January 16
Saturday morning chores. The kids love hanging in the closet. It has a little ramp at the bottom from our stairs and it makes the perfect climbing tool. London even put on her gymnastics outfit while she did flip after flip after flip...accessories matter people!


January 17
Jeff's probably going to kill me for posting this. I think it shows how good of a Dad he is, willing to act goofy to make his kids happy. A pirate dance and song to entertain the wee ones on a Sunday afternoon.

Dear Jeff,
I hope you know how much I appreciate you! You take advantage of every free second you have to make us happy. WE love you!

p/s Please don't kill me for posting this picture!

January 18
FHE about "Going the 2nd Mile." Game was a success, lesson was not. I will forge on though and continue just because I know it is right. Sometimes it is really frustrating!!!

January 19
A rare shot...I bet you wonder where all of my pictures of Kamryn are...well, she doesn't like having her pictures taken and even more so she hates when I post them on my blog. I snuck this one shot though, she wasn't prepared at all for it. She's getting ready for school and if you notice the hole in her jeans. This is something that I will always remember about Kamryn, she PLAYS hard! I don't think she has ever owned something that she has not stained, ripped or worn a hole in. We have to replace shoes and jeans every 6 months.

January 20
A friend of mine brought me white roses today, just because. It brightened my day!

A common question I hear from London is "Can I have that/this?" I usually have to say "no" or "you can play with it, but you can't have it." So, after I trimmed the roses to fit the vase, she asked if she could have the left over stems. I finally got to say "Yes." About a half and hour later, she presented me with a bouquet of flowers she had made with the left over stems. I'm so blessed...two bouquets in one day.

January 21
Jeff went to visit a client in Boise and thanks to some good friends (thanks Jamie and Shelby) for taking care of the kids for me, I was able to tag along with my 2 favorite guys!

Hey...there's a rare sighting of the lady behind the camera!

Jeff dropped us off at the outlets so that he could attend his appointment, though I told myself I wasn't allowed to buy anything. We went through Carter's and Osh Kosh and I almost pulled out my hair. It is so frustrating to me to see so many things I'd love to buy the kids, but I don't because that money could go towards the yard, or our travel fund to Disney land. Self control is a hard thing sometimes!

So, after those 2 stores, I decided to not even go into the stores and just let Sullivan run around (If I don't know what's out there, then I don't know what I'm missing, right?). We had so much fun. As soon as he was released from the stroller, he ran everywhere. I observed him picking up rocks, watching cars, discovering his shawdow, and watching a woman through a window making caramel apples. The simple things in life sure make him happy and I know that when we eventually have our yard in, or take that Disneyland trip that it will all be worth the scrimping and saving!

January 22
No school for the kids, so we just hung out all day. Jamie, Jeff's brother, brought his family to visit and the kids had a blast together!

January 23
Jamie and Malorie left early since Becky was getting sick. So, we took the rest of the day trying to tackle the garage. We still have a bunch of stuff in there from the move. That night we had some friends over for games.

January 24
After church, and after naps we broke out the old Karaoke machine. We bought this thing YEARS ago and when family came over, we'd always sing together. Danielle and Jason do a incredible rendition of Summer Lovin!!! Anyway, we thought the kids would get a kick out of it. London took to it immediately and though she couldn't read the words on the TV, she just made her own up as she went along. I always enjoy when Jeff gets a turn because he has an amazing voice and he serenades me. He sang me "Brown Eyed Girl" but changed it to Blue eyes. Then, as you can see in the picture below, London wanted Jeff to quit looking at me and look at her...so he sang to her and then to Kamryn (changing it back to Brown eyes for her). Kamryn was shy and didn't want to sing, though we tried to convince her it was fun. Finally it came out that she didn't want her picture taken while she sang...so, I reluctantly put the camera down. She sang some Disney songs and she has a lovely voice!

This girl LOVES to sing.

