Kevin and Tammi get Married!

The last of the Ned and Suzanne Shamo family was married January 25th, 2014 in the Las Vegas Temple.  It was pretty neat for me to be able to be in the temple with all my siblings and their spouses, my parents, grandmother and many aunts and uncles and ponder on what a gift eternal families are!  We are so blessed to have the sealing ordinances restored!   It was so fun to reunite with so much family and Tammi and Kevin had absolutely gorgeous weather on their wedding day!  Gwen loved seeing Tammi in her dress!

Ned turns 3 and Redstone

Ned is 3 now!  His birthday happens to fall right around Martin Luther King Jr. Day so we've kind-of developed the tradition of going to Redstone with cupcakes for his birthday.  We invite anyone who wants to come and for the last several years, the weather has been beautiful!  

Nyle couldn't wait to climb--my little monkey!

For cautious Gwen and Ned, climbing up this high on the rocks was rather daring.  Since my kids are so cautious (minus Nyle), I'll generally encourage a little risk-taking. 

 I just realized I don't have any pictures of Lincoln at Redstone.  There's a good reason for that:  He was constantly off on the rocks and with his cousins.  I hardly saw him the whole time. 

Later, at home, we celebrated Ned's birthday with hot dogs and a blue cake.  

Some fun facts about 3-year-old Ned:

• Ned still has a fun quirky personality.  He likes to have his hands clean, and gets dressed about 2-5 times a day, depending on how often we go outside.  When we go out, he changes into pants, socks, shoes, and a jacket.  When we come home, he always has to change into shorts, t-shirt, and bare feet. 
• He loves action figures, like his Power Ranger man. 
• He still likes to be held and will often ask me just to hold him.
• He's slowly transitioning out of taking naps, but not completely yet. 
• He's a pretty good eater, and likes to take his time at it.  He's usually the last one eating.  And, he seems to be my only child, so far, that will eat left-overs.  
• He plays very well with Gwen, while Lincoln is at school and will often go along with whatever she wants to play.  
• Since Lincoln and Gwen both read, he seems to think he can too and will often "read" a book, while occasionally asking me: "What's this word, Mom?" while pointing at a whole page.  
• He's such a cutie and while he's still going through his "terrible twos-three's", he's a sweetie and we adore him!

Nyle Turns 1!

 Nyle is 1!  This birthday seems to be such a milestone!  When my kids turn 1, they start sleeping better at night, we move them into the kids bedroom (out of ours), they seem to become more independent and integrated with the rest of the kids.  Overall, it marks the beginning of a little more freedom for me!   

 For his first birthday, we decided to try the Brazilian tradition of having a cake with lots of fruit on top.  Actually, we ended up mixing a few cultures with a Tres Leches cake and the fruit on top.  It was good and Nyle seemed to enjoy it.  

Nyle loves to cuddle his new stuffed animals.

Some fun facts about 1-year-old Nyle:

• Nyle has slowly been transitioning into toddler-hood.  He took his first steps early in January, and he's just now (Feb. 7) using walking more as a main mode of transportation.  
• He's a major mess-maker.  Particularly in the kitchen. He loves to get into the trash, under the sink, into the utensils drawer, etc....
• He loves wheels
• He's a bit of a risk taker and right now loves to climb on anything he can. 
• He seems to be my busiest baby, which amuses his siblings, particularly at church.
• When we go to the library every week, his favorite thing to do is try to shove as many books off the shelf as he can. 
• He's a mega-momma's boy!
• He doesn't seem to need a ton of sleep, like Gwen.
• He's a heart melter with his chubby cheeks and long, dark, eyelashes! 

Gwen Turns 5!

