Getting ready for Christmas :)

I have to admit, on Thanksgiving night I told Dallas that I did not want to set up anything Christmas until after December came around.... or even later than that if we could hold out. It just doesn't seem like Christmas yet. But no worries... I got over it and by Saturday night I was pulling out the tree. Too bad I bought the wrong lights... oh well, the kids took care of the decorating anyway...

Maybe we'll just leave it like this.

I am now getting into the Christmas spirit :) I am excited for Christmas concerts, service projects, shopping (getting done!), food, parties,and Dallas' time off work. I am so excited to give the gifts I bought everyone!! I am so glad it's Christmas time... I just wish I could be with family... miss you all!

Words cannot describe...

...how much I LOVE these photos...

Fog, old white shack, open field, cute husband.... does it get better than this? My friend Kim and I did a photo swap and I am soooo glad we did! We already had family photos done this year, so Dallas and I had our pictures done without the kiddos.  What a better way to celebrate our anniversary? We had so much fun! It felt like we were engaged again :) I definitely recommend this to other couples, you don't have to be engaged to get your photos done... being married is just as important!

These photos were taken by Kim Davis Photography. Check out more from this session here. Check out the photos I took of Kim and Brandon here. We had a great time taking photos for each other! Kim and Brandon, you are awesome! Thanks again and again! 

What could happen in five years...

After having 2 kids, living in 2 different states, living in 6 different houses/apartments, earning associates, bachelors, and masters degrees, five years later and we're still going strong :) Dallas and I celebrated our fifth year anniversary on Friday. I know that after we've been married for 20+ years that 5 will seem like nothing, but for now it blows my mind that time went that fast. We have a lot of great memories and a lot of trying times to look back on. I am so grateful for Dallas and how much our relationship has grown these passed years.

To celebrate we went bowling :) Yeah... weird, but it's just us. I wonder how many people celebrate their anniversary by going bowling? Well, we did. I was sad that I forgot my camera (but Dallas wasn't)... but thank goodness for cell phones. Maybe one day the quality of cell phone cameras will be a bit better...

Maybe I am biased...but I love this picture of Dallas.

I bowl like a girl.

As you can see, we are excellent bowlers. Just disregard how many times I guttered the ball. Dallas was relieved when he actually beat me, even though he didn't break 100.... he usually plays a lot better. I on the other hand have never bowled very well :)

Oh and just for fun here are some photos of Dallas and I over the years....

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

Little Guy... growing up.

Evan. Where to start? 

I love this kid. He is my little buddy. We always have a good time together. He is learning SO much right now. It is hard to believe that he is going to be 4 soon. 4! Crazy. Evan can now write his name, he knows the sounds of all the letters, he loves to pretend to be an airplane or Superman, he loves to help me cook, he is a good helper, and he loves to play with his friends.

Evan loves going to Joy School. He goes two times a week for two hours. There are three other boys in his class and they all get along so well. They are learning different values each week and I have loved it! He is beginning to understand so much more about life and being kind to others. The other moms in the group are so sweet and are such good examples for Evan. I have also enjoyed teaching once a month, the kids are so sweet and fun to be around. It is so nice to have two days a week where I know Evan is getting the structure and learning opportunities that he needs (and wants).

Evan is a wonderful big brother. He shows Kiah everything she needs to know and he enjoys being with her. It is hard to picture one with out the other.... and it is very hard for Kiah to see Evan go to school with out her. Lately he has had an interest in babies (with not much encouragement from me... I promise, he does these things on his own :)). He loves being around little babies, he likes to pretend he is a baby, and he has a teddy that he calls "baby." He even changes the teddy's diaper and takes it where ever we go (again, I did not encourage this, he figured it out on his own). At least I know he will be the best big brother for a little baby... sometime in the future.

We have been trying to be better by having Family Home Evening on Monday nights. And so far it has been a wonderful thing for our family. Evan looks forward to it each week and sometimes we have it multiple times during the week... just for fun :) Evan thinks we are pretending to be at church, so it is a game for him. He loves it. We made a simple chart and he likes to direct us in what we need to do. He loved having the chance to teach the lesson. He even came up with it on his own. He taught us about Jesus and the earth. We helped him understand that Jesus created the earth. Now he likes to pull out the pictures we used and teach us the same lesson over and over.

