Happy Birthday Mom!

Today we are wishing my mom a happy happy birthday!

She threatened my life if I exposed her true age. We will just say that I am 27 and tell you that I am her oldest (you can make a guess from there!)

Here are some fun memories through the years...

My first birthday Sept 1982 (Wasn't my mom cute!-she still is by the way)

Christmas 1983

This just might be one of our worst pictures, but it is one of very few with us and our mom.~five kids in five years (you might call her amazing or just slightly crazy!)

My mom and I in Helen, GA (I think this was Christmas 2001)

This is when she came to pick me up from my mission (July 2004)

Mom at my wedding (July 2005)

She flew to Utah and stayed for a week and a half to help me when Tanner was born (Nov 2006). I probably appreciated my mom here more than any other time in my life! She was a life saver!

The reason I waned to include these pictures is to make the point that my mom is the one person who has been there for the most important moments of my life! Thanks mom for making me a priority!

5 Reasons we love my Mom:
1. She helped us when Tanner was born and Kenny was finishing school!
2. She raised 5 kids practically by herself!
3. Every decision she made, while we were kids, had our best interest at heart.
4. She always gives the Grandkids too many sweets ( Tanner tells me he wants to see alabama-grandma for some more candy!)
5. No one has loved us kids more!

I love you Mom, hope your birthday was the best!

Popcorn!

Wow, there is nothing like popcorn and a movie if you want to find some peace and quiet with 6 kids in the house (it doens't work so well for Jack-Jack, but he was already in bed).

I thought this picture was awesome- I doubt I could ever re-create this one!

Riley, Sydney, Carley, Tanner, and Hailey (these blondey sure look like cousins to me!)

Now, if only I could find the trick to calm down this one (kenny)!

Kenny just had his birthday, and we celebrated Korean style!

I made Budea Chigae, and Pul-Kogi (if you are impressed you should be!)

For dessert we had Cherry Cordial Cheesecake! (this one is definitely not Korean)

This picture is a painting from an investigator on his mission. It was getting pretty messed up in his mission tote, so I decided to have it framed and that is what inspired the party.
Kenny was very surprised, and I was super happy with the way it turned out!

He loved it and we had a ton of fun and until a couple of kids ran the tractor into the father-in-laws truck, but that story is for another day!

Happy Birthday Riley!

Riley is now 9 years old!

It is crazy to watch our wedding video, and see little 5 year old Riley!

Here he is reading to Tanner, and we love to have him over.

5 Reasons we love Riley:

1. He is a great cousin and brother!

2. He is super at sleep-overs and likes to help clean-up even!

3. He is good at sports, works hard at school, and does great in cub scouts!

4. He has lots of funny jokes!

5. He can climb a tree as fast as a monkey!

Happy Birthday Carley!

Sweet little Carley is 2 years old! She is only about 6 months younger than Tan, and hopefully they can be great playmates (some day)!

Kim made this darling and amazing cake! I had to post it because it was so simple and so cute, I thought all you mother's of girls would be interested in how to do it! I'll send you the link if you want.

We just love little Carley and are glad to have her much closer these days!

Watch out Michael Jordan...

Here comes Tanner!

I was shocked how well Tanner did with this basketball he got for Easter. The hoop is down a couple steps from where Tanner is, but I was still impressed!

We spend a lot of time doing church ball in the winter, so he was excited to have his very own b-ball.

Easter-part 3 (farm style)

Kenny's family taught me all about Easter on the farm!

After dinner, we went out side and rolled the Easter Eggs.

For those of you who are not familiar with this custom, I will help you out...

1. You use a shovel to create a trail down the side of a hill.

2. Then you let em' roll!

3. Then, you scream and cheer when your egg hits the bottom of the hill.

(Hailey arrived at our house as pink-a-licious- as she called herself!)

4. When you have rolled all the eggs, you go to the bottom of the hill and collect the eggs.

5. You continue rolling the eggs until they completely fall apart, then you roll the yolks (that is when you really get some speed!)

Now, for anyone who thinks that this is crazy country fun...you are right! It really was a blast, so don't knock it till you tried it!

If you are looking for a new Easter tradition, give this a whirl (or should I say roll).

Easter -part 2

It took Tanner a few minutes, when he woke up, to remember that it was Easter morning.

We spent some time last Monday teaching Tanner the meaning behind Easter and if you ask, this is what he will say...

"What happened to Jesus?"

Tanner: "He died"

"Then what happened?"

Tanner: "He lived again!"

It is so cute, I'm sure he doesn't really understand what he is saying, but it is cute to watch him learn!

His tie was broken.
His favorite new toy!

Jackson wasn't as enthusiastic as Tanner!

But he cuaght on eventually!

Steven and Carlyn stayed with us!

I love the look on Jack-Jack's face here.

Okay, since I don't have girls to dress all matching, I work with what we have!

Happy Easter!

We hope all of you had a great time celebrating the ressurection of our Savior!