Todd and Jenn

Almost feels like spring.

2012-02-01T22:17:00.001-08:00

Kai and Annie have been wanting to go to the park everyday. It's even been warm enough for a picnic.

Goodbye 2011

2012-02-01T22:00:00.001-08:00

I think to say that 2011 was the best and the worst of times for our family would sum up our year. As one last reminder of the dichotomy of our year New Year's Eve would have been my sister's 24th birthday. Oh how I miss her. To celebrate her day our kids sent balloons to heaven.

Christmas

2012-02-01T21:33:00.001-08:00

For so many reasons I haven't blogged in so long. I just found out about the blogger app so maybe it will actually happen if I can blog from my phone. Our Christmas break was spent with lots of family and I loved it. I didn't love being sick for weeks after. All the fun wore me out, but I wouldn't have changed any of it. One of my favorite memories of Christmas was our kids wanting us to open all the presents they had made for us before any of them opened a single one.

Have a Very Merry!

2011-12-24T11:06:00.000-08:00

Wishing you a ...

Lights, Sing, Dance

2011-12-20T20:40:00.000-08:00

There are so many things making me happy this month. We started two new traditions this year. Reading a Christmas book a night and doing a service Advent Calendar. Even on busy days I love how excited our kids get to do two these two things and sometimes it seems like our only minute of calm for the day. The past few years I've finally started loving having a Birthday so close to Christmas. It's still two days away and I've already been taken out to dinner three times for it. Our elf named Love has been with us all month and he's been getting into all kinds of trouble with the Lego guys. Carson and Annie have had school off all week and today they busily wrapped presents for everyone in our family. Since they wrap things they find around the house I'm missing pens, makeup, and on Christmas I'll find out what else I'm missing. I love everything this time of year means, spending time with family and the traditions that have become a part of our month.

Our kids started begging in November to see the lights at Temple Square. We went on a Saturday night so it was packed, but it wasn't even that cold this year. Across the street at Deseret Book they had a machine making gingerbread men. Annie made a gingerbread man with her kindergarten class that ran away and she has been looking for him everywhere. She thought he was with the gingerbread men at Deseret Book, but he wasn't there. She keeps describing the gingerbread man from school to me and telling me we need to look all over the "town" for him.

Kai had his first Christmas preschool performance. Since he's our third at the same preschool it was our 4th time to go. Kai made the funniest facial expressions. He sang half the time, but anytime there was banging of instruments or tapping of drumsticks he got really into it. Each year they get a snowman after their performance.

Annie had her Christmas dance recital last week. So many came to see her and it really is so fun to watch her. She is very into getting ready. She told me she wanted me to paint her nails for the performance a blue color to go with her outfit. She was very particular about her hair being curly and after her dress rehearsal she told me the lipstick I used was too light and she wanted something darker. She cracks me up. The girl on the left is our cute neighbor Paige. She has most of the same girls in her class from last year too.

After when I took pictures of her she did a different pose for each one.

Threading

2011-12-15T17:44:00.000-08:00

Last week Annie convinced me that my eyebrows were not cute at all and I needed to get them threaded at this somewhat shady place next to Nordstrom. I have been wanting to try threading since I saw it on Oprah years ago. For months anytime we have walked by this place Annie has begged me to try it. I looked at the eyebrows of women as they came out and they all looked good so I thought I'd finally give it a try. Annie had my phone while I was getting it done and I just realized she took tons of pictures and video. Watching the women with their thread while their clients calmly relaxed I thought it would maybe tickle. I was so wrong. When she did my upper lip my eyes watered from the pain. I have to admit though I have been so happy with the results and it wasn't very expensive.

The three.

2011-12-12T23:31:00.000-08:00

Just a little of what our three have been up too.

Kai has been a little mischievous lately, but it's so hard to get upset with him. Last night he kept coming out of his room at bedtime. When I told him it was his last chance before a time out he said, "okay, goodnight gorgeous" and went to bed.

Annie took this picture of our "boys". Kai has grown up so much lately he seems like just one of the "boys" now.

Kai is our chipped tooth, black eyed boy lately. He had this black eye from hitting his face on our ottoman, then he got a smaller one on his other eye from a ball and now he has a new one from falling at our ward Christmas party.

Kai is about to start primary and his nursery leader told me that when Kai leaves they'll have a lot bigger food budget because Kai wants more and more food during snack time. Lately Kai says "my tummy hurts, I need some candy". He's a snacker.

Annie is loving school, doing so well, and being just as girlie as ever.

I still get to spend a few afternoons a week with just her and I love it. When Crate and Barrel opened we stopped by the mall and Annie had her face painted, watched a magic show, and got a balloon.

Of course she had to pose.

Annie drew our family and made us all big University of Utah fans.

Each year Todd's mom takes Annie to a production of the Nutcracker that Todd's cousin Kenzie is a part of. Annie loves this tradition. Todd's cousin Brooke is amazing at doing girls hair and she did her daughter Savanna's and Annie's hair before the show. They also went to dinner and since the Nutcracker is in Kaysville Annie got to stay out late too. She is still talking about how much fun she had.

Carson is growing up so fast. He is always happy when I pick him up from school and has been learning so much. We have a neighbor that is always giving Carson fun presents for his birthday. This year he gave him rockets.

These two got so excited every time we would launch a rocket. Kai not so much. The rockets scared him.

Each rocket opened into a parachute and Carson and Annie would run to grab them. I'll go in fazes where I don't blog as much, but it's one of the only ways I document the little things that I always hope to remember.

Flashback

2011-12-05T17:09:00.000-08:00

On the 26th of November we celebrated our 9 year anniversary! On the day of our anniversary Annie looked at one of my bridal pictures and said "wow mommy, look how young you look". It's almost been ten years now since we started dating and looked like this.

There are so many things that I loved about the time when we were dating and engaged. Todd was the type of date that you hope your daughters find someday. I hope that someday our Annie will date someone as amazing as her daddy. I hope that she'll also date someone that is real while they are dating just like her dad was. No surprises when we got married. Todd is the same person he was when we were dating, married, and now just better and better. I loved it that we spent hours making our invitations together and developing our engagement pictures in a makeshift darkroom using a tub in Todd's parents home. On our anniversary this year I thought a lot about our wedding day. Even though it was nine years ago it is still just what I would have wanted. I loved it that it was unseasonably warm on our anniversary this year, just like on our wedding day. I loved that on our wedding day my mom rented a limo for us to take down to the temple with our families.

I loved it that we were so excited to get married we kept hoping it was our turn while we waited for our turn to be sealed.

I love it that we didn't have a luncheon so our day wasn't too packed. The place, the food, the dancing, and being with so many that we loved were just what I would want today. I loved it that at the end of the day my cheeks hurt from smiling.

Our Honeymoon to Hawaii was pretty amazing too. I love how our marriage started and I love what it is today.

Wreath Giveaway!

2011-11-28T21:38:00.000-08:00

I have so much to update. Soon. Today is the first giveaway on our design blog Annelilydesign. Click here to enter to win this...

After I made our Halloween Spider Wreath I had requests to make Christmas versions.

Candy Cane Christmas Wreath.

Winter White.

Go here for tutorials on how to make these Christmas Wreaths and don't forget to enter the giveaway!

Our month of Halloween.

2011-11-04T20:12:00.000-07:00

Started with Frightmares at Lagoon. Our first time to ever go. We went with my family.

Loved it so much we all went again.

Way more crowded the second time.

Next we went to the pumpkin patch at Wheeler Farm.

These three were being scary in the hay maze.

Check out all those pumpkins we had to choose from. Last year they had tons, this year not so much.

Kai just before his preschool Halloween party. He was Luke Skywalker and kept using the force. Yep, he has a black eye. Have to post about that later.

Trick-or-Treating at Grandpa Ken's assisted living center with Dagney, Owen, and Ruby.

Family Halloween Party. Annie loves playing with these girls.

How cute is this Pizza from Papa Murphy's? One of our amazing neighbors gave it to us to bake for Halloween.

Ready for trick-or-treating. Love these three!

Annie and I are famous.

2011-10-27T17:04:00.000-07:00

The other day Annie and I were out shopping while the boys were in school when someone ran up and nocked on my window and asked if I would be in a segment for the Daily Dish on CW. It was Noelle, Reagan's replacement on the Daily Dish and Good Things Utah. Annie and I were in a segment called "Will you try it and would you buy it". See the video here. Yep I sound like I'm 12 and I love Annie in the background.

I posted a tutorial for how to make this wreath on our Annelily Design blog a few weeks ago. It was

featured on Babble here. They featured it as one of 24 handmade Halloween wreaths on the web.

