While you were gone to Ranching for Profit.....

While Evan was far away, we did some partying of our own!! The princesses watched "Tangled".

 There were these random black cows on our road wandering around. I had wondered if Ev had sent them home as a surprise. They still had their auction tags still on!

 We played princess at Gmas!

 We got out the Christmas countdown

 Gma spoiled us rotten and read bedtime stories to us.

 We showed off our princess moves on the treadmill.

 And Kelsey waved, "Hi, Dad" because she missed you so much!

A Day with Gma Spencer

Evan left the last day of November for a Ranching for Profit school. Since we had early church, I decided after church to load up the kids and head for Blackfoot to visit Gma Spencer since we didn't get to see her on her birthday or Thanksgiving. She made a dinner for us and everything....just like when I was a kid!

The park by her house. Somethings never change. The park has a lot better slides,etc than when we were kids. But the fire hydrant, the cracked sidewalk, the big willow tree, the HUGE grass field at the park....that hasn't changed at all. I don't the State Hospital South (seen in the background of the first picture) has changed, but now that the fence is down, it seems A LOT closer....and scarier!

 Grandma pushing Kelsey and walking with Hyrum.

 Lindsay's turn on the slide.

 Riley's turn.

 And Hyrum's. Can you tell how cold it was? All the kids have their hands in their pockets and we didn't stay very long!

 Kelsey dropped her windmill. She seemed to stay the warmest!

 Pictures of Grandma Ilajean as a young girl/woman. I sure love my Grandma!!

Happy 1st Bday Baby Kels!!

My baby is 1! Its so good in so many ways and so hard to see my baby growing up. She got pink lemonade cupcakes in a sad attempt to look like a butterfly. 

 The cupcakes were a little too sweet in my mind, but Kelsey didn't seem to mind!

 Opening a present from Gma Vicki & Poppa Bernie. Apparently, you need to step on them first for quality control....or in order to open the box!

 Her little catepillar piano!! She got a sippy cup from us, a Hello Kitty towel and dresses from Grandmummsie & Poppa Jeff, a cute winter outfit & piano from Gma & Gpa Israelsen. Happy girl!

Waving with her birthday poster.

I love my Kelsey baby. She gives great hugs and smiles. I was able to nurse her the longest (just past 13 months). She will NOT take a binky and therefore, is kind of a nuisance at church and at bedtime. She still wakes up in the middle of the night, but usually takes her two naps a day. She can sign "more," "food," "please" and then points to the kitchen. She has started to nod her head or shake. She says "Hi, Dad". She can SC-uh-REAM! She has wild, curly hair and pulls out any elastics/barrettes that I put in her hair, so she always looks slightly homeless. When she is nursing or snuggling, she either holds her hair or my hair as her "security blanket." She loves her siblings and loves her parents. She's pretty friendly to most people. I love her smile and laugh. I love when she gives hugs and pats me on the back. She was the easiest-going, mellowest baby I had....and then she hit 9 months! HAHAHA! Love my girl. And I love that she shares a birthday with my grandma Spencer. If she had a middle name, it would have been Jean.

Walkin', Talkin', & Trainin'

And, she's off!!! Kelsey has been walking for a while now. She was standing by her birthday with a few...very....cautious...steps! I found out all of the images I have are actual video footage of her walking, so no pics!!

She and Lindsay LOVE Herbie. That's why I love corgs. They are soon good with little kids and kids aren't intimidated by them. But they aren't fragile toy dogs, either. 

Kelsey has been learning signs. She signs "more," "food," and "please" and points to the kitchen. She is training her Daddy very well! (I have this sort of picture with his other 2 daughters as well!)

 Lindsay went potty on Ev's birthday and has basically been potty-trained ever since. She is a big girl like friend Allison! Yay! And she loves her Dora "underwear panties!"

 Here is Lindsay convincing me that she has her boots on and she needs to go work with her dad! She loves to get dressed first thing in the morning!!

Livestock Logic

Evan started a company called Livestock Logic to help others (specifically dairies) handle livestock better and less stressfully. Dave White from Merck had him come give a presentation in Twin Falls. It was a busy time trying to get the powerpoint made and to get his presentation ready. He was pretty nervous about it, but gave a great presentation!!

