Sunday, October 6th, 2013

Gorgeous Sunday Morning: no editing required:)

I'm out for a walk on the path our house.  There was a light frost last night which Lit up the grass with light and sparkle. It's beautiful. The fall is my favorite season. I love it in Utah especially since we can see it on the mountains before comes to us. It's so nice to be up in the morning, out for a walk, alone. It's rejuvenating and peaceful. 

Today is general conference and I look forward to receiving the inspiration, strength and energy that I need To be an excellent wife, mom and young women's president.

Thursday, April 25th, 2013

Kieran was in Mrs. Fisher's 4th Grade Fine Arts class this year. They created their own opera from scratch. It was a tale of pirates, a princess, and time travel. Kieran was a great pirate who really enjoyed being on stage and he was a natural!

Sinead and Kimball happened to be sitting right behind us during the daytime performance. Those two are attached at the hip!

Wednesday, April 24th, 2013

Tonight was so crazy! Scott had to work. I had Julia Talbot come help us and still between the two of us we couldn't get the kids everywhere they needed to be.

This is Sinead as we walked to parent teacher interviews. In the last month she has really gotten into reading. This book is so good she can't put it down:)

The other pic is a roller coaster track that Liam made in math/science coop class. Cool stuff!!

Tuesday, April 23rd, 2013

Joy School was at our house today!

Kira stayed a little longer and I snapped a picture of her and Sinead. They are the only kids out of our double related family that look alike. Fun:)

Monday, April 22, 2013

Kira and Nora came over to play today. Collin was so happy to have Kira to play with! He gets pretty bored in the afternoons when Aneen goes to school.

Sunday, April 21st, 2013

Kaitlin and Keetan Hatch were driving by and took a picture for us on our way to church.

Later that evening we had a spontaneous family fishing moment while burning brush by the river.

Sinead even brought us out a snack. Yum!

Saturday, April 20th, 2013

Today was busy as all Saturdays seem to be:)

It started with me watching Kieran's soccer game. He ate a lot of oranges at once and scored a GOAL!

We came home and all worked on the yard. Collin found a snail that he brought in the house. Yuck:(

Then we went out to dinner at Franck's in Holladay with Joe and Lori Shenk. Yum!! And tons of laughing!

Friday, April 19th, 2013

Today a tragedy occurred! Carrie, my beloved friend that lives right next door accepted an offer on their house and they are moving. I'm so happy for them because they are moving to their dream property in Lakeshore, Utah. But I'm sad to see them go! I love the Knapps! What will we do without them???

Thursday, April 18th, 2013

I saw this at the store and couldn't resist taking a picture.

PS straight fructose is horrible for our bodies!!

Wednesday, April 17th, 2013

Someone snuck into my bed this morning:)

Sinead went skating with her Achievement Day class today after school. She loved it!

Aneen's game was cold and windy but we still had fun. She is such a spunky girl!

Tuesday, April 16th, 2013

Collin loves accessories. His favorite is goggles. He wears them everywhere:)

Monday, April 15th, 2013

Sinead and Boots:)

Boots is the most chill cat around. I love his personality!

Sunday, April 14th, 2013

Jenna Benson and Mike Hood stopped by for dinner on their way to Moab today. It was so great to see them!

They were nice enough to come for Jordan's Birthday dinner:) We had Sloppy Joe's and brownies and ice cream for desert.

The funniest part of this day was our kids and Katie and Jordan's kids joined forces with the Knapps and their cousins for a giant game of Capture the Flag. For some reason a few of the boys took off their shirts. One boy was taunting the girls with a little dance. We were laughing so hard!

After the guests left we had Family Home Evening that ended in a dance party. Great day!

Saturday, April 13th, 2013

This morning I took Kieran to Soccer practice and went for a bike/run up Hobble Creek Canyon. When I switched from bike to run I forgot to take off my helmet. I didn't realize until I got back from my run. That was a little embarrassing:)

Later that night I helped decorate a school function. We had cupcakes!

Friday, April 12th, 2013

Today was fun! Collin and Aneen played at Andy's first and then came to our house with Luke Tanner. They were super heroes first and then they got out the Bearded Dragon, Hulk, and watched it run around.

Later on Kieran and Aneen went to the dentist. Right after the dentist Aneen had soccer pictures. Her smile was one sided from her cheek being frozen which made her look kinda like a pirate.

