Where has the Summer gone?

I am so sad when I look at my last post and it says "First Day of Summer". What? It is now the 50th day of Summer and I really don't know where it has gone. I love Summer, I love the kids home, I also love no homework, no "real" schedules, just fun. Dylan still says he is bored but I always say just as Grannie Joan did, I have so many things that you could do, you could clean the toilets, the floors, the windows, the walls, and just then he says "Never mind, I'm good!"
We had the opportunity to go on another wonderful trip with G-ma and G-paw, (their new nicknames). They are so good to us and wanted the kids to go to Arizona for a week again. I always have a hard time when they are gone. I miss them terribly. I miss the 30 plus random "I love yous" from Sophia. I miss the new inventions that go on in Dylan's room everyday. I miss the noise, I know that sounds funny, but sometimes silence is sad. I miss cooking, (I know right?) I told Jesse that we would just eat out every night I think if we didn't have kids. I missed them.....But my sweet hubby and I get to be dating again and that is really priceless in a marriage. We plan every evening with different activities and fun things to do. It is really special! The kids swam everyday twice a day, they had a ball and G-ma and G-pa are fun, way more fun than Mom and Dad.
After the week was over G-ma and G-pa decided they wanted to meet Jesse and I in San Diego. NO com plants here! So we were off to a week at the beach, my dream. We stayed at Imperial Beach in SD and it was wonderful. I couldn't get enough of the beach, I walked every morning and gathered shells, I love the smell, the feel of sand on your feet, the sound of the waves crashing, I love it all. We went to Sea World and the kids loved it. The shows are just as great as when I was there as a kid. We loved everything about Sea World. We were able to pet dolphins, and pick up star fish, it was great. We went on boat cruise around SD harbor and saw all of the Navy ships. I felt so patriotic after we were done I wanted to stand with my hand on my heart for the rest of the day. We also ate at amazing places. Hodads in Ocean Beach, killer hamburgers and fries. Jesse and I both thought that our small town Conoco was just as good! We also ate at a place called the Fish Market. The whole atmosphere of this place was amazing. You walk in the door and it smelled like salt water. It was right on the water. We sat on the covered balcony right on the water. The food was so good my mouth is watering as I type this...I had the best fish taco's ever...we watched sailboats come into the harbor and Air Force Helicopters fly in to the base it was so cool! Dylan's as well as my favorite place was the beach at La Jolla. I boogie boarded all day. I was like a little kid and I felt it the next day. I told Jesse that he had to try it, he didn't want to at first but then he did it and I couldn't get him off. He loved it! Dylan made sand forts and many other sand creations. He was in heaven! Sophie and I made the coolest sand butterfly, people were stopping to look at it. I never got a picture because just when we finished, a huge wave destroyed it...sad...But it was a wonderful day! We love to play together and G-ma and G-pa made it all possible. Sophie's favorite place was Sea World. She loves animals so it was a no-brain er for her. She would say "Ohh that is so cute" about every other minute. She is a sweetie. Jesse's favorite place was the boat ride. He loved to hear about the ships and hear all of the interesting facts.
It has been a great couple of months, I know it is going to end soon. I'm really sad that my Sophie is going into 1st grade this year. I will miss her so much. She is getting so big. My Dylan is going into 3rd grade this year and I can't believe it. Next it will be 12th grade then what am I going to do. I am so grateful for such a wonderful family we are so blessed, in so many ways, I can't even name them all. Right now I am hearing my kids laughing with their grandparents, family is so important, I don't know where I would be without them....XOXO

First Day of Summer!

Dylan told me at 8:24am this morning......."I'm Bored"...........What, I at least waited until a couple of weeks into summer before saying that!!!
It might be a long one!

Birthday, Spring Break, Easter, a missing tooth and Mother's Day!!

Birthday!
My sweet baby girl turned six on April 4th. I know, I was sad...She is so special I tell her that she is my best friend everyday. She makes me laugh, smile, and feel warm fuzzy's all the time. She tells me at least 25 times a day that she loves me. I mean who can be sad when you are told that you are loved all the time. It was her first "friend party". We decided to have a salon party. We painted fingernails and toes and the girls loved it! I came up with a couple of fun games that turned out to be the hit of the party. (who knew?)




I made each of the girls put a ring pop on their big toe and they had to get it in their mouth without any help from their hands. It was so funny! Then I had gathered small items around the house like buttons, and marbles and the girls had to pick them up with their feet and drop them in a jar that too was a blast. Sophie I know enjoyed herself because she giggled the entire time. I had so much fun making her cupcakes that I stayed up until 1:30 in the morning. We had a great day!
Dylan hiding from all the girls~

Spring Break!

