happiness is.....

playing and wrestling with little cousins. I have so many pictures to go through from our family reunion with my siblings that I haven't even began to blog or document it.

So...I'm just going to do a few at a time & try not to overwelm myself. We spent a night in Teton Village (right outside Jackson hole) and it's absolutely gorgeous up there. We love the hotel and all the kids did fabulous! I was very anxious when I knew the dates & how little the girls would be.

We did family pictures that morning (I'm trying to steal them off the photographers website with no success). I have a complaint about ALL our family pictures. We did family pictures over six years ago & I was pregnant with Jaden...then we did them again over 3 years ago and I was pregnant with Landon. in these I just gave birth to twins...REALLY! I gave my mom a hard time about it:):):)

After the pictures we let the kids run around and it made me smile. Here's some pictures of some of their fun with their cousins...I'm so grateful for their cousins!

2 months

Time travels so fast yet at the same time it seems like these little girls have been part of our family for a long time....we just love them!

Eli loves to eat and is much more active then Alisha. Alisha is almost always mellow & sweet and she's still a lot smaller then Eli. About two weeks ago Eli rolled over but I don't think it's a skill she's mastered but that she kicked her legs and the momentum and weight pulled her over.

They sometimes love tummy time & sometimes hate it. Alisha typically lays her head on the ground and is content. Eli grunts and tries pulling her head up so she can look around.

About a week ago I decided that I wanted to see how they did bathing together. Both girls typically would lay still in the bath water and relax. When put together they kick and flail...grab each others arms & legs. It's so fun to watch. They both also turn their heads so one eye is under water and look around with their eye open. It's a little creepy looking. I'm not sure why they react to bath time this way when they are together but I'd imagine it feels a little bit like the womb. I had Jaden watch one baby while I went to get the other one to put in the bath and his reaction to the kicking & flailing was "I could watch this all day." It really is adorable.

We love you little girls! I'm excited for all the adventures to come!

6 years ago today.....

I was in the hospital and had just delivered a beautiful, 8 lbs 9 oz, 22 inches long baby boy. I told Chris I wanted to re-live that moment over and over because it was so amazing (I have since said this about all my childrens births and am so sad that they are all over).

Jaden made me a mother so we of course had lots of celebrating....I'm very tired and am kind of glad we are all done with the celebrating!

On Sunday we celebrated with a family party at my parents. Some of Jaden's best friends are his cousins and they had a lot of fun playing crochet, jumping on the tramp, running around, and playing in the ditch in a boat they made out of a sand box top...kids are so funny! We also gave him his presents from us and he got golf clubs that match Chris's (in the Jr. size) so that the two of them can go golfing together. They are going on Saturday and Jaden is EXCITED!

About a week ago Jaden told me that he wanted a special breakfast for his birthday. I started inquiring what would he would consider special. He mentioned pop tarts (we never eat these kinds of foods for breakfast) and I was relieved because Landon has speech on Tuesday at 8:30am and it takes about every minute of my time getting everyone ready and there on time. I thought I would also add chocolate milk and a gogurt. When Jaden woke up and saw his breakfast he said "mom, there isn't one healthy thing for breakfast. Next year you need to make me waffles (I make whole-wheat) with whipped cream and a candle on top and a piece of celery on the side." I love his desire be healthy. He ate his breakfast anyways and I was relieved I didn't have to find something else since I didn't have time.

He also woke up asking me if I could tell that he was now taller.

During Landon's speech Jaden and I almost always go on a walk for the 45 minutes. We did this today and we both love to do it. The girls are in the stroller sleeping and Jaden and I spend the whole time walking and talking. We always go into Mountain View hospital for him to get a drink half way through and I'm really starting to enjoy this special time together. He always sets the pace & where we should walk too. I'm glad we got to do this on his birthday.

Later in the day Jaden celebrated with his friends. It was a little crazy with so many little ones but a lot of fun. I get a kick out of Jadens friends and some of the things they say. We did a Shark, Water themed party and they spent most of the time playing in the water but we also played shark bite & broke a pinata.

After Chris got home we took Jaden to dinner. He loves to go out and eat and he was sure to remind let everyone know that he was now six. Him and Landon enjoyed chocolate ice cream for dessert and they even saved some on their faces for later. They came home and we lit fireworks since Jaden LOVES to do this. Have two boys close in age is a lot of fun...especially for doing boys things. They ended the firework show wrestling.

