Deck the Halls?

Now that the temperatures have reached the low-90's, I figured it was time to share our Christmas pictures! I {LOVE} everything associated with Christmas...the sights, the smells, the tastes, the traditions. Luckily for me, the kids have the same love and cannot stand to sleep in on Christmas morning! They all slept together in Quincy's room and around 4:30 a.m., I received a phone call on my cell from Treyson's cell wondering if they could get up! As much as I really wanted to (shhh, don't tell them that I secretly wanted to), we talked them into going back to bed until 6:00 so that Max would be bearable the rest of the day. Everyone had a great day and loved having the time together.

October Birthdays

Tanner and Max have birthdays within days of each. So we get to celebrate all week long!

Tanner makes me smile. Of all of my kids, he is the cuddliest. He never leaves for school or goes to bed without giving me a hug. He'll sometimes just walk by and pat my back or give me a five-second massage. He loves school and is super social. He plays on a travel baseball team, as well as rec football and basketball. He's such a happy kid. So glad to have him in my life!
Max turned three in October...my baby! Max is such a funny kid that has figured out how to get anything and everything he wants. You would think that Nate's IPad was really Max's because he tends to have it more than his dad. Max loves anything rock and roll and somehow talked us into getting him drums for his birthday (as I said he gets anything he wants). His smile and dimples are contagious and he has the most amazing blue eyes.

Fall

It seems like lately, I only blog in seasons...one long post that covers three months. So here you have it...Fall.

Back to School

I know it was FOREVER ago that school started (well, the boys insist that the school year is going that slowly), but for my sake, I need to post the big "Back to School" shots. I wonder how long Treyson will let me keep taking 1st day of school pics of him?Treyson-Mighty 7th Grader

Tanner-3rd Grade Stud

Quincy-Kindergarten finally!

Someday, Tanner will be mad about this picture, but I think it's the sweetest thing ever!

Fall Soccer

I love watching Q play soccer. I think after all of her years watching her brothers play, the whole competitive thing makes sense to her.


Pumpkins, Cookies, and Halloween

Max the penguin

Tanner the (surprise) baseball player (he did actually have a tournament that day. We went straight from the fields to trick-or-treating)

We love having our cousins live in Cedar City now!

Q (the bumblebee) and her BFF sister, Ainslee

Knowing me, you won't see me again until Winter is done. J/K... I still have birthdays and holidays galore to catch up on. Is anyone going to time me to see how soon I get them done?

GQ

Much to Treyson's delight, I wanted to get some pictures of just him for his big birthday. I think the 12th birthday is kind of a milestone, so we had our favorite picture gal, Abbey (from AK Studio and Design) meet us at Treyson's favorite hang-out to snap some pics of my growing boy. As always, I loved the results. (Doesn't he look right at home?)

I also wanted to get some pictures of him sporting his suit. Quite handsome, don't you think?

I'm so proud of the young man that Treyson has become and his decision to receive the Priesthood. His dad gave him a wonderful blessing as he made him a Deacon. He actually was ordained the morning of his birthday and was able to pass the sacrament that day. I admit...I cried through the entire sacrament meeting. One funny story though that helped slow the tears...As Treyson was joining us on our bench after passing the sacrament, Quincy met him at the end of the bench, gave him a big high-five, and (loud enough for multiple rows of people to hear), congratulated him for not spilling the bread or water. Way to go, Trey! Love my boy and will forever be grateful that he was my first. He's an amazing example to each of us.

*12*

Before we even had kids, Nate had said that he wanted to take each child on a birthday trip for their 12th birthday. At first, he was going to take the boys, and I would take the girls. That sounded like a great deal until we ended up with three boys and one girl. I was feeling a little cheated as Treyson was getting closer to his 12th birthday and the two of them started talking about where he might want to go. Lucky for me, they said I could tag along :). Treyson decided he wanted to go to NYC, which Nate and I were both excited for because we both love the city. As we got planning the trip, Nate realized that Trey's beloved Red Sox would be playing at Yankee Stadium the day after Trey's birthday, so that fact cemented the deal. We were able to leave on Treyson's birthday (August 8th) on a red-eye out of Las Vegas. Because Nate travels so much, we were able to upgrade to first-class for free!!! Nate's use to it, but Treyson and I were in awe!

