Leilani is 7!!!!

I always hate the begining of the summer because it means the start of 3 of my 5 kid's birthdays and that means they are getting older. I cannot believe my sweet little lani lou is 7. She is growing so fast and she is becoming such a good little girl. She can make a friend anywhere and she knows how to be a good friend. She is caring and loves to take care of her baby sister. Dont be fooled though, she has this high pitched whine that can make you go crazy, but her sweetness makes up for it. She has been talking non stop about her birthday since Noahs birthday-she was literally counting down the days. Her birthday was on a Saturday this year and she was so excited to not have to do Sat. chores.

The day started off with breakfast in bed. She made sure to stay in bed even though she had been up for an hour. She really wanted her breakfast in bed. Then our ward had a primary activity day-a perfect start to a fun day.

She got to invite a friend to go swimming at this fun pool up by here. This was our first swim of the summer and luckily it was indoors and heated. It was so nice!

Lani and her friend Chloe.

After the pool, we came home and opened her presents

Lani loves polly pockets and I guess Avery does too. She couldnt stop freaking out over them. Thanks Grandma and Grandad.

Then came the AWESOME homemade cake. YUM!!!
Lani had a fun day and couldnt stop talking about what she got. Her Aunt Tiare and Grandma got her the coolest Victorian doll house book and she hasnt stopped playing with it. She makes sure that everyone knows it hers and hers only and if they touch it they will be in BIG trouble. (especially Avery)

Oh yea, she also got her ears pierced but I didnt get a good picture of them. And it was a spur of the moment thing while we were out on our mommy date and I didnt have my camera. She did so good and she swares it didnt hurt. She has taken such good care of them-she cleans them 3 times a day and I never have to remind her. Is that responsibility I see?? I knew it was in there somewhere!!

Happpy Birthday Lani.

We love you so much

Happy Fathers Day, Dad

I just wanted to say Happy Fathers Day and Happy Birthday to my Dad. Im so sad that I cant be there to celebrate with you. I really miss you a lot.

My Dad is the hardest working person you will ever meet-in everything that he does its at least 110%. He cant ever sit still-he is always doing something. My dad is the project master (thanks for passing that trait down) Growing up it was the worst because every Saturday it seemed he had a new one to do and I was running out of ways to avoid them-you can only stay in the bathroom for so long.

My dad is such a good grandpa. He has the worst back and he will let the kids jump all over him and wrestle with him until he literally cant get off the floor-but he does it anyway and the kids love it!!

My dad loves ice cream just as much as me. He is always trying to watch what he eats, but when im in town he loves it because its an excuse to buy some peanut butter ice cream. I think thats what bonds us together-our love for the sweet stuff!!

Im pretty sure that my dad did not approve of anything I did in High School, but he was always there to pick me up when I made mistake after mistake-no words of critisism, just advice and love and that is something I will never forget.

My dad makes the worlds BEST BBQ. He taught me how to marinate the way he does-but it never turns out the way he does it. I miss your food.

My dad is an avid excerciser. He goes to the gym every morning-way too bright and early for me. That is certainly something that was not passed down to me. I hate to work out and I HATE mornings.
My dad just gives and gives and gives. Not with just his family, but with everyone. He is constantly serving and finding anyway he can to help out. I love that about him and he has always been such a great example to me.

My dad is always so in tune with what his kids need. Its funny how he always knows when I need some words of encouragment. He has always been there for me and for my family and we appreciate it more than words can say.

I love you Dad. I hope you have a GREAT fathers day and a good birthday full of the good stuff. (Make sure you eat some ice cream for me!!!!)

One hair at a time

Lets look back one year ago, shall we? I believe we had just moved up here to Park City-so excited for new opportunities and a new start. Fast foward to today. Packing up the house, yet again, preparing for another move. It has just been a roller coaster the past few months and once again, change comes a knocking at my door. I cursed myself the day I said I cant handle change. Here is a piece of advice: never say you cant handle ANYTHING, because you will be tested to the fullest extent. I wasnt too sure about moving here to Utah in the first place. This was something Bill and I both prayed about day after day and hour after hour. Leaving both of our families behind was not something we wanted to do, but we both got a clear answer and so on our way we went. I will be honest-I have pretty much hated every second of it. Park City is such a beautiful place, but its not home. This winter was the worst winter they have had in over 15 years, and I felt every day of it. I dont do well without sunshine and being cooped up in a house. This was a very hard winter. I think after a year here, I have finally come to terms with the fact that this isnt home, but this is where we are supposed to be. Why? I still have yet to figure that out, but I have faith that things will fall into place when they are supposed to. I think this has been such a learning and growing year for me. Ive had to do a lot of growing up, especially these last few months, and its been really, really hard.

