Thanksgiving Point Splash Park

The other day, we went to the splash park/children's gardens at Thanksgiving Point with my cousin, Corinne, and her two little boys. The kids all had a ton of fun running around wild with their shirts off, splashing, jumping, being loud, and well, just being boys! It's so great when we have the chance to let them have a day to just run around like this.
As I was looking at these pictures I noticed how funny it is that my kid's individual personalities really came out in these shots:
Determined...

Adventurous...

Sweet...

Not that that's all there is to each one's personality, but some dominate traits anyway! So funny how they can all be brothers and all be so different!
Here's my attempt to get my one-year-old to hold still long enough for a picture with Mommy! HA!

Here's baby Aidan at the park we went to later that day...sure, he looks sweet here, but he was MAD when it was time to go and I took him out of the swing!

Makes my Heart Melt!

Okay, I just love, love, love this little baby smile. Aidan makes me laugh all the time...it's such a goofy little smile, but so sweet...wouldn't you agree? Aidan is finally getting his teeth in next to the top front ones, so his little gap there will probably start closing up a little bit, and I must say I'm going to miss it when it does!

Of Nightmares and Lights...

So, a few nights ago, I heard Gavin get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom...which is awesome...it's taken us a long, long time to get him to this point where he can get up on his own to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night and wake up dry in the morning...yea!! Okay, I got a little sidetracked...now back to the reason for this post...After hearing Gavin get up I fell back to sleep, then noticed that Gavin left the hall light on, so I got up to turn it off. Then I noticed that the downstairs light was also on, so I go downstairs and find Gavin sitting down...watching TV...at 2:45 in the morning! I was like, "Gavin! What are you doing? Go back to bed." He looked kind of sheepish and with his head down walked back to bed. I turned the TV off which had a commercial playing and went back to bed myself. About a minute later I hear Gavin say, "Mommy?" "What?" I say. Then in a tear-filled voice he says, "I'm scared! I accidentally watched a scary movie!" So I run downstairs to see what he was watching and it was some old black and white zombie film with the scary music and all. It was the same channel that his cartoons normally come on at 7:00 am...not the middle of the night. Apparently, he thought it was the morning and almost time for his cartoons to come on. So, feeling bad for the poor kid, I let him sleep in bed with Jason and me for the rest of that night.

The next night, he could swear that the zombie from the movie was just hiding in his closet waiting to get him. He could even quote from the movie that the bad guy said he could "read his mind." Which really freaked him out. So, Jason told him he could keep his bedroom light on that night. Unfortunately, that made it just a little too bright, so Jason came up with the solution to let Gavin keep the light on and wear his sunglasses to bed! Are we awesome parents or what! Luckily, it was just that one night that Gavin was scared enough to need the glasses and lights on, so now we're just back to his nightlight and good night sleeps. I told Gavin he is not allowed to turn the TV on until the clock says 7:00 am, and he agrees that that's a good idea. I don't think he wants to get scared like that again!

The Sweetest Thing...

Connor decided to pick some "flowers" for me and came inside to show me these (weeds!). Of course, I told him thank you and smiled at him and gave him a hug and told him that I loved them. The next thing I know, he's filling up a glass with water and carefully places the "flowers" in the glass and sets the glass in the middle of the table. How sweet is that?! So cute. I couldn't have had a better bouquet of "flowers." What a little sweetheart. I love these moments as a mom!

Back Online!

We're moved into our new place in Utah, but not totally unpacked yet. We finally got the internet hooked up a couple of days ago...you forget how much you rely on the internet until you don't have it for a while...like with electricity when there's a power outage...you think, "no big deal, I just use some candles and flashlights" until you--out of habit--try to turn on a light switch or blow-dry your hair or microwave something only to realize you can't! That's how it's been for me not being able to pay bills online or check my email or blog. But, now we're back and starting to settle in to the new place. It's been a crazy time with moving, Jason starting a new job, and taking a quick trip to California for my sister's wedding last weekend! Wow! But, we're loving all the fun adventures.
Here's Jason making a funny face like "what do I do with all this stuff I'm supposed to unpack!"

Here's my little helper, Connor.

Here's Gavin's contribution to unpacking! Playing video games, and no I'm not even ashamed to say that was one of the first things we hooked up to help us keep the kids entertained and out of trouble while we unpack!

Sherri's Wedding!

My sister, Sherri, got married last weekend in Sacramento, CA. Here are some pictures from that day!
Here's my dad and me at a BBQ the night before the wedding.

Here's the beautiful bride!

My Mom and my sister.

My step-mom, Laurie, with Gavin and Connor.

My dad with Gavin & Connor.

Okay, so I know I'm their mom and all, but I just think these two made the cutest little Ring-Bearers! When we lined up before we all walked down the isle, Gavin turned around and looked at Sherri and said, "My mom said DON'T PICK YOUR NOSE!" My sister just laughed. It was just so funny the way he said it and obviously the only advice that I gave him that he remembered! It was also the most important advice for that occasion, don't you think!

Gavin kept peaking around the groom to try to see his Auntie Sherri which won him a few chuckles from the audience! Connor was just really nervous and only went out there if Gavin promised to hold his hand which Gavin did for most of the time, but when it came time to go back down the isle after the wedding was over, Gavin just took off without Connor. So, Connor got about halfway down the isle before he started to panic (probably not knowing where he was supposed to go) and just starting crying! It was so sad, but so cute too!

Sherri and Pat during the wedding ceremony.

First kiss as husband and wife! Whoo! Whoo!

Sherri and me.


The bride and groom's first dance!

