Christmas 2011

It was such a fun Christmas morning. Our kids are at such a great age. They woke up at 6:50 and were so excited. Braxton was hopping around like a frog because he finally got his Halo Pelican. Maycee got an ipod. Notice we don't have a picture of her. She was to busy with her ipod and disappearing like a teenager. Haylee and McKynlee got Barbie Princess charm school dolls. McKynlee thought she was Taylor Swift with her new clothes and microphone. Haylee got a camera and spent the whole morning taking some really great pictures. We may have a future photographer. It was really good to be able to go to church on Christmas. We don't get that opportunity very often. It was a really neat program. Maycee sang with a group of primary kids and did an amazing job. What a great Christmas it was.

Christmas Eve

Well, Christmas Eve dinner definitely wasn't a disappointment this year. We have a wonderful tradition of having Grandma and Grandpa come for Christmas Eve dinner and then spend the night with us. They always bring the most amazing crab and so we eat until we are sick. As you can see, Dad prefers the crab and our kids have the same reaction with a Creamie. Oh well, more for us. We did the nativity after dinner. Maycee was insistent that we do it this year and she organized the whole thing. Braxton was Joseph, Haylee was an angel, Maycee was a shepherd and Mark was a wise man. It was really tender watching our kids try to act out Christ's birth. McKynlee was Mary and the reverence kind of went out the window when she pushed out her belly like she was pregnant and then started blowing kisses to the audience. Kids always keep things exciting that's for sure. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures because I was videoing but it was a really special night.

Christmas Program

It's that time of year again. McKynlee didn't disappoint at her preschool Christmas Program this year. She was front and center and screaming....I mean singing her little heart out. Santa even came because they did such a good job. She had to get her picture with her favorite teacher Miss Jenny.

Our Little Dancer

This is McKynlee's first year doing dance. She is absolutely loving it. I think she's a little natural. Her class had a little Christmas program and parents were able to come in and watch. It was adorable and hilarious. She even came and grabbed Mark to come dance with her in one part. I didn't get any pictures of it because another little girl came and grabbed me to dance too. I thought I was off the hook, but what do you do.

Jack's Christmas Program

Mark happened to be up north when it was our nephew Jack's Christmas Program. We don't get to see him very often so Mark was thrilled to be a part of it. He is such a special kid and we love him so much.

Fall Leaves in Winter

The leaves finally fell and our kids had a blast. They played on that trampoline for hours. We were picking wet leaves out of their hair for days..but so worth it.

Gymnastics Meet

Haylee is turning into quite the little gymnast. We are so proud of her. She competes level 3 and is getting so confident. She is one tough little chic.

Decorating the Tree

I love this time of year. The kids take decorating the tree very seriously. They have their certain ornaments that have to hang in certain spots each year. They take turns putting the angel on the tree and it was McKynlee's turn this year. She was so excited. This is one of those priceless trees that we are going to miss when they get older.

Thanksgiving 2011

We went to Grandma and Grandpa's for Thanksgiving and enjoyed the amazing weather. Rick, Mark, and I got to golf Thanksgiving morning. I have never done that before and felt REALLY guilty (I'm not just saying that). It was neat though because Maycee and Grandma got to spend some great time together having Grandma teach Maycee the secrets of becoming an amazing cook. Keep it up Maycee. It was a feast as usual and such yummy food. It was great to just spend time with family. Our kids love to golf at the driving range at night and then sneak down and retrieve all of their balls. It's our own little Easter Egg Hunt. Thanks Rick and MarLene for a wonderful weekend. We love you. It is days like this that really make you realize what's important in life.

Jubilee of Trees

The Jubilee was really special this year because our girls got to sing at it. Our neighbor Shae has really been working with Maycee on some Christmas songs and a song that she sang at the NICU called "Only Hope". She did such a great job and even let her little sisters steal the spotlight and sing Jingle Bells with her. What a sweet older sister :) It's amazing to see her get up there and do her stuff. I could never do that...I'm glad she is so confident. They even got to see Santa Claus. It was a great afternoon. Great Job!!

Mark's 40th Birthday

It was Mark's birthday on Wednesday. He did not want it to come, but come it did!!! We were pretty nice to him because I know mine will come eventually and revenge isn't that sweet....so I granted his request. I took him to Vegas for the night and pretended just for one night that he wasn't that old. LOL

He is such an amazing guy and a good dad. I put together a collage for him to remember how awesome he is and what a good, fun husband and Dad he has always been. There's been a lot of things happening in our family to make us realize that the memories that you've made and the love that you share is all you really have. And for that we are so grateful...Love you Mark

Gymnastics

Haylee hasn't had a meet for awhile so she was excited to show us her stuff. I can't believe how much she has improved. Her best event is her floor routine and the vault. She looks so cute out there in her shy/confident little way. We are so proud of our little gymnast.

McKynlee's Soccer

With all the chaos we figured we might as well add to it. McKynlee finally got to do soccer. She has been a cheerleader for her sisters and brother for years and it was finally her turn. She loved it. She mastered the "arm bar" after the second game and never looked back. Although she decided halfway through the season that she was done and didn't want to do it anymore she hung in there, showed up for the games, played and still smiled. Her team was really good and won most of their games. They were the pink lightning. Makes perfect sense right?

Tackle Football

Well, I know Braxton is only eight...but Mark is his Dad. So of course the first chance he got he had to sign up for tackle football. He did so good. He worked his butt off with 3 practices a week and a game on Saturday. He complained very little and showed up to every practice to get to work in the triple digit temperatures. They had a really good team and made it to the playoffs. We had a great time watching him in all his gear. What a trooper you are Brax. We are proud of you.

Cousins

So we were at Lexee's house and the girls were SSOOO excited to wear her clothes and her mom's boots. They were walking down the runway strutting their stuff and we were laughing our heads off. They are way to big for their britches.

California 2011

We spent the first part of our trip in LA which was really cool. The trip started out great with Haylee losing her 2nd tooth!! So the tooth fairy visited us in California. We also got to see the LA Temple. That is where Grandma was sealed to her parents so that was really neat to be able to walk around the temple grounds. Then we went from the temple to Hollywood Blvd. How about that for experiencing it all? Anyway, our kids thought that was really cool. Maycee looked the whole time for Johnny Depps star. When we finally found it she was so excited. We ate a VERY overpriced meal at the Hard Rock Cafe but it was worth the experience.

We went to Universal Studios this year and it was so much fun. We absolutely loved it. Our kids are old enough to go on a lot of rides and it was Halloween time so it was decked out with all sorts of stuff. It was just so nice to see something new. Our kids love all of the Nickelodeon and the Universal Studios movie characters so they had a blast.

We were able to go to SeaWorld and it was really fun. The kids loved the rides this time. We loved the Sea Turtle exhibit. It reminded Mark and I of swimming with them in Hawaii. It was fairly warm in the morning and luckily we did a lot while the weather was still good. We went on a ride that we thought we might get a LITTLE wet on. Haylee didn't want to go so she stayed back with Grandma and Grandpa. Grandpa was so nice to give Haylee several quarters to squirt people as they went by. Needless to say we got drenched and then it got overcast and was freezing the rest of the day!! We were so wet we looked like we had jumped in a pool. It was so freezing, but very fun.