My Avery....

I have so much to catch up on, but I have to write this down before I forget it. As you can tell, I've been having blogging issues and haven't been able to fix it or haven't had a minute so I've left the crazy picture of Avery & 1/2 of Brittany on our blog. One of these days, I'll add the rest of the family. I posted a big catch-up post last Sunday and I went to publish post and there was an error message and it erased everything!! I gave up and you can see how well I'm doing at catching up again. :)

Avery is such a fun girl to be around and is always saying the cutest things. Her new thing is "My bad..." If she does anything and it's wrong or she does something she shouldn't, she says, "My bad". That cracks me up. You can definitely tell she has older siblings.

So, we're at Stater Bros. on Saturday and we're in the produce section and there's a huge flag on the back wall. She's standing in the cart and she turns to look at the flag and says..."I pledge allegiance to the flag, of the United States of America...." and repeats the whole Pledge of Allegiance. She has said it before but never right in front of the flag and I just stood next to her and let her finish because I love the words that she throws in there and mispronounces. :) After she finishes, I ask her, "What do you do when you see a flag and say the Pledge of Allegiance?" She immediately put her hand over her heart....I was so impressed. I'm so thankful for wonderful people in our kids' lives that teach them important things like this. I asked her where she learned that and she said, "Teacher Robyn." Thanks Robyn! This is the same Teacher Robyn that she prays for in her prayers, as well as Baby Millie, Robyn's little baby girl. Robyn is amazing with our kids and Avery is loving pre-school and now will love nursery even more because Robyn is now the nursery leader. Thanks, Robyn, for that cute moment in the grocery store.

Update

Ha, I found the post that I thought my blog had deleted....had to do some rearranging, but here it is. Yeah!! I guess I won't give up after all.... :)

Well, I guess it's time to catch up.....at some point in time, I'd really like to print this off and make a fun family journal and if I don't want large gaps of time that aren't documented, I'd better kick it in. :) Here's an update on our family, with more on the way.....

We had Bailey's 10th Birthday in September. It's hard to believe she's now almost 11. :) We had a fun day and all she requested was Grandma Debbie's chocolate cake. She called and got the recipe and she was thrilled! We love that she's that easy to please....most of the time. She's had such a fun year and 10 has definitely been a great age for her. She loves school, is completely responsible with her homework and takes really good care of Avery and Carson. Her and Brittany have these great sister moments that I love and I can see them becoming the best of friends as they get older. She requested a "Mommy & Me" date just like Brittany and we had a great time. We went out and got pedicures which was fun. We had the massage chairs and I just sat and laughed as they moved her from side to side and up and down. We went to the mall and hung out there and then went to the movie and had a late dinner. It was so much fun to just spend time with her....she has such a fun personality and she's such a "girl" and it was fun to talk about everything that's going on with her and know that she's making good choices and is such a good girl. I sure love her and hope that we can go out and catch up every so often so we can stay as close as we are now. She is such a fun, outgoing, feisty girl and I love that! Happy Birthday Bai! You really were a special gift to us and we can't imagine life without you!

Halloween was so much fun! We were invited to a fun party for all of the little kids who aren't in school yet. Ann Mabeus planned a cute, fun party for the kids and Avery had such a great time. They all felt so big to have their own party and had a great time! Thanks Ann! We had a fun visit from our family from Utah. They were down at Disneyland and wanted to come visit while they were here. We told them to come and stay with us and so they did and made our Halloween even more fun. Joe & Jessica have 4 kids and we all got dressed up and went to the ward's Trunk or Treat and then came home and walked around the neighborhood a little bit before we just hunt out at home. It was so fun to have them. We love having visitors and it was such a treat to have them here. The kids loved it and we almost didn't let them leave. :) It was a fun year and especially because everyone is old enough to enjoy it! I love Halloween!!

