Jeffy Ties the Knot

I have a new sister! Isn't she a stunning bride? Unfortunately, I can't take credit for the above picture of her beauty. Mine turn out more like so....
Hopefully one of the other paparazzi got a good picture of how cute they looked as they exited the Las Vegas temple.
I have no idea why so many of my pictures are blurry but luckily I think the wedding was covered in the picture/video dept. It was so fun to see Jeff in a whole new Patriarchal light- and so happy :)
The weather report threatened rain, but happily there were only a few sprinkles when it was all said and done.
Miranda, Sally, Carrie, Jeff, Mom, Me, Amy. What would it be like to grow up with 2 brothers and then suddenly gain 4 sisters?
Hopefully painless :) We love you already Carrie- let us know if we're acting crazy-or too crazy might be more appropriate.
I did manage to get a few cute shots of our little girls all dressed up.



We kinda had an impromptu luncheon at "Olive Garden" in between the temple and the reception. I was struck by the size of our growing family even without Jeff and Carrie. Then I think of ALL the kids that have yet to come and I get so excited and a little teary. I just love my family so much :)
The reception was BEAUTIFUL! I have never seen a cultural hall so transformed. My picture can't do it justice. Also, tons of delicious food of which I ate way too much.
Congratulations to Jeff and Carrie on their new journey together! Now they are off to their honeymoon in Costa Rica (so jealous).

And we'll be eagerly awaiting Sally and Eter in San Diego in about a month from now!!! Can't wait!

Polar Ice Party

Emma's birthday landed on a half day this year so we thought it would be a perfect party day. Once again, she and Eli had a combined party. Year before last they had a Build-A-Bear party. Luckily, we came up with another good boy-girl party idea: Ice skating! It's like both of their favorite thing so it worked out great. First we met here after school and had cupcakes and opened gifts.

Here are the picture perfect girls patiently waiting.
And the very cute...
and a bit more crazy boys :)
It was an extra special treat for Eli to have his best friend Zach who moved to Tucson come for the party too!
We took turns singing to each of them and then they blew out their number candle. Then they both blew out the long candles together.



Then we headed over for ice skating. I was hoping since not everyone has a half day, that we wouldn't have too much of a crowd. I was so happy when we pulled up that there weren't a lot of cars there. AND we got a group rate because had so many people!
Sadie's first time ice skating.

Dana being the awesome dad he is, braved the ice with two tippy little girls in toe.

Holly eventually got a little braver and tried it on her own. It helped that her friend Ellie (Zach's little sister) wanted to skate with her.

Eli and Zach- so cute!

Everything turned out great. The kids had fun and it was the least stressful party we've ever had!
It made me think about how grateful I am for good friends. What an invaluable treasure in life.

Emma turns 10!!!

I'm a little behind in blogging since we've just been so busy. Even though today is Eli's birthday, I can't skip over my big girl. I love the above picture that my very talented friend Jill took. I look at it and can't believe how fast the years are going by! She just looks so big. Those first 10 years have flown and I feel so grateful to have been blessed to be her mommy :)

This is the first page in Emma's very girthy scrapbook (which ends at age 2). Of course this is one of the happiest moments of my life. These pictures were taken 20 mins after she came out. I love how her eyes are wide open and looking around.
6 weeks
3 months
8 months
On her birthday morning eating Sadie's birthday cereal pick. Also "crazy clothes day" at school.
Oh how I love who you are Emma. You are sweet, kind, fun, funny, quick to forgive, patient, loving, creative, thoughtful, silly, a good friend and sister, and all around just a great girl.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY!

"Super" Sadie turns THREE!

Yesterday Sadie had her birthday- officially kicking off birthday-time extravaganza at our house. It was nice to start with her since she is so easily excited and has no preconceived "birthday" notions in her head. She was just happy to have it be her special day and kept telling everyone "It my Birt-day." Then she'd get the inevitable question- "Oh! How old are you?" To which she answered, "Five" every time.
I did try to dress her up so she felt a little special with a tutu and a headband with a crown on it and a "birthday girl" pin. And while we were at the store she got to pick out a balloon which she carried around the rest of the day.

Then in the evening we had cousins over for a little party. She got 2 Strawberry Shortcake dolls and playdough and Amy made her, her own "super cape" which she has given to each of my kids when they were about Sadie's age. She is an AWESOME aunt. Sadie was so excited to have her own.
It's probably safe to say it was the favorite gift of the year :)
(love those Elmo buns)
Amy made one for Campbell too, which was good for Sadie because flying alone just isn't quite the same.

Now I just need to figure out how she went from this...
To this...
To a little girl so fast!
HAppy, hApPY 3rd BirtHday SweetPea!

A Happy Valentines Day

I LOVE Valentines morning. This year we celebrated a day early because we have 8am church. The night before I got the kids cards written out and the table ready. Dana ran the Two Sisters One Heart 10K that morning so he was gone, but for a wonderful cause. He did great and actually came in 3rd place!
Sadie waiting patiently for some breakfast.

So much yummy food! Including "Honey and Spice" pancakes (Emma's favorite), buttermilk syrup(everyone's favorite), Cuties, strawberries, blueberry bagels, scrambled eggs...
who's hungry??? my 4 sweet little Valentines.
I love when they open their cards and read our love notes to them. I got 3 of my own back this year from Emma, Eli, and Holly. They were just so sweet!

Sadie was transfixed by the candy sitting next to her plate during breakfast. She knew she couldn't have it until she was done, but every now and then she'd pick it up and look at it. She couldn't wait to eat her "chaukit howt".
Then finally when the moment arrived and I said she could have it, I made a big mistake. After I opened it I broke a piece off in a mommy-like act of hoping that she wouldn't eat the whole thing. It was a very non-Valentinzy thing to do. And she did not like that one bit. For the next 5 minutes she sobbed "YOU.....BROKE.....MY....HEART......YOU....BROKE.....MY......HEART."
It was super sad. But then slowly she was lured back to her treat.
And her sorrows were dissipated in the chokit and peanut butter.

And life was good again. Did you know that one of them has 342 calories? Yikes!
After Dana got home and the kids cleaned their rooms we decided to take a walk across the street to the lake and the silos to get an up close look. Plus I've been wanting to take some pictures in front of them for awhile.
Sadie took her card with her everywhere that day and wanted to me to read it to her over and over again.

Not the easiest picture to take :)
Then we went to the park that's right there.
We had a fun time and the weather was perfect as can be. Finally up to 75 again :)
I accidentally caught Emma jumping off the swing.

My wonderful Valentine and I.
TLA