i LOVE my baby girl

I'm so grateful to have a baby girl

She's my little girly girl

She LOVES to have fun and giggle

She is kind and will always share

She reaches out to kids who need a friend

She knows how to have fun

She loves to do curly hair
and is great at doing her own hair

She's so girly
loves all things girly
and it just about kills her Dad

how girls is this?

She's almost always smiling

She's doing great in dance

She's such a funny sleeper

She's a great artist

i LOVE Jared

oh how i LOVE this boy!

It was a little hard to find pictures of just him

most are with his best buddy/sister, Kamryn

I'm so grateful to have my 2nd chance at parenting with my younger set.

Jared has a great sense of fun
Here he is at his 2nd grade store

Jared is also a good sport -
twice a year he spends several hours
at Kamryn's dance recitals
This year was good because his cousins were there to sit by

He's got a great smile
He'll play outside in the snow for hours

showing his school spirit
on crazy hair day

having fun at Silver Lake

Jared's been very proud of the fact that he read
the first 2 Harry Potter books last fall

He did a great job playing soccer in the fall
and was on a great team

Jared is a great brother and good friend.  He seems to be most like his older brother Justin - sensitive and smart with some of Taylor's fun side thrown in.  He is such a good kid and we rarely have to discipline him.
He LOVES to play on the iPad and the Wii.

i LOVE my missionary

i LOVE being a missionary mom

and this missionary sure makes it easy.

He has a very positive attitude,

doesn't seem to be homesick at all

(sometimes I wish he missed me just a little),

has embraced everything about his mission,

writes us awesome letters,

and is very spiritual

(who knew - j/k)

Justin has been serving in the mission office since December
and is doing an amazing job with all of his responsibilities

Its good to see him still having fun
and keeping up with his soccer skills

He has seen some amazing French castles

I love to see him having fun with other missionaries

This one might be the most amazing of all
Before he left he didn't cook at all -
he didn't even know how to make top ramen!
So in one of his areas he and his companion decided to make dinner
for the members.  This was one of their member/neighbors and he made her dinner.
It was all legal since they ate outside.

Justin looking all professional with his bluetooth headset.

Justin is a grandfather in the mission.
He trained the elder in the middle, who he refers to as his son.
Now his son is training the elder on the left
so Justin is a grandfather.
He said he feels so old.

Justin with a cute little boy
in the family where he spent Christmas Day.

i LOVE Taylor

Taylor is my middle child

my 3rd child

there's something about the 3rd child

they are challenging and awesome at the same time!

i LOVE him to death

sometimes he drives me crazy

but mostly he makes me so happy :)

(lately he's really been my favorite, shh - don't tell the others)

Taylor on the first day of 9th grade
Its been a good school year and
he's done very well

these 3 have a unique relationship
Taylor wants to be the big brother
but teases them a little too much
lately they've really all started getting along
and its great when they do

LOVE that smile

i LOVE that he still likes to hang out with the family
especially up at the cabin

i LOVE that he has school spirit

 Taylor is MY child

he's most like me

good and bad

maybe that's why we "argue" so much

just recently we've come to terms with our disagreeing

and have figured out how to have fun with it

Taylor is my SOCIAL one
He has LOTS of friends and is almost always doing something
with those many friends

i LOVE the relationship he has with his sister
they are great friends

Taylor is a great young man
who honors is priesthood and does what's right
He always participates in church activities,
is a good leader and example

Taylor likes to HAVE FUN!

I LOVE this BOY/MAN!