Bailey's school has a yearly trip for the 5th graders called Pathfinders. It's a science & adventure camp up in Idyllwild and Bailey asked me to go with her this year. It was so much fun! I loved that she really wanted me there and even though I turned out to be the mean mom because I told everyone in our cabin to be quiet after an exhausting day, she still wanted to hang out with me. We were in a cabin with 20 other girls and a few moms and I've never heard so much noise in all of my life. It was fun and I was assigned to a really cute, fun group and the kids were great. Dayna & Rachelle also went up with their kids so that's always fun to have a buddy. :) They kept the kids going the entire time and they got to do such fun activities. They rock climbed, they caught fish & other gross things out of the ponds, they went canoeing (sp), went on scavenger hunts, played night games, had a science night and even held snakes, lizards, and other creepy crawly things. I even went completely out of my comfort zone, seeing as I can't stand the sight of snakes, and held a rosy boa snake & ball python snake. I figured if Bailey could do it, I could do it. AAHH!! It makes me squirm a little even thinking about it, but it was a fun thing to do together, right? It was such a fun week and it was really nice to get out of town for a few days and just concentrate on my daughter! I think we all need that at one time or another and I really enjoyed watching her interact with her friends and get to know them a little better. She has such a great group of friends and a wonderful teacher and I'm so glad I was able to spend that time with her. Thanks for letting me tag along, Bailey!

Bailey played flag football again this year! So fun to watch....I love that as small as they are, they are quick on their feet and have a ball playing with the boys. I have flashbacks to how I was in grade school and I can see a lot of me in Bailey (I know what my family is thinking and it scares me too) :) Her and Danielle are like two peas in a pod and I'm so glad they have each other. They do everything together and I couldn't ask for a better friend for Bailey. This was it for flag football because they don't play it in middle school so it was fun that they could play one more year together. What a great group of kids and even though they didn't win a game, they had a great time and were always good sports. That says a lot about them and I'm so happy that Bailey could be a part of the team again this year. We really are so proud of her!

Mom & Me

Brittany asked for a really sweet thing for her birthday this year.....she wanted to spend a day with me. She called it our "Mommy & Me Day!" We made plans, with Brittany planning everything, and spent a whole afternoon together. It was so fun. We started out at Costco so we could walk around and eat the samples. That is one of Brittany's favorite things to do. She's very easy to entertain so we walked around the entire store and she was definitely in a happy place when we were finished. After Costco, it was off to the mall. She wanted me to try on swimming suits because I need a new one so we did that for a while, not as fun as it used to be, but she was so patient and she was my runner. We found one that we both liked and they didn't have my size so it was a bust, but so nice to just take some time and not have to rush anywhere or take anyone potty. :) That's usually our mall experience. We then went school shopping for her because she had some money she had saved up and I chipped in and we got some really cute things for her.

We hung out at the mall until it closed and then hit The Cheesecake Factory. She bought me dinner, which was so sweet and I didn't expect that but she insisted. We got to sit right by the water and we just talked......such a nice evening and it was nice to catch up and find out what's going on in that pretty little head of her's. She wanted to go to the movie and the last Harry Potter showing was at 10:30 so we went. I was pretty tired but we got a Coke and headed in. I think we got home at 1:45 am but it was definitely time well spent. I love that she wanted that day with me and what a sweet, special daughter I have. She has always been very thoughtful and sweet to those around her and I'm so glad that includes her mom. It was such a fun day and I hope this is now a tradition. Bailey has asked for her "Mommy & Me Day" for her birthday and we haven't made it out yet, but she's next. I'm so grateful to have such sweet kids and that Heavenly Father trusted me enough to be their mom. I sometimes don't feel worthy of them but I'm so glad they're mine. They make me want to be a better mother and a better person. I don't know what I'd do without them and I'm quite fond of their dad too. What a fun, special day to remind me of all of my blessings! Thanks, Brittany! I'm so proud of you and I love you very much! I enjoyed every minute of my day with you and can't wait for next year!

