Mackenzie's birthday!

My first born baby girl turned 11 years old today. It is weird because most of the time I look at the kids and can't believe how old they are getting. But with Mackenzie I keep forgetting that she is ONLY 11. She acts so much more mature. She hangs out with kids in high school. She is such a great friend and an example to anyone she hangs out with. Her teachers all love her....and for good reason! She is such a beautiful girl inside and out! :)

We ate dinner at the Olive Garden (her choice) and because there was so many of us, we got our own "private room"! She had one of her friends from the horse barn, Grace, join us. It was good food and good fun! :)

fashion queens

note the flour on the nose...love it! :)

Tonight we are making chicken and dumplings, but this post isn't a recipe or even really about the cooking. As I was standing there boiling my chicken and making the dumplings I noticed something - these two are just the diva fashionista's aren't they? What a riot! They have leg warmers on their arms and legs...because "it cold mommy!". Heaven forbid they just decide to get OUT of their swimsuits and put on a normal ensemble of clothing. They would much rather just design their own "style". And you know what? I think it is adorable.

The chickens are getting big!

TJ is fascinated with them! :)

I think they are going through an "ugly" stage right now...but Natalie says they are still cute! :) Mackenzie somehow convinced me to let her keep them in her room. Okay.... so far so good though. She is a very responsible young woman!

Finally! A good day to fly the rockets!

Finally, a no wind day in the 60's where the boys could launch their rockets. It ended up being a neighborhood experience...2 of our neighbors and their families came over. We were like "Wow! There are people that live in the neighborhood!" (this tends to be the reaction after a long winter, and people begin to climb out of the woodwork!). The kids (and Brian) had to run 5 houses over (and remember, everyone in our neighborhood is on roughly 2 acres) in order to get one of the rockets because of how high it flew and drifted. It was a great sight to see them all running and laughing through the neighborhood.

Alex and Mackenzie got a video camera for Christmas, so they are having fun making their own movies...

This green rocket ended up crashing into the ground after a few launches, so it now hangs in Logan's room.

TJ was bundled up on Mema's lap and watched from the rockers on the front porch...

Our Wedding Anniversary

All the above pictures are from our wedding day...of course! :)

So, this is the second time Brian and I have done this in our relationship - gotten the same card for each other, that is! We both found this card humorous, because it said "I'll Love You...till I croak!". Well, everyone who is LDS knows that we don't believe in " 'Til death do you part" and even though we had a civil marriage ceremony first, Brian and I were sealed in the Portland Temple 18 months later. So, to us, our marriage is so much more. It is for "time and all eternity". Wow. Eternity. That is a REALLY long time! ;)

It was such an awesome "date" that Brian planned for us. We left around 10 am on Friday for Chicago. We went to the Chicago temple first, and then went to the Blue Man Group for the performance. Wow. It was absolutely amazing. Something I can't even describe. It was humorous, exciting & filled with amazing talent. Then we stayed on the "Magnificent Mile" in a great little hotel Brian found for us. We walked a couple blocks that night to Bennigans where we ate a late dinner. At 10:30 the next morning our cell phone rang. Brian answered it and it was Mackenzie. She said "are you guys almost home?"...Brian said "Um, no...mom is still sleeping!". I guess the kids had decided we had gotten enough "alone" time! LOL! Actually, I think Mackenzie was just wondering how she was going to get to the barn on Saturday. It was a spectacular weekend.

Just a couple pictures from our wedding day. Such an awesome day as well. Many people reflect on their wedding and say "Oh- I would have done this different" or "I wouldn't have spent money here or there". I can honestly say there isn't a thing I would have changed about that day. I put my heart and sould into planning for that wedding (as well as LOTS of hard work on both mine and Ms. Kim's part - remember hemming all those tablecloths?)...but seriously, it was all worth it!

A new baby has arrived!

My girlfriend Sara gave birth to a BIG baby boy this morning! THOMAS ZION SIXEL was born at 12:10 am on March 19, 2009. He weighed a whopping 10 pounds 9 ounces and was 21 inches long! Congrats Sara, Travis, Jasmine and Isaac!