The Alpha Male!

So Duke turned 8 this month....in human years that would be 56....which means he is now the oldest in the house and therefore the alpha male passing up Karl. :)

We had a fun time celebrating with him this year.  The girls and I decided to take him to Petsmart to pick out a treat and maybe a new collar.  This was his first time going and he was not sure what to think of it all.

When we first walked in, we saw a couple of big dogs and he just looked at them and kept going.  Normally he would head straight for them and might even bark at them.  But I think he was quite nervous...he started shaking.  Poor thing.

He was smelling everything and by the time we left, he was loving in.  Guess we shouldn't be surprised since we have never taken him there before.

But he  picked out a bone with peanut butter in the middle and we got him a new brush....we couldn't find a collar that we liked.

That night we decided to sit him up to the table for a bowl of ice cream.  I used to do that every year with my little dog growing up, but haven't ever done it with Duke.  I guess this was a year for "Firsts".

We had him wear the hat and he just gobbled it all down so fast.

Afterwards we gave him his bone and he was a happy boy.

Happy Birthday Duke....you old coot!

A Choice needs to be Made!

Megan got accepted to Utah State....finally.  It came in the mail a whole month after BYU's letter.

She was getting worried as they were the ones that said she would get a scholarship.  However, there was no mention of one in the letter, so we are not sure what is going on. 

She now has to make a choice on where she wants to go...USU....or BYU......which one will she pick?

Stay tuned!

March Snowstorm

So we started the month of March off with a nice cold icy snowstorm. 

I love the way the trees look all white covered with ice.  And it is interesting to see that half the evergreen trees are white....you can really tell which way the wind was blowing. 

I was hoping to be done with the cold, but guess not.  Thank goodness for sweaters and boots so the trip to church is a little warmer.  And this will be gone by tomorrow anyway...that is just the way it is in Colorado.  But it sure is pretty...enough to go out and get some close ups of the ice and snow.

Another Cougar in the Family....maybe!

Megan got accepted to BYU!  HURRAY!  We are all so excited that she is officially a Cougar.  That is if she accepts.  She is still waiting to hear from Utah State.  She applied there as well and is excited that her brother is going there.  That might be the game changer...also her friend Marah is going there too so another plus to that school.

We will see where she chooses and what scholarships she will get...which there will be some for sure.

Congratulations Megan....you are awesome!

What is an AGGIE?

Not really sure what an Aggie is, but here it is......

Ok.....so it is a bull I guess!  Never heard that called an aggie before.

And Tyler is now officially one.  He was accepted into Utah State University.....he is an official college student.  Ok, maybe not, since we haven't paid for it yet.  But he is super excited to go there.  He has an apartment lined up with some RM's and really wants to do this.  We are excited for him...even though he will only be home a couple of weeks from his mission before he heads off to Utah.  Not enough time with this mom, but I will take what I can get these days. 

Congrats Son...way to go!

New Beginnings

In February, after many date changes, we finally had New Beginnings for YW.  It was extra special this year because Kayla got to attend.  She is turning 12 and will be in YW in no time....she is soooooo very excited.  It was weird to be there with all our girls and not leaving anyone home cuz they are too young. These are the only pictures I got...not sure why I didn't get one of Kayla that night.  Thanks to a friend who took pix on their phone I have these!

We have never had this many girls in the past years...last year was the first year that it exploded to big numbers.  Normally we only have 8-10 girls.  Kayla will be number 22 when she comes in the end of March, with 3 more girls coming in before the end of the year.  However, we lose 2 seniors this May...boo!

You are gonna love Young Women's Kayla!

She is Officially an Adult! Yikes!

Megan turned 18 this year and survived her surprise party the night before.  I thought for sure she knew what was going on, especially when Kasey kept calling my cell phone when Meg was sitting right next to me.  I thought she would hear her voice and know something was up. But we pulled it off and it was fabulous!

But her Saturday started off with a mandatory study session that started with her catching the bus at 7:30 to go to another high school.  She did not get home until about 1:30....not the best way to spend your birthday.  While she was gone, Kayla and her friend Cora decorated her room and the family room. I had no idea they were doing that....it looked great.

She was so tired that she went and took a nap for a couple of hours.....I don't blame her.  After she got up, we headed to Red Robin for her birthday dinner...it was so yummy and we were stuffed.  She opened presents and I think she liked everything she got....Phew!

After that, she had her 2 best friends over (they are sisters) for the night to just hang out.  They played Just Dance and some other games.  But they mostly talked and laughed and snacked and laughed some more.  She had a great time with them.  So glad that family moved into our ward last summer...there is a girlfriend for each one of my girls. These pictures are of them trying to imitate the faces on the balloons they drew.  Marah can't seem to keep a straight face to match her balloon...too funny!

Not quite Marah...there is a small smile there!

They did it!

Happy Birthday (again) Megan!  Enjoy your Adulthood!

Surprise! and Happy Birthday!

Believe it or not....Megan is now 18.  Wow!  Holy Moley!  Geez!  Really?!

I can not believe that she is 18 already.  My sweet little meggy moo....the little girl I always wanted to name Megan.....the baby with no hair....the girl that thought she was a boy cuz she had an older brother and she played with all HIS toys.....the little one that wore my blessing dress when she was blessed 18 years ago.....I just can't fathom that she is an adult now.  I love this girl so much and she is gorgeous and smart and funny and friendly....and OLD!  :)

Anyway, her birthday fell on a Saturday this year and so Friday night was the perfect night to surprise her!  Yep....she got her first surprise party.  I was going to throw her one, but then her best friend Kasey approached me and said she wanted to throw her one.  Awesome!

We ended up having it here at the house...Megan was home....everyone showed up at the same time....Megan was down stairs.....they all came in with food, gifts and a big huge sign.....Megan had no idea.....they decorated, signed the banner and hung it up.....Megan was clueless.....they were super quiet and yelled surprise when Megan was told the door was for her!  It was classic and wonderful and she was so surprised and so happy! 

 

It was a great night for her.....19 of her friends from the ward (all the kids 14 and up, minus 3 that couldn't make it)  It was fun to have them all over.  I totally love every single one of these kids and they can come over any time they want.  They played games and ate food........

Megan opened gifts......

They sang Happy Birthday to her and she blew out the candles......

I had these fun props to take pictures with and they went crazy with them.......  I just kept taking pictures and they kept posing.  It was so much fun!

The 5 Freshmen Girls

 The 3 Sophomore Girls

 "Sophomores!"

 All the Freshmen!

 BFF's

 All the freshmen doing the "Prom" pose...too funny!

 the 4 Seniors (missing 2 more guys that are graduating with them)

 Jenna.....the photo bomber!

 Everyone but the freshmen....although Dustin is in there and he is a freshmen?

 All the girls....they were singing and wouldn't stop to smile.  They crack me up!

They talked and chatted all night long and they were all exhausted by the time they left at 11:00.  What a great night she had.  She said she almost cried when she saw them all.  She has good friends, that is for sure.  She hugged every single one of them and thanked them for coming.

 These girls just sat and watched and I think thought they were all crazy!

 Had to bring out the baby book of Megan

You only turn 18 once!

She was so tired...she had to be up early for an AP study session with the bus leaving the school at 7:30AM.  Not a fun way to start your actual birthday.  Hope this night made it all worth while!  Happy Birthday Megan!