2007 Year in Photos

Today is the final day of the year 2007. What a year full of memories. Since I am a very visual person, I thought the best way to wrap it all up would be through a video of photos taken throughout the year. So here it is... enjoy!

2007 - Year in Photos Video

When you click on the link it is going to ask you to install a plugin to view Photodex slideshows. It is free, fast, easy, and there is no spyware or anything attached...

Look out 2008 - Here come the Dayley's!

Christmas 2007

Well it is now the day after Christmas - and so I thought I would post a few pictures and jot down a few memories. The first memory that comes to mind is after putting the girls to bed on Christmas Eve - I caught Katelyn sneaking down the stairs. My first thought was she was trying to get a peek at some of her gifts. When I asked what she was doing she said she forgot to leave a letter for Santa - and then hurried to her stocking to put a letter inside. After she went upstairs I read the letter - and was surprised to see that it was a "Thank You" letter to Santa. It was the cutest letter thanking him for the presents he was going to leave.

The morning of Christmas - I think the person most excited in the house to get up was Shirley. Not to open her own presents - but just to see the excitement on the little girls. It was actually funny because she woke up at 5am, and told me she was unable to get back to sleep. I told her give me to at least 6. She than woke me up at 6am and said the same. I eventually stumbled out of bed, took a shower, and I believe we woke the girls up at around 6:45 -7am.

The girls got everything they could have ever wanted and more. Everyone was very happy and it was truly a great Christmas. In the afternoon we went to my mom's house for the traditional Christmas Mexican Fiesta. Yum! When we eventually made it home around 7pm - we were all exhausted and went straight to bed. Here are some pictures from our fun filled day.

Here is a picture of the girls in their matching pajamas. This was their first present that they opened on Christmas Eve - and put on that night to go to sleep in. It is so cute to see them all matching. Unfortunately Elin would not stand up for the picture - she was still waking up.

Here are the presents under the tree. On the left you can see the stockings hanging on the stairs. Under the stockings is a letter from Santa for each girl. Santa decided to leave letters for the girls after he saw Katelyn's beautiful Thank You letter she left for him.

This picture was taken a few days before Christmas on Sunday night. Here is Katelyn lying under the Christmas Tree.

This was Sunday night as well. Shirley and I got to talking about our upcoming plans for the next few days while sitting on the stairs after putting the two older girls to bed. Elin, not feeling too good from a cold that she has, started cuddling with Daddy right on the stairs. Shirley thought it very cute and memorable so she grabbed the camera and snapped this shot. There are others that have Elin and I in focus, but I really liked this one because the blur makes it seem like we were in our own little space - which at the time was true.

Secret Elves

So this year we had Secret Elves come by. The part that was the neatest about the whole experience was that they remained a secret the entire time - and we were never able to figure out who it was. For 12 days in a row they would bring gifts by - many times late in the evening between 11 - 12. The gifts were always very nice and we loved everyone of them. It was exciting for the girls to wake up the next morning to see what the Secret Elves brought.

As a family we experienced so much joy from our Secret Elves that we have now dedicated ourselves to doing the same thing next year for a family. It was just too much fun to be on the receiving side - knowing someone is thinking about you and leaving gifts for you - we now want to bring that joy to others.

Secret Elves - if you read our blog - we just want you to know that you brought sincere joy and happiness to our family during the season - and your tradition will be passed on through our family next year as well. Thank you!

Darling Photos

Here are a couple of cute pictures. One is of Katelyn playing with Elin in the office. The two of them were playing different games including school, dress-up ect. Shirley took the camera out and shot some really cute pictures. This one is my favorite. I love the look in Elin's face as she looks at her older sister.



This next photo is one of Elin on top of Shirley. She was so precious as she softly touched Shirley's face. In addition to smelling her arm and hands when she is tired (see post below), she will also start petting whoever is holding her on the arm and face. I love capturing this moments on camera because it will help to remember just what special memories they truly are.

Present for Christmas

We got a large box from Mimi and Poppa with quite a few gifts inside. Of course those will be for Christmas - but what the girls were really excited about was playing inside the peanuts inside the box. For a couple of hours they played and played. Than our neighbors came over, The Martins - and their daughters played in there as well. Truly the best gift for Christmas are the simplest ones.

Funny Pics of Elin

Are little Linny Beany (Elin) is quite the character. The faces she makes sometimes make me laugh. While downloading the last set of pics from our camera - I found the following four pictures that I thought I should share.

This last picture I posted because this is something Elin does everyday. Whenever she gets tired she starts smelling her arm and hand. She also loves to smell her mom and dad as well. It is really funny when she does it, because she does not just place her nose close, but she actually really gets into it as you hear her sniff in over and over... Very funny.

