Megan is 6!

We celebrated Megan's 6th birthday this last Wednesday, June 11, while we were here in Park City. This is what we woke up to that morning:

The snow was a fun surprise. Megan knows it was just for her on her birthday. ;) We had a little family birthday party for her at the Olympic Oval Ice Skating Rink. It was so cool! She had a blast as did everyone else. It was her first time ice skating and she was so excited to go. She was a little nervous and shaky at first, but she ended up doing really well and just loving it. What a fun day for her! Thanks for the great idea, Mom!

Uncle Brett helping Megan tie the laces on her skates. Grandma and Megan trying out their skates.
Carli and her cute little skates. Brandon skating. He did pretty well!

Megan skating with Daddy!Uncle Brett, cousin Harper, and Grandpa behind them.

Grandma and Carli taking a break. You can see Ben, Brandon, and Megan in the background.Kate had a blast! She did better than anyone (except maybe her dad). She loves rollerblading so this came pretty naturally to her.Here's Megan standing outside the Olympic Oval. It was a really fun day!Megan is our fiery red-headed little girl. She is full of life and love. While she does have the temper of a red-head, I love when she is cuddly and wants to read a book or play a game together. She's a momma's girl. She loves to sing and dance, play with her friends, play computer, swim, color and draw. I think one of her most favorite things to do is help in the kitchen. She is always the first one to want to help stir or measure or scoop.

She just finished a great kindergarten year and I can't believe she's going to be a big first grader!

So...

Last week for FHE we sent the kids on a little scavenger hunt and this was the surprise at the end:

Yep, that's right. Baby #5 is on it's way. I am due Feb. 3, so I'm betting on a January baby since none of my babies have been late, but you never know. We are on vacation in Utah right now and I have a lot of pics to catch up on the blog (last days of school and such) so I'll try to have something new every day. We'll see...

Kate Funny

Yesterday:

Kate: "Are you sure this is the last day of school?"
Me: "Yeah."
Kate: "So tomorrow we don't have to go to school?"
Me: "Nope."
Kate: (huge grin) "I've been waiting for this day all year!"

LOL! I thought it was funny. ;)

Dallas Aquarium

Last Wednesday Carli and I joined Brandon's class at the Dallas Aquarium for their field trip. It was pretty fun. They have lots of really neat animals and fish there. Carli was in awe at the tank that had manatees, rays, fish, and turtles in it. She kept waving to them. It was so cute!

The manatees were fun to watch. They were eating lettuce while we were there. They are so huge!The girls in our group thought this teeny starfish was really neat. I had them put their fingers next to it so we could see how small it was!

Aren't octopus fascinating? What a crazy creature!

It was a fun day and I'm really glad I was able to go with them. Amazingly I was able to join all 3 of the kids on their field trips this year. It is so great to be able to be with the kids and enjoy these fun days with their classes.

Brett's Graduation

I am so behind on here so I will slowly try to catch up. :) Last weekend I flew home to see my youngest brother graduate from high school. It was such an awesome trip. I had a great time with my family and Ben was so great to hang out with the kids while I was gone. I have awesome friends who helped out, too, and I couldn't have worked it out without them. Thank you!!!

Me and Mom before the graduation

Here is Brett with his diploma.
Charisse (my sister) and nephew, Harper, at the graduation partyThayne (brother), Brett, and Dad at the party.Saturday we had a graduation picnic for Brett and our cousin, Seth. Here are the graduates!

We also celebrated my Grandma's 90th birthday! Wow!!! Here she is with all the grandkids who were there that day.

The view from the park. It was really stunning!

Here is a view from the hill just above the park looking down on it and past to the beautiful mountains. It was just so gorgeous.Just before I had to leave we stopped by to see this precious little baby! He is my cousin's newest addition to their family and he was just 2 weeks old. So sweet and cuddly! I just love newborns.It was a really wonderful weekend. We shopped, ate yummy food, and just hung out together. I did miss my hubby and kids, but I have to admit that a part of me enjoyed eating when the food was ready adn hot, got up when I wanted, got ready as my pace, sat through sacrament meeting and heard every word (mom and dad spoke so it was a great day to be there!), and didn't have to worry about anyone else for a few days. Of course, I worried about everyone being ok at home, but you know what I mean. ;)

I got back and went right back into the whirlwind that is my life. I will update more on that in the next post! ...another field trip, kindergarten memory books, a birthday party, feeding missionaries, last days of school, church calling, award ceremonies, preparing for our summer trip...

Pebbles

Today was the dinosaur parade for the kindergartners. They had so much fun dressing up and parading around the school. They looked so cute. Here is my little Pebbles:

Mother's Day

What a lovely day it was yesterday. The weather was perfect, the husband was perfect, and the kids ...well, you know kids. :) LOL! They were actually very sweet and wonderful. I even sat through the entire sacrament meeting without having to go out! It was pretty nice. Then I got to sit through Sunday School and most of Relief Society as well. WOW!



Ben got up and made a yummy breakfast for us before church. He gave me a great under-the-counter CD/radio for the kitchen and I am loving it! Instead of the TV blasting I have had the music blasting and it has been a nice change. The kids are liking it, too. The card he chose was so sweet and beautiful. he's very good at choosing cards that say things that really get to me. And, of course, there was the bag of chocolates and the red and white roses. He did a great job this year. He even made dinner--all by himself! Thank you, hon, for all your hard work! I love you!

The kids gave me the sweetest gifts and they are truly treasures! Brandon made me 2 Hershey kiss roses and a beautiful card at scouts last week. I loved them! Kate drew me 2 wonderful pictures and so did Megan. Carli gave me lots of hugs and snuggle time. :) What sweet kids I have.

Here's the little poem that is on Megan's gift she made at school (pic above):

I'm your little flower, Mom

Please help me grow and bloom:

Take the weeds, but leave the roots

And give me lots of room.

Mom, you are my gardener,

My sunshine and my rain.

Too much will make me wither

With enough, I'll bloom again.

I am your little flower, Mom.

I'm different from the rest.

Don't pick me, Mom, just help me grow

To be my very best.

I felt very loved yesterday and I spent the day thinking of how much I love the mothers in my life. My mom is definitely the best I could have gotten. I love her so much and learned from her example. I still do. She is always there for me and is so supportive and helpful. My mother-in-law, Sandy, is the best mil I could ask for. She is really awesome. She, just like my mom, is always there to be supportive and loving. I still have 2 grandmothers living as well and they are 2 more amazing women who I look up to and admire. All of my "mothers" are such treasures in my life. I'm so grateful as well to all the awesome friends I have who teach me constantly how to be a better person. :)