My friend Alison is an amazing photographer. I asked her if she would mind taking a few pictures for Harlee's baptism. They turned out perfectly! What a beautiful girl we have! I just love her! SO excited for her special day on February 7th. The last picture is of the invitation we made!
On Saturday we all went to Chuck A Rama to celebrate Grandpa's 70th birthday! The kids were in heaven eating anything they wanted. We even found something there that Tag would eat- icecream, apples and an icee! So grateful for Joey's dad and for the example he is to our family. We just love him and hope to have many many more Chuck a Rama celebrations with him for years to come!
On Friday we had Tag's testing for services through the Alpine School District. His services with Kids on the Move end at three so we are making plans for the next steps in his treatment. They did multiple testing for over 1 1/2 hours. This stubborn guy would not participate willingly. They finally offered his a smartie if he would do his work. This clever motivation was a great idea! He qualified in areas for speech, cognitive learning, and social/emotional behavior. We will soon meet with the school administrators of where he will be attending to set up an IEP. He will start as soon as he is three. This is so great so that there is not a break in his therapy. We continue to see such progress and I would be so sad if that were to stop. I have been so heartbroken over the struggles this little guy has to endure. Such a learning process for me and I pray I can be everything that he needs me to be. I promise to do all that I can to help him live his best life.
I LOVE this picture of Tag. How cute is he??
When I came home from working out this morning I found these two boys snuggling in my bed. How cute are they?? I thought it was important to document this moment. I can show them one day when they are not getting along that they love to be close to each other! They are so funny. We have them sleeping together on a full bed in their room. If one of them wanders in our room in the middle of the night, the other one is not too far behind.
Yesterday was Martin Luther King day so the kids were out of school and Joey did not have to work. We decided to go to the Dinosaur museum along with the rest of Utah County! It was so fun to watch the kids all interact. They are so lucky to have each other. Everyone got a long and they had so much fun. They wanted me to take a picture of them in front of the shark and then another one on the rock outside the museum. I think the outdoor picture might be my favorite of all of them together. I love that they are all looking at the camera! Such a darling picture of my favorite little people. So blessed to be their mom!
On Sunday Joey and I celebrated 13 years of marriage. It is so crazy to think that we have been married that long. I can honestly say that it just keeps getting better. I love him more every day and he is truly my best friend. There is a line in a song that always makes me think of Joey. It says "I sat beside you and became myself". I feel that I am becoming the best version of myself because of his love and example. He quietly motivates me to push myself to do things that I never thought I could do. I love him for that and for a million other reasons. I am truly the luckiest! With our anniversary being on a Sunday and all the craziness going on right now, we have promised to celebrate in March with a nice dinner and night away. Cannot wait!
*The lighting is so bad but good luck trying to get Joey to take another picture!
Yesterday was another swim meet for Luke. I cannot say enough about what a gifted swimmer he is. He has such great form and improves by strides with every meet. This meet he swam the 50 backstroke, the 50 breaststroke, the 100 IM, and the 50 freestyle. He did amazing in all of the races but his backstroke was the best. He went from 1:03 to 56 sec. He shaved off 7 seconds. This is Luke's favorite stroke and he is so good at it. So proud of you Luke. You work so hard and the hard work pays off! So fun to be your number one cheerleader aka crazy mom!!
On Wednesday Nash got to bring home Traverse the tiger. You spend time doing fun things with the tiger and then write about it in the class journal. We had a crazy night Wednesday with my school and Joey working late. So we decided to take Traverse on Thursday morning to Beyond Glaze and share a yummy donut. I think Traverse enjoyed it more than me since my other two kids were not on their best behavior. The outing did not last too long but we had the picture we needed! Such a cute boy!
Harlee's party started at 5 and she could not wait! As her friends entered they were sent to Harlee where she opened a present from them. Once everyone arrived we ate pizza and then hurried off to the movie theater. Harlee wanted to see the new Annie! We borrowed some mugs from Jenna so each girl got a big mug to fill, a box of mike and ike's and we also bought popcorn. They were set and they all sat so quietly through the movie. It was so cute and a few of the girls even got choked up at the end! My friend Cami came with me to help and it was so nice to not be the only adult with 8 girls. When we took them all home we gave them a cupcake for their treat! Such a fun night! Harlee has such great friends and seems to be the one who makes them all laugh! So lucky to be a part of her celebration!
*Luke was my photographer and he blessed us with a few selfies! This was one of his best!
She is 8!! I cannot believe it! What an amazing year to come for our little girl! I got to go to her class and read to them. Then she brought cookies to share. They all sang to her- it was so cute. Then we came home and had her party (I will post those pictures separately!). After her party she got to open up her presents from us. She got some cute clothes, a nail polish kit, a new barbie, and her own blue ray player! So spoiled! We ended the night with a turqoiose cake- her favorite color. I just love Harlee and feel so blessed to be her mom! Happy Birthday to my FAVORITE girl!
We got Harlee's dress for her baptism in the mail and it fits! I love it! She looks so beautiful. Cannot wait for her to wear it on her special day! Love this girl!
Yesterday they came and took pictures of the house and today the sign went up! I guess we are really doing this! This is quite the act of faith for us. We love our house but we also recognize that if we sell we can get in a much better financial position. We are hoping to sell this home and pay off the St George house. We are going tonight to look at another house in our neighborhood. It would really nice if it could work out to achieve what we need to but have minimal change. The house also happens to be the same exact model that we are in now! We will see! Here's hoping it sells quickly! Not sure how I am going to keep this big house clean!
Yesterday I was down cleaning the basement when Tag walked up to me wearing a mask. The fact that he was wearing a mask is amazing and then he said "I Spiderman!" It was so cute. Love this little guy and all of the progress he is showing on a daily basis!
With the Thanksgiving Point pass we can also visit the Dinosaur Museum. We got there yesterday when it opened and we basically had the whole place to ourselves. I took the three littles and they loved it. I decided not to take the stroller and to just let Tag be big! It was so fun to watch him attempt to do everything that his brother's were doing. It was so cute. This is such a good thing to be able to watch Tag model good behavior. He is progressing so much and I feel so hopeful. So wonderful to watch them all enjoy being together!
Nash has been thinking about getting his patriarchal blessing for a little while now. Harlee told him of how they did a devotional at HXP b...
