Our Family

Tory in her Temple Dress

2012-01-22T13:57:00.000-07:00

Christmas!

2012-01-20T10:43:00.004-07:00

Victoria's Temple Sealing

2012-01-12T11:32:00.001-07:00

Thanksgiving Hike into Zions

2012-01-09T11:16:00.002-07:00

Chris and Ayden

2011-12-11T17:58:00.000-07:00

Victoria

2011-12-10T12:49:00.004-07:00

This is the dress that Tory's Grandma Shaw gave her.
She looks so cute in it!

Halloween Pictures!

2011-12-10T11:49:00.002-07:00

Cornbelly's

2011-11-06T15:49:00.006-07:00

Mom and Dad

2011-11-05T11:07:00.002-06:00

More Cute Victoria

2011-10-19T17:17:00.000-06:00

Family Picture

2011-10-12T16:05:00.003-06:00

Discovery Gateway Museum

2011-10-06T15:12:00.006-06:00

Victoria hung out with me most of the time, but she got to sit in the helicopter with her brothers! She didn't seem very impressed.

Several weeks ago Jared went backbacking with his brother-in-law, and so my sister-in-law came to stay with us while they were gone. We had a lot of fun, and we even got up the energy to take the kids to Salt Lake to the Discovery Gateway Museum and a short trip to the planetarium.

We had been here before, but last time I forgot my camera so I got a lot of shots this time! Ayden found a little friend there, and they played for the longest time with the water feature. He also loved the big blocks and the helicopter.

Chris, however, was all over the place. He loved the carts for the store and kept filling it up with grocery's and then he wheeled them all over the place and deposited them in various locations. For instance, the car, the house, and the farm. It was quite a job following after him and trying to clean them up as he went!

Victoria at 3 months old

2011-09-30T21:07:00.000-06:00

Farm Country

2011-09-12T16:28:00.001-06:00

New Water Feature!

2011-09-03T16:10:00.000-06:00

Idaho for the Weekend

2011-09-02T16:21:00.000-06:00

Ayden Chris and Tory!

2011-09-01T21:29:00.001-06:00

Kindergarten!

2011-09-01T16:43:00.001-06:00

Chris and Tory

2011-08-23T17:13:00.002-06:00

Chris absolutely adores Victoria. He is constantly coming up to her and giving her kisses and hugs. He is also very interested in holding her, although he gets bored of this rather quickly!

Victoria Newborn Pictures

2011-08-16T15:05:00.003-06:00

RMI Reunion

2011-08-14T18:16:00.003-06:00

Every July we go to a Marshall Island reunion where there are a lot of families with adopted Marshallese children. Ayden really loves it. He calls it "the place where there are other kids with skin like mine, mom!" This year everyone was excited about Victoria...the new baby. She was handed around a lot and much admired. The boys loved going on the slides, but Chris was a little nervous about going down by himself, so he mostly went down with Jared. Ayden has a few special friends there that he hangs around, and Chris just follows Ayden wherever he goes. It was a lot of fun. =)

Dad and Tory

2011-07-24T09:56:00.002-06:00

We had a family reunion last week and these are some pictures I caught of Jared and Tory. Unfortunately, Jared is sick this week. I am hoping and crossing my fingers that the baby and I do not catch it!!!

Chris smiling in Mischief!

2011-07-18T12:27:00.000-06:00

Cute Victoria

2011-07-13T16:43:00.006-06:00

Soccer!

2011-07-10T19:36:00.003-06:00

Ayden took Itty Bitty Soccer this year. Chris was a little bit too young to "officially" join the team, but he mostly played anyway!

More 4th of July

2011-07-10T18:41:00.003-06:00

On the 4th of July we took the kids to the Thanksgiving Point Children's Garden. Victoria slept through the entire thing, so I only have pictures of her slumped in her car seat fast asleep! The boys, on the other hand, had a ball. Especially Ayden. He found a friend at the water area, and they spent a lot of time chasing after another boy splashing water at each other. Chris mostly enjoyed sitting on the bench eating fruit snacks, but he and Jared had a fun time playing together as well.

4th of July Celebrations

2011-07-06T16:22:00.001-06:00

Victoria with her Brothers!

