Life has really been interesting in the 10 months since I last posted.  Yep, 10 months.  For the few of you who actually read this blog, sorry I've slacked with the family updates.  Here is what we have been up to:

Jordan played T-ball and Maddie played softball last summer.  Both had tons of fun and are looking forward to playing again this summer.

Fun family hike up the canyon to a waterfall.  

Father/Sons camp-out last summer.

Justin took the 3 older kids to see an Ogden Raptors game.

This summer we moved to Lehi and Justin started a new job at PMI.

At the dinosaur museum.

Climbing trees with Dad.

Taking a ride on the Heber Valley Railroad with Granny and Grandpa.  So much fun!

Hanging out at the Thanksgiving Point farm.

Halloween - our Smurf family!

I got to make the cake for my adorable grandma's 90th birthday party!  Isn't she a cutie?

Sitting on Santa's lap at our ward's Christmas party and at Mamah & Popi's house!

Maddie got to sing a solo with the Lehi Children's Choir for their Christmas concert.  She was amazing and we are so proud of her!


Maddie recently got an expander and braces on her top teeth.  So much fun!

Jordan's 7th birthday party.


Justin is currently practicing several nights a week for a bi-stake performance of The Savior of the World in a couple of weeks.  If you would like tickets, go here.

Jordan lost his first tooth this morning!  He has been wiggling it for weeks and was so excited when it fell out while brushing his teeth.  Hopefully the tooth fairy will remember to come tonight - she has a history of forgetting to come to our house.

Madison sung at her 3rd grade talent show and then was chosen to sing at the school Spring Luau in front of all the students and their parents.  The video is of the 3rd grade talent show.  She was super, super nervous and it shows.  The video from the Luau accidentally got erased, but she wasn't as nervous and she did a fabulous job!  She loves singing and has worked so hard this year practicing and improving her voice.

Josh had his tonsils out a few weeks ago.  He was having problems with sleep apnea, snoring, gagging, talking clearly and sore throats.  It was no wonder - his tonsils were so big they were touching his uvula, even when he wasn't sick!  The surgery went great and he has healed quickly, but we did have a rough few days after the surgery.  He definitely wrung every last drop of sympathy he could out of it.  Even now, weeks later, he still will sometimes say, "I swallowed and my throat didn't hurt at all!"  He is now talking more clearly and his sleep apnea, snoring and gagging have disappeared.  Yay!!

Madison and Jordan are playing softball and t-ball and having a lot of fun!  Madison's team won their first game last week and she played fabulously!  Jordan's first game is next week.

Mikey is 18 months now and starting into the terrible twos.  He has started talking a lot more lately and his favorite words are 'NO', 'DON'T' and 'MINE'!

I finished up my classes a few weeks ago and received my new valid teaching license in the mail yesterday.  I have been applying for all the teaching jobs I can find. I have also been busy substitute teaching a few days a week.

Justin started working for Deals That Matter in April and is enjoying it.  It is a fairly new company and Justin is loving being a part of building and expanding it.  The only downside to his new job is that it is down in Sandy, so he has a long commute again.  We are planning on moving closer to his job sometime this summer.  It will be nice to cut his commute and have him around more. 

January in Review

January was a busy month.  I started back to school, taking six credits so I can renew my teaching license.  I am taking a Children's Literature class and a Reading Assessment and Intervention class.  It is fun, but definitely crazy trying to find enough quiet time to do schoolwork while taking care of 4 kids! 

Jordan turned 6 in January.  

 He invited his friend Aubryn over to play and decorate cupcakes.  

 Then we had a build-your-own cupcake bar for the family party on Sunday.  He picked out all the flavors for the cupcakes, fillings, frosting and toppings.  Everyone had a lot of fun mixing and matching the flavors to create their own cupcakes.  

Happy Birthday Jordan!

We also got confirmation that Josh is severely allergic to peanuts, as well as trees, grasses, pollen, dust mites, cats, dogs, molds...the list goes on and on.  He now has a couple of epi-pens just in case he eats anything with peanuts in it.  He goes back to the allergist in about 6 weeks to deal with his seasonal allergies. 

Christmas Adventures

 Riding the Front Runner down to Salt Lake City to see the lights on Temple Square.

 Bowling & dinner, being shepherds, visiting Granny, Grandpa, and the cousins in Panaca, and our gingerbread houses.  This year our gingerbread village included a cell tower, a castle, a barn, a Christmas tree, an igloo, a playground, an Ecuador orphanage, several amazing architectural creations and a few little houses.

Christmas Day!!

All my siblings (except for Megan, our Missionary, and Rachelle, who is in Ecuador) plus spouses, kids, my Mom & Mike, and even a roommate were here for at least part of the day.  It was so much fun, not to mention loud and crazy, spending Christmas with the whole family!  We were so blessed by some Christmas Angels who helped make Christmas wonderful for our kids this year - thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Happy Birthday Ryan!

Happy 1st Birthday Mikey!

*Adorable pictures all taken by my amazing sister Arianne!*

 

Mmmm, cake.

Lots of fun presents!

 I think the kids had more fun with the balloons from Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa Pippin than they did with all the new toys..

Cousin Boston - priceless!

Halloween!

Justin was a pirate, Mikey was a lion, Joshua was a pumpkin, Maren was a blue fairy, Madison was the Little Mermaid, Jordan was a black dragon (with a long, stuffed tail), and I was a spider (sorry, I didn't get a picture of myself).  Madison insisted that she needed red hair in order to be Ariel, so we dyed her hair.  She absolutely loves it and is so sad that it will wash out within a week or two.

It rained for a while during trick-or-treating and we got soaked, but we still had lots of fun and the kids got tons of candy. 

Happy Halloween!