More pictures from Utah

We took the kids back to Temple Square. We went back to the Joseph Smith Memorial Building for lunch at the Garden Restaurant. They opened the roof while we were there, and the kids thought it was one of the coolest things they had ever seen.

Natalie was very excited to see the statue of Christ. Drew thought it was really cool, but then he discovered the gold railing so he had to hold on to it and run the length of it.

These were a few of the sights we saw on the drive back home.

Fun in the sun

Today was such a hot day. Since we don't have a pool I sometimes let the kids turn on the hose while they jump on the trampoline. Or they'll spray the slides on the swing set and slide down really fast and see who lands the furthest away from the bottom of the slide. Natalie and I had doctor's appointments today and when we got home the boys were already outside jumping with the water. Natalie took one look at them and went outside in a flash.

Cole ran over to the door as soon as I opened it to take pictures of the kids. He loves to come inside. When he's wet. And muddy. And smells like a nasty wet dog. Not happening. He was sad and wouldn't look at me while I took his picture. I had to clean up after his last trip inside while he was wet and muddy. He ran in, ran across my freshly mopped floor (of course), ran to the family room, sat down until he saw me approaching, then ran to the front room where he stood and shook himself off all over the carpet, the end table, the coffee table, the piano, the front door, the lamp, etc... It took a while to clean everything up. So I wasn't going to chance him coming in again while he was wet!

Then my cute little Smokey. He's our miniature schnauzer. He was supposed to be an inside dog, but he decided that he preferred being outside. He loves to roll in the water. So his fur gets all nappy. We decided that we would keep his coat short during the summer to cut down on all the snarls. When he's fully groomed he is so cute.

Here are the two dogs when they're groomed and looking cute.

Happy Anniversary Kent!

Today is our 13th wedding anniversary. Kent and I got married when we were SOOOO young! We got married in the Mesa, Arizona temple. It was so hot that day... one of the highest temperatures ever recorded in Phoenix... 121 degrees. http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/psr/general/history/index.php?page=100deg I thought I was going to melt in that wedding dress! My mom's parents, who are now both deceased, were able to come to my wedding. I was so happy that they could come. (And Kent has my grandpa to thank for that day happening. My grandparents came down a few months after Kent and I started dating, and my grandpa talked to Kent for a while and got to know him. He gave me his stamp of approval of Kent. I knew that if my grandpa gave his approval that I couldn't go wrong.)

4 kids, 2 houses and 13 years later and we're still going strong! I love that Kent has a good sense of humor. He loves to take care of us. He's a great father, and wonderful husband. He always tries to make sure that we have what we need and he also a lot of the things that we want. He takes care of me after I have babies, surgeries or on days when I'm too sick to get out of bed. He takes the kids with him to do service projects, run errands and to have fun. He always tries to reward their hard work with something fun at the end. I am so glad for that because I think it instills a good work ethic and an appreciation for fun.


This is our wedding picture that hangs in our entryway. My mom and dad had it framed and gave it to us for our anniversary a few years ago. My kids can't believe how much hair Kent has in the picture, and I can't believe I actually had a waist that small- and I remember thinking I was fat!

Childhood home

Here are some pictures of my childhood home. I remember going over when I was 2 or 3 while it was being built. We had to climb the ladder to the 2nd story. I remember being really scared because it was dark, and I was worried that I was going to fall. I think the house had about 5000 square feet, but I'm not sure if that included the basement or not. The basement is where my dad had his workshop, and where the dark room at the bottom of the stairs, to my young mind, was where the Incredible Hulk lived. I'm sure that my parents hid our Christmas gifts in there because there was no way that I was going to enter that room.

It looks pretty good for a house built in the 19?0's. The family that bought it after we moved is still there. I am always tempted to go knock on the door and ask if I can look around to see how it looks.

My mom who is a teacher used to run a preschool out of our home. There was a room that was large enough for a classroom, and it was always full. I thought it was so cool that I could go to school in my own house.

The last picture is what our view was from the front windows of the house. We overlooked the Great Salt Lake. It seemed a lot bigger when I was younger.

Hanging out

I have known Mindy since we were 3 years old. She lived in the house on the corner, and I lived 2 houses up from there. We played almost every day until I moved to AZ in 1987. I was devastated when we had to move. I remember Mindy and her sister standing on the driveway, waving at us as we drove away, looking like they were going to cry. I almost started to cry then.

Fast forward many years... Her daughter, Makayla, is 3 (9 days older than Drew), and she and Natalie hit it off. We went to Mindy and Joe's house to have lunch, and then we went to the Bountiful Rec Center. Inside they had a lazy river, water slides, diving boards, a pool to swim laps, a pool that was about 5' deep that had a basketball hoop and a kids pool complete with playground set that could spray water. It was so cool! We stayed for a few hours, and we had to drag our kids away from it. BTW, no pictures of it because I didn't want to discover any pictures of me in a swimming suit!!! Yikes!

