When It Rains It Pours

We were in denial for the longest time that rain would ruin our Memorial Day. We still continued to plan and pack for a nice hike. But in the end it was just raining too much. Although we settled for a leisurely stroll instead of the grand hike we had intended we still had fun. I think this is Bridle Veil Falls behind the kids.

Preschool Graduate

Rylie had her preschool graduation this morning. She actually has another year of preschool left before kindergarten, so I guess we can say she graduated First Year Preschool :-) Congratulations Rylie Jane!

Step 2

Once you master the kick-over from the couch go even lower. Here Kaeli is using a couch cushion:

Step 3

And finally after lowering the kick-off spot each time you will finally be able to kick over from the floor. This was one of Kaeli's first official kick-overs:

Little Miss Curlers

I'm not sure if they'll stay in through the night...we'll see how it turns out in the morning!

It's a PARTY!

Rylie had LOTS of friends over today to celebrate her birthday. It was a BLAST! We decorated princess tiaras (the boys decorated visors), played games, and ate cupcakes and ice cream! Kids that age are so funny!

The first pictures are of Rylie flying her new kite yesterday. We're finally taking advantage of Herriman's crazy wind!

Hello Kitty is flying high!

Duck, duck, duck, duck, duck, duck, duck, duck, duck, duck, duck, duck,
GOOSE!

Make a wish!

Look Who's 4!

Happy Birthday Rylie

Here's a newborn picture of Rylie. I think she was about 2 weeks old here. Any way...that was FOUR years ago! They say time flies when you're having FUN, and that's what Rylie is all about! She's so much fun! Her energy is out of this world! She also has a very sweet and loving side. We're so grateful to have her in our family!

It's Mother's Day and I'm officially a GROWN-UP!

Here is a picture of my mom and me! I love this because my mom is about the same age as I am now. I have an AMAZING mom and I hope to be as good as a mother as she is! Happy Mother's Day to you all!

Now I have some incredible news...I am now officially a grown-up! Yes, that's right...Aaron bought me a cell phone! Welcome to the 21st century, right? I know there are teenagers and kids that have had cell phones much longer than I have and can probably figure mine out much faster than I can. But the good news is that I finally have one and I'm always looking for a reason to use it! (Aaron's getting a little annoyed w/ my random phone calls and text messages...sorry Hubbs.) it's amazing to know that I can call Aaron when I'm at the grocery store and ask him to check in the fridge to see if we have eggs! And if I already know that we have eggs I can still call him and pretend I don't know that we have eggs :-) I guess more importantly the kids can get a hold of me in case of an emergency or I can get a hold of someone in case of an emergency. So I guess I've entered adulthood although I feel more like a teenager since Aaron has warned me about how much I'm allowed to call and text people. I promise to be responsible!

NURSERY! Here I come!

So it's official! Sara is now in nursery. (Nursery is the class you can go to during church when you turn 18 months old until you're 3.) This means I can attend Sunday School and Relief Society without trying to entertain Sara and keep her happy. I thought it was going to be nice, but as strange as it sounds I missed her! Aaron tried to snap a picture right before church, but she just wasn't in the mood to stand still so this is the best shot he got.

SOUTHERN FRANCE

Here are some pictures of Vienne and Lyon (move your mouse over the pictures to see captions):

P.S. If the pictures are too small you can click on them to see a larger slide show.

NORMANDY

Pictures of Normandy Beaches (move your mouse over the picture to see captions):

PARIS

Here are a few pictures of Paris:

FRANCE!

Bonjour! Some of you have been anxiously awaiting to see pictures and hear about my trip to France. I have TONS of pictures and I haven't gotten to sorting them all out so you'll have to wait for those, but I can still tell you (in a nutshell) about the trip.

