Makayla Turns 14

This amazing girl turned 14 on January 28!! We love Makayla so much and are so impressed with the amazing teenager she is. We love the opportunity to celebrate the girl that made us "mom and dad". 

Makayla woke up early on her birthday and opened her outfit. Makayla wanted a Dandy sweatshirt. Apparently it is the cool thing to have, but at $100 I thought it should have been made out of gold. 

Makayla went to school for a few hours and then I checked her out to take her to lunch and to get her haircut. Makayla is so responsible and made her own hair appointment. Makayla wanted Mo Bettah's for lunch and we had so much fun catching up on the latest and greatest in the 8th grade. 

Makayla's haircut is so cute on her... very trendy, very demure. 

Once the kids got home from all their activities, we went to dinner at Olive Garden. We were carb loaded and feeling good after our meal. 

Then we came home and Makayla got to open her presents. Caden and Brynnli gave her a Flynn Ryder doll from the movie Tangled because Makayla said he is her celebrity crush. 

She got new shoes and clothes from mom and dad. Gone are the days when she wanted toys and I'm just not ok with it. 

We ended the night with Twisted Sugar cookies. 

Next was Makayla's family party. I made this cute fruit board to celebrate our 14 year old. 

We played "Would she rather" for the game. It had questions on it like, "Hawaii or Paris" and "Early bird or night owl" and our family had to guess what Makayla would choose. 

Tracy took 1st place, Colton took 2nd, and Kenzee took 3rd place. If I was allowed to play, I would be in 1st place. 

Then we sang "Happy Birthday" like 5 times before Makayla opened her gifts. She got all her favorites like gift cards, money and a new cell phone case. 

Then she blew out the candles on her birthday cake 

A few weeks later we had a combined friend party. Makayla's best friend, Brooke, has a birthday just a week later than Makayla, and the girls schemed a "Staycation" for a combined friend party. We got a hotel room at the Little America Hotel. Each girl brought a board full of treats and goodies. 

We went down town to City Creek and the girls did a little bit of shopping, then we went back to the hotel for swimming and pizza. 

The girls stayed up until 2 am talking and laughing. Good thing Brooke's mom and I had our own room so we could actually get some sleep that night. Makayla has the best group of friends and they all have so much fun together. 

I was so happy we could celebrate Makayla all month long. Makayla is a great daughter, an amazing dancer, an excellent student, and a loyal friend. Makayla knows what she likes and what she wants and she's not afraid to pursue it. Makayla has proven herself to be responsible, organized, a little bit of a clean freak, and a skin care expert. It is truly an honor to raise such an amazing girl and I can't wait to see what her future holds. 

Welcome to 2025

Ready or not, here we go! 2025 is going to be such a great year... I can just feel it. Here's some of the fun things we have been up to this month. 

We started out the year by going to Monster Jam. It was fun because we have never been to something like this before. We all thought the truck tricks were so fun, and our favorite truck was called Grave Digger. I had to snap this picture of Tyler taking a picture of the kids. Too cute! 

Now that Tyler sits on the stand during church, it gives Brynn a great angle to draw a portrait of him. I think she really nailed the bald head and dashing smile. 

Bella is the luckiest puppy. She looks so comfy snuggled up with Caden. 

Makayla named her doll Shaniqua, and sometimes that stupid doll scares me when I walk upstairs because I think it is a real person just staring at me. Even though this doll is creepy, Makayla loves it and she is getting so good at doing her hair. 

The moon looked perfectly placed right on top of the peak of the mountain. 

We went to Makayla's middle school dance company concert. We loved it and Makayla did such a great job. I love that Makayla gets to dance with all of her best friends!

Tracy found discounted tickets to the Utah Hockey game, so we got to have a fun night watching a NHL game. The Utah Hockey club is brand new this year, and let me tell you, hockey games are a totally different experience than the basketball games we are used to going to. The crowd was more rowdy and they definitely yelled louder. We had so much fun hanging out with our cousins and hope we can go back again soon. 

The girls finally got to go to a Jazz game. The girls don't like basketball as much as Caden does, but we wanted them to experience a live NBA game. They ended up having fun because a little bribery of ice cream goes a long way. 

The Jazz games are fun, but the Jazz are not having a great season. If they continue on this losing trajectory, they will end up as the worst team in the league. 

These two kids amaze me. I told them that I would pay them for good grades, and if they got a 4.0, I would pay them $50. Well guess who is now out of $100? But it is so worth it because Makayla and Caden are excellent students. They keep an eye on their grades throughout the quarter and they always turn in their assignments on time. They both take multiple honors classes and are just doing so well in school. 

January is off to a great start!!

The Taker of the Photo

 To end this year's blog book I wanted to share something a friend shared that really resonated with me: 

I am the taker of the photos. 

I am the receiver of the groans, the eye-rolls and "hurry ups". 

I am the one who disrupts the moments to capture them. 

And sometimes it's hard to be that person. But I am the holder of the memories... 

I am the one who keeps the precious proof. 

I am the bearer of the stories, 

the maker of the photo books that bring tears, laughter, and love rushing into the room each time they are opened. 

One day the  eye- rolls will be replaced with absolute all-consuming gratitude, for the image of a smiling face so missed 

and a memory returned home to stay. 

Keep disrupting life to capture it, when it's all that is left. Someone, somewhere will be so very glad you did.