines streets, and older homes. But having an older home means having small closets! Our closet has bothered Danny for over a year, so this weekend we decided to remodel our closet.

I forgot to take a picture of the closet before.

First we emptied everything out. I sorted though everything and we have a huge box of shoes, clothes and other stuff to the D.I.
I love getting rid of old stuff so- that part was fun!

Danny removed the bars and shelves and resdesigned the close so we have our own "walk in" closet. It turned out so great and really feels like a much bigger closet!

Now I can go shopping for some new clothes to fill the closet up!
Thanks Danny for being so handy- I love all your skills!

2012-01-22T20:46:00.000-07:00

Here is a few cute pictures of Emily and her friends. These girls are all different ages, from 8 to 4. But they all play together so well and have tons of fun!

We will miss Sophie so much, she is moving this week. We are happy she will be home for the summer, we will miss our neighbors!

She's growing up too fast!

2012-01-12T16:54:00.000-07:00

This is how Lizzie spends a lot her time now(only she's not always naked). She crawls around the kitchen floor playing with tupperware, cups and dishes. She thinks it's fun to explore in the kitchen while I am cooking etc..

On this night she was naked because she pooed in the bathtub. I got her out and cleaned her off, and let her crawl around while I cleand the tub.

She always closes her eyes while getting her picture taken, the flash must be too bright for her eyes.

I asked Taylor to take a few pics of her crawling skills. These were the pictures he got, not great pics, but at least we can see her in action. She scavengers around putting everything in her mouth, she eats dirt, lint, lego's old food, etc..

She is getting really fast at crawling, even on the hardwood floors. She prefers carpet, because she slides all over on the hardwood.

Time to baby-proof the house, we've got a baby on the loose.

2012-01-10T20:56:00.001-07:00

Tonight I am feeling extremely grateful for all of the blessings in my life. One of Taylor's best buddies has been in the hospital for over 2 weeks. He is so sick, and having a hard time. We have been praying and fasting for him, and his family and hoping that he can come home soon.

With this on my mind I can't help but feel overwhelmed with all the blessings my Heavenly Father has given me and my family. I love my life right now. Even though the days are long and exhausting. I truly love being a mother to my four cute kids.

Sometimes I have to remind myself of this, when there is craziness going on all around me. Today was one of those crazy moments. I picked up the kids from school and brought them home. I made them a snack, talked about our day. Then all at once everyone needed my attention ASAP. Lizzie was yelling for more food, Isaac was crying about his Lego's getting lost, Our neighbor Zach needed more milk, Emily needed help with her reading, Taylor was asking for graph paper, and how to find the area/perimeter of a rectangle AND my phone started ringing. It all exploded! I had to take a deep breath, and tackle one issue at a time with patience. ( which is hard for me at times like this.)

I am counting my blessings tonight.
I want to enjoy these days. I want to live in the moment and not let the daily mundane tasks get to me. I hope to remember these times with four young kids with fondness.

I think I have the best job in the world!

Lizzie at 10 months

2012-01-02T20:28:00.001-07:00

At 10 months old Lizzie is changing everyday! She is still such a sweet, adorable girl and we all adore her!

She has stranger anxiety now, and prefers to be with mom or dad.
She cries when left with someone else, until she is distracted
She has 2 bottom teeth.
She loves her new doll, "Pinky", and gets so happy to have her.
She can crawl everywhere now, and pull up in her crib. She crawls all around the house, exploring and finding things to put in her mouth.
She loves to get attention from her older siblings.
She likes to be outside, even in the cold weather.
She loves food, and demands more food by yelling!
She takes 2 naps a day, and gets cranky when she doesn't get a nap.
She hates bottles now, she slaps them away with her hands, but she likes drinking from a sippy cup.
She is still not a great sleeper at night, it's our goal for 2012 to get her to sleep through the night.

Eating with her is getting to be a danger area. She is so messy, and loves to eat by herself with her hands. It's always fun to watch, but hard to clean up.
The other night she got her hands on a cookie and thought she was in heaven. She chowed it down, before I could take it away!

It is really making me sad to see her act so grown up.

I prefer to feed her dinner when she's naked and then just throw her right in the bath.

We sure love you Lizzie! You are such a blessing in our family!

Lights at Temple Square

2012-01-02T20:15:00.003-07:00

One night last week we went downtown to see the lights at Temple Square. We went with our friends the Halls, and had a great night.

The weather was really warm, so we just wore jackets instead of huge coats etc.. We parked at Danny's building and rode TRAX down to templ square. All the kids love riding the train.

The kids had fun seeing the lights, and looking at the temple. It seems like everytime we are with the Halls I run into my cousins. Tonight was no different I saw two of my cousins and their families. One lives in Denver, and the other in Phoenix. It was a funny moment, but great to see family wherever we go!

Lizzie did great, she got tired at the end of the night. She looks so cute in the hat Katie made for her.

More of Christmas Break

2012-01-02T20:05:00.002-07:00

After Christmas we had another full week of fun. We went skiing on Monday and had some friends over for games, had the extended Shields family party on Tuesday and kept on playing all week long. The worst part about the Christmas break, was the lack of snow! There is no snow, so we did no sledding, etc..
Danny had to work most of the week, but we managed to squeeze in a lot of good times even with him at work.

Elizabeth has hair barely long enough for a tiny little ponytail on the side of her head! It's the cutest thing! She doesn't like having her hair done, but I let her play in the sink while I comb her hair and she loves it.

Later in the week we took down our Christmas tree and decorations which is always really depressing! Here's a few random pics. from the week.

Merry Christmas!!!

2011-12-29T14:04:00.001-07:00

After the fun party, we headed home to find a gift from the elves, the kids all got new pj's. Then we left cookies for Santa and got tucked into bed. The kids were so excited they could hardly sleep!They finally fell asleep and the elves got to work.

Santa Claus came and this is how he left things...

We had a fire in our fireplace for the first time. It was nice and cozy and made the house warm.

Elizabeth was the first one awake, around 7am! She started yelling and being loud, and woke the other kids up. So we let them come upstairs about 7:30. They were all so happy and completly thrilled that Santa Claus had come! Isaac was in awe that he got toys, instead of coal ( he really deserved more coal, but Santa is a softie!)

Elizabeth got her first little doll. She loves it and says "Hi" when she sees her. Lizzie is 10 months old now, and has 2 little teeth.

Isaac got a nerf gun,bike helmet, a complete army costume and an army helicopter. He was in heaven! He wore the costume all day, and even brought the grenade and walkie/talkies to church, Ha Ha! He tells me everyday about how he really wants to be in the army when he grows up. We started calling him "The General".

Emily got a new baby, and a barbie as well as a laptop. She was happy, but a little disappointed that she didn't get a real bunny or kitten. I told her Santa can't bring pets unless he gets parents permission. She forgot all about wanting a pet and had a great time playing with her stuff.

Taylor got a ski helmet, a remote control helicopter and a huge lego set. He spent several hours putting it together, Danny helped him with some of it, but he did most of it by himself. He loves building with legos, and is really good at it!

Danny and I were spoiled by Santa and our parents as well.
After we opened presents we had a big breakfas, got ready for church and attended church at 11am. It was so nice to go to church and hear speakers about Jesus's birth, sing carols and feel the spirit.
I wish Christmas was on Sunday every year.

After church we ate lunch, played and then all took naps, or had "quiet time". It was so luxurious to take a nap in the middle of the afternoon, we loved it!!! We hung around and relaxed until evening, then we walked down to G & G Shields house to visit with everyone.

Overall we had an amazing Christmas , we feel so blessed and grateful for all that we have been given.

Christmas Eve

2011-12-29T13:22:00.002-07:00

Danny & I worked all week to complete all our Christmas errands. It was nice to get all our shopping and wrapping, neighbor gifts etc.. done early in the week and spend a nice realxing day on Christmas Eve.

We ran a couple of errands and then played at home. That evening we spent a wonderful Christmas Eve night at G & G Shields. We ate a delicious dinner, had a programand talent show, read scriptures, played games and sang carols. Then we opened our "Pixie" gifts and went home to wait for Santa.

We were lucky to have Great Grandma Shields spending the weekend with our family as well. She is always full of energy and willing to play games with everyone!

We loved spending Christmas with her!

All the boys piled on Great Grandma Shields lap for a picture, I think they may have squished her!

Taylor and Jeffrey love playing Parcheesi, too bad Grandma always wins.

Derek knows just how to get the kids all crazy! He wrestled with them, and they all loved it! Lizzie was happy and is crawling around now. She is looking older every day.

During the talent show Emily, Becca and Mary did a dance to "Santa Baby", Taylor did "the worm", Jeffrey played the piano, and Issac and Spencer sang a song. Then Becca sang a solo, and it was the cutest thing ever! Unfortunately I didn't get any pics of her, she is a natural performer.

It was a fun party, as we reflected on Christ's birth and the real meaning of Christmas.

Christmas break- Week 1

2011-12-23T21:38:00.001-07:00

We spent a beautiful, sunny afternoon skiing at Alta today. Danny & I went with Taylor and Emily, as well as Aunt Natalie and it was a great day! We also met Paul, Kari and Adri there, but unforunately got no pics. with them.

This was Emily's first day of skiing and she did great! She was really excited to try and she seemed to have a lot of fun. She never cried, and even asked if we could go skiing tomorrow!? I guess that means she loved it!

It's hard to take good pictures while skiing, but I did manage a few, here they are.

Emily got cold and hungry on the ski lift, so we snuggled her between us and gave her a candy bar.

Taking a break with Aunt Nat. I am so glad that Natalie came, she skiied with Taylor the whole time.

