Jacob

I need to blog about this cutie.  My sweet little Jacob Lewis is now 16 months old.  He is a blessing to our family.  He is such a joy and a complete stink all at the same time.  I am so glad he is with us.  He is funny... a born comedian.  He will crack himself up with just the littlest noise.  Then he will do silly things to get me to laugh... like climb into an Easter basket (see above).  He loves to give kisses and hugs.  He loves his daddy more than I expected.  He enjoys playing and tormenting his siblings.  They love him so much.  He loves our dog.  Duke and Jacob are best of friends.  Especially now that Jacob calls him Dukie instead of ruff ruff.  He loves to play ball and loves the outdoors.  He is all boy.  But what a doll. 
I love you Jacob!

Easter 2012

Easter this year was a quick Easter morning when you have to be to church at 8:30.  The kids were pretty excited though for the Easter Bunny so Kimberly and Matthew woke up early to see if he came.  Poor Jacob had to be waken because his brother and sister were just too eager.  The older two knew the routine and off they went in search of their eggs.  Jacob was new at this so after a few minutes, he finally picked up on the idea that he picks up eggs and puts them in his basket.  The candy threw him off though.  He thought he could eat everyone he picked up.  We had a nice morning, a great day at church, and a nice rest of the day.  I love to cook Easter dinner and we filled our bellies full.  One of our special treats on Easter Sunday is corn on the cob.  We love it and it just makes us hungry for summer when we can have it every Sunday.  We also indulge in deviled eggs.  They don't always agree with us but we love to eat them!  Ah we love Easter Sunday.

 The stash the Easter bunny brought for the kids.

 Kimberly hunting eggs and candy.

 Matthew hunting eggs and candy.

 Jacob finally hunting eggs and candy with the help of mommy.

 After they found all the goodies (note Jacob's goofy smile)

After church the kids got to try on their new outfits.  Good thing it was a nice day on Easter!

We love all the treats and goodies but we also remember the true meaning of Easter... our Savior Jesus Christ.  There is just something about Easter and Christmas at church when you feel the spirit of Christ so strong it brings tears to your eyes.  We are so grateful for everything Jesus did for us.

Bless you all!

Kimberly's Baptism and 8th Birthday

We had a special day on March 24th this year.  Kimberly turned 8 years old and was baptized.  It was a special day.  Kimberly had a lot of family come to support her and afterwards we had a nice brunch.  Then we enjoyed birthday presents and just the day with us as a family.  It was very nice. 

 This is how Jacob smiles for the camera now.  Silly kid!

It was a great day.  She shares a special thing with her daddy now by being baptized on her birthday just like he was.

Kimberly's 8th Birthday Party

For Kimberly's 8th birthday party, she wanted a dog party.  (Secretly I was grateful we didn't have a girly party)  We invited 16 kids (I know, insane) because this might be the last birthday party with all these kids together with everyone moving and what not.  The party was a hit.  The kids seemed to have a great time.  We started the party with some coloring pages and word finds then moved to games.  We blew up a picture of our dog and played pin the ear on the Duke.  Then we had presents and then played Feed the Dog.  This bean bag toss game was a lot of fun.  Then we sang Happy Birthday and ate dog bones (sugar cookies).  We then went out in the garage and busted up a pinata.  They make them pretty tough nowadays and Brian had to rip it apart after the kids all had a good turn beating on the dog bone.  It was time for a craft while they waited for their parents.  We found a cute craft online with clothes pins where they make a dog that holds their pencil.  The kids had fun decorating their dog I think.  I know one thing... it was great to do this for Kimberly but afterwards, I was tired!

I love birthday parties but I need to adopt some ideas from my friends and only hold parties every other year.
:-)