Mowing the Lawn Turns Me Into an OGRE!

While I was at my parent's house I thought I'd mow their lawn for them. I took off my shoes because I didn't want my nice shoes to turn green. When I was done Alex came driving past me in the kid-sized Jeep Wrangler and just started laughing. I said, "What is so funny?" "You have Ogre feet!" He said. It was funny. So, Alex took this picture of the bottom of my feet so he can always remember how I turned into an Ogre.

School's Out For Summer

Jon left for a survival trek Thursday afternoon. He'll be gone for 3 days. We got Alex out of school early so we could have dinner together and see Jon off. Alex was disappointed that he didn't get to participate in a party they were just starting in his classroom when we picked him up. We had McDonald's for dinner, so that cheered him up a bit. Plus, I planned a party with them at home too.

Alex decided that for his party he wanted to go swimming. So, we got ready and I braved it alone. I was a little scared taking all 3 kids to the pool by myself, but it wasn't so bad. The boys actually felt really grown-up to be able to go shower and get dressed in the men's room all by themselves. They stuck to the buddy-system which made me worry a tiny bit less about them.

When we were on our way home from the pool Alex said that he wanted to go ride bikes for part of his party too. I told him that there was still one more day of school left and he needed to go to sleep at a good time. There's only so much fun that we can fit into one evening.

Friday we walked Alex and his friend, Byron, over to a park for their last day of school. They had their Field Day for only 2 1/2 hours. There were games, and big blow-up slides and otter-pops. They had a lot of fun. We had a last day of school party at our house to celebrate. Alex and Caleb invited our neighbors Byron and Emily to come over. I invited Trine, Larry, and Leyna to come over too so I wasn't the only adult around. I made home made pizza, bread sticks, brownies, and cut up some cantaloupe. Trine brought a really yummy salad too.

After we ate the kids played water-gun fights while I finished filling up some water balloons. They did a water balloon toss game and Alex and Byron won. Caleb had gone to a lot of trouble to find "prizes" that we could give to the winners of the games. We had a sack full of different things from around our house that Byron got to choose from. He chose an American Idol musical toy that we've had for a while. They were just having too much fun with the water guns, so we didn't actually do any more games. When Larry got involved with the water fight he drenched them with his 2 liter water bottle.

The neighbors and friends all went home and we continued our party inside with a pj/movie party. They got out their sleeping bags and we watched The Jetson's. We all had a sleepover in the living room. I was so worn out from the day that I went to bed at 8:30pm along with the kids. Hooray for summer! I hope the kids realize they can sleep in a little on weekdays now!

Memorial Day BBQ

We had our annual Memorial Day breakfast at the church this morning. It was great. There were pancakes, hashbrowns, eggs, sausage, bacon, and cold cereal. Although it was raining, we still had a good time inside the church gym. It's always fun to go to ward activities.

Then, we went to the Krueger's house for a BBQ. It was so yummy and so fun. There were quite a few couples from our ward there plus one of Larry's mission companions and his wife. The kids had a great time playing together while the adults chatted and talked with each other. It's so great to have good friends in our ward.

Cherise Weber and Trine and Larry Krueger

Molly and Vern Anthony, Alan and Miriam Tribe, Leyna Krueger, Cherise Weber.

Cali Anthony and Caleb

Felisha and Amelia Hurst, and Leyna in the back

Leyna Krueger, Katelyn Hurst, Leah, and Josie Tribe

Katelyn and Leah

More Biking

Caleb has figured out how to get started by himself on his bike, and also how to stop using his brakes. So, we went shopping for new gear. He really wanted gloves, so I gave him a choice to get a helmet and gloves (and use Alex's old knee and elbow pads), or he could get a helmet and new knee and elbow pads. He found an inexpensive set that came with the pads, so he still had money left over he could have bought gloves. But, he decided on a horn. So, now he'll have a noisy bike. Check out his new gear in the video though. He didn't want to stop long enough for me to take a still-shot of him wearing it, so the video will have to do. Also, the video doesn't show him stopping with his brakes, but he can do it. I'm so proud of him. He's worked hard, and so has his bike (the seat of it is thrashed from crashing so many times).

We also decided to get Leah some elbow and knee pads. She is becoming more and more daring and falls over on her bike. We want her to be safe too. Once she learns to ride on 2-wheels (in a few years) we'll let her buy a new helmet. For now she just gets to use her brother's old ones.

Ready for Paint and Tile

Jon has installed all of the sheetrock and durarock and the window for the bathroom. Now we just need to mud/tape/paint the walls, and tile the shower and floor. It's coming along nicely. Jon's been working so hard on the bathroom. Only a few weeks left.

Riding a 2-wheeler

Thanks to the tips from my sister-in-law, Katie, I finally encouraged my boys to try riding their bikes without training wheels. Braydon, my nephew, just learned to ride his bike without training wheels. I used that as leverage with my boys. I also liked Katie's bribery techniques and told them that if they learned I would buy them a new bike helmet and elbow and knee pads.

