Happy Father's Day! - 2009

I just wanted to take this moment to wish my darling husband a happy Father's Day.

Jeff - I am so blessed to have you in my life. You do so much for me and the kids, and I really couldn't do it without you. You are such a great dad, and an amazingly supportive husband. I really appreciate you. I hope you're having a good Father's Day, even if you can't be with us today. We all love you more than you know!

I usually make Jeff some kind of picture frame with current pictures to take to work for Valentine's Day. I don't remember if I did that for him this year or not. But if I didn't, he got one for Father's Day instead! If I did, then he'll just have another set to look at on his desk when he gets lonely. Recently, we've gone on a couple of outdoor outings with the kids. They really enjoyed it, and loved the time we spent as a family exploring nature. That's where most of the pictures in this Father's Day collage came from.

The kids also really enjoy making pictures of their hands. They like to trace around their fingers, then color them all in. So, naturally, this tie with all their handprints on it was a fun choice for this year's Father's Day gift! It was fun to make. It was the first tie I have actually made, and I'd say it turned out pretty nicely. Plus, it was fun to paint my lips and plant a nice wet one on the tie to remind Jeff how much I love him!



In case he couldn't figure it out, I also wrote this little reminder on the ribbon on the back that holds the little part of the tie in place.

Jeff, you are truly loved. Don't ever forget it. Happy Father's Day Jeffrey-Love!

Tyler's A Missionary!

In the beginning of May, my family came up for a visit, and to drop my little brother, Tyler, off at the MTC. There were so many good pictures from that few days, and I am posting way too many as it is. I really enjoyed their visit. Love you guys! Here are some of my favorites:

The first night Tyler was in town, Jeff went and picked him up from my Dad in Salt Lake, and took him on the Father's and Son's camping trip with the boys. It was much more fun than the health seminar my dad had planned on taking him to that night.

Sunday was all about Tyler.


We had a pancake/waffle dinner with about six different flavors of syrups.

I spent most of the time doing this:

... And this:

My Great Aunt May and her husband LaMar came to celebrate Tyler's mission departure. It was fun to see them again.

This was the first time that all four of us siblings have been together in a very long time. It's been at least 3 years?? Probably longer. Anyone remember? Brooke?

Funny story: One of the nights we were all up late talking and messing around (this particular night found me coloring Brooke's hair), the power went out! I was in the middle of putting highlights in Brooke's hair with foils. Only about halfway done. I had to have Tyler hold a flashlight on her hair for me, while I had one on a headband and quickly finish putting the product in her hair in the dark! When enough time had passed, I had her stand in front of my car headlights to check the color because my headlights were the most natural and brightest lights we could find at the time. It was funny. Her hair turned out very nicely, too, I might add. It was just an interesting experience. Oh, a car hit a power box and the power was out for about 6000 houses for about 3 hours.

On Tuesday, we all got to go down to Temple Square in Salt Lake and see all the church history sights. We visited the museums, the tabernacle, the Temple grounds, and the distribution center. It was pretty fun.

This is one of my personal favorites from that day trip.

When we got back, we had a fun craft activity planned with Grammy and Grandpa Lance. They helped the kids decorate some T-shirts, and the kids helped decorate one for each of them to help remind them of their trip to Utah this year. It was a lot of fun, and the shirts turned out really well. I keep meaning to get a picture of each of them individually, but each time they're wearing them, I forget! Maybe when I get some I'll post the finished products.

During his visit, Sarah decided she really liked Uncle Tyler. Here she is enjoying her uncle's music. A few minutes after this picture was taken, she actually fell asleep right there. I think Uncle Tyler ended up carrying her to her room. Cute. All the kids really took to Tyler. They still talk about him now. Just yesterday, Sarah was naming off the ages all the kids will be when they get to see Uncle Tyler again.

And the purpose for the whole trip: Dropping Tyler off at the MTC.

My little brother's a missionary! Good luck, Tyler, and God be with you! I'm proud of you, and I love you.

Conference Weekend

I think this has been my favorite weekend in a long time. Jeff was home all weekend and pretty much just spent time with us. The kids loved that part. We watched Conference on Saturday downstairs in the toy room. I kind of liked that. The kids were there the entire time and were experiencing the talks while playing, coloring, eating snacks, and even spent a good amount of time sitting on Jeff's or my lap just listening (or sleeping!). I got a lot of miscellaneous "to-do list" projects done this weekend, and my favorite part - I started organizing my sewing/craft room! I am incredibly excited for this transformation. Being that it is a room specifically for me, and I tend to put my own stuff last on the list, the sewing room has been a mess of unorganized boxes and bins for the last 9 months (since we moved in) and has never been properly unpacked. It's coming along nicely. Not finished yet, but it's coming. Another favorite part of the weekend is a check we wrote. Why is spending money a favorite thing for me? Let me tell you. The check was written to a company called Direct Buy Vinly Fence. So what does that mean? We're putting in a fence! Finally! I'm very excited for that. Not so excited to spend the money per se, but to have the fence.

Here's my favorite picture of the Conference weekend. This is all the kids eating lunch during the second Saturday session (I think). The were raising their hands to sustain the leaders of the church as they were announced. Definitely my favorite.

I also got a chance to clean almost all the carpet in my house with my friend's in-home carpet cleaner on Thursday and Friday. It was looking pretty bad. I mean, it looked bad in the first place because it really needed replaced before we even moved in. But we figure why do that now, when our kids are just going to dirty it all up in no time flat? I think we'll put that project on the back burner until Audrey is at least 4. Unless we have another one. Then we might wait until the youngest is old enough to stop spitting up, spilling, having potty accidents, etc... on it. On the carpet note, I finally got myself a carpet cleaner of my very own! Yes. KSL. I love KSL. I got the exact one I've had my eye on in the stores brand new in the box for half the price. It hadn't been opened yet, much less used. I used it for the upstairs few rooms I've done and so far LOVE it. I think part of why I love it so much is that I got such a good deal. Good deals make me happy.

Here are some other random pictures from the week before Conference weekend. This one is from Wednesday. The kids were having a great time playing "ghosts" with their blankets. Audrey loves this. She also loves peeking out from behind the blanket saying "Here I am!" Yes. Her nose is a little goopy. But how could I get these pictures if I tried to wipe it first?? If anyone knows any great free photo-editing software I'd love to try it out...




After running around as colorful ghosts, they all decided it was time to take a nap. So it was off to the living room floor for a slumber party! Of course, they didn't really sleep. Just pretended.

This one has to be one of my "close second" favorites of Conference weekend. Audrey is very interested in the boys' potty training process. She just thinks it's the greatest thing that they get to wear underwear, and she wants to wear some too! I don't think that's exactly how it's supposed to go, Audrey...I love my kids. They're a lot of work, and my house is always crazy busy and crazy loud, but they make me smile.