Lily, Kylie, and Paisley

Making Valentines for Lily's Preschool

2012-02-17T21:27:00.000-08:00

February 12, 2012

Lily has her first school Valentine's day party tomorrow. I thought we should do something fun and make her Valentines. Thank goodness for Family Fun Magazine because I am not very creative. I got on there website and let Lily look through the pictures to see which ones she wanted to make. Today we sat down and made them together.

It was fun making them with her, but took longer then I thought it would. I think they turned out great and Lily is excited to give them to her friends tomorrow. We made blue ones for the boys and pink for the girls. Hope they like them!

Discovery Gateway and Cold Stone

2012-02-16T20:41:00.000-08:00

February 9, 2012

For Christmas we were given five passes to the Discovery Gateway (the children's museum) and a cold stone gift certificate by the Warners. We have been waiting for a good day to use them and finally Dave decided to take the day off so we could go when it wasn't busy. We ended up being there with a few school groups, but they left about 30 minutes after we were there and the rest of the time was great! Thanks Warners for such a fun gift!

We started at the ball thing as you walk in. Lily was a really upset when someone would try and take her bucket of balls! It was kind of funny!

We played music

Did some music theater

Lily climbed the rock wall

Played in the water area

Let Paisley enjoy the little little kid area

Daddy decided to be 18 months old too and take a break :)

Paisley loved that everything was her size

The girls enjoyed a "Little Scientist" class they offered. It was about brushing teeth. They got to clean an egg that had been soaked in soda with a tooth brush. They loved it!

We then headed up stairs and got to do some fun building things.

We played inside the helicopter and pretended to be news anchors and weatherman/women

We left to have lunch at the food court then came back and let the girls play some more downstairs. Lily loved the grocery store and being the cashier. She told us on the way home that is what she wants to be when she grows up. (as a side note Kylie wants to be a hero when she grows up.)

Kylie also liked the horse.....go figure :) She loves the real horses at Thanksgiving Point too.

Lily also discovered the mailbox and that you could deliver "real" letters around the town to different mailboxes. She loved it.

After we had our fill playing we headed to cold stone for some yummy ice cream. My choice was sweet cream, strawberries, and brownies. Kylie ended up getting strawberry ice cream and they gave her the mix in on the side which was a brownie.

Dave had sweet cream and peanut butter cups, Lily got chocolate ice cream and her brownie on the side too. Paisley shared all of ours.

Really was a fun day with the girls! I love getting to spend time with my family. Thanks again!

Lily and Boys

2012-02-15T20:16:00.000-08:00

Funny story to share about my little Lily. We carpool to preschool with two other little boys named Aaron and Corbin. Every time I drop them off they hold hands walking to the door (Lily in the middle with a boy on either hand). They are always really nice to each other and let each other sit in there car seats. One day this last week I overheard Lily ask Aaron, "Do you think I look pretty in this outfit." He of course had no idea what to say and sort of just sat there with a dumb founded look on his face. This is only the start of things to come I am sure!

Sickness

2012-02-14T20:11:00.000-08:00

The last couple of weeks we have been fightings sickness in the house. We all ended up with fairly bad colds that keep us down and out. Lily who is my kid that never gets sick even ended up missing two days of preschool. This is how we spent most of our days......

Luckily we are all better now and back in the groove of things. Hope this winter you are staying health and happy!

Paisley 18 Months

2012-02-13T19:54:00.000-08:00

January 18, 2011

As I mentioned in an early post Paisley is now 18 months old. The same day the girls did the pictures in the aprons I asked if they could do a few of Paisley for the 18 month mark. They started getting her dressed and this is what happened.....

Guess she was ready for her close up! Just not fully dressed. :)

And then came the rest of the clothes and her cuteness...

Can't believe she is so old!

My Super Cute Kids

2012-02-12T19:36:00.000-08:00

Okay so these are my really cute kids....and of course I am a little bias, but trust me after you see these you will think they are super cute too!

For Christmas Gammie made the girls aprons, oven mitts, and little chef hats. They love them! So when Dave and I went to find out that we were having girl number four Gammie and Potts watched the kids for us and did a photo shoot with them in there new gift. Amazingly enough the girls dresses from the Audrey and Emily's weddings almost a year and a half ago still fit (though little complained a little of them being tight) and made the perfect under outfit! The girls had a blast and of course got to eat cupcakes at the end. There cousin Evylee also received the same gift and they did pictures with her too. I love love love how they turned out!

First Snow Play

2012-02-03T16:39:00.000-08:00

January 25, 2012

Pretty sad it took this late in the season for my girls to get to play in the snow. We had all sorts of fun snow activities planned for Dave's break like sledding and building a snowman, but didn't get any snow! We finally have been getting snow here and there, but not really enough to stick so they can go play in it. Finally in snowed enough and stuck to the ground. It started melting quickly, though, so the girls asked to go play I said yes. I would have gone out with them, but both Paisley and I have come down with a cold this week so we watched from the windows.

Ready to go in there snow suits!

Heading to the back yard

Making snow angels

And they made me little snowman's....

They also had a good snowball fight! Wish it would snow and stay around long enough that we can all go sledding! Guess this will have to do for now. When they came in we had hot chocolate and the girls sat on the heaters! Love snow days!

Paisley's 18 Months Old

2012-02-02T16:11:00.000-08:00

January 25, 2012

Paisley turn 18 months on Jan 18, but we didn't have her check up until the 25. We also have some really cute pictures of her, but I have not quite gotten them yet! So this one is the best picture I could find, though, it pretty much wraps her up perfectly!

First her stats:

Head: 47 centimeters (62%)

Weight: 19lbs 13 oz (less then 3%, not really surprising)

Height: 32.5 inches (73 %, kind of surprising!)

I was surprised by her height because when Emily, Joe, and AJ were visiting AJ and Paisley were really close to the same height (he is only 9 months old). So I figured she would be short, but he must just be really tall for his age!

She is our funny little girl full of energy and curiosity! She started nursery last week (well in her own class, she has actually been in there with us in our class for the last three months) and did great! She could not go this week because she was sick so we will see how next week goes. She loves getting into things and loves to torture her sisters. She talks quite a bit (more then my other girls did at that age) and definitely can tell us what she wants and doesn't want. She is getting clearer every day in the words she can say and adding new words. Words she can say: Mommy, Daddy, Grandma, Grandpa, I love you, Bubba, Bye, No, Yes, Thank you, Lily, toys, and mine. She hates the car seat and getting her diaper changed which makes basic things challenging. She loves to dance and sing, her favorite song is popcorn popping on the apricot tree. She also loves to play with her sisters and LOVES Lily! She searches for her while she is at preschool. She is very much a daddy's girl. When he was home over Christmas break she would not even come to me in the mornings. She would walk to the back of the crib until he would come to get her! She loves to eat and loves to steal food off of Kylie's plate. We have not found a thing yet that this kid won't eat! She gets in to trouble quite a bit as she gets into EVERYTHING! My constant question is, "where is Paisley and what is she doing?" She definitely brings an excitement and joy into our lives!

The Aquarium

2012-02-01T16:00:00.000-08:00

January 23, 2012

Just recently we decided to buy a membership to the Aquarium in Sandy. The choice came because I had wanted to take Kylie there for a Mommy Daughter date (which I did) and the passes for a year are about the same amount as paying to go two times. They are also getting ready to move to a new place right off the freeway exit in Draper. It is supposed to be twice as big with a lot more fun things. Because they will be closed for at least six months they were running a promotion that if you bought a year pass now you would get to go thru October (when they close at the Sandy location) then when the new location opens you will get at least 9 months there too. So it worked out that our pass will be for longer then a year. Seemed like the perfect time to buy. Saturday Jan 21 I took Kylie and we had a blast. She was so excited about everything and even touched a hissing beetle!! It was very crowded, but fun just the two of us. For FHE the following Monday (Jan 23) we all went together. Kylie was hilarious showing Lily around and could not talk fast enough. She was so excited to show Lily the penguins and how they swim. It was really funny! It was also really nice because it was not busy at all! Lily also got freaked out when she was waiting to touch a sting ray and it just came right up next to her out of the water. She screamed and cried! It was actually really funny. The girls both loved the penguins and can't wait to go back again, so I guess the memberships were worth it. One of these times I will bring my camera, but I forgot that day! Just wanted to share another fun adventure we had!

