Kaylee turned 9 years old on September 4th, 2010. She was so excited. The day before, Friday, they celebrated her birthday at school. She did a poster that showed her family and her likes and dislikes and what she wanted to be when she grew up. Shelby helped her with it. She decided that she wanted to be a veterinarian. So they came up with the idea to print off a picture from the computer of a vet and then put Kaylee face over it. It turned out pretty funny and it looked pretty good! She loved it.

We kept asking her what she wanted for her birthday and no matter when we asked her it always changed. So we did our best and it seemed like she liked what we got her. Since Shelby got an iPod for her birthday this year we thought we would give Kaylee a chance at technology. So we passed down Shelby's MP3 player to her. She was so excited. Can you tell?

She also asked for some Pokemon cards...I don't know why...but she and her friend that recently moved to Tennessee I guess would play with them. So she said she wanted to practice so then when she saw him again she would be able to beat him. I think she'll have a LONG time to practice. :)



She had told Shelby that she wanted a clock in her room just like Shelby had. So we thought since she was getting the MP3 player that we would get her one to go with that. It works with iPods but there's a place in the back for an auxiliary cable for her MP3 player. So we still need to get that but she likes to listen to music at night and she loves having an alarm to help her wake up.

She also wanted a lamp "just like Shelby." I think there's a theme here.

Since Kaylee is Kaylee and she LOVES things that sparkle and have "bling" we thought she would love this. It's like the Bedazzler (all you old people know what I'm talking about). You put gems and stuff like that on your clothes and things. We told her though that she has to ask before she can use this because we thought she would put them on EVERYTHING that she owns and that's not good.

Curt wanted to get her something to put her lamp and alarm clock on. So this is what he and Shelby came up with, since they did most of the shopping. It's pretty cool all put together and she loves it.

This is one thing that she didn't change her mind on. She wanted the DS game Super Mario Brothers. The only thing is that now that she has it she can't find her DS. So that still hasn't been played yet. Maybe we shouldn't have let her try the MP3 player. Hopefully the DS will turn up soon. If you've seen it please let us know. She would be very grateful :)

This is another thing that she didn't change her mind about. She wanted the Zhu-Zhu pet that was pink and had bunny ears. She showed it to me when we were at Walmart before school started and when I went back to get it it was gone. I just about died. I kept checking back and one day while they were at school there was one and I got it before it was too late. Phew!!!

This was Shelby's contribution. She bought this for her with her own money. Curt calls it the "Cube of Fuchsia". We had fun trying to hide this in our closet for a couple days before her birthday. The lid comes off and you can store stuff in there. I'm sure it's already full of "stuff". We hid a couple of presents in there for her to find thinking that it would be hard...it wasn't. She knew exactly what it did.

This was from Aunt Katie and Uncle Brad. Of course she doesn't like it as you can see in the picture. Of course I'm joking. She loves it...but she loves you guys more. Thanks Katie and Brad!

These were from Grandma Moon. It's another Zhu-Zhu pet and a baby Zhu-Zhu pet which she had asked me for but we had already done our shopping so Grandma hit it right on the mark!

This was from Grandma and Grandpa Nye. It's the Lego Indiana Jones 2 game for the Wii. She has played this since, thankfully, she's not in charge of where the Wii is put. She and her friend that moved away would play this all the time.

Grandma and Grandpa also got her some clothes. She opened this up and Shelby let out a gasp. She was so disappointed because that was the shirt that she wanted. Grandma thought it was Kaylee that wanted it but it was really Shelby. Needless to say, Kaylee liked it too and has found it easy to tease her sister with it. :)

She's so happy!

Make a wish!

Austin had fun with the ice cream! Mmm-mmm

Austin's Early Birthday Present!

Well sometime before school started we decided to give Austin an early birthday present since by the time his birthday "rolled" around he might be able to use it that much or at all because his birthday is October 23rd and there might be snow on the ground. It's been known to happen, unfortunately. Anyway, we thought this would fit right in with the family since we love to go 4-wheeling during the summer. We even took it with us on Labor Day out to Stansbury Island so that he could ride his own 4-wheeler while we rode the big ones. It didn't do so hot in all the sand. It does better on hard surfaces like concrete but he still had fun. He's still learning how to control it but he's getting better. We have to really watch him though since he likes to look backwards at us and so he steers off to the side and we usually have to rescue him especially when he's heading toward the street! What a cutie, though. There's never a dull moment with him!

1st Day of School!

Well August 23rd was the first day of school for the kids. This year Shelby started junior high. She's going to West Point Junior High. She was nervous especially about being able to open her locker but she's managed to get it down and has no problems with it. Also before school started she decided to try out for the volleyball team. She had never played volleyball before. She went to the volleyball camp at the school and her Aunt Katie, who played on both the junior high team and the high school team came over to help her out. Unfortunately she didn't make the team but she was okay with it. It was a good experience for her and now she has a foundation to build on and hopefully can try out again next year...if she wants to.


