And a couple more....

These one's are for you Whitty! What cuties!

Take Two...

One of my very favorite people in the world gave me the best Christmas gift this year. It is one of those books that you put together of pictures you have taken, like Heritage Maker, if you have heard of that. She actually put it together with pictures of my kids that she took one day while we were at Gardner Village. I love it so much! I have it on my fireplace mantle at home. Anyways, it was such a great gift that I decided to put one together for my dad, (probably the hardest person ever to buy for) of all of his grandkids for his birthday this year. I had all these ideas of different poses we would use and in my mind it played out perfectly!!! I thought that it would go as follows: all smile at the same time, everyone looking at the camera all at once, perfect poses, etc. etc. A yeah, 7 kids under the age of eight....not so much. It was a very interesting, but fun experience trying to take pictures of this little group. They so where not into taking pictures, first of all it was freezing outside even with all their gear on, and second they wanted to play with one another, not just stand there and take pics. Go figure. Anyways, (this is for you Les) here are some pictures of them during our second attempt at taking their pictures. The first time around was just a mess! And I wasn't pleased with any of the pictures, so I told the moms we were going to try again the following Saturday. And when we were done I thought once again I got nothing, however when I got home and looked at what we got I was surprised! I think we actually got a few good ones. And I think that my dad is going to love it.

An Amazing Man

Yesterday was a very bitter sweet day. Our dear prophet President Hinckley passed away. I felt a lot of saddness with his passing, but at the same time I wanted to celebrate his life. He is such an amazing man, who did SO much good during his lifetime. I know without a doubt that he was and is a prophet of God. One of my very favorite memories of him was when I was fortunate enough to go with my sisters to a youth fireside at the conference center. I will never forget that experience. The center was filled to it's capacity, thousands of people talking and laughing, but when he walked in the room, without being announced, everyone stopped talking and immediately stood up to show their love and support of him. At that moment I knew with out a doubt, I was in the presence of a prophet of God. The spirit was so strong, and his words that day touched my life for the better, as they always have. He was and is an amazing man who I love and will deeply miss, but what a celebration of a life well lived, he definitely returned home with honor! Thanks again to our beloved prophet President Hinckley for his MANY years of service and his amazing example of goodness and righteousness.

Amazing

I have a friend in my ward who takes the most AMAZING pics and we had her take some pics of our little family last month and can I just say I LOVE, LOVE, how they turned out. She is so good. She totally inspires me!!!! Anyways, here's a look at a couple of the shots she took. I love them so much I just had to show them off. The one of our family all sitting down, is probably close to being my favorite. Which is actually kinda funny cause when she gave them to me she warned me not to blow it up because something happened to her camera and she thought that it wasn't as high of quality as it could of been. Anyways, I couldn't resist...and I blew it up anyway and again I love it. I hope to one day be taking pics as good as her. She actually gave me a few tips the other day as well, which I was over the moon about and actually spent at least two hours yesterday playing with my camera and photoshop, while my boys were sleeping and Taylor was at preschool. I'm going to be taking a photo class next month and I can't wait! If by chance your reading this, thanks again Haylee, I love them!

Good times

We decided to take the kids down to the Lehi indoor pool tonite for family home evening. They were sooo excited! They really love to swim, I tell ya they are like little fish. It was also a big night for Talan because it was his first time in the water and he really seemed to like it. (Don't let the pic of them all deceive you.) Well, we got there and got in and within about ten minutes the lifeguards started getting everyone out of the pool because there was an "incident", (not so sure I want to know what that means...) and that no one was allowed back in the pool for one hour while they cleaned it. Taylor and Chase were so discouraged! Luckily there was a lap pool on the other side of the place. So, we decided that we would make do and go swim over there for a bit. Well, about a half an hour after being in the lap pool the lifeguards came over and said that everyone had to get out of the lap pool now cause water aerobics would be starting and that the other pool wouldn't be opening for another twenty minutes or so. BUMMER for us, I guess! We just couldn't catch a break. It was a fun night though, and we all had a good time, regardless of all the madness.

Our little growler

So, Talan has started to do something new. I love the age he is at now because he is constantly learning so much every day. I swear sometimes as I watch him play, I can just see the wheels turning in his head as he is discovering and learning about the world we live in. Anyways, his new thing these days is he growls at us. No, seriously he growls! Not grunts, full on growls. It is hilarious! He started doing it yesterday. Cort swears that he taught it to him...who knows. Regardless, it sure does make me smile. I'll have to get it on video and post it. It's definitely a must see. (that is, if I can figure the posting video thing out!)

It never seizes to amazes me...

how fast our little ones go from being a newborn to this....

and then eventually to this....

time goes by way to fast! I need to remember to be grateful for everyday and the moments that I have with them. Last night Talan decided to show us how big he is getting and he sat up all by himself for a couple minutes. Then today when I was playing with him, he started laughing so hard at me. It was so adorable! I love watching him grow and learn new things. I have started to read to him every night before bed and he seems to just love it. He sits so still and just stares at the pictures. His four month check up was about two weeks ago and he weighed 14.4 pounds and he was 25 inches tall. None of us can ever get enough of him, especially Taylor and Chase, they think that he is their toy or something. They ALWAYS have to give him kisses good night, as well as through out the day many, many times, and they are so good about entertaining him when I'm trying to get something done. I'm so glad that they have each other. I forsee them all being the best of friends.

Love them!!!

I tell ya I just love these kids....but, seriously what's not to love! Everyday with them is such a pleasure.

New Years

We had such a fun New Years. We spend New Years Eve at home with each other. It was a lot of fun. We hung out, played games, had a nice dinner, did some fireworks, and let the kids stay up as late as they could. Taylor fell asleep around 11:45, and little Chasers made it all the way past midnight. I'm pretty sure that that's the latest he's ever stayed up! He was being soo funny. I think he was a little delirious by the end of the night. Because he started just wandering around the house with this dazed look in his eyes, doing all sorts of crazy stuff.



Then, on New Years day we went over and did some sledding. I swear my kids are such daredevils...NO fear whatsoever! Very good times were had by all!