Trip to Utah Part 1

We were so lucky to get to go to Utah for the whole week of the 4th of July. We were able to do alot of things and spend time with all the family and a few friends. We went to the pool by Mom's house and really enjoyed it. We left Malak at home with Grandma and just took the 3 older kids. James and I actually got to sit out on chairs and relax and talk...very unusual. We thought we had died and gone to heaven. Jenny and Body met us along with Carl and Danielle. It was fun to watch all the little kids play in the water. Kai loved the lazy river and thought he was big enough to go by himself...ugh!

We went down to Provo to watch the Parade. We were able to sit in front of the Gribble's home and see all of our friends from growing up down on 50th south. What a great reunion we had with so many people! Our kids were very good sports because we had woken them up very early to go see the balloons. I love being able to show my children the things I did when I was their age. I love the traditions!!


Of course the little boys thought the big boys were for jumping on! Every time they tried to relax someone little would run and jump! Dog Pile!

These two boys had so much fun together--God knew they needed to be cousins! It's so fun to have more kids their age around!!

We took the kids to breakfast up in Salt Lake to visit one of my old friends, Cori. She just had a baby and I wanted to meet him so we drove up to visit her and eat at Cracker Barrel...yum! We ate there again after we took family pictures down in Lehi a few days later.

Of course then 4th isn't the 4th without Aunt Dorie and scooter rides!! All the kids had so much fun getting rides from their favorite great aunt! We went to her house Sunday night for Family Home Evening and to hang out with Marjann's family and DeAnn and Artie. It's great to reconnect with people when we can!
We lit sparklers too! Malak's first experience with fireworks...that he can remember anyway was great. He loved them and couldn't get enough of the sparklers!!

Trip to Utah Part 2

I think my favorite part of the 4th of July is getting up at the crack of dawn and watching the balloons take off in Provo. It's been a tradition ever since I can remember and I love sharing it with my children. It was a little early for the kids but once we got there they enjoyed it too! We got there right on time we thought but we had missed most of the beginning. All of them were taking off by the time we got to the park. JaNae and Jason were the only ones that went with us this year, the rest were party poopers! But we had a blast with Russel and Rylee. After all the balloons took off we went to McDonald's and had breakfast keeping with tradition. Then we met up with everyone else down in Provo for the Parade.

We all went to the Owls' game on the 3rd at UVU. Kai thought it was the coolest thing because his T-ball team were the Owls' too. He got to wear his shirt and hat to the game...don't think James wasn't just as excited to wear his uniform too! After the game we got to stay for the fireworks which were great! I love to watch the kids interact with their cousins and just sit back and enjoy it. I wish we lived closer sometimes so we could spend more time with them. I couldn't even tell you who won the game because we didn't pay much attention, we were having so much run watching the kids run around and taking turns taking them to the playground.

This face is priceless!! Gotta love this little boy--I don't even want to remember how much junk food they all ate that night!! The smile says it all...we had a blast!!

The cousins absolutely loved this girl!! All weekend long they couldn't get enough of their big cousin and she was so patient with them. You can tell she loves to babysit!

Driving Teenager!

Hooray!! Jamie finally got his license! I took him down to the DMV yesterday to take his driving portion of the test. We got all checked in-the lady was such a pain in the butt! She looked over his log like 20 times and was so particular about everything!! He was really nervous that she would be doing the actual driving test and he was sure he would fail if she was the one handling things. Luckily she wasn't and the lady that actually went out with him driving was very nice.
We had to go into a room after his test and he wasn't sure if he passed or not...but finally she told him he did and the look on his face was priceless!! He was so relieved, and so was I. It will be so nice to have him be able to run my errands and help pick up kids. He can now officially feel good about asking a girl on a date because he can actually pick her up...Oh the joys of being 16 again!
I'm proud of you, Jamie!

Happy Birthday Kai!

Again, I cannot believe my little man is 5! The days of staying home with mommy are all gone-now he just wants to be big enough to go to "real school". When he woke up on his birthday the first thing he said was, "Now I'm big enough to go to Kindergarten! Yea!" He is such a smart little boy- I hope he's not bored in Kindergarten--hopefully he won't be let down. (ha ha) He's very gracious as well to share his birthday with Madelyn--he always lets her have the limelight-since she's the princess. He's going to make a great husband one day already getting this concept..

