Around Our House

Damon helped me make cookies for a lunch we went to with some friends from our neighborhood.

He makes this face lately whenever he is asking for something. It's hard to say no to the pouty lip!

Tatum's mom took him and Tessa to Classic Fun Center last Friday night. Tess had a blast!

Matt and Marisa came over for dinner last Saturday night. As soon as the doorbell rang, all three kids went running to the door yelling, "Baby Asher is here! Baby Asher is here!"

The adults got to have a nice dinner together and visit while the kids entertained Asher. :)

Paul and Theron sent out postcards advertising their real estate business.

They also put up two billboards around Utah County. They seem to be working. They are getting a lot of new clients that are keeping them busy!

On Thursday night I went to see Strictly Ballroom at Hale Center Theatre with Mel, Ataiya, and Amarie. We really enjoyed it! And it was fun to spend the evening with my sister and nieces.

Friday night was Amarie's dance showcase. Tessa and I went up to that and loved watching her numbers. She did great as always!

Saturday was Katie's birthday. We did a date night with the Carr's, Loosli's , and Nielson's. We had dinner at Chili's and then played games at Katie's house. It was so fun to laugh our heads off with great friends.

We had a party with the Ham Fam on Sunday to celebrate my dad's birthday and his retirement!!! Friday was his last day of work ever, and we're all so so so excited for him. He has been working since he was 12, and definitely deserves this retirement. He and my mom supported 6 kids, giving us everything we needed and so many things that we just wanted. They helped us all go to college, get married, and continue to be so generous with all of us. That is not easy to do, and they deserve to feel very proud of themselves.

The kids had school off yesterday for a professional development day, so we had a carefree day at home. We painted, rode bikes, played in the hot tub, and played video games. It was a nice day.

Everyday Adventures

I went to Time Out For Women with Katie and Al a couple weeks ago. 

There was a Callee Reed concert Friday night and then speakers and music by the Bonner Family all day Saturday. The Bonner Family was the highlight of the event for me. Their music is beautiful, and their songs went so well with the messages the speakers were sharing.

Damon and I went to his Career Day field trip. It was warm and sunny that day, so we walked over to Miss Roxi's house. 

He enjoyed learning about dentists, cake decorating, horse care, and scientists.

His favorite though, was learning about computers. He thought this "robot" that followed the commands they gave him was hilarious!

Tessa has started a gymnastics class again. She loves it!


I could hear the kids all laughing their heads off the other night. They came downstairs, each wearing someone else's shirt. They thought they were so funny!


Damon has always used his fingers for counting in a very unique way. Thumb, then pointer, then pinkie, then middle, then ring finger. I have no idea why he does it this way, but it makes me smile every time.





We've taken the kids to see a few movies lately. When Paul or I have a busy day on Saturday, the other one will take the kids to the Water Gardens Theatre and let the other one work on the things we need to get done. We've seen Sonic the Hedgehog and Call of the Wild recently. Tess is the only one who ever wants her picture taken there. :) (Don't you love the belt she made herself with a phone and the sparkly keychain that Tatum gave her for Valentine's Day on it? She loves to accessorize!!)


We finished our family puzzle that we got for Christmas from Mel's family. The kids thought it was so fun to find pieces with their face on them. :)


Damon has been completely uninterested in learning or reading for a while. He's finally starting to show interest in those things again, and I'm so happy about it. He has been wanting everyone to read to him lately. He'll get big piles of books, and ask us to read them all to him.

Rockwell turns 10!!!

Rockwell turned 10 years old on Sunday! I told him that we should do a birthday picture on the beach in Hawaii, which he wasn't too thrilled about. But when I told him that would mean he wouldn't have to do a photo shoot at home, he was all for it. :)

Rockwell is seriously a stud. He is what parents' dreams are made of. He is super responsible, and we hardly have to ask him to do anything. He has always been self-motivated and isn't afraid to work hard. He asks at least a couple times a week if there's anything Paul or I need help with. He is an amazing brother to Tessa and Damon. I am so grateful that we get to have Rockwell in our family!!

