Kassi's 4th B-day Bash!

Kassi, your birthday is always first in our family birthday marathon.  You wanted to make cupcakes, so we tried a new recipe for frosting that was a little complicated, but it tasted great!  And, you definitely got your fill of cupcakes and cupcake decorating!  During Nathan's nap time, we had fun decorating cupcakes and ...

... we had our own little dance party in the kitchen, just you and me!  You are quite the dancer!  We let you join Jesi's little dance class this year and you are often so tired by 6:30, that you would prefer to stay home.  It is ironic that the reason you are so tired at the end of the day is likely because you dance all day long!!!

 We invited the neighbors over for an after school snack - your beautifully hand-crafted cupcakes!

 Nathan was glad he was awake and able to join in on the cupcake festivities!

 Then we went to Trafalga for some pizza, rides, mini-golf & rock climbing!  By the time we got the pizza, you were all VERY hungry and we topped it off with nothing but your finest, decorated cupcakes!  You were so excited that Cari and Darren decided to join us!

 Sometimes Nathan tries to steal the show, but you are pretty good at holding your own ...

 A pictures says a thousand words.  

 You are very good at making silly faces and you are ALWAYS making us laugh!  I think when your daddy promised to make me laugh every day (and he sure has kept that promise), you must have made the same promise in order to be sent to our family!  The two of you make quite the pair, like in this next picture!!!  

You look like you could be part giraffe with that tongue and I have no idea what exactly daddy is trying to be!  But, I know he was trying to make us laugh, so I shouldn't be selfish and keep this all to myself.

 You and your sister were so cute holding hands everywhere.  You two talked Drew into joining you eventually on the Frog Hopper ride!

We all cheered you on!

 Then we went mini-golfing and the glow-in-the-dark paint was a lot of fun!

 Another demonstration of Andy making me laugh.  He had a couple other good ones, but I'll limit it to two on this post at least.  I love that guy!

 You were getting a little tired by the end, but we still talked you into trying a little rock climbing and you did great - a little worried at first, but you got the hang of it and eventually thought it was fun!  Jesi was a little less certain, probably because she chose to wear her winter boots?!?

 Kassi, you are a delightful child, so full of wonder and joy.  You are truly a joy to be around and we don't know what we'd do without your sweet sparkling personality in our family.  We hope you know that there will never be a mountain or wall too difficult to climb if you let go of your fears and have faith that things will work out!  

At dinner the other day, you asked where Jesi was.  When I told you she was in "el bano", you asked why she was "so far away"?  When we asked why you thought it was so far away, you insisted that you knew what "el bano" was, but you would not tell us.  It was hilarious when we asked you questions and you responded, acting like you knew exactly where she was.  You thought it was quite the funny joke when you later found out she was only in the bathroom.  You are quite the character and you always keep us on our toes.  Speaking of toes, we always know when you are embarrassed or shy because you start walking on your tippie toes.  This is usually in the morning when you come downstairs and your spunky personality hasn't quite woken up yet, or when we are with other people you don't know well, etc. etc.  It is very cute!  You also walk on tippie toes occasionally when you get excited about something.  Things that excite you these days are art projects such as painting, going on trips to the park, seeing extended family members or friends,  and helping me cook, bake, organize or clean!

You also love to read, especially after bedtime.  Some of your favorites this year that we have read over and over and over again have been Molly Lou Melon, Grover's Resting Places, The Paper Bag Princess, The Napping House, Piggies, & the Rainbow Fairies, but you are happy to read just about anything these days.  The other night, after story time, you wanted me to "chat" with you as we have been doing with your older siblings.  It was so fun to have that special time with you, despite the fact that it was way past your bedtime and felt like it was past my bedtime as well.  I found out that your favorite animals are bunnies and rabbits (apparently bunnies are white and rabbits are silver).  Your favorite colors are "the blue color in the rainbow" (turquoise according to you) and pink.  And, you said you want to grow up to be a big sister and then a mommy.  You said you want to have a baby boy, and a baby girl named Lilly.  I remember a year or two ago you said you wanted to be a cowgirl mommy!  I would love to hold my little granddaughter, Lilly someday and hope she is just like you because I can't help but get a little teary thinking of how fast you are growing up.  I know that is what I signed up for, and I look forward to watching you learn and grow.  I guess I just better document these early years because they are so precious to me.  You are precious and I am so thankful you are my daughter.  Happy 4th Birthday, Kassi.  We all love you SO VERY MUCH!!!

