Adalyn's kindergarten picture

Adalyn's kindergarten picture!

Little Ethan

Here is a cute collage of Ethan that Paige gave me for Mother's Day last year. She took Ethan and Hyrum to get their pictures done and then surprised me with this. Thanks Paige!

I love school pictures

The boys had their preschool pictures
taken in the fall. I think they turned out
so good!

7 kids under the age of eight for 2 days

We had the privilege of keeping our neighbors four kids (3 yr old twins, 5 year old and 7 year old) while their mother had surgery. Let me tell you, we had a blast! I wish I would have taken some pictures. It was a circus half the time. After the first day, Joshua called me and asked how things were going. My response was, "I want a big family!". He said, "that is not what I was expecting or wanting to hear"! Some highlights of their visit:

Seven kids around the dinner table, all of them trying to talk to me at the same time.
Homemade playdough that we cooked on the stove...fun for hours and no one fought over the cookie cutters and fun factory!
Activities with the "little kids" while the "big kids" were at school.
The "big kids" getting home from school and all telling me about their day in one breathe and all at the same time!
Three little ones begging to be held at the same time...and me trying to hold them all at once.
One of the twins climbing into bed with us in the middle of the night and didn't mind that we weren't Mom and Dad.
Bathtime for all seven!
Getting up at 7:30 to get Caden (the seven year old) up for school, only to find him fully dressed with coat shoes and backpack on, so he could play Nickjr.com like I promised before school.

I had a great time and want more now than ever to have a big family! (one kid at a time though)

Check out my Slide Show!

Birthdays Birthdays!

My Birthday was the 26th. I had one of the best birthdays ever! Joshua took me and the kids out to breakfast, then we went shopping, then took Ethan to a birthday party, then we watched Joshua play in his elders quorum basketball game. We then drove to Salt Lake and I attended a baby shower for a long time friend, Noelle Lambert (It was so great to see her and her mom!) Then we drove through the canyon to Park City and went shopping for our dream home! We got to check out some of the houses that Joshua is working on. And then walked through some model homes for other builders. Unfortunately, they were just a little out of our price range (they start at 1.6 million and up). It was still fun and gave us tons of ideas and motivation to start building our own. After Park City, we drove to North Salt Lake to have dinner with Joshua's aunt and uncle, Larry and Yvonne. They were so sweet and made me a huge birthday dinner. You can see the cake has a 25 and then another 2 = 27! All throughout the day, I received great presents and phone calls from all the family that I miss so much- especially my Mom and Dad! Thank you everyone for making me feel so special!

Chocolate chip pancakes

We have started a new tradition since we moved to Spanish Fork. Joshua makes chocolate chip pancakes every Sunday morning. At first I wanted to pass on the stomach ache producing combo, but then soon discovered that they were so good, you don't even need syrup! After breakfast, he cleans up everything (including dishes that I have saved from Saturday for him). He even sweeps the floor. This is such a big deal at our house, because he has only cooked about 3 times since we were married. He also made brownies last Sunday and learned quickly what happens when you drop an egg, shell and all into a kitchenaid full of batter. After several minutes of picking tiny shell fragments from gooey chocolate, and thirty minutes in the oven, the entire family was impressed with his blooming culinary skills!

Our new house

okay, this picture is for those of you who continue to ask for pictures of our house...sorry it is only the outside. I have been waiting to get the Christmas decorations down first. Now that is done, so maybe this week I will hang some pictures and try to make it look homey!

Our little Dancer!

This is her first little dance performance. Her class performed in the studio, for the parents to see what they have been working on. This has been Adalyn's first time to take dance. She has only been to eight classes, but I think she did so great! The following are short video clips of a few of the dances that they did. She will have a big dance recital in the spring on a big stage. Can't wait for that!
Her dance class is actually on our street. Our neighbor finished her basement into a dance studio. Each week Adalyn and the neighbor girl walk down the street together in their snow boots with tights, and their little dance skirts barely showing under their big winter coats. It is the cutest thing ever! I will try to take a picture and post it next week.
The last video is of Adalyn's first solo. After her dance, some of the other moms asked me, "so Addy has had dance before?" I told them "Oh no! She just is imitating the movie- Barbie and the Nutcracker!" They loved her facial expressions-very dramatic! Next stop- acting class!

Wildlife Museum

We were able to go the the Wildlife Adventure museum while on vacation. The kids had a blast! They always love dressing up. Their favorite thing was the African lion display.

Our new nephew!

While we were in Denver, we were so lucky to get to see our new baby nephew, William Stuart Norris.
Ryan and Katie had number four on Dec. 29th! He is so cute! And we all couldn't believe how good Katie looked. You could hardly tell she had a baby! I now get weekly updates from my Mom. She says is just gets cuter and cuter.

Five year flashback!!

Okay, I was browsing pictures on my computer and came across this great picture! This was taken over five years ago. It is hard to believe! (For those of you who don't know, this is Joshua's fam- left to right: back row,Tara, Joshua, Adalyn,Gary (father), John, Shae(sister), Kyle(brother), Paige. Front Row, Garrett(brother), Lorelei(mother) Jason(brother)). We have now added five more people to the family. It is exciting to think what the new year will bring...maybe three new people, maybe four???

Sledding

My Dad and I took the kids sledding. They loved it! This pic is my Dad pulling them up the hill.

On our way to Grandma and Grandpa's

We were all so excited to go to my parent's house for Christmas (Santa came early to our house). The kids were excited for the plane ride, the bunkbeds, sledding, 80 candy canes (all natural with no artificial colors!) and more presents!

Christmas morning!

You don't need to say much about it! It was huge fun and a huge mess. It doesn't get any better than that!