Basketball star

Alexis is all done with Basketball this year and it went by way too fast. They had a great team and an AWESOME coach as you can see!!!! Ryan was so good at coaching this cute little team. He is just a natural and so great with the kids. They did really well and I think they only lost one game. They were suppose to have a tournament at the end but for some reason it was cancelled and Alexis was so sad. Our Neighbor McKay helped coach also and his little girl was on the team and they were also wonderful. Everyone was just great and it was such a fun experience for Alexis.

Elizabeth is too young to play and will start next year but she was able to go to all the practices and she improved SO much. Ii is still hard for her to get the ball all the way up to the basket, but every once in a while she gets them in. She has really become great at dribbling the ball and her ball handling is great. Ryan will still go at 6:00 in the morning before school with the girls and have them practice and they love going. I love it because it is such a good time for them to get to hang out with their dad and see how much he loves and cares about his girls.


Such a cute ball player! She was so great this year, she was aggressive and would get in all the action. She made two or more baskets at all the games and can really hustle up and down the court. By the end Ryan had taught them a few plays and they really got it down. I really loved going to the games and watching her play, I Can't wait tell next year already!!!!

Alexis's School pictures

Alexis is in the fourth grade and is doing so well. She is really enjoying all the new things she is learning and I LOVE that she really LOVES going to school. She LOVES her Teacher this year and she has been wonderful for Alexis. I am so grateful for good teachers. I feel like we have been so blessed to have the kind of teachers both of my girls have needed each year and they have had great experiences with their teachers each year. When Alexis brought her pictures home I had to tell her that I just thought she was the cutest girl ever. I know I never looked this good in pictures when I was in school. She is a natural for the camera.

Her class picture. The boy above her cracked me up. And notice she is on the bottom row.... I was never on the bottom row and was always on the very top row. So weird to have a little shorty. She has some really great friends in her class also who I love and think they are just so sweet.
I am so proud of Alexis and think that she is such an amazing girl. I am so grateful to her for her example that she is setting for her younger sisters and I hope that they will enjoy learning as much as she has. She is also such a good friend to others. I have had a few people tell me that she is so good to their kids and such a great friend. A couple of weeks ago she was standing up for a friend and was slapped in the face because of it. But she still stood up for her friend and made sure the girls didn't say something bad about that friend. I hate seeing her go through things that hurt her feelings and make her upset but I am really proud of the way that she handles herself and acts away from home.

Think

I have learned that I really need to think about what I say more often, and how I say it. The other night I was getting the girls to bed and they were being so good so I said, "I have the best girls ever." Then Elizabeth said, "do you really mean that mom?" It surprised me and asked why she would say that. She said, "well sometimes you get really mad at us and you said one time that Alexis was acting like a brat." That made me really feel horrible.
Then the other night we were at a pizza place having dinner and there was a family that had four boys. Our girls had been great and right as we were leaving I said, "your boys are being so good." then the mom told me that they are very rambunctious and they are crazy most of the time. So I said, "well mine could probable beat yours, they can be too." and right after I said that, Brytlee started acting so weird and scream really loud while we were walking out the door and for the rest of the night was acting very "crazy!" I guess hearing me say that she thought it was how she was suppose to be acting.
Brytlee said a couple of things that I need to write down before I forget. She LOVED her trip to Vegas and has been talking about it non stop. One funny thing she said was, "mom I saw Evil las Vegas" I didn't know what she was talking about but later found out she was talking about the song on the Just dance 2, Viva Las Vegas.
The other night when I was cleaning up the kitchen I had cut my finger with a knife and as soon as I did Elizabeth ran and got me a band-aide and Brytlee got me a tissue and they both fixed it for me. Then when I kept loading the dishwasher, Brytlee said, "mom go sit down and rest, you are to fragile so I will do it K." Sooooooooo cute. She also told me the other day while she was in a cleaning mood that she was going to just clean the whole house so I needed to go and take a nap.
I really do think my girls are the best girls ever and I really need to work hard so they know that I feel that way. I love them all so much and they make me so happy. (most days, we do have our little moments but they are not that bad) I am grateful that I have my little girls and that I get to see them grow and learn and play. I love them so much and I hope that they see it now instead of later in life. I know that I realize so many things about my own mom that I didn't notice until I had my own children.

Look who's walking

how does this happen??? I just had this little girl and now she is thinking she is so big.....
Adison has been trying to walk for the past month and she has it down pretty good now. She is only ten months so she is one of our youngest walkers. She can stand up in the middle of a room, and also bend down and pick something up. She did a great turn the other day without falling down and can almost do a summer-salt... But she still can get to things faster when she crawls and so she will crawl most of the time. She does a monkey crawl when she really wants to go fast and it is so funny.
She has just learned to click her tongue this month and she does it a lot. She can also suck air in and blow it out and it almost makes a whistle. She loves to play patti cake and will start clapping as soon as you start to sing it, and then whenever you say "yeah" or"big girl "she will start to clap. She can wave hi, and bye, and has blown a kiss a couple of times. She can squeal really really loud and say a bunch of baby words. She has started to do a funny fake laugh at herself every once and a while and then will do a really cheesy smile. She loves to be right next to someone and does not like to be alone in a room. She has to have eye's on you at all times. She still really loves to have a binki, and I think she plays with them more than she sucks them. At night when she is done with her bottle she throws them on the floor and then when you go in to get her in the morning her binkies are all on the floor also.
She is on a schedule and if you mess it up you can tell.... she likes to take a nap at 10- 12 then 2-4. Then to bed at 8 and up around 8 or so. This makes it hard to do anything......
Adison is such a happy baby, and is so much fun to have in our home. She brings such a calm peaceful feeling to all of us and it is so easy to be happy around her. I love this little angel so much and really wish she would slow down and stop growing up so fast!!!!

