One Last Quick Post Before THE Vacation

I was going to just add these last couple pictures to the last post, but decided to keep that one specifically for Abby's birthday, hence the "one last post." There were just a few pictures on my camera that I couldn't pass up having on the blog before we got into our vacation pictures. So here they are even though they're all a little bit random. Taryn still loves Mickey, so when dropping off a package to a friend and seeing this huge blowup outside her apartment, we had to take a picture.

Tyler and I celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary on December 15th. I knew it was coming, but the morning of, I forgot and Tyler went off to work like any other day. I finally realized once the girls were off to school and my morning slowed down, so I sent him text. We did end up getting to grab a bite to eat together as Taryn and I met him for lunch. Taryn was being so cute, so I got this picture of her with her daddy on our anniversary date. And Tyler came home from work with a little gift for me. We always say we aren't going to do gifts, but then he ends up getting something anyway, that little cheater. :) This year it was this plant and white statue combo, which I thought was so pretty. He had also looked up what the traditional anniversary gift was for the 14th year and it's Ivory. So since that's illegal and all, he bought me a huge bottle of Ivory body wash. I thought it was pretty creative. He's a definite keeper!

The last thing I wanted to post about was our ward Christmas party. I am now in our ward's Relief Society presidency and we were in charge of the party. I was specifically in charge of the decorations so I spent the majority of the early December days planning, shopping, putting together centerpieces, and decorating tables for the party. It turned out to be a great hit (like always). There were a ton of people there and we all had a great time. The Primary sang a couple songs, so I took some pictures of the girls as they were performing. (Abby got to be Mary). I should have taken a picture of the table, but didn't think about it at the time Oh well. There were so many kids, and I was sitting in the front, so I couldn't get all the kids in one picture. So Aubrey, who was on one side, is in her own picture while Abby and Tessa are in the second picture. They did a great job singing.

I Have a 10-Year-Old?!? Not Possible!

The end of the year always gets busy with trying to finish off the posts for the year. We've got Abby's birthday and Christmas break (the usual end of year posts). However, this year, we took a family vacation before our usual Christmas vacation with family, so I have a ton of pictures to share from that. We'll start with Abby who turned 10 on December 19th. That morning, before school, (it was the last day before the break) Abby came into my room so I could wish her a happy birthday. I just kept saying things like, "I have a 10-year-old? I don't think that's possible. If that were the case, then I'd have to be old, and I'm not old! No way. You can't be 10" etc. :) She convinced me it was true and we started out our day. The girls only had a half day of school and partied for most of it. Abby and Tessa both got to go dressed in pajamas, so the only picture I got on Abby's actual birthday is this first one. However, I found this cuter one from her school choir concert, so I'm sure she'll appreciate having this one posted as well.

To devote a post to Abby, I like to pretty much do her first half of the school year since she's also the only one who's had events at school already that include pictures, so here are a few things to update you about our blossoming tween.

First off, Abby still sings in the honor choir at school. Not many 4th graders stay in, but she loves it so she did. Hopefully you can find her in these pictures. She's been on the next to top row, so that's been fun for me especially because I was always on the front row for everything! They've had two concerts during this first half of the year. Her first concert was on Taryn's birthday. It made us have to rearrange our celebrations for her birthday, but it was good because Grandma and Grandpa Gibbons were able to be here for her concert. The second concert was a Christmas concert and they sang songs from around the world even learning some in different languages like Silent Night in Japanese. It was pretty cool. Abby is still our singer and loves to sing all the time wherever she is and as loudly as she can. She also loves to add the piano to her singing although she's never taken lessons. She just plays the few songs and chords she's learned over and over again. She did teach herself how to play Silent Night so she could sing and play at our family talent show over Christmas. She did a great job.

Abby also stays very active, whether that means she's playing outside with friends, hitting a volleyball around (which she's getting very good at), or dancing. At school, she was involved in a Kids Excel program where people come to teach the 4th graders some dance moves choreographed to music. Their performance was  the last week before the Christmas break. I thought that it would be just a dance performance, but they invited the other grades to come and watch and it was more of a presentation to the other students about what they learned and why. It was still fun to watch, and my kids (even Taryn) have learned the dance moves and phrases and do them all around the house all the time once Abby taught them how. Here's a picture of Abby's group and also one with her favorite instructor, Laura.