Taylor wouldn't let me get any good pics. of him skiing, but he did fantastic! He has really made a lot of improvement and just zooms down the hill like a pro. He's already asking to go on jumps and wanting to ski harder runs. We are proud of you Taylor!

It was such a fun day, we really appreciate Grandma Shields watching Isaac and Lizzie at her house.

We had a wonderful day together!

The kids have been out of school all week and we've had fun doing lots of activities. We went Christmas shopping for cousins and friends, swimming at the indoor pool with friends, had fun at Chuck E Cheese and went to see the holiday displays at Grand America in downtown SLC. The rest of our time has been spent playing legos, watching holiday movies and building more and more forts. The kids are obsessed with forts, all our extra blankets, mattressed and pillows are currently in a huge fort in the family room. It's a great way for the kids to play together.

We look forward to a wonderful Christmas weekend and are so happy to celebrate the birth of our Savior!

Merry Christmas!!!

2011-12-18T22:02:00.001-07:00

We spent some time this weekend at G & G Wall's house with Adam & Katie and Jennifer & Chandler. Katie knitted the kids these amazing hats for Christmas. The boys got shark hats, and the girsl got adorable berrete's. The kids love their hats, we really appreciate Katie working so hard on these, she is very talented. I wish I had taken more pictures.
The pics. are bad quality from Danny's phone.

This whole month of December we have had our "Elf on the Shelf" at our house. Our elf is names Elfie, and he goes to the North Pole each night to report whether the kids have been good or bad. The kids love looking to see where Elfie has moved to in the morning.

The Elf has worked great to get good behavior from Taylor and Emily, but it wasn't working for Isaac. He is the most stubborn, strong willed, defiant kid that I know, and I was so fed up with his behavior. So last week Isaac got a bucket of coal, from the north pole delivered to our front door. It had a note, and informed Isaac that he better shape up his behavior, or he would get more coal for Christmas.

It has helped improve his behavior, but he still is a hard child!

The weather has been cold and gloomy, with no snow. So we have been inside all the time, which means the kids have been creating forts. They make a new fort almost every day. They play really well, while they have their fort, and it keeps them happy and entertained. Last week Emily and Taylor slept in their fort, and they were thrilled.

Elizabeth is growing up so fast! She is so much fun, and we all just adore her. She loves sitting in front of the Christmas tree, and looking at the lights. She doesn't crawl yet, which is great for now. She is obsessed with food, and will eat anything she can get her hands on. She smacks her lips when she wants more. It's really adorable.
She is the cutest girl and we love her!!!

Only 1 week until Christmas!!!

Santa Claus

2011-12-15T21:21:00.001-07:00

We went and saw Santa today after school. There is an adorable neighborhood boutique/pharmacy that has Santa visiting, so we walked over in the freezing cold.

Taylor, Emily & Isaac were thrilled to see the real Santa, and each had a turn on his knee. I put Elizabeth on his lap for a picture and she was so scared. She started sobbing, and wouldn't look at Santa's face. I felt so bad, but had to capture it with a picture.

Merry Christmas!!!

All the kids got a treat from Santa, so Lizzie got her first sucker. She loved it, and had a death grip on the sucker until it was completely gone!
It kept her quiet and happy as we walked home.

Isaac was the most excited to see Santa Claus. He was really quiet and polite when he talked to him, and when we left he yelled
"That was so awesome!!!" He is funny boy, and says the most hilarious things.

It was a great way to spend a cold, frosty afternoon.

We can't wait to have Santa come to our house in 10 days!!!

Neck n' Nog- 2011

2011-12-15T11:59:00.001-07:00

We attended the annual "Neck n' Nog" Christmas party last weekend, and it was so much fun!!! My brother Marcus started this tradition 7 years ago, and it's a blast. Everyone wears their ugly sweaters, and crazy festive clothes and we drink hot cocoa, and Wassil from cool mugs. There are awards for ugliest, most festive etc.. outfits. They have a photo booth, complete with props to make some hilarious pictures. It was a great night, and we all had a fabulous time!

The kids really wanted to dress up for the party, so I bought a bunch of stuff at Thriftown, and the DI. It was money well spent, because they were so excited about their ugly sweaters and vests.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the evening.

Monica made these yummy chocolate covered marshmallows on a straw, to dip in hot cocoa-they were a hit!

Taylor really wanted to the ugliest outfit award. I wish I had gotten a full length shot of his clothes. He was wearing red long-johns, with a Christmas dalmation/present vest, and a ridiculous hat that says "I believe in Santa", with my black Ugg boots on his feet. He looked funny, and ugly too!
He and my cousin McKay tied for the Ugliest award, and they were both happy.

My Grandma Shields always come to the party, complete with her holiday attire. She is so much fun to have around!

Even Elizabeth got in with the ugly outfit, and some reindeer antlers. She was tired, but had a little fun at the party.

The food was delicious, as well as the hot beverages.

Marc's collection of mugs, he has about 100 of them.

Here's a shot of a bunch of my cousins with my Grandma right in the middle. What a funny picture.

All the kids looked hilarious with the props, they thought it was tons of fun! They all look so ridiculous!

Thank you Marcus & Monica for organizing a great party!!

We can't wait for next year!

Christmas is coming!

2011-12-09T09:07:00.001-07:00

Christmas is coming soon, and there is a lot of excitement in the air around our house. This is always a busy, fun, crazy time of year with parties, gifts to buy, talk of Santa, family get togethers etc...

Last year at this time our life felt totally overwhelming and out of control! We had decided to move into a new house, so we were super busy with packing, closing on our new home, redoing and painting our entire new house, moving, finding new tenants to live in our old house. This was all done in secret so the kids wouldn't know, until we told them on Christmas morning. Not to mention the usual craziness of Christmas (parties, school performances, decorating, gifts to buy etc..) AND I was 8 months pregnant! I was completely worn out and exhausted with huge swollen legs by the end of each day. Needless to say we survived last December and the thrill of surprsing our kids on Christmas morning was magical, and so fantastic! As we remember last year, we have great memories but we were very distracted and not able to really enjoy the magical holiday season.

So we are super excited about this first Christmas in our new home! I want to forget about "to do" lists, and things to get done and just enjoy the moments. We have 4 believers in our home and it's such a magical time, I want to soak up these memories!!

That is my goal for the month, to live in the moment, and enjoy every minute the kids excitement and anticipation. We have been reading Christmas stories by the Christmas tree at night, talking of Santa and his elves, watching holiday movies, drinking cocoa, and dreaming of a white Christmas. It feels good to relax and I hope to remember this time with my family forever!

We love celebrating the birth of our Savior and want to him in our hearts and minds as we go throughout the month.

We decorated our house and put up our Christmas tree last weekend. Unfortunately I didn't take any pics. of the decorating. Here are a few pics of our festivities so far!

The kids actually cooperated for a picture before church! This mouse is Danny's family Christmas mouse. She has a stash of hershey kisses in her apron, and she's Isaac's new best friend.

We are so excited for Christmas!

2011-12-08T16:59:00.001-07:00

These are Isaac's latest obsessions. He loves these binoculars and brings them everywhere we go lately, including to bed. Thanks to Grandma Shields for letting him "borrow" these, he is never going to give them back.

Isaac is really into playing army lately, so these binoculars are perfect for looking for bad guys, or spotting the enemy.

Yesterday he asked "Mom, can we go deer hunting today?"
He was totally serious in his question, and was irritated when I told him, "NO, the deer season is over!"

He definately makes me laugh a lot, but he is so infuriating too!  He is so stubborn, and refused to negotiate. I guess those will be good traits as an adult, I hope?!

It seems like we had Christmas early, because we got a trampoline!!! It's our neighbors and they are letting us use it in our yard, while they move to another country for 18 months.

The kids all love having the tramp, and it's great for Isaac on these cold, days. I send him outsdide and tell him to jump 1000 times or until he gets too cold!

Emily has had a great week, she lost her first tooth! She was excited and didn't cry at all. The tooth fairy brought her money, and she was thrilled!! I can't believe she is old enough to be loosing teeth! Stop growing up!

Just as Emily looses her tooth, Elizabeth gets her first tooth. She now has one on the bottom, and the second tooth is on it's way, I can feel it coming.
She is still so cute and so much fun! She's been lunging forward and getting ready to crawl. She is still so content to sit and play with toys and be entertained by her adoring siblings. I love this stage, wish it could last forever!

She has been sick with croup this week, and feels miserable. She is starting to pull herself up in her crib, even when she's sick.

Thanksgiving Break

2011-11-27T19:48:00.001-07:00

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I love spending time with family & friends. I also like thinking about gratitude and realizing how blessed I am. I have so many wonderful blessings in my life, I have so much to be grateful for; the gospel, my family, good health, a good job, etc...

We spent Thanksgiving break in sunny Southern Utah at the Pondersosa Ranch. G & G Shields rented a big house for all the Shields clan to celebrate Thanksgiving. It was a fun, busy, crazy calorie filled, exhausting weekend and we all had a blast!

There were 25 people staying at the house including 11 kids. Here are some pictures from our weekend.

We spent our time hiking and biking in Zions National Park, playing outside, eating, and preparing tons of food, soaking in the hot tub, playing games, watching movies, having late night discussions and more.

Thursday morning we did a 3 mile hike before our Thanksgiving feast. The kids all did pretty good hiking and the scenery was gorgeous. Lizzie did great in her backpack, she loves being outdoors.

After the hike it was back to the house to cook dinner.

Emily and Mary really wanted to eat the drumsticks from the turkey. They looks like pigs in this picture!

