5 Going on 6

Ashlyn turned 5 on Wednesday. I know I say this every year for every child, and I will say it again just like Quincy does on Little Einstein's...

I CAN NOT BELIEVE IT!!

She is still so petite. But petite is cute!

She picked her favorite dinner, chicken rollups, and we watched Tangled for the first time.

The big party was on Saturday...

(Because her party was on a separate day from her real birthday, she somehow assumed she was turning 5 on Wed and 6 on Saturday!?!?! I don't think I can let her get away with growing up that fast!)

Some of the Gang...

A few festive decorations...

A hat for every cowboy and cowgirl...

And of course pin the tail on the horse...

Horse shoe painting...

Tasty horse...

Whew. And then we watched conference

What WE do in Colorado

While most of the travelers at the airport were checking skis, we were checking bags full marshmallow guns and diapers. While all of those travelers were on the slopes we were...

Bowling...

Off roading...

Eating...

(LOTS of yummy eating. And yes, this was a common scene- the kids were stuck to Jameson like glue.)

Horse riding...

(If Ashlyn had her way she would be on them twice a day.)

"Adventuring" with the famous tracker, Uncle Nathan...

Sleeping like deer...

Finding a buck in the backyard...

Listening to Tutu read stories...

Visiting the frog exhibit at the Wildlife Experience Museum...

Swinging like a monkey for hours...

Rock climbing in the basement...

Learning belaying rules from Papa Steve...

Watching 9 great-grandchildren fall in love with their Gigi...

Confining our children to jail when the were ornery...

Okay, so it was really for joy and entertainment in a swing...

Building human towers...

By gender...

Finding lots of these two cuddling...

Let's not forget...

• Christmas morning (Since it is Carianne's favorite Holiday)

• And the photo shoot with 18 people (9 of those 7 and under)
• Running
• Late night adult game time

• And a night at the temple while two teenage babysitters watching all 9 kids (whom they had never met.) We felt very guilty upon hearing that all three babies cried the entire time we were gone. However, being in the temple all together was worth it.

And this is how we felt after doing all of these things in one short week...

(Ashlyn fell asleep while waiting for me to come out of the bathroom.)

Christmas In Colorado

We just got back from a week in Colorado with my family. We postponed Christmas till my baby sister, Carianne, returned home from her mission in Honduras.

First, you have to check out more of these cute photos we had taken of ALL of us here. Piper did an amazing job and picked a great spot!

A post of all the fun we had to follow.

New and Improved

I have promised a video for a long time. Here it finally is. Still, I am not quite done with all that I have envisioned for this house. We have been doing a lot of painting, but we are reaping the rewards. I didn't realize I would enjoy color so much! Enjoy!

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

If you want to refresh your memory of what it looked like before we redecorated click HERE.

Big 3

And when it's Dylan's birthday we know it is also this cutties birthday as well...

My sweet little guy turned 3 on Sunday the 6th. He is talking more, and with that it seems he has also getting more frustrated (aka throwing tantrums.) But he is still that warm, cuddly man I have always loved. He continues to surprise me with his generosity and kindness towards other. Love you big man!

We got him these new cars called Automoblox, they were a big hit! He also picked out his own dump truck thanks to Gigi! And he of course loves his new remote control car (thank you Tutu) which Kamryn is also intrigued with. So to say the least, we have a lot of new toys that are keeping my little people a little more occupied that normal. That is a gift to me!

Big SEVEN

Friday this handsome fella turned 7

Instead of worrying about how old he is I am more worried about how old he makes me and how I only have a year left to prepare him for baptism!

We "kicked off" his 7th year right with a football themed party.

Dylan was very adament that this party be a Utah vs. BYU party. So everything was blue and red.

When our guests arrived they autographed a football of choice.

They then headed upstairs for Coach Connor's Football training Camp.

There was a lot of hiking, punting, throwing, jump n' jacking, and push upping.

Then they raced through a obstacle course...

Running down the line

Crawling through a tunnel with ball in hand...

Around the cones, high jump over your "opponent" and into the end zone.

Finish it off with Football game foods with a football cake and ice cream!

I am so proud of Dylan. He is brimming with enthusiasm for life. If I bragged about all of Dylan's talents we might be here too long.

Whey Are You Wearing Pajamas?

This is what Ashlyn chose to wear today...

Her pajama top, a skirt and some leggings. Better, but I did have to give her my regular reminder... "Now Ashlyn, you know that we don't wear pajamas to school. You can wear them at home but not when we leave home." Am I a mean mom? I mean who wouldn't want to live life in their pajamas, I sure do! But I do have to set some boundaries!

Without missing a beat she said "these aren't pajamas, this is a warm up suit." Props for that girl! I just laughed, she earned her right to wear her pajama top today!

For all of you who are still clueless... YOU MUST watch Despicable Me. As you can see we love it. I am hoping this memory will help me add a smile and a laugh when handling Ashlyn and her clothes.

Kamryn

I can't believe how fast time has flown with little Kamryn. She is now 9 months old and still a pure bag of sugar!

Here is a video from a few months back. She loved her bouncer, but we would often find her bouncer in a different place when we returned.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

She is now crawling and loves to practice her pikes...

Or just hang out on her side...

She also loves to be swung upside down, attention from anyone and to be tickled. She is like a magnet, everyone is drawn to her. I had her in primary today and the got swarmed when primary finished. In sacrament today Dylan didn't want to do anything else but play with her, which ended only in uncontrollable giggles. He always wants to hold her and be right next to her.

Christmas Crafts

I am sure you all know I couldn't go too long with out crafting. Isn't that such a silly word?

I was very behind on a few Christmas item and I finally finished them last week...

I have never found the right topper for our tree. I finally found an idea that I liked, but put it off. It was Dylan's comment this year about how we didn't have anything on the top of our tree that compelled me...

And in case you were wondering, it is not origami- thanks Ben!

I also made Kamryn's stocking, still deciding if I love it or not...
Growing up, my mom always made Christmas pillowcases for us. Such a simple tradition that I wanted to continue. These two are for Corbin and Kamryn.

My long to do list just got a little shorter with these off my mind!

The votes are in and the real count is...

On top: 7

On bottom: 5

I know, she would look ten pounds lighter if she shed some layers!

Count the Layers

I am STILL anxiously awaiting the moment Ashlyn grows out of her "issues" with clothes. We are still plagued!!!!

This is a picture of Ashlyn in most normal attire:

Her newest trend is to wear LOTS of layers. It must be cold here!

Here is the game: 1. To guess how many layers she has on top, and 2. how many layers she has on the bottom. Cast your vote in your comment! I will reveal the answer in a few days.
I had to bribe her to wear real clothes, she actually looks adorable, even with a pajama shirt.
The bride was a photo shoot. Maybe I should sign up for toddlers and tiaras!

Kamryn's Social Calendar

As you can see Kamryn has two, very adorable boyfriends. And yes, she doesn't mind that they both come to visit on the same evening, she did a great job of showing equal attention to both of these little dappers!

It was just so fun to watch these little people interact and enjoy each other!