A Night I'll Never Forget!

Last night we were at Red Rocks enjoying this amazing concert!

But the best part was Justin, Sadie, and I got to meet him!

I shook hands with the Prophet.

Daddy's Day!

This is the day that the Worlds Greatest Dad found out his new role!!

I love this picture! It brings back a flood of emotions. Justin's journey of Fatherhood begins!

10 Years later! Nice job hunny!!

His daughters adore him!

He's always up for fun!

Justin with Avery

He's done this a few times! Four down One to go!!

He is such a great leader!

Justin with Evan.

He's always loving and affectionate!

He's pretty cute too!

We love you so much babe! Happy Fathers Day. We are all so lucky to have you!!

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo



Let's not forget this guy either!! Love you Daddy!! Happy Fathers Day!

Sleep!

Every night before I go to bed I check on the kids. I used to do it to make sure they were covered up and laying where they should be. But now it is just a habit. Not to mention one of my favorite times of the night. To just see them in their "sweetest state". So one day they were asking me what they look like when they are asleep. I tried to tell them, but I guess they just couldn't picture it. So they asked me if I would take picture of them sleeping so that they could see themselves. So here they are. Not much significance to this post whatsoever, but it will be fun for posterity!

February 09 Trip to Utah

Last February, the kids and I loaded up and headed to Utah. We were in desperate need to get away. Plus my kids were dying to see their best buddies that had moved away a couple months before.

My kids LOVE road trips!! Movies galore, snacks and candy, and the "half way there stop" at some kind of play land or park to let them run free!

One of our old neighbors from Chicagoland sent Sadie a Flat Stanley. So we documented Stanley's little road trip too.

The first couple nights we stayed with my Dad. My kids love going to Grandpa Wally's. He has so many fun things. It is like going to a Museum filled with OLD STUFF!

Quin LOVE playing with all the buttons, and turny things. Grandpa Wally was good about letting them explore!

The kids had never seen a "real" typewriter before. This made me laugh. They all had the best time typing away on it. They thought it was sooo cool!

One of Grandpas newer contraptions was still a hit as well. We got some good exercise that night. And actually I liked using it to stretch my back out from a 9 hour drive.

Sadie posing with an old time stereo. Funny how they use to be like furniture and now they can be as small as a piece of gum!

After we spent time with family for a couple of days and then we headed down to Saratoga Springs. Our good friends, the Auernigs, had moved back to Utah from Parker and were living in a house down there until their house in Bountiful got bought.

We spent about 5 days with them and these are the only picture I have of our adventure. We had the best time with them. There was not a whole lot of entertaining to do. They kids just played and played. Cameron Auernig had his birthday while we were out there so these are some of the pictures of his party.

Watch out, 7 more years and she's legal!

We need one of these things in our basement. My boys love this game. Quin doesn't quite understand that you can't just go climb up to the holes and drop the ball in. But whatever works.

Quin loves to drive! But we have sometime before he's legal.

While we were there we had the opportunity to go to the open house of the Draper Temple. It was so fun to take the kids and let them see the inside of the Temple. What a beautiful Temple! The kids asked a lot of questions and it was a really neat thing for all of us. Afterwards we went up to Salt Lake and met my friend Jenny Meese for some lunch at the Training Table. AHHH cheese fries! It was fun to chat with Jenny, even though we were surrounded by 9 crazy kids. Luckily we were pretty much the only ones there so we did let them run a little wild just so that we could talk. Jenny was able to escape without her twin boys. I really wanted to see them, but it was so great to be able to talk to her. She is one of my favorites!

The best part of the trip was when my friend Angie had her baby two weeks early so that I could meet her! When I talked to Angie about getting together while I was out there, I asked if there was any chance that Lola would come early. She didn't seem hopeful. Well the night before Angie and I were to go out to lunch, little Lola decided to come to earth. So Sadie and I took a trip to the hospital to see her. She is beautiful and looks just like her big brothers.

