Reese's 5th Birthday!!!

Our Reesie-Roo turned the big 5 on November 29th! She is growing into quite the darling, sensitive, spunky, confident little lady. She loves dressing in anything sparkly, poofy, and girly. She is obsessed with skunks lately and really wants a live one. She is in Mrs. Redd's class and loves going to pre-school! We car pool with our next door neighbor Dean Skoy. Reese is in love with her baby sister Lucy and wants to squeeze, cuddle and carry her everywhere. She doesn't always know her own strength, but can be so sweet and helpful as well. Nora is Reese's best friend and they play SO well together when Emma is at school all day. We love our Reese!!!

This year we went to the aquarium during Thanksgiving break so Daddy would already have work off. Then on her actual birthday she got to watch TV on the counter while coloring (two of her favorite things), then we went to Chuck E Cheese for dinner (she's been wanting to go there for months and I've been trying to NOT go there for months :)) and then went home and had a donut cake for dessert (Reese is not a fan of cake or ice cream). Her favorite gifts she got was a poofy, lacy dress and a stuffed platypus. We sure love her and how she is confident in who she is!

Another gift she was wanting was a "rock with diamonds in it" (a geode). So she got her own geodes that she could break open.

Thanksgiving Week

Well, this year Thanksgiving didn't turn out exactly as planned. I was so excited for Kristen to come and be able to spend lots of time with her....and then I got sick. I had strep and was really sick the first part of the week. Luckily though I got on an antibiotic on Tuesday so by Thursday we could still go to my Mom and Dad's in Bountiful and join everyone on Thanksgiving day! Unfortunately, Steph was still recovering from surgery so their family wasn't able to come be with us. We had Andrew's family there with us so we ended up having 18 adults and 15 children under 8! CRAZY but fun!

The day after Thanksgiving we were going to go to the zoo for Reese's bday, but it was pretty cold so we went to the Aquarium instead. Then we saw Moana in the theaters. Good times! The Saturday was the day Finn was sealed to Kristen and Andrew so I am glad I was sick for the beginning of the week. 

This was the week before Thanksgiving. Cade and I offered to watch the 3 boys for Nathan and Steph while she had surgery on her right side. She has been in chronic pain for over 6 years now and we are praying that this surgery and the same surgery on the left side will help increase her ability to enjoy life being a mom and doing things she wants to do. I can't imagine what she has been through over these amount of years, but she is an amazing person!

Anyway, this picture was great...7 kids 8 and under :). We actually had a great day and the kids all loved being with each other.

Miss Emma Turns 7!

My sweet Emma is 7 years old! She is such a joy to have in our family. Time really is going by fast and Emma reminds me of that every birthday she has! 

Emma is in 1st grade and lives for friends and being social. She has many many friends and loves to meet people wherever we go. She is full of ideas of how to create, how to make life fun and how to involve other people. Emma lives for FUN and if things aren't fun, then it's not very easy getting her to do it :)- AKA homework, chores, reading. BUT if she is allowed to be creative and make those chores fun, then she will get them done! She is getting better at reading and is on level K right now. Emma loves to sing, dance, make crafts, color, play with baby Lucy and play with Dean, Autumn, Braxton, Kirby, Brooke and Adam (all in our cut-de-sac). She is SUCH a good helper at home and always helps me when I need it. We love our Emma!

On her birthday, I went and picked her up from school and took her to lunch just she and I (oh, and Lucy of course). I loved that one-on-one time. This year, it was a "family" year so she chose to go horse back riding for her family activity. So after Dad got off work, we met him at Pizza Pie Cafe, then went horse-back riding, then after baths had ice cream Sundae's (her choice). It was a great day and I hope she felt special!

Kristen and Andrew Adopt and Get Sealed to Finn!!!

On September 21st, Finn became an official part of Kristen and Andrew's family! It has been an extremely long, stressful and often HARD road, but Finn Burton Van Noy is now blessed to be in their family and they are forever blessed because of him.

And the Saturday after Thanksgiving, our whole family and Andrew's whole family were able to go to the Draper, Utah temple and witness Finn being sealed to his parent's. Kristen was in tears the entire time- and same with a lot of us. The spirit was EXTREMELY strong and it was one of the neatest ordinances I have had the opportunity of being a part of. Kristen and Andrew sure have endured a lot the past few years, but to see their joy and happiness now it incredible. I sure love them!

At the Draper Temple, Nov. 26, 2016-

Fall Break in AZ

The week before Fall Break I reminded Cade that the girls have off and if he wanted to visit the Close side it would be a good time to. He gladly took me up on that offer. Aside from Lucy hating her car seat, traveling to Prescott AZ isn't too bad.

The kids absolutely LOVE being with each other. Emma and Ashur have always played well with each other, but it's been really fun to see how Reese and Taft are becoming such great friends. They just spend hours playing outside (climbing trees, riding Gma and Gpa's quads, digging in the dirt), coloring and creating crafts, and asking to eat food all day long.

Cade got to meet up with the Egans in Flagstaff for "Man Camp" while we were down there. We were glad it coincided with when we could come to AZ anyway!

I took some quick shots of the Young family while we were down.