Welcome 2015!

I have totally slacked on the picture taking and updating the blog. I got a few random shots, so to start out the new year, I will do a spotlight of each child.

Ellionna is at a fun age right now.  She melts everyone's hearts.  She is learning how to speak more and more each day.  She will mimic a lot of what is said in the house.  Some of the phrases we hear a lot are:

 "I love you"
"Boom (insert name)!"
"Shut your mouth (insert name)"
"It wasn't me!"
"I do it!"
"Not funny!"

She insists to say the prayer every time, although the only audible words are our names.  She holds a special relationship with each of her siblings.  They are always so good to her and show her love.  She just loves to be included in whatever anyone else is doing.  As mellow as she is though, the fire red hair does bring the fire red temper at times!  She will throw a really good fit every so often, or at least speak her mind (mostly with her brother Gavin!)  Ellionna can spend hours in her room.  She loves playing with her dolls, dishes, blocks, and stuffed animals.  She is constantly changing her clothes and dressing up in her own unique choices, which usually includes her swimsuit (most often backwards or inside out as well).   She loves loves loves books.  She also loves to color with crayons, markers, and paints.  She loves puzzles as well.  With all these things that bring her joy, her room is usually a mess!  Ellionna is a roller coaster eater.  Somedays she will eat well and try new things, while other days, she will turn her nose up at everything!  She loves drinks and will call all liquid drinks "juice."  Potty training is coming around for her slowly.  Our baby will be 3 in just a few short months!

 

Gavin continues to keep life full.  Full of noise, full of laughter, full of messes.  As much as he wishes he got to go to school, we are glad to have held him back this year.  The principal already knows him on a first name basis though!  Gavin is a motor mouth.  Sound is ALWAYS coming out of it.  Life for him is all about play... I usually have to convince him to do any work or activities that aren't so appealing-- like reading and art projects.   He is a good worker when he wants to be.   His latest thing is to let me know how much he loves me and how beautiful I am.  I hear it several times a day, usually when he wants something.  Gavin is our best eater and will often out-eat me.  His favorite things are turkey sandwiches.  One day I made a chicken salad sandwich.  He asked me if he could have a frosting sandwich, too.  I guess the mayo looks like frosting.  So in case he ever asks again... you will know what he means.  Gavin can be our trouble-maker, whiner, and the root of all sibling fights.  But, we wouldn't trade him for anything.  He gets constant comments, along with his sister, about his hair.  He is lovable and so unique!


Jordan is so passionate about life.  He just loves it.  He is constantly playing the piano and is progressing with his lessons.  He loves dancing, music, and instraments of all kinds.  He picked out an accordion for a toy over Christmas break.  Jordan loves to play with his Dad and is included in all teasings that are shelled out.  Jordan recently mentioned that the TV was blurry, so we took him in to get his eyes checked.  He is now the proud owner of some glasses.  AND it only took 2 days for them to get broken! (Thanks to wrestling with his sister!)  He loves the computer and Minecraft.  Although we do limit it to some regard, he can talk for HOURS about it.   Jordan is very social and loves meeting new people and making friends.  He is becoming aware of different religious beliefs, and its not uncommon for him to be telling kids all about being a "Mormon."

 



Makenzie is loving life where she is at.  I'm being pretty sentimental lately, as my "baby" will be 10 years old soon!  She is growing up into a beautiful person.  Life is all about reading books, animals, and playing with friends now.  I do make her brush her long hair at least once a day, and sometimes that is too much to ask for her.  She loves all the new earrings that she got for Christmas.  Most of her shirts have a horse on them.  Makenzie came home this past week asking about the "The Hunger Games."  Kids at school have been talking about it, so I decided we would read the books together and go from there.  Makenzie is excelling in school and is a natural born leader.  We are starting to leave her home with a sibling or two to babysit for a short amount of time.  Makenzie loves her baby sister so much.  

Recycle Car Competition

Makenzie has had the opportunity to participate in a few after school activities.  One has been making a race car out of recycled materials.  We had the district race car competition this past week.  Makenzie's group "Racing Rascals" won for her school, and got 2nd in the district!  She was so excited, as you can see from her face!  They were awarded medals.  

Thanksgiving in Utah

We had to take advantage of being "closer" to home and make a visit for Thanksgiving.  "Closer" is a relative term, as it was still a 16 hour drive.  We love our home of Southern Utah, and seeing family and friends.  We actually tag-teamed with our buddies here in WA to make the drive.  Byron is also from Southern Utah and they were planning on going down for the holiday too.  Score!  

