The Rainbow Birthday

Let the cake eating begin!!!! She started out a little timid but once she realized the cake part was chocolate, she got really into it.

My younger sibblings Lauren and Shea painted a box my dad made into a little house and Daphne loves it so much! This face was priceless.


The people were definitely the best part of the party! We have the best families ever and it means so much to me that they come and support us. Some of them had to come a long way or make other sacrifices to be there and I appreciate it so much! I love spending time with them and its a little taste of heaven when we are all together like that!




The decorations really turned out and were fun to make. although I can't take credit for the beautiful Jiggler's made by my mother in law and the cake was more than half my sister Emily but it all sure looked pretty for the party! Also I should add that Jake helped me clean like a mad man!

Jake's bday celebration

Jake chose bran muffins, grits and bacon for his Birthday breakfast which was a fun change from our usual waffles with ice cream and strawberry syrup. Daphne even liked it...well mostly the bacon. She got her hands on a piece and wouldn't let it go. She walked around all morning with it in her hand and mouth. Also we made a funny poster for him playing on one of his new favorite you tube videos. You can tell Lyndi gave me some help with the coloring and such :) I also took him for a little surprise get away that week end but of course forgot to take the camera. Anyway, I'm so glad he was born and that he is my husband and father to my children!

She's growing up!

This first pic is one of my new favorites! Papa Mac put his hat and glasses on her and she just froze and looked around. It was so funny! The rest of the pictures we took for her invites for her 1st birthday party.

Baby's 1st surgery

Daphne has had at least 7 ear infections since the beginning of the year. Pretty much anything that's going around cold/flu wise, she catches and then it turned into a double ear ache. So finally we got tubes put in both ears and its been so much better! Another plus is when we flew the pressure change didn't seem to bother her because she didn't have to "pop" her ears, they were just open. I was nervous for the surgery mostly because she had to go in fasting(hadn't eaten since 10:30 pm) and thats usually the 1st thing she wants in the morning. Also They don't let you watch you just hand over your baby to the anesthesiologist and he carries her back to the operating room while you wait in the family waiting room. She was actually really good though, (such a blessing) as you can see from the picture of her in the patient chair just waiting patiently :) When they wake up from the surgery they are pretty mad and they warned me but it was still hard to recognize her hysterical cry from another room. The nurses didn't wait long to come get me though and she calmed down once I held her.

Camping at Butterfly Lake

Willard and Lake Powell of Aug11

The first 5 pics are at Willard and the others at Powell. Jake is getting better and better on the wake board. I on the other hand seem to get really hurt every time I try to jump the wake so I have decided to focus more time on the surfing that I find so fun! This trip Isaac surfed without the rope for the first time really well and Lyndi did it without the rope with Daddy too! Daphne had her first turn out on the board and didn't seem to feel like it was much different than being in his arms on the boat. Daphne was much more excited about the chocolate licorice that someone gave her.

Lyndi had been wanting to go on a hike with me since Jake and I had taken our own hike so I went with her and it turned out to be a major photo shoot. She wanted me to take a picture of her or me and and her about every 6 feet. These are some of my favorites. Notice how much more real her "scared face" is than mine. Jake thought she was really looking at something disturbing. She might be a good little actress when she grows up. Also she is actually a good little climber and would have kept going if I let her but I drew the line on the little cave that she could get up with my help but I couldn't follow so it made me really nervous. She reminds me a lot of me when I was little... not good for injuries in her future.

Surfing reached an all time fun on this trip with even the little kids surfing with someone else on the board with them. John figured out just the right speed and technique to make it almost hard to loose the spot where the wave carries you. Also he spent some time with Whit and got her comfortable on the surf board and she just took off and is really good now. John and Whit live in our basement and we have become best friends. Its really neat having them close and we love hanging out with them.

This is sweet little Aiden Mac Jake's Uncle Mike's son. He is such a sweet baby and we are blessed to have his spirit in our family!