Makayla, 3 1/2, and Natalie barely 5. Yes, my daughter is an Amazon.

Drew, 3 1/2, Natalie, 5, and Makayla 3 1/2. Total hams for the camera!!!

Family Party

I wish I had more pictures from the family party. Jeremy, my OLDEST cousin (ha ha J!), razzed me about taking so many pictures at the zoo so I kept my camera put away until the very end. My grandma called my cousins who live in the area, and my aunts and several of them were able to come over for a BBQ. We had a great meal, and then the kids proceeded to jump all over Clint (or as I still call him CJ). Drew saw Dylan, Jeremy and Brandy's son, getting a big reaction so he had to get in on it. (No pictures!) This went on for at least 1 hour. Natalie and Katelyn had a great time at the zoo, and I got the sweetest picture of them together at the party.

Temple Square

We went to Temple Square twice this week. The first time was on Monday. We only had about 1 hour to spend there because we were going to meet my friend Mindy and her family for lunch, then go to Hogle Zoo where my cousin Jeremy was going to join us with his kids. These pictures are from the first trip to Temple Square.

Trevor was intrigued by the Testimony of the Three Witnesses plaque. He stood there and read it several times. He had a lot of questions about it, and is very excited to tell his Primary class about his trips to the Salt Lake City temple grounds.

Drew's making his favorite face again. The other kids smiled though!
I actually made it to my own blog! Natalie wasn't about to let me get my picture taken without her so she grabbed onto my arm and smiled really big! BTW, this was also Kent's birthday.

Murray Park

We've been up in Utah visiting with family and friends. We wanted to find something fun to do so the kids would stop running around my grandparents' house. They sounded like a herd of elephants... so loud. There is a park a few miles from my grandparents' house so we took the kids to it. We played on the playground then fed the ducks.
This is Drew's favorite new camera face. Almost every time I take a picture of him he makes this face and will NOT let me take a picture of him smiling until we have done SEVERAL with this face. He was having a fun time!

Little Princess Natalie. She didn't want to swing or climb the monkey bars so she went to the play set and went down the slide and looked through the pirate binoculars.

Justin and Trevor loved playing on this toy. I don't know what it's called, but they had a blast on it. It worked like a wheel, and would spin according to the way they would walk on it. The goal was to stay on the longest. It was hilarious watching them try to outmaneuver each other.
I think Kent finally got the chance to get on this and went for it. He had a harder time on it than the boys did. He said it was a lot harder than it looked!

Trevor

Trevor cracks me up. He does everything he can to get out of his jobs almost every day. He spends more time talking and dilly dallying than he would doing his actual jobs. I have pointed this out to him NUMEROUS times to no avail. So a few weeks ago I was trying to get him to do his jobs, and all of a sudden it got really quiet. I looked up and found him like this...



Can we say falling asleep on the job?!

Natalie's Tests

Natalie has been having tummy aches since March so we had to go get some pictures taken of her tummy. We went to Banner Desert, where they gave her an IV and had her drink some contrast so they could see her digestive tract. Fun stuff! She did get this cool Hannah Montana picture board for being so brave for them so she was happy. BTW, I highly recommend the hospital for kids. They did an AWESOME job talking to Natalie, getting the IV in on the first time, and generally making her experience a pleasant one.
Because she was so brave she and I did a little girls' day out after she was done. First we went to Streamer's for lunch. Natalie got a Brownie Mouse for dessert.

After that we went shopping at Target where we got her some Hannah Montana cups with straws. When we left Target we got pedicures. Natalie got her toes painted purple to match her Hannah Montana shirt (sensing a theme here?) and then little flowers on her big toes. I was not allowed to get flowers on my toes because she said we weren't allowed to match so I got polka dots instead.

When we were done with that we went next door to Bashas' where she got to tell Janice, the lady in the Kids Kare area, all about her day. When we left, one of the local radio stations was doing giveaways and Natalie won a brush and Frisbee. They also took her picture and are supposed to have it up on their picture page sometime. I'll post a link if they ever actually post it to their website.
She was ready to go out again that night for a girls' night out, and was disappointed when I wouldn't go. So we have another date scheduled for next month. She's already planning it!

Swim Lessons

Natalie and Drew are in their second week of swimming lessons with "Miss Judi". She will be Drew's preschool teacher starting next month! (Yikes! I can't believe he's already old enough to be going to preschool!) They are learning to dive down to get things from the bottom of the pool, swim different strokes, float on their backs and how to swim well. They took lessons in May from our neighbor Caroline Lamoreaux, and Drew especially did really well. He was like a little fish. Now Natalie has really started getting more confident and is doing really well. Here are some pictures from Monday's swim lessons.

