Catch Up

We ended the summer by celebrating with ice cream. This summer our primary got challenged to memorize the Articles of Faith. Both of our girls learned them....thanks to the primary songs. We are so proud of them. Here they are screaming for their ice cream.

Claire then got to have her first day of 2nd grade. I can't believe she is growing up so quickly. It makes me a bit sad, but I am so proud of her and how much she loves learning.

Next we celebrated Mia's birthday. Again my girls are growing up way too fast. Mia is such a special and loving girl. We are lucky to have her in our family.

Mia got to go to preschool this year. Last year it was a co-op, but this year she feels like such a big girl because she is actually going to school. She has already made some good friends.

The girls got to sell cookies at the parade of homes again. They love doing this. They helped me make the cookies this year. They loved playing in the dog house that was being raffled off at the parade of homes also.

They only got to sell for one weekend. Many of you know, but Bryan had a work accident and he has had a few surgeries. We are blessed that it wasn't worse than it was and feel so grateful for the many prayers that have been offered on our behalf. We are also thankful for all those that stepped up to help us in so many ways during the crazy surgical weekend and the weeks following.

We still have had some fun. The girls love going to the pumpkin patch. It is a tradition (well it has become one) that we see how tall they are.

 The girls loved picking out their pumpkins.

However, I think their favorite parts were the rides. They couldn't stop smiling.

I also got the opportunity to go with Mia's preschool class on a field trip to the pumpkin patch. She is so proud of her pumpkin.

That is a quick update of the last few months. I will try to post more often.

Girls Summer Trip

This Summer the girls and I drove back to Utah to spend some time with grandma, grandpa, cousins, aunts and uncles. We had a great time. Here are just a few of our pictures from the trip...There were so many great ones it was hard to choose. Here are some of our favorites.

One of the first days after we got to Utah we were able to celebrate Pioneer Day. The girls had so much fun at basically their first parade. They loved all the candy and extras they got. They had a blast waving at the queens and getting them to wave back

Grandma and I took the girls to BYU's Bean Museum. They had so much fun and it was really nice. They have really improved that museum. Of course we then had to go to the creamery and get some chocolate milk. As we were walking in my girls said "this is where we buy the best chocolate milk in the whole world right?"

A few days later we were able to go to East Canyon and go camping for a few days. It did rain on us, but we had a lot of fun anyway. We went swimming, played mini golf, played at the splash pad, watched movies, had fun in the trailer and the girls did some shopping in the little store. This picture is something only my family would understand, but this picture is a memory from growing up for me. When I was little my brother always had to sleep under the table bed...so my girls thought it would be fun to sleep like Uncle Brent did.

When we came home from camping, the girls, grandma, Uncle Brent, KeKoa and I went fishing. They had so much fun catching their fish.

 After fishing we went to the dinosaur park. We have heard good things about this place, but it was our first time ever going to it. It was a lot of fun, but you had to be careful because they dinosaurs just might get ya.

 While we were at the dinosaur park we found the world's most dangerous creatures! Look out they will really grab you!

We got to go to the Zoo also. I am just so amazed at how much they improve the zoo each and every time we go. The kids had so much fun and they loved spending that time with their cousin.

 We attended the bird show as always. It was also great. We all loved it. The kids loved having their picture taken with the birds.

One of the last days we were in town the Ogden Temple Open House had begun. It was a great opportunity for me to take my girls into a temple and allow them to see all the rooms we have discussed. It was such a great time. What an amazing opportunity for us to have.

 YEAH THE RODEO!! We got to attend a rodeo with Aunt JuLee, Grandma and Uncle Brent. It was so much fun. The girls even got spoiled by Uncle Brent. They sure love him. 

It was hard to say goodbye to family. We are so grateful we got to spend so much time with family and were able to create so many memories. Thanks to all those that made this trip so much fun!!

Family Reunion Fun

The Summer is only half over and we have already made so many amazing memories. Here are some of the our memories. (Warning there are a lot of pictures to follow)

The first few days after getting to my parent's house we were able to help watch my nephew. My girls absolutely love spending time with Bugaboo (their nickname for him). One of they days, I got to be the "favorite aunt". I took them to the farm, went on a wagon ride, played at the park and even got ice cream.

A few days later we were off on my family reunion. Since we had 99% of the entire family in attendance the first night camping...we decided to take a family picture. I love being with my family. I wished we all lived closer where we could do more together...or I wish they would visit us more often. I know we try and go there as much as we can...although we all have busy lives.