What else about Abby? She still gets straight As in school, and loves to be the teacher's pet. The teachers rave about how helpful and nice she is. She ran for class representative this year and was the runner-up. She tied originally, so they did a re-vote between her and another student and she lost that one. She still is involved as the runner-up so she enjoys that and is looking forward to run for a school position during her 5th grade year.

Abby can be very helpful around the house as well. She's a great little mother to her little sisters - sometimes a little too much when she starts bossing them around. She loves to be in charge as she plays with her sisters and friends. She refuses to let me cut her hair and loves having it long even though she pulls it into a ponytail almost every day. She is definitely a true tween as she gets closer to those dreaded teenager years. She begs to have her ears pierced still (we won't let her until she's at least 12) and she can have an attitude and an eye roll like you can't believe, but she's quickly learning the benefits of being older like staying up later and getting to do more "adult" things like playing board games with mom and dad. She's definitely maturing and turning into my little friend, instead of just my little girl. And I guess I shouldn't even say "little" because she keeps commenting how she'll be taller than me soon, which is probably true. She's growing up quickly right before our eyes.

We love this girl and even though we can't believe she is already 10, we can't imagine our family without her. Happy Birthday Abby!

Family Pictures and Thanksgiving 2014

I finally got my family to take some pictures all together. It had probably been almost two years since we had some taken. I set up my ipad in a bright and sunny room and set the timer. Here are some of our favorites. These first couple pictures were with my little helpers as I just tried to get the right angle and zoom. We got some good ideas for poses too.

Please ignore the bright yellow cone under the futon. I didn't know it was there until it was too late. I cropped it out of most of the pictures that I used elsewhere, but alas, there it is in these first two.

 This is my favorite picture. Everyone is smiling and we just look so cute!

I love how without even planning, we all pretty much color-coordinated with each other. I didn't have to pick out outfits or anything.

I wanted one last close up of the family and after having taken a couple with eyes closed or yawners, I guess we had gotten to the end of Taryn's patience. This was the last picture taken and she refused to smile. Too bad everyone else has a great smile. It's still one of my favorites.

We started off our Thanksgiving season with the creation of our 2nd annual Thankful Tree. We wrote things we were thankful for on leaves and added some each week. Here was the final tree right before we left town for the break.

We spent our Thanksgiving break in Texas this year. Half of the time in San Antonio and the other half in Wichita Falls. Tyler had a work conference in San Antonio the weekend before Thanksgiving, so after the girls were done with school, we drove down and stayed with Scott and Nevla. We loved having the whole weekend free to play games and hang out. Although Tyler was gone during the day and the kids stayed up too late most nights, so they were kind of grumpy during the day, we still had a great time. I didn't take any pictures though, so that's a bummer. I didn't even take that many once we got to Wichita Falls. We did spend one evening walking around the Fantasy of Lights at the University which we do every year, so that was fun. Here are a few pictures from that.

Abby got to spend time with her Kindergarten best friend, Ella. They always love getting together.

I tried getting a shot of everyone together when we finally sat down all together for the gift exchange. I think all that's missing is Tyler and Taryn since this was taken while we were waiting for Taryn to wake up from a nap.

And my kids just love Matt and Taylor. I wish it would have been a clearer picture, but they were really nice to let my kids hang all over them all weekend.

We love being with family. We had a great Thanksgiving meal where everyone contributed by being in charge of one or two dishes. The girls made a bunch of crafts, the kids played, the boys watched a lot of football, and we all played lots of games. We really do enjoy our time with family. We always have so much fun!

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!!

For Halloween this year, the girls decided back in August that they wanted to be the Ninja Turtles. I was excited about it because there are four of them and all four girls wanted to do it. Plus, it was decided back in August so I had plenty of time to prepare. And it was something different than your usual princess or ballerina. I ended up crocheting hats and masks for their costumes, and Tyler found toy weapons. Aubrey was the instigator because the newest movie came out this past summer and she quickly became a fan and was determined to see the movie and dress up like a ninja turtle for Halloween. (We haven't even seen the movie yet and probably won't let them watch it for awhile since it's PG-13, but they liked all the hype and toys and merchandise with the Ninja Turtles on it every time we went to a store. Even Taryn would recognize them quickly and point out "the red one" because that was the one she was.