Head Shots for a New Job

2012-01-31T15:43:00.000-08:00

January 21, 2012

A few weeks ago I got a phone call somewhat offering me a dance teaching job (or so I thought). I said that I would have to discuss it with my husband and would need to get back with them. After talking with Dave we decided that a few extra hours teaching each week would work out since it would be on Tuesdays and that this new job might open other doors for me later like teaching Zumba. So I called back to take the job. Then they said they wanted to interview me. I had thought it was a job offer, but was like sure I can do and interview. So the next day I redid my resume and headed to the interview (Friday January 13). They seemed like really nice ladies and had great ideas for the new studio. The studio is the Alpine Community Theater Performing Arts Academy. For short they call it the ACT Performing Arts Academy. They teach everything from voice lessons, to acting, to dancing and also put on musicals. They are just opening up and needed someone for the dance end of things. If I was hired I would help create the curriculum and choreography for the end of the year show. It might also open up the chance to choreograph for musicals. The interview went well, I thought, and the following Wednesday I received a call saying they would like to hire me. Then next day I accepted and they asked me to send a headshot and bio for the website. I haven't had a headshot taken in over four years, but luckily I have a wonderful stand by photographer. So I called him up and the next day he got me into the studio for some pictures. The lights took more time to set up then the actually pictures. He only ended up taking about five or six. They turned out great and I am really great to have an "on call" photographer as Dave called it! Thanks Potts for making me look so great! And here is to a new experience in my dance teaching career!

Fairbanks Visiting

2012-01-30T15:24:00.000-08:00

January 15 and 16, 2011

We were able to spend sometime with Emily, Joe, and AJ while they were in town from Virginia. First, we had Sunday dinner with everyone were Emily made some yummy pancake like things. We enjoyed spending time with the family and I got to hold little AJ quite a bit! He even fell asleep in my arms during dinner-PURE HEAVEN!

The next day they came over to our house to spend some one on one time with us. Joe spent most of the day entertaining the girls by reading them books and throwing them around. They sure loved having him here! He did also get to play some games with Dave. Emily and I spent our time in the other room catching up and enjoying our time together. We loved having them come to our house! Wish I had taken a few pictures though! :) Thanks again Emily, Joe, and AJ!!

Diamond Dance Company

2012-01-29T16:55:00.000-08:00

A few months ago I told you all about a group I started dancing with called the Diamond Dance Company. It has been a wonderful experience so far and I look forward to many more years being involved with them. They recently put together a video on there purpose and what there program is about. I have the link below if you would like to watch it. I have also seen the full program and it is truly wonderful. If you are apart of your wards Relief Soceity Presidency or in charge of planning activities for your ward I highly suggest that you think about booking this wonderful group! You will not be disappointed!

Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXF5KK6zOmA

ITS A GIRL!!!!

2012-01-28T08:49:00.000-08:00

January 11, 2011

We found out a few weeks ago that we are having BABY GIRL NUMBER 4!!! This pregnancy was really incredible rough in the first few months and resulted in me losing 10 pounds. By how different this pregnancy was we thought that maybe it was a boy, but I guess every pregnancy is just different. Lily and Kylie had been praying for a brother long before we even got pregnant. When we found out it was a girl the first thought was, how do we tell Lily? That morning Lily repeated to me for the hundredth time, "Mom, it better be a boy, because we have to many girls in this house already." That night when we told her she burst into tears and a few moments later Kylie followed suit. I tried to calm down Lily and and Dave took Kylie in the other room to help her. I did admit to Lily that I had been a little disappointed too and tried to talk to her about how fun it would be to have another sister. I also told her that just because this one wasn't a brother doesn't mean that we don't have another child in heaven. We also showed her the ultrasound video and that seemed to help. That night, however, I over heard her say in her personal prayers, "and please bless that we can have a brother." In the weeks since somedays she is okay with having a sister and other days she is not. Hopefully it will all pan out, but we are excited for our new little addition. The original due date was June 14, but each ultrasound they move it up. Right now the due date is May 20. Dave and I are still hoping to have her in June so as not to throw off the other birthdays (Lily is Sept, Kylie is August, and Paisley is July). Silly I know. :) Anyway, just wanted to share the good news with everyone!

New Years Eve

2012-01-27T21:47:00.000-08:00

December 31, 2011

Grandpa Tatum invited Dave over during the day of New Years Eve to watch Georgia Tech verse University of Utah game. Since he was going to be there we headed up to spend the night with them as well. During the day we took the girls out to run errands and have lunch so the boys could watch the game. That night we put the kids to bed early and watched Captain America. I actually fell asleep during the movie and they woke me up right before midnight. At midnight we watched the ball drop, had a little bubbly, toasted the new year, and of course kissed. We also heard fireworks going off all around us so we looked out the windows and watched. It was a fairly chill night, but thats how I like it. :)

Had to get a picture of them sleeping...arent they cute?

Happy New Years a little late.....hope 2012 is turning out well for you all so far!

Learning the value of money....

2012-01-26T21:41:00.000-08:00

The week between Christmas and New Years we took the girls to Walmart to let them spend there five dollars from Great Grandma Collier. They both also had a little bit of money in there banks so we let them take that too. We ended up spending over an hour in the toy section of Walmart while Lily made the tough decision between buying something now with the money she had or waiting until later. She also found out that toys cost a lot of money. In the end she picked out Princess Nail polish and lucked out at the front of the store in the Christmas Clearance to find a little makeup kit. She even came home with some money. Kylie spent most of the time playing then found a bubble gum machine to purchase. They both were allowed to give the cashier the money and keep the receipt. Honestly I think it was a great lesson for them (mostly Lily), but next time I will definitely plan for more time to allow them to make the tough choices! :) Thanks Grandma Collier for the great learning experience. :)

Christmas Day

2012-01-25T21:15:00.000-08:00

December 25, 2011

Here is our beautiful breakfast spread....cinnamon rolls, eggs, orange juice, fruit, and bacon. Grandma and Grandpa Tatum also joined us.

After the yummy food was eaten, the girls opened the gift from Grandma and Grandpa, a new doll house. Dave got a movie and I got a new sweater. We also got another year of Thanksgiving Point pass.

After playing with toys and having some naps we headed to Gammie and Potts house. We had the annual Bethlehem dinner including rice, fruit, pit bread, meatballs, potato cakes, and grape juice. It was so yummy!!! Then we did the Nativity with the kids.

Paisley was a shepherd

Kylie was Mary

And Lily was the Angel

Evylee was Joseph (she wanted to be)

And then we started the show. Uncle Mike helped lead the kids, I held the light for the pictures, Uncle Matt was the narrator, Potts was the photographer, and other people also helped, but I can't remember what everyone did.

The kids had a blast doing it and enjoyed singing song when it was all finished. Christmas Day with family is always blast!

Christmas Morning

2012-01-24T20:40:00.000-08:00

December 25, 2011

Christmas morning, luckily, the girls didn't wake up too early. We started with a prayer in the bedroom and a reminder of the reason we celebrate Christmas. Then headed out to find what Santa left for us....

First, the girls saw the eaten cookies and carrots

Then we started opening gifts

Santa brought the girls dress up clothes and accessories

He also brought Lily a set of puzzles and Kylie a wooden set of brownie making food.

Santa filled the stockings well too with candy, bubbles, books, toys, and......

what the girls wanted most, a bell from Santa's sleigh.

Great Grandma Collier sent the girls a card with five dollars each, which has a fun story later!

Daddy of course got lots movies and I got some nice new cooking stuff :)

We gave the girls new dance clothes and some new movies. Once the goodies were all unwrapped we got ready for church. Our church was only 45 minutes long, but it was great to have the reminder to us and the girls of Christ's birth and the reason we celebrate Christmas. Once we were finished with church we came home to have a yummy breakfast and later that day Bethlehem dinner and of course the Nativity with the kids.

Christmas Eve

2012-01-23T20:04:00.000-08:00

December 24, 2011

We headed to Grandma Tatums for a late lunch/early dinner. All the family was there, the food was yummy, and the kids loved playing together all day.

We opened gifts

And Pajamas....

We also had chocolate fondue

We enjoyed each others company and then that night headed home. When we got home Kylie and Paisley feel asleep immediately, but Lily had a rough time. At one point she called from the other room and said, "Mom, Dad I can't sleep, I am too excited." It so great! We let her get out of bed to help put the cookies, milk, and carrots out for Santa and his Reindeer. It still took her while to fall asleep, but once she finally gave in Santa could come :)

Thanksgiving Point Christmas Activities

2012-01-22T19:16:00.000-08:00

December 19, 2011

We headed to Thanksgiving Point for the Reindeer activities at the Dinosaur Museum. They had lots of fun things for the kids to do and we had to find Rudolph inside the Dinosaurs.

Started out with getting noses painted like Rudolph

They played a fishing game with a candy cane pole

Made reindeer ears

Played wrap the hula hoop around the reindeers

And made reindeer cookies

After the activities we walked through the museum and found the pretend Rudolph then headed outside to find the real ones! The kids loved seeing a real reindeer.

They also had ice carving that we watched for awhile.

And to finish off the night we went to see the Thanksgiving Point Lights and have hot chocolate

All and all it was a good night and lots of fun with the girls!

