8 is GREAT!

Alyssa got baptized a couple of months ago. I love to see my children grow in their testimonies of the gospel. We've had a lot of great spiritual discussions with Alyssa. She was a little nervous that Dad would drop her, so we had some practice sessions just in case. Of course everything went great-- he didn't drop her and she didn't drown. She just came up out of the water, perfect. :)  Here is Dad & Alyssa, all dressed and ready to go.  When this picture was taken, Alyssa was one of the most perfect people on earth! Not a single blemish! Some kids after they are baptized try super hard to stay perfect and then are devastated when they make a mistake. Not Alyssa, later on during the day she happily informed me that she hadn't had to repent very much that day (just a little)! :) Way to go, Alyssa!  Here is everyone at the baptism. It was a great service and I really felt the spirit. Alyssa is a special daughter and she has a special spirit about her....

Well, it's official...I'm the parent of a teenager. Hanna turned 13 a couple of months ago. It's actually a strange feeling because I remember turning 13 and telling myself, "Yeah, I'm finally a teenager!" She's definitely excited about being a teenager and has this strange notion that she can do whatever she wants. Little does she know...;) We had a birthday party for Hanna this year. She wanted to have a movie night. I was kind of stressing about it because I wanted it to be fun and appropriate without being childish. I think it turned out great. Here's Hanna getting the snack table ready. She chose all the snacks herself. She had popcorn (of course), wedding punch, hot lime cheetos, potato chips with onion dip, snack size candy bars and chips and salsa. It was a hit! The girls plowed through them pretty quickly.  When the kids arrived we played a celebrity game where I placed stars on their back with movie character's names (like Harry Pott...

Kohler came running up and enthusiastically showed us his first loose teeth! Woo Hoo. When we looked in his mouth, we got a surprise.  He had 2 rows of teeth! His bottom teeth were very impatient and decided to come in behind. The crazy thing is that he had seen the dentist 3 times in the past 3 weeks for check-ups and to fill cavities. They never said a word. I've brushed his teeth so many times and never even noticed. What a crazy surprise! So we've been calling him Shark Boy ever since. I'm guessing this one will need braces.

 We headed up north to the cold Utah weather for spring break. It had been at least 8 months since we visited family in Utah so we were very excited. It was also exciting to pull out our long sleeved shirts and pants. We're not quite ready for the Arizona summer heat and the kids were very excited to see snow. I'm thankful for Netflix for helping to entertain the kids while I finished packing. On our way to Grandma & Grandpa's we stopped at Temple Square in Salt Lake City. We saw a miniature replica of the Salt Lake Temple. Jason and Kamary were in heaven! They both love miniatures.  The kids loved the fountains.  Here is proof-- Hanna and Kamary do love each other (at least sometimes).  Brynlie loved the water and the fountain.  It was fun to see the spring flowers just starting to peek up out of the ground.  It was such a beautiful day and the kids really loved Temple Square. In fact Kohler announced to everyone that he loved Sundays and...