A Beautiful 8 year old and her Baptism

 What a blessing Allee is!  It was so bitter-sweet to celebrate her 8th birthday, I can't believe she is already 8.  Time has passed and she has grown right before my eyes and I still feel like I have missed it!
Allee is such an awesome kid.  She takes good care of her brother and sister, leaves notes for Derek and I all over the house, and has the sweetest spirit about her. 
At 8 Allee loves:
Music: Justin Beiber and Selena Gomez
Movie: The Game Plan
Favorite thing about school: Recess
Best Friend: Mikiah Carter in Missouri
Favorite Color: Neon Green and Neon Pink
She loves to wear her hair down
Will wear anything with sequins or sparkle

We were blessed to have LOTS of family fly to Texas for Allee's baptism.  Stephanie and her kiddos came for a month while Dave is deployed in Afghanistan.  Judy came on Allee's birthday, and Christy, my parents and grandma came the next day.  We had a wonderful house full of people all weekend, and it made me miss having family close!

It was awesome to watch Derek baptize Allee.  What an amazing father/daughter moment.  Then when it came time for her confirmation Derek gave her a beautiful blessing.  What a blessing it is to have a priesthood holder in our home.  It was one of the sweetest moments between those two and I will never forget it. 

Congratulations Allee!!  We are so proud of your decision.  You couldn't be a more wonderful daughter.  We know that Heavenly Father has a special plan for you and we are so happy you have chosen to follow the example of Jesus Christ. 

Layla's First Birthday

I am always amazed at how fast the first year goes by.  Our little Layla was one in the blink of an eye!

 Waking up to a room filled with balloons.  This little one was in heaven crawling all around chasing them.

 She was so into unwrapping.  She caught on very quickly and loved tearing the paper.  She got very upset if anyone tried to help her.

 Her favorite toy from Mom and Dad.  She would just hug it.

 This is her "after" picture.  No cake smashing for this kiddo.  She wouldn't even try the stuff!!  After about 10 minutes of coaxing I finally just gave up.

Lucky for her, my cake and ice cream was delicious.  She ate half my plate.  This girl is such a character!!  She makes me laugh, she is the best cuddler, loves her Daddy, and she puts a smile on my face every time I see her.

Happy 1st Birthday my little Layla!  We love you so much and are so blessed to have a spunky girl like you.
Layla's Stats at 1:
Weight: 16 lbs 7 oz
Hair:  Blond and for us TONS!
Loves: Rice cereal and oatmeal
Hates: Pretty much any other food.  The little stinker will some days love noodles and other days not even try them.  She is very strong willed, hence only weighing 16 lbs!
Crawls all over and will walk a little around furniture, but isn't even close to walking.
Loves to clap and squeal at the top of her lungs.

Saying Goodbye

Saying goodbye to Missouri was harder than I had ever imagined it would be.  Our friends there quickly became our family, and it was heartbreaking to leave them. 

I wish I had a picture of our friends the Woodlands.  Sonya was the best thing to happen to me in Missouri.  She pulled me out of my comfort zone in such a good way and helped lift me out of the "moving depression".  Derek and Richard were able to play soccer together and go to World Series Cardinal games together.  Their older girls, Hannah and Whitney were amazing to my kids and were willing to babysit anytime, and just take care of the kids whenever Sonya and I wanted to do something.

Allee and Mia were great friends and had many a sleepover.  Jackson was Pierce's best bud and introduced him to things like monster trucks, Scooby-Doo, and most recently Star Wars.  Even little Layla had a buddy, she and Audrey were only six weeks apart.

I was able to go to Sonya's and exercise three times a week, which was not only physically but emotionally therapeutic.  We went to movies like Footloose and danced in our chairs.  I couldn't have asked for anyone better to be in my life.

 The Wilkins family in our ward has the most amazing kids.  This is Gavin giving Pierce a ride on his pony.  Pierce absolutely LOVES Gavin, and bless Gavin's heart he is 10 and will still take Pierce out to see the chickens, horses, and other animals on the farm without complaining.  Pierce calls him one of his best friends.  MaKenna is Allee's buddy and since Alan is the bishop, MaKenna would come over almost every Sunday after church until her dad was done with meetings. 

The older boys, Austin, Caiden, and Colten have been some of Derek's young men at one time or another.  He became so attached to them, and they will forever have a special place in his heart.

 The Carter's lived right across the street.  They were one of the first to "adopt" us.  Allee and Mikiah became instant friends and they played together practically every day.  In the summers they were inseparable from sun up until bedtime.  Multiple times when I have had the girls around town I have been asked if they were twins.  They love to dress alike and have their hair the exact same.  Kiah is such a sweet and amazing girl and she will be so very missed.

 Pierce's bedroom.

 The girls room.

Miss Lynn.  I cannot say enough about Lynn.  She has become another Grandma to my kids.  She loves them so much and would come over and ask if I needed to go somewhere just so she could spend time with the kids.  She is an amazing woman, and someone I look up to so very much, it was insanely hard to say goodbye to her. 

So now here we are, trying to adjust to moving again here in Texas.  We love our home which helps a lot.  So far we haven't met anyone, but we are hopeful to find some friends for the kids to help make the transition easier on them.  Time will tell. 

For now, we are enjoying time together as a family.

Almost there!

I am shocked and amazed at all the work that has been done on the Texas house in just two days!  Things are really coming along and they are looking beautiful! 

 doors to the office

 I love that they do all the front landscaping for us!

Derek is supposed to close tomorrow, so here's hoping!

Ready?

Derek is in Texas right now, and these are the pictures he send of the house.  It is really looking beautiful, but he is supposed to close on Thursday.  I am a little nervous it won't be ready in time.  There still isn't any grass or landscaping done either. 

Oh well, no sense stressing about something I have absolutely NO control over!!  For the time being I will look at these beautiful pictures and pretend that the decorating fairy will have been there by the time I get there!

 Pierce & Layla's bathroom

 Laundry Room

Our Shower

Texas House

These are the updates on our house as of last week.  The cabinets are supposed to be in by the end of this week and I am so excited to see an update!  The last picture is the view of the lake from the front of our property!  It really is beautiful and luckly that lot should stay empty for a while!

Update

I am so completely hopelessly behind!!!!

Here are some updates of what our kiddos have been up to.

Layla is now 9 months.  Where has the time gone!  She is trying to scoot all over the floor.  She can wave, say Dada, and will occasionally say mama but only when she is crying. 

Pierce turned 4 in March.  He is such a handsome kid and full of energy.  He can be sweet as pie one minute and such a typical boy (you know laughing at farts and fun stuff like that) the next.

Allee is 7 and just finished first grade.  She is a great helper and is so fun to shop with.  She loves to play with friends and is becoming such a little tween!

The biggest news in our life right now is that we are moving!  Derek is getting transferred to Stephenville, Texas.

We went house hunting over Memorial Day week and found this awesome house that we fell in love with.  It is perfect, 4 bedrooms and a 3 car garage.  The only downside, there are no basements in Texas.  I have some adjusting to do!!

The house is coming along great and should be finished by the middle of July.  That means by the end of July we will be making the move.  It is very bitter sweet for us.  It is a great opportunity for Derek, but we have made such wonderful friends here who have really become our extended family.  It will be do difficult to leave, but we know that this must be where the Lord wants us at this time.

So Texas here we come.

My goal is to get better caught up and hopefully there will be some new house pics to share soon.  So far the inside is sheet rocked and they just put the rock on the fireplace!  It is so exciting and so odd to be building a house when you can't check up on it!