Merry Christmas

We had a great Christmas this year. We spent Christmas Eve with my mom like we always do, and stayed home Christmas morning. This was the first year we have been able to stay home on Christmas day because Bryan's parents went on a cruise. I have to say that staying home is a little over-rated. We missed getting together with Bryan's family. Here are a few pictures taken over the Christmas holidays.

Brielle in her Christmas Pajamas. My mom gives the girls pajamas every year.

Gentry on her Police bike. Another gift from my mom.

Aidan displaying her favorite gift....a DSi from my mom.

Kali displaying her favorite gift....a DSi from my mom. You'd think that was the only gift these two got. My mom got them each a DSi and Bryan and I got them some games. Thanks mom for the awesome Christmas gifts!

Brielle wondering what we put on her head.

No matter what anyone says, boxes are still the best gifts to give!

Making gingerbread houses at Bryan's parents' house. Every year we do this, and love it! Bryan and I have slowly taken ourselves out of the decorating phase and let the girls take over.

Dinner with Bryan's family before everyone left for their Christmas vacations. Jo, Henry, and girls went to Hawaii, and Robert and Elaine went to the Carribean. Notice Kevin in this picture...I think he may be choking!

Wow...Bryan actually got me in a picture. Huh, Christmas miracles do happen!

Bryan's latest drawing

Bryan has given my mom a drawing of all the girls in our family except for Gentry and Brielle. This year he was able to find the time to finish Gentry's portrait by Christmas so my mom could add another picture to her wall. He really is talented with a pencil and eraser!

Princesses on Ice

Two lucky girls got to see Princesses on Ice with the most important men in their lives. These two love to get togther and are hilarious to watch. They greet each other with big hugs and smiles and seem genuinely happy to be together. I loved looking at these pictures and imaging how excited Lily and Gentry were to dress up and go out with their dads. Gentry even had to wear her princess snow boots which looked hilarious under her dress.

The Latest Brag Post

I used to write in my journal every day. Now I never write and have replaced my journal with this blog. This post will be full all the great things my kids are up to. If you don't care, stop reading now. If you want to share in my amazement, continue on!

Brielle is a super baby. Here are some of her feats.

5 months 3 weeks- started crawling

6 months 2 weeks - started pulling up to stand

She wants to grow up way too fast. She is all over the house, adores her sisters, and I think her first word just may be DaDa. What can I expect, they all look like Bryan too! She loves to eat baby cheetos but doesn't know what to do once they are in her mouth.

Gentry goes to preschool two times a week. She comes home singing new songs all the time and loves to say the Pledge of Allegiance. She is our most active and friendly child and pushes me to the edge quite often. The other day she tried to breastfeed a doll while in nursery. She is always in Brielle's face because she loves her so much. She also takes swimming lessons whenever her sisters are off track. She loves this time of year because of all the holidays.

Aidan is our quiet child. Between Kali and Gentry she just can't get a word in. She loves to go geocaching with her dad. She gets all A's in school. She takes gymnastics and is VERY good at it. I am amazed at what she can do with her body. I cringe a little everytime I see her do a backflip or a cartwheel with no hands for fear that she will hurt herself. She also takes piano from G-ma Leggat and is progressing very well. When she is off track she takes swimming lessons and loves that too.

Yes, Kali is only 10 but looks 15. We took Kali out of Alps for this school year so that she could have time to participate in extra curricular activites. This girl can definitely work with a full platter. Here is a list of the activites she does in a week.

1. Band 3 times a week before school
2. Advanced band 1 time a week before school
3. Swimming 2 times a week after school
4. Piano 1 time a week after school
5. Basketball practice 1 time a week after school
6. Basketball games on Saturdays
7. Activity Days twice a month after school

She was also elected to student council for the 5th grade and sometimes has to go to meetings. She just got done with a student council conference at BYU. Besides all of these activities, she still finds the time to do her homework.

There you have it. As you can tell, I spend a lot of time driving in the car. I love watching the girls learn, grow and develop their talents. It will be interesting to see what they grow up to become!

Happy Halloween

Halloween is a much anticipated day at our house. I think I love it as much as my kids! Brielle was hilarious in her costume. The PJ's glowed in the dark and she would wake up crying at night because she couldn't figure out what the moving glowing thing in her bed was. I love a fat baby in a skinny costume.