The Nutcracker

2012-01-15T20:12:00.000-08:00

December 17, 2011

Lily had turned five in September which meant the pleasure of joining Grandma Tatum and mom at Ballet West's, The Nutcracker. She got in her new Christmas dress and was so excited. We left early so that we could stop and get treats then headed to Olive Garden downtown. Lily loved every minute of being alone with Grandma and Mom. She ate very well and was SO well behaved at the Ballet. She seemed somewhat disinterested at times, but as I found out later loved every minute of it! During intermission Grandma gave a her special ornament to remember the night by and I bought her snow globe of Claira, her favorite character. It was really fun to share with her my passion and to have her enjoy it as much as I do!

Lily's Christmas Dance Showcase

2012-01-14T19:50:00.000-08:00

December 14, 2011

A few short days later Lily had her turn in the spotlight. She has done this a few times before so knew what to expect. She did a great job and we can really see how much she has improved! She had a new teacher this year, Michelle and loved her!

Stretches at the beginning, starting to get close

Ready to leap

Cheeseball!!

And of course all the family there to show support

Grandma and Grandpa Tatum brought Lily flowers too.

The video of Lily's loaded up fine and we also had one of her crossing the floor. The girls lucked out too because we went to Article Circle again after Lily was finished. Great Job Lily!

Kylie's Christmas Dance Showcase

2012-01-13T18:53:00.000-08:00

December 12, 2011

Kylie had her first little dance performance this last December. She had a nervous energy the whole time and could not quite contain it so she just kept moving around! She loved having everyone come to watch her dance and did a great job!

Grandma and Grandpa Tatum brought her flowers

The sisters showed there support....in fact Lily spent a lot of the time coaching Kylie from the sidelines while Kylie keeping shushing her. It was quite funny.

Mom and Dad with our newest little dancer

And Potts came too, though Gammie was unable to attend.

The video of her little tap dance didn't not want to down load no matter how many times I tried, but here are a few videos to show how cute she was and how excited to be there. Afterwards as per tradition we all went to Arctic Circle for ice cream! Great Job Kylie Mae!

Lights Downtown

2012-01-12T21:09:00.000-08:00

December 10, 2011

We made it a point to go see the lights this year downtown, since last year we didn't make it down there. The girls were super excited and loved it! We wrapped them up really warm so there would not be any complaining of cold girls!

We went to the Joseph Smith Memorial Building First and headed to the top to show the girls the temple from up high. They loved the spinning door that we went through at the beginning and then loved seeing all the lights from up high, but we didn't stay long because it was crowded.Next we walked to the small nativity scenes with all the different countries. Dave had the girls find three people in each one, Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus. Mary and baby Jesus were easy, but Joseph was hard in a few of them. The girls loved the game!

Next we headed to see the big Nativity. We arrived right when the show started, but had a view only from the sidelines. We watched and the girls enjoyed pointing to each thing as it lit up. Next we headed to the Christus and the girls loved walking up close. Even Paisley took off to see it up close. We explained to the girls about the hand prints and feet prints. We again did not stay long because it was really crowded, but promised Lily we could come back sometime when they would do the show. Finally we headed to Desert Book for some yummy hot chocolate. All and all it was a really fun night and we look forward to making it a family tradition to go down each year!

Letters to Santa

2012-01-11T19:39:00.000-08:00

December 10, 2011

Lily has reached the point of understanding Santa and that he brings things. So one morning she asked if she could write him a letter so that is what we did. First I had the girls draw pictures of what they wanted then I helped them write out the words. The first thing on there list was a bell from Santa's Sleigh (thanks Polar Express :) ) Next year we will need to send them out a little sooner so Santa can get a few things they wanted, lucky Santa does know them pretty well and had a few things already. It was definitely interesting to see what they wanted that I would have never thought about though! It was really fun :) Dave thought it was cute so he took some pictures....Lily was first then Kylie.

Thanksgiving Day 2011

2012-01-10T20:54:00.000-08:00

November 25, 2011

For Thanksgiving this year we headed to Grandma Collier's house. We woke early after staying the night at Gammie and Potts house to all drive up together. We arrived around 10am and enjoyed watching the end of the parade on TV. We then had a yummy lunch and enjoyed spending time together while we waited for the turkey to cook. Gammie and Potts took the older girls on a walk to the park and let them play in the cold for awhile to get some energy out while Dave, Paisley and I all took naps. The turkey and all the fixings were super good! We spent the night and woke the next morning to another yummy breakfast then headed back home! It was a great trip and we always love going to Grandma's house!

Thanks to Gammie and Potts for the pictures! We only got one picture as we were leaving of Grandma and the girls!

Going for a walk

Playing at the park

And of course a snowball fight on the way back!

Hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving!

Lily's Preschool Thanksgiving Program

2012-01-09T20:39:00.000-08:00

November 18, 2011

Lily has been loving her preschool class! They did a program for the parents right before Thanksgiving break. It was really cute. Here are a few videos to enjoy!

Our Bedroom

2012-01-08T19:24:00.000-08:00

Clear back in the summer we painted our bedroom and bathroom two different shades of blue. The bedroom is a lighter blue with dark blue trim then we switched in the bathroom with dark blue walls and light blue trim. We got new black furniture and a KING bed which we love!! We accented with walls with black and yellow. There is still quite a bit I want to do in both rooms like adding a cabinet in the bathroom, changing the counter in the bathroom, pictures to add to the walls, ect., ect., ect. But that all takes money so for now this will do.

Walking into the room

Our nice new big king bed

Picture of our dresser

Our nice shelves that don't have much on them now, but maybe over time :)

We would like to add a sitting chair in this corner

And the pictures of the bathroom, kind of hard to get with the size of it :)

See the green counter? We would love to change that!

And this is what you would stare at while going to the bathroom. We also accented with yellow towels, must have been in the wash the day I took the pictures.

Hope you enjoyed the little tour! We are hoping to do a few more projects in the summer, so I will try to post them a little faster next time!

The First Snow

2012-01-07T19:20:00.000-08:00

November 1, 2011

The girls love the first time it snowed. After we go dressed and started opening the windows we saw it was snowing. And they did this for the next 10 minutes. Wonder what is so amazing about white stuff falling from the sky? But I sure do love that they soak even the littles joys out of life like they do!

Dave Halloween Costume for School

2012-01-06T14:13:00.000-08:00

October 31, 2011

Dave over the last three years of teaching has dressed up in different costumes for school. He wanted three that he could rotate through and this was number three.

Professor X

A student of his dressed up as, Mr. Collier

And this is our friend, Genea, she did this make up job herself....pretty good hu!

Halloween 2011

2012-01-05T19:08:00.000-08:00

October 31, 2011

Halloween a few years back we started a tradition with Dave's brother, Mike and his wife Dez, to come over and hang out on Halloween. We eat dinner together then the boys take the kids out trick or treating and Dez and I stay to hand out candy. Afterwards we let the kids play then put them to bed. The boys play video games and us girls scrapbook. This year for some reason Dez and I were unable to get pictures of the kids together like we usually do. But here are some of the girls (thanks to Dez for taking some of them and sending them to me.....not sure where my head was : ) )

This year the girls were Ute Cheerleaders.

Kylie played the role well

Lily is at an age of understanding holidays and was more then thrilled to go out and get candy

Off the go...not the greats of pictures, but you can sort of see them.

And back with the spoils they come.....

Halloween Activities

2012-01-04T13:38:00.000-08:00

October 29, 2011

The saturday before Halloween we headed Thanksgiving Point to enjoy some of the activities they have to offer and since we have a pass its of course all free. We started at the Dinosaur Museum for Spooky Saturdays

They have all sort of games for the kids.

Face painting

Or hand painting if you are Kylie.

Making Wizard Hats and a wizard demonstration showing the kids magic tricks

Touching different googy halloween things (monster eyes, ect.)

They also had a scavenger hunt around the dinosaur museum where you had to find the wizards things that were missing. They were mixed in among the dinosaurs. The girls loved searching for them. All and all that would have been fun on its own, but we also had not been to Boo at the Barnyard yet so we headed down there too.

More fun games for the kids, this was pin the nose on the witch.

A full obstacle course that the girls did like five times. This was just one piece of it.

More games

And of course we had to have at least one picture of the mom behind the camera!

Fun picture taking places

They had a lot more fun games that the girls enjoyed, a witch story telling, and of course we got to do the pony ride and the wagon ride like usual.

That night we also went to Archilbalds for dinner and walked around finding the witches at Gardener Village. This was Dave's first time and he really enjoyed it. It was a day full of fun activities, but by the end of the day we were sure tired!

Movie with Grandma

2012-01-03T18:54:00.000-08:00

October 28, 2011

Grandma Tatum took the kids to see Puss and Boots in 3D. Grandma said that Paisley kept the glasses on for the most part. :) She liked showing them to me when we got home though. She also really enjoyed the treats and popcorn at the movies.

Carving Pumpkins 2011

2012-01-02T17:10:00.000-08:00

October 24, 2011

For Family Home Evening we carved pumpkins as a family. Near were we live four families have come together to do a pumpkin patch. They don't charge for the pumpkins, they just ask for donations for the Perpetual Education Fund. We thought that was a good thing for the money to go towards so we went. I was a little disappointed that we didn't get to walk out into the middle of a field to pick them (you will see in the pictures they were just laid out on a black tarp), but the girls still had a blast running around choosing.

