MINE!!!

Over the last few weeks in Utah, we heard the word "MINE" a lot. Kallen has been known to say, "MY GEE-CREAM" (ice-cream), or "MY CAR", or just plain "MINE" followed by a LOUD scream.

Well, all I have to say is this baby boy is MINE!!! And oh, I love it so much!

And she's off to Kindergarten....

My sweet, smart, and beautiful Avery Mae started Kindergarten on Monday. Here is what I posted on Facebook:

"This little girl went to Kindergarten today. She woke up at 5:30 a.m., Michael Bryner heard her puttering around. We came downstairs and she was dressed, wearing her backpack, and had started making her own lunch. Love you Avery Mae. You were ready for Kindergarten 2 years ago."

She was very excited for her big day. It was Kallen and I that we needed to worry about. I kept myself together until in the car after dropping her off, I started to cry. Driving home, I missed her already. Yesterday (day 2) I turned on the show "Paw Patrol" for Kallen....I started to cry again thinking, if Avery was here, she would be watching this. I really miss her. She has been my side-kick for so long, my little friend. But as we were reading on Sunday night before school, I just had this feeling that she was ready for this and it is going to be good for her.

When I took her to her class, I said good-bye. She was busy coloring at her desk. She looked slightly nervous for the first time ever, but was hiding it very well. I gave her a hug. But then as I got to her door, I just lingered and watched her for a while....I just wasn't ready for this.

She had a great first day. She is going to love school.

 Kallen wasn't sad to see everyone go on Monday. In fact, he was EXSTATIC about the buses!!! Oh my! Every morning he can't wait to take them to the bus stop and pick them up. We talk about buses all day long. Yesterday, he kept coming up to me and saying, "Ay-bree Bus!, LO-LO Bus!"

 Daven looked so handsome and wanted to wear his Sea-Hawks jersey the first day. It was funny because as we walked into his classroom we realized his teacher is a 49-ers fan! ha-ha. Daven and Logan both have male teachers this year. They were excited about that.

Lo-Lo wanted to wear his 49-ers jersey....maybe he wishes he was in Daven's class?

I think I have the cutest kids ever. I am looking forward to all they will learn this school year. I need to come up with lots of plans for Kallen and I. It feels very quiet at home during the day.

Logan's Baptism

We had a very special day today. Our sweet Logan James was baptized! We are so lucky to have this peacemaker in our family. I don't know how we got so lucky. He is truly a sweetheart.

We've been celebrating for about a week. The day before his birthday, we went to dinner at "Logan's Roadhouse." We had never tried it, but he wanted to try this so-called restaurant with his name on it :) He especially loved the mini-bucket dessert at the end. Can't get much better than fudge brownie with ice-cream on top for Logan.

He also got to have a pajama pizza party this week with friends. They watched the LEGO movie and played a few games. WOW, it was one busy house, but they had lots of fun!

Oreo ice-cream cake for this boy. It must be genetic!!

We started off the day by giving Logan some special gifts. I made a baptism scrapbook like this for Daven. It was so much fun to make. I hope he likes it ;)

He also got new scriptures from mom and dad, a scripture case from Grandma and a mini-hymn book from Great Grandma.

My grandparents were so sweet to drive down for the baptism. I worry about them driving so far. We love them so much and they were so sweet to come! Logan loves his Grandma and Grandpa "Great" as we call them.

Mike was able to baptize and confirm Logan. He gave such a beautiful prayer when Logan was confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It was a very nice blessing. He blessed Logan to have courage in doing Heavenly Father's work. He also blessed him that he would have confidence and know that he has many talents. He is is a talented boy and was blessed that he would seek, find and develop his talents. He was counseled to be close friends with Heavenly Father, seek him in prayer, and listen to the promptings of the Holy Ghost.

One thing that was extra special was Daven played the piano for the baptism. He practiced so hard and learned about five songs. He played the prelude, interlude and postlude. He did an amazing job. People were so impressed by how well he played. Daven wanted to do this. It was his idea and I thought it would be wonderful & it turned out really special!

I love this little boy so much. I don't know how to explain all the goodness that is in his heart. We are so lucky to know him and have him in our family. After the baptism, he ran up to me and gave me a big hug. I love him so much!

The Grandma and Grandpa Greats. They are such a good example to us. Wish we lived closer to them & could see them more often. When we see them, it is just never enough time. I was impressed because my Grandma could recite all 19 grandchildren she has and remembers the year we were all born...WOW!!

We were so lucky to have Mike's parents come down for the baptism as well (especially since they just got back from Europe a few days ago). They have been busy so we were very grateful they took the time to come down. Papa spoke at the baptism and gave a wonderful talk on baptism.

These two look beautiful in white. This is at the church right before the baptism. As we went into the room with the baptismal font, I watched Logan walk down the steps and go into the water. There was just such a calm, peaceful feeling. I knew he was making the right choice and we are so proud of his decision to be baptized.

We had a little Ice-Cream party in honor of Logan at our house afterward. It was so fun to visit with many family and friends. We felt so loved and supported. We finished the day by swimming at our neighbors pool (they are letting us borrow it since they are out of town). Woo-hoo!

The four cousins, Jake, Daven, Logan, and Avery. Jake, our nephew came down with Grandma and Papa.

We realized that we never got a family baptism photo, so this pool shot will have to do. It was such a special and memorable day. We love you Lo-Lo. Thanks for setting such a good example today and every day in our family. We hope you had a great baptism day and felt the love we have for you.

Our Sandmonster

Check this little guy out....I have never had a child like dirt this much. In fact, Daven used to freak out if his feet got dirty at the park. But not our K-man!! I caught him dumping buckets full of dirt down his shirt the other night. He was so sandy, he looked like he had been tanning. Oh he cracks me up. The funny part, he is just at the boys' baseball games. It is not even a real sandbox. Just a small patch. A really sweet mom brings the sand toys and he goes to town. Been getting dirtier every game. Can't wait to see what he looks like next time! 

