Well, not much has been happening lately. . .although we did go to Lagoon a couple weeks ago for "Italian Day". We had tons of fun and I think it was the first time that I didn't want to leave at the end of the day.

I am LOVING being home with my kids full time. It is just barely starting to sink in that I am home everyday. It just felt like I was "off track" for awhile and now I am realizing that this is for real! Not that my job had an extremely hard schedule, but now that I am always home it is so nice to be here for EVERYTHING! I love that I am here everyday to see my kids wake up, and I love seeing Abby get off the bus while I wave to the bus driver. It is all just amazing! . . .and still extremely busy. I am still trying to figure out how I managed things when I had to go to work. I am not sure where I found the time, because I am not working , yet I feel like I am busier than ever. I guess kids will do that to ya, but for now I am just trying to enjoy myself and my family (and not complain about money) because it is all worth it!
Here are some updated pictures of Cooper. Ya, he's a chunk, but what do you expect from my kids.

First Day of Kindergarten

Abby finally went to her first day of Kindergarten. I thought this day would never come and we were both so excited. She has been talking about going to "real school" ever since she could talk, and I think the day held up to her expectations.This is her "Mom that's enough pictures" pose, as I was talking pictures of her at the bus stop and totally embarrassing her.

So, the craziest part of the day was about half way through, when the school called the house (which is never a good sign). When I answered, someone said "Hi, this is Abigail's teacher" (which is definitely not a good sign). She was calling to let me know that Abby had been stung by a bee. So, at her first official recess, she was stung on the thumb by a mean bee! The teacher let me talk to her and with a fresh band aide, she was as good as new. Her favorite part was riding on the bus. Oh, and of course the chocolate "ding dong" that her teacher gave her at the end of the day.

She made me take a picture of her again today, because she was so excited that she was going to wear two skirts in a row!

No Training Wheels!

We had always said that we wanted Abby to be able to ride her bike without training wheels before she started Kindergarten and seeing that school starts in two days we thought we had better get going. Actually, Abby really had no interest in learning how to do it, until she saw our four year old neighbor girl riding around on her bike. As soon as she saw that, she came right in and asked us why we hadn't taught her yet. She was really giving us the third degree and basically making us feel like bad parents so, Chad worked with her on it today and here she is in action.

Ok, Cooper has this new thing that he has been doing and it was completely innocent and cute at first, but now I think it is a little out of control. I am constantly having to wipe is face and his shirts are always covered.

10 Amazing Years!

At the risk of making my blog a complete love fest, I would like to tell my perfect husband Happy Anniversary! You are my world and I am thankful for you, every day of my life! I am excited for many more amazing years, and I love you with all of my heart!

Wild and Crazy Week!

To start things off...We went to the Riverton parade. It feels like we haven't been to a parade forever and the kids had a blast.

Even Cooper was in the holiday spirit!

Abby's favorite part was coordinating her outfit.


Carson loved it all! . . .the candy, the sirens, the pretty girls, etc. He was pooped by the end of it.


Then, it was on to Provo for The Stadium of Fire. We headed to Provo early to help Amy and Justin load up their moving truck. Then, after some lunch and a much needed nap, we were off to see Miley Cyrus.

As you can imagine, Abby was so excited! She had been talking about it for weeks and we have had her music playing non-stop in our car ( I wanted to be well prepared). But again, I am not sure what she was most excited about; seeing Miley Cyrus or the fact that I finally bought her a Hannah Montana shirt and let her wear it out in public...with the scarf.
Here is the Whole Gang just before the show, where we let the boys play a little Frisbee to heighten their spirits.The show was awesome! Luckily, it wasn't TOO hot and everything was perfect. I think I had the most fun watching Abby and Kaitlyn sign and dance. (even when they didn't know the words to some of her new songs)
After the show, we slept on Amy & Justin's floor and headed for Vegas in the morning, with a moving truck and a three car caravan.
We swam a lot at the hotel and also hit the buffet. Our hotel had a 64 lane bowling alley, and I had never realized that my kids have never been bowling! I know...I was surprised myself! So, we bowled all night. Abby loved it and actually started to get pretty good as the night went on. After the first game, when Chad beat us all, we started to make some wagers. . . because hey, we're in Vegas. While we were discussing the terms, Abby asked what would happen if she beats us. Chad responded in a macho voice "I'll give you a hundred dollars". Well. . . a little more than half way through, Abby was beating both Chad and I (we were all trying so hard to win, that we did terrible). So she asked about more information about the whole money thing. Chad told her that he'd give her 5$ and she replied, "how about six?" and they made a deal!
Someday, she will regret that decision! (just a side note...I DID pull out a win in the end, beating Chad by a lot, and just sliding by Abby by ONE point)

While Abby was interested in the competition of it all. . .Carson, on the other hand, found other ways to entertain himself. He had fun at first, but it was apparently too mellow of a sport for him. So, he invented an acrobatic activity of his own.
Cooper was there for it all. He has experienced quite a lot in his short little life. From Disney World to Hannah Montana.
The kids just loved being on vacation. They loved the hotel and the pool and everything about it. After coming home, they woke up saying that they missed their "Las Vegas Bed".
And of course after shopping, Cooper got a new toy, which he loves!
We finally headed home after not sleeping in our beds for 4 nights. Hopefully Amy and Justin have as much fun in Vegas as we did!

And ...they're off!

Well, Justin and Amy have officially moved to Las Vegas. Justin is working for Deloitte ( a big accounting firm) and Amy is staying home to breed lots of children. We helped them move this past weekend, and although it was fun to have a vacation in Vegas, it was really sad to leave them there. The good news is that Amy's sister and cousin live there, so I'm sure they we be well taken care of. The problem is that we are going to miss them a lot.

