Welcome Summer!

Okay, I know summer doesn't officially start for another month, but most people consider Memorial day weekend the start of summer. Here are some pictures of Kate and Beck enjoying some summer activities.

sidewalk chalk

Kate said she was going to draw a butterfly and I was very impressed when I saw that it really did actually look like a butterfly. Her artwork has progressed and now you can usually tell if it is a person or flower etc. Less scribbling and more actual shapes.

Beck on the other hand usually tries to break the crayons or eat the chalk as he was doing on this day.

This weekend we also went camping!

We went up Logan Canyon and to our surprise the weather was nice. It was warmer and dryer that I expected. Eli enjoyed the small opportunity he had to fish, but the one he caught was too skinny to keep. Kate and Beck enjoyed watching daddy fish and the little nature walks. They also enjoyed the fun toys aunt Emma brought. Kate and Beck had fun playing with thier cousins. I tried to keep them from getting too dirty especially

their little hands, and that was quite the task with Beck

constantly trying to eat snacks and dig in the dirt for rocks and sticks. He is such a boy!

My favorite quote from the

weekend

was from Kate when we were talking about the birds chirping she

said "They are saying treat treat, I have a treat

for you". I guess when she heard us taking about the birds saying tweet tweet she

thought we told her they were saying treat treat.

Wow! camping sure is a lot of work when you

have young children. No

wonder we usually only go once a year. Even though the camping trip was short it sure feels like it takes twice as long for your life to get back to normal.

Landscaping project

We finally were able to fix part of our landscaping this past week. We had this ugly hole in our back yard that we believe had been dug out by previous owners for a dog kennel. We had some boulders and fill dirt brought in and now we have all this new yard space to use we never had before. I wish I could say the landscaping update is finished but it actually has just begun. Eli plans to fix the sprinkling system next year and we hope to begin the transformation from no trees and flowers to adding hundreds of scrub Oak trees with cement curbing and ground cover below and then add flowers in between all the boulders on both terraces. He also wants to replant the entire lawn from scratch. We have a really wierd type of grass that is bushy and always looks yellow even when it has been well watered and fertilized.

Here are some before pictures from bottom & top

During

After from the bottom and top

I love the boulders even if spent weeks trying to track down rock that would match to no avail. It still looks a million times better than it did. I am very happy with how it turned out.

Here you can see the extra yard space we gained.

More Happy Birthdays!

May is definitely the month of Birthdays in my family then add a couple from Eli's side and Mother's day on top of it all and it can be a little overwhelming.

Here is Kate celebrating the birthday of her friend Lexi who turned 4 at the beginning of May. She had a very fun time at the princess tea party.

Thanks Dani for letting Kate borrow this adorable Belle dress.

Right now Belle is her favorite princess. She will tell just about everyone she sees including strangers that she likes Belle, pink and puppies. She wanted to make sure that I did her hair like Belle for the party. I did it once and it wasn't quite right and she cried and made me redo it. Eventhough Belle is her favorite, she was still very excited that Cinderella came to the party.

I wish I could do individual Happy Birthday messages to everyone including my nieces and nephews, but then I wouldn't have time to blog about anything else but birthdays. Here is a combined Happy Birthday blog.

Happy Birthday to Claire who celebrated her 1st birthday on the 15th! We are sorry we missed the party.

Happy Birthday to Zach on the 25th! My kids adore their uncle Zach. They just think you are so funny. Have a wonderful birthday!

Happy Birthday to Byron on the 26th! I am sure we will celebrate with you while we are camping over Memorial Weekend.

My brother's birthday is tomorrow the 22nd.

Happy Birthday Brady!
I am very proud of your for working so hard to provide for your little family. I know you are trying to be a good dad to Julian. We hope you have a wonderful birthday! Love you!

Happy Birthday Dad!

This is dedicated to my Dad for his Birthday

Here are some things I love about my dad.......

He is a great grandpa and helps me so much with the kids!

He is a great dancer!

He is fun to be around!

He has a great singing voice!

He loves music and is a huge Elvis Presley Fan!

He served his country in the army during the Viet Nam War!

(he was a para trouper and earned a Purple Heart)

He is tender hearted and protective when it comes to his kids and grandkids!

He is a hard worker and isn't affraid to cook, clean and take care of the flowers!

He is generous, thoughtful and giving!

He is youthful and active! He enjoys swimming, basketball, golf etc.

He doesn't realize how wonderful he is and would probably deny most of these things.

There are many other great qualities to mention but I think this all I have room for right now.

Happy Birthday Dad! Thanks for all you do for me!

We Love You!

Happy Birthday Shannon!

Shannon will be 17 on the 17th! I can't believe you are 17 and that you will graduate high school next year. We hope you have a fun birthday. It was fun spending time with you a few weeks ago. Thanks for hanging out with us. We are proud of all you are accomplishing in school and the goals you have set for your future. We hope you know we are always here to support you. Love Ya!

