Happy Birthday Taylee!

It seems like our life is always busy around Taylee's birthday. Many times we've been on a trip and a few times we've moved. I don't know why, but life is busy around April 29th. This year was no exception. Being in the middle of a move and not being able to be in our new house all day (floor guy was here, puting 2 coats of protection on our hardwood floors), I was unable to bake a cake. So we purchased a chocolate cake and ladybug cupcakes to share with family that came over for cake and ice cream. Sorry Taylee. (Actually, I don't think she even cared.. I guess that's just mother-guilt speaking.)

Rylee and Taylee arranged her birthday gifts and took a picture.Taylee received 2 "Webkinz", a white kitty and a golden lab puppy. She was totally excited since watching Rylee play with her puppy on-line. ---Have you seen these things? They are just normal stuffed animals, but they come with a code that you enter on-line and then you can do things with your pet in a virtual world. Honestly, I don't know much about the whole thing, except that my kids are going crazy about them. ---She named them Caitlyn (cat) and Cameron (dog).

The naked truth...we're still moving.

I told Jason I didn't want to start packing until we had signed on the dotted line. So... after we signed closing papers on Wednesday, we started packing. We did major packing on Thursday and then decided to get the U-Haul and do the majority of our moving on Friday.
Saturday was another big packing and cleaning day. We did take a break on Sunday, but then were back at it on Monday. Jason had taken the whole day off to do moving/cleaning stuff. Actually, he mostly did the moving stuff and I mostly did the cleaning stuff. Monday was a really nice day. As Jason was spraying out the garage and driveway the kids took full advantage of the water and begged to get sprayed. Next thing I knew, Abree was nearly naked. She LOVED to get sprayed and then run off and squeal. Silly kid. ---I'm tired, and I haven't even started unpacking the new house.

Neighborhood Welcome

Yesterday, as I was waiting for the Dish network guy to show up, my NEW next-door neighbor brought a basket over. She introduced herself and welcomed us to the neighborhood. How sweet is that? Included in the basket is all the fixings for spaghetti, french bread, salad and brownie mix. She even included foil pans to bake the brownies in...how considerate. :o)

Seems like things are off to a good start.

First Things First

We officially closed on our new house on Wednesday and were able to get the keys that evening. Of course one of the first things Jason wanted to do was play with his new "toy". We purchased a receiver and then went over to the new house to connect the surround-sound in our family/media room. Jason was in electronic heaven. How cute is he? Like a little boy in a candy store. :o)

The Rumor is True

So the rumor is true... we are moving. We're staying around Boise... just moving to Meridian. We love our ward and school, but just need more elbow room! We're most excited about the "media room" which includes a projection t.v. and screen, the surround sound (in the living room, master bedroom, media room and back patio )and the neighborhood pool/playground/workout room in the club house. It's been amazing how things are just falling into place. We've been SO blessed recently. We've received all kinds of checks/money "out of the woodwork". It must be right... or so we're hoping and praying. If all goes well (I've been holding my breath) we will sign closing papers on Monday or Tuesday of next week. Then the fun of packing begins!

Year End Horizon Choir Concert

Rylee's choir conert was very nice. They sang several songs they learned throughout the year, plus some really fun songs like; "Surfin' USA" medally, "These Boots Were Made for Walkin" and "Popeye the Sailor Man". The music teacher at Horizon is excellent. She's organized and has so much fun with the kids. These kids sound awesome and are very good at following her direction. We will miss these wonderful concerts/music programs.

After the concert, Mrs. CK handed out choir awards. Rylee recieved 3 awards for her achievements; a certificate of participation in choir, a music festival certificate and ribbon and a perfect attendance certificate and pin. Rylee was most excited about the perfect attendance award... that's so her. :o)Refreshments of cookies and juice were provided. Here's Emily, Rylee and Charity, choir/church buddies.

E is for Earth Day

Today in pre-school we learned about Earth Day. We talked about how we can take care of our Earth. We made Earth Day visors and then took a walk around the neighborhood to collect trash. Keeping this little group of girls safe and together was a bit of an adventure. I'm happy to report all went well and everyone returned safely. :o)

A Pre-school Princess Tea Party

Our pre-school theme was princess. Our letter for the week was "e". We learned how princesses are elegant & polite. We also talked about how princesses use etiquette & manners. So E is for elegant & etiquette. We had a "tea party" with lemonade. I also made a crown cake (saw it in the Family Fun magazine and just had to try it out). We talked about table manners and then practiced our etiquette during our tea party. The girls did such a good job. We had so much fun.

The Reception

The lovely get-away vehicle.

The Wedding

Emma, Carson, Jade, Colton & Jordyn getting pictures taken before their daddy and Teresa come out of the temple.

It was such a nice sunny day, they had a hard time keeping their eyes open. The photographer would have them close their eyes for the count of 10 then open them to take the picture. Little Carson just kept them closed.

Teresa's mother holding her beautiful bouqet.



Waiting for the bride and groom to come out of the temple.

The new couple... freshly married.

The swarm of kids. They were so excited to see their daddy and Teresa. Jared & Teresa with the kiddos. What a beautiful new family! Rylee, Taylee, Treyson & Abree in front of the Ogden Temple.

Smullin Gathering = Gaming

Our family went to Utah this past weekend, for Jared and Teresa's wedding. The night before the wedding, we all gathered at Mom & Dad Smullin's house. When the Smullin's get together, usually there's some sort of gaming going on. That night there was a little "Rock Band" and "American Idol". The next night the guys played "Halo3" while the girls played "Pass the Pig".