PARIS: Aaron and I left on the 9th, leaving all the kids for the first time with Aaron's step-mom (they were in GREAT hands). We left very early in the morning and arrived in the morning on the 10th in Paris. Needless to say we were in desperate need of some sleep, but the adrenalin kicked in and we were off to see the Arch D' Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower. The following day we went to visit the Chateau of Versailles. Versailles is a little town just outside of Paris. The chateau was filled with amazing French historic paintings and sculptures, but it was the gardens that I loved most. They went on for miles, perfectly manicured with sculptures and fountains. The place where Marie Antoinette lived was the best part. Any way, while we were in the town of Versailles we saw a huge group of people protesting and the police were all armed up in riot gear. We hung around waiting to see some action, but none came :-) On Saturday we went to the Louvre, the the Museum of Modern Art, and Notre Dame. It was neat to see the art in person that I had studied in college. The night life in Paris was so neat. There were street performers on every corner. Our favorites were some break dancers. On Sunday we attended church. That was a neat experience. They had an English meeting besides the usual French meeting because of all the tourists that came through. The man who greeted us was from BENTON CITY! Small world. Everywhere we went in Paris we took the metro. I ate a lot of crepes! J' adore les crepes!!! The outdoor flee markets were one of the best things in Paris.

NORMANDY: After church we rented a car and drove to Normandy. I'm having a hard time remembering what town we were in on what day, but we visited Bayeau, Beavais, and Ferrieres. Aaron started work so Joyce and I (a co-worker's wife also from UT) drove around little towns, attempted parallel parking, and explored the little towns. Every town has at least one cathedral, sometimes more. They all looked like smaller versions of Notre Dame. I really liked them. In the evenings when our husbands returned we drove out to the D-day beaches. We visited Gold Beach and Utah Beach. It was neat to see tributes to US Soliders and see WWII history in person. Normandy had a different feel than Paris. The small towns were so quaint and peaceful.

LYON & VIENNE: So I've lost track of what day it is :-), but sometime in the middle of the week we drove to Paris...Yikes! NEVER drive IN Paris. It is CRAZY! But we made it in one piece, spent the night, and caught a really cool bullet train to Lyon (southern France). We spent the night in Vienne and again we had a rental car. The boys still had to work so Joyce and I drove around some more and explored. We were able to check into our hotels, carry in the luggage, and get around to where ever we wanted to go...thank goodness for the GPS! We did laundry and the next day explored some Roman Ruins. The Rhone Valley was first inhabited by the Romans so the culture there is really cool. We saw an ancient Roman Theater and temple and went to a museum that had a portion of an ancient town. On Friday we went to Lyon and decided to go to Switzerland for dinner. Unfortunately it was rainy and foggy so we didn't see too much of the Alps as we passed through. Dinner was great, and really expensive. The prices were listed in franks so we had no idea until the check came. On Saturday we saw a medieval celebration and then drove south to a colleagues wedding party. He's from Scotland, but lives in France. The drive was absolutely beautiful. We drove through several small villages that looked frozen in time from centuries ago. We also drove through some thick forest. The party was a lot of fun. They were delighted to see Americans at the party. It was 2-3 hours away from Lyon so we had a long drive to get back to our hotel. The next morning Joyce and I flew out of Lyon to Paris to Cincinnati to SLC. I ended up with a 7 hour lay-over in Cincinnati, but I survived.

I was so excited to get home and see the kids. It was hard to leave them for that long. Aaron is still in Europe. He is in Belgium now and will be getting home on the 30th.

Well, there you go, France in a nutshell. There's a ton of things I've left out, but it was a great trip full of adventure and yummy food! But it's nice to be back with the kiddies. I'll post a few pics soon.

Rylie's New Do!

Rylie got her haircut this morning! It was her first professional cut and she was so cute about it. Her hair grows so fast! Just last September I cut it just above her shoulders. I asked Aaron if he had any suggestions before it was cut and he said a 1/4" off would be just fine. Sadly for Aaron, a little more than that was cut off. I think he'll still like it though. Here are her "Before" & "After" shots:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Sam's Big Day!

On Saturday Sam was baptized and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This was a very special day for him. We had a lot of family come to the baptism and to our home afterwards for some yummy lunch! It's always so much fun to get cousins, grandparents, and aunts & uncles together! Congratulations Sammy!

Look Who's 7!

Kaeli had a birthday today! WOW, I can't believe she's already 7 years old! Here you can see her sporting a "birthday tiara" and clip-on earrings. She's growing up way too fast! She is very responsible and is the "little mommy" of the house. She mothers and adores her little sisters. Kaeli's best friend of course is Sam...they are inseparable. Kaeli loves to play and laugh and be SUPER SILLY! She also loves to draw and be creative. Kaeli was just the sweetest baby ever, and that still hasn't changed. We love our "Kae-Ky Ray"! Happy Birthday :-)

Happy Easter!

