Baptism

Besides the fact that no one could hear Kendall sing (and could therefore hear all my mistakes at the piano), and the fact that William didn't know where I had packed the boys' underwear so they took a really long time getting changed, and the fact that I forgot I was leading the music and had to run to the front of the room 2 sentences into the closing song, everything went very smoothly. It was a beautiful baptism, and we are so thankful for the people who came out for it. I can't believe we didn't get a picture with Paul and his family... but they were there. The boys were super reverent the whole time, and especially as they were receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost. I had never seen them so reverent and it was a beautiful sight, certainly one I could get used to. I am so thankful for Logan and Taylor's choice to be baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. And I am thankful for Christ, who sacrificed his life, so that we could be forgiven of our sins and one day return to live with Him and God. I am thankful for the gift of the Holy Ghost, a constant companion, to guide us, comfort us, and testify to us. My prayer is that It will guide Logan and Taylor on the straight and narrow path that leads to God. I pray that they will turn to Heavenly Father, through the Holy Ghost, when they feel lost and need direction. I pray that they will find comfort in It, when William and I have given them our all. And I pray that they will always turn to prayer when their testimonies get shaky. I pray that they will develop a strong relationship with Heavenly Father, through prayer, and that their testimonies will grow from that relationship. I know they are both very special human beings, and I am so grateful that Heavenly Father trusted me to care for them. I am sure he is sometimes disappointed with me, but I promise I am trying to do my best. I am learning from my mistakes, and hopefully Alexis will get the best of me. Haha. Just kidding. One thing I have learned is that every child is different. And I have to treat them all differently, even if that may seem unfair at times. They all have different needs and different ways to communicate. And I am glad for that. They have different personalities, and that's great. I wouldn't want them all to be the same. What I'm trying to say is that I am grateful for them, flaws and all. I love them all unconditionally, just like I know they love my unconditionally, and for that I feel very blessed. Thank you, kids, for always loving me, no matter what, and forgiving me my shortcomings. I am one lucky mamma.

Alexis' birthday

Sorry Alexis, but we didn't do much on your actual birthday. We gave you some presents, then we took Kendall to her friend Baylee's birthday party, went to Logan's basketball game, and had Logan and Taylor's birthday party. Sometimes, when life gets busy, we celebrate when we get the chance. And luckily, both sets on your grandparents came for the boys' baptisms, so we celebrated your birthday with them. It was actually kind of perfect. Plus we got to celebrate Grandma's 70th birthday, too. You two are exactly 69 years apart.

I love decorating for birthday parties, so I went a little overboard, but I think I can reuse most of these, so I'll call that a win. Pink and gold is ageless. Pink for you, gold for Grandma, because you're a little girl and she is in her golden years. Haha.

Alexis is 1!!!

I can't believe this little lady joined our family ONE year ago! She is so fun, so sweet, so... perfect. Seriously, she is the perfect baby. I don't know what I did to deserve her, but I'll keep her, forever.

At 1, Alexis is almost walking. She usually takes 5 steps before she falls or finds something to hold on to. She still has 6 teeth with 2 more almost through.

Alexis enjoys making messes of dishes, books, and DVDs. She loves to share her food with others- sometimes that food has been chewed and sometimes it hasn't. She gives high fives and kisses- I love those kisses, and I hope she keeps on giving them willingly and abundantly. She loves mommy and will choose mommy over everyone, but if mommy isn't around, she's okay with siblings and daddy. 

