Nine!

This handsome boy turned nine in September!

He is such a fun kid to be around. He has a funny sense of humor, he loves, loves, loves reading and Legos. He loves to be with his friends and goof around and invent games. He is thoughtful and sensitive and kind. He loves playing games of all kinds... video games, board games, iPhone and iPad games, word games, logic games, riddles, math games, you name it, he loves games.  He also loves the Disney show "Phineas and Ferb" and the rest of us love it too.

I made some Perry the Platypus cupcakes for his soccer team and for our family gathering. We were so excited that some of our family members could come and celebrate with us! On Coleman's birthday Ryan made colorful pancakes (and carried on the Phineas and Ferb theme) and later in the week Coleman invited a few friends over for a late-night. I did my best to make Phineas' and Ferb's heads for the cake and we had to have another Perry to go along with them...

We are so grateful to have Coleman as a part of our family... he brings so much happiness to our family!

(Stay tuned for more Phineas and Ferb excitement in the coming months...)

Birthday Treats

Happy birthday to me! I turned 38 last month. While I don't love the idea of getting older, I do love celebrating with fun people. My week started out great with a visit from several of my cute Beehives... they came to wish me a "Happy Bee-Day" and gave me some yummy treats. I am so glad I was able to serve with these lovely ladies.  Megan took me and the kids to lunch at the Black Bear Diner. The kids thought it was the bomb-diggity and I loved being with Megan. My friend Jodi took me to lunch another day and we laughed when we showed up at the restaurant wearing the same outfit... white shirts with a long, royal blue maxi dress. I had lots of calls and visits from friends throughout the day with tasty treats and great prizes. I got to hang out with my family and eat ice cream cake from Cold Stone and then I got to finish off my day at Book Club! My cute friend Maria hosted and she even hung up a birthday sign for me and Jacque, whose birthday was the day before. Maria and Jacque made delicious food (still waiting for recipes), we had a brief conversation about the book and chatted about a whole lot of other things (as per usual). Despite having to add a year to my age, it was a great birthday! Thanks to all who made it wonderful!

ELEVEN!

This lovely lady turned 11 last month! We were up at Snowbird with Ryan's family (post to follow) and we got to spend the day in a beautiful place with the people we love.

She got spoiled rotten, as per usual, and had a great day. Her buddies J.D. and Anna even got to spend the afternoon with us. She requested German Chocolate Cake (that makes TWO times in one year I get to make that lovely labor of love) and Cafe Rio salads for dinner. We invited my mom and Mike to come up to celebrate and eat with us. We loved sharing Liv's day with so many people that have been important in her life.

Olivia is thoughtful, responsible, intelligent, funny, caring, faithful, and she does so much for others, without being asked. I feel so grateful that she is a part of our family and love that she loves being with us too. She is already on the countdown to being in Young Women's! We know this will be another great year for our Liv.

Sophia's Sweet Shoppe

This sweet girl turned two! We had a party full of sweets to celebrate.

The invitations looked like cute pieces of candy (and cost a fortune to mail, just fyi :)).

Inside each package are 5 circles with a cute poem that included all of the info for the party.

Our little sweet shop with lots of varieties of purple and pink candies, cookies, and sweets.

Here are a few close-ups of the goods... I loved this picture Ryan got of her "sneaking" just one more candy. All of the guests left with a baggy of sweets. Yum!

We had lots of fun guests, although our numbers are dwindling with several family members moving away. We were happy to have Laura and her cuties, Ryan's grandparents (and their cute dog Dusty), my mom and Mike, Mike's mom Dorothy and his sister Becky, my sister Erin and her boys, and my sister Steph and her girls (not pictured). We were also excited to have Sophia's "Other Mother" Raylyn come... she is my sweet, cute friend that Sophia adores. She calls her "mommy" and runs to her for comfort and loves whenever she is around. It might make me feel bad if I didn't love Raylyn so much myself :).

We opened presents (I love the look of delight on her face in the bottom right corner) and she exclaimed, "Oh, wow!" several times which hilarious. We ate fancy cupcakes and raspberry sherbet and sugar cookies. Olivia and Coleman had decorated the driveway with chalk drawings of sweets and candy.  We gave the kids a few little favors (sidewalk chalk and mini play dough containers) that were wrapped to look like candy. We had lots of decorations that I saved from our YW activity last month, so the house looked very festive and full of sweet things. Most of all, we loved being with so many people that love Soph!

