New Baby, Christmas and Jake is 3

December 21 (Lu's due date) at 11:58 pm I got a call from my mom that Lu's water broke. I got dressed and headed to the hospital. We were going to have a baby within the next 24 hours. Lu wanted to go as long as she could without pain meds and she went 4 hours with some really hard contractions then decided to med up. I was so proud of her she did so good. Here are the proud parents waiting to meet their little man.
And by 3:00 pm the next day he was here. In the room was Lu, Nick, My mom, Me, Audrey, Heather and Kelly. I think we all were bawling when he finally made his grand entrance.
Paul Robert Larkin 7 pounds and 20 inches long and SUPER CUTE!
All cleaned off and wrapped up.
I went home and got the kids and went back to the hospital. Jake loves to hold baby Paul and asks to hold him all the time.
Evie didn't go to the hospital... she wanted to play with her cousins so here she is a few days later holding the baby. BTW... his cap says Mmmmm.... boobies!
Lydia holding baby Paul at the hospital.
Then a few days later it's Christmas Eve. We did our party at my Mom and Dads and this year they surprised us all with a Santa visit. This is the same Santa that we had when I was a little girl.


Even Papa had a turn on Santa's lap. These two have been friends for a long time.
Christmas Eve photo of my kiddos in their Christmas Jammies that they get every Christmas Eve. I took about 10 of these and this was the best one. Jake pulled a crazy face in every shot.
My Aunt Linda sent a present for all the kids this year. All the younger kids got these pillow pets, which they played with forever. The older girls got watch rings and Connor got money and Jelly Belly's. Thanks Aunt Linda for thinking of all our kiddos.
Evie loving Unkie. My kids just love my brother. He picks on them a lot but they take it well and love these times when he wants to cuddle with them.
Christmas morning. Evie wanted and IPod touch... and with funds being tight she got a used IPhone which she seemed to love even more then the touch... even with no service.
Lydia was hard to shop for. She's at the age where dolls don't really excite her and she is still a little young for electronics to be what she wants. Lydia loves art so she got a lot of that and was happy.
Jake Christmas night... He had to take this sword to bed with him. He takes a toy almost every night.
This is the second year I have baked pies for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I make a pecan and an apple cranberry. I am getting better with each time I make them.
Then two days later my baby turned 3. I have always loved this time of year but after Christmas I use to have this feeling of let down. Just with the holidays being over... until I had Jake and now he extends my holiday feeling a few more days. He is such a sweet, loving, funny, stubborn, into everything little boy. Each year I learn a new thing about having a baby right after Christmas. 1- get the birthday present while Christmas shopping. Don't go the day after Christmas... it's chaos and presents are picked over. 2- (I learned this this year) If Christmas lands on a Sunday... most bakery shops will be closed Monday in observation of Christmas so you wont be able to order a cake. I had to make a cake this year.
Jake blowing out his candles. Jake loves dinosaurs so we did a dinosaur cake. Everyone said it was good but next year I will order a cake before Christmas... just to make sure.
So now on to New Years! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and have a Happy New Year! Love you all!

SANTA CLAUS and Jake

Jake has never sat on Santa's lap. I shouldn't admit this but it's true. I was so good with my girls pictures every 3 months, video taping all the time and taking them shopping and out to lunch. I don't do that with Jake. He will be 3 in 8 days and he has had 1 professional picture taken and has never sat on Santa's lap. I don't take him shopping and we never go "out" to lunch. I decided to make a day of it. My mom had the day off and she met us at the mall. Picture taking with Santa has changed a lot in 3 years. They don't let you take pictures with your own camera anymore... (even Santa needs Christmas cash I guess). Jake went right up to Santa and climbed in his lap. He asked Santa for a T-Rex. We went to Chili's for lunch and Jake ate all the chips and queso and wanted more. We did some shopping. Rode the carousel at the mall. He had a blast and didn't want to come home. I don't have a scanner at home so I took a picture with my cell phone of the photo of Jake with Santa.

