Monterey Bay Aqaurium

On New Years Eve Dan had the day off and wanted to go on a big outing with the kids. He took them to the Monterey Bay Aquarium which is a couple hours away. We've been down there before but the kids have always wanted to go back. Here are a few of the pictures they took:

Getting ready to start exploring!

The Jellyfish:

Looking for whales:

The fish:

The penguins:

They all had so much fun and no one got lost! Way to go Dan!

Happy Birthday Dan!

Dan's birthday was the end of December, but I'm still attempting to catch up on our blog for a bit. At a whoppin' 29 he is only one year away from the big 3-0! :)

Now, we all know I'm not a mushy girl... but, I can't help saying how lucky I am to have married this awesome guy. He takes amazingly great care of me and he is the best daddy to these kids there could be. We all adore and love him more than imaginable. So, happy birthday Dan!!!

We had a really fun day with the kids. First we went shopping all together which Dan always wants to do but I refuse (it is quite an event!) and then out to lunch as a family afterwards.

When we got home while Dan was taking a nap with Cali, me and the boys decorated the house, made a cake together and wrapped up his presents.

The kids picked him out some cars or star wars toy they thought he would like... he of course did. He loves toys as much as they do!

Here's his colorful cake... that's a lot of candles!

So. Cal Family visits

Josh and Alex's family were able to visit us on their way to see Alex's family in No. Cal last week. We're so glad they stopped and were surprised at how much fun we can have in such a short time (hint: there's a lot more time if you stay up until 4:00 in the morning!)

Here's a few pictures we got:

Lunch... quite a crew! We realized Brooklyn is the same age that my oldest sister, Casey was when I was a baby... that's a whole lot of little kids!

And here are some cute pics we got of the kids walking Max to school.

Our First Christmas... at home :)

I just keep pluggin' away at this blogging thing... still not giving up! It's that time of year when at least one person in the house is sick at all times, but I think we might actually be done! Hence, I finally have some time to try and catch up on the blog. Starting with Christmas:

This was the very first time since Dan and I have been married that we spent Christmas by ourselves. I was a little nervous, but pleasantly surprised to find out how much fun it was. Dan had been working like crazy since we got home from Utah so we didn't get to do much as a family. But Christmas Eve and Christmas Day he was home and we had a great time.

We had to go up to the Temple and see the lights... it looks like it was snowing (ha!) but it was just raining like crazy. It's always so pretty (not that you can tell from the picture), but we're still glad we went!

The kids making cookies for Santa and decorating Gingerbread houses. Poor Lincoln started feeling sick right in the middle of it all and kept throwing up. He would make a weird face, say his tummy hurt and then throw up everywhere. But then he was right back into the fun... he refused to let being sick get in the way! He is one funny kid.

Our little Christmas Eve program. We sang songs, played a game, did the nativity and talked about the Savior's example to us.

We let the kids open a couple presents. First their Christmas jammies. They were so thrilled to have Star Wars pjs! Lincoln was still throwing up and threw up on his pants. He was so upset that he couldn't wear them to bed.

Then their presents from each other. They had all picked out books for each other.

Dan read Twas the Night before Christmas and the kids went right to sleep.

Christmas morning once all the kids were awake we started the unwrapping. By now poor Cali had gotten caught up in the sick bug, but she was a trooper.

Max and Doman were so thrilled they got Lego Star Wars from Santa (and I was happy they didn't mind getting a shared present from Santa!)

Lincoln got a little racetrack from Santa.

... and Cali got a ball. :) Seriously, we just don't need any more toddler toys around here!

She also got a few pairs of shoes. :) I had already gotten them, so I wrapped them up and she was so happy. She is way in love with shoes right now so it was perfect.

Then we spent the entire day in our pajamas playing with all the new toys. It was so fun and actually a bit relaxing. Plus with Dan home we got a lot of cleaning done. :) We were sad we had to miss our nice dinner with some ward friends, but the kids were so sick we thought it'd be mean to give it to other little kids on Christmas. But we had a great time playing at home.

Trip to Utah

It's always fun to go back home for a visit. This trip was particularly exciting since it was to go to my little sister's wedding. Anne is the baby of the family and now all seven of us kids have been married in the Salt Lake Temple, plus our parents. Pretty amazing. Not to mention the fact that we're all still married (knock on wood). ;)

Here are a few highlights from our cold Utah trip.

First of all, the big Wedding.
Here is the happy couple, Annie and Parker. :)



I should've kept my hair blond so that I'd look like my sisters. :) It will be nice to see the professional pictures, but still, aren't we cute?



Cali loved her pink flowergirl dress!

At our family's last wedding (which was ours seven years ago) there were only 4 grandkids... things have really changed! And Annie has been Super-Aunt to all of the kids, so this wedding was a big deal to them.



Grandpa's "Christmas Eve" FHE.

Playing games with Grandma.



The world's smallest snowman.
As soon as the kids saw it snowing they immediately wanted to build a snowman.



While I was sleeping in one morning (no doubt recovering from one of many late nights partying), Dan took the kids to visit my Grandma Barlow.

As usual, the kids had a lot of fun with their cousins... this is Doman with Makenna, Demi, and Kassidy.

Grandpa's Briggs' fun new toys for the kids.

Lincoln is three!

Maybe it's because Lincoln's the third child, or maybe it's because he is still short and chubby, but I just cannot accept the fact he won't be a little two-year-old anymore! These three years have gone by way too fast! Since we didn't have a blog a couple years ago, here is a little Lincoln re-cap from his first year. :)

Lincoln was 6 days late and weighed 7 lbs 11 oz. Poor little guy had to have a blood transfusion right after he was born.

He was a little sweetheart. He was always a great eater, but cried a lot for a few months... most babes do though, right?

Lincoln only sucked his thumb for a little while, I think because it took so much effort... he was so chubby that in order to keep his thumb in his mouth, he had to hold it in with his other hand. He gave up after a few days and the crying came back...

He's always loved the bath! I remember finding him in there like this with all his clothes on... he was having a great time!

Always a cheese-ball.

What's funny is that it doesn't seem like Lincoln has changed much this year. He is still chubby. He still sleeps like an angel in his crib. He still talks with lots of intonation. He still is very polite saying "please" and "thank-you" for everything. He still takes a 3 hour nap. He still bites the boys if they make him mad (uhg!). He still loves his "ba-ba" and blankies. He still has an enormous amount of energy. And he still CRACKS US UP! He is the comic relief in the family and we would not survive without him making us laugh all the time.

For his birthday we woke him up for presents (okay, really we all waited for him to wake up since he's the only one who sleeps in around here.)

Then he was so thrilled to have a little party at the park with his friends. The day before his birthday he kept telling me he was so excited for his elephant birthday. That was news to me, but Dan went and bought him an elephant balloon and thanks to the internet, I made him an elephant cake. I guess he is easy to please, because he totally loved his party!

So here's to 3 awesome years! We love you little chugger!

The Ultimate Girls' Night

The opening night of TWILIGHT had come! A huge group of us all went together to see it and it was so much fun! I loved it! I didn't care that it was a bit on the cheesy side (after all, so was the book.) The best part was all of us silly girls going together... we even had an after-party talking until 3 am!

I just couldn't resist dying my hair, putting on lots of makeup and being 13 for one night and going as Alice. :) This is me with Britney... we really do look scary!

This is only half of our group that was waiting in line to get seats.

Most of all, it was great to feel like a teenager again!
These girls are so much fun!