Kind of proud of these kids!

Of course, I am always so proud of all of my kids. They work so hard and are always (well, almost always!) willing to spend the hours and hours it takes achieve their goals. In the past few months Abbie and Tanner have accomplished great things. We are so proud of their achievements and are so excited that they have been recognized and awarded for all of their hard work.

In March, Tanner, Erin and I flew to Houston where he was awarded his Black Belt in karate. This is a huge accomplishment for Tanner as he has been working for it since he was 8 years old. The actual test fell on his 13th birthday and it was such a great experience for Erin and I to spend the day with just him. I am amazed at the endurance and strength that Tanner showed during the test. It lasted for 5 hours and the candidates were literally trembling with pools of sweat on the mats beneath them. You can tell in some of the pictures how physically exhausted he was but he passed (not everyone does) and we are SO proud of him!

Tanner before the test without a clue of what was in store for him.

This cute man took Tanner under his wing and joked with him throughout the entire test. We appreciated him so much as he made Tanner feel so comfortable and at ease.

We are amazed at the moves that have become Tanner's natural instinct. We have learned to approach him very carefully and let him know that we are coming or this is what happens to us!

The whole crew from American Fork.

Tanner was placed by the Grand Master of Bushi Ban. To him, this is like being in the presence of his favorite celebrity. Shortly after this picture he was sound asleep in the back seat of the car. :)

We love you and are so proud of you Tanner!!!

Abbie just finished her gymnastics meet season. She did such an awesome job finishing in the top three every single meet. This is a huge accomplishment considering at some meets there were over 100 girls. She is so tough and always works with a smile on her face. Our whole family was able to attend most of her competitions and it was fun to see her older brothers beam with pride. She earned over 20 gold medals during the season. Abbie has already passed off all of her skills for the next level and we look forward to watching her use these skills in her routines next year.

These pictures are all from her State meet.

We love you girl!!!

What do you do......

.....when there is a knock at your door and you open it to find the mail lady standing on the porch with an unexpected package.

This package is filled with favorite things from Japan. It is from a friend that is very far away and is missed like crazy every single day. This package created many screams and happy faces that look like this....

This package will be taken to kindergarten for show and tell in Mrs. Anderson's class and be the source of joy for 5 kids (even 2 teenagers!) that are spending time together experimenting and tasting many different Japanese treats.

So, what do I do when a package like this arrives at my door? I smile, laugh and cry at the same time. I am so thankful that I have been blessed with people in my life that love me enough to send me an unexpected package from Japan. I am so lucky to have friends that are more than just friends. I miss you like crazy JT!!!

We've been up to......

Halloween 2009 was a blast! The kids convinced me to dress up and we had so much fun. Abbie and I were pirates, Carson was Bumblebee and Brooke was Tinkerbell and a Care Bear. It was a battle that I chose not to fight and so she flip flopped between the two all day. Tayler and Tanner are too cool for Halloween and so they entertained themselves by trying to scare the older kids on our porch when they came trick or treating. We ended up with sooo much candy and very happy faces!

This year for crazy hair day at school Abbie wanted to do a beehive. I didn't realize what I was getting myself into when we started brainstorming together. It was a lot of fun but it will NEVER happen again so I'm glad that Tiff got a great picture of our creation. We braided yarn into her real hair and we attached bees to our hive with gold pipecleaners. Abbie got a lot of attention and came home with a huge smile which made it worth every second! Girls are so much fun!




This year for fall break our family went to Lake Powell. It is such a beautiful place and we came home so thankful for the beauty that surrounds us. We had so much fun wakeboarding, cliff jumping and just being together as a family. The kids have decided that they would like to make a Lake Powell trip an annual tradition and Erin and I don't need much convincing!








That's all for now! I'm working on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years and learning very fast that it is MUCH easier to stay on top of things as they happen!

My Gram

Two months ago today I lost one of the most important people in my life. I was able to spend the final day of her life by her side and will always find comfort in the last words that she said to me..."I love you Jen Pen". I know that she is with Gramp and that, together, they watch over me every day. I will be forever grateful for our special relationship and for the huge impact that she had on my life. I miss her more than words can describe but look forward to the day when we will be together again.


(This is a picture taken at Kristie's wedding reception. Gram had waited so long for this day and she missed it by 18 days. We felt her presence with us that day and know that she enjoyed every single one of Kristie's smiles. We placed her picture and her corsage on a table at the reception as a symbol of our love for her.)

I love you Gram.

Carson is 5!

Carson asked me today, "Mom, when are you going to sit at the computer and write everyone's favorite thing about me?". Poor kid, his birthday was in June and I have been a total slacker about updating my blog. Thanks for being patient buddy!

Carson is such a special kid. He has made me smile every single day of his life. Five years ago I had no idea that someone so small could have such a huge impact on my world. We have a very special bond and I look forward to his at least 20 "I love you mom"s every day. Carson has a natural desire to be good and uses this talent to bless the lives of his family. He takes the relationships that he has with his family very seriously. He has created bonds with those that are important to him that are so deep it would take most a lifetime to accomplish. He is a blessing in our home and his smile makes every day a little brighter. I don't want my baby boy to grow up but he is so excited for each new day that it makes it hard to be sad!

These are our favorite things about Carson:

Dad: "My favorite thing about Carson is his smile. I look forward to it every day."

Mom: "Carson said to me "Mom, I know what you are going to say. You are going to say that your favorite thing about me is when we snuggle." Carson, you are right. I love tucking you into bed every night and watching you fall asleep. It is such a peaceful time that I look forward to every day. (I even love it when you wake me up at 4am to remind me that I forgot to snuggle with you the night before!)"

Tayler: "I love Carson's laugh.....his little belly laugh. When he laughs I have to laugh too because I love it so much."

Tanner: "Carson is my mini me. I love that he likes to do stuff with me. He is always willing to play or help me with my Legos."

Abbie: "I love Carson's laugh. It makes me laugh."

Brooke: "Carson chases me. I like to hide!"

Carson even got a present from Mother Nature!










Guess who?!

Happy Birthday Carson! We love, love, love you!

Our little champ!

Abbie is our little gymnast. She lives, eats and breathes gymnastics. From the time she could walk (when she was 8 months old!) Abbie has been able to scale or climb anything in her path. She is always upside down and loves to flip, twist and roll. This year she was invited to compete with a team of girls her level and age. This takes a lot of time and commitment but she never complained. She attended gym 3 times a week for 2 1/2 hours each workout. It has been fun to watch her mature and progress each meet throughout the season. The girls competed in their final meet in June and took 1st in State! This is a huge accomplishment and we are so proud of her. Congratulations Abbie...our little State Champ!!!

The other man in the house!

Our family has had a very eventful and emotional month and I have found it necessary to check out of life for a while and just focus on being a wife and a mother. In the meantime, we had some birthdays and awesome things to celebrate that I need to catch up on. So, here we go!

On May 25th Tayler turned 15! I can't believe that I have a 15 year old. He has changed so much this year. I don't think that there is a day that goes by when I am not completely freaked out by his man voice, his manly stature and even his man legs! Tayler is such a great kid. He is so smart about the choices that he makes and the friends that he chooses to associate with. (Knock on wood!) He is a great example to his younger siblings and they look up to him and seek his approval in everything that they do. Tayler has always had a natural desire as the oldest child to protect the members of his family and he continues to amaze us with his loyalty and his love. He has the best sense of humor and is constantly making everyone around him laugh. As Tayler begins his Sophmore year of high school I find myself getting teary at times. I am watching the baby boy that I held in my arms such a short time ago become so independent and have the desire to make choices on his own. In those moments I always seem to be reminded of the amazing young man that he has become and it makes me excited to continue to watch him grow. I cherish and enjoy every second as his mom.

Our favorite things about Tayler are:

Dad: Tayler is very loyal and a great help with his younger siblings. He is very dedicated and commited to soccer and I enjoy helping coach his team and watching him progress in the sport.

Mom: Tayler can always make me laugh. He doesn't even have to say a word and I can't keep a straight face. He has always been a "momma's boy" and even though he would NEVER admit it now I know that that will never change.

Tanner: I always feel protected when I am around Tayler. I know that if anything bad ever happened to me he would stick up for me and make sure that it didn't happen again.

Abbie: I love to do gymnastics for Tayler because he freaks out at how flexible my legs are. I love to do flips with him on the trampoline.

Carson: I like when Tayler throws me high onto the bed.

Brooke: Tayler scares me when I hide! I wuv Tayler!

He would not cooperate and let me take is picture so this is about as good as it gets!

Happy Birthday....we love you!!!