Baby Birdies!!

Papa brought home some baby birds from the orchard.

Kaden and Dallin dug up some worms to feed them.

And, of course, Jessica thought it was disgusting!!

Unfortunately, the poor little things didn't survive very long.

Tour de Cure 2009

I have to admit...I didn't think Luke could do it. With his office job and all the long hours he works his exersize has really been lacking. One day he calls and tells me that he is going to ride 25 miles on his bike for the Tour de Cure. I am pretty sure that I laughed and I know I told him he was going to die from a heart attack. I tried to convince him that you had to prepare yourself for something like that. You can't just wake up one day and ride 25 miles. Well, he proved me wrong. Way to go. I am proud of you!!

Above is a picture of Luke and a picture of Team Malt-O-Meal. They all rode the 25 miles together.

Luke is the 4th one over!

Gardening! Everyone should have a garden :) !!

What fun! What fun! I have such wonderful memories of our gardens we had every year as a child. There is nothing like home grown food. We started a garden this year. Here are the before and after pictures:

Before

Luke and I are operating what we dubbed "THE BEAST". Also known as the sod cutter. Don't be deceived by it's somewhat small size. That thing was IMPOSSIBLE!! That was quite a time. I really feel sorry for anyone that does that for a living. Okay, so we weren't thinking ahead too well...we spend all the time and money on sod just to rip it out again a few years later not to mention the tree that was in the middle of the garden that we had to move and the sprinkler system that needs to be redone. Que sera sera!

The kids had tons of fun and were really good helpers.

They each are growing their own pumpkins as their reward.

After

All fenced in to keep the dog out. No those aren't weeds. They are my wonderful plants growing. We planted...Strawberries, Raspberries, Cucumbers, Zucchini, Tomatoes, Cherry Tomatoes, Green Peppers, Red Peppers, Fajita Peppers, Broccoli, Onions, Green Onions, Peas, Snow Peas, Pole Beans, Pumpkins and Carrots. This is our first attempt. So far everything is growing...the carrots are struggling but we have really rocky soil so I don't know how well they will do anyway. We will see how it turns out. Wish us luck!

More Thomas Pictures...

Here are the Thomas Train pictures I said I might post. I decided I might as well.

Memorial Day Weekend

Memorial Day!

Thank you to all the soldiers that sacrifice for our freedoms especially the ones that pay the ultimate price. We will never forget!! It seems I can hardly make it through the National Anthem anymore without a few tears. The gratitude I have for my freedoms are overwhelming. Two of Luke's brothers have served our country recently. We admire their sacrifice and service to our country.

Here we are at Memorial Hill:

Grandkids and Thomas the Tank Engine!

We went to Grandma and Grandpa's house and went on Thomas.

The kids had lots of fun walking through the entire train while we were riding it. They had all sorts of cars on the train. They all loved the caboose. I have so many pictures but it is hard to post them all. Maybe I will make a collage and post it in another post.

Luke's family (Taja, Luke, Rachael & Ryan, Richard & Heidi, Matt & Annette, Josh & Amanda and all their kids) This is a rare photo since it is hard to get us all together.

Awesome Song by Jon Schmidt

This song is so pretty. If you are ready to relax. Go ahead and listen.

Warning!!! It is 8 minutes long....

Happy 60th Birthday, Dad!

I guess Papa is OFFICIALLY a GEEZER. At least when we were little that is what he used to call people his age. He is the greatest Dad anyone could have. How would I describe my dad?

- Hard worker.

- The world's best story teller.

- Very smart. Also wise.

- Always helping others. Even when it's inconvenient.

- Loves to hunt!! (understatement)

- Perfect Grandpa!

- The toughest guy I know.

- FART jokes!!!!

- Duct tape can fix ANYTHING!!

I am so lucky to have you for my father. I love you so much and have learned so many good things from you throughout the years.

Happy Birthday from your FAVORITE daughter!

Jessica's New Haircut

Isn't it cute?

Yesterday Jessi decided she wanted to cut her hair about shoulder

length. Last summer I cut off about 4 or 5 inches and it was still

almost to the middle of her back. Yesterday they cut off 4 or 5 inches more.

She looks so adorable!

I think it cut off most of the curl in her hair and now it will be more

wavy :( I love her curly hair. And it is darker now with the sunbleached

blond cut off. I am sure summer will take care of that though.

We can be glad she didn't end up like Annie (from the movie with the same title). That is what happened to me the first time I tried to get my hair cut shoulder length. HAHAHA!! Funny memory.

Hip Hip Hooray!! Baptism Day!! Way to go Kaden!!

On May 2nd Kaden was baptized.

What a fun and special day!

It was so nice to have so many family members there to

support Kaden.

Kaden is lucky to have so many wonderful grandparents in his life.

We missed getting a picture with "cookie" grandma and grandpa.

They left too quick. We are so glad that they were there though.

