Happy Valentines Day

We had a great Valentines day here at our house. We started the day off with little gifts and heart shaped french toast.

Grandma sent the kids the cutest little bugs filled with candy for their Valentines. They loved them. Brooklyn has carried hers around until it is bent, broken, missing antenna and covered in little chocolate fingerprints.

For dinner we made heart shaped pizzas. They tasted better than this one looked... I promise.

We were heart attacked by members of the ward. The boys woke up to it this morning and thought it was the greatest thing ever. Thank you to our sneaky valentine.

We hope you all had a wonderful Valentines day with those you love! We love and miss you all!

Little Prayers...

We had a big milestone in our house last night. Tim and I kneeled down to say nightime prayers with Brooklyn and got quite a sweet surprise. She LOVES to say prayers. I mean, she cries when it is not her turn and someone else gets a chance. The last few weeks she has been saying them on her own without help. It is usually a collection of things we have helped her say in the past or what she hears other people say often. They are always repetitious, which is fine, because that is how you learn right. Well, last night she said a little prayer that came straight from her heart. For the first time she said things that were new and all her own. You could hear her pause and could tell she was thinking about what she wanted to say. It was the sweetest thing I have ever heard. It went something like this...

Dear Heavenly Father

thank you for my family...

thank you for mommy...

thank you for my family...

thank you for my pillow...

thank you for my blankies...

please bless mommy

bless my family

Jesus Christ

amen

In all fairness, I might have been so touched because I was mentioned personally..sniff..sniff.

It is hard to see her grow up so fast, but I love the little person she is growing into.

We love you sweet Brooklyn.

Super Bowl Sunday

After months of prep and talking about the super bowl...it is finally here. We were excited to be the host city this year. We had to head downtown to see all the transformations. Friday was fairly warm so we pulled the boys out of school, Tim skipped work and we headed downtown. Whole sections of the city were closed down and turned into various festivities. All of Georgia street was one big long party with games, decorations, concerts, ice sculptures and more. There was an 800 ft. long zip line that was amazing. Tanner was heartbroken he couldn't ride (no more tickets) and Brooklyn had quite a giggle when a person in a polar bear suit went zipping overhead. We were there early in the day so we avoided the majority of the crowds. By the time we left at around 6:00 it was getting pretty crowded. We read on the news the next morning that it got so bad they had to close more streets, stop letting people into the area and even still people were gridlocked and multiple injuries occured. Needless to say we were glad we had gotten our kids out before that.

Walking down Georgia St.....

The numbers at monument circle...

Photo-op! Wake up Brooklyn!!

Ice football...

Lombardi trophy art..

What a great day! We can't wait to see who wins the big game!

We are in love...

...with the zoo!

I don't think a week goes by when Brooklyn doesn't ask to go to the zoo at least once. I think she thinks I am lying to her when I tell her it is closed Mon-Wed. She cries...no, it's not closed...it's open. Tim and I don't even talk about the zoo anymore because she gets so excited if she thinks it is a possibility. We used to spell it. That only lasted about 2 days until our little smarty pants says "I want to go to the Z-O-O".

She might live there if I let her. I can't blame her- it is a lot of fun. We try to go as often as there is weather warm enough that mom can stand it. Fortunately, that has been a few times this year even in January. Here are some of our pics from our last visit with some friends.

In awe of the coral reefs...

The trip is absolutely not complete without a visit to the tigers. They are her favorite for sure.

This time even the bear came down to say hello.

Here she is kissing the penguin. (This is one of those mom moments you try not to think about what has touched the glass and just think how cute right?) We took her to see Happy Feet 2. She has been really into penguins lately and loved it. She talks about penguins all the time. In fact she asked Santa for one this year. Sorry Baby, I don't think Indiana is quite that cold!

We miss you zoo and can't wait until it warms up again. Until then we will dream about all the wonderful things we will see....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KADEN

I can't believe my little Kaden is already 7 years old. Where has the time gone?

It doesn't seem like that long ago that he was crawling around and learning his first words. He has grown into such a wonderful little man. Kaden is one of the sweetest and kindest boys I know. He is always willing to do anything for anyone..he amazes me everyday with his thoughtfulness for others. We are constantly finding little notes or pictures on our pillow, waking up to breakfast on the table or any other little thing he can think of to show his love. He is the first one to be willing to help out and serve. We feel so blessed to have you in our family Kaden. You are an example to all of us. We love you...Happy Birthday.

This year he decided he wanted a Sonic the Hedgehog cake. I thought about that one for about 10 seconds and then went to the store to get a screen printing. Sorry Kaden...I don't have those kind of skills.

I know the last picture turned out a little blurry, but I love it because it shows his personality so well.

Have a wonderful year being 7!!

Christmas

We have had a wonderful holiday and hope all of you, our friends and family, have as well. We were very busy during our vacation. Here are some of the highlights of our Christmas!

The boys had a music program at the school. They did such a great job.

Here we are visiting Santa and letting him know our Christmas wishes. :)

One of our Christmas gifts was a membership to the zoo. We have used it a ton already and love it! We went to see the lights and all the holiday festivities they had. Some of the animals were very active, especially the tigers and bats...but I think the favorite is always petting the sharks.

What is Christmas without a tree and decorations!

Christmas eve we decorated sugar cookies to leave out for Santa. I think half of Brooklyn's frosting was in her mouth and the other half was on her dress.

Here are the kids with some of their favorite gifts.

(grandma she was talking to you)

What a great Christmas. The only thing that would have made it better was if we got to spend it with our family. We miss and love you all!

Little girls...oh how sweet??

I think there is a magical thing about the number two. You have a sweet little baby who is a perfect angel. When they turn two that child somehow disappears and is replaced by a toddler who ,I swear, learns the word NO on their two year birthday...becomes very belligerent in their wants and needs...and somehow can and will find anything and everything that makes a mess......

....but then they look at you with their little faces and you remember that the sweet angel is still there. Just a little more hidden some days than others.

I think we need a little more practice on the nail painting baby girl!