Dear Owen,

Today, you are three and a half! You love rockets, the book Owen and electronics! You are a very caring little guy and you are very concerned about how people are feeling. Also, you have the most contagious, amazing laugh that I hope never, ever changes. You add so much joy and laughter to our family!

Love you,
Mama

3 and a half!

You had your last day of school for the year this week, too — water day!

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Dear H, O and B,

We’ve had a very busy and fun spring! Here are the highlights!

Hayden, you learned to ride a bike with no training wheels!

 

Owen and Bennett, you learned to really play together this spring — it’s been so fun to watch you learn how to be friends!

 

We had our Dove Love friends up for a visit:

 

 

We spent Good Friday packing food bags for Feed My City:

We had a lovely Easter:

And Hayden, you had your second piano recital the day before Mother’s Day:

 

The big moments and the little ones — I’m grateful to be your mom for them all.

Love you,
Mama

 

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Dear Hayden,

You, Nana and I spent this weekend in California! We visited Auntie Kim, Madi and Grandpa Rog in Santa Maria, had a great time at our hotel (which had the most amazing and beautiful lagoon) and visiting the sites in Santa Barbara and then we went to Mireille’s Bridal shower and then went out with Mireille and Ben and stayed with Mireille to spend some extra time with her. It was such a great weekend and so fun to have some time with just the girls!

Love you,
Mama

At the airport waiting for our flight!

Swimming in the pool at the hotel

Checking out the amazing lagoon at our hotel — there were turtles and ducks all around and you love, love, LOVED it!

Walking the Santa Barbara Pier

The Santa Barbara Sea Center

First fish and chips!

The Santa Barbara Art Foundry — home of FROGMAN!

Great Grandpa Rog

Auntie Kim and Madi

Mireille — Mrs. B-to-be!

Ben

Sad about the end of vacation!

I loved the moment when you and your brothers were reunited! You were all so happy to see each other!

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Dear Bennett,

You have become quite the talker. You talk in complete sentences all day long, but the way you say certain words makes me smile so many times every day!

Here are some of your words:
Milk – “bonk”
Mickey Mouse – “Bickey Bounce”
Thank you – “tah-too”
Burped – “Bupped”
Donuts – “Ya-yos”
Choo Choo – “Mmmmm-Mmmmmm” (This one is like a hum — it cracks us all up!)

Also, every bird is a “quack” and every cat sighting has you saying “Meow! Meow!” instead of the word cat!

I wanted to get these written down because before I know it you’ll be saying them all right and I’ll forget all your cute little words.

Love you,
Mama

 

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Dear Hayden,

Tonight you and Daddy went to the Daddy/Daughter Dance at the church we have been attending. You had a blast! You went with Alli and Jason and the dance was Frozen themed – complete with real live princesses! You had dinner, made a craft and danced the night away. Daddy and Jason even took you for an ice cream treat afterward! Daddy was running a little late, so he borrowed a scooter to get to he park where we were taking pictures as quickly as possible. I love seeing you and Daddy together. He loves you so dearly, my sweet girl.

Love you,
Mama

 

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H, O and B,

Here’s a photo update for you!

Love you,
Mama

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Dear H, O and B,

We have had a lot of fun Valentine festivities going on! We had our annual heart hunt and you had a blast! O, you had a great time with your friends in Miss Sue’s class. H, you had a great time with your school friends after school at a party at Jack’s house. This evening, we went to the Wielands to watch the Cats take on the Devils. Even though we lost, we had a great time! You exchanged valentines with the Wieland boys, and Hayden — Elijah gave you such a sweet bouquet of flowers! You said, “Wow! I wasn’t expecting that at all!” It made you very happy! Y’all have shown me a new version of love. Valentine’s Day has a whole new meaning since I started sharing it with you!

Love you,
Mama

 

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Dear H, O and B,

We are having so much family fun! The weather has been amazing and we are having so much fun being outside. We are also having fun building things inside! Just wanted to post this little update for you!

Love you,
Mama

 

 

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Dear H, O and B,

We had such a merry Christmas! Great Grandpa Rog, Uncle Joe, Aunt Tonja, Dyllan, Karsen, Nana, Papa, Grandma and Jiddoh were all here to celebrate it with us! Such a fun time!

Love you,
Mama

Christmas Eve:

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Christmas Morning:

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Dear H, O and B,

Advent is defined as a season of “expectant waiting” for the celebration of Christmas. Each day in December leading up to Christmas, we do an advent activity — sometimes it’s something we do at home (like read a new Christmas book, go caroling with our neighbors or make a craft), sometimes we go out (to Zoo Lights, the train park, the North Pole, or other fun places) and sometimes we do things for others (like making cards for teachers, buying gifts for children who have incarcerated parents or making a treat for the mailman). We had such a fun time making memories this year. The whole Christmas season is more magical because you are here to celebrate it with us!

Love you,
Mama

Our Trip to the North Pole:

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Gingerbread house building:

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Zoo Lights:

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Santa at Nana and Papa’s Park:

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Teddy Bear Tea at the Ritz:

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Owen’s Christmas Program:

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Christmas at the train park:

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Santa’s Helicopter Ride into town:

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Magic Snowfall at Desert Ridge:

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