Jaydenisms

Said to Sidney: Sidney, stop, come over here. You don't want Mom to go all monster on us, do you?

Favorite. Jaydensim. Ever.

Tanner is One!

Tanner turned one on Sunday! That year went by fast! He has gotten more than his share of kisses and hugs, and we keep telling him to stop growing, but he's not listening.  I remember when he was just a few days old, Jayden was holding him, and was really emotional because he was sad he wasn't going to be that small forever.  He didn't want to let him go.  And now here he is, a year old. 

 

Of course he had no idea it was his birthday, but everyone kept telling him Happy Birthday all day long.  The kids didn't want him to take a nap.

He was not shy about digging into his cake. 

It ended with tears. 

 



Tannerisms

We're getting to that really fun age, where Tanner gets into everything. He found lipstick. That was fun.



Sidney's Birthday

Sidney turned 5 on the 2nd.  She is a really easy going girl, is happy and sweet.  She brings just the right touch of girliness to our family.  She woke up to discover our elf, Sparky, had brought her a birthday message.

She and I hung out all day, and went to the park when Jayden got home from school. It was a really gorgeous day.

After going out for dinner, we came home for cake. She wanted a Minnie cake again. And I've come to terms with the fact I'm not a cake person.  Whenever I try, it's usually a disaster, so I stuck with simple this year.  And honestly, the kids don't care because they're always excited about the cake, whether or not it's fancy. And Sidney was thrilled with pink, pink, pink!

She had her first friend party too.  We've had her friend's families over before, but this was her first official girl only friend party.  She wanted princesses, so they all dressed up.  It was a lot of fun.  Games, piñata (which she was the most excited about), we painted fingernails, had a fashion show, danced, pizza, and decorated cupcakes. It was great.



Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving in Seattle with Josh's family.  It was a fun week, but I took pictures only a couple of times.  Mostly because we didn't really do anything but sit around and hang out, and drive from place to place, but it was fun anyway.  My mom came up for the baptism, so we hung out with her for a day.  We went to a museum, ate at the Old Spaghetti Factory, and explored downtown Tacoma.

Next door is a glass museum that we didn't go to, but the walk to it was really cool.  The bridge takes you over the freeway and there are all these crazy glass sculptures filling the ceiling and lining the walls.

 

Another day we went on a fairy ride with Jared and Annette.  And the rest of the week was not captured by pictures.  I'm seriously so bad at taking pictures these days.



Jayden's Baptism

Jayden was baptized in November right before Thanksgiving.  We ended up doing it in Washington so more family could attend, and then we were able to spend the holiday with them.  I'm so glad we did it that way, it was a wonderful day. We had a couple of hiccups that morning, so we only ended up with a couple of pictures, and not a single one of anyone in attendance.  But it makes Top 5 in wonderful days in my life, and I hope in Jayden's too.  Love him, he's a great kid. Try not to cry while sitting next to your child singing "I'm Trying to be Like Jesus." Guarantee you won't be able to hold the tears in listening to the sweet, innocent voice of an 8 year old.

 

 

Program

 

Conducting: Brother Watts, Bishopric

Pianist: Yvonne McMillan, Grandmother

Chorister: Annette Croke, Aunt

Opening Song: I'm Trying to be Like Jesus

Opening Prayer: Sidney Croke, Sister

Talk on Baptism: Shyann Croke, Mother

Baptism of Jayden, performed by Josh Croke, Father

Witnesses: Ron Croke, Grandfather and Jared Croke, Uncle

Confirmation of Jayden

Musical Number: "I am a Child of God," by Sidney Croke, Sister

Talk on Holy Ghost: Judy Croke, Grandmother

Closing Remarks: Brother Watts, Bishopric

Closing Song: When I am Baptized

Closing Prayer: Jeremiah Croke, Uncle



Date with Tanner

A few weeks ago I had to run up to the LDS bookstore, so while the older kids were at school, Tanner and I had a little date together.  We stopped at the temple to enjoy a gorgeous fall day.  Being on the grounds is nothing compared to being inside, but there is a special spirit there that I hope my kids can learn to recognize and love.

 

Eternal families have been on my mind a lot lately.  Two days before Thanksgiving my cousin lost his oldest child, a four year old boy.  It was completely unexpected, and my heart has been heavy ever since.  I really can't express words for it.  He has mentioned on Facebook there have been many miracles, and tender mercies, and he his so full of faith. He hasn't gone into many details yet, but one tender mercy is that he passed away in his mother's arms, and the last thing he probably remembered was the comfort of being in her arms. Oh my goodness, my heart seriously breaks and the tears flow every time I think about it. I just cannot imagine. How grateful I am for temples, for families, and for the Atonement. Life is so precious.

Fall in Houston

I made a discovery a couple of days ago.  Houston has Fall!  I figured out I'm living in the wrong part.  Seriously, there are two trees at the entrance of my neighborhood that changed color, not a single other one has.  And when you drive out of the neighborhood, there is no color.  To make it worse, the trees that were there have been cut down to make room for another neighborhood.  So anyway, we were out the other day and drove past a neighborhood that had the brightest, most gorgeous trees of every color.  We sidetracked and drove through for a few minutes.  Just what I needed, it was beautiful.  I guess we just chose the wrong area of Houston to live in.  A few weeks ago we created our own Fall in our house.  It was the most of the season we had seen so far.  Houston is a little late with Fall.  While much of the country is being blasted with snowstorms, last week it was still 80 degrees.  This week is in the 50s, which we are loving!  I like change.  I crave the changing seasons, and living in endless summer is draining to my soul. Some people love the endless summer.  I'm not one of them.

This is our Thanksgiving tree we do every year.



11 Months

Tanner is clapping.

He laughs at the funny sounds the kids make.

He stands for a long time.

He is exploring everything.

Climbing stairs, both up and down really well.

He has a few long hairs that hang down to his eyebrows.

He has really curly hair in the back-the most of all the kids.

Taking these monthly pictures is really challenging, because he doesn't want to lay on that blanket.