Easter

Easter was a lot of fun this year. After church we head to Tyrel's Aunt's house for Easter dinner. There was a lot of people and good food. They even had a egg hunt for the kids too. It's always so fun to get together with a lot of family. Then Monday morning we did Easter Bunny and hunt at our house. We started a tradition in our house to do all Easter bunny stuff on Saturday, but since we were driving home from Frisco and spent Sunday at his Aunts we did it all Monday. If felt weird to do it after Easter Sunday was over, but that is just how it worked. The easter bunny brought the boys real tool sets, so they have been outside fixing things and hammering nails into a stump! Peyton got a pink golf club set. I know pretty anti-climatic for her, but she got a dress too, so it all works out!!

Frisco

A few weeks ago I decided to go up and stay with Tyrel. We don't go very often, because he is in a tiny 2 bedroom 2nd story condo at the end of main street. He also leaves at 5:45am and gets back at 6 and has 1hr of paper work. So basically we eat dinner with him. The rest of the time we pretty much go to parks and go on bike rides. We try to not be in the condo too much because of the people living below Tyrel. But anyways we had a good time. My kids love this park they have up there. It's huge and will entertain them for a long time. Our routine was wake up,I run to a few stores, then go to the park, eat lunch, do naps, and then go for a bike ride then come back for dinner. I got a lot of summer shopping done for Cooper and Peyton. It was nice to get away for a little while too and see Tyrel everyday.

She's 2!!!

Getting ready to eat her Birthday Cake!!

This cake was fun to make. I always have really big ideas for cake, then I get too cheap and come up with more basic creations!!

Zonked out in her big bed!! When she moved to her bed she started asking for a baby to sleep with!!

Peyton's favorite outfit while potty training. Her underwear and of course her purple snow boots. She now wears pants, but still sports the boots all day!!

I love this age when they open presents. They are excited about everything they open!! I didn't get too many pictures during that event since she moves so fast!!


I was really excited for this birthday because this is the 1st time I have a 2 year old party and I did not just have another baby!! January was a big month for Peyton. After we got back from Arizona for New Year's Peyton wouldn't stay in her crib so she moved to a big bed. The bed in her room is a queen since it's our guest room and she looks soooo tiny in that huge bed!! Also when we got back she asked to go potty and hasn't looked back since!! She is potty trained in the day and nap time and almost there at night. It is true that girls are easier to potty train than boys! It was so nice!! I love too that when you tell her to hold it she will!! Then the month ended with her big #2 birthday!! She got a cake in the shape of a purse in case you couldn't figure that out in the picture!. She got lots of clothes and new princess tent. She loves the boy's tent and since it's falling apart we got her another one!! We love having Petyon in our family, even though we would be happy to not have anymore girls!! She is so fun and cute and talks like crazy. She is always singing, moving, or talking. She is quite the character. It doesn't take much to make her smile and laugh. She is very girly,with her purses, necklaces, and babies. But she will dive right in with the boys when they are wrestling with dad, riding the 4 wheeler, horses,sledding or out playing in the dirt!! She loves her brothers and follows them all day and luckily they enjoy having her tag along!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY PEYTON!!

1st Kind of Real Snow

This winter we haven't really had any snow. A few skiffs here and there in December. But Monday there was actually enough to play in for the day. The kids were in heaven throwing snow balls, building snow men, and of course riding the sled behind the four wheeler!! So now that snow is gone and they keep asking for more!! Seattle has had more snow than us this winter!!

Christmas-New Years

The day after Christmas we loaded up and headed to my sister's in Arizona. With my mom's diagnosis of being in the last stages of breast cancer we decided we will take any chance of seeing her that we can. My parents went there for Christmas. So we got to spend a week with my parents, my sister's family with 4 kids, my brother's family and 3 kids, my other sister's family and 3 kids, my brother's family and 2 kids, and my other brother's family and 6 kids. It was a week of hiking, skeet shooting, eating, and games into all hours of the night!! It was a blast!! It took me at least a week to recover. My kids played hard with cousins and slept in the family room going to bed late every night. Since I got a shot gun for Christmas we took mine and Tyrel's and my brother-in-law has one so we had nice tournaments through out the week! Every night we played all different kinds of games until we passed out!! It was so fun to have that many of my family together on almost a wim! 2 of my brothers came last minute. I was so exhausted when we got back, but it was worth it!! Also on the way home Tyrel's sister Tranell happened to be in AZ for New Year's so we met up for lunch with her and her fiance Mo (he just proposed that day or morning however you look at it, New Years) It was great to see them and see her so happy!!

Christmas

We kind of procrastinated our family picture this year. So we took pictures right before church the Sunday before Christmas to get out card out this year. With our cruise and the way Tyrel's schedule worked he wasn't home for three weeks straight so we got the pictures done quick. Then a few days before Christmas Tyrel's Granma and Aunt hosted a Christmas pancake dinner. So me and the kids headed over and had fun with Tyrel's aunts, uncles, and cousins. Then Tyrel had to work some of Christmas Eve so everything started that night. He got home at about 6:30 and then his two brothers and mom and dad came over later that night. We ready the Nativity story, opened pj's, and left cookies out for Santa. Christmas morning was spent opening presents and eating breakfast. The kids were happy and excited for every present. Peyton is at that fun age where everything she tears open gets a huge grin and wide open eyes!! We then headed to church for sacrement and came back to watch football and eat yummy food!! We decided on more new year's type food for Christmas day. So we just snacked on all the appetizer favorites. My kids got to enjoy their Christmas presents in all their glory for the 1st time because we weren't somewhere else. We then got to all enjoy talking with Sackett on his mission. Then that night Tyrel and I cleaned up and packed to leave for Arizona in the morning!!

Paradise!!

The beginning of December Tyrel and I were lucky enough to take off for 10 days and go on a 7 day cruise with my sister Sarah and her husband Chad. We went out of Peurto Rico and had a blast. We only had 1 day at sea and were able to see a new island all the other days. We had a blast snorkeling, ziplining, kayaking, and enjoying the beautiful beaches. The evenings and day trips were full of laughs and good times with my sister and her husband. It was nice to get away and relax. We could sleep in if we wanted, eat when we wanted, and just enjoy each others company. The entertainment on the ship was a huge bust, but everything else was great. Last time Tyrel and I went on a cruise we went alone. We had fun, but there was a lot more laughs with someone else to talk with. My kids had a blast too. For the first 6 days they were all with Grandma and of course that included lots of activities and close to their cousins Jayton and Colby. Then the last 4 days Peyton went with a friend of mine and the boys went with another lady from my ward whose kids are in their 20's. My boys had a blast with her and her daughter. They played hard and were not ready for me to come home at all!!! There are lots more details but I will document those somewhere else. I loved when someone asked if I was taking the kids, I just laughed!! I just talked to my friend who just got back from a Disney cruise with her 5 kids and she said it was a lot of fun, but not really a vacation as far having 5 kids to take care of on the cruise. She agreed on us going alone was a great way to go as far a real "Vacations" goes!! I do want to take my kids some day but when they are old enough remember it and pretty much take care of themselves!! I enjoyed getting one person dressed each day, feeding myself and getting one plate, having someone else do the dishes, make my bed, and cook my food. My mom made a good point. A wife/mom appreciates a cruise more than anyone else. Husbands and kids are already used to someone making thier food, doing the dishes, and cleaning up after them. The mom's are the ones who really get the break!!