2011-07-01T22:04:00.002-06:00

Every morning bright and early the boys run into my bedroom and crowd around Tory's crib crying "Baby! Baby!" They like to sit on the bed with me while I feed her and "help." Ayden does a pretty good job, but Chris would ram the bottle down her throat if I didn't help him hold it! They are constantly crowding around Tory and giving her kisses and hugs. She is much loved by everyone!!!

(some of) Victoria's Birthfamily

2011-07-01T21:51:00.004-06:00

Victoria's Birthparents are Jeffery and Jinet. Her sisters are Grid, Diann, Henia, and Henitha. She also has an older brother whom we did not meet. Pictured here is also a cousin, and several aunts. We were lucky to be able to spend so much time getting to know them while we were there.

Victoria!

2011-07-01T16:42:00.005-06:00

Victoria Embry joined our family a few weeks ago! She was born on June 16 in Arkansas. We were in Arkansas meeting her birthfamily for about 2 weeks while Ayden and Chris stayed home being watched by my parents. Victoria is a total sweetheart and is such a good baby.

"Old School" Bikes for the day!

2011-06-09T22:29:00.001-06:00

The Boys!

2011-06-09T16:47:00.001-06:00

Mom and Dad

2011-05-18T17:37:00.003-06:00

Angela's Fam

2011-05-18T17:09:00.001-06:00

Jason's Fam

2011-05-18T15:57:00.001-06:00

Jon's Fam

2011-05-06T21:37:00.008-06:00

AnaLee's Fam

2011-05-06T21:34:00.002-06:00

Andrea's Fam

2011-05-06T21:28:00.002-06:00

Easter!!!

2011-05-06T15:25:00.002-06:00

My parents came down for Easter this year, and then all of us proceeded to get the stomach flu! That was fun and excitement. Luckily, it was only a 24 hour thing, so we still got in lots of gaming. It curtailed a bit of the candy eating that was planned though!! =)

It was so funny watching Ayden look for eggs. He would kind of poke around a place half-heartedly, not finding anything, and then Chris would come up behind him and pick up the egg that Ayden missed! And I think Chris knew he was one-upping Ayden, because he would give one of his evil laughs when he picked up the egg. It was so hilarious!!!

Cruising

2011-05-06T15:18:00.002-06:00

For Easter this year Ayden got a new scooter and Chris got a new glider bike! Although Ayden had been up all the night before puking his guts out, he still wanted to go out immediately to try his new scooter. Chris is now getting the hang of his bike, and scoots himself all over the place with it. The other day, I found Chris crying his heart out as he was trying to drag his bike up the stairs in the house. He just couldn't quite get it up the stairs...why he was trying to do this, I have no idea!! Back outside it went, and Chris settled down. Go figure.

Ayden and Chris

2011-05-06T10:15:00.006-06:00

Yeah its finally getting warm outside!! Ayden and Chris are especially excited and have spent every moment possible outside.

Fam Picture

2011-05-05T15:31:00.002-06:00

Well, it certainly isn't perfect. =)

Field Trip to Cabela's

2011-03-18T14:56:00.004-06:00

Ayden had a field trip to Cabela's last week! I decided to go so Chris could come too. Ayden had a lot of fun. His favorite thing to do there is to shoot the guns. As I was taking pictures, someone hit one of the animals and it sprayed water at me! Ayden liked it when the animals got hit and they roared at him. He was very fascinated with the skunk, and kept talking afterwards about it and how far you need to be or it would spray you and "then you have to take a bath in tomato juice, mom!" It was lots of fun.

Dinosaurs...eh. Water Table...AWESOME!

2011-03-04T16:47:00.004-07:00

This morning we visited the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving point. You would think that as many times as we have been there...3rd time in two months...they would be bored of it by now. They still had a blast, except Chris kept trying to rush us through everything so that we could play at the water table! Ayden would have been happy to spend the entire morning at the computers, but Chris was having none of it. He kept grabbing Ayden's arm trying to pull him towards more interesting things.

Haircuts lead to Bath Time!

2011-02-11T15:13:00.006-07:00

Pre-Haircut!
Where did my hair go, mom?

Aagh! I'm bald!

Christmas 2010

2011-02-02T16:09:00.003-07:00

For Christmas this year, the boys got a playhut, airplanes, nerf guns, and etc. Ayden was super-excited for Christmas, and had a really hard time falling asleep Christmas eve. That morning, the kids woke up at an absurdly early hour. When they saw the playhut set up in the family room, Christmas halted while the boys had a blast playing in it. After about a half an hour, Ayden decided it was time to open more presents.

