OUR LAST 1ST BIRTHDAY PARTY!

Seeing how it was our last first birthday party we will throw and how it was a double party we decided to go out with a bang. 96 people (including babies), 6 pounds of chips, 15 pizzas, 224 drinks, 2 pinatas, sno cone machine, nacho machine, popcorn machine and the Votaw Party facility and we had a successful party! We wanted to say thank you to everyone who had helped us this last year with the twins and are so grateful to surviving the first year!

Me and the twinsCandy time!5 more months and then its Reese and Nate's turnJust for fun we had these shirts made for the boys. On the front was the #1 and on the back it said...Eli lovin' the sno conesTyson aka Pepsi Jr dute duteWhats left of the foodThe cakeThe twins eating thier cakeThis is as dirty as Tyler would get - he doesn't like to get down and dirtyHe did let Grandma Rodgers finish feeding him cake though because that way he could enjoy the sweetness of the cake without getting dirty - pansy.Tyson on the other hand doesn't hold back, he is all about the yummy goodness of the cake without caring how messy he getsA few times when his hands wouldn't give him enough cake he would just dive in head first for someHe finally drew the line at his feet though. Once his feet got in the cake - he was done.What a way to end the night - with presents.Thank you to everyone who came and supported us (and a special shout out to Denise for picking up all the pizzas for us and to the Votaws letting us use their backyard). We love you all and glad we are done with that party :)

TYSON TO THE RESCUE!

So since the twins look nothing alike my one hope is that they are best buddies. Turns out my wish came true. Last night Tyler was holding a toy and then Eli came up and stole it from him. Then Tyler went up to Eli and tried to take it back and then they were both pulling on the same toy. Out of no where comes Tyson to the rescue. He went over there and kept biting Eli until he let his brother have the toy and Eli went crying to daddy. Yes! My twins are friends :)PS - Incase you are wondering; no, Tyson did not get in trouble...we laughed and call it pay backs.

9 YEARS!

9 years and still going. Every year (minus last year when I was having twins) we go away over night to a resort in the valley and celebrate our anniversary. This year we continued to carry on the tradition. We went to the Fairmont Princess Resort in Scottsdale and had an amazing time. It was our first time away from all 4 kids over night and we loved it.We did a little shopping, went out to eat, relaxed by the pool and even went to a movie at 10:30pm just because we could. We ended up staying up late that night just for fun so that we could sleep in in the morning. We didn't drag our lazy butts out of bed until 10am and I loved every second of it.

THE TWINS ARE ONE!

Um, seriously did I really give birth to twins 1 year ago today?! Wow. They have brought our family so much joy and happiness but at the same time they have also caused us to have constant sweaty armpits from running around non-stop and we have gotten slightly crazier :)Tyler Everett...He is our go getter and the child who eats the best, he can pack it down with the best of them. We love it when he tips his head side to side and sings, "ahhhhhhhhh." He is our lovable bully, he likes to pick on Tyson and take what he has just for giggles. His favorite spot in our house is under Daddy's desk with all the wires. Why would he need to suck on his thumb or a pacifier when he can suck on the tag on his blanket to help him fall asleep. When he knows he is up to no good, he will make eye contact with you and then smile and run away with the object he shouldn't have. He is also our cautious/clean twin. He is scared of the trampoline and wont just go after something he isn't familiar with and he won't make a mess of himself, he doesn't like to get all dirty. Tyler is our earliest walker at 10 1/2 months old.

Tyson Steven...He is our squishiest baby. He usually has a smile on his face. The poor kid takes a licking from his 2 older brothers and just carries on with life (every once and a while he will get a good one in himself - proof from this picture)He is probably our best sleeper and will even sleep through Tyler's crying. Unlike Tyler, he doesn't care that much for the blanket tag, he would rather have his thumb in his mouth when he falls asleep. None of my kiddos are big cuddlers but I can always count on Tyson to lay his head down on my shoulder for 30 seconds, just enough time to melt my heart. He is the twin to throw all caution to the wind and doesn't mind getting all dirty. He LOVES to be on the trampoline with his siblings or get in dogs faces and enjoys eating his cake and getting it all over himself too! Tyson likes to sit back and let Tyler figure everything out first and then when he is good and ready and on his time, he will do things afterwards (like crawling and walking). We can't imagine life without these 2 boys and we look forward to all the crazy years ahead of us. Happy Birthday Boys!!

EMMA AND JARED'S DANCE RECITAL!

Yep, you read that right...Emma AND Jared's dance recital. Every year the dance studio does a Daddy/Daughter dance, we didn't participate last year but Emma thought it was really cool so this year she tried to talk her dad into doing it and of course he said "No way!" Well, like every good dad should, he fell victim to her tear stained face and caved.Emma and Jared brought out quite a good number of fans to support them. All grandparents, Aunt Kara and Maddy, Uncle Bryant and Taryn and Uncle Nate, Jenn and Brylee (sorry we only got a few pictures with some people). A special "thank you" goes out to "Jenny" (as Eli calls her now) for watching the 3 boys for 5 hours!!Emma turned into this person I didn't even know. She was cracking me up. She felt very very special this day and almost kinda "diva" like - I loved it!

Here are some of my favorite things she said. This one she said as we were walking to go meet everyone after the recital, "I need to hurry so I can go get ALL my bouquets of flowers!" (there was only 1 bouquet, thanks Grandma Jensen).

The first time we walked into the dressing room for one of her costume changes I got, "now this is a proper dressing room!" (as opposed to all the countless others she has spent time in?!)

When I was getting her hair done for the Pom and Cheer routine she said, "I hope I remember my formations" in a tone like a "know-it-all".

And my favorite one of all; "Mom, if I don't make the dance team, then I for sure want to do hip-hop with Nick, because hip hop is in my blood!"Now for the part you have all been waiting for...the dance recital video! To view it, go to the video section on the right of the screen, there is a link to it. Once you get it opened, click the "HD" button under the video and it will show the video bigger and in HD. For the first dance, Emma is 2nd one from your right. For the dad's dance; Jared is front row, 2nd one from your left. Hip-hop; Emma is sorta towards the middle but more on your left side and for the last one; Emma is the 2nd one from your right. Please also continue watching the finale, that was all free-style :) Emma will be front row in the purple costumes, 3rd purple girl from your left. Don't take your eyes off her - it gets better with time :)

THANKS ELI!

Thanks Eli for getting your brothers some breakfast this morning. Thank you for dumping the brand new box of cereal on the carpet for them, they really appreciated it.Thank you Tyler for helping pick up the cereal while your older brother sat in time out, you're a big helper (you're a big helper too Tyson, we appreciated you eating them while we cleaned up!)

THE LAST TIME...

The last time the boys (at 10 months) were in their double carrier stroller.The last time the boys were in the infant carriers. Our older 2 came out of them at about 6 months because they were so big but these little guys lasted in them until they were 10 months old!Yesterday I bought my last thing of formula ($19.99) for the twins - Hallelujah!!2 weeks ago Bubbas spent his last night in his "cage" and now sleeps in a big boy bed!Today is Emma's last day of first grade, oh my where does the time go?! She LOVES her teacher and is lucky enough to move up with her to second grade as well.Here is a picture of Emma's favorite person in her class, Kinslee.