Birthday Girl!

One Year Old



Two Years Old



Three Years Old



Four Years Old



Five Years Old



Six Years Old



As the years go by, I vividly remember holding Kallie in my arms for the first time. With tears in my eyes, I thought, "where is the instruction manual for this baby."

Although 6 years have passed and I still sometimes have recurring doubts as a mother. I can honestly say, Kallie is overall thriving and such a sweet spirit to have in our house.

Kallie is honest, kind, helpful, and smart. Jim and I love her so much and can't wait for all the fun filled years to come.
Happy Birthday, Sweet Kallie Lou!!

Baptism By Fire

As I am tucking Kallie in bed. I ask her if she is excited about her birthday tomorrow. She of course replies, "yes"

A few seconds later.

"Mom, I don't want to get baptized when I am 8." My reply of course is to try and change her mind. "Oh but Kallie it is awesome to get baptized. Your sins are washed away and you get to wear a white beautiful dress" (hoping that will change her mind)

Nope, her simple yet firm reply is, "No, mom! I don't want my skin washed away, that would hurt."

That's a weird baptism, maybe by fire your skin would fall off. That's a new thought to Baptism by fire. My silly cute almost birthday girl.

Kallie's First Day Of School

Ever since moving to Utah, I feel like our family has been blessed in many ways. One of them being Kallie starting Kindergarten all over again. Definitely I feel it is a blessing in disguise. But still a blessing!

Last year, Kallie had gone to kindergarten in CA for half the year. Then moving to Utah put a damper on kindergarten. Of course, at first I was very upset that she missed the deadline by 3 lousy days. So she went to preschool instead and had to wait for the next year for kindergarten.

Well, that day is here... finally! Kallie was so excited to go to school and ride the bus. (Which I never would let her do in CA) Plus, she has her cousin Tyler in her class. They play so well together and have become the best of friends.

I am so grateful for that little bump in the road. Kallie is now older and has a little bit of a head start, not to mention her cousin to do it with her. It was just meant to be. I truly feel like everything has finally fallen in place!

My Birthday Week!

I was very spoiled this year for my birthday and loved every minute of it.

The weekend before my birthday I had a girls night in Park City at this amazing cabin. I can't tell you how nice it was to get away from the kids and life. After a long soak in the hot tub and talking till 4am we made it to the bedrooms to sleep. Smile :) Here is us girls at breakfast. Me, Melinda, Becky and Trisha.



Then after breakfast we headed to the outlets to shop. On our way home we stopped at my favorite Cheesecake Factory for lunch and enjoyed their yummy Luau Salad.





On my birthday, Becky made me breakfast burritos. So yummy! Then that afternoon we went swimming with Casey and Tasha. So fun. That night Jim took me and the kids to a great hamburger and shake place called JCW's. That place is the bomb! I have probably gained 10 pounds this week with all this yummy food.

After Jim came home from scouts and Becky from YW we had cake and ice cream. I am the big 2-9 now!






The next night... Thursday, Becky planned a girls night out with Trisha Dayton cuz it was her birthday too. We headed to Olive Garden for a little Italian food. Here are all of us girls!



Friday, Jim took the day off and took me that night to Cheesecake Factory. We did have a 2 hour wait but, hey it was still fun to be out with adults and no kids.
Craig and Deb, Jon Greene, Becky and Isaac, and Christian and Melinda came out with us to celebrate Craig and me.



It doesn't get any better then this, then to end the night with more cheesecake. SMILE :)

I am the boss!

Life just isn't that fair for Kallie and Brooklyn these days.

"Why do you get 3 oreo's?" or "Why do you get to have Root Beer for dinner?" Without hesitation my anwser is always the same, "Because, I am the boss!"

Yesterday, Kallie being the little inquisitive kindergartener that she is, got me into a little interesting conversation with her. Kallie asks, "Mom, so you are the boss of me." I reply "yes that's right." Kallie confused a little says " well then, who is the boss of you?" I simply hesitate a bit and say "God... He is the boss of everything, Heavenly Father created us and every living thing."

She really made me ponder that anwser. About truly not being the boss. How few things we have control over.

Thankfully, she hasn't picked up on my deep thoughts. She still believes the old concept.

So, after dinner followed by 2 different desserts. We start our nightly bed time routine with the girls. Meanwhile, Jim grabs an ice cream sandwich out of the fridge and starts to indulge. Brook is quick to say, "Daddy, why do you get to have that?" Without missing a beat Kallie chimes in, "Because, He is the Boss!"

I truly love my family and our big sweet tooth!

Babysitter !?!

Toys are all over the house. Piles of dirty laundry are scattered through out the kitchen floor. Still no shower after my workout earlier.

So I attempt to clean up the toys and start laundry with Blake at my heels. As much as I love chasing Blake around the house and cleaning at the same time, I just can't do it all by myself.

"NO, NO, Baby! Don't touch, Don't eat, AHH" Just a few phrases to say the least.

Cleaning, It's just not happening today!

I am a little discouraged and frustrated. A brilliant idea comes to my mind. I can call upon my trusted 5 year old to help save the day. Meanwhile, Kallie is already playing upstairs in the play room. (where the only place in the house the gate fits) So I shout up to the top of the stairs, "Kallie, Can Blake come and play with you in the playroom?" Hesitantly, Kallie replies, "sure Mom, I guess so!"

I am thinking to myself, sweet a babysitter. I can finally get some stuff done.

It was about 2 minutes later after taking on Blake. Kallie comes down stairs, she stressfully looks up at me and states, "Mom, I am not a babysitter!"

She read my mind! I giggle and say, "No, but you are a great big sister."
Unfortanetly, Kallie didn't want to babysit. But luckily it wasn't long before he fell asleep for his nap. So I could finally clean up the toys, start laundry and take a shower.

Vacuum Surfing

That's right!

Blake invented the new game Vacuum Surfing.

Who is this for, you might ask?
From able to crawl to slighty walking.

Instructions:
You climb up onto the vacuum. Grab hold of the handle and hold on to dear life as mom or dad trys to vacuum with you on it. Now if you let go or fall off, you loose points.

The Winner...
The baby who holds onto to vacuum the longest or has the most points, Wins!

Good Luck and Happy Vacuum Surfing!!