Shameful really. What have I been doing for the past eight months that I haven't had time to do some regular updates on my family...well, a lot, but nothing that should get in the way of keeping a family history! So. I am committing to rededicate myself to updating our family blog regularly (which may mean once a month, but that is something!). My excuse of, Oh where to start when I have so much to catch up on, is being thrown out the door, and I am going to just pick up from the recent past.

A summer packed full of fun, and I can't believe there are only three weeks left till school! I honestly think I will cry the day Bree goes back because it has been SO wonderful having her home every day. The kids have so much fun together...and McKay just thinks he is as big as they are. I am not saying that we don't have constant fighting and tattling (sigh) but their laughter and squeals of delight as they chase each other and make forts together and slide down the stairs together make up for it. Some summer highlights:
Spring charts to earn a trip to Sunsplash at Golfland. They each set some goals to work on for the Spring, and they accomplished them! You would have thought we were at Disneyland with how much fun they had. It was an awesome way to kick off the summer.
A trip to Lake Powell with my family and cousins the Andersons...our childhood friends and cousins we used to do everything with. It was SUCH a blast now having families of our own. Seeing our children play and getting together as adults was amazing.
A farewell to my parents. My parents are off to Brisbane, Australia to serve as mission presidents for the next three years. It was strange watching the house slowly be packed and shipped away, preparing to be sold (hopefully) while they are gone. But it was neat watching my parents sacrifice and prepare spiritually for this time of service. They will be amazing and have had so many life experiences to prepare them for this challenge. Sad to say good-bye, but thrilled we will get to visit! They are such inspirations.
Some Utah fun! We got to go to Utah for THREE WEEKS! I can't say enough about how much I loved the weather. My at the time seven months pregnant body felt rejuvenated. I wore my compression hose (for my awesome varicose veins) pretty much every day because it wasn't too hot and it really helped. We enjoyed the ranch (especially McKay who has been asking every since we got home if he can go to the ranch right now...and he couldn't go without his boots!)...soaking in the fresh mountain air, the horses, movie night, four-wheelers, and the time with family. Robbie's parents couldn't have been sweeter and we just had a blast with them. We also got to see some friends (Miss you Rose!), Robbie played in a volleyball tournament (hottest guy out there!) and we got to visit my grandparents (such a neat thing to have my children's great-grandparents around. My children love them!). The 4th of July was a highlight; BEST place to celebrate the 4th in our opinion. The parade, Stadium of Fire and we all ran the Freedom Run 10K...well ok I walked and was just happy to make it. My awesome All-American sister-in-law won it, and I came rolling in with my three kids in a stroller literally in last place. Just happy to be there :) Side note: My brothers and I ran it in honor of my sweet sister Lizzy who has been in the hospital for the past 6 weeks in order to monitor her mono-mono twins...she only has two more weeks until they will take the babies out and we are praying everything will be ok! She has started a fabulous blog called "The Small Seed" that shares her story, and is full of inspirational, faith promoting, uplifting posts. I highly recommend it as a regular dose of goodness.
Utah was wonderful. Also during the Utah trip I snuck away for three days to my home away from home, Mobile, Alabama to support our Distinguished Young Woman of Arizona, Katie Wilkinson. It was so great seeing the Greers (who were my host family back when I participated in the program thirteen years ago!) who I stay with any time I go back there. They are my Alabama family and treat me like a daughter. And it was so fun to be with two of my favorite ladies from my committee and show them some southern hospitality. Really I love that city. Poor Katie was sick most of the time, so she didn't get to do as well as she would have liked, but I think the experience was just what it was supposed to be, and she left with great memories and some new friends...which is what it is about anyway! We have our state program coming up in September so we are gearing up for that. (So excited I just got California Pizza Kitchen to sponsor our Mother/daughter luncheon for the participants and their mothers!) She will be the star of the show and we are excited to honor such an amazing girl!
Now since we have been home I have been in a state of shock. Literally. Something to do with the 116 degree weather I think? But I have been in full nesting mode...moving McKay into Bree and Gabe's room (bunk beds!!), cleaning out the closets and moving all his clothes over. Going through and washing all the baby clothes (Bree has LOVED this. Every time we pulled out something from the box she would say, "Oh mom, look, this is SO darling!"). Fixing up the nursery and making it over for a girl. Fixing and freezing extra meals (need to do more of this!). And all the while watching my belly (and my veins) grow! To say I am anxious for her to get here is an understatement. But in the meantime I am enjoying my three sweet children, who never cease to make me laugh, impress me, and make me count my blessings.

