Prom!

Kyla looked and felt like a princess all night in her prom dress! Her prom group met at Helen's Garden for a few photos before they headed out for dinner. Kyla's date was a casual friend from the group.

Soccer!

This spring, both our boys played on soccer teams for the very first time! Ben played on Dynamo Dash recreation league and Evan played on the 7th grade soccer team. Evan has only played soccer for fun, so he didn't think he had much of a chance to make it on the team. There is only one 7th grade team and only 16 boys make it. He had two days of try-outs and was so excited to find out that he made it on the team! So proud of him! There were a lot of really talented boys on the 7th grade team and they won all of their games except for one. Evan had so much fun and is looking forward to trying out next year too.

One of the moms took this group photo..

one year old!

Nova turned one year old on December 19th! What a year it has been! There are still many days that she drives me crazy, but she is getting easier the older she gets. She still has a lot of energy but has calmed down considerably. Im really starting to enjoy her company during the day, even though i don't get much done because i spend most of the day playing with her! I can now leave her alone in the living room when I need to leave the house during the day. She just sleeps and doesn't destroy anything. I am so grateful for that!

District Champ and State Meet!

What an amazing senior year of cross country it has been for Kyla! Hard to believe she tore and broke her foot only a year ago at the state meet! She had such a strong finish to an eventful year, including District Champion, 4th place at Regionals, and finishing 1st for her team at State. She was recognized at her CC Banquet as Outstanding Performer of the Year. We are so proud of her and how hard she has worked and how much she has overcome and grown these past four years!

Happy Halloween 2021

This year we went to Grammy's house for Halloween. We had a fun dinner together and then the kids went trick or treating in her neighborhood. Avery's friend Victoria joined the kids for trick or treating and Kyla went to a friends house after dinner. Lorelei dressed up as a witch. Benny dressed up as grim reaper but didn't want any scary makeup, so he's a very cute little grim reaper. Evan dressed up as Han Solo from Star Wars. Avery was a leopard and Kyla was a black bunny. She put on some cute face makeup before going with her friends but i never got a photo of it. Next year I will get a little doggie costume for Nova!

It's great to be 8!

Can't believe our youngest is already 8 years old! Turning eight is a big milestone in our church. It marks the year children can be baptized. Benny was baptized on October 23rd by his daddy. We are so grateful that his Grammy, aunt, uncle, and cousins could join us for his special day!

Those two front teeth were so wiggly and holding on by a thread! They both came out shortly after the baptism.

He always insists on taking a "silly" picture :)

recent reads

This author also wrote All the Light We Cannot See, which I absolutely loved, so I was very excited to read his latest book. Cloud Cuckoo Land is a book that connects 5 characters over hundreds of years through their relationship with a book. This book is beautifully written! I loved every page and didn't want it to end!

I really enjoyed this book! The Midnight Library is a book about choices, regrets, and embracing life. It's a very thought provoking book and helped to remind me of all the things that I have to be grateful for.

I loved this book! The Girl with the Louding Voice is a powerful, unforgetable story about a 14 year old Nigerian girl who dreams of pursuing her education to become a teacher and help other girls. This was one of my top reads this year.

Back-to-School 2021

Can't believe the summer has come and gone, and another school has started. I'm always sad to see my kids go back to school and hate going back to an early morning schedule and all the busyness that comes with the school year. This year we have one in 2nd, 4th, 7th, 10, and a senior! Where has the time gone? Elayna is a senior at BYU, with one additional year to go in her electrical engineering program.

Our senior!!

Just for fun, here's a photo of Kyla on her first day of kindergarten! I've kept up with this blog since 2007 and it's so fun to go back and look at all the memories. This is from 2009. Feels like just the other day. Can't believe she's already a senior!