Lily was very picky about her pumpkin

Kylie wanted every pumping she picked up.

And Paisely kept dropping her's and it would roll away so we would have to chase after it.

Her she trying to keep ahold of it.

Kylie finally found a keeper

Though struggled carrying it.

Once home we let the girls dig in. It was quite entertaining since this was the first real time we let them. They were not to found of the gooey insides!

But did it anyway.

We decided to not do our own pumpkins because we would be helping the girls.

To help the girls decide what they wanted the faces to look like Dave drew the shapes on the board for each face part and let them choose. It worked really well.

Kylie's turn

Lily's turn

All finished.....

Outside to light them

Holidays are starting to be really fun with the girls! We enjoy doing all the fun things with them that we loved doing as kids and its like experiencing the holidays like a kid again! Kids are the best!

Annual Halloween FHE Party

2011-10-26T17:03:00.000-07:00

October 17, 2011

We had our Annual Halloween FHE Party last Monday. I was at the beginning of being sick so it didn't seem all that fun to me, but Dave said it turn out good :) We started with homemade pizza, garlic bread, and salad for dinner. Then it was on to the activities.

First was Halloween shapes for the kids to put stickers on.....

Paisley sat enjoying watching all the kids after she downed a ton of pizza.

Then it was on to making monster cookies. I switched it this year to make it a little more fun for everyone! Each family got a plate with different shaped cookies, eyes, sticks, and pipe cleaners to create there own monsters. We then all voted on the best one.

This was our monster, Lily wanted a ballerina.

Audrey's

The Greenwoods

The Wells

Potts and Gammie's

And the Winner.....Dez

She won the last four years......even changing the game didn't change her win!

Then we sat around and enjoyed hanging out. I took the chance to get everyones costumes pictured. First up was our little family, three little Ute Cheerleaders and there Coaches.

When Gammie and Potts found out what we were doing they thought it would be funny to arrive at BYU Fans, Lily was not so happy.

Audrey came solo so she wore this cute butterfly costume.

This is our friends the Greenwoods

Little Evylee as Belle, her brother Ethan was Batman, but I could not get a picture!

This is Mary and Isaiah, the other two Greenwood kids.

This is Ray Wells, his two sisters never got pictures but they were a Kitty and Little Red Riding Hood.

and there mom, Ann, came solo, but rocked the costume!

We had other friends there that were not pictured because they either left early or were a little late! But thanks for coming guys!

And the winner was our friend, Jason

That was the party. We enjoyed each others company and enjoyed a less busy night then past years. Here is to next year!

Girls New Game

2011-10-25T16:49:00.000-07:00

The girls discovered this new game while I was putting away laundry. They all climb in then push back and fall out. They thought it was really funny and we got this really cute picture!

Paisley and the Milk

2011-10-24T16:30:00.000-07:00

Paisley has this habit of wanting to drink anyones drink that happens to be sitting there. I try and keep my cups out of reach, but this day I had sat down with some milk on my dresser and was talking to Lily. Paisley took the chance and it resulted in this.......

As you can see she was not very happy about it, but we all had a good laugh. She cried while we took pictures, then daddy took over changing her and I did clean up. Paisley definitely is our little one that gets into everything!

Apology

2011-10-23T16:15:00.000-07:00

A few days ago I posted, "sickness," and I would like to apologize. I only had it up for a few short hours, so I am really not sure who read it, but I felt this needed to be said anyway. I want this blog to be about our family and its on goings. I want it to be a place of happiness, not a place of frustration. So I apologize for putting a post that was negative and all together not kind.

I also want to say I am sorry for the content in the post. For years I have struggled with a weakness that makes my emotions felt right on the surface and I react to those emotions immediately. I have learned over the years that things that make me so upset originally, usually the next day do not seem as a big of deal. So I have had to learn (with lots of error still on my part) to control my anger with respect to words, emails, or phone calls made while I am immediately angry. Over the last ten years I feel I have gotten much better at this particular weakness, but sometimes it still appears and that is the case the other day. I was at one of the lowest points on my sickness and feeling pretty down about life and everything else. I took out what normal would not bother me later, wrote it down, and put it on the blog for all to read. A few hours later I realized the stupid mistake I had made and removed the blog, but I'm sure before a few of you have had read it. So for those that did see it, I am sorry that you had to see my weakness in full blown horror, and for those that missed it, be grateful you did. That is all, thanks for your time, Katie.

The Girls

2011-10-09T15:14:00.000-07:00

Still not much going on around the Collier household this week. We did, however, get the girls year pictures on CD that we took back in August so I thought I would post them. There were so many cute ones (as always) so I tried to choose my favorites! Sorry there is so many :)

Paisley Grace Age 1

Playing with Potts

After getting to play for awhile during her sisters pictures I grabbed Paisley to change her clothes. We did a few of just her before we added her sisters. She was not happy about having to change.

But quickly turned into a happy girl!

Kylie Mae Age 3

Perfect little poser for Potts

Lily Anne Age 5

She was being very serious at the beginning of her pictures, but soon her cute little personality came out!

Then we attempted all three girls together. This is very interesting with Paisley at the age she is now :)

Sisterly Love

And then the girls got silly....

Showing their personalities (without meaning too!)

It was a great photo shoot and the girls love playing with Potts! Thanks Potts!

Life

2011-10-02T19:16:00.000-07:00

So surprisingly there is really nothing going on this week for us. I am all caught up on blogging and life is busy, but normal. Don't worry, though, with October hitting there will be lots of fun happenings and plenty to blog about!

We enjoyed General Conference this weekend at home and it was great. We are grateful for the chance to hear the Prophets and Apostles talk and help guide our lives! We tried a few things with the girls this last weekend to help them listen....some worked and others didn't. I have some more plans for next time as well....maybe I will post some pictures then :)

I also have some other projects I have been working on that when I get finished will post! That's all for now, but hope everyone else is doing good!

Dave Turns 30 Part 2

2011-09-27T20:18:00.000-07:00

September 24, 2011

I was a horrible picture taker and didn't not get any pictures of part two of Dave's birthday, but here is how it played out. The morning of his birthday we went to a neighbors donut sale for a fundraiser for the Roads Home and had fresh made donuts and hot chocolate! We came back to the house and all laid on the bed together relaxing.At 10:30 we went to Audrey's house to drop the kids off and went to Tucanos for a 11:30 reservation lunch. While we were there we read this and both cried.

http://gammielovespotts.blogspot.com/2011/09/thirty-years.html

Dave was able to talk to his twin sister earlier that morning. They talked about both being old and wishing that they could be together on this big milestone. There conversation was sweet to listen too.

After we finished eating we headed to get the girls and went home. The rest of the day included relaxing and my sweet husband let me go down to the conference center for the women's conference. Meanwhile he was at home letting the kids play with some friends while he hung out and watched movies with his friend Jason. It wasn't the perfect birthday I had in mind, but Dave enjoyed it and thats what matters :)

I am so grateful for Dave and all he does for this family! He is a hard worker, a loving father and husband, a kind and helpful friend, and the best friend anyone could ever ask for! Happy 30th Birthday Dave with many more to come and many more adventures to experience together!

Dave Turns 30 Part 1

2011-09-26T19:12:00.000-07:00

September 23, 2011

The one thing Dave asked for when he turned 30 was to go to Six Flags.......so months before his birthday the preparations started. I looked for cheap flights, I read up on if the end of September would be a good day to go, I researched hotels within walking distance or with shuttles to the park and watched for cheap rates, and even found Dave's dad to take my place because I don't really like a park full of roller coasters so figured I would pay for someone else to go with him that did like them and not waste the money. Finally I had everything in place...then it turned out that Dave's dad would be in Italy. I asked several other people if they could go and no one took the bite....so sadly I told Dave the plans. Turns out a month later we had some car troubles in the same amount that the three day trip would have been. Sometimes Heavenly Father works in funny ways......But then all throughout the next month and a half was how do I top what I was going to do....and honestly it cant be topped, but we tried to make it fun anyway :)

September 23 at 5:30pm I invited over a bunch of friends and family for dinner, games, and cake and ice cream. I was horrible at taking picture that night for some reason, but did get a few! We had penne pasta and meatballs for dinner with a salad and homemade bread. After chatting for awhile Dave opened gifts (although instructed no gifts :) ) He recieved a nice card with money from his parents, a card from Grandma Collier, a Ute shirt from Amanda, a Justin Beiber singing tooth brush (to help him relate to students) from the Greenwoods, some gum from the Wells, and a six pack of Dublin Dr. Pepper from the Carroll's. The girls Dave a game and Lily drew daddy a special birthday picture. I gave him an Iphone radio and clock. Then it was time for dessert.

