Ellis Gets Baptized

Ellis is finally eight! We had some awesome soccer ball cupcakes to celebrate.

The birthday celebrations were pretty low-key this year, because we had a whole baptism to plan instead, but Ellis did get to have Daniel over and got some sweet Pokemon cards.

And here we are on the big day! Ellis was baptized on September 9th, 2016 at our church in Wilmette. We very nearly forgot to snap this photo before the baptism, but I'm so glad we could capture his proud and happy smile.

It took a fair amount of cajoling to convince Sam to join Henry and Ellis for the musical number, but in the end they all sang with gusto and did a great job.

We were so happy that many of Ellis' school friends came to support him at his baptism (and that Ellis was excited to invite all of them). They were so good to come to this instead of a standard birthday party, and luckily we rewarded them with plenty of treats at the end!

Ellis has always loved going to baptisms, and can probably still name every one that he's been to. It was so fun and special to have it finally be HIS turn, and he certainly knew exactly what he was supposed to do in each part. Even better, however, has been watching Ellis mature and prepare for this day. While he has always had a strong desire to do what is right, in the past year we have really started seeing him learn to show love and care for others in more meaningful ways. We're so glad he is continuing on that path, and setting the example for his younger brothers!

Archer's First Birthday

Before we get to the celebrations, you just have to see how this guy has grown over the last year:

Archer has definitely changed our house for the better. It's been a busy year, but in many ways we've seen a kinder, more loving side come out of his three older brothers as they've assumed the role of teacher, protector, and entertainer for him. That's been so fun to watch.

And Archer himself is certainly worth celebrating! Here's how we did it:

Cupcakes!!! That look like Archer's favorite thing in the whole world: Balls!!!

And presents!!! (Not that he cares what is in them...)

Balls!!!

He picked it up pretty quickly.

A different kind of ball!!! (Are you sensing a theme to this little boy?)

Cupcake time!

"Archer is SO big!"

First time to have frosting...

He approves! Looks like he belongs in our family.

One year of smiles and wiggles in the books. Here's to many more! 

February Utah Trip

After two winters in Chicago, we have learned that when February rolls around, it becomes necessary to get away from Chicago and the cold, if one wants to preserve their sanity.  This year, our winter weather wasn't actually horrible, but we had already planned a trip to Utah...and honestly, it turned out to be very therapeutic and wonderful!

The boys were thrilled because our family is now officially too big to fit in any of our parents' cars, so we had to get a rental van.  With automatic doors!  And a DVD player!  And this nifty mirror that I thought would make a cooler family selfie than it did.  Still, the van was a major highlight of the trip.

It turned out that we got to be in Utah for my birthday! So we planned a really full day of fun from dawn to dusk.  We went to the Provo City Center Temple open house, and the only tour time we could get was for 7:30 in the morning.  So bright and early we went!  It actually turned out to be a great time because it was quiet and calm, and wow - the temple was beautiful!

Ben and I have really lovely memories of attending Stake Conference at the Provo tabernacle in the early years of our marriage.  We were so devastated to hear about the fire, but it really is so miraculous to see what has come of it.  The temple is so beautiful!  

It was neat to share it with the boys and let them see the inside of a temple.  They also enjoyed the informational area - where Sam tried on his Brigham Young pose.  

Then, this happened for breakfast.  

I love trendy Utah food places.  Waffle Love was amazing!!!

You might think that after that breakfast, we wouldn't want any more sugar for the rest of the year.  But it was my birthday, and the BYU Bookstore candy counter prevailed.  We aren't in Provo over Valentine candy season very often!  I had talked it up so much before the trip that the boys had saved their money for this moment.  I wasn't supervising very well when Henry ordered $8 worth of Sour Patch goodness...

Ben's parents then kept the boys while Ben and I took a lovely drive to Midway to see the quiet town and beautiful farmhouses like this one.  :)

We then met all of our parents for dinner in Salt Lake.  It was a great birthday!

The next day, we drove down to St. George and welcomed the INCREDIBLE feeling of 68 degrees!

We enjoyed some Smash Burger goodness with these guys and my parents.

The next morning, Sam and I took a little detour to the urgent care office because he had strep throat.  We needed to nip it in the bud before it ruined the rest of our trip!  Sam was a trooper and recovered pretty quickly.

He wasn't feeling awesome, but did his best to enjoy some exploring at Zion National Park.

I was so happy to see my boys, with no coats or jackets, enjoying the out of doors!

We hiked with my parents and Brady, McCall, & co. to the Emerald Pools.

Blake, Brady, and Ellis!

Archer almost didn't know what to do with himself - outside and not all bundled up in his car seat.  Man, it was so refreshing for all of us.

The Emerald Pools turned out to be a perfect hike for our group and was so pretty! There was no way to capture the beauty of the pools in a picture, but it was really cool.

I had a proud mom moment when Henry stopped us to make sure we were getting a good look at the spectacular views.  He had a lot to say about the science behind the amazing rock formations in the park, but he also could appreciate just how stunning and unique it was to look at.  I really love that boy.

Brady kept things interesting by initiating a "guess the Skittle color" competition.  We had to eat each of the five colors with our eyes closed and guess the color/flavor.  Turns out I'm not quite as good at this as I thought I would be!

One of the best parts about this trip was staying in a house with all of the cousins!  The Jacksons had to go to Isaac's soccer tournament while we were at Zion, but then we got to hang out and play with them a bunch at the house.  Our kids have so much fun together!  This is Henry and Ivan...

...and Sam and Max

We also were thoroughly entertained by James - Brady's 4-year-old.  He likes talking to adults, and I'm pretty sure he asked Ben and me, "What's your favorite thing about your garage?" at least 15 times each!  James loves garages and vacuum cleaners more than anything!

It was Valentine's Day on Sunday, so we decorated the obligatory heart cookies.

Turns out, pretty much all the kids were happy to help!

On Sunday, Kati had the idea to go to a place called Pioneer Park.  Sounded like a pretty appropriate Sabbath Activity.  It turns out that the other name for this place is "the butt crack."  And - believe it or not -  it turns out that our boys preferred calling it by the latter name.  

It was a really fun place to hike and explore!

Kati and her family exploring

Henry

James and Sam

Milo and Ellis

It was so refreshing to spend time in the sun and especially to spend time with family!