Zoo-Pals

I think today was the perfect day for the zoo: gorgeous sunshine and perfect 70 degree weather, lots of fun friends to hang out with, curious, happy children in tow, and even though the parking lot was as full as it could get--we managed to find some free space and enjoy plenty of close up views of all the animals. Hogle Zoo is pretty cool too. I haven't been there in many, many years so I was happy to see the newer viewing platforms and greener spaces for the tigers. Plus, it's fun being a mom. I love going on adventures with my babes--they are such sweeties.

Bentley doing his best elephant impression

Grace, Cares, Maddie and Cec checking out the elephants

Bentley and McKay in awe over the huge elephant skull

Cute cousins

Caresie sure loves kitties :)

New Toys

I love the days following birthdays--my kids stay so busy playing with all of their fun gifts.
Here the kiddos are testing our their brand new trikes from Grandma Bobbi and Grandpa Sherm:
Cares begged me to let her wear her new 'Aurora' swimsuit yesterday along with some big girl panties to top it off (since she has pooped on the potty for 6 days in a row now--but that's another story...)
Here the critters are enjoying their new play-set now that the warm weather has returned:

Classic Song

Caroline has been asking me to sing her ballerina songs at bedtime. Hmmm, tricky. I am just a tiny bit ashamed to admit that this is the first song I thought of (along with Nina, Pretty Ballerina by ABBA--but somehow 80's disco isn't the best for a lullaby. Now that I think about it, why are the only ballerina songs I know both from the 80's?...oh--it's because they are pure cheese!!)

Bentley's First Talk

Bentley gave his very first talk in primary on Sunday--is he really that old?! As all parents are with such "firsts," we were very excited and super proud. To make his talk more visually interesting for all those cute little primary children we decided to print some pictures to go along with his words. His topic was on strengthening families--here's the talk (short and sweet) and the corresponding pics:

Heavenly Father loves us and so He blesses us with families. In my family I have a mom, a dad, and a little sister. I also have 4 grandparents, 16 cousins, 9 aunts and 11 uncles. I love spending time with my family. Families are very important. When President Hinckley was the prophet our church leaders gave us a special proclamation all about families. It teaches us to help strengthen our families. Even as little kids we can do this. These are some ways that I am strengthening my family:




1) Sharing toys with my little sister
2) Giving big hugs
3) Doing fun things together
4) Working in the yard with my parents
5) Reading the scriptures as a family
I love my family and know I can help make our home happy.

Can you tell that we had to stage many of our pics? That was quite a funny adventure for us--the sharing one was the trickiest... I love primary and my little Sunbeam :)

Caroline is 2!

This weekend we just kept on celebrating birthdays! On Friday night we had a big family BBQ at my mom's house. The kids were crazy all day waiting for their party and even though it was pretty chilly that evening they played and played outside for as long as they could stand it :) Thank you, thank you to all who came--my kids are so spoiled by your love and friendship (and fun birthday gifts too!)



Happy Birthday to my darling, princess Caroline! She is quickly turning into one girlie little girl as she cares for her baby dolls, applies her Barbie make-up and dresses up in her many, frilly costumes. I love her full-faced grin, her fluffy soft hair, her tiny, busy body, her adventurous spirit and her desire to be just like Bentley. Caresie is such a sweet girl and I love her to pieces. Lately she has been singing her own lullabies at bedtime and it is one of the best parts of my day--I just adore her tiny, scratchy voice and how eager she is to learn new words and verses. Love you, love you, little ladybug!!

Bentley is 4!

Happy Birthday to my favorite little boy!! Bentley started celebrating his birthday with Nanny and Grandpa yesterday afternoon. They took him on a special date to Build-A-Bear where he chose out his own blue, basketball playing, puppy whom he named "Typlar" (interesting choice right?!)This morning he enjoyed breakfast in bed for the very first time (I held off as long as I could but I guess 4 is finally old enough :) Beans was thrilled about it and we all sat in his room and shared off of his tray. During Joseph's lunch break we hit Chuck E. Cheese with cousin Maddie and won tons of tickets thanks to a machine that was constantly awarding a bonus jackpot--nice work Joe! Later this afternoon, Grandma Bobbi came over for a birthday visit bearing more gifts for both Beans and Cares. We ended the night at "The Pie" pizzeria for dinner with both Grandma Bobbi and Grandpa Sherm. What a busy day! Since Caresie's b-day is just 3 days away we figured we could fit in tons of fun today and save ourselves the same effort come Saturday (we are such efficient parents :)I just want to add that I love my 4-year-old Bentley with all my heart. He is so spirited, super silly, very smart and quite creative. He loves to laugh--especially at any and all "potty" humor, play at the park, color with Daddy, swim and snorkel in the water, and play with all kinds of vehicles--especially trucks and any kind of "mighty machine." He is a dear little soul to me--my first born child. I am so grateful that my Father in Heaven sent him to Joseph and me. We were so eager to be parents and incredibly excited to know that we'd have a son joining our family. I have such high hopes for my Bentley and know that if he will just follow the examples of goodness and obedience set by his wonderful father and 2 grandfathers that he will find happiness in his life. Thanks for 4 years with you my smiling, cuddly,"moon pie" boy--I love, love, love you!!