Happy Mother's Day!

I thought I would post a few of my favorite quotes about Mother's and dedicate this blog to all you wonderful mother's out there.

I love this one from President Hinckley

"People wonder what we do for our women. I tell you what we do: we get out of their way and look with wonder at what they are accomplishing"

Here is another good one from President Hinckley.

"You are very precious, each of you. Regardless of your circumstances. You occupy a high and sacred place in the eternal plan of God, our Father in Heaven. You are His daughters, precious to him, loved by Him. and very important to Him. His grand design cannot succeed without you".

This one is from our last conference by Elder Ballard.

“There is no one perfect way to be a good mother. Each situation is unique. Each mother has different challenges, different skills and abilities, and certainly different children. The choice is different and unique for each mother and each family. . . What matters is that a mother loves her children deeply and, in keeping with the devotion she has for God and her husband, prioritizes them above all else. . . There are moments of great joy and incredible fulfillment, but there are also moments of a sense of inadequacy, monotony, and frustration. Mothers may feel they receive little or no appreciation for the choice they have made. Sometimes even husbands seem to have no idea of the demands upon their wives. . . As a Church, we have enormous respect and gratitude to you mothers of young children. We want you to be happy and successful in your families and to have the validation and support you need and deserve."

Happy Mother's Day to all these great Mothers:

My Mom! and Eli's mom!

My Grandmother Anna Hart! and Eli's Grandmother Aureila!

We love you!

Happy Mother's Day to all my sisters, sisters-in-law, and friends who are such wonderful examples to me of how to be a good mom!

Funny video of Beck

Here is a funny video Eli took of Beck as he was mesmorized by the snowboarders on the big screen TV at Cost Vida. He was so mesmorized that he wouldn't eat or pay attention to anything else around him. Hopefully you can see it okay since Eli took the video on his phone. The video is short, and doesn't really show how interested he was since he sat like that for quite a while. Then he would eat a bite then stare at the screen again.

Beck's first hair cut

Eli cut Beck's hair on Saturday. I had given him a few trims off the top with the scissors, but this was his first real hair cut with the clippers. I thought he would thow a fit but he suprised me and was pretty good for a 14 month old. He was a little curious about the clippers and kept trying to look at them. Eli did a good job and it looked much better when it was done.

Our New Shed

Before.........

The past couple of weeks we have been working on home improvement projects. First we had a new furnace installed and upgraded from a swamp cooler to central air. Then we added a water softner. We wanted to complete those projects before we finish the basement which is the ultimate goal. We also got a new shed to allow for more storage space to get all the stuff out of our basement so we can finish it. Here are some shots of the project beginning to end.

Thanks Tom for use of your truck and helping Eli with the cement work & Dani for being patient

and understanding. Thanks to Jimmy for his help too. We sure appreciate it!

Eli was so excited to get his shed up that he worked in the freezing cold wind Wed. evening until it got too dark to work and then he continued working to finish itThursday while it was snowing.

Thanks to my husband for putting up with his frustrated wife and for all the hard work to complete the project.

After............

Front Runner

I thought I would write a little bit about the experience we had riding front runner. Our first attempt was opening day-Saturday. However, after waiting about 1/2 an hour and then realizing we were going to have to wait another hour or so, we decided we would try again another day. On Tuesday afternoon I decided to try a short ride with me and the kids just to the Roy station since Dani is so close. As soon as we got on the train I started to think that it probably wasn't such a good idea. It was standing room only and I had to hold my Beck who is about 20 lbs and then try to make sure Kate was holding on tight enough so she wouldn't get flung down the isle when the train lurched as it occasionally does. After about 5 minutes of misery an older gentleman finally noticed me and decided to give up his seat. I was really thankful considering there was some medical emergency on the south bound train at the Roy station, so we had to wait for 10-15 minutes before we could even leave. With so many people packed on to the train, the AC wasn't really working. I don't really enjoy being in hot crowded places with the general public including several homeless men. We finally made it to Roy and Kate had a fun time playing with her cousins. Eli rode the train to Roy and kids sure enjoyed yelling to him from the deck as he walked from the train station. We rode back together to the Clearfield station. The ride back was much better since we actually got seats we didn't have to fight for. Beck kept waving to all the people he could through the windows as the train was about to depart. The train kept honking its horn to let everyone know it was planning on departing and not to cross the tracks. As we were standing there waiting for the train to leave so we could cross over to the parking lot a few people crossed in front of the train and the train blared its horn very loudly at them. They in turn shouted a few obsenities including the f-bomb and made crude gestures. The train finally left and they were complaining about how the train saw them coming and they couldn't believe it left without them. I guess that is why I try to avoid too much association with the general public. Oh well, at least Kate had a chance to ride the train. I think she enjoyed it.