Ballet Beauty

Tonight was Scarlett's ballet recital. She was in the fall portion of a "Four Seasons" production. It was a lot of fun and she was so cute! All the pre-school classes stole the show. Avanlee kept getting dissappointed every time Sissy left the stage and we had to reassure her that she'd be back. All three Grandmas were able to come as well as two of the neighbor girls and a friend of the family. Thank you to those of you who came to support her. She was so excited that you all came.
We decided to take our own pictures of her in the backyard since the professional photos were pretty pricey. Kyle does a great job.

The other pictures were taken outside the auditorium at Weber state University after the show. Daddy bought her flowers. The show was fun to watch and very professional for a dance recital while still being fun of the girls. It is a good quality ballet school, and if anyone wants info for it let me know.

Surprise! Happy Birthday!

So we had a 'surprise party planned for Kyle for the 28th and Scarlett leaked the details (funny the whole thing was her idea) so it became a pseudo-surprise party thereafter. Well, something came up and Kyle had to reschedule a different surprise (one for the rest of us) and we were forced to cancel the party. I woke up this moring and decided to round up the neighborhood kids and throw a quick 20 minute surprise party before we had to rush and get ready for Scarlett's dance recital. Since it was so last minute, Kyle was definitely surprised when he got home from work and found us waiting. This is Kyle's post-being surprised, surprised face...goofball.
Albertson's makes our favorite carrot cake. So, though I usually bake, we had to get it for the ocassion. So yummy!

Rock Climbing

A random moment: These were just so funny I had to post them. They love these crazy glasses!

At the end of May we took some friends with us rock climbing. Their kids are about the same age as ours and had a great time playing together. We took our gear and lunch and spent a couple of hour in the mountains. It was a good time. We love finding things to as a whole family (we're seldom apart) and it's been fun introducing our kids to the things we enjoy doing. I know it will be slow going for a couple of years as the kids grow and learn, but it's well worth it. The memories and bonds we'll make will be priceless.

We had to stop off and buy kid sized climbing shoes on our way. I caught this shot of us coming out of the sporting goods store. They configured themselves on their own.

This was when we were waiting for a spot to climb. The kids were really good even though we had to wait a while.
Here are the kids having lunch together. It was a lot of fun.

Kyle is really good. He's been climbing since he was 16. Our first date was rock climbing and we'd get out to do it occasionally when we were first married , but with the kids we hven't been able to get out and climb as often as we used to (it's kind of tricky pregnant as well, hehe). It's fun that the kids are getting old enough to join us!
Scarlett was a total stud! She took to it very quickly and did better than I did!Look how high she is! She had been begging us to take her climbing since we got a child's harness last fall. We never made it out, mainly because Asher was on the way, until now.
Avanlee tried it too for about 0.5 seconds. She was just excited to be like the big girls. The harness is still so big on her anyway!
Yes, Asher was there too! He was really good...for all 4 hours! Thank goodness he's started solids.It really is a lot of fun andsuper safe if you know what you're doing. Let me know if anyone wants to join us!

Memorial Day

We are so grateful to live in this free land and are grateful to the men and women who serve and have served to preserve our freedoms. We are grateful to those who have gome before us and helped us become who and what we are today. Kyle and I are both very proud of our heritage and hope to instill love of God, love of family, and love of counrty in our children.

Here are a few pics of our Memorial Weekend. We went up to the cabin to target shoot and fish. Spencer wanted to try out his new rifle (a present for getting his Eagle rank in the Boy Scouts - Congrats Spence!). The girls had a lot of fun too! We had cousin Aubrey with us and had a blast.

Aubrey, Scarlett, and Avanlee

Kyle and Asher

Spencer with his gun

Dad throwing clay pigeons for me

Dad, Kyle, and Spencer

Cute hat on Avanlee...

And one for Mom!

Avanlee, Scarlett, and Aubrey each wanted a turn.

Top to Bottom: Aubrey, Avanlee, Spencer, and Scarlett -- fishing

Grandpa Helping Scarlett fish

Aubrey catching her first fish

Avanlee with her first fish (Kyle missed the fish - hehe)

There's her fish!

Spencer and Dad

A few random pics of our super cute kids. they really are a joy and a blessing. We 're grateful everyday for the opportunity to be parents and thank God for the gift of our precious children.

Sundays with Daddy

So last Sunday we were outside enjoying the sunshine with a few of the neighbor kids and Kyle fell asleep. We decided to have a little fun with it. We covered him with all the junk we happened to have lying around. Yes, that is a pacifier in his mouth (and baby shoes on his toes). Then one of the kids decided to try and put toothpaste on his face... Needless to say, he's a sound sleeper.

Tag-Random 5's

So I didn't know if Janessa tagged me or another Katie so I decided to do this anyway.

Tag-Random 5's

5 things on my "to do" list this week
1. Exercise
2. Laundry!!!!!
3. Email my brother L.P. and congratulate him on graduating from Cal Arts (congratulations!)
4. Find a good used cell phone (ours is about to konk and I'm too cheap to buy a new one!)
5. Wash the car

5 snacks I enjoy
1. Fruit Leathers
2. "Indulgent" trail mix (Walmart)
3. Costco granola
4. Yogurt (blue yoplait)
5. Chocolate covered raisins

5 things I would do if I suddenly became a billionaire
1. Pay tithing
2. Pay off and finish the house
3. Buy two new cars
4. Get all my food storage/emergency preparedness stuff
5. Donate some and save the rest (okay...so I know that was more than 5... I've thought this out. Hehe)

5 places I've lived
1. Garland, TX (Dallas)
2. Canyon Country, CA (Santa Clarita, by Six Flags)
3. Provo, UT
4. South Ogden, UT
5. (yeah, that's all)

5 jobs I've had
1. Target (the regular one, not Super)
2. Lerner New York
3. Subway cart in the food center of our dorms
4. Cutco (ohhh the shame)
5. The Standard Examiner (papergirl)

5 things people may not know about me
1. I've had LASIK
2. I have my BA in Economics
3. I weighed more than Kyle when we got married (shoot...I may weigh more than him right now!)
4. During card/board games I strighten pieces and cards and put everything in it's place often without thinking about it or realizing it. I also color organize candy (Skittles, M&Ms, smarties, etc.) before/while I eat it.
5. Kyle and I met and were married 12 weeks later.

5 favorite musicians / bands
1. Dixie Chicks
2. Lauren Hill
3. The Hippos
4. Dave Matthews Band
5. Rascal Flats

5 tagged friends
1. (yeah I'm no good at tagging so just do it if you want to)
2.
3.
4.
5.

She did it!!

Yep...this little one is potty trained. Halleluiah! Good job baby girl!

My Arch Nemesis

The laundry. Who knew that doing the laundry for 5 people (regardless of size) would be so consuming. I wonder why I can't start and finish a day's worth of laundry in one day. I wonder why there is suddenly twice as many loads with the addition of just one tiny person. I wonder whether there really is so much extra laundry to do, or if it's just that I have so much less time, now, to do it in. Either way I'm afraid it's taking over. (A further complication: Who has time to do/finish laundry when attempting to potty train #2?) P.S. I'm very thankful for all our clothes.