Colt is 4!

Colt is 4!! I love this kid!! He is sweet, funny, passionate, dramatic, uses his hands when he talks, serious, sincere, believes anything his sisters say, likes to bug his sisters, and loves to play with them!

Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to Colt, happy birthday to you!

His favorite gift was his small prize machine! I would love it too if it didn't play terribly annoying music the whole time. I did love that entertained him for a week straight though!

Colt and Ellie got a few fingers into the cake before we got to the party!

Colt and his buddy and cousin McKay! Colt had his party at Chuck E Cheese and he was super happy to have all his friends there with him.

Livy won one of the big payouts of tickets! She was pretty happy!

I think he spent most of his tokens on this roller coaster ride! 

Get ready to blow out the cake, and….

Go! I love how happy Caroline is watching him!

Happy boy! Happy birthday Colt! We sure love you buddy!

Colt got a turn in the ticket blaster. He was a little unsure about it so Livy went with him to help out. It was hysterical because the tickets and his arms were flying everywhere and he didn't catch one, poor kid! He did have one stuck on his back when he came out!

Luckily Livy wore the crown and got a lot stuck in there and she got a few in her hands. Such a sweet sister, she is always trying he help out her siblings, love her.

Dad made it for some of the party and his little shadow was right there with him! Rachel has a special love for her dad. She always wants to hang out with him which is awesome. I love you too Rae even when you love dad more than me! Poor Rachel, she was scared to death of Chuck E Cheese and he came out for a little dance 3 times while we were there so we had a few crying breakdowns but we made it through. Mascots are her biggest fear, but we are working on it, poor girl.

I love this one!

Ellie was awesome at the party! She took care of herself and ran around the whole time just having fun.  Thank you Ellie for making my life easier at this party, such a cutie and so fun, sure love you honey.

He opened his gifts up after he got home and loved everything! 

He loves showing people "I'm this how many" he is on hand! He makes me smile. I hope you had a great birthday Colt! We all love you and are so happy you are in our family. You are the best boy we could ask for ! 

Getting Ready For Christmas

The kids were so excited to get the Christmas season going! They couldn't wait to get the decorations out and play with everything. They were so into Shorty the elf this year and Shorty did a pretty good job remembering to move every night too! Colt was the cutest to watch as he was always explaining the Santa/elf stuff to Ellie. He was definitely the most excited with all the Christmas stuff this year. Ellie loved the lights around the neighborhood the best. She kept calling every ones lights "Halloween" since that is the only decorations she ever remembers seeing! "Look at the Halloween mom!" It was so cute. They were kind of bummed we didn't put any lights up outside this year because we were headed to New York for Christmas and gave ourselves a break on the lights. 

Colt took this, it is just to document that I was around this Christmas season since I didn't make any other pictures!

I love this picture! This is what life is normally like around here! Thanks for smiling through it Eric! What a great dad you are!

We talked Eric into getting a tree this year, he was against it because we were leaving a week before Christmas, but how could we not!! The kids are never going to love Christmas as much as they do right now. They make everything more fun at Christmas time. It feels like a whirlwind of a month but it is a great month. 

We didn't have an string with us when we got this so we rode slowly home balancing it on the roof! It looks like a mini tree here! It was small but not as small as it looks :)

Eric loves the Christmas traditions. He loves getting a real tree and spending time there with the kids picking out the perfect one. This year we stopped at a grocery store after dinner one night, chose the cheapest one we could find and it had lots of holes in it. Not his ideal situation but the kids had a blast with the holey tree! All they cared about was decorating it and that we actually got one! 

Could they be any happier!!

My calling at church is with the 8&9 year old girls. We took them Christmas caroling at the nursing home near church. They were a little shy but did a great job! The residents were so happy to have us there and hear some songs, great job girls!

We had a fun night of crazy cookie decorating with our friends! The kids were so happy and it is awesome having some older kids around to help with the younger ones, bonus for me!

Gabby and Olivia

Rachel and Jenna

Colt, Kennady, and Ellie

Colt and I catching a nap one day when we got a chance :)

Some From the Fall

Happy boy! It is so easy to tell when he is tired because he becomes so whiny and argumentative. But most of the time is he fun and happy!

When the girls try and tell him what to do and he doesn't want to listen he yells at them "your are not the mommy!"

Livy loves making her swirly a's but says she isn't allowed to in school!

Livy and Isaac. They both ran the fun run at the Bearkat Bash put on by the school district. She did great, had a super fun time and wants to do it again next year. 

Way to go Livy!

Good thing she had her sparkly hat on or I would have had a hard time finding her!

Proud runner! Loving all the free goodies she got!

The girls tried karate for a few lessons but then decided were not ready to commit to it yet :) Even though they loved the "outfits." Rachel was so excited to get a karate "outfit" as she calls it!

Little naked gymnast!

She loves wearing dresses, she picks them by herself almost everyday and dresses herself too!

He doesn't let me kiss him any more, only give high fives. I sneak some in some times but he tells me he won't be my friend if I do that!

These are a little old but it was when it finally cooled down enough to be at the park without sweating through your clothes!

She loves following her big brother. He loves her too. The other night Ellie went in the backyard when it was dark out and Colt started hysterically crying, "Ellie, no don't go out there, some one will take you and we will never see you again, no Ellie, come back in here….." Poor guy got a little worried, tears streaming down his face, he is  a little scared of the dark.

This was the handout for a relief society meeting and I laugh every time I see it! 

Waiting in the hall at church. Just hit me how old these guys are now!

A fun day at the park :)

Is there anything better than when they get a long and look like they love each other! I love how Ellie and Colt just adore the girls :)