Eight, Eight, Eight is GREAT!

Julianna turned 8 this year.  She wanted a rabbit, her very own bike (since she's been riding a hand me down), and to be baptized.  

Eight.

I can't believe she's 8.  I still refer to her as 5.  I don't know why but I can't let her grow up. Eight is such an amazing age to be.  So precious.  So lovely.  So important in our faith.  8 is the age of accountability and the time where you can choose to be baptized.  Julianna decided to enter the waters of baptism and become a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  To make this important day even more special she was baptized on her actual birthday.  She could hardly wait to be baptized, she was so excited! I took some photos and we also had photos taken.  She shared her baptism day with one of her good friends so we had photos are both of the girls taken as well.  It was a beautiful day for a beautiful girl.  (The first two photos of Julianna in her dress and the one above were taken by me, the next 5 were taken by April Kentner, my friend and real photographer)

 

 

Oh...and she got the bike she asked for.  She didn't get the bunny.  

 

Aidan turns 3

This boy.  This boy right here is my heart beat.  He is the music that moves me.  He is life and happiness and sunshine.  He loves to run up to me and hug me and tell me that I am his best friend.  He likes to get into everything and terrorize.  He is so curious, so smart, so happy, so curious, so wonderful.  Such a quirky little thing he loves family, he loves nursery at church, he loves all things Thomas the Train and he loves the temple.  His only birthday request was that I take him to play at the Gym and he wanted a red Thomas the train cake with rings.  His wish is my command.   

Happy THIRD Birthday Aidan Bug!

 

 

 

 

 

I turned 32, Jeremiah turned 37....

Starting with Camryn's birthday we have 5 birthdays in a 5 week period. 4 of those are in September. 2 of those are Jeremiah and I. Obviously the kids care much more about getting older than we do so the majority of our celebrating revolves around them but since we did do a couple fun things this year I thought I'd just highlight them really quickly. I got a haircut, a new outfit and Jeremiah went out to the Starlight Theater to see Miss Saigon...which was totally depressing but amazing at the same time. 

 

Jeremiah loves Mumford & Sons and the week before his birthday I happened to score tickets from a friend like 2 hours before the concert!!  The best part is that they announced that it was their last concert for a long time because they were going to stop touring.  I feel so lucky that we got to see them because it was seriously the very best concert I have ever, ever been to.  We talked about it for days after. 

 

 

 

DARN FLASH! 

It took like 4 tries and Jeremiah was totally over the top cheesing it to keep his eyes open!

To celebrate Jeremiah's actual birthday we committed total gluttony for the second year in a row and went to Fogo De Chao which is a Brazilian Churrasco restaurant.  They bring you all the meat you can eat straight to your table.  I seriously need a 5 hour nap after eating there but OH MY! It's delicioso!

 

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO US!

Camryn turns ONE!

Camryn Aurora turned ONE years old on August 25th.  It was kind of bitter sweet if I'm being completely honest.  She is my last baby and turning one just really meant to me that I would never again have a tiny infant.  At her birthday Camryn was still unable to walk and preferred crawling with one leg straight out to the side and the other knee on the ground.  She uses the extended leg as sort of a paddle to propel her self across the floor.  In a way it was kind of nice that she hadn't begun to walk yet because I get to enjoy the totally dependent baby phase for just a little longer while I adjust to the idea of my baby turning one.  (as I write this Camryn is a little over 13 months now and although she can now walk she still prefers to crawl.)



A couple hours after Birth

One years old

The week before her party my good friend Charlee did a little photo shoot and took some beautiful pictures.  Cammy isn't a real smiley baby.  She is very curious and cautious, prefers to study things before really opening up.  I think that these pictures capture her personality perfectly.    Sweet, quiet, loving, innocent, purity, wonder, and happiness, that's my Cammy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

On her birthday, we had little backyard dinner party with friends to celebrate. She was really digging into the cake until frosting started getting all over her legs and then she started crying.  I really think that she was just overwhelmed by all of the people crowded around her taking photos and cheering her on.  Ashlynne was designated the party photographer and she took photos with her camera BUT like the responsible teenager that she is she has misplaced the cord to download the pictures so they are trapped on an SD card for now.  I did take a couple with my phone so for now that's what we have...

 

Elise Birthday Party

So it's obvious that I'm awful at blogging.  I'm great at facebook.  I'm awesome at instagram.  I stink at blogging.  I really do wish it was easier to blog from my phone because honestly having a free minute to sit in front of an actual computer to write a blog is just a foreign concept.  Having a free minute. period. is a  foreign concept.  I'm always on the go....always doing some chore or chauffeuring or running some errand or nursing a baby or making a meal or I'm just plain to tired to think so I sit on the couch staring into outer space while the laundry piles up around me and Aidan makes some awful tornadic mess.  (My spell check is telling me TORNADIC is not a word, oh well.)

I really don't feel like life is all that interesting to blog about.  It's easier for me to capture a quick picture on instagram then to capture a whole story for the blog.  Weird.  The kids and I were looking through the blog the other day and they just love all the old pictures and stories and....  Well I suppose this blog is sort of like a family journal since I don't scrapbook anymore (quit that when Elise was a year old) and I don't have a real journal anymore. 

Soooo....Prepare for photo dump....

Elise turned 10 on December 10th.  What we call her "GOLDEN BIRTHDAY"  Golden birthdays are huge in our family and we always try to go allllll out on the party.  Elise's birthday is always a tricky one because it's right at Christmas time and we can never find a day to do a party when people can actually attend.  It's just hard to compete with holiday parties, recitals, church functions, Christmas shopping, you name it!!  We decided to hold off until January to have the party.  Then our whole family got sick and we tried to get back to the routine of school and....oh my gosh planning a party was insane.  This was supposed to be her GOLDEN BIRTHDAY and I totally shirked.  POOP!!!!!!!  It was approaching the end of January, so I decided to throw together a party in 3 days.  I allowed her to invite 3 friends to Cosmic Jump (no siblings, just her and her friends) and then back to our house for pizza, cake, music and dancing (family included).  It was PERFECT.  She had so much fun and she kept talking about it for days after.  SUCCESSSSSSS!!!