A Fun Tag

An old friend of mine from Phoenix, Mamie, tagged me and it looked like a fun one so here goes:
**FYI--Miss Meagan tagged me a while back and I was supposed to look in the nearest book and write a specific sentence from a specific page but when I looked it up it was totally lame. I even cheated and looked in another book and it was also one of those nondescript sentences--I just couldn't blog about such boring finds :)

Q: What were you doing 10 years ago?
Oh, the 19 year old Carrie...I was just a crazy teenager relaxing at home after finishing my freshman year at BYU. I was "dating" (i.e. frequently kissing) a rather cute boy who had been the quarterback on my high school football team when I was sophomore. He was the first 'RM' I had ever hung out with and even though we had some fun together, the relationship was pretty short-lived.

Q: What were you doing 5 years ago?
That was our family's first weekend together at the St George house. Cec and I flew to Las Vegas from Phoenix with her 2 boys, rented a car, and drove up to SG. The only problem was that the builders were behind on schedule and we couldn't actually stay in the house that first night there. We did move in over the next few days and had so much fun unpacking all the boxes of new things my mom had for the house. I can't believe my parents have had their place for 5 years now! Time is flying...

Q: What were you doing 5 months ago?
Preparing for Christmas!

Q: 5 Things on my To-Do list today:
1. Wrap presents for Bentley's birthday tomorrow
2. Watch DVRed premiere of The Bachelorette
3. Mail letter to Marshall along with bills :)
4. Work on dance lesson plan for teaching tomorrow
5. Send out an email to all the family about the kids' birthday party this Friday night at my mom's (can this blip count instead? ok--maybe not...)
Q: 5 snacks I enjoy:
1. Stacy's pita chips
2. Cookie dough
3. Bananas
4. Wheat Thins and Laughing Cow cheese
5. Trail mix (only if it has m&ms in it though:)

Q: 5 things I would do if I became a billionaire:
1. Buy my own island in the Bahamas and take my friends and family there with me to vacation.
2. Hire a house-cleaner (I really don't like cleaning... :)
3. Spend 2 months in London every year (which months though...)
4. Pay lots of tithing!!
5. Donate millions to all the charitable causes that I think really make a difference.

Q: 5 Bad habits:
1. Constantly fiddling with my wedding ring--and dropping it all over the place
2. Making and eating cookie dough (see above...)
3. Falling asleep on the couch while my kids watch Dora the Explorer at 8:00 in the morning
4. Blogging instead of doing more important things (such as the "5 things on my to do list" and cleaning my house)
5. Getting very chatty at about 11:30 pm, just when Joseph and I are about to go to sleep for the night and in turn, keeping us up until midnight almost every night.

Q: 5 Movies I have recently watched: (changed so as not to be redundant...already answered original question here)
1. Splash (on DVR)
2. Bridget Jones's Diary (also on DVR)
3. Enchanted (with my kids)
4. Bee Movie (with Bentley--he LOVES this movie!)
5. PS I Love You

Q: 5 People I am tagging:
1. Heidi Lou
2. Cec
3. Krista
4. Maggie
5. Mom

and Meagan if you want to play along :)!

Tulips and Tents

Last weekend my Virginia Tanner classes had their spring concert up at Kingsbury Hall. This made it a crazy and very busy weekend for me but I always love seeing my dancers dressed up in colorful costumes and nervous and excited about performing for their families. Brings back about a million memories for me too :) My students did a fantastic job dancing and I was very proud of them. I even got to bring home some of my own bouquets of flowers given to me by the studio and one of my sweet little students.












Just this past weekend, Joseph and Bentley went on their very first fathers and sons outing with our stake. To get Beans excited, Joseph set up the tent in our backyard the day before and both Cares and Beans loved playing in it. I missed my boys on Friday night but they were only about a mile away and ate dinner with us girls before heading over to the park. It turns out that camping was a big hit and they had a great evening together. Now we are feeling motivated to head up the canyon as a family and try some more overnighters. I think my kids are old enough to handle it but I am wondering how we'd arrange the sleeping situation with a 2 year old who is still used to sleeping in a crib...any suggestions?

Moo, Baa, La La La

Today we had our last preschool gathering at the Thanksgiving Point petting zoo. In theory, both of my kids were very excited to see and touch various farm animals. In reality, as soon as we were face to face with a loud and hairy sheep, Cares totally freaked out. This meant that I carried her for 90% of the time as she clutched my shirt and laid her face on my shoulder (made picture taking almost impossible...boo...) Bentley, however, loved everything about our adventure, including time with his best little buddies from school. He laughed at the sheep whose bleets reminded him of burping sounds (a new favorite at our house :) and he cooed over the tiny baby goats and super soft rabbits. When it came time for the pony rides I was sure that Cares would refuse one considering her reaction to all the animals beforehand but she did ask for one. So, I put her up in the saddle, released her tight little grip on my shoulder, and then heard her say in her timid, "I'm still scared" voice, "a take my picture mommy." As soon as I told her to smile for the shot she was a new girl--poised and happy and loving it. She even reached forward to pet her pony's crinkly hair. I love that silly little girl!
This tractor was a highlight for Bentley. He was fascinated by the height of the back wheels because they were taller than he was! We ended up having a great field trip and eagerly welcomed the warm sun as the afternoon progressed.

Boys Will Be Boys

How my hubby played with the kids on Mother's Day:3 crazy boys. Now we just need to add tiny Max to the pile and they'll be set :)