Ryan's Baptism

Ryan Jane was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was a very special day for her and for our family. The Baptismal Service was wonderful. Ryan's Grampa Z (my dad) gave the talk on Baptism and Ryan's Grandma (Don's mom) spoke about the gift of the Holy Ghost. All five of our children sang, "I'm Trying To Be Like Jesus" and it was beautiful.


All four of Ryan's grandparents came to share the day with us! And they got to stay for an entire week! We had so much fun hanging out, staying up late, going to the temple, playing card games, watching movies, going out to eat, shopping, going to the Cowboys game, and just catching up and enjoying time together. It was a wonderful week!


Ryan was lucky enough to have her Dad baptize her. It was a sweet experience for Don. How grateful we all are to have a worthy Priesthood holder as the head of our home.



Right after Ryan came out of the water, I asked her how she felt and she replied, "soaked!". But a few moments later as I was brushing her hair and drying her off, she said with a big smile, "This is the best day ever!" She was feeling that joy that can only come by following the example of our Savior, Jesus Christ. I have felt that same joy every time I see one of my children enter the waters of Baptism. It was a great day.

Ryan's Photo Shoot

Before Ryan's Baptism I took her out to take pictures in her beautiful white dress. Here are a few of my faves.....

Eight is Great!

Ryan Jane turned 8 on August 29th. We had a wonderful day celebrating as a family. She chose the menu for the day...breakfast was Captain Crunch Berries (then she got to have the rest of the cereal box all to herself), lunch was grilled cheese sandwiches, and for dinner we had chicken patties, asparagus, and lemonade! Definitely a menu of an 8 year old! :) And my children never want the traditional birthday cake for dessert, so Ryan chose ice cream sandwiches with homemade chocolate chip cookies. They were quite delicious if I do say so myself.


It's a tradition in our home to give our children their first set of scriptures for their 8th birthday. Ryan was so excited because she doesn't have to use my old set anymore!

Before her birthday she begged and begged for a bike, explaining that she had NEVER been given a brand new bike but was destined to ride hand-me-downs for the rest of her life. So....we bought her a bike, even though there are TWO perfectly good bikes of the perfect size for her sitting in our garage right now....

Ryan's darling Primary teacher and her daughter stopped by to wish Ryan a happy birthday and shower her with gifts... a card, a huge balloon, candy, and this adorable cookie Rachel made to represent Ryan on her Baptism day. So sweet!

First day of school 2010

The summer came and went much too quickly this year! Probably because I was NOT looking forward to starting the school year with ALL five of my children in school. I have been dreading this day and it came so fast! The kids were all ready and excited, though. Back to School shopping is always busy and stressful but a lot of fun.


My baby, Ethan, started Kindergarten! And he was READY! He was counting down the days and couldn't stop talking about riding the bus, showing off his new backpack, taking a lunch box, playing at the school playground and making friends. We took the kids a few days prior to the 1st day for Meet the Teacher night where he got to see his classroom and meet his teacher. When Monday morning came to start school he just plowed into his class, hung up his backpack by his name on the wall, found his desk and went to work coloring. It was nice to know that he would be fine without me, but come on! No hugs or tears for Mom? Guess not. Thankfully I had already released plenty of tears the night before during Father's Blessings. :)


It's hard to believe that Ryan is in 3rd grade, well on her way through Elementary School! She was excited to find out that she had the same teacher that Davis had for 3rd grade, but disappointed that she didn't have her close friend in her class. :( But, she quickly made friends and had a great first day!


Davis is our big 5th grader this year! One more year of Elementary School and he's off to Middle School?! How did this happen? He was excited to get to change rooms and teachers for classes this year. That definitely made him feel like a big kid. And he is the oldest in our family at their school now! He is such a great big brother and was more excited than Ethan to take him on the bus with him!


Ginger and Gillian, our Junior High kids! Ginger started 8th grade and Gillian is in 7th grade now. I am SO glad that they have each other to lean on at school and to ride the bus together. They are the best of friends and Gilli was so grateful that she had a big sister to show her all the ropes of this new adventure of Middle School.

And for me? After dropping the kids off, I went home to a very quiet house and realized that I could really get used to this. :)

We're official Texans now!

On a whim, Don bought us all tickets to the Rodeo in Mesquite. We were all a little skeptical about what it would be like, be we really loved it! It was very entertaining although quite intense at times. We loved the barrel racing and the 4 and 5 year old sheep riding! The bull riding and bucking was really exciting to watch! My girls were a bit concerned with the calf roping, but overall they enjoyed the competition. It was like nothing we had ever seen before. We were impressed when this public event started with an opening prayer asking for the safety of the riders and military, etc. It was very moving. We love this conservative state of Texas!

Six Flags over Texas

Picture it. The middle of August. In Texas. Outside. All day. HOT!! Why do our children insist on reading the required six hours to earn their free Six Flags tickets? This is our 2nd year in a row and about half way through the day, Don decided that from now on he was going to allow me to take the kids and he would happily stay home with those that didn't have the opportunity to earn a free ticket. So considerate of him. I think it was just under 100 degrees that day, but with 100% humidity. Perfect. We spent the day trying to find and get on any water ride possible. We actually had a lot of fun and enjoyed the adventure of escaping heat exhaustion. Favorite ride? Superman. It is exhilarating!





