Gymnastics Exhibitions!

All three girls had their gymnastics exhibition meets 2 weekends ago. I thought I'd better post some videos. They are all very very short. My photos are horrible. I can't figure out how to work a camera at all. Enjoy the cute videos though!! (oh and we are feeling MUCH better here! Thanks for all of the comments)

KAYLEE ELAINE!!

Kaylee's Bars

Kaylee's Beam

Kaylee's Floor

Kaylee's Vault

TAYLOR MARIE!!

Taylor's Cartwheels

Taylor's Floor

Taylor's Vault

Taylor's Bars

EMILY LYNNE!!

Emily's Vault

Emily's Bars

Emily's Beam

Well, we tried....

Before I get to our Memorial Day weekend, I have to tell all about the greatest text I received from my friend Heather!! This is the same Heather that I went to women's conference with! Actually my Lehi friends and anyone else who wants a happy story, check out Heather and Greg's blog!! (I can't wait to hear more of the fun details!)

Okay--We actually did have a ton of fun this weekend! We love to camp and with the new baby coming this may be the only chance all of us will get to go this summer (I'm sure Matt will take the older girls). Unfortunately, this is one camping trip that had to be cut short!

I've been trying to remember when this story actually started. I guess it was Tuesday when Kierra started throwing up and having nasty diapers. She seemed like she only had it a day and we didn't think much else of it. Then came Thursday morning when I was out running errands for the camping trip. I was in the middle of the check-out line when Taylor's teacher called to say she had just thrown up at school...luckily she made it to the trash can. I had a friend of mine go pick her up for me and I got home right after that. I went to lay her down and even bring Emily in from playing to give her some quiet time too. Afterall, we were getting ready to go camping and I wanted everyone healthy. Well, the rest of the afternoon was spent going back and forth and back and forth again between Tay, Em and Kierra, the 3 pukers (and remember those nasty diapers?!) It was not fun, BUT we were going camping!

The next day we thought we would just wake up and see how things went. Actually, Matt did get sick in the middle of the night and I was just feeling tired and queezy from the craziness. By afternoon we were all feeling better and just ready to get out into some fresh air. So we packed it all up really fast and met Grandma and Grandpa Gardner at a campground near Bear Lake.

We had a great time that first night and even into the first day! The boys took the 3 older girls on a hike while Grandma, Kierra and I stayed behind....that's when Kierra struck again. It did get all over the place, but we cleaned it up and still had a great night! In fact, I was having the best night sleep ever....I LOVE sleeping in a tent while it is raining outside. It rained all night and was so relaxing....until....Kaylee struck at about 6 am. Thank goodness for G and G's camper and shower!! We got her back to sleep and after an hour or so the other girls woke up. We were still debating a little bit on our plan to go to Logan for church and to visit a couple of cemeteries in that area when Taylor struck. Luckily she was outside, but that was still the deciding factor for us. We needed to just get these kids home. So after some fun pictures, games, a fort and a hike we packed it all up just in time for the rain to come again. The girls slept the entire way home which was so nice. We are all cleaned up now and seem to be okay--we will all be going to bed soon though! Anyway, thanks to Grandma and Grandpa for putting up with us and our mess! We really did have so much fun!

The fort that Grandpa made with the girls! The front and then the cool, fenced in backyard!

See, look at those smiles!! We did have fun!

So really quick, since I didn't have this blogged last year, I need to do a flashback to last year and most of my Memorial Day weekends. We usually go to Star Valley to visit my extended family on Memorial Day. We go to the Fairview and Afton Cemeteries and then to the Box H for a family reunion. I was feeling okay about missing it this year to camp with my family and my in-laws, but now that I'm just sitting at home I know I will really miss being in Star Valley. Here are some pictures from last year:

Bugz

Kaylee and Taylor had their choir performances this week. They performed Thursday, Friday and Saturday night and had so much fun getting to do the show for family and friends! Here are some pictures and great (short) videos! (sorry--you'll have to turn the music off on the right) Taylor was the honeybee and Kaylee was the Stink Bug. The older choir also did a fun show called S'COOL!

I really wish I had videos of their songs and dances. We will have a DVD of it for Grandma's and Grandpa's to see.