Sullivan even got into the action.

January 8
I didn't actually get a photo today, but I stole Emily's photo. We had our good friends over for a pizza/game night. It was kind of impromptu, but definitely needed because we haven't been able to see each other lately.

January 9
London was so excited for Bryleigh's rock star party. She had a lot of fun. They decorated guitars, painted fingernails and even performed to a Hannah Montana song.

January 10
A relaxing Sunday. Jeff stayed home sick from church. London gave a talk in Primary.

January 11
This is the season where Jeff goes on a lot of business trips. One of my requirements before he left was to hang curtains in our room for my own comfort during the nights without him.

January 12
I finally took Sullivan in for his year appointment. He's healthy.

January 13
I hate being cold, but it is worth it to see how happy he is outside. I can't wait for the spring.

January 14
I can't leave this boy alone for a second. I've been working on my RS lesson off and on all week and when I snuck away to look something up, I noticed it was awfully quiet. I found him up on top of the kitchen table playing with London's left over spaghettios...what a mess!

Birthday Boy!

Better late than never!

We all woke up early and let Sullivan open his presents first thing so that he could play all day. I don't know if it was the lack of toys in the house since we were in the temporary house at the time, or what...but every toy was a hit (for all 3 kids). Kylee also sent him a birthday package filled to the rim with goodies. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of this event yet. I accidently left my camera at a hotel in Utah and it was currently being mailed back to me. I purchased one of those cheap disposible cameras, but it is packed away somewhere. I'm sure I will find it someday.

That night, we took the family out to one of Sullivan's FAVORITE restaurants...McDonald's. He loves it there! He doesn't care so much about the food as much as he LOVES the play area and watching the big kids play. He runs beside them, acts like he's really hanging out with these kids. Their just happened to be a set of twin girls that were too little to walk, but old enough to sit up. They sat on the ground watching and Van just loved these little girls. He'd walk up to them and give them hugs, he'd show off for them by smiling, running, laughing. Man, it was pretty cute. So, after spending Jeff's time limit at McDonald's (he hates it there), we headed home for cake and ice cream. We sang the Birthday song, for the millionth time that day...he loved it! As for the cake...














The deal with the cake...I'm not that great at decorating beautiful birthday cakes. Usually I just let my kids decorate it how they want, unless they want something like a theme and then I "try" to create something cute. Anyway, for Sullivan's 1st birthday I wanted to try something, but we were at the spec house with no oven. I thought I could just go to Walmart to pick something up, but felt guilty about not making his first birthday cake...I'm weird like that. So...I remember seeing a caterpiller cake that someone from our ward made. She had just moved in our ward and I thought it would be a great way to get to know her as she showed me how to make the cake. Not to mention, it might actually look decent if I had someone with these skills help me. Well, my good intentions failed and she ended up just dropping off a cake in the shape of a caterpiller (which I appreciated so much). Feeling intimidated, I just frosted it, threw on some sprinkles and placed the candles...but it ended up looking like the letter S which ended up being perfect for Sullivan!


Here he is playing with one of his birthday presents the very next morning. He loves to ride this thing!


Jeff and I couldn't help but reminisce about his birth and first year. We spent some time thinking of Kylee and I'd imagine that his birthday might have been a painful day for her. I do pray that she can be filled with peace knowing she made the right decision and that Sullivan is with a family that thinks the world of him and loves and adores him.

Goodbye Baby

Hello Toddler!






