My Baby is 4!

This beautiful little girl turned 4 today! Time flies, I can't believe it! Hailey has been anticipating her birthday for months, so she was sooo excited that it was finally here! When she woke up she got to go find her Hidden Cupcake to see what was inside....

Inside was a little toddler and accessories to go with her dollhouse


Bryan was on his way home from Moab so I made Hailey wait until after church when he got home to open the rest of her presents. I had Carter snap a few shots of Hailey and I since I'm always the one behind the camera. I want my kids to know I was present every once in awhile :)

Hailey helping with the cupcakes......

I just L-O-V-E this big brown eyed girl!

We made a few cupcakes for Daddy too, since his birthday was the 15th

Little Red Riding Hood...
This used to be our niece Brookelyn's and Grammy brought it over for Hailey to use.


Grammy came over to have dinner and cupcakes with us...

She gave Hailey a special Granddaughter bracelet. Can you see the resemblance in these two, it's crazy!

Carter realized the morning of Hailey's birthday that he hadn't gotten her a gift. I had a little teacup stashed away with her name on it, so I told him he could give her that. He was soooooo excited to give it to her, and couldn't wait to see her reaction.

Fancy Nancy from Aunt Nancy :)

Anxiously waiting to blow out her candles....

B-L-O-W

Hailey got this costume from Aunt Paula, and after she put it on, Carter had to go put on his Power Ranger costume...

The Super Heroes Saving Daddy

For the rest of the night the kids had fun trying on all their Halloween costumes and running around, it was pretty cute!

Carter's 8th Birthday!

Carter wanted to have a friend sleepover for his birthday this year. We opted to do cupcakes instead of a cake. It seems like the last 5 years we have switched back and forth between two themes.....dinosaurs and camo. This year was camo again! We didn't go too crazy with a theme this year, but we already had the camo netting, so Carter wanted to decorate with that, rather than balloons and streamers.

Carter had 4 friends over and they had pizza for dinner.

PIZZA!!

Hailey, Hannah, Carter, Sam, Ethan, and Zach

The kids did a Treasure Hunt...

At the end of the Treasure Hunt were fun boxes filled with trinkets and treats

After pizza, cupcakes, presents, a few magic tricks done by Bryan, and the treasure hunt they all "settled" down to watch "Dolphin Tale". I say "settled" because they were still pretty wild and I'm not sure how much of the movie they actually saw! They had fun though!
I figured out the difference between a boys sleepover, and a girls......the girls are giggly and silly, but don't get into much mischief, the boys are LOUD, LOUD, and LOUD!


The next morning we had cinnamon rolls and bacon for breakfast and the kids chased each other around with nerf guns before heading home.

A Star Wars Alarm Clock from Aunt Nancy, Uncle Todd and Riley!



Saturday we took Carter to see Journey 2. It was a really cute movie and we all enjoyed it!

Sunday was Carter's actual birthday. He opened a few presents before we headed to church, and then we just hung out as a family.

Dinosaur Legos from Auntie Paula!

Shelby enjoyed the box Aunt Paula!

Hidden in the Cupcake this year was a $10 Gift Certificate to a local candy store. Carter has been asking for quite awhile now to go to a "real" candy store. I saw that one opened up a couple months ago in our little town and I knew he would get a kick out of it. The next day he went and spent it and had a ball. I took pictures, but can't find where they uploaded......grrrrr.

More legos from Grandma and Grandpa
He also got a Rock Tumbler from Grammy and Papa to shine his own rocks.

I would have to say that I think Carter had a great birthday! Thanks to everyone that remembered his special day! I can't believe he's 8! Carter has such a unique and fun personality. He's growing up so fast, and I'm so proud of the boy he is becoming. He is nice to everyone he meets, is honest, smart, and has such a big heart.

Happy Birthday Carter!

Carter's Yellow Belt

Carter received his Yellow Belt in karate last week! This is him with his "Sensay"(karate teacher). Carter was more than thrilled, and thinks it's pretty cool that he has a yellow belt, but Dad still has a white belt! We have seen a difference in Carter since he started in karate. The biggest I have noticed is that he wines less, and has an easier time focusing when he wants to. Good job Carter!

