Pictures!!!! (Long overdue)

I know it's been WAY too long since I posted pics but here ya go!! I didn't want to overload this post with pics so I'm going to spread them out over a few different posts.

Here are some photos from Easter. The kids were so excited. Except for maybe Jay... you can see it in his face that the holidays just aren't as exciting as they were when he was little. (Sniff, sniff....my boy is growing up!) Jay and Scott went on a youth temple trip to SLC on the Friday before Easter. They did baptisms for the dead that night and then stayed with the YM's president's parents and in-law's houses. The next day they were able to go to the morning session of conference!! I'm so jealous! I've never been to a session before! They had so much fun! Jay didn't want to go at first and I kind of forced him but when he got home he was so glad he went. It was a great experience for him.

When Jay and Scott got home Saturday night, we colored eggs and got all overly excited for Easter. They woke up Easter morning and searched the house for their baskets. The Easter Bunny is getting more clever each year, it took them quite a while to find them this year!! They spent the morning hunting for eggs and eating candy. Since it was General Conference, we stayed in our p.j.'s all day and stuffed ourselves with Easter goodies while we listened to all the amazing speakers!















Masen started playing football a few weeks ago. I really have mixed feelings about this. He is in full pads and helmet and he's playing tackle. He's 7-years-old people! Scott is totally loving it and I am too just because Mase loves it sooooo much! But it scares me a little bit. It's a learning league for 7-9 year-olds so he is the youngest one on his team going against 9-year-olds!! He comes away from every practice and game with a huge grin on his face though. HE LOVES IT!!! He is definitely his daddy's boy! Here are some pics of Scott and Mase in the front yard.

AHHHHH!!!

Life is CRAZY! I feel like I've been running since before Christmas! I keep waiting for things to slow down but it's so not happening! I finally changed my background- it's no longer Christmas, but spring! I feel like that is a huge accomplishment! Here are a few things that have happened in the past few months....

Braedy turned 11 on December 2! Eleven-years-old people! My little girl is growing up and I can't stand it! She has already told me what she wants for her birthday this year- a tube of mascara and a gym membership. That seems pretty easy!! She is so excited to go to Young Women's this year. I don't really share that sentiment. I'm freaking out that she is growing up and becoming an independent young woman! It happens too fast! I told my friend a couple of weeks ago, I want to give my kids wings and let them fly but can't I put a leash on them so they just fly around me? I'm really struggling with letting go!!

I took Braedy and her cousins, Savanna and Emily to the Nutcracker with my parents. It was so fun! The girls loved every second of it (and so did I). We went to the Spaghetti Factory and Temple Square afterward. It was the best outing!

We stayed home for Christmas this year. It was really fun. It's so quiet and relaxing and the kids had a blast! They woke up at 4:30. Every single one of them! They were soooo excited! It was really fun!

Mase turned 7 on December 27. He had a great day. We took him to Chuck E. Cheese's and he was in heaven! I just have one question- Why do you have to pay a fortune for crappy card board pizza at that place? It sucks! But it's worth it to see the kids having so much fun together!! Mase is so excited to turn 8 this year! He cannot wait to be baptized!

Our niece, Chantel got married in January so we went home for that. It was so fun and she is really happy! The kids had a great time with their cousins and it's always fun to be around family. Kaylen still talks about the princess at the temple.

I went to Time Out For Women in Ogden with my mom and my sister-in-law, Lisa. It was AMAZING and a much needed break for me! I got another break a couple of weeks later when I went to Denver for a day with my good friend, Amy. We got our hair done and went to dinner. It was so fun! But sweet little Kaylen got a hold of some scissors while I was gone and cut her hair in four different places! I was so mad! I had just had her hair cut to even everything out so it would grow out good! I guess she'll have short hair for a while but that's OK- she looks adorable! (I'll post pics soon)

Kaylen turned 3 on March 2. We celebrated a couple of days before. She had a lot of fun and is so excited to be 3. She says she is big now! Good to know!

Well, there's a quick catch-up on what's been happening! Pictures to follow soon!

Merry Christmas!!!

So, I know what a complete slacker I've been with my blog. I'm not going to bore you with my lame excuses. I just wanted to say that I am so grateful for this time of year when we get the opportunity to reflect on the life of our Savior. We all are so blessed to have such an amazing example to look to and the knowledge that He has paid the price for all of our sins that we may live with Him again someday. All we have to do is accept the gift that He has given each one of us. Doesn't it feel wonderful to be so loved?

