Peyton Ricker and Ty

Peyton Ricker and Tyler Hart friends forever.

One of Tyler's very best buds passed away just before Christmas due to a brain tumor. He was a sweet little boy that Tyler just adored. They played soccer together and were in the same preschool class as well as church classes and always were giggling together. This has been quite an emotional time for little Ty, but he has had some really special moments through it all.

The night we told him we sat him down and talked about how special it would be to be with Jesus for Christmas. As the words were coming out of Andy's mouth Tyler's face dropped and the tears began to flow, hard. He kept looking up at me with question and "just hold me mom" in his eyes. His nighttime prayer is one I will never forget. He said, "Dear Heavenly Father..." and then proceeded to share his utmost concern, which was "Please, please, please, let Peyton know how much I love him! Please, let him know I love him...." Over and over again. It was a special moment. I laid with him for a while that night as he slept with a picture of Peyton on one side and Jesus on the other.

Also he was invited to write a letter to Peyton that would be put in a bag next to him in his casket. That was quite the privilage and quite the task for Ty to get on paper. He did it and again, it was including his largest concern...to make sure he knew of his love for him.

The funeral was tough. He really wanted to SEE Peyton, so he could say goodbye, but couldn't make it all the way into the viewing room. He wanted to check out mentally, I could tell by the way he was asking to do certain things. He kept asking to play a game on my cell phone during the services...and I let him. During the removing of the casket I made him stop and pay attention. They came right by us and the closer they got the harder Tyler bawled, intermittently looking up at me with tears streaming down his face and his eyes penetrating me with a “why? Mom, WHY?” Then as we followed the crowd out to the hearse and watched as they drove Peyton away Tyler just lost it. The Bishop has taken special interest in Tyler due to his friendship with Peyton and saw him struggling. In the midst of this large crowd he walked over to Tyler and tried consoling him, got down on his knees and said, “Tyler the spirit is prompting me, as your Bishop, to you give you a promise. As you choose the right and strive to live your life in a righteous manner I promise you Peyton will be with you at any significant event in your life, especially in the temple.” The spirit was strong and Tyler felt it as did I and the Bishop. I felt the truthfulness of those words and explained later to Tyler how special that was and what kinds of events the Bishop was probably referring to. I will never forget that moment and hope that he won't either.

Christmas 2009

We have this tradition that we each get to open a Christmas gift the day before Christmas Eve (we've call it Christmas Adam since my childhood), as well as Christmas Eve. Kaylee of course chose the largest and most unique shaped gift, but she sure had a blast opening it up! This year seems to be the first year she's TRULY enjoyed Christmas. It was really fun.

Tyler, Audrie and Kaylee before they came down the stairs. Everyone actually went to bed SUPER early and slept until about 8am...which never happens on a regular basis let alone on Christmas Eve. That was a gift in and of itself :)

I don't know how many of you have heard of these Zhu Zhu Pets, but they are HOT this year. Santa's wife had no idea how sought after they were until she started looking for them. She happened to be in Target when they had some in stock (they sell of the shelves within hours) and grabbed 5, making several trips due to the limit 2/customer rule. Mrs. Clause wasn't sure how they would go across or if all the hype they were getting was worth it, but on Christmas morning she was pleasantly surprised! They are actually super cute and the kids (and dog) think they are soo much fun. I've actually been caught playing with them for a minute, without realizing I was sitting there for that long (a little embarrassing). Anyway, these little electronic hamsters and their houses were a big hit.

Also in the background you can see a bit of the tent (teepee) I made for the kids. It's been really fun and will hopefully relieve the need to tear apart the couch and pull out all the blankets!

This was Tyler's Lego/Star Wars year. Everything he seemed to get was related one way or another. Needless to say he was in heaven. Lego RC car, star wars lego ship, star wars wii game, etc = one happy little boy! I've even enjoyed the wii game! Here he's playing with some star wars figures.

Dramatic Audrie...LOVE IT. She is so good at expressing herself (except when she's not :). She was so expressive every time she opened anything, it's was so funny. We happened to catch it when she opened Aunt Sarah's gift.