A double bonus was that Abby's Activity Day Daddy-Daughter Party was super hero theme, so Abby and Tyler went as the Ninja Turtles with one of Abby's friends. Here's Abby with Tyler for their party. Most dads and daughters were just wearing super hero t-shirts, so I was proud of Tyler who really got into it with Abby. And the school let them dress up this year as their favorite super hero, so all three girls got to dress up in their costumes for school too. Getting to wear the same costume multiple times in one Halloween season was awesome! 

Here are our four Ninja Turtles:

 

We spent one family night carving pumpkins. Here are their creations. Abby really wanted glasses on her pumpkin and Tyler's carving of it turned out so cool.

We did do a little trick-or-treating around our neighborhood on Halloween night. The girls got too much candy as usual. The coolest house was the one with a pet macaw bird. It would talk to the owner saying things like "hello" and "pretty bird." It was hard to get the kids to move along to the next house. It was pretty awesome.

Taryn Turns Three and Gets Three Staples!

The month of October brings us to Taryn's birthday. This year Tyler's parents drove down to be with us to help celebrate. The girls were so excited to have Grandpa and Grandma come visit. They kept asking if they'd be staying until Halloween. Sadly, they couldn't stay that long, but with the Columbus Day holiday right before Taryn's birthday, at least we had a long weekend. Tyler had Columbus Day off from work, but the kids were still in school, but we took them out a little early so we could celebrate all together. 

We spent the afternoon at Chuck E. Cheese so the girls could play some games. Then we ate dinner at IHOP since pancakes are one of the few foods that Taryn will eat. With Abby's school choir concert, and Tyler's scouts happening on Taryn's actual birthday, we weren't sure if Taryn would get a birthday cake on her actual birthday, so we took our candle and let her blow it out on her chocolate funny face pancake. It took her a few tries, but she quickly figured out how to blow out the candle.

Taryn and I took Grandma and Grandpa to the school on Taryn's birthday to have lunch with each of the girls. After school was over, we had quick pizza dinner and let Taryn open her presents. She got some awesome gifts, like a Sofia LeapPad with games, an Elsa and Anna blanket, new shoes, a baby doll, and a Wheels on the Bus game. She also got to play one of her favorite games with Dad - Minnie Mouse Memory.

I went ahead and decided she needed an actual birthday cake, so I found a recipe for rainbow cake and made a small cake with cupcakes. It was quite involved in dividing the batter and adding the food coloring. I'm glad they turned out as well as they did, but I probably won't make it again! 

The time went by too quickly, but we enjoyed having Grandma and Grandpa with us while they were here.

I grabbed one picture of all four girls before church one Sunday, so I thought I'd include that here. 

And finally, since it's a post about Taryn, I'm including our incident with a head wound. Taryn fell backwards on our dining room chair and cut the back of her head. I didn't know it was a cut until after seeing blood drops on her back. It was hidden in her hair. After picking up the girls from school and Tyler coming home from work early, we decided to call the doctor's office. After they said they could see her and any stitches or staples necessary could be administered there (we didn't want to have to go there and be sent to an urgent care or somewhere else) we decided to take her in. She did indeed need staples, but she was not happy about it. She didn't want anyone to touch it (obviously) and she did not like getting it cleaned either. It took the doctor, three nurses, and me to hold her down long enough for the doctor to put in three staples. And because they administer numbing medicine through a needle, they said it would be the same number of pokes anyway, so they just stapled her head without any numbing beforehand. It was not fun for her or me, but it was over in a matter of seconds and then she was fine. Actually, she was fine after we left the office because right after she got the staples, she was so upset that it made her cough and when Taryn cries, is upset, and coughs, more often than not, she throws up. So she did throw up a couple times while the doctor was making sure everything was okay, but by the time we were in the car and on the way home, then she was fine. Here's the picture I took after she got the staples. Right in the center of her head, you can see the little silver strips.

We spent the rest of the weekend referencing the staples and basically doing everything for Taryn. If someone asked why about anything like why Taryn got something they didn't or why we were going to a specific place, the answer was always, "because Taryn has staples in her head!" Taryn also had no problem telling anyone who talked to her over the next couple days, "I have staples in my head." It was pretty cute. Grandma and Grandpa Black sent a fruit bouquet as a get well gift, which the girls enjoyed eating. They loved the "fruit wands." 

