Mckell's big day

This week we celebrated Mckell's 4th birthday. That's right people she is 4!!! I can't believe it! Mckell is so passionate and full of life. I love her so much! I feel a sense of indebtedness to her since I feel she blesses my life more than I could ever bless hers. Mckell teaches me how to find humor in all situations, she teaches me patience, tolerance and unconditional love. I will forever be grateful to her for the lessons that she teaches me. Mckell loves to dance and if she's not at dance, she is playing dance at home. She practices constantly. Mckell is a good big sister for Molly and has taken on quite the mothering role. She is a leader among her friends and loves to be in control. Hmmm.... not sure where she gets that. Anywho, Mckell had a wonderful birthday week. I brought some cupcakes in to her preschool class and she got to pass them out to all of her classmates which she loved. We also brought some donuts and juice to her dance class. I happened to be teaching at the same time so I brought my class (who are all 17-18 yr olds) in with me to sing to her. She looked pretty much terrified to see all these big girls that she didn't know singing to her. I felt kind of bad.. Sorry Sweetie!! Mckell wanted to go to the Build a Bear workshop for her birthday party. She got to choose a few of her best friends and we headed to the mall. The girls had a great time. The look on their faces was the classic Christmas morning face that all of us parents hope for. They got to pick a bear, give it a heartbeat, stuff it to their liking, give her a bath, a name, and pick out bows, etc. It was such a good day! Oh Mckell dear, I love you so much! Happy Birthday!










Mckell and me on a birthday date













They were so excited!

Feeling grateful

I am feeling overwhelmed with gratitude right now. My kids are healthy (ok not at the moment but generally speaking), we are happy, we have SO many blessings! I would feel ungrateful if I didn't share that. Last weekend our stake put on a cultural event about the life of Thomas S. Monson. It was INCREDIBLE! The spirit was so strong! You could see the testimonies of our amazing youth in their eyes and you could hear their testimonies in their voices as they sang their little hearts out. It will truly be something that I will never forget! FYI Sis Elaine Dalton the YW general president and President Beck general young mens president were in attendance... just sayin! It was such a neat experience, I just wish I had more pics to document it all.

Each week we were able to learn a little about the life of Thomas S. Monson. One of my favorite quotes of his is "Never let a project to be finished come before a person to be loved". I have adopted this as my new motto and strive to live by it. He truly is an incredible person and I know that he is God's prophet.


Trick or treating! The kids had so much fun and the weather was fantastic


Gotta stop and pose after each house, it's essential




We sure love aunt Cailey!


Some of the cousins


Ok seriously Molly is the cutest thing ever. She is OBSESSED with putting the kids underwear on her head. When I fold laundry, she digs through the pile to find all of her undie options. I've also caught her in Mckell's dresser searching for undies.


Well I learned something new about Mckell. She loves to decorate! I had no idea. She was nice enough to come with me to the church to decorate for the cultural event. She was in Heaven! She was arranging and rearranging, and then taking a step back to see the big picture. She was a huge help and we had fun working together!




Phew what a relief! One show down three to go!

We love October!

Seriously, what a fun month! I love conference, the beginning of fall, the leaves changing colors, and of course all the fun parties! This year I let my kids have a Halloween party with some of their friends. They had a great time and I hope it's something they will always let me participate in! We had a blast playing games, making magical potions and touching some brains.








We had our Multi Stake Halloween Dance last weekend. Oh boy it was a lot of work but well worth it! Everyone had a great time and I'm lucky enough to work with some of the most amazing people!





Annual Haynie pumpkin carving. Never disappoints!











Mischievous Molly. She hasn't quite mastered walking yet but she can climb!


Legacy Halloween Party! The kids had a blast!






Trunk or Treat. This was actually my first trunk or treat. We had a great turn out! Holy Smokes, the kids bags were totally full of candy. We also had some donuts and hot chocolate. Success!

What have we been up to?

Oh my goodness, where has the time gone? Wow, the last few months have been extremely busy and I have become quite the blog slacker. We've had tons going on so I will just give the short and sweet version of all our Haynie happenings.

We continued our weekly themes for the rest of the summer. Pretty much went like this: art project, field trip, lots of pictures, repeat. We had tons of fun and it will definitely be something we'll do again next year. Molly turned one. Oh my Molly bear. She is the most adorable little girl! We just love her so much! We had a wonderful little par-tay for her with our family and had a great night. The kids started preschool and they absolutely love it! When they aren't at school they are usually playing school at home. Our life is crazy busy but we are loving every minute of it!


Love the little baby cousins!


Man, we can't get enough of science projects around here!


I never thought we'd see the day but Mckell did attempt the rock wall. Wohoo!


Molly's birthday cake. Super easy and turned out pretty cute. She never made it through the six inches of frosting though.


Happy Birthday sweetie!




We took the kids to the drive in which they absolutely loved!


Down on grandpa's farm




First day of school. Man I miss these guys when they're gone.





Here's looking at trouble. Good luck Miss Lindley




This is the look she gives me before she gets into something she's not supposed to




Chuck E. Cheese. The kids had a great time! When the mouse came up to meet the kids Brigham turned to us and said "That mouse really freaks me out". Man is he right!


Mckell is in love with dance and pretty much practices all day. It is so fun to watch her. Dance is becoming her thing and I love that she loves it!


I love this picture. Can you tell we do p90x?


Mckell really is a great big sister! She adores her sister and is so good to play with her.

Till next time