We kind of at the last minute decided to head to sunny AZ for Spring Break. It was quite a chore to get all of the daycare kids arranged and everyone happy but I pulled it off. The kids had no idea that we were going to AZ. We took them out of school on Friday afternoon and we started driving. They thought that we were going to St. George. A couple of times I thought that Dylan was going to figure it out and Sophie kept saying that she knew St. George wasn't this far, but they finally fell asleep and before we knew it it was 1:30am and we were in Grandma's and Grandpa's driveway. The kids woke up when we stopped and they couldn't believe that we were there. They were SO excited. We had a great time and enjoyed family and relaxed for seven days. We went to the Children's Museum of Tucson and the kids loved the rock climbing wall. We hiked the second day we were there and I had a wonderful blister on my heal so I had to take it easy the rest of the week. We even swam the last two days we were there. It was a little too chilly for the Tucson crowd but for us it was perfect.


Easter!


Easter was great the kids at I went to the Santaquin Easter Egg hunt and it was packed. The kids did great though. My girly girl Sophie was only picking up pink eggs. She was skipping over the others just to get the pink ones it was so cute.
We had a nice Sunday, the kids loved the find the eggs and of course their baskets and all the candy...then we headed to Grannie's house and had a wonderful dinner with the fam. I love the see my niece's and chat with them.
Dylan and Sophie trying not to blink because their Mom put them right in the direct sunlight!!!

Missing Tooth!

I guess when you turn six, you just keep getting bigger and teeth start falling out. My little girl lost her tooth right before school. In the parking lot in fact. She said mom do you think you could get my tooth out and of course the dangling tooth had my name all over it. So with one twist it was out! She was so proud of her self and was so excited to show all of her friends. I cried as I drove away. I think that the tooth falling out was the last straw of by baby growing up too fast. What a wonderful busy month and 1/2 that we have had.

Mother's Day!

What makes a Mom more proud than siblings loving each other. Sophie wrote "I Love You" on yellow stickies and stuck them all over her brother! My heart melts for these two!!


I had a awesome Mother's Day as usual. My hubby always goes above and beyond what he needs to and that means I get spoiled all day. My kids made me the most sweetest, loving cards and Jesse too. I just cried when I read them. We visited Grandma Frieda, Grammie, and Grannie. We had a nice dinner with everyone! I love my kids, I love my Hubby, I'm so blessed that we have jobs, a wonderful family, awesome kids, and all great things come from having the gospel in our lives.

St. George!

Because of the previous post I bring you this post!!!
I really feel like St. George can rejuvenate the soul. I love going there when I was a child and I love to go there today. I finally talked Jesse into getting away for the weekend. We just went for one night but it was worth it. I also assure him that we wouldn't spend more than $150.00 bucks for EVERYTHING!!! And I did it!!! We stayed at our cheap hotel, ate our free breakfast at the Hotel, made lunches, then ate out at night. Our entertainment was Snow Canyon State Park, (6 bucks, for the day!) it's our favorite place. It is so beautiful there, we love that we can hike and play in the sand dunes and the kids have a natural play ground that is endless. We took the kids on two hikes that Jesse and I were impressed that they did and they actually enjoyed it. We played in the sand, not at the beach, but in the Sand Dunes and the kids loved it just as much. I loved digging my feet in the soft red sand. We had fun burying the kids too! We hiked to a small slot canyon that was amazing and the kids didn't want to leave. Dylan wanted to know if we could pick up our house and our street and move to St. George. I think that he might have had the winter blues like his mama. Sophie was pointing out every few feet of a pretty rock, or a desert flower, or a little bird or other creatures that she saw. She was happy just to be outside. I loved letting the SUN beat on my face and Jesse loved just being in nature, he comes alive when he hikes. We had a great weekend, I admit that it was too short but we were rejuvenated and the kids, Happy! Pictures to follow!

We wish we were HERE!

Sophie and I have been daydreaming a lot lately.......We want to be here...

And here.........

Ohh, and who could forget HERE......


~sigh~ (from me) ~sigh~ (from Sophie)

Baptism Day!