San Diego

We had the opportunity to go to San Diego at the end of the summer. The Broadheads were going to be there for a week and invited us to come down and hang out with them. It's pretty sad how close we are to the beach and how very few times we've actually taken the kids and gone. It seems like life takes over so often but as HOT as it gets here in the summer, we need to take advantage how close we are and how beautiful it is at the beach. The weather wasn't what I was hoping for, but we definitely made the best of it. The kids didn't care at all.....they had a wonderful time and we had so much fun with the Broadheads. What a great family and Avery loved hanging out with all the kids, but especially Ty. The kids collected all sorts of shells, Avery dug around in the sand, the kids and Cody went out on the boogie board and we just hung out!! It was wonderful. The Broadheads fixed us a wonderful dinner and we had smores out in their firepit. It was a much-needed break for us and we're definitely going to do some planning for next summer.

We stayed in a really cool hotel in downtown San Diego. It was a Marriott (thanks Dean & Dayna) and it was converted from an old bank. One of the guys who worked there, took us on a tour and showed us the vault in the basement, told us about the shooting gallery because it was open in the 1930's when all of the bank robberies were happening around the country so the tellers had to be prepared to defend themselves and the bank. The kids had a great time and we opted for a late checkout and had room service so we could enjoy our mini-vacation. We spent another day at the beach and then went over to watch a surfing competition on the simulators and went on a few rides and had a great time. Thanks for taking such good care of us, Broadheads. It was so fun hanging out with you.....hope we can do it again next year! :)

First Day of School

Well, here I am again trying to catch up. I was sitting in Sunday School today and they were talking about the importance of journals. Right now, this is my journal and I'm not doing very good about keeping up with our life. There have been so many fun and exciting things going on and I'm letting them slip by without writing them down. I'm going to do better....I say that a lot but I guess with baby steps, I'll keep trying and hopefully be able to keep up so I have a journal to pass on to my family.

The first day of school came so quickly. I wasn't ready for them to go back to school this year. I love to have the kids home and they're so much help that I was thinking of home schooling....just kidding, but I can see why people do it. This picture is actually of Brit's 2nd day of school because her mother didn't get the camera out in time as she was running out the door on the first day. They were all very excited and it's been such a good year so far.....my favorite picture is of Avery. She really misses the kids, especially because her buddy Carson went to kindergarten this year. That picture kind of summed up how I felt too.

Brittany
I guess I should really start by filling in the blanks from last year. I meant to blog about it but never did....sorry, Brit. She had an awards assembly at the end of the year and she had some really remarkable awards. She got a perfect attendance award, she was given a couple of character awards during the year and was given an overall character award that has comments from 3 of her teachers on the back which really means a lot. She had some really great teachers and they were behind her all the way last year. That makes a huge difference and I'm so grateful that she had so many good people around her. She had a perfect 4.0 for the year and was the given one of the awards for Student of the Year. She had such a wonderful year and it was so fun to see how much she's grown and to see all of her accomplishments. We're so proud. This year she's doing just as well. She's part of the Yearbook staff and she's in the school play that will put on the production next week. We're looking forward to another great year!

Bailey
She had a great year last year but is doing really well this year. She's a busy girl....right now she is playing flag football, she is part of the Robotics team and just made the Odyssey of the Mind Team. She is on the student council and absolutely loves her teacher. She pushes the students pretty hard and Bailey comes home every day and sits down and does her homework....so much better than last year when I had to remind her several times to get back to work. She loves school and has some really cute friends. I just went to Pathfinder with her last week for a 3 day overnight Outdoor Science & Education Camp up by Idyllwild and had so much fun. That will be another post, but so fun to spend time with her and what a sweet, fun girl. We know there's more to come.

Carson
Carson started Kindergarten.....I had a little bit of withdrawal because I do miss him. He's been my buddy for a long time and Avery really misses him. It's taken a little adjustment, but he absolutely LOVES it!! He looks forward to school every day and wants to eat school lunch, which the girls never liked, and he wants to ride the bus, which sounds better and better every day but he has adapted so well. He loves his teacher and they love him. It has been a fun year so far and he is always asking me to come in and help. I helped for the Halloween Carnival and had a great time. These kids are so cute and I have absolutely loved watching Carson get into his groove. He'd doing so well and he is constantly sounding out words and telling us what letters things start with. I'm loving it!

