My kids

As the years roll by, it is going to get harder and harder to get pictures like these. This is one of all 7 of my kids together. We were at a family reunion for Gabe's side of the family. When we do those, I really like to have all my kids in the same clothes because then I can pick them out of the crowd and if someone says which ones are yours I can say "the ones in the Mt. Rushmore shirts". As you can see from the photo, we are going to have to go something different next time, because James doesn't have a Mt. Rushmore shirt. This one is my favorite. But now that Amanda is old enough to work during the summer, we may not have many more of these. Enjoy.

Birthday Boy

James had a birthday. Wow, my baby is now 1. We didn't celebrate with cake and ice cream on his birthday. We waited for a few days as the weekend of his birthday was crazy. We also didn't celebrate because Amanda was at girl's camp and we wanted her to be a part of that too.

So James is one. He is walking all over the place and has been since he was about 11 1/2 months. He really doesn't want anyone to help him to get places anymore, but try telling that to his older siblings who still carry him everywhere. He is fearless. He has mastered the art of stair-climbing and knows how to go down them backwards. Yet, when you are standing a few stairs down from him encouraging him to come down, he would rather just go off them like you and I would.....which generally would mean a tumble down however many steps it was until I can catch him. He is starting to get his teeth and as of right now has 6. He loves to eat things with dad (only because he knows that dad will feed him things that I wouldn't think that he could/should eat). He loves M&MS. I love his smile and his laugh. I can't believe he is one!

These are just an assortment of pictures from his actually birthday and from his cake and ice cream party.

This is James watching Daddy light the candle. He could have blown it out, but was too interested in the M&Ms on the cake and the flame itself.

This is James as we were trying to get a picture of him with his cake. He wouldn't look at me, he just wanted at the cake. I made 2 cakes for him. The fancy one and then with the pieces that I cut off, I made him one that he could destroy. That is the one he has here.His fancy dinosaur cake. Across the top there were gummy fruit slices for scales.

James wanting to play the piano and knowing that he can't. Look at the smile, he knows he isn't supposed to be doing that.

Bethany's Baptism and Birthday

This year is a special one in our religion for Bethany. As this is her 8th birthday, this is the year that she gets baptized. We were on the ball this year and were able to get a date picked and the things ready way before her actual birthday because we wanted to give our families every opportunity to be able to come and help her celebrate this special day. Bethany's actual birthday was on the 5th, but her baptism wasn't until the 9th. We really enjoyed having as much family as we did come and it was a very special occasion for her. I am still amazed at how time has flown. It just seems like yesterday we were brining her home from the hospital, but here we are 8 years later. We have had a lot of fun with Bethany, but we have also had our trials with her. She has been a trooper over the last 2 yrs as we have tried to figure out how to deal with her lack of growth. After discovering that she has GHD (Growth Hormone Deficiency) and starting her shots she has grown a ton! The saying that dynamite comes in small pacakages....that describes her exactly. She might be small, but hey look out when she gets mad!

This is Bethany sporting the cake that I made for her. It was actually two cakes, but they were essentially exactly alike. The cake was a round one that you cut. But since I can't half a cake mix from the box, I had to make 2 round cakes, and since I already had the stuff to make them, I just made them both into her butterfly cakes. I hope that she loved it, she seems to from her face.

This is Bethany and her dad right before the start of the baptism. It is hard to get a great picture of Gabe, but I think that Bethany's face is priceless here. Her smile is one that she had on her face the entire evening.

Bethany holding up her new dress that Grandma Sherry got her.....notice a theme that wasn't intentional? (Hint: purple and butterflies?) No we didn't plan that, it just happens that maybe great minds think alike?