Andy's 37th B-day!

 We have almost completed our birthday marathon for the year and technically I should be documenting Kassi's birthday first, but we like to do things out of order around here sometimes, just to keep things interesting.  We had just discovered our love of crepes a few days before Andy's b-day, so Jesi had the idea that we should buy some of that fun whipped cream for his b-day and then make him strawberry crepes for breakfast.  She was pretty excited.  It was pretty cute!

Speaking of cute, as much as I love Andy's cute feet, his socks were getting pretty ridiculous, as you can see here.  So, we purchased him a much needed new wallet and what I hope will be at least a 2 year supply of work socks!  He also received some polo shirts from the boys and a couple books from Mom and Kassi.  And, that barbecue grill that was supposed to be purchased for him for Christmas is still on the agenda!  Any ideas or deals out there that you know of?!?

He was definitely well fed on his birthday.  His brothers took him out to lunch to a great Chinese place called, "The Green Panda" across from Andy's work, owned and operated by some friends of ours.  Unfortunately they didn't get any pictures.  But, of course I got plenty from when we took him to dinner at the Pizza Factory!

Nathan loved everything a little too much.  He eats like a teenager these days - only a tad messier.  He wants to eat what everyone else is eating, with the exact same dishes and utensils and the same exact glass/cup.  This makes for a big mess at every meal/snack, but he is definitely good and healthy according to his last check-up, so we won't complain.

The made a very yummy '37' cinnamon bread for us to enjoy with cream cheese dipping sauce.  As you can tell, the kids were very excited.  It might look like they are just excited to eat their dessert, but I'm pretty sure they were just showing how much they love their Daddy!!!  These pictures really do say a thousand words, so I'll consider this my journal for the week :o)!

We sure love and appreciate you, Andy, and hope to celebrate many more birthdays with you!!!!!!!!!

Getting ready for a day in Salt Lake City :o)!

Please have nice thoughts when you see our family at church on Sunday or any other place around town.  Nathan likes to dress himself and run out the door in a split second if an older sibling happens to leave one open.  (You would think it was cool to dress like this too if you had two older sisters - really, you would!!!)

Drew prefers brushing his own teeth and those braces can be kind of tricky sometimes.  And, he has quite the moves and rhythm too while doing so, if you ask me.  Those moves didn't help him too much on the trampoline when he ran into his sister's head, however.  That explains the black eye.

The girls like to play salon and fix each other's hair.  Actually, Kassi just smiled for the picture, but she really felt like she was being tortured by her big sister most of the time :0).

This was a more "true" picture.

We were having a pretty typical, crazy morning the day were were headed up to Salt Lake for a session of conference and visit to temple square when I remembered the kids had fallen asleep early the night before on our way back from somewhere and we hadn't had our family scripture "study", if you dare call it that with 4 kiddos ranging from 1-10.  But, I could tell we needed all the help we could get on our little family adventure that day, so we all got together in Mom and Dad's very tidy (with unfolded laundry, everyone's books, and our frames that we finally hung but still need to put pictures in, etc. etc.) bedroom.  I love to see these two kiddos (who are usually at odds with each other) sitting and helping each other read stories that I hope they will always remember.

And, I find it quite the parallel to life with the messes and unfinished projects in the background as we will never feel like we are on top of everything and there will always be so much to do, but these are the times when we need the spiritual uplift the most.  It requires putting everything else down (no matter how seemingly urgent and necessary to get done that day) and focusing on searching, pondering, and praying!

Even after the battle of the hair-dos and don'ts - they feel drawn together somehow - now that is a miracle!

And, I love this - Nathan was running around so much that morning and running AWAY so fast, that we had a hard time getting him dressed.  This has been a battle since he was about 6 months old and boy is he a strong little fella.  We were proud of ourselves for just getting his shirt on at this point!  The buttons would have to wait.

Some of my sweetest memories are of these kiddos imitating and wanting to know how to pray.  This picture says it all!  I hope you kiddos always have a desire to seek knowledge from the best books and from your Heavenly Father in prayer.  He will help you with all of life's messes and projects and help you know which projects are really worth your time and effort.  He will help you remember how precious you truly are.  It is hard to imagine, but He loves you even more than your earthly Dad and I ever could.