It's a Love Story...

Valentine's 2020 was a hit!

Our kids got to take treats to all their friends at school and Makayla and Caden got to wear pajamas to school. 

 That night we had our traditional fancy dinner. We had salmon, rice pilaf, asparagus, and rolls. I told the kids to bring their best table manners and one thing they loved about each person in our family. Needless to say, I was bawling by the end of our dinner. It's little moments like this that I love the most.

 At one point during dinner Caden said, "Ok, I just LOVE this family!"

After dinner we opened presents.

 The kids had a surprise for me... a new cell phone cover! The kids came up with this design all by themselves and made it for me. Isn't it so cute?

 Tyler and I gave the kids each a book and a family game.

 I got a Valentine's coupon book from Tyler and I can't wait to use them. 

 We had dessert, played games, and watched a movie to end our fun night.

Happy Valentines day to my loves!

This is What an Awesome 9 Year Old Looks Like

9 years ago this cutie came into our lives. Makayla is the best daughter and we love being able to spoil her for her birthday. 

We started out the many festivities with her family birthday party on Saturday, Jan 25. One of the things I love most about this age is that Makayla knows what she likes and she is able to plan a lot of the things she wants to do. Makayla decided she wanted a pineapple/Hawaiian theme this year. 

Makayla planned the game all by herself. We played "Makayla charades". She made a list of things she likes (cheer, piano, bunnies, cooking) and each of the cousins got to act it out and everyone had to guess what it was. It was the funnest and cutest game ever. 

Then we opened presents. Brynnli wanted to go first. She gave Makayla a bag with a bunch of toys from around the house. There were probably about 20 different "presents" in the bag and as Makayla opened each one, everyone laughed and Brynnli screamed louder because she was so happy and excited for Makayla.

Makayla got a lot of craft presents, clothes, and money.

Makayla even made her own dessert for the party. We sang happy birthday and She blew out 9 candles on her brownies that she made and decorated all by herself.

Makayla's actual birthday was on Tuesday. She woke up early and got to open her outfit.

We had Makayla's favorite cinnamon rolls for breakfast.

At school Makayla got to bring treats for all her classmates. When she got home we opened presents.

Makayla got some drawing books, an origami set...

A new sleeping bag. This present actually makes me a little sad. Makayla had a princess sleeping bag that she has used since she was about 3 years old. Last December Makayla told me she doesn't like that sleeping bag because it has princesses on it and she is too old for princesses. I was heartbroken at the small details of the reality that our little girl is no longer little. But I think this new sleeping bag is perfect for her.

Makayla's favorite present was this pet bunny. Makayla would have loved a real bunny, but her allergies prevent us from getting pets. 

We went to dinner that night at... can you guess it? Red Robin. Makayla is getting big now and orders her dinner off the adult menu now.

Ice cream for the birthday girl!

Just when you thought we were done with parties, we had one more. Makayla's friend party this year was at Obstacle Warrior Kids. She had 5 cute friends come. They ran through the obstacles for 2 hours, ate pizza, opened presents, had cupcakes, and were exhausted by the time they left.

Instead of my usual sappy post, I thought I would do a little something different this year and write 9 things I love about Makayla:

1. She is so smart. She is doing so well in school and her cursive is better than mine.
2. Makayla is so responsible. I never have to ask her to make her bed, or remind her to do her homework, or to practice piano She reminds me frequently what time it is and how many more minutes until we need to leave so we are on time.
3. She is excelling in her new activities. Makayla started piano and cheer just a few months ago and she is doing so well in both. She is a flier in cheer, she's mastered her round-off back handspring, and she is on level 2 of her piano books.
4. Makayla has discovered a love of cooking. She loves to watch youtube videos and shows about cooking. She makes really tasty treats with her Easy Bake Oven, and she loves to help me make banana bread, brownies, and help with dinner.
5. She is a really great sister. She is frequently playing with Caden and Brynnli, or reading books to Brynnli, or helping them with their chores.
6. Makayla is such a great daughter. I rely on her a lot to help me with things around the house. We have a lot of fun together running errands, going to subway and going to gymnastics meets. My favorite time of the week is when I take her to cheer and she talks the whole way there about what is going on at school and with her friends.
7. She loves tacos. Every week when I am trying to plan what to have for dinner, I can always count on Makayla to pop in with, "Tacos!"
8. She's a perfectionist. Sometimes her need to do everything right causes her to stress about things she doesn't need to, which leads to some pretty intense Sunday blues, but we know that Makayla will always do the right thing and make the right choices.
9. She's our daughter. 9 years ago she made us parents. We love that she chose to come to our family. We love you Makayla!

Happy Birthday Sweet Girl!

It's a New Year

Happy New Year! What a fun year. I'm so excited to start the new year with new goals for our family and new adventures.

January is always a fun month because we have season tickets to Utah gymnastics and we end up going to a lot of women's basketball games because Grandpa Craig works the table during the games. Here's a few pictures from some of our events:

 Let's just say the kids enjoy kids club with face painting, balloons, and posters more than they like the actual gymnastics events.

 Go Utes!

Brynnli is clearly ready for summer.

 Brynnli had her dance concert this year and she did such a great job. She danced to "Love is an Open Door." Isn't her costume cute?

 Lots of family came to cheer on our cutie dancer

 I had to document this picture of our toothless Caden. He lost his other front tooth earlier this month.

 Jr. Jazz came to an end this month. Caden loved playing and he really learned a lot. We loved watching him play all of his games. Caden said he definitely wants to play again next year.

 Speaking of Jazz... Caden and Daddy got to go to the Jazz game.

 Tyler didn't think Caden would last the whole game, but he was really into the game and had to make sure he stayed until the end.

We saw Frozen 2 again... this time with the Jones Boys.

 Practicing piano. The kids have been in lessons about 6 months now and I am so impressed with how much they have learned. Some days they like practicing more than others.

 Brynnie cracks us up.

 One day I got a call from Brynnli's preschool teacher and she said Brynnli told her she wasn't feeling well and wanted to go home. Her teacher said she thought Brynnli was fine, but thought it was unusual for her to say something. I ended up picking her up early and finished running my errands. I think she just wanted to play hookie, because she was completely fine. Little stink!

 She drives us crazy sometimes, but we sure do love her.

And just like that, January 2020 is over.