Summertime

Summertime is always such a busy time of year for me. It seems to get busier every year as my kids get older. This summer Trevor is doing piano and gymnastics. Justin is going to physical therapy 3 times a week until next week (I hope!!!). Natalie goes to dance 2 hours a day 4 days a week. She really needs to have a place where she can interact with other little girls. It has made a huge difference in her attitude... for the better. Drew is the only one not in a structured activity. He keeps us really busy, though. He is doing his best to make us laugh as often as possible. Each week we get together with friends, try to swim at least once a week, and then the normal everyday stuff. I actually think my house is dirtier in the summer since we have friends over more often, and 2 boys who are home more often than during the school year.

Kent had a business trip this week. We started a tradition during one of his business trips a few months ago, and we decided to continue it last night. We got ready for bed, said our nightly prayers, and then sat down to play Hot Potato. I know, it sounds so dorky, but it's really fun. We get everyone involved, and we all have to say something when we pass the ball. We always start with saying "Hot Potato!" and then we move on to other subjects. We did colors, foods, countries in Central America (I had to correct a few mispronunciations) and then cars. I need to brush up on that last one. After we did those subjects we moved on to songs. We just sang kids songs that they learned in either church or preschool. To end it all last night we each took a turn saying something nice about each person. We started with the youngest, and then went in ascending order for comments about each person. The only rules were that it had to be something nice/kind, and it had to be about the person/their character/talents/etc., not their possessions. Everyone said something nice, and it totally brightened each child's face to hear their siblings and mom say something nice about them. Who wouldn't want praise for the things that they do? It helps the other kids learn to appreciate the unique qualities of each individual, and all day today the kids got along better than usual. It was great!

Michelle's Wedding

Kent and I left on Thursday night for San Francisco. We wanted to go to Pier 39 and Fisherman's Wharf on Friday morning since we couldn't get tickets to Alcatraz. We spent a couple of hours there then went to SFO to get Amy and my mom. We went back with them so they could get lunch and we could do some shopping. Amy actually at at the Crab Restaurant. Amy, like a good girl, thinks seafood is disgusting, which it is, so I was shocked when she told me that they were eating there. We were able to see it from those places so that was pretty cool. All of my siblings (Michelle- the bride, Amy, Christine, Allan and Katie) and our parents were there.
We got to go to Michael's parents' house in Berkeley for a dinner on Friday, the night before the wedding, and it was fun to meet his parents, brothers and friends. The next morning the 5 sisters went to breakfast at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco, then 3 of us went to get pedicures. The ladies there seemed to like me quite a bit, and they started right away on my manicure. I was mostly done with my mani when they took Amy to the chair to start her pedi, and then about 10 minutes after that they took Katie and put her in her chair. She sat there for 35 minutes before they started on hers. In the meantime I got a manicure, pedicure and my eyebrows waxed. I finished about 5-10 minutes after the other two who only got pedicures. I thought it was pretty funny! Amy and Katie weren't quite as amused, though!
After that we went back to the hotels to change and fix our hair again, then drove out to Sonoma. Michelle was getting ready, and after everyone arrived we went outside for the ceremony.
Michelle looked beautiful, and her fiance Michael looked handsome, and they looked so happy. They had a minister who really got animated and put on quite a show for everyone who was there. We had a delicious dinner afterwards, and Katie was absolutely sure that a piece of lettuce was actually a squished spider. She managed to convince a couple of people that it was a spider, but it was a piece of lettuce! (You know I'm right, Katie!) After the ceremony we drove back to our hotels, and saw a wildfire in the Napa area. We saw it on the news this morning, and it was serious enough that they were starting to evacuate homes, and one building had burned down. I took pictures, but they didn't turn out well.
This morning (Sunday) we went to the Marriott and got my mom and 2 of my sisters and drove to the airport. On the way we finally saw the fog. Apparently they had a heat wave... temperatures were in the whopping upper 90's. (I thought it felt great, though, because it's 20+ degrees hotter here!) I guess that caused the fog to stay away until today when the temperatures dropped.

