Taylor the Terrific Citizen

Taylor earned a citizenship award for the third trimester.  

She REALLY had to earn it.  

She REALLY likes to chat.

She has a hard time not "helping" others.

We talked LONG and HARD about her not getting an award due to chatting.

She was NOT getting a stamp in her folder cause of it.

She started showing me her folder everyday to show me her STAMP! 

There was one day in the past few months she did not get a stamp. 

I was really proud of her! 

She was really proud of HERSELF! 

Good job Bug.  You earned it! 

Rooster Tails and a Sunday Drive

I saw on the news that they were releasing water from the damn at Lucky Peak Saturday and Sunday only.  Well, we missed Saturday, so we loaded up after church and picked up sweet Bailey and headed towards the famous "Rooster Tail".  I thought it would be busy, but grossly underestimated the amount of people that would be there.  The line snaked around Sandy Point forever!  We decided to be gangsta and do some drive by's!  Ha!  The kids thought it was awesome!  It was well worth drive!  

Thanks for coming Bailey!  We love you!   

~enjoy~

{This next picture....imagine me trying not to completely freak out and have a heart attack.  The hill we were on was REALLY steep.  The kids and Jason were throwing rocks off the side and kept seeing Burke just fly off the side in my mind.  I actually had to go sit in the van cause it was too much for me.....Jason is holding his shirt.  Perfectly safe....right.....}

Just some lovelies~  For you~  For stopping by~

Happy May......almost! 

Graden turns 5!!!

4*20*12

Graden had a great 5th birthday!  

*birthday breakfast picnic with Burke and I....Krispie Kreme's with sprinkles!

*lunch at the mall with daddy.  happy meal, new BSU Bronco hat!

*special bday card from G'ma/pa Blue!

*party at Settler's on a gorgeous day!  

*pizza

*gifts

*call from G'ma/pa Blue

*lego's

*WWE ring and wrestler guy

*mom let him take his scooter to the park :)

*balloons! (thanks Dina)

*skittles

*cousins, aunts, and friends

(Cake by Jennifer Luchini, i.e. Miss Jen, i.e. Aunt Jennifer, i.e. my sister)

We love this punk so much!  He can push everyone of my buttons, but I adore him.  

Happy Birthday Bubba.  :)

Easter 2012

We had a wonderful weekend!  

Hope you did too!  

Baptism Day 3*24*12

March 24th 2012 was a beautiful day!

Natalie and Taylor made the choice to be baptized as member of 

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints!!

It was a very busy day!  They had a dance recital in the morning, then the baptism at 4 later that day.  Too add to my stress, Jason, who NEVER gets sick came down with a world class-knock down-drag out cough.  I thought he was going to keel over on us!!!

Thankfully his Dad and our neighbor were able to give him a blessing.  And although he did not feel great, he was able to baptize his sweet daughters!  WHEW!!!

Grandma Blue made the girls beautiful "party dresses".  They picked out their own fabric and everything!

Taylor and Daddy!  

Nattie and Daddy!

Dripping with the Spirit!!!

Candace came with the kids!  It meant so much to me that she would travel all those miles, alone, with 2 kids to share this day with us!  She is the best friend a girl could ask for! 

My friend Cherie, the girls teacher at church made these adorable Subway art prints!  They are precious! 

My sister Jennifer made this adorable cake!  It matched everything perfectly! 

They got lot's of wonderful gifts for the special day!  They even got a set of scriptures, cases, and hymnals from Mom and Dad!  

So they were SHOCKED to get a DSlite from us! 

I posted way more pictures of FB.........I know.....slacker!

Lot's O' Lov'n

What a fun day we had!  

February 14th 2002 was a very special day for me.  I officially met Jason.  Unofficially I had heard my room mates talk about some guy named "Blue", but had yet to meet him.  

I woke up 10 years later to a Valentine's Day note on my bathroom mirror wishing me a happy day.  And then on the seat in my van he wrote a note that said:

"A 10 years ago today I met my best friend".

It was rather TENDER.  I loved it because it did not say "My sexy lover", or "my hot wife".  But more referred to me as his BEST FRIEND!  Oh how that melted my heart. I mean, I am glad I am all those "other" things to Jason too, ;), but being his best friend means more than anything!  

I had plans for the kids today, but Jason and I were going to have to celebrate later cause Tuesday is his late class night.  And some doofuss decided to call a study group that night.....VALENTINES DAY.....from 8-10pm.  Are ya kidding me????

I was totally shocked when Jason asked me to meet him down by the campus for a quick dinner!  WHAT!!!  ME?????  OH JOY!!!!!!  