Dave is not a big cake eatery so I had planned brownies and ice cream. Last minute (literally an hour before guests arrived) I thought it would be fun to make him a U of U cake. I used a horseshoe cake pan Grandma Collier gave us (THANKS!) and just cut of the tops to make the U. To bad the frosting looked more pink the red, but it turned out pretty good :)

We used left over candy from Lily's birthday for goodies. We have some much candy in the house right now and Halloween is right around the corner!

We then played more games and enjoyed hanging out!

Thanks everyone for coming to celebrate with us!

Some things worth mentioning....

2011-09-25T18:54:00.000-07:00

Lately I have made a few changes in my life. They don't have pictures, but are worth telling you all about them as well as explaining my reasons.

First, I started dancing with a group called the Diamond Dance Company. They have a fireside program that includes vocalists, testimonies, and finally us dancing. We meet every Tuesday morning at a church in Highland and while our kids play around us we dance and prepare for the program. Not only am I excited to be able to preform again, but the group as inspired me as well. Each week we began with an inspirational thought or scripture and prayer. The music gives me goosebumps and I am so excited to be sharing my testimony through something I so deeply love, dance. If you would like information about us putting on the fireside visit Diamond Dance Facebook page....I would love to come dance for you :)

Second, I got rid of my facebook page and it has been such a wonderful thing for me. I have found so much time to do things more worth while then being on facebook all the time! It has made me happier as I am not involved with the drama on facebook as well as feel bad when I see something I was not invited too. It has helped me communicate better with family members and friends. I miss that phone/face to face interaction and not having facebook has forced me to get back too it. So if for some reason you cant find me on facebook anymore, never fear.....I did not de-friend anyone I am simply trying to rid my life of things I don't feel I need.

Lastly, we also got rid of Netflix streaming. This has been a blessing in our lives because the kids are watching less TV and so are we. We find ourselves playing together more often, going on walks, and simply doing more together. I found even more time without the TV tempting me away to do projects I thought I never had time for. Its amazing how much you can get done when you don't have other things that seem easier or more relaxing pulling you away.

So thats what is going on with me. I often post about our family, Dave, and the kids, but I thought these things were worth mentioning! Life is great and I am loving the extra time on my hands! Hope you are loving your time and making the most of it!

GO UTES!!!

2011-09-23T08:00:00.001-07:00

September 17, 2011

Saturday we played BYU, the Annual Rival Game. We had the primary program practice that morning and I forgot to put on our red. So when we got home we quickly changed and got pictures in our UTE PRIDE!

We even got Paisley's cheerleading outfit and it sort of still fit! (she wore this last year for halloween) For some reason we forgot to get a picture of Daddy in all his red, but he was sporting it! (he even wore his red Ute tie to the dance that night)

We were only able to watch the first 30 minutes of the game before heading to American Fork's Homecoming Dance to chaperone. Dave was able to get updates on his phone and when we got home we watched the reruns of all the amazing touchdowns! We wish we could have watched it live, but the dance just fell on the wrong night! For those that don't know the UTES SLAUGHTERED THE COUGARS 54 to 10! Way to go Utes!

Jason

2011-09-22T08:00:00.000-07:00

It started a few months ago. Lily would ask if she could have a brother. I told her it was up to Heavenly Father and that she would need to ask Him. She would ask if she could pray right then, which of course I said, "yes." Which would then result in her praying for a brother.

Time went on and the question turned into, "Mom, why do we only have sisters?" Which I would reply, "because that is what Heavenly Father sends to our family." Lily would then say, "but I want a brother." Which my reply would be, "ask Heavenly Father." Again the result was a quick prayer asking for a brother.

Two weeks ago in primary they talked about temples and families being eternal. They made this with each of our names on it.

If you notice there are six links, not five. As I looked at the links I saw the name Jason. I asked Lily, who is Jason...without skipping a beat she said, "My baby brother." So of course I ask the teacher....what happened? She told me that when asking there siblings names Lily told her all of them. She asked her if she was sure about Jason and Lily said "of course I am sure, its my brother." I informed the teacher we were NOT expecting. We asked Lily were she came up with the name and she said it just came to her. It ended up turning into a touchy subject with her as she felt embarrassed about the situation, so please don't mention this to her! But it was too cute not to blog about. She increases each day as to how many times she asks us about her brother. Who knows maybe she knows something we don't??

Lily Turns 5

2011-09-21T08:00:00.000-07:00

September 10, 2011

Lily turned 5 so of course we through her a friend party! This was our first friend only party, but I think we did okay! Plus I had some great helpers! Grandma Tatum and Daddy both assisted where needed. And Gammie was able to be there and help out a little when not taking care of Ethan! Thanks for all your help guys!

Lily wanted a Rainbow Flower birthday so that is the theme of the event. Each station matched with a color on the rainbow and we went in order of the rainbow, as if we were "riding the rainbow" :) The stations were marked with colored balloons.

As guests arrived they started at the red station....fruit loop necklaces! We did this as we waited for all to arrive.

Next was orange. I had the kids search for the color and they found themselves outside to play pin the cloud on the rainbow. I had made clouds with each kids name on them.

Most of the kids after the game was finished.

Next the kids found the next balloon (yellow) still outside. To try and tie in flowers we played a game with flowers I had made. The kids had 45 seconds to gather the different color flowers scattered around the yard. They had to get one of each of the rainbow colors. I would not have done this game if I didn't have to do flowers (on Lily's insistence), but the kids seemed to enjoy the game. Also on looking back I wish I had made the flowers more secure so they didn't keep falling off, but you live and learn right? :)

Lily was the first to get them all.

Then Savannah

All the kids with there flowers!

Green Station was to open presents! Lily got so many wonderful gifts! This were I took a lot of pictures! (don't worry though I only put a few up :) ) She enjoyed all the attention and of course opening all the gifts. Thanks everyone for making her day!

For Blue we headed back to the table for cake and ice cream. This was by far my most favorite part! It could not have turned out better! Lily patiently waited while she was sung too.

Then blew out the candles, only struggling a little!

This was the outside of the cake...

But the cool part was the inside....this was before it was cooked...

And after.....it turned out better then expected and Lily LOVED it! Which made it totally worth it! So glad I found the idea and tried it! (Dave wishes we could go back and do a rainbow wedding with this cake! )

And last was purple! Instead of doing goodie bags with toys and stuff I had the kids choose candy they wanted in rainbow colors! The kids loved choosing!

All and all it was a blast! Later that day, Hannah's mom that lives next door said that Hannah thought it was the coolest birthday ever and of course Lily loved it all too so I guess that makes it all worth it!

Lily's day did not end there....after lunch and some naps Lily asked to go back to the splash pad and since it was her birthday that is what we did. After suiting up we headed over there. Lily and Paisley headed right in.

Lily got a little more wet and enjoyed running around.

Eventually Kylie joined them, but was timid at first.

Then she let loose!

Paisley played for awhile then finally came to sit with us! I think this face is so funny! Not sure what she was thinking or doing, but I think she had fun playing in the water with her sisters.

Since we had not gotten in any pictures earlier, we took some now...

And of course we had to get the women behind the camera :)

After Lily had her fill of playing in the water and at the park she requested Pizza for dinner so we headed to our favorite little pizza place, Village Pizza. After we stuffed ourselves full we picked up Rio at the Redbox then headed home to enjoy the movie. It was a great movie and had a lot of fun music!

Can't believe I had a five year old! She is my big helper, a loving sister, loves making new friends and learning new things, loves dancing and tumbling, has a stubborn streak, is definitely asserting her independence, loves parent/daughter dates, and pretty much just loves life! I could not image my life without her sweet little spirit and am so glad that she is the oldest child to her younger sisters! We love you Lily!

Firsts

2011-09-20T08:00:00.000-07:00

We had a lot of "firsts" the last few weeks so I thought I would group them all together.

September 7, 2011

Lily went to Preschool for the first time. She was so excited all morning....I was a little emotional. I never thought I would be, but I did get a little choked up that my first kid was getting so big. We drove there and she walked straight in without even so much as a goodbye. Guess she was ready (beyond ready since she misses the deadline for Kindergarten), which is good, just not sure I was ready. She has loved going and comes home excited each day! I love that she loves to learn!

September 12, 2011

Kylie started dance class. She had been wanting to dance since Lily was in class. Lily has been showing her stuff for the last year and Kylie was eager to do it on her own. She went straight in without free and had a giant smile on her face the whole time! Afterwards I asked how she liked it and she said, "oh yeah mom! It was easy!" Guess Lily helping her worked :)

September 6, 2011

Paisley GOT A TOOTH! Just shy of 14 months a tooth finally broke through! The tooth is still not in enough to get a good picture and she has two more coming in, but I just had to mention my little Paisley's latest firsts along with her sisters!