5 Things I Love About Kai

1. He's a great big and little brother--happy to be the middle child.

2. He loves to learn-his little brain never stops! He asks sooo many questions!

3. He's so good to do things the first time I ask him

4. He loves to spend time cuddling and talking--may he never grow out of that!

5. He's got the cutest little smile that melts my heart REGULARLY!!

When I gave birth to Kai- I finally realized what all my mom and friends were talking about when they told me that the love between a mom and son is unique. I feel so much love for Kai sometimes I can't even describe it. He is my heart! I hope you have a wonderful birthday big boy!

Happy Birthday Maddy!

I honestly cannot believe that Madelyn is 8 and Kai is 5. They have just grown up so fast--I want to slow it all down. They are so gracious about sharing their birthdays and I am grateful that most of the time they love each other. Madelyn doesn't think he's her present anymore- I guess she's figured that one out. We used to tell her that Kai was born on her birthday as the best present she could ever have--she's doesn't believe us anymore but she's still good to share the day with him.

8 Things I Love About Madelyn:

1. She is very helpful with EVERYTHING!!
2. She is very easy going and generally goes with the flow...
3. She is so very thoughtful of her family and friends and always does nice things.
4. She is very independent--does something when I tell her to.
5. She loves to put Malak to bed, including bathing him.
6. She loves to read her scriptures and say her prayers
7. She teaches me alot of things.
8. She works very hard in school and never complains about her homework!

These are just some of the many things I love about my only daughter. I hope that as she grows up we will remain close and become more patient with each other. I hope she will want me around in her life to help her through difficult times and that we can have a relationship as she grows. I cherish my relationship with her and love her so much. Happy Birthday Madelyn!

1st time for Malak

I know I'm beating a dead horse but I have to blog about Malak's first experience in Disneyland. He did so great--never fussy and took naps wherever he could catch one. He was mesmerized by all the rides and loved the ones that you could shoot guns on. The new Woody ride in California Adventure was probably his favorite or Buzz Light Year. He was more fun to watch than being on the actual ride...his face was classic. My favorite memory was his baseball hat...he had to have it on ALL the time. He's never worn a hat before because his hair was too big but now he loves to wear one. So we bought him a matching one to the Dash hat we bought Kai the last time we were there. He wouldn't go to bed at night unless he had it on the crib with him...it was so cute! He was a trooper when it was raining on us the last day. He didn't want to wear a poncho but instead he wanted to jump in all the puddles. At least they were all worn out on the ride home. Kai and Malak slept the entire 4 hour ride home. It was fabulous! He also loved hanging with Uncle Jared who was gracious enough to hang out with our crazy family 2 of the 3 days we were there. We all bought season passes so we can go back as often as we want now that Jared lives close by. We loved spending time with him.

Disneyland...Hooray!

We had so much fun!!! It was so nice to go for 3 days because there was no stress. We didn't have to hurry for any ride and we could just take our time and do whatever we wanted. I don't think I will ever go back to the park on a weekend, because it's a completely different experience during the week. The crowds are not huge and my anxiety level stayed normal...definitely worth the kids missing 2 days of school for! We saw so many characters and the kids were just mesmerized! Malak was fine as long as somebody was holding him..there was not a lot of love for the characters but he didn't freak out as bad as I thought he would! Did Ialready say that I love Disneyland??

3rd Street Promenade

We loaded the kids in the car on Sunday morning the 1st and didn't tell them where we were going. They could see we had luggage and plans for at least overnight, but they had NO idea we were taking them to California for their birthday! Madelyn and Kai share the same birthday so we've always tried to make a big deal of it. Disneyland has been our tradition but we haven't been able to go for the last 2 years because of Malak. We thought Malak was old enough to really enjoy the park so we planned to go for 4 days. The hardest part about the whole trip was keeping it a secret. I am horrible about those kind of things but I did it!!

We drove to our hotel as soon as we got into town and of course passed by Disneyland and the kids went crazy!! They were so excited.

We checked into our hotel and then got back on the road to go to the Santa Monica Pier and 3rd St. Promenade. We had a great time and got to see lots of colorful people. We got to teach the kids some life lessons about not pointing at people and saying things aloud that might hurt their feelings...fun fun fun!!

We also took Jamie to see one of his old friends. Bonnie and Jim have been a big influence in his life when he was younger and have been friends with his mom since she was little. It was a great reunion for them and one that brough a little smile to my heart. It was nice to finally meet them as well.