I got lucky and it was Mike's night to bathe him :) I don't think I'll be so lucky next time.

Our Spring Break Mini-Cation

I have not blogged in eons. It feels like there are too many posts I need to do to catch up. So, I think I'll just start with something recent and go from there.

Over Spring Break this year, we decided to take the kids on a mini-vacation. Mike had the idea to camp a night in Joshua Tree National Park. What is that you say? I had the same question. I didn't know there was such a place. But, I was up for the adventure. I love that my husband always thinks of fun ideas for us to do.

It was really neat. It was one of those parks where you have to look closely to see the beauty. But we enjoyed it!!

Our campground was so cool....JUMBO ROCKS CAMPGROUND. As you can see, there were huge rocks all around us. The kids enjoyed climbing all over them. Especially Daven. He is growing up!! And he wanted his picture taken all the time.

 This little guy was hard to contain. He wanted to run around and climb. There were a few prickly bushes around, so he kept getting mad at us for restraining him. Here you can tell he is smirkily trying to sneak out of my arms.

 I love that these two are still really good friends. They can find ways to hang out and entertain each other everywhere we go.

 I found a recipe on Pinterest for Pizza Tin-Foil Dinners. (Mike and I did fajitas). But they were a huge hit!!! The kids loved them. Kallen kept shoving pieces in his mouth. The kids still ask me at least once a week if I can make them at home. Ahhh, the joy of how good food tastes when you are camping.

 Mike took these amazing shots by the campfire. I am so lucky he is so good with a camera!! Reason 921 why I picked such a great husband :)

 And I had to throw in an early morning tent photo. We have lots of these of the kids over the years. And they always steal my heart!!

 This is called SKULL ROCK. Cool, huh? I couldn't believe how much it looked like the real deal. Highly recommend Jumbo Rocks Campground.

 We learned the the Joshua Tree was named by Mormon Pioneers. I guess they were traveling and making various settlements. In this area and in Nevada, they saw lots of the trees. They felt like the branches looked like arms raised up in supplication to the Lord, thus naming them after the Biblical Prophet, Joshua.

 Then to the beach in California. My kids had a blast!!!! I was shocked at how brave they were and kept running in the water and jumping over the waves. They usually hold back, so we were surprised. Avery is going to be our little fish. She was the daring-est one of them all!

 My kids are so cute!!!!

 Spent a day at Knot's Berry Farm. Had never been there before. Kallen hated the Merry-Go-Round. We were very disappointed because the kids section, other than this ride, was closed :( I think we will have to go back another time when the kids are all older. Lots of really fun roller coasters for the older kids.

 I got talked into the rafting rapids ride with the kids. And guess who got soaked??? Yep, Me!!! ALL over!!!!!

 I think Kallen reminds me of Charlie Brown. I don't know if it is the way his shirts fit, his little legs, his smirk, or his walk. But he is just so cute and I call him Charlie Brown sometimes.

 Daven will kill me for posting this picture. He thinks he is way to big and cool for this ride now. I guess he is growing up.

There was one ride Kallen liked and it was the train ride!! I am so glad we finally made it, after at least 4 attempts and missing it each time. What a cutie and trooper to spend the day watching all of us go on rides.

Oh what a blessing the Temple is...

Our family has had a great experience watching the Temple of the Lord in Gilbert AZ be built 5 miles down the street from our home.  It's been wonderful and will be an experience we will always remember.  We wanted to write a family journal entry together so we can alway remember our feelings about the temple.

Here's a picture of us visiting the temple while it was being built in April 2012.  Little Kallen was in Mommy's tummy! We got to visit the construction site and a make-shift visitor center in a trailer nearby.  At the time we visited they were putting the stone on the temple.  Some of the square pieces were cracked and we learned that every piece had to be perfect so they took those that were cracked and broke them up.  Each of us got a small piece of the temple stone.

We learned that the workers had to be very respectful on the construction site.  Music choice had to be respectful and they had to eat away from the temple. We learned that this temple would be the tallest temple that the church had built since the Washington DC temple.
Afterwards, we went to Discovery Park (across the street) and had pizza and played games.

On Friday, Feb 7th 2014, we were able to go inside the Temple during the open house.  We had the opportunity to go inside and see the wonderful rooms.  Logan, Avery, and Daven's favorite room was the Celestial Room.  They liked it because it was beautiful and made them feel good inside.  Logan loved the chandelier.  Mom heard someone describe the temple as "breathtaking"...that sums it up!  It was beautiful! Mom and Dad have always felt that all temples are beautiful but the inside of this one tops them all!   Dad asked Daven to count the number of Agave plants represented inside and outside the temple.  Daven counted 59 but says he thinks there is approximately 1000.  Just over 400 thousand people visited the temple during the 4 week open house.

 Here's a picture of our handsome Daven taking in the Temple!

 Logan was excited to go see the Temple of the Lord!  It was a REALLY long line that we stood in.

 Here's cute little Avery outside the temple.  She says she wants to get married in a temple some day! She was much more reverent in this temple. The last temple open house we went to (Gila Valley AZ) Avery was 1 yr old and screemed the entire time!!

 Mom and Dad can't wait to go back inside to do some of the Lord's work!

 It was a beautiful evening. Perfect time of year!

 Kallen was a terror outside the temple while waiting in the line that wrapped around the church nearby.  He was a bit naughty until we got inside the temple.  Even Kallen wore little white booties and was calm and reverent in the temple.  We think he was hoping that the Lord would have parked his "car" somewhere inside as Kallen is currently obsessed with cars.