We enjoyed a delicious turkey dinner with all the trimmings. Everyone helped prep food, cook, and clean up the dishes. Monica made these adorable name tags, they were so cute.
Dad fell asleep during all the chaos, and I had to get a picture, it's so funny!

On Friday we went into Zions and did some biking, ate a picnic lunch and played a big game of football. The kids played in the leaves, burying each other. It was so beautiful in the park, and the weather was perfect.

These kids did pretty well at getting along and not fighting. They all play great together and seem to have tons of fun!

We are so grateful that we could spend the weekend with our family! It was definately a memorable Thanksgiving.

Family pics.

2011-11-20T20:32:00.001-07:00

We had some family pictures taken last month at a nearby park. Our sister in law, Erin took them and she did a great job.

Here are a few of our favorites.

I love this one of Lizzie! Her little tongue is so cute.

Everyone was pretty cooperative, thanks to bribery of donuts and chocolate milk!

Thanks so much Erin!

2011-11-13T19:44:00.001-07:00

We had some cold days this week, but the weather didn't stop the kids from going outside to play. Emily, Isaac and some cousins and friends had fun raking leaves and playing in them.

The worst part about this week was getting used to the daylight savings time change. Now that it gets dark at 5pm, it makes for some really long evenings before Danny gets home for dinner. We spent our time playing games, doing Play Doh, reading books, legos, doing art projects with lots of glitter (Thanks Mom & Dad for buying Emily a glitter art book for her bday, I hate glitter!), and taking nice long baths. Oh how we miss the warm, sunny nights of summer!!!

Grandma & Grandpa Deppe were in town this weekend, and we had fun spending time with them. We had dinner at our house Friday night, and then walked to Emigration for some gelato for dessert. We all love their gelato, even in the cold weather.

Then Grandpa helped us by pulling a tooth out of Taylor's mouth. He had a tooth that wasn't coming out, and the permanent tooth was ready to come in, so we asked for some help from Grandpa. He numbed him and popped it right out.
Unfortunately I didn't get any pics.

Then Saturday afternoon we went bowling at Fat Cats with Grandma Deppe. All the kids had fun bowling, even Lizzie had seemed to like it. Here are the few pics that we took.

Elizabeth is obsessed with eating. She freaks out if she sees me chewing and I don't give her a bite. So she ends up chewing on straws, cup lids, and empty cups when she has eaten all of her
snacks.

We love weekends, and wish they lasted just a little longer. Hope yours was great too!

Snowy Saturday

2011-11-05T20:46:00.001-07:00

This morning we woke up to several inches of snow! Taylor's soccer game was canceled and all our plans for the day were gone. The kids were so excited to see snow, and all wanted to go outside to play. We decided to stay at home and enjoy the first snowfall of the winter.

We made a big breakfast and then the kids loaded on their snow clothes and went outside to play in the snow. By 10:30 AM everyone was back inside for hot chocolate with toast, and then they all went back for more snow.

Taylor and his friends decided to build a snowfort, and this became the project for the entire day. They gathered shovels, tools and sled to move the snow. The boys worked on the fort all afternoon, and evening until it was dark. Talyor ate lunch and most of his dinner outside on the patio in the freezing cold snow, and never once came inside! I kept asking if they were cold and wanted to come in the house but no one did.

They had tons of fun, and it was a great day.

Here are some pictures of our snowy Saturday.

Lizzie stayed inside and watched from the window.
Isaac took his snow clothes on/off six times throughout the day, he really needs to learn how to put them on by himself.
Emily played with this cute friend for 7 hours.
Taylor was outside working on his snow for for over 8 hours!!!
We dragged him inside after dinner when it was completely dark. He was thrilled with what he made, and wants it to snow more tonight.
Our backyard is completely empty of snow, it's all been moved to the fort.

Here are some cute pics of Elizabeth from bathtime and dinner time this week. I love how her hair is really starting to grow, it's soft and really blonde. She loves her food, and gets so angry if she can't eat when everyone else is eating a meal.

I guess winter has arrived.

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T20:29:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween!

We just celebrated a great Halloween. The weather was warm, and beautiful and it was a fabulous night.

This year the kids chose to be; mummy, witch, fireman, and lady bug. All the kids were happy with their costume choice and excited for Trick Or Treating!

We started celebrating Halloween last Friday with the school parade, and carnival. It was a lot of fun, but I took no pics. Saturday we carved pumpkins, and Sunday we had a "Spooky Dinner" at G & G Shields. It was all so much fun! I am really missing my camera, and wish I still had it!

So for Halloween we had a fun dinner with all our neighbors and friends, followed by trick or treating, and ended with scones & Hot cocoa at our neighbors house. It was a fantastic night and everyone was tired and worn out. Taylor & Emily got plenty of candy and were happy with their goodies.

Here are some pictures from our Halloween celebration.

Taylor trying to be scary in his mummy costume.

Lizzie seemed happy in her lady bug costume. She loved pulling at my black wig, and pulled out tons of hair! She was great in the stroller while we took the kids trick or treating.

Hope you had a happy Halloween!

Birthday party

2011-10-25T20:10:00.002-07:00

Emily celebrated her 6th birthday! She started her day with her breakfast choice of "Lucky Charms".

I told Emily she could have a friend party this year and she thought long and hard about what she wanted to do. She chose to have a "Cooking Party" with her friends, so that is what we did to celebrate!

We passed out recipe cards for the birthday invitations. Emily invited 11 friends/cousins and all of the girls came for cooking fun!

We stared by decorating chef hats and aprons for each girl. Then we made pizzas, played games and decorated cupcakes. It was a lot of fun and all the girls seemed to really have a good time.

Here are a few pictures from the party.

Aunt Natalie came to be "The Master Chef". She helped coordinate everyone and really saved me! It got a little crazy cooking, opening presents and playing games, dealing with two brothers etc.. It was also a huge help that Grandma Shields had Lizzie and Isaac during the party,

Thanks for your help Natalie & Mom!

After the party we had dinner with the cousins and family. We all made more pizzas and then had more cake and ice cream with dad and G & G Shields.

After we sang "Happy Birthday" and Emily blew out the candles, we told her to make a wish. She said " I wish for nothing"!!!
I guess that means she liked the party and had a fabulous Birthday. Whew- I am happy if she was happy!

Overall if was a fun, crazy & exhuasting day, but it was great to see Emily with all of her cute friends. They were all really nice girls and well behaved.

After the second round of cupcakes we had FHE. We all talked about Emily and told our favorite things about her and looked at her scrapbook from when she was born.

We love our six year old girl! We are so happy you are in our family!
Happy Birthday!

Fall Break!

2011-10-25T13:05:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful Fall Break in St. George. The kids had school off on Thursday and Friday, we went left town to have some fun! We stopped at Cove Fort on the way, and took the tour. It was good to learn about that area, and all abou the fort.

The kids did well on the drive. Lizzie got grumpy and yelled a lot. She has found her voice and she's not afraid to use it, to get attention or food!

It was hot and sunny in Southern Utah, and we spent all our time outside. We went hiking, swimming, played at the park, saw the temple and hot tubbed too!

We spend most of the day Saturday in Snow Canyon. We played in the sand dunes and then did two hikes with the kids.

It was a gorgeous day, and the red sand was pretty and so scenic.

We hiked in to this slot canyon. The kids loved exploring and making their voices echo.

Elizabeth was good in her backpack. She seemed to have fun, she loves being outside. She didn't get any decent naps the whole trip, but she did great, even being so tired.

Our second hike was to the top of these petrified sand dunes. The kids loved climbing the rocks, and getting a good view from on top.

Danny helped Taylor try to catch lizards. We saw a lot of lizards and even caught a few. Taylor was in heaven doing this, he wanted to stay all day and look for lizards. He loves those reptiles!

Isaac was a stinker on the trip. He was being really high maintenance and whiny. But he loved doing the hikes. He emptied about two cups of red sand out of his shoes after hiking.

We asked Isaac what his favorite part of the trip was and he said
" I really liked looking at the map."
We all laughed, because he held a map of Snow Canyon in his hands all day, and kept pointing to it and asking "Is this where we go?"

Lizzie managed to get a little rest while sitting in her backpack on the grass.

We stayed in a hotel, so we had to eat out a lot. This is tricky with four kids, but everyone did pretty well. We all love burgers!

Here's the crew all snuggled up ready for bed.

The St. George temple is gorgeous,

It was a nice, relaxing weekend! We love southern Utah in the Fall. I dread the cold, snowy winter weather!

Happy Birthday Emily!!!

2011-10-24T13:19:00.001-07:00

Today is Emily's 6th Birthday!!!

I can't believe she is six years old already! We were remembering her birth and it was fun to think about the day she was born. I was induced early Monday morning. Grandma Shields had come to Boise from SLC to watch Taylor while we were at the hospital. Her labor went easily and she was born at 3:30 in the afternoon. I was so thrilled when Dr. Jones announced "It's a Girl!" She was the cutest little baby girl I had ever seen.

Here are a few of my favorite things about Emily.

1. She is very smart and is always ready to learn new things.

2. She has a contagious adorable smile and laugh. She really gets giggly sometimes, and when she does everyone around her laughs too!

3. Emily has a lot great self esteem and believes in herself. I attribute a lot of this to her amazing dance teacher Miss Julie. She really helped Emiy gain confidence and become self assured. Her personality has really blossomed and she has done great in new surroundings like school, gymnastics, primary class, meeting new friends etc...

4. Emily LOVES to eat!! ( She has an appetite like her mom's! )
HA-HA

She has always been a great eater. She will try new foods and likes most fruits, vegetables etc... She never leaves home without eating a snack, or bringing a snack with her.

