My Baby Boy!

I love this boy! He is spoiled and crazy and loves to scream but when he lets me hold him, even just for a minute, I melt!

Sweet Baby Girl!

We were able to finally meet the beautiful new addition to the clan last weekend! We were thrilled to meet the sweet baby girl, Kaesia, and spend time holding her. Other than Gavin's first meeting, which consisted of giving Grandpa the stink eye for holding someone other than him, the kids all adored her. We loved the moments we spent with another one of life's miracles sent straight from heaven and look forward to all of the other moments we'll spend with her in the future.

I'm an Auntie!

My sister and brother-in-law were blessed this morning with a healthy, beautiful baby girl. She must have been in a rush to get here because she arrived only 7 minutes after entering the hospital. Kaesia Capri was born at 5:27 am. She weighed in at 7 lbs and 19 inches tall. I can't believe I am officially an auntie on my side of the family. I can't wait to meet her very soon.

Bikes and Balls

Gavin loves to run himself around on his trike or big wheel. One of his favs is to go down the driveway hill backwards. He doesn't like to peddle yet but he is getting the steering down pretty good. We also recently set up our pool table in the garage and he spends hours out there rolling the balls into the holes. I have come to realize that boys' brains are definitely wired for things like that.

Eris in Uniform

Eris is just like her dad lately in that she gets to wear her own special uniforms to school. She looks so cute and also quite professional. She is learning so much in her new school and really enjoying it. She just got 100% on her test on the War of 1812 and the Constitution. She memorized the entire preamble and is learning many interesting facts in her science and history class. We are so proud of her!

The Style of Shayla

As previously mentioned Shayla is big on keeping her own unique style. Although she is very active and crazy she loves to dress up. She has been dressing herself since she was 2 and loves to accessorize with purses and jewelry. She also insists on doing her own hair most days. She rarely wears anything that isn't pink and her outfits usually have to include a dress or skirt. She loves to play "mom" and "teacher". When she grows up she wants to be Eris' teacher. She is full of fun and lots of energy and makes us all laugh with her particular and sometimes very interesting preferences. Some examples include; insisting on sitting on the same middle chair at the table or the same middle cushion on the couch or choosing to eat foods like pancakes with ranch dressing. Unlike her mom, she has a very strong opinion about almost everything. She is a handful but lots of fun!

Snowman in Mesquite?

When we got home from our visit with family during the holidays, we still had some snow left on the car so the kids were able to build a mini snowman. They were thrilled and even though it melted a couple of hours later it was to experience something rarely found in Mesquite. The kids also got hard at work at another club house in a nearby dirt lot. It consisted of a hole in a large pile of dirt and some old toys and decorations to make it more homey. They have spent hours fixing it up and have had fun using their imaginations to build their own little get-away.

Gymnastics Show

The girls participated in a gymnastics program during the holidays and both did a fantastic job and looked beautiful! They are both improving so much and seem to love every minute of their classes. Eris is doing well in her intermediate class and learning how to perfect her cartwheels, bar, beam work & trampoline and is extremely close on her splits and roundoffs. She is learning the beginning steps of a front tuck. She can also reach the top of the 30 ft rope and touch the ceiling. Shayla is exceeding her coach's expecations in her preschool class. She too can climb to the top of the rope which has been unheard of in her coaches 8 years experience and can also flip herself onto the bar without any help. She does fantastic somersaults, great straight, pike, tuck jumps and balances very well on the beam. Great job girls!

Loves Cars!

Gavin is all boy as he is sure to want to play catch constantly throughout the day. He even insisted on carrying a bouncy ball with him on the playground yesterday but even with the extra difficulty it presented while climbing the ladders, he wouldn't give it up. Lately the same principle has applied to cars. If he's not sneaking into the car to mess with all the gadgets and pretend to steer, he has a car in hand or in this case on his plate during dinner. Just like his daddy! Let's just hope he takes care of the responsibility better than his daddy once did. I cringe to think of him following suit by racing, tipping, crashing, or otherwise being destructive with his cars in the future. Time and hopefully lots of positive influence from mom will tell.
:)

Hiking in the Hills

Hiking in the hills are another fav for us. Although there aren't the big beautiful mountains that we always grew up with, we make do with the dirt hills and rolling desert landscape of good 'ol Mesquite! The kids are getting to be quite the pro hikers and our dogs give us quite a show as they go barreling down the steep ridges to retrieve small twigs to 2 x 4s to tree trunks. Gavin has gotten into the game lately too and takes time picking up sticks of all sizes so that he can throw them to Kapri to play catch all the while calling her "Gracie".

Going on Walks

One of our favorite pastimes has been to enjoy a family walk together. We have a river trail near our house and we love to use it often. I love those small and simple things that don't cost a cent but give us a lifetime of memories!