Birthday Celebrations

Here are pictures from Connor's birthday celebrations. He loved waking up to his candy birthday card. He showed it to everyone who came over and he left the candy on for a week.



We had the grandparents over for cake and ice cream. Connor wanted a football cake and this is what he got.



Here's Connor with all of his birthday presents. His favorites were the ipod, camera, lego set and new quilt for his bed. He was so excited about all of his presents that he took pictures of each thing with his new camera.



It is hard to tell from this picture, but we are at Chuck-e-Cheese. Connor wanted to take some friends here to celebrate. The boys had an awesome time!! I came home with a migraine.



Can you tell what his favorite present was??

Happy Birthday Connor!

9 years ago today I became a mother. How my life has changed since then. The minute Connor was born I knew that he was a choice spirit. My life has been so blessed since adding him to our family. Connor was the sweetest baby. Always happy and smiling all the time. As a toddler he was so full of energy. He would do anything to get you to laugh. Now, as a 9 year old boy, he is just as sweet and smiley and happy and continues to make us laugh. In honor of his 9th birthday, here are the TOP 9 things I love about Connor....

1. He is so loving. He is very sensitive to the thoughts and feelings of others. He has a very soft heart and isn't afraid to show it. Each day he will come up to me and hug me and tell me he loves me.
   
2. He always keeps us laughing! Whether it's telling us a joke, making a funny face or doing something crazy, he loves making us laugh.
   
3. He is creative. I love this about Connor. He is always making up games to play, writing his own stories and drawing amazing pictures. He loves to create and has a great imagination to go along with it.
4. His dimple. Of all my children, Connor got the dimple. With every smile he gets to show it off.
5. He is thoughtful. Connor loves to check on me. He will ask, "Mom, what can I get you?", or,"What can I help with?" He will get me a drink if he thinks I need one or simply rub my back. A few weeks ago he fixed me breakfast in bed for no reason. When we are out he holds the door open for us. What a guy!!
6. He is FUN! Connor is so fun to be around. I think this is one quality that makes it so easy for him to make friends. He could make some fun out of nothing.
   
7. He is a great big brother. Being the oldest we expect a lot from Connor. He has always been good to watch out for his younger brother and sister. He tries to set a good example and always helps when he is needed.
8. He is smart. Early on we knew that Connor was going to be smart. At an early age he could build amazing things with legos, solve puzzles and problem solve. He has always been at the top of his class in school. He is an awesome reader. He loves to figure things out on his own and has plenty of advice to give the rest of us :).
9. He is genuine. Connor is genuinely nice, kind, and sweet. He knows how to just be himself. He lives how he knows he should and tries his best at everything he does.

We love you Connor!!!

Here's a look back through the years....

From the mouth of babes

Lauren gave the cutest talk in primary today that I just have to share. Realizing last night at 9:00 that she had the talk assignment, I had a dilemma. Do I just write a quick talk for her, or do I get her out of bed to write her own? I decided to get her up and am so glad that I did. She came up with this cute idea after I told her what the theme for her talk was supposed to be. And of course, with Lauren up and out of bed, here comes Connor out of bed. So much for getting the kids to bed early :). Enjoy!!!

Heavenly Father loves all of his children.
It doesn't matter if we are a boy or a girl, if we are short or tall.
It doesn't matter if we are big or small, or if we know how to play basketball.
If we are old or young - He loves us all.
(Connor helped with this picture. Might as well have him help since he was up)

It doesn't matter if our skin is brown or tan, green or blue, yellow or red.
It doesn't matter the color of our hair or eyes or how many freckles we have.
Heavenly Father loves all of His children.

It doesn't matter if you can't talk or walk.
It doesn't matter if you can't see with your eyes or hear with your ears.
Heavenly Father loves all of His children.

Heavenly Father loves you and me just the way we are.
The scriptures say that "we are ALL children of the most High."
We are all children of God who loves us no matter what!

It's Derby Time!!

The most exciting time of the year for a cub scout is the pinewood derby night! The boys look forward to this night all year long. There is something special about designing your own car, making it with your dad, and then taking it to the races. This year was Connor's 2nd pinewood derby. He and Tony started making their car early this year to avoid a paint disaster like last year (I think there is still paint on the tracks from last year's car). Seeing a cute little car evolve from a block of wood is quite a sight. I am definitely glad that Tony gets to handle this project. Connor was so proud of his car and loved how it turned out!

Connor's car won the 'best paint job' award. That says a lot considering our disaster from last year. Connor added all the money on top to make his car heavier and faster.

I love this picture! You can see Connor's white car in the middle lane. You can also see Connor and his friend full of anticipation at the starting line. And, yes, we have the cub scout leaders wear officiating shirts. We go all out with the decorations too.

Connor with his best cousin Caleb. Cut cars boys!!

Here are all the boys with their cars and awards. Connor has made a pinewood derby shrine in his room where he keeps his cars, awards, trophy and medals. Now we get to look forward to next year.

11 Years

Can you believe it?? Tony and I celebrated our 11 year anniversary over the weekend. 11 years! It seems like just yesterday that we were married, and then again, it seems like forever ago. It is hard to remember my life without Tony in it. We have always been best friends and are happier when we are together. I was only 15 when we first met in High School.
And as they say, 'the rest is history'. I knew the moment I first met him that there was something special about him.
11 years has brought us 3 beautiful kids, a house, a business, and best of all....11 years of wonderful memories together. We enjoy spending time together more than anything else. We cherish our time together after the kids are in bed at night, our dates together and just hanging out. So, here's to another great year with many, many more to come!! I love you babe!

Trick or Treat?

Another Halloween has come and gone. If my kids had a say, they would want Halloween to last forever. They love the fun, excitement, costumes, decorations, parties and of course, the candy! I thought I would share our fun weekend that was full of TRICKS and TREATS!

TREAT: Seeing how much my kids love dressing up for Halloween.
TRICK: Getting a picture with all 3 kids looking at the camera.

TREAT: Seeing Lauren get so excited about wearing make-up and dressing up as a show-girl.
TRICK: Getting the spray glitter out of her hair.

TREAT: Seeing Cody get totally into batman character while wearing his costume. He was running wild with the cape flying and all. For weeks he has been dressing up in it.
TRICK: Getting Cody out of batman character.

TREAT: Watching Connor's costume evolve over that last few months. It started as a skeleton. Then graduated to an 'undead skeleton' (whatever that is. He wanted to add blood and the cape). Then it escalated further to an 'undead skeleton warrior'(yep...had to add a weapon). He was very happy with the finished product!
TRICK: Keeping track of him with his friend posse.....who were also all dressed in black.

TREAT: Doing our first trunk-or-treat with our ward.
TRICK: Deciding how to decorate our trunk.

TREAT: Having great friends who talked us into our 'rivalry' decorations.
TRICK: Not getting too passionate about our love for BYU

TREAT: We love our great friends, the Walton's! Our rivalry is a fun and friendly one!
TRICK: How is BYU going to beat Utah this year??

TREAT: Seeing this pumpkin get demolished!
TRICK: Ha, ha, ha to whoever left it on our front porch. We know who you are:).

What team......WILDCATS!!

Yes, we are lovers of High School Musical at our house. The original High School Musical...seen it, love it, know all the songs. High School Musical 2.....seen it, love it, know all the songs. High School Musical 3....seen it, love it, and already know all of the songs. Just say the word 'Troy' and Lauren will giggle and blush. Last night we saw the much anticipated 'HSM 3:Senior Year', along with a bunch of our friends and 300 other screaming girls and excited moms. It was so much fun!!! Lauren and I had been looking forward to our girl's night out for weeks. Of course, we got all dressed up in our High School Musical apparel. I bought my jacket just for the occasion (it was only 5 bucks). Lauren even had on HSM underwear. Having only brothers, Lauren really looks forward to anything 'girly' that we do. The movie was so cute and I'm sure we will be seeing it again. We listened to the soundtrack all night (thank you Grandma Juju) and had a hard time getting to bed because of our excitement. Lauren's favorite part of the movie was when Troy and Gabriella finally kiss(oops. hope I didn't give that away). I loved the 'boys are back' scene in the junk yard. I wish I could dance like that :). So if you want to know what team we love.......Wildcats!!

