Seriously?

This is what we saw on Monday morning when we opened our curtains...I mean seriously, it's the end of May...
Luckily it didn't last very long and today was nice and warm.

Shae's Birthday

This post is a little late, I know. Shae's birthday was at the beginning of this month so I thought I would at least try and attempt a blog before his "month" was over. We had a really good day that day. It started out with a yummy breakfast for the birthday boy. He opened his present then because Rhaegan couldn't wait any longer. Marlee was just excited to be eating.

I made Shae his favorite "cake" this year; Mint chocolate chip ice cream pie with an Oreo crust. It is very similar to the Asphalt Pie at Wingers just a lot cheaper.

And Rhaegan of course had to get him is favorite candy; Swedish Fish.

I hope he had a good day. We sure enjoyed celebrating it with him.

Happy Mother's Day

When I think of someone in my life who has help me during the difficult times and who has been there to celebrate during the happy times it is my mom. She is an amazing person inside and out and on this Mother's Day I want everyone (well the people who read my blog) to know what a wonderful person she is. Here are the top 32 (one for each year she's been a mom) things that make my mom so special.

1. She never complains about anything (unless you choose the slow line at the grocery store)2.When you need something she never hesitates to lend a hand.

3. If you ask her to play outside in the snow she won't. She likes to look at it from inside.

4. Her favorite show is Law & Order

5. She adores her grandkids

6. Her N.C. t-shirts are all she wears when we're in North Carolina.

7. She has the nicest butt out of all the girls in our family

8. She loves wearing jeans and t-shirts

9. Diet Coke is her drink of choice

10. She decided to go back to school when we were young and ended up getting her Masters Degree. Go Mom!

11. I have never spent a day with my mom when she wasn't suffering from a major headache (you would never know though because she never complains)

12. She was my swim coach for my whole swimming career.

13. She was voted nicest legs in college (or high school I don't remember)

14. She has always had a strong testimony and has never been afraid to share it with others

15. Her bedtime snack is a bowl of cheerios with chocolate

16. She exercises all the time. She use to get up at like 430am to spin before she had to leave for work

17. She never judged any of the people we brought home. I'm sure she was wanting to say something about a few of them but she held her tongue

18. Her favorite season is winter. She loves the snowy, cold weather

19. She was always at our sporting events (mainly because she was the coach). She loves to watch her grandkids play their sports as well.

20. Whenever she visits Utah or Arizona she love getting the Pork Salad from Cafe Rio.

21. She hates waiting in line for things. It automatically makes her headaches worse.

22. She is an amazing cook. She makes the best gingerbread, cinnamon rolls, cheese potatoes, roast and mashed potatoes, meatloaf, etc, etc.

23. She has a wild side to her. She knows how to bust a move on the dance floor if the right song comes on.
24. She is amazing a playing the piano. I love listening to her when she sits down to play a Yanni piece.

25. Her favorite color is purple

26. She hates clutter especially things on her kitchen counters or her stairs

27. If you were to walk into her room you would never find an article of clothing on the floor (unless my dad was just in there) or the bed unmade

28. She was against getting any animals when we were young but eventually caved and each animal we've had has been her best friend at one point in time

29. I once went with her to the store to buy a couple of things but when we got there I realized the couple of things she was talking about were condoms and bananas for her health class at school.

30. She loves my dad more than anything and we have never doubted that

31. If I asked my mom to be in the delivery room with me when I was having a baby she would say "NO!"

32. And the final thing that makes my mom the greatest mom ever:

She raised some pretty good-looking kids!!!

We're Back!

I wish I had a good excuse for my little hiatus from blogging but I don't. My life just seemed to have gotten ahead of me and now I'm finally catching up. The past three weeks have been pretty busy. We got to enjoy some gorgeous weather and a lot of playground time. The farmers tans are now in full bloom and the need to bare a little too much skin has arisen. I do love this time of year, though. Rhaegan loves riding her bike and Marlee has become obsessed with the swings. Here are a few pictures of what we've been up to lately. Rhaegan was invited to a princess birthday party. Everyone had to come dressed up as their favorite prince/princess. Rhaegan was beyond excited for this particular day.
Marlee is our little nudist. She screams when she has to get dressed and is as happy as ever when she can roam the house completely naked.

These little moments make me smile.

We've been able to have lots of friends over. This picture makes us all crack up!

And of course we have been enjoying some yummy treats. Oreos have become a must-have in our house. Marlee has even perfected the art of dunking. We hope your spring is making you smile as well.

Ward "Egg"stravaganza

I was going through my pictures and realized I hadn't blogged about our ward Easter egg hunt. It was so much fun it definitely deserves a post. Rhaegan had a blast and Marlee just enjoyed being able to run around "unattended" (so she thought at least). The activity started out with all the kids making their own Easter bags. What a creative idea! Then the hunting began. The hunts were separated by age groups and each kids was allowed to find 10 eggs each. Rhaegan found her 10 and then nicely came over and announced she was finished. Marlee's bag, however, ended up having a little more than 10 eggs in it. Maybe it was because Rhaegan decided to help and Shae was lending a hand as well.This was Marlee's age group. As you can see the eggs were just spread out all over the floor making it rather easy to "find" your ten.
Rhaegan really loved making her own bag. Of course it was covered in sparkles and the letters of her name (at least the ones she could find). I think it ended up saying RHAGN.

Marlee receiving a little help from Dad.

She finally got the hang of it after a while. All in all it was a great day and a wonderful activity.

Best Babysitter

Rhaegan has become quite the little babysitter ever since we starting watching Koda in January. She is always wanting to help with anything I might need. She is constantly doing all she can to keep Marlee away from Koda and his Binky (which Marlee thinks is hers all the time). However, when it comes to changing his diaper Rhaegan becomes a little more hesitant. She helps if I need but prefers to just engage in something less messy. We love having Koda come to play and enjoy all of his sweet smiles. He's the best little baby and is growing like a weed. I love these moments. They make me smile!

Happy Easter!

So my attempt at taking an Easter picture of Rhaegan and Marlee turned out to be a lot harder than I anticipated. For those of you who know Marlee know her as an independent little pill. She will not do anything you want her to do. But if you make it seem like you don't want her to do something then she is the most obedient child ever. So when I said it was picture time I knew it was going to be a challenge. Our first attempt...
Our second attempt...

Our third attempt...

Well this one was the best I could do. You can't really see their Easter outfits but at least Marlee is sitting nicely with Rhaegan.

Happy Easter everyone!!