Avery
She is my buddy and she anxiously waits until everyone gets home!! I think she is wishing I did home-school. :)


I love these kids!! Time seems to be speeding up and I feel like we're going to blink and they're going to be gone....college, missions, married; I know my parents said the same thing and I can see how it can happen. Life is moving too fast and there's nothing I can do to slow it down. I have our screen saver set to scroll through all of our pictures on the computer. I just sit and watch them and wonder where the years have gone....I love looking at pictures when they were younger with their chubby cheeks and sweet smiles and how they used to let me put bows in their hair and dress them the same....all great memories and I know that if I keep up this "journal" that I can remember all of these special moments and appreciate this family that I have in the years to come! Thanks for the wonderful school year so far.....great things to come!!

Cedar City / Bryce Canyon

One of the reasons we went to Utah when we did was so we could catch our family reunion on the way back home. We had such a great time....we went to Cedar City and stayed at a KOA campground for a couple of days. We went to Bryce Canyon and hiked around and hung out at the visitor's center together with grandma Debbie & grandpa Phil and aunts, uncles & cousins. The kids had a great time and were all such troopers. We had quite a hike and no one complained...as far as I know....the entire time. Avery was a real trooper because I forgot her backpack so we could carry her on the hike so we borrowed a little baby carrier hoping she wouldn't be too big for it, which she was, but we used it anyway. It must have been pretty uncomfortable for her, but she didn't say a word. Way to go, Mom! Another one of those "Mother of the Year" moments. I don't think I'll forget the backpack again. :)

I love the colors of the canyon. I think these all blend together....there were so many pictures, I couldn't choose so I just kept adding. We had such a gret time and it was great to spend time with our family!

My dad, brothers and sister all have trailers....well, we don't anymore, so they reserved us a cute little cabin to stay in. I took pictures of their houses and then our little house. It was just perfect....it had bunk beds and a queen bed and Debbie is always prepared and packed a twin blow-up mattress so we used that and every one slept comfortably and we had just what we needed. The campground was great...it had a swimming pool so the kids loved that, they had a movie theater downstairs that you could choose your movie and rent the room, which we didn't get a chance to use, hard ice cream in the office to purchase, a little store with fountain drinks :) and these cute little bikes that you could rent for 1/2 hour at a time. We had such a great time on them and the kids didn't stop the whole time they had them. We bought a fun bean bag toss game and played that and just hung out and visited. It was such a great time and we all enjoyed the extra few days that we had with our family. It was so hard to leave....it always is and we all had red eyes when we left that morning. Carson and Ty are such good little buddies and I have so many cute pictures of them but they made me cry just listening to their conversations about how they're going to keep in touch and how they wished they lived closer together. They hugged so tight before we left and that just tugs at the heart strings. We sure love our family and are so grateful for the times we're able to spend together. Thanks for putting up with us! We love you!!

Birthdays

It's fun to be able to celebrate Brit's and my dad's birthdays together while we're there. They share the same birthday....that's one present I'll never be able to top for my dad. :) We had a fun party down at Joe & Jessica's house and we all had a great time. They have a pool so the kids stayed in there for most of the evening. My dad chauffeured Brit down on his motorcycle and also took her back home...that was what we asked for. We have a pretty big family with our 5 kids and Debbie's 6 kids and we have a lot of fun together. I'm so glad Joe & Jessica have a big house. It was quite a night....my stepbrother also got engaged so that was fun too. Thanks for the party and I know Brit had a great birthday because this is what she asks for every year now....a trip to Utah.
For Brit's actual birthday, she wanted to go bowling. We got the cousins together and went down to the bowling alley and had a great time. She was able to visit with her good friend, Lauren also which made it fun for her too. She had a really fun day and we ended up at one of her favorite restaurants for dinner with her grandpa and grandma's....Casa Del Rey. What a fun day!!

