Haden turns 14

I can't believe Haden is 14! How did that happen?? Really, where does the time go? He has grown up into a fine young man, is all teenager, and so much fun to have around. He was surprised and excited to get his new foot pedal for his guitar and not so surprised (but still excited) to get his coat that he picked out. Happy Birthday!!

Family Party

Travis and Maria invited us over to their new home for a house warming party. We also celebrated Kerry's birthday, Haden's birthday and the upcoming arrival of their new baby girl!

Our little beauty

Evie, you are so beautiful! I have to pinch myself on a regular basis because of the great blessing I have been given to have this precious little girl. Sometimes I look at her and she just takes my breath away, I don't know how else to describe it... true feelings of gratitude and joy!

Reflections Contest

Haden was given an assignment in Creative Writing to enter the Reflections contest. He decided to write a song on his guitar. The theme for Reflections this year is "Beauty is...". Haden wrote the most beautiful song entitled "The Way Life Goes." The chairman over the Reflections contest called Haden to let him know he was one of the top finalists in the Music division and asked if he would perform his piece at the Awards night because the judges raved about it. He did a wonderful job!

Fall Choir Concert

October 28th - Haden's first choir concert. Troy talked Haden into taking choir this year. After a few days of being in beginning choir the teacher asked Haden if he wanted to be in advanced choir (after Haden sang a few bars to him). I was thrilled with this new development, because that means my boy can sing! A couple weeks later they announced try-outs for the school musical. Haden loves to act and so he decided to try out. We thought he would surely get a part based on his acting ability, but the singing part we still weren't so sure, (since he won't sing for his parents). Anyway, to make a long story short, Haden got the lead role in the school musical!!! He will be Troy Bolton in High School Musical. He is going to do great! Haden has a real natural ability to perform and we're so proud of him!

Halloween 2009

This Halloween was a little interesting because Haden's championship football game was right during "trick-or-treat" time. So after the game, we came home to eat taco soup and cornbread and the kids made it to just a few houses before it just got too late and too cold. Still it was nice to be with family and the kids didn't seem too heartbroken that their Halloween night got cut short.

Halloween Carnival

October 24th we went to our traditional Halloween Carnival with the Layton 2nd Ward. As you can see, Haden and Kaiden dressed up as cheerleaders. Both Brooke and I happened to be cheerleaders in high school and now our sons are gracing our uniforms - who would have guessed!! The Young Men and Young Women were able to perform the "Thriller" dance they have been working on for about a month. Lindsey Brown and I taught it to them. It was a lot of fun! The carnival also included a chili cook-off and trunk-or-treat.

Dancing Queen

I took these pictures of Evie right after we got home from taking our new family pictures. Evie was pretty uncooperative at the picture taking session, so for her to come home and be so happy and silly was kind of funny and actually just what I should expect from Evie; she will smile and perform when she is good and ready, thank you very much!! No amount of bribing or begging works for her...yet!

Haden's Legendary Football season Fall 2009

After an undefeated indoor season we had great hopes for the regular season, and it didn't fail to live up to expectations. Although we struggled through many injuries, and won one game by only a single point, we were able to get through the regular season with an undefeated record. When the playoffs rolled around we had our sights set on making it to the championship game. But to get there we would have to play the other undefeated Layton team--Layton Blue. Blue had many players that Haden had played with during the indoor season, plus they had just been destroying opponents. During this game we (Silver) had to wear the white visitor jersey's because it was another Layton team. The game was a defensive slugfest, Blue had gone up by 6 in the first half, but we were able to tie it up with a miraculous throw and catch into the endzone. At the end of regulation it was 6 to 6 and the game went into overtime. Unbelievably, the two teams traded scores taking the game to three overtimes. In the third overtime Haden got the ball from the right tackle spot, and ran around the left side, broke a couple of tackles and exploded into the endzone. We were able to convert the extra point. Then it was Blues turn. They scored... but failed to make their extra point. Silver won by 1!!!! Unbelievable the emotion. Everyone rushed the field bawling and hugging. We moved on to play Brigham City Purple in the Mini Bowl at Weber State. I felt that like it was going to be a great match up when we each traded scores in the first quarter. Then Davis, our star running back and linebacker, got hurt. This really hurt our team and overall strategy, therefore Brigham City went on to win handely. Despite this, it was still a storybook season, with so many great memories. Haden played awesome, virtually never coming off the field all season. He ran for at least 4 touchdowns during the season, and expanded his play into fullback and inside linebacker positions. We love Football...Go Layton Colts!!!

Family Pictures 2009

My Beautiful Family!


My husband and best friend!!

We never could have imagined how much we love and adore our precious little girl!

Our handsome and ever so talented 14 year old son Haden!

Our handsome and ever so happy and content 11 year old son Andrew!

Our handsome and ever so adventurous and loving 6 year old son Stratton!

Stratton showing his loving, sweet way with Evie, who wasn't so happy about getting her pictures taken!

Finally got some smiles from Evie when we started to play!

Our little Princess!

There's that smile we love!

Our precious and ever so beautiful daughter Evie!

Fall Sunday walk

We went on a nice Sunday walk in East Layton with Grandpa and Grandma Harris to see the colorful fall leaves. The kids enjoyed climbing and exploring. It was a beautiful fall day!

Apple Pie

Yum! My favorite fall dessert (or anytime of year for that matter)! This was my 1st try making an apple pie from scratch. I love to bake but pie making has always intimidated me. Anyway, it was a little time consuming but turned out great! Since then, I have made a few more and am now ready to invest in an apple peeler, corer, slicer from Pampered Chef. Which I'm sure Troy will appreciate , since he usually does the majority of the apple prep:)

Grandpa's Pumpkin Patch

It has been tradition for many years to pick pumpkins right from Grandpa Langston's Pumpkin Patch. The kids love it and can pick as many as they want to. Grandpa's garden is enormous and provides us with the best fresh produce each summer. We look forward to it all year! Thanks Grandpa!!

Football Fun

It must be football season! Parker came over to play and brought his football helmet and football. Stratton pulled out his football helmet and rummaged through Haden's drawer to find a chin gaurd and 2 sets of gloves. It was time to get the game on! They full on tackled eachother and had a blast. 2 future football players right here!

Cotton Candy Heaven

Stratton decided to bring some of his very own money to Haden's football game to buy his very own treat. Well, obviously from these pictures the treat of choice was Cotton Candy. This was at 8:00 a.m. mind you, a great way to start the day, on a sugar high. He and Tyler thouroughly enjoyed their treat until finally they couldn't take one more bite.

Creative Boy

Stratton is my creative, imaginative, artistic boy. He is always coming up with the best ideas and creations. Stratton is always looking for some way to express his creative imagination, it's so fun to watch!

Pigtails and Smiles

Evie was all smiles when I took these pictures of her with her new baby doll that we picked up at Walgreens for $4.00. Evie actually asked me to do her hair the same as her dolly (shock). I think it was the first time she didn't cry when I did her hair - maybe that's the trick!