The girls have been wanting to know how to hit a baseball for quite a while. I have tried to help them, but my knowledge is slim to none. I enlisted the help of one of my nephews (a few of them play baseball). He was so kind and patient with my girls. Now they know how to play. I am so grateful for extended family and how much love they show to my girls.

 This year while camping we found a family of owls...there were three of them...a mommy, daddy and baby (according to what the ranger said). Here is one of the parents and the baby. It was so cool to see them in their natural habitat and see them so closely.

We spent lots of our time at the beach and splashing in the water. As a family we rented some paddle boards. The girls loved going on rides. They aren't quite big enough yet to try it themselves. 

One of the traditions we have at the family reunion is always having a water fight. It is usually just grandpa and the grand kids, but this year grandma and a few others got roped into play.

We stayed only a day and a half after coming home from camping. Bryan and I took our girls, our nieces and nephews to the park. Mia loves climbing on things...she is our Mia monkey!

 Claire learned how to do the monkey bars. She said she started learning at school, but she can touch the ground at school so this was a great time for her to practice and learn. She was so proud of herself and we are too.

Here is a group shot of the park kids. It was a lot of fun to have them all play together. The girls love being with their cousins.

We weren't able to visit after the reunion for as long as we usually do. We had to come back quickly in order to be here to celebrate Terin's (Bryan's sister) wedding. The girls got to be flower girls. They really took their job of dropping petals quite seriously. 

They looked so beautiful in their flower girls dresses.

Finally we are to the last picture...Here is the family right after the wedding. It was so beautiful. I am so glad we were able to be a part of such an amazing event.

Last of the School Year

I can't believe another school year has ended. Mia had such a great time with her friends in our little preschool. Here she is on graduation night. We are so proud of her and how much she has learned this year.

 

Mia and Claire are loving the warmer weather. They have started swim lessons and have been loving it. They have also loved being the purple plastic pool in our backyard. These smiles just melt my heart. What amazing little girls they are.

While Claire was at school and Mia was done with school. Mia helped me and Grandma Lois plant Grandma's garden. Here she is all geared up ready to plant.

The day before the last day of school it was a special reading day at Claire's school. It was a decade day. The kids got to dress up in their favorite decade. Claire chose the roaring 20's. I was stumped how to dress her because I didn't have anything that would work. Thanks to Grandma Lois... Claire was able to go to school dressed as a flapper girl. Here she is with her teacher (dressed in her 80's gear)!

Then it was the last day of school. She was so eager to show off the book her classroom had made. I am so proud of this girl. I can't believe how quickly she is growing up....it almost makes me a little sad! I am truly trying to enjoy every minute with my girls, because time just goes by so quickly.

Easter

We had a great Easter Holiday. We were able to dye Easter Eggs with aunts, uncles and cousins. It was a lot of fun!! The girls were able to do three Easter Egg Hunts. They loved every minute of it. Here are a few pictures from some of the hunts.

 

 

 

I think one of my favorite things about Easter holiday when it comes to the fun stuff is....Easter dresses. I love seeing all the kids come to church in their new Easter dresses. They all look so cute. Here are the girls in their Easter dresses....and I love how much they love each other.

This picture was a fun picture we texted to grandma...we had to because she sent us a text that said "HOPPY EASTER!!" so we decided to send her a Hoppy Easter too!!

Spring Break

I asked Claire what she wanted to do for her Spring Break. She wanted to go to Utah and see Grandma and Grandpa and Bugaboo (a nickname for one of her cousins). Here are some of the fun pictures I took from our trip. It was so fun to have a girls trip...I love being with my two girls!! 

These first pictures are from our April Fool's Day dinner. It was so much fun. They loved their jello drinks, worm covered apples, meatloaf cake and taco salad dessert.  I am so glad that my mom was willing to do this fun dinner with me and the girls.

 I was able to attend the temple a few times while there. I loved being able to go to temples I haven't been to before. It was so wonderful. One of the days I took the girls and we walked around temple square. It was so much fun. I also got some really good pictures. This one is of my beautiful mom and the girls outside the visitor center. It is one of my favorite pictures from our trip.

 This one is just cute because it shows how much these two girls love each other. It is just such a special picture; one that I will treasure for a long time!

The morning we drove home we took the girls to Scheels. We had never been to that store before so it was fun to look around. There is a Ferris Wheel inside and the girls loved going for a ride. It was a lot of fun. There were also some really fun places to take fun pictures of the girls. Here are some of our adventures. 

These animals are really stinky!!!

"Look out Claire!!"

 Mia is a bear cub!

 "This one time I caught a fish and it was THIS big!"