They're never too old to play with Dad

I'm not sure what Tim got into but he sure had a lot of energy this night. He was running around the house playing all these games with the girls, they were having so much fun. It reminded me of when they were little especially when he was doing the bull riding. I think that might have to be Toni's last ride though, big girls don't get to ride the bull anymore. Then he was playing this game where he would hold onto one end of the tie to my bath robe and the girls would hold onto the other end and then he would run around the family room flinging them back and forth to see who falls first. I was worried Taegan might get stepped on if she fell but she didn't care sometimes I think she's tougher than her sisters.

ToniToriTylee
TaeganTyleeToriToni's last bull ride (14 years old) one of Toni's first bull rides (4 years old)
Tim flipping Taegandon't mind the underwear shot

Taegan's Awards

I wanted to make sure I posted this even though its for the month of February. In the beginning of the school year Taegan was known for getting her card pulled quite often so an award like this can't go unrecognized. She got Perfect Attendance which she usually gets but she also got Student of the Month. She was so proud of herself and I don't even think she really knew what the award meant, she just knew she was getting a lot more attention for it.

Tori became a mommy!

Tori and Jimi had this bright idea of getting a doll that acts as a real live baby. They had a lady come to their school and talk to them about having a baby and all the work that is involved with it. It was meant for the 7th and 8th graders to take home this doll and see how hard it is to take care of a baby. It was optional, they weren't made to do it but these two asked how old you have to be to participate just because they thought it would be fun. Tori begged me to let her get this doll so the week before I was making her do extra choirs to show me that she can be responsible. I thought it was dumb that they wanted to do this but then again if I was their age I would want to do it too and what could it hurt they might actually learn something in the process. I finally decided to let her do this and Dany was going to take them down town when they got home from school and I decided to go with them to see what it was all about. I was curious to see how the dolls worked so I was asking all these questions about how they are programed and if there was an emergency shut off switch and yes there is but its not easy to get to. The dolls are all programed different and they randomly cry for different reasons. They also have a sensor in their neck so that if their head leans back too far they start crying hysterically and you have to rock or bounce it to calm it down. You are given this bracelet with a sensor on it that is programed to only your baby and if the baby starts to cry then you put your bracelet to the sensor on the dolls back, if it beeps then the baby needs a diaper change or wants a bottle. You actually have to change the diaper because there are sensors in them too, and if it wants to eat then you have to hold the bottle to the dolls mouth and they might eat for 5, 10, or 15 minutes then they have to be burped or they will start to cry again. They are just like a real baby. Before they were allowed to take them home they were made to watch a video about how to take care of the doll and then they had to fill out this paper and pick out a baby and with clothes and blankets and everything. They were told to keep a log of how often they feed and change them and to write down what they were doing and how they felt at that time. I think every teenager should have to do this at least once. The lady gave them their babies with their birth certificates and a diaper bag with everything they would need in it. Dany thought it would be good for Alex to see what its like to take care of a baby so he also got one. Babysitting Alex's baby was Sami's way of getting to play mommy because she was too young to get her own.

Alex came to visit the girls with his new baby, but he was distracted by the TV in the middle of a feeding.

The girls were so excited, they couldn't wait until their baby cried for the first time but they were pretty quiet on the ride home. Before we made it home I think Alex's baby cried 3 or 4 times and we were telling him that he must have picked out a sick baby. They girls were mad because theirs were so quiet, I think in the beginning they would purposely lean their heads back too far just so they would cry.

Tori multitasking

Jimi throwing her baby in the air might be considered child abuse

This sums up the weekend with Tori's new baby

Friday - Jimi spent the night and they had fun playing house. They took their babies on a walk in the strollers, set up cribs for them in Tori's room, and wouldn't let anybody hold them or change them. They were very protective fist time mommies.

Tori burping her baby

Jimi changing a diaper

Jimi with a late night feeding and Tori already sleeping

Saturday - That morning Tori was sleeping on the floor in my bedroom. I went into her room and there was Jimi sleeping at the foot of Tori's bed with a baby on each arm and Taegan sleeping next her. Tori decided that she liked her sleep better than playing with dolls in the middle of the night so she left Jimi to take care of both of them. Jimi said she woke up to two screaming babies in the middle of the night and there was NO Tori. So she went looking for her with the light of her cell phone so she could get Tori's bracelet because that's the only way to make it stop crying.