Chris' Birthday

2011-01-21T16:23:00.004-07:00

Better late than never...

Chris had a major "train theme" for his birthday in December as he is a huge fanatic of trains. I found a ton of Geo Trax on KSL, and we had a lot of fun setting them up. We have never again set up all of them at the same time, but we have a lot of fun trying out new things in the set.

Fall

2010-11-17T16:53:00.002-07:00

Halloween

2010-11-17T16:43:00.004-07:00

I am falling behind a bit...but we had a lot of fun for Halloween this year. We had some of Jared's friends from work come and carve pumpkins with us and my sister came and carved more pumpkins with us the next week! On Halloween night it was raining, but we dressed the kids up in their costumes, bundled them up all warmly, and Jared took them around the neighborhood to go trick or treating. By the time they got home their buckets were completely full! We still have Halloween candy they haven't eaten.

Trip To Bryce Canyon

2010-10-14T22:03:00.003-06:00

This summer we went on a trip to Bryce Canyon with my parents. These are some of the pictures I got of the boys on our hike up to mossy caves. Both of the boys loved playing in the water and they scared me to death by almost falling into the water near the waterfall! So we found an area where some water had pooled up and let the boys splash away! They were covered in orange dirt and had a lot of fun. I remember doing this hike when I was young. It is so fun sharing these things with my kids now, and it was especially nice having mom and dad there.

Enjoying the last warm days of summer...

2010-10-09T15:18:00.002-06:00

The weather got so cold so suddenly. I'm glad last week we played outside a lot and really squeezed the most out of the warm days. Ayden already has the first cold of the season. I am crossing my fingers and hoping that no one else catches it. Ayden never wants to admit that he is sick...he keeps trying to go about his daily business.

"I'm not sick!" cough cough cough hack hack.

Ayden turned 5!

2010-10-03T01:53:00.004-06:00

Ayden decided that for his birthday he wanted to go to Idaho and have a birthday party with all of his cousins. And he wanted chocolate cupcakes with blue sprinkles. He is a kid who knows what he wants! =) He had a blast while we were there, and there was a lot of chaos and kids running around grandmas house. When we left, he was crying....and he woke us up the next morning at the crack of dawn telling us that he wanted to go back to grandmas house! Good times...

Friday Night at the Park

2010-08-24T15:03:00.003-06:00

Last friday we went to the big park here in town and let the kids run around. It was nice being at the park with Jared there...almost relaxing! I got to take pictures and sit on the bench instead of running around after Chris. Chris is getting very brave and scares me all of the time. He tries to go on the "big kid" things, and has had several very close tumbles...luckily, it was Jared's turn to save him this time! There were a lot of kids there, so Ayden was having a blast trying to convince someone to play "star wars" with him. As far as I can tell, this game involves shooting their fingers at each other, running around and laughing a lot. Near the end of our outing, while Ayden was running around making friends, Chris kept coming up to Jared and I crying for something to drink. He hastn't quite figured out the whole cup thing yet, and made quite a mess trying to drink it. Fun times!!

Family Reunion at Six Flags

2010-08-11T23:19:00.002-06:00

This summer we went to Six Flags for our family reunion. Jared and my mom watched all of the kids while I went with my dad and siblings on all of the rides. It was a lot of fun, but I did miss out on seeing the boys reactions to all of the kid rides and fun things.

Batboy!

2010-08-11T17:22:00.001-06:00

At our family reunion in California this summer Jared won this cape for Ayden at Six Flags. He pretty much hasn't taken it off since then...It has been a batboy summer =)

Bikes...

2010-07-22T16:20:00.004-06:00

This summer Christopher decided that Ayden's tricycle was now his and he would throw a HUGE FIT every time Ayden tried to ride on it. So of course it was time to get Ayden a new bike. Now, however, Chris thinks that he should also get Ayden's new bike, and he is very conflicted about which bike he should run towards first!

Ayden has been having a lot of fun riding it around everywhere, and he is even getting used to riding it down our steep driveway. We went on a bike ride around the neighborhood the other day and Ayden kept racing ahead of Chris and I. It was a lot of fun.

