Tess' "Crimped Do"

One night last week I did Lauren's hair in braids right after she got out of the shower. The next morning we took them out and it looked so cute. Tess has been begging me ever since to do her hair "just like that". Well, last night after Family Home Evening the girls got their showers and Tess came down with all the stuff to do her hair. It was quick + easy. She asked me to put a "before" and "after" on the blog, so this is what I'm doing. Before I end, I have to say this...Tess has been trying to grow her hair out for about 2 years now. It is hilarious! She constantly makes up her mind that she wants to grow it out like Lauren's and then someone gets a haircut...if I take Ella or Zach in to get their haircut, guess who's begging me to let her cut her hair? It's so funny to me that she LoVeS to get her hair done. Anywho...these are the pictures I promised her I'd post. (Before she walked out the door her hair had flattened quite a bit, so the picture below may look a little fro'ish but it wasn't that bad). Love to all, Kim

Before

After

Our Birthday Celebration with Lybbe

Lybbe turned 9, and yes, we had a celebration! She decided that she wanted all of us to go swimming (you can imagine how thrilled we all were to get into our swim suits). Regardless, we had so much fun! Devan was a little freaked out at first...it was loud and echoing in there, but it didn't take him long to calm down and start having a blast. I think his bum must have bruises on it from bouncing up and down all day. Colton was a hoot! He was rough-housing with Zach and Michael, but it was hilarious to watch him and Papa...oh my, we were crackin' up! We went down the big slide, Lauren + Brian went off the diving board, and there was a lot of splashing and goofing around. Mom, Bekah + I showered the kids off in the little family bathroom/shower...there were 9 of us all together in there. Talk about chaos, phew! After some banging on our door (people are so RuDe) we managed to get out of there and we headed to Golden Corral! After stuffing ourselves silly, we headed to Michael + Bekah's for dessert. The kids decorated their own cupcakes and the grown-ups had jello cake. On our way home we listened on the radio as Utah Ute's Henderson back-handed BYU's Emery after getting fouled...Henderson was ejected and BYU won 82-69 (way to go Cougars!)...the excitement just wouldn't end that night!

Thanks to Michael + Bekah for planning a great day...we'll have to do it again soon!
I hope all is well with all of you. Love, Kim

WARNING: the quality of these videos are horrible, but they're funny...watch at your own risk!
*please remember to pause the music (above on right) before watching*

This is Brian + Ella going down the slide


This is Lauren on helium


This is Zach on helium...and Nannie laughing at him

Happy Birthday Lybbe-lou

Today my niece turned 9. Wow, I can't believe how quickly she is growing up. I remember when Michael and Bekah brought this cutie home from the hospital...really, was it NiNe years ago?...that's CrAzY to me. One thing that stands out to me the most about Lybbe is her sensitivity. She is such a blessing to her big brother and she is so sensitive to his needs. It makes me so proud when I see her being so loving and patient with Dev and helping him the way she does. You're a good girl Lybbe-lou, and we love you LoTs! HaPpY, hApPy BiRtHdAy!

Sick Sydne-sue

I thought it would be appropriate to add this to the blog. My last post details our sicknesses, but what I neglected to mention was how sick my poor niece was...poor Sydne-sue was vommitting for over 36 hours. Bekah ended up taking her to the ER because she just couldn't keep anything down and she was severely dehydrated. Well, we're glad she's all better now. We love you Sydne!

On the Mend

In case you didn't know, we've been S.I.C.K. It's been rough...
About a week ago this past Monday, Brian went out-of-town for work and I started feeling horrible (of course it was while he was out-of-town, I have THE.WORST.TIMING. E.V.E.R!) I started feeling achey and exhausted and by Tuesday I was having a hard time dragging myself out of bed to take Zach to his 1:00 pm orthodontist appointment. Pitiful, I know! But, thankfully, Mom went with me to make me feel a little better. Anyhow, I have been achey and exhausted off and on since. Well, Monday we met Bekah and the kids at McDonalds so the kids could play and by that evening we had kids complaining that they didn't feel very good. The diarrhea started and then the achey, sore back + necks came...Zach's had a headache and his stomach and ears have been hurting all week. Ella threw-up Tuesday night a few times, but by morning she was just overly-exhuasted. She slept all day Wednesday and it was nearly impossible to get her to eat or drink anything. Today she seems just fine. She stayed awake all day and she was back to normal, coloring and playing with the girls. Zach, Lauren + Tess still have the diarrhea, and I hate not sending them to school again tomorrow, but who wants to be doing that at school...I know I wouldn't! Hopefully with some more rest and maybe some movies this weekend we'll be good as new (I'll be keeping my fingers crossed). I hope you all are healthy and doing well! Love to all, Kim

Yuck!

This is Ella's best re-enactment of Tuesday Night

Now...we're feeling better!

(photos courtesy of Lauren)

Mom's Birthday

Sunday, Michael + Bekah came down and we celebrated mom's birthday. It was already planned that we would have spaghetti, salad, broccolli, and bread. Well, dad forgot to get the salad stuff + we didn't make the broccolli...so it ended up that we had spaghetti + bread. It was yummy! We had a fabulous evening!

