{May 2016: Outdoor Family Fun, Last day of School, Celebrations, Parties}

“It is spring again. The earth is like a child that 

knows poems by heart." ― Rainer Maria Rilke

Baby D relaxing, reading his favorite book, "Llama, Llama Red Pajama", in his favorite hangout, our teepee.  Dandelions turned into wishing flowers.  Our Girls {R & K} watching the flock of geese, that we admired at the park.

The majestic, beautiful flock of geese, that we saw at the park.  Springtime flowers, growing out of our brick.  Baby Girl H, smiling adorably.

Little Man C and Baby Girl H, coloring in their coloring books.  Big Sister R, with her flowers, that she received at her dance competition.  Our family loves our new fabulous picnic table, that Daddy built for outdoor events & fun!  The Hive of Bees that visited our apple tree, for a few days.  Little Man C, with his long worm, that he found in the dirt.  Baby Girl H and Little Man C, finding snails in the irrigation stream.  

Baby Girl H and Little Man C, snuggling with Mama.  Little Miss K, dribbling down the field in her soccer game {E & R also played soccer}.  Baby D, Little Man C, and Sisters R & K, visiting the neighbor dog, Dewey.  Big Brother E, Big Sister R, and Little Miss K, with their teachers in the last week of school.  Summer has begun! :)

I will post links to other events that happened this month, after I post them on 

my photography blog:

{School Carnival}

{Cinco De Mayo}
{E's Karate Class}
{May the 4th Be With You}
{Mother's Day}
{R's Teen Beach 10th Birthday}

   

{April 2016: Springtime Blossoms, Soccer, Birthday, Dance}

Came the Spring with all its Splendor.  All its Birds, and all its Blossoms.  All its Flowers and Leaves and Grasses.  ~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Sweet, Sleepy Baby H.  Springtime Blossoms on our Plum trees.  I adore these springtime blossoms.  So lovely.  Big Brother E playing soccer, on his Springtime League (Big Sister R & Little Miss K played on their teams, as well).  They loved every minute!

Mark & Elizabeth eating at a restaurant with their kiddos.  Little Man C {Big Sister R, helping}, practicing giving his talk for Church, in Primary.  Beautiful Springtime Blossoms on our Apple Trees.  Little Miss K playing soccer.  Admiring my Sweet Kiddos {Baby Girl H & Little Man C} through the Plum Blossoms {Playing in their Sandbox}.

Little Man C's Talk:
Jesus Christ was Resurrected, and I Will Be Too.
We came to earth to get a body and see if we would choose the right.  We don't always choose the right so, Jesus Christ said that he would come down to earth and help us by paying for our sins.  He gave up his life for us and then overcame death.  Now because of Jesus Christ, we can be resurrected and be saved from our sins when we repent.  This allows us to return and live with Heavenly Father again.  In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

I will post links to other events that happened this month, after I post them on 

my photography blog:

{R's 10th Birthday}

{R's Dance Competition}

   

{February 2016: Music & Dance Performances, 1st Birthday, Vday Dance & Party}

Love is when you look into someone's eyes and see everything you need.  Big Sister R & Big Brother E had several performances this month {They did an awesome job! #superproud}.  E & R at their Music Concerts {for School}: E playing the Ukulele, R playing the Recorder, R singing in the Honor Choir, E & R & K performing in their school dance festival.  Baby D eating his first lolly pop: Yummy!  Eating Delicious Kabobs.  

I will post links to other events that happened this month, after I post them on 
my photography blog:

{Baby D's 1st "Little Man" Birthday Party} 

{Baby D's Cake Smash Session} 

{Daddy/Daughter Valentine's Dance} 

{R's Dance Team & Competition}

{Valentine's Day Party}

   

{April 2015: Easter, Baby Blessing, Cat Habitat, Family Visits & Fun}

April 2015 was a lovely month.  We celebrated Easter as a family, and enjoyed the beautiful blossoms budding on the trees in our yard.

 Princess H dressed up like the Easter Bunny.  Our kiddos enjoying their Easter Egg Hunt, in our yard.  Delicious Strawberry Shortcake, for our Easter dessert.

 Our Baby Girl H, with Baby Brother D.  Our Delicious Easter Dinner, that we celebrated with, together.

 Our children had a blast, during our Easter Egg Hunt.

 I love the Spring time, when new life is blossoming.  

Baby Boy D, showing off his buff arms, in his muscle shirt.

