Mason turns 6!

So far, 6 years old has been great for Mason. There are so many

wonderful things to say about Mason, I'm not sure where to start...

So, I'll start from when he was a baby. Mason was my BEST baby!

From birth, this kid was on a schedule and wanted to be just like his

big brother and sister. Once 18 months hit, I wasn't sure if we were

going to keep Mason or ship him of to live with the grandparents!!! He

definitely became very stubborn, very quick. But, I think being stubborn

is in some ways a good thing. He learned at a very young age how to get

his way. I'm not sure how he does it, but he's is an excellent salesman. For

example, he'll ask me for something, and at first I say, "only one," then somehow

he tricks me into letting him have two. I think he will make a great salesman

one day. Mason has a special love for fire...at all the campouts, he never strays

too far from the flames! Definitely keeping an eye on this fascination!

Mason has a big heart, even though he puts on the "tough guy" act.

Deep down, he's so sweet and there's nothing he wants more than approval

from Elena and Tyler. He loves his brother Tyler most of all, and it shows.

They are the best of friends, whatever Tyler is doing, Mason wants to do it too,

whatever Tyler is wearing, Mason wants to wear it too and whatever Tyler is

eating, Mason wants to eat it too! Along with being sweet, Mason definitely has

a talent for sports! Lately he's become quite the little soccer player. Lastly, I love

how Mason is always taking us by surprise, whether it's by the funny things he says

or the fact that he knows most of his addition and subtraction facts. I'm so excited

to see what new things come this year because of our sweet little 6 year old! I love

you so much Mason and am so proud of who you are becoming!!!

Recent Pictures!

Elena reaches a decade!

I can't believe Elena is 10 years old...and she reminds me of it every day by saying, "I'm 10 now!" Elena is such a beautiful, funloving, funny, creative and confident young lady. Elena has a great sense of humor, which of course, she got from me!!! Recently we've noticed one of her talents, she is a great artist. I believe she inhereted this from my grandma! She is also quite the litte photographer! One of Elena's favorite things to do is read. I often find Elena off in her own world as she reads. She is an excellent reader, she reads so fast, I think one day she could be an auctioneer! Being a great big sister is one her best qualities. When I was pregnant with Ryan she told me if it wasn't a girl, she wasn't going to "love" the baby. And now, after a year of having another little brother, I always tell her, I can't imagine if we had a girl, because I can't imagine her loving anyone any more than she loves him. Now that she is the "BIG 10," she is a great help to me. She gets in these awesome moods where she wants to organize....I believe that this is definitely inhereted from my mother, and me (before I had 5 kids). One of my favorte things is putting the other kids to bed and then hanging out with Elena, since she's older now, she gets to stay up a little later than the others. I love this time! She is such a wonderful daughter and such a great example to me of being a great missionary. I'm so grateful she is in our family and setting such a great example for her younger siblings! I know that with all these talents inside one little body, she will have so many options open to her when she grows up! Keep up the good work baby! Love ya!

Tyler is 8! (I know this is a couple months late, but hey, better late than never, right?

Tyler is now 8 years old, and I can hardly believe it. When everything in our home is crazy and and kids may be crying or whining, I can always count on one thing in our family to bring us peace, and that's Tyler. I'm not sure how to explain how awesome this little guy is. I guess I'll just give an example of what his kindergarten teacher once told me about him. She put her hand over her heart, got all teary eyed and said, "Tyler is such a good boy, you can just feel it!" He has such an amazing calmness about him, and let me tell you, with 5 kids...life can be crazy, but whenever Tyler is around I feel this amazing Spirit around him! Our family wouldn't survive without his sweet presence. I'm always so impressed how caring and kind he really is. His concern for others feelings and happiness is always present. Besides his emotional growth this year...I have to mention his physical growth...now that he is taller than his older sister(which she hates), I know the day will soon come when he'll be taller than me. He's already almost to my chin. I love it! Tyler takes after his dad in many ways, his love for the outdoors and his great talent he has with animals. They feel so comfortable around him, it's so neat to watch this. I hope one day he'll work with them. Tyler has this amazingly contageous laugh, and it's hard not to bust up laughing just by the sound of it! It's so wonderful to see what a great brother he is and we are just so blessed to have him in our family! I love you Tyler and look forward to this next year of watching you grow ! Thanks for being you!

Attempting to make cakes!

So, here are a few of my recent attempts at making cakes.

Please remember I'm no professional...obviously, it's just

something I love to do for my kids on their birthdays!

So, enjoy the pictures! One of my favorite things was

the rainbow cake I made for Tyler. The inside was so

bright and colorful. The kids loved it!

Ryan

One year ago today, we were blessed with a beautiful baby boy! It was one of the greatest days of our lives. It's amazing how with each child, you feel your heart grow that much more. Ryan was definitely a surprise baby and he continues to surprise us every day. Sometimes he seems much older and smarter than a 1 year old. His favorite activity now is climbing our 3 flights of stairs. Never having stairs with any of the other kids, we are so impressed with how cordinated he is. It only took about a week of going on the stairs to master them. Throughout the last year, it's been very fun to watch Ryan grow. He seemed to hit all the major milestones right on schedule. For instance, around 11 months he decided that he's just going to start walking. Same with crawling, he all of a sudden just decides he's going to crawl, no practice at all, he just started crawling. It's amazing. It's like secretely knows how to do these things, but he's just waiting until the right time to do them. He is obsessed with cars and balls, but he does have a strange phobia of ball pits. Go figure! Any time he can be the center of attention, which is quite often, he always laughs and smiles when people laugh at him! He knows he's being funny! It's so cute!

My favorite thing about Ryan is his little dimpled smile. He lights up the room just by smimling. He's also the best hugger. Any chance he gets he's giving everyone loves. Such a sweetie, it just melts your heart. All of his older brothers and sisters love him to death. They are so great with him, he's never at a loss of attention! He's definitely the most loved little baby ever. Happy Birthday little buddy, we love you and look forward to many more amazing memories!

P.S. I love how the kids are always sticking things on his head and face, poor little guy!