5. Emily is a peacemaker. She is very unselfish with both of her bossy brothers and with her friends and cousins. She helps others when she can. She is so great with Elizabeth and is a wonderful older sister.

6. She is happy girl most of the time! She truly is a happy mellow almost all of the time. She is a joy to have in our family and we are so happy to spend time with her!

We love you Emily and we are so happy to have you in our family!!!

Dinner for Lizzie!

2011-10-17T12:10:00.003-07:00

Lizzie is a serious eater now! She has recently discovered that she lkes real food now. She is tired of not eating with the rest of the family. So now if she wants food, she yells and sreams until she gets a bite!

At 7 months old she has tried carrots, peas, sweet potatoes, green beans, mashes potatoes, as well as applesauce, peaches and more. So far she likes everything but the bananas.
She loves "Baby Mum Mum". crackers. She devours them in a short amount of time and then starts screaming for more food.

It's funny to feed her, because she is so intense. She follows each spoonful of food into her mouth and then whines until she gets another bite.
It's a messy, crazy process- but I love it!

I love her smile, it makes me happy!

Lizzie is great at sitting independently now. She rolls all over the place, but doesn't crawl yet.

She can clap her hands, and likes it when the kids sing "If you're happy and you know it". She gets really happy when they sing this, and she starts wildly clapping her hands.

She is grabbing everything and will yank on hair, paper or whatever she can get her hands on.

She can pick up cheerios, or baby puffs and eat them with a pincer grasp now. This makes her happy and it keeps her busy too.

If you are sitting near her and not giving her the attention she wants she does a shrill high pitched scream, or she will fake cough. It's hilarious to see her demand attention from the family.

She normally gets smothered with hugs and kisses, and always has someone wanting to hold her.

We ate dinner outside last week because it was a nice warm night. She was so happy that I took a lot of pics.

I feel eteranally grateful to have Elizabeth in our family.
I love you Lizzie!

2011-10-17T11:49:00.002-07:00

We went to Wheeler Farm last week with some friends, and cousins. The kids had lots of fun riding on the hay ride, seeing animals etc.. It was cold that morning, and definately felt like fall.

Here is a picture of some of Emily's artwork. She spends lots of time every morning drawing, cutting, gluing and writing new words. It's really cute to watch her creative mind at work.

This heart note is from Taylor. I found it on his bed one morning last week. He had a lesson in Primary where they cut hearts out of paper, and them left them where they did work or service. It was really cute, and so sweet!!

Star of the Week

2011-10-10T12:35:00.000-07:00

Emily is the "Star of the Week" this week for her Kindergarten class.

She gets to make a poster, be the teacher's helper and bring a "Show & Tell" every day. She was really excited about it!

Emily is such a sweet, helpful, fun daugher and we are so happy to have her in our family! She has such a sweet smile.

We got the neighborhood "Boo" this weekend. Here is what was dropped off on our porch. It was the cutest Halloween Cake, with so many details. The kids loved it , and we ate it so fast!

We are getting excited for Halloween!

General Conference Weekend

2011-10-02T20:21:00.002-07:00

We had a wonderful weekend, full of many exciting and fabulous things. Unfortunately I did not take many pics. to document how busy we were, and how we had so much fun!

General Conference is something I really look forward to every six months. It's a nice break from the usual Sunday routine, and I love listening to the apostles and general authorities talks and getting spiritually rejuvenated.

Friday Danny took some time off work and he and Taylor went on a hike up Big Cottonwood Canyon, they said the fall colors are amazing.

Then we had a big family dinner wiht G & G Deppe and lots of extended family from out of town-sorry no pictures!

Saturday we listened to General Conference, had soccer, went swimming at Grandma Deppe's hotel pool, went to Home Depot, did yard work, made peach pies and played with cousins, friends etc.. Danny went to Prieshood and we had dinner later that night.

It was a full, fun, busy day-complete with amazing warm weather.

Danny and I took Taylor to see General Conference on Sunday morning. He has wanted to go since he turned eight, so we got a few tickets and made it happen. We had to be there by 9am to get in our seats for "The Spoken Word". Taylor was excited and did great sitting in his seat for three hours! I had brought his journal, scriptures and "the Friend" to keep him busy before Conference started, and then he took notes on all of the talks. He loved seeing all the saints gather in the Conference Center, and he said his favorite talk was by President Monson.

Thanks to G&G Shields for watching the three younger kids while we went, we really appreciate their help!

Here he is looking handsome in his suit, on the drive downtown.

I know this is not a great picture, it was taken while we were driving.
But Taylor has entered into the world on orthodontic treatment. He had a palatial expander put in his mouth a few weeks ago. It has a little key that has to be turned twice a day. Just look at the big gap between his front teeth now! I guess the expander is working, because the gap is huge.

Most Saturdays at our house include a trip to "The Home Depot". Isaac was lucky enough to to the project and even got an apron too. He was thrilled with the helicopter he made and played with it all day.

He loves helping Danny work on projects and asks lots of questions.

He is the funniest kid, and says such hilarious things.
Here are a few funnny comments from Isaac this week:

- I told him that I loved him he said "I don't want you to love me anymore, just dad!"

- After falling down and getting hurt for the third time in one day
"I just need a helmet for all of my body!"

- We had some 7 Up in the fridge and he asked
"Can I have 1 Up 7 drink?" I had no idea what he was talking about, he had to show me what he wanted.

- He has really been interested in his tonsils lately, and keeps asking
"When am I getting my tonsils out? I want them out because they make me throw up!"
I didn't even know he knew what his tonsils were.

- He was telling me all about snakes, and he knew a lot of information. I asked him "Who taught you all about snakes?"
He replied "Dad, and my prophet teach me about snakes."
I said (laughing)" Your prophet, who is that?"
He answered totally serious "President Monson, he always teaches me about snakes!"
Ha Ha-he is so funny!

We had a great weekend, hope you did too!

2011-09-23T14:05:00.002-07:00

We have been spending a lot of time outside lately, enjoying the gorgeous fall weather.
Elizabeth likes to go in the swings now, just as long as she doesn't get pushed too hard by one of her " helpful" brother! She thinks it's fun to swing all by herself.

She has discovered her tongue and sticks it out all the time now. She also has her mouth wide open, just in case something nearby will fall into her mouth for her to eat.

Lizzie is sitting independently now! She still tips over once in a while, but she likes to sit and play with toys, or look around outside.

The big news this week is Lizzie has started sleeping through the night!!
It's been a long six months of her sleeping bad and waking up 3 times a night. I haven't made her cry it out yet. I started filling her tummy with oatmeal and veggies and then nursing her before bed. It seems to be working.

She has slept this week from 8-5am or even as late as 6:30am!! I am so happy and hope it lasts forever.

There's that tongue again, its so adorable!
She is the best little baby, and we are so happy to have her in our family.

Lizzie

2011-09-22T12:34:00.002-07:00

This Lizzie's favorite spot while I am in the bathroom getting ready for the day. I sit her in her Bumbo chair facing the mirror and she gets to play with her toothbrush while watching herself in the mirror. It keeps her very entertained and she's so happy!

Elizabeth is growing up way too quickly!!!
The other day I asked Emily to help her drink a bottle, while I was getting ready to go to Cub Scouts. I came in the room to see her holding her own bottle! She looks so big and grown up. The kids loved that she could hold her own bottle and they were cheering her on.

We love you little Lizzie!!!

Blessed

2011-09-22T12:23:00.002-07:00

Every night after the kids have bathed, brushed, read, and prayed I get to tuck them into their beds. This is one of my favorite times of the day. Not because they are going to sleep and the house will finally be quiet-although I do look forward to that, but because I get to reflect on how blessed I am to have four beautiful, healthy kids!

These kids require my full time attention all day long, and by bedtime we are all exhuasted. But when I check on them at night while they're sleeping I get to reflect on the day and how much they've grown. When I look at their peaceful faces, and resting bodies, I feel restored, and ready to start a new day.

Plus they all look so adorable while sleeping.

I love this picture of Taylor, he sleeps with one leg resting on the other knee. I sleep like that too! It looks weird, but it's really comfortable.

I love these kids with all of my heart!

Weekend news

2011-09-18T11:26:00.002-07:00

We had a fun weekend, it started at Natalie's Cross Country race at Murray Park on Friday afternoon. It was a rainy, wet day but we had lots of fun cheering her on at her race. She did fantastic at her race and came in 2nd place out of a few hundred runners.
Way to go Natalie!!!!

Natalie is an amazing runner!
I forced her to run in the early summer mornings, over two years ago, while we were living at my parent's house. She was a good sport to run with me but she didn't really like it. She would tell me all the "Harry Potter" books as wek ran to keep her going.

Then she joined the East High Cross Country team and BAM, she turned into a great runner! She has a lot of dedication and self motivation. She run a crazy amount everyday and runs 60+ miles a week. Sometimes she even runs multiple times in a day to get her mileage. We discovered this week that Natalie runs more in a week than Danny drives his car in a week! Ha Ha!!

We are so proud of her accomplishments!!!

We met all the family at the race and then had pizza and cake after to celebrate Mary's 6th Birthday.

Elizabeth looked so cute in her bonnet and sweater made by great Grandma Lamb. She was grumpy at the race and finally fell asleep in her stroller.

Then on Saturday we went to Taylor's soccer game. Taylor played great and scored one goal. They have a good team this year, and all the boys play together really well.

Go Taylor!

Last night we watched the BYU vs. Utah football game. WOW, what a blowout!
We finally turned off the game, because we couldn't watch BYU lose anymore.

Our family is pretty neutral on the BYU/Uof U rivalry, we just like to see a good game.
But we are big BSU fans! We loved Boise State Football while we lived in Boise. They have a great team, and they are so fun to watch play.

