Lils is 7!

My Lils is seven. I can't believe I have a seven year old! Lils is the best little girl and big sister anyone could have. She always wants to play with Rose and help her and get things for her. She is the little girl at the park who takes her little sister up and down the same slide for an hour and a half. Or who will push her in the swing all day. She's the kind of sister who will always bring Ebay home a little craft she's made at school that says, "I love you". She the type of big sister who will share a brand new art canvas she got for her birthday with E so that he can paint too. She is kind, loving, loyal, athletic.. oh and CRAZY! She is silly and funny and is always trying to make up a joke, or she'll tell you the same one over and over again. I love my little Lils. happy Birthday, sweetie!


We went to a bouncy house with her cousins for her birthday and then ivited the neighbor kids over for a pinata and the biggest cake I've ever made! Lils wanted a candy cake (shocker) and so I went all out! The base of the cake is made from a 12 inch round cake pan, so I made two homemade chocolate cakes (the "perfectly chocolate cake on the back tof the hershey's cocoa can is the BEST). The middle layer is a 9" funfetti cake and the top is strawberry. The whole thing was put together with homemade chocolate frsoting and covered in pink buttercream. Then I went to town with reeses cups, kit-kats (my fav), skittles, m&m's and frosting! It was super tasty and fun.

Our Big Trip Back East

We flew out to Virginia to see my family the week of Valentine's Day. What a WONDERFUL trip! We had snowy days, great sledding experiences- (Baby No loved it, too), Cheesecake Factory TWICE, lots of laughing and singing and my brother and his band played in a "Battle of the Bands" of sorts that we went to! We hit our favorite spots like "Friendly's", "Chick-fil-a" and "Buzz and Ned's BBQ". We also went to this great bouncy house with the kids! It's always fun when I get together with my sisters! We were cracking up about the the most hilarious things! :) Ok, probably dumb things to regular people... :)

The flight out was stressful-ish, but we've had worse! The way back Rose screamed for about 10 awful minutes and once Dave put her on the ground, she and Easton and Lily all slept for 2 1/2 hours (thank you Benadryl). Can't beat that. Then they just snacked and watched movies for the last 1 1/2 hours and we were home! So it was a little crazy, but not too bad since all the kids love movies and Rose doesn't have the mess of bottles and baby specialty food. Less baggage! We were all very sad to go and my kids loved it there. I just took a million pictures (of course) and lots of video. It was really great.

I was so happy to have that time with my parents and siblings. I was just trying to soak up every minute and show off my kids to their grandparents, who don't get to see them very often. It is heart-breaking to live far away from your parents and I want my kids to have a real connection with them so much. I was very happy to be back in my childhood home with the people that I love the most in all the world! Love you Mom, Dad, Orin, Cordell, Lorel, Cora, Ella and Craig! Gibbs, you and your family were missed! :)

Baby No

Here's some sweet shots of my little Baby No jumping off of the stairs! She got her name from her brother the day she was born. She's been our "Baby No" ever since. Her favorite trick is to jump off of the stairs and do a forward roll!

Oi! Diet Food!

I like to think I am an OK cook. I don't do many fancy things, but I can follow a recipe! I actually really like cooking, creating recipes, and trying new things. As many of you know, I am trying to eat healthier, and so I've been even MORE creative with our meals. Sometimes it's great... sometimes... not so great. Last night I was looking up weight watchers recipes and found a broccoli quiche. It looked easy, I had all of the ingredients, and Ebay LOVES eggs and cheese. I thought, "what could possibly go wrong". I set to work and put it easily all together and threw a few orange slices in for a side and wa-la, there's a great dinner. Everyone (well..... I) was eating happily, starving from my day of whole wheat pitas and veggies and apples and whatev. E on the other hand was not having it! This is a kid who is huge, he eats everything and anything. So we had him try a few bites. He was not happy. Finally after the last bite he starts to hurl. He doesn't just throw up what he ate, but everything from the day (luckily Dave had the trash can up to him by that point)! Dave and I just look at eachother after a few minutes of chundering and ruckus had finished in shock, and then we both just cracked up laughing! I guess lowfat quiche wasn't the way to go after all. I have never made a meal that LITTERALLY made someone throw up!

3 = 4

E is 4 years old! And he had 3 cakes! I've discovered that I like making and decorating cakes! It's my favorite artistic medium! :) No, it's just yummy. So his first party was at the end of his Joy School- they enjoyed some Spiderman cupcakes!

Joy School was on Tuesday, and so he got another cake on his actual birthday, Wednesday. We went out to "Red Robin" and then came home to this, a BYU Cougars cake.

Saturday his cousins and grandparent's came over and we had a belgium waffle bar! Hot Belgium waffles off the griddle with your choice of toppings: strawberries, blueberries, hot fudge, whipped cream, powdered sugar, syrup, butter.... oh and bacon. It was so fun! He wanted a blue jeep cake, and so this is what I came up with! The kid's helped mix the colors in the frosting and I think it turned out cute. He got a new bike, light sabers and a carrying case with lots of cars! He was very happy! I can't believe my boy is 4. He is such a big boy, full of love and energy. he loves cars, and can tell the difference between different types of cars and models now (oh boy!). He loves to swim, wrestle, jump, run, and laugh (he also loves to bug and poke Rose and make his big sister crazy).

