Laney's Blessing

Dear Laney Girl,

Today was your special blessing day. You looked adorable. Daddy gave you a wonderful blessing. He always just says the right thing, he did the same with your sisters and brother. He blessed all of you to be strong in the gospel, and to have healthy bodies. I hope both of those things happen. We are so blessed to have so many people who love us. All of your family came to support you. It was a far drive for most of them, and the bigger our family gets the smaller our house becomes. But they still came and stayed with us so that they could be here for your special day. Even though Uncle Aaron wasn't sure who you were?? It was even Jace's birthday and he still came, time goes too quickly, he was your age when daddy and I started dating 13 years ago!! I made dad buy him a shirt at Baby Gap, he payed for it with a check, Craziness. Aunt Mindy taught me how to make those cute flowers that I made for you and your sisters. Your face is a little scratched up because Logan attacked you in the car, it was the only time he had hurt you. I don't know what got into him. I left you in your car seat to check on Ellie because I thought she had dog poop on her shoe and she was in grandma's car, but it was actually just mashed up wet leaves. I felt so bad for you and your beautiful little face. I think Logan felt bad too, hopefully he won't attack you any more. Grandma, Melly and Jenn all made yummy soups for us to eat, Papa and Dee never disappoint with all that they do, and everyone else brought awesome desserts. It was a great day. Thanks for being born. We love you!!

Some visual evidence of the scratches :(

All of the awesome men

Our Family

Your siblings were fighting over who should hold you.

Bailey is the oldest so she won.


3 Pretty Girls

You Are Loved

The Month of March

We started out the month with a trip to Logan. Matt & Jill were blessing their newest addition, Layla Joy, isn't she cute. I love her headband.

We also took the kids bowling. My kids had never been. I have always wanted to take them but I am not sure where a kid friendly place is in around here. That is what is great about Logan, everywhere is kid friendly, well not everywhere, you shouldn't take your kids to The Owl, but this bowling alley was very kid friendly. Bumpers and stands for your bowling ball make it perfect for kids. We had a great time. FYI I am NOT a good bowler.

Ellie's ball was a little heavy

Ryan helping the girls line up their balls just right

That is a lot of cute kids

and

A lot of bowling shoes

Ryan and his bro's acting all chill, but they were really trying to beat the crap out of each other in this family friendly game of bowling.

I can't remember who won, they probably can, all I know is it was NOT me!

This is a 2L full of water. When we were getting ready to leave Logan and head home I asked Ryan if he filled up the big cup he was carrying with water. He said that he did. I grabbed one more water bottle and headed out. On the way down the kids couldn't get enough to drink and we ran out of water, so I wanted to make sure to minimize the whining for the ride home. Well when I got out to the car I noticed that the big cup was not full of water, but full of Coke (not diet) with no ice. There could not be a worse drink for me, actually anything without ice is painful. So I of course go on a tirade about how he needs to find us some more water, yada yada............... 5 minutes later he comes back with this. The 2L which previously contained soda has now been filled with water and the lid is the lid of a regular water bottle, not a 2L so it leaks. Nice. I, of course, say I will NOT be holding that the whole way home. The kids think it is hilarious and start passing it back and forth sipping out of it. Bailey said she would hold it. After being on the road for about 10 minutes they were all passed out and slept most of the way home. This is how full the 2L was when we got home. Guess we didn't need it after all. Ryan says "I will rue the day I put him in charge of cups and ice" I concur and actually now find this hilarious.

A few weeks later my sisters husbands both had some work to do in Boise so they came for a visit. We didn't do much, just hung out and took the kids swimming.

Ellie and Drew

These kiddos love the water.

A few things from school.................

Ellie and I made this cute kite for her March project, she picked out most of the things on it. The kite her teacher gave her to use was orange, but she didn't like it. She wanted it to be turqoise, so we covered the orange with cardstock and there you have it.

For read week the students had to dress up like their favorite book character.

Ellie was Pinkalicious and Bailey was Molly from the American Girl books.

(Bailey's glasses are my old ones that we popped the lenses out of,she loves them and still wears them all of the time. Silly kid)


St. Patricks Day

Our friend Lucky the Leprechaun visited us again this year. He left some gold and green candy and some new green shirts to wear. No pinching will be happening.

Logan calls candy " nandy" and he can't get enough he is eating this one with the wrapper on.

Everyone in the green gear. Looking pretty cute I think.

My sister in law made me those cute Lucky blocks. I love them, love her, love her craftiness, and her vinyl cutter. I can't wait to use them again next year.

Is July already half over????

The month started off great. I am officially IN my 30's and I feel okay about it. Ryan got off work early and we all went to lunch and shopping for shoes. Pretty much my idea of a fun afternoon. Ryan actually picked out the same shoes that I did, after 10 years we are on the same page! The kids love birthdays even when its not their own so that always makes the day more fun. Thanks to everyone for making it a great day.

Lovin those candles! Happy Birthday to me, I am blessed to have these cute kids.

p.s. 2 days later those cute kids broke all of the plates in the plate rack behind us, gotta love em!