We started yesterday after Alex got out of school. Alex was determined to ride his bike. He was trying so hard. He did great. As soon as I let go of his bike he just took off. But, stopping and starting was so frustrating for him. He shed a few tears, took a few Popsicle breaks to calm down, and then just kept trying. He finally started going on his own, made it around the entire church parking lot and stopped by using his breaks. So, he earned his reward. We went straight to Wal-Mart to pick out his new stuff.

I can't believe we just started yesterday without training wheels and Alex is already good enough to make small circles and rides all over the place. He gets himself going all by himself each time. He doesn't need a push anymore.

Caleb also gave it a good try yesterday. He could go about 15 feet and then he would just jump off of his bike. Today when we went over to the church parking lot he did much better. He can make an entire trip around the parking lot. He can stop using his brakes, but he still just jumps off when he's done when he forgets to brake. He's learning to get started on his own, but that's taking some time. He's almost there. A few more practices and he'll be going shopping for new gear too.Leah is getting a lot better at riding her little bike too. She's had her fair share of crashes, but she enjoys "going fast".
Here is some cute video of the kids riding their bikes. Good job Alex and Caleb for learning to ride with only 2 wheels!

Playing with Cousins

We went to Nephi tonight for our niece's birthday. Eve turned 5 years old. Happy Birthday! We had Little Mermaid cake and rainbow ice cream. The kids always have fun playing with their cousins. Eden is such a cutie. Her little voice cracks me up. Tonight I heard her say, "I want some birt-day tate." I love her kid-accent.
The boys had an especially good time bothering (oh, I mean playing with) Ezra. They love to lift him up and hold him and talk to him. It seems to overwhelm Ezra at times, but he's a really good kid and he didn't squawk at all about the overbearing cousins in his face. Jon's sister, Christel, is due to have her 4th baby (a girl) the beginning of June. I can't wait to meet the newest member of their family.
This is Jon's mom passing out chocolates to all the grandkids.
This is Jon's dad enjoying the party.

Want to go for a drive?

My parents and grandparents left today for Seattle, WA where they're starting their Alaskan Cruise. I took them to the airport this morning. I picked up my grandparents from Spanish Fork, then my parents from Springville. I realized I had forgotten to take out the 3 car seats, so we stopped by our house on the way to unload them at home. We got to the airport with plenty of extra time for them to check in. While I was waiting by the curb after I dropped them off I saw some confused looks on my mom and dad's faces. So, I roll down the window and they tell me that they've left a piece of luggage at their house in Springville. I had just enough time before their flight was taking off, so I made the trip back to Springville.

While driving I called Jon to see if he and the kids wanted to come with me the 2nd time (since they couldn't the first time because of lack of space). We decided that he'd get the kids ready so we could go visit Jon's Oma and Opa in Salt Lake after we went back to the airport. I made record time heading back to Springville, grabbed the forgotten bag and headed to our house again. Jon was barely finishing getting the kids ready when I pulled up to quickly load them into the van. He did a great job moving so quickly to get all 3 kids ready in church clothes, fed and out the door.

We got the bag to the airport to my parents with 45 minutes still to spare before the flight left. They made it through security and had no problems making their flight...with all of their bags in tow.

We had a great visit with Oma and Opa. We went to their ward in Salt Lake, then had lunch with them. It's always fun to visit them. The kids love gambling on Opa's slot machine (although they never take any of their "winnings". All 20 quarters that Opa put in the machine have stayed there for the past 25+ years). Opa has lots of other fun things for the kids to do, and best of all he always has a pocket full of candy. Oma is a great cook and we always enjoy her company. I was able to give her a haircut while we were there too. I'm so glad our kids love their family. We love our family too. It so nice to have all of our family close by (even Vegas is still "close" to me!).

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Happy 50th Birthday, Mom!

My mom is so great that I thought I'd write a post about her for her big 5-0 birthday. She doesn't look 50, first of all. She's beautiful and everyone always tells me she looks like my sister, not my mother. (They also think she's my dad's daughter instead of his wife...hahaha). I can only hope to look that great when I'm 50 years old.

She's a great mother, friend, grandmother, and overall just a wonderful person. Thanks for all you do and I hope you have a wonderful birthday!

Last year on my mom's birthday we were in Disneyland. I found a few pictures of her on her birthday that I wanted to put on here.

Bathroom Update

We are well on our way with remodeling our bathroom. The kids loved the demolition phase. They were actually allowed to hammer holes into the wall and make a huge mess. Totally fun for kids! We had them all wearing safety glasses (just sunglasses in Alex and Leah's case, but it's still protection). We hauled out 6 trailer loads of junk from out of our bathroom. The kids were great helpers. They went back and forth from the bathroom to the trailer hundreds of times. This is Jon tearing out the old floor.

As of today the floor has been replaced, the walls are framed up, and the plumbing is all done (thanks to our great friend, Chris Kelly...aka "The Bishop" and his 12 hours of hard work).

Last Saturday we took the kids to Chuck-E-Cheese for a reward for helping out so much. Also, because my house was too dirty to actually want to cook anything in it. The kids have been asking and asking when we were going to ever go to Chuck-E-Cheese's, so we finally did it. They had a blast.

I love Leah's pizza face cheesy-grin. She's so goofy. So, the bathroom is still a work in progress. It can't get done soon enough for me. I can't wait to see the finished bathroom. It's going to be so nice.