I feel like I can't really complain too much since I was responsible for this union and I am happy that they are moving on in their lives to bigger and better things. But... I was definitely not consulted about the whole moving thing. (I guess I was out of the picture pretty fast)

One thing is certain...the kids will miss them like crazy!
Who else will play dumb games with them and tease them at the same time. (Colby is going to have his hands full)And who will give them money to say and do inappropriate things.

And who else will they spill on and drop their cell phones in the toilet.

Sunday dinners (and laundry day) will never be the same.


Neither will all of the crazy family functions, where their funny comments will be missed most of all.
We will miss making fun of Amy's strange eating habits ( . . the girl doesn't like cheese!!!)

And I will miss talking about school in front of everyone, just to make them crazy. I will miss someone saying "Mrs. Grundy" and having us both look up. I will miss having another girl in the house to even out the testosterone.

We will miss Justin and all of his craziness. We will miss trying to figure out who the kids are in the room when he's around. The boys will miss going golfing and hearing him swear. We will miss the "intense" sports watching, which at the time is more important than life itself! ( Good thing Justin is able to calm her down!)


Most of all...we will just MISS YOU! I know that they say that you can't pick your family, but I did everything in my power. I chose Chad because I love his siblings (and he is ok) and Amy is my perfect pick! Good Luck in Vegas! Hopefully, there will be many visits and lots of blogging.
We miss you already! LOVE YOU!

KELLY'S LAST DAY!

Today is Kelly's last day of school. She is going to put her career on hold for awhile to stay home with our kids. We have been waiting for this for a long time. I just wanted to tell Kelly how proud of her I am. She works really hard at her job and I know that she has made a huge impact in lives of many of the kids that she teaches. I know it is a sacrifice for her to stop teaching, she truly has a passion for learning and a love for her kids. From her first class in North Las Vegas to West Jordan and all those in between so many kids have been lucky to have an amazing teacher like Kelly. I will always remember (and I am sure Kelly will too) the amazing adventures of teaching in Las Vegas. The kids there were absolutely amazing. Many of them could barely speak English, some had parents that did not care much about them, but seeing Kelly love and teach those kids was absolutely life changing. That was one of the most amazing experiences we have ever had. It was a change from teaching in Las Vegas to West Jordan, but many of the experiences have been the same. I have never seen someone teach with such passion, I have never seen someone care for other kids as much as Kelly does. I have no idea how she has been able to be such a great teacher and then come home and take care of me and the kids. Kelly, we are so proud of you, we are so grateful that you are willing to do all that you do for us. You truly are the GREATEST!

I asked Carson and Abby what they love most about having Kelly home with them and this is what they said:

Carson: "I love her, I love that she gives me kisses all day long, and that she plays with me"

Abby: "I love that she won't stop pinching my bumb. I love going shopping with her. I love that she is there when I need her. I love when she makes me lunch"

Kelly we are lucky to have you home! We are so grateful for you and all that you do for our family. You keep us moving in the right direction. I love you with all of my heart.

Wally World

We are home from our Amazing vacation to Florida. Be warned...there are a lot of pictures.

I'm not exactly sure where to begin. We went for nine nights to Orlando Florida where we did everything that we could possibly do.

We spent four days at the Disney World Parks and two days at the Universal Studios Parks.

Everything went great and my kids were in Heaven!

I honestly think that the kids favorite part about the trip was that they were able to spend so much time with their cousins. They were together every minute and were loving it.

Abby loved everything about Disney World. She just thought it was all so Magical. Abby is at that age where she is just tall enough to go on a lot of the bigger rides and she tried to be brave , but she didn't really like any that were "questionable". She was just fine sticking with the smaller attractions and her favorite was "It's a Small World".

As you can imagine, we saw every character that you could possibly think of . The kids loved getting their autographs and taking pictures with ALL of them.

Carson likes to tell people that he has a new girlfriend! He was just as excited as Abby to see Snow White, and the highlight of the day was when she gave him a kiss that stayed on his check. He was a little embarrassed, but very proud.

We also went to a dinner show called "Arabian Knights". We ate dinner while they preformed a show that had a lot of horses that did amazing tricks. Carson was in ahh! He thought the whole think was so cool!

But the highlight of my night was when Justin went to take a group picture of all of us at the table and I guess Amy was the only one willing and ready.

I have to say that one of the coolest things about the whole vacation was the house that Kathy and Stan rented. It was so great. We all had our own rooms and they even had little kid rooms. It had four bathrooms (greatly needed) and best of all...our own Pool. It was so nice after being at the parks all day to come home and get in the pool (without a bunch of strangers).

The kids had a Blast swimming each day and we had a hard time getting them out.

It was really hard coming home and trying to get back to normal life. Although an 11 day vacation seems like plenty of time, we were still wanting just a few more days by the end of the trip.

This is definitely something that we could NEVER do by ourselves, we are just so thankful to Chad's parents for their amazing generosity! They made it something that we will never forget.

In Real World news.....Abby graduated from preschool and had her big dance recital right before we left for the trip.( She is the one in the middle in blue) She is so big, and I really hate thinking about it. I love that she is old enough to help with Cooper, but everything else is kinda freaking me out. She just got her track assignment for Kindergarten and she asks me EVERYDAY "how many more days until school starts?" I think she is going to be a little disappointed when she finds out that she still will only be going for half of the day, but I think riding the school bus will make up for that.

Cooper is also growing up fast. He is officially 3 months old and chunky as ever. He still has his hair, but is starting to sport a little bit of a comb over. (we have no problem admitting that)