It's Inconceivable!

And you wonder how he gets into all that he does.

Messy Fun

Over UEA I thought it would be fun to make Halloween sugar cookies with the kids. We set a time and a date and invited my mom and my sister Jenny and her kids to come over. As soon as the dough was out the kids just went crazy. They had flour everywhere and were rolling dough and cutting out shapes like mad. They had a blast!! It definitely did not look like it does on tv when they cook with kids, all nice and neat and clean and all. There was dough and flour everywhere. On hands and arms and feet and faces. In hair and eyes. Not to mention the counter, stools and floor. But, believe it or not, I just ignored the mess and got into it with the kids. This was their day for some cooking fun. They were so happy and proud and excited over their cookies. After the mess was done we got on to the really fun part, decorating! The kids had all the frosting and sprinkles their hearts could desire. They were so thoughtful with each cookie they would decorate. They each made special ones for their moms and dads. So cute. I put my mom in charge of the frosting and the red food coloring did not get along so well with her :).

At the end of the day, with the mess cleaned up and gone, we reaped our reward of wonderful and delicious Halloween cookies. Tony especially loved his 'special cookies' that the kids made for him. So yes, the fun was worth the mess!!

It's Christmas-time!?!

As we woke up this morning and looked out the window to find over 6 inches of snow, Cody says,"It's Christmas-time!" Followed by,"Let's get out the snowmobiles!" We sure were surprised to see so much snow. While we were getting ready for church Cody kept insisting,"It's not church day. It's Christmas day." It took us a while to convince him that, no, it was not Christmas day yet. And that it truly was just 'church day'. He was sure disappointed.

After 3 hours in church, the kids could hardly wait to play in the snow. Even all the kids in primary today had 'play in the snow' wiggles. But boy, I definitely don't miss the days of hats, gloves, coats, boots & scarves for 3 kids strung all over the place. But I guess those days of winter are coming. The kids love playing in the snow and love the hot chocolate that follows even more!

We love Conference!

Every year we look forward to General Conference. My kids especially love conference. Lauren was counting down the days till conference all last week. We make a big deal about it at our house and have some fun traditions which I think is why we all love it so much. Sunday morning we sleep in and stay in our pajamas. Then we all go to work fixing a huge breakfast which we refer to as our "Conference breakfast". The kids love to help and love to eat it even more. After breakfast the kids play conference bingo while we watch it together. They get pretty into it, mostly because of the fun prizes. We also have cards with pictures and facts about each apostle. When someone is speaking they pick out their card and set it up on the t.v.. It's been a great way for all of us to get to know them better.

On a more serious note, I love conference. Each talk had something in it that I could relate to, that I needed to hear, and that brought me closer to my Savior. I needed the spiritual recharge that can only come through conference. Not only were the talks wonderful, but the music was inspirational. Seeing the children's choir on Saturday was so emotional for me. It reminded me of my primary kids and how much I love them. I love our prophet. What wisdom and love he powerfully conveys as he speaks. Throughout conference I just kept thinking of how blessed I am to be a part of this church. I am now looking forward to finding more "joy in the journey" and hoping that my conference 'high' will last as long as it can.

Strength in numbers

This past weekend I was able to attend the General Relief Society meeting at the Conference Center. A big group of ladies and friends from my ward all went down together. We had a blast!! As we entered the Conference Center and saw all the women gathered, my friend says to me,"Being here with all these women feels powerful". Her comment brought a tear to my eye. What power a group of righteous women and daughters of God can have. I loved each of the talks and came home wanting to do better. Wanting to try harder and focus on the things that really matter.

After the Conference we went to dinner at Biaggi's in the Gateway. The food was great! The company was great! And I can't remember the last time I stayed out till midnight. Thanks for a fun night girls!!