Sugarhouse Park

Playdate with old friends--next door to our alma mater good old Highland High

Hazel, Bentley and Cannon

I love these girls

Our children played beautifully together--yay! It is so crazy to see all the kids we are raising. I feel like I am 17 again whenever I get together with old friends--except that we talk all about breastfeeding and kids starting kindergarten. And we still talk all about boys too--better known as husbands these days...

Everyone Loves...

...Twyla!

and random family timer pics :)

Birthday Bouncin'

Bouncin' Off the Walls, May 23rd 2009

Birthday girl

Birthday boy

Birthday Dad

Cousin hug for Bentley

Party guests--and Livies pretending to drink her bottle...

Team #1 plotting and planning...

on how to beat these guys

Sisi and Johnny (and Maddie behind them)

Kai, Bob and Tiago

Cousin hug for Caroline

Yummy cupcakes

This little lady dug right into hers!

The bounce party was a success--hooray! Thank goodness for fun uncles and dads constantly keeping all the crazy kids busy--we had so much fun. And thank you all for coming to play and for spoiling my kids--they are so lucky and loved.

Such a stress free party--I was loving the idea of so little preparation and absolutely no clean-up. Helped me save my energy for our bigger weekend plans of moving our 3 kids into their 3 new rooms. It was a busy, busy weekend. I get tired just thinking about it...pictures to come on that later...

Caroline is 3

Happy Birthday Caresie!

Oh man, someday she will hate me for posting this kind of picture...but isn't she cute? She had been awake for about 30 seconds.

Bentley was almost as excited as Caroline today!

Ready for our little birthday walk this evening (between thunderstorms)

My sweet Caroline is growing right up! She is such a little diva these days--which can be fun and quite amusing but can also be quite taxing on this mama. Caroline loves to play dress-ups, wear make-up and nail polish, take care of her baby dolls, cuddle her growing brood of stuffed animals, dance and skip and spin all around the house and shop with "the girls" (Olivia and me).

She is the chattiest little soul I have ever met which makes her great company when we run errands together. I love her little voice and all the endearing things she says. Today she was sitting up on the counter face to face with me and I was telling her how much I loved her and how happy I was that she came to our family 3 years ago. Of course I got a little teary-eyed while talking to her and then pulled her into a tight hug. Then Cares pulled back and looked right into my eyes and said "Keep talking about me Mom--I like seeing you cry." She was completely serious and it totally cracked me up. I really do love her so much. She brings so much personality into our family and is a great playmate for Bentley. Happy birthday to my beautiful little girl!

Showing off her dancing skills in her new leg warmers

Bentley is 5

Good morning! Early riser that he is, Bentley woke up at 6:45 am--well before anyone else
(I wonder if he was excited about his birthday...) He climbed in our bed and camped out until his breakfast in bed was ready. Cares wanted us to wake her up so she wouldn't miss out on any of the festivities.

kids hanging out

birthday breakfast

birthday presents

birthday dinner at Pizza Factory

and Fat Cats arcade after we ate

5 years.

Really? 5 years have passed? My first born is 5. I have been a mama for 5 years now. Wow. I think back to the day my little Bentley was born and it feels like it just happened (maybe because I just birthed a new one 3 months ago...)

5 years ago at 6:10 pm I first met my Bentley--and it was the best. I had no idea what to expect or how it would feel and I certainly didn't have a clue about taking care of him. And then the whole birthing process turned out better than I ever expected and suddenly there was this beautiful, stunning, fresh baby boy in my arms. And we just kept looking at each other, face to face for the first time and I knew he knew he belonged to me. I felt overwhelmed and excited, and unexpectedly ready--ready to raise this tiny infant and take on the challenges of parenting. I looked at him and wept at the miracle Joseph and I had created together. I wept because of the powerful joy and quiet innocence he brought into my life on that day. And I wept because of the love--oh my goodness the love! It has continued to grow every day of his life...certainly adds up after 5 years...

My 5 year old boy:

He loves to create--draw, color, cut, tape and glue. He is continually thinking of new things to make out of paper. He also loves Legos and blocks--more things to build and create with.

He is smiley and wild, loves to giggle, is learning to tease us with clever quips, sings or hums off and on throughout the day, dances to Coldplay and Lenka with me, loves to eat bananas, cheeseburgers, pizza, and chicken, still adores Hot Wheels and race cars and race tracks, and has a new affinity for Transformers (they are pretty cool toys of you ask me...)

During the past year Bentley has made huge strides in his swimming abilities. Last summer he was most comfortable in a life jacket while in the water and suddenly, this spring, Bentley learned to make do with just water wings and then realized he just needed to use both his arms and legs and he would stay above the water. In California last month he even started doing flips into the water from the side of the pool and from Joe's shoulders--and finding his way to the surface without any trouble. He really is a little fish!

