May 2016 memories

 I told Benson he had to play baseball for one season because he seriously has such a good arm.  He has the strongest arm on his team-- but all he talks about is wanting to play soccer.  So, this may be our only season playing baseball. But, he did a great job and learned a ton.  The scenery at his games was breathtaking with the mountains in the back.

 This girl can get away with anything. She wakes up in the morning and wants to snuggle with he mama-- and I can't say no. So she ends up in bed with me and we snuggle back to sleep.

 They are so cute together-- Tanner gives her rides and is so patient with her as she wants to get on and off the John Deere about every turn.

Tanner's preschool field trip to Wheeler farm.  This kid was hilarious! He went from one girl to the next holding their hand.  The very best moment was when I caught on camera him scratching his butt while holding Lily's hand! I seriously die laughing every time I see this photo! Kate also loved going on his field trip-- she is obsessed with animals. The girl is fearless around them.

Reece got a pogo stick for Christmas and has gotten really good on it.  He can go one forever on this thing-- including going up the street to Tucker's house.  I love it because it helps get some of his energy out!

CUTENESS ALERT!  Tanner and Tess played on a rec soccer team. Tess was to scared to go on the field on her own so Tanner grabbed her hand and never let go.  He drug her all around the field, flinging her from one side to the other and getting some good kicks while doing it! It was the most precious thing you have ever seen.

Typical Sunday photo-- Mom makes sure every one is ready 20 minutes before church so she can position the kids and take a quick picture before heading to church.  She threatens them if they don't smile the photo session will last longer and longer until they all smile.  Then she sends the picture to Grandma Blo so she can get her Sunday grandkid fix.

Zoo time with the cousins. 

Benson's first day as a cub scout. They went on a "hike" through the neighborhood. haha.  He loved every minute of it and will be an awesome scout.

Hello Miss Kate-- 18 months going on 16.

Spencer and his beloved garden.  He gets giddy about this stuff.  

Family bike ride to the park. Then an awesome family selfie!

Kate's first day of nursery.  I thought she was going to bum scooch into nursery-- but she surprised us all and started walking at 17 months--whew.  So this little princess walked into nursery and never looked back.  She was happy, calm and loved every minute of it.  Secretly I wanted her to hold onto me and throw a fit -- but she didn't.  The girl is pretty brave and social. Love her.

One of the perks of living in Utah is having access to some of the church buildings.  For Relief Society we got to have a special tour of the conference center.  We took the boys with us and it was a fun event.  They took us back stage and showed us the ins and outs.  The things that impressed me most were the cleanliness, how thought out every aspect of the conference center was, and the engineering.  The church doesn't cut any corners, that's for sure.

Tanner and Charlotte at their end of the year preschool program.  They were super darling.  They sang a bunch of songs and had some darling dance moves.  His teacher was Miss Sarah and she was amazing. She loved Tanner and taught him a lot.

Reece put together a poster for school and so we came to check it out.  He's a great student and it was fun to be in his classroom and see all his hard work. Great kid!

Lemonade and cookie stand.  The neighborhood was quite nice to these kids and bought some of their goodies! The kids had a total BLAST putting this together and selling their goods.

This girl will eat anything. We were shopping and she saw an apple and was insistent on eating one.

For memorial day we went to my Great Grandmothers grave-- she was my mom's favorite Grandma and really good friend.  She died just before I was born.  We told stories about her and cleaned her grave site.  It felt sacred and peaceful.  I am excited to meet her some day. She was an awesome lady who spent most of her life serving others.

April 2016

Here are some memories from April 2016:

We took MANY strolls through the neighborhood.  I pulled Kate in her wagon and Tanner rode his green scooter-- or shall I saw "cruised" on his green scooter. The kid can get some serious speed.

 Kate is in LOVE with her toothbrush.  We find it all over the house.

 Kid dates.  Spencer took Reece our to sushi.  They both here in heaven-- actually their Mother was in more in heaven that she didn't have to go and eat that stuff! Spencer was pleased Reece enjoyed it so much.

 Tanner and I went to the mall to get some much needed tennis shoes.  Since he won't eat any fast food or really anything but ritz crackers, soy butter and chocolate chips we decided to bring our own food-- good ole' fashion oreos.  The kids is HILARIOUS and doesn't ever stop talking.  He pretty much talked our entire trip. He also LOVED his new "soccer shoes" because they made him so fast!

I took the boys to Boise for Spring break. Spencer and to stay home and work. We pretty much swam, played with Myla, went to dinner and enjoyed spending time with the Grandparents.

One Sunday afternoon we were all outside playing and i thought "this is the perfect day".  I love being outside with my family. Especially when we are all playing together (not fighting! haha). But seriously-- isn't this what life is all about. Family-- playing together-- being happy. Love it!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE dressing up Kate.  This was one of my favorite outfits of hers.