They played this really funny game at Sherri and Pat's reception. The DJ called up certain couples that the bride and groom had told him to in advance without that couple knowing it! The first couple called up was my brother, Aaron, and his fiance, Lyndsi. The different couples called up had to "teach" the new bride and groom different types of kisses. For example, the "make-up kiss", the "I've been dying to get home all day just to see you kiss!", the "morning breath kiss", etc. The couple that was called up to give an example of the morning breath kiss just gave a quick little peck, then the DJ said he and his wife had been married for 23 years and they'd also like to demonstrate the "morning breath kiss!" They met half-way on the dance floor, gave a high five and said "MORNING!" It was really cute.


Sherri and Pat had a really fun wedding. Everything ran smoothly and everyone just had a great time. As a maid-of-honor, I didn't think about the fact that I'd be giving a toast, but luckily I had a few minutes to think about what to say because they did an "open mike" first. One guy was hilarious. He said something along the lines of this, "Pat, having a wife is a wonderful thing. If you give her food, she'll make a nice meal with it. If you give her a house, she'll make it a home. Whatever you give her, you'll get way more back. So...if you give her a little bit of crap, she's going to give you a whole bunch of s___!" Okay, a little vulgar, but really funny, and SO TRUE!


Here's Connor with my step-sister, Elyssa's, daughter, Sierah. In case you didn't follow all of that, no they're not blood related, and Connor was totally smitten with her. Once he danced with Sierah, he didn't want to dance with anybody else, he'd just say, "I only want to dance with Sierah!" A future match maybe?! They were SO CUTE out there! Doesn't Sierah just have the cutest little face you ever saw!

Bear World!

Yes, it's true...I lived in Rigby, Idaho for three years and never went to Bear World until now (For those of you who don't know, Bear World is in Rigby!) It's pretty pricey to get in, but they were having a half-off day, so my good friend, Donna, and I took our kids for a fun adventure. Donna's kids, Ruthie and Rose, call my kids their boyfriends ever since Gavin "proposed" to Ruthie when he was three! So cute!
In this first picture you can see how close there bears are when you drive through. The people in the truck ahead are feeding the bears.

At their petting zoo, they had a couple of little deer that were not afraid of people, so Connor actually got to go up and pet and feed the deer. How cool is that?! It's not very often that you can just go up and pet a deer! He really liked it. Gavin was busy feeding the ducks. I was like, Gavin go look at the deer, you can feed ducks any day, but Gavin wasn't very impressed by the deer! Go figure!

There's Donna on one of the rides with baby Aidan. Aidan LOVES Donna and is really going to miss her now that we've moved! So am I. She's been a great friend. Luckily, we'll get to visit their family fairly often when we go to Idaho to see Jason's parents.

Here are the kids on one of the rides...just disregard the kid on the right...don't know who he is! He just ended up in the shot.

Here's one of the cute little baby bears the boys got to look at and pet. It was a really fun day, but only worth it on the half-off price day! It's normally $75 per vehicle! Crazy! But on half-off day, its a great way to spend your day and keep the kids entertained.

Moving to Utah

Yep! That's right...we're moving to Utah! Jason got a job with the Church doing computer stuff, and he's so excited! So are the rest of us! He starts work the first week of May, but the kids and I will take a little bit longer to get out there because the kids still have preschool and we just barely found out we'll be moving, so we still need to pack, pack, pack. But, we'll be joining Jason in Utah sometime in the 2nd or 3rd week in May! We'll keep you all updated...

Beautiful Easter Video

I know this comes a little late, but click on the link below to see my favorite Easter video.
Easter Video

Happy Easter!

Here we are dying Easter Eggs.

Jason's grandparents have a yearly Easter Egg Hunt at their house. Along with the eggs the kids find around the yard, the kids are also each given a bag with fun prizes in it. This year, the kids all got these funky hats...don't they totally remind you of early 90's crazy hip-hop style...maybe it's just me!

Daddy helping Aidan find his Easter Eggs.

Gavin and his cousins on the hunt.

Aidan enjoying an Easter peep!

He's always willing to share! Luckily, the blue from the peeps cleans of easily!

Happy Birthday Connor & Shelby

Last week was Connor's birthday, and he turned four. His cousin, Shelby, also has the same birthday, and she turned 12. We decided to have a joint birthday party, so when it came time to blow out the candles on the cake, they did it at the same time.

Here's Connor standing behind all of his birthday loot!

Shelby holding Aidan in his train outfit.

Daddy and Aidan enjoying the party.

Happy Birthday Connor.

Graduation Day!

Graduation was last Thursday night, and we're so excited the time has come when we'll be able to see Jason more often and be done with school...at least for now!

Elder Anderson spoke at the graduation, and it was so awesome when he talked about how just the day before he was ordained an apostle in the temple. We got to hear his first talk after his ordination. He talked about the difference between having knowledge and being wise, and the difference between the wisdom of the world and the wisdom of the Lord referring to the scripture in 2 Nephi 9:28-29 where it says, "When they are learned they think they are wise, and they hearken not unto the counsel of God, for they set it aside, supposing they know of themselves, wherefore, their wisdom is foolishness and it profiteth them not...But to be learned is good if they hearken unto the counsels of God." It was a really great talk about trusting in the Lord's wisdom, and I was really glad I could be there to hear it.

Here's Jason at the bottom of the stairs receiving his diploma...COVER..they mail the diplomas later.

Here's Jason sitting with the other graduates.

A family picture...can't you just feel the kids' excitement over the occasion?! I think they were a little confused about what was going on and what the big deal was anyway!

Happy Birthday Connor!

Connor is 4 today and proud of it! He'll be having his train birthday party this Friday, so there will be more pictures to follow...