The next day we headed to Logan for the 4th of July weekend. Aaron and Mindy were blessing baby Dax which made it the perfect reason to head to the old stomping grounds. I love that town, obviously seeing that we have a name sake, it will always just feel like home. So many great memories there. When we got to town we went to A&W, this is the best A&W in the country, I promise!! The root bear is on tap the fry sauce is home made.....yum-o. It is disgrace to this lovely establishment that in most places it now shares its glory with a KFC, not it Logan it stand as a one and only... and Ryan wasn't leaving town without visiting it. Afterward we headed up to campus to meet all of Ryan's family that get to live in Cache Valley....lucky (except in the winter). The fireworks did not disappoint it was a great show. The last time we went to them I was very pregnant with Bailey, so we were due to see them again.A fairly decent family photo

Lots of cute kids!!These 2 are 2 Peas in a Pod

Saturday the guys golfed and we took the kids to a fun park and had lunch at Firehouse, another favorite, and then headed back to Matt and Jill's for our own firework fun and eating lots of watermelon. The 4rth of July and eating watermelon go hand in hand!! The girls had so much fun with Allie and playing Hannah Montana. We did so many fun things that weekend but Bailey said her favorite was putting on a Hannah Montana show on Matt and Jill's deck. Crazy girls!

Ready for some fun at the park

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY !

The ending to the Hannah Show

Watermelon pictures are my FAVORITE

This is crazy Matt's West Indies firework, I must admit it was pretty cool

Sunday was baby Dax's special day, he is such a good baby and is going to have lots of people to love him and help him grow up. It was a great day. Trae started crying when we all left, he is such a cute kid!!

Why do I not have any pictures of this???

Later that day Ryan headed back home and my dad came and picked up me and the kids. I stayed down to help Jenn while she had her baby. Before the baby came we did manage to have some fun. We went out on the boat, all of the kids are really starting to love doing that. We also went to Hoggle Zoo. The kids loved seeing the elephants and riding on the merry go round and train. It was a good day....it was hot but lots of fun.

The elephants were definitely a favorite

The zoo is always a hit, even Jackson and Logan had a good time

LiTTlE ApEs

After the zoo we headed for Heber to get ready for the baby. The girls loved being at Drew's house and visiting all of his favorite parks.

The kids have really gotten into climbing trees this summer

Baby Avery was born on July 9th weighing in at 6 lbs 7 oz. She is tiny little thing and so so cute. Ryan came back to pick us up and take us home from wearing out our welcome. I am not sure helpful I am with my own 3 crazy kids, but I am happy to do it Jenn has helped me out on so many occasions I wanted to return the favor. What a blessing family is!

Drew had very excited for the arrival of his new baby sister

It was nice to come home and get busy planning for the rest of the month. While I was in Utah, Ryan scored us some great tickets to the Kenny Chesney concert. I was so very excited. It was so much fun. That was the 3rd time I had seen him and that show was probably my favorite, even better then standing next to the stage. He put on a great show that night, so glad we were there. Thanks Ry!!



The first of of July flew by and was filled with many great moments. The 2nd half doesn't disappoint......more to come!

I just had to finish this post with this picture because its cute. Logan has been lots of fun this summer and has LOVED the pool. He discovered dad's hat this day and looked just like him!

Spring Break Cont'd

In spite of the cold weather, spring break was still a good time. The kids had lots of fun which is all that really matters. We started off by meeting Jenn and Drew at a super fun indoor waterpark at on of the rec centers by her house. The kids absolutely loved it, the water was really warm, they had water slides, a lazy river and plenty of fun. Logan hung out in his baby float for like 2 hours he thought it was great, he is really loving water these days. The next day we tried to hit the Park City outlets, the weather didn't really cooperate but the shopping was good nonetheless. One of the highlights was taking the kids to the Children's Museum at the Gateway. I think I had just as much fun as they did. Bailey loved being a weather girl and newscaster, Ellie loved shopping at the store, and Logan loved playing in the water. They also loved being there with their cousin Drew, Jackson was their too, but he didn't make a peep in the stroller the entire time. It was the perfect way to spend the afternoon. The rest of the weekend included a little more shopping, a baby shower for Jackson and Mel, and getting ready for Jackson's blessing. The weather was crappy on the way home, the fought a head wind the entire time and had to stop for gas (usually we can make it), the roads were icy, etc. etc. all the fun of driving in the winter, except it ISN"T WINTER! We have hit a lot of bad roads between here and there this year, I am done for a while. If the weather is bad, I am staying home! I am glad Ryan flew down for the weekend and was able to drive us home, he is much better in those situations then I. All in all, it was a fun week and a good way to entertain the kids.

It really was a fun place, thanks to Jenn for inviting us. She looks awesome for being 6 months pregnant and rounding up all the kids for a photo.

I didn't have the red eye function on, so everybody looks a little freaky on this trip.
Oh well he is still cute.


Ellie finally got brave and went down this slide. She ended up loving it. Bailey was a pro she kept going over and over, she told me she was getting her workout by going up the stairs so many times, but it was "totally" worth it because the slide is SO much fun.

Bailey did a good job reading the Teleprompter, Ellie just sat and looked pretty :)



This boy LOVES the water




Bailey hung out with these boys doing some building for quite a while, Ellie loved riding the horse she informed me that she really wants to ride a real one.

A good day for memories

The kids with baby Jackson

Sweet baby on his special day

Sisters