It's great to be 8!!

Jordan, Kyler, and Caleb.
The boys looked so handsome that day!

My mom and dad

Two of my siblings: Brooks& Kelcee.
Our family: Kyler, Kevin, Jordan, Tami, & Caleb.
My parents: Jeanne and Tom
I loved having my family celebrate this special day with us.


Our family on the morning of April 10th.

In addition to Kyler turning 12 this past week, Jordan also had a very important weekend. Jordan was baptized on April 10th and is now an official member of the LDS church. It's one of the many perks to being 8!! He was so excited for the day to finally arrive, and his dad and I could not be happier or prouder that he made the decision to be baptized. As an added bonus Jordan was baptized with 2 other friends on the same day (a little unusual in MI.). Jordan asked my dad to be one of the speakers and he spoke for a few minutes on the importance of baptism and the reasons we are baptized. We were reminded that when we are baptized we are making important covenants with our Father in Heaven to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ and that we will try our best to live the principles of the gospel. In turn we are promised that our Father in Heaven will forgive us if we repent of mistakes we make, that we can be given the gift of the Holy Ghost, and that ultimately we can be together forever and have eternal life. Jordan also asked my sister Kelcee to sing a solo and she chose to sing I am a Child of God . She did a beautiful job, and it helped keep the spirit strong in the chapel as the children prepared for their confirmation where they were given the gift of the Holy Ghost. I'm so glad we were able to share this experience with some of my family members, and that Jordan has such a strong testimony of the gospel already at the age of 8. Congratulations Jordan!!

Happy "Belated" Birthday, Kyler

Kevin, Kyler, Caleb, and my dad.

Lighting his candles.

Birthday Boy!!

Kyler's our lil' chef in training. He made his own chocolate frosted white cake this year and decorated it with blackberries, strawberries, and sliced kiwi.

My parents gave Kyler a new butterfly habitat so now he's ready for butterfly season to start again. He also received a Disney Monopoly game from Jordan, a Star Theater from Caleb, a golf glove and golf balls from Kevin, and a panoramic puzzle from me. With his birthday money from his grandparents he is planning to buy an icecream maker or possibly a blender. He's serious about those cooking skills!!

Kyler's birthday always seems to fall over the Spring Break holiday which typically means there are not a lot of friends around to celebrate with. This year was no different, but for the second year in a row Kyler still made out pretty good and had a party with extra family members in attendance. Last year we were in Utah for his 11th birthday and had a party with grandma, grandpa, aunts, uncles, and cousins. This year my mom, dad, brother Brooks, and sister Kelcee came to visit us in Michigan the day of his birthday and made it in time for pizza, cake, and the present exchange. I can't believe my little guy is 12. He's officially graduated from primary and moved into the Young Men's program at church (sniff, sniff). I'll miss seeing him during sharing time and singing time on Sunday's, but can't wait watch him continue to grow and mature with the other young men in our church. Kyler's one incredible child. He's a loving brother, loyal friend, and so far he's been a pretty easy "tween"....hope that characteristic lasts for a loooonnnggg time! Love you Kyler!! Here's a few of Kyler's favorites when he turned 12.

Favorite Color: Blue

Favorite TV Show: NCIS (Obsessed??? Possibly!!)

Favorite School Subject: Advanced Science...He loves anything scientific.

Favorite Movie: How to Train your Dragon. I'm thinking this might be due to the fact that we just saw it. Next week he might have a new favorite.

Favorite Song: I've Got a Feeling by the Black-Eyed Peas. He's singing it in choir.

Favorite Treat: Baked Alaska, and in case any of you are like me and think that sounds like some strange fish dessert it's not. Baked Alaska is a dessert made with icecream, sponge cake and topped with meringue. Kyler had it once and fell in love.

Favorite Vacation: Cruise, Cruise, Cruise.

Something he is looking forward to during his 12th year: Hmmm...CRUISE! I told him start making plenty of wishes on shooting stars because that one isn't in the cards this year.

Favorite Book: The Kingdom Keepers Series followed by the Percy Jackson Series. Kyler's a bookaholic and easily reads a new book every couple of days.

Happy Birthday, Jordan

Jordan woke up to find his room decorated in the morning. Kyler is always great about making sure his brothers have something special first thing in the morning.

Here's a picture of the boys ready for school. Jordan was in school swim lessons the past 2 weeks so he gets to go to school decked out in his swim gear.

Caleb and I joined Jordan in the school cafeteria for lunch that afternoon.

Jordan helped to decorate his cake and was anxious to open all his gifts before Kevin left for work while the rest of us went to Kyler's choir concert.

No way that blow is going to get the job done...I think 1 candle might have flickered on try #1!!

Jordan loves any kind of game. Board games, computer games, wii games and DS games. He was thrilled with this game from grandma and grandpa!

I can't believe it, but Jordan is now 8 years old! Boy, those 8 years sure went fast. There are many, many days when I wish I could put him in a time capsule and seal up some of that childhood innocence and joy before he gets any older, but no such luck. No one's given me the master plans to their time capsule or gifted me a non-aging potion so I guess I'll have to suck it up and continue aging right along with him! I sure do love this kid!!

Here are some of Jordan's favorites this year.

Favorite subject in school: Math...story problems and equations are his favorite. (can this really be my son??)
Favorite color: Yellow, but some days it is green or blue or pink. He loves the rainbow and all the colors you can find within it.
Favorite food: Macaroni
Favorite song: One Time
Favorite game: Anything to do with the wii.
Favorite person: Me! Hmmm....it seems all my kids love me (or know I'm the one typing and they don't want to get into trouble ha! ha!)
Favorite sport: Soccer and swimming
Favorite hobby: Writing
Favorite book: The Ready Freddy series
Favorite month: April...he's getting baptized that month and he can't wait!!