January

Why does time have to go so fast? I always felt like when I was younger that time would not go fast enough and I couldn't wait until I was older, and wished my years away. Now I just want to freeze time....

Alexis is growing up way to fast. She is going to be 10 this May... I can not believe it. She has started to act older also. Adison has really started to love being with Alexis. Most of the time she will choose Alexis over me. And Alexis is so great with her. The other day Ryan and I had to go to a wedding and Ryan's parents were going to watch the girls. They had not gotten to our house but we had to leave so we wouldn't be late. So we put Alexis in charge. I guess when they got there she had all the kids ready to eat dinner and had the table set and had spaghetti and meat with sauce all ready to eat.
Adison is getting big way to fast. She is a mover also. I don't know how we are going to make it through church ever again.....

Adison really loves anything electronic. We have tons of toys that she can play with but the things that she goes for are the girls mp3 players, the cell phones, TV remotes, wii remotes, and anything else electronic.

The girls were putting on a dance show and I had to sneak a few pictures.
Alexis isn't afraid to show off though
Look at those teeth. Adison has eight teeth now and is such a great little eater. One day when we were at church Brytlee had put a ham and cheese sandwich in the diaper bag and Adison got a hold of it. She was doing really well with it so we just let her keep it. About 10 minutes later I looked down and it was gone. I asked Ryan if he had it "nope" so I looked everywhere for it and it was gone. She had ate the whole thing.
There really isn't much that she can not eat, but for some reason she likes to blow raspberry's at you when you try to feed her and she HATES being put in her highchair, or bumbo. She would much rather sit on your lap while she eats. I am pretty sure we will not be taking her to any restaurants anytime soon.....

Missing Brytlee

Brytlee went on a week long trip to Las Vegas with my Parents, Chris, Cindy, and Tessa. They wanted to take Brytlee with them because Tessa needed a buddy, and she had not been able to go on a trip with Grandma and Grandpa yet. She was so excited and felt sooooooo special.
It is only the middle of the week so we have a few days until she will be back and we all have missed her so much. As soon as she left all of us felt a little sad and the house just didn't feel the same. Alexis and Elizabeth have said everyday they miss her and have been praying for her to come home safe every night. Adison has been acting different during the day and I know it is because she is board and needs her buddy to come back and play with her.
Brytlee has been such a huge helper for me also that I have really noticed a big difference. She has been a cleaning freak and during the day will go around with me and clean the whole house. The playroom has been a huge mess this whole week, and a few other things have been out that she usually cleans up.
It is funny because sometimes when the girls come home she will get on them and tell them "only get one thing out at a time" or "I just cleaned this up guys." It cracks me up. One day when I had made some kind of treat the girls were eating them and tried to sneak more and Brytlee yells, "guys, just one a day!"

She really loves Adison so much and loves to help me take care of her. Whenever I change her diapers she is right there waiting to go and throw it away. She will go to the garage and try and make a basket. She is getting really good at it.
Brytlee and I have a picture just like this from when she was a baby. I just made her a book for Christmas and she saw it and wanted to take another picture like it. (can you tell she is in a funny mood)

Brytlee can always make us laugh. She went on a little road trip with Ryan to Pocatello, and on the way there and back they listened to Napoleon Hill (which is a motivational speaker) and about half way home she turned the radio off and told Ryan, "I've had enough, I know it all dad."
Another funny story about Brytlee, one day she wasn't listening when it was time to go to bed and she was being a little grumpy. So I asked her, "Where did my good little girl go?" and she looked so serious and said, "She ran away." So I played along and said, "how can I get her to come back?" Brytlee say's, "you can call her." So I pick up my pretend phone and make a dialing noise and then sit there for a few seconds with my hand up to my ear, and then she walks out of the room and says, "Hello"
me - hi, is this my good girl?
Brytlee - yes
me - can you come back? I really miss you and need my big helper
Brytlee - ok, I will be three minutes
me - thank you, bye

then a few seconds later she comes running in the room with a huge smile on her face and gives me a great big huge and kiss, and then starts getting ready for bed and is the sweetest little thing. (we have done this a few times now and it works like a charm)

Brytlee has all of a sudden started to like having her hair done. She will tell me when she see's really cute hair ideas and tell me how to do them.... She loves to have her hair curled and then she will say, "oh lets take a picture"

This was a hair idea she saw on a girl at the store. She wanted to go home and try it right away.

