For Kate's birthday this year we had her birthday party at a gym. It was a lot of fun for the kids, and they all loved it, but I think the adults had just as much fun or even more fun than the kids did.. I loved doing gymnastics again. I could still do a lot of my tricks, and even was brave enough to do a round off back handspring on the bouncy floor. (I was really sore the next day from all the tricks I did, but it was still a lot of fun) This also made me a little sad because this is the kind of gym that I was able to go to when I was a kid, and I really want my girls to be able to go to this kind also. The only gym close to us is a hole in the wall and all they have taught them in the two years that they have been there is a cartwheel.
Julie doing her toe touch (very impressive) only two and a half months after having a baby!
Ryan Jumping into the pit

The girls doing back flips hooked onto the rope things
Lizzy could do flips like crazy. She got started on her back flips and just kept going and going and going.
Alexis was a little chicken. She has a thing with heights. But she did end up doing a few back flips.
Denton even got hooked up and did a few back flips. I took some pictures as fast as I could so I could get from start to end.


Ta da. Not bad for an old fart huh.... JK!
Alexis was having a very rough day that day. Before we went to the party she fell on some bricks and scraped her leg up a bunch, and then at the party she was running and fell and hurt her hip, some more of her legs and her hands.

Lizzy thought this was so funny to be carried by Jackson!

I am 30

I had a birthday last month and it was so great! Ryan and I were able to go on a date with just the two of us. Ryan's dad came to the house and watched the baby and all the girls. It was a little hard to leave her but it was nice to be able to hang out with Ryan. We went to dinner at my favorite place, the Indian Oven. Then we were going to go to a movie but there is just nothing out that even looks interesting, or they do look good and they are R.... so we went shopping and that was just fine with me.
I thought it would be hard to turn 30 this year but it really wasn't a big deal at all. I still feel the same, and it still feel like I should be 18.....

Picture overload!

I have not been keeping up very well with updating our blog so I am going to do a huge overload of pictures. I got a new camera for my birthday this year so I am having fun taking pictures.
She was smiling before she saw a bright red light and then a flash....

Adison is talking (baby talk) to us a lot and she is good at saying "Hi" (or what sounds like hi) and goo, ahhh, ma, and other vowel sounds. It is so cute!
She is getting so big and a little chunky. I took her in for her 2 month check up and the doc said, "she is way off the charts on her height and way over weight". So I was said, "do I need to put her on a diet?" He just laughed and said that she was just over the 90th percent in both height and weight but that she was just perfect. She is 14 lbs and 25 inches. (which he said is as big as most 4 month old baby's)


The day that we blessed Adison my dad was working on his tractor all day on our yard getting it leveled and he also dug our hole for our trampoline. The girls are loving it!
She is so sweet, I love the smiles she gives me. It just makes my heart melt


My Grandma Merrill came to see Adison. It was so nice to see her and get to talk to her. The day after Adison was born my Grandpa Merrill passed away and it is starting to be hard for her. I wasn't able to make it to the funeral because I had a brand new baby and wasn't really feeling like myself yet. I really regret not being able to go. It was nice to hear about it from her and she told me a few stories about him right before he died. I am waiting to listen to his funeral on a disc and then I am going to post about this later.

Magic

We were riding in the car the other day and Alexis asked us if there was such a thing as Magic? So Ryan began to tell her no, and told her the reason why. After a few minutes of telling them why it isn't real, Brytlee say's, "Daddy you are magic because one time you cooked me a hamburger REALLY FAST"!

Adison's Blessing

We blessed Adison this last Saturday in our home. It was such a busy weekend, we had a bridal shower for Chase's bride to be... and my parents came down and helped us work on our yard on Friday, and Julie blessed her baby on Sunday. We decided to bless Adison this Saturday because there was a chance that Ryan may be out of town this next month. It was kinda nice to have it on a Saturday so that all my family could make it without having to wake up early and drive two hours to make it to our Church. We had a great turnout, all of Ryan's family was able to come and his Grandma Thomas. All but Chris and Cindy and Brad was able to make it from my family along with my Grandma and Grandpa Mueller and Becky and Jaycee, our good friends the Marlow's and that is about it. We had such a amazing day and it was so special to share it with so many people that we love! Thank you so much to everyone that made such a big effort to be with us. We love you all so much!
Ryan did a wonderful Blessing. Adison wore the same dress that all of her sisters have been blessed in.
She was hungry but I didn't want to feed her in her dress. So we just kept putting a Binky in to hold her off as long as we could.

