The Great Eight!

We just celebrated Paiton's 8th birthday. I say it all the time but I can't believe she is 8. The last 8 years have flown by and it feels like yesterday I had a newborn.

Paiton has grown into such a lovely little lady. She is smart, sweet, and overall a really great person. I could go on and on about this little girl but I'll try to keep it short.

Paiton loves school. Her teachers love her and always comments on what a good student she is. She gets along with everyone and has a ton of friends. It breaks her heart when people are mean and strives to treat everyone equally. She is smart and picks up on things really easily.

Paiton is a sweetheart - she really is. She has a soft heart and love everyone. She always wants to help others. I don't know how to say it but she is just a great person - inside and out.

She loves her family and loves to spend time with everyone. She is still a social girl and always wants to be around people and parties.

Her favorite things: Horses, Family, and Friends, and probably in that order :) She hates meat and refuses to eat it. I believe she will grow up to be a vegetarian. She loves all animals. She loves sports (soccer, baseball, tumbling) and wants to be involved with all of those things. We are starting her in piano lessons soon. Of course we think she is the prettiest, most talented, sweetest girl alive.

Her birthday was a success. We pulled off another great celebration. We started the partying on Sunday with the family.

All of the cousins gathered around the cake for their turn to blow out the candles. In our family everyone gets a turn to blow out the candles. ;)

Showing off her Stompees!

How can I resist this adorable picture of Kole running from the camera. 

Then came the actual birthday. Her birthday fell on a Monday so we took her to dinner for a birthday treat and public singing. She loved it. 

Then came the craziness of her friend party. We had about 15 eight year old girls at our house. The high pitched screams and giggles were enough to need a drink. They all had a great time though.

We had a treasure hunt, this is the girls going through their loot.

Heavy, Heavy, Hangover thy poor head. Man I miss being a little girl.

Happy Birthday Sweet-P. Your my angel and so happy you came into my life 8 years ago. I look forward to many more birthdays together.

Easter 2013

Another Easter has come and gone. This Easter was pretty uneventful filled with the usual suspects, Easter Baskets, Egg Hunts, and Candy. 

Kole finding his basket with some major bed-head. The Easter Bunny always brings swimsuits and summer clothes. 

The Easter Bunny also hides eggs all over the house. The girls are gathering them. Kole would want to open each egg and eat his treasure before moving on. Needless to say, he didn't find many eggs.

We unveiled the girl's new rooms. And they loved it.

Just a cute picture from that day. Kole was "fixing" the chair. He did this for a good 20 minutes and was very serious about it. 

The annual Easter Egg Hunt at Grandma's. We all sat outside and enjoyed the sunshine.

The kids all lined up, starting with the littlest one. Uncle Greg trying to be the littlest. :)

Another fun Easter has past.

Operation: Room Remodel

Paiton has been bugging me for quite some time about having her own room. The girls have been sharing a room since Saige was a baby. I had to agree with Paiton and think it was time for her to have her own space. She needed some privacy and a space to call her own. 

The problem: I didn't have enough space upstairs to give everyone their own room. Saige didn't want to share with Kole and Paiton didn't want to move downstairs by herself. 

The solution: Move them all downstairs. 

I started with the girls and figure when we move Kole out of his crib we will move him. I wanted it to be a surprise so I locked them out for a week and remodeled. There were some very long nights spent in these rooms and on Easter morning we had a reveal party. 

They both love it. Much to my surprise, they have stayed in their beds everynight and handled the adjustment very well. It has been a very good move for them to have their own space and have the ability to go in their room and shut the door. I also love it because all of their crap stays downstairs. 

I also quickly found out who the messy one is. Paiton has kept her room squeeky clean. She makes her bed every morning and makes sure everything is picked up. Saige on the other hand always has a mess. Funny how you find these things out. Here are the pictures.

Paiton's Before Picture. This is our old bed that we have just been using for guests. 

Saige's Before Picture

Paiton's After Picture. We decorated with horses and cowgirls. It is brown and pink and adorable. The room totally fits her and her personality.

My favorite part of her room. These are her first pair of cowgirl boots. The soles are all wore out and they paint a clear picture how much she loved them.

Saige's After Picture. Her room is all girl - pink and green. It also fits her personality so well.

I gave both of them a corkboard to hang all their art work and stickers on. No more hanging stuff on the walls. :)

Love

Dean's List

I'm so proud of my hubby. He has spent the last 18 months finishing up his college degree. There have been countless nights of him up until 2AM studying, frustrating moments, and a lot of hard work. He will be finished with his degree this semester, except for Math. We made a conscious decision at the beginning of this to hold Math to the end. It is a class he has struggled with for years.  I have no doubt he will make it through Math by himself, but he is offer $1500 for anyone that wants to do it for him (wink, wink).

I'm proud of his dedication and drive to finish and finally accomplishing the goal he set out for a long time ago.

You'll never believe the letter he received in the mail this week. Keep in mind, this is Rory. When he started back to school he had a GPA of 2.something. I remember telling him he had been a terrible student. He had a bunch of D's, F's, and C's on his transcript. We had to write a letter to UVU in order for them to accept him because his GPA was so low. In the last 18 months, I think he has received one B, the rest A's. See what happens when you are dedicated and serious about your education.

The same guy has been placed on the Dean's List for having a high GPA! He brushed it off like no big deal, but I think it is a big deal. Congrats Rory!

Here is a copy of the letter:

If you can't read it:
"Dear Rory,
On behalf of the College of Aviation and Public Services and Utah Valley University, we congratulate you for achieving a high GPA for the Fall 2012 term and attaining a place of honor on the Dean's List. We are pleased to recognize you for your hard work and academic excellence. We applaud and encourage your dedication, perseverance, commitment, intellectual capability, and desire to learn in pursuit of an education.
Sincerely,
Wayne Dorman, Dean"

I couldn't of said it better myself. It makes me happy. I love this guy!

A Weekend Getaway

A few weeks ago we decided to ditch the cold weather and head for warmer temperatures - St. George. Mom and Bryce were there and said they would share a house with us - so off we went. My brother Wade and his family were there for a baseball tournament as well.
We had a great weekend away from the work at home. Saturday we spent the entire day at the ballpark cheering on my nephew Jake. They ended up winning the championship, which was really cool. Congrats Jake! I'm glad we were there to witness it. I can say I'm a Rebels fan now. The kids were so good enduring baseball all day and just enjoyed the time outside. The weather was amazing.
On Sunday, we took a little hike around the red rocks with our cousins. Paiton loved it and wanted to keep climbing up and up. Saige wasn't so amused and wanted to get back into air conditioning (such a girl). And Kole we couldn't keep out of the dirt.
I love weekends like this where there are no plans, no agendas, and just plain ol' family fun.

The Champions! Did I mention my brother is the coach. They beat out 48 other teams this weekend.

Rory followed Kole around like this the entire time, making sure he didn't fall. Good Dad!

King of the Hill! That is Jake, Paiton, and Zac way up there.

The klan. What a lovely bunch.

Paiton and the boys made it through this crack in the mountain. The rest of us waited at the bottom.

Running with the big boys.

The magical red sand.

Cute cousins.

Kole also loved to pull Lexi around on her leash. He kept telling her to "come doggy".

I've climbed to the top of this mountain many times in my lifetime. It is a complete drop to the street. I'm not scared of heights, but boy was I nervous with my kids standing up there. So was Rory, as you can see from this picture. It is crazy what kids can do to you.