Kayleigh Dawn

We had a new addition to the family back in December!  (Yes, I AM that far behind!)  LOL! 

Kayleigh Dawn Hendrix joined the Austin family!  Missy and Wayne give the girls another cousin to play with! 

She was born 6 weeks early so she had to spend some time in the NICU... but as soon as she was out the girls couldn't wait to smother her with love!

Kinley and Kayleigh

Mila and Kayleigh

We have gotten lucky a few times and she has come to play for the day while Uncle Wayne is at School and Aunt Missy is at work.

She gets dropped off bright and early but who would take sleep over being greeted by this smile?!

She even got to join us for an Easter Egg hunt after Kinley's dance class

It was a first for Kayleigh so we had to send Mom a picture of her little Easter bunny!

Kinley sure makes a cute little bunny! 

This May or may not be the moment that I decided we needed another baby one of these days! But, I will never tell.  

AND, this may have just reinforced my earlier decision because of seeing what I big helper I would have... 

But I will never tell ;) 

Maybe one of these days.  We will have to just wait and see what the future holds for us...

  For now, we get to just love her and she sure does the job! 

Dear Elder Rife

Dear Elder Rife:

You are hereby called to serve as a missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. You are assigned to labor in the England Leeds Mission. You should report to the England Missionary Training Center on Thursday, August 28, 2014.

I don't have a picture with him...so, I figured one of the newly called, and newly home would work just a s good! 

Congrats Tyler!

You will do a wonderful Job! 

I made cookies for all his friends that came to watch him open his call and when this one came out of the oven I knew it was a sign! ;)  I saved it special for Tyler! 

Doing Just Ducky

Well, Spring is here and despite my lack of blog updates we are doing just Ducky! :) 

Speaking of Ducks.... 

"Opps she did it again...." 

Kendra once again went out and bought some little ducklings to take care of despite my dads threats. :) 

and despite my not agreeing with going against my dads will.... 

It sure was fun to let the girls experience!  :D 

(Kendra do not take this as me condoning your actions!) :D 

I promise she was really soft with them, even though this picture looks like she is holding it by the neck.

Papa was kind enough to give Kendra a week to find them a new home before making "duck stew"! :) 

They live on a nice big farm now! I'm sure they are much happier! :) 

The girls still do go down to look for the ducks though. :) 

and each time I have to tell them that they went to live on a farm we get to have a nice conversation about honoring your father and mother and making right choices! :) .....or there will be consequences. :) 

When they are sleeping

When the house is quiet, and everyone is in their beds, I find myself being able to take a breath and relax. Shortly after that though, I find myself wandering around the house wondering what in the world I am going to do with myself when one day, I don't have the chaos to keep me busy. Sad right?! Anyway, I tent to go check on them, and watch them sleep when I start feeling down like that.  And after just a moment of looking at them I always am overcome with love, I feel so blessed.  In that moment I am able to see that as rough as it is being a parent, and as much as I want to just throw in the towel and give up most days, it really is the greatest blessing to be able to give ALL of me to them.  

I Love that she Loves her daddys blanket.  She always sleeps better and longer with it.  

I love that she loves her teddy.  I Love that her pink teddy is a "he"  :D

I Love that she sleeps with her slippers on.

I Love that when she sleeps she makes those same sweet baby faces that she made when she was tiny.

I Love that she tells me what she dreams about when she wakes up every time without fail! 

I Love that she Loves to sleep in our bed for her naps.  When I go to lay down with her in her bed she always responds with "Daddy'd bed."  I Love that she wants to be in as few clothes as possible with a fan on while she sleeps, and has to have her stars on even though you cannot see them because its light in the room.  I Love that she has to take out her hair for her nap so I have to completely redo it when she wakes up. (the day this picture was taken was an exception)  I LOVE the way she has to be touching me when she falls asleep.  Usually putting her arm around my neck with her forehead against mine.   

I Love that he doesn't take them back into their own beds when they come in, in the middle of the night. I Love the way he puts his arm around them and hold them close.  I Love that he welcomes them with open arms and doesn't complain when they wake him up.  I Love that he will get out of bed to get them a drink, or calm them down when they are having a rough night/sick/bad dreams.  I Love that he will sing them to sleep.  I Love that he tells them bedtime stories making them the main characters. 

I Love that he is mine. 

I Love that they are mine.  

Throwback Picture - Christmas 2013

I found this cute picture on Nick's phone from this last Christmas! :)

Could these 3 get any cuter?!  Didn't think so..... :) 

Memory for Me:  Mila is wearing Braxton's Pajamas because Christmas morning while we were over and Grandma and Grandpa Austins she came down with the stomach flu and threw up all over.   Thank goodness for cousins the same size :) 

Just Some Odds & Ends

 Kinley had her second dentist appointment.  She still wasnt able to get xrays but she did good :) 

She is going to have a procedure this week that fills in some deep grooves in her back tooth.  SO, hopefully   she is still smiling like this at her next appointment!

 What a goof!

 ...and another goof!

Mila was having an extra sleepy day I guess because she fell asleep in the cart while at costco. :) 

 We splurged and got the girls a playhouse and Slide!

Its a start up company in sandy that builds play equipment out of vinyl fencing called 

Vinyl Formations! Not only is it kind of  unique (always kinda fun) but we got the set OVER half off! (ALWAYS AWESOME!) :)  They have not gone a day since it was delivered without playing on it.  SO, I am going to go ahead and call it an investment! :) 

 Kinley and Mila spend more time in princess dresses than their normal clothes :) 

Alright, a little backstory (Nick: please love me after posting these pictures!)

I had spent ALL night tossing and turning and getting pushed further and further towards the edge of the bed until I ran out of bed. :)  As I rolled the rest of the way out of bed I looked over to see this.  It put a smile on my face even though it was some early hour of the morning :) 

 Then I walked around the other side of the bed to find this... :) 

 then I just had to laugh out loud.  :) 

"Let them be little, let them sleep in the middle."

Outside Adventures

The second it started warming up outside that is where the majority of our days have been spent!

Kinley is a pro bike rider!

Mila was determined that she was going to go pro too!

She is still working on the pro part  :) 

These girls!  their Smiles!  Nothing has ever brought me more joy in my life! In a world with so much evil, they make it easier to see the good! :)