Only E

I am Lily's primary teacher now and so I get to watch E-bear in his little Sunbeams class. He does really well, though he is always backwards in his seat messing with whatever girl's dress is behind him! The music leader was calling different kids up to participate in singing time and called on E. He got up, all excited! His job was to hold a little baby softly to represent a part of a song that we are learning. I think the part of the song was "the love that he felt for his little ones, I know he feels for me" (about Jesus). So E is up there holding a baby doll, and during the song, he turns it into a weapon, quietly using the little baby arms as guns to shoot! Only he could turn a baby into a weapon! The other teachers and leaders kept looking at me and just laughing with me! They all know him and so we all were cracking up!

Best Vacation Ever!

I can't even write a little about Disney, because so much happened! Ok, well, I'll write a little! Dave and I are Disney fanatics and babies, so we were loving every second! We'd wake up, eat our continental breakfast at our hotel and get outta there! BTW, I definitely recommend the "La Quinta" on Clementine, our rooms had two queen beds and a separate room with a TV and bunk beds for the kids separated by a curtain and a glass door! It was so magical watching the kid's reactions to seeing Tinkerbell and Terence in Pixie Hollow, talking with Crush from "Nemo", watching parade after parade- though the BEST was the Pixar parade in California Adventure! We had an incredible day on the 23rd, it was just our family and the Passey's (Dave's sis and fam) and we got to do everything we wanted to do. Ebay even did Space Mountain! though he was super scared! He and Lils LOVED "Funder Mountain Wailwoad" the best. They rode that at least 6 times over the whole trip. We got our sourdough bread bowls in Cal. Adv., got to see "The Nightmare before Christmas" at the Haunted Mansion, and Princess Tiana was there!


Christmas Eve at Disney was so magical. Our whole family (all 26 of us, Dave's parent's, sibs and their kid's) had dinner at this private outdoor restaurant near Thunder Mountain RR. There were lights everywhere, hot corn bread cakes, the best ribs and sausage and baked beans, and live music! There was a cowgirl and two cowboys playing country Christmas music! They would call all the kids up on stage and the kids would dance and play the jingle bells! Baby Rose did not want to come off of the stage and threw a fit every time we had to take her off! She was such a scrunch that one of the singers told us she could just stay up there, so she did. She stayed up there and played with the Christmas tree and danced and was a cutie. E surprised us with how much he danced and was crazy all night! He was a hoot! Lils has 2 cousins the same age as her and those three girls were inseperable. Ebay and his cousin Seth did everything together as well.

Christmas Eve Dinner

Lils and her cousins

Christmas Eve was amazing. I will never forget it. I knew that it would be special to have Christmas at Disney, but part of me was sad not to have the home traditions. I never realized just how perfect that night could be! After our dinner, we went on "It's a Small World" and the kids all loved it! Then it was time for bed.


Christmas morning, the children awoke to a few presents from us and grandparent's under a mini tree in our room and at 7:30 we all congregated in Grandma and Papa's room for Santa's gift and stockings! $50 for the big kids! Oh yeah! It was tough for me not to put my 2 cents in on what the kids should buy, it was their money, so they bought dumb stuff like those huge lolipops that they sucked on for a second and then threw away! Christmas Day was fun, but Disney was packed, so we headed over to California Adventure and played at the Bug's Life area. The kids got on ride after ride! No one was there. The rest of the day, it got more and more crowded, but we did all of the things we wanted to. We saw the Pixar parade and headed back to the hotel. Once the kids were asleep, Dave's Dad stayed in our room so that Dave and I could go back into the park! Dave and I met up with Jeff (his bro) watched the beautiful Christmas fireworks, saw Fantasmic and went on Indiana Jones! We got back to the hotel at 12:15.

California Adventure

Saturday we went to Legoland, which was fun, but Rose was done with theme parks. Sunday was a nice down day, Monday was a day at beautiful Huntington Beach! Swimming a few days after Christmas? Crazy!

Rose at Huntington Beach, she loved the waves and chasing seagulls

The three girls

He LOVED the water

There's the whole crew at Legoland

Tuesday was the big day! My bro-in-law married his beautiful bride in the L.A. temple and it was a wonderful ceremony. I haven't been to a live sealing in a while and it was so special to be there with my husband and to listen to the counsel my bro and new sis-in-law were receiving and to think about mine and Dave's marriage.

When you are first married, it is such a fun, sweet time, but I feel like Dave and I are having the best time of our lives now. Especially with how well we know each other. I am so blessed to have married such an incredible guy. I can't believe that as a stupid, silly, crazy 19 year old I met him and that I was barely 20 when we married! I was so young! I guess I knew a few things. It was the best decision I ever made. Though it didn't really feel like it was a choice for me... there WAS no other choice. He was it. I am just so happy and so in love with my wonderful husband. He is the perfect man for me and we've sure done a lot of growing and learning together. Sorry, I didn't mean to take a sappy turn there! It was a wonderful day.

Jeff and Steph- aren't they so cute?

The next week was full of two receptions, New Year's and finally, some down time. Dave and I came home the day before New Year's and had a day to put things away, relax, and chill out. We spent New Year's having a "Harry Potter" marathon and playing Monopoly! New Year's day was the Oroville reception and it was beautiful. I spent a lot of the time this trip with the "out-laws" (the in-laws of the family). We bonded as we were forced to take all 16 kids to the church gym for 4 + hours while the parent's and siblings cleaned up and prepped for the reception- which was very necessary! We started off playing "HORSE"- and if any of you knew me and how sweet I was :) at church basketball, you know I showed up my three bro-in-laws ! :) I actually held my own and thusly earned the respect of my bro-in-laws and became a part of the out-laws. It was a hilarious and fun trip! Unforgettable.

the out-laws