Today I posted a DiY Halloween topiary on Annelily Design that I made with some of the leftovers from the wreath project.

Soccer boys

2011-10-26T23:47:00.000-07:00

Carson and Kai both played soccer this year. Their season was full of the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Carson's season got all the good. He had a great coach, good team, and he loved it. His games were one of my favorite things each week.

He had a few games in the rain.

This was Kai's first year to play. The first game he didn't move the whole game. He stood on the field with his finger in his mouth. He came really far by the end of the season and when he does kick the ball he does awesome.

Kai with his team. Kai's team had the bad and the ugly. Some parents on his team were so rude to the coaches and other parents I started dreading his games. Most of the time he had fun though and from walking by other games I've realized sometimes kids sports just brings out the not so nice side of people.

The rest of our week.

2011-10-25T21:30:00.000-07:00

The morning after Disneyland we were able to go to Todd's family time share in Carlsbad. Todd's brother and his family got in town that day and our kids loved spending time with their Texas cousins.

So beautiful in Aviara.

It's a tradition to play croquet and bocce every time we go. We loved it that our trips overlapped with Trent and Jenni's. After spending time with them we were able to stop by and see my grandparents in San Diego. Then we met all my family in La Jolla for dinner at a little Italian restaurant by the beach. I loved having my whole family together. My sister passed away in San Diego and we all met in San Diego in honor of her. We went to her favorite beach Wind and Surf. It is amazing and has a little hut.

My mom got us all rooms for two nights on the beach in La Jolla.

The view from our room.

Annie and our niece Shea.

Our nephew Paxton.

We all spent the day at the beach. The weather was amazing.

Carson and Annie learned how to Boogie board.

Cutest thing watching those two ride the waves.

My brother Josh spent hours playing in the sand with our kids.

Lots of paddle ball.

Grandma Patty did Yoga with our kids on the beach.

Annie and Callista.

That night my cousin, aunt, and my cousins kids came over to have a pizza party with us. We all crowded in my dad and Patty's room and watched the BYU/Utah game.

The next morning before we left we all went to brunch.

We went to this restaurant famous for their coast toast. They give out the recipe and I need to try to recreate it. So good.

The restaurant is across from the children's pool where the sea lions and seals hang out.

One last picture before we got in the car to leave. Loved this week and thank you mom for the amazing weekend.

A good week.

2011-10-24T16:28:00.000-07:00

This week happened last month, but I finally have all the pictures on my computer and we have new internet that works. In September we headed to California for a week. The combination of seeing so many people we love and playing at some of our favorite places might have made our good week one of my lifetime favorites. So many things I loved. We spent a night in Las Vegas on our way down. Vegas isn't my favorite with kids, but we did our favorite things and our kids all did really well. Shopping at Forum Shops, dinner at Cheesecake Factory, Bellagio Fountains, and lions at MGM. We stayed at New York, New York. It was September 11th and they had a parade of firefighters and police on the bridge in front of the hotel.

When we got to California we went to a Yummy Mexican restaurant with Todd's cousin and his family in Carlsbad.

We stayed at my cute aunt's home for our first two nights and spent the day at Del Mar.

After a day at the beach we woke up early and drove up to Disneyland. It was our first time to take all three of our kids. Kai stayed home last time we went. The night before we went we measured Kai and realized that he was either just tall enough to go on every ride at 40 inches or too short for most of the fun rides. He ended up being just tall enough with some major neck stretching for all the 40 inch rides except for Tower of Terror.

It was our first time to see all the fun Halloween decorations. The only downside was they were decorating Pirates, the Haunted Mansion and Space Mountain while we were there so they were closed.

These three are the perfect ages for Disneyland. The weather was amazing and our first day we hardly had any lines.

We might have gone on the Toy Story ride a ridiculous amount of times. My aunt told us about this ride. It's a little hidden in California adventure and we missed it last time we went to Disneyland.

Annie got the cutest lunch. If I ever do an art themed birthday party I would love to do something like this.

Our first night we went to the World of Color at California Adventure. I don't have any pictures of it, but it was amazing. We ended up meeting a family of parents from London and their kids and grandkids from Australia and watched it with them.

Disneyland: Day 2

Had to take a picture of these two walking from our hotel to Disneyland.

Carson is still obsessed with legos. Had to have his picture in front of the lego store in Downtown Disney.

Kai did too.

The first ride of our day was the Toy Story ride. When we got out of the ride Jesse was walking by. These two ran after her yelling her name. So excited to have their picture with her. Jesse is Annie's favorite besides Cinderella and Woody is Kai's favorite. Our second day my brother Jason was there with his family too. A lot of his roommates from Utah State were there with their families.

Annie and I went on the Pixie Hollow walk and then we all watched the Main Street Parade that night. Our kids loved it.

More of our week to come.

So I'll remember.

2011-10-06T20:38:00.000-07:00

Sometimes Kai says things that I just love, but I often forget to write them down. Yesterday Carson had his 7 year check-up. The doctor let Kai listen to Carson's heart with a stethoscope. "It sounds like a song, Kai said. Oh so hearts sound like a song." Then as we were driving home Kai started to try to get out of his booster seat to get something. When I told him to stop, he said "mommy you are making my heart sad". Then he told me that Mr. Sunshine was mad at me. "That's why we couldn't see him. Mr. Sunshine is gone cause he's mad at you, so it's raining."

Seven

2011-10-04T00:00:00.000-07:00

I was talking to my brother the other day about how all our kids have been the hardest version of themselves from 2 1/2 to 3 1/2. After that something happens... they all slowly get easier. Today our Carson turns 7 and he is one easy kid.

I loved when Carson was born. As we snuggled our new big lipped baby boy, and I tried to figure out how to feed him, we watched lots of sports. Just after he was born the Red Sox won the world series for the first time and I fell in love with baseball. Then the University of Utah had their amazing season and I fell in love with them too. Looking back my life was pretty calm then. Not that I realized it. My days consisted of taking care of Carson and finding ways to entertain myself. Sometimes I miss that time. This week our kids have dance, four soccer games, pictures, a practice, three birthday parties, and three different school schedules and that's just some of our week. I wouldn't trade it though. When Carson was a newborn I only felt like I new what I was doing well...never. At least I can say that now as a mom I think I know what I'm doing about half the time.

Happy Birthday to our oldest who constantly teaches me and stretches my heart. Love you!

I have a serious case of...

2011-09-28T18:41:00.000-07:00

Wanderlust. I dream of doing something like this when our kids are grown.

MOVE from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.

First saw this here.

Wedding Weekend

2011-09-19T11:51:00.000-07:00

Weddings always make me happy. Last weekend one of Todd's cousins got married and we spent our weekend at the reception, breakfast, and wedding.

A friend of Todd's brother from Architecture school designed this art installation downtown. Carson and Annie loved running through it. It's called Sway'd and all the nylon rods move.

Stopping for pictures after a yummy breakfast at Caffe Molise. Great brick wall.

I especially love weddings when it means I get to spend a some of

my Saturday with this handsome man.

swimming and snow cones

2011-09-10T22:58:00.000-07:00

I have a serious addiction. It happens every summer. Snow cones. This summer I was loving blue cotton candy. I don't even know why. It might sound gross, but I loved the blue goodness. We fit in some last snow cones before our favorite place closed and we had to get some last days of swimming in
too.

For fall.

2011-09-08T17:22:00.000-07:00

Click here to see what I did with this. I keep driving by my house just to look at it.

A little photo shoot.

2011-09-05T20:39:00.000-07:00

Last year I took birthday pictures of each of our kids. I am not a photographer at all, but I thought it would be fun to try again this year. A blue wall +lots of leaves=a little birthday/back to school photoshoot.

Annelily Design

2011-08-31T09:09:00.000-07:00

My friend Katherine and I just started a design blog. Before I became a momma my days were spent with color, design, and furniture. All things I love. Check out our blog here and become a follower for instant updates.

Our shopper.

2011-08-30T23:21:00.001-07:00

While the boys are at school I have Annie all to myself two afternoons a week. I have never had just Annie with me, besides quick trips out. I love it! The first day the boys were at school we went shopping. Annie said she HAD to have these glasses from Brass Plum because they matched her outfit perfectly.

Then she posed like this...

and insisted I get this hat.

I think we're in trouble. When it comes to shopping she's a teenager in a five year olds body. Today at TJMax she insisted that I get a pink U of U shirt. "You love the U and it fits you perfectly. You must get it". Then she put it in our cart. She is very convincing and if the shirt would have been cute at all I might have gotten it. We are in trouble. Two girls shopping can do more damage than one.
(All pictures taken on my iPhone (obviously)).