California Trip

2010-07-13T20:27:00.002-06:00

In June our family had a reunion in California. We had a lot of fun at the beach especially. Christopher had a blast digging in the sand and splashing in the water! He kept trying to run away from the waves, but instead of running away from them he kept running paralell to them and kept getting more wet. It was so funny! Ayden and all of his cousins got soaking wet jumping the waves and then they would run up onto the dry sand and lay down in it trying to get warm again and then off they would go to jump in the waves again. At one point Ayden was shivering so hard that I started piling warm sand all over him until he was warm again! He got sand everywhere! I spent most of the day building a huge sand castle with my neices and Christopher....which unfortunately Jared didn't take a picture of. Which is too bad, cause it was awesome. =) All in all it was a fun day!

Making Art

2010-07-12T22:28:00.003-06:00

A few weeks ago I finally remembered all of these paints I gave Ayden for Christmas. They had a lot of fun painting on the paper, but Chris mostly got a kick out of painting himself and Ayden! The good thing about painting in the summer time is it gives a good reason to go swimming afterwards.

Slip and Slide

2010-07-08T12:09:00.004-06:00

So Jared bought one of those cheap slip and slides for the kids to play with this summer, and you have never seen two kids get more fun out of five dollars before! Christopher was especially ecstatic and kept trying to slide on it...but mostly he just fell down a lot. Ayden would back way up and then run at full blast and then he would pause right before the slide and then did a kind of belly flop-slide. It was so funny! Then he learned how to surf across the surface and that seemed to be a lot less painful. Ah...summer!

Visiting Thanksgiving Point

2010-05-08T01:13:00.004-06:00

Several weeks ago we went to Farm Country at Thanksgiving point. It was beautiful warm weather and we got to see all of the cute baby animals. Ayden's favorite thing was the horse ride...

...but Chris wasn't too thrilled about sitting on a pony.

He was much more interested in playing at the duck pond!

I personally liked the baby bunnies best myself. =)

The next week we again visited Thanksgiving Point, but with much chillier weather! We went with Jared's parents to see the Tulip Festival. Both of the boys loved playing in the fountains and feeding the fish.

Crazy Utah weather! We never know what the weather is going to be. T-shirts one week, and coats the next!

Sunday Best

2010-04-27T14:09:00.002-06:00

Easter

2010-04-14T15:04:00.004-06:00

It seems that I am only hitting the holidays. Life has been busy! We had a fun Easter...my parents were here and we played a lot of Settler's of Catan and Ticket to Ride. We decorated tons of eggs, but unfortunately I was so busy keeping Chris from knocking over the dye I didn't take any pictures of the event, and then I ate all of the eggs. They were delicious!

Chris was pretty excited about Easter, but mostly the Jelly Beans. You should see him get all excited about them. When he sees Jared opening the jar, he drops whatever he is doing and runs to Jared and does a little happy jelly bean dance. Then, of course, he stands under Jared with his mouth open expectantly. It is so hilarious!

Ayden's favorite thing about Easter was the spiderman tatoos the Easter Bunny brought him. He immediately asked me to apply as many as could fit all over his arms. He was a spiderman kid! He ran all over the house pretending he was spiderman flinging webs everywhere.

Christmas Pictures

2010-01-21T14:21:00.007-07:00

So it is basically impossible to get a picture of Chris with Ayden where they are both looking at the camera!! On Christmas eve, Ayden was so excited and Chris was completely oblivious.

Man I look pale next to my kids! Last weekend we went swimming with some friends, and let me tell you...both Jared and I look pasty...especially when you compare us to our kids.

After all of the hoopla of Christmas morning was over, Christopher was quite worn out!!

Ayden playing with his new remote control car, and Chris trying to grab it!

Christopher wasn't quite sure what to think of this toy when he first opened it, but since it has become one of his favorite toys. It lights up and makes "jungle sounds" and the boys have all of their little figurines and play with it just about every day. Who knew it would be such a hit?!

So Ayden wrote a very detailed letter to Santa Clause this year. He told Santa that all he wanted was 2 wii games: Lego Indiana Jones and Lego Star Wars. He was pretty excited to open them Christmas morning. I guess Santa pulled through...

All Ayden wanted to do after that was play wii...Of course, just the other day he got grounded from the wii for about life...so I guess we will see what happens! =)

For Christmas we got Chris a train to sit on and it plays music and has blocks and etc. He wasn't quite sure what to think of it at first, but he soon figured out that it was pretty neat. Of course his favorite thing is to sit on it and be pushed around. Luckily, Ayden is quite happy to do the honors. Chris also likes to push it, but mostly he just likes to push it down the stairs!!

