Happy 1st Birthday Jayne!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PRINCESS JAYNE!!!

Jayne turned 1 on December 16th! I can't believe that our baby girl is already a year old. She is the sweetest little girl and brings so much joy to our family! A year ago, Don and I were shocked to find out, minutes after Jayne's birth, that she most likely had Down Syndrome. We were confused, scared and didn't really know what to do or what to expect for the future. The test came back positive Christmas Eve day and needless to say, it was a really hard, emotional time. A year later, we know that life does go on. Jayne is just Jayne. She has the cutest smiley, brown eyes, brown hair, skinny little legs, the cutest dimple and a contagious smile that lights up a room. She is our little girl and we love her so much! There isn't anything that we wouldn't do for her. We still have days where it is hard to really accept that she has Down Syndrome and we worry about her development and wonder if we are doing enough. We still don't know what the future will bring, but I do know she has already opened our eyes a lot to a world we didn't ever dream we would be a part of. She has taught us things that we couldn't have learned without her and has reminded us time and time again what is really important. She has already touched the lives of so many people. She is our little girl, with a little something "extra."

Of course, we had to have a party to celebrate Jayne's 1st birthday! Don and Diane, Ken and Mitch came to have dinner and celebrate with us. Don made delicious steaks on the grill and we had sweet potato casserole and asparagus to go with it. (Jayne loves sweet potatoes!) After dinner, Jayne opened presents with a lot of help from Elle, Easton and Mitch. She was so excited seeing new toys. We sang "Happy Birthday" and let her devour her own little cake. It was so cute seeing her get so messy. She loves chocolate already! We put her in the sink to wash her off and she was giggling so cute in the water. My favorite sound in the world is my kids giggling! It was such a fun little party. Happy Birthday Princess Jayne! We love you!

Having birthday dinner

Jayne and Daddy

Jayne opening up her new puppy "Violet" from us

Easton and Elle picked out the cutest muscial toy! Jayne was so excited!

She really got into opening presents and would get so excited waiting for the next gift! She loved all the attention!



She got a new muscial, light up toy from Gma Diane and Gpa Don and a cute new dress

Uncle Ken and Jayne


Jayne and Mitch with the puppy he and Ken got her

Jayne loves balloons!

I made my first fondant cake for Jayne's birthday. It took a long time but it was fun to make. I made chocolate with chocolate buttercream frosting. (I called my poor sister about 50 times with questions so I'm sure she is glad it is over.)

We gave Jayne her own little cake to "enjoy!"

She was a little unsure what to do but she stuck her finger in and tasted it. After one taste of chocolate, she is hooked! She loved it!

It was so cute to see her eating her cake. She rubbed her eyes and got it all over!

We put Jayne in our sink to clean off the cake before her bath. She loved it and was giggling so cute playing with the water! It was adorable.

Elle was reading a book for Gma Diane and Jayne was listening in after her bath. She loves books!

Christmas Lights and Little Elves

I LOVE Christmas--the lights, the decorations, all the parties and get togethers and most importantly, remembering the birth of Jesus. We have been so busy but have had a lot of fun enjoying the season! Our kids are so excited for Christmas to come and love every aspect of it! Oh, to be a kid again...

We went downtown to see the lights at Temple Square with our good friends, the Foxes. The lights were all SO beautiful but it was cold and Easton was exhausted so the kids didn't last too long. Such a fun night though!

Easton, Ava and Elle

Foxes with us in front of the temple


Tanna and me with our cute babies, Mia and Jayne, that are only 2 months apart

Jayne looked so cute all bundled up

We went to Gardner Village to see the Elves with Jill and Drake. Easton remembered the witches and asked to go back. When I told him that now there were Elves instead, he was so excited!!!

Easton and Drake

The kids and me at Gardner Village

Jill and Drake

Gingerbread Houses and Holiday fun

Don's brother, Ken, and cute Mitchell came over one night to decorate Gingerbread houses. The kids had so much fun!

Elle did hers all by herself and did a great job!

Easton put as much candy as possible on his house



Elle and Mitch were being funny and wanted to take pictures doing basketball and dance poses. Mitchell set up this photo for he and Elle. He is all boy and Elle is all girl! They are so cute together.


The dance pose Elle set up for Mitch

A huge Gingerbread house at Little America

Easton and Jayne love to watch the train go around the tree

Our sweet baby

Easton with his candy tree he made in preschool

Easton and Drake with their Christmas countdown chains

Sometimes Easton gets his head in the wrong hole when he dresses himself. So funny!

Elle was "Star of the Week" the first week of December. She was so excited to make her board and explain it to the class.

Easton's favorite stuffed animal, Coco (Named after the shitsu dog we had for 12 days last year)

Thanksgiving!!!

This post is a little late but things have been crazy busy! We drove to Sacramento to spend Thanksgiving with some of my family. Both of my brothers, Scott and Josh, live there, my sister, Sena, flew up from Southern California and my dad came in from Vegas. It was so fun to be with everyone! We stayed with my brother Scott and my cute sister-in-law, Heidi, who is 7 months pregnant. They have a Beagle, named Cali, and I was a little worried how the kids would do since they aren't around dogs much, but they loved it! (I think poor Cali was ready for a break when we left.)

We had a great weekend! We ate amazing food, played games, watched movies, went Bowling, went to see "A Christmas Carol" and did a little shopping! The best part was just laughing and being together! The kids loved all the attention they got too, being the only kids there.

Josh, my dad, Sena, Scott and me

Thanksgiving Dinner-Sena, Heidi, Scott, Josh

My dad, Don, Easton, Elle and me

Elle being silly with her spoon

Of course, Easton loves to be like Elle

Jayne's 1st Thanksgiving dinner

Sharing a little food with Cali (Jayne and Cali became buddies because Cali doesn't usually get people food)

Easton loved Cali and always wanted to pet her and play fetch

Elle and Easton with their new vest and fleece they got from Gpa Mike and Connie

My sister and me

Aunt Sena and Jayne

Uncle Josh playing with the kids

An intense game of Monopoly (It was Heidi's first time playing and she won!)

Playing Skeeball at the Bowling alley arcade with Aunt Sena

Jayne at the arcade

Josh and Scott at the arcade

Neither of us had ever done Dance, Dance Revolution but Sena and I laughed so hard trying it!

Bowling was so much fun!

Elle is very competitive so she was thrilled that she bowled two strikes

Easton was just thrilled to knock any pins over and got so excited

Don bowling

I love to bowl! I don't know why because I am not good but I think it is so fun!

We were still in Sacramento for the BYU-Utah game. We have taught Elle well and she is a die-hard BYU fan. Both my brothers went to Utah so Elle insisted on making crowns and decorations for the game. It was pretty cute. She was so thrilled when BYU won. What a game!

Driving home from Sacramento, we stopped at Saltair to show the kids the white sand from the salt. They thought it was pretty neat. We had a great weekend!