Florida 2014 Part 1

 The End of May we packed up and left for Florida, well the kids and I with Grandma, we piled in the Car and Drove to Colorado, We were able to catch a game of my Brother and his wife playing Softball and then My Aunt met up with us for Dinner and we stayed the night near the airport so we could fly out from Denver which saved us loads of money and was convenient as we needed to be in Denver for a wedding at the end of our Vacation before heading home. It all worked out nicely. We are so glad Grandma decided to come with us for a week adventure in Florida, we had so much fun with her, SO MUCH! We went swimming almost everyday if not two or three times a day we relaxed at the pools, we went to down town disney and did some shopping, and playing, we went to M& M world and the Mall, and we went to a couple of Beach's mainly St. Pete's which was lovely, so good to be at the Ocean. The kids were a little concerned we were not headed to disney the day we landed but they got a little taste at Downtown Disney and got it out of their system.

 These little Magic lovers, they are so fun....Audryn Did great on her first flight. She rode with my Mom and I had the two big kids on the row behind her, She slept most of the flight, and the big kids were awesome so well behaved. I was a little nervous because of the traveling the day before that it might be a bit of a nightmare but they were too happy to be going on vacation to be naughty. We landed late at night and had a rough check in to our resort but once that was squared away the week with Grandma was just pure fun!

 We love going to the Rainforest Cafe one of our favorite places to eat

 And Mom learned something new, the kids love, I mean LOVE lego's of course the small ones perfect for baby to choke on, they were like kids in a candy store, but there was no candy to be seen just lego's and all the booths that you could make your own inventions, they could not get enough of it. This is James waiting for his car to race

 The hulk made out of lego's it was fun to see
their wheels a turning.This was our first vacation or major outting without Doug and we did miss him so, but since we were going so far and he only has so much time off, we wanted to be able to do a little more then his schedule would allow, so he sent us a week early to have some fun. The beach was wonderful so what I needed. The water was perfect for swimming and it was hard to keep the kids from going afar, they wanted to go out to sea,  We collected shells and made sand Castles, we really enjoyed the beaches and relaxing

 Dryn's first time to the Ocean

  What is a day at the beach without some Ice cream to cool one down. We picked the perfect week to be there is was warm but not blistering hot, and only rained once.

 Even audryn caught the disney bug, I put her down for a nap and came back to find her snuggling with Mickey, one of the big kids had shared with her and she loved it. She slept with Mickey most of the rest of the trip.

End of year Coop party's

 We are always torn come the end of the year, summer means play group which we love and it is so fun, but we are so sad when coop is over. This last year we had two groups one on Tues for 3-4 and one on Wed for 4-5 The Tues group had 7 kids which is kind of a lot, but we loved each one of our friends that was in the group, James was the youngest, but he knowledge wise can hold his own, he is emotionally still young though so we had to work through that. We had an ice cream party for his last day, We just appreciate and respect the mom's that make coop happen and work so smoothly this was our third year with 3 of these mom's and they rock, we had a couple new mom's and they just fit right in, making it another great year.

 Addy's coop was on Wed and it was a smaller group which had it's perks it still had the flare of friends and learning together but it was small and quaint so we could work on target area's. The younger group we ran a little different there are always two Mom's we work together, we had kind of a set curriculum as far as a backbone of what to teach they could do it however they wanted but with the little kids it is nice to have a reinforcement of knowing you learned the letter N today, to get them talking and for us we would carry it over to solidify what they were working on. For the older group we would take a month at a time and pick our own topics some of the lessons carried all month some didn't it was really fun to try it this way and worked great with the smaller group. And for me personally I was able to manage the dates to get a lot of my turns taken before I had Audryn so after I had her the kids were still going but I didn't have to teach for a bit. We did a lot of field trips this year which I really liked, I am not sure what next year will look like, but I am excited to do another year of coop, at least one.

 This is Addy's last day of coop, they did fun water games at the park, and a lunch it was so fun, I love the ladies we did this group with, it will be hard not to see their little kiddo's every week with them all starting kindergarten next year, these girls were in preschool together the year before and are just tried and true friends, as are their Mom's.... It was really a great year, Coop wise, I am not sure I will do two at a time again, but it was good for us this last year.

One thing I really love about coop is the family days when they include everyone, it is just a BLAST! So much fun....

Utah in May Part 2

 This was Ashley's side of the family that was there for the wedding. And below is the reception, they put a lot of time and effort into making everything so Beautiful and it was Beautiful but the glow and happiness the bride was emanating far surpassed everything else, it really was a wonderful wedding, Ashley and Robert seem so happy and blessed to have each other.

 Surprise! Great Grandpa showed up at the reception. out of no where, we were all happy to see him but also surprised, so below is a four generation picture, Audryn meeting her Great Grandpa for the first time, (She only has 1 Great Grandpa living and 1 Great grandma living so kind of a big deal) Grandpa, her dad and her, she was too taken with Grandpa holding her to look at the camera.

 Sunday the festivities for the family were not until later in the day so we took flowers over to my Grandparents graves, I was raised knowing three Grandfathers, My dad's parents divorced and remarried so three sets of Grandparents for me All three grandfathers served in the Military in some way or branch so it really seemed fitting we take flowers for Memorial day we normally aren't around to do that, it was particularly nice having just lost my one grandfather to see his grave and have a moment with my memories of him. I miss them, All of them. What a year.

 We tried to teach the kids a little about Memorial day and two things were apparent, we need to brush up on our own knowledge of the day, and my kids just love to wave the flag.... This is at my Grandma and Grandpa's Grave We took flowers for both it looked lovely, What good man doesn't have an amazing woman behind him or beside him?