Brytlee has changed so much in the last little while, and is really growing up. I am not sure if it is being a big sister that has made her change, or if it is the age, but I am really enjoying it. It has been really nice to have some one on one time with her while, and she has really learned a lot just by following me around and helping me clean house or whatever I am doing. (I just had to relax and let her do a lot of it without caring if was done perfect and that was a big key) For some reason it is sometimes hard for me to let something be done differently than how I do it so I tend to take over and just do it myself instead. I have to remind myself a lot of times to knock it off, and let them do it how they want.
Brytlee really is such a good little girl and we all love her so much. She has always been a daddy's girl and I can tell that Ryan is really missing her also.

quote

Such a great quote: “I don't want to drive up to the pearly gates in a shiny sports car, wearing beautifully, tailored clothes, my hair expertly coiffed, and with long, perfectly manicured fingernails. I want to drive up in a station wagon that has mud on the wheels from taking kids to scout camp. I want to be there with a smudge of peanut butter on my shirt from making sandwiches for a sick neighbors children. I want to be there with a little dirt under my fingernails from helping to weed someone's garden. I want to be there with children's sticky kisses on my cheeks and the tears of a friend on my shoulder. I want the Lord to know I was really here and that I really lived.” --Marjorie Pay Hinckley

Some day's I feel like such a yucky blah because I do have food on my shoulder from Adison, and I didn't have time to fix my hair and get all beautified, but then when I sit back and look at things... I really don't care, and if people think bad things about me..... so what. I had time to play with my kids, and I had time to hold my baby and let her hug me while she wiped her hands and mouth all over me. I am sometimes feel like it is looked down upon by everyone to not look perfect and have everything look perfect all the time, so when I see someone as Amazing as the Prophets wife say something like this, it makes me feel SO much better about myself.

Cabin Time

The day after Christmas we went up to a Cabin in West Yellowstone on Bill's Island with all the Merrill family. EVERYONE was together and it was so much fun. (Cindy was at the party but wasn't able to make it to the cabin....) The kids all played so good together and had so much fun. And all the adults were able to hang out, play tons of fun games, eat lots of great food, paint nails, watch movies and talk. It was Amazing!!!!
The girl's favorite part of the trip was riding on these cute little sleds. They had so much fun driving around and pulling each other on the sleds.
Elizabeth went on a tube ride behind Mike and she came up to me and said she couldn't feel her face. I laughed and had to take a picture because it really looked frozen. But it didn't stop her, I think she stayed out for another hour after this.
The cutest thing was watching Brytlee ride around on the snowmobiles. She loved it and was always the last one to come in the house. The only way we could get her to come in was if it ran out of gas or if it was getting too dark.
The kids didn't even have to have sleds behind for them to ride on..... they had just as much fun dragging behind them.
We were able to stay for a few days and I was so sad to leave. My girls really didn't want to leave at all either but it had to end sometime. I am so blessed to have such a great family that I love so much and have so much fun with anytime we are together. I have some friends that complain anytime they have to do anything with their family and I just can not imagine feeling that way. I think my family is the best and look forward to the time I get to spend with them.

Baby

I can't get over how cute this little baby is. She is so much fun! I just loved these pictures and had to put them on.

I loved how you can see her teeth in this picture. She has eight teeth now and has to be getting more because she is drooling like crazy.
This was hard to get a picture with her hat on because she hates having things on her head. As soon as you put them on she will rip them right off. I think she looks so cute in this hat and it was given to us by my visiting teaching partner who had made it..... so I really wish she would keep it on.
Adison has not been feeling very well, and I feel so bad for her. Last week she had her first ear infection and she wasn't really that bad in the day, but at night she would just cry in her sleep and then wake up a few times a night.
Then this week she has a really bad runny nose, and is now getting a cough that sounds like it hurts. I hate it when kids get sick.

Christmas

What a great Christmas we have had!

Santa's little helpers all dressed up!

HO ho ho
The girls were so excited and couldn't believe that they had more than one present under the tree. They were soooooooo cute! I thought that since we had church at 10:30 that we would only have time to open the gifts from family and then after church we would open the rest. But there was no way that was going to happen!
Elizabeth got this sweet jersey from Santa and now she can wear it to Basketball practice. It is even her dads favorite team!
The girls got new backpacks for School and Alexis got the sweet shinny boots she wanted. (that she later decided to take back and trade for a really cute skirt she liked better)
All three girls got these really cute aprons. They all loved them and now they can wear them while they help clean and cook with mom!
When we asked Brytlee what her favorite gift she got for Christmas she said, "my pink chocolate milk" So cute! I love that something so simple can make her so happy.
My girls said so many times this day that this was the best Christmas ever. And it really was. Not because they got presents, but because we really tried to help them focus on the true meaning of Christmas this year, and the spirit was so great in our house. The girls were so happy and so sweet to each other all day. There was a point in the day that Ryan wanted them to all come down and help do the dishes, and I told him no... I didn't want to pull them away from playing so well and just being together and having fun. That is what I enjoyed so much on this day was seeing them so happy, and how kind they were to everyone. It just melted my heart!