Missionaries in the making

For the last few months we have been doing Family Home Evening a little different. The kids have been in charge of teaching the lessons and the lessons are coming right out of "preach my gospel". Last night was Gabby's first time teaching. She taught us about the first vision and the restoration of the gospel. She bore her testimony at the end and it was powerful especially for an 8 year old. She told us she was excited to serve a mission when she turns 19. I couldn't be happier:)

Sweet and sassy

Who would have known that a $12 groupon would get you all this...chocolate facial, chocolate foot rub, toes painted, make-up done, flower, and homemade lotion. Gabby LOVED It!!! She fell asleep while the hot rag was on her face and feet. I think she was born to be pampered.

Utah our Dog... Sweetest Dog Ever

 

Today is the day that Utah is going back home to live in heaven.  He has been the sweetest dog we've ever known.  He would let the kids dress him up and cart him anywhere.  His only desire in life was to sit on your lap and be loved.  He never bit or was mean.  We couldn't have asked for a sweeter dog.  Thanks for all the compansionship and love Utah.  We are happy you'll be our guardian angel dog.  Say "hi" to Grandma and Grandpa.

Chair Dream

I bought these chairs from a charity thrift store that a friend found on Craig's List.  I bought the pair for $50.  They were pretty dirty and stinky but their shape was so cool and unique that I thought they would be perfect for our dining room table.  I love the personality of them now and they are so compfy.  Soooooo glad that I finally finished them.

Our Favorite Pictures from Summer 2012

 "Please Mom, buy these for us!  They are sure to make us look smarter."-Max

 Destin and bird at Busch Gardens.  It poops on his head

 Perfect time for dinner at the beach-St. Pete Beach

 Matching Sock Bunns!

 Field Trip to The Tampa Aquarium

 We are a beach family through and through!!!!

 Spencer's favorite ride at Busch Gardens

 It was fun to have Taft come and visit.  It was a boys party all week.

 I love my man!

 Parker the swimming machine!

 Talking about Jim Carey at the beach.  I love that they love it too.

First day of school, 4th grade and 2nd grade

 Max and his bud Matthew after a football game where they got whooped!

Parker and his new glasses.   So handsome, just like his Daddy.

3 1/2 Years Later

Our life in a nutshell: We now Live in Tampa Florida and LOVE IT!!!!!  I love the weather and people here.  There is so much to do.  We are and hour away from Disney, and a half hour away from some of the best beaches in the world.  However, we couldn't get farther away from our family.  But this is the place that everyone wants to come vacation so we hope to see them all soon.

2012 Summer: we spent a lot of the time at the beach, at Busch Gardens and a lot of time in our pool.  Parker and Zach are both on swim teams and Max plays football.  We went down to the RITZ in Sarasota for the 4th of July.  It was so much fun.  We met the Hunters there.  Great fireworks, great hotel, great fun!

Summaries:

Parker:  He is now 15.  This summer he went to scout camp, EFY, and youth conference which happened to be a week trip up to Palmyra.  They road buses for 30 hours with no electronic devices.  They went to Niagara Falls, they even did the Lady of the Mist.  They went to the Hill Cumorah Pageant.  They took family names in and did temple work in the Palmyra Temple.  The held testimony in the Sacred Grove.  Went to all the church sites in Palmyra.  And then spent a day in Washington DC, going through all the museums.  He had a great time.  He also has been training for swim and doing swim team with a private coach whom we love. He also is almost an eagle scout, he just has his project to do.  He is a great kid.  Super fun, happy, compassionate, and dependable.  We are so lucky he is our first and oldest.

Zach:  He is 13.  Zach went to scout camp this summer also.  He is a Life Scout.  He is swimmer and is super good at backstroke. He is also on a private swim team and doing great.  He just made the 7th grade basketball team too.   It has been really fun to be Zach's mom this last year and watch him mature.  He has the driest, most hilarious sense of humor.  He loves Jim Carey and Ace Ventura as much as I do.  Zach is very specific about the things he chooses to buy, which usually makes him the riches one in the house.  He'd rather save his money for the exact thing he wants rather than buy the cheap knock off.  He takes after his dad in that area:) He is also a great student.

Max: Max is 10.  Max is our football star.  He is the lightest one on his team, but also one of the tallest and toughest. In his first game the other team's coach yells, " When you've got them on the ground, step on their necks!"  And this is when the other team was up 32-0.  I thought for sure Max was going to end up hating it and I was preparing myself for the worst.  But after the game, I asked him how he liked it and he said, "I Loved It!"  Max is a super fun kid.  He makes friends everywhere he goes.  He teachers always love him and he's very academic.  Max is very passionate about everything he does which makes him super fun.