BREE: 6 1/2 years old, light blue eyes, naturally highlighted blond hair. Loves to swim like a mermaid. Loved kindergarten. Did every grown up roller coaster at Disneyland this past Christmas. The best helper. Most improved soccer p layer this past spring. A natural dancer. Working on keeping her clothes picked up. Loves cooking. My best sleeper. Could eat a whole bag of frozen corn. Wants to be a pop star. Is growing out her hair. REALLY wants an American Girl doll. Loves to read.
GABE: 4 1/2 years old, dark blue eyes, bleached out hair (but hopes it will turn brown like daddy's). Loves Newsies, favorite song being "Open the gates and seize the day". Wish you could hear him sing it :) Mastered diving to the bottom of the pool and can't get enough. Has the best attitude about unloading the dishwasher. Keeps his clothes and things picked up. Loves to wrestle. Loves to cuddle. Always wants pancakes for breakfast. Cries a little too easily when he doesn't get his way. Loves Ninja turtles. Our resident bug killer.
McKAY: 2 1/4 years old, hazel eyes, light brown hair. Comedian of the family and he knows it. Always claims there is bird poop on the car because he wants to go through the drive through car wash. Needs a toy "guy" in order to take a bath...and asks to take a baths at least three times a day. Loves the ranch. Not interested in using the toilet. LOVES the hose. Would eat raisins or apricots all day if I let him. Wakes me up before my alarm every morning. Loves to look at books.

And not to mention the love of my life who is off to another part of the country interviewing for a job...he has a good job, but is ready for a change. He works so hard for us and I couldn't be more blessed to have him. He makes me laugh, plays so hard with our children, teaches them to work, appreciates what I do, and makes the best German pancakes.

I must add some pictures to this, and will soon. But for now, happy Thursday!

Just found this easy tutorial on a way cute star for the top of a Christmas tree. I wanted a natural looking one for our Thankful Tree for this month and think it turned out well!

I am trying a new thing this year where each Monday before Thanksgiving we do a lesson on Giving Thanks...for family, for God and Jesus Christ, for the beauty of the earth, and for others. There is a story and a scripture for each one, and then afterwards we all write (or draw) something we are thankful for (having to do with the discussed topic) on the paper ornaments and hang them on the tree.

Grateful for the ways that the Lord teaches us. Grateful for the scriptures and the insights they can give. Grateful that while the election didn't pan out the way I personally would have liked, that Mitt Romney was a good example of light and goodness and won't stop doing good in the world just because he wasn't elected President. Wish I could thank him personally.

Happy Thanksgiving!

What is the most fun thing you can think of to do with 8 hours of your time? Exercising, going on a date, shopping, cooking, reading, hanging out with your sisters, going to Traffic Survival School...oh wait, I mean that is NOT one of them! But alas, I did have the priviledge of attending EIGHT HOURS of Traffic Survival School. Long story short, I ran a red light. It was 5 AM, I was on my way to the temple, and since (as I later learned) in Arizona we have the highest number of intersection fatalities, if one pays the red light violation ticket, and thus admits guilt, they are REQUIRED to take an 8 hour Traffic Survival School class.
This was going to be a much longer post, but long story short I had the worst attitude going into it, but came away SO GRATEFUL! Seriously I learned SO MUCH! The teacher for the first half of the class was really, really good. He helped me see that really the city and state have to make money some how...if I break the law they set, I have to pay. No need to be bitter about it. Just don't do it. And I was in the class with people who had way worse problems than just running a red light! I have been such a better driver since! I had NO idea how dangerous driving and texting was. I admit it, I did it sometimes. But after watching videos and seeing statistics about how much more dangerous it is that drunk driving (they showed us the studies and documentaries), never again. I have told my children to help remind me...and they do :)
So while I was not happy about the $370 I had to pay for the ticket and then the class, honestly I can say it was well worth my time. Thank you Discount Traffic Survival School!
 

We got to watch Uncle Larry and the new bee hives. So neat! I have never seen how they pull out each comb to check on the bees and their progress. Fascinating. Robbie had the bee suit on and Gabe begged to put it on too!

Grandpa got Bree and Gabe slingshots...and they LOVE them! I was actually impressed with how well they could do them!