Fun little story... I took Alexis in to JC Penney for her 1 year pictures. She was not having it! She did not want to come out of my arms. My legs (or more of my body) were in 95% of the pictures. Even the toys couldn't distract her for a quick picture. I brought out the smash cake, hoping she would get into it and get super messy, but she didn't want anything to do with that either. In fact, when her foot accidentally got into the cake (she was trying to get to me), it was me that got messy. The photographer gave up and told us to come back the next day with a well-fed and rested baby. She HAD been well-fed and WAS rested, but whatever. The next day, shocker, same thing. She asked us to come again, saying that Alexis would hopefully warm up to her if she saw her regularly. She also said it might be a good idea to come 1 hour or 2 before the session to let Alexis play around and get comfortable. I get it. Makes sense. Except that by that point, I WAS DONE! I scheduled for someone to come to our house and take the pictures. I really thought that she would do better in her element, but it wasn't any easier. Fortunately I had spent some time doing my hair that morning, so I was picture-ready. And that cake, the one we used 3 days in a row? It was all over my face, clothes, and hair. I guess the joke's on me! Overall, I am pretty happy with how the pictures turned out. I just wish I wasn't in so many of them.

Ohhh, Alexis... I love you soooo much! I love that I get to spend so much time with you. And I miss you when you sleep. Sometimes I come cuddle with you while you sleep because I can't stand being away from you. I kiss you about a million times every day. I'm curious to see what you'll grow up to be like. Are you going to be sassy like Kendall, a smart a$$ like Logan, or imaginative like Taylor? One thing I know is you love getting silly with your siblings (like playing peek-a-boo in the shower with them), you love to share with others, you love to snuggle with everyone in our family, you don't like strangers or people you don't know well to hold you, and you have this I-wanna-do-what-I-wanna-do attitude, which is cute, right now, but I'm not sure I'm going to like it forever. Like, when you throw your food on the ground when you're done, and you don't even care that I'm watching you do it. Once thing is for sure, you know how to communicate without words. I can always tell when you don't want to eat anymore, or when you've had too many kisses, or when you want someone to get away from you. I hope you always communicate well- that would make it easy on mommy. I love you, little Princess. Thank you for being my little sunshine. Thank you for making me laugh until my cheeks hurt. Thank you for making me feel loved and appreciated. Thank you for coming into our lives and making it even better than it already was. I love you, Bo! (I don't know how we came up with that nickname... sorry!)

Logan and Taylor's birthday party

Laser tag!!! Who doesn't love playing laser tag? The boys were super excited to invite 5 friends (each) plus their cousins to play laser tag for their birthday. I'm so glad they both agreed on doing this because I don't know what we'll do in the future if they want to have different parties. It was a win-win situation because for a few hundred bucks, we celebrated not 1, but 2 birthdays!!! The advantage of having twins, I suppose. Logan invited Dale, Brigham, Wesley, Rylan, and Halee (Halee couldn't make ot). Taylor invited Mira, Dylan, Zander, Zach, and Charlotte. And of course, Kai, Luke, and Eli were there. Luke was soooo sweet! He bought the boys a present (cars) with his own money!!! My heart was one giant puddle. And this year, I remembered to take a group picture, with most of the kids looking and a picture of the cake. Don't get too happy, because I forgot to take pictures of the invitations and favors. The invitations were SOOOO cool! They were tags, like VIP passes. You can kind of see them around some of the kids' neck. And the favors included a glow stick, a glow straw, a fidget spinner, and some candy. The kids were super excited about the fidget spinners. It's like the cool thing right now. Logan and Taylor had a great time, and Kendall was happy that there were 2 other girls there. Success! We survived a party with 15 kids!

Logan and Taylor are 8!

Official one-more-kiss-before-your-next-birthday pictures. I do take them every year, but I don't post them every year. This year, though, here they are! Because I know how much they both love it, even if they won't admit it.

This was their first Breakfast in Bed. Until this year, I didn't trust them with food in their bedrooms. Notice, though, how there is no drink on that tray. I'm not entirely stupid. Per my knowledge of their likes and disikes: CREPES. Logan once said that crepes are the best thing I cook. *blush*

Yes, I love my accent wall. And every fancy picture shall be taken in front of my fancy stone wall.

Guns and video games, because what else do 8-year-old boys like???

To celebrate, we went to KTR and Texas Roadhouse. We also ate too many cupcakes because they brought some to school, but they were extras from kids who were absent.