One year older

 We had a big month of birthdays!!   Our baby Beji turned 5.  Sheri made him an authentic Lightning Mcqueen Cake.  We had a pinata and roasted hot dogs and marshmellows on the fire.  Well, that was the plan until it started pouring rain.  So Dan roasted hot dogs in the rain and ferried them inside for everyone to eat.  Ben brings so much energy, fun, and joy into our life.  We feel blessed to have him in our family!

 The front yard picnic is becoming something of a tradition in our family.  When the weather is nice and we have any excuse (like on Dan's birthday!), we haul our dinner out front and make the ants' day.  Sheri treated Dan to rock climbing on his birthday.  We would have posted pictures but it was just the two of us, so no one was there to snap photos.  Sheri also made him pumpkin pie, his favorite!  That is one lucky guy.  Oh, she did forget to put sugar in it . . . but we managed to sprinkle hefty doses on top.

 Just eight days after Ben's birthday, Gideon turned one.  It took him a while to figure out what to do with his cake.  He got really excited when Sheri gave it to him - he flapped his arms and grinned like all get-out.  But it took some prodding from his big sisters and brother to sink his fingers in and tear it apart like a wild man.

 We can't believe Gideon is one!  He loves his massive tennis ball - and he has three attentive siblings to help him play with his new toys.

 That boy loves spaghetti!

 Grandma and Grandpa Condie made it over for Gideon's birthday festivities.  They always brighten our day!

 Ben has been practicing baseball out front with Dan and he is really starting to pick up a solid swing.  He went to town on his Lightning McQueen pinata on his birthday (we picked up the pinata habit from Eric and Katie, and can't seem to kick it - the kids expect one for every birthday now - it makes things special to beat something up with a bat on your birthday :-)

 Ellie is our soccer girl!  She is the only girl on her team and she is doing awesome!  She has also been doing swim lessons and a dance class so she is becoming quite the young lady.  (Dan bought her a kid's climbing harness and can't wait to get her out on the ropes this summer)

 Maggie and Ellie decided they wanted to get their ears pierced after they heard that their cousin Mallory went under the gun in Washington.  They started having second thoughts after they got the store.  With a little bribe from the cashier/piercer, Maggie was brave enough to go first - she really, really wanted to get them pierced and feel like a big girl (even though Sheri offered to take her home 50 times to reconsider - but Maggie wouldn't hear of it).  She screamed like a wild banshee.  And she didn't stop for a while.  She was all smiles and peaches and cream when she got home though to show off her earrings to daddy.

 Ellie said she didn't want to get her ears pierced, and she just came to the store as a conscientous observer.  After Maggie did it, though, Ellie said she was ready to try it.  She was nervous, and as she was preparing to ascend to the chair of pain, she started to cry and asked Sheri why she was making her get her ears pierced.  Sheri told her to hop down and everyone would go home and not worry about it.  But Ellie wouldn't leave.  She insisted she really did want them pierced.  The second they were pierced, she stopped crying and said it didn't hurt that bad.

 Uncle Bryant came to visit from Washington for his birthday.  The kids had tons of fun with him, and as always, with Uncle Nate, who they were trying to overpower on the teeter-totter.  Just give them a few more years, Nate.

 All the kids think Uncle Bri is the coolest.  Mosbly because he is . . . but also because he has an iPhone that plays movies.  What could be better than that.  We didn't see him for a few weeks, and the second he walked in the door, Benji asked him about the movie they watched with the crazy bird and the cat.  I guess once you get Loonie Tunes in your head they're stuck for life.

 Dan gives the kids a piggyback ride every night.  They alternate between single rides up and down the stairs, a double-double where they tag team him, and a triple, which usually doesn't last quite as long.

Uncle Bri's came over for his birthday in March.  Sheri went all out on salmon, and the kids were so excited to help make his cake.  In fact, Ben wanted to pick out the same flavor as Uncle Bri for his birthday in April.  We're glad you're going to school in our neck of the woods, Bri.

Utah fun

We made a trip to temple square to see the lights and get into the spirit of Christmas. There were tons of people, but the kids didn't seem to notice, we had a wonderful time. Here they are with their cousins at the statue of Chirst.

Here we are trying to keep warm looking at the lights.

We took lots of breaks insided to get warm. Gideon seems to love something in the tabernacle.

Leaves, Leaves, Leaves. We could not get enough leaves this fall. Benjamin would carry them home from our hikes and they would "steal" leaves from nieghbors because we did not have enough in our front yard.

They loved running an jumping in the piles.

