This is not our family picture ;)- - Dave went to China. He was so excited to go, but was ready for a home cooked meal after the second day :) The Jet lag was really hard on him! He will probably be traveling there a few more times before the end of the year, to train some people his company hired over there. The kids and I made some crafts to welcome him home! They each painted a wall hanging on their own with what are supposed to be chinese letters :) 
Jahde just started 11th grade. Brandon is in 9th. They are such awesome big brothers!!! Jahde and Brandon were so fun when we got our pictures taken.... here's a glimpse
Jahde also turned 16! We haven't officially celebrated his birthday yet, so I don't have any pics or details yet, they'll come soon :) But DJ and Lily sang him happy birthday :) Kyle is now in the 6th grade. He is playing flag football and doing quite well! And Let me tell you how sweet Kyle is.... Kyle, Jahde and Brandon all ran to the store. When they came back, the only thing that Kyle had purchased, was a clone trooper for Toby, because "he knew Toby would love it!!!" :) Kyle doesn't have much money to spend, so it really touched me that he would do that!
Lexi is now in second grade. She is a social butterfly... friends with everyone. She was sad in this picture because she had just hurt her ankle, so it doesn't show her typical smile and the twinkle in her eye.
Toby is now in first grade! He loves school (and school lunch :). Ever since he started steroids, he's had an interesting appetite. Sometimes he'll eat twice as much as an adult, and other times he'll have a few bites and be done. He also hates breakfast. More often than not, he's eating ramen noodles for breakfast. So this morning as he gets his noodles fresh off the stove, he says "Oh Blessed Steam of Victory" hahaha He was asked to give a talk in primary. He cut out pictures of good things (praying, reading scriptures, going to church, bapstism, prophet, temple etc...). He found and cut out the pictures himself. He was going to show the pictures and talk about all the different things he could do to make Heavenly Father happy. When primary started, I opened the folder and there were 2 pictures left.... TWO! I went around the entire church, but couldn't find the missing pictures. I know they were in the folder, cuz we went over the talk a bit during the sacrament. Crazy. He did a great job anyway, but it was a bummer that all his preperation was in vein!
Lily will be starting preschool next week! She's been looking forward to this day since Toby started preschool 2 years ago! I know she'll do great. She said something yesterday which made Dave comment "you've GOT to put that on the blog" but a day has passed and that's as far back as my memory goes! So just know that she said something very clever/cute and it was blog worthy :) She also told me about the Holy Ghost. How we have the Holy Ghost... he helps us when we're lost or scared, he comforts us, guides us, helps us choose the right. He's a tiny ghost in a box that we can't see. Wait, what was that last sentence?... Evidently her primary teacher used an empty gift box to speak about the gift of the Holy Ghost :)
DJ... red eyelashes and all! :) DJ copies everything anyone says now. He makes us laugh a lot. Some of our favorites... "I DO", "Hey, Hey, HEY". As he holds an umbrella and dances around the living room, "It's raining". Or, he'll crouch down and bend his knees....standing really awkward, and then shout "HIKE!". haha We love it when he runs, and when he screams and pretends to panic when the blender goes on, or he's using his imagination with blocks!
Kyle, Toby, Lily and I will be singing in sacrament this Sunday. We are going to sing 'I Pray in Faith'. The kids sound great and I'm excited for them to share their talents. hmmmm I should get it on video as well :) Then after we sing, we will head up to Pleasant Grove so Dave can ordain Jahde.... awesome :)