We also had Baby Boy D's Baby Blessing in April.  We had a lot of family, travel to come and share in this beautiful day with us.  Uncle Chris & Aunt Mandy holding Baby D.  Little Miss H, styling in her Diva Sunglasses, while she naps.

Baby D * Little Man E with cousins * Auntie Angela holding Baby D * Blossoms from our yard

We were worried about our kittens, outside {we live by a somewhat busy street}, so Mark built them a cat habitat {this is the first stage of this amazing structure} to keep them safe, while they are outside.  We have been adding awesome features ever since {to be continued in posts}.

We love our kittens: Pikachu, Peaches & Apricot.

Fun with Cousins.  K with Cousin R.  Little Miss R celebrated her birthday {cupcakes made by Grandma {my mom}}, with Cousin T, while family was here.  We also had a fabulous party for R, on her actual birthday {I will post a link to that later.  I usually post about our birthday parties on my photo blog}.  Baby H swam in the bathtub, while her 4 older siblings, went with their cousins to swim at their hotel.  So much fun!

Happy Little Baby D.  Styling Little Miss H.

Baby D's Baby Blessing went wonderfully.  Mark gave him a beautiful blessing.  We were blessed to have many members of our family; come to share in this special day with us.  

We had a luncheon afterwards, and enjoyed visiting with our family, in our home.

We had a lovely time together.  We were so happy to have everyone here, who was able to make it.

 Our kiddos had an awesome time, decorating Easter eggs together.

Little Miss H, getting into Mommy's ink, all while wearing her stylin' sunglasses.  Baby D, swinging in his swing.  Our girls H & R reading stories together.

 

{Family Visits, Thanksgiving WA, Baby I, Our Kitties: November 2014}

In November, we had a visit from my Sister Angela, her Husband Grant, and their 6 girls.  We always have a blast visiting with them.  Mark and Grant have known each other since they were babies, so they have a special friendship; and are the reason why Mark and I met each other.

 The kids always enjoy playing with their cousins.

We are loving having more room, for our kids to play; in our new house!

 My big sis Angela and I {I'm 6 months pregnant {in these pictures} with our Baby #6}. {Thanks Ang for taking these pics of me!}

I love when my kiddos play together.  So sweet.

The Kids playing in the snow.  Little man C and Baby H sharing an adorable, sweet kiss.

Here is the Story of how we got our 3 Kittens:  When we were driving up to Washington to spend time with my side of the family for Thanksgiving {we had a great time taking my brother Tom up with us, from BYU}, there were 3 Ginger kittens that were abandoned at my in-laws house in Oregon {we stopped there on the way up from Idaho}.  They are the sweetest kittens ever and are so great with our kids.  The kids loved playing with and petting them.

We thought for sure that these adorable kittens would be gone when we came back from Washington, but when we came back they were still at Mark's parent's house!  Mark's Dad is severely allergic to all animals {but especially cats}, so they were going to have to take them to the animal shelter.

I love Cats, and the kids having been asking for Cats for years, and the kittens were So adorable and So Sweet, that we had to rescue them, and take them home with us to our new house.  

When we arrived up in Washington, we got to see my sister Celestia's adorable new baby girl I.  Our Baby H was so excited to see her, and loved her right away.  She even named her baby doll after her, when we got back home to Idaho.

The Kids were all So Excited to meet their new baby cousin I.  She is a beautiful little baby.

The kids had so much fun playing with their cousins.  I love this picture of Baby H, kissing Grandpa {my Dad}.  So precious and sweet.

Little Miss K loved playing with Cousin A, and Little Man C had so much fun with Cousin C.  Mark holding his new niece Baby I.

The kids enjoyed the Delicious Thanksgiving Food, with Grandpa, Grandma, Aunts, Uncles and many cousins.

 Baby H, liked playing with her Cousin S.  Mark and I enjoyed helping make Thanksgiving Dinner and then eating it together.

We had fun celebrating my brother Tommy's birthday together, with our family.

The Kids had fun having Sleepovers with their Cousins.

The Kids loved meeting new sweet Baby Girl Cousin I, and it made them even more excited to meet their new baby brother in a few months.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving up in Washington with Family.  We had a great November.

{Camping, Mark's Birthday, Halloween: October 2014}

As a Family we went Camping at Lake Cleveland.  We setup our tent, we started a fire, we cooked our food over the fire, and we made s'mores over the fire.

 We walked around the area, enjoyed the beautiful scenery of the outdoors and the beautiful lake.

  We enjoyed our special time camping together.  Being 5 months pregnant, I was glad that my morning sickness was over, so I could enjoy our adventure fully. :) 

 We sang songs together, talked, and slept in our large 3 room family tent together.