We love you Jaden and hope you had a special day!!!!

a wonderful day...........

I had to keep reminding myself that it was fathers day & not mothers day because I kept thinking it was my special day.

I should have Chris write this post because I'm sure he has some tender feelings from this day.

Our little girls were blessed today & each given a beautiful blessing by Chris. We've had an amazing weekend with family (all my siblings & their families are here) but I knew it would take too much time to blog & I wanted to get these tender thought down before they were a distant memory.

Alisha was blessed first. She cried a little bit at the beginning but then quickly calmed down as the blessing began. I wish I could have recorded each one.

Eliza was calm the whole time & even grabbed my brother Travis's finger during the blessing. He thought that was really neat.

Although each blessing was completely different there were two things in both of them that caught my attention. The first being that Chris blessed them to follow my example...this didn't touch me because I'm a perfect example BUT was a reminder to me that I needed to be the best example to all my children that I could possibly be. They've been entrusted to my care (see why it feels a little bit like mothers day). The second thing was the bond they were blessed with, with each other. I can't even imagine how amazing this'll be for each of them. I hope & pray they'll be each others best friend & that they'll be a strength to one another.

Chris has been gone for two weeks including the weekend & I haven't felt like I had a lot of time to really snuggle the girls. After taking a short nap with them I held & smelled them for a couple of hours. It was a dream.

Right after the blessing everyone came over for lunch. With the twins there are now 17 grandchildren & they all LOVE each other. During lunch the girls were tuckered out & took a nap but Alisha did wake up at the end to join the party. Our family loves spending time together & we had a great time.

Once everyone left we took a moment to celebrate fathers day with daddy! The boys were excited to give daddy their gift. It was golf clubs, a bag of tees that said he was "tee-rific" and a golf pass. Since Chris and my dad golf together my dad also got a bag of tees with the same saying and a game of golf.

Although we didn't spend the whole day focused on fatherhood I am so grateful for the fathers in my life & the examples that they are to me & my children. I'm grateful that Chris provides for our family & for the father that he is. My own dad for his unselfishness & his willingness to do anything for his children.

I hope everyone else had a wonderful day too!

More post of fun coming soon......

Oh Beautiful Girls!

We are blessing our little sweeties this Sunday and I really wanted to get some pictures of them beforehand. Chris is worried that he'll get up there and use the wrong name since he struggles telling them apart....the funny this is that none of the men would know the difference. My grandpa has said "you only need to see one." Chris has been gone for two weeks & they sure have grown; Eliza is an eater and I think it'll help him know which one she is:)

When daddy's out of town....

and Mommy's has just finished bathing two babies & is in the middle of feeding them....

and big brother is enjoying a bubble bath.....

little brother jumps out of the bath tub to..........

jump on the tramp NAKED with two high chair trays (from the shed) and his toy lawn mower.

Last Day of School

Jaden finished his kindergarten year last friday. I'm so grateful he had such a great year with good friends & parent support. This last month I've been MIA at his school so I've been a little sad that I haven't captured the end of his year that well.

Jaden LOVED science & math this year.

Jaden DID NOT LOVE handwriting & coloring....it showed.

I'm so proud that Jaden got almost all 3's (highest you can get). At mid-terms I noticed he had raised his 2 in art to a 3 and I asked his teacher why she was so generous. Jaden dislikes it that much that he scribbles. His teacher told me that he was working really hard on it & that he got a 3 for his efforts...what a nice teacher.

On his last report card he had 3's on everything except his name. Sad yes...he's written his name forever but REFUSED to write is name with a lower case a. He is a stubborn boy. He also scored a 3 on the state test.

I can't believe how much he's grown from his first day of school to now. When he applies himself he is a sponge and so incredibly smart.

I'm proud of you buddy and love you so much! Keep working hard and you can do anything in life that you want to.


Funny story about his class photo. On picture day he did NOT want to wear his church pants. After battling with him for a couple of minutes I told him he didn't have to wear them because he'd be on the back row. He came home and said "mom, you were right." I laughed when I noticed he was the only boy on the back row. Girls are so tall at this age. At the beginning of the year a couple of the moms asked me if I held him back because he was so tall. I told them that he was actually one of the youngest in his class....I'm crossing my fingers that it gives him some sports advantages:)