Regan Had a Birthday

Our baby, Regan Kylie, turned 5 on October 25th.

It's still hard for me to believe that 5 years have gone by since she was born.

Regan has never had a party with friends, so this year was definitely her year to have one. The day before her birthday, she had 9 of her closest friends at a party at Build A Bear Workshop. The girls had such a good time. I don't think they stopped smiling the whole time they were there. It was so cute. These are the girls that were in her playgroup and church. Her cousin Ruby made it as well. Look at all these cute girls! The next day was her actual birthday. It landed on a Sunday this year. It just so happened to be the Primary Program that day too. The girls did such a good job on their parts. Later, we had a birthday dinner. Grandma and Grandpa Danielson were able to join us.

Regan decided she wanted a princess party. She made EVERYONE wear tiaras.

Even Grandma and Grandpa! They were such good sports.

We are so grateful to have Regan in our home. She is such a smart and sweet girl and very easy going. We love her singing and dancing all around the house. She's even known to dance to all the primary songs in singing time every Sunday. She has been pure joy to all of us.

On a side note....the kids got their grades last week. They all did well. But Brennan had grades all in the 90s. I would say he got all As, but one of his grades was a 90. Here, a 90 is a B. I think it's crazy. So in my mind, he did get all As. We're so proud of him getting on the Honor Roll. He worked so hard. We knew he had it in him!

Fall Break

The kids had Fall break last Monday and Tuesday. We had some fun together. The weather was cold and rainy, but we managed to have fun anyway. On Monday I took the kids to Incredible Pizza. Here they are being goofy.

Tuesday we met Jeff for lunch and then came home to make caramel apples. I learned, I have no clue how to make caramel apples. I blame my sister in law Laurie for moving before teaching me! ha ha Here's Brennan with his. OH....and Brennan got contacts. Can you tell? :)

Brookie making her apple.

Here's the end result. They were so big, we all got very sick from eating them. Didn't even finish half of them and we were still sick. And the kids enjoying the hard work. The fall break wasn't long enough, but we enjoyed the time we had.

Soccer Fundraiser Lawn Fun

I am completely overhwhelmed with how far behind I am on here. My sweet Grandma keeps getting on me for not blogging. So I decided...don't try catching up all at once. Start from now. If I can catch up later I will. So, here it is Grandma. I love you and I'm glad you motivated me to get back on here. Thanks for reading it!

The elementary school had their annual fundraiser of having the kids walk around in circles and do an occasional dance. I don't get it personally. But, the kids have fun. I had fun watching. Jadyn's class were Busy Bees. Look how cute that face is. Brooke's class was Carpenter's Court. They had king and queen cloaks on. Super cute. Here's Regan, Brooke and me. Here's Brookie with her queen outfit and Regan's cute little smirk.

Brandon Smith in our ward put together a soccer team for the interfaith soccer league. It's a bunch of 4 and 5 year olds from both of the Collierville wards who play against other churches in the area. Regan isn't very aggressive, but she LOVES it.

The team isn't doing very well so far..but they sure are cute. That counts for something, doesn't it? Here's Regan with Cara Rees and Addisyn Stubbs. As you can see, Regan is a little short of stature compared to the other girls.

Look at Reggie's cute little face. Aww. Who cares if she hasn't scored a single goal!

Jadyn had fun posing for me when we were outside enjoying the gorgeous weather. Here's my beautiful 8 year old.

And another.

And another. That's all for now. Maybe I'll catch up on the summer later. We'll see! :)

May in a Nutshell

May was full of lots of end of the year stuff. Jadyn's class had a field trip to the Nature Center. I loved being able to go with them. Jadyn and I had some fun mommy/Jadyn time. Here she is with her friend Hannah. Cute girls. Just the two of us! My big 2nd grader in my sunglasses. After the field trip, I checked her out of school and took her to eat Mexican food. Just the two of us. She LOVED it. This is one girl that just thrives on one on one attention. We had a great time. I have to say, out of all my children, Jadyn is the most like me. She could eat Mexican food every day and never be sick of it. The other kids shy away from salsa. How can they have my blood in them? But not this girl! Yay Jadyn! It was a great day.

