Our Trip to Zion

Every year my family goes to Zion National Park for a week. It is so much fun catching up with all of the family. This year there were 13 kids a couple of the days we were there. Camden, Carissa and Addison and a BLAST! They played non-stop with all their cousins. Here are just a few of my favorite pictures.

Happy Birthday Camden!

My little St. Patty's Day baby! I can't believe how fast these last 6 years have gone. Here is Camden, just minutes old. It is hard to remember him that small. It seems so long ago but just like yesterday....does that make any sense?

I had wanted to post a picture of Camden from birth and then every year from then until today but I am having a little difficulty with my computer so here is Camden at one year old. That is all I could get to work! His beautiful blue eyes are now green and I say that's because he was born on St. Patrick's Day! I love this little boy with all my heart and he is such a joy to us.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Camden & Ryan

1. Ryan and Camden's birthday's are four days apart, so on Sunday we got together with the family and celebrated both their birthdays. Even though they are five years apart, they love each other. They get along really well and I am pretty sure besides Mike, Ryan is Camden's favorite person. I love that Ryan treats him so good and not like an annoying cousin (that I am sure he is sometimes!) I know Ryan is getting older and the days are numbered where they will be hanging out with each other like they do now. I think they feel like brothers since they each have only sisters!

Both Ryan and Camden wanted tacos for their birthday dinner and they both wanted brownies for dessert. They are alike in so many ways! It certainly made it easy for us too!

What a goof-ball!!

They seem to really like what Ryan got! I am sure they will be playing it together soon!

My Girls

Camden goes to school two times a week, Mondays and Wednesdays. Mondays, Mike works, so I have the two girls home alone with me. They play really well together and I just love that they have each other. I never knew what it was like going up with a sister, so it makes me so happy that they will get to experience the joys (and pains!) of having a sister.

Tortillas!

My friend Hailee and I both homeschool our boys, so we try and come up with some fun Life Skills to teach them. (That is one of the categories that we are required to teach) We thought it would be fun to make tortillas! I called my grandmother, who has been making tortillas for about 70 years or so, and asked her for a receipe and hints for making them. She gladly shared her knowledge of tortilla making and so it was pretty easy. The kids had fun. It was like rolling out playdough and then getting to eat it! They each had their own rolling pins which made it easy for everyone to participate at the same time.

Here is Addison trying to get a quick bite of raw tortilla....don't worry, I stopped her in time!
Hailee and I ended up rolling out most of them. The kids each did two and then went outside to play. I think they turned out pretty good, just a little too stiff from too much flour. Next time I will try them with whole wheat flour so that they are healthier!

Garret and Carissa are showing their hard work of rolling out the dough while they waited for their turn to cook their tortilla. These pictures are pretty bad quality because I grabbed my camera and snapped a few pictures without looking at the results so I didn't realize that it was on a completely different setting then it should be!

Planting Flowers

I have had empty pots outside my front door on my porch for a while now and decided that it would be fun for the kids to pick out plants of their own to plant and take care of.

The kids had lots of fun planting and playing with the dirt. It made the porch look cute and ready for spring.

Mike's Little Helper

Camden is Mike's shadow...his little side kick. He never leaves Mike's side, if he can help it. Mike was cleaning the garage after we finished a project in the kid's bathroom and there was Camden, right there helping him.

Camden has become quite the cleaner. He loves to help and he is really good at it too!

He is getting so big! I must admit, it sure is nice to have children who are a little older and are able to help with chores!! Plus, they are at the age where it is fun to help.

Yep...She's a Princess!

Addison was swinging on her tummy the other day and I couldn't help but laugh at the message on her bottom.....

Her Aunt Kelly gave her this outfit and it fits her personality perfectly! She really does believe that she is a princess. Since my brother Jeremy seldom reads my blog, I can point out that I think she is this way due to the fact that she is the baby in the family. Now I am not at all saying that the youngest is spoiled because I know that I was never that way!!!!! I am simply pointing out that SHE is that way because she is the baby.

Play Time

Carissa LOVES her cousin, Kira. They play really well together. Every time they are together, they have to play dress up. I think they make cute little princesses!

And of course....they had to watch a Barbie princess movie while they were playing dress up! I love these two little girls!!

WHAT?

I just can't believe that Camden has reached the age of losing baby teeth!

I don't think his tooth was actually ready to fall out just yet. One night he was playing with his legos (the little ones) and I guess he couldn't get two of them apart and decided to use his teeth. He came running upstairs, in tears, telling me he broke his tooth. I couldn't help but laugh. I know that it probably would have been a couple more months before it became lose but I reassured him that this is what happens to baby teeth. He got a huge smile when he realized that when it feel out, he would be getting a dollar from the toothfairy. All was well after that!

Oh, and this was about a week ago and since then, the other bottom tooth has fallen out....my toothless boy!