On Sophia's actual birthday we opened a few more presents... and I loved that she didn't care very much about her new toy or clothes or movie, but she was thrilled to pop those packing bubbles.

She is such a joy in our family! She is saying so many words and communicating in other ways. She has so much love for Olivia and Coleman and isn't shy about showing it. She loves to give hugs and kisses and belly bounces. She is learning to say prayers (and especially likes to be thankful for this "DAY"). She loves to twirl around and dance and run and she gets so excited for any chance to go outside. We love this girl!

Let Him Eat Cake

Happy birthday to Ryan!!! Today was all about cake (isn't that what birthdays are all about?)...

Waffles for breakfast (which if we are honest are really just cake with yummy buttermilk syrup or strawberries and cream on top... and some of ours were even double chocolate waffles)...

We went to lunch and I took some cupcakes to his work buddies...

...and he came home to his very own cake. Pure deliciousness (to him at least!).

We also went to our cute niece and cousin's birthday celebration and had yummy cake push pops and ice cream with her family...

...so this beauty might have to be eaten another day :).

Despite all the talk of cake, Ryan's birthday is really about celebrating what a wonderful guy he is. I am so lucky to have him as my partner in this adventure of life. He is an amazing dad, a hard worker, and a kind and generous person who makes our lives so much better.

Happy birthday, Ryan!

**What kind of cake do you like for your birthday?

Being Eight is Great!

This handsome boy turned eight today! He said all day long how he was "so spoiled, but the good kind" and when I asked him why he felt spoiled he said, "You know, all the presents, all the love..." I love this kid!

Last weekend we took him with two of his buddies to Trafalga to celebrate and they had a great time!

Today he got his very own set of scriptures, some cool new stuff for Scouts which he gets to start on Wednesday, and an awesome Star Wars retro lunch box.

Olivia made him a wallet and gave him a book too!

I loved this expression on his face when he opened his gift from Ryan's parents. He is so enthusiastic and happy and grateful for things that people do for him.

We let the kids choose their birthday breakfast and dinner. For breakfast we had colored pancakes (we put different colors of pancake batter in squirt bottles and draw pictures or write words with the batter... it's pretty labor intensive, but the kids love it). For dinner he wanted a variation on his all-time favorite (homemade mac and cheese) that he thinks is as gourmet as it comes. We had cheese fondue... cheese sauce and lots of dippers--carrots, celery, noodles, crusty french bread, steamed broccoli, and the best of all HOT DOGS! So glad we could eat something healthy from all of the food groups :). The kids loved it though, and felt very fancy dipping their food in their own little dishes of cheese sauce with a fondue fork.

He had visits from Grandma Jan and Grandpa Gee Gee (but we didn't grab a picture, darn it!) and from Grandma and Grandpa Stover, calls from the other grandparents and lots of his aunts, and fun cards and gifts in the mail. People were good to this good boy. I am so grateful he came to our family eight years ago!

Bryce Canyon and a Birthday

At the end of June we headed out on an adventurous reunion for the Cole/Stover family reunion. We met up with part of the group at Bryce Canyon on our way to Zion.

Megan with Coleman and Liv...

Our little family at one of the many lookouts...

Liv, Emma, Soph, Katty, me, David Joseph, David, and Megan...

Olivia!

Coleman!

Bryce is beautiful, no?

I loved this view of Ryan and Coleman looking at the beautiful scenery.

Heather, my mom, me, David, Lauren, and Claire

Ryan and the kiddos at "one more lookout" before we got back in the car to drive to Zion.

My mom and Mike arranged for us to stay in a couple of great houses and cabins at Zion Ponderosa Ranch, which is just outside of Zion National Park. The first night we had a little pow-wow to establish some rules and guidelines (and of course sign the liability release form!).  Mike put together some fun bags for each of the grandkids with some snacks and a water bottle and some little prizes. They thought that was SO neat!

Our "camp directors"

That day happened to be my 37th birthday and my sisters brought cake! It was fun to spend my birthday with so many people from my family... out of 12 kids, 11 were there... from Idaho, Nevada, California, Utah, and Georgia. We greatly missed Matt and his family who weren't able to come at the last minute. We had close to 50 people there! Our family has grown up in a lot of ways. It was so fun to spend time together and see some beautiful sites.

