my parent's place........................

It was so green this weekend. The kids felt as if we were at Disneyland with all that there was to do!

The girls...........

I can't forget to post about all of the girls and their fun this weekend at my parents house- Abbie loved getting crochet lessons. They played and fought just like most girls do! I loved having all of us together. Thank you mom for letting us all play for the day at your house!

boys having fun in NM

So Max, Jack and Tate were reunited this weekend at my parent's land and it was hysterical to watch the three of them at play. They harassed chickens, fished, took rides on the Polaris, swung and pretended like they were farmers while sitting on all of my dad's tractors ( I loved that Jack picked the mower to sit on instead of a tractor). They were so precious to watch. I am grateful for such good cousins. Boys are just so different than girls...............

Tate the Sailor!

While driving home from New Mexico today the kids were getting a little restless and irritable. I had forgotten to pack DVDs and told the kids that they didn't always need movies on trips. "Dad and I never had movies to watch- we just had to use our imaginations when we went on trips....." Livia thought about it for a bit and then said "What movie should we imagine we are watching Tate? I know let's imagine we are watching Dumbo!" Not really what I meant but it cracked us up for a while. Later when Livia was throwing a fit over being hungry, Tate just calls out to us all "Livia is a damn whiner!" No joke............I swear I never talk like that as for Chad, I can't say but Chad and I both busted out laughing (the exact opposite of what a good parent should do) So Tate said it again and again and again.........................When we finally composed ourselves we talked to him about his bad language. I really hope he gets it. He is just too precious of a boy to have a potty mouth like that. Needless to say my cup runneth over having my family whole again. I am so excited to have both of my children home with me finally. I don't think I will ever take my daily life with my kids for granted again after not being able to care for them for the past few weeks. It is funny how just the simple things are more sacred to me now........................

preschool graduation

Livy graduated from preschool a few weeks ago and I am just now taking the time to post. I was so proud of her and how much she learned at school. We are going to miss Juliette and her amazing curriculum. Livia is always singing and giggling with Avery since they had the chance to be in school together. I can not believe I have a child that starts kindergarten next year! Time really does go by way too fast. Wasn't it just yesterday that Livia was walking around in a saggy diaper?

what do you know? (more fishing)

I wish I had more pictures of Chad with Tate......he was the one behind the camera. I love all of the shots with Papa. There is something about Darwin that just calms me. He is always mellow and relaxed it seems. Tate had way too much fun playing with Da boys in the white mountains.

Pretending to be the big boys................

These two cracked me up the last time we visited Grammie and Papa's house. We would all just watch them from inside the house while they acted like their dad's and uncles'. They would drive around in the jeep and hunt until the batteries were dead as can be. It was hysterical to watch the little rednecks at play!

visit from MOM.......part 1 & 2

I was so happy to have a visit from my mother and her good friend Kathy. We had a ball doing basically nothing. A little shopping, baking, movies and playing with the kids always equals an entertaining visit. Sadly my mom had to return after only being home for four days for round two of visits with Amber. I had just had my accident a few days after she returned to New Mexico so she turned right back around to take care of me. (for those of you who don't know I had a seizure at Tate's t-ball game- freaky!) Do I have a great mom or what? By the way thank you to all of you who have helped out recently with our little family. I feel very loved and taken care of. We will keep you posted on any results we find out- it is still kind of a mystery. Mom- thank you so much for sacrificing so much of your time in helping us out- there is just nothing like being taken care of by momma.............

first session completed.

Gymnastics turned out to be quite a delight for our little Livy. She was in love at first practice. She has found her niche it seems. After completing her first session she has decided to continue with the sport. I am thrilled we have found something that finally gets her excited.

a new chapter...............

Here I am modeling my beautiful hot tamale jewelry. It was my goodbye gift from my sweet sisters I have had the privilege of serving with for the past three years. I have now been released from the Stk. Primary and have been called to my ward's Young Women's Presidency. It is so bittersweet. I had a blast with the amazing women I served with in the stake. I loved munching on hot tamales with them during our ward conferences!!!!! I will miss you all so much- you are eternal friends.

Father & Sons

The boys were so lucky to get to go on the overnight campout with not only their fathers but Papa as well! They came back dirty and tired ready for hugs from mamma.

girl's night

We had way too much fun while the boys were gone to "Father & Sons" Tess ran a spa and movie theatre at her house for all of us and we didn't miss those stinky boys one bit!