Hairless...sigh

My boys love to have their hair buzzed. I don't. I have never liked how it looks. No offence to those who do that to their boys hair all the time, but I prefer hair. Tyler asked all winter to buzz his head and I told him he could do it in the summer. We compromised and we did it yesterday so that he could go to the last day of school and show his friends.
That's right...last day of school today! Hurray! I am looking forward to late evenings and fun outings!
The pictures are backwards and I don't want to take the time to change them, so you get the after and then the before.

Planting

I love our garden all summer, but I especially love it when it is freshly tilled and planted. I love the feeling of accomplishment of getting it all in and the excitement of the things to come. I love that there are no weeds and that everything is nice and neat (except for our crooked rows!).

Clean

Just a cute picture of Braelynn intent on washing her hands!



On a completely unrelated note, but something I didn't want to forget...Veronica had the opportunity to play her violin with her Great-Grandpa Smith (my Grandpa) for our ward music night last week.
Although she didn't feel quite ready, they did a beautiful job. The song they played was "O My Father", a song that brings tears to my eyes when I hear it, but especially when they were playing it together.
I am grateful to my Sister-in-Law Brittney for accompanying them. She has two little girls (both under 2 years old) but she was still so willing to help us out. Also for my parents and Grandpa. He made the trip over to practice earlier in the week and then my parents came over with him to watch them play. It means so much to us that they will drive an hour and a half to support our kids.

Follow Your Dreams

Click here to see what my sister just did. I am so proud of her!

4 x 2

Last week Brenna and Braelynn turned 4 years old! The week before their birthday, I had decided that that coming week (leading up to their birthday) was just way too busy and I just did not have the time to plan a party.
If you know Joe, you know that he is very social. He has never missed one of our kids' birthday parties. In fact, one year I was going to do one of their parties on a day that he worked, he was so sad about missing it that I changed it. I spent a good hour convincing Joe that Brenna and Braelynn did not need a party, that we would do something fun as a family instead and it would be a fun day for them.
When they asked if they were going to have a party, I was in the process of telling them all the fun things we would do instead when one of them started tearing up a little. Joe caved! Told them they could have a party! They would have gotten over it in about 5 minutes, tops!
So we had a party. It was great, they felt so special all day long. And that is the point, right? I am glad I did it, even though it made the week even more insanely busy.
They had six of their friends over for a luau. They played pin the monkey on the palm tree, played with play dough, practiced hula-hooping, ate hot dogs and chips, decorated their own cupcakes and just played. Decorating the cupcakes with frosting and sprinkles was the favorite. The girls all got to take home a hula hoop, leis and a little candy.


That evening Grandma and Grandpa Haley and Great-Grandma Connors came over for cake and ice cream. They both wanted a present cake. Braelynn wanted yellow, Brenna pink. They received swimming suits from Joe and I and little princess dolls from Veronica, Tyler and Sam.
Braelynn




Brenna

So much to say...

So little time!

I have noticed that in recent months my posts have become fewer and far between. When I do post, it is about events, which is all good, but I want it to be more. More about the little things that happen every day, along with the big events.

I wanted to tell you about...

How much I love my husband. He is so kind, patient and willing to forgive. He is so good, and good for me. He is the best dad, doing whatever it takes for his kids. He is so good about making sure each one of them feel special, because they are. I am so grateful that I can be with him forever.

and...

about how my parents were so good to watch the kids for us so that we could go away overnight. And about how much I appreciated it. It is not easy taking care of 5 kids! It was rejuvenating. I laid in bed reading a book all morning reading while Joe was at his work golf tournament, and then after I laid in bed all morning, I laid by the pool reading my book and enjoyed the sun for a few more hours, then ate a yummy lunch provided by his work.

and...

how when we came back to my parents house after being gone half of one day, overnight and most of the next day, when Brenna and Braelynn saw us drive up they were in hysterical tears before we even reached the house and came to a stop. They apparently did not miss us. If seeing us meant that they had to leave Grandma and Grandpa's house and go home, they would rather just not see us.

And...

about how much fun it is to have 3 (now 4) year-olds. I love how everything is so exciting to them, life is just so good. I love to see them care for each other, the kindness that they show to each other and how they really are best friends.

and...

That I was able to go to a fireside with Sheri Dew and the things that I learned while there. Didn't really learn, but re-learned. And then in the quiet 1 1/2 hour drive back home from dropping the kids off at my parents house weeks after the fireside, realizing that a certain prayer had been (and still is) being answered in unexpected ways. More about that later, hopefully.

and...

How wonderful it is having a knowledge that I am a daughter of God. That I KNOW that He loves me and is aware of my needs and wants. That prayers are heard and answered. That He gives me experiences to help me become the person that He knows I can be eventually. And that with His help I can accomplish anything.

I Heart Spring!

Even if it continues to snow. Even on the second day of May! You just have to take advantage of the nice days, right? Maybe we wouldn't appreciate the warm days as much if it didn't have the snow, wind, and rain....?
One day when the sun was shining warm, I went for an hour long run, came home and pruned trees and then after a quick shower, was off to the park with some friends. We were outside so much that I got a sunburn. The next day it snowed.
On one stretch of nice weather days, my whole sidewalk, driveway and porch was covered in sidewalk chalk. I loved it! A potential crisis was diverted when we ran out of chalk until we remembered the box of egg-shaped chalk that Aunt Jody gave us while we were in Denver. Coloring ensued. I hadn't realized how much I missed my older kids doing that until Brenna and Braelynn were old enough to do that.
Last Saturday was free entrance to the national parks. Joe was working and I only had the afternoon so I didn't want to drive too far just to turn around and come back home. So we went and explored Kolob Canyon. I had always been embarrassed to say that I had never been there since it is only 20 minutes away, but I hated paying the national parks fee when Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon are so much bigger and so close also. We had a great time hiking and enjoying the scenery.




Yesterday I took the kids to Three Peaks, a popular 4-wheeling area. I wanted to try letterboxing, something I just read about this week but we couldn't find the box. We had a fun time anyway. The kids brought some friends along and climbed rocks. Whenever we go anywhere Tyler spends most of his time trying to catch a lizards with no luck. Yesterday him and his friend finally managed to catch one! He was really proud of himself! It is in his had in the picture of him. They are all from my phone so they are a little grainy.

Soccer

One of the things I love about Samantha is that she has so much enthusiasm and spunk. She decided to play soccer this year and has approached this with her usual excitement.
She is very lucky and I am grateful that she was put on a team with a patient coach and nice girls. The have welcomed her and helped her and been kind while she is learning.