We love summer!!

Summer is in full swing- sleeping in, relaxing days, afternoons at the pool, endless popsicles, BBQ's, swimming lessons, tennis, playing at the park, night games, fun with friends & cousins are our favorite things about summer! 

Love this girl! Emily is growing up too fast, she's so cute, helpful & sweet. 

She's the best! 

We had a fun afternoons with cousins at a great pool in South Jordan! It had a few water slides and we all had a blast! Lizzie even did the hard swim test to be able to go in the slides alone. She's really turning into a great swimmer for a 5 year old.

Cute little James, he's such a happy baby! He loves the water. 

I love his little smile, and his chubby face. 

Isaac is a lot of fun to be around! He is so helpful with Lizzie and really a hard worker. He's got a great sense of humor too. He's really into earning money right now and will do anything for $1.00. I love 8 year olds! 

Emily and her cute friends opened a lemonade/sweet stand in our neighborhood. They sale drinks, cookies, pretzels, homemade suckers, cupcakes, popcorn etc.... They have hatching g shirts, aprons etc... This was a lot if work, but they did it and had a great day. They earned quite a bit of money too. She was thrilled!! 

Lizzie has been so tired after all her playing & swimming etc... She is exhausted by 7:00 pm. So I've been trying to get her to bed earlier, so she's not too tired. Poor girl is just wiped out!! 

These two being goofy at bedtime.

They're both growing up too fast, I wish I could freeze time right now. Their ages are a lot of fun! 

Italy Trip 2016

Danny and I decided to take a big trip to Italy to celebrate his 40th birthday! It was a trip that took lots of planning, saving money and lots of coordination for grandparents to watch our kids. We were gone for 11 days and the time just flew by.

We left on a Saturday and flew to Detroit and then to Rome. We rented a car and headed to a small town south of Rome called Capua. It was a sleepy little town and we enjoyed exploring and seeing the sites. 

There is a really cool old Coliseum, it was built in 800 BC and there are lots of cool ancient remains from when it was being used. We walked around, got a gelato, saw the rest of the city and then had amazing pizza for dinner. 

We slept so good that night from being tired from missing a night of sleep. The next day we slept in, had a yummy delicious breakfast buffet from our hotel and then headed south again to another city called Maratea. This town was so scenic and beautiful!
Our hotel was an old convent that has been converted into a pretty hotel. We checked in and then went and explored the city. The town was really tiny and sleepy. Hardly any tourists or anybody around. We walked a lot, shopped a bit, ate gelato and then had a good dinner at our hotel.  I tried octopus for the first time, it was chewy but good. 

Danny was really in his element speaking Italian to everyone. He was doing great remembering the language. It was hard to not understand anything. But I could understand a little bit if I knew what the topic was about. Otherwise It was hard. Danny was so Patient and good to translate everything for me. 

The next day we headed up to the huge redeemer statue. The views from up on that mounting were stunning and so gorgeous! We had fun seeing the gorgeous coastline and had great day.

Maratea was a city full of tons of stairs. We had a long walk to town all stairs every time we went to town. It was good way to keep us moving. The food was so good in this town. We had a nice little patio where we had dinner one night, and we could sit and hear the chimes at the several nearby churches going off every 15 minutes all day long (and night) 

The gelato, brioche etc.. was so yummy!
The next morning we headed in the car all the way to the tip of Italy. It was so beautiful and such a fun way to see the country. We stopped for a yummy lunch along the way. The drive was about 5-6 hours and then we arrived at the ferry. We loaded on the boat and headed to Sicily. It's a fun thing to go on the boat and see the ocean etc.. 

Once in Sicily we headed straight to Taormina, it's a stunning city built right on the hillside and overlooking the ocean. It's an amazing city that was SO fun!!!!

We checked into a cute little B & B, with really nice owners. They were so helpful made the best breakfast every morning! We relaxed in our room for a bit and then headed out on foot to explore the city. We walked SO much in this city. It was fun to walk the streets and see all the little shops, grab a gelato, brioche, Arancino, or a slice of pizza. We had a blast in this city. 

We found a restaurant ( for the owners of the B& B) with the most  delicious pizza!! We ate there both nights that we were in Taormina because we loved it so much! 

The next morning we went to an ancient amphitheater , it was built by the Greeks and then restored by the Romans. It's an amazing place that is still used and there are concerts held there all the time.
This city was more crowded and touristy than all the other cities we spent time in. It was hard to have crowds and stuff but the city was so much fun!!! 

