Kaylee's Birthday

Doesn't she look all grown up? She's 3, our little baby Kaylee is no longer our little baby. We had a great little family celebration after Daddy got home from work.

Obviously she made out like a bandit :) Very proud of her $20.

She also got this really cute game that happened to be on super clearance (yes, I'm super cheap). If any of you moms need a game to keep the kids busy that they can play by themselves, this is a great one. It's called Curious George Hide and Seek Zoo Game (http://www.icandothatgames.com/zoo/). I highly recommend. They have all been playing it none stop.

So cute, I didn't want her hair to catch on fire (am I little paranoid?) thus my hands holding her hair. Kaylee is such a sweet, sweet girl. She's always wanting to help, a super snuggler and just constantly wanting to be with me just because. LOVE you Kaylee girl.

What does 30 bring?

Well, it happened. I turned THIRTY! My family was here for the celebration, so it was extra special. Unfortunately Andy has class that night, so I didn't even get to see him :( But as you can see we did have fun and Mom made my favorite cake, applesauce spice cake. YUM!

Tyler's Speical Day: Baptism Day

It happened! Tyler was baptized and SO many people came to share that special day with him. Both sets of Grandparents were there, plus a couple of super fun Aunties, best friends from Dallas among other friends. It was a wonderfully special day and reconfirmed the feelings I've always had about this son of mine. He is destined for great things and this is only the beginning :)

Obviously some of these pictures are better than others. Kaylee was on her absolute WORST behavior during the program and clearly is posing her best for the family shot...and Audrie had just woken up before we started taking pictures.

This is the circle of Priesthood that gave the blessing to confer the Holy Ghost as a constant companion to Tyler. Pretty neat group of guys. From the left: Glenn Whicker (my Dad), Andy, Lachlan Hart (Andy's Dad), and Jeff Bush (our long lost brother and Uncle to Tyler).

This was right before they went into the water. Tyler was a bit nervous, but did fantastic. The spirit was strong and I truly felt that the feelings felt were a piece of Heaven. The eternities will feel like that, I'm sure of it. I'm so glad we were all able to take part in that wonderful spirit.

The Bush Family, some of our best friends from college.
The Hart family.
The Whicker Clan. (Notice Audrie's face...do you think she was a little bored?)

Thank you to all of those that made special efforts to be there. It was so neat to be able to have so many family members there (Jeff and Mel, you're included in that group!)

Here We GO...

Well, it all paid off. Almost exactly four weeks on the market and we got two offers in two days. One was clearly the way to go, so as of right now we have a signed contract and a closing day. August 13th here we come....hopefully all will go through. Now to see if the home we've found will accept our offer :) Lets just say it's been a very long, news-less day. Say a little prayer for us...or should I say for the closing process? :)

Birthday Boy!

For Tyler's birthday I forgot the camera....classic Tara. But fortunately a friend took a cool snapshot with their awesome underwater camera! Cool shot eh? [RANDOM insert: I have a question for all you mothers who have goggle wearing children. My kids don't seem to understand how to put the strap above their ears. They constantly look like elves (or something). Anyone else have this problem, or are my kids just, um, unique?]
For his 8th birthday celebration we rented out our little community pool. Very reasonable and we could have up to 40 people. Lots of little sibling came, so there were plenty of friends for Audrie and Kaylee.

He got lots of Lego star wars toys, which he is obviously proudly displaying by his cake. I'm getting either really lazy, or well...really lazy. I didn't want to cook this year, so I bought Tyler's and Audrie's cakes. But I mostly didn't want to cook because it's been SO HOT, plus food makes me cringe, but that may be the way to go in the future for me.

This is a special year for Tyler. His baptism is just around the corner and he will hit a major milestone in our church and become an official member as well as receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. He's a good kid and I know he will be a wonderful man and has great potential. I've always felt like this kid has places to go with great purpose. Love you kiddo. Please don't grow up too fast :)

And the Birthday's Begin!

I admit it...I don't like birthday parties...I don't like having lots of kids running around in complete chaos. It goes against my calm, noiseless nature :) Anyway, this year is the FIRST year I paid to have birthday parties. Let me tell you it's the ONLY way to go. I loved not having to have the after mess, plus not having to plan, worry and dread. (I know I'm super lame, I know what you're thinking) It's worth every penny!
For Audrie's 6th birthday celebration she decided on a place called Mud Pie. You choose and paint your own pottery, and boy did everyone love it. They all decided on doing the same thing as the birthday girl, an ice cream bowl. Just darling.

Tyler, amidst all the females, had a wonderful time. In fact I think he likes these creative ventures just as much if not more than Audrie did. But who wouldn't like painting an ice cream bowl.

I helped Kaylee and she had a fantastic time getting hers covered. She's such a mess conscious little girl and couldn't stand anything on her hands, or she would start fussing. Should I be concerned?

This picture captures Audrie's personality to a "T". She is such a silly, vibrant, ready to have some fun kinda girl. Always bright eyed and full of love. I'm so glad she was able to come down to our family, it wouldn't be the same without her! Love you Audrie girl!

Schools OUT!

Ok, so it's been a while since school ended, but it's been the busiest summer of my life...PLUS morning sickness on top of that. Something I've never experienced before, so cut me some slack k? Anyway this is Audrie during her EXTREMELY cute Kindergarten program. Cutest one I've ever seen, just darling AND the only time I DIDN'T bring the video camera :) She got the talented Artist award, and as you can see in the following photo she deserved that.

This is her and her teacher, Ms. Hildebrand. She adored her.

Audrie and some of her little friends. Notice how she TOWERS over her buddies. It was so funny to visit her classroom because they have these tiny chairs and tables and Audrie just looked like an adult trying to sit on those little chairs...she's either going to be tall or she is just going to grow early. But man, she's a knockout. A few hours after the last day of school ended this is what I heard, "Mom, I'm bored." K, this just might be a long summer...