The beginning of summer

The kids are obsessed with water balloons. Connor has figured out how to tie them. He and his friends will spend hours filling up balloons for a 5 minute water war ;). Last week I ordered a water balloon nozzle that fills 50 balloons and ties them all at once. Connor is going to love me :).

Ryan flew to Seattle for Jack's baptism :). Connor really wanted to go but tickets were a bit too much money for a 30 hour trip. Ryan had a great time spending the weekend with his family. I think they were running on just a hand full of hours of sleep because of delayed flights, late night movies and just having fun. It was a super quick trip.

Mt. Rainier...I think?

While Ryan was gone these little faces were too cute to not take a picture of before we walked into church. Benson, seriously, to die for!! And I mean, Connor. And pretty Sadie, I. Just. Can't.

End of the year soccer party. These cuties have been together for the last 2 years (with a few new kids added and a few lost.)

2nd trophy.

Forts. All. Day. Long.

The mama's take a break!!! Can I just tell you I have the prettiest friends on the inside as well as the outside! These beautiful women have become my family here in Las Vegas. Love them!!

Benson is 3!

Does it seem like Benson has been the same age for eons? Because we feel like he's been 2/3 for like 5 years. Maybe it's just been a long couple years [sigh]. On Benny's bday I planned to run to the mall to pick up a Baymax shirt at the Disney Store (which they didn't have any), then grab some yummy lunch at panera. But the kids were hunchry (hungry-grouchy. Yep, I just made that word up). So we stopped at the food court and grabbed a corn dog at Hot Dog on a Stick. I think Benny was the only one who ate his.

Then we ran home, grabbed our swim suits and went swimming at the Red Rock Hotel. A friend in the ward gave us a free 2015 pool pass. We've enjoyed lots of pool days.

Ryan met us there after work :),

I made Benny a homemade Baymax cake. Actually Benson calls him Baymac.

He got a 'Baymac,' are you seeing a trend? He loves the movie Big Hero 6.

Cheese.

He also got a Lego garbage truck. He loves Legos. I feel like there are 2 kinds of Lego people. 1. The people who build according to the directions (Connor) and cries if it falls apart (also Connor) or gets touched. 2. The people who pull the pieces apart and reinvent the parts however they feel like it (benson). He's more fun to play Legos with than Connor. Just snap some wheels on and he's happy and impressed.

Morning Balloons.

Breakfast waffles.

Benson is so cute! He always smells soo good and sooooo snugly!!! He is our best sleeper. He loves to independently play, and loves his space. He can typically be found with a car in his hand or pocket. He is an explorer, also always looking and investigating things. He is our most stubborn child and very strong willed. If everyone is going one way, he'll go the other...just because. He's not a follower. It will be intersting to see how this plays out when he gets older. I hope he will use this personality trait to his advantage and stay strong to his convictions doing and spreading goodness. Benny is a keeper...even when he's driving me bonkers.

4th year hike ... again

Last time I hiked the 4th year Sadie was just a brand new baby. I've since been called back into Young Women's as the 1st counselor which is over the Mia Maids. After the surprise of being called wore off the next thought was - Oh no, I have to do the 18+ mile 4th year hike again. We actually only had one 4th year on the hike this year. Lace the young women's president joined me and Hailey as well as her dad. It's a really, really rough hike. 

We gained something like 2,000 feet elevation in the first 2 miles. Your lungs burn, the air is thin and you can't breathe. We got separated from Hailey and her dad pretty early on. We took extra long breaks thinking they'd catch up...I loved the extra long breaks- I'm not gonna lie. I also secretly hoped we couldnt make it to the top due to too much snow like the last time we hiked. It was super cold this year. It snowed on us. Luckily it wasn't windy, I think we would have had a lot of hikers turn around. We persevered to the switch backs. That's where the biggest test of my strength and dedication came in for me. The switchback was shale rock just over a mile long. It took everything in me to put one foot in front of the other. I got to the point where'd tell myself; I'll count to 100 and then I could stop again. After probably a good 45 mins of a lot of stopping we made it to the top and signed the book!! Lace beat me, she was booking it up the switchbacks. 

We didn't stay long. It was cold, windy and snow flurries were falling. It was at the top we learned via the walky-talkies, that Haileys dad twisted his knee and had to turn around. Hailey pushed along and was still on her way up. We knew we couldn't wait too long because our muscles were tightening and it was getting late and cold. We passed her at the bottom of the switchbacks with tears in her eyes. This hike was taking every ounce of energy; emotionally and physically. She was hiking with Sister Skouson who was bringing up the rear. We knew she was in good hands. We hiked on down as she hiked up. Again we took long breaks hoping to shorten the gap between up. For me going down was horrendous on my knees. With every step I felt as though my knees were going to shatter. Obviously they didn't and I was fine a day or two later. 

Any-who, we made it to base camp and waited for Hailey. The switchbacks ended being a really heavy trial for her, her hips hurt and slowed her way down. She made it back to base camp just before dark. Lace & I and her mom & dad were all awaiting her arrival at the bottom of the trail. We waited a long time. We also were a bit concerned not knowing for sure where she was or how she was doing. It was a much anticipated reunion when we finally saw she was okay. 

Robby's knee ended up being okay, but it did take him 4 hours to go 2 miles.

So I murmured in my head the whole way down that I won't do this hike again. It's too hard, and my knees aren't cut out for this. But I have 5 girls moving up next year and I want to be the one pushing and cheering then on up the mountain. So until next year....

The bottom.

The top!