My Baby is 9

Evelyn turned 9 today. My first baby, who made me a mom. I love her so much and can't believe that we have had 9 years already. I feel like I have blinked and the past 9 years passed by with my eyes closed. I was thinking today that 9 more years and she will be an adult. We are already half way there... make time stop. Evelyn is such a sweet girl and is always so worried about others.
Evelyn loved this little lizard we caught in St. George. They held it forever.
Happy Birthday Evie! We love you so much and are so proud of you.

Josh & Audrey's Wedding!

On Saturday Josh and Audrey tied the knot. They wanted to just go to Justice of the Peace but me and some other family talked them into doing a very small wedding. I am so glad we did... it was so amazing and everything was beautiful. They got married at Starks in their new chapel (which is gorgeous).
I love this picture. These two are so cute together.
Shayneh and Lacie (a good friend from work) made this cake for Audrey. They put soooo many hours into making the purple flowers from gum paste. it was beautiful and was probably one of the best cakes I have had in a long time... fresh raspberries inside.... yummy!!!
Mikayla, Audrey and Audies new stepdaughter, Riley.
Shayneh, Audrey and Jason Starks before the ceremony.
In the brides room before the ceremony. Mikayla was so excited to see her mom get married.
Yes this is the brides room... don't mind the stuff on the desk... (this is actually the Starks office, there is always lots going on in here).
Awwwhhh... Audie looked so beautiful.
The four of us. Best friends marry twins!!!
My dad is so cute. I love watching him do daddy daughter dances.
First Dance as husband and wife.
Okay seriously take the time to look at all the kids faces. It took forever to get everyone together and looking at the camera. Hehehe... I giggle every time I see this picture. Mad chaos all the time!
A year ago these two got married and in about 5 weeks they will welcome a son into their lives. I can't wait!
My mom danced forever with Lydia and Lyd loved it.

The happy couple and Reverend Davis. It was such a great night and the wedding was beautiful. I cried a couple times. I am so happy for Josh and Audrey. I wish them a lifetime of love and happiness!

Thriller

We took a little vacation down to St. George to spend a couple of days with Brett's folks. It's so nice when the kids are off track and we have a little vacation spot to get a way for a few days. Brett's parents got 4 tickets to see Thriller at Tuacahn theater. We made a girls night of it. Brett's mom and Lydia have never seen Thriller and I have never been to the Tuacahn theater so it was really fun for all of us. I loved the theater... even though it was a little cooler then normal. Thriller was amazing... I have seen it up here a handful of times but it had a different feel being outside. Here are some pictures of the Zombies walking around before and after the show.
This Zombie was my favorite. The all white outfit and how she tied the bow in with the red color blood on her face. And she had those cool contacts in.
This was after the show and Lydia started warming up to the Zombies.
Evie looks a little unsure in this picture. This Zombie was super scary. He had safety pins stuck in his skin all over his face. His blood was everywhere and he had some kind of bloody contacts in. I couldn't blame Lydia for staying clear from this one.
Of course a picture with Jason.
This mummy was one of the better mummy dancers I have seen in the last couple of years. He was amazing.
Evie thought this vampire was so pretty... so we had to get a picture with her.
With Grandma before the show started.
This was before... Lydia is making sure she keeps a distance from the Zombie. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for the Thriller tickets... it was amazing.

Fall Fun

So I am way behind on my blogging. I have been so bad lately on posting and yes... even reading other blogs. My kids are off track right now and it's just always crazy here. I decided I should try and catch up before too much happens and I feel completely lost. So here is just a bit of what we have been up to lately.
Our Halloween parade is done before we go off track and it's just for D track kids. Lydia with one of her best friends. Evelyn's teacher wouldn't let his class wear costumes they did a "Fall" party instead. Kinda sad for Evie.
Brett and I took the kids to a small pumpkin patch before we headed out of town to St. George for a couple days. It's really hard to get 3 kids to look at the camera and smile all at the same time.
They had all these tractors every where for the kids to sit on and take pictures.
Lydia had to climb a couple stairs to get up to this one.
They also had two free little corn mazes for the kids to run around in. It really was a lot of fun and the kids had a blast. I think we may have to make this a tradition. I love fall!