I found this in Bensons backpack. It says:
A wish for my family.. good things
A wish for the world... less wars
A wish for a friends: Max could get to my birthday party
A wish for myself: more birthdays.

Sleeping Kate= Dreamy. She is a great napper. She goes to bed at noon with a little smile on her face and wakes up a couple hours later. Sweet thing!

Rain storms are the best! It was pouring outside and suddenly all my boys were outside playing in the rain.  They went and got rubber duckies and raced them down the gutter.

We take A LOT of family walks around the neighborhood-- especially on Sunday.  I enjoy the time watching the kids run and play, I enjoy interacting with neighbors, and I enjoy the fresh air-- it's good for my soul.

Okay--- this is honestly my favorite outfit.  I saw the shoes and HAD to buy them so then I had to get the outfit that matched. Girls are sooooo fun to dress. Glad she doesn't have an opinion right now-- I got to enjoy it while I can.

We love being outside.  We spend a lot of time playing in our yard.  One of my favorite sights is seeing my children play with each other while getting some fresh air.  The kids spend a lot of time riding bikes, scooters, playing on the tramp, swinging, playing with chalk, and playing games with the neighborhood kids.

These two kiddos are my buddies during the day.  We run lots of errands, clean, read books, play, go on walks, swing, and have cuddle time with Mom. I'm so grateful to have them home with me.

This little cutie is so fun.  I love dressing her up and taking pictures of her.  When I put her on the piano bench she immediately looks at me and says "cheese".  I'm pretty sure she loves it as much as I do.

Tanner is absolutely HILARIOUS! He makes everyone laugh around him. He's quite the driver, taking his cousin Tess and sister Kate on John Deere rides around the neighborhood.  He is gentle as he turns so his sister doesn't fall out.  He's also patient when she wants to get in and out.  He's a pretty great kid!

One of the blessings of having Benson have diabetes is that I get to go on all the field trips-- I always trump the other parents.  This field trip was perfectly timed. I was feeling like I needed more one on one with Benson and it was so nice to get that with some of his friends around too.  We started our the trip with a great bus ride.  We went to downtown Salt Lake and did a walking scavenger hunt looking for birds, buildings, statues, etc. Then we had lunch and headed to the Capital building.  The Capital was stunning, absolutely beautiful.  I felt the spirit there as we walked around and learned more about our country and the wonderful state of Utah.  I feel so blessed to be born in the United States of America.  We have so many freedoms! When I study US history its easy for me to see the Lords hand in building this country. We are so blessed!
Benson and I had a great time together.  We laughed, played, and spent quality time together.  He's a neat kid-- very fun, happy, silly, and loves to learn new things.

Kate is such a cheese ball.  She LOVES to get into EVERYTHING. Especially food.  This is her favorite place to be-- sitting in the cupboard enjoying whatever she can find.  On most occasions you can walk into our kitchen and find the floor full of crackers, cups, silverware, chips, and bread.  We've had to use a lot of benadryl and the eli-pen a couple times.

Grandma and Grandpa Miller and the Catmull's visit! We took the kiddos to the zoo while Natalie and Cob looked at rocks for their home they are building in Heyburn, ID.  The kids have so much fun together.  They love their cousins and have great chemistry together.  After a fun filled morning at the zoo we came home and the cousins made a movie together.  It was epic! They laughed! They played! And they made great memories together.

Tanner-man could hardly wait for soccer season to start. He's been asking when it starts for the past 6 months. We finally got him on a team and he had a blast! His cousin Tess was also on the team but was very shy and didn't want to be on the field.  Tanner took her hand and literally ran around the field swinging her back and forth as he tried to kick the ball.  She was happy as can be and would only be on the field if she was holding Tanner's hand.  It was the most adorable thing you have ever seen.  I sat not he side lines praying that her arm wouldn't break from him jerking her around the field.

Good bye- "little Jimmy". We seriously LOVE you! Spencer bought this white Toyota Camry 99' when he got home from his mission.  He told the car salesman he wanted something that would last through undergrad, medical school and residency.  Little Jimmy proved to be the perfect car.  We hardly put any money into him and to this day he still drives pretty well.  Spencer drove him for 13 years!! 

Spencer got a new car! He wanted a car that would fit the entire family and be able to handle going into the mountains.  He also wanted something that drove really well. Spencer is a major Toyota fan and so it left us with the Toyota Highlander.  It's been the perfect car for us.  It drives smooth for Spencer and can handle the things we want to do with it.  It was also fun to see Spencer get a new car after going to school for so long. He definitely deserves it-- job well done babe!