We landed bright and early and luckily were able to check into the hotel a little early and catch up on some much needed sleep. I headed off to do some shopping and the boys jumped on the subway to see the game. Nate was able to score some amazing third row seats (leather, I might add!) along third base line. The tickets included all-you-can-eat food and beverages, so they definitely took advantage of that and ate until they were sick.

The next day we headed down to Ground Zero and walked through the museum there and then got on the ferry to ride over to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Nate and I hadn't ever got off of the ferry to see the statue up close and personal, but I'm so glad we did. The statue is huge! Seeing it from the ferry and standing up next to it are two different experiences. It was also our first time to visit Ellis Island. The history that is in that building was so fascinating! I loved seeing the pictures and the items left from immigrants as they entered this country.

On our final day there, Treyson and I went to see "Wicked." It was so fun to watch Treyson throughout the play...I don't think the smile left his face!

At the NBA Store, Trey was able to see how he would match up to Kobe Bryant.

Rockefeller Center

A birthday shout-out on American Eagle's jumbo-tron in Time Square!

We scored again on the way home when we were upgraded to first-class again. Not a bad way to fly, I've decided! The rest of the kids were so excited to see Treyson and the fun surprises that he picked out for each of them. The others are already starting to talk about where they want to go for their special birthday trip. I can't wait!

Oh, What Do You Do In The Summertime?

Ok, this is my attempt to catch up on our complete summer. Picture overload ahead? You can count on it.

Baseball

Who's surprised that baseball made our list of things we did this summer? Quincy had her first year of t-ball and was hilarious to watch. Figuring she has grown-up at the fields, we weren't surprised one bit when she started telling the other girls on her team how to play the game.
Tanner spent the summer playing his last year of machine pitch and also traveling around with his other team, Cedar Stix. I'm loving watching him improve and try to be just like his big brother.

Treyson made the Cedar American 11-12 year old all-star team. Their team ended up taking third place. Treyson hit two home-runs that are now proudly displayed in his room.

Utah Summer Games

Both of the boys participated in their first USG. Treyson played both basketball and baseball, and Tanner played baseball. We'll just say that Trey's basketball team has got to do a little growing if they'll ever stand a chance against the big boys! Both of the boys' baseball teams ended up taking third place and receiving the bronze medal. Pretty cool hardware!

We're also lucky that Grandpa Cowan works for the Summer Games because he always scores us awesome seats for the Opening Ceremonies! The fireworks are always the best! Fourth of July

I think my little firecrackers are pretty dang cute!
Hangin' with the Cousins

We are so blessed to have cousins that we adore! The kids love spending time together and being wild and crazy!

Outside Fun
We decided to get a trampoline this summer and it was definitely money well spent! The kids loved hooking the hose up to the rails to stay cool and also had many sleepovers out there. A lot of time was spent either at Grandma Esplin's swimming pool or outside on the slip 'n slide.
Another of our favorite things to do is light-up the fire pit in the backyard and roast yummy marshmallows! Most of our time though is spent blowing out Max's flaming ones!Family Reunions
Devin and Melissa were gracious enough to host the Esplin reunion this year. We all headed over to Castledale, Utah to spend a few days together. We were able to see a rodeo, a pioneer pageant, go boating on the reservoir, and go swimming at the rec center. Plus, we did a whole lot of eating! Max hadn't been potty-trained too long before we went to the reunion, so you can imagine there was a lot of {this} going on!


Whew! We made it! Hmmmm....four blogposts a year; one for each season. At the rate I'm going, that might just happen!