Memorial Weekend

We had a great weekend and loved having Jared home for an extra day. We did yard work Monday morning and then in the afternoon, just relaxed and had fun in the backyard. We all ran through the sprinklers and enjoyed soaking up some sun!

At the beginning of the weekend we had two flower beds in our front yard that were full of weeds. By Monday, we had pulled all the weeds, put down landscaping fabric, spread bark, planted flowers and even added a few lights. It's nothing extravagant but looks so much better than it did!!

Monday evening after having hamburgers, Jared got a fire going and we enjoyed S'MORES!

I think its impossible to not get messy when you eat s'mores...

SHE READS!!!

I ordered Mackayla the Bob Books and was finally able to pick them up this weekend. She LOVES that she can read whole books by herself and can hardly put them down. It's so exciting to watch her actually be able to read!!

Jacob, Bradley, and Jared all had colds this weekend and spent some time not feeling well. This is Bradley laying around feeling bad on Saturday. Jacob had it the worst and we're so glad he's finally starting to feel better!

Although it was not hot outside, the kids couldn't wait any longer to try out their new slip and slide so we set it up for them one evening last week. They only tried it a couple times before they got too cold but are excited to get it out again when we start having some summer weather.

This is some impressive work by Jacob: with only a single chocolate chip cookie, he was able to fully decorate his body.

Every once in a while, doing laundry does have it's perks! I sure love these little ones!!

Mother's Day and more in May

My family gave me a very wonderful Mother's Day. They gave me some very nice gifts, breakfast, a nice dinner and home made icecream! A perfect day!

When I opened the front door that morning to get the paper, as I always do, I found the paper sitting on the front step next to this beautiful basket of flowers!

My three WONDERFUL children with their mom on Mother's Day!

Opening their gifts for me. The kids were SO excited about this part of the day.


The other night Mackayla and Bradley kept sitting on Jared's feet wanting a ride as he walked. After a while, Jared hopped up on the counter trying to get a break. That didn't stop them though! I thought Jared's failed attempt to get away from them was funny.


A very exciting event in Bradley's life... we had a Magleby dump truck come to the house and leave us a truck load of dirt for our garden. We spent last Saturday hauling all the dirt to the back yard. The kids worked right with us for a long time and never lost interest. They helped us fill each load of the wheelbarrow with their little shovels. We got it all done that day and started planting things this weekend.


Last week Mackayla was in charge of the activity for Family Home Evening and chose for us to all play dress-up!

Here are the kids enjoying their new swing set.

Mackayla and Bradley made bunk beds out of our coffee table.

Mackayla hasn't had a bike to ride for a long time since she outgrew her little trike. We finally found one on KSL and she LOVES her new sleeping beauty bike!

Mackayla's old tricycle is officially Bradley's now. We have been going on bike rides all weekend!

Waiting for Spring

Two of the last three morning we have woke up to snow on the ground. We're ready for some warm spring weather! Even with the cold though, we've been having a great time.

This is the best picture we ended up with of the kids in their new spring/Easter clothes last month.

Rather than learning to actually crawl, Jacob has instead mastered the art of his butterfly stroke type of scoot to get all over the place. He loves to climb onto or through things and he's always so cute doing it so I have a bunch of pictures of him on the move.

Following his brother and sister around

Crawling through the middle of our coffee table

He loves climbing under his exersaucer

Mackayla and Bradley think its so funny to lay on the floor and have Jacob climb on top of them, which he always does.

He's at it again

Did I mention it's been cold here. Jared and Bradley are all bundled up to mow the lawn.

Letting Bradley ride on his sholders while mowing... I think that might win him the father of year award! :)

My parents were just able to spend a week here visiting us. I didn't end up with any pictures of them but we had a wonderful time and loved having them here!

Grandpa and Grandma spent some time trying to get Jacob to actually crawl. Grandpa thought if he stuck some oranges in Jacob's shirt he would lift his belly up and start crawling. He was getting pretty close but in the end decided to stick to his scoot.

And of course we had to take this funny picture...

Jacob perferred the oranges on the outside of his shirt.

While my parents were here we were also delighted to have a visit from my brother Chad and his family. They came down for Amy's graduation and we also got to attend that special event!

They were absolutely exhausted after a very long week but still made time to visit all their family and it was seriously such a treat to see them!

Mackayla and Bradley playing in our yard with cousins Jackson and Mitchell.

Balloons tied to your hair... who doesn't love doing that?!?

The last few weeks...

Although we're still waiting for our spring weather to show up, we were fortunate to have Jared's parents come and spend conference/Easter weekend with us. We had a WONDERFUL time and were so sad to see them leave Monday morning.

Easter Baskets

Bradley showing off the eggs they colored.

We colored eggs Saturday evening while the men were at their priesthood meeting.

The kids braved the cold long enough to hunt for some eggs on Saturday afternoon.

Jacob enjoyed the goods after the hunt as well.

Mackayla enjoying her pre-conference breakfast saturday.

Some of the pancakes were even shaped like bunnies.

Blowing bubbles...

We've been working on re-upholstering a couple of chairs. We had one chair ready to put back together by the time Jared's parents arrived so that his dad, an experienced upholsterer, could help him. It took most of the day Saturday, but they got one chair pretty much done!

There was very minimal sewing required on this project and I assumed that I would be doing that part, but Jared wanted to do it himself. :)

Our April Fool's day dinner.

Meatloaf cake and jello kool-aid.

Mackayla and Bradley were so excited about the big April Fools joke they played on their dad.
They told him he had to eat a spider---turned out to be a cookie that only looked like a spider. Boy, did they fool him!

Mackayla got her much anticipated, spring haircut last week. Her hair was much longer than mine has ever been. She got about three inches cut off.

Jacob on the slide.

The kids watching a care bear video together.

Enjoying some BBQ chicken

Bradley HATES to have any "fuzzies" in his toes. He takes his socks off multiple times a day to check between his toes.

On St. Patrick's Day, the kids were sent on a scavenger hunt all around the house to find the pot of gold the leprechaun had hid. They loved it, and want scavenger hunts to become a common part of our lives from now on.

They finally found it in the back of Jared's truck.

Sweet boy!

A great day!

Things have been running so smoothly and I finally feel like I have everything balanced and in control. I had such a great day today I wanted to share it with everyone!

I got up early this morning and got in a good workout before the kids woke up. I'm happy to report that the last of my baby weight is starting to melt off!! After making a nice big breakfast for the kids, we got cleaned up and went to the playground to enjoy the beautiful spring weather.

I think my family home evening lesson about loving each other really sunk in with the kids. They've been getting along perfectly and didn't have a single fight all day.

I put Jacob down for a nap this afternoon and he actually slept for two whole hours! With him asleep and the kids playing so nicely I decided to work on my bread making skills. It turned out great and the homemade bread went so well with the nice meal I cooked tonight.

The kids are all asleep and I really don't know what to do with myself now. I have all the cleaning and chores done. I'm really not tired now so I think I'll open up a bottle of sparkling cider and head up to suprise my husband! I hope your day was half as good as mine!!

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APRIL FOOLS!! --- HA HA

Pretty much nothing on this post was true!