Mother's Day 2013

We had a very nice Mother's Day...ok, I had a very nice Mother's Day. We spent the day between families and had fun visiting and being together. Eric and I are so thankful for our mother's and all that they have taught us and do for us. I feel very lucky to have such wonderful women in my life. They have given me big shoes to fill!

 Eric tried his best to give me a day off. He wrangled the kids most of the day and bathed them before bed while I watched some Food Network. I was showered with pictures from Tessa, given a sweet letter from Adam, and Eric spoiled me with a sweet note, beautiful flowers, and another season of Downton Abbey.

 The highlight of the day though, was talking to David. We got to Skype with him again....sort of. For some reason he couldn't hear us over Skype, so we finally figured out how to live chat on facebook, and that seemed to work ok. Unfortunately, all the connection problems lost us about 30 minutes of talking time with him. He is coming home in 5 weeks and we are all so excited! Katy and I told him we bought him a ticket to go see Josh Groban with us this fall and he about fell out of his chair! He is SO excited! His exact reaction was (with his arms thrown in the air), "Gloria!!!" Everyone decided to play a mean trick on him and told him that Bronco had left BYU. David idolizes Bronco! When they told him that, the look of utter shock on his face was priceless! Mom said he wouldn't have looked that shock if we had told him she had died. It was pretty funny!

 We had a delay on facebook with what he could see of us and what he could hear, so Matt kept messing with him and putting all the large stuffed animals my siblings have in front of the camera. Poor David. I am sure he can't wait to come home to our weirdness. 

 He is doing so well and is so happy. He has very mixed feelings about coming home. We are so proud of him for serving so faithfully. Ben wasn't able to call this Mother's Day since he is still in the MTC. He leaves for Chile in a week and a half and will get to call Mom from the airport. 

It was a fun and busy day, but we are all happy and healthy and I never could have imagined my life going any better than it is. I have a wonderful, supportive, and very appreciative husband and 3 beautiful babies who are the light of my life. I am one blessed girl! Words can not express how grateful I am to be a wife and mother!

What We've Been Up To....

We have been busy as usual. Here is a quick look at what we have been up to.

 Last Monday, Adam gave his very first Family Home Evening lesson. He taught us about Jonah and the Whale and he did a great job!

 We went to the BYU/UVU baseball game. Tessa cheered loud for her Cougars!

 Tessa and her preschool group had a field trip to the Library.

 Gwennie discovered sidewalk chalk and she loves it! She is covered in it by the time she is done "coloring". 

 Adam started baseball practice. He is doing Coach-Pitch this year. He is thrilled that his best friend from school is on his team. They start games next Tuesday!

 We had some California cousins come to visit and we were so happy to see them! We had to get a redhead shot with Leora. Amie just graduated from the University of Utah. We forgave her and cheered her on for accomplishing all that she has done the last few years. 

 We had our Arizona friends come stay with us for a few days! Rebeca (with one c) and I have been friends since I was 13. It was fun to have her family come stay with us and we have fun catching up. (We had our big Cinco de Mayo party with them.) It's been 4 years since we have seen each other. We had fun sharing stories about work, motherhood, pregnancies, and life in general. We were glad to find out that neither of our weddings turned out like we had planned them back in 1995. 

Besides the normal stuff, we have been painting and getting our garden (such as it is) ready for planting. We are counting down the days for school to be out! We are getting our summer schedule ready and can't wait to start swimming and spending our days in the sun...fully lathered up in sun screen, of course!

Earth Day Celebrations!

Monday, April 22nd was Earth Day. We had some Earth Day fun for Mommy School this week. 

(I was thankful that my tulips finally bloomed!)

We made our traditional Earth pancakes for breakfast and Tessa helped me make our favorite "Dirt" dessert for a FHE treat. Gwen wasn't so sure about it....

 For one of our Mommy School activities, Tessa made an earth out of tissue paper. She's starting to look so grown up!

 On Thursday, Adam and his class got to perform a song at an Arbor Day celebration here in Spanish Fork. After the program, all the kids got to help plant some new trees at the park. 

 Adam's first grade class (along with Mrs. Duramo's class) and Mrs. Riley playing the guitar. 

Our favorite Earth Day activity is making a Litter Monster. We have been doing this for a couple of years and Adam begged us to wait until he was home from school so he didn't miss it. We make our Litter Monster and then we go around the neighborhood "feeding" him all the garbage we can find. The kids LOVE this! I spent most of our time out chasing Gwen. We had a car pull over at one point to tell us how adorable she is. 

Happy Earth Day!

The Big 33!

Tuesday, I turned the big 33! I can't really say that getting older is bothering me. As long as I am aging with grace, I really don't care. I have a happy and healthy life, and that is what matters to me. I share a birthday month with 2 of my little brothers, Matt and Andrew. We celebrated with my family on  Sunday and had a fun time visiting with everyone. 

 Andrew didn't get the "green" memo....

 I got some very nice gifts and had my helpers around to help open my presents. 

 After 11 years I finally have a nice temple bag!

 My actual birthday was very nice. I spent the day being a mommy-what I love best! Everyone has laughed when I told them I spent my birthday ironing. I was very grateful to receive many birthday wishes! Every time my phone buzzed it made my day! I heard from some wonderful friends and family members and was reminded of how loved I am. When Eric got home from work we went out for a nice dinner. The restaurant was so quiet, I almost fell asleep! It was nice to have a night out with Eric.

 The best gifts I could ask for!!

 Eric surprised me with a super nice blender-(yes, I asked for one.) 

 Adam and Tessa made me some sweet birthday cards. 

 Gwen had to get in on the hug action!

My sweet neighbor brought me some delicious birthday treats! Totally made my day!

 I actually had about an hour and a half to myself in the afternoon, so I did what Eric is always begging me to do-relax! I plopped myself on the couch and watched a movie while I worked on some scrapbooks and looked through some magazines. I never get to read anymore because every time I pick up a book or magazine, Gwen literally rips it out of my hands and demands attention. So, my magazines wait while we play:)

 Eric brought me flowers!

My cards from Adam and Tessa. I loved Tessa's birthday banner being carried by the dinosaur! Very creative! Her card says, "Happy Birthday. Dear Mommy, I am very excited". So cute!!

 My sister, Katy brought me a yummy birthday cupcake cause she knew I wouldn't bake myself a birthday cake and she watched the kids so Eric and I could go out. The kids had a blast playing with her and I had a very quiet and relaxing dinner at one of my favorite restaurants!

It was a lovely day! Thanks to all who helped make me feel so special!