Gabby:  She is 7.  She is the best big sister we have ever seen.  She loves baby Spencer to death and is always taking care of him.  They even share a room and when he has nightmares we don't hear about it til the next morning because she always takes care of it.  She is very athletic.  She loves to do gymnastics, ride her bike, swim, and run.  I cannot wait until we can do a race together.  She loves to do hair.  Since kindergarten, she has been doing her own hair.  Whenever I try to do her hair she recognizes that I don't do it exactly like she wants it, so she usually ends up doing it herself.  She has decided that she wants to go to hair school during high school.  And then she can have a job and put herself through college because she wants to be a nurse.  She taught herself how to do a waterfall braid and different braids from watching YouTube videos. She's pretty impressive.  And the is definitely a Daddy's girl.

Spencer: He is 3.  He is the happiest, craziest, loviest, snuggliest, blondest, loudest child we have ever seen.  He is the light of every ones eyes.  He can't sit through sacrament, not because of himself, but because everybody else is squeezing, and tickling and making him laugh.  They just can't control themselves.  We were playing cards the other day, and someone played  the 8 of hearts, and Spencer yells out "8".  Then we layed out all of the cards and he could tell us their number.  We were all impressed.  We had no idea he knew his numbers.  We are hoping he teaches himself how to read and tie his shoes by himself also. 

Destin:  He is working as a consultant to pharmaceutical companies.  He really likes it.  It stretches his brain which he likes.  He is elders quorum president AGAIN.  It's fine, he's good at it.  He has taken the kids fishing a few times since we've moved. He's decided that since everyone else in the family has become good swimmers, that he is going to also.  So he's joined up with the boys swim coach and is now doing master swim classes.  He has also committed to me that within a few months he will do a sprint triathlon with me.  He is an amazing husband and father and the best time of the day is when he comes home from work so we can all be with him:)

Nicole: Me.  Well, this has definitely been my year.  We have fantastic insurance which I'm afraid will go away with OBAMA care so we decided that it was my turn to have everything fixed in my body that was ruined by five 9+ pound babies.  So I had my veins stripped, (OUCH) and I just had my tubes tied and bladder reconstructed.  Awesome I know, but I'm hoping to be able to jump on the tramp without having to wear depends.  A week before I had my surgery, I completed a triathlon and actually took 3 place in my age group.  I was really only hoping to kill it on the bike, but it turned out I did better than I was expecting.  The whole family came up for it and now everyone is excited to do another with me.  I'm not allowed to do anything for 6 weeks so my body can heal after surgery, but after that, I'm planning starting training for my first half ironman.  I figure, FL is the perfect place to train and do these races because it's flat.  And honestly, I'm not sure how long we will live here.  To move up in Destin's profession he will probably end up in New Jersey (total bummer).  I'm so grateful for a prophet who tells us that family should be first, and to not put off having kids.  Now that my kids are getting older, more manageable, it is soooo fun to have a big family.  I couldn't be happier with my life and where I'm at.  Cross my fingers;)

Until another 3 years.  Hopefully not!!

Gabby's 5th Birthday!

Gabby got to choose the toy that went on top of her birthday cake. The thing she wanted more than anything was a camera. It took her all of 2 minutes to take all 60 pictures.

I don't consider myself a "girly, girl" so it seems to me strange that my daughter is a "girly, girl." I despise washing and doing my hair. I only put make-up on when I really have to. Pony tails are my best friends. I can't stand having long nails. My favorite clothes are my pajamas. So how did she get this way? She loves brushing her hair. Matter of fact, she loves even putting on wigs. She taught herself how to braid. All she wanted for her birthday was make-up, even though she already has a ton of it. Her big birthday present was her own vanity. We're not talking about a little plastic vanity, but a real teenager vanity. All equipped with fancy perfume, and all kinds of fancy boxes etc to put all of her jewelry in. She loved it!

Thanks to Delaney and Bryn Hilton we were able to pull off "Salon Night" and the girls had a blast.

Gabby decided that for her 5th birthday she wanted all of her friends and herself to go to a salon and have their nails, toe nails and hair done. So we compromised and all of her friends came over to the house and we had "Salon Night." And then we took a bunch of pictures.

Emory Hilton, Quincy Hilton, Mikayla Matthews, Summer Goulding, Kira Crosby, and Hailey Ellsworth.