Papa visit

These kids count down the days until Grammy and Papa come to visit. Kyler had been especially excited so that his Papa could take him fishing again.

And boy do these kids love their Grammy!

The kids also enjoy getting to spend their birthday money with them. This year's gift haul included a lot of Lego sets, which were promptly assembled.

Basement transformation

Since we moved into our house over two years ago, we have been anxious to finish our basement. This is the first house we've lived in without a finished basement. So, after months of thinking, planning and saving, we finally contracted a builder and started the process. We spent a lot of time debating this space, but finally decided to build a stage for our kids since they LOVE to create plays, dance and perform.

We also thought a chalkboard behind the stage would be a fun way for them to create their own backdrops. By the way, to save A LOT of money, we decided to do all the painting ourselves. We had to complete the 1500 square feet of painting in two days. It was an exhausting marathon, but fortunately some good friends helped us out.

The basement was partially completed when we moved in, which helped us see the room sizes and shapes and see what we did and didn't like about the floor plan. We did end up changing a few walls.

And we added some arches!

The kids couldn't contain their excitement when the carpet was finally laid. They rolled around on it like they've never seen carpet before. They were so cute and funny!

The big splurge was this kitchenette. In the end, we are pleased we did it.

And the stage has definitely been a huge success!

They have enjoyed the open great room for "gymnastic competitions" and dance parties.

And the projector and surround sound is great fun too! The added features and space have definitely improved our quality of life!

Teyah Birthday

This beautiful girl turned 7 on the day that Lauren and Jacob got married. So, we had to celebrate her a little before the wedding while at Grandma's house and also several weeks later at home. She wanted a princess party.

Since her sweet cousin Sydnee's birthday is just two days before hers, we had a big cousin party.

These two are the cutest little cousins. We had a fun party.

On the actual day of her birthday, we had her stand on a chair and everyone at the wedding luncheon sang to her and she was so thrilled!

We finally got around to celebrating with her friends too at the newly opened Chuck-E-Cheese.

 

Teyah is so lucky to have these sweet girls as her BFFs.

This lucky girl got an extra cake this year! It was a yummy cookie dough cake!

Some things about Teyah:
--Teyah is the most innocent girl I know and has so much love for those around her.
--She had a rough first grade year, so we decided to change schools in hopes to make things run better
--She is very sensitive; especially when she thinks people are laughing at her.
--Teyah is a beautiful singer and a fast runner!
--She played soccer again this year and ran her guts out. She was so tough and determined.
--She is a hard worker.

Lauren's wedding



I don't even know how to begin to express how wonderful and exciting the wedding of my baby sister and our friend Jacob was for us. I've always been so close to my baby sister Lauren and after some rough relationships, Dave decided to take things into his own hands and set her up with one of our friends who grew up here and that we knew from church. I don't think the expectations were high other than to allow her to date someone who is tons of fun and a nice, nice guy. We are beyond thrilled that they hit it off and decided to marry!

 

Our kids and all of their cousins were so excited to be dressed in matching clothes and a part of the wedding celebrations. They all just adore their auntie Lauren.

These boys maybe weren't as enamored with the romance of the day, but they sure are cute nonetheless.

If you look closely, the four youngest cousins were all crying in this picture! It was so pitiful, that we all just had to laugh!

Pictures with all six of us don't happen often enough!

Lauren had such a beautiful luncheon and reception. Everything was so tastefully chosen.

It was so fun to reconnect with old friends, including this guy. He is one of the missionaries who taught us before we were baptized 26 years ago.

Another Utah adventure in the books

With Jeni's sister, Lauren getting married, brought our family on the road to Utah again. We decided to stop at Mt. Rushmore on the way, but it was MUCH colder there than it was in Minnesota that summer morning. We were unprepared for the weather, so we grabbed any article of clothing that had any warmth to it. Notice Dave's classy sport coat with the Star Ward T-shirt! What a fun memory this stop was for us! We stayed and watched a patriotic ceremony of the lighting of Mt. Rushmore. It was a fun evening, despite being so cold!

We always marvel how kids find ways to be comfortable in the car. Notice Teyah's unique sleeping position.

We loved catching up with our old Minnesota buddies. We sure miss them!

These kids didn't miss a beat!

And we also loved catching up with Daddy's high school BFF and his kids. We enjoyed an easy hike to a waterfall.

It was fun to be there with someone else, so that we could actually snap a picture together!

We definitely packed in the fun. We enjoyed a stop at BYU too.

Elementary school graduation

Aubrie has loved elementary school and has had so much anxiety thinking about it being over and growing up. But, despite her trepidation, the day came and she graduated. 

Aubrie had a wonderful fourth and fifth grade teacher, Mrs. Bovee.

And these two BFF's have been in the same class since Joy School when they were 4! Closing doors are hard to do, but I know Aubrie will love the doors opening to her. This is just the first time she's had big changes like this before.

Joy School graduation for Kyler and Mommy

We've graduated our last kid and its time to be an empty nester!  We'll, not quite.  After eight consecutive years of teaching Joy School, Mom may have finally taught her last Joy School lesson.

  Congratulations are in order for not just Mommy, but this little guy.

We are proud of Kyler finishing two years of Joy School, but with a November birthday, instead of kindergarten, he moves on to preschool in the fall.

Toothless Teyah

This post has been a long time coming. After months of wiggling, Teyah finally pulled out her first tooth. No more than 2 days later, Teyah yanked out another tooth.  Now she has a beautiful little toothless smile.  I wish we could keep this little smile forever.