Family Pictures 2022!

 We recently did family pictures when Ben's brother and sister-in-law Donovan and Jessica were in town, and I am in love with how they turned out! I feel so blessed every time we get our pictures done by them--they are so talented. They are great at capturing each child's personality and spirit. 

I love my family. 

Ashtyn is getting baptized in a few months, so we took some time to get some pictures of her in her dress.

She is growing up into such a beautiful young woman, inside and out. 

Ashtyn made this origami flower and very much wanted a picture with it. 

Rylee turned 4 in August and we love her impish, fun-loving nature.

My children 💗

One of the biggest blessings of motherhood is seeing the love they have for each other. 

Oliver is turning 1 this month and we couldn't be more in love with him and his smile.

Parker turned 6 in June and has so much personality, it's so fun to watch her interact with the world and all her "friends" (anyone she meets) in the world.  

Ashtyn is turning 8 in October and has so much passion for learning and improving. I love watching her achieve her goals. 

This boy has my whole heart 💗

Daddy and son 💗

Silly girls!

I love my girls!

Daddy's girls!

The kids really wanted to do a silly one!

I love Benjamin so much and the life we are creating together. Marrying him has been the best decision I've ever made. I love that we work together for our goals, share our passions with each other, and continue to grow our love. 

I am so grateful for my family and for the knowledge I have that families are eternal.

Oliver's First Birthday

 We had a lot of fun celebrating Oliver's birthday this year. We sure love having him in our family!

We choose a theme for each birthday (a tradition we started when Ashtyn turned one). Since Oliver is too little to pick, we chose the theme of trains. He loves all things that roll. Makenzie let us borrow her wooden train set and Ashtyn really wanted to make a blue train out of blocks for the table. I decided to do brownies and ice cream for the treat, because our family doesn't usually eat leftover cake. 

This banner was super simple to make and I loved how cute it turned out. 

The Sunday before his birthday (which was on a Friday), we had a little birthday party with family. Some of his cousins were leaving for home in North Dakota the next day and we knew it would be fun to do it with them beforehand. 

He got this fun little barnyard toy from his Grandma Leah and loved it.

He also got a book from Grandma Dee, a card from some other grandmas, and we got him a little book.

Happy birthday to Oliver! 

He wasn't so sure about all the attention from all the people.

He loved eating his brownies and ice cream! 

The morning of his birthday, I made donuts (it's our tradition).

I was so happy with how they turned out! I let my bread machine knead the dough, use half white/half wheat flour (until I get a stone wheat grinder), and then use the air fryer to bake them rather than frying them in oil. Then I mix up a glaze on the stove. They are super easy and yummy. 

Smiling at his donuts 💗

While we ran errands that afternoon, we got a cheese pizza and cupcakes from Coldstone for a little dessert on his actual birthday.

This was him signing food. He wanted the cupcake right away, instead of having us sing to him first 😂

I really wanted to sing to him on his actual birthday. 

As you can tell, he highly enjoyed it. 

We went on a little hike in the evening to celebrate and it was really fun. We went to a new place, at the Redfleet Nature Trail, which was really pretty. We also came across a bunny!

Caleb stopped in Vernal on his way to Florida and was here for Oliver's birthday, which was really fun! We're sure gonna miss him. (sorry his eyes are closed)

I got this as a "birthday present" from the sleep app I use. It shows how his sleep has changed over the last year (I didn't start using it until October, so it starts then). The blue is when he sleeps (you can tell night sleep XD). I thought it was interesting! 

It was fun to celebrate Oliver's birthday! 

Oliver is ONE!

First birthday: September 2, 2022 

Favorite food: Spaghetti, taco soup, salsa, cookies, ice cream, raspberries, ritz crackers 

Favorite toys: Cars, balls, anything that rolls, crayons 

Words you know: Mom, Dad, food (sign), dog (sign), milk (sign), outside (sign), all done (sign)

Things you love to do: Crawl around, stand up and dance, ask for food, go on rides (bike, four-wheeler, lawn mower), play with his sisters, eat, pet animals 

Temperament: Content most of the time, easy going 

Things that excite you: Dogs/animals, sisters, going outside, getting food or milk 

People who love you: Everyone. But especially me. 

Happy birthday, my baby boy!