Thanksgiving 2010

Good Food and Company

This year we went to my parents for Thanksgiving. My mom always outdoes herself with everything. The presentation was excellent and the food even better than that. I hope I can do things like my mom with my family some day. My sister Angie and her family weren't there because they live in Germany right now, but everyone else was.

The kids get a special table with special "plastic" goblets to drink out of. They loved it!

Before we ate this year we did a pre-weigh in to see who could gain the most. It is pretty bad how much you can gain in one single meal.

Mike's plate was by far the biggest and he of course won.

Tyse stared us all down while we ate. He really wanted some, but was just fine when I plopped his bottle in his mouth...maybe next year lil' guy.

Steve and Angie's new baby...what a beautiful little girl. Kate loved playing mom the whole time.

Isn't it fabulous...my mom is so great!

Adoption Finalized

November 24th 2010

It is always such a long awaited and exciting day when we can take our kids to court and finalize their adoptions. Tyse finalization went rather smooth other than we sat at a table in front of the judge with all 4 kids. You can only imagine what went on so I could stop there and the story could already be funny, but what is the fun in that. The table of course had a microphone so everyone sitting in the room could hear everything going on. Kate and Dax wanted to play so first were trying to drink the nice pitcher of water that was sitting in front of us. I knew what would happen if we let that even start so the nice police officer sitting across the room brought the kids some post it notes...OH BOY!!! They were everywhere and while our attourney was trying to ask me questions Kate and Daxton were attempting to stick them to my face and Tyse's face. Lets just say when it was all over we had to stay and clean up the court room...lol. Luckily, the judge just laughed because he has been there. We got through it though...wheew and everything went well and it is Final-YAY!

Our families are so great. They have always come and supported us with everything. We love them very much. We are so lucky to have such great people in our lives!

Daxton's 3rd Birthday!!!

November 2010

Every Birthday we let the kids choose what they want to do and where they want to go eat. We usually end up at their favorite restaurant-Red Robin. They love the mac n cheese and pepperoni pizza. First-we went swimming at Surf n Swim and then to Davin's basketball game. After we headed to Red Robin where we always attempt not to make a scene, but then it just always happens. Lets just say Dax's apple juice was everywhere other than the cup it started in.

Dax wanted a dark blue car for his cake. It is kinda funny, but that is the only color he knows and likes so that is what I made for him.

Dax's birthfather sent a cute spider-man costume for Dax. He wouldn't take it off that night. He was running all over the house with it on-fighting "bad guys."

I had to add this movie clip of Daxton all over the swimming pool. He has no fear of water and absolutely loves swimming.

Tyse's 1st time swimming

Tyse loved splashing in the water. At first he didn't know what to think, but then watch out-You will get wet!

I think I should submit this pic to a fashion swimwear modeling contest. What a natural-pose and all.

and then there is Dax...he should be part fish really. No fear with this child.

Tyse is 6 months old

Tyse is growing so fast (including his hair). It is thick and curly. I can't go anywhere without someone stopping me to take a look at all his gorgeous locks. We are so blessed to have such a happy little guy in our family. He weighs 16 1/2 pounds and is 26 inches long. He always has a smile on his face-even when he wakes up in the morning. He loves to play and eat. He rolls everywhere and likes being on his tummy. He is getting really strong and sits up by himself pretty well. He gobbles down the rice cereal we give him every night and likes to spit out the veggies I attempt to give him during the day. In fact I think I wear more of it then him.

He is truly meant to be in our family and we love him tons!!!

Capturing the Moments

Daxton loves his Dad and when I say loves I mean he does everything, says everything, even mimicks his every move. They have a special bond with each other and it is such an amazing thing to see. Dan is such a good Dad and just soaks it all in.

This picture I snuck out of our back window. It was one of the last beautiful days of the fall and Dan and Dax were enjoying it together.

Happy Halloween 2010

This was Tyse's 1st Halloween. He was so cute as a little spider. Davin was Luigi from Super Mario Bros., Kate was a cute little mermaid, and Dax was a scary shark. The kids were so excited to go to our ward Halloween party and then of course for the trunk-or treating.

We had some yummy chili and cornbread and then off to collect some yummy treats!!!

Kate and Daxton's friends Ethan and 'Teaksters' aka...Gavin

My great friend Jacque and her cute little girl Meg.

Anndi...Daxton's little playmate.

Kate's cute friend Audri

Welcome Home Mike!!!

It was so exciting to finally see my brother Mike again. He served in the Dominican Republic the last two years and just returned on October 26th. My family all met him at the airport with lots of signs to welcome him home. The kids were so excited to see him and meet him for the first time. We could hardly control Daxton-he was running around everywhere. I thought the security guards were gonna go after him...lol. We all went back to our house after to visit for a while and for treats. It is so great to have him home with us again. Love ya Mike!!!

Go Jazz!!!

We took the kids to go see the Jazz play their last preseason game. We went with Dan's brother Nate and his 3 cute girls, Dan's parents, our nephew Kaden, and our brother-in-law Chris. It was so nice because the company Nate works for owns a booth and it was available for us to use. We had our own kitchen, bathroom, and great seats to be able to watch the game from. The kids loved it because they all played together and sometimes watched the game.

We all got decked out in our Jazz gear. Even Tyse, the youngest and cutest of all the Jazz fans was sportin' the look... GO JAZZ!!!

The girls just hangin' out

Dax loved watching the Jazz Bear and all the funny tricks he was pulling on people in the crowd. Dax even tried his own trick when he threw our nephews hat, which hit a cup of ice, over the balcony and got some people below....Oops!

Tyse was so good and just chilled the whole time on Grandma's lap...

...but couldn't quite make it through the whole game.

Schools out, Lets play!

The kids were out of school on Thursday and Friday so I decided we had to go play. I took the kids to our favorite pumpkin patch we like to go to every year. They had a lot of fun, especially running through the hay maze and hiding from me and Tyse. We had a great day.

Of course we had to stop and take a break. We had yummy ghost cookies and juice.

Davin and Kate had to shade their eyes from the sun so Daxton had to do it too. He likes to do everything his big brother and sister do.

Thursday night we packed up the car and drove up to the cabin for the rest of the weekend. We stayed outside in the warm sun and played almost the whole time. Tyse loved it too!

Tyse is 5 months old now. Time has flown by. He is a mover and a wiggler. He doesn't like to sit still anymore. He can roll from his back to front and his front to back. He likes to see all the action going on at all times.

We took the 4-wheeler up to one of our favorite lakes. The boys rode up the canyon and the girls rode down. The leaves were amazing and we even saw 2 moose-a cow and her calf.

We hiked into the lake. It is such a fun tradition we like to do lots of times each year. The kids favorite part is throwing rocks into the lake.

We all played freeze tag at the park by the cabin on Saturday. Our niece Maggie and nephew Kaden were with us too. They played and we even got Grandma and Grandpa to play tag too. It was a major workout for all of us oldies trying to not be tagged by all the kids, but we had a blast!