Firsts

2011-08-29T20:41:00.001-07:00

Hopefully I can get through this post without crying. We have had a lot of firsts in our family lately. So here we go.

Kai had his first day of preschool.

He loves it. His teacher is Miss Natalie. The Friday after school started we were walking at Lagoon when Kai got a sad look on his face and hung his head down. When we asked him why he was sad he told us he missed Miss Natalie. He is a sweetheart. He has hardly ever been away from me and I find myself thinking about what he's doing and hoping he doesn't have an accident the entire time he's gone.

The week after Kai started preschool Carson started first grade. How did he grow up so fast? On the first day he told me I could just drop him off. That didn't happen though. Of course we had to walk him to the door and wait until he went in. Carson loves school and he has so many friends from last year and new friends. I have missed having him home more often, but he loves learning and is always so happy when we pick him up.

As we waited for the bell to ring on his first day he compared missing teeth with two other friends. It was so cute. Carson just lost one of his front teeth.

Today our Annie started Kindergarten. She loves it and has the same teacher that Carson had last year. Whom we love. She was disappointed that she didn't get a snack though :). She just couldn't understand it. In preschool we always had a snack. Even on the first day she told me.

With all of our kids in school I have been realizing that I am into a new phase of being a mom. My days are divided into two or three hour blocks between our three having all different school schedules and we haven't even started dance or sports yet, but I love it. It does make me sad to see remnants of what is now my former mommy life scattered throughout our house. We are in the process of storing strollers. None of them need one anymore especially since Kai refuses to go in one. A stack of the last package of pull-ups linger in the closet. Our three are all potty trained now. Kai decided to finally do it on our trip to California and has been doing great day and night. Our carseat that each has used is ready for storage. Kai is now in a booster seat. It makes me sad and it makes me happy. Having three kids in three years was busy. Gone are my days of pushing Carson and Annie in a double stroller with Kai strapped in the Bjorn getting asked with shocked faces if they were all mine. I miss those days, but I wouldn't trade these. I love them too.

Beach love

2011-08-26T23:42:00.000-07:00

Our beach trip was over too soon. Staying at our hotel was the perfect way to do the beach with kids. Everyday I would walk to the sand with our kids have tables, chairs, towels and umbrellas instantly set up for us and relax for the day. I only had one traumatic day when driving to my grandparents home. The water pump on our car broke and I was navigating the 8 freeway when our car would suddenly lose power. Over and over again the whole way there. After two days of having our car worked on and driving around a maroon minivan that looked like a twinkie our car was fixed.

Loved our cousins and their kids hanging out with us at our hotel.

California we always love you and we'll see you again soon.

Early Fall Style

2011-08-26T00:18:00.001-07:00

Back to school shopping for our kids= fall clothes on my mind

More Fall Ideas

2011-08-26T00:12:00.001-07:00

My fall must have is an infinity scarf like this tan one. I've never been good at wrapping a scarf and these are easy peasy. I stocked up on a few from Nordstrom over the past few months. The ones I have are under $20 each.

Sandy Faces

2011-08-23T22:18:00.000-07:00

We spent most of our days in California at the beach. Just when I thought the kids were clean and ready to go back to our room they would get back in the sand and be covered from head to toe. Everytime I look at these pictures I think they look grainy, but our kids were just that sandy. Nothing made them happier than the sand and water and I loved watching them enjoy it all.

Animals

2011-08-20T10:10:00.000-07:00

Todd's cousin Danny, his wife Brooke and their two kids Zack and Tyra all moved just outside of Carlsbad earlier this year. We got together with them at the Wild Animal Park. So many animals on a hot humid day. Seeing the animals all out in the open and not caged is amazing. Our favorite was the momma gorilla carrying her baby around like a rag doll.

silhouttes

2011-08-18T19:26:00.000-07:00

Our first night we got to our hotel just before sunset. I captured these pictures that night on my iPhone. I kind of love them.

Beach Days

2011-08-17T23:46:00.000-07:00

Last year while Todd was at Scout camp the kids and I headed down to San Diego to stay with family. This year we had planned to do the same, but things kept coming up and it wasn't going to work out this year. Annie cried and cried when I told her the news that we wouldn't be going. Last minute we got an unexpected surprise. Eight nights in La Jolla with a private beach. After a frantic day of organizing and packing and a night visit to Lagoon with my dad and Patty we were ready to leave the next morning at 6 a.m.. More on our trip later, but for now our week via hipstamatic.

2011-08-16T09:39:00.000-07:00

We started our weekend by going hiking up little cottonwood canyon.

We took our kids to the granite quarry trail where the pioneers used granite to build the Salt Lake temple.

Todd had to work Saturday so I looked on-line to find a pioneer activity to take the kids too. I found one in Provo. I'm all for a road trip to Provo. Todd gets agitated just entering the city limits.

We ended up at this and it was perfect. I think it should be a tradition.

They have tons of free activities for the kids to do like digging for gold.

Candle making, tee-pees, pioneer trek pouches, petting zoo, blacksmiths, and who runs all the amazing free exhibits? Missionaries. An Elder Johnson is helping Kai with the slingshot.

A hair school offered free braiding and Annie had to have her hair done. I had so many comments on it afterward.

We didn't get a chance to ride the ponies, but you can sit on this pony and have your picture taken.

They also had a covered wagon ride, food samples, and a lot more games. That night we watched our friends amazing fireworks show and raced to get snow cones before they closed.

Due Date.

2011-07-27T21:03:00.000-07:00

Today is Finn's due date. Sometimes I let myself look at little boy clothes that I know I would have bought, but not for too long. I never hear the name Finn when I'm out, but yesterday while I was at Target with our kids a mom called to her little boy Finn. He was about two. So cute and he could have been Carson's brother. I looked at him and thought of what might have been, but not for too long. I thought I would be pregnant again by now, but I try not to think about that for too long either. What I do think about is the three that we have here. I think about them a lot and for a long time and that makes me really happy.

A little of this.

2011-07-26T20:15:00.000-07:00

For an hour each day Carson has been taking tennis lessons. It is so cute to watch him. His coaches all tell me how much they love having him. I was on the tennis team in high school and I really hope all our kids like it.

Annie has finally gotten over her fear of the water. She loves swimming this year. We ended up having tennis for Carson in the morning and swimming for all the kids in the afternoon at the same place. With a lot of other things going on it made for some busy days.

We are taking a break from swimming lessons for the rest of the summer, but the kids all loved it while they were in it.

2011-07-25T12:14:00.001-07:00

Love everything about this photo. Her dress is amazing. The Oprah interview with her family was one of my favorites. Stayed in a cabin built for her family years ago in Telluride. It was amazing too.

Last Weekend

2011-07-20T15:07:00.000-07:00

Lagoon-free cokes. corn. circus performers. water slides. rides

In-n-Out

Target

Snow cones

Sushi-Waiter with thick British accent. Not British.

Harry Potter

Kids slept over at Todd's parents-kid free church.

Splash

2011-07-19T18:15:00.000-07:00

Kai's swim class was full the first session of swim lessons we signed up for so he played in the splash pad instead. I could watch him do this for hours.

Trying to remember this month...

2011-07-13T22:00:00.000-07:00

"When one door of happiness closes, another opens, but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one that has been opened for us."

-Helen Keller

When I grow up.

2011-07-12T20:06:00.000-07:00

Is a common phrase while we are out driving. Annie wants to be a doctor and a dentist and Carson wants to be a policeman and a doctor. Today Annie asked me what I want to be. "I'm a mom", I replied. "No, what are you going to do when you grow up", she asked. I told her that I graduated in Communications, but for now I'm a mom. "You can't just be a mom", Annie said. "What are you going to be when you are older? I know you should get back into snow cones. Remember how you told me you did that (when I was sixteen). That's a great idea". Carson could not agree more. Awesome! Until I get back into snow cones I'll spend a few hours a week doing this.

Yummy Ribs.

2011-07-11T23:24:00.000-07:00

I have never been a fan of ribs until these ones. Todd and his brother Trent made the most amazing ribs for us 4th of July weekend.

Preparing them is a two day process. I felt like I was watching a cooking show observing these two.

I didn't get a picture of the finished ribs, but they look as good as they taste. Find the recipe here.

4th of July Weekend.

2011-07-10T23:09:00.000-07:00

Todd's brother and his family came in town for the fourth of July. Saturday night sparklers, fireworks and yummy ribs for dinner. The recipe is amazing I'll have to share it soon.