That sums up some of Jordan's favorites. I'll be anxious to see if any changes are made to this list next year when he tums 9. Here's hoping this year he continues to have amazing twinkle eyes (they can make anyone have a better day when they shine) and that he doesn't loose any of that childlike joy that he so easily finds right now. He's a pretty amazing boy and I am one lucky mom to have him as my son.

Caleb's 5!

Kyler decorated Caleb's room while he was asleep the night before his birthday. Caleb was so excited to wake up to this homemade banner (hung up by rubberbands and paper clips...Kyler gets pretty creative) and dozens of dinosaur decorations all over his room.

Caleb loved feeling like king for a day.

Caleb wanted an animal cake, so Henry helped us out by making this cake and spray painting the colors on for us. Then Caleb came home and we decorated it with some of his animals.

Jordan gave Caleb a Zhu Zhu pet.

Kyler gave Caleb a webkinz dinosaur.

Grandma and Grandpa gave him this super cool rocket ship!

Caleb loves cooking and always wants new "food" for his kitchen. He was in heaven when he opened this gift up.

My baby is 5, and while I love watching Caleb grow up, I'm also sad to know my youngest is growing so fast. Caleb is KING of the "good news/ bad news stories" and the night before his birthday was no different. I was told throughout the day, "Mom the good news is I'll be 5 tomorrow and I get to be in charge all day long, but the bad news is this is the last day I'll ever be 4!" So true. I already miss his 4th year (and his 3rd, and his 2nd, and his 1st!!) , but I really do look forward to see what he'll accomplish during his 5th year of life.
I absolutely adore Caleb. He is such a bright light in our family. Technically, at least according to medical science, Kevin and I are not suppose to be able to have kids. We were told we would have a better chance at being struck by lightening than to have more children, which makes me even more grateful to my Father in Heaven for sending us 3 wonderful sons without medical assistance. First Kyler (an angel for us) , then Jordan (my twinkle eyed, happy boy) and to help complete my heart and our family Caleb was sent (also knows as Flapper because he jumps up and down every time he's happy , which is a good portion of his waking hours). I consider them all miracles and cherish them more than words can express.

Here are a few of Caleb's favorite things as he enters his 5th year of life:

Favorite Person: "Why me of course, Mom!"
What do you want to be when you grow up? "A Zookeeper. I love, love, love my animals!"
Favorite Color: "Green"
Favorite animal: "Hmmm, a porcupine, no wait....a tiger. I like tigers!"
Favorite Movie: "Madagascar 2"
Favorite TV show: "Dinosaur Train"
Favorite thing to do outside: "Play with my friends"
Favorite thing to do inside: "Play zookeeper with my brothers or by myself"
Favorite food: "Pizza with pineapple and ham, but no ham, nope...no ham!"
Favorite Song: "Jesus Wants me for a Sunbeam"
Favorite Sport: "Mini golf"
Favorite place to go on vacation: Disney World, I mean Utah. I like Utah!"

The Mexican Riviera

Kevin and I

Our ship, the Sapphire Princess

Hannah, David, Caleb, Jordan & Kyler

A fun shop in Puerto Vallarta

Caleb found time to play with the pigeons

Kelcee and Marlos right after her wipe-out.

The VERY FIRST thing we saw out the window when we docked in Puerto Vallarta was a Super Walmart. A little too funny and ironic that we left the country for Kevin to escape work for a week, and work continued to follow him. LOVE IT!!

Kyler add Hannah were Chefs-in-Training when they took a cooking class on the ship and made us these desserts in the ships galley. Delicious!

The boys....Marlos, Brooks, Travis, my dad, and Kevin

My ever goofy and fun-loving brothers, Travis and Brooks!

The sweetest and the greatest parents in the world!!

Kevin and Jordan starting the week off right by relaxing.

The Sail-Away Party on Jan. 16th

There's not a lot you can do to break up a dreary and arctic feeling month of January that would be better than taking off for Mexico right in the middle of it, and that is exactly what our family was able to do last month. However, to make the the nostalgia and excitement of taking your first ever Mexican Riviera cruise even better I highly recommend meeting up with a good portion of your family on the ship. Not to say that the Mexican cities, the grand scale boat, taking in the beauty of dozens upon dozens of grey and blue whales as they were in the midst of their breeding and migration season, and seeing crystal clear seas as far as the eye can see are not enough to heighten most of your senses, but being with family was definitely the highlight for me. A few of those magical moments still fresh in my mind include watching my sister get wiped out by a wave while walking along the beaches of Puerto Vallarta and her fiance Marlos helping her clean off the buckets of sand that covered her (that was classic Kelcee at her best!). Or sitting in deck chairs alongside the pool and watching Hannah, Dave, Kyler, Jordan and Caleb catch up as only cousins can do in a magical setting. I loved riding with Travis and Brooks and our whole crew throughout the streets of Mazatlan, and then capping off the day with multi-course dinners where my mom and dad were around the table with their kids and grandkids again . And standing hand in hand with my husband as we watched families of whales alongside our boat was both fascinating and amazing for both of us. January was an excellent month for me, even Thursday, which is still known as "Sea-Sick Thursday at my house. At least I was able to catch up on my sleep that day....lots and lots and lots of sleep, while the rest of the family continued to party it up on the boat! Hmmm, I think It's time to cruise again soon so I can officially change "Sea Sick Thursday" to something more fun.