Mother's Day 2013

I just wanted to write a couple things on this special day- some thoughts I have had. The first thought is how grateful I am to be a mother. Heavenly Father has given me the greatest blessings- my two little boys. They are my whole life. It doesn't mean that I am a natural mother or that life isn't completely crazy sometimes, but they are worth it.

I love these little boys more every day- they really make me so happy!

 The day I became a mother...... my life hasn't been the same since. This little person comes into your life and they don't look like what you pictured and they have a personality that you have to learn and yet you would do anything for them.

 Some of these pictures got mixed up- Carson's newborn picture is towards the end. It's amazing when the next child comes that you love them just as much as the first. With Carson I remember holding him in my arms after his exciting journey to this earth and begging my Heavenly Father to let me keep him- I didn't know if he was going to be okay I just knew that I loved him and I wanted him- thanks Heavenly Father for my two miracles.

 I wanted to take a moment and express my love for both of my mothers. I am so lucky to have two in my life. The first is my mother in law. I was reflecting this last year how much I needed her at such an important time. Last August she came to stay with us for a week. Life was great. My kids were healthy,  life was comfortable and after 14 months of trying to get pregnant we were. We were so excited to have her there. During the week Steve had a meeting with an executive at the bank and he offered Steve a great promotion and raise if we moved to St. George. I was upset to say the least- talk about major life change. One minute everything is perfect and the next my life was turned upside down. My mother in law was my greatest support.... Heavenly Father knew I needed HER there specifically. She has had some major experiences with big moves and I just needed her advice. A couple weeks after we decided to move I found out that our baby never actually grew into an embryo and that I had been pregnant for 12 weeks and there was no viable baby. My body apparently wasn't going to miscarry on it's own so I ended up having a D&C the end of September. This was a really hard time for me- I felt like I was really being tried. My mother in law has also gone through this trail and it was so nice to have her support. One word I would use to describe my mother in law is EXAMPLE: she is truly amazing and I want to be just like her! I truly feel like she is my other mother and I am so blessed to have her in my life and I am so grateful she was there at the perfect time when I needed HER most! Love you Mom!!

 My Mom- she is amazing! After we moved we had about one month of awesomeness until the sickness hit. It has been very hard having sick kids but this winter I have been very sick and sad to say I am still battling with this 5 months later. It has been so hard for me to transition to being so far away from my mom where before I saw her several times a week and now I see her once a month. I have had to toughen up a bit. Still my mom had been so amazing. Back in January I was so sick with a virus and sinus infection and a middle ear inflammation called labrythitis- I could not get out of bed. She packed her bags and drove down that day. She has helped me so much. Even now that I live in St. George if I need her she will be there. When we moved she came and unpacked my kitchen. Every time she comes she stocks me up on groceries and other things, she is my best friend and one I can always count on. The word I would use to describe my mom is GIVING: my mom not only does so much for me and my siblings but she does so much for others, she is the perfect example of giving, generosity and selflessness! And I love her!

I have to say that both my boys adore their grandmas. Thank you for the wonderful women you are and for the role of Grandma in my boys life- I feel truly blessed! Happy Mother's Day!

Our Fun Night Out

Steve has a friend , Luke, who works at the same branch Steve does. Luke for a couple months was giving Steve guitar lessons. He also has a band and loves to perform and writes a lot of his own stuff. We like to say we knew him in his earlier career because he will probably be famous someday! Anyway he was performing at 25 main and so we decided to have a fun night out. We took the boys out to a nice italian restaurant and then to 25 main for cupcakes and to see Luke perform.

 Cohen and Carson were dancing and singing and rockin along! Everyone thought they were so cute dancing to the music....... let's be honest who doesn't think they are so cute! We had such a fun time!

splash pad

We are so lucky to live near some fun parks. There is one about a mile from our house and it has a splash pad- which is very necessary here in St. George since it's already been in the mid 90's and only the beginning of May...... it's gonna be hot!

