Spontaneity

Last week I was drinking a beloved Dr. Pepper when I happened to read the back. On it was a coupon to get a free ticket for Hogle Zoo in Utah. I quickly drank up another (against my will, I'm sure) and we headed down to Utah the next day with little prior thought. Besides, we got two free tickets.

As many of you know, I absolutely adore Utah (I don't know how you can get sarcasm into type), but we wanted just to get away. We spent the morning wandering around the zoo. I really do love that zoo--no sarcasm this time. The animals are great and the kids were excited and also well behaved. We then went to Hobby Lobby, my new favorite store. It is amazing. Then dinner at Olive Garden. It was a great day and I love spontaneity!! Here are some pics from the zoo:

4th of July fun

I realized that I take the same pictures for the 4th of July every year. The only difference is that my kids get older. We spent the day in Menan for some good old fashioned fun. I love the small town atmosphere. We went to the parade, the park and the fireworks. Gus got some new sunglasses, that's why he's pointing to them in the picture. The kids were hot and tired at the end of the day, but it was fun. I'm so grateful that we live in this country. I'm grateful for our freedom and the choices that we have to make. I'm grateful for my family and the opportunity to have my kids grow up here. We are blessed!

Alivia turns 1!

Alivia turned one on Saturday.Where did this year go?? It just seems like yesterday that I was so miserable being pregnant! She is such a great addition to our family. She loves her older brothers and is such a girl. We love having her in our family. She is walking all around and wants to be involved in everything. She really hasn't said her official first word yet, but I'm really thinking that it is going to be 'mama' for sure!!

While I was at my mom's, I found this picture of me in the yellow dress when I was 8 months old. Does it look familiar??

We had cake and ice cream at the Blads on Sunday and, of coarse, we had to do the cake thing. Alivia really didn't get as messy as the boys did. She just dipped her finger in the icing and licked it clean. Her brother and cousins were trying harder to get her dirty! She had a great day. We love you Alivia!

Oh to be 7!

Zachary is seven today! Holy cow, where did that time go?? This is one of the few digital baby pictures that I have of Zach before we got our camera. Crazy to think that we didn't have digital cameras back then!

Seven years ago Zach was born at Bannock Regional with a full head of red hair. The nurses combed a part down the middle and smoothed it over. It was so cute! He was such an easy baby kinda like he is today.

Zach got to have a friends party this year at Outer Limits. He didn't get one last year because I was just praying that Alivia wouldn't be born on his birthday! He invited friends from school and friends from our ward. They played and played and had a blast. It was fun. Here is the little cheeseball now (he's red from playing):

We love you Zach. Happy birthday!

Memorial Day

This weekend we got to go up to the Blads cabin in Island Park. I'm not much of an outdoor-sy girl, but we had fun. We went into Yellowstone Park on Monday and saw lots of buffalo and elk. The boys loved it! We saw Old Faithful (which wasn't as big as I remember it) and spent lots of time with cousins. Zach earned his 'Junior Ranger' badge by completing activities throughout the park. We hiked around the Paint Pots. Then we called it a day. We were tired and sunburned, but we had fun. It's nice to get away and spend time with family and just relax, but sometimes
relaxing just makes you more tired!

First steps

Well, it's official. Alivia is walking. Kinda crazy! I can't believe that she is old enough to walk! She looks so little toddling around. She is in to everything and is about driving me crazy. She's learned how to go down the stairs, which is great. No more tumbles. She's so much fun and we love having her here!

Life

Well, life is finally getting back to normal. We are still in a mess downstairs since we got our carpet. I haven't made my way through everything yet. I got my computer back so I can finally post pictures, and I am done teaching Kindergarten. I did have a blast doing that. I miss teaching, but I love staying home with my little ones. It's hard working and keeping up with housework, callings and everything else.

So, here is my Mother's Day present:


I was so impressed with Gus. He hasn't been the best Mother's Day giver before (he has totally not gotten anything for me from the kids before), but I forgave him for his mistakes. I woke up and saw these cute pots on the table. The poem reads:

For Our Mother

In these pots you can see

Is some dirt and a seed like me.

So feed it, nourish it, and care for the seed in here,

And soon you will see the potential that lives in there.

So protect it from insects, bugs and bees,

So it can bloom where it is planted, just like me.

Gus had each little one paint a pot and then put their handprint on it. Gus said he then planted a whole pack of seeds in each one. They are so cute. The first thing I asked him was what blog he got the idea from! He totally wrote the poem himself (with a little help from his mom). I am so proud. The kids still talk about painting their pots. So cute! I'm so proud to be their mom!