Double Digits

Ally is TEN! I am amazed at how fast the time flies! It seems like just a few years ago I was pregnant for the first time and eagerly awaiting becoming a mother (read: scared to death!) I am so excited for her to continue to become a real person. She is smart, funny and very involved. She also knows exactly what she wants.  This birthday brought that realization into clear focus.  Here are a few examples.

We went shopping for her birthday outfit and she chose this shirt right off.  We looked and looked and shopped for a long time, but she kept coming back to this shirt.  She likes how the ruffles bounce up and down as she dances hip hop. 

For her birthday she wanted her hair highlighted and to have a feather put in. Aunt Sam did the highlights and we headed over to Austin Kade Academy for the fancy hair, the feather and the nails.

Ally decided she wanted to go to dinner for her birthday.  She wanted Texas Roadhouse because her favorite thing to eat is Steak.  Did I mention she is only 10?

In school this year they read a book about Eleanor Roosevelt.  Her favorite cake was Angel Food Cake with Pink Whipped Cream (full of fresh strawberries).  Ally copied the recipe out of the book and brought it home.  This was in February.  When it came time to choose the cake she wanted, she pulled out the recipe and said, "this is what I want for my birthday cake."  Not super pretty, but MAN did it taste good! 

We had a cake with our IF cousins.  We have a bigger, better swimming party planned for when more cousins will be in town next week. 

Ally is an amazing help around the house.  I love watching her grow and become a beautiful young woman.  Last night at dinner she asked if she got to go to Girls Camp this year.  We told her she had to be 12.  Then it hit me that soon she will be.  I feel like I missed a few years somewhere along the way to have children old enough to be thinking about young women and caring whether they have their nails painted.  She is growing up way to fast for me, but I feel like I am powerless to stop it. 

Did I mention she shaved her legs the other day?  She showed me this morning.

The Party

Luke's Birthday Bash was in Pocatello this year. All he wanted was to have his cousins at his party. How could we not comply? Payne's let us have the party at their house and most of the cousins were able to be there.

Luke and T.

"It's my Birthday!"
(and no he did not pee his pants, even though that would be normal for him. He spilled water on himself at dinner.)

At school right before he passed out his cupcakes to his friends, and right before the costume parade.


"The Tweens"
A small glimpse into our future...or as I like to refer to it, my worst nightmare.

Cousins waiting for cake!

The cake. SMB

"This mushroom makes you turn into a giant," as opposed to the ones that just make you big. Seriously? I got the right colors though! Oh and don't mind the cake showing...the box stuck to the top in transit and of course I did not take a picture before we left.

Luke is 6!

Happy Birthday to Luke! He is six today and he is such a fun and curious little guy. We are so happy to have him in our family.

Here are a few pics over the years.

We love you buddy!

Happy Birthday Ally!

My baby is 9! Oh how the time flies! She was born 2 weeks shy of our 1st anniversary and we could not have been more excited for our first baby girl! We are super excited for her. She is turning into such a beautiful young lady! I love her so much and really enjoy having her around and part of our family. The other night we went to dinner, just the 3 of us. She choose Texas Roadhouse because her favorite thing to eat in the whole world is steak. Plus she loves the rolls and honey butter they serve. I think she ate 4. Here is a recap of how we spent her day yesterday.


For breakfast we had Hootenanny Pancakes, or "Hoots" as we call them, by request from Al. This was a favorite when I was young made by Grandma Davis. Growing up, Ry knew them as German Pancakes. You blend the eggs with milk and flour then bake in a super hot oven and they puff up real big.


We had a Zooper Birthday Party with her friends and cousins at Tautphaus Park Zoo. They set up a tent and table and chairs for us right in the Children's Zoo area. We ate pizza, watermelon and Boston Cream Pie along with Root Beer floats. All favorites and requests. (Side Note: Eating food 10 feet from a Yak scratching his rear end...not too appetizing) The zoo also provided party games which included Animal Charades and a Scavenger Hunt for information at different exhibits throughout the zoo.





























