Things I want to remember*:

Dallin's favorite snack - for now.

Everyday he requests a "Dr. Pepper"for a mid-morning snack.

If it's served on a Tigger plate, even better.

*I want to record this now so that when he turns his nose up at a host of foods in a few years, I can show him he used to eat food that was good for him - and like it.

First Day of School

Summer has ended all too soon and everyone is off to school.

Kaiti is now in High School, 9th grade

Caious started 7th grade

Andew is in his last year of elementary in 5th grade.

Ellie is in 3rd grade

Brianna is now a Kindergartener in the half-day class.

And Dallin needs to be closely monitored.

[Note: the bandages are a decoration. He got into the box when no one was looking]

Merry Christmas!

May the joy of the season be with you all year long . . .

A Toddler's Photo Essay

Technically, Brianna is still a toddler because she is 3 years old. However anyone who has ever met her knows she has never been a baby. I think of her as 3 going on 30.
She loves to take photos. One day she found my camera and took a bunch of pictures of our house. Instead of deleting them, I thought I'd publish what the world looks like to someone who is 3 1/2 feet tall.

The entry way. (Artwork by Caious and Andrew)

Living room bookcase. (Made by Bill)

Her treasured hand-me-down backpack from our neighbors. For some reason, she put it in the master bedroom.

Roomba sweeping the hallway.

Wow. Roomba looks much bigger than usual.

Her little brother is a favorite subject. (This was actually taken in late October. That's why he looks so much more alert.)

And so it Begins . . .

For some reason, the powers that be have decided to bring us back to reality in the heat of summer. They decreed that school will begin August - yes AUGUST - 7th.

Kaiti is now in 7th grade.


Caious is in 5th grade.

Andrew is in 3rd grade.

Ellie is now in 1st grade.

Even though it is hot, the children are all anxious to start a new school year. They are excited to see their friends again, and they look forward to getting out of the house and away from chores for a few hours a day.

The Ellie-bration

Ellie's birthday was the day after Dallin's blessing. Grandma and Grandpa were anxious to get back to Utah and left with Kaiti at 3 a.m. (Buddy obviously does not like to be away from home for long. That is a subject for another post.)

We wanted everyone to be part of her birthday celebration, so we had birthday cake with everyone who came to the blessing.



She wanted a white cake with red and blue fireworks on top of a white background.

Our honored guests could select Dryer's "red, white and no more blues," Safeway Select rocky road ice cream or - much to Bill''s chagrin - FDD (frozen dairy desert) to go with the vanilla cake and vanilla frosting.

. . . and There's More!

On her actual birthday, we had a small family dinner. Ellie chose tater tot casserole, green beans and jello for dinner. Can she have a birthday without a cake? Of course not.

This time she asked for yellow cake with vanilla frosting (and the same fireworks decorating scheme).

. . . But Wait! There's More!

Her party didn't take place until a few days after her birthday.

She invited the five friends who were in town for a slip 'n slide extravaganza.

. . . and a lunch of hot dogs, watermelon, grapes and carrots.

As we already know, birthdays must include cake. This time, she decorated chocolate cup cakes with M&Ms and marshmallows.

After all of the celebrations, I needed a rest . . .

Happy Birthday Elbow!

A Blessed Occasion

Grandma Kathleen and Grandpa Buddy drove from Utah (with the boys) to attend Dallin's baby blessing. They even supplied the adorable blessing outfit.

Dallin was very good during the blessing. He was wide awake, but didn't make a sound. The rest of the children were also very quiet and I was able to hear what Bill said.

We were very blessed to have friends and family members celebrate this occasion with us.

The Parry family came with baby Jill who is only 5 weeks older than Dallin.

The proud fathers with the napping newborns.