Rockwell loves Minecraft, playing with his friends, reading, and building with Legos. He enjoys learning math, and sometimes practices it just for fun. He wants to eat an entire bag of popcorn every day, and his new favorite treat is root beer. He loved loved loved Hawaii, and would swim all day every day if he could.

He took a few friends to the Museum of Natural Curiosity at Thanksgiving Point for his birthday party on Saturday. Logan, Flynn, and Grant came over and Rockwell opened presents before we went to the museum. He loved all the Legos and rocket darts.

Boston and his family met us at the museum, after Kiara's basketball game. I didn't take any pictures while we were there, so I'm bummed Boston isn't in any of the pictures. The boys had a blast at the museum! Rockwell really enjoyed himself.

He chose Olive Garden for his birthday dinner, so our family went there after his friend party. It was delicious, and the waitress let the kids play video games for free at the table, so they thought that was awesome.

He wanted crepes, bacon, and sausage for breakfast on Sunday.

He was excited to open presents after breakfast.

He loves his pajama pants, lego bases, treats, headphones, and Minecraft on the computer.

He's been wanting to make Minecraft videos on youtube. We agreed that he can learn how to make them, and put them on youtube after he makes them, but not make them public. He's happy with that, and just wants to send the link to a few friends. He made two videos yesterday, and thought it was amazing! 

We had the Ham Fam dinner for February birthdays Sunday night. Rockwell loved getting to play with his cousins. He was really excited for the Lego people, money, and Lego set he got that night.

It's fun to share a celebration with Grandma and Ataiya.

We all love love love Rockwell!! He is so funny, intelligent, and athletic. He is thoughtful and truly enjoys helping people. He is grateful and polite. We are so proud of him and how he chooses to live his life.

Life Lately

It was Family Week at Northridge a couple weeks ago. Damon and I went over one day to eat lunch with Rockwell and Tessa.

Rockwell's class eats before Tessa's does. When we were finished eating, Rockwell walked me over to show me where he gets to see Tessa every day as her class lines up outside the lunchroom. He said he goes and finds her every day to give her a hug before he goes out a different door, back to his classroom. I had no idea he goes out of his way to find her and give her a hug every day at school. My mom heart overflowed when he told me that!! He is seriously an exceptional big brother!

We went to Steam Night that week too. The kids loved all the activities. They made marble mazes, marshmallow catapults, played with giant blocks, and built a grabber and paper airplanes.

Tessa's class celebrated the 100th day of school by dressing like a 100-year-old. She looked so cute.

Damon had a field trip to the BYU Bean Museum. His friend Heather got to ride in our car with us, and he was very excited about that.

We got a lot of snow one day. Damon and I shoveled the driveway and sidewalks, and then sat in the hot tub when we were finished.

Paul took the kids to a basketball game at his school last Saturday. They loved that.

After the game I took Tessa to get her ears pierced. She's been asking about getting them pierced for years. I've always told her that she can get them pierced when she is responsible enough to take care of them, and when she's unafraid enough that she'll sit in the chair by herself for the piercing. I told her I will hold her hand, but I won't hold her down while she cries and screams. She has had eczema for a while now, and has made sure to put her medicine on every day whenever it acts up. She takes care of that herself, and has shown she is responsible. And then she said she felt brave enough a couple weeks ago, so I told her we could do it. I waited a little bit to make sure she really was confident about it, and she was. She did awesome, and only cried a little bit right when they shot the guns. They look so cute! She loves having them pierced.

Tessa brings home two books a day from the Book Fairy, an awesome program her school does. She likes to read one book to Damon and one book to me. I think it's adorable to see her reading to her little brother.

The temperature has been just right for the hot tub lately. It's cold, but not miserable. Damon and I have had fun out there lately.