My Gwenny turned 5!  I can hardly believe she's so old! For this birthday, she wanted to go see Frozen so I took her and Lincoln.  Then we had a family party at home with homemade pizza and a strawberry cake.
Some fun facts about 5-year-old Gwen:

•     She is growing accustomed to having 3 brothers and will often lead them in some sort of creative game/pretend play that she's come up with.  
• She is an incredible reader!  She pretty much has learned along side Lincoln and I would say she's at about a 2nd grade reading level now. Right now she's reading a Junie B. Jones chapter book.   
• She still needs much less sleep than her brothers.  She consistently goes to bed later than them (she stays up reading), and wakes up before them.  
• She loves being a girl!  She loves dressing up, painting her nails, having "tea parties", Barbies, babies, etc.... If it's a stereotypical girl thing- she likes it.  
• She is my little buddy now.  I recently took her to my sister's Bridal shower and she was the perfect accomplice.  
• She's excited to go to kindergarten next year, but I will sure miss her!  

 

Playing in the Leaves

 Since our "Fall" seems to happen in the Winter we get our opportunities to play in leaves later.  We had fun playing in these leaves at the park.  

 Just cute!

Christmas 2013

This year, as with most years, the tree was decorated and redecorated over and over the whole season.  My kids love taking the ornaments off and putting them back on.  It seems as though they did it every day!

                                    Decorating Gingerbread men.  What kid doesn't love doing this!

Showing off their gifts from Grandma Hills- personalized pillow cases and heat pads.  They love them!

Something that become somewhat of a tradition.  After the kids were all ready for bed, we'd go by the Christmas tree and read/listen to a Christmas story.  

We went over to my parents to listen to a shortened version of The Forgotten Carols.

This year, the stomach bug was going around the Shamo family.  Ned had it Sunday before Christmas, then we thought he was over it and that the other kids wouldn't get it, but...Christmas morning--the three older ones all had their own throw-up bucket.  They seemed to be unaware that it was Christmas, until....

We decided to move their beds and buckets into the living room, where all the toys were and they perked up!  It was the strangest thing.  After that, no more sickness.  They didn't even seem to be sick at all the subsequent days.  (I however, caught it the day after Christmas. Fortunately it didn't last long and we were able to go to Mesquite for the Hills family Christmas celebrations.)

Arrows for the bow Tim made

Ned's first R/C car

Barbie!

A hitch for Pedro (the new truck)

Paper! Oh, and a toy, too.  

Hugs of gratitude

Heely's!  Lincoln loves wheels- always has and these took him about a day to figure out how to use.  

Racing their cars

A Christmas dress

Fall 2013

Lincoln started soccer.  He loves it and had a great coach!  It was fun watching him play.  

We spotted this guy on our way to a park one evening.  I was very glad we were up in the bed of the truck and not down on the ground with it.  I really don't like spiders, especially giant ones.  

Visiting Road Runner Park

Sleep-over with the Park cousins at our house.  

Had the Park cousins come to stay for a few days.  It was so fun and good for the kids to spend some time with their cousins.  I ended catching a stomach bug for one day during their stay so Zach had to stay home with them for one day.  He took had them put on a play with the monsters I'd given them to color the previous day, and took them to the park twice that day.  

Enjoying some of the spoil after the ward trunk-or-treat.  Even Nyle is getting in on the action.

Posing in Halloween costumes at the Springs Preserve's Haunted Harvest

Jogging through at Pinecrest's Halloween Parade

Ready to trick-or-treat in Boulder.  Ned's a pumpkin, Gwen's a fairy, Lincoln's a black-widow, Nyle's tigger and Zach's a high-schooler. Actually, Zach wears that costume frequently.  He insists it's his best coat!

After trick-or-treating.  Time to watch Disney's Legend of Sleepy Hollow in PJ's. 

Lounging around Daddy one evening. 

Learning to hug and apologize.  Notice Ned's upset face as he does what he's supposed to.

Daddy's birthday!  

Trying out the new family member... Pedro the white F-150.  Zach might need to do a post of his own on this one. 

Thanksgiving.  Uncle Tim made these incredible bows and arrows for Lincoln and Zach out of PVC pipes.  They look and perform amazingly and all Lincoln's Shamo-cousins are completely envious!

Zach trying his out.