Monday, January 28, 2019

It's Great to be Eight!

See this girl right here? How in the world is she eight years old? Our lives have never been this same since Makayla came into our lives and we just love spoiling her on her special day. 



 Makayla wanted a swimming party this year, so that's what we did! She invited some friends from school, dance, and the neighborhood. Plus Caden and Brynnli got to join the fun too.
 Let me tell you, swimming is not a good birthday activity for a parent to is paranoid. I spent the entire 2 hours trying to count 13 heads and make sure everyone was ok. We even had Terry and Craig there to help me and Tyler keep track of all the kids, and we were all exhausted by the end!


 After swimming the girls all had a big appetite for pizza.


 Makayla opened her presents from all her friends.



 Then she got to blow out the candle on her donut.

 It was a great friend party and I think Makayla had a blast!

For Makayla's actual birthday, she got to open a present (a new outfit) before she went to school.

 Since her birthday was on a Monday this year Makayla got to go to school where she gave her classmates treats and they gave her birthday cards. Then right after school she had to go to tumbling, so finally after her busy day we finally went to dinner that night to celebrate.



When we got home Makayla finally got to open her presents from us. She is really into arts and crafts, so she got a lot of those, plus some accessories for her American Girl doll, and an alarm clock. We ended the night by asking her the traditional birthday questions:

1. What is your favorite color? "Purple, pink, and blue"
2. What is your favorite toy? "It's probably my American Girl Doll and her bunny" 
3. What is your favorite food? "Tacos... everyone knows that"
4. What is your favorite show? "Like baking shows"
5. What do you like to eat for lunch? "Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches"
6. What is your favorite thing to wear? "I like to wear pretty stuff"
7. What is your favorite game? "Clue... the big kid one"
8. What is your favorite song? "Kiki Do You Love Me... are you riding"
9. What is your favorite book? "Whatever After All. Fairest of All"
10. Who is your best friend? "Haylie"
11. Where is your favorite place to go? "School"
12. What do you want to be when you grow up? "A teacher"
13. What is your favorite thing about Caden? "He is always willing to help me and he's always looking out for me"
14. What is your favorite thing about Brynnli?  "That she always wants to play with me"
15. What is your favorite thing to do with Daddy? "Hug him and snuggle"
16. What is your favorite thing to do with Mommy? "Have M and M days with you, like go to Subway"

Oh Makayla. I don't even know where to begin. You are turning into the most beautiful girl on the outside, and more importantly on the inside. You are so thoughtful and caring to your brother and sister, and I know they both look up to you so much. I love how helpful you are to me. You are always looking for ways you can help me with cooking or cleaning up. You are becoming so responsible, too. We never have to remind you to make your bed or do your homework. You are so smart at school and we are so impressed with how your mind is growing and learning everyday. You are so talented and we love watching you dance and excel at tumbling. You always try to do what is right and we are so proud of your decision to be baptized. You are so funny and we especially love that we can joke with you and be silly. We love you so much! Thank you for being you!

Wednesday, January 23, 2019

Welcome to 2019!

2019 has some big shoes to fill considering how great 2018 was, and I think it will be. Tyler and I will celebrate our 10 year anniversary this year... 10 whole years I have been married to him. Look at all we have accomplished in 10 years! I am so proud of the family we've built together. We have our struggles, but I really feel like we are the family I always envisioned, and I love us! I can't wait to see what 2019 holds for us this year... hopefully a great year without the drama of 2018.

So far 2019 has been off to a great start... not.



Our whole family got a little bug that knocked us out. Luckily we didn't all get it at the same time, but it went through all of us, so it felt like we were sick the entire month. 

When we felt good we lived it up. We have been to a lot of sporting events at the U of U. One of the kids' favorite parts is the Swoop Bobble head. 
 Brynnli asks me almost everyday if we can go to lunch. She especially likes "Pandas" where she can get "noodles". With a face like that, how can I say no?
 Both girls had their dance review and they both did SO great. What's better than having a daughter in dance? Having two daughters in dance!



 I was a little worried Brynnli would get scared on stage and just stand there, but she really did so great. I swear there is nothing cuter than 3 year olds dancing. Makayla did such a great job too. She knew her dance so well!


 We love watching our girls dance!


 And we have such a great family who loves to watch our girls dance too.
 Holy Snow! We have had some really good snow storms lately. This one was perfect for making a snowman.
 Brynnli writes us "notes" almost everyday and leaves them for us to find. Isn't this the cutest thing?
 Caden cracks me up. He did this assignment in school. The question asked if Puzzled Penguin got the answer right, which he didn't, so Caden wrote, "You should go to school" on his paper. He is such a literal thinker!
 Speaking of Caden... he got to go on a special day out with Daddy! They went to Bricks and Minifigs where he got to play with Legos (his favorite thing) and then go to lunch.