So, once again, we are moving, changing jobs, and moving in a much different direction than what we thought we would at this point. Change isnt bad, its just change and I really HATE change. So at the end of the month, we are moving out to Lehi. Im excited, but nervous. After a year, I have finally started to get to know people here, and just starting to feel comfortable with the ward and now I get to do it all over again. It will be good because there will be more kids and moms my age-so maybe I will make some friends as well as my kids. We are actually moving pretty close to Bills brother Scott, so that will be fun to be close to family. The house is quite a bit smaller, but its cute and its on FLAT ground. Im sooo excited about that-and to have walls instead of logs. Thats a good thing!!

So trying to pack is a whole other issue. Having ALL the kids home and trying to do this all myself has been crazy. Bill has been so busy and absolutly no help, so I get to do it. Good times. My poor neglected kids. I thought I was so on top of things. I had a schedule of packing that I started last week and it started off something like this:

9-11:30: Start packing project

11:30-2:00 Lunch and hang out with kids

2:00 Put Avery down for nap

2:15-5 Start new project or finish morning project

5-9 Dinner, hang with kids, bath, bed

9-10 finish loose ends

10-11 VEG!!!

11:00 CRASH

Sounds good right? Heres how it really went

-Didnt get out of bed until 9 (or sometime after, but whose counting)

-Breakfast, deal with cranky baby who decided to start taking only one nap a day.

11:30 Start project

12:00 lunch for kids, put Avery down for nap and go back to the project

1:00 Deal with bored kids who are fighting every second.

1:30 back to project

3:00 Get Avery and feed her snack. Feed all the other beggers who are ALWAYS hungry.

3:45 Back to project

5:00 Dinner, clean up dinner and the tornado that hit my house while they had no parental supervision.

7:30-9 Finally pay attention to kids, bath, bed

9:00 Have no interest in tying up any loose ends-so I hang out with the hubby until I cant stand watching any more deadliest catch, monster quest, gangland, history junk, sports center, ghost hunters...you get the picture, and fall into bed.

So, I guess I proved my point that having a schedule does nothing but frustrate you because nothing EVER goes according to plan. I guess I forgot to take into account that I had kids and they never let you do anything that doesnt invlove them. Im trying to organize and de-junk as I pack and its just taking way too long. I have a laundry pile a mile high and Im pretty sure that my house wont be cleaned until its empty. Im already so behind schedule, that its going to come down to throwing the whole house into boxes-garbage and all.

Oh yea, and Bill is in Tonga for a whole week. Lucky guy.

So if I sound a little crazy, its because I am litterally losing my mind, and my hair-in large clumps. And that diet I started went out the window after two weeks. I did lose about 9 pounds, but im sure with all the gallons of Diet Coke ive been drinking its probably back x's 2.

So, im off to bed so I can get up early (around 9-ish) and start the big day of packing up all the toys. YEA FOR ME!!!

Day at the Zoo

In between this crazy 30 degree weather in June crap, we were lucky enough to have 1 semi-nice upper 50 degree day and we took full advantage. I love the Hogle Zoo here in Utah because it is small and fast. We can get through the whole zoo in 1 hour. I LOVE that-compared to the 5 hour trek through the Phoenix Zoo.

Things are so up close-you could reach out and touch the bears. Almost.

I dont know why I bother packing snacks when all the kids have their Dad wrapped around their finger. "Dad, I want popcorn. OK, kids, sure whatever you want"


"You want cotton candy too? Ok. Your wish is my command."



This was Averys first trip to the Zoo and she was in HEAVEN! She loved the animals and constantly tried to climb over the little fences. What a sweet monkey.

Lani is such a good little mom. Avery knows where to go when she wants to be carried.

What a fun day at the Zoo!!