One of Ally's friends was telling her all about her animal family. She has a hippo for a mom, an elephant for a dad, and she is a is a kitty. Nice. But she also called her tallest friend a giraffe and Clark a baby goat. I love how candid kids are sometimes. (maybe I need to get back to the gym)


After the fun adventure at the zoo we headed home and spent the evening hanging out with our cousins from Pocatello, Dubs and Subee. He loves the trampoline and had fun playing with Luke for a long time outside. He also tried to teach him how to play Mario Kart Wii (one of Ally's gifts, and the best one in Luke's opinion) but he got a little frustrated and was content to just watch.


It was a fun filled day with lots of smiles and laughter.

A few things to say...

First off I want to say Happy Birthday and Happy Baptism Day to my nephew...Yogs. We celebrated his special day last night and it was great. How lucky is he to have them all on the same day? By the way, he is Ally's "twin" and Luke's best friend. He only lives a quick 45 minutes away so we see him lots.

Second I want to tell you about my new goal. I have a "pile" of boxes in the boys room that needs to be organized, re boxed (in my handy Rubbermaid's I bought) and a new home found for them. So that is what I will be working on this week. I am a little nervous about completing this one in a week, but I am not going to give myself more time or I will procrastinate it for another 2 1/2 years. Wish me luck. The pile is high and the task is daunting.

Third the girls are loving piano lessons! I am so excited and so are they. I hope it stays fun for them. Any tips on that? Ally played through Emma's entire book last week. It has become a privilege to get to practice piano. I certainly don't remember it being like this when I was young, but maybe I didn't love it as much as they do. hmmm...

Fourth speaking of the girls, they both perform this Friday night at the IF JV game. You are all invited! They will be doing some of their competition dances that they are getting ready. So cute and fun! The costumes this year are awesome! Good job Gertie!

Fifth I went to the gym 3 times last week. Yea ME! Today was crazy so I didn't make it, but I will go tomorrow. On the first day I thought I was going to die. By the third day it was not so bad and the timer went off before I was dying to stop.

Spooky Lukey Turns 5!

My boy is no longer small! He turned 5 last week which makes him big and qualifies him to have a "friend party". We had the party at Infinity Dance Studio. My sister, the owner, took pity on us and our small house. Luke invited a bunch of friends from our old ward and a bunch of friends from our new ward and of course all of his cousins.

Everyone came in their favorite scary costume and we had a lot of fun at the Spooky Lukey Party making monster cupcakes, playing Monster Mash Freeze Dance, and Wrap the Uncle Mummy. It was a scream!

It's a bird...It's a plane...it's

a hat?

No it's SUPERMAN. And BATMAN. And ROBIN. Wait...its the comic book lovers dream theme park. Disneyland is to Mickey Mouse as Six Flags is to Superman. So in Ryan world it is also the happiest place on earth.

Nope not Ryan. It's Lish today. I wanted you to all know that today (the 29th) is Ryan's birthday! He is currently asleep in Trent's car driving home to Trent's house after a long day of fun and queasiness at Six Flags, topped off by a delicious burger animal style and a boat load of fries at In-N-Out.

He did send me a few texts through out the day. Some with pics. These came after a conversation that went a little like this.

RY: It's hot! I slathered on the sunscreen, but I can already tell I am going to fry!

ME: Buy a hat.

RY: Oh yea. Duh.

ME: Get a Superman one.

I think he did a good job choosing.

Another favorite convo today went like this.

RY: This place is awesome. I love you so much! Thank you again.

ME: I am glad you are having fun. Happy Birthday baby!

RY: Tell Luke I just saw ROBIN! (he is Luke's fav by the way)

Did I mention that I sent him to Cali to spend his birthday with his brothers and dad for his gift this year? It originally started out as "hey would you like to go to Disneyland for free on your birthday? I will buy you a ticket and you can go see Trent." But Trent being who he is responded with "We may as well make it worth the effort and go somewhere that has fun rides. Lets do Six Flags."

Nick and Adam and Dad all decided to join him too. Only Adam stayed home to watch the birth of child number two instead.

Here is another fav.

RY: I have time to talk. Dad and I are taking a break while Nick and Trent ride a ride.

ME: Oh yeah? Did you yak?

RY: Almost. Mostly I am just tired. Dad is too.

And the most recent text went something like this.

RY: Now I know why I love ketchup. Check out the corner of this pic.