Bentley is a good boy and makes his family so proud. His sisters adore him and he loves to be their entertainer and friend. Happy happy birthday to my sweet Bentley boy.

Preschool Grad

The pictures say it all. Next step...Kindergarten!!

Celebrate

It is the week of all weeks at our house--birthday time for both Bentley and Caroline. My parents are heading out of town tomorrow so they came over last night to kick off celebrating.

Grandpa Sherm and the girls (Cares is snuggling her cuddly new "kitty hello")

Opening presents in the new basement--on a hot day like yesterday it felt amazingly cool down there. I have a feeling we may be spending most of the summer there!

Weekend Away

I spent Thursday through Sunday on a little getaway with the Smith girls (2 sisters, 1 sister-in-law and 1 mom...oh, and 2 darling babies :) We met up in St George and just hung out together--meaning we ate out, laid out, shopped, talked, laughed, and had a ball. Can you tell from the picture that we had fun being totally laid back and silly together? It is always so nice to take time away from the daily grind--I was honestly in heaven just getting the chance to eat my own dinner, get ready each day, nap with Olivia and visit with my family without wrangling small kids and managing their fighting. Ahhhhh...so peaceful.

Today has been a bit of shell-shock. Okay--a lot of shell-shock. Caroline and Bentley have been at each other's throats all day. And Beans even had preschool this morning. And Caroline has been a basket-case--crying and whining and defiant. I am totally paying for my time away. At least Olivia is still sweet and sleeping like a champ--and all because she got to come with me. Lucky girl!

Here's a peek at our weekend:

Connor and Olivia--babies on the go (notice my mom's hand feeding my girl--she reluctantly drank some bottles on our trip...for anyone but me!)

Heidi and me showing off sassy shoes and sloppy feet
(sadly we didn't have quite enough time to fit pedicures in too )

dinner at Cafe Rio

To the girls: Thanks for a lovely weekend away. I love you all!

Carpet!

Installed today in the basement--hurray! The photo is courtesy of my hubby because this very afternoon I left town with my baby in tow for a Smith girls getaway. Of course everything would just happen to come together as soon as I leave--I am dying to sink my toes into that new carpet too!

Pictures Too

Mother's Day 2009

Joseph and his mom, Ruth Ann

my mom with her 2 oldest grandchildren

Olivia and Grandpa Sherm--
she took quite the cozy nap snuggled up in his arms soon after I took this picture

I have to add that I am grateful beyond description for my own 3 children and that they are teaching me all about this job of motherhood. I honestly never knew that my heart could hold so much love for those little darlings my hubby and I created. They are beautiful and funny and wild and smart and very cuddly (even Bentley with his long legs that just keep growing and growing) Oh, to think about my feelings for them is almost too much--they are my whole world.

And I'm grateful for my partner in crime, the incredible Joseph. He takes such good care of us and spoils me in particular in a hundred and one ways. I love that he and I get to share in the role of parenthood.

It was a good mother's day.

Women

Today the Young Women and Relief Society sisters met together to practice a song we are singing in church next week. It is the EFY version of As Sisters in Zion combined with We'll Bring the World His Truth. The song is beautiful and uplifting--one that I have loved for a long time. It fills my heart with joy and easily helps me feel the Spirit. Today, as we sang, I loved looking at the faces surrounding me, singing along in harmony. Those women, young and old, are such a force for good. There is truly power in being a righteous woman--young ones making incredibly hard choices in order to stay virtuous and pure, older ones raising families and trying very hard to teach and love and discipline all at the same time, and even older ones still deeply concerned about children even when they are grown and raising families of their own.

I looked at these women today, my neighbors and friends, and felt so proud of them. Proud of their good choices. Proud of their tested and true faith. Proud of their innate goodness and tenderness. Proud of their desire to be better and try harder. Proud of their obedience. It was an empowering experience for me. I am lucky to know them, to learn from them and to worship with them.

I am so grateful to be a woman--a daughter, a sister, a wife, a mother. I cherish each of these roles and cherish the women in my life who fill these roles for me--my daughters (tiny as they are), my sisters and my mothers (in-laws included). They are stellar examples of goodness and service and love and integrity. They are powerfully affecting the world, each in her own right. And I can feel it.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day To Me

My new Dyson. I never thought the day would come when I would be happily asking for a new vacuum as a gift. But, it has come. And this thing is fascinating--I love the clear container that holds all the dirt/dust/hair/crumbs simply because I can see how well it is cleaning. Fun. Vacuuming is fun. I suddenly feel very, very domestic typing that last sentence...