Fancy Dance

Last night Stephen and I went to the Fancy Dance out in Durham. Our WONDERFUL friends the Gilreaths are in a ward out there and their youth put on a dance for the adults. The provide babysitting, have a DJ, and good refreshments. Plus, you get to dress up!!! I mean really, how often as adults do you get to dress fancy and go dancing?? We really loved it!! We had a fantastic evening with FABULOUS friends!! I love our "formal" pictures and our silly pictures:)

The other AWESOME couple are the Fife's, we have so much fun with these couples!! They are so great!!!

*A big THANKS to the absolutely wonderful Afton for my dress!*

Beautiful Day!

I love having a park within walking distance, on warmer days we love heading down and having fun! Uncle Kyle even has some fun too!

Valentines Day!!

I think I had the best Valentines Day EVER!!!! My husband is so WONDERFUL!!! Not only did he write the beautiful post for me, but he had the whole weekend planned! He totally surprised me this year. He arranged for the older kids to be at friends houses for the weekend, and the younger two to be at home with uncle Kyle, so that we could go to a hotel for the whole weekend. And if that wasn't enough, he had a treatment at the spa for me, and he bought other gifts. I was just in awe! He really is that AWESOME!!! I loved every minute of my getaway, Thank you Stephen!

Sunday when we got home, we enjoyed being with the family and having a nice steak dinner with angel food cake for dessert. It was so YUMMY! Stephen and I gave the kids their cards and little treats, which they really enjoyed. It was just PERFECT!!!

To My Sweet Wife, Katie!

Wow!! I have the most amazing wife in the world!! Katie, you are the best and I am so grateful that you are my wife. You do so much for me and help me be such a better man. You are a wonderful mom to our children, who love and respect you! You give so freely of yourself and do so much for your family without any thought of return. At times you may feel that you are taken for granted but I cannot thank you enough for all that you do and the wonderful person you are.

I do not know nor will ever understand how you can take care of 4 kids, keep the house spotless, cook such wonderful meals, make lunches, change diapers, feed babies, do loads of laundry, take time to call me during the day just to hear my voice, go shopping, put away groceries, help with homework, prepare lessons, coach basketball, and then give me the sweetest kiss with the biggest smile on your face when I get home! I am so proud of you and so blessed to have you in my life. I would never want it any other way. I love you so much and love being with you. You have truly made my life worthwhile. Thank you so much!!!

love forever and always your husband,

Stephen
P.S. I love to watch you play basketball!! You are awesome!

Future All-Star

Thursday was Hailey's last basketball game and she had a great season. I really like watching her play and seeing her try her very best. She is quite funny about playing though. Some games she will be really in to it, and will block shots, get steals, and get open, but other times she is out playing with her hair, or laughing with a friend. As long as she is having fun it is great. I tried very hard to record her games, but I am awful at filming, and with the other 3 with me it just didn't work out. So, I just a got a few pictures and one video of her defense in a game and one of her making a basket during warm-up. She didn't make a basket in a game, but she never really got the ball that much, and when she did she usually passed it. Hailey did really well on defense and I loved when she would block a shot or get a rebound.

SNOW FUN!!!

I love the snow!!! I am so glad that we got snow this weekend, and that we could go out and enjoy it! Stephen, the kids and I have loved sledding, snowboarding(kaleb and hailey rocked at it), and having snowball fights. I am so glad that I went and got snowsuits this year b/c the kids have been able to play longer. Blake liked it a little better today, but when we put him down in it yesterday he just cried. This has been such a fun weekend!

here are some videos!

Weekly Update

I try very hard to post stuff during the week, but it usually doesn't happen. With that being said, I think I will just post weekly updates on Sunday. I still will try:) to get some quick posts during the week, but for the most part it will be on Sundays. Ok, well Stephen's parents left on Monday and we had such a fun visit with them. It was so nice having them here and we sure miss them. My super great father-in-law did bring his camera and took some more pictures of the fun, so here a few more.

We miss you!

Some of you may notice that in one of the pictures my brother Kyle is home. He has been serving his mission out in Colorado, but injured his back and needed to come home. He will hopefully get everything cleared up quickly and is scheduled to go back in April to finish his last 9 mo. It has been wonderful having him home, and when the kids saw him, they were ecstatic. Hailey even cried, she told me "they are happy tears mommy." Kyle is such a awesome brother and uncle. He sets such a great example to my kids and I love him lots!

This last picture is of Karly. This is what Stephen and I found when we went in to check on the kids before going to bed. I guess it was too bright in her room.