Kendyl Wendyl is 5! We love you!

Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday to you!
I can't believe my girl is 5! It can't be true, somebody pinch me! Kendyl you are one of a kind. So, full of life and love, passionate about EVERYTHING. You are a strong woman and I love that about you. You're smile can light up the world! You love to entertain as none other than the center of attention, you're a leader, smart and sassy "fussy broad" in the best way! You're a great little friend and helper to mommy and I couldn't live a day without you! You were sent to me with a BIG spirit in a little 8 lb 2 oz body to keep me on track. I feel so lucky to be your mommy and hope we can have so much more fun together as we both grow and learn from one another. Actually, I think you're the one who is really leading me and hopefully I can show some cool things along the way! I love you Bubba!
(just case anyone was wondering, her birthday was actually Valentine's Day...it just took me this long to figure this slideshow thing out! HAH!)

Ahh, Paigie

There must be something about the name!(Jess) We got the name for our second girl from our good friends in Arizona when we only had Kendyl. When we found out we were pregnant with #2 and were then living in P town we figured it was fair game to use the name. Little did we know that it came fully loaded! I don't think I can make this sound as funny as it was at the time but I'll give it a shot...
So, we were at Costco doing some Christmas shopping. I had Kendyl and baby brother with me and Chris and Paige were sitting at one of the little tables by the food. Paige sees a woman pushing a cart with a baby carrier that looks just like ours. (Now, keep in mind, Paige is not exactly a quiet or shy child...okay, that's putting it mildly.) All of a sudden she stands up on the top of the table and without hesitation she belts out, "HEY LADY!...WHERE YA' GOIN WITH MY LITTLE BROTHER???" I know, it doesn't have the same punch as when she says it but awe, I LOVE this girl! She is soooo funny. I need to write down the other Paigisms, they're good times.

Hang in there with me

Okay, so as Jess so lovingly pointed out a new post is way past due. This is a true test of friendship...be patient with me. I have no clue what I'm doing and instead of noodling through it I am totally intimidated by this whole blogging world. I LOVE to look at friends' blogs and even leave comments but they all look so good and have so many cool things on them that I wimp out. Which brings me to another point, one of my resolutions, or maybe I should say goals, for this new year is to stop being so intimidated or overwhelmed by new things and just jump. LEARN it, DO it! Chris loves to tease me that I have a hard time learning new things because I'm not immediately good at them, hence the words, "new things." Yeah, he's right. I need to get over it already! I have lots to learn this year. How to blog, how to take great pictures like Kristen, how to knit (yes, my husband knits), and among other things, how to live off of student loans and grants with 3 kids while your husband goes to school to become a commercial airline pilot! I know lots of you have experience with this stuff so please feel free to share your secrets with us. It seems like there IS a right and a wrong way to go about the process but no one can tell us what that is. While filling out all the financial aid forms I had the mental image of our family traveling down the yellow brick road on our way to see the Wizard of Oz to ask for money! Weird. (hallucination quite possibly caused by the baby not sleeping). Thank goodness for wonderful husbands who hold the priesthood! We're not sleeping much these days but we are praying a lot. Trying to figure out which direction He would have us go at this unsettled time in our lives. I'm so grateful for Chris and his great faith in the Lord's plan for us and that things will work out the way they're supposed to. The pilot may sound a bit random but it's something that he's always dreamed about! He lights up like our girls do on Christmas morning when he talks about becoming a pilot. I'm so excited for him to have finally found what he really wants to do when he grows up. Not that I believe we'll ever really grow up! Hah!