decades, dancer, and ninja warrior

Layla participated in every dress up day at her school for red ribbon week. A chance to wear something other than a uniform was very exciting! She rocked pajama day and mismatch day, but I only remembered to take a picture on decades day. We picked this old shirt of mine to wear. We think maybe late 90s or early 2000s?? I don’t even know, but I used to wear it. Please do not judge me for still having it.

Brinna started dance class! She was so excited about it until everyone else came in. Then she refused to dance or move. Her first day was also a Halloween celebration so I got to come in at the end for them to perform a little Halloween dance. This is what she did the whole time:

But we are sticking with it and each week she warms up a bit more.

Perry started watching American Ninja warrior and he loved it. He loved it so much that he was determined to get Sri g and practice his ninja moves. This was so fun to watch him develop his ninja skills! Love him.

Perry is TEN

 Happy, happy birthday to my little guy who is now in double digits!!

TEN years old!! I can not believe it. This little man is remarkable. I love him dearly.


As do his sisters and brothers, as well. The girls worked hard to make him a minecraft birthday sign.

Kyler decorated a minecraft cake for him


Perry was looking forward to this day for months. He was super excited to have his friends come over. 

And maybe really, really excited for presents. Ha! This kid's love language is one hundred percent gifts. You give him a gift and you will forever have a piece of his heart. And he will never forget it either.

Perry had a group of friends come over to swim, eat pizza, and have cake.

Perry loves legos, video games, minecraft, "boy" shows and movies, listening to the Harry Potter audiobooks, swimming, and riding his bike. Some of his favorite foods right now are pineapple soda, chocolate milk, taco bell crunchy tacos, and pita bread pizzas.

Perry feels emotions with his whole body and heart and we love him for that. He loves wrestling with all the boys in the house and reading books with all of us girls.


We all love his cuddles! And the ways that he teaches us to focus on what's most important, appreciate the simple things, show compassion, and be patient. He is such an important part of our family!!

We love him with all of our hearts. 

We are so glad he is ten years old and he is ours.

smiles and twirls

This may turn into another Brinna post.

But can you ever have too many posts about the cutest 2 year old??

No, I think not.

This one starts with some smiles and dance moves. 

Twirl and twirl!

When we were helping my parents move, Layla helped my mom sort through some stuff. She came home with all sorts of treasures, one of them being some vintage clothes for Layla to use on her dolls. Layla was thrilled when she realized her favorite doll (her real life version--little miss Brinna) would fit into some of the dresses. Like this one. Certainly from the 80s. Brinny was adorable in it.

On a separate morning, Perry was reading a pirate abc book that he loves. He shared it with Brinna and they had a special moment together. 

Perry loves being a big brother to Brinn with all of his heart.

Their relationship is a special one.

We unpacked a few more boxes and found some bubble wrap. I left Brinna playing with it and when I came back into the room someone had fashioned her a dress. hmmm.

I just don't know. But she loved her new outfit and there were more twirls.

My parents stayed with us for a few days in between homes and Brinna loved having Grammy and Papa here. She loved running down the hallway to their room to play with them. And to take care of them. By making sure they kept their face masks on. haha

We met up with some of her sweet friends for a "hike" and to feed the ducks and chase the bunnies. It's already getting too hot for early morning outings like this (boo to the intense heat), but the girls had fun "hiking" together so I'm glad we did it.

Lookin’ good and autism awareness

“Mom, I look really good right now in this shirt.”

Buddy, you are always looking good in my eyes.

I see you for who you are and all that you teach me.

You teach me it is the small things that matter most.

You turn everything into a game.

You remind me to appreciate the smallest of victories.

You feel big and love big. 

Your kisses and hugs are pure love.

You feel so much pride in being a big brother to Brinna. You care for her so gently.

You look forward with such hope and excitement.

You teach us flexibility and patience.


You allow us to serve you and our hearts grow bigger because of that privilege. 


We are better people and a much stronger family because of you, Perry.

We see you and we love you.

Yes, you are lookin’ good.

some work and service

Usually when Perry hears the words "work" or "chores" it sends him into a tizzy. Yes, like many people, work is something he likes to avoid.  However, we recently found a job that he loves to do. He gets so excited when it is time to clean the pool. He loves to scoop out the leaves and scrub the sides (as best as he can). E was out of town last week and he was so proud of himself for doing this job for dad. Our evenings are actually cooling off so it was a pretty pleasant time for both of us to be outside working in the backyard.



Perry also made cookies to give away. I can not even say how much I love seeing him working on a project like this, especially of his own accord with a happy attitude. Layla helped him make cards then they delivered them to some of our neighbors.

Perry also received an award at his school’s kindness assembly. He was chosen to receive the award for the quarter by his teacher. We are all so proud of his thoughtfulness and kindness to his peers and teachers.

Happy 9th!!

Another year older.

My Perry boy turned 9 years old.

It's so hard to narrow down pictures of him. He makes the BEST faces and I love every stinkin expression of his.















On his actual birthday we took him out of school early to go to Surfing with Nixon at Big Surf. He got to choose where we ate for lunch (chick-fil-a), birthday treats (from Hurts Donuts), and dinner (mac and cheese).



He wanted to wait until his cousins were in town to celebrate with a party and to open presents. Bryce's birthday is just a week after his so they combined birthday parties and we threw them a big swim party.







Family came from the Hyer side and the Allen side for pizza, ping pong, swimming, and cake.







We keep our cakes simple around here.





We sang to both of the birthday boys.











We all looked pretty cool in our sunglasses.











Perry was happy to share his birthday party with his cousin "as long as Logan brings a present for me and for Bryce." He did.



Happy birthday, Perry! We love your sweet innocence, your passion, your contagious smile, your love, your desire to be a good friend and brother (especially to Brinna), your playful nature, and how you work so hard to accomplish all that you do. You are growing up so wonderfully! We love you, Perry!!!