Brittany, it's hard for me to believe you're 12. This was a really special birthday for you and I know how excited you were to go into Young Womens. You have been such a sweet girl from day 1 and I don't know what we'd do without you. I'm having a hard time watching you grow up so quickly. I know it was bound to happen, but I thought I could drag it out a little. I can't believe 12 years has passed by.....what a joy it is to be your mom and what a sweet girl you are and a special friend to me. Thank you for taking such good care of me and your brother and sisters and for being such a good kid! I hope we'll be able to get through the next few years and stay just as close as we are now. Thanks for asking to spend a day with me for your birthday....that was such a special thing and you really made my day! I'm glad you had such a wonderful birthday and thanks for being who you are....I wouldn't change a thing! Love you!! Mom

Utah Visit (cont)

This is kind of a straggler....it should've been with the first post. The kids loved my dad's motorcycle....and so did Cody. :) We had such a fun Sunday afternoon.....the kids just played with their cousins and we just relaxed and visited. It was so nice to be able to enjoy the beautiful weather while we were there. After coming from 115, we loved every minute!! :)

4th of July

We had so much fun on the 4th of July this year. When we got into town, we ran into one of our friends from the Fire Department and he told Cody to bring the kids up for the parade and they could ride on the fire truck. When we lived there, Cody was a member of the Fire Department and he loved it. The kids loved riding on the fire trucks and hanging out at the fire station. This was so fun for the kids to be in the parade and have a whole fire truck to themselves. Avery fell asleep halfway through so the parade wasn't that exciting but that was fun for all of them. My brother, Justin, and I ran the 5k together and that was a lot of fun. We'll get Mandy back next year after she has their new little one. :) We went to the park and talked to a lot of our friends and that was fun to catch up a little with so many people all at once. We spent a large part of the day with our family and that was so much fun! Scott & Patti have such a fun family and we had such a great time with them and we got to spend a lot of time with Cody's grandma and grandpa. Avery fell asleep there too....I guess you can see how much we ran while we were there....she was worn out. :) Carson won a fish at the park...Cody gave him a dollar to play this ping pong ball game and he won with the first throw. We ended up bringing that fish home because he couldn't part with it and it is still our little pet.
We have a fun tradition of spending the night of the 4th with my aunt Judy and her family. She makes sloppy joes every year, thanks to Cody, and we all bring something to contribute and then we sit and visit and wait for the fireworks which are right in her backyard. I love my cousins so much....we grew up with them and we don't get the chance to see each other much anymore. This whole CA/UT thing makes it difficult. :) We all look forward to this every year and thanks, Judy for getting us all together! We love you!

Avery's 1st Haircut!!

While we were in Utah, we made appointments with my cousin Kim and all got haircuts....including Avery. Her hair was getting so long and cute but there comes a time when you have to even everything out and make it a little more presentable. Kim did just that and Avery was so good.....she loved sitting there with her cape on and she looked so darling when Kim was done. She looked so old; I wasn't really ready for that, but I guess it's bound to happen. Thanks, Kim! We're almost ready for another one! :)

Utah Trip

We had such a great trip to Utah this summer. This is the first post but there's more to come. I'm way behind and I have a million pictures, so just be prepared. I'm trying to catch up so bear with me. We went for a week in July and tried to fit as much as we could into the week. We still ended up with too much to do and not enough time but we really enjoyed the time that we had. We love and miss our friends and family so much and we look forward to spending time with everyone. It's always hard to leave but that will just make us look forward to another visit very soon.