I was even more shocked when instead of taking me to Chili's (our trusty favorite) he took me to the EXACT place we met a decade ago.  Smoky Mountain Pizza and Pasta on Park Center!  Oh I almost cried!  I could not believe that he thought of that!  We were so close to BSU, but I had not even put it together!  In celebration of our love, we tipped our waitress $10.  :)  

I woke up to these two smiling cheeseballs.  

Treated the boys to some "rings" for lunch!

Graden passed out in a Valentine Coma after school! 

We bought the kids all new swim suits for the special day.  I loved it cause it was fun and practical!  Getting us ready for Spring and Summer!  

I hope you felt love this day.  

I posted on FB earlier in the day (prior to my invite for dinner with the hubs) this:

"I don't need flowers, or candy, or a hot date....I have eternity"

TRU DAT YO!  :)

Our G Funk

"Deciding to have a child is monumentous. It is deciding to forever have your heart walk outside your body."

This has never been as true to me as it has been recently.  Watching my girls do dance, and have friends outside of people who I would have picked for them, to Graden starting his wrestling career.  It's all been so much for me as a mother.  

This is my kind boy.  

Thoughtful, silly, lovely, squishy, and positively kissable.  He is at the age where he can actually carry a USA Wrestling card and participate in tournaments.  This has all been discussed since I was pregnant.  When he would be able to wrestle.  

That time is now.  

He has practice twice a week.  Jason does Monday's and I do Wednesday's.  I thought I could handle it.  It was much harder than I could have ever imagined.  

It was clear that Graden is painfully shy with a rowdy group of boys.  He was obedient to the coaches, but not accretive enough to grab a partner to line up, so he had to be matched with somebody.  I watched as he looked at other boys running to find a partner.  He just stood there.  And my heart melted for him.  

I have kind children.  I am thankful for that.  Jason and I had a frank discussion when he got home that we are going to have to "teach" Graden to be aggressive. I would rather teach a child that, than have to teach a child to be meek.  He will have to learn that there is a time and a place to be rough.  I hope he will grasp to the concept.  Considering I have have taught him for 4.5 years now to always be sweet and kind.

My heart was outside of my body.  

My heart was with him.   

Here we go!

Natalie and Taylor will be turning 8 on March 24th, 2012.  I cannot believe we are already here!  It really does seem like just a minute ago they were babies, and I was tired!  Ok, I'm still tired, but they are older now!  They will have an interview with the Bishop, and there tell him if they have made the choice to get baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  I am so thankful for my own membership in the church.  Times have not always been easy for  me, especially as a teenager, and therefor my testimony struggled.  But He never left me.

The girls attended their baptism preview on Sunday.  I am glad their birthday is in March because I don't think they could stand to wait any longer!  They got these amazing towels for their special day.  They snuggled them all day.  When Natalie woke up Monday morning I went in their room and as she was making her bed, she said that she was so excited she wished she could have been baptized yesterday :)  Silly girl!  I told her how sad Grandma and Grandpa Blue would have been if they missed it.

This subway art was displayed on the table.  I LOVE IT!  (Thanks for the post Cherie!)

And in other news.......

I don't have room in my life for HATERS.  My priorities are my family, health, calling, and a million other things before I worry about what other people think about me or my family.  

I found myself questioning this on Sunday evening.  I received an email that was not so charming.  

I'm not going to get into it, but it left me feeling like...."Am I crazy???"  "Did we make the right choice???"

Well folks, we did make the right choice.  Jason and I parent with the help of the Holy Ghost.  We follow the promptings that are given to us.  We use these gifts to guide our kids to happiness.  

So to all my haters out there......

Haters gonna hate.  

Bye...bye...

{New Beginnings 2012}

The purpose of New Beginnings is to welcome the girls that will be turning 12 that year into YW's.  The Beehive, Mia Maid, and Laurel class symbols are recognized.  

Also the theme for the new year is introduced.  D&C 115:5.  

"Verily I say unto you all: Arise and Shine Forth, that thy light may be a standard for the nations;"

So we ran with the Arise and Shine Forth!  We welcomed our ONLY beehive coming in 2012.....Emily H!  Welcome sweet Emily!  Cannot wait wait to have ya! 

We had a wonderful spread of breakfast goodies along with an amazing skit about rising and shining everyday! 

{My job was the sun....you likey???}

{ I love this picture of Ursula and Bronwyn!  She is our new Laurel President!  This was her first activity conducting!  She did an amazing job!  And looked like such a beautiful 16 year old!}

{A couple of beehives.  As though you could not tell!}

{Emily H. and her mama!  So proud}

{Dina's spread!!}

{Carli acting "natural"}

{Claire also "acting natural"} {?????????}

{This really is Bailey acting natural}

{Our fearless stake leaders}