Birthday Boy

Dear Layton,
It's hard for me to believe that you are turning 8 years old! It seems like just yesterday I was holding you in my arms and cuddling my brand-new baby boy. What a blessing you have been to our family. I always tell everyone, if there was ever a boy that was perfect for having 3 sisters, you would be it. You are so good to them. And they love you. I smiled this morning when Kate came in all ready for church and said "Look at me, Layton", and you responded with a smile on your face, "Ooooh. Pretty Kate." I am grateful for your tender heart and concern for others. You are and have always been my buddy. I love it when you come up behind me in the kitchen and give me a hug for no reason at all. I love that I can always count on you to do the right thing. I am proud of your decision to be baptized in a few weeks and can hardly wait for the day to come. I hope you have a wonderful 8th birthday and I hope you know how blessed we feel to have you in our family!


Love.This.Kid.

THIS.......

..is what I get to do today. ALL DAY. Seriously.

Comin at ya a little late....

Not the typical vacation spot!

Don't ya just love free trips? Quinn is in the process of building a new dental office and the headquarters for some of the equipment that he has to purchase is in Portland. So the first week of December we were able to fly out to the coast, mainly for the purpose of choosing dental equipment, but we decided to make a little mini-vacation out of it. When I think of taking a trip, Oregon is not typically the first place that comes to mind...but I was surprised at how beautiful it was! Here are some of the highlights of our quick trip.


We decided to take a drive out to the coast one of the days, and on the way we found this cool Air and Space Museum. Inside this building is the actual Spruce Goose built by Howard Hughes. It is huge!! On the lawn in front of this building they have another huge 747 that they are planning on turning into a water park...with 4 water slides based off the airplane itself. Way cool.

This is as close as I have ever been to the pacific ocean. It's so beautiful. The waves were roaring this particular day and I found myself awed at the amazing creations that make up this world we live in.

I love this guy.

We were driving up the coast and found this cool place to stop and watch the sun fade into the endless expanse of ocean. What an awesome sunset!

We drove out to this place on Sunday after we visited a ward in Portland (which is always very interesting). It's called Multnomah Falls and is located just outside of Portland. Very cool waterfall. I love the bridge connecting the two canyon walls.

Somewhere in the middle of all this we actually did pick out some dental equipment!!

I LOVE it when:

Quinn helps Morgan with her math....


...I am quickly realizing that I am NOT smarter than a 5th grader!

Happy Halloween!

Don't we all just LOVE Halloween?? The ultimate kid fantasy holiday. Here are the kids on the big day, just before heading out to claim their loot...

Morgan, a.k.a Hermione Granger. "Swish and flick"

Layton a.k.a Indiana Jones...Kate lovingly calls him "IndYIana Jones."

Allie, my darling 50's girl...caught her mid-spin on this pic.

Cute Kate...little Tinkerbell. Sometimes referred to as "Stinkerbell". (Only when she's being a stinker of course.)

One holiday down, two to go...Christmas is just around the corner folks! Ready or not...

Yeahhhh! I can SEE!!