 The kids enjoyed going fishing with their Daddy.

Mark taught the kids how to fish.

We all enjoyed the beautiful scenery around us.

We had a party for Mark's birthday, and we all had a wonderful time, celebrating the birth of our awesome father and husband.  We love him!  {I made him a special breakfast in the morning.  I made Mark a special lunch to take to school.  Then after school, I made him a special dinner for his birthday: Grilled Salmon, Fried Potatoes, and Green Beans.  It was delicious.  He enjoyed the dinner very much.  We made him a cake, with Blue Frosting, and sang to him "Happy Birthday", and then he blew out the candles, and ate the first bite.  We gave him presents, and handmade cards.}

We have a tradition in our family, when our kiddos are 1 year olds, they wear Daddy's klompen shoes {for a picture}, that he got from his mission for our church to the Netherlands.  So it was Baby H's turn to celebrate this tradition.  Click here, to view all of our other kids when they did this too!  I have always loved "The Wizard of Oz" since I was a child, so I have a tradition of taking a picture with my girls, in these ruby red slippers.  We have them in all different sizes, for the girls.  :) Baby H is starting to really enjoy drawing and coloring.

We love our kiddos.  Our son E and Mark had a lot of fun together, camping in a tent, together, on his Webelos Scouts Campout.  Little man C lost his first tooth!  Our kids have ALL started losing their teeth at age 4.  Super early.  He was really excited, to have the Tooth Fairy come too!  Baby H enjoying Daddy's Birthday cake. :)

   {While E and Daddy were on their camp out:} The rest of the kids and I enjoyed making Halloween Haunted Houses, out of Graham Crackers, Frosting and Candy.  

 We had a lot of fun decorating them, and making them special and creative.  We also watched Halloween movies together.  One that we love is "Charlie Brown Halloween".  We had a great time! {E made one the next day too.}

 We went to K's Halloween Party in her Kindergarten Class at school.  They had lots of games and activities, put together by their "room mom".  They had a photo booth, a huge pumpkin, that they threw bean bags through, large tin can bowling, with different halloween creatures painted onto each of the tin cans, and crafts for the kids to do. 

 They also did a cupcake walk game, and K had fun doing that.  The parents brought in many, many treats, and goodies, snacks, and desserts for the kids to enjoy.  Little miss K loved her Kindergarten party, and we all enjoyed being there to share in her special Halloween Kindergarten party.  The Kindergarteners paraded around their classroom with their costumes on.  K was dressed as a Princess Cat.  It was such a fun event. :)

We went and watched the Halloween Parade at school, with the different classes parading around in their costumes.  Mark was a forest spirit, E was a Ninja, and R was a Hogwarts student.  Then later, Mark, R and E had their Halloween Class Parties. 

E also went on a field trip with his class that day.  They had a lot of fun.  All of their Halloween parties were fun.  K, C and H enjoyed going to the different parties, but stayed mostly in their Daddy's classroom.  

 On Halloween, the kids had No School, so we went Trick or Treating together.  Our son E went as a Ninja, our daughter R went as a Hogwart's student, our daughter K went as a Princess Cat, and our son C went as a Power Ranger.

Our Baby H went as Princess Snow White.  We walked around to nearby neighborhoods to go Trick or Treating.  As always, the kids got way too much candy!  But we had a total blast together!  The last picture is of the kids after their Primary Program, in Sacrament Meeting {at church}.  Little Miss K did her part first, which was singing the first verse of "The Family is of God" with her class.  Little Man C did his part next, which was {the teacher says, 'I feel happiest in my family when'} then C says, "When my Family sings together" (he came up with his own part).  Then our son E did his part, which is: "Jesus Christ showed us, through His example, how we can return to Heavenly Father.  Jesus loves me so much that he paid the ultimate price for my sins".  E sang with his class, the second verse of "I Stand all Amazed".  Our daughter R's next part that she did was, singing the 1st verse with her class, the song, "Baptism".  R's next part was singing a solo in the song "Scripture Power".  She sings, "I'm reading His instructions, I'm following His plan".  R's next part was singing "I Will Shine" song, with the Activity Day Girls.  The Kids also sang all of the songs with the Primary.  They did wonderfully preforming their parts.  I held up (cue cards) the words and pictures, to help the (primary) kids with their songs.  The kids did amazing on their speaking parts, songs, solos, and songs with the primary.  We were so proud of them!  They all did so wonderfully.