Side note about Audrie: She has been so happy for the most part lately, it's been wonderful. She and Kaylee have become best buds and play together so well. It's been a treat to see them blossom into the best friends they have become.

Peyton's Birthday Party

Sweet Peyton and Tyler

Best friends forever

We were fortunate enough to be invited to Peyton's birthday party this past Saturday. It was so FUN! They had clowns to made all kinds of balloon swords, scepters, hats, you name it, it was super awesome. Tyler, Peyton and the boys had a blast playing swords with their balloons, in fact if they could I think they would have played through the night doing just that!

Audrie couldn't be prouder of her heart scepter. I think she thought it was a symbol of her girl power. Look at that face!

I told Kaylee to smile...this is what she did instead. She was eating her cupcake before this so I think she may be biting the air (?). A little glimpse into her little personality though. Silly girl!

Tyler made Peyton a photo album with pictures of them together from the past. I think he really liked it and I think Tyler really enjoyed putting it together and giving it to him. It was SO good to see him and his family. We know they are going through a lot and we pray for them daily. We thank Heavenly Father for the wonderful Plan he's set out for us to be able to see friends such as this again. WE LOVE YOU RICKERS!

Snow Day!

Yes it happened...two years in a row it happened. SNOW! We couldn't have asked for a better Christmas present. Andy stayed home from work, the kids got out early so it was extra special. It was SO FUN and so incredibly cold. We aren't used to those cold temps anymore, but the kids got to make their first snowman ever so it was all worth it :)

It didn't last long and turned to ice that night causing a lot of black ice. Bella was hilarious in the snow thinking it was all food she went completely bazerk! She couldn't stop eating it like a crazy puppy.

Nothing like a little snow to get you in the Christmas spirit!

The Nutcracker Ballet

Audrie and I were lucky enough to go and see The Nutcracker ballet in downtown Houston this afternoon. Last night we went to a little jewelry shop and let Audrie pick out her very own bracelet to wear! Nothing real, just a cheap little bracelet that sparkles :) I got to wear my dress that was supposed to be for Andy's annual Christmas party, and felt a bit overdressed, but it was super fun to play dress up. We got all dolled up and headed out to go downtown then ate at the Hardrock cafe. Audrie got a bit fidgety after the intermission, but all in all did MUCH better than I anticipated. We may have to make it an annual tradition. The best thing of all was the time I was able to spend just with Audrie. She's a sweet little girl and has a wonderful spirit and a very sensitive soul. I love her dearly!

Dress

So every year it is a HUGE endevour to find a dress for Andy's companies Christmas party. It's nigh impossible to find a dress that will cover and that I like without having to alter, cover up or something...which in turn makes me feel very uncomfortable. So this year I made an effort to find a dress EARLY. And I did. And I loved it, and it fit perfectly, covered perfectly and felt so FUN to wear. I was actually excited to go to the Christmas party for once!Then Andy came home one day and told me due to budget cuts they had canceled the party. So my non-returnable, perfect dress is going to have to wait for next year (that is if I can still fit into it then!).

Kaylee's Personality

Many of you who know Kaylee have see what a fussy, kind a unhappy little baby she was. Such a needy little girl and having a hard time about something most of the time. Well in the last six months she has turned into just a little doll! She is so sweet and lovey and so much HAPPIER! Here are a few random photos of her showing this side we always knew she had.

She decided to snuggle with Daddy while he was napping and gave him many sweet kisses while he was resting. I was only able to catch a mid-kiss, but still pretty cute eh?

So a week or so ago we were able to watch little baby Danny Hindmarsh. He was such a good baby, it actually made me baby hungry, Especially when I saw Kaylee interact with him. I was feeding him his bottle and Kaylee just watched intently talking about him in her own language the entire time. I could tell she REALLY wanted to help feed him, so this her attempting to do just that. Look at that cute smirk on her face!

You know those quiet moments? When you think for five second about where everyone is and WHY they are being so quiet...THEN you realize you have no idea what your little two year old is doing? Yeah, had one of those last week. Kaylee decided it would be fun to get in my makeup and this was the end result :) It may be hard to see but she has cover up just caked on her chin and lip. She was very proud of herself, I on the other hand learned it's time to move my makeup.