Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Happy birthday to Me!!

I don't usually like birthdays. Not that I don't like them, but they just kind of come and go these days. The hype is usually on Riley, since his b-day is 2 days before mine. I did love my bday yesterday though. It started w/ getting a great massage at Massage Envy. Tyler made the appt. for me, and off I went. My parents came over in the morning, brought me a gift, and an Awesome cake!! Mom kept the little kids for me so I could go downtown to meet Tyler for lunch. We went to Happy Sumo and got sushi... YUM!!! It was so nice and relaxing to just talk without kids. Did our normal busy Tuesday things... homework, dance, soccer. Then back home for a little party and more cake. It really was a good day. Just nice and relaxed. I am glad that I have to wait 364 days until my next b-day. They are coming too fast these days!

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Happy birthday Riley!

Riley turned 9 years old today. Seriously? That just blows my mind. I can still remember details about his birth, which I won't bore you with right now. He has been planning his birthday for months now, and had such a great time. He wanted an "Angry Birds" party. And that he got...
My super-talented sis-in-law made this cake for Riley. He thought it was the coolest thing ever! He kept rearranging the characters, making different scenarios w/ the birds and pigs.


Tyler found these balls, and being the ambitious dad that he is, decided to paint faces on them. They turned out so cute! Again, Riley was dying!
The party guests played a mean game of dodge ball on the tramp w/ all the balls.

After dodge ball, we had the kids build angry bird structures w/ pieces of wood that Tyler cut up in our garage.

He painted bird faces on little rubber balls, and made pigs out of apples from our apple tree. Quite resourceful I might add.
They put the pigs in their buildings, then used sling shots and the balls to knock them over. It was harder that we thought, so they ended up just chucking the balls to try to get their towers down. It was hilarious! Just a side note... the 4 kids on the left were amazing at building their towers: Abby, Eva, Max and Eli! Funny, since they were the 4 youngest at the party.
After the party, Riley wanted to go to Asian Buffet for dinner. He loves that place! He got so many great gifts from his friends, so after we got home, he spend the rest of the night playing with them.

Today (Sunday) was his actual birthday. Grandparents came over for more cake & ice cream. Thanks for the great presents!!
Riley told me tonight that his birthday was awesome! He is such a good boy, and I am so proud of the great brother and son that he is! Happy Birthday bud! I love you!!

Monday, September 19, 2011

Love this boy!

Ever since Jake turned 4, he has been a little "difficult" we will say. Until lately... I am not sure if it is all the one on one time that we are getting now that the big kids are in school, but he has been so sweet, fun, and such a great helper at home!! I just can't get enough of him.
He says the cutest things lately, and I just had to document this.

Yesterday we were at Tyler's cousins' farewell. I took Jake into the Mother's room with me during sacrament mtg. while I fed Meili. Luckily, they had a speaker in the room so you could hear the talks in the chapel, so we just sat quietly and listened. Here is our conversation as we were about to leave the room.

Me: "Ok bud. It's time to go back into the chapel"
Jake: "No. I don't want to."
Me: "We need to go back in"
Jake: "I want to stay here"
Me: "It really is time. Let's go back in with Daddy. Church is almost over."
Jake: "I don't wanna go back!"
Me: "Why?"
Jake: "Because I want to stay in here so I can keep listening to the Holy Ghost."

I had tears from laughing so hard at such a cute comment. Again, I LOVE this boy!!

Friday, September 16, 2011

Land of the Free...

For family night this week we went to the Healing Field in Sandy. My heart was touched as we saw so many flags representing all those lives that were lost on 9/11. It gave us all a greater appreciation for what we have. It was a really neat experience to be there, and to learn about each individual life that was taken.
We found Tyler's cousins' flag. Sergeant Aaron Kramer, died on 9/16/10 in Afghanistan. The kids think that Aaron, and all of the other soldiers that serve our country are "awesome!"
I am so grateful to live in a country that comes together after such a life-changing event.
I love the U.S.A!!

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Great weekend


We decided to go to St. George over Labor Day weekend. We had such a good time. We went to Zion National Park, The Little Mermaid at Tuachan, a few different parks, ate good food, swam, and just relaxed.

The kids had fun hiking, and looking for lizards and squirrels.
Tyler carried Meili in the back pack carrier most of the day. So we were excited that she got to see how pretty it was here when she finally woke up.
I forgot my camera on all of our other excursions. Kind of a bummer, but kind of nice too. It forced me to just enjoy each moment with my family.