 On to the Eagle Court of Honor. Our nephew Matthew worked very hard and earned the honor of becoming an Eagle Scout, this is the Eagles nest awaiting him, a little gruff looking, but full of heart and love for one new Eagle Scout.

 Matthew is a fun kid, he is so good with our kids particularly when he thinks no one is watching, he is a kindred spirit, but don't let him know he is a teenage boy and doesn't quite know what to do with that yet..... hehehehe

On Monday we ventured home for a short 3 day stint, to do some laundry, pack some boxes, go to end of year party's and then on to vacation!

Utah in May part 1

 We had so many wonderful things happening in our family this year and a lot of them were crammed into May like 10 days of it, we didn't make it to all of the festivities we missed a graduation in North Dakota, a Graduation in Utah and a Baby blessing in Oregon which we really would have liked to have made it to all of those, but we are grateful for the activities we were able to make it to, A baptism in UT, A wedding in UT, and an Eagle court of Honor in UT, We will start with those it really was a Wild week with lots of happenings, We Made our way to Utah the day before the baptism, we got up at 4:00 in the morning and headed out, but somewhere between our house and the gas station which is not far and  where we almost didn't stop we ran over some metal that we were unaware of  and trashed our tires, we were so blessed we decided to stop at the gas station and found the problem rather then having an issue on the road, we turned around headed back to the house put everyone back in their beds and waited for a repair place to open and got all new tires, we left much later then planned which is fine our kids just travel well early rather then late, but we made it in fine fashion stopping at a few beloved stops along the way the kids are such good travelers, I tell you....Since our families homes were booked we stayed in a hotel and made a week of it, we had a great time, we started at the children's museum which never fails to amuse, entertain and educate, We love it there

 Particularly all the dress ups these kids have the best imaginations and so much fun together, it warms my heart to see the stuff they come up with

 They are both also very good at building things Addy in particular can see structural needs and build things she has quite a talent for it, must get that from her daddy, they both take things apart in their heads and put them back together, which I don't mind them doing as long as it is not during dinner, while I am talking and it is only in their heads they don't actually dismantle things, the latter three happen more then I care to share :)

 PUll PUll Pull I guess he isn't the king to be, but he is  definitely some one's prince in training...

 Such a trooper, she just goes along for the ride wherever we may roam, she loves to see new things and watch it all she sleeps so well even when we are traveling I couldn't ask for a better baby.

 This is our Niece Bethani on her big day getting Baptized the Baptism was so nice and she did great, Above she is with her Dad ready to be dunked and below with her Mom and Dad, She had quite a bit of family support there, We are so happy for her and her choice to be baptized, what a great day.

 The next day was Ashley's Big day, Below is a picture to remember it is James with his prearranged Marriage companion, LOL Should that work out we couldn't be happier, Molly is such a wonderful little girl and we adore her family, although James and Molly currently don't want much to do with each other, Molly noted James drives her crazy and James noted Molly was too clean, Sounds like a perfect Match to me, We won't really arrange for him to be married, especially since his sweet heart wants to be with Mom and Dad forever I will hang on to that as long as I can, but we do hope when the time comes that he does find a wonderful young lady like Molly.  Of course not her current age....

 The bride and Groom at the Salt lake Temple, she was so beautiful and the sealing was perfect, what a happy couple.

 And so fun with the kids, we love that about Ashley always makes time for the kiddos, James was a little hesitant to welcome Robert as a new cousin in the family, but he is coming around and has decided if we have to share Ashley he supposes it is okay that it is with Robert, As if they need his permission Funny Kid.

 The kids got loads of cousin time while we were there, which was great, they adore all of their cousins and for different reasons, they are so good at finding the good and exceptional in each one, it is amazing to me, I love that they take the time to see the good and appreciate it. While we were at the temple we took some time to have the kids touch it and make sure they could feel the spirit of what was going on, with Ashley and Robert being sealed for all eternity, The kids are still talking and asking us questions about how they can keep the ones they love forever and not just for now, it was such a good experience for them even though they didn't get to be at the actual sealing, they could feel the peace and love and joy as the couple came out, The first of many great experiences for them I hope.

 I love this picture, the kids with another cousin we just adore, our Bryn, she is so good to the kiddos and they just can't get enough of her, she too is always setting such a good example for them, We got to hear her speak in church while we were there, she did an excellent job, but the really cool thing was just recently Addy was asked to give her first talk in primary and she said to me, I want to do a really good job, like bryn, Yep we love that our kiddos get to have such great examples to look up to.

At the temple, we took a little time and walked around checked out some of temple square and the mall across the way, it was a long day for the kids but they for the most part did really well handling it all. We have been there so many times and yet each times almost seems like the first, I love it. What a wonderful place to be married or to be for that matter.

Dryn

 This is dryn at six months, she is such a happy little girl and so patient and loving with her big brother and big sister, she really loves them and is such a joy. She started eating oatmeal and food, which she did great at, she loves her veggies and fruits, yogurt and cereal and finger foods, she like her sister did has great fine motor and pincer grasp such control for a six month old. She rarely looses her temper and still is over the moon about her daddy. We call big brother and big sister the little people fan club, and the three of them clap and sing together, the big kids dance and dryn just takes it all in. She at six months was very good at rolling around and scooting and starting to sit for short stints on her own. She got two teeth right about the same time she turned 7 months but she was a champ and really didn't let it bother her much.

 Her hair most always is standing straight up, it just fits her carefree personality so well.

James and her bells two of her favorite things. We feel so blessed to have such a wonderful little lady in our family, she is just so darn sweet!