So here's to Fall Football- GO BSU!!!

2011-09-14T12:57:00.000-07:00

Elizabeth has started eating solid foods. So far she has had baby oatmeal and barley, with sweet potates and carrots. She hasn't really figured out how to swallow too well, but eventually she gets it down. She makes a huge mess, and seems to really enjoy it!
Look at that smile!

Her favorite snacks are "Baby Mum, Mum's", she devours them, and then grunts for more. She is so happy when we put her Bumbo chair at the table while we all eat dinner together.

She is rolling all over the floor now, and sits all by herself.
She is such a big girl!

This is really my favorite baby stage, she can sit and play with toys, but she can't move around and get into danger yet. Plus she has the best smiles and a contagious laugh! All her siblings love trying to make her laugh really hard. She adores them all but she especially loves attention from Taylor.

Isaac is doing pretty well with potty training, he still has a few accidents. This week after one of his accidents I was changing him and he started asking me about changing poopy diapers. I told him it was gross to change stinky diapers etc.. He looked at me and yelled
"Mom, just tell me the truth about poo!"
It was hilarious, and we all laughed so hard!

Because Fall is coming, the kids started talking about Halloween costumes. We asked Isaac what he wanted to be and he said
"I want to be a mustache- I said you want me to paint a mustache on your face and he said, NO, I want my whole body to be a mustache!"

That will be an original costume, it reminds me of when Taylor was 4 and he insisted on being a snake for Halloween. These boys sure have creative costume ideas.

Isaac started Joy School last week. I need to get a picture of him with is backpack and sneakers on. He looks so cute and really grown up. He insisted on packing a lunch to go on Tuesday, even though I pick him up before lunch. He ate most of his food before we left the house, and he was telling me
"Mom, fruit snacks are really healthy, they make me grow big and strong!"
Ha Ha, he says the funniest things sometimes.

We sure love you little Toot!

Funny kids

2011-09-06T12:43:00.002-07:00

We have been seeing a lot of these cowboy boots lately. Isaac loves wearing them with shorts, it's quite stylish.

The other day he was jumping on the neighbor's tramp and he yells
"Mom, look at me, I get wicked air when I jump high!" Where did he learn that?! What does "wicked air" even mean? He definately keeps things around our house pretty entertaining!

We have spent the past few weeks potty training Isaac, and so there has been a lot of "potty talk" at our house. So the other night, he needed some clean underwear, and I asked Emily to go downstairs to get his underwear. The kids came up wearing underwear on their heads, and then they did this hilarious dance routine/talent show!
I got the whole thing on video, so I can blackmail them later in life.

It was so such a funny night! All of us were laugning hysterically, and I had to snap a few pictures. I guess all you need to have fun is some underwear!?

I love my kids so much, and am so grateful I get to be their mother!

Kindergarten!

2011-09-03T12:30:00.000-07:00

Emily started school this week! She started a week after Taylor, because they do Kindergarten assesments for the first week.

She was really excited and a little nervous, but she did great!

She chose pink sneakers, that light up, for her back to school shoes. We walked her to school after lunch the first day and she went right in her class with no problems. ( I wish I had taken pics. at the school)

Emily is the tallest person in her class, so she looks older than everyone else. She has made couple new friends already, and I know she will have a great year at school!

I really missed having her home with me. She is so fun to spend time with, and is easy to please. I can't believe she will be 6 in a few weeks! She has grown up so fast!

I love you tons, Emily!

Elizabeth has been eating oatmeal and rice cereal this week. She loves having something solid in her mouth, but most of it gets spit right out. Hopefully she will figure out how to swallow soon. I know she is going to love eating new veggies, fruits, etc..

Lately to get attention she does a fake cough, which is so adorable. She will fake cough and then everyone turns and talks to her to see if she is okay. She also has been experimenting with her voice a lot and she does this really louds growl. She sounds like an animal, and she loves hearing herself.
She is sitting pretty well on her own now, but still tips over after a little while. She is at the best stage right now!
I love this age, and wish she could stay like this forever!

I guess Fall is coming, when Taylor left for school yesterday he asked for a sweatshirt, because it was cold!

Happy Anniversary!

2011-09-02T07:41:00.000-07:00

September 2, 1999
It was twelve years ago today that Danny and I were married in the Salt Lake Temple. It seems so long ago, yet I can't believe how fast the time has gone.

It was a beautiful sunny day, that turned rainy and stormy. But the weather didn't matter because we were in love. We pulled out umbrellas and kept taking pictures and tried to be positive. We were so young! We were blessed to have our friends and family with us that day. My sister, Natalie was only five at our wedding. She was Emily's age, and had to be bribed with money $ to come to our wedding dinner.

I am so lucky to have such an amazing husband. Danny has many wonderful qualities and I love him more now than I did twelve years ago. I married Danny because he was a hard worker, he has a strong testimony of the Gospel, he has a good sense of humor and I knew he would be a wonderful father, husband. We have created a fantastic life together and I look forward to eternity with him.
I love you honey.

Happy Anniversary to us!

Goodbye summer

2011-08-26T12:47:00.000-07:00

This week I have been feeling slightly depressed about the end of summer. This has been such a fabulous summer filled with so many fun things and good memories. I asked the kids what their favorite things were we did this summer and they all said "playing on the circle with our friends" as one of their favorite summer memories. When we decided to buy our current house it was because of the unique street filled with wonderful neighbors and friends and lots of kids. We liked the actual house okay, but we LOVED the location and street full of friends and lots of activity.

Because of Elizabeth and the craziness of getting out the door with a baby and 3 kids I didn't sign the kids up for any lessons. We didn't do swimming, sports, music or anything. We didn't even go to the zoo, museums, water parks etc... I thought the kids would miss it, but no one did. We had laid back, relaxed days, and sometimes we wouldn't even leave the street for a few days. Danny would make fun of me, and say I never leave the steet anymore!

We feel so grateful to live where we live and to enjoy having such an amazing place to live. We are so blessed!

Here's to an amazing summer full of sleeping in, night games, playing in the backyard, running in the sprinklers, eating several popsicles a day, sidewalk chalk, bike rides, climbing trees, Taylor mowing the lawn for $2.00, potty training Isaac, trips to the "Shiver Shack", Wii parties in our basement with lots of smelly boys, lemonade stands, making cookies, fushing, hikes, the boys playing "Army" in 95 degree weather and dressed in full camoflouge,
read-a-thons, swimming, afternoon naps, cousin sleepovers, BBQ's with friends and family, boating, staying up late, and having
NO schedule.

Anyone that knows me understands that I like having some sort of schedule and structure for my days. I usually thrive on a schedule for the kids. But this summer I learned to sit back, relax and see where the day takes us. It was a wonderful thing for me to learn and it made for a fantastic summer break! The kids loved days when they could sleep in, leisurely do their chores and a little homework and we had no where to go. Then they could play outside all day long using their imaginations, being creative and enjoying the long hot days of summer.

Fall is great, but with fall comes structured schedules, sports practices, cub scouts, homework, school commitments, cold weather and less time spent outside.
Luckily we have the wonderful memories of summer to last through the cold winter.

6 months old!

2011-08-24T19:26:00.000-07:00

Elizabeth is six months old! I can't believe she has been in our family for half a year. She has grown so much and is doing new things every day.

We went to Monica's house the other day to let the kids play. She was nice enough to do a quick, unplanned photo session of Lizzie. We started with both Lizzie and Ali -but she got tired and went down for a nap. She got so many adorable pictures of Lizzie but here are a few of my favorite.

I love that smile!

At six months old Lizzie likes to roll around and she is starting to sit by herself. She loves to be outside, and going on walks in her stroller. She puts toys, jewelery her toes and fingers etc.. .in her mouth. She likes her warm baths, unless Isaac is splashing her. She loves attention from anyone but especially from her big brothers and big sister. She is starting to track food from our mouth to the bowl and wants to eat real food.

Both the girls were sad and grumpy, but it's still so cute! These girls are the cutest in the world!

These next few shots are when she gets nervous, scared and then starts crying. It's so funny to see her facial expressions change so quickly!

These babies are pretty moody, now she's all happy again. She just wanted her dress and headband off!

Thanks so much Monica! I really appreciate your taking her pictures.
I want to capture her at every stage because she is growing so fast!

Back to School!

2011-08-24T11:37:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe I have a son in 3rd grade! Taylor was really exciteed, but tried to act like it was no big deal.
Emily is thrilled to be going to Kindergarten and will have a great year. She has school in the afternoon, so she will walk home from school with this great group of kids. I am sad to have in her school, she is such a great helper and she plays so well with Isaac! He will definately miss having her around the house.

Back to school means back to schedules, and lots of things going on. I wish we could pause time and jsut have a relaxed, mellow summer forever! I love Taylor and Emily so much and I am so proud of both of them!

Hope it was a great day for all the kids back in school.

Today was the first day of school! Emiy doesn'tactually start until next week, but she got out of bed for a few pictures.

It was hard to get the kids in bed last night, because they are used to going to bed around 9 or 10 and waking up at 9! Well all of that sleeping in stopped today, because Taylor has school at 8:25! He leaves with his friends to walk around 8:05, so he was up early.

Jackson Hole trip

2011-08-23T12:51:00.001-07:00

We just got back from an amazing weekend in beautiful Jackson Hole. We stayed with Grandma and Grandpa Deppe in their timeshare at the Teton Club. It was in the Teton Village at the base of the huge, amazing Teton Mountains.

We had tons of fun and the scenery was breathtaking and so gorgeous! We spent our time hiking, hot tubbing, riding the tram to the top of the mountain, fishing, eating out, relaxing and spending time with G& G Deppe!