We stayed at my dad & Debbie's and the kids love walking down the alley to visit all of the animals. My dad always has a steer that he feeds and loves during the summer and then ships him off to the "bad place" so they can have meat for the winter. It's amazing how when we come in the summer, he still has the same cow but he always changes slightly in color. :) It's nice that the small kids can't tell the difference. The kids affectionately call him Moo-Moo. There were horses down the alley and down a little further, my friend has horses and they happened to be down there when the kids were with their grandma Leslie and they got to go for a little ride. The animals are always a highlight. It's funny how they think I grew up on a farm. One of the favorite places was the hammock on the deck and I love the picture with all of the kids piled on Cody. The kids and their cousins are inseparable while we're there....love those pictures.

Our little Monkey's

My dad has owned property in a small little town outside of our hometown for quite a while. He decided this summer to make it their vacation spot....it's perfect because it's about 20 minutes away from home, he left his trailer up there so they could just drive up and stay and they made several other spots for my brothers and sister's trailers as well. He poured a cement pad for a shed, laid sod for a grassy play area, ran gas lines for a barbecue, brought power & water hookups for the trailers and even brought up some sand for a sandpile for the kids. It's so beautiful up there and the kids had a great time.....even though we were only up there for a couple of hours. What a fun place this is going to be for next summer.

We had a fun family party at Grandma Leslie & Grandpa Mark's house. They have a large, beautiful backyard and it was so nice just to hang out on their deck for those beautiful, cool Utah evenings. They always have fun games to play and we ended up playing water kick ball with Andrew & Angie and it was so fun. The kids loved it and were soaked by the end. We love being so close to everyone while we're in town. We rode scooters over from my dad's and the kids love that.....I wish we could do more of that where we live now! Oh well...we enjoyed it while we were there.

San Francisco 2009

We had a great opportunity for a fun weekend....Cody's uncle Scott sent us an invitation for a Family Reunion in San Francisco. They own an apartment on a ship called The World and it was docking in San Francisco in June and he wanted us all to come for lunch on the ship and spend the afternoon together. We decided we were going to do whatever we could to make it and I'm so glad we did! We had such a fantastic time! San Francisco has never been on my short list of "Places to Go" but it was so much more fun than I ever thought it would be. Cody's mom was so sweet to watch our kids for us so it gave me and Cody some time away, just the two of us! It had been a while and we needed it! Not to say that we don't like spending time with our kids....but it's nice to get some time together too. We went with Cody's sister Polly and his brother Bryce & Lisa and their twins. We all stayed in the same hotel and had a great time together. We stayed down by Fisherman's Wharf so we walked everywhere and took in as much as we could. We could've used an extra day, so much to do and we ran out of time, but that will just give us an incentive to go back soon.

Polly, Cody & I took the Alcatraz night tour. It was so much fun.....I watched Escape from Alcatraz with Clint Eastwood every year when I was little so I was really looking forward to it. It was so fun to take the boat over in the evening and hang out over there as the sun went down. We didn't get very many great pictures of the city, but it was amazing and what a view! Loved the tour....it was really an amazing place and it was fun to learn the history and we got to see some of the areas that the people in the daytime hadn't been able to see. Great experience and now I can say I've been to Alcatraz.

We spent Saturday afternoon on "The World" with our family. It was so fun to see everyone and what an amazing ship! We took a tour and then had a wonderful steak and lobster lunch that still makes my mouth water. The whole reunion was to get the family together and Cody's grandma and grandpa were the guests of honor. They were really looking forward to going but the week before the reunion, Cody's grandpa started having some medical problems and ended up in the hospital. They weren't able to make it and that was disappointing for everyone. Cody's aunt and his dad also decided to stay home to care for his grandpa so we missed them as well. It was a fun afternoon and so very generous of Scott to share this incredible experience with his family. We loved it and hope to see everyone again very soon!

My cousin Erika & her husband Jensen live in San Francisco so we were able to spend some time with them while we were there. It was so much fun! I wasn't prepared for the cold nights and Erika shared her warm gear with all of us Southern Californian's. It came in handy on our Alcatraz excursion because the trip over was a little chilly. They picked up me and Cody one of the nights there and took us around the city. We went to dinner and then went to this fun ice cream shop that people stand in line for every night. We then went down the "Crookedest" (is that a word?) Street because you have to do that if you go to San Francisco. Glad we got to do that and our picture is horrible, but it was fun. We also went across the Golden Gate Bridge and they took us up to a look-out place so we could see it from above and it was really amazing. Our pictures didn't turn out very good there either....I guess I need some lessons, but that was really cool. They also had us over for dinner the day we left. They have an amazing apartment on the top floor and the view was incredible. They took such good care of us and we loved every minute of it. Thanks guys!