We'll start with Kaylee--she is the stink bug. Anytime she walked across the stage the kids held their breath and then gasped after she was across.

Later in the show they call her a freeloader with a terrible oder and they tell her she isn't welcome. Her lines (in case you can't hear them) are:

"I know I'm not the sweetest thing that ever graced your nose,

But what am I to do for lunch, go hungry I suppose?"

and then...

"You really are to mean to me, your manners send me reeling.

You had to hit me where it hurts and now you've hurt my feelings."

Listen to the audience just feel so bad for her. :(

Later the bugs all sing to her about how things can change and she can be beautiful.

After the song Kaylee says,

"Your wings are just so beautiful, like angels or even birds.

Thank you for your gentle thoughts and most inspiring words."

Taylor was "the honeybee, as sweet as [she] can be."

When the other kids talked about giving the humans their best bite, Taylor said,

"Just try to be as sweet as me and don't hurt anything."

We love the Children's Choir. The kids are amazing! My girls worship the kids in the older choir and of course we all adore Catherine!! She is an incredible director and has become one of my very best friends! This has been my 4th year working with her, Kaylee's third year in the choir and Taylor's 1st year. It is always good to have the break in the summer, but we'll miss seeing everyone each week!

Picture Perfect

Don't let that cute little face fool you. Lately, this girl has been into everything all of the time. My problem is that I can't bring myself to take pictures of the disasters she creates. At the beginning of the week it was my face powder--half of a container all over my bathroom rug, floor and her. A couple of days ago it was the new pitcher of orange juice that we thought was safely up high on the counter--nope! It ended up all over the place and because it fell from so high the juice wasn't just on the floor it was splashed up on the walls, cupboards, everything. This time I was able to take a second to laugh, which totally caught Matt off guard. She was slip sliding all over in that juice--I couldn't help but laugh and say ha ha serves you right. Then, this morning it was the vaseline--again to my bathroom rug, the floor and her. Matt washed her hair 3 times and it still feels greasy. So, part of me does wish I had pictures. I'm sure they would make my blog picture perfect and so entertaining! I just don't understand why the disaster pictures of other kids on other blogs look so much cuter than what I've seen this week. :)

Women's Conference

Ok...ok...thanks for all of the praise and kind words, but let's remember back to that time when I selfishly left my family for 2 days to enjoy some ME time. Oh, and let's remember Mr. Mom--ha ha--Father's Day is after Mother's Day so I can really get him back. (and I may have to find a password that he doesn't know too!--so there!) :)

Finally I'm posting about Women's Conference!! I have had SO much fun looking back through my notes! It was such a wondeful conference as usual!

This is only my 3rd time going. The past two times I have gone with my sister-in-law and I can't wait to go with her again! We always get a hotel, sing in the choir, go to the concert and make a whole weekend out of it and it is a blast! She knows who a lot of the best speakers are and so she really helps to map out the whole day. It is awesome! I'm very sad that we don't have any pictures from those 2 conferences...in fact, I don't think the two of us have EVER taken a picture together. Maybe when one of us isn't pregnant we should get going on that!

This year I went with my really good friend Heather and once again had such a blast! Heather was my visiting teaching companion when we first moved here, and the one who called me at the last minute to go to the Jon Schmidt concert. We became great friends right away and since she has left our neighborhood I usually only get to see her once a month at bookclub. I have really really missed our visits and so I especially enjoyed this time with her and some of her friends!

In the past I have ventured out onto "that" campus down in Provo :) to the many classes, but this year we just camped out in the Marriott Center on the soft chairs in front. It was so perfect! We almost left for one class, but decided we wanted to stay so that we could be up close for when Elder L. Tom Perry spoke. It was a good thing we stayed because that class we would've missed ended up being one of my very favorites!

Of course during the classes they have humanitarian aid projects for all of us to work on and I also brought Kierra's I Am a Child of God cross-stitch that I should probably finish before our baby boy comes (by the way--have you seen how close that crawling baby at the top of my blog is to the end of the page? YIKES!) So here we are pretending to work so hard on our projects. We really did work hard and I have now learned how to make those cute flower hair clips that people make and sell for so much money. I've decided that's going to be a great skill to have with 4 girls!

