Tarek's Baptism

So on November 30th my handsome, sweet little man made the choice to be baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints!  It is crazy to me that he is 8! He had the choice to get baptized earlier either in October or early November, but because of pumpkins his Grandma and Grandpa Beck were going to have a hard time coming.  So he decided to wait a little in order for them to be here. It was such a super special day and because he waited we were also able to have a few cousins make it up here with the Thanksgiving Holiday. 

For a kid who really hates getting his pictures taken he was a very good sport that day :)

For one of the talks that day my Dad gave a talk on the Gift of the Holy Ghost.  In the talk he told the two boys getting baptized that if they share their Testimonies that they will be able to feel the spirit and since the following day was fast Sunday he challenged them to stand and share their testimonies.

Tarek took this to heart (which means he was actually listening!) and stood up on Sunday and shared his wonderful testimony! It was the first time he has every had the courage to get up, and I loved getting to hear him share.  What a great example he is to his sisters and friends.

Love you Tarek! We are super proud of you and your choice.

 

(Cousins that where there: Kanyon, Kaydra, Timberlyn, Miranda, Iriel, Kalli, Shylee, Tarek, Dreyken, Sage and Riley)



Family Pictures

 

A few months ago, while visiting Dan's parents house we were able to have his amazing cousin Jessica come and take our family pictures.  I didn't have any really good / professional pictures of Iriel yet so I was super excited to see all of the super cute ones she got of her.  She always does such an amazing job, even with a family like mine who all HATE to have their pictures taken (yes me included :) ) I let Dan and the kids have a say in the clothes this year, so we ended up with casual soccer and then of course I got to have my pick of some more dressed up ones.  It turned out easy since we all had clothes that matched from Jackson's and Chelsea's wedding a few weeks earlier. I know there are a lot, but I wanted to post them all so that when I get around to making the blog a book, I will have them all! And it would have been way to hard to chose.

The Big #8

It is hard to believe 8 years ago we got blessed with our amazing little man Tarek. I can't believe it has already been 8 years! For his first birthday party we celebrated at Grandma and Grandpa Fuller's house with family. He of course wanted a soccer themed cake so we made a soccer field and then used the letters for players, and dyed coconut flakes for the grass. It actually turned out really cute and was super easy to do. (Other then the player part as I don't know much about soccer so had to get some assistance from Dan) Next was his real actual birthday where we let him open his gifts from us. And then final, on Saturday he got to have a friend birthday party. We decided this year because there are so many boys around to rent out a local gymnastics facility and let the boys get out some energy. Tarek has so much of it I can't keep up with him. He had started the day out by running his first 5K and did AWESOME! He ran / jogged almost the entire thing ending at 30:27 and got third place for kids K-2. > And then he still had enough energy to go crazy at his party for over an hour. A few things I want to remember about Tarek right now - He has a super kind heart and always has. He loves to make people happy and to make sure everyone is doing good. He still loves to give his mom kisses :) I love that he still wants people to know I am his mom. He is a very good brother to all of his sisters, he does like to tease a lot, especially Dreyken, but it is always in a good silly kind of way. He has a super infectious laugh and once he gets going he has a hard time stopping. Tarek is also a very loyal and good friend. Not a day goes by that I don't have several kids knock on the door asking to play with Tarek. He loves everyone and is so non-judgmental. We are so lucky to have such a happy, silly, handsome, caring little man in our family. Happy Birthday Tarek!

Blessing

So I am super late again with posting, but better late then never I guess. We blessed Iriel in June and were able to have both Grandparents (I still need to get a picture from Lorie of her and David with Iriel) and two sets of Great Grandparents there. I am so grateful she has so many people who love her and that she has meet so many of her Great Grandparents. We blessed her in our home and it turned out super nice and simple. Love this little girl! She is however taking after her siblings and as soon as the camera comes out she quits smiling and stares blankly. Thus not many smiley pictures and a few with a lot of slobber :)

Kalli's 12!

From this ... To this ... It is hard to believe that my little girl turned 12 today! And for her birthday she gets to spend the week with these girls at Girls Camp! It is so hard to believe that twelve years ago this silly girl was brought into our family. I remember being so nervous and scared, wondering who she was going to be, and what she would be like. Needless to say the worry wasn't necessary. She has turned out to be an amazing, goofy, funny, smart, intelligent, kind hearted person. I would love to be with her for today, but am so glad she is getting the chance to be at Girls Camp and hope she is having as much fun as I did when I first went. We are super blessed to get to have her in our family and I am so grateful to get to be her mom. Happy Birthday Kalli!

Three months old (just a little late)

So I know I am a bit late at getting pictures up for her three month, what can I say, we have been busy! I am seriously in love with this little girl! She is a super easy, go with the flow baby and is almost always happy. She loves to smile, especially at her siblings. She coos and talks quite a bit, and still always wants to see what is going on. She is still not sleeping through the entire night, but she does put herself to sleep in her bed which is very nice most of the time. Just not when we are out and she wants to go to sleep in her own bed. I feel so blessed to get to be her mom.