We took tons of pictures because it was so fabulous, so here are a few of our favorites.

We went to church in Jackson Hole and then walked around the town for a while. We had to get our obligatory family picture under the antler arch. The kids loved the park, and had fun eating ice-cream and buying magnets and colored rocks from the store.

Taylor and Lizzie had fun playing on the slides at the playground where we stayed. Elizabeth thinks Taylor is so funny lately. She laughs whenever he comes around, it's so cute.

Lizzie did pretty good on the drive. She is such a sweet, mellow baby. The only hard part was her sleeping at night. She woke up several times during the night which makes for one tired mama! Oh well, who needs sleep, right?!

One afternoon while Isaac and Lizzie were napping we took the tram to the top of the mountain. It was an amazing climb of 4400 feet and the elevation at the top of the mountain was 10,400. I got a little nervous going up, because we were so high above the ground. Taylor and Emily loved it, they had the time of their lives!

Once we were at the top we hiked around for a while. We took pictures, checked out the amazingly beautiful views and the kids collected rocks. There was a little store that sold drinks etc.. and they made waffles. So we ate waffles filled with sweet Nutella on top of the mountain. It was unforgettable!

I actually got a few pics. of Taylor, one with Nutella all over his face and the other he has magnetic rocks on his ears. Such a cute boy and growing up too fast!

These pictures do not do justice to how gorgeous the mountains are. It was SO beautiful and such a fantastic day!

The next day we went into Teton National Park and took a boat ride across Jenny Lake. Then we hiked to the waterfall. Later we swam in the river, ate lunch on a beach and fished for a few hours. Everyone had a great day!
(I actually had a terrible migraine so I stayed at the room to sleep with Lizzie. I was so sad to miss such a fun day!)

We love spending time with Grandma and Grandpa Deppe. We miss living near them and always have so much fun when we see them! The trip was so perfect and we had a fabulous time!

We drove home late Monday night, and the sunset on the drive through Idaho was amazing! There was perfect light on the clouds, and there was wheat fields as far as the eye could see. It was a gorgeous drive home, until the sun went down.

Here are a few more pics of that beautiful sunset.

It was the perfect way to end the summer. Now off to do laundry and get back into the real world! We have had the best summer, and I wish it would last forever.
School starts tomorrow!

End of Summer Strreet party!

2011-08-23T12:09:00.003-07:00

We had a wild and crazy, fun party last week to celebrate the end of summer on our street! We rented a huge bouncy slide from 10am -10pm and we played on it all day long!

The kids were in their swimming suits for almost 11 hours and they never came inside the whole day. They used the bathroom at Grandma Shields house because she lived closer to the slide.

During the day everyone played on the slide and ate! We ordered pizza for lunch, made popcorn, cotton candy, snow cones etc... Then for dinner everyone on the street had a big BBQ complete with homemade ice-cream!

The day was perfect weather, not too hot. Even the teenagers had their time on the slide. The best was after dinner all the kids were kicked off the slide and the adults all played on it. It was hilarious to watch the mom's & dad's race down the slide and get soaking wet. It was tons of fun, Danny and I went down several times each! ( too bad I didn't get any pics. of the adults, I was too busy getting wet!)

Isaac earned his "Shiver Shack" by pretty much being totally potty trained! He is doing great, and I am so happy!

Go Natalie! I know you are thrilled about me posting this picture! HA HA!

It was such a fantastic day, everyone was exhuasted by dark, and ready for bed. We love our neighborhood and all of our friends and neighbors. We feel so blessed to live in such a great community!

2011-08-17T12:26:00.001-07:00

This has been an exhuasting week with Isaac, but it's worth it because he is finally getting potty trained!
I decided last week, enough was enough and he HAD to get potty trained! He threw a fit, cried, whined and acted like a baby. He wouldn't be bribed by the usualy stickers, candy,. toys or ice cream. Then Taylor told him he could get his own fishing pole at "Cabela's" and he got all excited!

The only problem was for the first few days he only wanted to pee outside. I let him a few times and then he thought the grass was his personal potty. So with some convincing he started going inside! He is a funny, stubborn, strong willed boy. But we sure love him!

Right now we are taking it day by day. Some days he does great, others not so good! But at least he's trying.

Here's a few of my favorite Isaac Quotes from the week:

He yells while walking out of the store and then as he was talking to Danny on the phone "I did a Pee at Costco!"

"I don't want to wear underwear, I just want to wear my shorts!"

He was playing outside and we hear "Yes, I went pee by myself again outside!"

It's been a funny, exhausting, crazy week with this boy.

We went swimming with Mono and her girls and Aunt Natalie last week. Elizabeth and Ali have the same swimming suit! It's so cute on their chubby little bodies!

They are both growing so quickly! I love to see the changes in these babies. They are grabbing toys, rollilng all over, using their voice more, and Ali even eats a little solid food.

If only we could get them to sleep better at night, then the bags under my eyes would go away!

We love you baby girls!

More summer fun

2011-08-14T20:32:00.000-07:00

I LOVE that smile! Elizabeth is in the best stage right now! ( not including her horrible night time sleeping habits!) But during the daylight hours, she is such a sweet girl!
She loves to be outside, and is always observing everything around her. She loves being in her saucer, or rolling around on a blanket on the grass. We go for lots of walks around the neigborhood, because her older brother is always riding his balance bike and needs to be supervised while crossing the street.

This is a typical Lizzie face, covered in barf . We call her "Barf Face" a lot lately, because she is constantly throwing up or drooling. But it can't cover up her huge tootheless grin!
Oh, hot I love to kiss those chubby cheeks.

We went to the Gateway fountains one day this week. We met some friends and Grandma Shields, Mono, Becca, Natalie & Turner. We also brought our good friends Ryan & Zach, the kids had so much fun!
Here are the few pictures I took.

They all played in the fountains and got soaking wet, then they would dry out on the cement and then do it all over again.
It was a blast!

I am in denial that school is starting soon. I really wish it could be summer forever.
I am especially going to miss my little Emily! She is such a sweet girl and my best helper with Lizzie. She gives the best hugs all day long, and she lets her little naughty brother play with her and friends nearly everyday! We are going to miss her when she starts Kindergarten!

Boating Day

2011-08-07T20:42:00.000-07:00

We spent a warm, sunny Saturday boating at Jordanelle. It was tons of fun and everyone had a great day!
Lizzie wore her life jacket without too much complaining! She looked so cute sitting on the boat with the wind blowing her hair.

Isaac was captain of the boat, and thought it was awesome to steer and help Danny drive the boat.

We dragged the kids around on the tube, until they were begging to get back in the boat. Then we swam, at lunch and did a little fishing. The water was so cold, but felt refreshing after a little while.

G & G Shields joined us in the afternoon with Colton and Natalie. We really appreciate them letting us borrow their boat.

It was the perferct way to spend a Saturday.

August already!

2011-08-05T12:07:00.003-07:00

We went to Danny's company summer BBQ this week. It was at his bosses beautiful home, we had dinner, played in the huge backyard, and swam in the pool. The kids were happy because our friends and neighbors, the Reed's were there too.

This is Isaac's girlfirend, Jessie.
She is one of our babysitters, and Isaac is obsessed with her. He thinks she is so great! Whenever he sees her he runs to her and gives her huge hug, and won't leave her side. He got mad at the party, because I wouldn't let him go with Jessie to the bathroom!

While at the party Isaac kept talking about the "mansion". It was a huge house, and he would ask "Mom, can I got in the mansion?" It was pretty funny to Danny's boss!

Emily & Sophie swam, while Lizzie slept in her stroller.

Taylor, Logan and Dallas swam and jumped on the tramp.
Look how skinny Taylor is, he is tall and lean! His feet grew so much this summer, he skipped 2 sizes, and went straight to a size 5! I can't keep up with his growing! I have to cinch up his pants because they are so big around the waist, he needs some fat on his bones.

Lizzie had an up close look at this cute little dog. She liked it and started petting the fur.

Isaac was inseperable from Annie & Jessie all night. It was a fun party, yummy food, a gorgeous home and nice way to spend an evening.

More summer fun!

2011-07-31T20:48:00.002-07:00

We spent some time in Midway this week with aunt Monica and her girls. We crashed the Bauman party and all went to Midway with our kids for some fun. There were 15 kids total, including 4 baby girls. It was a a wild, crazy fun time and everyone had a blast!

We spent lots of time playing games, and playing at the playground. We went fishing, sat in the hot tub, watched a movie, ate lots of food and had tons of fun! It would have been perfect if Lizzie would have slept better, she was awake a lot of the night, and so was I! We went home tired and happy.

Thanks for inviting us Mono, we appreciate it!

Elizabeth is months old now! She is the still the cutest girl in the world, and we all love her so much!
At 5 months she eats 6-7 times a day. She still wakes up 1-2 times in the night, or more when we are away from home! She loves to suck on her fingers, hands, and toes. She is starting to like toys, and really smiles when her older brothers and sister talk to her . Taylor can get her to laugh really loud when he sings and tells her jokes.

We all love kissing her fat cheeks, and rubbing her fat thighs!

We went swimming with our cousins this week, and it was so much fun! Taylor, Emily & Isaac love their cousins. They all had fun swimming and it felt good to cool off on a hot summer day.

We had our ward Ice Cream Social this week. It was a great party complete with home made ice cream and lots of treats. The SLC Fire Dept. came and sprayed all the kids with their hose. The kids had so much fun getting completely drenched in all the water.

Taylor and his friends wore their swimming suits and they were loving all the water.

It was the perfect ward party!