We decided to meet up and do the St. George Turkey 10k Gobbler.  It was a chilly, but beautiful morning.  I used my sweat band as ear warmers.  I was numb the first 2 miles.  I made my goal of running under an hour, although I have had some shin splints trying to make an appearance.  Tyler so lovingly stayed by my side, although I know he had the itch to run ahead!  

 They had a kids run that the two older ones participated in.  They were frozen to the bone and didn't think it was that exciting.  It was really short.  But they were happy to get a t-shirt and sweatband out of the whole thing.

 Ellionna wanted to feel included.

My mom decorated the table so pretty.  

Here are the kids about ready to dig in.

And the littles had their own table.

We missed my younger brother joining us.  He got rear-ended the night before as he started the trek down from SLC.  There car was totaled, but luckily nobody was hurt.

Aunt Kari is the creative one and all the kids enjoyed making some turkey crafts.

We also enjoyed a second Thanksgiving meal with the Sherman family.  Sorry no pics were taken.

 We went down to the elementary to play one day.   I had to laugh because I found some graffiti with a name that we know.  "Brxon Barr and Lexi Sherman; Tick Tack Toe Masters"  Luckily it was good.... you often don't find that with graffiti.

We decided to stay in SLC one night before we headed home, so we could venture over to temple square and see all the lights. Of course, it was crazy busy!  The weather was quite warm and as you see from the pics, most of the kids shed their coats.

Overall, it was a great trip!  Making memories with the family is the best!

So a little side story for this next picture....
Jordan and Gavin were introduced to a certain youtube video while on vacation.  It was commentary of someone playing a video game.  Well, apparently the video scared Jordan full force.  The first few nights were pretty long with him.  He has never been so scared in his life!  Now, after a week, it is just getting old as he still claims to be scared.   So instead of Jordan turning to us for comfort, he has turned to Gavin.  Gavin so bravely has stated that he is not scared and will protect his older brother.  Gavin so lovingly will sleep with Jordan every night now, so help him feel better.  I'm happy to see this kind of bonding and brotherly love from these two!

Family Pics

Here's a sneak peek of some family pictures that we got done this past weekend.  I'm saving the actual family picture for our Christmas cards, so you will have to wait on that.

I think we have some pretty cute kids, if I say so myself!!!

True personalities right here!

11 years of marriage!

Happy Halloween

Halloween this year was a simple and fun one!   We did a night of pumpkin carving with our friends. The one picture we got is of Ellionna showing off Tyler's creativeness.  He has the artistic talents and patience to always do fun pumpkin carvings.  

Halloween night....

Mama cat and her kitty....

Our tough boys.

October activies

My parents came up for a visit!  And I only got one picture while they were here.  Papa Joe was so kind to play checkers and chess with the kids.  He mentioned that after a few games, the kids were learning the strategies and could possibly even beat him for real. :)

We took my parents up to Leavenworth, which is a Bavarian tourist town.  The pictures are a little blurry, but we had fun visiting the little shops.

I accompanied Jordan on a field trip to the city museum and then an apple orchard.  It's always fun to get to know the kids in his class and be apart of his education.

He thought long and hard about taste-testing an apple.  You see, this boy loves applesauce and apple juice, but will not eat a regular apple!  He took one little nibble and threw it away.

We love living so close to the church so that we can walk!  I had to capture Ellionna was using Tyler's head as a table, so she could color on the way to church! 

New Physician Family Retreat

We got to take part in a family retreat weekend for Tyler's new employer, and get to know some of the new employees from the last year.  We went up to Sun Mountain Lodge about 2 hours north of us.  It was spared amongst all the wildfires that surrounded it this summer.  It was a damp fall weekend, but it didn't stop us from getting out and enjoying the area!

Makenzie was ecstatic to find out that we could go horseback riding!  It was a fun activity with the older kids.

Jordan is all saddled up and ready to go on his horse named "Flag."

Makenzie was on a horse named "War Bonnet"

It was a beautiful foggy morning with the golden leaves!

The younger two had fun discovering the lodge.

The outdoor hot tub was a big hit!

 It was a beautiful view!

We can't but continue to express how happy we are to be here in Wenatchee and to have Tyler join a great clinic.