Happy First Birthday Emily!!!

Today we celebrate Emily's first birthday. Emily enjoyed having Happy Birthday sung to her first thing this morning and by bedtime she could say something that sounded like Happy Birthday. I took Emily to get her pictures taken and then we went to the Salt Lake County Fair as a family. After the fair we went out to dinner and then headed home for cake and presents. It didn't take Emily long to realize that the piece of cake was all hers and it tasted GOOD! Emily kept saying, "Mmmmm, Mmmmm, Mmmmm". Emily didn't quite understand taking the wrapping paper off the gifts but she was sure excited to see a new baby doll in the first box. She is giving the baby "loves" in the picture. The next present had Elmo in it and she was just as excited to see her favorite red furry friend. She LOVES Elmo!! She was in heaven with her new toys and enjoyed the extra attention. Emily has been such a good baby. She is so sweet and full of smiles. Emily still doesn't have any teeth yet. She has 4 trying to poke through as we speak. It should only be a matter of days now. Emily is a full fledged walker too. No more crawling for this gal. She loves to follow around Kaya & Logan and especially likes to torment her brother by pushing the buttons on the TV when he's trying to watch something. She knows it gets a rise out of him and enjoys doing it. :) Emily says about a dozen words and understands a few signs. We hope she had a happy birthday!

Kaya's First Day of Kindergarten

Today is Kaya's first official day of kindergarten. She was SO excited to go this morning and couldn't wait to get there. Kaya met her teacher last week and had a one on one assessment. Yesterday the class had an unofficial day to learn where the bathrooms are, where to get dropped off, picked up, etc. We are so excited for the new adventure. Kaya is such a smart girl and LOVES being with her friends and going to school. I hope she always loves school and learning!

Camping 2009

We had the opportunity this summer to take a vacation with Aaron's family. We went camping for 4 nights in Yellowstone National Park and 2 night in Grand Teton National Park. We had a fun time exploring the National Parks and seeing all the sites. We saw TONS of wildlife and enjoyed spending time together. Here are a few of the pictures from our trip: The first family picture of the vacation as we entered the park. Aaron & Emily cruising around the campsite. Kaya showing us how good her s'more tastes! Logan enjoying a s'mores.
Our kids were so dirty by the end of each day but they enjoyed every minute of it! We visited Old Faithful.
(Don't mind the kids and their ice creams. It was HOT outside!) Our family at Mammoth Hot Springs.
Aaron and his sister Wendy posing for a Geocaching picture.
We did lots of caching on our vacation.
The whole family at the Continental Divide.
Kaya and Logan at Yellowstone Lake.
We did A LOT of walking/hiking to see the sites.
Family Photo at Inspiration Point in Yellowstone.
Our second camping stop was near Jackson Lake. What a beautiful view! The kids enjoyed playing in the rocks and swimming in the awfully cold water.
Emily LOVED being outside and in the dirt. She had so much fun being able to cruise around and explore. Nick, Wendy, Aaron, Steve, & Ryan went on a whitewater rafting tripThe family in front of the Grand Teton National Park sign.
The sunset on our way home from camping. What a beautiful ending to a fun vacation.

Happy Birthday Aaron!!

In between our vacations we celebrated Aaron's birthday. I took the kids to have their pictures taken in the 4th of July clothes. The 4th of July is one of Aaron's favorite holidays and I thought this would make a great picture. Aaron had to work all day but we met up for dinner at the Red Rooster Waffle Company and then came home for gifts and some yummy ice cream cake. We are thankful to have such a great dad & husband!! Hope you had a very happy birthday!!

Hawaii 2009

We had the opportunity to go on a family vacation to Hawaii this summer. Heather's parents hosted the trip. There were 9 adults and 7 grandchildren!! We stayed on the island of Kona for 6 nights and then flew to Oahu for 2 nights. We had a fun time and took hundreds of pictures. Here are just a few of them. Aaron took an excursion up to the summit of Mauna Kea. This is where they get snow in Hawaii.We celebrated the 4th of July while in Hawaii. Here is a picture of the 7 grandkids. Kaya was the oldest at 5 years old!

Pictured left to right: Ettoile, Preston, Damien, Wyatt, Logan, Kaya, EmilyWe drove out to Volcanoes National Park. Our family continued on and drove all the way around the entire island! We took an awesome walk through the rainforest down to a lava tube big enough to drive a car through. Aaron & I went on an ATV tour through the Waipio Valley. Mom & Dad watched ALL 7 grandkids while my brothers and their wives went on a zodiac tour at the same time.Kaya & I had the opportunity to swim with the dolphins at the resort. We did this with my dad and 3 brothers. What a fun experience! Kaya LOVED being so close to the dolphins. It was very hands on!
Our family attended the luau at the Hilton Waikaloa Village Resort. Logan refused to wear his Aloha shirt but we all had a good time watching the fun show. The kids REALLY enjoyed the fire dancer! These are my awesome parents that made this vacation possible!!This is a picture of the sunset at the luau. Our family visited Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona Memorial Visitor's Center. Aaron hiked up to the top of Diamond Head. What a view!! The kids and I stayed back at the resort and played on the beach. We made a stop at the Dole Pinapple Plantation on our way to the North Shore. Aaron & I took the big kids (and Emily) on a train ride. Logan was in HEAVEN!! On our way back to the hotel from the North Shore, we found "Kaya's Store"!! How fun was that? Of course we stopped to take a picture of Kaya in front of "Her" store.

Thanks to Mom & Dad for making this awesome vacation possible. Where are we going next?

Happy Birthday Kaya

Today we celebrated Kaya's 5th Birthday!! What a fun filled day we had. Kaya got to open 2 presents first thing in the morning before Daddy left for work. She then went to get her birthday pictures taken. After coming home for lunch we went swimming at the Lehi Aquatic Center. They have a fun swim area for kids with slides other neat things. After swimming we dropped the other kids off at home with Dad and then I took Kaya to get her nails and toenails painted at the salon. (This was one of her birthday requests!) After Kaya got pampered at the salon we headed over to Chili's with the rest of the family for dinner. They even sang to Kaya and gave her a root beer float! What a lucky girl!! Kaya's favorite part about having a birthday is the presents, of course!We lit the trick candles Grammie Serr sent and Kaya was NOT amused. She didn't like them one bit. We'll remember that for next time. We didn't even end up eating cake since we were all full from dinner and Kaya's root beer float. I think Kaya had a GREAT birthday. Everyone was tuckered out by the end of the day. What a special day to celebrate. It's hard to believe how quickly the past 5 years have gone. She'll be starting Kindergarden next month and I hear the time flies even faster once they get in school. Kaya is such a joy and we love her so. Happy Birthday Princess!!!

Look Who's Walking!!!!!

Emily is officially walking. She is almost 11 months old now. She can stand up on her own without pulling herself up and she can stand for long periods of time. She's getting better every day. Here's a cute video of her. Sorry it's so dark. I didn't realize it at the time and I don't know how to adjust it. You get the general idea!