Happy 6th Birthday Talan Drew!

On February 8th, Talan turned 6 years old! I'm truly amazed how fast time goes by. I can still remember so many details about him being born. He has grown up so much in the past 6 years and is now in Kindergarten! This year we were able to actually plan a fun birthday party for him and his friends from school. His actually birthday fell on a Wednesday, so I made carmel pie and Talan got to open presents from up and Grandma and Grandpa Lipply. He cleaned up as usual with a Lightning Mc Queen computer and book that projects 3d images on the wall. From us, he got a new bike and a Cars 2 video game and Reel Steel fighting game he can play with his brothers. He received a Razor spark scooter from Grandma and Grandpa Asay. After we opened presents we went to Hacienda for our birthday tradition. Talan got a sombrero and they sang Happy Birthday to him.

This was his Carmel pie on his actual birthday.

On Saturday, Talan has his first "big" birthday party at a place called "The Joy Jungle". It is like the McDonalds place place but twice the size! He and the kids loved it! A lot of aunts and uncles and cousins from Jarrad's family made it up too, which was so fun for him. He cleaned up with lots more toys, including $20 from cards, a remote control truck, Sorry game, Fin Mc Missle toy and a remote control car that does tricks. Needless to say, Talan had a great birthday. When we asked him if he had a good birthday he said, " NO, it wasn't good, it was awesome!" We love our T man and our so grateful to have him in our family.

Jarrad did a wonderful job on T's cake this year!

Kylen thinks everyone's birthday is his birthday too!

Notice Talan's sweaty hair? They were playing hard. :)

Can you tell he's had some cake?

Talan with Grandma and Grandpa Lipply

All of Talan's buddies.

Merry Christmas 2011

Kylen looking pretty excited.
Talan loves his Roush Mustang...big brother Jayden was a little jealous.

Jayden, however was pretty excited about his remote control helicopter.

Kylen and his loot on Christmas morning.

Talan still loves Lightning McQueen.

Jayman pretty excited about his Star Wars figure.

And, our pretty tree we put down stairs so the beast, aka-Doug wouldn't eat it.

Once again, we were blessed with a wonderful Christmas. Our kids received way too many toys and our home looked like Toys R Us. Needless to say, our kids were very happy. We took a lot of pictures and videos of them opening their gifts, but I just posted a few where they had great expressions on their faces. Jarrad spolied me with two kinds of perfume, lotion, clothes etc. Jarrad received car cleaning stuff, new running head phones and he's supposed to order something for his Caddy, but at this moment I cannot think of what it is called.

This Christmas we were lucky to get to have Jarrad home for 12 straight days and since I'm not coaching gymnastics this year we actually had time to just relax together as a family. It was definitely needed after all of Jarrad's insane work hours. We definitely hope that 2012 will be better for him.

Christmas programs 2011

Kylen is the one with the red and blue striped shirt
Here he is doing the hand motions with the poem. So cute!

Jayden being Nephi in the Christmas program put on by our church.

I think he makes a super cute Nephi. :)

Talan is a star, but this is the only picture I got of him before my battery died.

As always, the Christmas season flies by, and the next thing you know it's the middle of January! We had a nice Christmas season this year. Of course, what's Christmas without Christmas programs.

Kylen had a very cute program with his preschool class, where they recited a couple of Christmas poems. Watching little 3 year olds doing this is priceless. As most of you know, Kylen is very much a Mommy and Daddy's boy so I was worried he'd cry or not do anything at all. So, Jarrad and I were completely suprised when he did the poems and the motions. It was adorable.

Jayden and Talan were in a Christmas program at our church. Jayden was Nephi from The Book of Mormon and Talan was a star. They both did a great job, but I really upset when my camera battery died before Talan went up as the star. I have the worst luck sometimes. It was fun to watch and remember what Christmas is really about.

The first snow day of the school year...

Yesterday, it started out raining. A few hours later it was sleeting and then an hour later big, huge snowflakes falling....gotta love Indiana weather. Thankfully, the kids made it home safely from school and immediately headed outside to play in the snow. As much as I don't like snow, I had to admit that this particular snowfall was beautiful. It was perfect for making snowmen, since the snow was so wet. It continued to snow until we had about 8 inches. Luckily, we didn't lose power, but a lot of people did from the ice and heavy snow.

The downfall was they cancelled school today and Jayden missed his field trip to Amish Acres to see the Christmas Carol play. Also, I had 2 doctors appointments scheduled (of course this always happens to me) today,but Jarrad was kind enough to stay home and watch the kiddos. I have to admit it's nice to have all the kids home and getting to watch them enjoy playing in the snow. I remember how much I loved it as a kid. Of course, we may be in school till the middle of June at this rate.

Talan's snowman

The neighborhood looked so pretty.


Kylen helping with Jayden's snowman

Jayden and T having a blast.

This was my view from our living room...beautiful!

Kylen helping build the snowman.

Yay for snow days!

Happy 35th Birthday, Jarrad!

On November 18th, Jarrad turned the big 35! It's crazy to think that I met him when he was only 22. Jarrad actually took the day off of work and my gracious parents took Ky for the day, while we headed up to Ft. Wayne. We went to see Breaking Dawn and then went out to eat at a place called Tilted Kilt. The food was good, but the atmosphere was not quite exactly what I was expecting...let's just say it puts Hooters to shame.

After eating we headed home, and got there 5 minutes after the boys got off the school bus. Then we had our little birthday party for Dad! Talan was probably the most excited because he loves caramel pie! Jarrad is not a fan of cake, so I make him caramel pie every year. The kids made him homemade cards and we got him new pedals for his car. All-in-all, it was a great day!

Happy Birthday Jarrad!!! We love you!

Honor Roll and Citizen of the Month!

October was a good month for Jayden. He was on the A-B Honor Roll...he got a B plus in English and the rest was all A's. He was also the Citizen of the Month in October. His teacher told me she has never enjoyed having a student in her class as much as she enjoys Jayden. That's saying a lot since she's about to retire. According to her, everyone in class loves him. She says, "what's not to love?" There' s nothing better than hearing that about your child. Of course, I always say he saves his bad behavior for home. Either way, we're very proud of him and the great boy he's becoming! He really is thriving up here in Warsaw and that helps us realize we made a good decision by coming up here.

And, for being Citizen of the Month he got to eat pizza with the principal for lunch!!! Way to go J-man!

Trick or Treat!!!

This year for Halloween Kylen decided to be Bumblebee for our church's trunk or treat and a Firefighter for actual trick or treat.(We already had the Bumblebee costume from a previous Halloween). Talan was Darth Vader and Jayden was Boba Fett. As usual, the kids got way too much candy and so I help them out with that when they go to bed at night. :)

It ended up being a really great night for trick or treating! I was so happy because it was raining in the morning and who wants to walk in the rain for two hours?