12 year old armed with a camera "watching" his baby brother (who really needed a haircut)

K, I think the title says it all.  Tyler was playing with Jacob (who really needed a haircut) one day, fed him ice cream and decided to take pictures.  

These crack me up...

 

 

 

Brooklyn and her "Valentine"

K, Brooklyn has a lot of "girl" friends, but only one "boy" friend.  He's a very sweet boy and she's pretty much been friends with him since 1st grade (when we moved to Riverton).  His name is Blake and she plays with him a lot at recess with her other friends.  They actually got baptized on the same day too, which was cool.

Anyway, Brooklyn came home from school on Valentine's Day and had a "special" valentine from Blake.  He bought her a little Webkins dog and included a letter and a picture of him.  He told her he wished she would never move (our house was on the market for a little bit, but it's off now....but it will be on again).

We thought it was all sweet, but of course had to give her a hard time about it...and take a picture.

Happy Birthday to me!

Yes, I keep having birthdays!  I LOVE birthdays, but I'm not liking this whole getting older thing.  Especially since this year I hit the big 3-5!  Eeee.  I'm half way to 70 now.  Freak.

The night before my birthday, we took all the kids swimming at the Rec Center.  It was fun and the kids had a blast!

On the day of my birthday, Ben, Jake and I went to the Olive Garden for lunch with Kevin.  Yummy.  That night, Kev and I went on a date.  We went to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory and then went shopping around the mall.  Poor Kevin hates shopping, but he always accommodates my LOVE of shopping on my birthday.  I have a very nice husband.

Oh and yes, I ate a ton of food on my birthday.  I pretty much made myself sick.  I won't mention the donuts I brought home either. ;-)  There is a yummy little donut shop across the street from the kids school that calls my name EVERY day.  I never go there though...so on my birthday I gave myself the green light!  Yum.

It was a very fun, calorie-filled day!

I made my birthday cake because I don't like most store bought cakes.  I think it's fun to make cakes anyway.  I put shaved chocolate on top, so you can't read it too well.  It does say "Happy B-Day Melanie" somewhere under there.

At my mom's house the Sunday after my birthday (yes, we celebrated all week long!)  This is quite the eclectic picture.

Derek and Junior Jazz

Derek took Junior Jazz for the first time this year and had a great time!  It was a great experience for him and he learned so much.

Unfortunately, I didn't take too many pictures and the ones I did take aren't that great.  But, for the sake of memories...here they are... (btw, he's #8)

A fun "New Hampshirite" reunion

In January we had a little get-together at our house with some of our New Hampshire friends.  The Fishers, who now live in Michigan, were in town, so we decided to have a little reunion with those who live in Utah now.

The Fishers, Burns, Bennetts, Plants, Tiina Maughan, Becky O'Neil, and Brit Germann came.  We had a great night and it was so much fun to see everyone!

The gang sans The Burns...I love these guys!

The girls all had a great time playing!  Alyssa, Brooklyn, Kayla, Madeline, Makayla, and Breanna

Happy 12th birthday Tyler!!

I can't believe my little baby is 12 years old.  Seriously???

We had a fun party for Tyler with some of his friends.  We had pizza, went to Nickelmania,  then came back for cake, ice cream, and presents.  They had a great night!

Enjoying some pizza

The BYU cake I made for Ty.  It was easier to read from far away :-)

Benjamin wanted his picture taken with the cake

Tyler and Braden

Tyler and Bailey

Tyler and Kennedy

Tyler and his cousin, Preston

Tyler and his friend, Preston

Tyler and Brennan and Brennan's dad, Jeff.  Jeff was also Ty's scout leader.  Jeff is very much a computer lover so he and Tyler were "tight".

Ty with his cake

Getting ready to sing...

The gang

Sweet Little Jacob

Jacob is growing up so (too) fast!  He is such a sweet little baby. 

Since he is baby #5, I have to remind myself to still take lots of pictures of him.  I remember when Tyler was a baby, it seemed like I took a picture of him in EVERY outfit!  I'm sad I forget to take more pics of Jake. 

So in honor of baby #5, here are a few sweet ones....

About 9 months old....with major bedhead

About 10 months old

About 10 months old

About 10 months old.  He LOVED pulling up to the stairs!

Jake and his daddy