Katelyn Loses her First Tooth

Yesterday Katelyn lost her first tooth... It has been loose for about a week, but it actually fell out while she was at school. She of course was extremely excited. I will soon post a picture...

Elin at the Apple Store

So this afternoon we made our first visit to the Apple Store at the new mall by our house. The girls had a blast there playing on the computers and even playing with the Iphones. I was pretty impressed with the little device as well. Here is a picture Shirley took of Elin when I was holding her.


After the Apple Store we took the girls over to the play area. They had such a blast. By the time we finally got back in the car, they were all exhausted. It was nice to take some time away from work and dedicate 100% to the girls. They definitely deserve it.

Lucky guy..

This truck was traveling from right to left when it went off the road, broke through the guard rail and flipped end over end, across the culvert outlet before landing right side up on the left side of the culvert, facing the opposite direction from which he was traveling. You can see where he broke through the guardrail - right up where the people are at.

Now look at the next picture and you will see how serious the situation really was. If this guy didn't believe in God before - I suppose he is a believer now. To see a larger version of the photo just click on it.

My situation was not nearly as serious but it does remind me of the day when I fell asleep, went off the road missing a large telephone pole by just a foot, and rolled up a hill coming to a stop before some large rocks. Even more serious was that just yards before I went around a turn where there is a nice steep hill downwards. It sure is amazing that in life we all have those situations when we look back and think, Wow! I escaped some serious injury there... This guy in the pictures was surely experience that moment after the fire department got him out of the truck... Incredible!

My girls have been Elfed...

This is a pretty funny program in which you upload your faces and they superimpose them on dancing elves... I did it with my four girls.. Definitely worth watching. Click the link below:

Dayley Dancing Elves Video

Enjoy!

Trevor

Trip to Oregon

This last week, I flew up to Oregon to meet Dad there and help him with a video for his business. It was a lot of fun being there. While there we stop by and visited Matt and his family. Here is a link to some pictures I took of his house and property. Matt's Place

The best part, and most memorable moment from the trip was when we finally stopped late Friday night at the hotel, and shot over to the local restaurant. It was actually the only place open at 10:30pm. Well I decided to order some Nachos - which the menu warned were huge. I thought - Oh how big could they really be... When they brought these things out - it was huge. Piled high with beans, guacamole, sour cream, beef, and chicken. I mean these had to have been made with one whole bag of chips. It was huge. Well after spending 30 minutes eating what I could, and making a mess out of the rest - Dad mentioned, "Wouldn't it be funny to place that on the breakfast bar at the hotel in the morning to see if anyone would eat any of it?" At this point - all I can say is that we must have been tired, because for about 10 minutes we could not stop laughing. It was one of those laughs that causes your belly and head to hurt. I suppose it was one of those...'you had to be there moments' but one I am sure we will recall years from now.

Lot's of fun!

On the way back from CA..

On our way back from California a few months ago we made a stop in Palm Springs. I have driven past the city many times, but never actually left I-10 to drive through the city. I was quite impressed. It was a very nice place. We stopped at for some Mexican food, and than grabbed some pictures of the girls - typical Dayley stop. Here are the pictures.

Camping in Rocky Point

This fall we took a trip down to Rocky Point and pitched a tent on the beach. We always enjoy going there, and although the amenities of having a room in one of the large hotels are always nice - we really enjoyed the opportunity to campout. It just made the experience more memorable - especially for the girls since they have not had the chance to do it very often.

Here are a couple of cute pictures of Anabelle that we got while down there. This first one shows a beautiful sky, and then a really neat lens flare down the middle. I love this photo. The one below is the typical Anabelle pose, in which she looks over her shoulder and says, "Daddy, take a picture of me..."

While at Mimi and Papa's House

A few months ago we visited California, and of course stopped in at Mimi and Papa's house up in Placerville, CA. Here are a few adorable pictures we took of the girls while we were there. I am just now getting around to downloading the photos of the camera - hence the delay in going through them and finding these cute photos to share.

The first one here is of Anabelle climbing in the tree, while Katelyn was playing on the rope swing. I love the action in the photo.

Then below are two cute pictures of Katelyn and Anabelle. Finally the last one is of a baby deer which was eating out on the grass. During our trip up there, two baby deer were hanging out on the front lawn each morning. Very cute to watch.

Elin on the Computer

Like her sisters, and I suppose her parents as well.... Elin now enjoys sitting in front of the computer, touching the keyboard and moving the mouse around. Here is a picture we took when we caught her in the act...

Anabelle - Beauty Queen

This afternoon Shirley was playing with Anabelle and they decided to put some curls in her hair and make her Beauuuttttiful! Shirley than took some pictures of her, which turned out absolutely darling... Here they are:

Sending Children for Christmas

This year we decided to box up our girls and send them to family for Christmas. Actually we just caught Katelyn and Anabelle playing together with some Christmas boxes from last year. It sure is fun to see what the girls come up with when they play together.

