Snip, Snip

Today I took all three kids to get there hair cut (yes- EVEN Jayson.. his was way too long on top). I went to the college of beauty nearby so the best part is that each one was only $5. BONUS! The girls were really excited to go and were so good. Jayson, well he screamed the whole 2 minutes it took the girl to do it. I guess yesterday when I had to hold him down for shots was still on his brain so when I held him tightly on my lap and a strange person had scissors in her hand he wasn't about to let her do anything.

During

(Rylee held so still. I was pleasantly shocked! She loved it. She told me after they even washed her hair. That's my favorite part too).

The results:

RYLEE

Before

After

She looks so much older to me. They cut off 9 inches. I didn't realize how long it was. It was her idea to cut it short too. I cried (a little).

TAYLER

Before

After

I can't believe that she will be a 2nd grader in a few days. What a cutie. She loved every minute.

JAYSON

Before

After

(I couldn't get a better picture than this- little stinker. It looks a lot better, I'm just hoping the curls stay forever.)

Birthday Bash

So Saturday was the big day and boy was Tayler excited to be the "birthday girl" Grandma came up to give Tay a birthday hug and deliver all sorts of other goodies. She also helped me get ready for Tay's party and clean out my car. Thanks mom for coming up. We loved it!

How cute is my mom! Seriously she is not 60.

We were planning on doing a big pool party with lots and lots of friends, but because the weather was COLD & RAINY, we had to change plans. Since Tayler loves to bowl, Sean came up with the idea to invite a few friends to go get pizza and go bowling. We let Tayler invite 4 of her girlfriends for the big adventure.

Here's the group. (L to R: Rylee, Asha, Jessica, Tayler, Kinzey, Rozlyn)

And of course this kid tagged along with us all!
After we ordered our breadsticks and pizza at the Pizza Factory we decided to open the presents while we waited.

Tay was definitely spoiled. Thanks everyone for coming and for your wonderful gifts!

Jayson and his daddy still waiting to eat

Ahh, cute friends (Jessica & Tayler). This year these 2 are going to be in the same 2nd grade class. We are very excited about that.

Sweet cousins (Asha & Tayler)

Then it was off to BOWLING... We also ate cupcakes at the bowling alley. YUM!

Waiting outside for our chariot to pick us up.

We had a blast! The girls were all so well behaved and were so easy to keep track off. Unfortunately a B-A-D migraine hit me right at the end of the party. We opened some more presents when we came home and then it was time to end the day. Happy Birthday little Tay. I hope you had a fabulous day and know just how much we love you! You are such a fabulous little girl.

Lucky Seven

7 years ago this beautiful little girl was placed in my arms!

I was thrilled to have a new baby and be a mom. It has been so much fun to watch her grow through the years. She amazes me with all that she does. She is very caring and has such a tender little heart. I am so thankful for the last 7 years with this special gal, and can't wait for many more to come. We had an awesome day and fun "birthday party" night.

Thank you so much to both families for all the calls, cards, packages, visits, and just for making her feel so loved. Sorry that we missed talking to a few of you. You are each such a special part of her life! I have lots of pictures to share from the day, but my migraine isn't going to let me post it tonight. I guess I have had way too much fun for one day so I'll post them all tomorrow. Sweet dreams.

Bear Lake 2009

We had a blast at Bear Lake! It was so nice and relaxing and SO much fun to just be with my little family. We checked in Monday evening and just enjoyed being there. We had a great location right by the pool, mini golf course, and playground which we took full advantage of almost everyday.

Tuesday we went and tried out the pool with a diving board. The water was FREEZING! Jayson got in and got right back out. The other 2 stayed in and swam with Sean and I put my legs in. I was not about to jump into ice water.

Wednesday we rented Wave Runners and went out for a spin. Sean had Jayson and Tayler with him and I had Rylee with me. Those are a fun little toy and amazingly I felt so safe on them. I'm sad I didn't get any pictures. I wasn't about to take my nice camera out there. I really need a travel camera!

Thursday we rented ATV's and went on a 5 hour ride up in the Mountains. It was a blast and the kids loved it (for the first 3 hours at least :) The last 2 hours did seem to be a little too much. When we got home I felt like I ran a marathon. We were dirty from head to toe (LITERALLY) and my legs and bum hurt so bad! It was so fun to have the mountains on one side and the lake and beach on the other. The best of both worlds, for sure!

Friday and Saturday were a little cold. But we found lots to do still.

PLAYING ON THE BEACH

PLAYING ON THE PLAYGROUND

Wednesday Tay lost her top tooth. Look at that hole! Thank heavens the tooth fairy still found us clear up there. :)

We also went on bike rides. Good think Jays loves wearing a helmet. Crazy kid!

Sunday we went up to a lake called TONY GROOVE for a little picnic lunch. It was beautiful up there.

The kids got brave and dipped their feet in the lake.

Saturday it was rainy and 49 degrees so we drove down to Logan to see Jen, Steve and their cute kids who were staying at their friends house. I really didn't want to say good-bye. It was hard, but I am so glad that we were able to spend a few hours with them. We laughed and cried and had a wonderful time. Good luck in Georgia Moores! You'll be great.

All the cousins from Jen and I.

(L to R: Rylee, Jayson, Tayler, Meghan, Emmy, Eli and Alyssa)

Cute Jen, Em and Eli

I couldn't get Steve to smile at me, he kept making funny faces.

Jen and I

Look at the Parker's beautiful back yard. It was amazing. Jayson found a cat and chased it around the whole time.

7 days of bliss! It makes me appreciate the simple things in life so much more. We snuggled, watched movies, went and got ice cream almost every night, took naps, woke up late, stayed up late, ate WAY too many chocolate covered rasberries (it was the tail end of rasberry days at Bear Lake), went on bike rides, etc. Loved every minute!

We're off...

to enjoy some R & R for one whole week. See you all next Monday!

Grateful Sunday

• I am grateful for these 3 kiddos. They make me smile. They have pretty much been ignored this week while we worked outside and they did awesome playing together and not complaining at all. It made it so easy to accomplish everything we had to get done.
• I am grateful for a husband who works hard to get things done. He worked tirelessly in the yard this week (not to mention the last 3 months to get a sprinkling system in).
• I am grateful for this upcoming week that my little family can go on vacation and just play and relax and make some great memories together.
• I am grateful for family.
• I am grateful for neighbors that are willing to sacrifice their time and work in the hot, hot sun to help us lay sod. I love the culdesac that we live on. I love getting to know each one more and more. I feel very blessed to live where we do.
• I am grateful for prayer. I love the communication that we can have with our Father in Heaven and that he helps us with things that ask for, even the simplest of things.