4 years old

Dear Zackery,

NO WAY! You are FOUR??? How did that happen?

Happy Birthday Buster. I first became a mother the day after Mother's Day on May 12, 2008.

I told my mom I wasn't ready, and i'm sure i've thought that a few more times along the way.

Zack you are the cutest little stud I have ever seen and your personality matches you perfectly. 

You are smart, witty, hilarious, sneaky, sweet and your imagination is amazing.    

You are my little buddy, my big helper, you love to play with your sister and you can keep her pretty

entertained with your wild imagination. I love when you have blankie parties and you 

and Ruby roll around and giggle. Your sister loves you SO much!

 You currently have 6 kids (stuffed dogs & a blankie) their names are Buster, Maxi, Bernie #2,
 Scott, Daddy Doggie and Baby Blankie. Each have a story behind their name and
 each of them have jobs, and drive either a race truck, Mustang, Charger or bus.
You are still obsessed with cars. Your latest love is our new van. 

When I look into your face I see joy. You are almost always happy. The other day we were in

the grocery store and you were grinning from ear to ear. I asked you why you were smiling and you

said to me "Because I love you". I almost shed a tear right there in the check out isle!

You really are a sweet boy, your soul is deep, you get life. It is such a privilege to be your mom.

I wonder what you will do in your life, and I expect that it will be amazing.

You still ask questions, it drives me nuts. (remember how much I love you?) 

Lately i've been trying to cure you of the obvious why's by asking you a question in return

to make you think instead of asking why. This morning I found you sitting at the bar very quietly next to a bag of chocolate. I was extremely curious as to why you were sitting there. I asked what you were

doing. You answered that you were just sitting there. I thought to myself "yeah, uh huh". So I asked

the million dollar question "WHY are you sitting there?" You looked at me like I was an idiot, and said "Mommy, why do we sit???" I laughed and laughed and laughed, touche' little man!

Zack you have so many people around that love you so much! Please never grow up, always keep
that innocent curiosity. Never stop giving us special hugs. (here come the tears)
You have the ability to make anyone smile, always use that for good. I pray that you will continue to
love primary and learning about the gospel. I promise I wont stop you from asking questions
when we read scriptures. Sometimes I wonder if you can really comprehend all that you
have been taught. Until I hear you telling your sister about how when we die we will go to "the heaven side" and that we will be there together forever. You also said to Ruby "You know God? Yeah, he's our Dad too."

Love you Buster,
more than you'll ever know!
-MOMMY

Good times MARCH EDITION

 Every spring my mom likes to plant grass in pots and then we set Easter eggs inside and it looks darling. So this year I planted one for Zack. He had a blast trimming his lawn.

 Crazy Hair

Cute Hair

Zack and my grandpa playing Candy Land. These are 2 serious gamers, it was
hilarious to listen to them argue about who was playing incorrectly.
They didn't even finish the game because they couldn't agree on the rules.

Recognize this hat? Zack has been wearing this at my Grandma's since he was a baby.

Fun trip to the Sandy Fire Station

Zack had lots of questions for the firemen. He asked to look inside one of the equipment trucks, he glanced inside and decided it was a boring one. However, every time he tells someone about the fire station the first thing out of his mouth is "We went to the fire station, and they have a boring engine there."

Finally finished Ruby's wall decor. Once a week the kids will rip them off the wall,
but at least I have this picture to tell me what order they go on. 

A giant birthday strawberry. 

She looked like a little mouse clutching a huge nut. 

She was in heaven!

Sometimes brothers are nice to baby sisters

And sometimes they decide they've been nice enough....

Happy Birthday to Ruby

We HAD to go to Ruby's favorite place for her birthday. Her favorite place is Joe's (Joe Morley's BBQ)
or maybe that's just because she has never been anywhere else. I heard from a almost 4 year old that Joe
has the best macaroni and cheese! (might be another reason why we go there.)

Mmmm, peppermint pie

This is the best picture I got of Ruby at her birthday dinner

Afterword we went to Toys R Us to get her b-day present. She got lost in the giant basket of bears.

Trying out her new swing

This used to be her favorite mode of transportation

The girl loves to feel the wind in her face!