We are loving our summer fun, and wishing it would last forever!

Week review!

2011-07-25T12:40:00.003-07:00

I feel like I have been blogging a lot lately. I forget things so fast lately, because I am sleep deprived and I am getting old!

My blog is my journal, our family history and my way of scrapbooking. I record these pictures and memories of our family and then put them in a hardbound book every year, and I feel a huge relief about recording the events of our life. My kids are growing and changing so quickly I have to blog almost every week to keep up on what is happening. They say the funniest things and I use this blgo as a way to record what makes me laugh throughout the week.

Sorry if these posts bore you.

This is what I would call potty training "Isaac style" We sent him out in the backyard with a hose to play, and he wanted his clothes off. We told him to go potty outside when he needed to, but it never happenened. He is so stubborn!

We had a really big rainstorm on Monday. It rained with lightning and thunder in the afternoon. Then the kids went out and rode their bikes in the puddles. I love summer rain storms.

We have been working through our "Summer Bucket List" so this week we went downtown to eat lunch with Danny. We brought "Pei Wei" and ate with him at the Gallivan Plaza. It was fun and the kids loved seeing Danny in the middle of the day. All the kids like Asian food, and they gorge themselves on fortune cookies.

Then Saturday morning we went up Big Cottonwood Canyon to hike and fish at "Silver Lake". This lake is one of our favorite places, it is so gorgeous! We spent several hours fishing in the warm sunshine and then hiked around the lake.

Lizzie did pretty well, she got a little grumpy at the end, but she is still so cute!

Here are the boys learning all about fishing from Danny. I think Taylor is going to be a fisherman just like his dad.

Danny helped all of the kids catch fish, and everyone had fun!

Then on Sunday night we went to my Grandma Shields 84th Birthday party.
We had a delicious dinner and cake & homemade ice cream followed by songs about why we love grandma! It was a great party, I wish I would have taken more pics.
I love you grandma-Thanks for being a wonderful example for my family to follow!

The highlight of the party was when my cousins Trevor and James put little snaps (those fireworks that you throw on the ground and they pop) on the rim under the toilet seat. I was the lucky one to use the bathroom right after their trick. When I sat on the toilet all the snaps went "POP" and it scared me! Once I saw what it was I was laughing so hard! What a great trick!

It was a fabulous weekend, and now for another crazy week!

Lizzie!

2011-07-19T16:10:00.002-07:00

Elizabeth is at the best stage right now! She smiles, laughs, interacts with people and is really starting to get her personality. She loves to stand on my lap, or in her exersaucer. She has her mouth open a lot, just waiting for something to drop in. She is starting to grab toys, and put them in her mouth. She is very ticklish on her legs, armpits and torso. She loves to be outside, and seems to like riding in her stroller. She rolls, and pivots her body around in her bed. She pushes her fat little legs through the crib rails, and then yells to get them out. She loves attention from her older siblings, and they adore her. They now fight over who can hold her in church, or FHE etc.. She is really squirmy when she doesn't want to go in her carseat, and she can slide out of the bottom before I can get her strapped in.

I love everything about her! Even her middle of the night waking is tolerable because she is so adorable! She loves when I come into her room to swaddle her around 3am. She gets all excited and starts cooing, and moving her arms really fast. Then she gets sad when I don't get her out to play, but just reswaddle her really tight, and put her binki in her mouth, kiss her head and walk out. Oh, I am such a mean mom!

We sure love you Lizzie!

2011-07-19T15:49:00.000-07:00

This week we went to an indoor bouncy house place called "Jump Around Utah". All the kids really like it there and it gets all of their energy out.

Isaac threw a HUGE fit while we were playing, and it took so long that I had time to get out my camera to take some funny pictures.

I agreed to buy the kids an ice cream treat while they were playing, Isaac and Tayor decided they wanted a fudge bar, but after Spike saw Emily eating a cherry popsicle, he changed his mind. I wouldn't but him another treat, so he cried. It was so funny, and we all laughed, this made him even more angry. Finally after Emily had eaten most of her popsicle, she agreed to switch with Isaac, which he readily did. She is a smart girl, and she basically got two treats.

Isaac says the funniest things. Yesterday he called Danny to talk to him, and he told him all about his day "I caught some butterflies, rode my bike, Lizzie tooted, and I am really sweaty!" Danny & I laughed so hard. But he is really a sweaty boy.

Here's his smile after the switch. Isaac played so hard on the trampolines, that he was completely drenched in sweat! He gets SO sweaty when he gets hot. It looked like he had just gotten out of the bath, but it was all sweat! Gross!

Another shot of the sweaty guy.

Lizzie and I had fun watching all the kids play. She is such a cute baby, I just love her chubby cheeks!

Last weekend we had another adventure up the canyon. This time we went up American Fork Canyon for smore's with our friends, the Hall's. It was a fun night, and the kids had a blast. We got home around 11pm and the kids slept past 9am, which is so amazing! Yahoo for kids sleeping in! If only we could get Lizzie on that schedule.

Emily's friend Kate has a hot pink cast on her wrist, and yesterday Emily described her cast as "Boiling pink". It was a cute way for her to describe the color "Hot Pink".

We are wishing summer would last forever!

Best summer memories

2011-07-11T13:03:00.000-07:00

We have had such a fantastic summer so far. Here are some of our best summer moments:

*Cousin sleepovers, and riding in the jeep
*All the kids (but Lizzie) sleeping in past 9AM!
*Having "readthons" in mom & dad's big bed
*Hiking in the canyon
*Learning to cook, the kids have been taking turns learning a new recipe, usually a desert!
*Spending lazy afternoons playing games like "Life", "Uno" and "Phase 10"
*Eating several popsicles every day, and having sticky fingers and faces afterwards.
*Taylor asking to take a nap! He slept for two hours, he was wiped out from all the late nights from the 4th of July!
*Swimming with friends and cousins
*Summer thunderstorms with cooler weather
*Lizzie learning to hold her toys and having fun exploring her exersaucer.

The best part about this summer is having NO schedule. I haven't signed the kids up for any lessons, camps, activities etc... and it has been great. We wake up when we want, have a lazy breakfast followed by chores, reading, workbooks etc... and then spend the day as we want. The kids are so content to stay home and play with their friends, and I am more relaxed about not having to get out the door anywhere in the mornings! It's been wonderful!
Here's to having no schedules!

Hope your summer is going great!

A day in Millcreek

2011-07-10T19:55:00.002-07:00

We spent the majority of Saturday up Millcreek canyon. We love this canyon; it's beautiful, full of wildlife and only 10 minutes from home. We did a hike with all the kids in the morning. Then we went home had naps, ate lunch etc.. and then went back up the canyon for fishing, tinfoil dinner and smore's. Everyone had a great day, here are some pictures to prove it!

This is the first hike where Isaac has walked the whole way. He even carried a little backpack the entire hike. His backpack had a flashlight and two plastic guns, just in case he needed to protect us! Lizzie did great, she loves being outside. She fell asleep in the pack, and took a little nap.
The weather was perfect and it was a fun way to spend a Saturday morning.

Monica & Dave and their girls came to join us for dinner. The fishing wasn't too good, the water was running too high. We made a fire took a little walk, threw rocks in the river and ate dinner.

I just love her little cheeks, I could kiss them all day long!

We are so happy to live near such beautiful canyons. It makes the weekend fun really easy!

Happy 4th of July!

2011-07-04T22:10:00.000-07:00

We had a great weekend celebrating the Fourth of July!

We had a fun BBQ party in Provo, at the Forsythe's house to see the Hawkins family and watch the fireworks. It was a fantastic dinner, fun to see aunts, uncles & cousins, and a great view for the fireworks.

Aunt Jennifer & Chandler stayed with us all week! It was so fun to have them in SLC. They were so good with the kids and all the kids love having them around. They even babysat for us on Friday night, which was so nice!

Here are some pictures of the 4th of July festivities!

Elizabeth looked so cute in her patriotic outfit! She loved being outside all evening, and wasn't really scared of the fireworks.

It was such a fun night. Hope you had a great weekend!

Then on Monday we had a nice relaxing day, followed by a fun BBQ at Marcus & Nat's house! I forgot to take any pics. but we had a yummy dinner followed by a fantastic view of the Lehi fireworks.

Happy 4th of July!

Lizzie is 4 months!

2011-07-03T12:33:00.000-07:00

Elizabeth is 4 months old!
She is still such a sweet, mellow, easy going baby! She had her four month check up this week, and here are her stats.
Weight: 14 lb. 4 oz. (68%)
Height: 25 1/4 inches (89%)
She is not overly fat, but she definately has some rolls on her legs, arms and neck. Lizzie is so smily and happy most of the time. She is really liking her Bumbo chair and her exersaucer, and she is starting to really grab at toys.

Lizzie loves to stand up while being held, and usually is barfing or drooling all over herself. She really smiles for her siblings and loves all the attention, hugs and kisses that they are constantly giving her.

Emily and I have fun choosing her outfits with headbands and shoes everyday. She has such cute summer clothes and swimming suits, thanks to her grandma's!
Elizabeth is ticklish and starting to laugh a lot. She is loosing her hair, especially in the back, it's getting rubbed off from sleeping.

We sure love you Lizzie! Please stop growing so fast!

We went to Liberty Park this week to see my friend, Andrea and her family. They are here from Australia, and it was so great to see them. I didn't get any pictures of them, but here are few of the kids at the park. It was a really hot day, so we bought some ice cream to cool off.

Mike & Erin's wedding!

2011-06-27T13:48:00.000-07:00

Mike & Erin had their wedding ceremony Saturday afternoon at the beautiful Stein Eriksen resort. It was such a beautiful day with perfect sunny weather. It was wonderful ceremony followed by a delicious dinner, reception, dancing and fun!

