We are Utah Jazz!

The kids have been looking forward to a night out with Mom and Dad with out their new little sister. Don't get me wrong, they love Kelsey girl, but sometimes a kid just needs time to be a big kid and play with Mom and Dad. We got an awesome deal on tickets to the Utah Jazz vs. Detroit Pistons game. We sat on the second to last row, but that did not inhibit the fun we had. The kids got free tattoos, and we splurged on cotton candy. The kids kept track of the score and Mckay was so thrilled when we got to 100 points. We had a really good time with our kiddos, and we are grateful for what good kids they are. We love you Cassidy and Mckay!

After the 105 to 90 win!!!

Only One Snow Man Storm

It has been a rather mild winter here in Utah, and although here in Utah County, we don't get the snow levels they do in the mountains, we can usually expect several large storms. This year however, we only got one "Medium" storm and a few smaller flurries. After our one "Medium" sized storm Mckay was determined to build a snow man.

Then like most boys, after building his creation, he was adamant about destroying it.

Finally, he decided to build a snowman family, with each snowman being a representation of a member of our family. Sad to say the Kelsey snowman looks more like a sick snow ball.

The mild Winter has not solicited many complaints from our family, other than our older kids have new sleds this year that they didn't get a chance to try out. I guess we will wait for next Winter.

Missing Teeth

For months Cassidy has had her two, top front teeth barely hanging in her mouth. I have been a great mom and been trying all sorts of bribes to have her pull the teeth out, let her dad pull them, or any one for, that matter, yank them out. I threatened to make her pay for the dentist to take them out, or even threatened that I would sneak into her room during the night and I would pull them out while she slept. All to no avail. I was getting desperate. As the end of February was approaching I told her I would pay her $10 to pull her own teeth out, and then she could choose any place to go out to eat as a family, and I would take her to get her hair done. The hair do even would include glitter spray, which I am not a big fan of. I told her she had until the end of the month to get the teeth out. She was excited about the prizes, but even more scared to pull the teeth. February 29th came to an end and no missing teeth.

March 1st rolled around and the kids were playing around before bedtime. During a friendly wrestling match Mckay some how bumped Cassidy's face and her mouth started to bleed. Instead of freaking out and crying, Cassidy decided it was time to pull her first tooth out. She worked on it for a few minutes and got the first tooth out. With a little encouragement from Mom and Dad to pull the second one, and 10 more minutes she yanked the second one out. I was so, so excited to have those teeth out!! Mckay starting negotiating to get prizes for Cassidy. He wanted the $10, dinner and more for her. However, she ended up with $5 and we will still go get her hair cut. Through all of this I learned that some things just take longer than I want, but in the end the result is still the same. Cassidy is now a beautiful 7 year old missing her two front teeth. If you ask her the story she will say, "Thanks to Mckay for punching my teeth out!"

The bloody teeth before she has pulled them out

Cassidy and Mckay after the first tooth has come out

Mckay guarding her prize money while she works on getting the second tooth out

The toothless grin

Our Kelsey Girl

Kelsey is 6 months old. We celebrated the day with the first tastes of baby cereal.

We love her chubby legs.


At 6 months she is sitting up, she likes tummy time and she loves to play. She also adores her big brother and big sister.

Kelsey is such a happy child. She is always smiling, and she loves to laugh.

We love our Little Lady!!!

Cassidy's Patriotic Program

Cassidy did a wonderful job singing with the First Grade and the

Entire School During their Patriotic Program.

To see the First Grade's Performance of "Hats Off" click HERE.

Our super singer

Cassidy loves to sing. She sings every where she goes. This year for a school Christmas sing-long Cassidy learned the song "I want a hippopotamus for Christmas." We visited the Washington Tacoma Mission and our little star stood on the stage in front of approximately 150 people and sang for them. We were very proud of her.

Thank you to Mckay who was the amazing camera man!

Kelsey Update

It is hard to believe that our little Kelsey is almost 5 months old. She continues to grow and is now in the 75 percentile for nearly all of her growth categories of height, weight and head size. Thankfully she also continues to be a calm and happy baby. Since our last update she has been in twice to have new ear molds made as she continues to grow out of the previous mold. We also went in to have a second Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR) test performed.

Love the look on her face...."um, something cold is in my ear." It is a little difficult to tell, but the new mold (pink) is quite a bit larger than her current mold (clear).

Primary Children's Hospital Visit for second ABR test.

The audiologist was very thorough in her testing and ultimately maxed out the capacity of their equipment without getting a response. This didn't really come as news to us as we do not feel like even the hearing aids (turned up to 80 decibels) are registering a response from her.

Getting fitted for her third set of ear molds. She doesn't even fuss during the process. In the coming weeks we will take her in for an MRI to take a look at the workings of her ear. It will be interesting to see if all looks normal inside, or if perhaps some things are either missing or out of place. We have also begun the process of having a specialist come to our home twice a month to teach all of us Sign Language. It will be nice for our kids to have instruction coming from someone other than Mom and Dad.

There is a Deaf Ward that meets close to our home here in Lehi. In the coming weeks we want to attend and get a feel for that as well. Mostly want to ensure that our older kids could feel comfortable. I doubt we would attend this Ward regularly until Kelsey is older, but we are interested in checking it out.

One fun development is Kelsey has begun to babble in Sign Language. We will have to post a short video soon. She will wave one hand quickly, and also make a fist and tap the side of her head. She also recognizes the sign for bottle and milk.

Thanks to all of our family and friends for their continued love and support.

No more Monkeys Jumping on the Bed...

Unless Dad is trying to take your picture.

In this quiet moment....

Cassidy and Mckay asleep in Mckay's room, having a sleepover. Kelsey asleep in my arms and my husband asleep on the couch has inspired me to take a moment and send out a big thank you. Thank you to all who have blessed our lives this past year. My heart is full of gratitude and love for all those who love and support us. Also, a thanks to my Father in Heaven, who is constantly blessing us. I see miracles happen every day. I am grateful to know that I am not alone in the challenges, or in the joys of life. I have seen many times his year when my prayers have been answered by other people. I am grateful for dear family and friends that have been my angels this year. I am grateful for my sweet kids, and wonderful husband whom I get to share every day with. I feel so blessed to have so much.