Merry Christmas!

We took the kids to see the lights at Thanksgiving Point and they got to meet Comet and Blitzen. JJ was so excited, he really loves animals, he just kept waving and the reindeer.

Chiara got to sit on Santa's lap at our ward Christmas party. JJ sat for a second but jumped down before I could get a picture.

We went up to Logan for my neice Adelyn's baby blessing. JJ loves her soooo much! He asks to hold her and then sucks his thumb while he rubs her face. We are so lucky to have two beautiful cousins, even if they do live in Logan ;)

Belated Halloween

JJ was a cute skunk, but he wouldn't hold still long enouth for me to get a good picture. The heart on his rear says "Lil Stinker". Too cute!

Chiara was a Cheetah and she absolutely loved having makeup and stickers on her face. It took a little more persuasion to get her to hold still for me to curl her hair. Isn't she gorgeous?

Chiara and JJ both love being outside and they really loved playing with the leaves. JJ had seen us raking leaves so he thought he should help with the broom.

Birthday Boy!

JJ had his first birthday and I went all out and made this awesome Sesame Street train cake the night before his party. That night while we were sleeping our American Bulldog, Brooklyn, decided it smelled pretty good and ate the first two cars. When I woke up the next morning I was just too stunned to be mad. I had to redo the first two cars but the other two she hadn't touched. It just made for some extra work for me!


Opening his presents, the older girls at the party (not me, Chiara, Alissa and Stori) were more interested in opening gifts than he was. He was just mad that the toys he got were in packages and he had to wait to play with them.
At first he wasn't sure what to do with the cake. I had to smash his fingers into the frosting before he realized this was going to be fun. I don't think he ate any of it but he had a good time!

$2 Tuesdays

Dave, this one's for you!

We went to Thanksgiving Point last week for their $2 Tuesday and wandered around the gardens. We had tons of fun, the kids splashed in the water and we got to spend time with our work-a-holic daddy!

Flower Girl

Chiara got to be one of the flower girls in her uncle Corey's wedding on Friday. She looked absolutely gorgeous. While she was in the bride's room waiting for the wedding to start she sighed and said, "I'm just so nervous!"

The 4th of July

We woke up early on Friday and drove to Murray for the big parade. Then we bought some fireworks and went home to rest. We caught the 5:00 showing of Wall-E then hung out at Thanksgiving Point until the fireworks started. By the way, if you haven't wandered around Thanksgiving Point you are missing out. We ate dinner at the little Deli and it was fabulous! We also loved the little garden area and hidden waterfall. By the end of the day my poor kids were completely worn out, yet still just as adorable!

Cruisin'

Joseph has been crawling for the last two weeks and has been cruising for just as long. He had his 9 month appointment this week and he is off the charts for height and about the 90th percentile for weight. I have been scrambling around the house trying to baby proof and I have nightmares everynight that he finds some way to get hurt. It's all worth it though, he is a pretty good kid!

Sleeping Beauty

Our own little princess was in the Acadamy of Ballet's production of Sleeping Beauty last weekend. She was a song bird and she was spectacular. The ballet was about 2 hours long and her part was about 2 minutes. It was the most adorable thing I have ever seen. I must say, she is a natural!

Book Tag

Okay Brooke, this one is for you! I just finished this book but I'm not sure what else to read! I would gladly accept suggestions!

Book TagDirections:
1. Get the nearest book to you, or one you're reading that contains over 123 pages.
2. Go to the 123 page
3. Find the 5th sentence
4. Post the 5th sentence
5. Tag five peopleBook

Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer "I snickered."

I tag Marilee, Tracie, Krachel, Annelisa and Tasha... If you want to!

Harry Potter

So I realized that I hadn't posted a picture of JJ in his cool new helmet. So far the helmet is doing it's job. The measurements have changed from 1 cm difference to .7 cm. He is trying to be like Harry Potter. I put him in his jumper and he turned around into the pantry and grabbed the broom. He was realy proud of himself, as you can see by his big, cheesy grin. I laughed and laughed and he smiled even bigger. I love my little wizard!

The Three Amigos

We took a trip out to North Carolina at the end of April to visit Joe's brother and his family. Chiara had a blast playing with her cousins, especially the twins Alyssa (big, cheesy, toothy grin) and Rachel. Even though she hadn't seen them in a year and a half, they picked up right where they left off and played their little hearts out.

Lil' Walker

JJ loves to spend time in his walker and I caught his beautiful smile. This is before he got his helmet, I still haven't downloaded those pictures. Yesterday JJ said his first word... over and over again. Dada!

Easter Sunday

These are my cute kids in their Easter outfits. Chiara was so good to hold JJ up for the pictures. Unfortunately he is a little wiggley and right after this picture he did a little head dive into the concrete. Oh well, it was really cute while it lasted!

Best Buddies

Chiara just loves her little brother. She knows exactly what to do to cheer him up if he is feeling sad and she absolutely loves having her picture taken with him. JJ smiles a lot, but rarely on que with the camera ready. Mostly we just get this "deer in the headlights" look because of the flash.

JJ just got over his second ear infection in a month and we found out today that now Chiara has an ear infection. I guess those are the joys of winter!

Daddy's Girl

Chiara's favorite thing to do is play Super Mario Brothers with her Dad. Joe's favorite thing to do is teach Chiara all the secrets of the game. It really works well as a reinforcer for her. She has been having trouble as a Sunbeam because I am in the Primary presidency which means she can see me, but my attention is on other things. Two weeks ago she got really sad and cried at me "you're not taking care of me". Anyway, last week I told her if she was a really good girl in primary she could play the Nintendo with Uncle Paul when she got home. That did it, she made sure I saw the smile on her face all through sharing time.

JJ's Crooked Noggin

So I realize it has been a really long time since I posted last. I have been working alot with JJ. He has plagiocephaly which means he has a flat head. We have been going to physical therapy to try repositioning techniques but those aren't working so we are trying to get the insurance to cover the cost of a helmet. We decided that we want him to be a football player anyway so we might as well start early with the helmet. He will have to wear it for 23 hours a day. His right side forhead is being pushed forward because of the flat spot on the back. I still think he is the most hansome boy in the world, but then again I am biased!

What cute kids!

Chiara and JJ really love eachother. Chiara is a really, really good big sister and she absolutely adores her little brother. JJ will stretch his head when he hears Chiara's voice and laughs no matter what she does.

JJ

Joseph Jared is 4 months old and is the joy of our family. He is such a happy baby and loves to laugh. We are so lucky to have him in our family.

Chiara

Chiara Elizabeth will be 4 years old on April 8th. She is in a Princess Ballet class and plays Itty Bitty Basketball. She loves playing dress up and Super Mario Brothers.