I hope all of you have a fabulous Christmas and a wonderful New Year!

Kaylenisms

Kaylen says the funniest things! And since I still don't know how to download pics to my mac, I thought I'd at least share some of the funny things she says.

I was running my fingers through her hair and she pulled her head away and said, "Don't touch my hair, mom! It's gorgeous!"

She also tells us, "I'm gorgeous!" anytime she is in trouble. I assume she thinks that means she should never get in trouble.

Every time she tells us about something she did, it always happened "last night". It doesn't matter if it actually happened 5 minutes ago, or 5 days ago.

She got a sucker out of the pantry when I had told her she couldn't have one and unwrapped it in front of me with a big smirk on her face. I took it away from her and told her that mommy had said no. She yelled at me, "No! You told me yes!!"

We were in the mall and she saw that they were setting up the place where Santa sits and she got really excited and started talking about Santa and Christmas. I asked her if she liked Santa and she told me, "Yes, I want to hold him!" Santa will be at our mall starting Saturday and I am so excited to take her! I think she will be the only one of my kids who will actually sit on his lap. My other three have always been a little terrified of jolly old St. Nick!!

She will bring a book to me and say, "Read to me, mom." So, I start reading and get through about 2 pages before she takes the book from me and says, "Now I read to you!" Then she moves her finger along the words and makes up her own story.

She thinks that any little kid is automatically her friend. It doesn't matter how old they are. Even 10-year-olds are her friend in her mind. She will go up to any kid and just start talking to them and ask them if they want to play with her. I think it's annoying to some of the older kids but I love that she has such an out-going personality! She will even see pictures of kids and tell me, "Mom, that's my friend!!"

We were in the car the other day and she wanted to listen to Taylor Swift. I didn't have the CD in the car so I told her that and she said, "Dang it!" So, we were just listening to the radio, and the introduction to Love Song came on and she gasped and said, "Taylor Swift!" I think it's amazing that she can already recognize songs like that!

I love Kaylen, she makes me laugh every day and I am so grateful she is a part of my family! I just have to say that I am in for it! The next 18 years are going to be a roller coaster ride with this one!

Yes, I'm a slacker, but I have good reason....

Our computer totally crashed about a month ago. It was absolutely fried and the geek squad guy that Scott took it to said it would cost more to fix it than it would to get a new computer. So that's what we did!! Scott decided that he wanted a Mac this time around and that is what we ended up getting. Now, here is my problem- I don't know anything about Mac's and I'm still learning how to use it! I still haven't figured out where I'm supposed to put my memory stick in to post pictures. So that is why I haven't posted in so long!! My goal is to have it figured out this week so I don't get any more behind!!

So, here are some things that have been happening in our lives. Jayden told me last week that he is starting to like Grand Junction better than Boise!! I cannot tell you how happy this makes me! He has really struggled making friends here and his comment tells me that he finally feels accepted and feels like he has friends here now. Yeah!! He is trying out for the school basketball team this week. It's been really tough but he feels really good about it. He will make one of the teams. (Everyone does.) They have three teams A, B, and C. They put each kid on one of the teams according to how good they are. He is hoping for A but feels like he will at least make B.

Braedy joined an after-school program called Girls On The Run. They are learning about self-esteem, peer-pressure and body image while training for a 5K. Scott and I are going to run the 5K with her on November 7. She is loving it! She is also doing great in gymnastics. She just conquered her round-off, back hand-spring and is pretty dang stoked about that!!! She has just decided to join the school choir so that will be fun, too! She definitely loves to stay BUSY!!!!

Masen is not loving school this year!!! I think having to go all day and not having as much play time has made it really rough on him. He gets kind of tired and ornery but despite all of that, he is doing great in 1st grade! He gets 100% on his spelling test every week and gets his entire homework packet (that is supposed to be spread out through the week) done on Monday night. He loves to learn but would prefer to do it at home!! He is definitely our home-body. He is still loving gymnastics and is doing well. He can't wait to turn 7 (3 more months!) because then he can play football!