 P.S. Tyler got the new Iphone 10 which has a really cool camera feature where it takes "portrait" pictures, so you'll probably be seeing a lot more selfies on the blog.
 So see this picture? Yep, that's Brynnli in the E.R. Do you want to know why she is the most frustrating child? Read on...

Tyler and I had to attend a meeting, so Terry and Craig watched our kids. When we got home (about 9:00) we walked in the house to Brynnli just crying so hard. I guess she had gone to bed about 8:00 and woke up with a horrible stomach ache. I tried to console her, but she was not feeling well. I remember looking at Tyler and telling him, "something's wrong, that's not a normal Brynnli cry." When we asked her where her stomach hurt she kept pointing to the middle and lower right side. After about 30 minutes of her crying and whimpering, she finally fell asleep, but she kept waking up almost every 20 minutes and would just start crying and complaining about her stomach. We started to wonder if it was her appendix. At midnight we decided to take her into the E.R. because after doing some research on the internet, we were convinced it was her appendix. We called Craig to come over and stay with the other kids. I tried to get Brynnli to walk just from the kitchen to the car and she was crying so hard because she couldn't move. Tyler gave her a blessing, and we got her into the car. 

As we were driving to the hospital, Brynnli was worried, so we were telling her about how she was born at this hospital. She started acting a little silly, and Tyler and I wondered if we should turn around. We got to the hospital and asked Brynnli if she could walk in, but she said no. We honestly stood in the parking lot for a few minutes wondering if we should take her in or not. We finally decided to go in and ask the nurse. Well the nurse said that we should probably have her checked out because you never want to risk things with kids. As the nurse was taking vitals on her, Brynn said, "Mom, we forgot to do my hair before we came here." Hilarious? Yes, but we should have taken that as a sign for what was to come.

We got back into the room and had to wait for about 10 minutes before the doctor came in. Well during that time, Brynnli magically was feeling better. She had turned into her silly self again and was alternating between acting like a bunny and a baby.  Tyler and I were so M.A.D! She was fine. I looked over at Tyler and I could just see in his face that he was so frustrated with her. Brynnli said to Tyler, "how come you keep  looking at me like that?" to which Tyler replied, "I'm just trying to figure out how I can cover up that camera so I can give you a real reason to have a stomach ache!" Well right about then the doctor walks in and says, "So it looks like she's having some stomach pains" and we responded, "well, she was, but she's fine now!" All Tyler and I were thinking at this point was that we were going to have to pay $500 for a visit to the ER for them to tell us she was constipated. The doctor felt around her stomach and asked a few questions, but she was fine. The doctor could sense what we were feeling and after a few questions, said that since we hadn't given our insurance card yet, we could just say we were uninsured, and we could refuse any treatment and walk out of there without having to pay our very expensive deductible. We were so relieved... and so mad at Brynn... and so tired, because at this point it was about 1:00 in the morning. We gladly agreed, and Brynnli walked out of the E.R. and said she had fun. 

See why she's the most frustrating child? But really, we were so glad it wasn't her appendix and that she didn't have to have surgery. We really are so grateful for healthy kids, even if they do frustrate us now and again. 

Monday, December 31, 2018

Reflection

I always like to end my blog post of the year with a little reflection of the year. 2018 was a year of ups and downs. That sounds cliche, but I really think this year was one of really great highs and really sad lows.

I feel like my blog tends to just highlight the good times we have as a family, and don't get me wrong, we have a lot of great times together. But I don't want to paint the picture that our life is in anyway perfect. We had a lot of challenges this year as we were in the middle of some intense family drama with my brother, Darren, and I don't believe our family will ever be the same again. I have to say that was probably my biggest trial I have ever faced. I still don't fully understand why or what I was supposed to learn from that, but I did learn about forgiveness and mercy. I learned a lot about myself and what I want for my own family and for our future.  One thing is for sure, Tyler is the greatest person and so good to me, and my kids are the most important thing to me. I love my little family of 5... even if we are a little crazy!



Of course one of the brightest moments of our year was our family sealing. Even 6 months later I still reflect on how great that day was. I loved receiving my endowments and enjoy going back to the temple to feel the peace there. Our family sealing was a testament of one of the brightest days of our lives and one that gave us the most hope and joy for the future. I love my eternal family!


This year we celebrated birthdays...

And vacations...


We cried lots of tears when my Grandma Draper passed away

And celebrated new starts

We got news that changes our future

And realized we have the support to get through any challenge 


 

Life is so great and so challenging. It is so full of good times and sad times. It's full of celebrations and challenges. I'm learning to embrace the difficult times and relish in the good. It's been hard and I don't always appreciate those times when I'm being taught a lesson, but I love my life, my family, my Heavenly Father, my Savior, my beliefs, my health, and myself! 2018 was a year of growth and I'm happy with the people we are today because of it.