Random Pictures

Kylie has been asking me to post more pictures on the blog, so here you go.

Playing at a free sprayground our city just put in. 

I LOVE how all the kids still have to go down the slide together. So much laughter and fun.

 Just after getting dumped on by the big bucket above.

Kids congregate here until it's full and dumps on them.

 Our 8 "Pewecious-es" as Nathan calls them. We went to the temple on our 15th anniversary and when we got home they had a surprise for us. The house was clean, everyone was dressed up in matching clothes, and they sang a song for us that they wrote themselves. It was the best gift and I couldn't have felt more love for them than I felt that day. I am truly blessed. Some days I'm going crazy with the noise and messes but it's days like this that make it all worth it.

 Thomas's birthday cake, exactly how he wanted it.

While we were having cake, Samuel was on the couch making faces. We love his personality and he makes us so happy. It has been a rough year with Nathan unemployed and maybe I would have chosen to wait to have another baby if I'd known Nathan was going to quit his job. However, I'm glad Samuel was already on his way when Nathan quit because he's been our biggest blessing this past year. He's brought me so much happiness. He gives the best hugs and cuddles, big smiles, cute chatter, and is quite the happy baby.

 Makenna adores him too.

May, June and July in Pictures

Time to get caught up on my blog!
First up, my birthday. I told my family how I put white cake batter in the pan and then put brownie batter on the top and baked it, so here are the pictures so they can see what I mean. It turned out wonderful! I've never tried it before, but we all loved it. When it first came out of the oven the brownies on the top reminded the kids of mountains. So they told me to decorate my cake like my beloved mountains. They ran and got trees from a train set and made paths with the caramel sauce and chocolate chips. It looked a lot better in person than the pictures. It tasted even better.

 I loved how the brownie batter sunk in different spots and made a marble effect.

Next up, a trip to Florida the last week of May to see our newest nephew, born last January.

 The babies are about 2 1/2 months apart.

Samuel's 7 month photo shoot:

 Fourth event: The Promised Land Pageant the last week of June

 Spencer in his Colonial attire, the rest of us in our Nephite costume. Spencer got to be the drummer boy for the Redcoats and Nathan got to be a Redcoat in the Revolutionary War scene, but the rest of us sadly didn't get to be in the Colonial scene this year.

 Everyone minus Spencer and Madalyn (maybe they were changing already??) in our Pioneer costumes after the first performance.

 Thomas was so tired after the performance he couldn't even walk upstairs. Instead, he walked in the house and crashed on the floor.

 Alexis getting to ride the pony before the 2nd performance.

 After the 2nd performance. Makenna had a fever and Samuel was knocked out as it was past 10:30pm. They did great during both performances, though. It was a lot of fun having our whole family participate.

Some random pictures:

Alexis made teeny tiny cinnamon rolls and kringles for her dolls.

 Makenna asleep at the table. I love it when toddlers fall asleep with their food.

 Kaitlyn's little bed inside a big fort they made in the living room.

 Alexis's little bed in the fort. She actually slept in it one night.

Samuel's Messy Eating:

 I posted this one to show his two cute little teeth.

 Kylie took about 20 pictures of the plum smeared in his hair.

Last Event: Alexis's 9th Birthday

 She made this garden cake all by herself. 

 They're hard to see, but Alexis bought some clip on Eiffel Tower earrings that match this dress my mom gave her for her birthday perfectly.

Mother's Day Photo Shoot

After church yesterday my kids wanted a photo shoot. Well, some of them. And I wanted a new picture of all 8, so I was happy to comply. We had plenty of time while Nathan was cooking my Mother's Day dinner but we didn't have much time because the camera battery was low and we alternated between plugging it in for a few minutes and snapping pictures. Somehow we neglected to take a picture of Kylie and Thomas on the swing for the sidebar, so I'll have to do that next week. All in all it was a great Mother's Day and my kids were in good moods which was a pleasant surprise.

 Samuel

 Spencer

 My Three Boys

 Kylie, my awesome, always cheerful helper

 Makenna

 Madalyn. I love having her in Young Womens with us now.

 Me and my girls. Kylie has us matching most Sundays. The girls knit their own scarves and have quite the collection now.

 Makenna and Kaitlyn. Silly sisters.

 My 5 beautiful girls.

 I love the back of Kaitlyn's naturally curly hair. It's starting to straighten out now that it's getting long, but I still love it.

Kylie styled my hair this morning complete with a rose she crocheted. She loves to be creative with hair and invents new hairstyles quite frequently.

I love all of my precious children and am so grateful to be a mother. Everyday I feel blessed to have such wonderful kids and I cherish these sweet and tender years.