Kaylen is, well, for lack of a better word, Kaylen. She is such a busy little girl and into EVERYTHING! She doesn't like the word no and thinks that is an invitation to push her limits. She has been soooooo different from the other three and is definitely my test in life. Despite all of that, she is such a stinking joy! She is hard to handle, but she makes me laugh everyday, she is very loving, and she loves life. She loves to be on the go and gets very upset if she is left home from anything, even the grocery store!! She is the opposite of Masen, she loves to go, go, go! She thinks everyone is her friend and has to say hi to every person she sees. She has to talk on the phone to everyone that I talk to. It's really hard to explain to her that she can't talk to the lady at the orthodontist's office, or the secretary at the elementary school.

Scott is keeping busy with work and his calling in young men's. He has a fantasy football team that holds a lot of his attention lately and he just got NBA League Pass so we can watch ALL the Jazz games. (I'm excited about that one, too!!)

I'm going nuts trying to keep everyone's schedules straight and making sure everyone is dropped off and picked up at the right time. Oh, and making sure Kaylen doesn't ruin anything that is important to anyone (which happens a lot and of course I get blamed every time!). I also spend a lot of time at my second home, the gym. To date, I have lost 28 pounds. Not as much as I'd like but I haven't been as dedicated the last couple of months. I'm definitely happy that I'm losing, I just need to get back on track and be completely serious about it again. I do great with the work-outs and cardio, it's the food that really trips me up. I like it too much!!

Anyway, that's what we've been up to. I promise I'll get this computer thing figured out and get some new pictures posted soon.

Heigh ho, Heigh ho, it's back to school we go!!

So, it's the middle of the week, but my kids started school today!! CrAzY!! It makes me a little sad that the "lazy days of summer" are over! I love summer! It's good to get them back in school and a little more regimented, but I'm really sad to see summer end!

Jayden is super excited to be getting up at the butt-crack of dawn again. He has to catch the bus at 6:30 so I get the fun task of prying him out of bed and getting him moving. Actually, he's really good about getting up and getting himself moving. He's a great kid! He had mixed emotions about starting school this year. He was excited to go back to school but was anxious and worried about the bullies from last year. He looks a little startled in this picture because it was still dark in our house, the flash was so stinkin' bright, and he was trying really hard to keep his eyes open!!






Braedy and Masen don't have to be out the door until a little after 8:00 so that's a little more manageable. Braedy is always nervous for the first day of school but she was pretty excited too. We met her teacher on Monday and she seems super nice. She also has a lot of friends in her class so that always makes it easier. Masen has been excited for school to start since it ended last spring. All summer he kept asking me, "When am I going to be in first grade?" I think he was just excited to be like the big kids and go all day and eat lunch in the lunch room. His teacher seems really nice, too. When we met her on Monday, Mase wouldn't even look at her. I asked him if he was going to talk to her on the first day of school and he said, "I'll probably just talk to her on the second day." He was kind of bummed because his two best friends from last year aren't in his class. Oh, well.






Wednesday is early day so Brae and Mase got home first. Braedy had a great day. She really likes her teacher and had a lot of fun. This is her last year of Elementary School! Time goes way too fast! Masen found one of his friends from last year at recess so he was pretty excited about that! He had a lot fun, too. It was funny because he was so excited to eat in the lunch room but ended up taking his lunch today. He says he's going to do a "pattern" and switch off every other day. He's so funny!! They both seemed to have a great first day!

Poor Jay doesn't get home until almost 4:00! It's a long day and then he has homework on top of that! He scared me when he came home because he came in the door with a frown on his face and acting like he had a terrible day. But then when I started asking questions, he broke out in a smile and told me how awesome it was! He has a couple of friends in most of his classes so that helps. But BEST of all- the bully is not in ANY of his classes!!!!! I couldn't be happier and I'm sure Jay feels the same! I am so relieved that he had a good day! I hope this year turns out as good as the first day was!!

Our very own metal mouth!!

Today was the big day! Jayden got his braces!! He wasn't very excited about it and was even a little nervous. But it wasn't as bad as he'd imagined and he thinks he looks OK. Here is a picture of him right before we left for the appointment.





And this is a picture of the end result. Pretty handsome if I do say so myself!!



He will have them for about 2 years. I can't believe he'll be in 9th grade when he gets them off! CRAZY!! He also had to have some bite blocks put on his back teeth which make it so he can't bite down all the way. It's going to be a little hard for him to eat for the next couple of months. I keep telling him it will all be worth it in the end!