Papago Park

We were bored one Saturday and decided to pack up and go on a hike to Papago Park.  As much as we could hike with 3 little ones.  The kids absolutely loved it though and they got worn out.

Mark carried Caleb on his back up until the very end which made it nice.

They wanted a picture by the dinosaur skull.

Love it!!

Memories

A couple weeks ago, I went to a fun Baby Shower.  A shower for Mark's cousin, Jenna, who is having a baby girl!!  I love all these girls.  These girls come from a BIG family.  Ellen had 9 kids... 7 girls and 2 boys.  And they are all so stinkin' sweet and adorable.  So fun to hang with.  But the lady in pink is Debbie and her and her husband swapped houses with my sister.  Debbie bought Lisa's house and Lisa bought Debbie's house.  So it was soooo fun visiting my sister's old house.  I miss it.  I spent many days there babysitting and chasing boys around.

Camille, Jenna and I

It was a fun night with everyone and enjoying the cutest little girl clothes!!

Man vs Daughter

Elli wanted her nails painted and asked her dad to do it.  Mark was Super Dad and stepped up.  It took a lot to get these pictures.  Mark kept moving and trying to get out of the picture.  I only got a few that didn't turn out blurry.

Had to do the do the toes too.

Caleb found the file on the floor and decided to pamper himself.

The final product.

I made Elli lay on the table to wait for them to dry.  Caleb joined in and layed next to her.

Such a sweet Dad.  I think he is hired for the job next time!!

Happy Birthday Elli Mae!!

I don't know where time went, but this little girl is turning the Big 5!!  She kind of skipped being a toddler and just turned into a big girl!!  She has always been so smart and just too big for her age.  I think she just decided to skip being 2, 3 & 4 years and go straight to being 5.  We kept telling her to stop eating her vegetables so she would stop growing and stay 4 forever, but she ate them. (Hey, it got her to eat her veggies!)

Top 10 things we love about this Beautiful Girl!!

1.  She loves her family.  She loves taking care of everyone.  I caught her feeding Caleb yesterday. While I was trying to make Caleb lunch, Elli got an applesauce out of the fridge and started feeding him.  She thought it was so fun to do that.

2.  She loves to sing.  Her favorite songs right now are anything Taylor Swift, Lucky Blue's songs and she loves the Kidz Bop commercial and sings those songs.

3.  She is a little performer.  She is willing to perform in front of anyone at anytime.  She has some major confidence.  Something I never had growing up.  I was always so scared to get in front of people.

4.  She is a little dare devil.  She will try anything.  She loves roller coaster rides and hiking up mountains that have some pretty crazy cliffs.  She's not afraid of heights.

5.  She has the hugest crush on her daddy.  She tells me that he is her boyfriend and not mine.  I get jealous of their little relationship.  Elli loves to cuddle on the couch with her dad and watch Spongebob.

6.  She is so ready for Kindergarten.  This is her 2nd year in Preschool and is reading so well right now.  She loves to learn and go to school.  Let's hope it stays that way.

7.  She definitely has an attitude, but she is absolutely a little sweetheart.  She notices the feelings of other people and will try to cheer them up if they need it.

8.  She says the funniest things.  Even as a baby, you could tell Elli would have a sense of humor.  She did things just to make us laugh.  And she still will do anything to get a reaction out of us.

9.  She finds the good in all people.

10.  She laughs a lot.  Who doesn't need a little person to cheer you up with an amazing smile and contagious laugh.  She has such a positive spirit about her.  Such a sweet little innocent girl!!

Who couldn't love her??

Every time I drop Elli off at school, she turns around and waves to me about a million times.  I don't ever want to drive away until she is in the door because I get to see this cute little girl smiling and waving at me.  Brightens my day!!

She is such a fun addition to our family and we love her soooooooo much.  Words can't express how much we adore our little girl.  We are so proud of all you do Elli and hope you have a fabulous birthday!!

The Big Day!!

Christmas morning started at 7:30.... yes, 7:30 in the morning. Kids slept in.  7:30 is sleeping in at our house.  I got more video of the kids opening presents than I did pictures.  But what I got was perfect.  We had a fabulous Christmas morning.  Despite the stresses of life and Mark getting laid off during the Christmas season, we were very blessed.  Thanks to Black Friday, we survived this Christmas season!!  (Black Friday is whole other story in itself)

My kids were not very greedy this year.  Braeden really didn't have any big items on his list.  Santa had a hard time finding something to get him.  But he managed to find something.   He just wanted a few things.  Caleb had fun just trying to figure out what the heck was going on.  He found out soon enough that when you rip the paper off, there is a toy inside.

All Elli asked for was a Swim to Me Puppy that she had been wanting since August.  But I assumed she would forget about it, but NO, she didn't.  That's all she wanted.  Braeden wanted to get it for her and he was excited to see her face when she opened it.  We got it on video and it is so CUTE!!

Braeden's into making weird faces.  He really wanted Bakugan and was very excited to get them.

He loved his new football and lunch bag.  If you're a Baker, you need anything USC!!

Caleb taking a break!!  It's exhausting opening presents.

Enjoying his train!!

Then the whole gang came over.  All 12 grandkids running around trying to get their presents.  PURE CRAZINESS!!  But so worth it!

Tyke is still picking on Caleb.  Just wait Tyke.... Caleb is going to outgrow you someday!!  (Anyone who knows the Hunts, knows they will always outgrow our Baker genes)

My mom was SOOOOO sweet this year.  She canned 36 jars of meat for all of her kids' families.  We got beef chunks, ground beef, chicken and even beans.  I am so excited to have this!!  Thanks again Mom!!

Elli giving Blayke her present.

This is what Blayke gave Elli.  But what happened next was the BEST!!

She gave Blayke the biggest hug for her present!!  SOOOO CUTE!!

Braeden had opened all his clothes first.  Other kids were getting toys and all he thought he was getting was clothes.  Can you tell he was bummed??

And then he opened this cool remote control car that follows a laser and goes up the walls.  Pretty cool!!

Cody, Ryan & Kara

Caleb kept throwing paper on Kara and Ryan.

Caleb still throwing paper.... oh wait, is that Kara posing??

I'm sad we have to wait a whole nother year for the Christmas season again.  What is it about that time of year that makes everything so happy.  That feeling that you can only get during the Holidays.  I miss it.  And when it's here, it goes too fast.  But we are so very blessed to be together as a family and I really enjoyed all the family time we had with both sides.

I'm excited for 2010!  So many great things to come!!

Bring it on!!

Christmas Eve Eve Eve Eve

The Monday before Christmas, we went to Mark's brother's house and had FHE with them.  Camille gave a very cute lesson and the kids surprisingly sat and listened.  Here's Caleb being as cute as can be!!

Elli and her cousins.

After the lesson, we had some pretty delicious desserts.  The kids were in heaven.

Braeden took advantage of these treats sitting in front of him and didn't hold back!!

Elli and Emma holding up their gingerbread cookies!!

Mark's oldest brother (Kirk) got Mark and his youngest brother Bryan these fun USC hats!!  Cousin Eddie style!!

It was a fun night hanging with the Bakers!!  Camille wants this to be a tradition every monday before Christmas!!  I love the idea!!