Sunday after church we went up to Todd's Aunt Karen and Uncle Burt's property in Wanship. Our kids loved getting pulled around on this ride Uncle Burt made. He gives the kids instruments to play while they ride on it.

Annie could not get enough of their horses. This one named Princess is her favorite.

We love watching these cousins play together.

I made these strawberries on the fourth of July from my friend Mindy's blog. I thought they looked cute, but they are sooo good too.

On Monday we went to Todd's Aunt Karla's and Uncle Greg's home for the day. We go every year for swimming, smoked brisket, and fireworks.

Poor Kai wasn't able to swim with all the kids. He had a rash on his tush that turned into a Staff infection. I'll spare the gory details, but our Kai is one tough boy and 2011 continues to be a, "really, what else?" kind of year for our family. Kai was so cute about not getting in. He really loves the water.

Our three in their red, white, and blue.

32.

2011-07-09T12:32:00.000-07:00

(Todd playing a mean game of Badminton on the 4th of July.)

Today Todd is 32. He's pretty amazing. We love this husband and dad of ours.

Love the hair!

2011-07-07T12:59:00.000-07:00

A few weekends ago Todd caught this picture of Annie after jumping on my cousins trampoline.

This picture is priceless to me. After my mom had watched our kids for about twenty four hours she still got in this little house with them when we all met up at a family get together. My mom watched our kids while we went on a date and until 4 the next day. What do you do when you don't have kids at home? After our date we walked to Walmart at midnight, pulled pranks on our neighbors, and blasted music when we got home because we could.

Make a Wish!

2011-07-07T12:51:00.000-07:00

Kai could not have been cuter on his birthday. He told me he wanted Spiderman and Elmo for his birthday. He loved having happy birthday sung to him and each time we did he'd put his arms around us and say, "thank you so much guys".

Happy Birthday to you!

2011-07-06T14:29:00.000-07:00

Three years ago this big baby joined our family. Today Kai is 3.

Kai has so much personality, is so full of love, and loves to have fun. He makes us laugh everyday and is one passionate little guy. He is known to flirt, sneak off with our phones or the ipad, and think he's older than he is most of the time. He also calls every woman that spends more than a few minutes with him "mom". Such a character and we all adore him.

Our girl is 5.

2011-06-30T14:44:00.000-07:00

Our little Annie turned 5 on Tuesday. We ran home from swimming lessons for presents and cupcakes before going to dinner at Cafe Rio and to see Cars 2. Her hair was barely dry when we put her crown on, but hectic and a little crazy is how our summer has been so far. I have thought a lot this year about all the qualities that are innately Annie. Annie loves people. She remembers their names and always wants to see or be with her friends and family. At dance class I have watched her go out of her way to include girls in her class that are feeling shy. She loves animals. Since we don't have any pets she treats her stuffed animals like they are real pets. When she sleeps over at her grandparents she brings her stuffed kittens into our room so they won't be scared and instructs me to feed them while she is gone. She's adventurous and always wants to know what we are doing next. She's sensitive and can cry so easily, but she's almost always happy. We love having this silly, smart, happy girl and we can only hope that she will always be as easy as her first five years have been.

The Party

2011-06-27T12:26:00.000-07:00

We spent one night this weekend celebrating ...

this boy

and this girl.

I kept the food simple with cupcakes and strawberry milk. I bought jam jars and designed labels in photoshop to wrap around the jars.

I made Hello Kitty out of fondant for Annie's cake and Lightning Mcqueen for Kai's cake. I bought sugar toppers for the cupcakes. Everyone was given a bag full of 20 tickets to use at the carnival.

We had coloring, facepainting, bean bag toss, ring toss, and cotton candy for 2 to 5 tickets each.

Our amazingly talented neighbor Courtney does face painting professionally. The kids loved it!

We rented a cotton candy machine and it was so yummy!

Those Ginger Ales I gave Todd for father's day were repurposed for our ring toss. Thank you to everyone that helped with the party. It turned out just how I hoped it would. Since we only do friend parties every other year I have a long time before I plan their next one.

Party planning.

2011-06-23T23:37:00.001-07:00

Kai is turning 3 and Annie is turning 5 in the next few weeks. We are having a carnival party for them. We love carnivals! For the flag banner above I purchased fabric and bias tape from my favorite local fabric store and cut out triangles. Since I am only a little crafty this is a really simple fabric banner. I folded the bias tape in half with a strip of heat n bond in the middle, then ironed each triangle on individually. For the shirt I used more heat n bond to apply the number three.

Paper straws are pretty trendy right now, but I just love them. I wasn't able to find any locally. I ordered the straws and the fruit baskets from Shop Sweet Lulu on-line. I thought the fruit baskets would be fun for favors and the color works well with the carnival theme. I didn't want the party to be full of commercial characters, but for the favors I let Annie and Kai choose their favorite thing right now. Annie chose Hello Kitty. I got the Hello Kitty favors at Target and a local party store. I made the Carnival sign from a white board Todd brought home from the warehouse. I used scrapbook paper and red tickets for the sign.

Staycation (Family Carnival)

2011-06-23T14:29:00.000-07:00

Dad and Patty had a family carnival in their backyard. Everyone loved it! Lots of pictures.

Holly did face painting.

Tug of war was a hit. We tried all combinations of teams. Every time I was on a team they lost.

Jason and Ashley set up a doughnut eating contest. Hilarious! I didn't get a good picture of Kai doing it, but a doughnut on a string could entertain him for hours.

We also celebrated my brother Jason's 33rd birthday. Ashley made him a cake and two strawberry pies (bottom pics taken with iphone).

More Staycation (Boating)

2011-06-22T22:59:00.000-07:00

Kai and Carson tried a ski trainer and it was one of the cutest things I've ever seen. Carson stood up both times and was practicing leaning left and right with it. Kai just sat in it, but I loved watching him too. Annie was not nearly as daring as her brothers and didn't even make it on the boat. For some reason boats are scary to her this summer.

Annie still had fun and she has decided that she needs to strike a pose for pictures. Just when I took the picture on the left she stuck her leg out and struck a pose. After boating we roasted marshmallows in Holly and Jason's fire pit.

Staycation (Lagoon)

2011-06-22T11:19:00.000-07:00

This year instead of Bear Lake my dad and Patty threw a Staycation for their families. We spent one of our days at Lagoon. The little cousins were so cute together. Lagoon has so many kids rides now. Kai's first time on rides and it was hilarious. He loved them all and after going on rides he would throw his arms in the air and yell, "yes guys, we did it". Followed by a "woo hoo". We also did Lagoona beach. We all have season passes now so this will be one of many visits to Lagoon this summer. Thank you dad and Patty!

The dad in our house...

2011-06-20T10:33:00.000-07:00

spent his father's day weekend running the longest leg of this with my brother Josh and Todd's friend Taylor. He might have been a little sore as we went back and forth on father's day visiting both our dad's. He still played with our kids all day. One of the many reasons why he's an amazing dad.

(Bucket from Target and ginger ale from Target and The Store)

Part of his present was a ginger ale sampler. I've heard of root beer ones, but this dad loves his ginger ale.

Dance!

2011-06-17T21:29:00.000-07:00

I can hardly believe Annie just finished her third year of dance. She did ballet/jazz combo and tumbling. She just had her year end recital. She loves dancing. She loves getting ready for her performances and would put all her makeup on herself if I let her. When I was curling her hair she moved her arm and got bumped by the curling iron. I felt like the worst mom, and then I told her not to cry too much because her mascara would run.

Our graduate!

2011-06-17T12:58:00.000-07:00

Annie finished her second year of preschool last week. Her school does an end of year program followed by a little graduation. We can hardly believe Annie is about to start Kindergarten. She loves all her little friends and talks about them constantly. She is going to miss her preschool.

Ready for first grade.

2011-06-16T22:43:00.000-07:00

Carson and his teacher Ms. Hokanson on the last day of Kindergarten. Carson loved her. I was Carson's class room mom this year. I loved throwing parties with the other moms and getting to see him with his friends. Carson had such a great year and it is amazing how much he learned. He is one smart boy and we are so grateful he is ours.

Baby Shae

2011-06-14T13:59:00.000-07:00

We went to Denver to meet our newest niece Shae Piper and to be there for her baby blessing.

She is one cute and sweet baby. Annie is in love.

Shae's older brother Paxton and Annie.

Our kids love getting together with their cousins.
We took Annie to the American Girl store for her first time. I have been waiting to take her for years. She kept asking which one she could get. I want her to be a little older before she gets a doll, but she was just as excited to get a little kitten named Praline.

