Jam-packed May

These past few weeks have been jam-packed with something almost every day! I would be nieve to say that summer will be relaxing, because it never is, but certainly the tightness of our schedules loosen up, and I'm looking forward to that!! Connor and I ran a 5K together. Connor took 4th!
Connor participated in the Hope of America program.
It is absolutely inspiring!!

Connor and his friend following Hope of America.

Alyssa participated in a Renaissance Festival at school. It really was amazing!

We had the pleasure of having Sean and Melissa's kids stay with us for a few days. Love those kids!!

Sean and Parker "rolled" this thing all over our back yard with the kids trying to stay upright in side! I've never heard more giggles! Funny side note: our home teacher gave this to us for free, his kids were older, and I accepted it to be nice however, secretly plotting to take it straight to the dump. 5 years later, it is something my kids have used over and over and OVER! Who knew! Ashlyn participated in a children's choir this past Spring, and they had a darling concert!

I don't know if you can tell, but Ashlyn has the pink poka dot headband. (to the left of the director). They were all supposed to wear just black and white, which was extremely stressful for Ashlyn. So I agreed to let her stick in that headband....funny girl!

Love Being a MOM!

Happy Mother's Day!! I had a wonderful weekend, did you?

In fact, the Mother's Day love came extra early when my Parker boy treated me to a wonderful dinner with his Deacon's Quorum on Wednesday. The boys had spent their previous weekday activity reviewing proper etiquette, so they were prepared to treat their moms with all the respect and love they deserve. Around 6:40pm (started at 7:00pm) I was in the bathroom finishing my hair and makeup. When I sprayed that last burst of hairspray, Parker smiled with a slight nod of his head and said, "lookin' good!"

Smiling, I thanked him and returned the compliment. He then took my arm and escorted me out of the bathroom and around the house as I gathered my keys and coat so we could head to the church.

He opened all the doors, pulled the chair, placed my napkin on my lap, and engaged me in a nice conversation, "so mom, how was your day?" We had a delicious dinner, and each of the moms had the privilege of sharing something we love about our sons. It was one of the funnest evenings ever!

So proud of the young man Parker is growing up to be!

We took home a red rose and a small box of chocolates. :)

We had Karl's family over on Saturday for an early Mother's Day celebration.

(Me, Karl's wonderful mom, Eleanor, and Lisa, Karl's brother's wife...love her too!)

Mother's Day morning in bed! Taylor wrapped my presents 2 days prior, and was simply tortured that he had to wait for Sunday for me to open them.

The kids and Karl treated me to a delicious breakfast out on our patio. Beautiful morning!

We quickly opened presents before church. I got a bunch of gum, sour patch kids, 'cause I love them! (no wonder Taylor was anxious for me to open my gifts...) A really NICE pillow that I needed, and an armband to hold my iTouch for when I run.

Parker ran home from church and had a big plate of fruit waiting for me for lunch! After church, while the kids were playing in the backyard, Karl and I went for a very relaxing scooter ride through Alpine. It was sweet to see all the families gathered in their backyards, celebrating their moms!

On Sunday I hosted my family for dinner and dessert. We girls didn't lift a finger! I assigned my brothers and dad various food items to bring, and they came through with flying colors! We provided some rice and Italian Chicken and it all worked out.

(L-R Melissa (Sean), me, mom, Stephanie (Nathan), and Melissa (Aaron)

More Zion...

Here are some Zion pics from Karl's camera. He always takes pictures that make my kids look like they're on the edge of something, just to scare me. However on the hike to Angel's Landing, they REALLY were on the edge, for most of the hike! I did it once, probably never again...:)

"I...can't...hold...on..much...longer...!"

Spring Break in Zion!

We decided to take a last minute trip to St. George and to also hike in Zion National Park. It was well worth the trip! The kids did great hiking, Karl took the 3 oldest (need to download his camera...) and they hiked Angel's Landing. I took the 2 younger ones, and we hiked some smaller hikes. We loved Emerald Pools! Ashlyn and Taylor LOVED riding the shuttle bus...really? They told me they just wanted to ride the bus all day! NOT A CHANCE! Super fun week!

In front of the Lodge, ready to set out on an adventure, up the mountain!
Emerald Pools. It was super crowded, and we heard lots of languages. We even ran into one of our neighbors!

Alyssa drove part of the way...yes, we all started out holding our breath, but she did awesome, and we made it without incident!

Easter Extravaganza!

Welcome EASTER and GENERAL CONFERENCE! One of my favorite times of the year! We had a great past two weekends with family gatherings, spiritual uplift, and of course LOTS of candy! Today while watching General Conference, Taylor came bounding up to me and gave me a great big hug, while exclaiming..."He's resurrected!" All week we've been reading from the New Testament, depicting the final days of Christ's life, and detailing what happened each day. Apparently it dawned on him, that TODAY was Easter, and Christ was resurrected! He was genuinely thrilled!

So am I!

The Cousin's Easter Egg Hunt! Every year we get together and hide a bunch of eggs for the kids to find. Of course they had a blast!

Thanks Adrienne and Alyssa for planning it all!
Little bunny Emma and Mommy Rabbit Ally! They were here to visit! Yeah!

Just a cute couple pic!!

We celebrate the Easter Bunny on Saturday, so Friday night Ashlyn and Taylor decided to sleep on the couch...just a few feet away from the table. I woke up around 4:00am and looked at the time, then thought, "Oh, they won't be up until 7am or so, but then I kid you not...a strong thought came, "You better do the baskets NOW!" So I did, and around 4:50am, those little sneaks, woke up and got into their baskets!! WHEW!

OK, this is cute. I was on the computer, printing off Conference Bingo, when I heard General Conference starting. When I walked into my room, this is what I found. Now I know it's a bit irreverant to take a picture of someone praying, but seeing those 3 boys all with bowed heads for the duration of what ended up to be quite a LONG prayer, was too great to pass up.

Here they are, all snug in their blankets and pillows with their Conference worksheets and fun games.

Sunbeams!

I've figured it out! I'm addicted to those darling little sunbeams in Primary! I practically find myself rushing from sacrament meeting...be honest...who doesn't? After over an hour of sitting still?? Yes. I thought so. Anyway, I digress. I practically speed walk, (no running at church), to greet those darling seven little 3yr. old girls. Yup, we have all girls! They all march in with their frilly little dresses, and big smiles, and hoist themselves up on our "big" chairs (they like the big chairs..). Yesterday one of the little girls gave the opening prayer for her first time and one of her friends clapped for her when she was done. So cute! A couple weeks ago I was giving a lesson on the Atonement and as I described Jesus' death, a little 3yr. old cried out in a loud gasp..."Jesus died?" She then turned to her friend to make sure she heard it too..."did you hear that? Jesus died!" I quickly skipped to the resurrection, so she could feel some relief. When one of my counselors was doing a matching game, a little sunbeam was victorious in finding the match, and she quickly threw her fists in the air and gave her fellow classmates all a high 5!

Yup...TOTALLY addicted!

March Madness

Ridin' the scoot! Finally, after a long, cold winter!
Now that's a SMILE boys!

This is what happens when 5 kids go unsupervised for an hour in the basement! They basically got out a bunch of our Christmas decorations out from my nicely packed and labeled boxes...and created their own little "show" about waking up Christmas morning.

First baseball game of the season!

Playing "dead man". Josh is holding his own, good job!