McKade's Big Day

Today was McKade's big day. He was baptized and confirmed this morning by his dad. What a special day it was for McKade. I am so proud of the decision that he has made to take this big step. My kids always surprise me. I always wonder if they even get anything out of Church. They amaze me everyday. McKade told us of the story of Joseph Smith last week while our Home Teachers were here. I was taken back that he knew the whole story. He is really funny and really shy and definitely did not like being the center of attention. We had family and friends over to our house afterwards for brunch. I don't know what we would do without our families and our fabulous ward. Thank you for all of your support today. We love you guys!!!

The Draper Temple

We all ventured out today and went to the open house at the Draper Temple. The kids were really excited and have been talking about it for days. They were on their best behavior today and I was really proud of them-even Harlee. They asked a lot of questions and were in complete awe of what they saw. Trevin and McKade were really curious as we sat in the Sealing Room. We told them to look into the mirrors and asked them what they saw. They couldn't believe that the mirrors went on forever. It was an awesome experience to be able to go into the Temple with my whole family and I am also grateful that Denice was able to go with us. It was a special day and I can't wait for the day that we can attend the Temple with each one of our kids!!!

McKade's Birthday-Part 3

Once we start celebrating we don't stop. McKade ended his birthday week with a friends birthday party. I wanted to do something different for him this year that was inexpensive but still memorable. We decided to do a "Mock Sleepover". We had the kids come in their PJ's with their pillows and blankets. We had a lot of pizza and a whole lot more popcorn. The kids watched Madagascar 2 and played "The Price is Right" on the Wii. The kids had a blast and they wore me out but I know it is a birthday that McKade will never forget. Happy Birthday again Bubba-we love you!!!

McKade's Birthday-part 2

McKade got home from the Jazz game last night pretty late but he had a really good time. He loaded up on Hot Dogs, pop, and a whole lot of ice cream that mostly just got all over his coat. He said to me, "Mom we sat on the very front row-at the very top." We knew the seats would be pretty crappy because the tickets are the free tickets he got for playing Jr. Jazz. At halftime Shaun and McKade were getting ready to make the long trek down to get ice cream and some guy came up and handed his tickets to them. He was leaving and asked if they wanted his seats. They ended up on the 12th row center court. Now how's that for a birthday present? I don't think McKade really understood the significance of sitting that close and how much those seats probably cost, but hopefully it's a birthday he won't forget. I took cookies into his class today and his teacher had no idea that his birthday was yesterday. She promised to make a big deal out of it so his birthday celebration continues today. He is having a "friend" party on Friday night so it will have been almost a whole week of celebrating his birthday. I sure hope my little guy knows how special he really is.

Happy Birthday McKade

My baby boy turned 8 years old today. I can't believe how time has flown by. He got to celebrate his birthday by going to school today. I was planning on taking some treats to him this afternoon but when I went out to head to the store I had a dead battery and wasn't able to get there. I felt really bad and felt even worse when he said that nobody even knew it was his birthday today. That just broke my heart. I am taking treats in tomorrow so everyone knows that it was his birthday. He celebrated tonight with a trip to the Jazz game with his Uncle Shaun. I am sure this was the highlight of his day anyway. I just love this little boy and the way that he loves those around him. He hates to be the center of attention but will be your friend for life no matter what. His Brynlee just loves it when McKade is home. He is the first to volunteer to play Barbies with her or pull a board game out to play with her. We have a special spirit in that little boy and we are blessed to have him in our lives. I always catch him singing primary songs or talking about something that they learned in Primary that week. Happy Birthday Bubba-we love you!!!

McKade's Birthday Party

Because of our completely crazy schedule it so happened that we have a bunch of things going on the night of McKade's birthday. We decided to have his party on Sunday to celebrate his birthday because the 8th birthday is a big one at our house. We had just a small get together with family (we missed you Hoggan's). Denice cooked her yummiest Lasagna and we had salads, garlic bread and cake and ice cream. McKade was happy with every present he got which isn't too hard when you don't ask for ANYTHING. I am going to save all the sentimental stuff for my post on his actual birthday but Happy Birthday Mr. McKaders-we love you.

Random Pics

I was going through my camera and found a bunch of pictures that I forgot to upload. There are some pictures of the kids at our little Superbowl get together that we had and a few from Trevin's last basketball game. I had to put some pictures on here of the fabulous coaches that Trevin had. Of course, it's his dad and his Uncle Shaun. Trevin had so much fun having them as his coach. His team started out pretty slow but showed a lot of improvement by the last game. Most of all they had fun.

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day. We don't really do Valentine's Day at our house because Brett and I think it is totally a commercialized holiday. I could never quite figure out why I had to go out and spend money on a gift just to tell my hubby and my family that I love them. I tell them this everyday, morning, noon and night. The words "I love you" flow very easily around our house. We did go out to dinner-twice actually. We went out last Saturday with our good friends to Hoggans, minus all of our kids, to the Cheescake Factory. There's nothing better than good friends and good food. Thanks to Aunt Denice we actually went out again last night, only this time we had Harlee with us. The others had a little sleepover and we had a quiet evening with our sweet baby girl who keeps us laughing all the time. I don't need a silly holiday to express my love to my family-they already know.

Another Blow

The state of our economy has struck the Ruoti household once again. Brett found out yesterday that he is out of a job. They shut down the entire division and let everyone go yesterday. This was a major blow because we had absolutely no idea. He was left with a pretty decent severance package so we do have a little time for him to find another job. Both of us are now unemployed and all of a sudden we have a lot of extra time on our hands. I guess you expect to be laid off once or twice but 4 times in 7 years is absolutely ridiculous and that is just Brett. We are hanging in there and trying to be positive but being positive can only go so far and last for so long.....

Happy Birthday

Today is my dad's birthday. He is celebrating his 55th year today. I am super close to my dad and my kids absolutely love that he is still a kid at heart. I don't know too many "pa's" that have any and every video game ever made for the Wii. I am so happy that he finally found someone that he can share his life with and who makes him laugh. Happy Birthday dad! Thank you for everything you do for our little family. We love you!!!