A Little Girl's Birthday

Yes this is the cake with her name spelled WRONG! Oh well what do you do? I even spelled it for the lady about a half a dozen times, but she still got it wrong.

Braxton teasing his sister...a couple occurance.

A sweet picture with Dad. (The little scrape on her nose happened the day before. That's what happens when you're 1.)

So much fun to get a cake with TinkerBell! This was the cake she ripped into. I'll post those pics later.

Mom and her princess!

We invited family to the park to celebrate Chloe's 1yr. birthday. There are so many of us that it is easier to gather at a park than at home. We had 8 little boys and 1 other girl cousin there for the party. We needed the park just so the boys could play Star Wars and not be shooting us with their imaginary guns. It was a perfect evening. Chloe was a cutie! I will have to download the rest of the pics later and post them. I love this little one with all my heart. She is the sunshine in our home.

Twins are 9!!

I can't believe my twins are 9! We had a great party with family and cousins. I made Celtic jerseys of their favorited players (Garnett and Rondo). We have loved watching the playoffs together. It's so funny to watch the boys get fired up over calls made or the score. Luckily they are winning. The last picture is all the boy cousins that live here. It is loud, caotic, and a big party when we're all together! It's fun to have these memories for my kids. Thanks for everybody's birthday wishes!

Another Biking Lesson

Hopefully this summer Dillon will find the confidence to do it without training wheels. He says he'll do it when he's 7. Not quite sure why that number. I love watching these moments. It means my babies are becoming boys.

Chloe's Mouth Drama

Okay, I haven't done this for a while so that's why the pictures are backwards. This story will start at the bottom. We noticed this "growth/sore" on the roof of Chloe's mouth about a month ago. I took her to the dentist first and he sent us right over to the oral surgeon. All three of these guys were puzzled by what they were seeing. The plan was to wait and hopefully it would heal itself in about 2 weeks. Nothing in her behavior changed other than not wanting a bottle anymore. I didn't mind that frankly. Anyway, these appts. all took place on a Friday. I stewed about this for the next few days just not quite feeling right about the diagnosis. I finally went over to a family friend's house the following Thursday who is a retired ENT. To cut this story short he sent us right over to the ENT that took his practice over and we had it biopsied Friday morning. The discussion was not very good. Cancer was brought up, along with a multiple other options. The picture with the nickel in it is the piece of plastic that was removed from the tissue. Chloe had wedged this up into the tissue which eventually started to slowly kill the tissue to the bone. It must have suctioned to the top of her mouth and she couldn't get it off. By Sunday the skin was growing over the opening and we have had no problems since. I'm so grateful for the power of the priesthood that I know had a hand in this miracle. Steve and his dad blessed and annointed her the night before her procedure. I was preparing for the worst and trying to find the strength to deal with whatever they came back with. It sure puts things into perspective when something like this happens. My kids and husband are who I live for every day. All I kept telling Heavenly Father in my prayers that morning was that I was not done with her. That I had too many things that I wanted to teach her. Luckily, He knows our heart and has the plan prepared...and I get to have my little girl.

St. George Spring Break

Grandma and Grandpa Ball.

The kiddies.

Old Maid.
Nelson's frozen custard.

Brigham Young's house.

The family at St. George Temple.

My cute family. If you look close enough you can see Chloe in her stroller.

Braxton holding up the world in Zions.

Hot dogs for dinner!!

Hole in one...well maybe not.

Consider this our Christmas photo since I never remember to get one out before the holiday :)

Ahh, sitting by the pool. What could be better?

Chloe's first swimming experience. She wasn't too fond of the water. I think this is the only picture of her smiling while in the water.

Not the most flattering of pictures, but too cute not to post. I just happened to catch her.

The swimming pool and backyard.

We went to St. George for spring break and stayed at the most incredible home with Steve's parents. The people that own it have their own landscaping business...and oh my you could tell. There was a pool, putting green, basketball court, a firepit, and gorgeous palm trees! All of us soaked up as much sun as we could before coming back to winter in Idaho. It was a trip we were sad to see end. We had so much fun!! Dillon keeps saying how much he misses "Santa George". We had a chance to go see Brigham Young's winter home and the temple visitors center too. Very interesting and beautiful. We went to Zion's National Park...very cool, ate frozen custard...yum, played cards, and of course golfed. Great family vacation and much needed time away from the everyday routine.

Spring has Sprung!

Cute little Dillon posing.

It was so nice the other day that the boys grabbed their mits and went out for a little father-son bonding. Steve was so good to teach Dillon how to get ready for the ball and how to hold his mit. This will be the first year for D. and t-ball. He's so excited!! I love watching them all play together. Plus I loved seeing some sunshine.

Who's that cutie?!