Christmas was a lot of fun but busy of course! We went to Idaho after Christmas and then by new years I was really sick with strep throat and so was Jared. Then I had a lot of catch-up cleaning to do...in fact, today was the first time I have cleaned my kitchen floor since before Christmas. They were pretty bad so it took quite a while to get them back to normal. Of course, I am sure that Chris will dimolish all of my hard work by the end of the day!

Too cold to go outside...

2009-12-11T13:55:00.002-07:00

Boys being Boys

2009-12-11T13:48:00.002-07:00

Before it got so cold outside, we were having a lot of fun playing outside. Ayden loves to play soccer and show off his kung-fu moves. Chris was busy running around stuffing twigs in his mouth and trying out the bikes.

More scrapbooking

2009-11-11T17:03:00.002-07:00

Trunk-or-Treat

2009-10-27T11:38:00.007-06:00

For our ward Trunk-or-Treat this year I made two pumpkins.

This is the haunted house I carved. Chris is a Cheetah for Halloween this year. He looks super cute in it, but he wasn't too happy with the hood. He kept trying to pull it off.
Ayden went to the ward Trunk-or-Treat as a pirate again this year. This is him doing his 'scary pirate' face! All of the kids got up on a platform to show off their costumes, and when it was Ayden's turn he sauntered up to the edge of the platform and then jumped off while swinging his sword yelling "Aaaarggh..." It was so funny!

I didn't get a good picture of Christopher and Jared together because Chris was not very happy to have the cheetah hood on! He kept squirming to get it off. Jared is in his safari costume and he caught Christopher the Cheetah. =)

Ok, this is technically not a halloween picture, but it was right before the party, and Ayden was showing off his Robot Dance. Even Chris was getting into it and waving his arms. =)

This is my headless horseman pumpkin. It was a lot harder than

I thought it would be. I think I will stick to carving in the future...

Fall Leaves

2009-10-20T15:49:00.004-06:00

On Sunday we went for a drive up American Fork Canyon. The boys look sad in this picture, because we were making them sit still when they had been having fun exploring and throwing rocks in the water!

Choosing rocks to throw...

Daddy chasing after Chris!

Random Pictures

2009-10-20T15:42:00.003-06:00

Ayden's first field trip in preschool was to the vineyard pumpkin patch. When we went to drop him off it was pouring!! I had Ayden dressed warm in a rain jacket, but when I went to pick him up afterwards he was soaking wet and his pants and shoes were covered in mud!! He had a blast though and he was very proud of the pumpkin he picked out.

We got the boys matching pajamas. I just couldn't resist. Ha ha!!

Christopher Walking

2009-10-20T15:31:00.002-06:00

Christopher has been walking for about a month now, but he has been incredibly camera shy about walking in front of the camera. I was finally able to get this footage several days ago.

Ayden's 4th Birthday!!!

2009-10-20T14:57:00.005-06:00

Ayden got an mp3 player for his birthday this year. We put all of his songs on it, which he likes listening to, but mostly he is interested in the 2 short games that came with it. He is going to have to wait a few years to get a Nintendo DS player I am afraid! He feels so grownup wandering around with the earplugs in.

This year Ayden wanted cupcakes instead of a cake and he wanted chocolate and he wanted a Halloween theme. He was very decisive!! =)

For Ayden's birthday this year he wanted to go to the zoo. We had never been to the Hogle Zoo before, so it was a lot of fun. They had a baby elephant and a baby giraffe there that were neat to see. Ayden's favorite part was trying to get wet in the Madagascar room.

Christopher's favorite thing was riding the Carousel. He thought that was pretty neat. He was all smiles. Ayden looks more like he is heading out on a safari or something! =)

It was fun to watch Chris. He was just so excited about the Carousel.

Chris and Ayden were almost exactly the right size of a baby and juvenile gorilla!

Piano Time

2009-09-25T20:02:00.003-06:00

My grandmother gave me her piano, and Ayden and Chris are totally fascinated with it. I just hope that the love affair will continue through lessons! =)

First Day of Preschool!

2009-09-16T13:32:00.004-06:00

I am a bit late, but several weeks ago, Ayden started Preschool! He woke up that morning very early and got dressed in his school shirt and asked me every few minutes if it was time to go yet. He was pretty excited. Some of the other kids looked nervous and were crying at their moms leaving them, but not Ayden! He immediately jumped out of the car and raced up the steps to be with the other kids with the hugest grin on his face.