4th year hike 2011 - Ciara Jackson

Base camp also brought some very sad and emotion news for me, Ciara Jackson had died in a car accident earlier that morning. Ciara Jackson was one of the young women I took on the 4th year hike a few years prior. She was on my mind a lot durning the hike without even knowing anything about the car accident. There was one point in the hike where I laughted to myself because I remember a specific spot in the hike where Ciara was dancing circles around me as I was stopped trying to catch my breathe. She packed 1 water bottle for 18 miles while I pack 120oz. She was a spunky gal with a great testimony. She was such a sweet young woman and it hit me hard when I found out about her passing. I also found it intersting that she had been on my mind a lot during the hike. She'll be missed especially by the young women in the ward. We all looked up to her.

The end...

of the school year. The end of the school year was non stop award ceremonies, parties, presentations, field days etc. and I only have a 1st grader and a 1st year preschooler. What's it going to be like when I have all 3 in school.

Sadie's preschool teacher got breast cancer in February wasn't able to finish the year. So a few of us moms pulled together and created a little joy school to finish out the year. I was hesitant about it since I didn't enjoy doing it when Connor was little. But I ended up loving it!! We scaled down the structure and the TIME and made the class 1hour 50mins. It was perfect. It also helped that all these little cutie pies have a special place it my heart. I have been friends with all these mommies for years and we all were pregnant together and had our babies around the same time. So I feel like we all have a special bond. I just love these little rascals!!

Sadie's cute little card said she wants to be a princess when she grows up. She's a hopeless romantic just like her daddy :).

End of the year fire station trip.

I feel like she grew like a weed in 9 months. She went from having her little chubby baby cheeks to looking like a big girl. She is full of sassy and is super cheeky. I was also surprised by how much she learned in the short time she was with Miss Patty. She learned all her letters, sounds and memorized the pledge of allegiance. She is also a great little artist.

Connor successfully finished 1st grade. He did pretty great. He had the best report cards :). I feel like he grew leaps and bounds this year. He's getting a little more confident in himself and everyone in his class loves him.

The Lady Bug ball- the end of the year musical performance.

Field Day. 

Connor was awarded with Student of the quarter along with his friend Connor V. He also got the accelerated reader award. He told me when he left for school that morning that he was sure he was going to get that award. I crossed my fingers because he sure had his heart set on it. To my surprised (but not surprised) he got the award. He has pretty good instincts! 

Last day of school with the most special teacher in the school. She gave all her students different awards and Connor's was the 'Sweetie Pie' award. This was Connor's 3rd year with Julene, and they have a special bond. Mrs. Ballard made the transition to all day school so easy for me. It was so comforting to me to know she was in charge of him. If I couldn't be the one who has him all day I would want it to be her. Cheers to surviving a year of school and no peanut incidences.  

Mother's Day

I love homemade Mother's Day gifts. I love the 3 little reasons I get to be called 'mom' 'mommy' 'mama' 'mamacita' (Connor calls me that sometimes).

Sadie is such a fun goofy girl. She was so excited to give me my Mother's Day flower she made in preschool. It made me laugh and cry at the same time.

Connor's class hosted a Mother's Day Tea party. It was so cute!!! Each child wrote and published a little story about why their mom is the best. I need go find the story about why Connor thinks I'm the best and I'll add the picture to this post.

Also, for Mother's Day Connor made and hid these little hearts around my room. As I found each heart he told me a reason why he loved me. Most of them were sweet, a few made me laugh; like he loves me because I don't smoke or drink beer. Another because I married dad. Connor has the most tender heart.  

The Grand Canyon

Again the blog has turned into a travel log.

Justin & Stacey created a little bucket list of things they wanted to see and do durning their quick 1 year stay in Farmington, NM. The Grand Canyon was one. Lucky for us it was right smack dab in the middle between us and them. So we drove 3 hours and they (and Jon & daija) drove 3 hours to Williams, AZ. Williams is a little town 30 minutes out from the Grand Canyon. It's a charming little town on Route 66. It is actually quite cute. Lots of old fashion cars, and a fun little down town, which ended up being a good thing since the weather wasn't in our favor.

We headed into the park Saturday morning and arrived to snow and fog. It was cold. We hurried into the visitors center and looked around. We watched a movie about the climate and the endangered California Condor bird.

We ran through the cold out to look at the view and couldnt see a single thing. It was actually kind of spooky. I imagine it's probably what Lehi's dream was like. There was safety along the handrails but beyond the mist was a great hazard. It was kind of scary to not know what dangers were several feet away.

The kids were starving so we ran back to our cars to warm up and have lunch.

Then check out another misty view.

This was our typical line up for most conversations and decision making process. At this point we decided to head back to Williams. There was a place called Bearizona that we decided to visit. Jon and Daija went to an airplane museum.

Bearizona was seriously so much fun!!! It had large metal doors at the entrance that felt a bit as if we were entering Jurassic Park ;).

Justin and Stacey had this little guy hop up to check them out.

We saw all sorts of animals and they were pretty rambunctious!!

After the drive thru portion of the place we parked and went to the walking part. It was so clean and fun! The kids love everything about it. There was more bears,

We ate dinner at a little diner.

The guys went hot tubbing and Ryan didn't have a sweatshirt, so he wore mine.

Sunday's forecast was much more clear. So we resumed our plans and biked the south rim of the canyon. It was the perfect way to see the view...a bit stressful but perfect.

It's a pretty unbelievable view.

Crazy people climbing past the viewing rails.

Sunday also happened to be Mother's Day, and this peaceful drive turned out to be the best gift.