Here are some Easter pictures. The Easter Bunny came sometime Saturday morning and the kids had their candy half eaten before breakfast. Later we went to a park for an Easter Egg Hunt. It started at 10:00 and we arrived at 10:02 and it was OVER! We had missed it! The kids weren't too disappointed since their tummies were still very full from all the candy the Easter Bunny had left :-)

There aren't too many Sundays that the kids all match. But I love it when they do! Here they are in their Easter best:

IT'S A MIRACLE!

Earlier this week I returned home from running a bunch of errands to find the diamond in my wedding ring was missing! I was so upset. Any way, I called IKEA and told them my diamond was missing (as if it would ever be found in such a GIANT store) and I searched the house and van and retraced my steps the best I could. Still no luck! Then this morning (5 days later) Rylie put on her sparkly leotard to get ready for gymnastics. She came to me all sad and told me that one of her sparklies fell off and she handed me what she though was a sequin from her leotard! It was my diamond! I asked to show me where she found it. It was on the rug that lays by the front door! I didn't think I'd ever see that diamond again. And yes all of Rylie's "sparklies" are still on her leotard. Rylie was thrilled by my reaction to her finding my diamond that she keeps reminding us that she found it :-) Yeah!

Disney On Ice - Princess Wishes!

Kaeli, Rylie, & I went to Princess Wishes last night in SLC! We met Dawn, Savannah, & Kendall there! We saw so many princesses; Tinkerbell, Jasmine, Snow White, Ariel, Belle, Mulan, Sleeping Beauty, and of course Cinderella! Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy were there too! We saw each princess' story unfold, and learned how each princess' wish came true. It was a FUN & magical night!Here are two of my princesses :-)

The Grand Finale!

Tinkerbell's magic made the whole evening possible so here she is being raised up in Cinderella's coach as all the princesses and princes danced around her!

All The Princesses Danced!

Here's one of the last dances. All the Princesses came out with their Princes and danced. This was one of my favorites! This video is for Savannah & Kendall since they had to leave early :-(

Dirt Bikin'

Aaron and Sam went out on their dirt bikes on Saturday. Here's a very short video of Sam. Kudos to Aaron for taking this shot while riding his own dirt bike on bumpy ground while peering through a tiny hole...quite amazing!

SARA'S STATS

Sara is 16 months old now and only 20 pounds, which puts her in the 8th percentile! She's in the 37th percentile for her height. Of course I'm not worried that she's so little because she's progressively gaining weight and that's all that really matters. The only thing I don't understand is why she's so little when she has such a TALL mommy???

First Pony Tail!

These aren't great quality pictures, but I had to show off Sara's pony tail. She's had piggy tails before, but this is her first pony! A bit straggly...but it counts! Yeah Sara! What a BIG girl!

Sara has a "well-baby" appointment this afternoon. More shots...so sad :-( Wish us luck.

EIGHT IS GREAT!

LOOK WHO'S 8!

WOW, What a weekend! Sam had a "Transformers" birthday party on Saturday! He had 7 friends come and his sisters...that's quite a WILD bunch! Aaron lead them in a bunch of games having to do with popping balloons, shooting nerf darts, or being blind folded. Sam opened presents, then the kids had cake and ice cream, and we finished off with a pinata!

Below are some pictures of the party decor. It was great having a basement for the party. Have you ever seen an unfinished basement look this festive?

Sam was thrilled to get a few more transformers for his birthday. Of course he hasn't seen the real movie because it's PG13, but he has seen the old cartoons that we grew up with. I loved those cartoons!

Sunday was Sam's actual birthday which he celebrated with his family. And this morning I took cookies to his class at school. His birthday never seems to end! Sam will be baptized on the 29th (yeah!)! We 're so glad we have our Sammy as part of our family. He's a wonderful BIG brother and son! Oh how we love our Sammy!

My Little SCOUT!

Sammy was welcomed into the cub scouts at a "Blue & Gold" banquet last night! Have you ever seen a cuter Scout?Here are some pictures from February. The girls have been in gymnastics for a month or so and love it. Here you can see some of their new tricks:

Kaeli doing a back bend.

Headstand

Rylie in mid-summersalt!

And Sara is just wondering if you can hear her!