Also while up north we got to go to the Strawberry Days Rodeo (ye haw!) Gabe has been talking about "bunking broncos" ever since. He loved it! Then there was golfing for the men of course (that may be Robbie's favorite thing about visiting family...he got to go golfing three times while we were there!) The men were nice enough to take Gabe...and happy about it until he started throwing golf balls in the lake! Only one slight damper on their game: on the last hole Robbie's brother (I won't mention which one :) teed off only to watch his ball cruise down the runway, veer off to the right and hit a guy in the head who was on the adjacent hole 175 yards away. Yes, the man fell to the ground. Yes, there was blood. He was nice enough about it, but needless to say it put a damper on the golf outing!


McKay loved the stairs there. Since he was feeling crummy I was just happy to see a smile on his face!

Really Bree and Gabe just love anything they get to do with Grammy!

And of course one of my favorite things about being in Provo are the beautiful morning runs I get to go on. The hills, the Provo temple, the lovely homes, the crisp cool air, all fill my soul with a renewed energy and love for life. (Gosh do I subconsciously want to move to Provo?!)

Thank you Mark and Robin for such a wonderful week! Sigh. We loved the month of June :)

Summer is flying by thanks to the fun we have had thus far. I can't believe it is almost over and Bree will be starting kindergarten! She can't wait though, so that makes up for my end of summer sadness. In a nutshell:
 Quick trip to Lego Land! The kids had set several goals with Robbie a few months before and the end prize was a trip to Lego Land. (For example, Not saying "I don't like this dinner!" when you first sit down...even if you have had a several times before and ate it without problems. Or keeping clothes picked up after changing four times a day...you can guess which goals went with which child!) They worked really hard and were so excited to go. Our dear friend Nicole watched McKay for us and we played hard! Until lunch time when Gabe said he wasn't feeling very well :( He started coming down with a fever and kept saying he wanted to take a nap. WHAT?! You have been waiting and talking about this trip for months you can't be getting sick! Poor thing. So I took him to the hotel and slept for three hours (which honestly after the previous night with McKay...a whole other story...I welcomed the nap and slept the whole time too!) while Robbie and Bree continued to have a blast at Lego Land. That night Gabe asked Robbie for a blessing and then fortunately the next morning he woke up fine. We met up with our friends at the beach and then drove home that afternoon. Gabe was so excited and not nervous at all to hold the little sand crabs they were finding. So glad he was feeling better.





The men had a steak cook off...Robbie proudly tied for first for place for "best taste" and yes it was so yummy! Traveled up to enjoy the beauty of Sundance where my sister Lizzy had the baby blessing for sweet Tille Rose. And of course, there was plenty of golfing for the men.


More summer fun I still need to blog about...still to come!

Gabe I love your big smile! I love how good you are at riding your two wheeler without training wheels. I love how excited you were to go with daddy on the Fathers and Sons campout. I love that you love to help me cook. I love that you love babies and are so sweet around them. I love that you still can't say the "F" sound. I love that you are learning your letters and how much you love school time with mommy. I love that you love to cuddle. I love how "super" is your favorite adjective. I love you my sweet boy.

McKay I love that you are learning to walk! I love that you go crazy to go outside. I love that you love my soups. I love that you love your daddy so much. I love that you love to dance! I love that you say hi to people in the store with a huge smile. I love that you love to cuddle before bed. I love that you love your blanket and will nap anywhere. I love your teeth. I love your chubby-ness. I love that you want to do everything that your brother and sister do. I just love you McKay!

I am SO blessed to be a mother. It is truly the best job in the world. Happy Mother's Day to my wonderfully amazing mother, my mother-in-law, sisters, and all of the dear friends I look up to so much!    

Just wanted to say how grateful I am for this beautiful time of year. I am so grateful for my knowledge of Jesus Christ. My life is blessed every day because of him. We really tried this Easter week to focus on our Savior...on Wednesday we went to the Mesa Temple Easter Pageant, which is a huge production about the life, death and resurrection of Christ. It was so neat, and really well done, but the best part was watching the eyes of my sweet children, and the questions they asked about Jesus. "Why didn't everyone believe him when he only did good things?" asked by Bree. The only answer I had was I don't know, because that is something I wonder too. We had a birthday dinner for Jesus on Friday (April 6th)...and instead of singing Happy Birthday (which didn't quite seem apropriate) after going around the table and sharing something we love about him we sang He Sent His Son. It was actually really neat, and really helped us think of Christ all weekend.