Which was perfect for the pirate birthday party she went to next. Andy turned 6 April 2nd and he had his party today. Carrie was so nice and invited Kieran, Aneen, and Collin to the party. She had so many cute things! It was just the best party!

Thursday, April 11th, 2013

Today Liam and his class put on a preschool. Collin got to attend because he was the right age. They both had a blast!

Wednesday, April 10th, 2013

Working out and cleaning house: ahhh...back to normal!:)

Today is my little brothers birthday! He turned 32! He is Mr. Road Biker 2013 in my mind because he is good at it, obsessed with it, and keeps signing himself up for LONG races. But what I love about him is his attention to detail, excellent planning skills and his dedication to our whole family. I found a wacky picture from Easter of him and Reuben. I forgot to mention his hair buy a picture tells a thousand words:)

Also today: Collin AKA Green Hulksmash chillin at the playground AND Aneen as defender.

Tuesday, April 9th, 2013

I got an extra job at church a little while ago. It's assistant girls camp director. Tonight we had our first Pre-camp Clinic where we planned our skit and designed our flags. It was fabulous! I love being with the young women! It was especially great because I got to bring Sinead with me! She is going to camp this summer because she is going into grade 7 in the fall. Lucky girl!

On the way to YW I saw Camryn Oldham walking to church with these shades in her pocket and I loved it! It totally reminds me of my youth!

Monday, April 8th, 2013

Monday brought the girls at the dentist. Their faces looked funny frozen:)

Sunday, April 7th, 2013

Some bloopers and extras from the Gross Family reunion.
Navy is dressed up as a Captain America Surfer for Easter morning. I love it!

Saturday, April 6th, 2013

We got some cute little peppers in our Bountiful Baskets this week.

Friday, April 5th, 2013

Today Jared & Kate + 4 left to go back home to Winnipeg. But right before they did I took Layla on a quick shopping trip for her bday present. We found her a dress from Katie and Jordan and some books from Scott and I.

Thursday, April 4th, 2013

I had so much fun yesterday that I had to come back. Jared and I went Skiing for the morning. It was psycho ice at first but got better around 11am. It was nice because we both liked a slow pace. It was great for me to feel like I could just practice over and over again and gain confidence. I bailed once and couldn't get up for a long time but eventually I did. It was nice to hang out with Jar with no kids:)

Wednesday, April 3rd, 2013

Ski Day!!

Today we went to Brighton and enjoyed the day skiing and snowboarding. I especially enjoyed it because we put Aneen in a lesson. I went up and did a couple of runs with Scott, Liam, Sinead and Kieran. It's been along time since I skied with out a little one. I loved it!

Tuesday, April 2nd, 2013

Today I took Jared's kids and my kids to the park. On the way there we stopped at the branch hut and climbed the tree. When we finally got there we played soccer and baseball. It was fun!

April 1st, 2013

It's April Fools Day! Which helped greatly in us fooling Jared and Kate with their Surprise 35th Birthday Party!

Kate turned 35 last May and Jared turns 35 this May so we decided to celebrate while they are here.

We (Katie & I) wanted to send them on a scavenger hunt so we picked "Where's Waldo" for the theme. It was so much fun to do!!

First, when they came out of their room, there were red and white balloons leading them upstairs with messages saying, "What is going on? What is my family up to now? What will happen next?" Then they came upstairs and had to drink a smoothie. (They were pretty nervous about this since it was April Fools day!) When they finished the smoothie they read a message that was on the bottom of their glass. I told them we were having a bday party for them. It took them a moment and then they were totally on board:)

Katie arrived and we dressed them in their costumes, gave them their tasks, and sent them on their way. Their assignment was to take a picture with the different things they had to find. They did so great!

While they were gone we decorated! The kids were all involved and it was tons of fun.

When they returned, they entered a totally decked out Where's Waldo pad and were escorted to the table for a whopping 35 course meal. As each course was served by the kids they had to tell us about something they did that year. As the first course was served they told us about what it was like to be 1. All the way to 35. I have it on video and it was awesome!

We had a cake with 35 candles and a a big box wrapped in red and white stripes. Inside the gift was a card with tasks 34&35. They had to take a picture of themselves out for dinner at The Roof and at their hotel in downtown Salt Lake for the night. It was nice because they were super excited to go.

They packed up and headed out and we suddenly had a lot of kids. Aaaaaaaahhh! Just kidding:) We split up the kids and had a lot of fun! During the day I dropped the older girls off at a movie and at night the older kids and I went to Nickel Mania, an arcade nearby. So much fun!