Brennan had his end of the year choir concert. It's 7th/8th grade combined. His sweet cousin, Kaisey Skipper, is also in the choir. I love that he can share this experience with her. They are also both in the honor choir.

I LOVE being able to see him sing in choir like we used to.

Get away without the kids!

Last Wednesday Jeff and I got to get away by OURSELVES to Destin, Florida. It was AWESOME! The weather was overcast and a little colder than I like, but not too bad. We had afternoon showers, but it only lasted for about one hour each time. We pretty much just layed around on our beach chairs all day long enjoying life by the beach that we miss so much.

We just loved having this time together. So grateful for my mother in law and Laurie who helped take care of the kids while we were gone. It was a much needed vacation for the both of us. We just wish it could have lasted longer.

Zoo Day

I have so much to catch up on. Don't have time to do it all, but I had to post these pictures right away. Regan's playgroup had their final play day today. We decided to go to the zoo to celebrate. It was a gorgeous day. Sunny and 73 degrees for the high. As we were walking, I caught Regan and her friend Ryleigh Rees holding hands. Here are the pics I got...

So cute, huh? And here is Regan with Ryleigh's sister Cara. Cutie faces! Love the big cheeks!

Regan is such a poser! Some of the girls hanging out. Regan has been so blessed to have such great friends. This playgroup has been such a great thing for her. We'll miss it a lot!

Updating at last!

Been super busy lately with end of the school year things, softball games, reunion planning, and planning for girls camp. Here's my update so I don't forget what has been going on. Two weeks ago, I had playgroup at my house. We were busy doing the usual stuff when it dawned on me that this would be the LAST time I ever do playgroup in my life. Next year Regan will have preschool and won't be a part of it. It's hard to believe that my baby is growing up so fast. Even harder to believe that she's my last and this stage of my life is done. I'm going to miss it. If you don't know...we're not a very athletic family. This is Brooke's 3rd year of playing softball. We usually go the whole season not seeing a whole lot of action coming from her. A few weeks ago, she told me that she wanted to be MVP sometime this season. I just fed her some nice positive lines about how if she practiced real hard, she could do it...hoping that I wasn't being too optimistic for her. Wouldn't you know, the next game she played in, she had her chance. Bases were loaded. There were two strike already and Brooke came up to bat. My stomach just turned as I watched her nervously. It was the end of the game, we were trying to catch up, and the team was depending on her. The girl ends up smacking the ball, got on first base and got a RBI. The coach, the team and I just looked with our jaws open then screamed and screamed. Brooke got MVP that night! Dreams really do come true! One of my best friends from Houston, Shelli Horman, came to visit me for a few days. I LOVED having her here. She is such a wonderful friend that is always positive and happy. Just love being around her. We had such a fun time together. Reminded me of the good ole days. We went to Beale Street, BB Kings....

Decided not to pay the $33 to go inside Graceland, but we went and saw it anyway! We got pedicures and went tanning. Made lots of SONIC runs. Stayed up late talking. Showed her all the best places to eat in town, and went to Collierville Fair on the Square. I really needed a visit! Thanks Shelli! THEN, lucky for me, I got to have my wonderful cousin Jason Clement come. He was in town for business with Nike, but had time to do dinner. He served his mission here, so we had to get him some famous Memphis BBQ. Then he came over to the house for a nice visit. We got to remember all the good times we had growing up fire extinguishing people, going to the airport and torturing people there, elevator jumping, watching videos in the desert and taking Communication classes together at ASU. It was SO good seeing him again. Wish I could see him more often. LOVE that guy! Thanks for taking time for me Jason! Love you!