Christmas if Coming

The kids loved putting up all the decorations for Christmas. We actually put up our tree a few days before Thanksgivng. We have been enjoying turning on the lights and looking at our tree in the evenings.

Dan and I both wanted a real Christmas tree that we cut down, but when we learned all the permits were gone for the year, and my sister had a fake tree she was no longer using, and Dan really wanted to buy more climbing holds and well the fake tree was free, we caved and put up a fake tree.

Happy Birthday Maggie

Our little Maggie girl just turned three, I can't believe it. She woke up at 6 am and was so excited for her presents. She opened them all before she ate Captain Crunch for breakfast.

This is an early morning shot of all the kids.

Maggie wanted a butterfly birthday cake and she was so happy that it was decorated with skittles.

This picture captures Maggie totally. The pinata knocked her down at one poin,t and she got right back up and kept on swinging. She got the leotard that she is wearing for her birthday and she has worn it every day since.

She wanted a butterfly pinata and I made one out of a balloon and I was going to put a picture of butterfly on it, but I went to bed and Dan decided to help me and decorate it and lets just say it was a work of love that took a long time and ended up looking ..... well just look at the pic.

We love are little girl. She brings so much love and spice into our lives.

Happy Halloween!!!

I know you were all dying to know what the Myers were for halloween, so here you go.



Here we are carving pumpkins. The kids didn't really like the guts, so we had to help dig them out. Benji figured out that pumpkins make pumpkin pie. So we cooked them up and Sheri made a couple awesome pumpkin pies.

Benji the pirate, and Ellie the elephant ready to hit the road trick-or-treating!

To help the whole family hit the road ASAP after Dan got home from work, Sheri arranged a special Papa Murphy's feast! The kids didn't really like it. I guess they're too used to the cheap $5 cardboard Little Ceasar's fare we usually buy.

Here are the trick-or-treaters on the front porch. Maggie is a beautiful ladybug, and Ellie is taking care of Gideon the pumpkin. Ben has his game face on - he is ready to get some candy!

Dan's work had a big Halloween party. They spent tens of thousands of dollars on candy and decorations - each floor had teams. Dan's floor made a corn maze in their office. It was pretty darn cool.

Dan wore an outfit he picked up in Kuwait. He was definitely getting some nervous stares throughout the evening . . .

Man did we have an awesome Halloween. Gideon stayed home to help pass out candy, Ben and Ellie trekked tirelessly around the neighborhood for a couple hours, and Maggie finally caved and hopped a ride in the stroller on the way home. The kids are already planning their costumes for next year.

Gideon Blair Myers

Gideon Blair Myers was born April 19, 2011 at 6:46 pm. He weighed 8 lbs 5 oz is 20 in long.
Here is a picture of Gideon coming home from the hospital.

Here are all the kids welcoming the baby home.

He is one mellow happy baby

He was my longest hardest labor at 5 hours.

All the kids came to visit the hospital and they wanted to hold him non-stop

Those are some chubby cheeks

This is just before they induced me.

Here is my huge belly before I went to the hospital.

Happy birthday to Dan

This picture captures Dan's happiness and goodness. We are all so lucky that we get to have him in our lives. We love you.

Happy Birthday to Ben!!

We celebrated Ben's birthday today. The pictures are in reverse order, but I hope they give you a feel for the fun day.

more presents.

Collecting Candy after the alligator broke.

Opening presents.

Yum, Yum, yum. Ben wanted to eat the head off the alligator.

I can't believe my baby boy is 4 years old. He brings so much love and goodness to our family. I can still remember the day he came into our family and it makes me happy, although a little inadequate.

We went to the party supply store to find an alligator pinata and they had one, but as soon as Ben saw this dragon one he couldn't part from it. He carried it home on his lap. So much for a themed party. Everyone got a whack at the dragon and then Dan let all the kids jump on it because is was not where near ready to break. Then on round 2 Ben broke the pinata.

It is actually not Ben's birthday for another couple day, but it is Dan's birthday today. Ben and Dan decided they could just share one cake; that made Ben really happy and he kept saying my Dan and I are sharing a cake.

Here is a pic of some of the kids starting the party. They colored pictures of an alligator, then the tried jumping over an alligator on the ground. They then had to keep a balloon in the air as long as they could so the alligator didn't chomp it. Then they had an egg hunt, pinata, cake and ice cream and finally presents. It was such a fun day and the kids loved it.

Ben requested an alligator cake and this was the best we could come up with

Ben's birthday started a few weeks ago when his G&G Myers sent him a present that he got to open early

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