A Sweet Valentine's Day!

Valentine's Day is a time to remember everything good about relationships.  My dear and lovely wife Shauna has been the best friend, wife, and lover I could ever imagine.  We have had our challenges, but have also had our success and triumphs.

I want to let her know how much I love and appreciate her this day (well I am a couple days early) but in any event she is awesome and is a wonderful person and is always willing to serve others and bless their lives.  She is a great example to me and has always been patient with me when I get out of line.

Love ya Shauna.  You are the best person I know.

Happy Birthday!

This post is for Laney who is a wonderful, beautiful, smart and loving seven year-old today.  She has been talking about this day for several weeks.  Laney makes our family complete and brings us together with her penchant for wanting everyone to be involved and happy.  Last night for FHE she had a game where she wrote everyone's name (including Nana and Papa) on a heart and we had to say what we liked about that person.  It was a great activity and brought the family together and the spirit into our home.  

So on this wonderful day we have to celebrate Laney and her unique and loving personality.  Here's to you Laney!  Hope you have the best birthday in seven years.  We love you with everything that we have.  

We Have Found Ourselves in the Future

Here it is 2016 and we are making our way through the fog and mist of parenthood with the frequent break in the clouds to see some great sight or hear some charming voice.  Shauna and I are running on little sleep these days with kids wanting to wake up and wake us up in the wee hours of the morning.  The more people you add to a family the more wild and wholly it becomes in the household.

Last year we had a good run with a new baby and kids making strides in school and the like.  Joaquin is now 9 years old and becoming very independent and a great reader.  He is also getting his sports down and having a blasts doing it.  He has a great natural curiosity about just about everything under the sun and he and I have spent hours talking about planes, animals, books, people, and sports.  He as become a great helper around the house when the TV is not on and knows how to get things done.  

Laney is an artist extraordinaire and can spend a lifetime drawing, painting and coloring.  She has some real skill in this area and is reading well to boot.  She is also in dance and loving the activity and even went on a run with mom the other day.

Ruby is also a curious cat and is into everything.  If it is missing we all go to Ruby to find out where it is.  She is also in dance and had a wonderful Christmas recital a few weeks ago during a blizzard.

Sam is a sweet kid and very patient.  He is all you could ask for in a fourth child.  He is mellow and good natured which makes life easier for two worn out parents.

We love all of them very much and know they are great kids.  We look forward to a wonderful year and glance back a 2015 with fondness.

New Year's Eve at the Tillotsons

NewYear's Day with cousins

Family Night

Awesome kids

Christmas

We had a pretty awesome Christmas this year focusing on having the Spirit of Christ in our home and making an effort to pray for this during family and personal prayers.  There has not been a marked change to the daily routine of fights and teasings, but I have noticed some incremental changes--especially with Joaquin who has been exercising more restraint and being good natured to his siblings.  He has also been more helpful and cooperative.  He is starting to mature and grow up into a fine young man.  The girls are also enjoying the abundance and safety we enjoy, but they are struggling a bit more, but individually they are as sweet as can be.  It is when they are together that they sometimes too much.

At church two weeks ago Shauna was in the choir so I had all four kids.  Everyone was being good, but then E got on the whine train and would not stop.  First, it was Ruby was sitting to close; then it was she did not want Ruby to use her crayons;  then it was she wanted to put her feet up on the bench.  Needless to say I was not feeling the Christmas spirit much and took her out in the hall to let her know it.

However, all in all it has been a wonderful Christmas season this year.  On Christmas Eve we went bowling with the Arvidsons and had a blast.  They are good friends and our kids love to hangout together.  Also, it snowed a good deal on Christmas Eve totaling about six inches of snow.  It was a nice white Christmas.  We got a trampoline and Shauna bought me knew shoes and some much needed clothes.  The kids have been asking for electronics and we are holding back because we think age 12 is when we will start with that.  Here are some pictures of our last couple of weeks.

Here's to the Spirit of Christ being with us all year long.

Gingerbread houses with the Arvidsons

Sam spit up on Ruby's head.

Sweet kids.

Merry and Bright!

Christmas Eve at Nana and Papa's.

Name sake

Nana gave the girls dolls.

Too much Christmas spirit apparently.

New PJ's

Christmas Eve and day.

Morning

Happy and healthy

Around the Family

We have have been busy lately with all of our family activities lately.  Last weekend was full with Stake Conference, which included building cleaning, priesthood session,  Joaquin and I went to the Jazz game.  On Friday we went to the Festival of Trees to see Ruby's dance class perform.  It was a good time had by all trudging around looking at a seemingly never-ending expanse of Christmas paraphernalia with eight million other souls who I have no idea why they were there, because not that many people have little girls performing a dance.  It was for a good cause and I hope my suffering can bless the life a poor kid with cancer.

Shauna and I went to Savior of the World with my parents on Wednesday night and it was nice and up lifting.  The writing reminded me some of the scripture-on-video series, but it was a nice primer for the Christmas season.

Finally, we finished decorating the tree on Sunday and watched the First Presidency Christmas Devotional with our kids all while we got the tree fixed up nice.  Joaquin also got us milk and cookies ready as a nice thought.  He is a good thoughtful young man.

Thanksgiving and Wedding

This year we had Thanksgiving in Arizona with pretty much all of our family.  Marisa and Curtis got married the day after Thanksgiving at the Gilbert Temple, so Shauna and I loaded up the kiddos and headed south.  We reserved $30 hotel rooms at the Virgin River Casino in Mesquite, NV so we would have a place for the kids to decompress and get out the car.  It turned out we needed this.  After several hours in the car it was good to lay down and sleep even if you had to check the sheets to make sure you did not get some disease.  

We had a great time in Arizona and our kids loved it as well and did not want to come home.  It is always fun to just do whatever you want with all of your cousins near by.  

Marisa and Curtis got married on the 27th and it was a nice wedding and reception.  We also were able to she Shauna's family staying with her uncle Dennis in Scottsdale.  I was fortunate enough to walk through Dennis' screen door in the backyard.  It bent the screen, but did not mortally damage it.  Chris helped me put it back together and get it rehung.  I always feel bad if I don't at least leave a token of my esteem with my hosts.  Pretty sure Dennis, Chris and Christine will always remember me.  

Anyway, onto the pictures.  

Parents and kids.

Wikieup

Wikieup.

Photo booming his sister.

Temple grounds.

Gilbert Temple

The brothers

Grandparents and grandchildren

Faces