first day of school

Well, we survived the first two weeks of school! I say this every year, but I have the hardest time adjusting to the early morning school routine. This year is especially brutal because Elayna has to be at the church for seminary at 5:40 am. I'm already counting down the days till thanksgiving vacation!

Evan loves kindergarten! He especially enjoys riding the bus and sitting next to his friend that lives next door who is also in kindergarten.

Avery is in 3rd grade and so happy that her friend from church is in one of her classes.

Kyla is our big 5th grader. Kyla was not too excited about this school year, because she is going to a new school. (Our new home is zoned for a different middle school than the one she attended last year.) But she has started to make friends and is liking it more each day.

Elayna is a freshman in high school! How did that happen!? It seems like just the other day she was in kindergarten.

potty trained!

one of my goals this summer was to potty train Lorelei. I'm happy to announce that she now wears big girl undies both day and night and rarely has an accident. We are so proud of her! It is so nice to only have to buy diapers for one child now. Two in diapers is rough! Oh, and the cute stuffed animal turtle is her "potty friend" that grammy gave her. She loves it! :)

10 months

baby Benjamin turned 10 months on the 17th. this little guy is so active now, it is hard to get a photo of him.

he loves this stuffed animal puppy

he loves to reach up and play grammy's piano

recent reads

this is a non-fiction book about the ebola virus. truly terrifying!

this is the true story of a freak blizzard in 1888 that left hundreds dead, including many school age children. one of my favorite kinds of books are non-fiction that are written like novels. this is definitely one of them.

first beach trip

Last weekend we had our first beach trip of the summer. We met up with the Ochoas who were on their family vacation on Galveston Island. Unfortunately, it was a really yucky, cloudy day but the kids still had a blast playing in the water. Baby brother wasn't too sure what to think about it...

aunt Nicole and uncle Jeremy joined us too

Evan was so excited

baby Rae fast asleep

cousins having fun on the raft

can't wait for the next beach trip!

9 months

my baby boy turned 9 months old a few weeks ago. he started crawling last month and is now into everything. he can pull himself up to stand and has two little bottom teeth. he will be a year old before i know it!

father's day

so thankful for this sweet, loving, fun father. we love him so very much! here's a few photos after church on sunday

school's out for summer!

These three had their last day of school on wednesday! They all finished with straight A's. So happy to get a break from early morning school routines and homework! Love having my big girls home during the day!

homemade biter biscuits

these look totally unappetizing, but baby brother loves them! recipe found here.

i did have to keep a close eye on him to make sure he didn't bite a chunk off. next time i think i would make them thicker and bake longer.

Baby Rae's blessing day

here's a few photos from sweet baby Rae's blessing day last Sunday. Such a special day! So glad my brother and his sweet little family live in Texas now.

recent read

I Am Malala is the amazing biography of a young girl from Pakistan who was shot in the head by the Taliban because she believed in education for women. I highly recommend this book. It's a must read!

my little easter bunny - 7 months

my two handsome boys on Easter sunday

all six of my babies

a few pictures from the Easter egg hunt with the cousins the day before

it's great to be 8

Avery turned 8 at the beginning of March and got baptized last weekend. Here's a few photos of her in her pretty white dress

it was such a beautiful, special day. thanks to all the family that was there to support Avery!