She had the staples in her head for one week. They were removed Halloween morning. It reminded me of when Tessa broke her leg like 6 years ago. She got her cast on the day before Halloween. Apparently that holiday is surrounded by accidents for this family.

We're glad Taryn's okay and as traumatic as it was at the time, she has made a full recovery. We love our three year old little girl. She's happy, helpful, and loves following her sisters around and doing whatever they are doing. She can quote full conversations from multiple movies. Her favorites being Frozen and Sherman and Mr. Peabody. She loves to sing and record herself on my phone and/or iPad. She's definitely not a baby anymore. We love her so much. Happy Birthday Taryn!

September - The Month of Camping

September always seems to be filled with camping weekends. This year was no different. Our ward's annual camping trip is always in September. This year we decided last minute to go (just like last year) because the weather was questionable again. It was supposed to rain the entire time, but after hearing other families were still going, we decided we would too. We didn't even take a tent. We planned to sleep in the van thinking that would be better if it rained all night. Well, it hardly rained at all, so the weather held out and clean up in the morning was so much easier without having to put up a tent. The girls stayed toasty warm in the van (except for Abby who was next to the back of the van), so even sleeping in the car wasn't bad.

 

The girls got to spend time Saturday morning running around with their friends and as always doing the little zip line. The bishop's daughter celebrated her birthday while we were all up there, so we had cake after breakfast and the kids got to break open a pinata. They had a lot of fun.

 

On our drive back home, we decided to stop at the little zoo in Alamogordo again like we had a couple years earlier. With our El Paso zoo membership, we even got in free! Abby liked the bald eagles and Aubrey liked the huge tortoise. (That's also Tessa's favorite animal.)

 

The girls also really liked the playground and would have stayed there a lot longer if we hadn't rushed them along.

 

We were excited to hear that the kangaroos had new babies, and we even saw the baby joeys sticking out of their pouches from far away. We really liked the deer too because they came so close to the fence. Tyler even helped feed it the leaves that it was trying to reach through the fence.

 

A couple weekends later, we decided to camp again. This time we went just as a family into New Mexico because it was their other free fishing day for the year. We went to Ruidoso again (like we did in the summer) and we camped the night before. The most exciting thing that happened that night was when I woke up in the middle of the night to the sounds of heavy animal breathing and stomping. I was scared that it was a bear, but it sounded more like a horse from how it was breathing and walking, so I figured it was a big buck or something. I thought I was the only one awake and I was trying to be super quiet so I didn't say anything until the morning, but when I did Tyler said he had heard it too. He thought it might have been a wild horse, which signs had warned us about on the drive up the mountain. He found a few tracks in the mud around our tent that made him think that it came around the trees and had had to slide to a stop when our tent was right there. It was crazy.

 

We got there too late to take any pictures in the evening, so while Tyler put up the tent and all our stuff in the morning, the girls played on these logs that were right behind where we put the tent. My phone had also died so I had to take all my pictures on my iPad. I was glad I had that, so I could get some pictures. They loved this big trunk that had a little step and perfect seat on the back side.

 

We even had to take videos of the girls walking along the fallen tree like a balance beam. The best video was of Abby who slipped and fell half way through. She even loves rewatching it and laughing every time.

 

After leaving the camp area and finding donuts for breakfast, we headed to Grindstone Lake. This is where we fished over the summer when they had a huge kid's fishing day. Tyler was hoping with less people this time and getting there earlier we would have a better time of catching fish, but it was still kind of busy and we had to walk a quarter around the lake to even find a spot. It was right near a lot of rocks so at least the girls had fun playing on the rocks, using chalk, and helping Tyler fish. I only took a few pictures but this first one of the girls helping Tyler fish is one of my favorites because you can also see the view we had.

 

 

 

Unfortunately, we didn't catch any fish this time either. Tyler was a little bummed. On our way home from the lake, we stopped at a pistachio farm where they have a structure of the world's largest pistachio. Of course we had to take a picture. The girls were having fun pretending to hold it up. They had a lot of flavored pistachios to sample, which the girls loved trying.

 

We really enjoy making these family memories and doing outdoorsy stuff together like camping and fishing. We've been having a lot of fun.