Congratulation Jimi, you have TWINS!

Tori got up early to take back her responsibilities of taking care of her baby. Dany decided to call us about 7:30 in the morning and invited us to go to breakfast with their family. So all 15 of us including the 3 new babies went out to eat. Its hard enough with just the 12 of us but then you add 3 crying DOLLS and we got some pretty weird looks. For the rest of that day they had fun playing house again but were much better about letting everyone else hold their babies. Even Tim and Jim got to take a turn with their grand kids. When we went to bed, Tori wanted to sleep on the floor in my room so I could help with her baby in the middle of the night but I made sure she understood that she begged for this baby and I'm not getting up with it and don't want to hear it crying in the middle of the night. Tori came in my room 3 different times throughout the night crying and asking if I would take a turn, telling me how tired she was and complaining because she had to get up early for church. I told her when you have a baby you don't have a choice, you have to still take care of your baby and still get up early in the morning and make sure your ready on time to go church.

Taegan loved holding the baby, Tori even propped her arm up so she didn't break the baby's neck

Sunday - At church Tori, Jimi, and Alex stayed out in the hall so their babies didn't cry in the middle of sacrament meeting. After church, I think I took care of Tori's baby most of that afternoon because she was outside playing. By that evening she didn't want to have anything to do with her baby anymore, she said this is stupid and I never want to do this again. Friday and part of Saturday both Jimi and Tori planned on getting babies again the following weekend. I was getting ready for bed and thought that I heard the thing crying but it was really faint, so I went in Tori's room and there was her baby in the crib with a big blanket on top of it and also a shirt stuffed inside the baby's shirt where the speaker is. I know its just a doll but that almost made me sad to see that. I made her go get the doll and make it stop crying and explained to her AGAIN that she was the one that wanted to do this and she will finish it. She cried about having to get up early the next morning again saying she was going to be too tired and that she wasn't going to school if she had to get up to take care of the baby. I told her she doesn't have a choice, that she will go to school and still take care of her baby through the night. She threatened to put blankets over it and put it in her closet so she could sleep. If she decides to have kid when she's married I pray she will have more patience or that her husband will take care of them. She begged me in the middle of the night to take it for her but I refused, then she woke Tim up so he yelled at her to go back to bed and make the doll stop. I think by the third night we were all a little cranky when you get woken up by a crying doll. It was good for her to finish out what she thought was going to be fun and realize how hard having a baby really is. You don't just get to decide that you don't want to take care of the baby anymore because you're too tired.

Monday - She took the baby to school and gave it back then decided that she never wants to do that again. Tori is one that needs her sleep and gets very emotional and cranky if she doesn't get enough of it.

Tylee's Baptizm

Tylee was baptized on March 1st, she was so excited to get to be baptized but she was more excited that her dad was going to be the one to do it. She is the first one of our girls that Tim has baptized and he was so honored to be able to do that for her. We had been talking to Tylee about what it means to be baptized and what she thinks about it. Tim really wanted to make sure she understood the meaning of it and to make sure she was ready. On the day of her baptism I was asking her if she understands what it means to be baptized and before she could say anything Taegan said, "it means all her sins will be washed away", it was cute, she can't wait until her dad gets to baptize her too.

I am so grateful for my family, and I am blessed to have such a loving and caring dad for our girls. Tim keeps us all in line and always brings the spirit into our home. We are proud of you Tylee and we love you so much.

Bubble's Basketball Awards

It's a little late to post this but I needed to get updated. These are some pictures from Toni's Basketball Awards Banquet. She had a fun season playing this year, the girls and boys that are in 8th grade that has played their 7th and 8th grade years got to go to Pismo Beach as a reward so she liked that and this will probably be her last year playing basketball because it will interfere with soccer season.

Toni has a nickname that she got from the beginning of basketball season and now most all of her teacher call her "Bubbles". She said her stomach hurt during one of her practices and that she had gas pains. She told them it was like a big bubble but it was really hurting. Every since then they called her Bubbles. They even sang Happy Birthday to Bubbles over the intercom on her birthday. I told her they only do that because they like her, she's lucky she has such great teachers. She said she will really miss them when she goes to high school. She got the Coaches AwardThis is Toni with her friend Dolly showing off their awards and their medals they got for playing the past 3 years.