Some More Updates

Taylor is pinning on the mother's pin because he earned his Bear rank in Cub Scouts. He worked hard to accomplish this and here is why . . . scroll down



He went from this . . .

to this.

Yes, we had to bribe him with contact lenses. He's very active and his glasses kept getting in the way. He's so much happier with them and actually takes better care of them than I do of mine.



This is what happens when teeth meet teeth.

The boys were jumping up to bite the string of a deflating balloon (fun game, I know) when their teeth met in the air. Fortunately Taylor's front right (his right, our left) had just a minor chip. Unfortunately Dallin's right front tooth got the brunt end of the deal. He now has half of a fake tooth. That's boys for you. I'm sure we'll have plenty of fun accidents in the future with these two.

Birthdays

Here are the birthdays I have missed over the last few months:


Feb.10 : Kamrie Jeneal turns 6! She wanted a "date" with her parents. So we took her out to dinner at Red Lobster (her choice) and went shopping at the mall and Toys R Us.

This is one sweet girl ready to dig into one sweet cake.

This is the family, minus the mom because she is always behind the camera.

March 28: Jarin turns the Big 3-5! We took the whole family to get some burgers from the Training Table. It wasn't his first choice to eat out there; but it was getting late, we were hungry, and the Training Table didn't have a wait like everyone else. However, we made up for it by going to Red Lobster later to get his favorite meal, the Ultimate Feast, thanks to Mom and Dave's gift card.

We're ready to dig into a gluten-free angel food cake with strawberries! Yum! Yum!

Jarin's reaction to Mom and Dave's card.




Jarin's reaction to my (sniff) card.

April 19th: Sienna Marie (aka Sisi) turns 3! This time we took the family to Red Robin.

Sisi was very excited when the waitress brought out this monster of a Mudd Pie.

As you can see, we were all very excited too!




She almost inhaled the fire trying to blow the candles out.
Her cake was very pink--just how she wanted it.

Sisi loves her new dress that Grandma D made for her.

Life

Sienna insisted on doing the dishes. She actually did a good job rinsing and placing them in the dishwasher. I need to cherish this because her enthusiasm for helping will fade, I'm sure, like the others. We are not allowed to call her our baby anymore. She will correct you and say, "I not a baby. I a big girl." And that she is. We are potty training her this week. Her "number one" is doing great. Her "number two" needs a little work, as I feared. She is afraid to go number two in the toilet. She will actually ask me to put a diaper on her when she needs to go. A few minutes later after she has "done her duty", she will let me know and I put her underwear back on (after I clean up, of course).


Kamrie had two loose teeth for a couple of months. She was excited to get her permanent teeth in, until the first one came in behind her baby tooth. I called the dentist and made an appointment for her to be seen because I wasn't sure if it would somehow still come out on its own or if it would need to be pulled. The dentist said that it had to be pulled. She only had a topical ointment placed around her tooth before they pulled it out. But she was tough. Then the dentist had to try and decide if her other bottom tooth would have the same problem. If so, she would be right back in to get it pulled as well. He felt it would be wise to pull it now versus later. This one was harder to get out. I could see her body tense during the process. I HATE watching my kids be in pain. Tears came to both our eyes. But she was still very tough and the dental assistant commented on how amazingly brave she was. Kamrie then got a big chocolate covered ice cream cone from Arctic Cirlce and eight quarters from the tooth fairy that night. Kamrie said she felt the tooth fairy take her teeth and give her the money. She now has a harder time saying words with "s" and "sh". It is quite cute.
















On the left is the Juarez Temple in Mexico. This is the temple that inspired President Hinckley to build many small temples around the world. On the right is the "Jenny Phillips" fireside group that went to Mexico to sing a few weekends ago. They are standing in front of the LDS high school called the Academy. They sang here as well as for the Stake in the area. Jarin stayed with a really nice couple with a big house. The wife is from Utah and the husband is native to the area.

Temple Square

Every December we like to go to Salt Lake Temple Square and look at the lights. This year we invited Grandma Nae, took some hot chocolate, and had a nice time enjoying one of our holiday traditions.

Dallin's Baptism

So Dallin was baptized and confirmed over a month ago on December 1st. I don't know what my deal is, but I can't seem to either find the time or the energy to blog sometimes. But here it finally is.

It was a wonderful day with Grandma and Grandpa D, the Spragues, Grandpa Stevens, Quin and Vanessa and family, Becca, the Flints, and a couple of neighbors who showed their support. We enjoyed quite the snow storm that morning. Thank goodness we had several soups to choose from for the luncheon afterwards. It was the perfect meal for a cold, blustery day. Thanks to everyone who helped out by bringing a soup, for the gifts, and for showing up. I really appreciate everyone's love and support for our sweet Dallin. It was a special day for him. I am so happy that he has chosen to follow his Savior and gain the awesome gift of the Holy Ghost to help him in this life. I am really proud of him and his decisions. Here are some pictures from that day. Dallin isn't smiling in them because I think he doesn't like his smile (he has mentioned that once before). I know it was a happy day for him.

We Already Have to Deal With This?

There's a cute little girl from Taylor's class that keeps calling him--not just once in a while, but several times a day. They will talk about nothing for quite a while until we tell Taylor that he needs to get off. They are holding up the phone line to sit in silence sometimes while they do their own thing. It's really quite funny. . . or scary . . . I don't know what to think! Aren't we too young to be dealing with this? I know he has had his eye on her for a while. One of his best friends used to like her and she liked him. Taylor actually made a beaded necklace with her name on it for his friend to give to her while they were "going out". His friend, of course, didn't want to give it to her. Eventually they "broke up" and Taylor's friend was heart broken. I don't know if she broke up with him for Taylor or what. I sure hope not. We've talked to Taylor about him being too young to have a "girlfriend". He says that they are only friends, but I still can't help but wonder. Luckily at this age, not much harm can be done. We'll have to let you know how the saga ends.

Dallin's 8th Birthday

We celebrated Dallin's 8th birthday twice, once with Jarin's family the day before his birthday, and once again the day after his birthday with friends. Since his actual birthday was on a Sunday, it was very low key. We made his favorite meal: shrimp scampi, macaroni and cheese, and fruit (grapes, apples, and bananas). We served it on our nice china.

His birthday party was on Monday right after school. He had eight friends join him at a place called "Jump On It" in Lindon. The kids got to jump for an hour on a whole bunch of trampolines that are connected together in a 10,000 square foot warehouse. There were even trampolines on the side of the walls. Jarin said it was an awesome workout. I think he had as much fun as the kids. I just stood by and watched. Afterwards, we brought the kids back to our house for pizza, cake, ice cream, and presents. I think Dallin felt that it was a special birthday. He is so easy to please! Here are some pictures during his party.

I will blog about his baptism when I get the pictures from everyone. The battery to my camera died right when we were about to take pictures after the baptism.