September 8, 2011

We went to the Nolyan Park Splash pad. Its like two seconds away from our house and totally free! The city put it in and we had been wanting to try it so we went. Well actually the original reason we went over there was to find a new park to play in....thus the clothes and not swimming suits! Next time we will be sure to dress accordingly, but it was fun anyway!

Lily got wet anyway clothes and all!

Boy has that girl changed her attitude about water and only in the last six months or so!

Kylie was content sitting next to me and chilling, she wanted to go back to the park we had played at.

And Paisley would have gone in, but I stopped her! She would follow Lily anywhere, I just didn't want to deal with a wet crying baby!

All and all a lot of good first going on for us!

Silly Paisley

2011-09-19T08:00:00.000-07:00

Paisley is my silly little girl and into everything! This is how she sleeps. Not sure how it could be comfortable, but I find her like this a lot!

And a few weeks ago when I was sick (turned out I had strep throat) I had Lily help the girls pick out a movie and put it on for them while I rested a little. The movie ended up being super loud so I went to check on them and turn it down a little bit and this is what I found...

We had left the cookies on the coach the night before and she had found them! At least this was better then when Kylie got into the desitin!

Samantha Carroll

2011-09-18T19:16:00.000-07:00

August 16, 2011

Our dear friends, Sean and Rachelle Carroll, had there first little girl on August 15, 2011. They named her Samantha. She is absolutely beautiful!

We visited the following day. Lily of course had to hold the new baby at least twice! She loves kids!

Paisley wasn't quite sure and had a hard time with mom or dad holding her, but they will be quick friends!

Welcome to the world baby Samantha! Congrats Sean and Rachelle! We love you guys!

The Wall

2011-09-15T10:00:00.000-07:00

Most of the end of July and August was spent working on this wall.

We built this in the my mom's backyard. We also did the other side as well, but didn't get any pictures. It was quite the project and we learned a lot in the process. We earned money that we needed so it was really quite a blessing even though it took longer then expected. Next spring we are planning on finishing a waterfall in the corner. Pictures to come then!

Baby Blessing and Grandma's House

2011-09-14T10:00:00.000-07:00

August 6-9, 2011

Instead of driving all the way home from Pocatello, Idaho when I would be heading back up to Logan later that day, my ride Michelle dropped me off to meet Dave and the girls in Brigham City. We at dinner together at Maddox after not seeing each other for three days then headed to the hotel my mom and Larry where letting us stay at with them in Logan. We went swimming that night and just relaxed. Then next day we headed to the ward building for Audrey's baby blessing. My camera was missing in action so we did not get any pictures, but the blessing was beautiful and we enjoyed spending time with the family.

After staying awhile at my brother, Tad's, house we headed to Bellevue, Idaho to visit with Grandma Collier. We loving going to visit and this would be the first time since Grandpa Collier's passing that the girls would come with us to the house. We made sure to explain that Grandpa would not be there and were both a little sad by the thought. We did miss Grandpa while were there, but LOVED getting to spend time with Grandma.

This is her cute house....so grandmaee. I washed down the porch and house and all the seats so that Grandma could enjoy sitting on her porch at night.

Dave did a number of things for Grandma while we were there too. The one he always does is mows the lawn. This time the girls helped.

We also got to spend a lot of time relaxing and chatting with Grandma! She always makes us feel so welcome and the girls loved the shortbread cookies :)

And Paisley played with some watches Grandma gave her. She was a little baby the last time we visited with the kids, but kept busy this time and loved playing with Grandma!

And of course before we left we had to get a picture with all of us! We love you Grandma and can't wait to visit again!

Idaho Dance Camp

2011-09-13T10:00:00.000-07:00

August 3-6, 2011

The studio I teach for, Ultimate Dance Ect., heads to Idaho every summer for the Summer Slam Dance Camp. This year I tagged along and enjoyed three days of dancing, learning, making new friends, and enjoying a little kid free time. Dave was sweet enough to watch the girls while I was gone and although I missed Kylie's birthday had a blast!

We did secret sisters and gave each other gifts each night. This is Jordan, my sweet little sister!

And Janine, a mom to a few of my dancers was who I gave to for Secret Sisters.

These were my rooming buds, Haley one of my dancers and her mom.

These are some of the fine ladies I was able to hang out with.

Michelle, Karen, and Karen (the first two are fellow teachers and the last one is a dancer mom)

Michelle and I roomed together and drove up together from Utah. It was great to get to know her more on this trip!

Ty, the office manager at the Studio and mom to a few of my dancers.

Two more dancer moms, we at dinner at Applebees night number two with these fine ladies and there daughters! It was so fun to get to know them more!

And Misty, owner of Ultimate Dance Ect. There were others as well, but not enough time to take pictures!

The last day they do a show case were the families can come and watch the dances that we have learned the previous two days. They also have a dance camp dance off and give awards to the best dancers, best attitudes throughout camp, ect. Our girls did great!

I learned three camp dances and also observed several classes taking notes and getting some great ideas. It felt great to be dancing so much again, but definitely harder on my body then I thought it would be! I am not 15 for sure anymore! On the last day I performed two of the three dances I learned, but only one got recorded. This was a bit different style for me, but nice to push myself a little bit. The girl dancing in front of me was the choreographer so when you see me dancing next to her, you will know why she is so much better then me!

The camp was really fun overall. We ate lunch together at the camp day and ate dinner together at different places and with different people each night. We watched So You Think You Can Dance together and Dance Moms, went swimming, and danced like crazy! It really was a great time and I just wish it did not fall on little Kylie's Birthday every year! Hope you enjoyed watching me dance!

Kylie turns 3

2011-09-12T10:00:00.000-07:00

July 31, 2011

We celebrated Kylie's birthday the Sunday before her birthday because I would not be there for her actual birthday. She requested a "Pixie Hollow" Birthday. I told her the top of the cupcakes was pixy dust and she thought that was so cool! :)

She wasnt feeling completely better from all the hospital visits, but still enjoyed the time with those that came. She opened gifts.

And we all sang Happy Birthday to her

Then they played with all her new gifts.

August 4, 2011

While I was in Idaho Dad took the girls to Ikea for Kylie's birthday dinner. Then they headed to go bowling!

These two love each other so much!

And this video is so our little Kylie

Kylie Mae at Age 3

Height: 35 1/4 inches (50%)

Weight: 25.6 pounds (10%)

Kylie Mae is our little sweet heart. She is so willing to help and loves her sisters more then anything! She has her stubborn streaks, but can also be so kind and sensitive to others feelings. She loves playing outside and dancing. She has turned into quite the little talker and always has something to tell you. She hates it when people are mad at her. She also tends to be our little sick kid with lots of health issues! We love her and her little sweet spirit!

Anniversary #7 and Temple #8- Salt Lake City

2011-09-11T19:23:00.000-07:00

July 28-29, 2011

For our anniversary we went to Park City and stayed in the Marriott Hotel. It was a last minute plan, but totally worth it. They upgraded our room because we told them it was our anniversary (and most likely because they had the rooms open.) This was our balcony.

We had a view of the pool, which ended up being freezing cold, as was the hot tub...which was kind of disappointing.

Dave on the balcony

My turn :)

That night we hit the local town shuttle and headed to Park City Main Street. Dave had never been so I thought it was the perfect place to start. We ended up pick a restaurant called the Eating Establishment that was very good. We walked around a little bit before heading back to the hotel with a red box.

The next day we went and walked around the outlet malls and ended up getting a lot of the things for the girls. We enjoyed a pretzel and some ice cream for an afternoon snack. Then we headed downtown Salt Lake to attend the temple. We decided to do Sealings. Its funny how things work out. When we arrived they said it was okay to do Sealings, but it might be awhile and we would have to wait. We were okay with that so we headed up. Once we were up there a another huge group of people had decided they wanted to do Sealings as well so we didn't have to wait. We had been in the room no more then 10 minutes when this sweet old women came in with a huge handful of family names and asked if we could help finish them so the group did all her family names. It was great! So glad we could help her and also be reminded of the reasons we were married and how much we love each other.

I love the Salt Lake Temple and although I have been several times before counted this as number 8 on our temple tour. As I walked in I saw brides getting ready and was so lost in thought walked right passed the dressing rooms and the nice women that work in the temple had to stop me before I went to far the wrong way. I remember how I felt 7 years before. Completely excited and completely calm. I knew I was marrying the person I would spend the rest of my life with and someone that would be my best friend. We sat in the Celestial Room after doing Sealings in the same place we sat before they took us in to be married. We talked back about the last seven years. Best decision I ever made. I love you Dave and could not be happier with where we are in life and that I am doing it all with you. Honestly no one understands me like you do and loves me for all my little things! Thanks for being my best friend now and forever!

Anyway, after the temple we ate at this place called Rinos. It was a really yummy Italian Restaurant. Then we headed to a see the final Harry Potter movie. It was another great anniversary with my best friend!

