Birthday Weekend!



We spent a wonderful, yet rainy weekend celebrating Danny's birthday!  Danny is turning 35 this year!  We are really starting to feel old! 

There are so many wonderful things I love about Danny.  Here are just a few:

• He is an amazing husband, fantastic father and a great provider for our family. 
• He really takes time with the kids to teach them all sorts of things about science, tools, animals, nature etc... 
• He is a great cook!  I wish he would cook more.
• He is always doing good for others, and providing service when he can.
• He has a strong testimony of the gospel and is constantly striving to become closer to his Savior.

I am so happy to be married to him!  I love you honey!



On Saturday we went to Springville to visit Goofy Grandpa & Grandma.  We had a delicious BBQ and dessert was lots of yummy cupcakes.  We walked to the park to play, and the boys went on a drive up the canyon. 

Danny was pushing the kids on this swing, and Isaac slipped right through the middle.  Luckily he wasn't too hurt, but he was pretty scared!



Isaac got this bike form Goofy grandpa and it was supposed to be a motivator for him to get potty trained.  Well- he rides it everyday, and he still wears diapers!  Oh well, he has so much fun on his balance bike, he'll get potty trained eventually (I hope!)



Then Sunday night we had another yummy dinner with Mono and Dave and G & G Shields, Colton and Natalie to celebrate Monica's b-day as well.  It was a fun night!

Lizzie is getting so big and so smiley!  She smiles and laughs at us all the time! She looked adorable in her little skirt/sweater for church today.  She is changing everyday, and just last week she started rolling. 

We had a great Memorial Day weekend, despite the cold weather, hope you did too!

Is that a smile?

Wow, is that sort of a smile from Taylor?  I think it is!  I never get any smiles from him while taking pictures. 

This week the new obsession on the street is the rippstick.  Luckily aunt Natalie let Taylor borrow hers and he has been riding it like crazy all week.  His legs are aching and burning but he keeps on riding.  

First they just learned how to ride it on the sidewalk.  Then they started going off the jump (pictured behind Tay), and finally they mastered the church hill without falling or splitting their head open!  I have no pictures of those, because I was so nervous he was going to fall, I couldn't take any pics. 

 He and Ryan are so cute, they practiced and helped each other learn together.  They really make it look easy.  Taylor and his friends just play and play outside after school and all day long on the weekends.  They ride bikes, rollerblade, play hockey, football and then stay up really late to play night games!  He is turning in to a big home-body, he never wants to go to a park, museum, run errands or go anywhere.  He only want to be on the circle with his buddies! I think we are going to have a fabulous summer spent at home! 

Way to go Taylor!  Thanks for the smile! 

School programs

It's near the end of school, which means the kids are busy with concerts, recitals and end of year performances.  Here are two invitations from Taylor and Emily for their programs. 

Emily had her end of the year program and her Pre school graduation!  They performed several songs and poems all about animals and being on a farm. 

Emily was the star of the show!  She was the tallest student and the best singer!  During some songs all you could hear was her and the teacher, Margaret.  Way to go Emily!  She sure has changed from two years ago, when she was so scared and timid.  Now, she loves the attention on a stage and was singing her heart out! 
We are so proud of her and all the progess she has made both  socially, academically in her preschool class.

 Margaret had a DVD from the year from the kids to watch. 

 Hooray, everyone graduated from Miss Margaret's preschool!

Margaret is a fantastic teacher, she really goes above and beyond with her classes!  Thanks for everything!

Then later in the week Taylor had his "Spring Thing".  Each student in his class got to repeat a poem, and show off a skill or talent.  Taylor recited "The Unfunny Jester" and then showed off some soccer skills with his friend Ryan.  They called up two volunteers and showed how to do a "give and go". 

This is the best picture I could get.  He was hiding behind his friend's head and I was video taping while he did his poem and skills.  Oh well, he did a great job and it was a lot of fun to see all the kids in his class. 

I can not believe this school year is already over!  It still seems like March to me, where did all the time go?  Hope it warms up soon, so it can feel like summer!

Three months already!

Elizabeth is growing so much every day! 

She is getting a big double chin, which gets full of barf and smells funny by the end of the day.  She is throwing out coos and smiles left and right.  Her smiles are completely addicting.  Big brothers and big sister work really hard to get her to smile or laugh.  Once she smiles they all laugh and say "She's smiling-she's laughing!" She wiggles her whole body when she does a really big smile-it's so adorable!  I have to tear myself away from her smiles when I need to be productive.

 I love how she lights up and when I say her name and talk to her first thing in the morning. I love how she concentrates on my mouth and the sounds I am making while talking to her. I love how she is trying so hard to figure out her world. I love seeing her discover her hands and start to grab toys or other objects. I love that I am good at speaking her language, read her cries and grunts for what she needs.

She never smiles while I am taking pictures!  But trust me, her smile is contagious.

This is how I found her napping, she is buried in pink fleece! I hope she's able to breath in there.

Lizzie is sleeping a little more predictably.  She likes to be swaddled really tight, have her binki and then usually falls asleep easily on her own.  She is sleeping a little better at night, still waking up 2-3 times a night.  She ends up in bed with us several nights a week.  I love snuggling with her in bed, and I am too exhausted to keep walking back and forth to her crib when she's fussy.  She loves sleeping in our big bed, and zonks out immediately in a happy, blissful sleep.