Love these chubby cheeks! 

Denver trip Feb 2012

Back in February we were able to take a trip to Denver to see Kevin's parents and also his sister's family that also lives there. 

It was a LONG drive.........

The kids got to see some super cool cousins, this is Hayden, he is 1 month older than Ruby. 

He makes her look skinny! 

One day while we were in Denver we took a special trip downtown to the 

Denver Fire Fighter Museum. We rode the trax of course! This is a mural they have

at the Littleton trax station. Below is Zack there about 2 years ago. 

It was so fun to just focus on Zack that day. Ruby got to stay home with

Grandma and Zack was thrilled to get all that attention from

Mom and Dad. 

"Love me a train ride!"

The firehouse had the front end of an engine to play on, as we were leaving Zack 

got the whole thing to himself. He was in HEAVEN. 

Upstairs they had a kids area where they had books, toys and computer games

all about fire trucks, fire safety and firemen. I was thrilled when Zack 

immediately ran to the toys on the floor while all the other kids played on 

the computers. 

This station had real fire poles all throughout the building but they 

were all blocked off. Zack was really excited to actually 

get to slide down a real fireman pole. 

"Hello my name is balloon face"

Balloon man, created by Zack and Skyler. 

Sadly I do not have any pictures of the kids with their grandma and grandpa. 

SHAME ON ME!

One thing I would like to remember about this trip was that one night Grandma Rita made 

cinnamon rolls before dinner (Zack's all time favorite). We told him he could only have one

if he ate his dinner (which never happens). Sure enough he clean his plate, but it was spaghetti 

which he will eat 45% of the time. However, I'm pretty sure he would eat a brick 

if he knew a cinnamon roll was waiting for him. 

We were blessed with fantastic weather on the way there and back. On the way

home we stopped in Price and played at the park to get some energy out. 

Zack and Daddy racing their mustangs. 

This was such a great trip, wish I would have taken more pictures. 

I really needed this little getaway to put my head on 

straight and help me be happy with my current life. Boy did that happen! 

In fact I think I am still on my "Denver high".

One funny story about Zack. One day we went to the mall and there was 

a Lamborghini in the parking lot. Being the mom of a super obsessed car fanatic I was

excited to show it to him. He quickly said to me "I just like Mustangs and Ferrari's,

NOT Lamborghini's." No big deal mom, I see these every day....

Thanks Grandma Rita and Grandpa Curt for the great trip! 

Mommy & Ruby

Thank you Zack for taking this picture. 

Ruby... one year old

I am so behind... 

Dear Ruby, 

You are actually 13 months at this very date, but I wrote these things about you just after your birthday. 

Girl you are sassy, giggly, snuggly, chubby and such a sweet heart! You are learning very quickly how to communicate, you talk at every opportunity. The thing you love to say most is Dadda, and mostly while we are in the car. The other words you say are: Mamma, Dack (Zack), Bapa (Grandpa) Uh Oh, Moo (Cow) Baba (milk) No no, Matt, Whoa, and Wow. I think you try to say grandma but it's hard to tell. You also like to make monkey, dog, cat and duck sounds. 

Your favorite things are: Zebra's, I think because of Aunt Emily's obsession, cows, or any other animal, blankies, music, dancing, food and of course your brother. 

Favorite Foods: Milk, strawberries, bananas, asparagus, green beans, black beans, cereal and bread. 

You love to wrestle with Zack and have tickle fights with Mommy and Daddy. You also love to swing, and you love to swing HIGH. At one year old you were taking a few steps but not usually on your own. Now a month later you are getting brave and taking steps willingly. You think you are sooo cool for that! Something funny about you taking steps though is that you really don't like standing on your own. As of your 1st birthday you had already had 3 hair cuts and it's about time for another one. You have 7 teeth and are working on 3 molars. 

As far as your size, your Mamma and her bad back think you are ginormous. At your 1 year check up you weighed 22 .6 pounds and you were 29 1/2 inches tall. Much to my surprise Zack was 22.3 pounds and 30 1/8 inches tall. I thought for sure you were bigger than him!

Here are some sweet pictures of you as a one year old.

Happy ONE YEAR to our Princess!

 We love you!