I love my kids

I love my kids. I am oftentimes reminded at the oddest times just exactly why I love them. Today we were out running errands, and Trevor was the sweetest boy. He is probably my most emotional, sensitive child. Today he was so helpful, and wanted to help me get everything done. Then later in the evening he came up to me and gave me a hug and kiss and said, "Mom, you're the best mom in the world. I love you so much." He went to Kent next and said, "Dad, you're a great dad. I love you so much." So sweet.
Justin is always so willing to help out. He gets his jobs done usually before I even wake up, he helps me get the kids ready when we need to go somewhere, he helps me feed them breakfast, and he's just an all-around great kid. He plays with his younger siblings' friends to make sure that they feel welcome. He's also currently begging me to have "at least 1 or 2 more kids." That's not going to happen, but it's so nice to know that he loves his brothers and sister enough that he would want even more of them!
Natalie... what can I say about my little drama queen? She is my constant shadow. She wants me to hold her all the time. She wants to run all of my errands with me. Recently she has become very aware of her appearance. She wants to make sure her hair is done, and wants me to let her wear makeup every day. She loves makeup so much, in fact, that she has begun to "borrow" my MAC lipstick, my body spray, lip glosses and makeup brushes. They always somehow end up in her room, but "(she) didn't put them there." I think we're going to have to get her some of her own makeup on her birthday.
Drew... so cute. He's upstairs right now tyring to get me to come upstairs to lie down with him. I had to stop doing that 2 years ago because otherwise he wouldn't go to bed. He's very upset that he's done with swimming lessons, and wants me to make phone calls right now, at almost 2 in the morning to sign him up again. Since I won't do that he's upset with me. But he's my little snuggle bug, and I am enjoying it for as long as I can.

Reading

I read all the time. I love it. I read a book a day when I can. I always have. I read the entire Nancy Drew series in 2nd grade, the Hardy Boys series in 3rd grade, and then started branching out from there. I started writing a collection of illustrated short stories in 3rd grade. I started writing my first novel in 5th grade. I still have it somewhere.
Justin has not developed my love of reading. Justin has never enjoyed reading. He does it only because he has to, and he's not happy about doing it. Recently he decided it's time to start to enjoy reading. We found an author that he loved so he read all of the books by this author that he could find. He really started to have fun. Then he finished those books, and was unsure what to read next. He talked to Kent about this, and Kent tried to help him find a book he would enjoy reading. A few days after this talk Justin told me about his desire to enjoy reading, and his discussion with Kent. Come to find out he totally conned Kent into buying him I Am Legend. Now, I'm all for Justin finding a book that he can enjoy reading, but I do not think that this is the book. I wouldn't let him see the movie because I think it would scare him half to death. I can only imagine the book is going to be a thing of nightmares for him. I told him this, but he just turned to me with "the look" and said, "Mom, I'm not a baby. I'm going to be 12 this year. I think I can handle it."
So, I'm going to let him read this book, and hope that he enjoys it and doesn't have nightmares about it. If he learns to love reading great. If not, well, we'll try again. I want to keep the momentum building, and really hope that I can help him learn to love reading.

Women's Conference

I went to Women's Conference for the first time this year. It was a lot of fun. We got to see the prophet, and spend time together as women. I think we all had a lot of fun. I took a TON of pictures while we were up there, but I'm only sharing a few. I have some from when we were all in our PJ's, and most of us had no make-up on, and I do not want to be the one who posts those pictures for fear of retaliation!

When we landed in SLC we stopped at Temple Square for lunch.

We got to go to several classes. Here were a bunch of us on the last day in the Conference Center. We all stuck close to the CC that day as President Monson was going to come speak to us. We all wanted to have good seats to see the prophet.

The prophet came and spoke to us. His wife was with him. Just before they arrived there were 23,000 women in the conference center talking to each other. It was pretty loud. When he and his wife and other companions arrived it was immediately silent. The Spirit was so great. Then we all sang "We Thank Thee Oh God For a Prophet." It was an awesome feeling. He gave us a great talk, and he had a great sense of humor. As he was leaving he gave us all thumbs up. It was hilarious.

Here we are after the last meeting. A few people didn't make it for the first picture so I have their picture under the big group picture.

Grandma's T-shirts

Grandma Julie, Kent's mom, comes to visit us all the time. She and her husband, Lenny, own Kona Landscape. A while ago my kids saw the vinyl on her trucks and saw the screen printed t-shirts that they wore and really thought it would be cool to own the shirts. Grandma decided to make them their very own shirts. The kids wear them ALL THE TIME! So after looking at them they immediately put the shirts on and had me take their pictures. I think the pictures speak for themselves!

BTW... Natalie's hat did not fall on its own, Drew didn't really have to cough, Trevor gave himself rug burn on his forehead- on purpose!, but at least Justin and Grandma smiled nicely for the picture!

Trevor's birthday

Way back in mid-March Kent and I were discussing Trevor's birthday party. He didn't seem to think it took much time and/or effort to put one together, so I let him be in charge of planning and executing a birthday party.

It took a while for us to figure out a time that we could pull off a party. When we finally did, Kent and Trevor decided to have his party the day before the last day of school. I went to the store and bought the treats for the treat bags, and ordered the party sub and birthday cake. Several of his friends came, and after eating all the sub, chips and cake they could eat we took them to see The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. Although it took almost 2 months he was so happy that his dad came through for him...

...However, he wants me to be in charge of the rest of his parties!