A little tutu preview

These pictures make me so happy!!  My sis-in-law made tutu's for all the girls for Christmas.  We went out yesterday and did a photo shoot with all the little girls.  It was so much fun.  They are all such cute girls and did so well.  My other sis-in-law Trina did the pictures.  I can hardly wait to see the rest of them!!  This is the one's that she used to tease me with on facebook.  I'll share more as soon as I get them!

Lately.....Journal entry

If you come here for the pictures, you may want to stop now.  This post won't have any fun pictures, because I haven't taken any in almost 2 weeks!  Amazing, I know!  Well, actually I've taken lots of pictures, but they are all from preschool.

I was just thinking that I needed to write down a few thoughts and a few tidbits about my sweet family.

Life is so busy. Sometimes it feels like I let it get out of control and lots of sweet moments are passing me by.  In fact, I know that I do that.  It's a bad habit of mine.  But I don't know how to say no. 

My sweet kids are so good to put up with me! I am so blessed that they are all so sweet-natured and most of the time, well behaved!  J.D. and Tyson are such good helpers and they help keep the house picked up and do a big chunk of my chores.  I love them for it! They are continually helping Little Miss Pip to clean up her room, because she is continually making a mess of it!  Tea party's 24/7.  That's the life Piper would lead if she could.

Josh is so busy.  He works so hard for our family. It's sad, because we don't see him as much as we (I) would like, but we are well provided for and for that, I am grateful.  We may not have everything we want, but we have everything we need!

JD is so busy with school, scouts and sports.  He really seems to be enjoying choir and loves to sing.  He loves scouts.  Last week we didn't have den meeting, because we had pack meeting.  J.D. beat us home on Wednesday.  I came in and he was decked out in full uniform waiting on the couch to go.  He was so sad when we didn't have scouts.  Right now it is basketball season.  He is loving it and loves being on the same team as Camden.  Although, he is counting the days until football season.

Tyson is Tyson.  My sweet little guy, who melts my heart.  His new obsession is to help me do dishes.  He unloads the dishwasher and is so proud of himself, every time he does it. He is counting down the days until baseball starts.  We have to get through soccer first!  He loves to play baseball and is really good at it.  We went and practiced a few nights this week.  He is loving Kindergarten and has some really good friends, Logan and Aidan in his class. The only one missing is Carson G. But he gets to see him alot because of PTO play dates :).

Piper is a mess maker.  That is just the stage of a 3-year-old.  She is so much fun though.  She is so girly!  It's amazing to me, because I am so not!  She loves to have her nails done, her makeup done and loves, loves to wear tutu's.  She wants to dance so badly and we are trying to find her a class.  She is actually quite coordinated for her age and I look forward to seeing what she can do.  She is loving preschool and loves to hang with her girls Addison and Adilyn.  They are truly the three musketeers.

As for me.  I'm busy.  Busy with being mom, busy being Teacher Brandy, busy being Sister Doty, busy being the Alisons Pantry lady and busy being one of those crazy PTO ladies!  I have really enjoyed preschool because I get to hang with Shelley and I love, love, love the kids.  Most of them :).  I am sort of enjoying scouts, because it is fun to see them excel and it's fun to be with JD.  I hope someday to learn to love it.  I am loving PTO this year.  It's so much fun and all the girls and I have gotten to be really good friends. I love that bunch of gals!  Alison's Pantry is continually growing and it's been such a blessing. 

As for being a mom, it's the greatest thing ever.  I am truly blessed with wonderful kids.  I am so grateful for them and the joy they bring!

The Most Amazing Day

Last week I got a phone call from Mom.  I knew she was ready to go to the temple, but didn't realize she was as close to doing it as she was.  She called and asked if I would be here escort on the 22nd of January. I of course said yes and was so excited, I could barley stand it.

 Sherry and I both ended up being her escorts.  We went through the 10:40 am sessions. It was amazing to be able to go with both Danny and my Mom.  I had never had the chance to attend a session with Danny before, either.  But what makes it even cooler was the fact that Kay and Shelley Blackwell and also Sueanne and Paul Swalberg were the ordinance workers for our session.  That was so neat. Shelley requested permission to be able to do that session so that they could be with my mom when she went through.  Bill and Florence Blackwell were also there. I love them.  My in-laws also came and went with us. 

 It was a happy day!

 Ah, Dahani, how we wish we could see this kid more often.

 Even outside the temple, they are silly.  Austin was getting goosed from Josh and Danny.

Sherry and Austin!

It was such a good, good day.  There are no words to describe how happy of a day it was.  We all came home and had a big lunch afterwards.  I am so grateful that my mom chose to get her endowments out.  It's been a long time coming, but it was worth the wait!  What a beautiful day that we can always cherish.

Piper and Sarah

Piper and Sarah love to dance.  I think Piper thinks of Sarah as the big sister she never had.  It's pretty cute.  I am so blessed to have such good girls in my life!

Basketball 2011

First thing I have to say is, I am so glad that I am not coaching this year! JD and I on the same team is not a good combination.  But he has some good coaches this year and I am hoping he does well under them.

 JD and Camden are on the same team.  Everyone keeps asking how that happened!  Because I requested it.   JD has a friend and Shelley and I can yell at refs together :).

I gotta say though, he is a complainer.  He spends more time yelling at the refs than he does playing.  There is this awesome kid in our ward named Joe.  JD loves him.  He looks up to him and Joe helps ref the games.  It's hillarious, because Joe knows that JD worships him, so he just laughs him off. 

2 games down, about 10 more to go!!

Gunlock Spillway

Sunday afternoon we drove out to Gunlock and hiked around the Resevoir and the spillway.  It was fun!  The kids loved throwing rocks in the water and finding pretty pieces of driftwood. It was a fun little adventure.

I love Piper

 She can be so cute when she wants to be.

 This Saturday was one of those day's.  Just cute!!!

 Piper n' Cole.

 I love my girl.

She makes me happy!

Eva

Since it appears that we are done having babies,

I have to get my fix somehow.

 That is where Eva comes in. 

She is my niece and she is 8-months old.

I love her!
I would love to smother her in choclate and
munch on her cheeks all day long!

 The other day I was lucky enough to get to
watch her most of the day!

It was great!  She is such a sweetie.

 My boys love her as much as I do.

They want another baby.

Truth be told, most day's so do I.

Thanks for playing Eva. 

Piper and Baby

Piper has a pet chicken named Baby.  It's the strangest relationship ever!  But they sure do love each other.

Snow Day

 It snowed in St. George.  ALOT!!  It was such an insane amount. My kids were so excited to go out and play.

 For some reason, I seemed to the target of intent.

 Snow angels! 

 Piper looked so cute in her big snowsuit.

 This was payback for taking Piper out.

 Such a cool picture.

What a fun treat!  Glad it doesn't happen all the time, but it was a nice surprise!