Raging Waters 2011

2011-08-30T09:11:00.000-07:00

July 26, 2011

We did our annual Raging Waters day with Grandma and Grandpa Tatum. Only this time it was called Seven Peaks North and it will be the last time we will go there! We tried to have a good day and did have fun with each other, but Seven Peaks changed all the rules and made it less the appealing for future returns. But onto the fun.....

It rained mid-day so thats when we ended up taking pictures because we couldn't be in the water. We ended up being able to get back in after about an hour, but only stayed for awhile before it started raining again!

The kids played on the tubes.

We hid under towels while it rained

And sweet little Audrey looked adorable in her sun suit!

The kids did not mind the rain or the lighting which is really what was keeping us out of the water. They played on the stage.

And danced together

The kids also took naps.

and even an Adult or Two

Cowbunga Bay we will see you next year for our annual water day!

Pioneer Day

2011-08-29T08:25:00.000-07:00

July 25, 2011

For Pioneer Day we decided to head downtown to see the parade. Gammie and Potts were nice enough to watch Paisley so we didn't need to chase her around the whole time. My step brother Bobby and his son Andrew were in town from Georgia so they came along as well. Trey came to hang out as well. It was was a fun day.

Grandma and Grandpa came too.

Cute little family, missing Paisley of course!

Bobby and Andrew

Grandpa and Trey

While we waited for the parade to start the kids danced. We sat right next to the 99.5 radio station and they played music until the parade started. It entertained the kids for awhile.

Nice moves Kylie!

They were having a blast!

When the parade started first thing up was President Monson. Loved seeing the Prophet!!!

When Kylie saw the first Royalty she said, "look princesses!"

I picked a few of my favorite floats....this was moved!

Next was a really Princess (sort of :) )

Ariel and Eric

Lily thought this birthday cake was cool

I was overwhelmed with emotion when the Army passed. Tried to explain to Lily why I was crying and couldn't find the words. At least someday she will know that I appreciated the freedoms that we enjoy and that I am grateful for the men and women that fight for those freedoms :) And maybe one day I will find the right way to explain it all.

That night we had a BBQ at our house and we did fireworks outside that night. Dave and Sean were so excited to set off fireworks together. Our friends Sean and Rachelle lived in Texas the last few years and just moved back to Utah. We are so excited they are back. The last time these two were together on the 24 of July they almost set a field on fire, but we let them try again :) Everyone helped bring fireworks and the boys set them up like this....

Even though it was a little rainy the show went on!

Dave and Sean excited to set off the fireworks, Mike helped set them off too, but I didn't get his picture!

Everyone enjoying the fireworks....

The fireworks were great and the boys did a great job setting them off! We had such a great day celebrating!

Baby Audrey

2011-08-28T20:16:00.000-07:00

Baby Audrey was born June 12, 2011. We didn't get to meet her for awhile. Lily and I were able to go visit a little while after she was born, but I forgot my camera so this is the first pictures we have with her. The cousins love there newest cousin! Welcome to the family baby Audrey!

New Toys

2011-08-18T08:03:00.000-07:00

We got a few new toys this summer for the backyard. Paisley got a swimming pool and she thoughtfully lets her sisters play with it.

And Grandma Tatum gave the girls a combined birthday gift of a new little playhouse! It has a slide, games on the side, and a little table. The girls love it!

Paisley's One!

2011-08-17T07:24:00.000-07:00

July 18, 2011

Our little Paisley turned one this last July! We started the celebration by going to farm country at Thanksgiving Point.

Paisley while waiting for everyone to arrive!

Riding the Ponies

Paisley wasn't so sure...

We feed the animals

And enjoyed time with family

This was cool too....he was trying to get another peacocks attention and it was really interesting to watch! She was not that in to him though :)

All of us on the wagon ride...The Greenwoods and Lily

Grandma, Paisley, and Chloe

Daddy, Potts, Gammie, and Kylie

Matt and Audrey

Amanda, Fiona, and Me

Daddy decided to play a little too

We headed back to the house for cake and ice cream.

Sean and Rachelle came later.....so did Dez and Mike...

We had cake, Grandma Tatum and me made it the night before

Paisley wasn't sure

So daddy helped

She started slow

Then dug in

Next was presents.....I was trying to teach Lily to not be selfish and show love for her sisters so I made her choose a gift to give Paisley.

I think Lily and Kylie had more fun opening the gifts, but Paisley loved them all!

Thanks to everyone that came and made Paisleys first birthday so memorable!

Kylie's Hospital Visit

2011-08-16T06:53:00.000-07:00

July 11-12, 2011

Poor little Kylie woke up with 103.4 temperature so we took her to the emergency room. They ended up taking blood, gave her a strep test, and she had to take urine through a catheter. It seriously was not the best experience! They determined that she had a UTI or so we thought, but more on that later. So they gave her an IV of medicine and sent us home, with the IV in her arm. They wanted us to keep it in her arm until the next day so we could come back for more medicine. It was a horrible day and the IV did not stay in anyway so the next day they had to redo it. All in all they ended up poking her four times!

Thats the IV!

So on to the later.....they told Dave that the bacteria never grew....so they would have to test her for leukemia and diabetes. Scary Scary! But all was well. She was negative on both and since the medicine helped they decided to keep her on it.

Flash forward a few days. She went to her checkup at the doctor and she was great. Two days later the fever was back and we were back at the doctors. We had to do a chest xray to rule out more problems too, but it came back clear. Needless to say the doctors decided to wait it out this last time and see if things improved on its own which it did. Not a fun month for Kylie! She also celebrated her birthday in the mist of all of this, but was a trooper!

Family Reunion

2011-08-15T05:55:00.000-07:00

WARNING LOTS OF PICTURES :)

July 8-10, 2011

The Collier side of the family decided to have a family reunion this last July. We also used as a time to taken an updated family picture. On that side of the family we added two spouses and three babies since the last picture was taken two years ago! We arrived on Friday to wet weather. The picture was called off then on again then off again and finally on again. In the process of waiting we set up tents and the camp ground and most of us ended up getting wet hair and had let the kids get dirty. Needless to say trying to get three kids and myself ready after all that was a little crazy. Then when we got to the site we were loosing the light so the picture was taken fairly quickly! I am sure the picture will look great though!

The other days were less stressful and a lot of fun.....

We ate (cinnamon roll pancakes...to die for!!!)

Slept (though our little family choose the comfort of beds instead of the ground!)

Enjoyed time together

Relaxed

Took walks..

Watched the wild river

The boys did what they do in the wilderness

The kids climbed rocks

And jumped off the rocks to Potts

And even the big kids wanted to play :)

Played along the path

Enjoyed beautiful views

We went up the canyon and Audrey showed us this really cool playground. So we played there too and had a blast! Lily went all the way across the monkey bars!

Gammie sang to us the Sound of Music

Had a snow fight....yep in the middle July!

Took a great hike

Slide down a huge rock

Enjoyed more views

Found a little hut in the mountain

Took a nice picture in the mountains

Jumped in puddles!

And did some crafts!

All and all it was a great time! Thanks everyone!

Independence Day

2011-08-14T17:09:00.000-07:00

July 4, 2011

Fourth of July we ended up hosting breakfast because Mom and Dad Collier were out of town. I made sourdough pancakes and everyone else helped bring other items to finish off the yummy breakfast!

Grandma and Grandpa Tatum were there

Audrey and Matt came too.....Audrey cleaned up the dishes! :)

And Emily and Joe....and of course AJ came.

Later that night we headed to my Aunt and Uncles BBQ in Sugarhouse. We ate yummy food and then we headed to the park for the fireworks.

Paisley was really cute in her stroller

This is my Moms Sister Jolene.

All three girls looking cute in there matching shirts

Emily, Joe, and AJ joined us for both the BBQ and the fireworks

The girls had a blast playing with Uncle Joe as he threw them around and with Aunt Emily too.

The fireworks that night were great! Lily was so funny to listen to as the fireworks went off and Kylie was entertained for a little while before she decided to switch seats every five seconds! I loved seeing the fireworks as always and it was a fun night for all!

July

2011-07-25T15:48:00.000-07:00

July is such fun and busy month! I have not have anytime to blog lately as life seems to be going super fast and super crazy all the time! But I wanted everyone to know I am still here and planning to update all about Julys fun activities. Here is what you can look forward too:

Fourth of July

Family Reunion

Paisleys 1st Birthday

New Fun Toys

Rock Wall Project

Pioneer Day Activities

Our 7th Anniversary

Hope you are all enjoying the wonderful summertime weather and activites!

My Little Paisley

2011-07-06T20:52:00.000-07:00

I wake up to this every morning...

How can you not love it?

She is my very happy baby!

And now she is walking and talking! She started walking on Monday June 27, 2011. She had refused to even take any steps until that point then suddenly while we were playing and she stood up and took 10 steps towards me all on her own. Since that time she has been going crazy! This was taken after about a week and she is doing great.... and I love that she says hi at the end!