Superman Flying...

The girls love being lifted up by our feet and act like they are flying... Well this afternoon Shirley did it with Elin, and of course she absolutely loved it. Here is the photo... Anabelle than came in the room, and of course asked for her turn. Elin, not to happy that she had to wait her turn while Mommy lifted Anabelle to soar through the air, came over and sat right on Shirley's chest and kept moving closer and closer to her face. The real funny part is that she had a dirty diaper, so she was really making her point. Shirley than lifted both in the air, and the last picture here was towards the end of the flight when they came in for the crash landings. Very cute! Don't forget that to view a larger image all you have to do is click. It is worth clicking on the middle picture when Elin is sitting on Shirley's chest just to see her face. You can see the "I'll get you back" look in her eyes...

Elin and Slides

Elin has lately become fascinated with slides. When we mention to her that we are going to the park she gets all excited and will usually run ahead of us in order to get their first. She immediately climbs the stairs and goes down the slides. She does this over and over again. It is fun watching how much fun she has doing it. Here are two photos of Elin on slides that we took at a park, immediately after taking our family photos on Sunday.

We are fortunate in the area we live in not only to have great neighbors but also numerous parks which surround us. We are so blessed to be living in such a great place and being able to raise our kids here.

Christmas Photos 2007

After church on Sunday we decided to take our Family photo for our 2007 Christmas Card... I think it turned out very nice. Our neighbors, The Elg Family, came with us, and we took turns taking pictures of each others families. Here is how it turned out:

(If you want to view an enlarged version, just click on the photo)

I did a little bit of tweaking to the colors of the photo - giving it an antique color look. Here are some other pictures we took the same day.

I love Elin's lips in this last picture. She always does that...

Follow the prophet .... Anabelle style..

So today after church, while we were on our way home Anabelle starts singing the song, "Follow the Prophet." Evidently they sang the song in Sunday school today.

The first part of the song normally goes,
"Follow the Prophet, follow the prophet, follow the prophet, don't go astray..."

However when Anabelle was singing it, she sang,
"Follow the prophet, follow the prophet, follow the prophet, don't go straight."

Well I chuckled a bit, and told Anabelle that it is actually "astray" and then tried to explain the what the word astray means and why it is being used.

Anabelle quickly responds - "No Dad! It is don't go straight - because we are suppose to follow the prophet, so if he turns one way we need to follow him, not just go straight." Her reasoning was so cute, that I am now officially changing the lyrics of that song when song in our house... too cute!

Calling in Church

In July of this year I was called to be the new Young Men's President in our ward. I still remember the influence my previous YM leaders had on my life. Hopefully I can be the same kind of example and influence for these boys.

Since being called we have had some great experiences in the quorum. One of the most memorable was a trip we took to the Peppersauce (Oracle) Caves. We got there Friday night and camped. When we went the next morning we took all the boys into the cave (there was about 30). Exploring the caves for a couple of hours we eventually all ended up in the back corner of the caves into a room that contained a book to sign our names to. Once there we held a testimony meeting. They way we did it was each boy would turn on their light when they shared their testimony. Many of them would come up with analogies I had not even thought of. For instance they would talk about how the light of others helped them along their path - and that is like choosing good friends. Others talked about how the flashlight was like the light of Christ in a dark world. It was just real neat to hear their words. Once finished there - we turned off all our lights and sang "Called to Serve" and as we sang each of us turned on our lights one by one, until this once pitch black room was completely filled with light. It was a very touching experience. I was most happy when we all made it out - and not one person had an injury to report. We all made it back safely with an experience we will always remember.

Since that day we have had many other great experiences with the boys. But something that I have really taken notice of is the feelings, impressions, ideas, and inspiration that I have received while in the calling. I know that they always say when you receive a calling, you are than entitled to receive inspiration for that calling - but I have never really experienced it - until now. It seems like almost every day I think about my calling - and receive inspiration of some kind to possibly make the program better for the boys. It really is a neat feeling to have.

I have also been super blessed to work with our new bishop - Bishop Larry Gordon. In our short time working together, he has become a great friend. I really love him dearly for everything he does for our ward - and the way he expresses his love and care for my family. He is a great man.

I promise to post more experiences from working with the Young Men as I begin posting more often in this blog. Love my calling!

Hale Family Reunion

Last night we went to a Hale Family Reunion in Gilbert, Az. It was a lot of fun meeting the Hale Family which is pretty large here in the Mesa/Tempe/Phoenix area. They had an incredible Mexican food meal, followed by a talent show (a lot of great musicians in the family), a game of Family Jeopardy, and than a video of pictures. They also had a theater set apart for the children to watch the movie Ratatouille - which made it fun for them as well.

The highlight had to be Ethan, Ammon, and Elise singing "I am a child of God" in front of the entire family. They did a great job!