Our New Bathroom!!!

This is what the bathroom looked like when we moved in (2007)
Gotta love carpet in the bathroom :)

About a year later the toilet flooded, and at that point I had to rip out the carpet. There was no way I was going to try and clean it! Bryan put in those cheap sticky tiles to hold us over because we knew eventually that we would rip and out.

During demolition

....The After!

We picked Travertine for the floor, and this is probably my favorite part of the room. It turned out really nice.

We put in double shower heads with a jetted tub. For the surround we did an imitation granite. It is super easy to clean which I love!

There used to be another door where the tub is now. The bathroom had a weird layout that was awkward, so we eliminated the second door so we could utilize the space better. It seems a ton bigger, and I have just as much storage space. We love it and are glad to have it done!

Our Anniversary Weekend

This weekend was Bryan and I's 12th Anniversary.
We headed down to Layton on Friday, stopped to see Great Grandma Larsen for a bit, then headed to my parents house. The girls headed out to Olive Garden to celebrate Jills birthday and then Bryan and I left the kids with my parents for the night. We ended up just getting a movie and heading back home because Bryan is still in quite a bit of pain with his Shingles. The next morning we slept in a bit, then headed back towards Layton. We went and saw a movie, This Is War", and then went to pick up the kids a little earlier than planned. Hailey threw a little fit at my parents house as my mom was holding her hand, and Hailey's elbow came out of the socket. Luckily it was easy for the doctor to snap back into place, and it wasn't a big deal. My mom felt so bad, and says she's never holding Hailey's hand again :( The doctor said it happens all the time to kids her age, and once it was snapped back in, she was happy as could be!

Sunday morning Bryan made us French Toast and then we went outside to play in the freshly fallen snow!
We were excited try out the snow tube that Grammy and Papa got us! We live next to an empty field and the kids love to be pulled in sleds with the four wheeler.

Hailey and I rode together for awhile, and it was so fun to listen to her giggle as we hit every little bump. She would sit there and eat the snow that came up over the sides of the tube, and just giggle and giggle.

The kids always want hot cocoa after playing in the snow

Later in the day some friends of ours offered to watch the kids while we went out to dinner to Texas Roadhouse. I had Carter take our picture before we left. It's not the best picture of me, but it's better than nothing! I made a DVD for Bryan for our anniversary with pictures of us and special moments through our 12 years of marriage. It turned out really cute, but I realized that we don't have a lot of pictures of just us as a couple! That's something I will have to work on :)

Valentines 2012

Hailey checking out her Valentines from mom and dad. Trying to look happy, but she didn't fool us, poor sick girl.



Our Valentines was a little bit of a bummer this year. Poor Bryan came down with Shingles, and Hailey had Strep Throat. I was so excited to try a Heart Hairdo in Hailey's hair this year since last year it wasn't long enough............I guess it doesn't have to be Valentines to do a heart! I know, I'm a dweeb!
My parents came up the evening before Valentines for Chili and a Coldstone Ice Cream Cake. They braved Hailey's strep, which I don't blame them, because she gave them lots of good cuddles.

I left the kids a little treat with a card to find at the table when they woke up.



I did get to help with Carter's Valentines Party at school which is always fun! They did a Valentine Tea which Carter was excited about. He was more than happy to wear dress clothes to school, which surprised me!

All the kids enjoying their snack

The boys had to get up and serve the girls their food. It was funny to see their reactions. All the boys groaning and saying "Ah man!" , then the girls laughing and saying "Yessss"! They did a good job, it was really cute!

After their snack they made a Valentine to take home to their parents.

As for the rest of the day, we are playing it low key, so that our sickies can get feeling better!

Princess for a day

It's a good thing our little Shelby cat is patient! She's puts up with a lot, especially from Hailey. As you can see Hailey likes to dress her up, and luckily Shelby just goes along with it!