The girls prefer scary costumes to anything else. Even G wanted to be somewhat scary, but refused to let us paint her face. Kali was a vampire, Aidan was a pirate, and G was a witch.

Even Bryan and I had a Halloween party to go to. Dressing up is so much fun. Bryan is the best at putting makeup on everyone. His face was done so well I couldn't recognize him. We went to the party representing "HELL".

Marin came to trick-or-treat with the kids. She even dressed up with them. We love that she takes the time to come and hang with us! (Sorry about the fuzzy pictures. I think our camera might be on its way out. I wonder what will break next?)

Geocaching Hike on the Smith and Morehouse Trail

Five months old

Now that Brielle is almost 6 months old I may as well post the 5 month picture. This hat makes me laugh. I think she looks like a baker in it.

She can roll all over the place, sit, get up on her knees (but she doesn't know what to do with her arms), and she will look when you call her name. Her sisters absolutely love her and would hold her all day if I let them.

Time Flies

I can't believe how fast they grow. These pictures were taken at about the same place 2 years apart.

Fall 2007

Fall 2009

4 months old

Our baby is 4 months old. Once again we have another child that is off the growth and weight charts. She weighs 17 lbs. 13 oz. and is 26 1/2 inches long. She rolls from her back to her belly, jumps for hours in her jumper, sings and talks your ear off, and loves to watch her sisters dance (it makes her laugh).

Aidan's Baptism

I can't believe our Aidan is eight and baptized. She seems so little compared our other GIANT kids. She is a beautiful girl and has a heart of gold. We had a small group for her baptism, but she didn't seem to mind. She just loves any kind of get together.

My girls

No, not my biological girls, but I love these girls too! These are my college roomates. We haven't gotten together in so long! If it wasn't for Jacquie, I don't know that we would ever get together. She is really good at keeping in touch with everyone. It was great to find out the latest and stroll a little down memory lane.

AZ came to visit

My cousin's wife and kids came to visit this summer. We love that they take the time to come and see us. If only we didn't have year round school and had more time to go and see them also. I think my kids slept for an entire day after these guys left because they were so exhaused from being busy. I would have taken more pictures, but I always forgot the camera at home. Thanks for coming to see us Heather.



Visiting the temple



Heather, Ethyn, Maija, and Jehryn

Aidan's B-day

July is crazy for us. We have 3 birthdays, an anniversary, 3 weeks off from school, and Dad home for 1 month. Aidan wanted a party this year ( I always try to talk them out of parties) and I guess when you turn 8 you should have a party.

My lovely homemade (boxed) cake

Playing Hannah Montana bingo. I bought some Hannah Montana bandanas as party favors but no one wanted them. That tells you how old I am when I choose a lame party favor.

Pin the flower on the Hawaiian Girl. Kali stayed up late drawing this for Aidan.

The girls decorated balloons to look like birds. This turned out so cute! Thanks Martha Stewart...some of your crafts really are easy.

The water balloon toss. There always has to be some sort of water game when your birthday is in the middle of July. So hot!

Happy Birthday Aidan. You are a doll and we love you!

Princess Party

Gentry wanted a princess party this year. Of course Gentry had to be Belle because she is her favorite princess. All the girls came dressed up and they looked so cute! The funniest part was watching all these cute girls come into the house with their plastic high heels, kick them off at the door, and run to the party. They all got a fun-filled princess bag with a wand, ring, watch, stickers, etc.

Red velvet cupcakes. Yummy!

Gentry's B-day present.
Happy Birthday Gigi, we love you!

Oakley Rodeo

This year for the 4th of July we went to the Oakley rodeo. Gentry couldn't believe how daring the cowboys were. She asked if she could ride one of the bucking horses when the cowboys were done. She and Lily had the cutest matching outfits. Thanks to Becca we were able to get the cutest red cowboy boots. I think everything I buy from now on will be red so she can wear the boots every day.

Future rednecks?

The real rodeo queens!

Cousins

This is why it is so fun to get together with family. Every time we see each other we plop the three babies on what ever is around and start taking hundreds of pictures. In fact, I had a hard time choosing which picture to post. These three will have a great time together when they get older.