Down the Hill

So, we have the hill going up our neighbor's driveway. The kids love pushing their bikes up the hill and coming down fast. Today, Bart had Cole and Jayda squeezed into the little red/yellow car. He was pushing them down the hill and Jayda could not have been any happier. She was squealing with delight. Of course, Dad had to do it over and over again! What a great Dad!
Everyone going up the hill.

Sadie coming down on her trike!

Dad coming down with Jayda sitting on Cole... sorry to cut off your head, Bart! They were coming down the hill SO fast!

Jayda wanting to get out... her leg was stuck.

Days of May

These are some random pictures of the last few weeks...

Jayda likes to stick her pointer finger into the "o" of the cheerio and then stick it in her mouth. It is so funny to watch her.

We finished planting and protecting the garden Saturday. Birds were swooping in to eat our strawberries, so Bart put netting over the top of the cages too. So, we lift off the cages to weed or pick veggies. We got all of our tomatoes planted too, so now the fun begins....what will grow so that we can eat it?!

The kids made a chain yesterday to count down for our trip. They can hardly wait to see all their cousins and grandparents!

The kids and I on my birthday.

Jayda getting busted standing on the printer.

Jayda put on Sadie's cowboy boots all by herself. She was very proud of herself!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Today has been the BEST day! I love my husband. He is incredible and made today the perfect day. He started it by taking the day off. He and the kids dropped me off at a spa this morning for a massage and facial. Incredible. I was so relaxed in the massage that I came pretty close to falling asleep. :) I especially love getting facials. They are my favorite. When I walked out, I felt so refreshed and re-energized. We brought the kids back to the house for naps. I then got to go shopping, by myself, and found some fabulous running shoes.

Bart took care of the kids all day so that I could join in the fun with them or just relax doing whatever. Cole kept calling me "the birthday girl" all day and Sadie continuously sang the "happy birthday song" to me. I loved it!

The plan was to eat at the Olive Garden and then go to Baskin Robbins. Bart unexpectedly caught me off guard again by having the waiters come in and sing to me while holding a cake with a lit candle. He totally tricked me. I had no clue. When I heard the singing coming from behind me, I thought "Some poor shmuck is getting embarassed with all that singing!" Little did I know that I was the shmuck!

When we got home, they had some presents waiting for me.. the Twilight soundtrack, some desperately needed slippers, wooden spoons and some workouts DVDs. I was spoiled rotten today! I have the most wonderful husband and sweet kids. They took good care of me today and I really appreciated every second of it! Maybe turning one year older isn't so bad after all! :)

Thanks to everyone for your emails, phone calls, and little notes! It made my day even more special! I'm lucky to have such divine friends and family! Love you!!

Air Show

Bart and Cole went to the air show at Andrews Air Force Base on Saturday. They had gone last year and loved it. This year was just as fabulous. Cole was in heaven having his "guy time" with Daddy!

Mother's Day

I know I'm writing this the day after, but better late than never!

Yesterday at church, Cole sung his little heart out in Sacrament Meeting... "Mother, tell me the story that I love to hear..." He looked right at me the whole song. Of course, I couldn't hold back the tears. He is such a sweet boy and I love being his Mom. The kids made cards for me, each tracing their little hands. I will treasure those cards. Instead of wishing, hoping, and laying hints, I decided that I would just tell Bart what I wanted for Mother's Day. He is great listener because I got some fabulous gifts. What a sweetie! Mostly I loved that he was the master of the grill for dinner, so I didn't have to make it or clean it up. The steaks and pineapple were divine! Thanks, sweetheart.

I love my Mom so much. I was SO grateful to have my parents so close for the past 18 months and my relationship with both of them really deepened. Over the years I've become more and more grateful for my mom's love, support, talents, spirit, testimony, creativity and patience. She is the most amazing woman and I'm thankful she is mine! She has overcome so much and continues each day to be happy, regardless of what life dishes out. She is perfection personified. I hope to be like her someday

My Mother-in-Law is simply wonderful, raising an incredible son (she passed many of wonderful qualities onto Bart) and willingly embraced me into her family. I love how she loves our kids. She also has fabulous daughters that have become great friends of mine.

My sisters are amazing women! They have so many awesome talents and qualities. I love that when we get together we can giggle like kids. They are each an inspiration to me. My brothers have each married incredible women, so I'm blessed to have 4 other sisters, and I love each of them.

I have many friends, both near and far, that continue to amaze me with their friendships. I'm so lucky to have them bless my life.

Our Cute Girlies

I put this cute yellow shirt on Jayda today. It was one of my favorites that Sadie wore. So, of course, I had to look up a picture of Sadie and take a picture of Jayda so we could see how cute they are!
Sadie Jo

Jayda

Square Foot Garden

This post is dedicated to my incredible husband. He is amazing! It turned to be a lot more time consuming than previously anticipated. He's a champ for hanging in there!

The last three Saturdays have been dedicated to doing a square foot garden. We thought about it last year and decided to do it this year. Bart did 90% of the work, with some help from Cole and I. :) He built the boxes from scratch, mixed the different ingredients to make some awesome dirt, and then built cages for the three boxes. We have lots of animals...rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks, deer... so we thought we better do something to protect our produce. We'll see if it works! So far we have planted a variety of spinach and lettuce, peas, beans, carrots, strawberries and several herbs. Everything is growing...the real test will be if we actually get to eat any of it!

The pictures got messed up, so it goes finish to start instead of the other way around, but I'm to lazy to fix it!

Very proud to finish the project!

Three built boxes

Building the boxes

First one completed

Cole loved hammering nails!

Our "before" picture

A Conversation

Sadie: Dad, Jayda is crying.
Dad: Why is Jayda crying?
Sadie: Because I'm bugging her!

Delightful, Busy, Curious Jayda!

I noticed that I had lots of pictures of Jayda on my camera, so I'm dedicating a post to her. She is such fun! She is changing every day. She laughs, runs around, empties every cupboard, plays with Cole and Sadie, wrestles with Dad and smiles at everyone around her. She still only has 4 teeth, which is hilarious! We love our sweet Jayda!