Front row at U2.

2011-06-12T23:19:00.000-07:00

Two days after we got home from New York we saw these guys up close and personal. My first time to see them outside. It was a beautiful and perfect night.

Concrete Jungle

2011-06-09T15:28:00.000-07:00

We started planning a trip to New York just after Christmas with our friends Buz and Katherine. When we were planning our trip I kept thinking to myself do I really want to go across the country at 31 weeks pregnant. I couldn't bring myself to turn down a trip though. Since I'm not pregnant anymore our planned trip helped me look forward to something fun during some hard weeks. It was everything I hoped it would be.

Some repeats from Buz and Katherine's blog, but here are the details.

Food

Before we left I compiled a list of places to eat that I had read about on blogs and from friends suggestions. Buz and Katherine also had a list and between the two we ate a lot and our lists never disappointed. Our first stop on the list was Katz Deli. The famous scene in "When Harry Met Sally" was filmed there and the sandwiches were amazing. If you go share, the sandwiches are huge.

Another favorite for sandwiches was Carnegie Deli. The onion rings were probably the best I have ever had. Buz and Katherine with their black and white cookies.

Carnegie Deli is near the theatre district and we liked it so much we went twice.

My uncle Randy and his girlfriend Dagmar joined us the second time we went. My uncle lives in a new condo across the Brooklyn bridge with an amazing view of the city. He was so great to let us all stay with him during our visit.

We love the Shake Shack. Still worth it in the rain.

Cafe Roma in Little Italy for Cannolis and I had to try a white chocolate eclair too.

We tried Magnolia Bakery cupcakes. Good, but Sprinkles are better.

The Iphone camera was not loving the dark lighting, but I love this picture. Finally made it to Serendipity for our first time. Everyone I talked to told me the food is terrible so we just went for dessert. We both tried Frozen hot chocolate. I got mine with peanut butter and I loved it. I think I need to go to the Serendipity in Vegas just to have another one.

Shopping

We went to four or five H & M's and three Forever 21's. My favorite store we went to was a huge Anthropologie. Our husbands sat together on a sofa for over an hour waiting for us.

Miz Mooz is a Soho based shoe company that a New York friend told me about. She has six pairs and loves them for all the walking she does in the city. We went to a few of their stores. They didn't have the color I wanted so I ordered a pair of them through Nordstrom. They really are so comfortable.

We had to stop in Macca (the 5th Ave. apple store) too.

Sites

Empire State Building.

My third time to New York and I finally made it into Central Park. So beautiful.

On our last day we rented bikes and rode around the entire park.

Yankees game. We watched the Yankees play the Mets.

Katherine and I were lucky enough to witness a few fights and get beer thrown in our hair while our husbands were getting food. We ended up in one crazy section full of arguing Mets and Yankees fans

Loved the stadium.

Last time we went to New York was with my sister Amber that died in April. She was obsessed with Sex and the City and took us on a walking tour of Sex and the City sites. I was pregnant and not the most willing participant, but it was so her. We had our picture taken in front of where Charlotte lives on the show. In honor of my sister Katherine and I recreated our picture.

We got tickets to David Letterman and had front row. Kelly Ripa, Jennifer Lawrence, and Daniel Radcliffe with the cast of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying were on it. Definitely suggest going during sweeps week.

We tried the cancellation line to get tickets for Wicked and ended up getting the most amazing seats just five minutes before the show started. It was our first time to see it.

This trip was just what we needed. Thanks Buz and Katherine for always making us laugh.

You know you are behind on blogging...

2011-06-03T12:28:00.000-07:00

when you post about Easter in June.

The day before Easter we always have an Easter egg hunt with my family.

Kai wanted to be a bunny all day. Even when he was sleeping ;).

Carson found so many eggs.

His bucket was overflowing. Kenzi and Annie were so cute sharing their eggs.

On Easter after our hunt at home we headed up to Todd's parents house for dinner and another Easter egg hunt.

Kai posing. His church pants didn't make it to the egg hunt.

Taking a brake for painting.

Annie and Kai loved being chased by Sooki in the back yard.

After we we went to my mom's house for dessert and another egg hunt. Our kids were spoiled and we all loved spending time with our families.

Update

2011-05-27T17:06:00.000-07:00

"If you only knew what the future holds after a hurricane comes a rainbow." -Katy Perry

Love this line. It has been true of our life lately. The past week has been much needed and full of so many good things. Before I get around to posting about the details I need to update what else we've been up to.

We renewed our children's museum membership and have been going all the time.

The helicopter is a favorite at the museum. Love this picture and since I last posted Todd shaved his head. Some people might have thought he had a mullet in his marathon picture :).
More catching up soon.

Life and Marathons

2011-04-18T14:02:00.001-07:00

Todd ran his first marathon on Saturday. I think he's amazing. With everything we've had going on he's only been able to run a few times the past month, but he still finished it. As Carson, Annie, Kai and I were getting to the finish line I almost started balling. I knew he had been having leg cramps since mile 15 and the last 11 miles had been so hard. It made me think of everything we've had going on. It's been hard, but we can make it. Cute kids full of love always help too.

Missing this girl.

2011-04-07T22:39:00.000-07:00

My sweet sweet sister Amber passed away on Tuesday.

Love,

love,

love her.

Love her favorite quote right now.

"Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning how to dance in the rain."

When it rains and it pours...

2011-03-31T23:17:00.000-07:00

*image from flickr

we are given umbrellas.

March was a rainy month for our family.

People always compare the pain of kidney stones to having a baby. I'm not sure which is more painful. I've never done either "natural", but I don't recommend doing both in the same week. While I was going to the E.R. for kidney stones Todd was on his way to Instacare with a terrible case of strep throat. Todd, Carson, and Annie were all treated for strep throat. Carson had an allergic reaction to the antibiotic and got hives all over his body. Next week I get to have lithotripsy for more stones. Throughout all the rain we have been overwhelmed by all the "umbrellas" we have been given to help us through the storms. Dinners, desserts, breads, phone calls, cards, texts, letters, e-mails, flowers, presents for us and our kids, lunches, amazing help with our kids, prayers, and all your sweet comments on our last post. We have felt so much love.

Before all this happened I feel like I was given many spiritual umbrellas. I was preparing a lesson for a Relief Society lesson I don't even teach until July when this talk and this talk kept coming into mind. They didn't really fit with the lesson I was planning, but now I am so grateful that I read them so many times before this.

A friend told me that our family deserves to win the lottery or something after all this. Last week it felt like we did. Our family needed something to celebrate and our Carson won second place in our city for an art project he did at school. Months ago he told me how everyone in his class got back their art projects from his schools Artapalooza night, but his teacher wanted to keep his. At parent teacher conference his teacher told me that his art had won a few more levels and that he might win a city award. We are so happy for our little artist. We have some of his earlier work displayed in our bathroom.

They had the awards ceremony at a mall and his artwork is now displayed in our city library.

When I look back at this time in our families life I will never forget how many have reached out to us. Recently I realized in all my pregnancy sickness I had neglected a speeding ticket. A very kind man dropped the extra fee's for me by saying "I'm going to pay it forward". After this month I have a lot of "paying it forward" to do. Everything that has been done or said has blessed us more than I can say.

Baby

2011-03-16T17:51:00.000-07:00

Dear sweet baby boy,

I remember the night I found out we would be having you. Your daddy was working late and I was packing for our trip to San Fransisco. I thought about telling your daddy you were coming by playing "Baby Baby" by Justin Bieber for him, but I knew he wasn't a Justin Bieber fan. I found a U2 song that had the word "baby" in it. He didn't catch what I meant when I played him the song, but when I told him he was so happy. We talked about you our whole trip to San Fransisco. You were our little secret we weren't ready to share. I was cautiously optimistic and so sick as we waited week after week to share our news. On Christmas we gave our families the calendars that I make for them each year. When they turned to the month of July they saw our announcement of your arrival. Our soon to be July addition. At my first appointment my doctor put me on partial bed rest. It could be worse I thought. I was too sick and tired to exercise anyway. The weeks went by and my stomach grew. Then one day I felt you flutter inside me. I felt you move more and more. Our kids surrounded my tummy gave you kisses and talked to you. I felt you move towards their voices. I felt so much love between you and them. I went to the doctor just past 18 weeks and listened to your strong heartbeat. For the first time I thought you were a boy. I left the doctors office with an uneasy feeling and I had no idea why. The next week I started to feel you push against my hand as I lay in bed. At 20 weeks something changed. I started to feel smaller instead of bigger. I wasn't feeling you move. Last Thursday I started to fear the worst. Friday was supposed to be such a happy day. I knew you were gone, but I didn't want to. We went to our ultrasound appointment on Friday and within a few minutes we knew. We saw you, so perfect, but without a heartbeat. Our hearts were broken. The ultrasound tech cried with us. Then my favorite nurse. We were told I would need to deliver you. We checked in to labor and delivery that night. We didn't know how long it would take to
see you. Around twenty-four hours they said. I had placenta previa and they prepared us that I might have surgery. I hoped to see you I prayed that I would see you. Around 18 hours my water broke. I first saw your foot. Tiny and perfect. With seeing that one little foot I felt more love
than I can describe. The doctor came and after two pushes you were here. Our precious baby boy. You were just under a pound and 8
inches tall. They wrapped you in a blanket and handed you to me. You looked just like your brother Carson. My heart would give anything to have the feeling I had holding you always. They suggested we give you a name. We named you Finn. I wish you could have stayed, but
we know you had to go.