Thank you to the Grandpa Wally and the Auernigs for letting us stay at your homes. We LOVED every minute of it. Well except the part when Quin was crying the whole time, but other than that it was just NICE to get away for a time. Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!! We love you all so much.

And to those of you that live in Utah that I did not get to see. I am so sorry. But I was at the mercy of 5 kids and no daddy. We will be back, and you'll be the first ones on our list!!

One more quick little story that I never want to forget. Tinney (Quin Auernig) and Owen were playing in the kitchen with toys when Tinney says to Owen. "Pickle is my best friend, but your my next best friend." Owen replies, "Yeah chocolate is my best friend and then you too!" Pickle just happens to be an actual person. I guess he is Tinney's cousin. But it is nice to know that Owen takes after his mama and her love for chocolate.

12 Years & Going Strong!!

It's been 12 years since this beautiful day!

Not all of our moments have been our best!

But the majority of them have!

We've worked hard at the relationship that we have. And it has been so worth it.

We've shared so many amazing memories. And we have laughed and cried a lot!

I'm sure glad I picked this guy to be mine forever!! He truly is my best friend.

Love you Justin. Happy Anniversary!

How did I get here?

I feel like the past couple of days have been some kind of "rude awakening". Like I just woke up and here I was a wife, a mother, a housekeeper, a cook, an entertainment director, a calendar keeper, and on and on. Realistically I have been doing most of this for the past 12 years, but I feel like just yesterday I was running around without a care in the world, other than who am I going to "hang out" with tonight! Where has all this time gone? How did I get to this place. I don't want to come across as complaining, because that is not what this is about at all. I just feel like a 15 year old doing things that someone much older, wiser, educated, and more mature should be doing. I consider myself lucky to "wake up" in this crazy CRAZY household. But really, who put me in charge and was that really the best thing? Do "they" understand that I was never trained in the art of cooking. Or that I never knew how to use a washing machine until just a couple years ago! I have no rhyme or reason to my parenting logic. I can be crabby, cranky, and mean sometimes. This job that I have is so rewarding, but man is it HARD!! I think to myself, do other women have these same thoughts of wondering how they got here? And is it even a good idea that they are in charge of a household. I pray that I am not the only one. But if I am I need to just press on. Doing laundry for the masses. Cooking for the picky. Cleaning up after people who can't seem to figure out how to do it themselves. And simply just teaching between right and wrong. Crap!! I barely can figure it out! The truth of the mater is, I am here. Some how this is where the path has lead me. I didn't have all this happen to me overnight. I think it is just that now I realize that I better pull it together because this is a big job and it is not going anywhere anytime soon. And in a way, I am so thankful for that!

Boys Weekend vs. Girls Weekend

So the past weekend the boys went away to the Fathers and Sons Camp out with our ward. Of course they didn't take any pictures and we only took a few with my Mom's camera. So we have no actual images of our weekend, but I can touch on the highlights because it was a great weekend for everyone!!

Boys:

Fishing (Owen caught a fish while sucking on a lollipop and wearing pj's)

Hiking in Caves

S'mores

Naps while it was raining

Airsoft wars

More hiking

Campfires

Scary stories

Yummy breakfast Saturday morning

Banana Boats

Hot wings for dinner

Clothes that were packed for three days were untouched!

Boys came home happy, smelly, and wearing the same clothes they left in three days earlier!!

Girls:

Fake nails

manicures

pedicures

Fashion Shows with loud music

Movie night with pizza and popcorn

Playing dolls

Tea party at Sue-Sues (she went all out! pictures to follow)

Swimming all afternoon

Dinner at Bambas with other "girl friends"

Late night on the trampoline

Popsicles

Mom staying up way to late both nights because she can watch whatever she wants!! (Remote control power!)


The boys and girls had a fantastic weekend. What a great opportunity for us to spend time with them the way they each like!! Can't wait for next year.