We are all so in love with little Elizabeth!  Emily especially is so interested in her sister.  She begs to hold her and wants to help with anything she needs.  She is going to be a great example for Lizzie her whole life. 

 It feels like we have turned a corner in our family.  Everyone is happy and adjusted to having this new little one in our home.  Even Spike seems pleased to have her around.  He is getting used to the idea that he is no longer the baby of the family.

 We feel so blessed and grateful to have her in our family.   

Pine Wood Derby

Taylor had his Pine Wood Derby for scouts this week.  Danny helped Taylor and friend Ryan build their cars.  They both had cool designs and fast cars.  Taylor's car was painted BSU colors and Ryan's was BYU colors.

Here's a picture of all the cars lined up ready to go.  There were 42 cars being raced. There were a lot of really clever, creative cars.  One car had an IPOD with speakers on it, and it played music while going down the track.

This is the best picture I could get from this kids.  Why are 8 year old boys so odd?  I love you Tay, but really- you need to learn to smile normally!

Danny was the designated "Derby Dad".  Meaning he was available to help if a boy needed help with his car. 

Here's the boys lined up watching the races. 
It was a fun night, and Taylor seemed thrilled with his car, which makes it a success!  Taylor & Danny are already talking about how to design the car for next year!

Spike!

Isaac, or "Spike" has been saying some funny things this week. 
 He is still insisting that we call him Spike, and when we forget he says "No mom, I not Isaac, I Spike!"  It's cracks me up-it's hilarious.  It's fine with me because he is better behaved as a dog then a boy.

We were blowing dandelions earlier this week and Emily told his to make a wish.  He thought about it for a second and then yelled
"I wish for nothing!"  He kept yelling it over and over, and then he says " I wish for underwear"  I told him he could go put on his underwear right then, but he just laughed.  One of these days he will get potty trained, I hope?!

Danny took all the kids (except Lizzie) camping on Friday night.  They had a great time spending time with their cousins and playing in the dirt. Danny helped the kids shoot, and Isaac loved it. 

He spent his time digging in the dirt looking for bugs and worms.  He is obsessed with worms lately. He helps me garden and when we find worms he gathers them and puts them in a tupperware bowl with dirt and grass etc..  Then he takes them out and holds them so tight in his sweaty little hand that they die.  He gets so sad when they die and says " The worms aren't crawling they died again!" 

Last week he collected all his worms and wanted to bring them in the house.  I told him to leave the worms outside, and he said " I can't leave the worms outside, they get lonely!" 

We love the funny things Spike says and does!  He keeps me laughing !

Well school is starting to wind down, which means lots of concerts, parties and performances for the kids at school.

Taylor had his Spring Concert this week at school with Virginia Tanner School of Dance.  His class did a modern dance performance about science.  It was very creative and Taylor did a great job. 

Here are his good friends Lilly and Ryan.  They made their art projects in their art class.  I can't believe Taylor is 8 and is going to be in 3rd grade next year!  I remember 3rd grade well. It makes me feel so old!

Mother's Day weekend

We had a wonderful weekend, full of warm weather, busy schedules and celebrating the mother's in our lives.

Elizabeth is growing so fast!  She is getting fat rolls around her knees and elbows.  She is smiling all the time now, and it's so cute!  She loves to be outside enjoying the warm sunshine.

It's finally warm enough to start going for walks with Lizzie.  She laid in her stroller and went right to sleep.  Unlike Spike who has  endless requests for snacks, water and his blankie while I am trying get some exercise!  He sure makes life entertaining! 
The other day Danny asked him if he was a dog or a boy, and he said "I am a fake dog!" 

Emily spends all of her free time with her friends!  This day they were pretending to be cats, they had makeup and were playing in the backyard in the tent.  She is getting really good on her new two wheeler bike!   It's a little big for her so she is a little scared, but once she's pedaling she does great! 

Taylor was busy with soccer this weekend.  He had a double header on Saturday and scored 2 goals.  His team is doing really well, they have all made a lot of progress.  He is really into reading Harry Potter right now.  He stays up late and wakes us early to read.  I am happy he loves reading, but wish he would get more sleep, he gets really grouchy!

Danny gave me my Mother's Day gift by building our garden boxes.  He made the boxes, filled them with a yard of top soil and then we planted all sorts of yummy vegetables.  We haven't had a garden for two years now, so we are excited for our little garden. 

Then we had a fabulous Sunday celebrating Mother's Day.  We feel so blessed to have mother's and grandmother who are wonderful examples for our family.  I am so grateful to be a mother to four beautiful children.  I love being a mom, and wouldn't trade my job for the world!

We love all the mother's in our lives!

See how much Taylor hates pictures, he wouldn't even get near the chair for fear of being in a picture! 

We had a yummy dinner and delicious lemon icecream at G&G Shields.  Whenever we see cousin Alison it is the perfect time for a photo shoot.  This little outfit was so adorable on Lizzie, she looked all grown up.

The kids and Danny pampered me with breakfast in bed, gifts from school, doing all the dishes etc.., and giving lots of hugs & kisses! 
It was a great weekend!  Hope yours was good too!