Can't wait!

2011-03-09T13:25:00.000-08:00

Friday is on my mind all the time. Friday we find out if our little baby is a boy or a girl. Even though it's our fourth I've never been more curious for what it will be. With Carson we didn't even find out until he was born, but I was so convinced it was a boy we kept buying boy clothes. Annie I felt like she was a girl, Kai a boy, and with this one I've decided I have no clue. I would love for it to be either one. When I had my first ultrasound with this baby I showed Carson and Annie the picture. Annie started balling. Carson had told her it was a boy. My heart breaks a little that if it is a boy Annie will never have the sister that she wants so badly. I know she'll be okay if it's a boy, but for now the thought of it brings her to tears.

With Valentine's over I had to make a green version of the yarn wreath I found here.

This time instead of the felt flowers I did last time I used these little rosettes I had on a ribbon.

Cut them out individually.

Put brads through the middle of them...

and stuck them into the wreath. I didn't even have to use a glue gun.

Counting

2011-02-21T13:57:00.000-08:00

One little monkey....

2011-02-16T18:45:00.000-08:00

dressed herself up in an old Halloween costume and went to bed.

(picture from my iphone)

L.O.V.E.

2011-02-16T12:41:00.001-08:00

I found a tutorial to make these yarn wreaths on-line and I am hooked. One of my friends put felt hearts on hers and stitched words into them like candy hearts. Can't wait to make more.

Todd and I celebrated Valentine's on Saturday night and it was one of my favorite dates. My cute mom watched our kids for us and decorated Valentine's cookies with them while we went out. We didn't have plans for the actual day, but our kids made it so full of love. They woke up early to make Valentine's for Todd and I. They ran into our room saying "Happy Valentine's Day!" and showed us the cute pictures and hearts they had made for us. Between neighbors and grandparents our kids found surprises at our door all day. They were so excited for everything. For our bedtime story I read our kids a book about love. After I read the story Carson told me he didn't like the story very much. When I asked him why he didn't, he got a disgusted look on his face and said, "It was too lovefull".

First visit.

2011-02-16T12:36:00.000-08:00

Carson lost his first tooth a few weeks ago. The permanent tooth had already grown in behind the one he lost. He just lost the one next to it too. He wrote the cutest note to the tooth fairy and he has been using his tooth fairy money to save up for...Lego's. Big shocker.

His second note to the tooth fairy.

Christmas?

2011-02-03T21:10:00.000-08:00

Finally Christmas even though it was months ago. Fits with how I feel lately, behind, busy, and pretty much getting things done when I can.

Christmas Eve is always one of my favorite nights of the year. I love seeing the anticipation and excitement in our kids eyes and going to Todd's family Christmas party.

Santa always make a visit.

Annie and Santa.

Kai and Santa.

Carson and Santa.

We love it when family comes in town for the holidays. Our kids had so much fun with their cousins.

These girls are sooo sweet with Annie. Dagney is Todd's cousin and Tyra is Todd's cousins daughter.

Christmas morning we opened presents at home.

Carson was so fun to watch open his presents.

Annie had to have Jesse from Toy Story. A few days after she got Jesse Carson wrote Annie on the bottom of Jesse's foot. Annie loves cousin Trey. They are three months apart and she wanted him to play with her the whole time they were here.

Annie and Kai at Temple Square. They got so many comments walking like this. These too are such good friends.

More blurry pictures. It was really cold and they were not loving pictures.

The lights are always beautiful.

The weeks before Christmas...

2011-01-02T11:19:00.000-08:00

(I meant to post these events individually throughout the month, but when things are crazy I find myself not blogging. So here's a little recap.)

We decorated.

Todd brought home this amazing console table that he designed and made the concrete top for just in time for me to put decorations on it. I have one talented husband.

This little elf came to visit. Our kids named him Love and when they caught themselves being naughty they would apologize to him. They laughed when they found him in different spots every morning.

We go to see the witch's every Halloween at Gardner Village, but this year Carson was at school when we went. I think it made him extra excited about the elves. It was our first year to see them and Carson had to have his picture taken with every single one. I have about thirty pictures just of Carson with the elves. Annie refused to have her picture taken and Kai was in the stroller.

I did get a few of Carson with some of the friends we went with Logan and Cade.

Annie was so darling in her Christmas dance recital.

She had a busy week with regular class and a dress rehearsal and she wouldn't show me any of her dance until the performance. She wanted to surprise us.

What a cute surprise. She was so great. Annie waving in the middle. We just love love her.

The next day she got all dressed up for her preschool Christmas performance.

Our cute little reindeer.

We made gingerbread houses. Carson's had candy cane rockets on it, Annie's had gingerbread men and Kai stuffed his so full of candy that it broke and he ended up with more frosting on him than was on his house.

Just the first two weeks of December and I didn't even include the busiest things that we did. I love this crazy month though.

San Francisco

2010-12-01T23:19:00.001-08:00

Two weekends ago Todd and I were able to get away for a few days to San Francisco. Our amazing families watched all three of our kids for us. I felt like we were on a date for four days straight. It was Todd's first time to San Francisco and I haven't been there in years. My parents grew up just outside of the city and when I was growing up it felt like my second home. I loved being back.

We took these pictures by Ghirarhdelli Square where we had some yummy, but really strong hot chocolate.

We went to the most amazing farmers market at the Ferry Building by the Bay Bridge. I could've just stayed and ate at the market all day and spent a fortune on cheese. Weird, but it looked so good.

We went to the De Young Museum to see an exhibit of post impressionist artwork on loan from Paris. I love art. It was amazing to see originals by Renoir and Van Gogh.

The museum is in the middle of The Golden Gate Park and there are two other museums by it.

Other highlights of our trip: shopping, yummy food, beautiful city, cable car riding Full House style in the pouring rain, going to or renting movies every night, celebrity sightings, culture shock in China town and tourist shock in Fisherman's Wharf.

Kai

2010-11-14T17:30:00.000-08:00

Kai has so much personality in his not so little two year old body. He's almost four years younger than Carson, but Carson's clothes go straight to Kai when he grows out of them. We were with some friends at a bouncy place this week and as my friend and I were talking Kai was giving mom's that we didn't even know hugs. He is such a flirt. I had about six mom's tell me how sweet he is.

During the prayer at church today since everyone had their eyes closed he started yelling to everyone around us "wake up, wake up". A few weeks before at church, he colored a picture, stood up on the pew, and yelled to everyone behind us "look guys, I colored a picture. I did it".
Never a dull moment with our little two year old.

Kai is really sweet,

really playful,

and a little bit stubborn and serious. We wouldn't have him any other way.

Denver

2010-11-10T21:44:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago we went to Denver to see three of our favorite people. My brother Jason, his wife Ashley, and our nephew Paxton.

During the day we shopped and played at all the amazing parks by their home.

At night we played games and went to dinner.

We went to beautiful Boulder on a busy Saturday. To shop we had to park like this. Such a fun little getaway.

Halloween

2010-11-03T21:25:00.000-07:00

I think a good definition of our week of Halloween would be crazy! We temporarily had one car, Carson, Kai, and I all got sick, I was in charge of Carson's class party and my camera was having issues. We had so much fun though. Our kids wore their costumes five times last week and they each had two costumes. Annie was also princess Tiana and Carson was a fireman. None of those pictures turned out though. Here are pictures from some of our crazy week.

Carving pumpkins.

Annie's pumpkin and Todd's representation of Kai for the week.

Carson's pumpkins. The carved pumpkin is supposed to be Darth Vader. Today I threw it away not thinking it would be a big deal and Carson started to cry. He loves Darth Vader. So of course he had to be...