I hope Kaden always remembers this special day and the promises

he made. We love you, Kaden.

Happy 8th Birthday, Kaden!

We did a family birthday party this year. We went to a fun place called Toad's. We did some miniature golf and laser tag. For laser tag, it was our family of 5 plus another dad and his little boy almost Dallin's size on one team. The other team was three teenage boys. The teenagers won, but they had 7 targets and 4 of them were kids. It was so much fun. That was mine and Dallin's first time doing laser tag but the rest of the family has tried a couple of times. The indoor miniature golf course was really cool! It was a Mayan Cave theme and had fun toad stools you could sit on and waterfalls and a pond. Then we took Kaden to pick out a birthday present at Toys R Us. He picked out a fun army play set. He really wants to be in the military when he grows up. Then we had to get some Cold Stone ice cream to finish up the party, but, the best part was being together with my family. I love them all so much. Happy Birthday, Kaden. He is looking forward to his baptism this saturday. What a fun day that will be. We are so happy that he wants to get baptized and is trying so hard to be such a good kid.

Easter (I am way behind!!)

HURRY!!

FIND THOSE EGGS!!!

Sadly, we never have good enough weather for the Easter Bunny to hide the eggs outside. That is so much funner. We made a cute little bunny house, but daddy ate it before I even got a picture of it...He started eating it not even 5 minutes after we finished. I should have taken a picture of the half eaten one anyway. It was really fun to make and way cute. I didn't take pictures of the egg coloring fun either. You win some, you lose some.

Here are the little cuties in their Easter attire!!

Dominoes!!!

Today I had an embarrassing moment. One of those that could be put in the Top 10 most embarrassing moments in my life. I had my camera and wish I could have taken a picture of it so you could see it for yourselves. But after I tell you what happened you will understand why I just couldn't take the picture. I was at JC Penney's with my 3 kids and we proceeded to the checkout. Near the checkout is a card display. My 2 boys were both running for the cards at the same time and Kaden ended up knocking down a display of clothing next to the cards. Have you ever played dominoes when you line them up and knock them down? Well, this is exactly what happened. The shirts fell into some more shirts which fell into more shirts which fell into more shirts which fell into more shirts. You probably get the point. So anyway, when they were done falling. There was about a 30 foot row of destruction. Clothing everywhere and people watching and gawking and those who did not witness it asking "What in the world happened there?" My answer...KIDS!!!(not that I couldn't have done it-in fact, my husband thinks I am the most clumsy person in the world) It was hilariously humiliating!! I made Kaden help me clean it up.(teachable moment-take care of the messes you make) So we sat there lifting up displays and rehanging clothes while tons of people kept passing by wondering "What in the world happened there?" I couldn't bring myself to get my camera out and humiliate myself any more than I already was. Plus, I didn't want to make it look like I was glorifying my child's mistake. One embarrassing moment down, hopefully not any more left to go!!

So, Do you see the pile of laundry below?

I know...HUGE!! Unfortunately this is a common occurance in our home because I am constantly behind on the laundry. Hey! We all have our weaknesses!! The kids wanted to see if we could stack it all the way to the ceiling but I got tired of it before that happened so we proceeded with our loathed laundry folding party-(my kids don't think it is a party). These "parties" are also a regular around here after the laundry piles up on the couch. Honey! Why did we buy that couch again? Sometimes I wonder! It is a pretty expensive laundry pile holder.

Guess what we will be doing every Saturday for the next 2 months?

That's RIGHT!!! Soccer!! It's a love/hate situation. I absolutely LOVE watching my children play (anyone with kids should know what I mean), but really, EVERY SATURDAY!!! It is difficult to keep up with yard work and gardening. However, it is one of those things that I will never regret. My kids enjoy it so much and have learned a lot from it. So I have to say: BRING IT ON!

This is our dog Kaiya! She was born on Dec. 6th and we brought her home Jan. 10th.

She is growning so fast! If any of you know me, I am NOT a dog person. This one for some reason has figured out how to wiggle it's way into my heart and I have actually enjoyed her. There are some things I still hate about dogs, but I have so far been able to tolerate it!! Kaiya is definitely a scaredy-cat. She is terrified of men. Every time Luke pets her she is so afraid, she wets. When our neighbor tried to pet her she ran and hid from him. They say a dog is a good judge of character. Should I be concerned?(pathetic joke attempt) The picture in the snow was taken soon after we got her in Jan., the one in the tractor was in Feb., and the one on the steps by the door is in Mar. I am so glad my kids didn't grow as fast as dogs do, although, sometimes I wonder!!!

I Finally Decided to Blog!!!

I have been dealing with the fact that my family has been so very blessed and decided that I had to make that the theme of my blog. This is my first post but it will have to be short. Setting up my blog took all of my posting time so I will try to post again soon. Before I go, Happy Birthday Baby Mark!!! 31 yrs today!