Bekah has been working on this blanket for mom for a while now, and she finally finished (I'm so proud of you pineapple) AND she printed out this awesome photo of the DC Temple and a quote from President Hinckley and framed it...it was so nice! As for our gift...well, mom collects Willow Trees and we got her one that she didn't have yet (she pretty much has all of them). Turns out, I got her the wrong one. Does that surprise you? probably not. I knew it wasn't the right one when I bought it (she wanted the one that Michael got me one year for my birthday) but she had seen it at this store and told me where to get it, and that's all they had!?! Lame, I know!

On a more positive note, the carrot cake that dad made was delish and the kids enjoyed some warm chocolate chip cookies. What better way to end the evening, huh? Love to all, Kim

Here's to you mom:

"The Name of Mother"

The holiest words my tongue can frame,

The noblest thought my soul can claim,

Unworthy are to praise the name

More precious than all other.

An infant, when her love first came,

A man, I find it still the same,

Reverently I breathe her name,

The blessed name of mother

by George Griffith Fether

Make a wish!

I got her the Brother and Sister

I should've gotten her the Sister and Brother (woops)

This is a picture of the one I should've gotten her :-)

Lauren's Day of Fun

Lauren enjoyed rock climbing (she + Tess went up and down those walls at least 10x each), lunch at Texas Roadhouse, and a movie...it was a fun, busy day. Nannie + Papa, Uncle Mikey, Lybbe, Sydne + Colton (we missed Aunt Bekah + Dev) all came to lunch and then Uncle Mikey, Brian + I took all the kids to see Alvin + The Chipmunks 2. Phew...when it was all said + done we were exhausted!

Lauren's Birthday!

Lauren says it's AmAzInG having a birthday on New Year's Eve. Everyone gets together and she's always allowed to stay up late! We love our Laurnie...she's always been such a good girl. She is very obedient and very strict about following the rules (sometimes she is a bit extreme, but we still love her). I know she is going to be a good mommy someday...she is so helpful + she LOVES playing with the little babies in our ward+ neighborhood. I know babysitting jobs are just around the corner. YIKES...what will I do when Zach is off with his buddies and Lauren is off babysitting someone else's kids? I'm for real freakin' out...she's our "go-to girl" when we decide (always at the last minute) to go out on a date. Well, we love Lauren, and as I'm sure you can tell, our family wouldn't be the same or run as smoothly without her!

Lauren Sybella - 18 months

(awww, wasn't she a cutie?)

Lauren's 11th birthday

Lauren's birthday cake request...chocolate cake with chocolate icing + reese peanut butter cups

Ohhh Yahhh! That's my girl!

Our Christmas

This Christmas was very difficult for me. Looking back, I think it was simply the fact that I resented going to work during the day because I was missing out on the time that I L.O.V.E. spending with my Ella. Now, add to that: 4 birthdays, family gatherings, school parties, teacher gifts, neighbor gifts (which I dropped the ball on), 2 book reports, Brian's classes + finals, Christmas cards...I'm sure I could think of more but I'll spare you. I. was. a. BEAST. Ask Brian, my mom, or Bekah they'd all agree. I feel horrible about being so short with everyone! So, needless to say, if this post may sound like it's lacking the feelings or emotions of Christmas....it's sad to admit, but this year I was just going through the motions. I vow to never let that happen again, and with that...

Christmas Eve began with a McDonald's breakfast with mom + dad, grocery shopping for all of the Christmas meal fixings and then just hangin' around the house with the kids. We played Phase 10 and ended the evening with one of our favorite Christmas movies, "Elf". Before going to bed, the kids checked out where Santa was...I believe he was making his way south from somewhere in the Northwest Territories. Christmas morning brought lots of fun surprises for the kids...Zach got lots of games for his and Brian's new birthday gift (a PS3) + some new BYU apparel, Lauren got some new clothes + a super-cool lime green camera, Tess got some clothes + and nice shiny new kitchen she'd been begging for, and Ella was surprised with her very own DS. Nannie + Papa made sure all the grandkids had new pajamas + the kids had fun picking out their gifts with the money Grandma + Grandpa sent. Okay, I still feel horrible about being a beast, and not taking advantage of what this season has to offer...

Here are some photos by Lauren

Ella's Birthday

Ella's 5! It's hard for me to believe that my little baby is already 5 years old. Here's a photo of her 5 years ago....I know, I know...she's going to grow up and there's nothing I can do about it, but it doesn't make it any easier. We asked her what she wanted to do for her birthday and she said she wanted to invite some friends to go to McDonald's and play (we are enjoying these simple requests from her while they still last). So, Sandra, Ryan + Zoe joined us along with her cousins at the Play Place (thanks to Heidi + McCrae for dropping by to say "hi" as well). I'm sure you can imagine the fun we had. Michael + Bekah are teaching the Temple Prep class is their ward and they were going through the Temple with one of their students that evening. So, Brian met Michael and picked up their kids after work so that they could join us for the festivities. After everyone was fed, after Nannie + I changed 2 nasty Dev diapers (I love that little boy,but man, oh man, it was NOT pleasant) we took everyone home. When it was all said and done, Ella had a lot of fun and she got some really nice gifts. Thanks to everyone for making her feel so special on her day!

We decided that the next evening we were going to take the kids to see a Christmas movie at the IMAX theater, "The Lights Before Christmas"(thanks for the passes Michael) and we decided to let Ella pick where we got dinner...