He has several friends but he tells me that one boy in particular is his "best buddy." Apparently they are not on first name terms, however, because I have yet to learn this best buddy's name!

Catch-up

2009-07-28T13:05:00.003-06:00

I know I am making a lot of new posts today, but so much has happened this month and I can't seem to find the time to post these pictures! So today is my marathon. =) About 2 weeks ago, Christopher started crawling! We were lucky to have the camera rolling during this momentuous moment!

Lagoon

2009-07-28T12:56:00.002-06:00

My sister Cammie and her family and my parents all came up to Utah last week for Christopher's Temple sealing...which I need to get the pictures from my Dad of! While they were here, we did a lot of fun things, most notable of which was going to Lagoon. Jared and Mom took all of the kids and the camera around. Robby and Ayden had a lot of fun riding on the rides and playing in the fountain. Chris mostly hung out in his car seat, poor kid! Dad, Cam, Nick, Maryn, Jennica and I all went on all of the rides and we were there from the time they opened until they kicked us out when they closed. Jared and Mom are awesome about taking all of the kids around.

The RMI Reunion and Our Family Reunion

2009-07-28T12:41:00.005-06:00

This is the group picture from the Marshall Island Adoption reunion this summer. Ayden sure had a blast running around with all of the other kids. This is the only time each year that it is hard to pick Ayden out of the crowd! Let's see if you can figure out which kid is Ayden and if you can spot Chris. =)

Riding in the golf cart was probably Ayden's favorite part of the RMI reunion!

Ayden's first pinata. When his oldest cousin Kyle finally managed to break it open, he didn't know quite what do. He saw all of the kids desperately lunging for the stuff on the ground and it only took a moment for it to register that it was candy that had fallen, and then instinct took over. =)

We all had a blast at Bear lake, but we didn't take very many pictures. This is how Ayden looked right before we went home. He and I spent most of our time playing in the sand building sand castles and waterways. Christopher was fascinated with the sand and even managed to eat a good handful of it. Jared mostly had fun trying to squirt all of the nephews with his big water gun. =)

Playing at the Park

2009-07-28T11:27:00.004-06:00

Several weeks ago, Jared dusted off his remote control car and we all went to the park to try it out. Ayden had a blast and Christopher had fun trying to eat the wood chips. Christopher still doesn't enjoy going down the slides and Ayden's favorite thing to do is climb up the slides!

Pictures of the Boys!

2009-06-22T15:12:00.004-06:00

Summer Fun!

2009-06-22T15:05:00.004-06:00

We got a new kiddie pool for Ayden and Chris, and while Ayden loves it and has a blast playing in it, Christopher is happy to watch from a distance! He cried when I put him in the pool for the first time, and now whenever I put him even close to it he clings to me and starts crying! He is happiest sitting in his red chair chewing on blow-up toys and watching Ayden play.

The Adoption is Official!

2009-06-22T15:03:00.002-06:00

On June 12 we officially adopted Christopher!!! We tried to get a picture with the judge, but wouldn't you know it, our camera didn't take the picture. But we did get this picture outside the courthouse!

Let the tasting begin!

2009-06-04T01:15:00.006-06:00

"What is this stuff??!!!"

"I don't think I like it"

"I refuse to let you put any more of that PAP in my mouth!!!!!!"

We finally got the go-ahead from the doctor to
begin feeding Christopher solids!
I cannot wait to see what he thinks of other foods! =)

Doing some more scrapbooking!

2009-06-04T01:11:00.003-06:00

Miscellaneous pictures

2009-05-04T14:26:00.005-06:00

Ayden being shy....it happens!

Ayden's "Darth Tater" shirt!

Ayden showing off his black eye.

Ayden and his cousin Robby!

New month, new pictures

2009-05-04T14:01:00.003-06:00

Just some cute pictures of the kids!

When we first met

2009-04-17T11:54:00.002-06:00

I have been trying to learn digital scrapbooking. It is a work in progress! =)

April Showers?

2009-04-16T15:18:00.004-06:00

Yesterday I went out to lunch with my mother, grandmother and aunt, and when we finished eating, we were met with the beginnings of a small blizzard. It continued to snow intermittently throughout the day, but that evening when we went to bed there were only a few inches on the ground. When I woke up at 4am to feed Christopher, however, I was met with a white world! Ayden was ecstatic to get to play in snow again, but it is already melting quite a bit. Craziness!!!

