Kailyn's Baptism

Wow! Can you believe we already have an 8 year old? She is such a great young lady too. She has been SOOOO excited for her baptism, mentioning it any chance she can. I found this white dress on clearance after Easter and it has been hanging in her closet since. She would often take it out to look at or to show to anyone willing to look.

I'm so glad she is our oldest. She is a great example to her younger sisters and brothers. She is amazing at sharing and looking out for them. She is pretty easy going and is good at find things to do (of course the default is reading).

We were able to have both sets of grandparents and Aunt Megan come for the Baptism. Kailyn planned her whole program picking the songs and assigning everyone with something to do. She did a great job.

Grandpa Bassett spoke at Kailyn's baptism about baptism. Grandpa Jones spoke about the gift of the Holy Ghost. They both did an amazing job, the spirit was so strong.

Our beautiful girl in white.

Kailyn loves to pose for pictures.

Kailyn with her dad and mom.

A family photo (Wow! We got everyone to looking on one try)

Grandma and Grandpa Jones and Aunt Megan with Kailyn, and of course Chase who insisted on being in the picture.

All of the kids with Grandma and Grandpa Bassett.

Gandma and Grandpa Bassett with Kailyn.

Kailyn with both sets of grandparents.

Group picture with Grandma and Grandpa Jones and Aunt Megan.

Grandpa and Grandma Bassett with our fam.  Kailyn pointed out that it looks like Ken has helicopter rotors coming out of his head.

Kailyn with her dad in their baptismal clothing. Ken did a good job at making sure Kailyn went all of the way under the water. Kailyn said that the water felt really good (it was nice and warm) and wished she could stay in longer.

With everyone in town we decided to show them a little of our new town. One of our stops was to show everyone the falls.

The girls playing on the rocks and looking at this nasty water that had settled on the rocks.

Poor Chase had to be the one to actually fall into the yucky water.

Even with this wet back end, Chase was hardly phased and didn't let it ruin his fun.

Within minutes of getting there Caden made friends with this little boy. They walked all over the rocks together.

Checking out the falls.

Caden

Grandpa and Grandma Bassett

Grandma and Grandpa Jones decided to treat everyone to some ice cream. Of course the kids had to pick the most colorful ice cream they had, which promptly turned the kids mouth and teeth blue.

Jordan didn't care about turning blue, all she knew was it tasted really good.

Chase saw someone there using a spoon,  so, of course, he had to get one, too.

Kailyn's Birthday

Kailyn had her 8th birthday!!  Can you believe we have a daughter who is 8 years old?  As mentioned in a previous post, we had some visitors at our home.  They all ended up leaving a couple of days before Kailyn's birthday, but Kailyn's birthday still caught us a little off guard.  Between that and Ken's work schedule, we didn't get to have Kailyn's friend-party anywhere near her birthday.  Actually we had it a couple of months late, in October.  

Caden wonders if he should be opening a present, too? 

Proudly displaying her baby's new bed . . .  

 . . . and reading some of the cool features to Jordan. 

 The obligatory "thank you" hug.

A new Sunday dress. 

New scriptures for our 8 year old . . .  

 . . . and a scripture carrying case. 

Jordan, trying to claim the bed for HER doll. 

A quickly put together birthday cake so Ken could get to work on time. 

 Kailyn demonstrating the instant maturity she got when she turned 8.

Kinda looks like a mummy, if you ask me!

Kailyn was also able to invite some friends to for a swim party.  Afterwards, the friends made some necklaces and ate some cupcakes.  Here are some pictures of the guests, minus her siblings who were also present.  Kailyn is grateful to have such good friends to come and celebrate with her.  

Kailyn's cake was a requested cupcake with flower decorations.

Umm, I'll take that one.  All reaching in at the same time.

Our New Friends

In early August, there was a tragic accident on I-90 in which a family of a mother and her 6 children rolled their vehicle.  One of the children passed away immediately.  The other 6 passengers were taken to 2 hospitals in town.  We had the privilege of having some of the family members stay with us while everyone recovered.  Following are a few of the pictures of those family members.

L to R: Justin, Sue (Pam's mother), Becky (Justin's wife), Seth (age 7), Pam, Alisha 

Joseph and Caden 

Joseph and Caden 

Imani and Chase 

The family gathers for a story, Joseph can't resist.

Caden's 5th

***ALERT*** LOTS OF PICTURES AHEAD!!

Caden had his 5th birthday.  The kid has so many facial expressions that we just had to take loads of pictures for you to try to capture the moment with us.  Some of his siblings also added a few facial expressions for your enjoyment, as well.

Both grandparents gave us a chance to tease Caden and tell him that the packages and letters we were getting were not for him.  He didn't buy it, though.  He has a boy in his class whose name is spelled "Kaden," so we tried to convince him that the packages were for the boy in his class.  We also tried to convince him that since his last name is not "Jones," the card was not for him.  He informed us that since his middle name is Jones, it was still for him.

The face says it all.

LOVE the expression!  Needs no explanation.

Pure joy

Chase helped wrap the present (the one Caden just opened up above) and decided it was, therefore, his.  He couldn't understand when we passed it over to Caden.

Can't help but love the irony of the shirt.

Jordan was excited to give her present to Caden

Caden was excited, too!

Jordan explaining what it is and how it works.

The obligatory hug.  So heartfelt, as you can tell.

Had to include this pic, showing how Chase ended up getting the car after all.

A light saber.

Demonstrating the power of the light saber.

The tongue helps open the package.

The funny part that we could not catch on the camera was how he was lifting the box by the wrapping paper as he tried to pull off the paper.

To get maximal pulling force, Caden put his whole body into the unwrapping.

They're both pretty excited.  Chase still has the other car.

Towards the end, Caden just grabbed, pulled, and threw things over his shoulder, like the tape . . .

The parachute man . . .

The new shirt . . .

Still throwing the new shirt.  We love the clothes from grandparents--it's the only way our kids get new clothes.  The clothes we get them have all been through a few other children (ours or someone elses).

Ava wanted to show off her moves . . .

The lean . . .

Almost high-centered . . .

Just about over . . .

Got it.  This is the shirt I was trying to get!

Caden is not a huge fan of cake, so he was excited to have just ice cream with some toppings.

Everyone helping lick the ice cream off of the candles.  This is why Shelly doesn't reuse the candles.