Ater another night in Taormina we said goodbye too this spectacular city and drove about an hour south to Catania. This is where Danny spent most of his mission. He has a lot of friends and people from his mission that we spent time with. 

Danny and I spent quite a bit of time with Padide, Beatrice, Simone, Michael, and Davide. They are the best! So friendly, kind, helpful and we loved spending time with them! They fed us and helped us plan and incredible weekend in Catania. 

Again the food was terrific!!! Pizza, Pasta, bread, cheese, salad, fruit, brioche, granita, croissants filled with nutella, amazing baked good, gelato etc... It was all so yummy! 

Danny spent several hours going from house to house seeing all the people he baptized and catching up with them. After 8 hours or so the first day I would have him drop me off at the hotel so I could relax and he wouldn't have to translate for me anymore. It was the best arrangement. He was busy with his friends all four nights that we stayed in Catania. He really loved catching up with all the people from his mission, it's been 20 years!!

We explored a local strawberry farm, got the best gelato in Italy, saw the live volcano, Mt. Etna, and spent a perfect day in Catania. 

Our hotel in Catania was at a really old castle type of place. The grounds were so stunning and beautiful! The locals had never even heard about this hotel so it was fun for them to come and see it. They thought it was hidden gem in their city. 

We had a big Birthday party for Danny. We had dinner, drinks and a delicious cake covered in mini local strawberries for dessert. Danny was so pleased and it was a lot of fun! Several families from the ward came with their kids etc... It was wonderful to see them all take pictures and enjoy a fun party with them.

We had such a great night celebrating Danny's 40th birthday! Happy Bday Danny! 

This whole trip was so fabulous! It was so wonderful spending time in such a gorgeous place with Danny for 11 days.
Thanks to everyone who helped us with kids etc.. .
We hope to visit in another 5 years or so.
We love Italy! 

Summer is here!

Summer is here, and we are all so ready! 

Lizzie had her preschool graduation. She was so happy and excited to be done with school. Back

Taylor went on a trip to Moab to go biking and hiking with the young men. He loves biking lately! Emily and Isaac finished school and had fun at field day, talent show etc...

we met cousins at the water park to celebrate the end of school! The kids all had so much fun playing with their cousins. 

Lizzie had her ballet dance recital, she was a beautiful swan. She thought it was wonderful that we all came to watch her dance, and she was given flowers after the performance. We love our little dancer! 

Yay for summer!!  

May is busy

This month has been rainy with lots of crazy storms. On Monday we had a bug thunderstorm and hail storm. 

It was fun to watch except that Lizzie is terrified of thunder & lightning. She freaks out when storms come. 

After all these storms we had nice, warm weekend. Lots of sunshine and beautiful sunny days. 

Lizzie & Allison played In The kiddie pool with pony's and princesses. They thought it was great! They are super cute and such good friends! 

Lizzie and I had a special Bike ride / picnic/ park date on Friday. We biked to a local park, played on the swings, slides etc... And then had fun picnic o. The grass. It's super nice that she's in her 2 wheeler now and can go in real

Bike rides! She likes long rides too, she doesn't get tired. I'm proud of her for being a great biker! 

The kids on the street have been busy making a clubhouse! I love when they all get busy creating and playing together- girls & boys! It's a fun group and they all seem to get along. We are getting SO excited for summer!! 

We had a nice weekend and a great day celebrating Mother's Day! The kids were all so cute with cards, pictures, origami, good behavior etc.. Taylor spoke in church about Mother's and that was really awesome! He did a great job. I wish I could slow time down right now and freeze my kids at this age. Each of my kid are so special and have so much to give. I love them each individually and am excited to see what they become in the future.
We were lucky to have G & G Shields over for a big breakfast before church. Danny cooked a delicious meal and it was a fun start to the day. 

Lizzie's note from school to me for mothers day said she loves me "because I let her have sleepovers with her cousins." 

I love this group of kids with all my heart! 

We had a fun dinner at Brett's house for Mother's Day.  

Lizzie had the cutest Mother's Day tea party at her school on Thursday. They sang songs, made us a gift, and we had a picnic tea party! She was so excited about it and loved the whole thing! I love this age with Lizzie! Can't believe she's five years old already! 

Saturday Isaac had an awesome soccer game.  He played goalie and no one scored any goal on "Isaac- the brick Wall" that's his nickname. He likes soccer a lot and is having fun on this team.
Taylor is still obsessed with his hair and things it's so magnificent. I think he's a cute 13 year old boy!