Ellie's new 'Do'

Ellie has been growing her hair out, much to my insistence. When she's had it short before, it was a hassle to blow dry it and smooth it under. She sleeps crazy and every morning she wakes up with it tangled and everywhere. So it was easier to have it long to pull it in a pony tail. She's been asking for a while if she could cut it and I just knew she wouldn't like it short. But I was totally wrong!
She got her hair cut 2 weeks ago and LOVES it.

And it looks adorable! It was so cute to watch her play with her hair and get used to it short. She loves how it "curls under my ears when I tuck it back."  She told me she liked it short because it looks like mine. And she's right!

Jr Jazz and our All Star

Ayden started youth basketball a few weeks ago. It's called Jr. Jazz after the Utah Jazz and each player receives a team photo from the Jazz plus a ticket to one of their games. This is Ayden's first year playing and he's loving it. He plays well too. He understands the game and looks for the open man. He usually has several assists each game. But he also scores 2-4 points each game too. His very first game, he got a steal and ran down court for a perfect lay-up! *Ayden's jersey number is 0*

getting for the start of the game

passing the ball

get up court!

watching from the bench

this shot didn't make it, bounced off the rim

but this one did, it was a perfect swish!

3 Months Old

I can't believe Taryn is already 3 months old! Time is flying by. She is such a sweet girl and we love her to pieces. I think the best way to describe Taryn is sweet and content. She rarely gets fussy. She's happy and loves to watch her siblings running around. She has the cutest smile that lights up her face and is starting to giggle and laugh. My favorite is watching her smile at her siblings. They love making her happy. Taryn is discovering her hands more. They are always in her mouth! And the other night she was working so hard to grab one of the toys on her play mat. She worked at it for about 10 minutes. It's fascinating to me to watch her mind work and see the look of concentration as she tries to figure out a new skill.

I went back to work a few weeks ago and was worried how she would do during the day. I shouldn't have worried at all. She is just so happy and easy going. If I'm honest, a small part of me is sad that she does so well without me. But then I realize that is ridiculous and I need to be grateful that she is easy for our babysitter. It's a blessing from my Heavenly Father that she does so well while I need to be gone.
I love that her brothers love her so much. Ayden always wants to hold her, kiss her, snuggle, or make her smile. As soon as I bring her home from daycare, he comes over and says "hello, Ryn. I missed you."

We love our sweet girl and are so thankful she is in our family. She makes us so happy and we love watching her grow each day. We just wish she wouldn't grow so fast!

Taryn's Blessing

We blessed Taryn on January 19th. My parents were able to come for the weekend to be part of it. It's always fun when they come, but I feel bad because we don't really have a comfortable place for them to stay. I apologize again that you slept in the living room!
Taryn wore the same blessing dress that Ellie wore for her blessing which was also the dress I wore for mine. It's special to me that my girls were able to share something like that with me. And of course, Taryn looked beautiful. She was happy and ready for pictures.

She looks just like Ellie did

gotta have one serious picture

I love that silly face

I love those faces!

I love the picture of all 4 kids. Each expression fits them perfectly! The blessing was beautiful and we had lots of support from family. Spencer's parents and 3 sisters with their families were there. My parents and Danielle and Katie and her family were there. It was kind of a busy Sunday for our family because not only was Taryn blessed, but I was sustained as the primary president as well. It was a crazy Sunday, but it was neat to have our family there to support us.
After church we had dinner and my Aunt Janette, Uncle Steve and cousin Johnny joined us. It's always funny to see my dad as a sibling! It was fun to visit with them and I'm so glad they came.
Taryn was such a good girl for the whole day. We love this sweet girl and are so thankful we could celebrate her with our families. *notice her expression doesn't change in any of the pictures!*

I love Ellie's grumpy face and that Tate is missing
(he refused to be in the picture)

all the girls

New Year's Eve

Katie, Adam and Kaleb joined our family for New Year's Eve. We played games, ate junk food, and had a fun time.

 Our friends, Brian and Meghan, gave us the game twister for Christmas and the kids had fun trying to figure out the game. Aunt Katie was awesome to join them. Tate was hilarious to watch trying to reach his hand from red and the other hand to yellow or green!

Love the backside shots from the boys

 

 

And then there were two!

The youngest two children did not find much amusement in the game though

Kaleb loved the baby and was always giving her kisses. She tolerated it pretty well.

not mad, but not amused

Everyone played hard and had fun. And by the end of the night, the kids were all ready for bed. Or maybe I was just ready for them to go to bed! As usual, Tate fell asleep before he made it to his bed. He asked if he could hold Taryn before bed and when we looked back this is what we found. So sweet!!