The wedding was an amazing night!
Erin's dress was gorgeous and they both looked so happy! They are a great couple and we are thrilled for them. We sure love both of them and are so happy to have Erin join the family.

Emily did perfect as the flower girl, she walked slowly down the aisle, while dropping flower petals. She looked so cute in her dress.

We spent the evening mingling with family and friends, eating, and dancing. The kids got tired around 8:00 so Natalie took them to our room to watch a movie and go to bed. I wish I would have taken more pictures, but here are the few I took.

I really wanted to get picture of the kids with Great Grandma lamb, but Isaac was being too wild!

It was a wonderful wedding and a fantastic weekend! We all left happy and exhausted!

Congratulations to Mike & Erin!!!

Park City

2011-06-27T13:31:00.000-07:00

We spent the day in Park City before the wedding doing all the fun things! We met Mike, Erin, Goofy Grandpa and Erin's family at the Park City resort. We went on the Alpine Slide, rollercoaster and Emily did the trampoline! Then it was so hot we all cooled off with snow cones.

Then on Friday night we went to the wedding rehearsal and dinner. Emily was the flower girl for the wedding, so she got to come along. We ate dinner at the St. Regis in Deer Valley. It was a gorgeous evening full of delicious food and great company. The view was amazing and we saw two moose.

Elizabeth got passed around, with a warning that she spits up and may puke at any time! It was fun to see friends from college and see all of Danny's family.

Then on Saturday we checked into the Stein Eriksen resort for the wedding. We stopped at the store on the way to Park City to pick up lunch for our kids as well as Mike, Danny and the other groomsmen. We found these gigantic sandwiches and we bought them! They were huge and hard to eat, but really tasty.

We spent the afternoon relaxing at the pool and staying cool in our hotel room. It was a great pool and a super nice hotel. The kids were in shock at how fancy everything was, and I kept telling them to be on good behavior! Luckily I had Natalie with me to help keep the kids under control.

Banks!

2011-06-27T13:15:00.000-07:00

We had a crazy, fun, busy, wild few days last week! It started on Monday when Mike's dog, "Banks" came to our house for a week. Mike & Erin got married on Saturday and needed somewhere for Banks to stay.

The kids all loved having him at our house, and wanted to play with him, and feed and walk him. Banks is a good dog, and hardly barked at all. Isaac and Elizabeth got a few "doggy kisses" from him and they seemed to like it! Taylor liked him the best and spent a lot of time in the backyard playing fetch.

Then on Thursday night Danny's family from Canada, California and Boise came to our house for a big family dinner! Everyone was coming to Utah for the wedding, and we decided to have a little family get together. It was so fun to see his Grandma Lamb, and his great aunt Alice, as well as aunts, uncles, cousins etc...

We had dinner and visited at our house all evening and everyone seemed to have a good time.

We haven't seem Grandma Lamb for 5 years, and the kids all had fun meeting her and spending time with her. Isaac talked to her all afternoon, while they ate popsicles on the back porch. After a while he looked at her and asked "What grandma are you?" It was so cute, he definately fell in love with her.

It was so much fun to have everyone to our house for dinner, and great to catch up with family that we haven't seen for along time!

Here's a picture of Taylor at our neighbor's house. They are remodeling their house and all the boys in the neighborhood have been in their construction site "working" for the past few days. One day last week, they all had their shirts off, with bandana's around their heads and they were shoveling dirt for hours! We just bring drinks and food to them every few hours and they keep working.Taylor loves it and has spent most of today in the hole removing rocks. It's a boy's dream!

Happy Father's Day!

2011-06-20T15:25:00.000-07:00

Happy Father's Day to all the Father's in our life!

We celebrated a wonderful day full of pampering our dad, and spending time with family. The kids helped me make Danny a delicious breakfast and allowed him to sleep in! They all adore Danny and think he is the greatest thing! All of our kids would rather have Danny around than me any day of the week.
He is a fantastic dad for so many reasons, and well all love him so much!

We had a family dinner at G&G Shields house, it was fun and wild as usual.

Here's a few pics. of the highlights.

We attempted a picture of Grandma and Grandpa with all 11 grandkids. It was really har dto get everyone to cooperate and it turned into a comical moment!
We love living by G & G Shields!

It's hard to believe that Lizzie is almost 4 months old! She is loving spending time in her saucer lately, she loves standing up.

She is still a really sweet, happy baby and we are all so happy she is a part of our family!

Summer Fun!

2011-06-15T12:59:00.001-07:00

We have had a great first week of summer. The weather has been beautiful and perfect for soaking up the sun.

So far the only thing the kids want to do is play on the street with their friends! Especially Taylor, he literally did not leave the street (except on his bike) last week for 3-4 days! This makes for an easy schedule for me and a great motivator for them to do their chores, reading, workbooks etc.. before going out to play!

All the kids and their friends were playing in the sprinklers so I got Lizzie in he swimming suit. She looked so precious in her cute suit! She was being happy and pretty smiley.

That face looks like trouble! Isaac is so pale, I have to lather him or apray him in sunscreen a few times everyday. He hates it, and cries and whines everytime.

Emily and her friends are always busy making up dances, playing pretend and bossing Isaac around (which is likes).

I mangaged to get some secret pictures of Taylor while he was distracted with the water rockets. He is eating non-stop lately, and is growing up too fast.

Here are Tay's buddies warming up in the sun.

Lizzie all tired out after playing in the sun.

This is the time that my kids have been getting up in the mornings! One day Emily and Isaac woke up at 9:45! Taylor was already awake and reading "Harry Potter" in his bed. Yesterday I found him reading while eating a bag of "Fritos" in his bed! His room smelled so bad!

Anyway, anyone who knows our family knows thatour kids never sleep in, so this is a summer miracle! Lately Danny leaves for work without even seeing our kids, which is so rare!

I think Tay, Em and Spike are so exhausted every night from playing hard all day- plus they have been staying up late. They all sleep in the basement where it's cool and quiet, now if I could only get Lizzie to sleep in!
We are living the summertime dream!

Summertime!

2011-06-10T13:01:00.000-07:00

Summer is finally here! This week Taylor got out of school for summer break and the weather had finally warmed up so it actually feels like summertime!

This swimming suit was Emily's and it is so cute on Lizzie! I had to let her wear it before she grows out of it. She is growing so fast and doing new things everyday.

I absoutely love her chubby arms, neck and legs. I discovered that she is really ticklish on her tummy and chest and she laughs out loud when tickled. She such a sweet, adorable girl, we can't get enough of her!

Summertime on our street means lots and lots of time outside with friends and neighbors. This means living in your swimming suit and doing water fights, riding bikes, running through sprinklers, eating endless popsicles, jumping on the tramp and begging to play night games. And it's only been three days of summer!
We are planning on having a fantastic summer! We can't wait!

This little guy is having some sort of identity crisis. He refers to himself as "a baby puppy" and insists that he's
not a big boy and that makes it okay to not be potty trained! Plus he is the most stubborn and strong willed of all our kids, which mean's sometimes he is completely unmanageable!

He sure says some of the funniest/cutest things:

He told me "I wish Janet (our neighbor) was my uncle, she is so nice." Then proceeded to tell me that he likes uncles better than aunts. This must be why he calls Natalie, "Uncle Nat"

When he goes to the bathroom he notifies me by saying
"I have a brown thing on me!"

He loves chasing and birds in our backyard and he tries to catch them. I told him that the birds fly away because they are scared of humans. He said " I am not a human I am a creature!"

That pretty much sums up Isaaac right now, he is definately a creature! Oh how we love our creature/puppy!

These pictures are too funny! Last week dad fell asleep after dinner and Colton was trying to put a flower in his hand while he slept. I took a few pics. because it was so funny! While I was taking picture my camera screen read "Blink eye detected!" Blink eye nothing, he was dead asleep!

Here's a great pose by Colton, that I couldn't resist! Can you believe he's been home from his year for a year already? Wow- time flies!

So we had a terrific week, and are looking forward to a wonderful and fun summer break!

Spring Dance Recital!

2011-06-06T07:29:00.000-07:00

You can tell by the huge smile on Emily's face that she was so excited for her recital! Her dance recital this time was "Tangled" and the costumes, headbands & props were so cute! Her dance teacher "Miss Julie' really does a fabulous job at her recitals, and it was a huge success!

Here are a few pictures before the big show.
Emily loved her long flowing, blonde hair. She wishes she had real hair this long.

She did one ballet and one tap dance to the wonderful "Tangled" songs. Emily really loves all the songs in the movie, and so did all the girls. You could see several girls singing along as they were dancing!

After her first dance, which was ballet, she came and sat on my lap and said "I just wish I could stay on the stage forever! I love dancing!"

Posing with cousin Mary, and her friend Hattie.

Once on stage Emily gets super confident and follows the dance exactly! She is a very graceful dancer and knows just what to do. She is made so much improvement in the last two years in her social skills.So much of her new indepedence and self confidence is because of her loving, amazing dance teacher, Julie!

Great job Emily! We love you and are so proud of you!

We were so happy to have Grandma Deppe come to SLC just to see Emily's recital. We had so much fun with her and really appreiciate her coming from Boise for the show.
We had a BBQ with her on Friday night and then walked to the Shiver Shack. Then Sat. Taylor had a soccer game, and a baptism of his friend. Then we all went to the recital, had lunch and took Grandma to the airport. Sat. night we had a team BBQ for Tay's soccer team up Emigration Canyon.
It was a great weekend! We were really busy, and it was tons of fun!