Darth Vader

Princess Leia

and Yoda. The only halfway decent picture I was able to get of Kai as Yoda. By Halloween he wouldn't even wear this costume and went as a monkey instead.

Getting together at Great Grandma's for costume pictures ...

and treats.

Halloween night dinner. Mummy hot dogs.

Ready for trick-or-treating. Kai's first year really getting trick-or-treating. He loved it, but if people didn't give him candy fast enough he would start to grunt and he did bump kids to get out of his way. He is a determined little two year old.

Carson at our annual family Halloween Party. Happy Halloween!

Sunshine

2010-10-25T20:46:00.000-07:00

This girl loves the sunshine and she loves to swing. She wants to play at the park everyday.

She yells higher and higher. She is our daredevil.

Our three all love each other so much. It is so amazing to watch.

Carson is a lot more cautious than Annie on the swing. He doesn't like to go very high.

Even though the weather has changed we are grateful for our three rays of sunshine that we get to enjoy all year long.

Soccer

2010-10-18T21:35:00.000-07:00

Carson just finished his second season of soccer. He is so funny to watch. The first half of the season he just wanted to play goalie. At his age they don't have goalies, but he was determined to play it. A few games into the season we may have decided to bribe him to score a goal. About five minutes after that he scored his first goal.

Six.

2010-10-13T22:40:00.001-07:00

This boy has been on my mind. His birthday was over a week ago, but I didn't want to post about it until I was able to attempt to take a birthday picture. It hasn't happened yet. I can't even begin to explain how much I love our Carson. He has been with me from the beginning of this life as a mom. He has taught me so much in his six years. He's my helper, a homebody, thoughtful, sweet, smart, energetic, and fun. We rotate doing big friend parties every other year and this year was Carson's off year for a big party, but we let him invite his friend Aiden to his favorite pizza place.

(The sucker made his teeth blue)

For his family party I made a whoopie cookie cake. Carson looooves Darth Vader.

Happy Birthday Carson!!!!

Night Night.

2010-09-22T21:51:00.000-07:00

Annie falls asleep with this book by her side every night.

Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives

2010-09-13T21:47:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of the summer we spent almost an entire day watching the show Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives with some friends. I fell in love, and have wanted to eat somewhere featured on the show. Maybe not the place in Oregon with the doughnuts covered in bacon bits though. Over the weekend I went with some girls from high school up the canyon to Ruth's Diner. I had never been there and when I found out it was featured on the show I was in. We were too busy chatting that I only took one picture, but it was just as yummy as I hoped. I had no idea Utah has had so many places featured on the show. Just might have to try to eat at all of them.

Last day...

2010-09-06T17:52:00.000-07:00

Labor day is a busy day for Todd at work. So to help me not feel sorry for myself that we didn't have any Labor day plans we enjoyed the last of these...

and maybe the last of this.

A little crafty...

2010-09-02T16:57:00.000-07:00

Annie's preschool bag was done after last year, so I decided to try to make her a bag. With Carson and Annie both in school, maybe I'll finally learn how to sew. I used brown flowers that I got at the design district in L.A. for the trim and the center of the embellishment. I kind of love the pink, brown, blue, and white. We're getting new bedding for Annie and I'm thinking of adding blue to her pink, brown, and white room. Hmmm.

I made this headband for Annie with some of the flowers too.

Kindergarten!

2010-08-30T13:19:00.000-07:00

When Carson was a newborn people always told me that kids grow up so fast. I think today it really hit me what they meant, and I agree.

Carson woke up so excited for his first day. As he was getting ready he said to Todd, "does this mean I won't get to go to all the stores with mommy anymore"? Carson is so independent he wasn't nervous at all about school and when his friends lined up in front of the classroom he went with them, set his backpack down, and didn't look back. It took me a minute to realize where he was since I was talking to other mom's. I reminded him that he was in the other class and he just picked up his backpack and walked into the other line.

I love Carson's backpack. It was Todd's all through elementary school and his mom kept it and gave it to Carson a few weeks ago.

Carson was so happy when we picked him up. His teacher gave him a treat with a note that said "my first day was a piece of cake'. One day down for our cute kindergartner.

Back to School.

2010-08-25T18:10:00.000-07:00

Annie started her second year of preschool. Her friends Kate and Nya are in her class again and she came home telling us all about a boy named Camo. We're thinking his name is Cameron and his last name starts with an O or something. She thinks he's cute. The second day of school her little school had flooding. When I went to drop her off they told us school was cancelled. As we drove away Annie started crying. In between sobs I could hear her saying "daddy". When she calmed down she told me she was so sad because she had started a painting for daddy and she had wanted to finish it for him. She is one sweet girl.

Pool, Beach, Repeat.

2010-08-19T21:58:00.000-07:00

Every morning while we stayed at my Aunt's Carson would do this.

He is a fish in the pool. After swimming in the morning we would switch off between our favorite beaches La Jolla and Del Mar.

My family has been going to La Jolla almost every summer since I was four. It is one of my all time favorite places.

Annie might get a little scared in pools, but she is a beach girl. I kept having to tell her to not go out too far.

Emma and Annie.

The kids loved the water until we made them get out when we saw these jelly fish swimming around them. Yuck!

My cute grandparents live less then a half an hour from the beach. Even though they don't make it there very often anymore they came to spend the afternoon with the kids.

Hunting for sea shells with Great Grandpa.

Taylor, my cousin Elisa's little girl is two months older then Kai. My aunt helped them carry buckets of water for sandcastles.

At Legoland you can pay $12 for parking and get a shopping pass into the park for an hour. The first time we tried to do it was during Star Wars days. It was sooo packed we didn't want to wait in line for over an hour, but Carson did see Storm Troopers. The second time we went there weren't any lines and Carson was completely happy just to be there.

He loved seeing this.

In the hour we were there we saw all the miniture cities they have built out of Lego's.

Craft night. My twin cousins Elisa and Heather make amazing headbands and hair clips and they showed us how to make them with the flowers we bought in L.A..

Walking on the beach in Del Mar to see the sunset.

The End.

Girls trip to L.A.

2010-08-17T21:31:00.000-07:00

While Todd was at Scout Camp Carson, Annie, Kai, and I drove down to San Diego and stayed at my Aunt Gail's. My cousin Becky, her daughter Brooklyn and my mom drove down too. The second day we were there my mom watched Carson and Kai while Annie and I spent the day in L.A.. Our first stop was to Bottega Louie for brunch. An amazing bakery/restaurant.

These girls were so cute together. Emma, Alexis, Annie, and Brooklyn. We squished them in the backseat and they just played the whole drive. Using their gum for teeth.

Annie with her cute 2nd cousins.

Alexis and Emma.

My cousin Elisa and her daughter Emma, my cousin Becky and her daughter Brooklyn, us, and my cousin Heather and her daughter Alexis.

After brunch we headed to the design district. It was a little crazy there to take pictures, but we spent hours at amazing fabric and bead stores. I think L.A. girls days should happen more often.

Summer Fun

2010-08-02T23:20:00.001-07:00

Kai has grown up so much this summer. He is at such a fun age and he wants to do everything that Carson and Annie do. When Carson was taking his shirt off at swim lessons Kai tried to take his off too. Since Annie loves Hello Kitty and Dora, Kai loves Hello Kitty and Dora. A few weeks ago we were at Target and Kai saw a towel with Hello Kitty on it. He ran up to the towel, said "oh Hello Kitty" and gave the towel a hug. He has such a playful personality and loves to laugh and play.

Since Carson loves Star Wars, Kai does too.

We went to Cowabunga Bay and loved it. Kai went down most of the slides with Carson and Todd.

While Annie and I played with the tubes. Annie is finally starting to love the water more. She did awesome at swim lessons this summer.

Annie has grown up so much this summer too. She is always saying funny things. She keeps saying to me, "mommy, I love you more than a pickle". I have no clue where she got that from.

Carson decided to turn himself into a robot with the packaging from Annie's bike.

Carson has had a busy summer. He went to summer camp and met his first girlfriend. One day she called him five times. I'm not ready for that stage yet. Carson is a little fish and did awesome at swim lessons and he loved his first time at Lagoon.

Twenty-fourth of July picnic.

Our kids have done lots of this during the summer. Playing in our backyard and getting dirty is one of their favorite things.

I realized two things this summer. I forgot to take pictures of almost everything we did and most days I wish my kids weren't going back to school.

Bear Lake

2010-07-26T18:15:00.001-07:00

Last month we went to Bear Lake for four days. We played all day and stayed up late. It was relaxing, fun, and over way too fast.

Our kids played in the sand for hours.

