adam's canyon

We had an amazing Memorial day weekend up in Layton with family & friends! We drove up Friday after school and Saturday morning woke up to the perfect hiking conditions ever. We loaded the kids up and went for a hike up Adam's canyon. Danny grew up doing this hike but I've never done it before & it was gorgeous! Such a beautiful world we live in.

Max was full of energy & kept running up ahead of us. Oh to be young again...

I just love this bald headed, smiley baby!!

it's the most wonderful time of the year!

Christmas is great and all, but summertime is my favorite time of year. Sunshine, swimming, 4th of July, and gardens. I love my garden. 

Danny had to meet with some of his professors at BYU a few weeks ago, so I braved Cook's greenhouse with three kids ALL BY MYSELF (huge accomplishment!) and we gathered up everything we needed for this year's garden.

The next night we were able to spend a good couple hours getting the boxes ready to go & planting seeds and starts. The kids were awesome helpers & Graham was an awesome napper. Besides eating dinner around nine (!!!) it was the perfect day.

little minions

I think we've been watching a little too much Despicable Me 2 over here lately, because the other night, two minions found their way into our home. It was pretty hilarious actually...I don't think the pictures quite do it justice :) These two. They are somethin else!

golf course loop

Summer has made it to Nephi & it is absolutely beautiful!! The other day I woke up feeling extra gung-ho so we ate breakfast and then loaded up the stroller for a loop around the golf course. It's a good solid walk (maybe 3-4 miles round trip) and the first half is definitely on the incline. I survived somehow ;) Before we stopped at the seminary for a drink break, we stopped to say hello to the horses. It was such a gorgeous morning!

preschool grad!

Max graduated from preschool! I'm so proud of him. We all had kind of a rough year (Max missed a good chunk of his classes due to a number of things...) but he finished strong and even participated in the end of year program! I'm having issues with uploading video, but until I get that figured out, here are a few pictures from the night. 

We had a really low-key program with all of the families of the graduates & they sang a few songs and got their diplomas. It has been so much fun for me to get to know these kids & I'm so grateful for their moms and the good examples that they are to me!!

Max, Michael, Spencer, Emma, Trace, Trevor, Isaac, Keely

mother's day 2014

Mother's day this year was one for the books! I still can't believe I have THREE munchkins but it is awesome. I sure do love those little people. And, I must say, I was pretty impressed with myself that I held all three of them at the same time AND everyone is looking at the camera and mostly smiling (ahem...Graham!) I love love this picture.

I had grand plans of getting a nice picture of the three of them prior to nine o' clock church, but who am I kidding?!

Graham wanted nothing to do with it!!

After church I thought we'd have more success but the big kids decided to be uncooperative this time:

Haha! They were really excited to give me my presents though...and I was so excited to open them! Especially since Avery, who can't keep a secret, told me exactly what was in the boxes :) New spatulas!!!!!! I've been living with one broken spatula for the last year (or more!) so these beauties from Williams Sonoma are definitely cherished.

We also had another new kitchen gadget to try out: a potsticker maker. It cost five bucks on amazon & though I've never made homemade potstickers before, think that it was worth every penny. I can't imagine sealing each of those by hand! I combined a few different recipes found online & we basically just chopped up a bunch of veggies (cabbage, cilantro, carrots, ginger, etc...) and made some of the best potstickers ever. So much better than though store bought variety (though I used to love those!) These are definitely a labor of love but next time we are going to quadruple the batch and make a bunch to freeze. 

This picture doesn't do our meal justice but everything was delicious!

yardwork.

These pictures were taken way back in April (how is it already June?!) but we spent the Saturday working out in the yard & Max took it upon himself to plant these flowers for us. Danny and I were each working on separate things so we didn't notice that Max planted them in their containers :)

He worked SO hard on it so it was hard to break it to him that we actually needed to replant them all...but he definitely got an A for effort! 

Our yard has come a long ways since this picture back in April, but our tree! I love that little Eastern Redbud. The blossoms were incredible & definitely helped to brighten up the place a bit.

Oh, and Graham helps to brighten things up too! He's even sprinkled with dirt...his older siblings love on him a little too much sometimes :)

grahams 2(.5) month stats

Graham & Avery had joint appointments & though it was a little traumatic (Avery wanted NOTHING to do with the nurse/doctors!) we finally got everyone measured & things are looking good :)

weight: 11.55 lbs (17.87%)

length: 24 in. 74.29%

head: 15.65 53.37%

avery

weight: 33.73 75.72%

length: 40 96.03%

bmi: 14.82 22.32%

family history + social media

You guys. I love family history. Have I mentioned that before?!

Lately I've been thinking a lot about it & how amazing it is that we have so much technology to learn about our ancestors & do their temple work for them. It's incredible really. I've been feeling inspired to help spread the Spirit of Elijah & think that using social media (since we're all on it every day...let's be honest!) is how I can help YOU. 

Since I'm doing this for you (and your ancestors!) I want to know what you think & what things you most need help with. 

In case you haven't taken my survey yet...click HERE!!!

lisa's dance shoppe

One of the things we have come to love about Nephi is Lisa's Dance Shoppe. Lisa is an amazing woman who teaches over 300 kids (basically every child in Nephi!) dance. She loves what she does, she knows the name of each & every one of her students, and she's adorable. We love Lisa! 

We enrolled Avery in a ballet/tap combo class this last fall and last week they had their end of year dance revue. Ave has absolutely love love loved dance (she is quite the performer!) and it has been so much fun to watch her. Getting her dolled up in her beautiful costume was the icing on the cake. Her performance wasn't until 7:30, but she did such an amazing job & I was so proud of her for being so brave and doing her dances in front of an auditorium full of people.

 

// She was so excited to be able to put on Mommy's make up!! //

Max also takes classes from Lisa, though we don't refer to them as dance classes ;) He's in Guys on the Go and like Avery, he would always look forward to Monday's when he got to go to class. He was especially excited to get his dance revue costume; a Guys on the Go Tee & Letterman jacket. Luckily for him, it's pretty big, so he'll probably fit into it for the next few years! Max's performance was on the same night as Ave's, but his started at 5:30. He did such an incredible job!! It's such a neat experience to watch your own children perform & be brave. Way to go Max & Ave!! What a fun night.

// Avery's class was full of adorable little girls! //

A special thanks to our family members who came to support the kids as well!! It was a lot of dance to sit through, but we are all so glad you could be there with us!

We took video footage of each of their dances (and they're adorable!) I'll post those asap :)