A Little Birthday Fun!

Laynie and I had a fun birthday weekend.  It started out with the opening of presents.  Matt and the kids gave me a couple more things for my camera and a photography lesson.

Then we went bowling as a family.

My mom and 2 of my nephews came up and had dinner with us then went to the Jazz game while we ate some yummy cake n ice cream instead.

On Sunday, we got all ready for Laynie's birthday dinner.

Ladybug BLTs, chips, apples n dip, and Ladybug Lemonade was served.

We gave Laynie a little kitchen cupboard that we'll fix up in the summer time.  Grandma Sorensen gave Laynie some diapers and a couple of cute outfits and Grandma/pa Anderson gave Laynie a puppy dog.

Only Grandma/pa Sorensen already gave her the same thing for Christmas!

So we returned it and got her a vacuum cleaner instead.  She pushes a button and confetti swirls around and it makes a sucking noise as she pushes it. It's so cute to see her use it!

2015 in Review

We had a wonderful 2015:

Alayna was born on Jan. 12th and celebrated her first birthday yesterday.  She has brought so much joy to our little family.  The first few months were hard dealing with a colicky, milk allergic, cleft baby, but we survived and have lived to tell about it!  She was a champ throughout her two surgeries this year:  lip repair in April and soft palate repair in October.  She has always loved to cuddle, kiss, hug and pat you on the back.  She loves her Daddy and gets so excited each day when he comes home from work.  Once in Daddy's arms, she makes it known that she wants to stay there for quite awhile.

Gavin turned 3 in April and we celebrated his birthday (Thomas the Train style) along with Alayna's baby blessing.  It was a beautiful and fun day.  Gavin took a gymnastics class and swimming lessons over the summer, and he and I are part of a pre-k co-op that started in September.  He looks forward to preschool each week.  He just entered Sunbeams a couple weeks ago. When I tip-toe into his room to check on him at night, my heart often aches because that sleeping boy is not so little anymore.  He's growing up and often tells me, "I'll soon be a daddy and that means you'll soon be a grandma too!"

Matt continues to enjoy his work for the LDS Church.  He currently leads a team of 10 employees that run the media library section on lds.org.  He keeps himself busy by exercising almost every morning, fulfilling his ward clerk duties, and spending time with our family each night.  (That's one of the things I love most about Matt - he always puts our family first.)

I've been busy this year changing diapers, making meals, grocery shopping and cleaning the house -- and I wouldn't have it any other way!  Sometimes I think my IQ is dwindling because of the mundane tasks I do each day, but then I think of how my culinary skills have immensely improved, how I pretty much know what sales to look for in the grocery store ads each week, and even though it's never perfectly clean... the house is a place of order where I can hopefully teach my little ones the things they'll need to learn to become who they are meant to be.

May this year be a healthy, happy and prosperous one for each of you!

Much Love,

Cindy

What a year it was!

A Cake Smash with a Little Laynie Bug

Can't believe she's one already!  At her  12 month well baby check up, she produced the following stats:

Weight: 21.2 lbs (52 %tile)

Height: 28" (17 %tile)

Head Circumference: 18.9" (99 %tile)

Primary

On January 3rd, Gavin became a Sunbeam and began attending primary.  He had a bit of a rough start because he thought he could sit with his best friend, Brock, and threw a fit when asked to sit away from him.  He understands now that he can't sit wherever he wants, and he was super good the following week.

January 3rd was also my first day of Primary.  I got called to be a counselor in the presidency.  This is a much better fit for me than being with teenagers in Young Women. After serving there for 2 years, I was ready for a change...

All ready for church.  (Laynie was napping.)

Celebrating the New Year!

We rang in the new year around 7:30 pm, put the kids to sleep, then watched a movie.  Low key - just the way I like it.  We did have 2 exciting things happen this day though:  1.  Laynie walked all by herself (w/o holding on to furniture) and 2. Our neighbor's camping trailer caught on fire.  Sirens blared, firemen bashed windows and sprayed their hoses - all the while Matt and I were peeking through our blinds at the emergency

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