-He weighs 25 lbs (50-75%)
-He is 30 1/2" (50%)
-He literally runs!
-He climbs EVERYTHING! (oven, dishwasher, couches, tables, toys)
-He has a left dimple that is really cute.
-Says Ma Ma, Da Da and Ya a lot.
-He's also said ball, doll, hi, owie before.
-He signs milk, eat, all done and more.
-Understands directions.
-Helps clean up his messes and helps me unload the dishwasher by putting away the utensils.
-Loves his Dad the most. Literally follows him around the house.
-Loves coloring on paper.
-Loves music! Anytime he gets cranky, I put on music and he calms down.
-Has 5 teeth on the bottom (2 are molars) and 6 teeth on top (2 are molars).
-Throws the ball in our basketball hoop, practices tackling his standup lion.
-Watches sports with Dad.
-Doesn't like TV, other than sports with Dad.
-Turns pages in books.
-Loves to hug and pat backs.
-Eats with a spoon, for the most part.
-During our ball wars, he grabs a ball and hits himself in the head.

P365...I hope

January 1
New Years Eve/Day was spent at Jeff's older brother's house in Utah. Emily was born on New Years day 8 years ago, quite the fun birthdate if you ask me. Happily we went to help her celebrate her 8th birthday and to see her baptized the very next day. For part of her birthday celebration her parents took several of her friends and cousins out to watch The Princess and the Frog in the theater. We tagged along to help chaperon. Both Kamryn and London liked the movie, but me not as much.

January 2
Emily's baptism. What a special day it was, well besides for my kids acting up during the talks because they were coming off of a sugar induced holiday...that's my excuse at least. It is always fun for me to go to different wards to see how they do things and I really enjoyed this baptismal service. It was very personalized to Emily, even her Grandparents played a very big part in the music and talks. One thing I really liked and might suggest to our Primary President is that when we were waiting for her to get dressed after the baptism, they handed out 3x5 cards and pens and asked everyone to write their testimonies down. I thought that was just brilliant. Not only will Emily enjoy reading them, but years down the road she can look back at them and remember that special feeling she had on that day and all the support she had from the family that attended.




January 3
This is a typical Sunday for me. If it is not one child, it is another...sometimes all three. You can feel bad for me if you want. ;) New schedule starts at 9:30 and since I am alone on Sunday, it is up to me to get myself ready, all 3 kids, make breakfast and you get the point. When I try to rush, the kids get grumpy and frustrated...I don't blame them. You'd think that after 3 1/2 years of doing this that I'd try to prepare some on Saturday so that Sunday morning would go smoother...nope, not yet.



January 4
School begins. Santa brought London a big craft box full of odds and ends because he knows that London LOVES creating. She bugged me about using the stuff inside, but I put her off knowing that it will come in handy when Kamryn is at school and London is bored. She finally was able to dig in and created this cute frog.



January 5
Had plenty of playing together time today.


January 6
While we were gone to Utah, it snowed and rained. We came home to half our yard frozen. This day was particularly cold, so I picked the girls up at the bottom of our lane. As I was backing up maybe a little too fast, the van slipped into the fence and we got stuck. We all trudged back home and as I shut the door, grabbed the phone to call Jeff our door bell rang. It was our neighbor wanting to help us. I quickly told him we were okay, that Jeff was coming home to help me. He reluctantly left. Did I mention he was like 70 years old? Anyway, 5 minutes later my neighbor came back with our home teacher and a tractor and he had put on his snow suit. How nice was that! He asked for my keys and had my van parked in my drive way before Jeff arrived home. What a blessing!



January 7
I've searched and searched, had many failures, some successes, but I've never made the perfect cinnamon roll. At first, I thought the recipes were the thing that was wrong so I tried several different recipes. Then I thought, maybe it is just the person making them that needs the practice. Well, obviously both were true because I kept at it, kept trying different recipes and I think I FINALLY had a successful, perfect batch of cinnamon rolls. We had a "brinner" Thursday night which consisted of my new found cinnamon rolls and breakfast burritos. The cinnamon rolls were a big hit. They were a little crowded so the middle one was a bit doughy, but other than that the perfect combination of sugary goodness in the middle and soft dough elsewhere. Yum! Jeff was pretty sick this day, you can see him in the corner about ready to upchuck so he completely missed out on my cinnamon rolls. Good excuse to make them this weekend.