Dallas is so good with Evan and he loves to teach him new things. He likes to help him memorize scriptures (at one time Evan knew James 1:5), and learn new songs. Evan's favorite song is Praise to the Man. He knows each and every word to the song and he sings it well :) It is adorable. Now Dallas is teaching Evan the Latter-day Prophets song. Evan is picking up on it and he loves to point out each prophet in the picture book. I should take movies of him singing and put them on here... he is too cute.

Evan really is the best little guy. Dallas and I just love listening to the things he says, and we just laugh and laugh. He is quite enjoyable to listen to. We both wish that he would stay little forever... but isn't that every mom's wish?

Macks

Makiah has gained a lot of nicknames since she was born. I automatically started calling her "Kiah" before she was even born. Dallas never really liked the idea of calling her Kiah (but it stuck anyway), so he started calling her "Macky." She has also been called: My-kiah, Macky Jae, MJ, Macadamia nut, Macaroon, Wacky-Macky, Wacks, Macky Mouse and Macks. I think Macks is my favorite yet. It throws people off when I call her that because it sounds like Max and she is clearly not a boy :) I love it when we call her one of her many names and she simply says, "I Kiah." Sorry Dallas. The name has stuck :)

Kiah calls Evan "A." We are not sure why. I guess it is just easier to say :) Evan even had a hard time figuring out how to say his name when he was really little. Maybe it is just a hard name to learn. There have been so many times when Kiah calls Evan "A" and Evan gets upset and says, "I am not A, I am Evan!"

Kiah is very aware of her feelings and the feelings of those around her. When she is sad she will tell you so. When she is happy she will tell you so. When someone else is sad she is concerned. She is a very sensitive little girl. Story: Kiah wanted to wear a specific shirt... her princess shirt. It was dirty. She didn't get to wear it. She cried, and cried as we got ready to leave the house and as I put her in her car seat. She was NOT happy. I bribed her with a sucker and it was not doing the trick so I just ignored her. Eventually she started crying for the sucker and I gave it to her. Immediately she stopped crying and with tears drying on her face she smiled and said "I happy now!" Whatever Kiah, you silly girl. Talk about mood swing.

Kiah is being potty trained now... yeay! When Evan finally decided to be potty trained (again) just a month or so ago, I wanted to train Kiah. Only I knew that she wasn't quite ready.  That changed fast! She would sit on the potty just for fun and she wanted to be just like Evan. Just a few weeks ago she sat on the potty and a surprise came out... she was so happy and ever since she has been wearing underwear when we are home (with frequent accidents of course:)) On November 2nd we tossed out the diapers and began to actually potty train Kiah. It has been a week now and she is doing great. Saturday was her first day with no accidents. Se has successfully made it with no accidents every time we leave the house (except for one accident at church on Sunday). Story: Kiah thinks she can be just like Evan and stand up while going potty... we tried to explain that girls sit down to go potty. Now it is just a big joke for her. She giggles and says "Girls stand up to go potty" she thinks she is sooo funny (and she is :)). Kiah filled up half of her potty chart by Friday and finished the rest of it today- yeay! She still has accidents though, but she is doing great!

Kiah has an obsession with pajamas. She loves them. She won't wear anything else if she can help it. These are the only clothes that she will wear with out any protest (and she will wear each of these pajamas all in the same day... she is constantly changing her clothes):

This is why she cried in the car in the above story. I have to force on the clothes that I need her to wear before we leave the house. Then I get to listen to her cry about my choice in clothing until we leave. Don't get me wrong... there are MANY times we leave the house with her still in her pajamas :) Story: A few weeks we went to our volleyball game (Dallas and I are playing on a Co-ed team) and Kiah didn't get to wear her PJ's. She was fine until she saw her friend wearing a comfy fleece outfit that looked like pajamas. Then she cried through the majority of the game and would silently whimper for her precious pajamas. Ridiculous. But I still love her. I only wish she would wear the cute clothes that I buy her :(

I guess I can't complain... I got her to dress up for me today so I could take her fall photos...