Ally's Dance Recital

This was Ally's first year in dance....oh boy, does she love it!! I've been a little reluctant to put her in, fearing that she's inherited her mother's coordination. But let me tell you, this girl falls very far from the tree when it comes to dancing!! She did SO great and was so cute! We were so impressed that she memorized the entire dance and smiled the entire time. It was such a special moment and we are so very proud!


She danced to "Sea Cruise"...she the 3rd from the left.

We were so into the moment that I completely forgot to take a picture of her after the recital. She fell asleep on the way home and this is a picture of her after I woke her up and made her take a picture...she was such a good sport!

What a great year!

Our kids LOVED school this year and we had to say goodbye to some fabulous teachers. We wanted to make them something special to let them know how much we love them. Ally and Isaac each drew a special picture and then we embroidered it and turned it into a pillow to give.


They were both so proud!


ughhh...I can't find the picture of Isaac with his-tune in later and hopefully I will have found it-it was so, so cute!!

Gymnastics Performances!!

Ally, Isaac and Austin all take gymnastics from my good friend Katie, who also happens to be the GREATEST gymnastics teacher in the land! They all love it. It was so fun to see them all perform and how much they have improved! Even though our camera was just about dead, we were able to get some cute pictures of them (just no video, BUMMER!)



The camera failed in capturing Ally in action...but let me tell you, she was FABULOUS!

Miss Katie let Isaac put his special trick of walking on his hands into his routine...he LOVED it!

Austin has the best 3yr old cartwheel ever...and he's not too proud either (apparently neither are his parents!)!


The PROUD performers!

Our baby is ONE!

This sweet little baby turned 1! On May 12 Isabel Eva turned a year old! She is such a blessing in our family! It's hard to imagine our life without her always being in it! She still holds the title of the the happiest, easiest baby ever!! Her brothers and sister were all so excited for her little party...they've had it all planned for months.



We made her a watermelon ice cream cake, which she obviously LOVED!






She's as sweet as she is cute!

A Big Change

On Mother's Day 2009, Jonathan was called to be the bishop of our ward. We all have faith that he'll do a great job. We love him more than we could possibly express!!

Here's a picture of Jonathan and his uncle Tim when he was ordained.

Bishop Baldwin and Bishop Manwaring

5, I say, 5!!!!

It's true, he's 5!!! On May 6, 2009 he turned 5!!! Isaac has to patiently wait while he watches almost everyone in our family celebrate their birthday's a few weeks before his. He's always so nice, but always SO EXCITED once his finally comes around! This year he wanted to have a Madagascar 2 birthday...try that one!

He started his day off with breakfast in bed with is one of our most favorite traditions!

He loved his "crash landing cake". And he LOVED opening his presents! He loved the Madagascar theme so much that he wanted me to try and style his hair like a lion...so funny (you can't tell, but I tried!).



He is such a fun and happy little boy! He brightens everyones day and we feel incredibly blessed that he is in our family!!

Father and Son's 2009

It was the annual Father and Son's campout again this year. It seems like every year the dirt gets thicker and thicker! Jonathan LOVED to pack up his boys and take them into the mountains for a weekend filled with camping, hiking, catching lizards and most importantly getting dirty. They all had a blast!

The Baldwin's come to town!!!

It was so, so much fun having my little sister Ashley and her girls (Kate and Savannah) come to visit us! We packed the trip full to say the least!

We had a blast at the Children's Museum...








Had a blast at the train park...




and spent lots of time swimming and talking! We can't wait until they come again!!

7 years old...REALLY!?

On April 23rd, Ally turned 7 years old!! It just doesn't seem possible that we could have a 7 year old...but then we can't begin to imagine that she hasn't been with us our entire life!

The day started off with breakfast in bed...one of her very favorite things!

We then went to our friends the Simons who were so nice to invite us over since Jonathan had to work that night (although he was able to come for a little while). Ally wanted banana cream pie for desert-one of her dad's favs as well!


Then on the weekend we had her real birthday party. This year we decided to do small birthdays with just our family. She wanted to have a luau party which turned out so cute!





Instead of cake we had yummy sorbet in real fruit shells...it was perfect.
We even braved the limbo stick...it was a good way to turn seven-if she must!

Ally's Field Trip

I was so excited to go on a field trip with Ally and her class this year. I haven't been able to help a lot in her classroom because of Jonathan's crazy schedule and having Isabel at home. But luckily Jonathan was able to take the day off to stay with the other kids at home while I got to go....he went on the field trip to the zoo earlier in the year. Every bit of it was fun!!

We loved riding the bus together and chatting the entire time!



First stop...the Children's Museum. All the kids had such a good time! I had the most darling little group with me...then I looked around and every group was darling. She has such a nice class and an amazing teacher!





Outside the museum they were handing out little milkshake samples to get a milk mustache and get your picture in front of a "Got Milk" poster.



Then we were off to the park where the kids ate lunch and played in the water.


This is Ally and her cute friend Tina. It was a GREAT day!!!

Naughty! Naughty!

Ally was helping me clean one day when all of a sudden we both noticed that we hadn't heard or seen Isabel in a while. This is what we found....naughty, naughty baby!!

Butterflies

This year for Christmas, the 3 older kids got bug kits. Austin got an ant hill, Isaac got a praying mantis habitat, and Ally got a butterfly pavillion. They all were such hits! We had the most fun watching them all!! These are pictures of the day we let Ally's butterflies go (I knew they'd probably be disturbed if they had to watch them die). It was almost magical for the kids to be able to hold the butterflies on their fingersWe will DEFINITELY do this again!!.

Easter

Easter is always so special! This year we really tried to focus our kids more on the real meaning of Easter...it made it all that more special for all of us! I ended up getting so sick at church and had to have Jonathan bring me home early...so we didn't end up getting any good family pictures. But being the AWESOME dad and husband, he took the kids out and got pictures of them without even being asked...what a guy! We are so in love with these 4 cute kids!!!