The Big Number 10

It's hard to believe that a whole decade has passed since Sweet Liv came to our family. She is kind and generous and thoughtful and beautiful inside and out. We were so excited to celebrate her 10th birthday!

Ryan got to spend the day at a meeting preparing for Wood Badge (a Scout training that he is helping to staff later this summer) and had to leave early, so he woke up extra early to make Liv's birthday breakfast (crepes with Nutella and bananas and a fruit smoothie). She was excited to open her presents with him here, but he walked out the door before we even ate breakfast (pretending to leave... but really going next door to our neighbors where her gift was hidden). She was so heartbroken (which made me heartbroken, even though I knew Ryan was coming right back with a great surprise for her, but who likes to see their child in tears on their birthday?). Luckily it didn't last long, and Ryan arrived at the door with her new bicycle! She quickly forgot her sadness and was thrilled with her new bike.

She loves it, and it's so cute! It's a cruiser and it makes us all want to go for a long, leisurely ride on the beach. Olivia spent a good part of the day cruising around the neighborhood. I can't believe she's tall enough (and old enough) for a women's size bicycle. How the time flies!

Ryan stuck around to eat and watch her open her other gifts... she was especially excited to get the game "Enchanted Forest" from Grandma and Grandpa Harper. Ryan played the same game when he was younger and we know we'll have loads of fun with it.

Sophia loved all the gift wrap and decorations and treats. She seemed giddy all day long, like she knew it was a special day.

We ended the day with a small group of Liv's "besties" that came over for a barbecue, some games (including tetherball--where Ryan was schooled by her friend Brinley), Heavy Heavy Hangover with presents, giant cupcakes and ice cream, and lots and lots of laughs. There may or may not have been an incident with milk coming out of Olivia's nose.

We are so glad that Olivia is a part of our family. I feel blessed to be her mama and be a part of her life.

Love you sweet Liv!

80 Years Young

This cute Grandma Cole of mine turned 80 years old today. She is such an amazing woman! We have a close relationship... I feel so blessed to be a part of her posterity. I love her toasted cheese sandwiches and home canned peaches. I love talking to her on the phone. I love going to lunch with her. I love getting cards in the mail with her clear, perfect handwriting. I love that she remembers the treats that my kids love and that she always seems to have a little something on hand for them (including entire boxes of candy canes for Coleman). I love that she says things how they are (just yesterday she told Ryan he must be some kind of special to put up with me!) and doesn't mince words. I love that she loves me and tells me so. I love that she is my grandma!

She wanted to spend the day with her family--her kids and grandkids and great-grandkids. She wanted to do a temple session together, so we started out the day with a session at the Jordan River Temple. It was great to be there with my aunts and cousins and a few of my siblings and my mom... above are Lindsey, me, my mom, David, and Katty...

 ,,,and Ryan of course! Then we went to a church for a really nice luncheon that my aunts prepared.

 Four generations... me, Sophia, my dad, and my grandma.

 Here are my grandma and grandpa with their four kids--Dianne, Michael, Stan, and Channa.

I didn't get any pictures of Erin at the park, so I made her pose with me at the luncheon :).

My favorite part of the luncheon was a tribute that my aunt Channa did for her... she told her life story and talked about the legacy of love, faith, and service she had given to each of us. She has spent her life loving her family and friends (and we all love her!), showing faith in Jesus Christ, and serving all around her. My aunt Dianne made these cute stacking blocks for all of us.

I am so grateful for my wonderful, amazing, beautiful, talented, generous, and loving Grandma Cole.

Birthday Girl

This sweet girl is one today! She is so quick to smile and giggle and chatter. She loves her brother and sister and laughs so much when they are around. She has five gorgeous pearly whites. She loves to eat (and is becoming more selective about the foods she'll consume--sweet potatoes aren't at the top of the list anymore, but chocolate sure is!). She waves and claps and raises her hands up as if to say "hooray!" and plays peek-a-boo and sometimes will sit still to listen to a story or two. She loves electronics and would rather hold the camera instead of pose for a picture. She is a miracle to us and she brings us so much joy and happiness.  Happy birthday sweet Sophia!