ten months

vivian is 

ten months!

she loves her dad, and her big bros and sis.  she is so happy whenever she sees them.  

she will cry if they leave or when dave leaves.  

she is crawling on her hands and knees, pulling herself up to a standing position.  

she sings. 

 she likes her app on dave's phone.  

whenever she wakes up, max runs in her room, climbs in her crib and hangs out entertaining her until i get there.  when i do, she is always ALL smiles!

she has eight teeth and more on the way.  

if anyone laughs, she will laugh too.  even if we fake laugh, she will laugh.  

she still loves one direction.

i love rocking her and singing to her and chatting with her all day.

***check out her relaxed, just chillin', perfectly pointed toe!  

this is her normal position and we can't wait to see what she does with those cute feet of hers.

so glad she is part of our family.

true love always

happy valentine's day!

doctor day

it's community worker week in max's kindergarten class.  dave went and talked about being a doctor.  he listened to some one's heart, looked in some one's ear, and put a cast on max!

dave told the story of when max really did break his arm by blocking his brother's' goal.  i am glad this cast came right off and didn't have to stay for weeks. 

abe's hunger games

for abe's birthday party, we had our own version of the hunger games....

everything we did revolved around food.  what could be better for 12 year old boys?

first off, we made individual pizzas.  sadie was entertained by how serious the boys were and how much they liked doing this.

while the pizza was cooking, we played a bunch of games, most of them had to do with food.

*bubble blowing contests*

*abe made brackets for foosball and air hockey*

kai made it to the championship game in air hockey.  someone said they should cheer for kai since he was the underdog.  kai responded disapprovingly, "what?! i am not the underdog, i won my last games 5-0 and 5-1!"

the final game brought out some major competitiveness in kai.  it was fun to watch!  

he won and all the boys cheered 

(even the boy he played was a great sport and told him good job)

then....

they lifted him on their shoulders!!

*candy hearts races with chopsticks and oreo races*

 followed by,

 the presenting of 

"big pig" trophies.

these were drinks with animals glued to them... (lame, but it was the best i could do with the resources and time i had)  

they could pick a tiny pig, a big pig,  or a big cow depending on how much they ate and what place they won. 

since josh won first place in the first event, he was awarded the 

"big hippo" 

trophy!!

had to capture abe kissing his trophy:)

 we ended the night with ice cream sundaes.

happy hunger games!

and happy birthday abe.

may the odds ever be in your favor!

we love you.

p.s.  it was a fun birthday party and everyone that came got sick and threw up.  we all got sick, even logan's family got sick....and his neighbor got sick.  impressive!

abe's birthday-part 2

abe turned 12 on sunday, january 20th.

sunday birthdays can sometimes be a drag, but it was perfect!  an important day and such a fun celebration.

we started the day with early church.

in sacrament meeting the bishop had abe recite his favorite memorized article of faith: 

"We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes;  that Zion (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon the American continent, that Christ will reign personally upon the earth; and, that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisaical glory."

he advanced from primary and received his Faith in God Award.  he felt really proud of this accomplishment, since it was a long process to complete.

after church he received the priesthood...an amazing experience. 

he prepared for this day by finishing the book of mormon, which was a big deal for him.  dave ordained him a deacon and i know abe felt the spirit during his blessing. 

 he realizes this is a big responsibility and blessing and that the priesthood is the power of god. he now has the permission and authority to use this power to serve and bless people spiritually and temporally, just like the savior.

my sister's family was here from colorado and came for the blessing.  it made it even more special to have them, grandma and grandpa, mimi and papa john, and great grandma shirley there.

we all enjoyed....

*LUNCH

*COUSINS

***singing "happy birthday"

...abe loves being in control of every one's tempo and does this every birthday.

*CAKE (cupcakes by grandma...tricky candles!)

and

*PRESENTS!

PF FLYERS!

NAPLOEAN DYNAMITE from julia and toby!  abe's new found FAVORITE move!!

toy from max and kai

evan hat from heather/evan

ski gear from dad
musical tie from lily and sam

books and $ from gma/gpa

new clothes so he can look good for mutual from mimi/papa john

new church shirt to pass the sacrament:)

he is actually really excited about this gift but is acting like napolean.

vivian loved the excitement and wrapping paper!

grandma shirley and heather--so glad they could both come!

grandma and grandpa

everyone left and abe had time to watch napolean dynamite before the second celebration started.

more cousins came for dinner and pie.

I LOVE KAI IN THIS PICTURE!!!!

and to top the birthday celebration off...a dance party. 

air hockey and just dance 4...

abe dominated:)

  abe always wants to be with cousins and family on his birthdays. 

he thought it was meaningful and so much fun....and it was! 

and that's a wrap!

missionary-ish

abe passed the sacrament for his first time and after church, headed off to do fast offerings.  my neighbor was driving them around and took this photo.  she said they went to a few houses and no one was home, but the fourth house let them in.  abe got in the car and said, "success!"  he felt missionary-ish and he liked it.

he also liked doing baptisms for the dead with the deacons and going out to eat after, getting home at 11:00 on a school night.  then, the next night going to church basketball and playing with all the young men.  when i asked him if it was just the deacons he got a big smile and said, "nope. it was everyone, AND it's equal playing time!"  he only got stuffed once:)  this boy just took a big step and a whole new world has opened up to him.  he's ready for the responsibility and it's fun to see him in his suit, excited to be a part of it.

love fiercely

this morning i read this article.

what mother doesn't feel imperfect at times?  for me, this has been one of those weeks!

i want to remember these parts from this article:

"But what mother doesn't worry? We all fear that our faults will be the downfall of our children, even though that's rarely the case. Kids don't need perfect mothers; kids need mothers who love them fiercely."

"Every day I come to realize more and more that my job as a mother is not to prevent anything bad from happening to my children....They will have trials, regardless of what I pass on to them. My job as a mother is to teach them to be courageous in the face of uncertainty and strong throughout affliction."

 i do love my kids fiercely. 

here are a few fun photos i found on my phone this week.

 kai was super excited to dress up as thing 2 for his 2nd grade program today.

 vivian is a delight.  sadie painted her toes and it is soooo dainty and cute!

sadie had a difficult day at school.  she sent me a text all about it, which i'm so glad she felt like she could do...anyway, this was the picture i sent her. 

 for some reason lately, i have thought a lot about inversions!  

we were going to talk about the symbolism of it for family night (which we didn't end up doing) so i had this picture printed off.  

i love the scripture that says, "arise from the dust."  also, pres. hinckley's quote that says, "move to higher ground".  

it's pretty much been my thought of the week. 

 sadie left me this as my background on my phone.  it was a happy surprise!