 I've been trying to find some fun things to do with the boys- I think we will be doing this often!

Kite Festival

My cute friend Mandy told me about this kite festival and how the kids just love it. So Steve and I that day had worked in the yard and then gone to a movie with some friends and were exhausted by the time we got home, but feeling bad that we really never did anything fun with the kids that day so we decided to go to the festival. Let me note that as we parked and walked to the park where it was held I kept seeing all these kids crying and their parents having to stop and try and calm them down and I thought "poor parents, so glad I am past that stage". Well the boys had so much fun that Carson had a full on melt down when we had to leave and I had to hang my head in shame as one of those parents whose child was crying all the way to the car- ugh joys of parenthood!

 They called it a kite festival because you could bring your kite and fly it on a golf course- it was so fun to see all the different kites. They had small carnival rides, snow cones, pizza, and Carson's favorite a train ride!

I just love spending time with our little family. And Carson's melt down just let me know that he had such a fun time. It was so fun for Steve and I to watch our boys have huge smiles on their faces for an hour straight- the joys of life!

Our Visitor

A couple weeks ago my Aunt Denise called and asked if we could have Lauren stay with us for a couple days here in St. George for a dance competition she was having while they were in Hawaii (jealous)- we were so excited to have her. She was amazing with the boys and they just loved her. We fed ducks, played at the park, watched movies, got ice cream, went to the toy store, and played outside. Lauren was so sweet to play with the boys the whole time, and she taught them a whole bunch of new games on the iPad- they were in heaven! So glad our sweet Lauren cousin could come and stay!

Ridgecrest 2013

The last three years we have been lucky enough to go to Ridgecrest every Spring. Steve loves to go out and take pictures and I love to go and see my cousins..... well more go see their cute wives. The first day we were there Aunt Karen was helping out and a kids fair thing at the park so we went and had snowies and got to play with playdoh.

 My mom and my sister and Lola also came with us which was too much fun. We went out to eat at the Pizza Factory- the boys love playing the arcade games there- and Carson won on his own- cute!

 Aunt Karen is the greatest person a child has ever met. She has all the great movies and the best Legos. And she is patient enough to build all those lego sets so that the kids can play with them. Lets just say Cohen cried when he left because he was going to miss her.

 Every year Grandma sets up a visit to George and Linda's house where we ride the trains. Carson has been waiting for this for...... um 6 months now- haha! He loves it. Off we go

 Carson got to sit right behind George in the conductors seat and wanted to sit all by himself. George let him switch the track several times and Carson was in heaven. He loved it and he loved looking at all the other trains they have their too. It was a trains lovers dream- and he was happy!

Besides some allergy/colds we had it was a great trip. Of course I forgot to mention that we had a girls night and went to Rite Aid for ice cream everyday- yep I need to work off this trip for sure! It was great and we had so much fun with family!

Easter 2013

Spur of the moment we decided to go to Salt Lake for Easter this year. The weather was nice and Steve was able to take a day off work and we headed up. Saturday Was the annual Easter egg hunt that Holly puts on in her neighborhood every year- the boys love it. And Lola really got into it this year also- cousin just love each other.

 Getting ready to go

 Carson was part of the younger group so he got to go first- he was in the zone

 Then it was the older kids turn- I love this picture of Cohen above because he really got the gist of the game- run or the other kids will get all the eggs first. Poor kid at his preschool Easter egg hunt an older kid went ahead of all the other kids and picked up all the eggs and since Cohen isn't competitive he ended up with only one. It was sad because he was out there forever hunting for eggs- he learned!

 Found lots of eggs

 Boys and Lola playing in Uncle Danny's new truck with their Easter baskets

 Easter morning the boys were so excited- hence all the picture where they look exhausted....... it was 6 am! Just saying!

The Easter Bunny brought them Legos and Darth Vader toothbrushes and tons of candy- they loved it! Before we went home that day we had an amazing ham dinner with my family and got to visit Steve's family Rob and Holly! It was a short weekend but super fun!