Tender Moments

I used the word tender because its Bills favorite word!! (Thats a joke)

While I was getting the other kids out of the bath, I came out and saw this and about died.

Caleb has always had a special love for Avery. He is always looking after her and will do anything for her. I love how sweet he is with her.

Avery loves to look at books and Caleb thinks he can read, so this was so cute and funny.

Im a lucky mommy!!

Pinewood Derby

Noah's first pinewood derby was this past week. He was so excited to make a car because he knew for sure that his would be the fastest. It was fun for Bill and Noah to work on this together, but I had to keep reminding Bill who's car it was. The little boys didnt understand why they couldnt help-so next year, we will get them their own car to work on so they can feel a part of this too.

Such a handsome boy!!

Noah is always at the center of everything because he has to know how things work and make sure that everything is working right.
These two boys loved every second of it. They thought it was the coolest thing.
I dont think I have ever seen them this quiet and focused. They are usually the kids that are running all over the place.
Future boy scouts
Bill found this cute little star on the table and stuck it on Averys forehead.
She couldnt quite figure out where it went.


I can pretty much say that ALL of the people in our ward are the HUGEST, DIE HARD Jazz fans, so Bill and Noah thought this would be funny.


I thought it turned out pretty cool. They did a good job-even if they did paint the kitchen table in the process!!



After the main race is over, they do a race for anyone else who wants to enter. A girl in our ward made this cute one. Im pretty sure its the cutest thing ive ever seen.


Not too shabby. He didnt win, but he was pretty impressed with his 7th place overall win. I think there were about 20 people, so not too bad for his first race.
I was definately proud.

Oh the fun days of summer. The few days of "Summer" that we had found us outside every second we could. Avery had eaten dinner spilled all over her, so I took her clothes off and she ran off to play before I could wipe her face. We were sitting outside with the kids while they were eating popsicles and I just had to take a picture of the pure white trash we were at the time. Im sorry, but I love babies in just diapers-white trash or not.

Even in all her glory she can stop and pose for a picture. She is such a ham
We had some music on in the house and you could hear it outside. Her and Noah had a little dance party in the driveway

MY BEAUTIFUL BABY!!!

She cleans up good, dont ya think??

We had some tulips in our front yard and since the weather has been so up and down, they never really got the chance to bloom, but I still wanted to take some pictures and Avery happily agreed to be my subject. I think they turned out ok. I think once I edit them, the coloring will look a little better. Im still trying out the whole lighting thing, but im pretty sure I dont have the hang of it. Oh well, at least its fun to try over and over when you have such a cute subject.

I love this one because it shows her cute little chin butt!!!


She got a little hungery along the way. mmmm..sticks!!



Her face looks a little green here-not sure why.

Schools Out!!!!

Summer is finally here!!!

Your couldnt tell it by the weather on the last day of school-a cool 50 degrees. AWESOME.

Whatever happened to after school swim parties? Its crazy. None the less, the kids are way excited to be out of school and i am excited to be off the school schedule. I do enjoy having all my kids home for about 2 weeks then im sick of the "im bored's. So for now, we are just going to enjoy not having a schedule.

YEA!!!

HOORAY!!!
YIPPIE!!!

This was Noahs Cute teacher. She was seriously so much fun. They had the funnest lesson plans and so many activities that made learning fun. Noah has a hard time with the focusing thing, and she was so good with helping him and was very patient. I hope his teacher next year will be the same.

This is Lani and her teacher. She was so kind and did such fun things to help these kids learn how to read. Lani was always excited to go to school and she always came home with fun stories from school. Lani doesnt like anything unless its fun, so it will be interesting to see how 2nd grade goes.

Lanis class did this fun little program for the parents. They sang a few songs and they all had speaking parts. It was so cute.

This was Lanis best friend Chloe. They talked on the phone and had playdates all the time. I think this was Lanis first real friend and im scared for whats to come as she gets older. She sure has picked up a sassy phrase or two at school.

After the program, they had an ice cream buffet. Tyson was all over that.

After that ice cream, we let the kids run off the sugar. Who would guess that it was almost 8pm.

What a fun school this was. Park City really goes above and beyond in their school ciriculum. I will definatly miss this school next year.

Yea, 3 kids in school next year. Only 2 more to go!!!