Brady's 13th Birthday

Wow...we finally became parents of a teenager. And all this boy wanted for his birthday was a cell phone and a Facebook account. Oh the life of a deprived teenager. We actually had B's cell phone for about 2 weeks before the big day...but we are great at keeping secrets ;-) So with the phone all charged, Nate went and planted it under his pillow at about 5am. He let it ring and ring...but no answer. He went back down and put it closer to his ear. Now for the 2nd call...I'll never forget that tired 'Hello?' and us saying 'Happy Birthday Brady!' and the sincere heartfelt 'THANK YOU!' He immediately came upstairs with a HUGE smile on his face. Then went back to bed and the texting began. His 1st text to Nate was...'How many texts do I have per month?' Nate said 200...then started texting H...A...P...P...Y...B...I...R...T...H...D...A...Y. He texted back something to the effect of 'Stop wasting my texts' Hehe...then Nate told him it was unlimited. Too funny. He still tops us every month with almost 2,000 texts. We honestly didn't have any plans for a party because he was so fixated on getting a phone and FB account...he didn't want to talk about anything else. So that morning, I told Brady to ask some friends at school if they would like to go to a movie after school (it was a minimal day thank goodness), and then come back to our house for dinner. Ryan, Ben, and Derek are some great friends of Brady's and they had a great time just hanging out eating and going to the movies.

Best Friends

Annie, Courtney's mom, made these cute skirts and purses for the girls for Valentines Day. Courtney doesn't have any sisters and gets a little jealous when she sees other sisters in matching dresses at church. So when Annie asked her who she would like to match with...of course she said Hannah. And boy did they love being twinners. It still cracks me up of how Hannah towers over Courtney, even though she's almost a year older.

Valentine Cookies 2012

I don't think we've gone a year without making Valentine cookies...because seriously...we all need a little sugar rush now and then!

Quiet Moments

I remember taking this picture of Seth one morning because of how 'Angelic' he looked and acted. He sat quietly eating his oatmeal in the chaos of the morning and it was just what I needed to keep me positive throughout the day. I'm not saying this happens often, but I'm sure thankful when it does. Here is also a picture of his curls for one last time, before I trimmed them.

Always Entertained

The great thing about having older kids with a little ones, is that there is always someone to entertain them. Rachel is by far the best and most willing to entertain Seth, and he just loves her to pieces. I can't imagine having him, without her ;-)

Hannah's 4th Birthday

Nate started the trend of 'Designing Your Own Cake' last year...and now our kids love to talk about what creations they will come up with. Hannah decided that she wanted to make her own ice cream cake. And that's exactly what we did. It actually turned out really yummy, although it might not look like much. We also had Hannah's friend party once the kids were back in school, and play group was at our house. She is such a happy girl, and would honestly be ecstatic with a stick of gum. (In fact that was one of her favorite things that she got...Bubble Tape.)

Christmas Morning 2011

Visions of Sugar Plums

Ahhhh....that moment after all the activities when they are finally asleep. Here on our bedroom floor in front of the fire.

Christmas Eve 2011

Best family tradition that we've ever come up with...frosting cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve, which gives us a dessert and checks off the cookie frosting from our list!

Gingerbread Houses

We've made a tradition of creating Gingerbread houses every year during Christmas time. We've always invited a couple of families to join us to make a party out of it. This past December 2011, I decided to send out an email to the young families in our ward and hold it at the church. (Honestly, it wasn't that big of a deal, and we still had a small but fun turnout.) The dads were able to play basketball, while we were up on the stage creating yummy houses. I think we may hold it at the church more often! Rachel and Hannah... Jake, Josh and Jace...the 3 'J's' Brady and Courtney Zack, Jordan, and Caleb All the wonderful creations!

Nate's Birthday Wish

Nate wanted to make his own birthday cake for 2011. And being the loving/supportive wife that I am...I was all for it! I bought the supplies and waited for the final outcome. I myself didn't have a piece of cake, but Nate and other people described it as a Round House Kick to the Head with Sugar! I think the frosting on the Zingers was a little too much, so next year he was thinking of Twinkies instead ;-)

Christmas Lights

This year we ran short on time to see the lights up at Temple Square. But we did opt for an outing to see the lights at the River Bottoms, near Nate's work. Not much snow on the ground, but it was still bitter cold! There is also a home just off of the hill at 1600 E in Lindon, that displays pictures of the life of Christ. So AMAZING...my kids' loved it. We ended the night with some hot cocoa at home ;-)

Lunch with my Girls

How lucky am I to have both my girls' birthday in December? And better yet...right after Christmas! Every year, I have plans and ambitions for their big days, and even though some of them fall through the cracks, we do try and make it special for them. Since their birthdays are 4 days apart, we went on a lunch/shopping trip right in the middle. That way they felt like it was special just for them. It is amazing how similar yet how different these two can be!

Rachel's 9th Birthday Party

I talked Rachel into postponing her party until things settled down after the holidays. So in March she had a late night birthday party with many of her friends. They had a blast eating pizza and treats and watching a movie. But you do forget how silly and giggly 9 year old girls can be.

Hannah's Birthday Wish...Build-A-Bear

I don't know how many times my kids have asked to go to Build-A-Bear. I finally gave in and took Hannah there for her 4th Birthday on December 31, 2011. She loved every minute of it...of course. She actually got a boy penguin from the movie 'Happy Feet 2' which she named 'Sparkles' and dressed him in a pink cupcake skirt and jacket with twinkle toe sketcher shoes. Nate and I cracked up at her lovely 'choices'! She certainly does make things interesting!