We stayed all the way til the 'Glow in the Park' Parade ended, which was around 10 pm. That's pretty late for my little 5 year old. Within 3 minutes of getting in the car I turned around to look at Ethan and saw this.....

Joys of Parenting

So, Don and I went out on a hot date one Friday night and left our girls home to babysit, as we often do (although nowadays they are always gone babysitting everyone else's kids)! We came home to an immaculate, clean, home with all the kids in bed then went into our bedroom to find this....


Award for "best parents"? How about "best kids"?! So darling of them.

Summertime Visitors and B-day Parties!

I had been begging my brother-in-law, Jason, to ship his four kids out to stay with me and he actually did it! And he even added a bonus....my sister, Wendy, got to bring them! It has been 2 years since my sister, Ginger, passed away and I can't tell you what a treat it was for me to see her children and be surrounded by little "gingers" for 10 days. It was hard at times, but healing as well. They are amazing children.

Wendy's new husband, Joseph, got to come for the first few days and we had so much fun with them! We went to the temple and out to eat for Joseph's b-day and just enjoyed getting to know our new bro-in-law a little better.

We celebrated my niece, Jenna's, birthday with Gillian's and it was a PARTY! How can it not be a party with nine kids?


Gillian has been anxiously awaiting this birthday as 12 is a big year! She graduates from Primary and enters the Young Women's Organization.


The rule in our home is that you have to wait until you're 12 years old to get your ears pierced. So, we made it a special "girl's day out" and Wendy and I took all the girls to Claire's to watch Gillian get her ears done. Before we left I decided to ask Jason if Erin could get her ears pierced at the same time since she was only a few weeks away from turning 10, the rule in their house. He gave me the "ok" and when we told Erin she went ballistic! She was beyond excited.

But, that excitement soon turned to anxiety as she watched Gillian go first. After a period of going back and forth and back and forth, Erin finally decided it might be a good idea to wait until she was 12 also. :) Great idea, Erin Kate!


Everyone who knows me at all knows that I have issues with loose teeth. If someone shows me a loose tooth, it's out w/in 2 mins. Cute Jenna knows that and came right to me and asked me if I would pull her tooth out. Of course I will! So, I got the floss, tied it around her tooth, and "pop!" I yanked it right out. Well, Jenna went right to work writing a letter for the tooth fairy asking if she would give her some "fairy dust" so that she could fly. I'm pretty sure the tooth fairy panicked a little bit knowing that she could not give this little girl any of her special fairy dust, but she replied with this note and gift.... (double click to read it)


Jenna was thrilled with her special "fairy sweet dust" that she could sprinkle on her cereal, but come to find out later that Gillian was there when she woke up to find this special gift and without reading the note first, Jenna immediately asked Ryan to sprinkle her with the dust so that she could try flying! So darling and so believing. I love that Jenna girl.

It was a busy, but fun-filled, rewarding week and a half with Ginger's kids and my sister, Wendy. We swam (a lot) and went to the park and watched movies, and stayed up late, and ate junk food, and just played and played and played. I loved being with these precious children. It was comforting to see how well they were doing and sweet to hear them share memories of their mother. I loved having Wendy here to take Maternity shopping, watch chick flicks with, share the burden of cooking and cleaning with, and just have someone to talk to all day, every day. We had a blast together. I love and miss all of my sisters!

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Today is my Dad's 65th birthday and you would never guess he was that old by looking at him! Here is a picture he took when he was 19 before his mission. Wasn't he handsome?

My dad was on the BYU gymnastics team. Pretty cool, huh? I think so. He has always been in incredible shape and even now, in his 60's, other guys are jealous of his physique when he takes his shirt off at the beach. I love this picture of him!

Here's my dad in the middle of his brother and sister. Was he not the cutest little boy?! It's no wonder he has 36 adorable grandchildren! (yes, my five included)

I was a lucky girl to get to grow up as one of his seven daughters. My dad was a busy man with eleven children, a thriving orthodontic business, and demanding callings in the church, but somehow he still had time for me. I remember countless hours playing basketball and football with my dad and siblings. I have many fond memories of boogie boarding at the beach alongside my dad. And I was blessed with the opportunity to work as his orthodontic assistant for years and years. Those are cherished memories because I got to see my dad in action as what I like to call, "the world's best orthodontist" and it gave me lots of one on one time with him.
I will always be grateful for a father who lead us in family prayer, family scripture study, and family home evening. I believe our family is incredibly close and strong today because my parents were diligent in those three things. My dad was always so good at coming up with an FHE lesson on the spot, complete with interesting stories and then making it applicable to us. (I'm sure there were plenty that weren't "on the spot", too!) He is a worthy Priesthood holder and has pronounced many blessings upon my head that I will always cherish.
We don't get to see him as often as we like living so far away, but when we do my children just love to be around him. Here is just a "snapshot" of my dad surrounded by some of his children and grandchildren. What a posterity he has created! (Make sure to double click to see it better)

Happy Birthday, Dad! I hope you know how much I love you and appreciate you and miss you. Have a wonderful day and know that this little family of seven wishes we could be there to smother you with hugs and kisses on your birthday! (photo taken in 2005)

11 Years Old!

Happy Birthday to our Gilli Bean! One year away from Young Women's and getting her ears pierced. She cannot wait! But I can. Why do they grow up so fast?


Grasshopper pie. Mmmmm.


We are so glad Gillian is part of our family. She is so responsible and such a great caretaker. She is my right arm! We love you, Gilli!