First bites

I love when the kids take their first bites. It is such a different feeling for them and I especially love how their tongue works as they try and figure it out. Chad was not sure he liked all the kids watching him and cheering him on. He is great for a first bites experience.

Chad's awesome trick

Notice Chad's tongue is sticking out. He is 5 months old and growing so fast.

Love the tongue! He sticks it out to concentrate and when he is happy, and just about any time. He is sure a cutie and we love his spirit in our home. Oh, and I can't forget the dimple--yes, we love it. It is on the opposite side of Brynn's.

So strong. Dad loves to do this trick to his kids.

Brynn is 5

Brynn had her special birthday. She turned 5 on the 5th of the month. She is such a beautiful girl who continues to amaze me each and every day. She is a firecracker who loves to compete, learn, and keep up with her brothers. She loves her preschool teacher and friends and is starting to learn to read. She has such a contagious smile and is easy to love. She is the only girl in between two boys on both sides of her. She keeps me very up to date on the "girly" things of life. She loves to have her fingernails and toenails painted, she loves her earrings, and on Sundays I let her have a little bit of lipstick and lip gloss. She is always asking me if she is beautiful and of course I always say "you are so beautiful and gorgeous." But, I do remind her that she doesn't need make-up to be beautiful. Natural beauty is beautiful and while she doesn't really understand, I hope that she does as she gets older. She has deep brown eyes and the cutest dimple that she gets from her mother. But, she mostly looks like her daddy's side--especially his sisters. We love you Brynn and are so glad you are part of our family!

She loves stickers and will do them all the time!

She is beautiful!

The princess shoes are a must.

Opening presents--what is is?

Her princess Ariel castle cake.

This cake is rather easy to make. It looks complicated, however, it is pretty simple. Brynn wanted an Ariel castle cake and she certainly got it!

Tyler in Houston

Tyler went to Houston for some specific training associated with his work. He was there for two weeks. He didn't come home on the weekend, and I know that I don't have much to complain about, but that was sure a llllllllllllooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnggggggggg two weeks for me. Okay, maybe I overdid it, but I sure did miss my best friend. He didn't get to do much since he was in class everyday except the weekend, but he managed to go to the Temple, Galveston Island, and NASA space center. He was able to take the missionaries to dinner and then go to an appointment with them which turned out to be a really neat and spiritual experience. Here are some pictures he took while there.


This is Reggie. His work friend who went to training with Tyler.





My sexy husband!


This is fun, because he was sure wiped out when he came home. I am glad Saturday was a catch up on everything day. Tyler caught a couple of naps.

Old Kitchen--New Kitchen

Besides the huge sink full of dishes, the counter tops are shown here. My sink is stainless steel and it is huge and deep--I love it! Eventually, we will buy an over the stove microwave, but until then, we are using this one which has been around for a long time. The back-splash tile is not installed on here yet. When we complete that, I will post pictures. But, we are glad to be functioning since I was without a sink from Thanksgiving weekend until Jan 8th. But, patience pays off. We are happy with what we have here so far.

The counter tops, dishwasher and stuff.

The desk is already full of a bunch of stuff.

Our new railing.
The next few are our cabinets! Hickory and we love them!



Our new floor--hickory also.


My living quarters for a while. The refrigerator decorated the front room for a long time.


Paint time and preparing for the banister and floor.



I have an awesome husband who works so hard for us. I love him so much. He is very talented and completely takes care of us.

Part of the tear out of the pantry like wall. Glad Chad was not mobile.

A close up of the floor--I never want to forget it.

The old banister was stopped by a pantry like wall. We tore out the wall and have an L-shaped banister now (as seen above). This floor is awesome and to die for.

Old cabinets. Gotta love them.

Don't you love the warped cabinet below. The water damage was intense and gross in some places. What do you expect for the original kitchen that was 38 years old?

Christmas 2009

Christmas was very successful this year again. Santa found our home and the kids sure enjoyed the gifts. We appreciate every one's kindness to our family also. We also surprised Grandma Jan and did a fast Christmas day trip to Wyoming. It was fun to see everyone, visit and play.