THE "JAX" MAN

"Personality has power to uplift, power to depress, power to curse, and power to bless". This quote says it all about little Jaxen. JAX is so full of life. At times it is adorable and at times I wonder if it is truly a curse. He can be so mad and just screaming at me and the next minute he looks like this....


What would I do without my passionate little man? I love and adore him so much. He definitely keeps my life exciting!

“Truly great friends are hard to find, difficult to leave, and impossible to forget.”

My dear friend and next door neighbor Kate. It has been such a joy knowing you, learning from you, and watching you grow into a beautiful independent woman.

Kate has been in Paris for the last 4 months and we have missed her so much. She has been such a wonderful friend to me, my husband, and my children. I cannot wait to see her in one month - just in time for our move. Kate, we have enjoyed all of the beautiful pictures of Paris that you have sent to us. Here is my favorite.

“Painting is poetry that is seen rather than felt..."

Okay so if you haven't figured out yet, I love quotes and especially love making up quotes or changing ones that just don't make sense to me. So although that is a beautiful quote about painting by Leonardo da Vinci, I have to disagree with him on this one. When my kids paint, I SEE IT AND FEEL IT!

Have any of your kids gone through the painting obsession? That is what my boys want to do everyday. I had to learn the hard way the first time. I thought "oh they are going to be careful and not get paint everywhere". Yeh right! They now either wear a full coverage cape or they create their masterpieces in the buff. They sure are cute doing it and they are extremely proud of their work.

GO COUGARS!!!

For all of you BYU Cougar fans out there, we are starting him young. The poor kid is so skinny that the shirt is falling right of of him. Ha Ha I couldn't even get it to stay down over his big belly so that you could see the BYU letters at the bottom. Easton is going to have to be my little cheerleader since it doesn't look like a girl is in the mix for the Hinckley family. Thanks Easton.

Papa is his name

All the grandkids adore Papa. He has always been a favorite! I wanted to do something special for his birthday this year so I whipped up a little scrapbook page and put it in a shadow box so that he could hang it and be reminded daily of the three "little men" in Philly that miss him. They ask all the time, "Where is Papa? Is he in his RED TRUCK?"

The most wasted of all days is one without laughter. ~e.e. cummings

I find myself going back through my photo library at least once a week just to find this photo and take a moment to remember what is truly important. My men were having a most wonderful time. I just wished that there was one more spot for me and a pair of red footed jammies in my size. Find a moment to laugh today, if you haven't already.

Boys Will Be Boys

All I can say is Thank Goodness for indoor family fun centers during the cold months. After two months of cold weather, my boys are bouncing off the walls - ready to get outside - but it is just too dang cold!
It is so nice to have somewhere to take them that is safe and clean, where they can run around, jump, laugh, and just be boys. This particular place is filled with the inflatable bouncers, slides, climbing gyms, etc. It is called JUMPERS.
We love it. We go there a few times each winter. There are several other indoor places in the area, but this is our favorite.
I am so glad that I got a shot of Jaxen's out of control hair. His hair always pulls some crazy stunt when he is in his "active mode". Even Kringle (Kaden's Horse) had a great time on the slide.

"Marriage may be made in heaven, but the maintenance must be done on earth."

Do you ever find yourself looking at your spouse and saying, "now who are you and why did I marry you"?

One thing that has become an absolute must in the past 7 years is "date night". As we all know, life gets so crazy with all of the day to day events and then add 3 kids, Dental School, A Residency, Church Callings, and 2 Careers to the mix and you are bound to wind up in the nut house or on a totally different path than the one you love.

We have always heard how important it is to keep your marriage alive and find times to be alone with your spouse. That is next to impossible for us unless we set aside a time each week to go out together and JUST BE - no interruptions.

One of the funnest dates we have been on recently was a trip to the local ice-skating rink. They are easy to find here on the East Coast since ice-skating and hockey are so popular. It was great to do something active together - an evening filled with many laughs. Of course the evening would not have been complete without a hot cup of cocoa.

Just a fun date idea for all of you cute couples out there.

A teacher affects eternity; she can never tell where her influence stops.

Kaden has the most wonderful teachers this year at pre-school. I believe they have been so instrumental in his recent interest in social interaction. Anyone who knows Kaden knows he loves to go off in a corner and role play with his animals, quietly read his books or curl up in front of a good movie. He loves to be with mom and dad and he thrives on learning and quiet time.

Just recently he has been excited to go to play group, interact with friends, and chase his brothers around the house. He has learned so much and constantly surprises me with new ideas and forms of play. What a miracle for our sweet boy. He is so creative and loves to sing and dance (shhh we won't tell Dad. He wants him to be a baseball STAR).

Thank you Mrs. Hoyle and Mrs. DiIorio. We love you!

Exalting to the Spirit

My brother Ryan ran the New York Marathon. What an amazing sight to see him cross the finish line after running for several hours straight. My brother Brandon and I were lucky enough to be in the beautiful Central Park when the race finished and see what a true accomplishment this is. I have never even thought of attending a Marathon and what an inspiring event. I actually got quite emotional as I would see some of the people pass by and finish the race - the pure exhaustion, the faces of triumph and pride, the pain of running for so long, the will to persevere, it was all so exciting!

We were proud of him and thrilled to be there - just the three of us siblings together. It was a great time. It was Brandon's first time to New York, so of course we did ALL the touristy things as well. That city is jam packed with history, fun, non stop walking, and the hustle bustle of thousands of people at all hours. All of this and the weather was beautiful.

Thanks for a great time guys. The last shot is us in front of the Rockefeller Center watching the people ice-skate.