Easter

2009-04-16T14:00:00.005-06:00

Easter time was fun. On Saturday we went to a ward Easter Egg hunt. We had another family Easter Egg hunt on Sunday, and Jared and I hid eggs from each other in very hard to find locations. Jared kept laughing at me since I couldn't find any of his. Every time I would walk right by a hiding place he would bust up laughing, but even with this hint, I still couldn't find several of them! Meanwhile, Ayden had found all of his eggs and was happily sitting on a chair eating candy as fast as he could open the eggs. Later we decorated eggs, and Ayden used all of the extra stickers to decorate his face.

Christopher Laughing!

2009-04-13T21:26:00.001-06:00

The other night we really got Christopher laughing. It was pretty funny.

New Skill

2009-04-07T12:57:00.004-06:00

The end of illness???!!!

2009-03-31T13:48:00.018-06:00

We have had some crazy weather lately. On Sunday there was a mini blizzard during church and Monday morning we woke up to several inches of snow on the ground. Just when we thought that it was getting nice outside! Along with the yucky weather, we have also had another 2 weeks of illness in our family, but we are all finally on the mend!

More pictures!

2009-02-13T17:08:00.006-07:00

2009-01-23T17:27:00.003-07:00

My super-talented friend Nicole took these beautiful pictures of Ayden and Chris. If you are looking for a photographer her website is: http://lifeslittlepictures1.blogspot.com/

2009-01-23T17:21:00.004-07:00

Last Saturday Jared took Ayden sledding with a group of friends. They had a blast and Ayden was very brave and went down the hill all by himself. They came home tired and complaining of aches and pains!

2008-12-23T10:33:00.007-07:00

Christopher is doing really well. He is very healthy and is such a sweety. He is sleeping more at night and is more alert during the day. Ayden is a little impatient for him to get bigger so he can play with him! The other day he tossed a small ball at Chris and said "Catch!" I told him that he would have to be a little bigger to play catch with him, and now Ayden keeps telling everyone "He needs to be older so that he can play with me." =)

2008-12-10T18:37:00.007-07:00

Well, as many of you have heard already, we are now the proud parents of a new little boy! He was born weighing 6 lbs 14 ounces. We are going to name him Christopher. Most of the pictures we have of him were taken by Ayden, who is ecstatic to be a big brother!

Snow Day!

2008-11-05T13:47:00.000-07:00

This morning we woke up to a white world. Ayden jumped into bed with us and immediately started begging to go outside. So Ayden and I bundled up and went outside to play. We made a “snow tree” and made snow angels. After we were done playing, we came inside for hot cocoa with marshmallows.

Give me your candy, or walk the plank!

2008-11-04T10:46:00.001-07:00

Ayden was a pirate for Halloween. For over a month before Halloween, Jared would have Ayden practice his pirate lines: “Give me your candy or walk the plank!” Ayden got very into it, and he would say his lines in a deep gravelly voice. To go along with Ayden’s costume, I carved pirate themed pumpkins this year! I meant to do 4 of them, but for Halloween we went trick-or-treating with some friends in Ogden, and so I didn’t have time to do the other 2. When we went trick-or-treating, Ayden only gave his lines twice because soon it was all about getting to the next house to gather more candy! He really got into it this year, and soon his pail was so heavy he kept tripping over it and I ended up having to carry it for him.

It's Autumn time!

2008-11-04T10:12:00.000-07:00

A couple of nights ago, Jared and Ayden went outside to rake up all of the leaves while I cooked dinner. Ayden didn’t like it when Jared got out the blower, and he kept running and screaming as Jared would blow the leaves. But Ayden had a blast jumping into the piles!

Our Family

2008-10-27T15:17:00.001-06:00

Fun pictures

2008-10-27T15:07:00.000-06:00

These are a few miscellaneous pictures that I thought were fun. The first is in the paint store…I was trying to keep Ayden entertained while Jared asked the salesperson some questions.

Next Ayden found the chocolate syrup bottle and went to town with it before I caught him! This is when our family hiked up to Stewart falls in Provo Canyon. Next was at a family party. I was washing the dishes, when I suddenly noticed that it was very quiet at the table! The last picture was taken at the RMI reunion we went to this summer.