Hopefully we'll be able to do these reunions more often. It is always so much fun getting to catch up with family - and for that matter even meet them for the first time. I know for sure I recognized some faces there -not knowing previously they were family.

Glad we had the chance to attend.

Thanksgiving 2007

Thanksgiving was of course tremendous. Shirley and I hosted the party for our family here in Arizona. I am usually not a big fan of turkey, but the one Shirley made was incredibly delicious! It was juicy, nicely done, and the taste was not the bland turkey that I am use to eating every year - the 40lbs she cooked (2 / 20lb) were marinated and basted with a sauce that gave the turkey tons of flavor.

Everything else on the table was also incredible. Matt and his family from Oregon came in town to celebrate with us - Chris and his girlfriend Sherry came, as well as Mom, Larry, Eric and Ryan. Later in the day Kim, Linda and their sons also came by for a visit.

The morning of Thanksgiving I went and played Turkey Bowl with a group of guys from our ward. It was a ton of fun. I have been feeling very sore since that morning, and have battle scars (bruised knees, and ribs, huge blister on the heel, and a sore back) but it is all worth the great time. We all decided we need to do it a lot more than just Thanksgiving day, and so I hope that pans out.

It sure is a great time of year to remember all the great blessings that my family and I have received. We are thankful for so many things in our life - but mostly our Family! Without our family, life would be pretty drab. Shirley and I both have been blessed with such great families here on earth - and now we get the chance to also raise our own. I believe out of all the blessings in life - being able to raise your own family is by far the one I am most thankful for.



Happy Thanksgiving 2007!

Elin the Dancing Machine

Elin has this funny habit that whenever she hears music, she immediately starts dancing. She loves to dance! So tonight while I was laying on the couch watching a football game, I decided to occassionally put the TV on a music channel to see how Elin reacts. Of course each time I turned it to a music channel, she would immediately start dancing.

So here is a mix, set to some background music of these various moments of Elin dancing. I did not do any special editing - but it sure is funny to see this little girls desire to dance... It is a little slow at parts - but still fun..



Too funny!

After Thanksgiving Video

So Thanksgiving was great this year. We hosted the party at our house and had a great time. Here is a video of the girls after the party. You can tell it wore us all out.

After Thanksgiving Video of the Girls

Enjoy the video clip by clicking on the link above.

T

Elin walking...

Elin is now walking like a pro. She can cover the whole length of the house without falling. She also can turn in circles, dance, and even do cart wheels. Alright that last part was a little exaggeration - but it would not surprise me if by next week she is - and she does do circles and dancing - just not cart wheels...yet. She is only 10 months old - definitely our youngest walker.

"I'm a redneck"

This morning when we were getting ready for church, Katelyn decided to put a bunch of glitter all over her. Way too much! I grabbed a wet towel to try and wipe some off of her. After doing the best I could to minimize the glitter I noticed I left red marks on her neck. I said, "Oops, sorry Katelyn I did not mean to make your neck all red." Her reply, "Oh great Dad, now I'm a redneck." Too funny!

Father's Day delight....

This morning I was awakened by the sound of my little girls walking into the room bringing breakfast in bed. They were all so very cute. Shirley made the best breakfast ever - waffles covered in fruit sauce, with pieces of fruit and whipcream. Delicious! She also made orange julius like drink that was incredible. The girls also brought some gifts - some shirts which I loved.

After the food was gobbled up, and everyone left, Elin decided to cuddle up with me. It was so cute since she is usually a Momma's girl. It was almost as if she knew it would make me happy on this day - as if saying - here is my gift to you Daddy!

Afterwards, I decided to take Elin in the shower with me since she was so sticky from playing with the breakfast. She loves showers! Whenever I take her in there with me she falls asleep. As soon as we get out she wakes right up but it's as if the shower puts her in a trance. Here is a picture I thought was cute of her with me this morning.

No comments about how white I am.

Afterwards we all got ready for church.

Putting our bonus room to work...

So we have this huge bonus room upstairs and never really knew what we should use it for. This last week we decided to go ahead and turn it into a photo studio. So with a very small budget and various trips to Home Depot and JoAnn's Fabrics we came up with our own studio. I made the backdrop out of 2" PVC pipes and made it so that each background is on it's separate roll which we just pop off to change when we want. Shirley suggested we try JoAnn's for fabrics to see if they had anything on clearance - and by golly we lucked out. They had numerous rolls of vinyl material on sale for $1 a yard. We got 4 different kinds including white and black - and spent a grand total of $16. In the end our new studio cost us about $80 to set up from start to finish. We plan on using it to shoot cute pictures of the girls as well as pictures which I can sell on stock photo websites. Here is one of the first pictures we took using the studio - Shirley actually took this one of Katelyn.