Father's Day 2009 (Long Post)

I can't let this one slide by.....I'll kind of include this as our Anniversary post too because I, of course, missed it. It was our 14th anniversary in March and we've been together for 16 years. I didn't actually miss our anniversary, just the post. :) He's a wonderful husband and he's the best father to our kids. I've loved him since he kissed me on our 2nd date (don't judge me...have you seen him?) :) I had dated a lot up at school and had just decided that I was going to take the summer off. I was tired of trying to figure out "where things were headed" because that's what the guys kept asking me. I was going to relax and hang out with my friends and regroup. That summer I went home to start my fun, free, no commitment summer and we found out my mom had cancer. I was devastated and we were getting ready for her to come home from the hospital after major surgery when Cody called. It was completely out of the blue and he told me that he had heard about my mom and was sorry and wanted to let me know that he would be around and would like to take me out when I was feeling better.

We were friends all through high school but had never dated. He was one of the nicest guys I knew and I always thought he was pretty hot but we never really had the opportunity to date back then because of other relationships. I was really impressed by that phone call and his grandpa had died of colon cancer so he knew a thing or two about what we would be going through. My aunt Judy happened to be at our house that night and said I should get out....I had been back and forth to the hospital and she said I should take her convertible Mustang and go for a ride.....OKAY! My friend and I hopped in her car and went to drag main for a while. Anyone from a small town will understand....you start at McDonald's and cruise down through town and turn around at 7-11 and go back up. Everyone used to hang out on main street so when we saw anyone that looked interesting, we stopped and visited. My mom hated the whole concept, but it was a lot of fun. :) That night we pulled over to talk to Cody and his group of friends and we took him for a ride and that was pretty much it. I know....hanging on main street, picking him up, you're wondering what kind of a girl I was, but it was the best thing I ever did. We saw each other a couple of nights later and he asked me out for the 4th of July and that pretty much sealed the deal. We saw each other every night after that and the rest is history. The best thing about it is we started as friends and every day we spent together, it grew into something really amazing.....it still is amazing!

He was so sweet to my family and took very good care of my mom. She absolutely loved him....I hadn't chosen very few "acceptable" boyfriends in the past, so she was ecstatic. We dated for quite a while and I have to say, it was probably very challenging for him. I wanted to spend as much as I could at home with my mom and he was completely okay with that. He knew that it was important to me and I was so grateful to have him there. I remember one night that I was cleaning up dinner and hadn't seen him for a while and I walked upstairs to my mom's room and he was laying on the bed with her just talking. I can't tell you how much it meant to have him in my life....he is the same way with me and has taken good care of me. We've been through a lot together and I know that his call was something I'll always be grateful for because I don't think I could've made it without him. Okay, got a little deep, but I hope my kids will always know how much I love their dad. He is so much fun....we've needed a lot of laughter in our home and he's always there to provide it. My brothers and sisters love having him around because he always comes up with something funny to do or say. I love that about him.....okay, okay, I just love him!

Watching him with our kids is so much fun! They absolutely adore him and they all run to the door when he walks through it. They all come to his side of the bed if there's a problem in the middle of the night because they know he won't kick them out and he'll snuggle them up next to him and put them back to sleep. He has always been a huge help to me....if there's something that needs to be done; he does it. He is there for everything that they do. He also loves his family and extended family and would do anything for them. I have always appreciated the close family that he came from because we've had so much fun with both of our families and we know that family is the most important thing. I could go on and on, but just know that your family loves you, Cody! We think the world of you and hope you know how much you mean to all of us. Thanks for always being there and for taking such good care of all of us. We love you!

