So it's now 9-10-09 we just got back from camping up at Stawberry. Tysen took a ton of photo's of our little cousins. They turned out great. She likes to take photo's. Now we just need to get our family photo taken. The kids just got there school photos for this year. Tysen is now in ninth grade! Bailey is in seventh. It's amazing how fast they grow up. Dakota is now in third grade.

He now has long hair and loves it. Just like any boy now a day's he won't cut it. He has a small tail of hair and he loves it. He's going for a mullet and we made a deal once he could get it all the way around to his mouth we were going to cut it. But we'll see if that actually happens. :)

Bailey died her hair black over the summer and it turned out way cute. She is a fashion model. She dresses up in the cutest cloths she always looks her best weather she is in sweats or a suit.

Tysen is very into reading books and loves to read. She has already finished more than 3 books that had more than 300 pages! She got into English Honors and already has a 15 page essay on the two books she read over the summer.

I'm as busy as usual and Mike is out playing with his four wheeler. He loves those things. He has also been up hunting quite a bit. But no luck just yet.

Christmas 2008

I must admit....I was a bit nervous about Christmas this year. Money has been so tight and the kids dream of having so much....If only I had been able to see into the future I would have known that everything always turns out alright. I should have known. We were truly blessed. We have great friends, family, and ward members who look out for us.

Dakota's list of favorite gifts wasn't as short as the girls. Depends on when you asked him. His answer could have been the snowboard, the air soft gun, the pirate set, his very own MP3 (like his sisters)....you get the idea. He was pleased with everything.
















Bailey got the I-touch (wanna-be) that she has been waiting for since the beginning of December. It was a b-day/x-mas gift. It holds pictures, videos, and music. It's pretty cool. I don't know if she thought that or the $100 we gave her was better.



Tysen's favorite gift was the drums. She said that's ALL she wanted for Christmas was drums and a toothbrush.


Mike got a spotting scope and Kristen got jewelry.















We kept with the tradition and went over to my Mom & Dad's house for a wonderful "brunch" fixed by my dad. He is so great! What would we do without him? It's so nice to know that when we get there (whatever time it is) he will serve us a wonderful, warm breakfast and mom will spoil us with gifts. After we have all opened about 100 gifts from mom and dad, we always feel welcome to do whatever we want: lay down and take a nap, play with our presents, or whatever our little heart desires. Aren't we lucky to have family so close? What better Christmas gift could we get?























After all that, we went over to Mike's sisters house and had some more fun visiting and playing with the Rogers' family. It was really a great Christmas.

Once again, I am posting pictures from the past. These are from last year...


Mike finished rebuilding his Banshee (for the second time!), so we HAD to make a trip to the Little Sahara Sand Dunes. I haven't gone there since that is where my brother died, but Mike and the kids love it so much I didn't want to spoil their fun.

4-wheeling is one activity that we all love to do. Tysen wasn't with us this trip, but Casey and his wife, Jen, were able to join us. I was actually riding Jen's 4-wheeler since I hadn't gotten my new Raptor...yet. It came a couple of months later for my birthday.
Bailey is pretty good at riding the Warrior. It's kind of funny to think back - I was about her age when my dad got our first Warrior and I learned to ride a 4-wheeler *with a clutch*. One of Dakota's favorite things to do is get the 4-wheeler "stuck." He'll spend hours just getting it stuck.....getting it out (especially if he can make an excuse to use the winch or a tow strap, and as a last resort call for help ...you get the idea). He does it on purpose! over and over...and yet you can't help but watch him and see how happy he is and sit back and smile.

Look at those good lookin' kids!

Thanksgiving 2007

I can't believe almost one whole year has gone by. I think back to the Thanksgiving Dinner we had last year....it was so wonderful to have so many of the family together at one time. If only we could have EVERY last family member at the table....
It was the last Thanksgiving our our sweet Grandpa Stephens was here with us. He was so pleasant and happy to be there.

Tysen is in the 8th grade this year. She is really enjoying Junior High. She has lots of friends...more and more of them boys. She is beautiful, but doesn't think so. She never goes anywhere without her necklace that she wears in memory of her cousin, Josh, who passed away.


Bailey is in 6th grade this year. She is growing like crazy. She got her height from the Rogers'...not the Bunkers. :-) Everyone thinks she is much older than she is. Bailey's hair is getting so long! It's fun to see her stand in front of the mirror and try 20 new (and totally unique) hairstyles before she decides on THE ONE. You never know what to expect with her. I usually let the kids pick what they want to wear for school pictures and this year was no exception. Bailey chose this dress. She always picks things that are fashionable...and then adds a little bit of her own personality to her outfit. Her special addition to this outfit was the necklace that our good friend, Auntie Lani, gave us before she moved back to Hawaii. We sure do miss her!



~~** DAKOTA'S PICTURES ARE COMING SOON....I just have to locate his picture CD :-)

Our camping trips to Nebo Creek was really fun. I had to convince Bailey she wanted her picture taken - what a beautiful girl she is.

I love this picture of Tysen. It was taken at Whitney & Andy's wedding. She is so beautiful!