Swimming with the Cousins

2011-07-05T20:19:00.000-07:00

June 28, 2011

Aunt Emily let us come over and go swimming at her pool. It was the first swim of the season and so fun! The water was perfect and so was the weather. The girls loved swimming with there cousins and Aunts and Uncle!

Ethan chilling half a sleep :)

Paisley even liked the water this time!

All of us together

And cute little AJ in his Swimming Suit!!!

Later Uncle Joe played

That night I found out I had burned on my shoulders and legs even though I put on sun screen (at least on my shoulders). Here is the funny thing my legs burned really weird....Paisley was sitting on my legs with a towel and thats the only thing I can think that caused this:

Pretty funny hu!

Joe Turns 24

2011-07-04T20:05:00.000-07:00

June 25, 2011

Our brother in law Joe turned a whooping 24 this last June! We went to a surprise party at his house that Emily his wife put it together. We had yummy cup cakes and the kids had fun playing outside. We also ended up being the oldest ones there! Talk about feeling old at 27 and 29 :) HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOE!

Kids Bowl Free

2011-07-03T19:15:00.000-07:00

June 24, 2011

We signed up the girls for this free bowling thing this summer. The kids can go bowling 2 games for free everyday all summer long. While I was signing them up they let us pay 25 dollars to do the same. They also give a discount on shoe rentals! Anyway we have enjoyed going the last few weeks and the kids love it!!

Here goes Kylie.....

And this is how she reacted after EVERY TIME! It was great!

Lily tried the black helper thing, but ended up doing it on her own later.

She liked it when knocked down ALL the pins
Paisley had fun too crawling around
Grandma came with us the first time too!
Dave bowling
Me bowling!
Video of Kylie bowling

Video of Lily Bowling

If you have not signed up you should go to kidsbowlfree.com and do it! You will have so much fun like we did!

Fathers Day

2011-06-21T20:01:00.000-07:00

June 19, 2011

Fathers Day was great. We have some of the greatest dads!

First off is Grandpa Thornton......we missed seeing him, but called and talked with him! Love you and miss you Grandpa!

Next is Grandpa Tatum....we were able to go and have dinner with him and Grandma!

And we were able to have desert with all the Collier, Taylor, Fairbank, and Slaughter men! It was great to see them all!

Dave and his dad had some fun....

Impressive that Potts is holding him!

And of course a happy dad son moment!

Of course last of all is the best dad ever which is DAVE! We love him so much and our truly grateful for all he does and how he helps us! We loved making breakfast for him today and gave him some grill stuff. LOVE YOU DAVE!

HAPPY FATHERS DAY EVERYONE!

Hair Cuts

2011-06-20T19:42:00.000-07:00

June 18, 2011

Decided to finally get the girls hair cut. This was Kylie's first haircut and we want to cut off the old baby hair and clean it up. We cut it into a cut little bob cut.

She did really good and held really still.

All done and cut!

Lily's turn next....

This was Lily's second haircut. We decide since she was almost five she could choose how she wanted it cut. She said, "short like moms." So she got it cut to her shoulders.

She was quiet and calm throughout the whole thing.

And all done!

Go Utes...

2011-06-19T19:35:00.001-07:00

Started with Lily

Then Kylie

And now Paisley!

GO UTES!!

Grandpa Collier Remembered

2011-06-15T19:44:00.000-07:00

June 11, 2011

Grandpa Collier passed away at the end of December. On this day we came together to celebrate his life. We woke early and headed to Idaho for the service. The girls stayed at Grandma Tatums house so that we could carpool and save money on gas. We drove up with Audrey and Matt. We had fun talking and reminiscing as we took the long drive. I had a hard time keeping my emotions in check throughout the whole day. I only knew Grandpa a short time, but I loved him! He was a great man and will be truly missed!

Dave played with his mom and sisters some prelude music. The music in the air as we sat outside was beautiful!

Dave comes from a talented family. Later in the service Emily sang a beautiful song, but I didnt get a picture because I was already crying too much! Thanks Emily for your beautiful voice and uplifting words.

The kids all got up together and took turns sharing stories of there Dad. They mentioned his Integrity, Hard Work, Love of his Family, and his teaching to preserve, just to mention a few.

At the end they allowed others to share memories. Most were too choked up to share there thoughts out loud. We then ate cookies and mingled. It was great to visit with family all day and to remember such a great man.

Grandma was a trooper. I love this woman and respect her so much! Thanks for all you do and the friendship that we share Grandma! We could not stay more then just the day so after visiting it was time to head home. We all drove together so that we could stop and get dinner at Maddox. This time Jenni and Mark drove with us. We had a great conversation and I loved being able to catch up and visit with them! It was a long day, but I was grateful to finally pay tribute to such a wonderful husband, dad, grandpa, and great grandpa! We Love You!

Dance Benefit Concert

2011-06-14T19:36:00.000-07:00

June 10, 2011

Remember that rehearsal I mentioned after Lily's tumbling recital? Well it was for the Benefit Concert I was in on Friday night. The Concert was to raise awareness and money for the fund Team Stephanie. It was created for Stephanie Petersen, a friend from high school, who last year past away from Small Cell Ovarian Cancer at the age of 26. The concert was on the anniversary of her death. She loved dancing and was a very sweet soul. Her parents created the foundation after her death. Her friends from high school came together to put this thing on and it was amazing! I feel blessed for the chance to have participated. They ended up raising 9,000 dollars for the fund and the evening was so enjoyable. I was able to perform with some dance company friends from high school. It felt great to be on the stage again. After my piece I was able to sit and watch the second half of the show. So many people came together and made an incredible thing happen! The show was very good and I had many family members come and support me as I danced with my group! (thanks!)

This was few of the girls I danced with. It was fun to see them all again and dance with them!

Lily's Tumbling Recital

2011-06-13T19:27:00.000-07:00

June 2, 2011

Lily's tumbling class had a little recital at the studio. They set it up like an actual gymnastics competition so we got to see Lily do each different event.

They started by everyone stretching.

Lily's Class started on the Vault

They did floor and beam next, but I forgot to get pictures. They finished with the barres, Lilys favorite. It amazes me what that kid can do on this thing!

Then they all bowed

Potts and Papa came too!

It was a really fun to see her do all her stuff! Good Job Lily, we love you!

Afterward Daddy took the girls and Potts and Papa to get ice cream while I headed to rehearsal......Hope it was good :)

Memorial Day

2011-06-12T19:11:00.000-07:00

May 30, 2011

Memorial Day Baseball got turned into Memorial Day Volleyball due to the rain. I hate when that happens, but it was still really fun! Dave and I ended up on different teams. I was really good at serving, but that was about all! I asked Emily to take some pictures with my camera and she got some great action shots-Thanks Emily!

Potts was our team Captain. He did a great job! Our team finished in Second Place.

Daves team Captain was Aunt Connie. They took First Place.

The girls liked cheering for the teams

and playing with the toys and kids in the Nursery Room

After all the games were finished we pulled out the hug ball and played as a big group

That ball really hurt unless you had two or three people doing it at the same time!

After everyone had there fill playing we all filled our tummies! We had hot dogs as the main course and everyone brought something to share. It was quite the feast! We had a blast as always, but next year I am hoping for sunny skies!

Hail

2011-06-01T19:35:00.000-07:00

Sunday May 22, 2011

Sunday afternoon while we were hanging out a hail storm hit our house. It was crazy and came on quickly. We went outside to sit on the porch and watch. Our neighbors were out there too so we sat and chatted. The thunder and lighting was right above our head. The hail only lasted five minutes or so, but sure dropped a lot! This was taken off the side of our house....

Our driveway

The other side of the house.

Neighbors yard. They didn't get as much coming out of there drain, we are hoping that means that our drains are really clear! :)

Pretty crazy, but fun to sit outside and watch the storm!

Lilys Dance Recital

2011-05-29T19:21:00.000-07:00

May 21, 2011

My students had there dance recital at the 11am show. It worked out nice because Lily's was in the later show and I was able to sit and relax and enjoy watching her instead of working back stage. These are my cute students. There song was an Elvis song and the costume looked great! They did so good too!

Right after I finished up with my students Dave delivered Lily to me at the school and I got her ready back stage! She did such a good job! If you want to see the dance go to the earlier Lagoon post. Its the same dance. We loved watching her and she actually ended up getting to do it twice because other girls in her class were too shy to make it up on stage the first time! She did great both times! Afterward she of course got flowers and we went to get ice cream.

She remembered last year that she got flowers so she kept asking for them. We tried to hide them from her, but she eventually saw them! She loved them of course!

The cousins we being watched by Gammie and Potts so they tagged along to see the show too!

Sisters

Thanks to all that came and supported Lily!

Gammie and Potts

Grandpa and Grandma

Aunt Emily

Lily also received a special gift....

Her first Precious Moments Dancer....thanks Grandma!

We went to Artic Circle to get ice cream (and food for me who had not eaten lunch yet!) The food was good and the girls loved there ice cream. It was a great day and a relief to have it finished as well!