Here's Kaylee and Carson!

Kaylee started 3rd grade. Her teacher is Mrs. Miller. She is new to West Clinton and her classroom is in a portable. When school started the air conditioning wasn't working so they had to go into the library because it got too hot for them. I'm glad they have the library. She is enjoying school so far and hopefully it will continue that way.

Carson started 1st grade. I was a little nervous about him handling the all day thing but so far he has done very well. His teacher is Mrs. Cutler. He likes her. They've done a lot of things to work on their letter sounds and getting to know each other. He has enjoyed it so far but I just hope that he keeps learning and doesn't get bored since he's already working on multiplication on his own in his smart little head. The other day he asked me what 12 times 2 was. I answered 48, thinking I was right...obviously math genius I am NOT. He told me I was wrong. I said, "No I'm not." He said, "I thought it was 24." I said, "Oh...you're right!" Who thinks they're going to shown up in math by their 6 year old? I was humbled that day...but it wasn't that hard to do. I'm just glad there's such things as calculators to get me through life!

Then of course we have the little "monster". He had to have his picture taken but asking him to hold still long enough to take a picture was of course too much to ask. I caught him mid-stride! He's so funny and wants to be a big kid, too. I love spending time with him in the mornings, just me and him. I thought it was going to be hard at first, but it's ended up to be so much fun and I love it!

Girl's Night Out

So July 1st was our Girls' Night Out with Curt's mom, Bev, and the girls that want to see Twilight: Eclipse. Bev always is so nice and always makes these little gift bags with such fun stuff in them. This time she found a necklace that said, "I love vampires" and a bunch of candy (can't go wrong with that!) It was so much fun!

Inside the theater they had the classic cardboard cutouts of the characters in the movie so we all took our pictures with them. I love these moments because it's a chance to stop being "mom" and you can feel like a teenager again...although sometimes I don't believe I'm as old as I am. It's always fun to see who can take the craziest pictures! I think I won!!!

Here's Brandy's. I thought hers was pretty good too.

This is us showing off our necklaces while so cute lady was brave enough to take our picture.

After the movie they had some more fun movie props to take good pictures on. "Argh...Matey! Land Ho!!!"

Girl's Camp 2010

Well I am the Young Women's 2nd Counselor so I was able to go to Girl's Camp, which I love. Since Shelby is 12 she was able to go too for her first year. It was July 20th through 23rd. We went to Camp Aerie up by Kamas. It was so pretty up there, but we were warned that it was bear country so we had to lock all of our food in the scout trailer every night...every SINGLE piece of food so that a bear wouldn't come looking. Some of the girls were very scared and needless to say some of the priesthood took advantage of it, mostly their dads. We had such a good time! Thanks to Curt and Grandma Moon and Grandma Nye for babysitting! Love you guys!

This is our whole group that went.

Shelby at 6:30 a.m.

They had Naturalist certification and they learned which plants are edible.

This is our friend Alex Smith. His wife was our camp director and he came up to talk about flying Apache Helicopters. We love their family. He was also our pyromaniac who got our dinner coals ready and was in charge of cooking our foil dinners. They were perfect...probably the best I've ever had. Thanks Alex!

Craft time!!!

This was one of the best Secret Sister Gifts EVER!!! Thanks Meagan! It's hilarious!

Happy 14th Anniversary!

So for our anniversary this year we wanted to go 4-wheeling again, just like last year and we went to the same place as last year which was up to Mantua. We love it at this time of year because the wild flowers are just starting to bloom and it's beautiful. This was where the wild flowers were going crazy last year but because it was so cold this spring it delayed the blooming. We were kind of disappointed until later on in the ride. You'll see why further down.

We wanted to see how far up toward Inspiration Point as we could but we didn't get too far. There was still quite a bit of snow up higher and this is as far as we got.

It was so pretty seeing the view of Willard Bay and all the salt out in the valley. It was awe-inspiring.

Here's my handsome husband..."The hills are alive with the Sound of Music!"

After the delay in the wild flowers we rode down further toward Avon and Liberty and there is where all the flowers were going crazy. See how green it is and all the flowers that are in bloom? So pretty!!!

This was my favorite spot of the ride. There was the green hills in the background, the rail fence and the little stream flowing through it. It made me feel like I was in Little House on the Prairie and there was no one around. I loved it!

And this just makes the spot even more perfect...add a handsome guy and you can never go wrong!

Austin Playing Baseball

So as I said earlier this year Shelby, Kaylee and Carson all played softball/baseball and Austin had, I mean GOT to go to all the games. Anyway, we were watching TV one night and Austin was playing while we were watching and suddenly it clicked what it was that he was playing. He had a football and a stick (don't know where he got it) but he would hit the ball, drop the stick and then run in a circle and occasionally he would slide into base! It was HILARIOUS! This was the best video we took of him but the best were the ones in the beginning before we were taping. Hope you like it as much as we did!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5JaOugP2_Q