They loved having Kenzie and Savannah there too.

Kenzie, Kai, and Annie.

I have no clue what Carson will do when he grows up, but I think he has a natural talent for building sand castle bridges.

Shadi and Savannah.

Kai could not get enough of Annie. He is her little shadow.

Our kids finally flew kites for the first time. Every time I have tried with them at home there is not enough wind.

Who's that cute girl flying a kite? Kai's sweatshirt got wet so he borrowed Kenzie's cover up.

Luckily even being covered in hot pink he's still all boy.

By the end of the day he looked like he'd been rolling in sand.

The view from where we stayed. We were there over the 4th of July and they did fireworks on the grass by the water.

Waiting for the fireworks to start.

Parties

2010-07-21T19:25:00.001-07:00

Annie looooves The Princess and the Frog. Since Kai is too young to disagree we threw a Princess and The Frog themed family party for Kai and Annie. We made jumbalaya, french bread, southern salad, and mint lemonade for dinner.

Kai's frog cake.

Annie's princess cake.

Annie and aunt Amber.

Annie loves her new princess bike.

On her actual birthday Annie got the blue Tiana dress she wanted.

We went to Chuck-E-Cheese and had cupcakes from the Sweet Tooth Fairy. Yum!

A few days later Kai turned 2.

Kai loves these Cars toys. At his family party he got part of the Cars set and he loved it so much he got the other half. Carson is so excited that Kai is starting to play with Lego's too.

Kai finally got his first pair of See Kai Run shoes for his birthday.

Run. Sleep. Repeat.

2010-07-10T16:10:00.000-07:00

We ran the Wasatch Back last month, but I'm finally getting around to blogging about it. Our team was divided into a girl van and a guys van. It was our first time to do this and we both loved it.

Our team just after finishing. The guys had finished hours before so they had showered, eaten, and taken naps.

Our team was sponsered by the American Cancer society and because of the money we raised they provided us with a suite at the finish line. There was also a lunch catered by The Olive Garden and Cafe Rio.

The view from our suite.

Two

2010-07-06T23:46:00.000-07:00

Two years ago today this big bundle of joy entered our lives and he has been all those adjectives from day one. My first thought when I had Kai was "he is is much too big to be a newborn". Then he looked in my eyes. The powerful moment when you first meet. With each of our kids I have had a different feeling at that moment. With Kai it felt like he was saying "oh hi mom, there you are, i've missed you". Kai is full of energy, determination, and fun. We all love him so much and he shows us so much love too. Happy Birthday baby boy! We love you!

Preschool Graduation

2010-07-01T13:48:00.001-07:00

Carson graduated from preschool a few weeks ago. The past two years have flown by. Carson grew up so much this year and he did awesome. He's ready for kindergarten. I just hope I am too.

Carson was a sheep during a skit they did for the parents.

School's out for Annie.

2010-07-01T13:31:00.000-07:00

Annie finished her first year of preschool a few weeks ago. The last week they celebrated her birthday.

She loves to sing and was so cute at her end of year performance.

Annie made so many new friends this year. Everyday she would tell me about her day and how much fun she had learning and playing with the girls in her class.

Four

2010-06-26T16:15:00.000-07:00

I am so behind on blogging and have so many posts to do, but this little girl is on my mind. Tomorrow Annie turns four and I can't believe she is already that old. Her four years have flown by. Four years ago we were living with Todd's parents and I woke up in labor. Going into labor is always exciting after waiting and waiting, but this time was the most exciting. It was the first time I went into labor by myself, without being induced, and my cute mother-in-law was just as excited as I was waiting for Todd to come home from work to take me to the hospital. It was the perfect day and Annie was the perfect baby. At four Annie is her sassiest, but still so sweet. She loves people and we love her. She is how I hoped a daughter would be times ten. Love you angel. Happy Birthday!!!

Cousins

2010-06-25T17:21:00.000-07:00

We like U2 and our families do to. All of our out of town siblings and their families planned to come in town for the concert June 3rd. Lucky for us they all still came even though the concert was cancelled. Our kids loved spending time with all their cousins on both sides and I have to confess I wish they all lived here.

Paxton is so cute. I caught him in a serious moment. He is the perfect combination of his parents. Our kids all call him "baby Pax" even though he's walking and not a baby anymore.

Kai and Pax are only seven months apart and they are becoming such cute friends.

Trey, Jada, and their new baby brother Seth all came to visit too. Jenni and I took the kids on a big hike that we thought was a little hike. Our kids loved it.

The girls.

Run

2010-06-16T13:53:00.000-07:00

My amazing cousin organized our Wasatch Back Team for the American Cancer Society and you can read an inspiring story about her here.

Disneyland

2010-06-09T19:38:00.000-07:00

The last time Todd went to Disneyland was the first time we met. I was twelve and he was fourteen. The Disneyland hotel, by the boat races, my brother Jason ran into his friend Todd who at the time was at least a head taller than him. As Todd walked away my Grandpa said to Jason, "you better be careful I think your friend could beat you up". I remember thinking my brother's friend is cute. Sixteen years later we were back, married and with two of our three kids.

They have the cutest princess lunch at California Adventure and each princess comes to your table to sign your book and take her picture with you.

Annie is the perfect age to see the princesses. She loved them all. She told me when she grows up she wants to be a princess and marry a prince..

She smiled through the whole lunch.

Carson is in love with Star Wars. He's never seen the movies, but he is a little obsessed.

Darth Vader is his favorite. We watched Jedi training twice.

The lego store at Downtown Disney was one of Carson's favorite parts of the whole vacation.

Annie's favorite rides were the teacups and thunder mountain. The first time we went on the teacups she leaned over to me and said, "I hope that somebody doesn't try to drink us".

Carson's favorite ride was the Buzz Lightyear ride. Carson had to get this gun and everyone wanted to play with it.

We knew our kids had energy, but we were still amazed that they went non-stop from the time the park opened until it closed at 9:00. Disneyland was a little bit of an emotional roller coaster for Annie. She kept getting scared on the dark rides. Just when I thought I was the worst mom ever for taking her on Pirates-she was hiding and screaming tucked beneath my legs-the ride broke. Ha! She was always fine once a ride was over, but I did feel like we were scarring her for life a few times. One of my all time favorite days though and I can't stop thinking about when we can go back.

2010-05-25T20:11:00.000-07:00

The snow on Monday made me wish we could rewind and be back at last Monday again.

We spent last Monday with Carson and Annie at Huntington Beach. Kai was happily spoiled with all kinds of love and attention at David and Marla's while we took our older two on their first Disneyland trip.

The day before we went to Disneyland we played here.

Ate here.

Rode this. We couldn't stop laughing the whole time.

Watched these two run as fast as they could to ...

experience this.

The kind of day you close your eyes and hope you'll always remember the sights, sounds, and excitement of.

Showers.

2010-05-24T13:47:00.000-07:00

Last month I helped throw three showers for some great friends.
The first shower was for my cute friend Lisa from high school. She is expecting her first little boy Owen any day. She will be one amazing mom and with six babies at the shower she even got some practice in.

Hils made these amazing cupcakes. Yum!

Her bedding has owls on it, so I did an owl theme. I made these paper cones and filled them with,

delicious white chocolate cinnamon popcorn from a recipe I found here.

The second shower I helped throw was for our friend Angie. Angie just had her baby Mae Sophia last week. Love her name and she was exactly the same size and length as Kai when she was born.

I have loved felt lately so I made tons of felt flowers.

Michelle's delicious cupcakes.

Britt's amazing fruit pizza.

The third shower I helped throw was a ward shower for our neighbor Megan. She's on the far left in pink. Megan is due anyday too and she is having a boy. Megan is so good with kids. She will be one awesome mom!

Carson has been busy.

2010-05-03T10:50:00.000-07:00

Carson started his third year of t-ball a few weeks ago. He has a lot of the same friends on his team from last year and his coach is awesome. It was so windy the day I remembered to bring our camera.

This year Carson loves stopping the ball with his glove.

Todd wasn't able to make it until the end of this game, but other dad's told me Carson was making them laugh in the outfield. He kept saying, "Too windy for me. I'm going home." He also saw boxes blowing and said "someone needs to pick up that litter". After the game Kai helped him collect boxes to throw away.

Carson is also on a soccer team with his friend Aiden.

Carson loves being the same number as his age.

Luckily Annie is easily entertained because she's been watching a lot of Carson's games lately. The week Carson started playing t-ball and soccer he also had his kindergarten orientation. He told me in the car one day that he was nervous about starting kindergarten because he can't read very well. Now he is really excited. I'm so relieved.