My Grandma Janice is who we named Adison Janiece after. She is such a amazing women, and I love her so much. I am so glad that I have a daughter to share a name with such a wonderful women! (It was funny when I called her to find out how to spell her name she said, "just spell it the right way.... not like mine)
Ryan's Grandma Thomas. Also a amazing women! She is going to be 91 this year and still gets around like so is so young and healthy!



It was such a great surprise that Sara was able to make it to the blessing! She lives in St. George so I never thought they would be able to make it. But luckily Sara had a Aunt that was getting married very close to us and came right after the wedding and then spent the night with us! I wish that we lived closer because she is so much fun and such a sweet heart! (And Elizabeth LOVES little Mia)


Elizabeth was so happy to see Mia and even more excited that they were going to have a sleep over! They are the same age and in the same grade and play so great together. Elizabeth just loves her and say's she is her best friend.
Adison is lucky to have three little cousins that are very close in age to her. One only being two weeks older than her. I am sure these little girls are going to be the best of friends.
going from the left to right. Dan and Julie's little girl Jane (2 months), Lesh and Leo's little girl Kinley (6 months) , and then our little Adison (6 weeks and three days).

Smile

At six weeks Adison weighed 10 lbs and 14 oz. Had had a really bad cold for two weeks and then a bad cough. I took her in because I was worried it could turn into something more than a cough but she was fine.
Also at six weeks Adison started to smile! Not just the "I have gas smile" but a real smile.
She is such a good little baby and she just melts my heart. She has started sleeping better and I just keep praying for it to keep getting better and better until it is all through the night.
She takes a bath every night around 9 and then about 9:30 eats and goes to sleep. I love to hold her while she sleeps and just cuddle her on my chest for as long as I can and then I lay her down for bed. She will wake up at 2 or 3, eat, then burp, and then back to sleep. Then she wakes up again at 6 or 7 and does the same thing. I just love having a new little baby and want it to last forever. It is so amazing what a strong spirit I can feel from her and what a connection we have. It is hard for me to share her with other people because as soon as she is out of my arms I miss her and want to hold her again.

Easter

We had such a beautiful Easter weekend! The weather was great, the kids were so excited, and we even got to see the Easter Bunny!!! We went to the local egg hunt and in the past we have not liked it very much because it was over in 10 seconds and our kids never got anything. But this year they changed things up a lot and it was great. One rule I loved was NO PARENTS could help. This made last a lot longer. They had put money in a bunch of the eggs and my kids only found the ones with the quarters. (there was 20 in each group that had 20 bucks and 1 that had 50.....) Also they made it so all the age groups went at different times. I loved this because this was the first year that I have been able to watch all my kids do it.
Brytlee was so nervous and she was so thoughtful for other kids that she would pick up an egg and hand it to another kid, or she would see someone else going for the eggs so she would just move out of the way and let them have them. So she only had about three eggs. But Elizabeth knew what she was doing.... she came back with her bucket overflowing, and was nice enough to give Brytlee half of her eggs.
Alexis was in the last group to go, and she wanted to find the golden eggs that had the money in them. She was standing by her friend from School and her friend had already found one of them in the tree. So instead of picking up as many as she could, she just looked for the golden ones, and she didn't know why she only got five eggs.......

It was such a nice day that after it was all over we stayed for about a hour at the park and the kids just played. I was so glad to be outside, and not be rained on or watching it snow.....
Little Adison slept the whole time we were out and stayed bundled up and warm.
This little outfit was one that Ryan bought for Elizabeth when she was a baby. The hat has little bunny face and ears that you can't see very well, and the shirt has a little bunny on it.
Sunday the girls woke up before us and when we came out they had already picked up everything! So I made them hid it again so Ryan and I could watch them do it. Later that night we went to Ryan's family's house and had a great dinner and had another Easter egg hunt.
Adison isn't very happy in this picture, and Denton really hates the head bows that I put on her so after the picture he took it off of her and said that was why she was sad.
BFF!
They got twin shirts for Easter and they look so cute in them!
We tried to get a picture of all the grandkids but Jackson was missing, and it is almost impossible to get this many kids to hold still and smile at the same time. (Judy is so funny because she is almost as hard to keep her looking at the camera....)
This may have been the best one that I took. Crazy how many little kids we have running around now..... (13 in 9 years)