We can't forget about Misty!

Ever since we got Misty a little less then a year ago, our kids have been very concerned about knowing when her birthday is, so we can celebrate it. Well this past week the day arrived, and the kids wanted to have a big party! Well, me being the mean mom I am said we were not having a huge birthday party for our dog! They did talk me into getting her a few presents though =) Here are Alexis and Tori holding her wearing her new pink dress =)



When Levi woke up he got to give her the huge bone we got her.

Misty loved her bone so much. The rest of the day she stayed in her dog bed guarding it. It was so hilarious! Every time anyone would walk near her she wold start growling at them! In this picture one of the kids was walking towards her. Look at that glare!


I know it may seem kind of silly to dedicate a post to Misty's birthday,but we sure do love our little dog =)

Meeting Kacianna

It's so hard living far away from the majority of my siblings, but it is especially hard when one of them has a baby! I am so grateful for cheap flights, and a husband with a very flexible work schedule, so that I was able to travel to Utah for a few days to meet my newest niece, Kacianna Lily Ford. It was so much fun to spend some time holding and cuddling this cute new bundle of joy,

I also got to spend time with my cute nephews Mason and Carter. I tried several times to take a decent picture of the two of them together, but I never got one with both of them looking! Here they are enjoying the light up suckers I brought them.


It was so fun to see them with Kacianna. They love her so much already!


Carter could often be found pushing a chair across the kitchen to get to a treat that was out of reach. Here he is finishing off some corn bread that we had for dinner one night.

Cindy and AJ drove down from Salt Lake for Kristalyn's baby shower, so I also got to see my other new niece Lyla! She has grown so much and is such a cutie. I got to hold her and snuggle with her for a while. She was all smiles and giggles and such a joy! Every time she would laugh or smile she would thrown her head back. It was so cute.


I was grateful to be able to spend some time with Katie and Daniel too. It was so much fun visiting with them.

I had a great weekend, and while it was hard to leave, I was really missing Brandon and the kiddos, so I was glad to be back home with them. What a great weekend I had!

Happy Birthday Cindy

Today is my sweet sister Cindy's birthday! I couldn't let this day go by without a happy birthday post for her! It has been so much fun to watch as Cindy has adapted to motherhood so well these past few months. I have never seen her so happy, and it is such a joy to see. Cindy has always been such a loving sister and friend. It is so hard living so far apart from her, as well as most of my siblings =( but whenever we get together it's as if no time has passed. We tend to be a lot a like and think a lot alike, so we always get a lot of laughs out of that and it's fun to know that she totally understands what I mean when I say something completely ridiculous, because she probably thinks the same thing! I know that this past year will be hard for you to top, but I hope this next year is just as wonderful for you!! We love you Cindy! Happy Birthday!!

Skiing with Dad

Yesterday Brandon took Alexis skiing for the first time. She was beyond excited, and didn't even complain when we made her go to bed early the night before so she would be well rested. Brandon and her got up really early so they would be there in plenty of time to get her enrolled in a class and get to the right place. Here they are waiting in the lobby, excited to start their day. A few minutes after they took these pictures they got ready to go to Alexi's class only to realize that they were on the completely wrong side of the resort! They had to hurry out to the van, drive to the other side, ride a bus, then a gondola. They made it just in the nick of time

We decided the best idea would be to enroll her in a full day class. That way she could learn the basics and be with other beginners too. Here she is getting her skis on about to start her class. That red thing around her leg is a GPS so they can know where the kids are at all times

She had such a blast learning to ski. Her teacher said she had the perfect attitude and was a natural. Brandon stuck around most of the day, watching her. He took hundreds of pictures. Here are some of the best ones.

Alexis stuck with this girl in the red coat all day. They became fast friends and would help each other out along the way.

Here she is going up the ramp that took the kids up to the top of a little hill that they would ski down. She took her coat off at this point because she was too hot.

Here she is going down the hill for the first time with her teacher guiding her.

She did great!

Up again for another go at it.

Here she is on her very first lift ride. Aren't there supposed to be seat belts on those things or something??? lol

Here's another little contraption that they used to pull the kids up the mountain

Snow plow!

She had so much fun! After her class was over, her and Brandon went on a few runs together. On the last run they got stuck on a blue, and Brandon slowly guided her down. He said he only had to jump in front of her a few times to stop her. She was determined to make it to the bottom and she did great! I am so glad that she had such a good experience her first time skiing. The first time usually determines if you are going to like it. My first time was very traumatizing and I haven't been much since. I am glad to see that she will not be following in my footsteps. She is going to take a few more lessons this year. She has Tori and Levi wanting to go now too, so we are going to get them in some lessons too.

To end with, here is a little video Brandon took towards the end of the day.