Jenna's Birthday!!

Part of Paxton's blessing weekend was getting to celebrate Jenna's birthday!! 

 Happy Birthday Jenna!!! It was so fun being able to have the Smith family here and be able to celebrate Jenna's birthday with them! Katie planned a really fun birthday party for her, and we had a great turn out! All the Burks were here, which makes for a big birthday bash!

 Before we sang Happy Birthday we went outside and played musical chairs. It was so fun, and Brookie won, not that it is all about winning, but her fun expression after winning is what is so fun about it! Afterwards we came in and sang happy birthday to sweet little Jenna.

 We got to decorate our own cupcakes and Katie had all sorts of yummy toppings as you can see from the picture below. There was lots of frosting to choose from, sprinkles, and of course candy....including our on of our family favorites, gummy bears!!

Then they act all silly after they eat the topping filled cupcake!! 

 All the kids were super excited that they got to decorate their very own cupcake, especially Brookie! This was a whole new experience and one that she hoped to do for her next birthday! Brookie LOVES planning her birthdays early :)

Next we opened presents! One of the first things Jenna opened up was a package of gum, afterwards she shared a piece of gum with everyone, which of course was the whole package of gum. She was just so happy to share, and it was just super cute! 

Jenna also got a new Princess Belle crown, but she wasn't so much a fan of the crown, but she still shared the crown with everyone as well!!!

Jocee decided she was going to have her own little fun while Jenna was opening presents. She was loving blowing milk bubbles in the laundry room! 

These other pictures I was trying to show just how many people there were, but it just doesn't doe justice. We had so many people, Ashley and Carl were hiding from the crowd I guess, but it was definitely a full house, but full of love and fun!! 

Monday nights we set time aside to have Family Home Evening, but it usually is a very fast family home evening, not because we don't want more time together, but because we just can't fit everything at night! Aaron gets home at around 6:45 pm and we all eat dinner together, if its ready...lets me honest... then after we get done eating, everything put away, its about 7:20...and the kids go to bed at 8...so it usually ends with Jocee asleep, and someone in tears, but we do get our treats, but not an activity usually. SO we decided that we would set aside a time on Saturdays to have a family activity time. Whoever gave the lesson gets to decide what we do the following Saturday. So yesterday was our first "real" family activity, and Ryan got to decide what we do, and he decided we should hike Round Mountain! It was super fun! We finally got going at around 11:00 am. Before that the kids and Aaron had found a baby Cardinal that looked like it had a broken leg. Aaron wanted to take it out to the College to feed it to the snake, Brookie really wanted to keep it, Ryan wanted it to go to Heaven, Jocee did NOT want it to be fed to the snake, but to keep it here in a cage, and Pax just kept poking it and saying "bird"! I was inside trying to get Jamberry stuff taken care of. So the hike was super nice, and just relaxing...crazy to think with four kids it could be relaxing, but it was great! We leisurely took our time up the mountain. Kasia came with us, and since we were the only ones on the mountain we let her off her leash, and she was amazing at staying with us, she would lead the way for us. I liked it because I figured if there was any thing scary she would let us know! So I think it took us about an hour and a half to go up about a 30 minute hike round trip! It was so worth it though, we were taking pictures and looking at rocks, eating Jojoba beans, and looking at nests...the kids were loving it, and I was loving it!! I realized that Brookie is a big time animal/nature girl. She didn't like the beans, but she sure loves climbing rocks, and looking for animals. She loves snakes, and rabbits, bugs, and lizards, she just isn't afraid of all the critters. So we got a picture of her finding a nest! Ryan is our silly little guy! He loves making faces in all the pictures...and videos for that matter! But in one of the pictures he had his hip sticking out, Aaron told him to stand straight...afterwards Ryan asked if we got a picture of him with his hip out, when we told him yes he started laughing and was so happy! Silly Boy! Jocee is our free spirited child. She didn't so much love walking so much, but she loved eating the jojoba beans, and flowers, and picking rocks and putting them in her backpack. She just is so carefree and I love that so much about her, but it can defiantly be scary at times! Paxton is just so happy to be walking without anyone holding on to him, although we was super sweet and holding Ryan's hand, and Jocee's hand. He loved going up to the kids and giving them hugs. He has gotten a lot more affectionate! While we were up at the top we did get a call saying Rachel was stranded and had a flat tire at the college. But before we headed down, Aaron had picked some puff balls for the kids. They are super fun little balls that grow on oak trees and they are like mini balloons that you can squeeze together and they pop. The kids were LOVING those and started picking them. The tree has some thorns though and Pax got to close to the thorn and got cut on his hand. We decided to head down so we could take care of Rachel and Pax. I was holding Pax and about half way down I slid and scratched up my leg! It seemed like a smooth slide because Paxton was still holding on and had his head laid on my shoulder. It wasn't to bad we got back up and headed down in what seemed like record time compared to the hike up! On the way out to the college I had Aaron drop me off for a short run, and I met them back at the college. Afterwards we got some pizza and headed home for some downtime...we watched Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The kids hadn't ever seen it, and they said it was good...I still think its a little odd! Anyways that was our fun Saturday Activity!  

Blessing Day

Today was such a special day! Paxton was blessed, and it was such a sweet blessing that Aaron gave. I am so grateful that Aaron has the Priesthood and that he was able to hold our sweet little baby boy in his arms and give him a name and a blessing. I am so grateful that my family would come out to enjoy this special occasion with us. I hope and pray this sweet little guy will know how much he is loved, not only by his earthly parents but by his Heavenly parents as well. Paxton you are such a sweet and cuddly guy. I am so happy that Heavenly Father sent you to our family. I pray that I will be a loving mother, that will help in leading and guiding you to what Heavenly Father would have you be. I can already feel that you have so much potential and so much to bring into this world. I love you, and I know your daddy loves you. I also know that you have a brother and two sisters that love you very much and will also help in taking care of you! Thank you Paxton for completing our family even more!

Paxton and Serena

This weekend is going to be a busy one! Today we went down to the valley to pick up Ashley, Carl, and Preston. This weekend we are going to bless Paxton. I came down to the valley with Paxton and picked the Vermillion's from the Airport. But before that I went and visited Anne at the hospital. She had just had Serena. Paxton is 6 weeks older than Serena, but he was already a lot bigger than she was! It was really fun to see Anne, and I felt so horrible to leave her there alone. She had had a really

time. Serena was wide awake and super adorable! I especially loved her Black and Orange bow! Paxton was a super baby the whole trip down and at the hospital. He just slept the whole time. You can't really see it in the picture but we really was SO much bigger than Serena! He is such a sweet cute boy! 

So we only stayed about 10 minutes because I was already so late picking up Ashley and Carl! After picking them up we went to In and Out Burger and then went shopping for a Blessing outfit for Paxton. While in the Valley Grandpa had also gotten into town and was resting, while Brookie, Ryan and Jocee were spending some time at Grandmas!! Katie and Dan will also be here for the blessing, its gong to be a great weekend!!