Fathers Day 2009
This was so cute...they were laying on the trampoline and she must have been very tired. She has always loved to snuggle with her dad.

Carson is his dad's boy! He has looked like him from the day he was born and he loves spending any time with him he can get. Cody takes him to work with him every once in a while and it's a highlight for Carson. Anytime with dad is good time!

I love this picture!! He looks like SuperDad! We were at the softball park on closing day and I went over to get the girls where they needed to be and he cleaned up everything and headed over.....with chairs slung over his back, the diaper bag, the stroller, Avery and of course the cotton candy....and he looks great doing it! :)

Memorial Day - Still Catchin' Up

We had such a fun Memorial Day with our family! Cody's mom and Jack have the best barbeques and are always trying something new and different. This time, they smoked a ham and we barbecued hamburgers and hot dogs. No one left hungry....that's for sure! Brittany loved helping Grandma in the kitchen and then everyone got in the pool and it was such a fun day! We love these beautiful, spring days and I love that we have the chance to remember those who are protecting our country and those who have died doing so.

I remember growing up...we always got up really early and drove up to the cemetary for a special ceremony that they had for the veterans and to honor those who had died for our country. My brother, Jeff, plays the trumpet and he was asked several times to play Taps! There's nothing like standing there with the soldiers and looking at all of the flags that were flying for those who had passed on and listening to my brother play that song to honor them. I remember getting mums and walking all over the cemetary to our family members graves and delivering flowers and how pretty the cemetary looked. It seemed like we were there for hours while my mom and dad visited with everyone. Definitely small town feel and I really do love those memories and hope I can instill this same sense of patriotism in mychildren, although we're not off to a very good start. We just need to start getting out and finding opportunities here too. It was a really great day and what a fun day with our family!

Carson or Zac??

We've had so much fun with this.....Carson has a small, okay, rather large, innocent obsession with Zac Efron. Quite a while ago, he asked us to call him Zac. He started writing his name Zac on his pre-school papers, he watched High School Musical over and over, which accounts for why Cody knows all of the lines throughout the movie (maybe he has a small crush as well, I don't know) :) and we have a Disney Sing-a-long thing with a microphone and watching him belt out Zac's songs is so fun! He even has his dance moves down from the movie. We haven't been sure who he is exactly on any given day. He even tells us things that happen to him and Gabriella, in the first person. If you haven't seen High School Musical, you're lost right now, but he comes up with all sorts of things about Zac like they are one and the same. We've laughed so hard. We have a High School Musical game with the characters pictures as the game pieces. He came up to Cody before we left for Utah and told him he had his ID in case he needed to show it to anyone.....he had Zac's game piece and kept it in his pocket (until I washed it accidentally) so that he could show people who he was. He's such a fun kid!

He started to grow his hair out because he wanted it to "shake" like Zac's so he has refused to let me cut it. When we went to Utah in July, my cousin cut all of our hair, EXCEPT Carson's. He would only let her cut a little over his ears. I personally think Zac is pretty cute, but I'll have to stick with Carson! That smile with the one dimple gets me every time! You bring a lot of laughter into our home and we love you, Zac, I mean Carson! :)

Zac...I mean Carson
Carson....or is it Zac? I get so confused

Zac/Carson's "hair cut"

The real Zac.....I think :)

My Potty Princess!

It's been a really good week! As you can tell from her chart.....SHE had a fantastic week because with each of those stickers came a Starburst or a Hershey's Kiss (and also a kiss from whoever took her to the potty)! She's been dry every morning and runs right to the bathroom in the mornings and stays dry all day. She has had accidents here and there, but for the most part, she has been amazing! She has had 5 people in her cheering section and you should hear everyone when she goes....her face just lights up and her smile is a mile wide. She's so proud of herself and we're all very proud of her too. Way to go, Avery! Now on to putting her to bed by herself.....well, maybe next year. :) That's one thing I don't mind at all!