Heather and I LOVE the concerts! And yes, like the host said, at times we felt like "little Mia Maids" all over again! Of course we wish there had been more of Hilary Weeks, but we still had a great time!

So, I don't know how to write about all of the great thoughts and messages that were shared at this conference. The picture below is actually Heather's and I LOVE it!! This was when Sister Rogers talked about "Going Forth in the Strength of the Lord". She talked about how at one time we DID rejoice in choosing this mortal experience. She talked about the song "Now Let Us Rejoice" and how William W. Phelps didn't write that song during the best of times. All of the women stood and sang that song together singing the last word, "One" a couple of extra times at the end and it was incredible!

Here are just some more random quotes I wrote down:

Regular attendance reveals regular revelation. (Sister Hillam talking about temples)

We can't allow ourselves to become distracted, distraught and discouraged. (Sister Dalton)

You can't strengthen your prayers unless you are praying. (Sister Dalton)

I want to do right by the Lord....But undaunted still SHE trusted in HER Heavenly Father's care. (Sister Olsen)

In the end it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway. (Mother Teresa)

Your future is as bright as your faith. (Pres. Monson)

The family is about us and we. The world is about me and I. (Sister Beck)

FIGHT!! (Sister Beck got very emotional when she said this. She said we can't sit and act like a victim. We need to fight and defend our homes and our families.)

The Samuelson's gave incredible talks about parenting and looking for examples of parenting in the Book of Mormon. They said to someday read through the Book of Mormon looking for those examples. I need to go buy a $2 copy and just mark it and make notes in it. What better parenting manual can anyone have?!

The Hammonds were the ones that gave the talk that we almost missed. Sister Hammond spoke about serving with our hands. (she pretty much wrote my talk for tomorrow night's visiting teaching conference!) She was so cute! She told us to love our children. She told us to take their faces in our hands and kiss them. She said, take your husband's face in your hands--give him a kiss--each kiss burns 12 calories! Later after her husband beautifully sang Love One Another she paused before speaking and said, "I want to burn some calories" and took his face in her hands and kissed him. They were the cutest couple! Their talks reminded me that we just need to love everyone. When we are feeling caught up in the logistics and the how to of a calling, of family, of home and of life; when we are so worried about offending because we are doing too much or too little because we don't know if we should do too much or too little, we just need to LOVE. Love everyone! Brother Hammond said that "if we are willing to do ANYTHING the Lord asks of us we will be able to love and to find true enduring happiness." Wow they were good!!

The conference ended with Elder L. Tom Perry's talk. He showed a fun video that looked much like a Jay Leno Jaywalking video. They went around to people across the country respectfully asking what they knew about the LDS church. It was amazing to see that people really don't know who we are. He said, "We have a responsibility to share the true image of the church to the world." I really wish I could find that video!

One last thought. In just those talks that I heard I think I wrote down 3 or 4 times the reference made to the phrase "leading away many women" in Alma 30:18. We as women need to trust in the Lord and trust in ourselves that we can really do this!

Wow! I have written way too much! I learned so much though and felt the most wonderful spirit there! Thanks to Heather and her friends, my new friends, for a very special 2 days!

Mother's Day Surprise!!!

(A day late.)

This post is done by a guest blogger. (Actually Kandice doesn't know that her husband hacked her account so he can post about how great of a mother she is.)

I tried to find a picture of Kandice and her 4 girls but didn't have any luck. It seems that mommy is usually the one taking the pictures. Anyway, Kandice is AMAZING and does so much for us and I just wanted all of her friends to know how much we appreciate her. She washes our clothes, fixes our meals, cleans the house, does the dishes, tutors the girls, takes them to gymnastics, choir, school … The list could go on for a long time so here are the pictures.

Kandice and her friends

Mr. Mom

I just had the MOST wonderful two days at Women's Conference!! I have pictures and many thoughts to post, but before I do that I have to say how wonderful my husband is!! He was the perfect mom while I was gone--no--he was the perfect dad, because he was way better than the girls' mom! He even got Emily in the paper!! Thank you Matt for letting me have those 2 days and for taking such good care of the girls! You are the best!!

Here is the picture that was in the paper and the link to the article that was done. I'll get back on later to post about Women's Conference!

http://www.heraldextra.com/content/view/307650/17/