8 is GREAT!

Arizona for almost 7 years! She was about 6 months old when we moved down here! That is the longest we have been in any one state! Having a big family, I really try to make my kids feel special on their Birthday. It's not about spending a lot of money, but just giving them extra attention and really focusing on them that day. They don't have to do chores, they get to choose their birthday dinner and cake. We try to do special things and let them know we love them. The kids are great too because all day long they are nicer and really try to make the day special for their sibling. Little Lauren sang "Happy Birthday" to Alyssa many times throughout the day! For Alyssa, I wanted to do something fun-- just the two of us! So we went to Cold Stone Creamery and I took her to see Princess and the Frog. The other girls were so jealous! And although I don't encourage jealousy-- it did make Alyssa feel extra special, knowing that they really wanted to go too. Alyssa got choco...

This is just an example of Kamary's (9 yrs. old) train of thought. She is a very bright and creative girl. She thinks "outside" the box, which sometimes gets her in trouble at school (when she doesn't want to do her work), but it's really a gift. Background: Hanna lost a black folder with a bunch of art she had done. This loss devistated her and she prayed to find it, but didn't. She was very discouraged and felt that maybe God didn't hear her prayers. I encouraged her to keep praying and that sometimes the answers are not when we want them or even what we want them to be. That was about 2 months ago. Kamary and some girls in her class are getting together and making crafts & lemonade to sell for charity to help the people in Haiti. She was getting into a drawer full of notebooks to write down all the things she needs and there, sitting in the drawer-- Hanna's black notebook!! Hanna was sooooo excited to have her notebook back. And we t...

After Christmas we went up to Utah to visit family. Jason's sister Lynette and her family just moved to Utah from Georgia. We are very excited that now it only takes 1 day travel to visit instead of 4!! Lynette's 2 oldest girls, Cathryn & Rachel with a lap full of kiddos! Rachel & Brynlie. This is Brynlie's relaxing stance- she does it all the time! Lynette & Brynlie Brynlie is such a tease. She hold out her arm toward you as if she's going to be nice and then scratches. She likes the reaction. Here, Lynette is catching her "in the act". For New Years Eve, we played games and had some rounds of arm wrestling. Rachel & Cathryn watched the kids while the adults went out for dinner! It was so fun to be together! Kohler and his cousin Curtis had so much fun together. They didn't fight at all and just played all day long! Both boys enjoyed doing "boy things", since they both only have sisters!! Kamary and her cousin Marianne had a...