Easter 2012

I can't believe Easter has come already! It seems like we just had Christmas. We got together and had an egg hunt at Lola's house. Taygen wanted to just open the eggs and eat the candy
so I had to walk around and pick up all her eggs. Gavin recognized the letter G for his name, and picked up all his eggson his own. Luckily it was a really nice day. I ran 15 miles before the party so I was pretty worn out, but excited that the kids had a really good time. The kids picked out their own Easter outfits this year, so they were super excited to wear them.

Spelling Bee

Kaitlyn decided she wanted to participate in the school spelling bee. We printed off the words and worked on them for about a week. She beat out the kids in her class, then she beat the other 1st graders. So she went to the school-wide spelling bee, where she was competing against kids all the way up to the 8th grade! I meant to have her start practicing much earlier, but I totally forgot. She wasn't as well prepared as she could have been. She got out on her second word, but still got 1st place for the 1st grade..
Next year we will have to study sooner!

Taygen's 1st Birthday and Walking

What do you get for your 1-year-old for her birthday when you already have three other children?! It was hard to shop for Taygen. I basically got her clothes and a new carseat. She loved all the attention she got for her birthday. She got a phone from Lola that rings and makes noise.
She really likes to push the buttons. She walks around with the phone and her shoulder and babbles at it. We got her a neon cake for her birthday.

She thoroughly enjoyed digging into all that chocolate! Just a few days later she finally got up and walked several steps. She had been taking a step or two for a few weeks, but right after her birthday she just got up and walked!

Dancing Taygen

Taygen loves it when she hears music. She always stops playing to listen to the music from the TV or something else the kids are using. She especially loves to use the music from the refrigerator. She pushes the button and then dances to the beat!

Violin Recital

Maya had her first violin recital on October 15th. She insisted on wearing a black dress since that is what violinists wear in the symphony. She worked really hard on memorizing and learning her piece. The other two girls were not quite as prepared, but it turned out ok. She is picking up the violin so quickly! I got elected to play the piano to accompany the girls in their song so Brian is recording the song. He clearly did it sideways! She did an excellent job and we are super proud of her!

Baptism Day

I'm finally getting around to taking pictures off of my camera. Maya's baptism was a few weeks ago, but better late than never. It was a very crazy day for a baptism, but it all worked out great. I started off my morning very, very early so I could run 20 miles and then be back to get kids ready. Maya was super excited for her big day. She had been hesitant in months past because she wasn't sure she wanted the responsiblity that comes with being a member of the church. I was very proud of her for taking this seriously and coming to the decision on her own. We tried to teach her the gospel and help her to choose for herself. She was still a little apprehensive, but willing to make the leap!

We had both my dad and Brian's dad in the font with Brian and Maya to help Brian baptize Maya. It's not everyday that the witnesses for the baptism are in the font with the person being baptized! It all worked out really well. Brian was able to baptize her without any problem.
Then the fun part was putting on the gorgeous dress. Maya and I spent lots of time on the internet finding the perfect dress. She was very happy with the end product. She felt like a princess and had a dress that was very unique!


We had lots of family support too that made Maya feel really special and very loved!

Birthdays, birthdays, and more birthdays!

August is always an exciting time with loads of birthdays to celebrate. My girls have their birthdays just two days apart so it gets crazy busy very fast! Maya decided to have her birthday at Jack and Jill Lanes and do laser tag. She was super excited about it because she loves laser tag. We had a big group of 7-8 year old girls to deal with at the party. I think Brian was a little overwhelmed with all the girls! They got to play 2 games of laser tag and they were screaming and laughing the whole time.

She got some fun presents and was able to hang out with friends she hadn't seen since school. Of course it was her best party ever! (she says that every year!)




Kaitlyn had her party at the Legacy Center pool. She has been wanting to have a party there since Maya had her party there last year. It was pretty fun. All the kids swam and got to have pizza and cupcakes. Kaitlyn loves being the center of attention so she was ecstatic about her party! A huge party of girls again and it was craziness!