His new shirt & pants...lookin' good!

Who knows if anything will come of it, but its neat to see Evan's gift in action. :)

My Cub Scout!!

I may be more excited for cub scouts than Hyrum is. In fact, if I could hand-pick a calling, it would be Cub Scout den mother WHILE Hyrum is in scouting. I would love to do it with him!!

We were invited to the bike rodeo pack meeting one week before Hy's 8th bday. It was fun for everyone (until Riley fell off of her bike). 

The next month, Pack Meeting came again. Hy looked great in his blue shirt & yellow scarf! He was the flag carrier for the wolf pack. We had worked really hard that week and he earned his Bobcat award. Go buddy!

 Trevor Nelson, Hy, Tevan Grush, Trevor Bankhead

Halloween 2014

I really am getting bad about taking pictures! Argh!!! 

We went to the first Halloween party at the Albion School carnival that Sara was in charge of. Hy was a skier, Riley a frog, Lindsay was Anna, & Kelsey was the horse.

 On Halloween day, Kelsey was the horse again, Riley was Elsa, Lindsay was Anna, and Hyrum was a pirate with Poppa Jeff's braids.

We were late for the trunk-or-treat, so we missed most of that. Then we went trick-or-treating to a few houses with the Bingham's. It was a fun evening.

Hyrum's Baptism

Hy made it to that magic number 8! That means he's old enough to be baptized. We had a special FHE and invited the sister missionaries to teach Hy about baptism. Here are Sister Mary Howell and Sister Nieto.

Hyrum was baptized the 25th of October at the Raft River Church by his dad. His buddies, Thomas Harper and Trevor Bankhead were baptized with him. He had tons of people there to support him: Poppa Bernie & Gma Vicki, Grand Johnson's, Gr-gma Spencer & A. Vickie, Gr-gma Turner & Ken, Gr-Grand Morgans, Aunt Amber, Uncle Justin, Eldon; Mrs. Richins & husband, Bishop Hall & family; Yavruians, Johnsons, Pickerings, A. Janeen; Pulsiphers; Sis. Stacy Holtman and more that I have forgotten! Poppa Bernie & Poppa Jeff were the witnesses. G-mummsie gave a talk.

(Thomas Harper, Hyrum Israelsen, Trevor Bankhead)

 Hyrum with his mom & dad after his baptism and confirmation.

 Hyrum with all of his sisters and cousins!

 Hy and his sisters.

I had asked Hyrum if he wanted a suit. He said, "Yes;" Evan said, "No." Then I found one at DI for $10. Yeah, that was awesome. He got a lot of handsome new ties, too!

On the way home from the baptism, I asked him how he felt. He said, "I just feel really good!" It was a special day!

Happy 8th Birthday, Hyrum!!

Hyrum had his 8th birthday and we had a BLAST!! He got out of school a little early for "early-out" so we went to Twin Falls and went to "Hop-2-It" with the Yavruians and their nanny. They had some fun, new jump toys.

The little girls liked this smaller play pad.

 Hyrum jumping high in the bounce house.

 Kelsey and Jack discussing the finer details of life.

 Jack practicing stairs.

 After Hop-2-It, Janelle was kind enough to watch the girls while we took Hyrum to Sakura Japanese Steak House. Poppa Jeff and Gmummsie met us for a whirlwind dinner, then they were off again.

 When we got to Janelle's house, she had a fun hat and cupcakes for the birthday boy and his sisters.

 Hy got an awesome BB gun for his birthday as well as a new came sweatshirt and hunting beanie. Dad, Mom & Hy had fun target-shooting the cardboard box bunny & bird off the back porch!

Hyrum is an awesome kid. He is a good helper. He has a strong desire to do what is right. He is very sensitive to the spirit. If movies are too violent, he leaves. He works very hard in school and in all he does!! I am so happy to be his mom.

I love this pic! Riley made Hyrum as picture, but since Hyrum was holding it for the photo, she was pouting!!!