Dylan was baptized on 1/1/11! I don't think that he is ever going to forget that. What a great day this was, lots of family and lots of food, is there anything better? We had Grandma and Grandpa come and brave the "really" cold weather to be a part of this day. Grannie and Gramps came along with Aunt Lynnie, Brittney, Brady, Shaylei, Stephen, Sasha, Kenni, Uncle Steve, Aunt Linda, Austin, Whitney, Zacky, and Tessa. We are so lucky to have such a great family and so much support! My sweet hubby was so nervous, that we didn't see him all morning. He did an amazing job and his confirmation prayer was so beautiful. Grandma from AZ. made her famous pizza and fed the entire crew. That was a large order and she did it!





>After everyone had left for the day Dylan came up to me and said, "Mom I just feel really clean." I said, "Inside!" and he said, "Yes, I feel really clean inside and out." I then asked him what her felt when he was being confirmed and he said that he felt Sprite in his belly. He really felt the Holy Ghost that day. I told him to never forget that feeling it is the best feeling in the world! What a wonderful experience for him I hope that he remembers this forever. Below: My favorite picture, is this boy ready to receive the Holy Ghost or what! So precious!

December fun!

First~ My Dilly Pickle turned the big EIGHT this year.

It was a family party this year. (my fav) We went to Jumpin Jacks and then we headed to Fat Jacks.



What can I say about this boy he is truly one of a kind. He is very creative, he is passionate about building things, he is a problem solver, he is the best big brother ever, he is a extremely hard worker, he gets 100% on his spelling test every week, he really loves his dad, he is the Best Hugger ever, he says the best prayers ever, he wants to pay more tithing than he needs to, he loves spaghetti, he loves Sprite, he loves his Mom even when she tells him to clean his room so much, he is the best fort builder ever, (including multiple rooms, levels, wiring, plumbing, and decorations) What more can I say he is way cool! He is so special to our family, he brought our family together and made us what we are today. I am eternally grateful to My Heavenly Father for letting me but for a brief moment care for this special spirit, this sweet boy, I call My Dilly Pickle. OH and lets not forget the big day, 1/1/11! The day he is baptized!

Second- We had another wonderful time at Jackie's condo at the Gateway! We have so much fun there. I think it is because it's close but still far enough away, it's cheap, (except when we shop at Old Navy!) It's so fun to walk to the movies, dinner, shopping, & dessert and be home in minutes. We also walked from the Gateway to Temple Square to see the lights. It was great, warmer than usual, no snow, and the lights at Temple Square were amazing! Here is my favorite picture by the amazing orange tree. I could have looked at this tree for hours, it was so beautiful!


Third~ Snow Day! It snowed on Dec. 21st nearly 2 feet. I thought it was so fun to tell the kids that school was cancelled. It reminded me of when I was a kid and playing in the snow all day long! The kids had a great day, I on the other hand snow plowed three times that day. Thank goodness for the snow plow that we bought one month earlier, it came in very handy! It was pretty crazy!



Fourth- Christmas Eve Party at Aunt Lynnie's.



We had a really fun time. Lots of great food, laughs, and fun! Jesse laughed so hard at the game "Thinking" we were playing I thought that he was going to pee his pants. My handsome hubby sporting his new argyle sweater! Sasha and her reindeer undies! Gramps chilling on the couch! What more do you need at a Christmas Eve Party?

Fifth~ Christmas Day! Does it get any better with a 8 year old and a 5 year old I say not! The magic is so fun! I pray that never goes away, it hasn't for me yet! We had a super fun morning, the kids were so excited to run down the stairs to see what they got. It was so funny when they first came into the family room they were showing Ricky what Santa left in his stocking and showing him his treats, they were so cute. Then of course let the un-wrapping begin! I have the funniest video of Dylan opening his stocking and pulling out batteries and he was screaming like it was a new bike. It is hilarious, however I don't know how to download it to my computer. :(
Sophie was blessed with more pet shops and little squickies. Great more little things to fish out of Ricky's mouth! We played all day the kids didn't even get out of their pajama's. Gramps and Grannie continued their great tradition in going to all of our homes on Christmas Day. I feel bad that I live the furthest but they make it every year and we are so glad!!! What a fun day to spend with the family. Grandma and Grandpa in Arizona gave us a Wii so needless to say Jesse and I have sore shoulders and tennis elbow. We are pretty competitive at this house. It was a great day and I hoped it would never end. We had a perfect turkey dinner if I say so myself it couldn't have been better. What a wonderful time of year to spend time with family and remember our Savior and the life of service that he gave. I'm so grateful that I have such a wonderful family and that we have the gospel in our lives. What a wonderful life we have!
Before.....

After.....

Gingerbread house....

Peace..out....