Amber and Micah Engagement Pictures

So we went out to shoot a few pictures on the coldest day ever! My sister was a rock star in her summery dress! I have more than these but I still need to do some editing. So here is a preview:






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Kaylen's birthday and more!

Here is my big girl giving me a fake grin because she didn't really want her picture taken. She wanted to go and play. Alas, I did at least get better pictures later. I did forget to get any pictures of her with her parents this year. oops! These two girls are so much fun. I really am so thankful for the friendship these two share. I know I say it all the time but it means more to me than anything! Great friends are hard to come by and her mom means so much to me so that makes me so glad that the girls love each other too!
Tripp had more fun at this party than anyone I do believe. He is my little daredevil. Nothing is too high or too fast for him. I love that about him!
Pictures like this are hard to come by these days... a real smile! She is usually too busy for this or just gives me a fake smile.
Well with Tangled just coming out she wanted a Repunzel cake. I tried to make it myself the day before in the FACS room at school. This didn't work out at all. The cake stuck to the pan when I tried to get it out. So I called Peggy Ann's and she whipped this beauty right out! And it tasted wonderful! And honestly, her cost was way less than I spent in supplies to make my own! Talk about frustrating! I wish I would have used her to begin with!

We had tons of friends and family at the party. We are so loved and we appreciate everyone for coming out. I know Kaylen felt so special. Pump It Up is a great place to have a big party!
Here is my big 5 year old opening her presents.

Here is Allen after K's birthday party. He played every bit as hard as the kids did. He has been working so hard lately with his new drug that has come out and all his school work. He also leads 2 small groups and has a group of college kids that he sees when they are in town. On top of basketball games and dates with me. He is always doing something! It was good to see him finally rest on this day. We really enjoyed our snow days while we had them. Tripp is at a great age! He is in to everything and keeps me on my toes but he is also so sweet. His teachers always tell me what a great personality he has and honestly, to know him is to love him. He is so funny and sweet.
He was posing with me and wanted his picture taken for this one. So cute. He kept saying cheese.
I love this little mischievous look. He is such a stinker but so cute he gets away with too much!
Kaylen is playing basketball this year. Allen thinks it is way too early and complains religiously - it seriously drives me crazy. But I love to watch her. It is fun for her to have an activity that everyone comes to that is just for her. She isn't awesome or anything but I love to see her out there learning how to work as a team and having fun. Doesn't she look so big in this picture?!?!
Here she is going after a pass. It really is mass chaos and her favorite part is to go and run laps on the track after the game.
On to other news... Allen had a good year of hunting. He snagged a 9 point buck. I know this is sad and gross to some of you but we were excited. Kaylen watched him skin it and she just rubbed her tummy and said yum! So she is excited for the meat.

Our First Spend-The-Night Guest

Over Christmas break Kaylen spent the night with Rylie. These two girls have been dying to have spend the night parties. So on Kaylen's birthday yesterday we went to Chuckie Cheese and then Rylie spent the night. I will tell you one thing... these two are going to be very tired at school today! I heard them still in there giggling around 11:30. They had the best time together and Rylie never got sad or scared for a moment. She was a rock star! It really warms my heart that these two are the best of friends. They play so well together and Kaylen absolutely loves Rylie! I feel blessed to have such great friends as the Foxes.

I have a few pictures of the two playing in the bed. We read books, said our prayers, had a late night snack of peanut butter sandwiches in the bed, and laughed like crazy!




This morning was a completely different story. They were sound asleep on the same pillow. So sweet. They are both such beautiful babies!

Gatlinburg, Christmas and New Years

I am long overdue for a post on my blog! We have been really busy lately. Let me first say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my darling Kaylen. She is 5 today. The jump from 4 to 5 has seemed huge to me. She isn't a baby anymore. :( I will have pictures from the events later on. Her party is on Saturday and tonight we are going to Chuckie Cheese - her choice, of course!

So here are my babies at Gatlinburg. We had such a good time there. We stayed in a 3 story cabin with a movie room and a game room. The kids loved it! We saw snow and Kaylen went ice skating for the first time.

Kaylen was so excited when she first put her shoes on. She soon got frustrated when she realized she couldn't skate like the disney princesses on ice could.
We did a lot of skating while holding her up but we did all have a blast.

CHRISTMAS
We had a great time at Christmas this year. We always throw a big birthday party for our Lord and Savior. We always read Luke 2 together, bake cookies for Santa and write him a letter. We also track Santa on the computer. This year was funny because K realized that he was getting close (South America) and so she ran upstairs to go to bed and we always say prayers together. So like every night I asked her if she wanted to go first or last. She said last (like she always does) and then said, "wait! I want to go first because Santa is so close. And, Mom, could you just pray for me in your room? He might miss us if you don't." The next day she told us she had a hard time falling asleep. These are the good years. I love that!

Here is what Santa's gifts looked like before the kids found them.
Here we are about to go to bed at a reasonable time this year! I beg Allen to wear Christmas PJ's with me every year on Christmas Eve so that we can all look cute on Christmas morning. So I had to document that he actually wore the outfit I got him. He did it unwillingly but they are on and that is all that matters! :)
Here is my sweet little girl finding out what Santa got her...
Of course the first thing she picks up is one of Tripp's toys!
Then she got into her stash. She loved the puppets!
She knew exactly what to do and set to it. This girl has quite the imagination!
She asked Santa for a learning system. The IXL is really cool. It does tons of different things and it has a read along program. Very cool!
My boy got sick on Christmas morning. He is in his third outfit of the day in this picture. The look on his face says it all. :(This is the first Christmas I can remember waking up in the morning to a beautiful blanket of snow. It really was magical!

We all spent a lot of time playing in the snow. We went sledding, had snowball fights, made snow angels and built a huge snowman! Kaylen was overwhelmed by gifts this year. We really need to curtail the gift-giving. She asked if she could stop getting clothes because she already had too many. UGH! She didn't have too many clothes... there is no such thing! ;) Now toys... that is an entirely different story!
Here is our awesome snowman. He is a little dirty from all the leaves and dead grass. We also didn't have a carrot for a nose so we used an orange. He has a corncob grill.

Here is my sweet little man sacked out. He was sick for days.
NEWYEARS

Well, my sister and I ended up going to different New Year's parties but we had dinner together before we split up. We went to Bonefish and ran into lots of other friends of ours. So it was good to see everyone!

And I am glad to have a picture of Allen and I from that night. I feel like we never take that many pictures of us together. Kids are always the subject matter! They are cuter. And my picture of us in PJ's doesn't count! :)