Kyson's party

Kyson, one of MANY cousins who live here in Utah, turned 6 and had a party at a trampoline place just after we got here. It was SO fun.  The kids had a blast.  Here are pictures from the day.

The cake Kipp made was amazing. I took this picture after the candles were poked in, it was even more perfect before.

I tried to get a picture of some of the cousins all together. This wasn't even everyone. Crazy.

Lullaby and Paislee are a couple months apart, and although they're not too sure about each other yet, I think they will become friends. They are so cute together.

Some more Baylee time... This is when it all started. :) Baylee carried her around and when she set her down I tried to pick up Lullaby, but I got pushed away, as she ran back to Baylee!

Also, I made a quick video for them too. So fun. Watch it here.

cousins!

Kyson, Taylee and Paislee came over to play one day and the kids had a blast! I don't know what we will do when we have to move away from them, they are so fun. Lullaby wants Baylee to start working for her title as favorite cousin, because she now also loves Taylee.  She was all over her. Maybe it's because they have rhyming names...?

Wrestling, always fun.

Paislee started warming up to Lullaby, although Lulli wasn't too excited about the "steal the paci" game.

Krystal and Kipp brought a ton more clothes for Lulli.  She of course wanted to try them all on. In those last 2 pictures, she is wearing a swim suit, skirt and two shirts.  Silly.  One of the shirts says "best big sis", I can't believe she will be a big sister in a few months!

necklaces

Lullaby's obsession with necklaces has taken an interesting turn... Now, anything she can find and hang over the back of her neck becomes jewelry.  She found this Nintendo controller and cord in the playroom, and then found my camera battery charger and cord and wore them as necklaces. So silly.

Legos

Ahhh, the morning mess... Why did Paul insist on bringing tiny, lose them in the carpet until you step on them or vacuum them up, Legos to this house?! This happens every - single - day.

happy

I have a bit of a problem when it comes to taking pictures.  I take a lot. About 3 times as many as I post on this blog. I always want to remember things the way they are in that moment. Lately, Paul and I have been enjoying looking back through some older pictures and videos.  It is so fun to see Matix taking his first steps, and Hawken learning to talk, and sweet baby Lullaby laying in her brothers' arms at just one day old. The kids like watching our old movies on youtube too.  It's something we like to do together. I retell the story, and they laugh and watch and make little comments on how tiny they were, or how silly it is to see themselves with a pacifier...

I love our life and all the simple blessings we have been given, like this one.

ice cream

One day, just as the kids were waking up from naps, Paul and his grandpa were leaving to go to McDonald's... one of Paul's grandpa's favorite places. The kids of course were excited to see daddy home from work/studying so early, so they went with. The kids had the best time and left me home alone, which was a really nice little break. There was a huge play place there and even Lullaby went up in the tunnels. She's so adventurous. Grandpa bought the kids ice cream, which they talk about all the time.  Thanks for the fun day great-grandpa Berg!

This is a usual sight, by the way. Grandpa with his snow shovel. He is always outside shoveling the driveway, and all the sidewalks, and the front and back porch. He is a hard worker. The kids love to watch him from the window. Who knew shoveling snow could be so fascinating...

video for dad

Several years ago, my little sister and I thought it would be fun to make a video for my dad from us and the rest of our sisters and family... We started filming it back when you actually used those tiny TAPES in the video cameras, before everything went digital.  In an attempt to get everyone (6 daughters, 3 sons-in-law, 15 grand children and 2 great-grandchildren) all on the movie SECRETLY, Jolie and I had to be very sneaky. We wanted to get it all done for his birthday (December 9th), but we didn't have all the clips yet.  Then we thought we might get it by Christmas, but that passed by too. We felt badly that we didn't have a gift for him, since this was going to be it, so I made this teaser, so at least he knew we were working on something...

Then in January I got all of the clips, minus my own family, which I was saving for last so I could fill in any gaps that needed to be filled. Jolie (and the rest of my family) all live in Wisconsin, so it was her enormous task to track down everyone and get their video clips. Sending them to me was a ridiculous and frustrating task in itself, but we finally got that figured out. Then of course, I moved. First to a friends house in Georgia, while we cleaned and packed ours. Then we traveled to Texas, and then on to Arizona for a week or so.  Then we moved again, this time to Utah. When I got to editing I realized there was MUCH to be edited... MUCH.  Well, last week, FINALLY, I finished the video. It is long and won't be enjoyable for anyone who doesn't know my dad and how amazing he is.  But if you do know him, you should check it out.  Love you dad!! Thanks for being SO patient! :) Happy 75th! Merry Christmas! Happy New Year! and Happy Valentine's Day!

Paul

Paul has submitted his rank order list... It was a long time coming and he changed his mind so many times I can't even tell you. In the end we decided that it doesn't really matter how we rank them, because we will be happy going anywhere that wants to give him a job. I wish I could say that because we have made that tough decision, now we are just relaxing, and spending all our time together as a family... But that's not true. This over achiever is already preparing his study product for taking the STEP 3 in June. Most people don't take this test until after their first year of residency, but Paul, as usual, is ahead of the game.

Besides studying for the test, he also decided to get two part time jobs.  He is working at the "Canyons" ski resort (which I think he did purely for the free season pass) and also at Subway.  The manager at Subway is in love with the idea of having a doctor work for him and proudly announces it to all the customers. So funny. We get to see him a lot more than before though so I can't complain too much. He is home most days for dinner, but he leaves before anyone wakes up... I will really be happy when we know where we are going though... Right now the wait is killing me.

Baylee

Lullaby has chosen her favorite cousin. It's Baylee. The second she sees her, Lullaby runs to her, and hugs her, and knocks her over to snuggle with her, and kisses her... Anything she can do to show affection. She is in love. Luckily, Baylee loves her back and isn't bothered in the slightest to have a tiny shadow wherever she goes. Baylee told me that Lullaby is her baby sister. Here is Baylee reading Lullaby some stories. So sweet.

sledding x2

Sledding the second time around was up in the canyon.  It was a 20 minute drive, but the background was perfection. So beautiful...

The kids were a little more apprehensive this time around, considering what the last time was like, but they all tried it.  Lullaby then hated it, but the boys loved it and played and sledded a ton.

Hawken decided after this run, that he would only go down the hills with someone. Alone, is not his favorite. :)

Sliding with Daddy, while I was on Lullaby duty.

The hill was steep enough in some areas that Matix could slide without a sled. 

It wasn't super cold this day, but after a while we were all ready to go home and warm up.  On the way back to the car, the boys tried penguin sliding with Paul down the snowy road to the car.  So fun.