Katie's 3rd Birthday

I can't believe that my baby is 3 already. Her birthday was yesterday and she had a great time. We went where she wanted for dinner, chick-fil-a. After dinner we came home for cake and ice cream and then she opened her presents. She was so cute. Every time she opened a present she was very excited about what she got. She is such a girly girl! She loves babies, barbies and princesses. She has recently started watching barbie movies and loves them. She wants to watch them all day. I have a great time with my little Katie. She is the only one at home during the day so we spend a lot of time together. She is growing up so much. She has a few little friends and she loves to have play dates with them. She has a great imagination and plays really well by herself. She started potty training this week and is doing great! She has only had one accident in 4 days. Yippee! She is excited to be a big girl because she wants a big girl bed. I am so happy to have her sweet spirit in our family. She is so fun to listen too and I love watching her play with her little babies. She'll be a great mom someday! I love you to pieces Katie!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a very wonderful Thanksgiving yesterday. It was the Byers year this year and Gladys was in California with David while Doyle and Kris were spending it with her parents who just returned from their mission. So we invited Darrell and Shara's family, my mom and dad and Dale's Dad and Geneva to come for dinner. We spent a lot of time the day before and that morning getting organized and ready for the day.

Kierra and Kyson made these cute little turkeys for our place settings.

This is what the Kitchen looked like before everyone got there. I didn't get a picture of what it looked like once all the food and dishes were everywhere. What a mess!

Mom was making the gravy while Darrell cut the Turkey. It was nice to have everyone doing something. It was a little cozy in the kitchen but that was ok. I was so glad to have my mom there to help me pull this off. This is only the 2nd time I have done this at my house.

The kids table

The grown up table

My favorite picture. After we were all done eating, Jadon had pulled his chair up to the counter to finish off the green bean casserole. He said that was his favorite part of the dinner. Thanksgiving dinner is a lot of work but it's worth it to have a nice dinner with our family. I love how it starts the season and makes us grateful for our family. I am so thankful for my sweet husband and my 6 wonderful kids. I would be lost without them!

Once upon a mattress

Last week Kierra was in her first play. The middle school put on the play "Once upon a mattress". It was the princess and the pea story. She had a small part but did a great job. She spent several months, every day after school, going to play practice. Sometimes she got sick of practices but she had a fun time in the play. She said she is going to keep doing plays. I was so excited when she tried out because I always wanted to be in plays. I figure if I can't be in them, at least I can watch her in them.

I love my kids!

Before I start this post, I want anyone who reads it to read it in the spirit of a mother who loves her kids and is very proud of them. It is not meant to be boastful in any way!

We recently took our kids out to dinner to celebrate how well they have been doing in school. Jadon and Kierra just completed their first quarter in middle school and Jaxon, Jake and Kyson just had their first parent teacher conferences. Kierra got all A's and H's on her report card and Jadon got almost all A's (one A-) and all H's. The grades mean a lot to us but what I am so proud of is how hard they worked. Kierra has been so busy with the play that she is in, volleyball and young women's but always managed to maintain her school work. Jadon has 4 honors classes and has had A LOT of homework all quarter. He always comes home from school and gets to work right away. With a lot of help from his Dad, he is learning to be organized and manage his time better. Jaxon, Jake and Kyson all got great reports from their teachers. Jaxon's teacher said he is nice to everyone in his class and she wishes she had a class full of kids like him. On top of that, he is getting all A's and H's as well. Jake's teacher says that he is very smart and she can't believe that a kid with a disability like his, does so well in school. Kyson's teacher says he's doing really well in first grade and he is a great student and always does what he is suppose too. It is so rewarding to hear these kinds of things about my kids. I'm sure I had a big smile on my face as I left the school that night. Like I said, this post was not meant to be a big bragging moment. I just wanted to record all this so that one day, when my kids are grown, they will be able to look back and remember how proud I was of them! I love you guys!

Happy Halloween!

I loved Jaxon's costume this year! If you can't tell, he was Russell from UP. For some reason, he wouldn't wear his costume when he went trick or treating so this is the only picture I got.

The kids all had fun at their Halloween parties. I was in charge of Jake's class party. He was picked as one of the kids to get dressed up like a mummy. They had a great time doing that.

The kids were so exctied to go trick or treating. Jaxon and Kierra went off with some friends while Jadon, Jake, Kyson, Katie and I went together. Jake was the first one to go home. Kyson and Katie were troopers. They went pretty long and got tons of candy!

After everyone got home, the tradition of trading candy began. Everyone dumped out their candy on the floor to check out what they got and then proceeded to talk their siblings into trading for the candy they didn't want.

The kids had a great time on Halloween. The only problem now is that every room in the house has candy in it that I am tempted to eat!