I LOVE letters

I live for Saturdays (it was Mondays until Justin was transferred to the office) when we get Justin's letters. I LOVE that he likes to write and writes us such good, detailed and fairly long letters.  We LOVE having a missionary out and we will really miss his letters when he comes home.

i LOVE date night

Last night Paul and I went out for date night - just out to dinner at La Cocina, which is just down the hill from our house.  It was fun because our good friends were right in front of us to be seated.  They had their kids with them and we didn't so we didn't sit together but it was fun to watch their cute kids.
I LOVE being out with Paul - it doesn't really matter what we do, I just LOVE being with him. I usually talk his ear off.  He's a good sport to take me out to dinner - its one of my favorite things to do and he doesn't really like it.  His whole goal is just to make me happy and I LOVE him for that. I tell him I want to do what makes him happy and he says me being happy makes him happy :)

I LOVE book club

Just got back from book club tonight and it was a great night. I LOVE those ladies. I LOVE that we've been meeting on the 3rd thurs for 19 years. I LOVE the books we've read and LOVE all that we've shared over the years. We've saved a ton of money on therapy and we've celebrated so many milestones together. I LOVE Melinda for starting our book club and keeping us all together all these years.

i LOVE Modern Family

Seriously, Modern Family is one of the funniest shows on TV.  It is so well written and most episodes have come right from our house.  Those writers are spot on with the activities and relationships of those families.  So many things in that show remind me of my family.
What makes me sad is Paul does not like the show and won't give it a chance.  He tells Jared and Kamryn that it is a naughty show.  Maybe he's right, but I guess i must have my little indulgence.

i LOVE Monday holidays

i really LOVE Monday holidays so much!  So much that I think we should have one every week :)
Today was super chill and laid back at our house, maybe a little too much.
We did get woken up early with a phone call to come help put up flags in our ward (we were supposed to do take down but someone was sick so we switched).  Taylor and Brooke were super good sports to get up early and go put up flags in the cold.
Then I sat next to brooke while she did her taxes - for moral support. She did them herself and is getting some money back :)
Then we went to Target to look around and Taylor got another controller for our new Wii.
Then we spent the afternoon watching Modern Family - oh how i LOVE that show.  (that should be another post)
We had a nice dinner together and then I took Brooke back up to school. It was so great to have her home for the weekend.
Now back to the real world :(

i LOVE music

This was really supposed to be yesterday's post and i thought about it several times during the day but never actually got it written up.

i LOVE all kinds of music. i LOVE to listen to music.  There's not enough time to listen to all the good music.
Friday night we watched our taping of the Grammys and we were happy that it was mostly a good show with good groups performing.  Our family LOVES music and we have definitely made a major investment in iPods and iTunes.  One of our favorite family night activities is everyone gets a turn to play one of their favorite songs from their iPod and then tell why they like it.

I LOVE BrookE

Brooke is coming home tonight!!!

She is only living 20 minutes away

while going to college

but she doesn't have a car 

and doesn't come home very often

so when she does come home we all get excited :)

i LOVE having fun with her

i LOVE that she has good friends

i LOVE that she likes to spend time hiking

i LOVE that she LOVES the cabin like I do
and always hangs out at the cabin with us
when she can

i LOVE that happy face :)

i LOVE that she LOVES kids
she LOVES them so much
that she has decided to go into
elementary education

I LOVE Paul

Oh how i LOVE this man!

He really is my everything

I would be lost without him

He's the ONLY one I can be my real self with

good or bad

i LOVE:

that he is a hard worker
sometimes too hard

he's a great dad
who supports his kids in all they do

he LOVES to have fun

i LOVE his smile!

i LOVE spending time with him and our kids
especially up at Brighton

i LOVE that he's just a big kid

i LOVE that he LOVES me 

i LOVE hanging out with my crazy boy
we have so much fun together

i LOVE golfing with him
our favorite date

LOVE to be outside with him

LOVE that we can be silly together
and LOVE that we both LOVE football
and the UTES

i LOVE that he is all about family and
that he works hard to provide for all of us

i LOVE that he can go to church in this crazy outfit
(we were at the cabin and he forgot his white shirt)

i LOVE and am so jealous that he
excels at sleeping

I wish I could spend as much time with him as his work gets him, but those days will come :)
To my Valentine - i love you xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo