Saturday, December 19, 2015

Putting up Christmas











Preschool Thanksgiving Feast

Taryn had a fun Thanksgiving feast at her preschool.  She had been talking about it for weeks.  They had a special program and sang songs to the parents who came.  Mostly, they ate.  That is Taryn's kind of party. :)




Saturday, December 5, 2015

Namesakes

Back in August, Kevin blessed baby MJ.  Afterwards, friends and family gathered at our house for brunch and socializing.




Somehow, we had all our kids' namesakes at our house at the same time!  It was impressive considering Jocelyn lives in Tennessee, Lesley lives in Texas, and Mike lives in Ogden.


Taryn and Lesley


MJ and Jocelyn


Corbin and Mike (Michael)...Corbin is super shy around people he doesn't know well.  I actually love this picture because of Corbin's reaction to Mike and the fact that Corbin is eating a donut (Mike always brings donuts when he comes over).


Old college roommates


BYU 4th ward reunited!

My really good friend, Jayna, was also in town from Pennsylvania and was able to come to MJ's baby bessing as well!  It was a friend dream come true!  

Blast from the Past


I was so lucky to see my good friend from high school, Ashley Mefferd.  "Meddy" and I had a bunch of classes together and we also played Varsity soccer.  She lives in Colorado now, but she was in Salt Lake City competing in an Irish Dance competition (which she placed 1st in)!  We met at Cheesecake Factory and spent 3 hours catching up.  It was so fun!

Taryn

I was able to take Taryn on a date a couple weeks ago and I surprised her at the Puppy Barn.  I had never been there, but I knew they had a bunch of puppies you could hold.  You're supposed to be over 18 to actually hold the puppies, so I had to hold them while Taryn petted them.  She did love it (and I am super awkward with animals.  They are pretty cute, but it's SO not my thing).  Although she loves dogs, I learned that she loves treats even more.  Once we spent about 20-30 min there, she was done and wanted to go get her treat. :)  Yep, that's our girl.




So the following picture is not from our date, but it proves how much Taryn loves treats (and all food, really).  She spent the day at Oma's house and sadly, Oma did not have any sweets in her house (which is unheard of).  Taryn expects treats when she goes there apparently, because she asked Oma if she at least had fun dip.  She didn't even have that!  So Taryn had the brilliant idea to make their own.  They took blue food coloring and simply put it in some sugar.  And that's why her fingers are blue. :)



Randoms


We don't normally put all 3 kids in a tub together, but these were desperate times.  I went downstairs to find Taryn LAYING in a bed of insulation (our basement is unfinished).  There was insulation everywhere!  I'm not sure what they were thinking, because they know they aren't supposed to touch it.  Needless to say, I yelled for Taryn to get off of it and told them all to immediately go upstairs and strip down and get in the bathtub.  Looking back, I so wish I had taken a picture of it.  It was pretty hilarious.


Our surfer boy.  He has since had a haircut since he couldn't see, but I miss his long hair.



Corbin has gotten a lot more social lately.  Playgroup helps.


The first snow.  Playing with our neighbor, Macie.


Another pack meeting I brought Reed to.  The Raingutter Regatta (they blow recyclable-built boats down the gutter).  Reed thought it was awesome.


Raking and playing in the leaves.

MJ

We just love our baby!  The pictures confirm how much her big sister adores her, but her brothers love her just as much (I'm just bad at taking pictures).  We call her MJ, but my mom and dad still call her Mazie.  It sounds so weird to me.  She certainly has been our best tempered baby and I thank Heavenly Father every single nap she takes that she is such a good baby (thanks to her wonderful, wonderful little thumb).  She is picky about sleeping in her crib but when we are home, she's a breeze.  She does cry on occasion, but I'm usually taken back when she does.  She is nearly 6 months and rolls a little and smiles a ton!  She has the world's best gummy smile!  She usually opens her mouth as wide as possible, but sometimes, she pinches her little gums together.  I love it!  We all love our little "putt-putt."  (Siblings come up with the weirdest nicknames).






Happy Halloween

The last few years we have been going to Heath and Sarah's neighborhood to eat dinner and go trick-or-treating on Halloween.  It has become one of my favorite traditions.  This year did not disappoint.  MJ did start to lose it by the end, but luckily the other kids were ready to head back as well.


Basilisk (from Harry Potter)


Hobbit


Cheetah


Pumpkin




Eating his spoils

October festivities


Plate spiders!  We've done way more crafts now that Taryn is a little older.  Reed was never very interested in art but Taryn and Corbin love it.


Kevin turned 35!  We ate great BBQ and played at Nickelcade.  How is it that all boys love video games?


We went to a cute, local pumpkin farm with some good friends.









Reed and Josh


Painting our tiny pumpkins,




We took a quick but fun trip with Heath and Sarah's family and my mom (pics to come).


We braved the great and spacious building aka Cornbellys.


Caught Corbin sneaking M&Ms from Grandma's purse.


I was able to help out in Reed's class for his Halloween party.  I loved being there and Reed did too (he hugged me like 10 times).